Myrtle Beach, SC to Morehead City, NC

Seems like we’ve been busy these last couple of weeks. We left our Pig at Osprey Marina in Myrtle Beach, SC to drive home for a few days right in the middle of tropical storm Andrea. Andrea brought us lots of rain and wind but the Pig was tied securely to the dock and the crew at Osprey promised to keep an eye on her. She also had a little work done to take care of the fuel flow issue with the Garmin we had been experiencing.

We had turtles behind the boat as Osprey.  They were clearly used to being around humans and watched for possible snacks that might be thrown their way.  

Our drive home was long. My truck was in Savannah, not a long distance from Myrtle Beach but the problem is there is no direct route to any place on this side of the world. We drove a rental car to the marina to pick up the truck, then out to the Savannah airport to drop it off.  We finally headed for KC about 2:00 PM so needless to say we didn’t really get too far west that first day even though we were in a vehicle for about 12 hours. We made up for it with an early start the second day and hit Kansas City about 7:30pm.  It didn’t hurt that we changed back to central time either. 

Once home Anna had her special time with the grandkids while I focused on preparing my house for sale.  I had a project I had started just before we departed Kentucky thinking I would work on it on return trips. I just hadn’t been home long enough to finish it. So I hired a trim carpenter to finish my project. I spent my time just kind of sprucing up the place and making it “show” ready.  All of our work paid off when it sold the first day to the first couple that toured it. With the burden of the house soon off my back things will be easier, and my daughter, Alicia will no longer be on plant and house duty.

Mom Osprey and baby on top of green anton

We returned to Osprey to find the Pig in good condition. We had planned to depart the next day but neither we nor the boat were ready so we spent the day getting a little more organized and watched a good boating day fritter away. The next morning brought a strong drizzle. The rain wasn’t a show stopper but we needed gas so we waited for it to let up.  We finally put Osprey in our wake around 11:00 AM.

For the last several days the water has been the color of coffee or strong tea.  It's not muddy, just very dark brown.  We are ready to be back to blue/green water. 

After boating for about 4 hours we were passing under a bridge when I saw a piece of carpet in the middle of the river. There wasn’t room or time to avoid it so I shut the engines down and watched the stern for the carpet to pass. It was not to be seen. By now the current that moved at 2.2 MPH had taken control of our boat so I had to start the engines. Both started just fine but when I put the starboard in gear it would die. I knew now that we were today’s lottery winners. After months of dodging innumerable crab pots and tree limbs we caught this silly piece of carpet. 

An oncoming boater told us the closest marina was 6 miles in the wrong direction so we headed back down river. I wasn’t looking forward to driving with one engine with the strong current, so I gave Otto a try.  I was very pleased when he drove us like a pro. I took over for the docking and landed her without any problems. The dock master told me he had already called Larry’s Dive Shop and he promised to come to the boat the following morning. 

The culprit carpet

Larry the diver came down about 10:30 the next morning and removed from the prop a piece of brown shag carpet 6’x 8’. No wonder it had stopped the engine. After Larry had gone his way we started preparing to leave the dock but we waited for a storm cell to pass by and had an early lunch. We departed Barefoot Marina around noon and headed for Indigo Marina. The huge storm finally caught up with us around 2:00 PM and it brought rain and high winds. The wind gave us a 3 MPH push along with the river’s 2.2. We felt we were driving for free. Of course for every action there is a reaction. Far too soon the tide changed and the wind stopped. We were now fighting a 2.2 MPH current. Oh well, that’s boating.

As we approached Indigo we called for docking instructions. There was some confusion with our reservation. It seems there are 3 marinas all operated by the same management co. and our reservation was at a marina 5 more miles away. It worked out fine since it put us five miles closer to Morehead City but we were already set to be off the water when we saw the first marina.  We made it to Deep Point marina and shortly after getting the boat tied the sky cut loose and it rained all night.

Because we knew we were going to get in close to 6pm we had started dinner in the crockpot.  We had two thick pork chops thawed in the fridge so I suggested we cook them in spaghetti sauce. Anna threw in some spaghetti after a while and we had an ahhhhhhsoome meal. This meal will hence be referred to as Flying Chops and repeated often if I have any say in the matter. 

The next day was sunny and pretty much uneventful other than we stayed at a marina that was owned and operated by Tina Turner. Not too much to say about that stay other than welcome to very old NC. We departed early and arrived in Morehead City around 2:30 PM. After securing the boat we went to a really great dinner at Floyd’s. Then we walked the water front for a bit. Morehead City is my old stomping grounds from my days as a Marine.  It’s changed a little in 35 plus years! Go figure. 

Fun in the sun

Local folks getting an early start on the holiday

Sand bar.  Looks like they are walking on water!

Today’s another beautiful North Carolina day, perfect for the Fourth of July.  The marina is filled with people enjoying their boats, the water and each other.  We have caught up on a little cleaning and plan to watch the fireworks across the river. Have a safe and happy Fourth. 

See ya on the water