Trawling the ICW, day 3
The Sea Ray did not have a cruising guide aboard. I would just about bet on it. True, Sea Ray owners are not the most universally loved group of boaters, but still, you hate to see a boat get crunched. I think most of the boats bigger than a small fishing boat carry a set of nautical charts. That is a must. But, there is a bunch of stuff the "official" NOAA charts don't tell you. Like, when do the draw bridges open? Or, how far to the next marina? Or, oh by the way, don't pass another boat when you are in the Rock Pile. What's the Rock Pile? The gal driving the Sea Ray certainly didn't know, and neither did I. Captain Frank, however, knew EXACTLY what the Rock Pile was all about. Why? Because he read the cruising guide.
Way back when, somebody got awfully tired of getting beat up in the Atlantic Ocean off the US East Coast. This person pointed out that there were a zillion bays and rivers and swamps along the East Coast shoreline, and gee, wouldn't it be cool to connect them all so you could go from New York to Florida without ever having to go out in that nasty Atlantic Ocean? Apparently, a lot of people agreed it was indeed a way cool idea, so they started digging. Eventually, the bays and inlets and swamps and digging became the ICW. Typically, the US East Coast is mud and sand; good stuff if you are in the digging business. But occasionally, the diggers ran into something hard. REALLY hard. One of these spots was near the Myrtle Beach area. The diggers ended up solving the problem with a combination of colorful expletives and dynamite. Even then, they only really produced a deep slice down the middle of the channel. On either side, it was really shallow; what some boaters call "skinny water". And under that skinny water was not mud or sand; it was ROCK. Over time, it became known as the Rock Pile to boaters.
Now, fast forward to 2008. If you read a cruising guide for the ICW, it tells you all about the Rock Pile. It will tell you how dangerous it is to even try to squeeze 2 boats through there going different directions. Captains of a large vessel actually call ahead to announce they are approaching the Rock Pile. With a large vessel passing through, the Rock Pile becomes basically a one way street. On the other hand, if all you look at is the NOAA nautical chart, there is hardly a hint of anything unique or dangerous about this stretch of the ICW. If you don't look at anything at all before you head out for a fun filled day of boating, all you see is a stretch of the ICW that mostly looks like any other stretch of the ICW.
Prior to reaching the Rock Pile, Frank and I passed a custom made metal power cat. This thing was not terribly pretty, but it looked really tough and seaworthy. Captain Frank talked to the power cat on the vhf radio, arranged to pass by, and on we went. We later passed through the Rock Pile without any problems, but Frank remarked there was very little margin for error as he took Sea Smoke through the deep water in the middle of the channel. Later, the big power cat gets on the radio and lets people know where he is and which direction he is traveling. It's a nice way of saying "I'm very wide, so don't expect me to move over when I pass though the Rock Pile".
Enter the Sea Ray.
A Sea Ray is a recreational, go-fast power boat. They are relatively affordable, and it is a popular choice among people that like to get on the water for the weekend and go somewhere fast. They often enjoy going fast so much that they don't slow down as often as they should when passing slower boats. The slower boats get bounced around in the Sea Ray's wake, resulting in bad feelings and colorful expletives. And by now, you have probably guessed what happened that day at the Rock Pile. The go-fast Sea Ray caught up with the go-slow power cat. The power cat did not move over, because the captain had read the cruising guides and knew he could not move over more than a few feet before he encountered "skinny water". However, the gal driving the Sea Ray looked ahead, saw this nice wide Intracoastal Waterway, and decided to pull over and zoom past. No problem, right?
Frank and I had been a ways north of the Rock Pile waiting for a bridge to open up. We were too tall to sneak under the bridge. The bridge finally opened, and as we were passing through, we heard a call on the VHF radio. A Sea Tow boat (which is like a tow truck service for boats) asked the bridge tender to remain open to let him pass through without delay. He said he had to pull a boat off the Rock Pile. Frank and I assumed that the big power cat had strayed a little too far to one side of the channel, and had run aground. It was only later that we heard the story about the Sea Ray.
But, there are 2 positive aspects to this "Rock Pile" thing. It all falls under the general heading of "supply and demand". For one thing, the Sea Tow company is rumored to be doing very well in Myrtle Beach. Another marine business rumored to be doing well is a store that just happens to sell propellers and propeller shafts, and just happens to be located in the general vicinity of the Rock Pile. For people like the gal driving the Sea Ray, NOAA charts could use a little more detail. But, for at least 2 businesses in Myrtle Beach, the NOAA charts are PERFECT just the way they are.
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