It has been 5 days since my last post and a lot of ground has been covered. We did leave as planned on Thursday morning and moved quickly down the waterway towards the Myrtle Beach area. Our first destination was the Coquina Yacht club which was located in a protected basin off the waterway with 2 other marinas. The most memorable features of that day's trip was that we were getting into the area of large homes along the waterfront. Although two of the notoriously shallow areas of the ICW - Lockwood's Folly and the Shallotte Inlet, were a short distance out of Southport, both of these areas turned out to be no problems. But it was still a relief to get them behind us. The entire route was in effect through a canal system that ran just inside a series of barrier islands. Another noted feature was that the barrier islands themselves were very heavily built up. There were private homes - mostly large and condo developments on most of the long and narrow barrier islands. Once we arrived at the marina, we were informed that the adjacent Holiday Inn had a happy hour from 5 to 7 so, thinking that there would be many other boaters there, we made plans to attend. As it turned out, we were almost the only ones there. We had a quick beer and returned to Resolute where Kent and Karen were guests for dinner - Greek salad and leftovers from the night before.
We made plans to leave by around 7 the nest morning so it was again early to bed.
Friday was another beautiful day and our trip was a bit less than 30 miles. We had reserved slips at the Osprey Marina which was still in the Myrtle Beach area but the marina was located miles away from anything. It was, however also located in a very protected basin so there were no concerns about current or wakes from passing boats. The setting was almost jungle-like. The trip to get there was still through very built-up areas and golf courses, and large condo developments, and very large private homes, became quite common sights. Since the trip was short, we arrived in early afternoon at the marina. We took advantage of the service provided by a nearby restaurant and called for a ride into the community. We there enjoyed a fabulous Italian dinner and then did a bit of grocery shopping in the store next to the restaurant. We again had made plans to leave at 7 a.m. so it was another early night. I should add that most of the marinas advertise free wi-fi. However, it has most often turned out that it consists of a wireless router that is next to their office computer and it is almost impossible to connect unless the laptop is brought up close to the router.
Saturday was another beautiful and sunny, and warm day. And, we arrived in Georgetown fairly early in the afternoon after another short trip, and stopped at the Boat Shed marina. The route took us again through a waterway that was reminiscent of the canals of New York. There were deciduous trees along the way and many of them, had some colour although not the brilliant colours that we are used to seeing in the fall in Ontario. Georgetown had a very well developed waterfront with many watering holes, galleries, and cafes built on the boardwalk than ran for about half a mile along the waterfront. The town had many well-preserved old historic homes. There was a very large population of boats in the harbour, many of them choosing to anchor in the basin near the marinas and most of the people who we saw in the town were boaters. There didn't seem to be a lot of locals out and about even though it was a saturday. The stores did not seem to be that busy. It was another early bed-time since we had planned for a 55 mile day on Sunday. We were going to leave the marina at 6;15 a.m.
We did make the planned departure time, along with another 10 or 12 boats, and thought that with the fairly large distance to cover, we would be lucky to make it to the Isle of Palms marina by their closing time of 5:00 p.m. Fortunately, our early departure and help from a favourable tidal current had us snug in our slips by around 3:30; it was, however, a long day and I celebrated by treating myself to a great dinner at the on-site restaurant. The Isle of Palms is a really pretty spot, consisting of very large homes on this island which seems to be a tourist mecca. It has a number of very large resorts, most of which are based around golfing. Caja and I took a little walk after we arrived, along one gold course located about 100 m from the marina. And there are lots of palm trees on most of the nearby properties. On this leg of the trip we were introduced to what I later found out to be typical "low country Carolina" geography. We went through miles of riverways and canals that made their way through marshland bordered by grassy swamps. Whenever there was solid ground, people had built very large and impressive homes. We also passed by many boaters, many of whom were out fishing. The following morning, Caja and I took a walk over to the ocean side of the island; there we walked for about a mile along the beach. Many others people were also out at this time doing the same thing. Along this ocean front, the homes were humungous. We were able to do this at our leisure because the next leg of the trip was very short, only about 20 miles, into the old city of Charleston S.C.
The was another parade of boats the next morning, Monday Nov. 10th lined up along the route from the Isle of Palms to Charleston. The trip went smoothly; the weather was very good. although the forecast for later in the week was starting to look a little ominous. We checked into the Charleston City Marina with only a little trouble due to the tidal current. The marina, though had 2 dockhands ready to assist each boat as it docked. This was a very large marina. We were assigned dock space along the "Megadock", a 1000 foot long concrete floating dock that is the home to most transient boaters. Needless to say, we were given spots at the end of the 1000 foot "Megadock", so that any time we wanted to go to shore, or to the showers or washrooms - you guessed it, it was a 1000 foot walk. I haven't stepped on scales since I left but I am quite confident that my weight is down, as is my waistline. A few more "Megadocks" and there won't be anything left of me!
Our stay in Charleston turned out to be 6 days long. When we listened to the weather forecast on Tuesday morning, strong winds and heavy rains were predicted for later in the week. We judged that if we were going to be stuck somewhere for several days, it might just as well be in Charleston, where at least there would be many things to see and do. As it was, we spent our first afternoon there touring around the very historic downtown area, where there were "antebellum" style homes, many museums and churches, that many more tourists lined up to see. I will try to upload a few photos of some of these features. On some of the stormy and wet days, the only times we went out were when Caja had to be walked. The balance of the time I spent reading, or doing boat stuff - we made a run to West Marine where I picked up the pieces needed to get better lighting in the cockpit - it gets dark so early these days. The marina has a courtesy van that makes trips into the city each hour and it will also pick up marina customers after they have completed their business downtown.
On Friday morning, Kent and Karen and I, and another couple from another boat took a tour boat out to Fort Sumter, which is located on an island in the Charleston Harbour. It was there that the first shots in the American Civil war were fired.
Another one my projects in Charleston was to try to get Caja to "do it" on the boat. That is still a work in progress. It has to be done, however, because after we leave here, we start encountering sections of the waterway where there are no marinas and often, the anchorages are out in the middle of nowhere and with marshland all around. I wonder if an old dog can learn a new trick.
We were finally able to leave Charleston on Sunday morning. The weather was going to be cool, but the wind was down and it was to be sunny again. We pulled out at 7:00 a.m. bound for an anchorage that was undetermined and based on how far we were able to get by mid-afternoon. The dock staff helped us to leave by using the strong current in the marina to turn the boat around and we were on our way, to our surprise, assisted by the tidal current most of the way. By 3:00 p.m. we had arrived at a good anchorage in the South Edisto River and Kent, arriving before me, dropped his anchor near the shore in about 10 feet of water. When I came in, I rafted up with them for our evening "sundowner" drink and snack and then set off to drop my own hook. There is a 7.3 foot tide in this area, so I put out about 85 feet of chain on the 25 lb. CQR. It dug in well, and I heated up some leftovers and then crashed at about 7:30 p.m. We had earlier tried to use cell phones but were unable to get any coverage from where we were.
Because we had covered a fair distance on Sunday, our Monday trip to Beaufort S.C. would be relatively short - about 25 n.m. We left at 7:00 a.m. just the same - Beaufort is supposed to be a very lovely city and it would be nice to have a bit of time to explore it after we arrived. Again, we were lucky enough to get a strong lift from the tidal current and made very good time. The only unpleasant part of the trip was our turn up the Coosaw River - the combination of current against a brisk wind made for short and choppy water. That only lasted about an hour or so until we reached a more protected part of the waterway. It was also easy since there weren't any shallow areas to worry about today, even though much of the time we travelled through the same S.C. low country.
The homes of Beaufort are very special and words to describe them are hard to find. Hopefully, a few photos will fill in that gap.
Well. that brings me pretty well up to date. Tomorrow will by sunny again although there is a frost warning out tonight. It was close to freezing here last night as well, thankfully, I installed a diesel-fired cabin heater this past summer. It was a very appreciated item this morning. The next week or so is supposed to bring us lots of sun, but with near-freezing temperature at night and only the low 50's F. during the day. Warmer weather arrives later in the week. With another early start planned, at 9:00 p.m. my next step is to crash.
See you again soon.
Mike
