Waccamaw River

 We were back on a real river today, the Waccamaw River.

We had an issue with our shower pump this week, and today we stayed at Georgetown for a while to have Bruce come over and help us figure it out.  He said we had a blockage.  He and George removed an in-line check valve.  We hope this will correct the issue.  So we got away at 10:35 am.  George did great backing out of our slip.  This is sometimes hard for us with just one engine.  I am always nervous and saying, "Slow down," too much.  Today all went well, and we slipped out with no issues.

Once again at Georgetown there were several looper boats.  So fun for us to run into the same folks and also meet new ones who are going north.  We will know some people at Norfolk, which will make that rendezvous much more fun.  

We were very happy to discover that the Waccamaw River was like the Tombigbee and the Tennessee Rivers, a deep and wide waterway with tall trees, both cypress and hardwoods.  It was a beautiful ride, still cloudy today, but no rain.  We saw a hint of sun and blue sky, which cheered us.  Because there were no outlets to the ocean, there were no fast, big boats.  So for the first day in a long time, we did not get waked today.  Yahoo!

Look at the glassy water:  beautiful cypress!

We saw several ospreys on nests.  This one had a bird on the nest and another one flying overhead, trying to ward off an intruder osprey.  Drama.

We are staying at Osprey Marina, a fine spot south of Myrtle Beach.  A year ago we visited this place to look at a Grand Banks 36, the kind of boat we wanted.  The boat was not in great shape, so we passed on it.  (It is still here.)  But at that time we said we wanted to stop in here.  And here we are!

This is a great marina:  They helped us tie up.  They gave us a goodie bag.  There are goats to visit just down the road.  There is an Italian restaurant that will pick us up, serve us dinner, and let us go to the grocery store next door, and then bring us back home.  (We do have to pay $10.) We are happy.

George with our goodies from the goodie bag:  Tide, crackers, two sweet rolls for breakfast, Waterways Guide,  homemade pepper jelly, shampoo, creme rinse and soap, a whistle.  How many marinas have we visited?
First goodie bag.

Wild flower field.  There's a horse back there too.

When we approached the fence, the goats jogged over.  This guy had the best horns.

This nanny and baby were sweet.  Same coloring.