Back on Solid Ground in Charleston

Six days after leaving Fernandina Beach, we came ashore yesterday in Charleston. Our anchor was the only bit of our boat that touched land in Georgia, OK, the anchor and the bottom of our keel......

Wednesday was another day full of adventure. We had a leisurely morning, waiting for 11, so we could be on our way with the help of the tide. Motoring down Frederica River we dodged crab pots on our way out of the anchorage. At 12:30, we set the hook again at the south end of the Little Mud River waiting for a rising tide before proceeding. This is an area of the ICW that is known for severe shoaling. Luckily with the tides around here, time allows you to pass over what is shallow water at low tide. We waited until just the turn of the tide and carried on. Half hour later we were aground....and sure enough, a short time later we were off the bottom and could carry on.
Further up the river we passed an alligator sunning on the mud bank. Dolphins, egrets, herons and the occasional jumping fish kept us company along the way. Around 3, John on 'Vulcan' caught up to us. We first met John in Beaufort, SC on our way south in the fall. Then we ran into him again in Hope Town in the Bahamas. John is from Cobourg, traveling solo on this trip. He has covered several thousand miles in a sailboat, and a few years ago bought Vulcan, a beautiful 36' power cruiser. We continued to travel together the rest of Wednesday afternoon and anchored together in the Wahoo River that night.

By the time we woke up on Thursday, John was gone. He was headed to Hilton Head, an 80-mile trip that we couldn't make in one day. We got ourselves underway shortly before 9. By 10 we realized that we would be against current most of the day, and seeing the beautiful weather, decided to again hop out to the ocean. We sailed out St. Catherine's sound with the ebb tide pushing us along, seemed to pick up the edge of the gulf stream as we sailed northbound, and then were pushed back up Calibogue Sound (which borders Hilton Head Island) with the flood tide 5 hours later. On our way back in we radioed Vulcan to see where he was. We had done so well, that we had passed him! Our trip into the ocean allowed us to cover 90 miles of the twisty ICW in one day. Bryan Creek was our planned anchorage, but after checking it out, we found it fairly unprotected from the building wind off the ocean. Another 5 miles along we stopped for the night in Skull Creek.

Friday the weather was ugly..windy, at times rainy, and generally miserable. Unanimously we decided to stay put for the day, and not venture out across Port Royal Sound until things calmed down. We read, played games, planned our next few passages and generally had a good time just hanging out together.

At first light on Saturday we were northbound again. Port Royal Sound was nice and calm, though filled with debris. The full moon always causes exceptionally high tides (10.3 feet on Saturday) and combined with strong winds, the water level is raised further. At this time of year the high water picks up last years dead grasses from the salt flats and carries them down river. We did our best to dodge the biggest clumps, but couldn't miss them all. We sailed past Port Royal and Beaufort, and made good enough progress that we could attempt the notoriously shallow cuts between a couple of rivers in the area. With only inches below our keel, we slowly made our way through these areas and breathed a sigh of relief on the other side. Once past these cuts we decided to anchor for a couple of hours to let the worst of the opposing tide pass before continuing. Once it had settled a bit, we carried on and motored another 3 hours before anchoring again, this time for the night.

Sunday morning we had only a few hours to go before reaching Charleston. Good thing, because we had a surprise visitor in the night .... The Easter Bunny! Indeed this hoppy fellow made it to our boat and hid chocolate eggs in many ingenious places. We think most of them have been found, and luckily none were left in the engine room, so no fear of any melting chocolate! A relaxing trip up the Stono River, through Elliot Cut and we were in the Ashley River, which runs along the west side of the peninsula on which the city of Charleston was developed.

Charleston is a beautiful city, filled with old southern houses that look like they should have ladies sipping iced tea on their porches. The gardens are spectacular and you can often smell the Jasmine, which are in full bloom right now, before you see it. Many houses are adorned with wrought iron gates and sturdy wooden doors. We will enjoy a few days here wandering around, soaking up the southern atmosphere and eating low country cooking.