Thursday May 3, 2018 - Osprey Marina to Calabash Creek (Little River Inlet)

When I was heading south, early last November, I probably swore I'd never anchor in Calabash Creek again.  And now, 6 months later, here I am - anchored in Calabash Creek.  My dislike for this anchorage is twofold. First, it's an inlet with lots of wicked current, lots of shoals, and lots of boat traffic.  Second, this is where I picked up my only crab pot ever.  I drug it for almost a mile (doing 2 knots max) before diving down and cutting it loose.  And why am I here again?  I left Osprey Marina at 9am.  I wanted to go through the "Rock Pile" at high tide and take advantage of some of the favorable current.  I didn't want to keep going (to the Southport area) because it would have been almost 8pm, at best.  That would have been cutting things a little close.   No, I don't like this anchorage.  But it's about all there is and it will give me plenty of time to plan for tomorrow. 

I had a good ride north - through Myrtle Beach.  Unfortunately, places like this tend to harbor power boaters who are clueless about "slow passes" to keep from rocking the boats around them.  I had a few of them but I'm getting used to it.

When I got to Osprey, I met a fellow cruiser (Bruce) who has a C&C 34.  I like C&Cs.  Anyway, he is currently dealing with a fuel issue.  Somehow, after several years of no problems, his diesel has lots of grime in it.  In the last 2 weeks, he has changed fuel filters 2 or 3 times. He was planning on replacing the fuel tank but a mechanic at the marina talked him out of it and suggested some modifications that would add more filtration.  He got 4 new filters and left the dock about 30 minutes before me this morning - but came right back because he was not able to get his engine to rev over 2,200 rpm (it should go to 3,600).  I think he is going to replace the tank.  I did learn several things from his misfortune that I'll try to remember - for example, keeping a spare bottle of fuel to fill the fuel filter when changing filters.  He also has a Yanmar engine and was telling me that he had starting issues that ended up being the slave solenoid.  His symptoms were very similar to the one's I've had (and continue to have).

I got a call, later in the day, from Wayne Campbell.  He was happy to report that he was safe in Georgetown SC.  He was happy because 5 minutes before he got to the anchorage, he got an engine overheating alarm that ended up being failed bearings in the engine cooling water pump.  He had already identified a local (Georgetown) company that would be able to order a new pump.