Post Matthew ICW Cruising

[awaywego]

Well, we had two beautiful days from Southport, NC to Myrtle Beach, SC. Very little debris in the water in NC. Both the Lockwood Folly inlet and Shallotte all behaved as they had before the storm. The markers were in place and the depths were very similar to what we experienced on our trip north earlier in the summer. Once we passed the Little River inlet, however, the flooding of the Waccamaw River became more and more apparent with every mile that passed. We barely snuck under the fixed bridge in Little River (our mast height is 61ft with the VHF whip antenna) and we actually struck the next three fixed bridges with our antenna, each one hitting stronger than the last, keeping us on the edge of our seat and holding our breath. For added excitement, none of those 3 bridges (ending with the 501 bridge) had tide boards. As we approached the Socastee Swing bridge and fixed bridge immediately following, it was obvious the flooding was getting out of hand. The homes along this stretch of the ICW are all underwater. Docks are nearly out of sight. I called the bridge operator and she reported a vertical clearance of 59.5 feet so we turned back. This was on Friday the 14th. Since then, the water has only risen. There have been no tides, just rising water. They have even closed the Socastee swing bridge. We are stuck between the 501 bridge and the Socastee bridge at a private dock (one of the last standing and I don't know for how long this one will hold up either) and the owner of the dock has been very helpful to us. So, I hoped to be able to post an encouraging report about the ICW on here, but the flooding of the Waccamaw River is out of hand. Here's hoping it crests today and starts to recede, especially for the families who have homes along this section of the ICW. It's really tough to see that kind of damage in person to people's homes.