33: 39.9N 79:04.2W

We were pleasantly surprised to get up on Saturday morning to find it was just off freezing and there was no ice on deck (I had slipped twice on previous days and there was no way I was going up to the bow to retrieve the rope or get the fenders in) and we set off with an anchorage at Prince Creek (South Carolina) our goal.

We could see from the map where North Carolina ended and South Carolina began (340.8 Miles), but the border was quite apparent.  The large houses stopped and the wilderness began as we travelled up the Little River with swamp on each bank.  Then we rounded a bend in the river and we were then parallel with the Atlantic holiday destinations of North Myrtle Beach and Myrtle Beach (The Grand Strand).  We were back in civilization and the landscape changed dramatically.  For a start there were four golf courses within five miles!  Many of the holes were right on the banks of the ICW.  I wonder how many balls are lost as a result!  One course had an overhead cable car to take players from one side of the ICW to the other.  (We missed getting a shot of the gondolas with the players in, but here is a photograph of the cable car across the river.)

There were blocks of holiday flats, all seemingly recently built and indeed an entire resort, called Barefoot Landing, with shops, restaurants, marina, hotels and a bridge resembling the Venetian Bridge of Sighs!  All of which begged the question….what recession?

In between the landscape reverted to swamp which made us wonder if the built up areas were reclaimed land.  Here is a photograph which will hopefully illustrate the landscape through which we passed.

In the event the tides were against us and we didn’t get as far as Prince Creek, but the Waccamaw River was wide and deep enough to provide other anchorages and so we positioned ourselves around the back of one of those lava lamp globules – out of harm’s way – and settled down for the night.

Listening to the news that night I heard there had been snow in North Carolina (inland).  From the sound of it they are no better prepared or able to cope than the South of England!

(I know the photographs make it look very sunny – and it was – but the wind was bitterly cold.)