Along the Waccamaw river

We cast off from Barefoot Landing Marina at 7:30am, waved goodby to the many outlet shops, and were off to Georgetown, SC. Our plan is to stay there till sunday and so hide from a tremendous gale forming off Cape Hatteras with winds of 30 knots or more extending down to our area. A very good plan!

The initial part of the trip took us past a golf course that had a unique feature in that the clubhouse was on one side of the ICW and the course on the other side. Gondolas passing over the ICW ferried golfers back and forth.

Gondolas carrying golfers over the ICW

We passed under numerous fixed bridges and encountered one swing bridge, the Socastee swing bridge which opens on request (which it very graciously did). The curious thing about this bridge is that just beyond it is a fixed  bridge arching over the waterway and the initial plan was to retire and remove the swing bridge, except the local townsfolk objected and got it named as an historic site, and so it remains...till the next budget cut I"m sure.

Soon after we came to the Waccamaw river, which becomes part of the ICW for about 20 miles, carrying us to Georgetown. The river is the center of a very large wildlife preserve, with almost no inhabitants and a glorious abundance of trees, swamps and other vegetation. I saw plenty of birds but no animals along the wayd. The river is  wide, deep and curvy and was a treat to pass down

It was absolutely gorgeous! I took dozens of pictures, and I share just a small sample here

It took us nearly 3 hours to pass through the Waccamaw river valley and I"d look forward to doing it again. There are many places to anchor in the many creeks that open into the river, very well protected,  and I think it would be fun to spend some time at anchor here...it would surely be peaceful

After yet another fixed bridge, the Lafayette bridge, we came to Georgetown and in particular to the Harborwalk Marina, our home for the next two days. After tying up we went for a walk into town (the main street - Front street - is one block away. It is Halloween and the custom of this town is for all the kids (and many adults) to dress up in costume and parade up and down Front street...staring and being stared at. The shopkeepers all sit out side their stores with lots of candies, giving it to anyone in costume..sadly we weren't prepared and got no candies

A view looking up Front street..crowded with people of all ages, many in costume

There are many fine restaurants on Front Street and so while we got no candy, we did have a fine dinner.

Finally, the sunset view, which I love taking as we travel down the waterway

Looking out from the dock, over Priority's bow, to the sunset

As always, the map of the voyage is available by "Clicking here" under the MAP heading at the upper right of the blog.

Tomorrow I plan to tour the Rice museum and the Maritime Museum (this will be the third one I've seen this trip).