Island Anchorage lies off the rear of the loop stream, north and northeast of flashing daybeacon #29, 3.5 nautical miles south of Socastee Bridge.

We turned in northbound off marker 27A and rounded #1. We first motored north to investigate the entire reach of the oxbow but ran aground in what chart and plotter showed as deep water just as the channel turns back toward the ICW on the north side of the oxbow.
We reversed direction and anchored in the Oxbow near the 8 foot depth shown on the chart. We dropped our Bruce in 10 ft of water at near-low tide and the anchor dug in quickly. We first motored a circle to assure swing room and found the charted depths to be accurate.
Thinking back on our last time anchoring here, I regretted not rigging a trip line as I dropped our anchor because we grabbed some bottom debris on our last visit making anchor recovery difficult. On this visit, we luckily recovered our anchor easily the next morning.
It’s a beautiful anchorage and the bird life here is terrific. The only caveat, until sunset, is the waterborne cowboys who zip though the area like mentally challenged houseflies.
Max Miller

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s South Carolina ICW Anchorage Directory Listing For Island Anchorage

Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Island Anchorage