To Wrightsville Beach

I departed at 9am on Saturday morning.  Waited for a Commercial ship to pass before entering the channel.

The current was against me.  It was supposed to turn around at 11ish, but I had turned towards Wrightsville, and it seemed the current there was different.  

I motor-sailed with the jib set for a run until I turned off the tributary for Wrightsville, which was more prudent, and with great caution, I decided to furl the jib.   Good thing.  It  was a good run,

At MM 283, USACE and Bob423 clearly showed that the channel was shoved.  I saw a sailboat, Le Vent, try to go through it, and I wanted to radio her to be careful.  She ran aground and turned around.  I exited the channel at the port and then cut through the channel to the other side, clearing the shoals.  I was very obvious with Aquamap.  I guided Le Vent through it.  Love You, Aquamap.

There was shoaling in the channel at Mile Marker 293.  Bob423 is on the blue track.  The red track was Bellum.

It was 25 miles to Wrightsville Beach and another 30 miles to Hemlock Bay. There were no real safe anchorages that I could find, so I anchored at Wrightsville Beach at 2PM.  It was blowing 20 knots.  There was a great 420 regatta.

I dropped the dinghy and went to the dinghy dock and walked 4 km to the Food Lion, had a Wendy’s Bacon burger, *double bought beer and some groceries and walked back to the dinghy dock.

The next day was very windy, and I was tire,d so I spent Sunday at anchor doing some boat repair and cleaning I tried to lubricant the throttle and shifter below the compass, but the steel screws were seized to the binnacle casting   I got two of the four screws off and then dropped one screw down the cockpit drain   Supper was Salmon

On Monday, it was windy but calmed down, and I tried to get to Hammock Bay, 30 miles  North.  The Wrightsville bridge warned us we might have to wait at Figure 8. The bridge would only open if the winds calmed down. It should be fine.  I went about two miles, and there was a 40-ish sailboat aground on the channel.  She obviously did not have Aquamap, which clearly shows the proper track. This might have been the same guy on the radio earlier who was at the fuel dock asking for the Figure 8 bridge phone number because his VHF was not working.  A towboat was there  

The channel was obviously shoaling

I arrived at the Figure 8 bridge, and the winds picked up after 40 minutes of doing circuits. I gave up and returned to the Wrightsville Bridge   

The ride back was a little rough, with the wind in my face.

On the way back, the grounded boat was anchored in the middle of the channel about 1000 feet north of the shoaling  

A Storm Watch was announced.  I decided to anchor anyway.  Today’s trip was from 10:30 to 3PM  

Little River to Southport at anchor at Tina’s Pocket

Got up early, but it was too foggy to depart.  At 8:30, I motored to the Ocean, and at about 10:30, the winds picked up, starting in a light close-hauling, changing to abeam, and eventually turning off the motor.  

The winds reached 12 knots and were quite rolly.  I was not feeling very well.  

At 3, the winds were astern, and I started the motor and put the sails away.  The winds were close to what was forecasted. 

I motored into Southport and decided it was too windy and shallow for me.  It would have been a nice place to spend Friday night.  I motored another two miles to anchor at Tina’s Pocket, a large anchorage area near MM 305.

To Little River

 I got up early.  At night I heard the bilge pump run.  It ran twice.  I checked the shaft packing and she was leashing a lot. Tightened it and departed up the Waccamaw River to Barefoot bridge at 12:15, missing the noon opening and the next opening was at 2PM.  I kinda expected this and pulled into the free Day Dock at Barefoot.  I dropped my gargbage and tried to update my iDevices at LULU’s but the Internet was very slow.  I had lunch, pumped out the water in the dinghy and departed for the 2PM opening which was on time.  

Motor and motor sailed to the inlet at Little River and anchored near Bird Island

The next day looks like a south wind which should provide a good bear reach on the outside for 25 miles.  

Waccamaw River north of Enterprise Creek

 Departed Minim northbound.  

I achieved a lot of motor sailing in close haul and with the current, regularly reaching over 7 knots SOG.  I went by Georgetown but didn’t stop. 

I decided to furl the jib to go through the Ocean Highway (Lafayette) Bridge.

Chicken shit

I keep motor sailing to 

Wacca Wache Marina and bought 17.78 gallons of diesel, including refilling the Jerry can.  

I motored another 5 miles to anchor at MM 375.  There are no more anchorages for the next 30 miles. 

Minim creek

I departed at 9:30, aiming to reach Georgetown 42 nm away, which was ambitious.  I ended up at Minim Creek - about 10 miles short.  Very isolated.  Did not put out the anchor light.  It was isolated and challenging to get into. 

I did refuel from the Jerry Can while underway.  

Church Creek to Isle of Palm

 I got up early and departed at 8:00 AM to catch the slack water at Elliot Cut, which was expected around 10:00 AM.  

The currents were in my favour and then against me, and I made it to Elliot Cut at 10:20, which was fine and easy.  But I missed the opening of the Wappoo Creek bridge by 10 minutes.  I decide to anchor at Wappoo Creek for 40 minutes to rest and have lunch.  I did a lunch anchorage and did not seriously test it.  When I did weigh anchor, it was heavy.  I had snagged a 44 LB original Ronna in excellent condition.

I went out and did the Wappoo Creek bridge, motoring in a very shallow channel and almost missing the bypass at MM 460.5. I then turned back to complete the loop.  I had also accidentally turned off USACE charts.  

I motored further and motor-sailed for 15 minutes until the wind died. The channel was pretty straight, and the winds were a beam from the ocean,  

At 3 PM, I decided to call it quits and entered White Creek at MM 451.  We had stayed here with the Rally, but I did not remember much of it. It looked like the safest anchorage round.  Like the entire area around Charleston, the tides are 5-6 feet high.  However, in the creek, there is no change in the currents, which is one of my fears.

As I anchored, MY Radar, ACCUWEATHER and the VHF announced Thunderstorm Watch… Not warnings.

Norm suggested I tie down the solar panels. I used stretch wrap to tie them down.

Also, I broke my prescription glasses.

Beaufort to Church Creek

I got up early at 8 to catch the current so it would be in my favour.  It did work for a while, but with such a long run, parts of the trip would be fighting the current.  

My plan was to anchor at Streamboat Landing.  I arrived at 3 and decided to go further, and I ended up at Church Creek by 5 pm.   

I had put out my jib, and at MM 491 was a barge that appeared to be approaching so I sailed to past port to port   It looked like she was not giving me much space and I steered to the starboard, ending up in a dead end and had to tack to avoid grounding   It turned out the barge was anchored!

Got to Church Creek at 5 with 9.5 hours on the Yanmar. The day was overcast. The anchorage was infested with these minor, gnat-like bugs that I’ve been seeing recently.

I woke up early at 8 AM to take advantage of the current, and it worked in my favour for a while.  However, with such a long journey, there were parts where I had to fight against the current.

My original plan was to anchor at Streamboat Landing, and I arrived there at 3 PM. After some consideration, I decided to continue further and ended up at Church Creek by 5 PM.

While sailing, I unfurled my jib, and at mile marker 491, I noticed a barge that seemed to be approaching. I sailed past, keeping port-to-port distance. It looked like the barge wasn’t giving me much room, so I steered to starboard, but that led me into a dead-end where I had to tack to avoid grounding. Eventually, I realized that the barge was actually anchored!

I reached Church Creek at 5 PM with 9.5 hours logged on the Yanmar. The day was overcast, and the anchorage was plagued by small, gnat-like bugs that I’ve been encountering lately.