Dinghy, stuck in this position, ready to lift OB motor off.
Crane/Lift ceased operation at this elevation.
Cypress lined ICW in Northern South Carolina
Today the landscape changed dramatically. This northern part of the South Carolina ICW has changed to beautiful Cypress trees lining the waterway.
We stayed at Hazzard Marine which was the first marina on your starboard side. Georgetown is another beautiful stop but with a small town feeling. We loved riding through town admiring the meticulous landscaping at every home we passed and the rainbow of colored azaleas in full bloom. We road along a boardwalk checking out all the restaurants
I visited The Rice Museum which toured buildings dating back to 1842. The Kaminski building housed the Browns Ferry Vessel which is an 18th century cargo ship and is the oldest colonial vessel manufactured in the US. It has been carefully restored and declared the most important single nautical discovery in the United States by anthropologists worldwide. The roof of the museum had to be lifted off so the vessel could be lowered to the exhibit area. The ship is the oldest on exhibit in the US predating all other ships by 50 years.
The labor intensive crop of rice was grown successfully in South Carolina as early as 1680. By the early 18th century with the slave system established on a large scale, rice became a major crop export. Rice planting was extremely profitable. South Carolina’s tidal swamps were well-suited for rice and because of the seasons both rice and indigo crops could be grown using the same labor force.
Dinner was at the Goat Island Grill where we decided to eat inside because after the sun goes down it does get cool. Good food and nice people.
If we had read ahead in Skipper Bob’s book, before leaving Georgetown, we would have discovered marvelous anchorages (between MM 395 & MM 375) that are highly rated and we would have anchored for the night in lieu of staying at a marina Friday evening. We really had a big tide "push" all the way today to our current location; Osprey Marina at Myrtle Beach; MM373. We purchased fuel at Osprey Marina today @ $2.66 including the 10 cent Boat U.S discount. Nice marina for $1.00 @ foot, very quiet, friendly staff, small breakfast /lunch grille on site, however nothing else to reach by foot or bike.
This afternoon our plans were to launch the dinghy for a fun afternoon of searching out all of the beautiful waterways and backwaters of cypress lined trees. We had an unexpected failure in the crane/winch system leaving the dinghy stranded in the air, 6’ above the water line and smoke pouring out of the Crane stand tube. Tom immediately interrupted the power source that feeds the Crane/Lift. Needless to say that pretty much turned a very nice afternoon into dismantling the aft-stateroom so Tom could access everything necessary to get to the factory wiring inside the crane tube. We had to solicit a young maintenance man working on a nearby sport fisherman boat to help Tom remove the outboard motor (While it was hanging 6’ above the water line attached to the lifting cable) to make the inflatable light enough for the two of them to lift the inflatable so I could release the crane lifting eye. What chaos. The factory wiring failed/melted inside the crane stand pipe. Tom called Roskelley & Olsson (the manufacture) and they are shipping parts out Monday from Seattle to our future location in New Bern NC. Tom was able to re-route and rewire, temporarily, the wires that fed the crane through a stateroom window, make temporary connections to the motor, re-assemble the inflatable boat and lift the dinghy back up on top of the hardtop with the crane/lift. He then removed the temporary connections, re-assembled the aft-stateroom and everything looks like nothing happened after about three hours of very hard work. So glad he is mechanically inclined.
We were so hot, tired and sweaty, that we both just wanted a shower and light dinner aboard tonight and rest. Hope tomorrow is a less troublesome day. We are heading to Barefoot Landing at Myrtle Beach for a couple of days of R & R.
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