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!