Day 58: Georgetown to Myrtle Beach, SC

We left Georgetown at 8:15 in the morning and traveled north through Lowcountry where there had been over 200 rice plantations before the Civil War. Today most are abandoned. Some of the old plantations have been turned into B&Bs and others are tourist attractions.

In 1860, 80,000 tons of rice was taken from the plantations to nearby Georgetown. That year, more rice was exported from Georgetown than any place in the world, according to local historians!

Farther up the ICW we passed the village of Mount Rena which is the home of several dozen African-Americans whose forefathers worked as slaves on the rice plantations in the area. This village is located on Sandy Island. North of Sandy Island are miles of cypress swamps with Spanish Moss hanging from the branches.

At 11:00am we hit an underwater obstruction. There are many tree limbs floating in this area of the ICW and it is impossible to see submerged branches. And of course they are not charted. We immediately felt a vibration which could only mean a bent prop.

Luckily, nearby was a small marina with a travel lift that could handle the Swift 34.  The name of the yard is Hague Marina which is owned and operated by George Russ. We were immediately hauled out and we discovered three bent blades on the prop and the stainless steel rudder was also bent.

We had a spare prop which was in place on less than an hour. The rudder on the other hand, needed to be sent out to be straightened. It was delivered the next morning. The staff at Hague Marina was extremely helpful and we recommend the yard for haul out and repair.