Passing by beautiful landscaped lawns adorned with architecturally modern homes one could not help but guess at what business, occupation or illegal activity in which the owners must be involved. Never the less, despite the cries of recession and "no money", these homes attest to the fact that somebody in the good ole U.S.A is doing very well.
Strange structure along the ICW at the 3 miles of "Danger Rocks"
This ones for you Molly!
Sophie trying to stay cool in the SC heat....guess its time for her summer cut now that she is not up North.
We turned off the I.C.W into the entry to Osprey Marina and at idle speed entered into an idyllic setting. Completely surrounded by woods, this marina had been an old stone quarry that had lived out its bounty and was converted into a marina. Very well protected from wind, wakes and current it provided solitude and safety. New floating docks held almost 300 boats, not just because it was only $1.00 per foot but there was easy access to the bustle of Myrtle Beach or one could just enjoy the natural surroundings of woods, Osprey gliding over head, and the large number of turtles swimming around the boat.
There was a vast area of well manicured grass and fields for Spencer and Sophie to enjoy but what really got them excited was the heard of goats pastured in a large area near the marina entrance. Sophie cocked her head from side to side constantly sniffing the air trying to figure out, "What are those things! Spencer growled and when he barked, the goats jumped away and wandered to the other side of the field...great fun for Spencer.
The other problem with writing two day blogs instead of one, is that on reflection sometimes what stands out most is the things that went wrong. I don't want the tone of the blog to look like we go from problem to problem.....but sometimes it seems that way. As we tied up to the dock I shut down the port motor easily but when I tried to shut down the starboard motor.....NADA! It wouldn't stop....just kept on running despite pushing the shut down button and turning off the key. I ran down into the engine room and flipped the air box off, starving the motor for air, thus forcing a shut down. On top of that there was an unusual clicking noise coming from the engine sounding like a non-functioning pump. On inspection there was motor oil down the front of the engine, along a cross member and under the motor that neither Danny or I had noticed before. " Was this going to be the end of our cruise?" was my immediate thought.
Fortunately, there was a diesel mechanic available on site and an hour later we had our answers. The motor wouldn't shut down because the solenoid had a loose ground wire and the oil leak was one that has been there since I purchased the boat. Since we didn't clean it up routinely it accumulated and looked a lot worse than it really was. Additionally, because the oil accumulated it dripped down on to a fan belt and caused the unusual noise as the fan belt turned. I set about cleaning things up while Danny washed the outside of the boat and cleaned out the anchor locker.
All was well, so after showers we enjoyed grilled sausage (Danny style---boiled first to extract the grease) and Caesar's salad with the compulsory pre and after dinner cocktails. Here, life takes a slower pace.
Staging ourselves for Danny's dropping off point in Charleston, we planned on sleeping in (Ha! Ha! much to Beth's chagrin, this meant 5:00 for me) . We had a leisurely breakfast of good ole fried Bologna, eggs, toast and coffee than walked the dogs, puttered on the boat, and left around 11:30. Mainly the delay was to allow us incoming tide to get around and over some shoals on the way to Jeremy Creek and a quaint fishing village at McClellanville.
A shrimp boat followed us over the very shallow 3 foot bar at the entrance, which we manage to clear without bumping. The attendant at Leland Oil and gas dock helped us get secured. He then informed us that, " There really wasn't much to do here but there is a fresh fish market which would be closing half an hour from now, and the one local restaurant wouldn't be open until Thursday...not much business at the first of the week round here!"
We were happy to just settle in with mesquite smoked grilled steaks sizzling on the barbecue as we cooled off with a couple of frosty Bud premiums. Looking around we could see several shrimp boats serenely floating next to their docks in the reddening sunset. The sky was clear and although somewhat humid for us Canadians, the fresh breeze kept us cool on the upper deck while the air conditioners did their job cooling off the inside. This is cruising.
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