Charleston to Myrtle Beach

Belay your pet here!

Charleston residential street

Hmmmmm! Carolina barbecue

After the weather cleared, we spent our last day in Charleston sightseeing. Although the marina had courtesy vans that would shuttle us to various locations, we opted to explore parts of the city on our bicycles. We found a beautiful garden district that surrounded that surrounded Charleston University. When we asked one of the co-eds about places to eat lunch, we were directed to King Street which was bustling with all kinds of shops. We picked Jim 'N Nick's Pink Pig Bar-B-Q for some Carolina barbecue and it was delicious. We spent some time sightseeing and found a small grocery where we picked up a few items for the boat.

Moon setting over Charleston harbor

Fort Sumter

Mud wrestling on the ICW!

Sunrise at our anchorage

The next morning we left the marina and headed out through Charleston's harbor. The shipping lanes in the harbor are usually fairly busy with large ships, but most of big ships we saw were out in the Atlantic. We saw Ft. Sumter and made our way back onto the ICW. Running this stretch works well on a half-tide or more, but the water can get skinny in and out of the channel at low water. We found this out when we encountered a large tow making a turn in a bend at the same time we were. We were following a sailboat and got to the edge of the channel to give the tow room, and we watched our depth sounder drop down to 0.3 feet below the props. We were churning mud along with the tow, and how the sailboat, which we assume had a deeper draft, kept from going aground we'll never know. Anyway, we continued to push against the tide and finally made our way into an anchorage for the night.

Lunch at Hannah Banana's

The next morning we planned to scoot on into Myrtle Beach and ride out a storm that was predicted to hit the area the next day. Unfortunately, we had to change our plans as the marina we wanted to go into was full that night. Since the weather was not forecast to change until late the next day, we figured that we would anchor out again and then make a short trip to Myrtle Beach the next day, arriving around noon. Since we had time to kill, we stopped at the Wacca Wache Marina and had a delicious lunch at a restaurant called Hannah Banana's. The marina had a really good price on fuel so we topped off and headed on to our anchorage. The spot we picked turned out to be one of the best anchorages we have had yet, and we enjoyed a peaceful night on the hook.

The next day we waited for a half tide before going to Myrtle Beach. Part of this stretch of the ICW has rock ledges abutting the channel and Capt. Larry wanted lots of water below the boat, if he should encounter any large tows. Rock is not forgiving when contacted by the props!

Just like being home!

Osprey condo with landscaping

Tickfaw on our minds....

We found this section to be very similar to the Tickfaw River with its cypress stands and dark brown water. When we encountered a houseboat cruising down the river we really felt like we were home! We got Bavarian Cream secured and went to get the bikes down for a ride, only to discover that Capt. Larry's rear tire was flat. He has had the bike for over five years and never had a flat in that time. Now he has had two flat tires in the past two months. And of course inner tubes are not easy to find. We were told that there was a Wal-Mart about 2 miles away, so we hiked there for a tube, and a haircut and color for Jane.

Snoozin' at the beach

Jane said that the marina we were staying at was a women's marina because it was adjacent to a large shopping area. The next day we had lunch at a restaurant, then Jane went shopping while Capt. Larry went back to the boat for a nap. Later in the afternoon we got on our bikes and headed over to the beach. Our beach time was cut short, however, when the wind picked up and started blowing sand all over everything. We miss our sand chairs, umbrella, and the beautiful beaches on Okaloosa Island, but it was still fun to visit the beach. We returned to the boat and sat in the cockpit and enjoyed happy hour and visiting with other boaters.