March 23, 2016
Georgetown, SC
Mile Marker 295
March 24, 2016-March 28, 2016
Osprey Marina
Myrtle Beach, SC
Mile Marker 373
March 29, 2016
Calabash Creek, SC
Mile Marker 342
March 29, 2016
We stopped at Georgetown and stayed overnight so we could visit with Sue and Paul along with Paul’s sister and her husband. We always like spending time with them.
Goodbye Georgetown
On to Osprey Marina on the 24th.
We intended to stay one night at the Osprey Marina but within a few hours of meeting up with people we met in Fort Myers, we decided to stay four nights which would make it possible to be with Darcy’s family for Easter Dinner. Easter was a very special day for us. Had we not been invited to spend it with them, Rob and I would have spent the day alone on the boat. Thank you Valerie, Rick, Darcy, Wally and the other 50 family members for your invitation.
Wally and Darcy
Guess who
Easter without dessert?!
Baptist Church on Easter Sunday
Young musicians played and sang their songs of the story of Easter.
The grand entrance to the Whittier family home for Easter Dinner
Osprey Marina is not one to be missed on your way north, or south for that matter. The cost of staying at a marina can be anywhere from $1.25 a foot to 4.00 in Key West. At the Osprey Marina it is $1.00/foot a night for the first three nights to $0.25 a foot after that. Not only is that an unheard of cost for staying at a marina but they have a long list of amenities. Muffins, donuts, bagels, other foods, and coffee were free. Boats docked far away from the marina were provided with golf carts. Showers were free and laundry was the standard 1.25 for washers and same for dryers. We would have stayed longer but we had places to go and people to see.
Rob's first Krispy Kreme
He said he didn't know why everyone raved about them, he had two!
A big thing for boaters is having “cocktails” between 5 and 6, complete strangers invited us to spend that time with them one night, the other nights we had cocktails with our friends. I could tell you more about the good time we had, but I think you have an idea about our stay at Osprey Marina.
Our next stop was Calabash Creek, SC for an anchorage so we wouldn’t have a long day on the “road” to Southport, NC. Yeah North Carolina!
Calabash Creek was quiet but I didn’t really like it. We arrived at low tide and it was hard to find a spot deep enough for our boat, we tried several places and finally found a place we thought would suffice.
Pictures will tell more of the story.
Blog Dog
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Shannon this one is for you
We saw as many as four turtles of varying sizes.
Back to back friends
The Kady Krogen and Sabreline
Summertime and Linda Jean
Over the top house on the Waterway
Eider at a webcam on the free dock in Oriental
A bit blurry
The under appreciated Cormorant.
It may only be me that feelings that way
This blog is dedicate to the Cormorant
Cormorants
It is not uncommon to see black birds perched on markers along the ICW, wings spread as if waiting for a big hug. This peculiarly-staged bird is the cormorant, a sea bird found on freshwater and saltwater shores throughout the world. Six cormorant species can be found throughout the United states: the double-crested cormorant, great cormorant, neotropic cormorant, Brandt’s cormorant, pelagic cormorant and red-faced cormorant. The double-crested is the most widespread cormorant in North America and is the only one of its kind that can be found inland as well as on the coast. The bird is recognizable by its black plumage webbed feet, long tail, yellow throat patch and its bill, which is usually hooked at the tip. During breeding season, the double head crest (white tufts) can be seen in western birds.
Cormorant varieties range in size from 18 to 40 inches and weigh between 12 ounces and 11 pounds. They have a wingspan of approximately 4 feet. Their coloration can vary from dark brown to black.
Interestingly, the cormorant does not have well-developed oil glands, so its feathers are not well water-proofed. As a result, it spends significant time drying its feathers by holding its wings out in the sun.
The bird is clumsy on land, and colonies tend to establish themselves in areas that are difficult for predators to reach, such as cliffs, dead trees and offshore islets. Here, the bird makes its nest of sticks, seaweed and oftentimes pieces of dead bird. Its diet consists mostly of fish but can include ampibians and crestaceans. To feed, the double-crested cormorant dives for fish and marine invertebrates from the water’s surface. To feed, the double-crested cormorant dives for fish and marine invertebrates from the water’s surface. After catching a fish, the cormorant surfaces. flips the fish in the air and swallows it head-first.
