Alarm set for 0600 hours and was up and getting ready to depart before it even went off… topped the water tanks off… Susan took Beecha for a walk and we departed at 0730 hours. Destination for the night planned as Southport, NC or further depending how we hit the tides.

Not a mile a way we crossed paths with a sailboat we had spent the evening with in the Haulover Canal… it had been a couple of years… sailing vessel PAGAN CHANT… exchanged some VHF chatter with him as we passed.


We next came to the Socastee Swing Bridge… I had heard on the VHF that they had just opened for a sailboat ahead of us… the bridge is on demand but was not sure how quickly he would open again… as we approached I hailed and as I thought he had us wait since he had just opened and closed… needed to clear the traffic… we sat for about 10 minutes waiting for the opening.




Having spent a late night with the owner of Bucksport Marina and indulging a little to heavily in the tequila… my morning energy boost was coming to an end quickly… was not really felling like a long day of cruising… Susan needed to pick up some provisions so we decided to call it day early and we docked at approximately 1045 hours at Barefoot Landing Marina at approximate location N33°48.092’, W078°44.702’. Had hoped to be in North Carolina today but it didn’t work out that way. Barefoot Landing is always a fun stop and we had not been here in a couple of years so we are looking forward to staying here tonight.

We have also been in contact with another fellow MTOA member Mike Efford aboard MI-T-MO and he is just behind us traveling north… this early stop over will close the gap between us and we will most likely be cruising together tomorrow.

Today we traveled for 3 hours and 15 minutes covering 20.73 nautical miles averaging 6.38 knots.

No alarms set to get up and we did not wake up till 0830 hours… did not have to even look outside… it’s still windy… when will end??? I lowered the dinghy in to the water to take Beech to land. The pier and boat ramp were a little crude… had to climb a ladder to get on to the dock… not sure if we will return to this anchorage again… but it worked great for last night.

Beecha was quick to do her business and we were back to boat and underway at approximately 0930 hours. We were leaving at almost a mid tide so water levels going out were much better… had a strong current on our nose as we exited the S. Santee River but when we turned into the ICW the current was with on the stern. We did not loose the boost the entire day… making 7.0 to 8.4 knots.

Felt really strange passing Georgetown today and not stopping… after spending over a week there on our trip south last year waiting for parts… we zipped right past and up the Waccamaw River. We decided to stop early and get our trip stops back in sync with where we normally stop each day. So we stopped at approximately 1440 hours at Bucksports Marina in Bucksport, SC, ICW MM 377. Our approximate location N33°39.053’, W079°05.684’.

Today we traveled for 5 hours and 10 minutes covering 39.56 nautical miles averaging 7.66 knots.

We pulled anchor and departed from Steamboat Creek at approximately 0852 hours and continued north on the ICW. Current was in our favor and we were soon doing 8 knots… at least when the water was deep enough. A lot of shallow water again today and also winds. We are getting very tired of the shallow water and high winds… it’s time for them to cease. Destination for the day… not sure… we plan to go until about 1700 hours.

A few boats passed us during the day… but really not a lot of traffic.., I think maybe the winds are keeping people in port… it’s not rough but maybe it could be for a smaller boat. 1700 hours came and we had a few spots charted out… none of which we had been to before… first one we came to was Awendaw Creek MM 435 on the ICW… as we passed there was absolutely no wind protection from the 20 knot SW winds and the anchorage was lying east to west so we decided to continue on… next option was McClellanvile in Five Fathom Creek at MM 430… when we came to it we were at almost dead low tide and the channel entering it looked really narrow and shallow… also, again no wind protection. That was the last one we had planned… out come the cruising guides… nothing before Georgetown that was listed as pet friendly… I took a quick look at ActiveCaptain via Coastal Explorer and saw where others had anchored in the South Santee River at MM 420 and was listed as pet friendly with boar ramp and pier to land your dinghy… Perfect! Another hour to go and we would be to MM 420…. The pier and boat ramp were about 1.7 nautical miles west on the South Santee River. We had never been in the area before so we slowed to just above idle to slowly work our way back up the river. It was dead low tide which I think is the best time to enter an anchorage for the first time... you either make it or not… we were seeing the actual depths to be 2-3 less than what the chart was telling us… one area was charted at 7 feet… so I was a little worried about it… but it was actually still 7 feet as we crossed it. We arrived to where we were going to anchor… an area just before the boat ramp and pier and protected from the south and west by a line of trees and about 300 yards wide… plenty of swing room. We dropped the hook and were securely anchored in 12 feet of water at 1852 hours at approximate location N33°09.237’, W079°21.120’.

Today we traveled for 10 hours covering 70.31 nautical miles averaging 7.03 knots.