Barefoot Marina, North Myrtle Beach

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's) 

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 26 - April 26, 2017

We got up super early (for us) at Five Fathom Creek, had coffee and toast, and were on our way by 7:30 a.m.  We are well on our way on our mission to get to Newport, North Carolina, just past Swansboro, by Sunday! Only 120 more miles to go. We are now at Barefoot Marina in North Myrtle Beach and kudos to Jimmy, the dockmaster here! We phoned in for a reservation, and told him we would probably not arrive until 6:30 p.m. He said the marina closes at 5:00 p.m., but he gave us his cell number, we called when we were close, and he was waiting on the dock to tie us up and register us! Barefoot Marina gets 5 stars from us!

Typical ICW shoreline from Five Fathom Creek to Myrtle Beach

Baxter is a really heroic dog. The last time he was on land was at Charleston. There was no place to land him at Five Fathom Creek, and he managed to hold everything until we got here! We would not have blamed him in the least if he had done his duty in the cockpit, we would have picked up poop and used our raw water washdown on pee, but he held it. He must have been incredibly uncomfortable. In fact, the whole way from Steamboat Creek to here, not counting the marina at Charleston, the South Carolina shorelines of the ICW are incredibly inhospitable to landing pets. We checked every single potential anchorage all along the way in Active Captain, each one said "No shore access." 

Much of the way it is marsh with grass and reeds in standing water, but from Five Fathom Creek to here, it was trees submerged in water. There was simply no way at any spot to get a dog to some semblance of solid ground in a kayak! Baxter was SO relieved (literally as well as figuratively) when we got here and he was able to go up to the grass! He got extra praise from us!

Along the way the value of Garmin Blue Chart with Active Captain was once again demonstrated in spades! We came to a swing bridge, and were uncertain if we could get under it, so we stopped and looked at the Active Captain entry for this bridge. High water clearance of 11 feet - we could not get under it. We require at least 12 feet, and Patty does not feel comfortable unless we have 14 feet. Disaster averted. I was about to call the bridge tender on channel 9 when a horn sounded and the bridge opened. I called the bridge tender to thank him for the opening, and we had a nice little conversation. Per usual protocol, he asked what our home port was. I told him it was Blaine, Washington. He said "You're going the wrong way, aren't you Captain?" I think he was a little bit amazed to see us here!

There is a nice Canadian couple, Jeff and Judy, from Midland, Ontario, docked just in front of us flying an AGLCA burgee. The boat is Just Fakin' It, a big Carver. Odds are pretty good that we will see them more along the way, because they travel at about our speed, and are going the same direction, at least to Lake Ontario. Jeff says the boat name refers to the fact that he is legally blind but pilots the boat from the flying bridge anyway!

The fluid extractor pump is ordered from Amazon and will be delivered to Benton and Ann Blaylock's home, and since it is Prime, it will get there before we do. We won't use it for this service, but it will be a good thing to have for down the line.  Everything is pretty much arranged for our visit. This started as a request for help for service, but I think it will be the beginning of a pretty neat C-Brat friendship. Benton was pretty funny, he asked a number of questions. Dietary requirements? None, we eat pretty much everything except pickled pig's feet. What do we like to drink? Gin and tonic pre-dinner, and I like a bourbon nightcap and we have plenty of barstock on board. Cigars? We don't smoke. Sodas? We don't drink sodas but we like club soda with a slice of lemon. He said he was just testing us! We match up right down the line, except he likes one cigar with his nightcap!  Ann has been trying to find a groomer who can do Baxter, who is seriously in need of a grooming, no luck so far, but there are a couple of other possibilities. Damn, we love C-Brats and we love our C-Brat friends!

One last rant, and I will sign off for today. I am getting sick and tired of big boats who do not know the passing protocol. A boat that wants to pass another boat on the ICW usually radios the slower boat and says "I would like to pass you on your port side." The slower boat usually responds "Thank you, Captain, I will slow down and move over." The faster boat usually then says "I will do a slow pass." The pass is accomplished, and thank yous and acknowledgments are exchanged. All too often in the last few days, though, I have looked over and seen a huge yacht charging up on us WAY too close going hellbent for leather with no advance communication and we get waked so bad our fillings come loose. One boat that did this to us was docked in Charleston. I was shocked to see when I walked over to look that this boat had an AGLCA burgee. I want to get on the VHF and straighten them all out, but Patty always restrains me. I suppose it wouldn't do any good, other than to make me feel better!