We Make It to North Carolina

Part of the "Rockpile"

Covered at high tide

Near the SC-NC border

Capt. Larry finally pulled Jane from the shops in Myrtle Beach and we headed north towards North Carolina. Right out of Myrtle Beach we encountered what is referred to the "rockpile'" In this stretch of the ICW the channel narrows significantly and is lined by outcroppings of rock ledges. The advice is to travel straight down the middle of the channel, but at high tide the rocky ledges are covered or awash with a minimal depth of water. Get outside the channel and you will almost surely hit some rock. Also, meeting a large tow in this section forces you to approach the ledges dangerously closely. We went through just after low tide and were glad we did. It was so much easier to see the channel and stay in the middle and we had 8-9' depths all the way. With a 3+ foot more of water at high tide we would not have been able to know where the channel was. This section stretches for almost 5 miles and we were glad to be out of it. We were traveling on Saturday of an Easter weekend and we encountered a lot of weekend boat traffic. That and a lot of no wake zones made the run to Southport, NC, our next stop, a lot longer than we expected.

Music at the Spring Festival

Beautiful Southport

Strawberry shortcake!

Chocolate, ice cream and orchids

Easter happy hour

We arrived at the Southport Marina in the early afternoon just as the onshore sea breeze was kicking up. This made getting the boat into a slip difficult, but we finally made it by going in stern first into the breeze. When we checked in we were told that the town was celebrating its Spring Festival, so we decided to head to the nearby park and have lunch and enjoy the festivities. There were lots of food vendors and Jane had lots of craft vendors to look at. Capt. Larry listened to some live music while Jane browsed. She found a jewelry store with Easter presents and a Christmas store. We headed back to the boat for happy hour and dinner. The next day we were offered the use of a car from a fellow boater, so we headed out to Wal-Mart for a beer and grocery run. All of the things that we have trouble hauling on the bicycles. This was Easter Sunday and we had made reservations previously at an old pharmacy converted into a restaurant. It turned out to be a delightfully wonderful meal. After we got back to the boat we watched some TV then went over to a neighboring boat for a protracted happy hour. Since we had a good internet connection, we were able to have a video Skype call with Jane's grandson, Brennan, and Capt. Larry's granddaughters and family. It was a wonderful holiday even though we were not able to be with our families.

Sunset over the marina