33°48′6″ N 78°44′49″ W

Barefoot Marina, North Myrtle Beach, SC

Our layover in Myrtle Beach continues, & so does the heat wave! Each day the temperature is in the mid to high 30s & has climbed over 40 with the humidex.

On Wednesday Chris arranged to rent a car so we could do some provisioning & some sightseeing. The car was from a local independent company & within an hour of us driving away from their shop the air conditioning quit. Unfortunately it was the last car they had so we were back to walking as every other car rental company in the area had nothing available & we were not willing to drive around in an oven.

As a result we spent Thursday on the boat hiding from the heat. It was a good opportunity to take on a few small jobs inside so we removed the floorboards in the main cabin & I dove down into the engine room.

There’s a small leak in the fresh water plumbing system that was causing our holding tank to prematurely run dry if we left the pressure pump on. I finally found the source of the leak – a split fitting on a hot water line but it’s in a difficult place to get at so it will have to remain as is until the journey is over & the boat is home. As long as we remember to turn the pump off between uses we have lots of water for 3-4 days at a time.

My next task “down under” was to try & find the fuel supply control valves that lead from the two diesel storage tanks to the engine. It appears that we are only drawing fuel from the starboard tank & the port side tank is remaining full. The fuel lines run under the engine room floor & the exhaust pipe has to be disconnected from the engine in order to get the floor up, so that’s another job that will be postponed until we get home. Meanwhile, the starboard tank can run the boat for at least a week or ten days at a time & there are lots of opportunities to fill the fuel tank each day or every other day.

The other morning we were looking for a place to have breakfast but because we were on foot it had to be close by. The Dockmaster at the marina suggested we try the resort golf clubhouse, we set off to find the place. A 10 minute walk turned out to be more like a 25 minute walk but it ended up being well worth the effort.

This turned out to be the most posh golf clubhouse I’d ever been in. We found our way into the bar/dining room and acted like we belonged. We were welcomed by a very nice staff member & had a great breakfast for less than the cost of one at a roadside diner. Wonders never cease!

Today (Thursday) we managed to get a rental car (with air conditioning that worked perfectly) & we went exploring for a few hours. We ended up on the main commercial strip with the beach beside it.

The commercial area was chock full of souvenir shops & arcades & the beach was packed with people. We walked on the boardwalk for a short distance & found a restaurant on one of the piers that served ice cold beer. That hit the spot after being out in the sun but I had to limit myself to one as I was driving.

After that adventure we worked our way back to the marina. Chris stayed there for a little rest before dinner & I headed to the local Walmart for some more provisions. I stopped for a few minutes to browse at one of the upscale tourist shopping hot spots that I found along the way.

Cheers everyone!

Here’s a short video of part of the trip we took today

https://youtu.be/puEK5eEE5bY

Cheers!

33°48′6″ N 78°44′49″ W

We left Georgetown at 7:00am this morning & arrived in North Myrtle Beach at 2:00pm. We made much better time than we expected.

We spent the past 2 nights in Georgetown. We had originally planned on spending only one night there but thunderstorms were forecast for yesterday so we decided stay put & wait for better weather.

We took on a few improvement projects. Chris installed a new backsplash in the galley.

I hooked up a new monitor cable to the upper helm station so I no longer have to takes the laptop computer up there & expose it to the weather. It can now remain inside the main cabin where it is always safe & dry.

This morning started as usual with Chris in charge of the coffee while I tended to the engine. I strap a little spotlight to my head and take a deep dive. It’s not too bad when the engine is cold but very dicey when the engine has been running all day & is still extremely hot.

No need for me to take hot yoga classes while on board because I have to fold up in order to get at the engine & transmission dipsticks.

This morning was beautiful & the sun was shining brightly as we left the dock in Georgetown.

After traveling about 30 minutes we entered the river that ultimately leaded to Myrtle Beach. Some of the scenery was very different from what we have been looking at south of Georgetown. Trees are growing out of the water & there is very little exposed shoreline.

After the river section we entered a canal that took us the rest of the way to Myrtle Beach.

Many bridges cross over the canal but the clearance is 65 feet so we don’t have anything to worry about. The top of our “mast” is just 25 feet above the water.

However, as we neared Myrtle Beach we did encounter on bridge with less than 20 feet clearance but the bridge opens upon request.

I will see several more of these before the trip is done.

This morning I shot a brief video of our river trip. I will try to post it on the blog site. The video was taken around the following location: 33°39′29″ N 79°4′59″ W

If you copy & paste those coordinates into Google Maps you will see the spot where we were.

We have decided to stay in Myrtle Beach for several days. Chris will be flying home from here on Sunday & another friend of mine from New Brunswick will be coming in the same day to continue the journey with me. So we will be land tourists for a few days & who knows, we may even play a round of golf. There are over 120 golf courses in this area

Cheers everyone!

33°21′46″ N 79°17′0″ W

We arrived in Georgetown last evening at 6:00pm, an 11 hour trip from where we started out just south of Charleston.

The Harborwalk Marina in Georgetown is right at the edge of the town’s main commercial area, so there’s very easy access to restaurants & stores.

I copied the photo above from my Atlantic ICW 2017 Waterway Guide book. I like these features in the boating reference books because if you have never been to a place before then it helps you better understand where you are going & what to expect.

Whenever we arrive in a port there often is a strong current so you have little or no opportunity to stop & figure out where you are going to tie up. Fortunately most marinas have great staff & dockhands who are always ready to guide you in the last few feet & catch your lines.

The trip from Charleston was very pleasant with a combination of rivers, canals & occasional bays & inlets leading to the Atlantic Ocean that connect the rivers & canals together.

Our usual routine each morning is to have some coffee & OJ before leaving the dock & then Chris rustles up some breakfast while I navigate the first part of the day’s journey.

Yesterday morning I had a real treat!

I’m sure gonna miss Chris when he heads home next Sunday.

Over the years Chris & I have worked out our roles & routines. I look after the chartplotting, setting up our navigation plan for each day, the engine & other technical & mechanical matters. Chris looks after the galley, handles the fenders & dock lines & shares the helm duties with me. He likes to cook & he’s a very good chef so I think that I have the better end of the bargain. He’s happy because if I was the chef the meals are much simpler. For some reason he’s not fussy about eating Spam sandwiches or canned tuna & Minute Rice wraps!

As we approached Georgetown we came out of a canal & crossed Winyah Bay & then up the Sampit River. It was interesting to exit the canal where our lines of sight to port & starboard were somewhat limited & then be on a much larger body of water where we could see much further.

While on the canal & the rivers yesterday we saw lots of pelicans & other “fishing” bird species, dolphins & Chris even saw a few alligators resting along the muddy shoreline. Even at our slow rate of speed it’s still very hard to catch good photos of the abundant wildlife.

Last night when I was coming back to the boat from the marina showers I encountered a couple of locals out for an evening stroll. They stood still long enough for me to get a photo.

The weather forecast for today is for occasional thunderstorms so we have decided to stay in Georgetown another night. This also gives us an opportunity to do a few small maintenance tasks & projects that cannot be done while underway or while at anchor.

Weather permitting, early tomorrow morning we will head out for Myrtle Beach.

Cheers!

Oops! Forgot to add this to my previous post 🙀