Waccamaw River Oxbow, Waccamaw River, SC

We awoke to yet another bright, sunny day -- it had been a quiet night despite the sky histrionics we watched the previous evening.

Today we would transit the Pine Island Cut and the Rockpile -- we were nervous but determined to pay careful attention and avoid any contact with the rock ledges.

We pulled up anchor and took off into a foul current -- it was dead against us and strong -- initial forward progress was mostly in the mid 3's, i.e., very slow. As it turned out, we were unwittingly riding just behind the high-to-low tidal bore and would be motoring into the current for the entire trip through the cut. Well, at least we wouldn't hit a rock at 7 knots, although even at 3, kissing a ledge would do some damage :-)

We saw multiple Casino boats on the Calabash River; they use the cut to go beyond the 3-mile limit.

The entrance to the cut was about 5 miles from our anchorages, so it took what seemed like forever to get there. The cut itself turned out to be no problem to navigate -- it was wider than we had imagined (i.e., but still narrow), straight as an arrow and deep (13') all the way. Even the Rock Pile, although very narrow, was no problem as long as there were no barges coming at you (we did do the radio call before entering to make sure that there was nothing coming at us.)

The cut had three swing bridges in it -- fortunately, they were all "open-on-demand" bridges -- i.e., you wouldn't have to wait as long as you called them sufficiently ahead of time. This made sense as there is not a lot of "extra" room, so circling while you were waiting would be very restricted.

Swing bridge in the cut

Finally, the cut slices through the "Grand Strand", a highly developed region of shopping malls, restaurants, golf courses, resorts and beaches -- Myrtle Beach is the main town. You can't see much of it from the cut because its banks are pretty high. but you know it is there -- in many places banks are lined with the McMansions the people who come to play. Barefoot Landing, a huge outlet mall on the strand, has its own swing bridge and marina right on the Intercoastal -- pretty impressive.

Condos abound in the Grand Strand, ...

also, McMansions galore .....

Unfortunately, these noisy guys were also buzzing around everywhere

But I have to admit, it looks like (and is -- I have done it!) fun :-)

The cut ends in the Wacamaw River, which meanders through the Northern part of South Carolina's "low country". Plantations were the main source of income in this region in the 18th and 19th centuries, but that economy collapsed with the abolition of slavery.

Our anchorage for the evening was an Oxbow in the Wacamaw river, a few miles south of the cut; behind an Island and out of the Intercoastal, it was a quiet place with room for a few boats -- we were alone.  We took a swim in the tea colored water and hung out, glad to have the cut and the rock pile behind us. We did get one squall that came through and cleaned the decks, but we otherwise had a dry, but hot evening.

Reflections in our anchorage ...

It was a very serene place

In morning light the next day -- just lovel