Our progress north continues at a fairly fast clip. Since last post we made Beaufort where we stayed 2 nights, then on to Charleston, and tonight, Georgetown, with daily runs of 80, 69 and 67 miles. To accomplish these distances against tides and currents and bridges, it is a dawn to dusk exercise. Much of the travel consists of winding around the maze of channels through the marshes, often making more distance east-west than north: the low country is indeed that.
After anchoring out two nights in a row, we made Beaufort (pronounced Beu-firt, not Bow-fort), and elected to take a day of getting the boat clean, doing laundry, re-provisioning and sightseeing the historic district. The Port Royal Marina had a courtesy car that allowed us to go shopping and see the lay of the land. We then returned in the afternoon and walked the town, had a great dinner at a waterside restaurant, and checked out some of the shops, galleries and historical monuments. Nice diversion from the passage routine. Reminds one to stop and smell the roses (or in this case the azaleas), and take in the antebellum homes and and laid back culture of the area.
On our arrival, the tide was at it's highest, so docking on the inside floating pier was no problem. However, the next morning we had to cast off at first light to make a bridge opening at 7am (the bridge closed for rush hour from 7-9 am). At cast off, we had a 3 knot current running, and had to back out into this, spin the boat 180 degrees while not hitting anybody in a relatively narrow channel. Hmmm. Amazingly, the plan went like clockwork, and we tore out with motor at max rpm, probably waking up a few people. The yee-ha's may have also helped.
The trip to Charleston was interesting, and involved crossing several large ocean inlets, where the currents would reverse and the swells and chop made for a lumpy ride. All along the way, we could hear the radio banter as the powerboats rocked the living daylights out of the sail boats as they passed. We have a number of sail boats that we travel with, and have known since Florida. We exchange information on shallow spots and incoming kamikaze power boats, and of course rendezvous again at evening destinations. It is fun to wave to each other as we pass or are passed. The only bummer going into Charleston was missing a bridge opening and having to wait 2 hours until rush hour was over to pass through.
We stayed at the Charleston City marina, also known as the Mega Dock. It consists of a very long floating dock (must be about a 3/4ths of a mile long), and you tie up on both sides of it. The Mega Dock lives up to its name, with some amazing mega yachts tied up there. The photos show a 125 ft Perini Navi yacht coming in at dusk and then docked the next morning.
When we arrived near dusk, there was a pretty strong current running on the incoming tide. We radioed asking where they wanted us, and they said go inside (running the gauntlet of already docked boats), turn in the turning basin, and then come back and slip in between two rather expensive power boats. Of course I said, no problem, while thinking, you've got to be out of your cotton picking mind. So, we enter the channel behind the dock with the current, rocketing past the guys on the dock sent there to help us tie up, manage to find the turning basin, do a really tight 180 with the assistance of the bow thruster to avoid smashing into several boats, the power back against the current. As our spot appears, it starts looking smaller and smaller, so, coming in hot, we slide in, hit full reverse, Fisul hands the line to the dock guys, and the people on the boat in front (who were bracing for impact), give us a round of applause. Like I've always said, being lucky is much better than being good. The footnote to all this was a large poster near the marina office offering the services of a marine attorney.
We left Charleston at 7:45 to make the first post-rush hour opening of the Ben Sawyer Bridge at 9. The trip from here on has a lot more north to it, with straighter runs rather than all the meandering around. There is minimal civilization in this area, and the only signs of human activity are the ubiquitous dredging crews and the occasional fisherman. And the max-wake power boaters passing.
We are now in Georgetown, and anticipating a short run to Myrtle Beach tomorrow, where we will try and catch up with some people we met in Marathon. Until then, we will spend a few hours in the morning exploring Georgetown and having a nice hot breakfast- yum!! One downside of going north: the weather is getting cooler, to the extent that the shorts and t-shirts have now been replaced by long pants and a fleece. Boo hiss.
Rob
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