Minim Creek, SC - Semper Fi

Another day of motoring up the ICW through the South Carolina Lowlands. The lowlands are pretty, there is a lot of marsh grass and big country homes with long fishing piers in front of them. Weather-wise we are in the middle of a cold front so it's been raining a little and overcast. The persistence of the horseflies here is maddening. They just don't leave you alone. Back in the Home Depot in Charleston we picked up some flypaper and this flytrap thingy that claims to be irresistible to flies. It's kind of a plastic cup inside a plastic baggie and it has a lid so that the flies fly in and can't get out. You pour water in the baggie to activate the chemical scent inside. So today we put out the flypaper and decided to hang this thing in the cockpit. Kevin set it up and after a few moments I was like, "What is that SMELL?!" It was AWFUL and smelled like carrion or something. I guess it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what scent might be "irresistible" to flies: eau de poop. And of course motoring around swampy creeks with a baggie of stink hanging from the roof of the cockpit only does one thing: attract more flies. The old-fashioned flypaper was soon coated with flies but the trap remained empty and finally Kevin sealed it up in two ziploc baggies because we couldn't stand the putrid smell.

It was Saturday on the ICW and that means the powerboats come out in full force. There was a group of college-age kids motoring around in a small speedboat called "Semper Fi" towing a wakeboarder. Trying to tow the wakeboarder, anyway. The poor kid kept falling down and they had to keep stopping and circling back to pick him up. At one point they crossed in front of us and the kid fell down maybe 100 yards directly in our path. We avoided him but as we got closer I asked if he was okay. He said yes and that's when I noticed that he was trying to waterski with a beer in his hand. No wonder he kept falling down! Dumbass.

We were getting closer to our anchorage and I was at the helm when Kevin pointed out what looked like a tree branch floating in front of us. I turned the boat to avoid it and the thing started moving! When I realized what it was I yelled to Kevin, "Did you SEE that?" It was a juvenile alligator, between 5 and 6 feet long, dog-paddling up the creek. He disappeared beneath the surface when we got close. It was the first alligator we've seen from the boat. So we certainly won't be swimming while we're in this area. I wonder if that kid from "Semper Fi" knows what else is in the water with him?