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Log 111: Saving Our Souls at Bird Island

Crew Log for April 19th – 20th, 2023


Trip Summary:

• Georgetown - Bird Island (Sunset Beach)

• Trip Distance of 63.9 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 3,964.7 NM


We woke to clear sunny skies, but the air was definitely “cooler”. A nice spring day. The Indian music from the construction site was replaced with American 70’s and 80’s pop rock. I think I liked the Indian music better!


There is a pulp mill across the creek from the marina which the locals refer to as New Year since it is well lit up at night. The prevailing wind was blowing over the marina which meant we were in the direct path of the smell, but the boat was completely covered with fine white soot, I assume from the mill. I also wondered if we were breathing that stuff in.


Our time in Georgetown was brief, although we decided to delay our departure until 1000 hours to take advantage of the incoming current in the Waccamaw River. We were headed to Bird Island, which is right on the border of South and North Carolina, and one of our favorite anchorages. It was over 60 nautical miles from Georgetown, which was likely beyond what we can do in a day, so we decided to make a pitstop in Wacca Wache Marina. While we waited, Judy made a run to the fresh fish market in Georgetown, for some shrimp and flounder.




I really like this section of the ICW. It is nice and wide and the trees come right to the edge of the water. It is generally very peaceful and quite relaxing, as far as you can truly relax on the ICW. Of course, there is always that one idiot in a big power boat, who charges past throwing a wake in all directions.




We have finally given up saying anything on the radio and have simply turned the other cheek and quietly muttered insults under our breath. However, we got waked pretty bad headed to Wacca Wache and did “explain” to the captain that his, or her, actions were potentially dangerous. For the next half hour, we heard other boats voice similar complaints, and marinas complaining that the speeding boat ignored posted no wake signs. Finally someone, who obviously felt enough is enough, radioed the Coast Guard and local Sheriff to report the reckless behavior, although I expect whoever it was long gone by that point.


A trawler slowly approached us. It was a Canadian boat, Red Rover. An all-too-common practice that can get a tad annoying, is for the approaching boat to radio and ask if they can pass you. It’s annoying since they are going to pass you regardless, and if there are several boats ahead or behind us, we would have listened to the request multiple times. I resisted the urge to get on the radio and say, “Red Rover, Red Rover…send…whatever boat was following them…right over”.


There is nothing amazing or note worth about Wacca Wache Marine, other than it is a convenient stop right on the ICW and, they sell cheap diesel. Unfortunately, we only need 15 gallons, but we saved a bit of money. The last time we were here, the Manager asked if we had gotten to the beach. We weren’t aware that we were close to a beach, so we thought we’d Uber over this time and check it out. At least that was the original “plan”.


We arrived at early afternoon and planned to leave early the next morning, so we had a limited amount of time for exploring. As we were waiting for our Uber, a lady who said she and her husband had just spent the morning cleaning their pontoon boat, joined us on the deck. Given she was a local, we asked what she’d suggest we do with the limited amount of time we had. She yelled down to her husband, who said, “definitely the Boardwalk…definitely…”. He seemed pretty certain.


Now, in the interest of full disclosure, Judy wanted to go to the beach. I honestly thought the “boardwalk” was a hike through some nature reserve. Given we’d just been on a beach and would be on another one tomorrow, and the confidence our local tourist advisors had in recommending the “boardwalk”, I unilaterally decided to go with the local advice.


Unless you are quite familiar with the source, asking some stranger for advice on anything, is a potentially risky move. My clue that this was a bad idea was when our advisor said, “…I’ve spent hundredths of thousands of dollars down there…”. He must be a real nature lover.


My second clue that this was a bad idea, was the hesitation of the Uber driver when I explained that we were wanting to go to the boardwalk and not the beach. She asked if we wanted to start at one end, and walk to other, or whether we wanted her to drop us somewhere in the middle. We love nature so, drop us at one end and we’ll enjoy the entire experience.


However, after more than 40 years of marriage, the only clue I really needed, was that Judy had initially said, she would like to go to the beach. OK, we can all agree, I messed up, and thankfully Judy limited her, “I told you so…” to a couple of times.



It turns out, the “Boardwalk” at Merrell’s Inlet, is not a nature walk. It is a boardwalk, but there is very little else about it that is “natural”. It runs along a series of creeks and is a continuous line of bars and restaurants, fishing charter businesses and jet ski rental shops. Given it was mid week in April, it was relatively quiet, but judging from the size of the double decker party barges, this place is a happening spot. If either Judy or I were to describe our least favorite place to spend the afternoon, the Boardwalk at Merrell’s Inlet would be it. Given its obvious popularity, I expect we’re in the minority.



We did walk from one end to the other, and back again, and did walk out on the long pier that went out into the wetland to try and salvage something out of the experience. We meant a group of students from marine sciences program who were enthusiastically collecting samples around the docks, including a giant cannonball jelly fish. Apparently there is some nature here after all. And then a dozen jet skies went by.





Our friend refers to Myrtle Beach, which is not far away, as “Soul Sucking Myrtle Beach” and I am beginning to understand the label. Luckily Bird Island was on our agenda for tomorrow.


On the way back in the Uber, our driver explained to us that in addition to the “Boardwalk”, Myrtle Beach used to have over 100 golf courses. There were now about 80, but that is still, a lot of golf courses. Judging by the development, I expect those 20 golf courses were replaced with condos and rental units.


Before we left Wacca Wache, we met the Captain on mv Domino Effect, who earlier in the day filled Elizabeth M with water as he hosed off his decks. I noted he was flying his “looper flag” signifying they had completed the Great American Loop. When I asked him about it, he said “he” likely won’t do the loop, but the “boat” had. It turns out, he had just bought the trawler in Florida and was taking it back to Ontario where it would become a floating cottage.


However, flying the looper flag, without actually ever doing the Great Loop, is like wearing an Olympic Gold medal that came with the used skis that you bought on eBay. The skis were in the Olympics, but you weren’t! Seems a tad deceptive to me.


There was a bit more life around the marina in April than there had been last November, when we stopped on the way down. However, I was surprised at how few transient boats there were. Seems less boats are making the migration back, than made the trip down. It made for a nice quiet evening.


The evenings are still chilly here, which meant everything was wet from a heavy dew in the morning. The weather was warm and sunny and there was a slight breeze. We got off the dock quietly just after 0630 hours and headed towards Bird Island.


We initially struggled with the currents, which really slowed our progress. However, right around the Little River Inlet, the boat speed jumped to 7 knots and we were smiling again. We carefully navigated our way through the cut towards the Bird Island anchorage and immediately could see there were a lot more people here than there were last fall. The beach was dotted with center consoles and jet skis and there were groups of people on the beach.



It did make me wonder however, who these people were. It was a Thursday afternoon in April, and there were large groups of “younger than us old retirees” hanging out on the beach. Maybe they were all working “remotely”. Whatever the case, it was a great way to spend Thursday afternoon.


We made our way over to the ocean side and walked down the beach towards the community of Sunset Beach. There were a number of walkers and a few people on bikes. On our way back, we stopped and talked to 2 of those bikers, Reid and Diane. I had asked them about biking on the sand flats and reiterated a comment our friend Jim, who owns a bike shop in Wrightsville made when I asked him about driving a bike on the sand flats. “Yah, they’ll rust and the sand is hard on the gears”. Which of course was good news for Jim. He could sell you a new bike. It did look like a great place to drive a bike though!



Reid and Diana had retired to Sunset Beach, from Charlotte, North Carolina. Diane was born in Newfoundland and lived in Texas and Charlotte, NC. Reid lived in Charlotte for 40 years but travelled extensively with his job as a mechanical engineer. He also was a former windsurfer. Reid and Diana have 9 grandchildren! I always find it frustrating to randomly meet folks like Reid and Diana, who we obviously share many common interests with, and have cut the conversation off in order to get back to the boat, and in Reid and Diana’s case, bike back to Sunset Beach. Hopefully, we'll run into each other again.


As the sun started to go down the jet skis and center consoles headed back and we once again found ourselves in this incredibly beautiful anchorage on our own, aside from a trimaran that came in later that evening. We would have loved to stay here for another day, but the forecast on the weekend was not looking great. Thunder and lightening with lots of wind.


We planned to shelter in Carolina Beach for a couple of days, where, yes, we visit another beach!


But more about that, next time.


Additional Photos:











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