We covered 101 miles today. After leaving Wacca Wachee Marina, at 8:25 AM, we headed north up the Waccamaw River to catch the 9:15 AM scheduled opening of the Socastee Bridge. With our speed slowed by “no-wake zones”, we entered the notorious “rockpile”, a narrow four mile-long stretch of the ICW hewn from rocks – you don’t want to drift off the center of the waterway during the transit.
At noon, after waiting fifteen minutes, we passed through the unusual Sunset Beach Bridge – a floating bridge which raises both roadways and rotates ninety degrees on a cable. Passing boaters have to wait until the cable drops to the bottom before passing through.
Our poor luck still held as we followed a low tide northward, hitting the various inlets at low water levels. At the Shallotte Inlet, a known ICW shallow spot, we passed the lowest point with two feet of bottom clearance, also playing “leapfrog” with two towboats. One captain decided to ground the barge he was pushing to allow the other to pass, knowing that the other Captain would scrape bottom and make his passage easier. Smart guys and their language is very colorful!
Passing Southport, we entered the Cape Fear River and followed it northward to Snows Cut, a one-mile land passage with nearly four knots of adverse tidal current. Just like riding astern of a towboat, the rushing waters pushed us left and right, making steering a challenge in the narrow channel.
A bit after 4:15 PM, we moored in Wrightsville Beach’s Seapath Yacht Club. We took a salt-spray bath in the Cape Fear River. After rinsing the boat and connecting the cable TV, our friend, Jose Cuervo, came to visit. Kathy then cooked a delicious pork chop, rice and mixed vegetable dinner.
Ebb Tide II underway
