Scott here. Leaving Georgetown, SC was fairly easy along with the travel day. We made it to Myrtle Beach, SC with plenty of time. The night went really good, the featured image is our anchor tracking for two nights.

Rita took a ton of photos and we saw about that many turtles as well. We had one part of the ICW we were worried about. It is called the “Rock Pile”. It is between MM 249 and MM352. This part of the ICW, as we have heard, was created by using dynamite to blow away rock. Each side of the ICW has a shallow rock shelf that will take out your running gear. There is not enough room for a commercial vessel and a recreation vessel to pass each other. This is a 3-mile stretch where you really need to pay attention as it is considered to be the worst part of the ICW.

Prior to entering the Rock Pile I hopped on the radio and gave out a “Securité” warning (definition.) It went something like this, “Securité, Securité, Securité, this is northbound motor vessel MY Happiness entering the Rock Pile cut. Any vessels in transit in the Rock Pile please respond on channel 16.” I made that announcement twice on marine channel 16. This is the channel all boats that have radios should monitor and all commercial vessels are required to monitor. Noone responded and we did not see any other boats traveling southbound.

Then a couple of miles after the Rock Pile was a swing bridge that has an air draft of 7 feet. Reading the reviews someone in October 2023 mentioned the bridge will only open at 9:00 am, 11:00 am, 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm. But someone in April 2024 mentioned the bridge open on demand. I put out a question on a Facebook page and heard others had it open on demand as well. That was a relief! Although our timing was OK anyway as we arrived there around 2:45 pm.

We arrived at the marina and filled up with fuel and went to our slip. I am always concerned as we enter a marina. No major issues getting in and out of the fuel dock or slip. I could have done better and wish I would have done a couple things differently. But, we didn’t hit any boat and didn’t damage anything so it was a good docking!

Here is how the plan went.

Plan v ACTUAL
Date: April 12, 2024
Nebo Link: Click here
Spot Link: Click here
Crew: Captain Scott, 1st Mate Rita, & K9 Jazzy
Start at: 7:30 am ACTUAL 7:20 AM
End at: 3:00 pm ACTUAL 3:15 PM
Total Time: 7:30 hours (6:28 hours travel time plus time plus no wake zones, fueling and to dock) ACTUAL 8:04 HOURS
Distance: 58.3 miles ACTUAL 58.8
Avg speed: 7.5
Max speed: 12

We were fighting a 2-3 mph current most of the way again and had to wait 15 minutes for 1 bridge to open. I think the plan went well!