The Tale of the Frozen Mariners

The Tale of the Frozen Mariners   ...   Election Day ... Tuesday 6^th November, 2012

The day started off cloudy and cold with a brisk wind from the north.  We left the South Harbor Marina at Southport and motored down the ICW.  At first it was just windy and cold.  After a few hours it began to rain making for even nastier conditions.  We were both pacing and shuffling around the cockpit trying to keep warm. We successfully negotiated a number of inlets that are potentially troublesome including Lockwood’s Folly and the Shallotte Inlet.  Often shoals appear as a result of the currents, however we didn’t have any problems.

Somewhere near the Shallotte inlet we saw some dolphins off to starboard.   I was at the helm when a dolphin appeared along side the boat. It was so close that the sound of it exhaling startled me.  It continued to swim alongside for quite a while, surfacing and submerging.  Of course, when Mike scurried off to get his camera, it vanished. We carried on to just past the Little River inlet and are tied up at the Myrtle Beach Yacht Club.  Having now passed into South Carolina, we feel closer to Florida but colder than ever!

On our way down here we passed "Little Bit", an Island Packet with our friends Rick and Steve, that we had rafted up with in the Dismal Swamp. They also came into this marina so we had a very nice evening catching up with them.

Now we are hooked into the net watching as the results of the elections unfold. We were delighted to see the election of Senator Warren in Massachusetts!

Gloria

33 51 49.3 N, 78 38 18.3 W

Rick and Steve Brooks - fellow cruisers from the Island Packet "Little Bit"