We had decided to break up the long trip from Charleston to Southport into three shorter trips. Owen had taken off of work on Friday to get some miles behind us. We could have done this trip in two days, but our anchorages were so nice that I’m glad we did it this way.

In the couple miles before we go to our anchorage the night before, we heard a marina complaining to passersby that they were speeding through a no wake zone. We probably heard three or four boats called out in a relatively short time. So when we got to our anchorage, we looked up where that marina was so we would not be hollered at (and because we like to be courteous boaters and not speed through no wake zones).

We got to that marina early in our trip and toodled along at the slowest of idle speeds. Meanwhile, a fishing boat whizzed by from the other direction. Oh well. We tried. It really makes sense to go slow passing by these small ICW marinas. There really is no protection for boats tied up there.

We passed so many beautiful homes today, large, small, and in between. People are so fortunate to call this beautiful area home!

Along the way, we cruised through the intimidating-sounding area: The Rock Pile. Guess why it’s called that? Yep. Exactly for that reason.

Owen had read all about it before we left, and he had written out the “Securite” message he was supposed to announce over the radio to alert southbound boaters that we were about to enter this long, narrow channel that leaves little room for error. We were going through on a rising tide, so we couldn’t see the rock in most places. Little boats with virtually no draft were zipping by us along the way.

Then, of course, we see a massive boat coming our way! I wouldn’t say we played chicken with it, but we passed within inches because neither of us was moving over. But that was the only Rock Pile drama we had. Knowledge really is power here, because Owen did a lot of reading about the area and found tips for passing through unscathed.

Boat traffic was crazy busy around Myrtle Beach. Lots of center consoles and very few Looper-style boats. We had to have one bridge opened for us, and that was easy as pie. Actually, making pie probably takes more effort than opening the bridge (for us today. I mean, building the bridge overall certainly took more effort than making a pie would. Even a from-scratch pie.).

Anchorages are few and far between in this area, and we planned to drop the hook in Calabash Creek, but there was a sailboat in it already in just about the spot I would have felt safe in. The rest of the spots seemed too close to the channel for me. Owen disagreed, but if one says no….them’s the rules.

So we found another anchorage, and we’re both so glad we did. We went over to Bird Island. It was packed with day boaters, and there were a couple boats like ours already there. We picked out spot, dropped the hook, and waited. Owen dropped the dinghy and went for a ride exploring the area. I sat on the back deck and read the book I’ve been trying to read for a month!

At this point, we realized that we had crossed into North Carolina. We could still see South Carolina, but we crossed the border a day earlier than expected. We also reached 4,000 miles on this segment! Lots of milestones!

The later in the day it got, the more boats left. By dinner time, there were just three or four boats left. We dinghied over to the island and went for a walk. There were a lot of dead jelly fish on the beach. Owen touched one with his foot (ew!), and it was much firmer than we expected. Later, we saw a guy pick one up and throw it frisbee-style into the water. I guess I didn’t expect it to hold its shape like it did. Learned something new…

We walked around until almost sunset before heading back to the boat. Our anchorage was quite bouncy when we arrived, but it was calm in the evening. Owen has taken to climbing up onto the top of the back of the boat to take his sunset pictures lately, so I caught a picture of the sunset near his feet.

The next morning, we decided to watch the sunrise over the ocean. We woke up super early and dinghied over to the island. We walked along the beach until the we saw the sunrise. I love, love, love getting to do these things with Owen, and this was such a beautiful morning.

On the way back, we stopped at the Kindred Spirit mailbox and left a note. It would have been a nice, romantic moment, but the bugs were NUTS by this particular spot. It ended up being a “Hurry up, do what you gotta do, take a picture, and get out of there!” moment.

We had a very short run to our next stop, St. James Marina, near Southport, North Carolina. We pulled in to the fuel dock for fuel and a pump out, and we were given a great slip right near the entrance to the marina. It’s a small, protected marina with a fantastic staff!