From Charleston, SC we spent the next few days motoring up the ICW. Each day we progressed northbound by 8.5 hours, varying between 6-8 knots depending on the current. We chose to be aggressive in our motoring up the ICW for two reasons. One, we felt our journey was due to come to a close and our careers (possibly) overdue to be reignited. Two, it was damn hot.

We motored to Winyah Bay, Cat Island on towards Calabash Creek. The ICW wound its way to and fro snaking a wide blue passage amongst a thicket of tall old trees. It was beautiful and amongst the trees or flat plains. We spotted osprey at every turn and a few alligators lurking on the banks. To keep sane we would switch on and off every 3-4 hours. The person on deck would steer by hand or use Otto VonPilot, correcting every minute or so to center the boat in the channel and monitoring the depths. This gave us a lot of time to meditate and clear our thoughts or listen alongside podcasts and receive news updates that were days old by the time we heard them.

We motored past the Brookgreen Gardens area, which was beautiful. We visited the old plantation with my parents during Thanksgiving and felt motivated to continue northbound instead of another day stop. But I will say, the Brookgreen Garden is a beautiful stop and well worth it.

{Surrounded by seaside homes, quant streets, small skiffs, a few keel boats, and (the annoying buzz & wakes of) jet skies in Wrightsville – we sat in the cockpit and read prior reviews of the anchorage. One review wrote a scathing note of local boaters and the extent of their inconsideration to us anchored transients…. it started with… ‘Where maritime law goes to die’… As a fellow (self-proclaimed) melodramatist…. I enjoyed his starting line and concur…. Damn jet skies and small motor vessels!}