Part B: Wednesday, October 28
Just in case we had not spent all that time looking at weather apps, Mother Nature sent us a message in no uncertain terms that with a “red sky in the morning; sailors take warning.” Got it, Mom.
The early morning rays lit up the trees and marsh reeds along the shore:
This waterman and his friend were trying their luck at fishing with a net, casting it into the air so it spreads out then sinks into the water. They hauled it back in together.
As we got closer to Holden and Ocean Isle Beaches, more and more residential development took over. There were long colonies of oceanfront homes (many on stilts) and along canals dredged from the ICW (like you may have seen in Florida). They look like they have great views, but no protection from the tropical storms and hurricanes of the Atlantic. I can’t help but wonder what insurance company would possibly underwrite these homes (or the “drystack” storage facility pictured below) and then my friend Liz reminded me that we all, as taxpayers, contribute to subsidize home flood insurance through FEMA. Something about all this just doesn’t make sense to me.
And then we heard it: “Securite, Securite, Securite.” “All stations. All stations. All stations.” “This is United States Coast Guard sector Charleston, NC.”... At xx:xx time the Coast Guard received notice that the swing bridge at the Soccastee River is closed due to mechanical problems until further notice. All mariners are requested to transit the area with caution.”
I quickly consulted the cruising guide and my paper charts to check whether the Osprey Marina was before or after the Soccastee Bridge.
Rats. The bridge is at Mile Marker 371 and the marina at Mile Marker 373. Not the answer we’d hoped for.
Now began the scramble to find a suitable marina that would provide protection from the storm, that could accommodate our length and draft, AND actually have an opening available. I had that sinking feeling in my stomach akin to learning that your flight’s been cancelled and you’re going to miss your connection. Ugh.
After an hour or so, I did find another marina as a back up plan in case the Soccastee wasn’t fixed by late afternoon. So we breathed a sigh of relief and enjoyed the changing scenery as we headed towards Myrtle Beach, SC, and beyond.
Huge condo complexes: 
Modest homes on the shore:
Not-so-modest homes on the shore:
Dockside Village shopping and dining area in North Myrtle Beach with free dockage although few people were there and no boats:
Gorgeous trees and untouched shoreline, including the one area so far where we have seen rocks. In fact, it’s such a rare occurrence that there are warning signs! Can you imagine how many of these signs we’d need along the New England coast????
The radio cackled with reports that the Soccastee Bridge was open again. Yay! So I canceled our Plan B marina and we continued on. The swamp foliage got denser and the houses even closer to the water level. We’ll be glad to finally get to Osprey Marina and hole up for a few days.
I'm curious to hear about the storm. Did you end up having a lot of rain and wind from Zeta?
ReplyDeleteWe actually had no rain and the dense forest around the marina kept the wind down. However, we heard reports from other boats slightly to the north of us enduring 40-50 knot winds, dragging anchors, and swing bridges that were closed when the wind was over 25 knots. Some ugly stories.
ReplyDeleteTonight we’re in an anchorage right next to the open ocean, expecting a cold front to pass by overnight, with gusts to about 30 kts. Gale warning posted. So we’ve let out lots of chain, wrapped line around the mainsail cover to keep it from flapping, removed anything that could blow away, and turned on the anchor alarm - which uses the GPS coordinates of the anchor and the amount of chain we have out - to track the boat’s movements and emit an audible alarm if Onward strays outside a 200 foot circle with the anchor at the center of the circle.