When we woke up on Tuesday morning in Georgetown, the wind had shifted and was blowing the stench of the paper mill right into our hatches. We could barely drink our coffee without "blowing cookies." We left at 7:45 to run on the high tide up the Waccamaw River. It was so deep and wide that the tide didn't really matter. It was a really beautiful run with almost no civilization in sight.
Linda got out her elastic bands and did exercises and then decided that she should practice a little yoga while underway. When we arrived at the Grand Dunes Marina in North Myrtle Beach at midday, it was already hot. The wind was light and the afternoon high hit 86 degrees -- a record for that date in Myrtle Beach. We turned on the air conditioning and enjoyed it.
When we were tying up, the dock mistress said, " Well, we've got a little show going on for you down the dock." Turns out that a couple of "wild and crazy" Bulgarian guys had launched their newly purchased boat the day before and tied it off in this Marina. No one had explained to them that you need to put in the plug, so they tied the boat off and went to search for some American Babes at the local bar.
When we arrived TowBoat US was attempting to get the gunnels above the water so they could start their rescue pumps. There was also a diver helping and the Coast Guard was there in uniforms to file an incident report. The gold-chained Bulgarians were pacing madly about the boat on their cell phones yelling in broken English.
By cocktail hour, the little 19-footer was floating again and it was towed off to a repair shop to have the twin outboard engines flushed and repaired. Even our Chief Morale Officer couldn't cheer the Bulgarians up.
So, Linda and I glided up to the Marina Bar that overlooks the ICW to watch the second show of the day. The quality of the clientele has dropped since Hilton Head. There was some tragic women in search of hairy-legged soul mates. So we made our way down to Ruth's Chris Steak House for a good artery-clogging steak. I mean, we've been eating nothing but fish and vegetables for a week so it was time to splurge.
On Wednesday morning we left Myrtle Beach to find North Carolina. But first we had to make it through the infamous "Rock Piles" of the ICW. At about 10:00 we had made it through this very narrow section with menacing rocks along the edges. I was glad we were doing it at high tide. We didn't meet or pass anyone, which was also a relief.
Just before lunch we passed into North Carolina. Of course we celebrated with a beverage! By 2:00 p.m. We were safe in our berth at the St. James Plantation Marina.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I feel for those two wild and crazy guys!
ReplyDelete