Pelicans and Porpoise and Palm trees - oh my

Once we start to see palmettos along the shore we know that Charleston is close. The way through NC and into SC to Charleston is varied for sure. Having passed this way recently ,the overdevelopment does not seem so disturbing but the beauty is undiminished. The banks along Topsail Island still let you imagine pirates hiding near inlets ready to take merchant ships. The dunes that are not developed still look windswept and pine covered. They promise beauty and solitude. This go around we planned the Cape Fear route carefully. The trick here is to catch an outgoing tide through the cuts near Carolina Beach and on the Cape Fear River. But the tide should turn slack just at the end of your run down the river . Then as you turn sharp to starboard heading into the ICW at Southport the tide should turn to incoming and give you a boost for the next 10 or so miles. A good plan but it called for getting under way at 700am. We got the anchor up at 730 - a heroic effort. We really like our sleep. At any rate, we only fought the tide for 20 minutes just before the turn to Southport. That seemed like great planning or perhaps a miracle to us. Eventually we headed into the Waccamaw river. Wild and eerie but so very beautiful, this is the first place that we notice Spanish Moss hanging on the trees. It reminds me of beards on Old Testament figures. Soon the palmettos appear on the sandbars between the ocean and the ICW. They are so welcome. Charleston is close then and so are more tropical environs.