Sunday, anchor up at Awendaw Creek, SC, at 7:50. Beautiful calm morning. It’s a good feeling to get moving on nice days….always a high, grateful to be on the water. Great cloud banks. You have to be a weather lover to be out here…..dolphin or porpoises….a pod. Little one did a belly flop…. while I was at the helm. We made it by McClellanville, always short water, area known for depth issues. Today we travelled at high tide/full moon and only 11 feet depth…..wouldn’t want to be here at low tide. Easy ride to Georgetown, SC. Settled in at marina by 1:15 ( AICW mile marker 403).

Monday, our day to spend in Georgetown. Breakfast at Thomas’s Cafe. It’s been remodeled and looks good. Did not loose too much of its charm! Then we walked to Piggley Wiggley supermarket. I shopped in town and Larry brought groceries back to boat. Anything to get out of shopping! Once back, dealing with Mom stuff….she is finally going home. Constipation caused dehydration…..I am overwhelmed. Thank God for a woman named Marlen. She is a God send! She keeps telling me not to fly down, not serious, but she visited mom daily and sends pictures…..a picture is worth a thousand words. I monitor tests via hospital portal and speak to doctors as often as I can. I am concerned she might be weak-Marlen assures Mom is fine. After the dust settles ( yes, you must deal with life situations while on board-world doesn’t stop), I decided to go back and buy a bronze ring I saw and get some ice cream for me and a chocolate praline for Larry. Then laundry and recycling. We are finding fewer marinas recycling lately…. so we store “clean recycles” in our dinghy, which hangs on davits off our stern, upper deck. We take out trash daily too. If at anchor, then we store that too in dinghy. Anyway, we find a recycling bin right near the boat.

Tuesday, cast off at 6:45. Tides/currents wait for no one. Already very warm. We also get underway early before wind picks up and makes departing more difficult (protects the paint job too). Today we did the Waccamaw River, a favorite, actually one of Larry’s favorite during the whole trip. Ran out of fuel in one tank and Larry had to change over. We were heading to fuel up anyways….. he then had to prime engine. It started! I was so excited I questioned him when he yelled to shut it off….I thought perhaps he didn’t hear it-silly me-he was in engine compartment…..guess I drenched him in diesel…..he was pissed. We traveled that last couple of miles to Osprey Marina for fuel. While in the office paying, I picked up a couple of Mrs. Fields ice cream filled cookies ….. a peace offering and a cool treat on a hot day. We then tied up at Barefoot Marina (AICWmile marker 354). We walked to Barefoot Landing (an outdoor mall and entertainment area) and walked back, in the rain. We ended up eating at the new grill at the marina. Quite good, actually. And reasonable.

Wednesday, cast off at 6:30. The wind changed at the last moment and helped us off the dock. Very nice morning. We traveled through the Rock Pile, at low tide. Great photo opportunity but a little more caution required on the Captain’s part. Arrived at South Harbour Village Marina by 1:30 ( AICW mile marker 311). This is our first time at this marina. Near Southport (but a 5 mile walk), but easy on off transient dock. Ate dinner at the grill right at the marina. Sat out in the screened porch, nice view and nice breeze.

Thursday, alarm woke us at 5:00. Looked at weather channel online….tonight is going to be stormy, some storms severe. We would be anchoring out tonight. Not worth it, decided to spend another day here. Very windy, SW 25. Not a good day to tackle the Cape Fear River. So today was a cleaning, painting day, boat chores. We had a very strange amber, red, tiered sunset.

Friday, ditto. Did go to dinner at grill and a quick walk around. The interior of the state getting the severe weather…. we seem to be threading the needle…..not complaining.

Saturday, up at 5:00, depart at 7:00. Storm blew through so departure was delayed until 9:30…..flexibility so important on a boat. You hear over the years of men who ignored weather and went out there, then their boats were up for sale. A friend just told me of this happening recently to someone they know……We crossed the Cape Fear River (or Cape Rosie, as we refer to it) easily. Not much traffic: a freighter and a ferry. Anchor down at Wrightsville Beach (AICW mile marker 283). Lots of small boats running around causing wakes…..mental note, don’t anchor here on a summer, weekend night…….