Wilimington, NC to Myrtle Beach, SC

Barge and Tug in fog


This guy gets all the room he wants

What started out to be a calm quiet day, turned rather interesting quickly. We left Wilmington with overcast skies that soon turned to pea soup fog. Visibility was terrible. On top of that, we were in an area where there is heavy barge and ferry traffic. We would hear loud horn blasts, and shortly thereafter, we would finally see the barge coming very close to the boat. Bob could see what looked like the barges on his radar, so was able to prepare for them, and he continually sounded our horm back to let them know we were there.

Then, on top of that, a Coast Guard patrol boat came screaming up alongside us with an armed machine gun operator at the bow. Turned out they only wanted us stay to the right of the channel so that they could do a training exercise ahead. We then saw three more armed patrol boats escorting a larger Coast Guard boat through the fog. Given that we couldn't see anything ahead, it was quite a shock to be approached with the armed boat. I didn't try and take any photos of that experience.

Then, we came to a place in the ICW where a new bridge was being built. There was a working platform in the middle of the channel with a huge crane. A barge was tied to it with huge concrete spans that were to be lifted into place. It was too narrow to pass on the right, and barely wide enough to pass on the left in water only 5 feet deep. A sailboat ahead of us had been afraid to try it because of the depth. We did make it through just fine.(So, the sailboat followed us after we made it.) If we had to wait for the span to be lifted so they could move the barge, we would not have made Myrtle Beach that night.

The last challenge was navigating through the area called the "rockpile." It is an area that had been blasted through rock. The bottom and shoreline are not "boat friendly."


Sample of the "Rockpile"

Three photos are of an interesting bridge known as a "pontoon" bridge. The center section floats our of the way to open and goes up and down with the tide. That means if you are crossing it in a car, you will either be going up and over or down and over to cross. Sad to say, this bridge is going to be replaced by a "standard" type bridge along with many others on the ICW. It makes for easier passing for cars and boats, but it does take away the "charm."







We went through fog and rain off and on the rest of the day. Captain Bob was ready for his cocktail when we docked.

We stopped for the night at Barefoot Landing Marina, right next to a large shopping and restaurant complex and met my son Mike, and his family for dinner. We also played Santa and delivered the rest of the Christmas packages we had on board. It was great to see them. Casey is now a senior in high school and being courted by several colleges. Riley is growing like a weed and I expect him to be almost as tall as I am when we pass through in next June on our way home.


Suppose they don't like their neighbors?