We’re at Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle Beach!

We left Joyner Marina at 7:20 a.m. and soon entered Snow’s Cut. It was bright and sunny, but only 59 degrees. Brrr. The sun felt warm on the port side of the boat, though.

The Cape Fear River can really slow you down or push you, depending on which way the current is going. We started at 7.3 knots. The wind was in our faces off to starboard. We saw a small boat dragging for shrimp. The main sail was a little help. The tide was coming in, so we were fighting it all the way.

Soon our speed over ground was 5.2, but speed over water was 6.3 with 17-19 knots of wind. Sometimes the current slowed us down to 4.7 SOG. The Fort Fisher Ferry in Manns Harbor, NC, pulled out as we were going by. There was 22 knots of wind in our face with SOG increasing to 7.6 later in the day. We thought we had four 65’ bridges to pass through today, but there was a new bridge since the last time we came through, at M349 and the pontoon bridge was replaced by a 65’ bridge.

I finished reading Bad Boys Do, by Victoria Dahl. Great book. I’ll have to look for more novels by her. I love that I’m having time to read. I never get time to read at home, so I’m enjoying reading all these books!

We crossed into South Carolina at 2:35 p.m. We requested an opening of the Little River Highway Bridge and had to wait more than 15 minutes for a trawler to catch up. Ugh.

We pulled into Barefoot Landing at 4:50 p.m.  Our friends Joe and Sandy McConnell, former dock mates at Viking, relocated down here when they retired. They picked us up and took us to dinner at T-Bonz Gill and Grill for a delicious steak dinner, but not before we made a stop at Burlington Shoes, where Chuck bought a pair of sneakers and I bought two pairs of boat shoes.

Tomorrow: Anchorage near Georgetown, SC

This morning's sunrise.

The Fort Fisher Ferry in Manns Harbor, NC.

One of the many cool bridges we went under today.

Looking up...

Sea Thunder, a tourist boat sponsored by Monster Drinks, breezed by us.

This bridge replaced the pontoon bridge that was here on our last trip.

One of several swing bridges that we had to wait for an opening.

The new bridge that was added since our last visit near SM 349.

Chuck with our friends Sandy and Joe McConnell. So great to see them!