02/26/2025 ICW Day 57 : One Flew Over the Wire Nest

by Brian · Published February 26, 2025 · Updated March 5, 2025

We were becalmed by morning, but that is just another way to enjoy this waterway. We have been in a “natural” section (i.e. hardly any motors) for a while now, so the tranquility means that you hear the sounds of the birds and pelagic creatures more than usual. It feels like a high quality morning, and I don’t think there is a better way to get amped up about the upcoming day than to begin by gliding over flat water illuminated by a red sun.

Without wind, we attended to chores on the boat, but we do need to do a better job of ensuring that SOMEONE is at the helm. Often I will busy myself and think, “we are going 4mph… it’s not like we will hit anything while I root around in this bag. Besides, Janet will steer.”

Meanwhile, Janet might be planning our next stop on her phone when we plow into one of the millions of crab trap buoys!

It is easy to slip into complacency on a calm day like today. And so when I reached for something on the paddle board, I accidentally knocked the mesh bag full of wires into the water!

I reached for it quickly, but did not make the grab as the bag flowed backwards at 4mph. Then that lizard part of the brain said, “this is important!” And instinctively, my arm shot backwards a second time - yanking the bag out of the water. It seemed like a miracle to me because my conscious brain was still in la-la land while some other part took over quickly. That was accompanied by a surge in adrenaline, which left me shaking for the next 10 minutes.

After rinsing all of these electronics with fresh water, I left them to dry in the sun. A cursory test reveals that everything tested still works. 😥

Shortly after this incident, I watched as a Forsters Tern flew above with a fish in its beak. The fish wriggled free - and fell… briefly, only to have the bird adroitly dive and catch it again mid-air. The fish proved its worth, though, wriggling free a second time. The bird let it escape this session.

The wind finally picked up and we had a nice downwind run for several miles. It was blissful. I took the opportunity to stand aboard the paddle board and when you can’t see the plastic contraption held together with rubber bands behind you, you might as well be captaining some mighty ship headed for the next big adventure!

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The ICW is not totally natural, though native Americans plied the rivers that ran along the inside of the coast. In the 1800s, people began dredging canals to connect the existing rivers. During the Great Depression, the rate of dredging increased. Moreover, in South Carolina alone, a quarter million acres of rice flats were created with these pipes to drain the water. Thanks Janet for that research!

And then out of nowhere, a house build to withstand some flooding. The only access is by water.

Shape matters. It astounds me that these super tiny bugs called “no-see-ums,” with presumably smaller mouths… and these hyper-filament thorns from the briers we need to clear at camp can cause so much pain when my insulin pen needles, being some 2 orders of magnitude larger hurts so little by comparison. 🤔

This is the flag of Fort Moultrie that I forgot to post yesterday.

Janet and I landed at an actual campground! We fiddled with ,” but we are so used to the simpleton life of “that spot looks good” that we finally gave up. To camp at a campground, there are many rules. You must take the boat to your site, which is far away. You can only reserve online… with an extra fee. And how do you use that senior pass? Screw it! Let’s just camp in the bushes!