We didn't find the Parris Island oilhouse. If you try, you need to be prepared to go through the woods and have some kind of off-road vehicle to get to a place where you go into the woods.
We had no problem getting onto the base because Bob is retired Navy and we have a base sticker. However if it is a graduation day for the Boot Camp, there is a LOT of traffic - this would be Thursday for Family Day and Friday for the actual graduation. It took us over an hour to get out of the parking lot. So I'd advise against going Thursday or Friday.
The pictures of the Governor's Lighthouse in the top post were ones that from our boat. We did the ICW three years. I have no photos of it from the first year 2000-2001. I had one photo from the second year in November 2001 which wasn't as good.
April 7-8 in 2002 we were coming north (after Bob's heart attack in the Bahamas), and this is what I wrote about it.
After we went through the Rockpile to N. Myrtle Beach, we called the marina where we had made a reservation (Lighthouse Keeper near Little River) on the radio, and on the phone but they didn't answer. So I say, forget them and we went on the Cricket Cove. They asked if we minded being on the face dock, but we didn't, so we headed in. We see the guy coming down the dock in a golf cart as we run aground. Bob swears and backs off and goes back out into the channel, turns around and approaches from the north side. We are tied up with 40 miles at 7.2 mph for a total of 677 nm since leaving Miami.
After we tied up, SEA BONDS came in and tied up behind us. They are a Moody, and draw 5.5 feet, and he says they are having engine problems with oil usage, so they have been taking it slowly. Bob did the laundry and was happy with it. They had 2 washers, whereas there was only one at Wacha Wachee. We ate at the restaurant (called a bar and grill), and had filet which was very good, but the chef forgot to wrap it in bacon. They brought the bacon later and he came to apologize in person. The food was very good -apparently under new management. Rolls were hot, and service was good - refilling Bob's tea every time he emptied it.
There was a golfing paper on the table and I read it. It had a coupon for a free desert with an entree so I got that.
There is a party boat that goes up and down the river, but it just makes some noise and not much wake.
We get away from the dock early, just as LUV IT goes past. After talking to Herb (the weather guy) on the SSB, we decide to go out the Little RIver inlet and come in the Cape Fear River to Bald Head island. LUV IT went down toward the Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge which, since it floats on the water, has NO vertical clearance and ALL boats have to stop and wait here until it is pulled away over to the side. It opens only once an hour. That is one reason we were going outside - to avoid it.
We cautiously go out the inlet - there isn't much wind, but we know that the markers are moved to account for shoaling and we don't want to miss any. We see a whole bunch of guys boat camping on the inlet peninsula - they have tents, and boats drawn up on the shore.
After we successfully negotiated the inlet, we put up the sails, and eventually turn off the engine. On the VHF radio, we heard people going through the pontoon bridge every hour (or missing it) and then the CG comes up on the radio and says the bridge is closed until further notice!! He doesn't say why, but I gather it is because of too low a tide.
And this last one was taken in November 2003 when went south for the last time by boat.
On the way back we went outside for a lot of the trip, and that included from the St. Mary's River in northern FL to Charleston, and then from Charleston to the Cape Fear River, which eliminated this section altogether. Then we ran aground in the middle of the channel off Wrightsville Beach and Bob said it was too much stress to do the ICW anymore, so we haven't gone south on our boat since.
