Post #86: Shrimp, Schooners and Stormy Weather

Saturday, November 6 to Monday, November 8, 2021

Once we were securely tied to the face dock at Hazzard’s Marina, David and I donned our down vests, fleeces, and heavy rain gear and walked to our favorite fish market, Independent Seafood.  No frills, no fuss, just scrumptious, “right off the boat” fresh shrimp and fish to fill our freezer.

Although Georgetown (pop. 8600) is still a fishing port, for many years it has also relied on the lumber trade. We learned from our visit to the South Carolina Maritime Museum that, “When Georgetown was established in 1733, coastal South Carolina was covered in virgin forests of longleaf pine, cypress, and live oak... By the 1850’s, longleaf southern pine was considered essential by commercial shipbuilders for the planking and decking of wooden ships, most of which were built in Maine…By 1880, most of the commercial wooden sailing ships…were three and four-masted schooners, competing with iron-hulled steamships to haul freight along the east coast of the US. Annually, between 1890 and 1920, hundreds of wooden schooners sailed into Georgetown to load lumber at the Atlantic Coast Lumber Company…. (The) last commercial wooden sailing schooners were built during WWI…and by 1939 most of the longleaf pine trees in South Carolina were gone.”

Cotton bales and cypress shingles being unloaded from a river steamer in the early 1900s.

Harvesting lumber still plays a large part in Georgetown’s economy as International Paper Company constructed in 1937 what was then the largest paper mill in the world. Since the port is no longer dredged (stopped in 2016), cargo no longer is shipped from Georgetown.  But the paper mill still employs 700 workers and makes “fluff pulp” for hygiene products and the wallboard tape that likely is attached to your walls!

The rain started up just as we left the museum.  Fortunately our modern “foulies” were more comfortable than this waterproof diver’s suit, featured in the exhibit about diving shipwrecks.

The museum also featured a low-tech but very interesting map tracking the hurricanes that have occurred this year.  Though not a named storm, we were glad to be tied up securely as the wind howled; the fenders squealed, wedged between the boat and the dock; the mast and rigging shook; the bow, spring and aft lines moaned; and the river thwapped against the sides. Time to turn on the heater and snuggle up with a good book and a warm cup of soup.