North Myrtle Beach, SC 33º48.114N | 78º44.786W
The ICW is a busy place this time of year, boats mostly heading south. The traffic falls into some general categories:
THE POWER BOATS
WORKING BOATS
Barges, ferries and fishing boats charge through like they own the place. I'm quite sure they find us little plodders, marking our path right down the middle, truly annoying.
SPORTFISHING YACHTS
These guys only come "inside" when conditions are sketchy offshore, so we don't see them that often.
MOTORYACHTS
Beautiful big boats powering along, mysterious invisible people inside.
RECREATIONAL POWER BOATS
Usually tiny. I call them skeeters, because they buzz all around you making annoying noises. They mostly come out on weekends.
TRAWLERS
These folks are the backbone of the waterway. The snubnose little live-aboards are almost always home to dear, sweet people, often in their elder years, always enjoying life and caring for those around them. They move slow and have hearts akin to sailors. I think of them as the salt of the water.
THE WINDY ONES
SAILBOATS We come in all sizes and several subsets.
The ICW is a busy place this time of year, boats mostly heading south. The traffic falls into some general categories:
THE POWER BOATS
 |
| Makes you understand "barging in." |
Barges, ferries and fishing boats charge through like they own the place. I'm quite sure they find us little plodders, marking our path right down the middle, truly annoying.
SPORTFISHING YACHTS
These guys only come "inside" when conditions are sketchy offshore, so we don't see them that often.
MOTORYACHTS
Beautiful big boats powering along, mysterious invisible people inside.
RECREATIONAL POWER BOATS
Usually tiny. I call them skeeters, because they buzz all around you making annoying noises. They mostly come out on weekends.
TRAWLERS
These folks are the backbone of the waterway. The snubnose little live-aboards are almost always home to dear, sweet people, often in their elder years, always enjoying life and caring for those around them. They move slow and have hearts akin to sailors. I think of them as the salt of the water.
THE WINDY ONES
SAILBOATS We come in all sizes and several subsets.
- SENIORS These are the seasoned ICW travelers that nonchalantly trek the waterway, usually twice a year, chatting frequently on Channel 16, happy to help the newbies.
- SOPHOMORES The second year folks who still have fresh memories of the trepidations of their first year.
- FRESHMEN We are the newbies, the children, the little ones just cutting our teeth. We wander timidly trying not to embarrass ourselves, finding each other in marinas and anchorages, on Channel 16. We compare notes on where we're headed, where we've been so far, and where we might meet up along the way.
- ISLAND PACKET OWNERS It's that silly, pitiful habit we humans have of finding some commonality to hang our hat on: oh, is that the 350? yes. the 380, with the sugar scoop? sweet.
- FRESHMEN ISLAND PACKET OWNERS This is a very small subset of which so far there are two boats, us and Maribelle, who we are meeting up with in Charleston.
Cara Mia and her crew took a lay day in North Myrtle Beach today for some much needed R&R. More on the move antics tomorrow...
North Myrtle Beach, SC 33º48.114N | 78º44.786W
Tammy and Chip, I love your blog. I read dozens of cruisers blogs so I feel somewhat qualified to say that there is something very special about the way you write. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteDEE! Great to hear from you. Alas, we didn't sit out the storm, we barreled right through, as you'll see from my next post.
ReplyDeleteTucker, thank you for the kind words -- and for reading.