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Finally - Page  3

Saturday 16 October on the waterway.  This is perhaps one of the most unusual bridges and the only pontoon bridge still operating on the ICW.




The house, ladders and even the roadway float on the pontoons.  Here's a view from the opposite side so you can get an idea of how it all works.



We arrived at Barefoot landing near North Myrtle Beach, SC in mid afternoon.  We picked up a dock space and settled in for the night.  Barefoot Landing is a resort and outlet mall offering free overnight dockage to boaters on the ICW.  Quite a few boaters come for just a day trip to shop, eat and socialize.  Jack suddenly realized his mobile phone was finally off the roaming program and back to full coverage, so he began making catch up calls.  


Photo by crew Lonny Fraze

We met Neal Chalek and Stephanie Ancona aboard a blue hulled Ericson 38  named Rhapsody.  After I had some time to rest and cogitate, it dawned on me that it was likely that only someone working in the arts in some way might name a blue boat Rhapsody.  You know, Gershwin?  It turns out Stephanie had been heavily involved in various New England arts funding associations!  Six degrees or less.


Lonny Fraze photo

One of the best sections of the ICW so far was after we passed through the Myrtle Beach area and picked up the Waccamaw River.  We traveled almost the entire day without seeing a house or other signs of civilization.  The isolation was broken only by the occasional powerboat passing us.




Georgetown, SC is a quiet little town with a total of 63 houses and other sites listed on the National Register.

And a very nice sunset....




As we moved down Winyah Bay, we encountered two towboats and a good-sized freighter.  It was interesting to watch them hook up for the trip into the harbor.
When I radioed the tow boat captain and asked him which side he wished us to pass by, he answered "On my two".  This refers to the passing signals used by commercial vessels.  If one whistle is blown, that means pass by the port side, and two whistles mean pass by the starboard side.



Shortly after the freighter passed, we entered another one of the many land cuts along the ICW.  This cable ferry is quite unusual because a series of cables and winches pull it from side to side. 
Boats must be certain that the cables have fallen back to the bottom of the stream before passing.



After we left the ferry, we enjoyed almost 30 miles of nothing but marsh grasses, mangrove swamps and trees. 



Editorial comment:
McClellanville was a necesary stop for me since we dodged hurricane Bertha there in 1996 on the way up to the Chesapeake.  It was a charming fishing village with a few resident artists who valued the tranquility.  That has now changed and not necessarily for the better.   A new house at the junction of Jeremy Creek and the ICW sold recently for a reported 1.8 million.  Great!  Well...  not for those folk whose families have lived and worked here for generations.  Many could soon be forced out of their ancestral homes, which have no mortgages, due to the tremendous increase in real estate taxes.  So, once again, we destroy that which we love by moving there.

On a lighter note, we had the good fortune to dock by this beautiful Chinese Sampan.  A local artist spent ten years building it based on a 16th century design.


Tuesday morning finds us on the final leg to Charleston.  Lonny is scheduled to depart for his home in Athens and his wife Pat. 

Charleston Harbor is BIG!  This is only a small portion of it.




This almost 1000 foot Cruise ship is dwarfed by the size of the harbor.


As we neared our marina, Ashley's on the Ashley River on the  south side of the historic downtown district, these pre 1860s homes called for a photo.


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