Whereas we had beautiful calm weather yesterday for the down the inside of the Outer Bank, today the wind is one the nose at 15-20. Thus, our route will be inside today all the way to Myrtle Beach. With a 22 foot air draft, ww will be able to negotiated the bascule bridges without difficulty, save for the Marine corrps bridge at Onslow Beach in the Camp Lejeune training area. On of the signs along the waterway in this section speaks for itself.
Only a couple of times I have transited have I been delayed by live fire excercises. But on this trip, once we went thru the Marine Corps bridge, we were greeted by Marines in battle dress splayed over inflatable boats initiating a river crossing. Very cool and we honked and waved in appreciation to their service. Sempre Fi!!
Running the waters of North and South Carolina, there are many interesting sights.
Red Neck Fenders
Passing Wrightsville Beach and down the Cape Fear River past Southport, I determinded that I had enough fuel to reach Myrtle Beach, which was about 1630. Tied up ay Barefoot Landing Marina. This 900 foot floating dock, which used to be free with no services, is now chargin two bucks a foot with power and water. What makes Barefoot Landing attractive is that it sits smack in the middle of a destination outlet mall with about every thing imaginable here. I mean, it's a Monday night and there must be 500 cars in the lot. Besides shopping, there is the Alabama floor show and dinner theater, a House of Blues and DICK's, a wonderfully wild and wacky restaurant. About 2145 tonight, we were treated to a fireworks display which,with the prevailing winds, brought the exploding shells nearly over head of the boat!
6/28/2011: Up at 0530 for another early departure. Today we are enroute for Beaufort, SC. But first, we will make a stop at Osprey Marina, about 15 miles south of Barefoot Landing Marina and 3 miles past the Socastee Swing Bridge.
My thought was, get an early start and pull into Osprey before the rest of the herd starts to move. Well made plan, but when I ot to Osprey, both side of the fuel pier were covered by overnighters. The only thing available was about 20 of dock on the end between the two boats. Well, I pride myself at being a surgeon with a bow thruster, so this is what I got!
Now, the great thing about Osprey Marina is that their fuel is about a 75 cents cheaper a gallon than on the north end of "The Grand Strand." Today's prices was $3.499 including a 10 cent per gallon Boat US discount. They also have a noce little general store and grill for munchies.
After tanking up, we continue our run to Beaufort with an ETA of about 1700. flyin thru the marshes, a run across The Battery in Charleston and then a late afternoon arrival under a close marine layer boundry with torrential rain and frequent lightning. Ahh, back in the summer south!
Because we were forced to remain inside, and my 6/29/2011 departure was at pre-dawn for today's run to St. Augustine, no photos wer taken.
More to follow...
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