Northbound ’19 – Travel Day 14: Charleston, SC – Myrtle Beach, SC

Conditions: Sun & Clouds, cold then cool. Winds NNW 5 – 10 mph, ICW calm.

Distance traveled: 102 statute miles

Time underway: 10 hours 6 minutes

Average Speed: 9 kts

Max Speed: 20.4 kts

Fuel used: 104 gallons

It was a beautiful morning for our pre-dawn departure (6:30 am) from St. Johns Yacht Harbor, albeit cold. It was the first morning of the trip where we turned on the heat. The decision for the early shove-off was made after careful calculations on hitting two more of the most notorious (we’ve said that a lot!) areas on the ICW where you need the tide in your favor – approaching Isle Of Palms just north of Charleston and McClellanville, a few dozen miles further north. This was to be Sean’s last day crewing with us and he has been the chief planner, tasked with working up the various scenarios on how we should time things out. He will be sorely missed.

Calm after the storm. St. Johns Yacht Harbor at 6:26 am.

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie…you’re off the docks too early! Sean readies the lines to shove off.

We arrived at each problem zone as scheduled and had no problem with our transit. Despite the fact that we have traveled some of these areas before, this trip has been very confidence-building in understanding that if you do your research, take your time and plan for the tides, you shouldn’t be intimidated by these “notorious” areas. As I always say, people with deeper drafts do it every day. [Cruisers Note: OLOH draws five feet. We reached the problem areas north of the Ben Sawyer Bridge in Charleston two hours fifteen minutes before high tide and transited McClellanville right at about high tide, carefully following Bob423’s routes].

The Captain makes passing arrangements and Jasper watches time pass by…

*Glory Days* is one of the few boats we came upon all day. Had a very nice chat with her Captain on the VHF. They’re bound for their home on Cape Cod where he is the Marine Trawler Owners Association Port Captain.

It was quite remarkable to us how we could travel for miles and miles and not see another boat. Perhaps traffic was light because of Easter Sunday but it was almost a bit odd as the migration season is certainly in full effect. We spent the majority of the day on the Waccamaw River with its wooded banks, lined with moss-draped cypress trees. It is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful stretches of the entire ICW.

This little casa is surrounded by marsh. There’s no way to get to it by car, only by boat.

Had to snap a shot of our chart plotter to show how it shows us in the middle of nothing but nature. And that we were listening to some of Captain Sean’s favorite music on his last day aboard.

This was a visually interesting moment in a fairly narrow stretch of the ICW where it looks like the waterway just ends. It did turn sharply to starboard (the right) about 100 yards after “green 43” but, for a moment, it looked like someone was playing a cruel joke on us with all of these channel markers and fake charts.

Jasper must have known Sean was leaving us because he kept trying to get close to him as we neared our destination.

Gourmet lunch underway. Tim’s fresh-caught Grouper Asian Wraps were simply spectacular. And you ask, how do you catch a Grouper Asian Wrap?

Once we realized that we would arrive at our intended destination of Georgetown, SC at 1:30, given the great weather and spirit of The Crew, we decided to press on after learning we could secure a slip at Osprey Marina in Myrtle Beach. It was a long day but we were safely tied at around 4:30, just before Sean’s girlfriend, Liz, showed up to drive with him back to Florida.

At a few spots amidst the nature of the waterway approaching Myrtle Beach, you start seeing these signs advertising Osprey Marina.

Once Jasper has his doggie vest on he knows we’re getting close to land and was very eager to help Sean with the lines!

Go too fast and you might miss it… Osprey Marina is approached through their private channel just past a sign advertising their fuel prices.

It literally looks like you are pulling into the woods!

We had recently been reading good things about Osprey Marina online with cruisers writing about what a nice place it is with a very friendly staff and incredibly cheap rates. $1.00 per foot! $5 for electric! We have NEVER experienced rates this low. And when marinas approach that price range you typically have to really lower your expectations. Not the case at Osprey. While it was a bit tight for our sixty feet as the marina was completely full, we got in and tied up at their fuel dock without issue. The staff couldn’t have been more accommodating and the place has a lot of charm. We’re very happy we landed here.

Jusssst enough room… Eager to accommodate us, the folks at Osprey Marina put us at their fuel dock as it was the only spot left that could handle OLOH.

That’s the fairway we came in. Not tight at all!

It’s definitely cozy but worry not, they know how to get you in and out without issue.

One of the best deals on the ICW and you *still* get all this stuff in your welcome pack. Plus breakfast!

Our friend Liz (Sean’s girlfriend) came to pick Sean up and brought us a few of our favorite things (and salmon snacks for Jasper) and some treats we didn’t know about. The Guide Beer was such a thoughtful choice — “Guide Beer is made in honor of guides. Those men and women who lead us to swift waters, into the shadows of tall trees, and through the unexplored terrain of ourselves. 11% of the profit from this beer will help guides who are no longer able to pursue their life’s work. ” Thanks, Liz! We love it and will be keeping in on board now!

This was our last stop with Captain Sean aboard. It was a remarkable experience having him join us for a part of our journey. Not only is he exceptional at any task given to him, his positive energy and zest for learning and new experiences are admirable.

One of the remarkable things we learned about him is he has an eagle eye…literally! On his time aboard, he spotted 32 eagles (some of which he got pictures of) – and all confirmed by the Admiral with the spy glasses. Sean has definitely earned the nickname, Eagle Eye Flynn! We’re planning on writing a post about him and we hope he’ll be contributing a post about his journey on OLOH with more great pictures that he has captured. Liz has written a post about her time aboard OLOH and we’ll be posting that soon as well. We thank Sean for joining us and Liz for helping make it happen! They both are now part of the OLOH family!

With a stop knocked off our list because of our long day we’ll have an easy run to the North Carolina border and Southport next. See you out there!

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