Another Stop for Repairs

From the bridge at Wrightsville: a parade of boats going south.

The long docks and tall houses typically along the ICW in North and South Carolina. Everyone has a balcony, it seems. Some are at the very top of the house.








Monday, November 10: North Myrtle Beach
We're on a marina dock directly on the ICW. The starter engine or starter battery problem remains unsolved and this morning after the engine once again wouldn't start, Bob decided that it was time for outside help. We have a mechanic here to sort out what's wrong (we hope). About every other time we try to start the engine, regardless of whether the engine has been sitting all night, or has just been running (as in where we've stopped for diesel or a pump out), absolutely nothing happens when we turn the key. At other times, it starts just fine. Bob is able to get it started by running the generator for a few minutes so we haven't been stuck anywhere yet.

We stayed 2 nights in Wrightsville so that Bob could try to sort out the starter problem himself - no luck, obviously. We anchored in a big anchorage behind Wrightsville beach and used part of the day for exploring. Wrightsville, it turns out, is a surfing mecca. The restaurants and stores are all geared toward the sporting young. We had a peek at the beach where, even in this coolish weather (low 70s), there were a couple of very skilled surfers in wet suits and also a small surfing competition among some young boys.

Looking out through an inlet off the ICW towards the Atlantic.

For the past couple of days, we've been traveling where bridge openings have to be considered. On Friday, there were 4 bridges to get by - 2 opened on the hour and 2 on the half hour. Getting to bridges roughly at the right time can be managed by putting them in as way points on the GPS. The GPS then tells you the time it will take to get to the way point while traveling at your current speed so that you can speed up or slow down as needed. However, currents going with or against you muddy the planning. For a while we were flying along at 6 - 7 knots as the current carried us, and then slowing to 3.5 - 4.5 knots as it went the other way. On Friday we had 2 bridge openings that went fairly smoothly but yesterday, we couldn't make our timing work. Even though we left Wrightsville at 6:30 am to get to our anchorage in Calabache River well before dusk, we weren't able to make the hourly opening of the Sunset Pontoon Bridge until 4:00 - leaving us roughly 1 1/2 hours to find the anchorage and check it out. There's always the possibility that that the anchorage could be full or we would decide it wasn't the best for another reason and then we would have to be quick about finding an alternate place. The anchorage was, indeed, rather crowded when we got there, but we did find a place and as a bonus, it was quite a beautiful little spot.

Today we were headed for the most challenging part of the ICW - the "Rock Pile" where there are rocks on each side just under the water at high tide which means they could be close by but hidden and that staying in the middle of the charted channel is imperative. Boaters are advised to call ahead on the VHF to see if any big boats are coming the other way. I say we were headed toward that area until, after we got up at 5:30 a.m. for an early up anchor, the engine wouldn't start. Actually - I heard Bob up and although I felt very tired, I got up myself and started to make the bed. It turned out that he was up watching how the boat next to us was swinging in the changing current - Bob was chuckling just a bit when he told me that it was 4:30 am. I did get back in bed but that was the end of my sleep - and of Bob's. Now we are here to stay until tomorrow when we'll head for our the next anchorage - on the Waccamaw River - said to be one of the prettiest spots on the ICW.

Anchorage on the Calabash River

P.S. The mechanic found a loose connection. He says that there are an inordinate number of connectors on the Tartan engine that make it all the more likely for something to come loose. Everything else that he tested was OK so we were all hoping this morning that he had found the "gremlin" as he put it. The engine is starting now - every time - and we hope that continues.