A short trip up the Waccamaw

A short trip up the Waccamaw   …   Thursday 2nd May 2013

We weren't in a rush to leave Thoroughfare Creek this morning as we only had about 15 miles to go and would have more favorable current in the afternoon. So we hung out on the boat this morning, read our books and had a great Skype telephone call with Tasha. She's having a great time in South Africa ad we are really excited about the prospect of going to see her in June. After a fine lunch of tuna melt sandwiches we decided to make tracks. We were a little unnerved to see one of the two boats that anchored close to us last night was actually aground, so we were careful to stick to the center of the creek. Once we rejoined the Waccamaw river itself it was immediately obvious that we had been in a very sheltered location up the creek. The wind was blowing really hard … and you guessed it, right on the nose. We are actually very glad that we chose to stay inside the ICW for this section rather than head out along the coast. There are gale warnings in place until the weekend and depending which forecast you believe seas of up to 10 feet. No thanks. It took us close to three hours to reach our destination. We suspect that our boat has become slower as we have accumulated an extra coat of slime and weed. Hauling out, cleaning the hull and refreshing the anti-fouling paint in Wilmington should fix that. Right now we are anchored just inside a small oxbow lake off the Waccamaw river. It's very peaceful and we have an osprey nest about 100ft from the boat. Today we were very excited to see some swallow tailed kites in addition to the osprey that are so numerous in this area. We have a real treat in store - Gloria has just made a pan of her amazing meatloaf, which we will eat with sweet potatoes and broccoli, and we also have an apple crisp for dessert. The boat is smelling fantastic at the minute … and it's not every day that I could say that!

Mike

33 39.884 N, 79 04.289 W

Waccamaw river