Ditch Daze
The run from Charleston to Beaufort NC (remember, in NC, it’s pronounced Bo-furt) has taken a few days. The first day was 91 miles in just over 7 hours from Charleston to Myrtle Beach. The second day was 81 miles in 6.75 hours from Myrtle Beach to Wrightsville Beach. The third day was 85.6 miles in 5.25 hours.
Typically, we have been traveling an easy pace of 50 to 60 miles, so these 3 days we were trying to put some water under the keel.
This part of the ICW has more development (houses with long piers into a narrow ditch) than anywhere else we’ve been so far. In this area, the ICW is nicknamed "The Ditch" because so much of the route is straight and narrow. The coastal area of North Carolina and northern South Carolina are vastly different from Georgia's beautiful expansive coastal marshes. In this section, lmost every waterfront with enough elevation for a building, and some that are clearly too low, have a house.
Since we have a house on the coast we feel a bit hypocritical to complain about the coastal development. Clearly, with sea level rise happening, a lot of property will be imperiled by the rising tide, if not also the potential for erratic and massive storms from a changing climate. Sad to see the equivalent of "strip development" along the waterways and beach fronts in coastal Carolinas.
A redeeming respite from the rampant development pattern are the areas under the management of the National Wildlife Refuge System, the Department of Defense, and a few federal and state conservation agencies. We became familiar with the DoD natural resources and environmental programs when we prepared several nomination packages for the Armed Service White Award for environmental and conservation stewardship and were very pleased that two of the bases we developed proposals for won the top honor. Hopefully, these areas will continue to be preserved, coincidental to national defense - a kind of "natural defense".
Yesterday, on the Cape Fear River, we passed by the Army Ocean Terminal where there were very large cranes on a wharf. The cranes looked like the elephant-shaped walkers from Star Wars. There are 45 bollards marked with Restricted Area signs around what turns out to be the largest ammunition port in the U.S. While not a natural area, it was pretty impressive.
Today, we came through an undeveloped area where Camp LeJeune conducts small-weapons firing and beach-landing exercises, just south of the New River inlet, without encountering any "live fire" exercises. And, we have been seeing helicopter sorties, as many as 5 at a time, and a Harrier jump jet hovering above the treelike.
Over the last couple of days, we traveled through Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge around McClellanville SC, and Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge north of Georgetown SC. It was very nice to travel through these natural areas, especially the cypress-lined Waccamaw River. Parts of the river remind us of the St. Marks River, but it is much longer. We have been sure to "stamp" our Blue Goose Passport that we've been to these refuges as well as the Savannah Coastal Refuges and ACE Basin NWR.
The ICW part of the Waccamaw River is fresh water but tidally influenced by the inlets on the north end at Myrtle Beach and the south end by Winyah Bay. We stayed at the Osprey Marina that is located in a small lake that was dredged in the 40s for fill then connected to the river by a cut channel in the 60s. The 3 people who worked there were very nice. They worked to make our overnight stay a pleasant one. The dockhand that helped with fuel and docking talked to us about his fishing vacations in recent years to Cedar Key and Apalachicola (that he enjoyed very much) and Tampa (not so much - too big). We got a goodie bag filled with Osprey Marina stuff like a pen, post-it notes, sunglasses leash, chip bag clip (all with Osprey Marina logos).
Boat traffic has been mostly local, with very few north or south bound cruising sailboats or trawlers. Arriving at Morehead City/Beaufort today, we discovered we had landed in the middle of an offshore fishing tournament. Consequently, no marina has space for us, so we had to travel a bit further up Adams Creek, where a quaint little marina and R/V park had a transient dock. A friendly staff and low rates were our reward for going the extra mile - or really, 10 miles. We're disappointed that we won't be able to explore Beaufort or Morehead City.
After washing the salt crystals and diesel soot off AQUAVIT, we grilled pork chops and sweet potato dinner on a cool balmy evening.
Our trip odometer hit 1200.7 nautical miles today. Tomorrow we'll be inside the Outer Banks, at Ocracoke Island.
6.7.2018
 |
| Wrightsville Beach, NC |
Typically, we have been traveling an easy pace of 50 to 60 miles, so these 3 days we were trying to put some water under the keel.
This part of the ICW has more development (houses with long piers into a narrow ditch) than anywhere else we’ve been so far. In this area, the ICW is nicknamed "The Ditch" because so much of the route is straight and narrow. The coastal area of North Carolina and northern South Carolina are vastly different from Georgia's beautiful expansive coastal marshes. In this section, lmost every waterfront with enough elevation for a building, and some that are clearly too low, have a house.
 |
| Some of Myrtle Beach looked more like Naples Port Royal |
Since we have a house on the coast we feel a bit hypocritical to complain about the coastal development. Clearly, with sea level rise happening, a lot of property will be imperiled by the rising tide, if not also the potential for erratic and massive storms from a changing climate. Sad to see the equivalent of "strip development" along the waterways and beach fronts in coastal Carolinas.
A redeeming respite from the rampant development pattern are the areas under the management of the National Wildlife Refuge System, the Department of Defense, and a few federal and state conservation agencies. We became familiar with the DoD natural resources and environmental programs when we prepared several nomination packages for the Armed Service White Award for environmental and conservation stewardship and were very pleased that two of the bases we developed proposals for won the top honor. Hopefully, these areas will continue to be preserved, coincidental to national defense - a kind of "natural defense".
Yesterday, on the Cape Fear River, we passed by the Army Ocean Terminal where there were very large cranes on a wharf. The cranes looked like the elephant-shaped walkers from Star Wars. There are 45 bollards marked with Restricted Area signs around what turns out to be the largest ammunition port in the U.S. While not a natural area, it was pretty impressive.
 |
Over the last couple of days, we traveled through Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge around McClellanville SC, and Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge north of Georgetown SC. It was very nice to travel through these natural areas, especially the cypress-lined Waccamaw River. Parts of the river remind us of the St. Marks River, but it is much longer. We have been sure to "stamp" our Blue Goose Passport that we've been to these refuges as well as the Savannah Coastal Refuges and ACE Basin NWR.
  |
| The cypress lined bottomland hardwood forest of Waccamaw Channel markers are perfect for nesting |
The ICW part of the Waccamaw River is fresh water but tidally influenced by the inlets on the north end at Myrtle Beach and the south end by Winyah Bay. We stayed at the Osprey Marina that is located in a small lake that was dredged in the 40s for fill then connected to the river by a cut channel in the 60s. The 3 people who worked there were very nice. They worked to make our overnight stay a pleasant one. The dockhand that helped with fuel and docking talked to us about his fishing vacations in recent years to Cedar Key and Apalachicola (that he enjoyed very much) and Tampa (not so much - too big). We got a goodie bag filled with Osprey Marina stuff like a pen, post-it notes, sunglasses leash, chip bag clip (all with Osprey Marina logos).
Boat traffic has been mostly local, with very few north or south bound cruising sailboats or trawlers. Arriving at Morehead City/Beaufort today, we discovered we had landed in the middle of an offshore fishing tournament. Consequently, no marina has space for us, so we had to travel a bit further up Adams Creek, where a quaint little marina and R/V park had a transient dock. A friendly staff and low rates were our reward for going the extra mile - or really, 10 miles. We're disappointed that we won't be able to explore Beaufort or Morehead City.
A gang of jet skiers enjoyed jumping our wake.
After washing the salt crystals and diesel soot off AQUAVIT, we grilled pork chops and sweet potato dinner on a cool balmy evening.
Our trip odometer hit 1200.7 nautical miles today. Tomorrow we'll be inside the Outer Banks, at Ocracoke Island.
6.7.2018
≈
Looking forward to seeing you next week!!
ReplyDeleteWow... soooo enjoying these updates. Looks like y'all can make the NYC before your ETA ?
ReplyDeleteYour doing it. Really enjoying the posts.
ReplyDelete