This was a pioneering journey for a possible extension in the furture up the ICW from Charleston.

 

CYC to CYC

5/11/07: The start of CYC to CYC

On Thursday afternoon, 5/10, as most Classic Boat Rally participants were driving home, Woody Norwood re-launched his H 12 1/2 "Myrdie" at Carolina Yacht Club (SC) and rigged up to continue the journey with the target of reaching Carolina Yacht Clun (NC) in Wrightsville Beach by next Wednesday, May 16. Getting an early start today, Woody and his cousin, Joe Norwood (resident of Mount Pleasant, SC) sailed 36 nautical miles to McCLellanville, SC in easterly winds that had dropped to 7 to 10 knots from the gale-force northerlies that had prevailed the prior three days. It was a gorgeous day of sunshine with temperatures in the high 80s. The timing with the tides was not good; the combination of adverse tidal currents and head-on wind direction, led Norwood to push the boundaries of the narrow Intracoastal Waterway channel, resulting in four groundings and the loss of Woody's shoes in the Carolina mud while pushing Myrdie off a shoal.

 

The Norwood cousins arrived in McCLellanville at 7 PM. McCLellanville is a small fishing and shrimping town best remembered for being at the center of the eye of hurricane Hugo which came ashore in 1989 with a 23-foot high tidal surge. Joe's wife Rhonda met them there at the Leland Oil dock when the Norwoods arrived and they all returned to Mount Pleasant for the night. Tomorrow the journey continues to Georgetown.  

 

 

5/12/07: McClellanville to Georgetown

Joe and Woody departed from Leland Oil Co. Pier at McClellanville at 10 AM with light wind conditions for the 26 nautical miles to Georgetown. The motor was put to use immediately as both wind and tide were adverse. Interestingly, as they worked their way up the ICW, low tide remained just 30 minutes away due to the tidal contours of the area. Tidal adversity remained for most of the day, until they met Winyah Bay near Georgetown. The day could be characterized as "started slow, finished fast", arriving at Georgetown at 4:30. All along the way there remained signs of the effects of hurricane Hugo from some 16 years ago, damaged piers and homes still in need of repair. However, most of this area is pristine and beautiful marsh land. For large stretches, the ICW is narrow (50 to 100 yards wide) and straight with tidal currents in the range of 1 to 2 knots. As pioneers of a possible Rally run, cousins Norwood are learning that timing the tides will mean a lot to the enjoyment of a group journey.

 

Tomorrow are indications of storms. An early start is planned in order to allow a tour of the Norwood/Buck ancestor properties near Bucksport on the Waccamaw River. 

 

 

5/13/07: Georgetown to Bucksport

The 25 nautical miles from Georgetown to Bucksport is almost all on the beautiful Waccamaw River. Departing Georgetown Landing Marina at 9 AM, cousin Joe and I motored around Waccamaw Point and under the big highway 17 bridge and entered the Waccamaw River just after high tide. This meant that we would be fighting the ebbing river tide for the next six hours. Make that 8 hours because low tide at our destination would occur at 5 PM due to the fact that it is much further inland where the tide times change later than at the river mouth. Normally we can handle adverse tide if the wind is not adverse. As luck would have it, the wind today was from the north, exactly where we were headed. We had to use the motor most of the way.

 

But there were compensations. First, the Waccamaw River is breathtakingly gorgeous, lined on both sides with old stands of cypress and cedar trees with root systems that flair out about four feet above the ground. Ospres build nests in the navigational markers and pelicans dive bomb for fish. This river creates a fresh water tide which was essential for the rice plantations that lined this river in the 18th and 19th centuries. At full flood tide, the fields could be flooded with fresh water, and at low tide the gates could be opened and the fields drained for harvest.

 

We had fun at the gas pier at a marina. We had used 1.8 gallons of gas since leaving Charleston. At $3 per gallon, our fill-up cost $5. In voices loud enough so we were sure the near-by cruisers could hear, we protested the high cost of fuel, calling it outrageous and threatening not to pay. We watched the faces of those who had just topped off their tanks with 500 gallons of diesel. Then we handed over the $5, got into Myrdie and motored away.

 

Joe and I are descended from the founder of Bucksport, a Henry Buck, who came to this area in 1837 from Bucksport, Maine to establish saw mills, build ships, and develop plantations. Henry was a great success with his endeavors, and we dropped by to visit with another cousin, Henry Buck VII, who lives in the home built by the original Henry in 1840. Henry and his wife do have a daughter but no son, so there will be no Henry VIII.

 

Joe and his wife, Rhonda, drove back to Mount Pleasant after dinner, and I am holed up in a cheap motel in Conway, expecting a taxi ride back to Bucksport Marina in the morning. Tomorrow I will sail solo to North Myrtle Beach, due east from here. The wind? The wind is expected to clock around to the east (where else?) at 15 to 25 MPH. Could be a busy day.

 

 

5/14/07: Bucksport to North Myrtle Beach

Well finally the tides were just right. A taxi ride from Conway brought me back to Bucksport at 8 AM and I was sailing at 8:10. I did not even mount the motor on its chock. There were two hours remaining of in-coming tide, and there was enough breeze to make a nice, gentle sail. The Waccamaw River is a dense forest and a swamp. Birds sing. There are a few ramps that people walk out on just to see the river and its wild life. Sailing on this river is just fabulous if you like the beauty of wilderness. In late morning the scene changed. More docks, then more houses. The ICW departs from the Waccamaw and becomes the characterization of the ICW known as "the ditch". The meandering stops, and the ditch becomes a straight, 50-yard-wide, well, ditch, with trees lining either side. In the narrow confines, the wind gets funneled up the river, and the east wind was right on the nose and shifty. I had to crank up the motor. But I was making great time now, puttering down the ditch, with the tide, with the jib and the mainsail in tight so the slightest divergence from head-on wind would allow the sails to fill somewhat. I am tacking downstream with the motor humming. Getting to the Myrtle Beach area, houses are cropping up left and right. Lots of construction. Some are opulent. Most are in good taste. A few are, well, affordable but modest. All have docks jutting into the ditch. As the wind increases it becomes impractical to run the motor. On the starboard tack, a puff buries the motor in the water, threatening to stall it out. On the port tack, a puff lifts the motor and propeller out of the water causing a whine with excess revolutions. So, the motor is brought back in the boat, but the wind is inconsistent, being sheltered unevenly by trees and homes lining the ditch. There are two bridges too low to go under. The Soccastee Bridge makes me wait 15 minutes before opening, and I sail in circles. The next low bridge, only 7 feet above the water opens for a group just as I arrive, and I put in the engine as I know they will not allow a sail boat to go through without the engine working.

 

I got to my destination, Coquina Yacht Club, shortly after 4 PM at almost the same moment that David Hartman, my sailing mate for the next two days arrived. I called Dave on my cell phone not knowing that he was there (he had left Vero Beach this morning at 6 AM) and, as it turned out, he was calling me at the very same moment. I mention this only because of the sheer coincidence of the momentary timing. After a trip to West Marine, we dined  and we are ready to sail tomorrow for Southport in what looks like perfect (if a bit light) sailing weather.  

 

 

5/15/07: North Myrtle to Southport

Just imagine a 9.5 hour starboard tack. With an initial light and later moderate SE wind the entire day, with full sunshine, was an ideal day for sailing and just being outside. Dave Hartman and I departed Coquina YC at 8:40 AM on Myrdie and headed East Northeast toward Southport, NC, which is at the eastern tip where the Cape Fear River empties into the Atlantic. Winds of 8 to 12 MPH ranged from a close reach to a full run throughout the day as we sailed pasty one development after another of vacation homes in northern SC and southern NC. These were the highlights of the day, ranging from travel trailers and mobile tomes to multi-million dollar mansions lining the ICW. We concluded in the course of the day that this is not actually an attractive sailing venue other than viewing the vacation homes and speculating on the probable values and wondering about the wealth of the USA that is represented here. 

 

Southport is a delightful community without any chain fast food establishments. Dave and I have a B&B residence for the night. Tomorrow (Wednesday) we will conclude at Wrightsville Beach near Wilmington, expecting another ideal sailing day with the wind from the southwest as we go north up the Cape Fear River with the spinnaker flying. 

 

 

5/16/07: Southport to Wrightsville Beach

The final day of CYC to CYC was simply ideal: Southwest wind 10 to 20 MPH all day with a favorable tide most of the way. The spinnaker was put to good use although Dave worried about the bend in the top of the solid spruce mast in the gusts with the spinnaker up. Southport (a charming town with no fast food chains or big-box retailers) is at the south east elbow of North Carolina. Coming out of Southport, we were almost immediately in the Cape Fear River, known for its fast tidal currents. To get the last two hours of the incoming tide we departed the dock at 6:40 AM and soon we were doing 7.2 knots "over the ground" according to our GPS. As Myrdie's maximum hull speed is 4.8 knots, the current was at least 2.4 and probably closer to 3 knots. We reached Wrightsville Beach in 4.5 hours, docking at Carolina Yacht Club at 11:15. A photographer from the local newspaper was there to document the arrival.

 

We stripped the boat and dealt with the logistics of car and trailer retrieval by renting a car one-way back to North Myrtle Beach (for Dave) and to Mount Pleasant for me. It is nearly 4 hours driving from Wrightsville Beach to Mount Pleasant. I got to my car and Myrdie's trailer at Joe's home and the drove back to Wrightsville Beach. We'll haul Myrdie out in the morning. I'm tired but elated with having sailed from Savannah to Wrightsville Beach in 12 days of sailing.

 

Although the CYC to CYC journey was fun for me, it is not likely to become a regular extension of the Classic Boat Rally. Despite the wilderness beauty of the Waccamaw and terrific sailing on their final day, there is just too much narrow "ditch" to cover that requires near perfect wind direction to be fun, and the tides are problematic in that regardless of the departure date, about half the days will present primarily adverse tides. Our last three days were fine with the tides but the first three days were agonizingly adverse.

 

Next year, in addition to the SBC (Savannah-Beaufort-Charleston) we plan to explore the possibility of a 5 or 6 day run from near Jacksonville to Savannah in advance of the SBC.

 

 

 

Woody Norwood