Boating in Myrtle Beach Area, North to Bald Head Island??

[Shookie]

Barefoot is probably only 1 1/2 hours 2 Gtown about 30 to 45 min to Bird Island. Going to Gtown you will go through I think 3 or 4 no wake zones around some boat ramps and marinas but they are well marked and very short most of your time will be spent cruising. Not sure yet if we will be out my boat is in the shop. It's ready I just have to find the time to grab it.

Awesome, thanks for all this information! Right now I'm thinking GTown and maybe North island on Saturday and Bird island Sunday before we head home. Weather looks good and hope it stays that way.

Hope you find the time to get your boat and make it out on the water!

 

[Shookie]

Made it back from Myrtle, what an awesome time! Friday we got the boat in the water after lunchtime and drove north up to Bird island and went as far as Holden Beach. Stopped at Crab Catchers for a late lunch. Didn't really stop anywhere and did more driving and exploring.

 

[Shookie]

Saturday there was rain all over the place and some major storms down in Charleston that were heading north towards us. We went over to Barefoot landing for lunch at Lulu's and kinda waited out the rain. It was around 2pm once it cleared up so I went over to the marina, got the boat, drove across the water and picked up my crew at the dock by Lulu's. Headed south towards Georgetown. Took us about 2.5 hours to drive down. I cruised around 30mph stopped a couple times for sunscreen, bridge opening, bathroom breaks.....

 

[Shookie]

Made it to Georgetown and we stopped for an appetizer/drink. Marina/fuel was already closed (it was around 5pm) which was odd..... and that led to a problem. I probably didn't have enough gas to make it back. We ate real quick and were back on the boat by 6:15. Everything was closed and I was just dumbfounded/frustrated/mad at myself for not stopping along the way.....

The current was moving north so I got out in the water and set speed around 30mph. I had about 40-45% left in the tank..... Had Avionics on my phone so I had distance and I checked fuel used and consumption on my screen, I was gonna be 6-7 miles short. F*CK!!!

So, I’m cruising along and everyone else is on their phones looking for a spot to stop. Everything closed at 4-5pm. We made it to Wacca Wache marina that looked open. Pulled in and it was! The restaurant part was…. Gas pumps were closed and they couldn’t help. Restaurant and marina are separate. At this point, we thought about someone getting an Uber to north Myrtle to get my SUV and trailer so they could drive south to a ramp while I continued north. I had about an hours worth of gas at that point..... Also considered getting an Uber to a gas station, buy cans, get gas and go back to the marina.

So….. I ordered an Uber. Went to a gas station one of the wives had called. She was told they had a bunch of 5 gallon gas cans. AWESOME! So my wife and I jumped in the Uber and left the other 6 on the boat. Told the driver our situation and she was awesome. Ran us to the gas station, I went inside and they had 1 of them…. 2 gallons. I needed 10 gallons to be safe. F*CK!

Called 3 others and no luck…. One of the dudes I talked to told me that he had 1 gallon cans and they were $25. He said go to Walmart which was 3 miles away. I gave the driver $20 and said there’s more at the end if she would continue helping us. We were off the Uber books now and she was awesome! So we had the driver take us to Walmart and sure enough they had some 5 gallon cans. I bought two of them. Left Walmart, stopped at a gas station and filled them up, and went back to the marina. The other 6 were in at the restaurant bar there and having fun.

Dumped all of the gas into the boat, and then we took off. It was about 8:45pm when we pulled out of the marina and it was getting dark at that point.... an hour and 15 minute stop and ordeal…

 

[Shookie]

I've never driven my boat at night, on a lake or anywhere else. So this was an experience navigating the intracoastal waterway at night. Got some awesome pictures though....





The phone brightened up the images quite a bit. It was definitely no this bright out. I can't stress enough how valuable the Navionics app was. I had Barefoot marina programmed in as the destination and I just followed it all the way. It was pretty cloudy and no moonlight to help. Once we got further north there were houses and stuff along the sides so it was easier to navigate. But for a while there was nothing providing light and I couldn't see the tree line in some places.

 

[Shookie]

Made it to the Socastee bridge around 9:20pm. It's a rotating bridge and pretty low. I might of been able to drop the tower and fit but wasn't sure. As I approached, the bridge operator called me on the VHF (I am so glad I bought this a couple years ago, that I brought it on the trip, and that I had it on). He asked if I needed the bridge open, I said yes, and a couple minutes later I was on my way again...



Pulled into Barefoot marina around 10pm, safe and sound. Had a great trip, as did the other 7 on the boat... no complaints or bitching about me being a dumb captain and basically running out of gas.

You learn by screwing up, and I learned a few things on Saturday. Definitely want to go back though and might be there again Sept 8-10 for the weekend.

 

[bubbasuwannee]

Man that's a story! Glad it all worked out. I'm so afraid of running out of gas. We booked a marina for our trip to N. Myrtle.... Cherry Grove Marina. Not sure how far around the area we'll be going, but will probably bring a 5 gallon can just to be safe.

 

[Shookie]

We drove past Cherry Grove. I think it's cheaper than Barefoot where I was at and it's further north. There was a bunch of no wake up that way. Felt like we no wake more than we cruised until you got close to Bird Island.

 

[bubbasuwannee]

We drove past Cherry Grove. I think it's cheaper than Barefoot where I was at and it's further north. There was a bunch of no wake up that way. Felt like we no wake more than we cruised until you got close to Bird Island.

Cost me $50 per day. First time renting a slip... seemed pricey to me.

 

[Shookie]

Cost me $50 per day. First time renting a slip... seemed pricey to me.

Barefoot was more... $72 a day for me. Factor in location, not dealing with ramps, and ease of everything, I'll take it.

 

[Shookie]

Made a video of the day....

 

[Cbullard3895]

Daughter going to Coastal Carolina, just inland from Myrtle Beach, starting next year.
She'll be playing beach volleyball for them so I am certain that we will be spending some 3 and 4 days weekends catching tournaments, and hopefully, some boating.

Of course, the ICW runs right through the area,..., but not sure how fun that will be...

Looks like a lot of homes with our size boats on their docks at Shallotte Inlet.

Looks like Lockwoods Folly Inlet, at The Point, could have some protected beach access, from the water.

Does anyone have experience with staying and boating from Bald Head Island?
We have neighbors that have a place there where they get 1 week per quarter,..., but they are not boaters.

Are there any sandbars that are regularly populated with boats?

Any local experience greatly appreciated.

I grew up in Calabash, NC which is right on the SC/NC state line north of Myrtle and have boated those waters for many years. In all honesty, if you are docking around barefoot any of the destinations above that are north of Southport, NC would be too far of a ride unless you just enjoy long boat rides.

I'll post a few of the spots we frequent with maps/gps, hope you enjoy the area as there are tons to do on the water! Also, I am a App State Grad so with your daughter going to Coastal, I've got to give you a GO APP!


Bird Island tends to be the place to go if you enjoy setting up on the sand for a while. I will suggest that you get there earlier in the day and try to anchor to the far inside of the island as you will get less waves from passing vessels.


Some even go a bit further up at higher tides to the next sandy bank and pull up there.

If you head further north on the ICW you will find boaters pulled up at the farwest end of Ocean isle beach on another sandbar area:


If you go up this way, be sure to stop in for lunch or dinner by docking at Inlet View:


If you do want to make the journey all the way up to Southport, try docking and dinning at The Provision Company:


A few good places to dock and eat back towards the Bird Island area are:
Ocean Isle Fish Company or Sharkys. (also a fuel dock here)


In Calabash there are The Oyster Rock, Waterfront Seafood Shack and Nance's


In Little River Crab Catcher's is always fun (limited docks)


Further back down in SC, a fun spot is Local on the Water: