I'm Back

    I'm back.  Had a bit of a headache last night but after a good nights sleep all is well. Our trip from Morehead City went well as Keith posted.  This is a picture of the morning run out the inlet at Morehead.  You can see a large ship in the backround.

  Most of the day looked like this.  Sky and ocean, a bit monotonous but the run was calm and we made good time.

     We are here in Georgetown,SC today.  Here is a view of the entrance into Georgetown from the water this morning.

    Georgetown, SC has a long history.  It is the possible site of the first European settlement in North America in 1526.  The First permanent settlers were English and the major crash crop that was cultivated before the Revolutionary War was indigo.  This is a coveted blue dye produced from a plant of the pea family.
    After the Revolutionary War planters turned to rice farming.  The swamps and low lying areas by the tidal waters in the area made for good rice production.  African slave labor was also key in rice farming as it was a labor intensive crop.  Large plantations erupted around the area and by 1840 the Georgetown District produced nearly half of the total rice crop in the US.  Its port was the biggest exporter of rice in the world for a period.  The local rice was known as "Carolina Gold" and in demand world wide.
    After the Civil War the way of life had to change in the area.  Eventually lumber became the next economic boom.  There were up and downs in the lumber industry, but by 1936 the International Paper Co. of Georgetown became the largest kraft paper mill in the world.  This is one the paper mills behind the waterfront.  You can see the steam rising from it.

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    In addition to lumber; steel, commercial fishing, and tourism have also become significant contributors to the Georgetown economy.
    We are getting ready to go exploring.  Hopefully I will get some good pictures of the town during the day today if the "no-see-um"s do not carry me off.  Just a teaser, more on "no-see-ums" later.