51 NM TRAVELED
We awoke to
almost no wind this morning and Quest was off before 9. How nice it is to have extra hands on
deck. I was at the back messing with
something and didn’t even know when we smoothly cast off. Nice job crew!
The
bridge-tender at the Socastee Swing Bridge cheerfully opened her span for us
but all the other bridges today were plenty high enough for us to pass
under. Let me tell you one thing,
everyone on the water is heading south!
It is that time of year when the days start to get shorter, the
temperatures begin to drop and us sun-seekers began to migrate to environments further
south.
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| SOCASTEE SWING BRIDGE |
Much of
today was spent in the Waccamaw River section of the ICW. We skirted South Carolina’s 55,000 acre
Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waccamaw_National_Wildlife_Refuge) (that contains some of the most diverse
freshwater wetlands in the world. Near
the Winyah Estuary we encountered a massive horde of swallows. It was like walking into a swarm of gnats,
they were everywhere!!!
The root
beer colored water is already staining the boat’s hull. This color comes from the tannin naturally
released into the water by the roots and decaying leaves of the cypress and
juniper trees along the water’s edge. This tannin water was sought out by the
old sailing ships because of its acidic properties. It would keep much longer in the
scuttlebutts, the dank wooden barrels used to store months of drinking water.
By 3:30 we
were tied up to Annandale Plantation’s old, derelict dock on Minim Creek and
ready for a quiet night. We unearthed
this lovely spot last spring when making our way north and found it to be the
perfect respite.
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| THE RICKETY OLD DOCK ON MINIM CREEK |
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| THE SETTING SUN PAINTS THE EVENING SKY |
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