ICW Southbound – MM 295 to 353 – Day 2

From Joyner Marina we headed down Snows Cut to Cape Fear River. The river was the worst water we have seen so far with bigger wakes and the navaids reversed. We really had to pay attention through this area. We then had a short stroll to Southport and had lunch at The Provision Company. This is a nice unassuming restaurant right on the water with all fresh local fish. Definitely our kind of place!

After lunch and for the next few hours was full of stress. We left Southport with a broken chartplotter (got off to eat lunch and came back to it broken) and had to use a chart Philip had on his phone. (Thankfully Philip had multiple chart options but it still resulted in an expensive trip to Bass Pro) We hadn’t gone far and had a sailboat tack right in front of us then proceed to turn and tack back across the channel right in our direction. We learned in our sailing class that sailboats always have right away under sail because they have less control but don’t remember the chapter on attempting to cut off a powerboat by tacking right in front of them. I’ll reserve how close a call it was to myself. We then had a short break of nice cruising and then entered Shallote Inlet. Most inlets and the resulting shoals haven’t given us much trouble. Shallote required special attention as the channel markers made a sharp cut and changed frequently. Philip also felt a strong current from the tide and the waves.

Just past Shallotte we came upon a casino boat that was massive. We enjoyed following behind it for a bit until he abruptly turned around in the middle of the channel almost no bigger than him and decided to head back northbound. We would have loved and little heads up on the VHF!

No sooner did we make it past and we started to see Danger signs for what’s known as the Rock Pile. This stretch of water is known to be dangerous as there are rock outcroppings even in the channel. All research advised to stay in the middle of the channel at all times. Apparently, larger boats radio to give a heads up that they are going through. I’ve been worried about going through this area for a month. The worst part is only about a three mile stretch so we took it slow and steady. We were at high tide so you couldn’t see most of the rocks which makes it all the more dangerous. We were glad when we made it through with no issues. We then went only a few more miles to barefoot marina in North Myrtle Beach and tied up for the night. My parents were here for a few days and we had dinner with them and got some supplies. I’ve never been so excited to see Myrtle beach!!