Georgetown

We spent the night anchored in a small creek (Graham's Creek) & it was perfectly still & quiet all night. We headed to Georgetown a small waterside town with original colonial buildings and an interesting history of rice plantations. In its hey day (about 1840) Georgetown was the biggest exporter of rice in the world with over 40,000 acres & over 780 miles of canals and some massive plantation homes. They used all the surrounding marshes as the flooding process and built artificial gates to hold back the large rivers when it was necessary to have the paddies dry. Hurricanes & the abolition of slavery brought about the demise of rice growing. It was also a favourite spot for pirates like Blackbeard, whose wrecked ship is just off this coast. In 1942 the largest paper mill in the world was built here.We spent a night here as it was easy walking distance to museums, historic homes & restaurants. Another evening  torrential storm soaked us on our way to dinner & I had to run back to the boat & change.
The next day there were no more biting flies, lots of ospreys nesting up on anything high and the Waccamaw river towards Myrtle Beach was calm and quiet but very slow as we were against current most of the way. The last 15 miles proved the prediction right about teenagers in boats but not only teenagers - it was the weekend of course & near the populated areas there was every man & his dog & jetskis, bullet shaped speed boats, fishing boats, canal boats & cruisers roaring about despite notices about "No Wake". So we made the sensible decision & took the next marina that we could

A real Go Fast boat  900+ HP

Picture theatre

Same Theatre,but pissing down

Nesting boxes everywhere

Remains of rice paddy dam

Thick Cypress forest,SWAMP LOGGERS

 

Osprey nest with tenant

Red neck long drop

Miles of crazy boaters

Hicksville of Marinas

Dawn blending in with locals

and ended up in a very run down marina with no facilities but a haven behind a small island & out of all the traffic. It proved to be another "hicksville" - it is the oldest marina on the canal and it shows.