We left the anchorage at 0645 and entered the
Estherville-Emin Canal where we did a really stupid thing. It was early
when we exited the canal and entered the Winyah River. The guides
indicated that there was shoaling around R "2" buoy and we assumed that
the current was in flood stage so we steered towards the starboard shore
of the canal. So we gave R "2" a lot clearance. Sound good? Nope.
Thew current was actually ebbing and pushing us down river toward the
rocks that protect the canal. We were lucky. A lesson we will not soon
forget. Don't assume anything. We have the current tables on the
chartplotter. Don't overreact to the data in the guides. Could have
lost the boat!
We continued our journey past Georgetown and entered the Waccamaw River where trhe current was pretty strong against us and the sky was cloudy and grey. Not the environment to cheer us up. However, parts of the river were quite beautiful even in the muted light. As we headed north, the river got more narrow but the depths were still good.
We arrived at mile marker 373 which is
the turnoff point for Osprey Marina. This is another favorite of SV Endaxi so we were anxious to see the place. It is a very protercted place but we had several surprises. We had asked for a T head and they said "B" was available. We called several hours before our arrival and again right before we entered their channel. "B" dock was occupied and there were no dock hands to assist and redirect us. We did find another space and we calmed down once we met the folks in the office.
We had a very pleasant stay at Osprey. They gave us a ditty bag of useful stuff, provided coffee and snacks during the day, and pointed us to the local Italian restaurant where they will pick us up and bring us back. Good stay!
We were lazy today and didn't manage to take a single picture. We were
a bit nervous of new adventures such as the Rockpile and the weather was
squally and windy. We planned to stop at Barefoot Landing today and
then to Southport in a couple days once the worst of the weather had
past. As we approached Barefoot Landing, we called the dockmaster on
both the VHF and cell phone. No response. That was funny as we had
talked to him yesterday and confirmed everything. After 15 minutes of
trying, we called the draw bridge and asked for passage. Not impressed
with the Barefoot Landing folks. Next the Rockpile. We planned it for
low tide so we could see the rocks. Yep, they were there. Did I
mention that it is raining most of the day. And it is really windy. We
didn't know how windy it was until we approached Little River inlet
where the apparent wind varied from 25-30 kts on the nose. The rest of
the trip to Southport was uneventful except the wind persisted. It
would have been entertaining to watch us dock at South Village Marina
where wind and current were in opposition. We made it and we stayed for
two days as the Cape Fear River would be untenable with the strong NE
winds.
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