Day 309, Sunday, April 27th, Julie’s birthday today!

Day 309, Sunday, April 27^th, Julie’s birthday today!

Morning mist as we take off early in the morning

Alarm went at 5:30 and we were heading off by 6:02a.m. after spending a very quiet night at anchor.  We are getting an early start in order to time getting through the “skinny” parts of the canal during high tide and daylight.  As we motor along we realize our timing is great as high tide is later as we move north so the whole day is spent with high tide.  Also the current seems to be helping us all day which is bonus.  We are averaging over 7 knots so will make it 65 miles today and still get in by late afternoon.  We did not think we would get as far as we got today so are quite pleased.  Perhaps Wrightsville beach is only 3 days away and not 4 or 5.....

Birds nest on one of the port markers.  Every marker seems to have a nest.

Large bird and nest in the trees.  Dawson takes lots of bird pics.

Turtles crowding onto a rock.

We pass under lots of 65 foot bridges.  We are 56 foot tall, but it still makes us duck and hold our breath every time we pass underneath.  By 3:00 we are starting to think about finding home for the evening.  We are going to treat ourselves to a marina so we can dine out for Julie’s birthday. We are only about an hour from Myrtle Beach so set our sights on that community as our final destination.  As we approach there are golf courses everywhere and lots of homes.  A plane flying a bunch of golfers into the town of Myrtle Beach flies low overhead.

We phone a couple places and decide on The marina at Grand Dunes.  It is a bit of a resort.  Once we arrive it is no problem to park in our spot as it is a fairly easy spot to get into.  The weather has been hot all day and we still have about 4 hours of daylight so we can enjoy part of the day.

Plane full of golfers

Once checked in, Dawson gets a lift over to a store to buy a part for our water system repair.  After an hour he has returned successfully and the replacement part is installed in about 15 minutes. 

Dawson getting bored after many hours along the canal

We get cleaned up and head into Ruth Chris’s restaurant for dinner.  We have eaten at Ruth Chris in Toronto a few times and it is a red meat treat.  Dinner is good, but not great.  It is cold inside as the air conditioning is too high and our food is too rich.  The steak is just bathed in butter and salt.  Too much for us.  It was still a lovely night out.

On our way back to the boat the neighbours invite us up for a drink and hello, we pop into their power boat for an hour before heading off to bed.

Cheers

Julie and Dawson