MELELU - UNION 36: Oct 4 - St James Plantation Marina, NC to Barefoot Landing, North Myrtle Beach, SC (37 miles)

Up early this morning and underway at 0650 in efforts to arrive at the dreaded Lockwood Folly Inlet at high tide. Lockwood Folly Inlet is a well-known ICW trouble spot with shifting shoals and shallow spots. Here’s a neat little blurb on how the area (possibly) got its name http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockwood_Folly_River
I delayed my trip through yesterday afternoon to catch high tide and hopefully enough water to pass through the area with minimal problems this morning. I was sweating it as I approached the inlet, but passed though at slack high tide and saw no less than 12 feet of water.
The next potential trouble spot of the day was Shallotte Inlet, another area known for the same problems (shifting shoals and shallow spots in the charted channel). I wasn’t as worried about this one, but it turned out to be the one that almost got me. Passing through on a falling tide, I was going through the area at a slow speed and could actually see the shoaling extending into the center of the channel. It was bad enough that I had to backtrack a bit and feel my way through towards the far right side of the channel to find good water.
The next challenge of the day was “the Rock Pile,” a narrow section of the ICW that is essentially a shallow channel blasted through solid rock. So, now not only do you have to deal with a “skinny water” channel, but it’s not nice soft mud or sand at the bottom – it’s (again) solid rock.
Another issue that can raise the anxiety level to CODE BROWN is that it’s also narrow to boot – too narrow to permit passage of a tug and barge and a pleasure boat going in the opposite direction. If you encounter a barge and tug in the Rockpile your only option is to turn around and run like hell, which is why you are supposed to announce on the VHF radio that you are entering the Rock Pile and request any other vessel coming in the opposite direction to respond. Fortunately I didn’t meet anyone and made it through with no issues.
Today’s goal was Barefoot Landing, which is essentially a shopping outlet mall of over 100 shops, stores and restaurants located along the ICW. I pulled up to the long face dock (easy on and off) at 1300. After cleaning up the boat, a little computer work, and a short power nap, I walked around the compound to check out the stores. After buying a couple of items (one being a birthday present for my daughter - 16 in a couple of weeks), I had dinner at the Flying Fish Restaurant, came back to the boat and hit the rack in preparation for another early day.