Awendaw Anchorage - at anchor

After no sun for a week, it's nice to sea a sunset again

We delayed our departure from St John's Yacht Center in order to go through the shallows above the Ben Sawyer Bridge on a rising tide. So with that we left around 10:00 and almost didn't make the 10:30 opening of the next bridge, but barely did. The tide was really coming in and at one point we were only doing 4.5 kts over ground!

The Isle of Palms passage is the shallowest of all the stretches of the ICW (have you heard this before...) - but it really is. After reading all the comments, I was determined to find a route through that would not require going at high tide. So with a combination of following the ICW line added with stretches of totally ignoring it, we did find a route with 6.6 ft at low tide and published it on Active Captain. If nothing else, it's a reference for me the next time I pass through this area. Perhaps it will help others.

The same sunset from a different angle

What a difference today was!! Warm sunshine (hadn't seen the sun for almost a week), little wind and it looks to be a calm night tonight at anchor. There are five of us anchored here but the anchorage could accommodate 100 boats! It's impossible to drag so we are all secure.

On Tuesday we're headed for Georgetown, South Carolina and hopefully fresh fish for dinner. There's a local seafood market with fish caught in the area. We'll just stay one night and then head for Barefoot Landing Marina.

St John's Yacht Center - Monday we move

We had 1 to 2 ft waves hitting the back of the boat all day

We had yet another day of high winds (20 to 25 kts, topping out at 33 kts) and no sun! The weather has just been miserable, at least for this time of the year in South Carolina. We haven't seen the sun now for five days. Monday is supposedly a better day, I'll believe it when I see it. The winds are due to abate and the sun might even become visible. There are a lot of cruisers stacked up down here, unable to move, especially those wishing to go outside. Nobody wants to heat north against 20 kts winds and 6 to 9 ft waves!

Nothing beats the 17 inch  ball fenders for cushioning

So we just hung out, did laundry and Ann cooked a fabulous Easter dinner with a ham, sweet potatoes, deviled eggs, macaroni with cheese and asparagus. It was just delicious. I had to cut the top 1/4 of the ham off in order to fit it into the oven. We had that part of scrambled eggs and ham in the morning.

The captain was full!!

It appears the winds of the last three days have finally calmed down somewhat. It's currently about 10 kts which feels like no wind at all compared to what we've experienced recently. We plan on going through the Isle of Palms on a rising tide shortly after noon and anchoring out at Awendaw, just of the ICW. Hopefully we can get through the shallow spots just north of the Ben Sawyer Bridge.

St. John's Yacht Harbor - We explore Charleston

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We are by the bridge - but it's quiet

n Active Captain you are asked to rate marinas that you stay at. The ratings range from 1 star to 5 stars. There are many people who rate marinas at 4 starts just as a starting point and too easily give 5 stars to marinas that are not exceptional. That is not a problem with this marina. It deserves a 5 star rating. It has all the extras of a courtesy car (free), cable TV, free WiFi, excellent laundry facilities and showers along with very good docking rates. We will come back again next year.

The parks are beautiful

We took advantage of their courtesy car today at noon and visiting downtown Charleston to the riverside parks. You can have the car for free for two yours at a time which was plenty for us. Normally they are just used for provisioning but we had done that yesterday so today was just sightseeing. The rains and winds did abate somewhat today but we have some more high winds and rain still coming at us per the radar. It's all supposed to be over by Monday when we'll head north again.

A closeup of the flowers

A tree covered walk - just wonderful, even on a cloudy day

Ann has an Easter Sunday dinner planned with a ham and all the trimmings. I had to trim the top 2 inches off the ham to fit in our small, onboard oven. So with that we had ham and eggs this morning, sacrifice,  ha!   We'll do laundry on Sunday and we still plan on leaving Monday for points north.

St John's Yacht Harbor - at a dock

Pouring rain, high winds, ugh!!

We were going to stay at the Charleston Maritime Center but as the winds increased to 25 to 30 kts, we had second thoughts. We encountered 33 kt winds coming out of Steamboat Creek and with the forecast for continued heavy rains throughout the weekend combined with NE winds of 15 to 25 kts, we knew from experience that the Maritime Center would not be comfortable. It is completely open to the NE to E and the waves wash in against the docked boats.

With that in hand, we started looking for an alternative and found St. John's Yacht Harbor which is just to the west of Elliott Cut before coming into Charleston Harbor. The cost was even a little cheaper but it promised a much more protected dockage. So we called ahead and they found a slip for us. With the forecast for continued bad weather, we took it for the next three days. We're supposed to get 2 to 3 inches over the next 24 hours.

Groan, view out the front - rain, rain...

We had plans of renting a car for the weekend but with the forecast heavy rains, all it would have done is sit in the parking lot. So, we cancelled the car but then the marina had a loaner car and we took that to get to Harris Teeter for provisioning. We have a ham for Easter and all the fixings! It'll just be the two of us but we hope to have a video connection sometime Easter with the grandkids.

Meanwhile, we hunkered down with winds of 15 to 25 kts against the side of the boat, but we're securely docked with all our fenders between us and the dock. It's just a little noisy. The marina comes with cable TV connections at every dock and we took advantage of that.So we'll see how it goes. Monday is predicted to be better and we plan on continuing our northward journey then.

Steamboat Creek - at anchor

Hunting lodge? Out in the middle of nowhere

We left early to catch the tides this morning. We went through a who's who of shallow passages today including Ashepoo River, Fenwick Cut, Watts Cut and Dawho Creek. If you ever come down the ICW, the names will become all too familiar to you! We took them all at near high tide so the white knuckles were able to get some color in them but I kept Ann busy recording depths so I could update Active Captain.

We have no idea what's behind that fence - perhaps dinosaurs (like Jurassic Park), why out here? Nothing around.

We were coming though one difficult passage with only 6 ft of water when we saw an oncoming boat with crew waving wildly at us. We thought that perhaps there was some news of a new shoaling problem or a wreck in the middle of the passage so we stopped and drifted, not a good thing to do in 6 ft of water! As it turned out they just wanted directions to a nearby marina where they had parts waiting for a repair! They were headed in the opposite direction from the marina at the time they stopped to talk to us. We told them to turn around and take a right at the exit towards the inlet where the marina was located.

Wine, music, a sunset - perfect

As we continued on, just before running aground, we turned towards Steamboat Creek and saw them in the distance following us into the creek. We knew that was not the way to the marina they wanted and sure enough, later on they reversed direction and headed for the marina. Imagine ordering parts and not knowing where the marina is located!? You meet all kinds on the ICW.

We're settled in for the night with a public dock convenient for Hoolie relief, one of the main attractions of this anchorage. The wind is still gusting in the teens but we're snug for the night. On Friday we'll leave early to beat the predicted rains coming by noon and hopefully reach Charleston before they start. .

Lady's Island Marina in Beaufort - at a dock

Lay's Island Marina - it's on a creek by Beaufort

We had winds of 20 to 25 kts all day long and with a low of 42 this morning! That's cold down here, that's cold for us! We are not used to such weather after a month in Key West where the high everyday was 77 without fail. Perhaps we are coming north too soon?!

Hoolie met a friend  (he's friends with everyone)

We timed our passage north to coincide with high tide through the shallow spots. We could get through them all even at low tide but it's much easier on the nerves when you have some cushion under the keel. However, for Thursday it's not so easy. We have to take the Ashepoo Cut which has even less water, we would go aground at low tide through there. So the plan is to leave early on Thursday and once again hit the trouble spots at close to high tide.

A cookout restaurant - all the locals come in

Lady's Island Marina is a great find. It's only $1.25/ft and they are very accommodating. They suggested a local hangout for dinner tonight, the Fillin' Station. They have specials on Wed, Thurs and Friday. Tonight it was a hamburger, hotdog, beans and potato salad for $4 each but mostly it was for the atmosphere. At the bar Ann asked for rum punch (don't have any), Cosmopolitan (don't know how to make it), Manhattan (likewise) - but they did have lots of  beer and even wine - we took the wine. We were the only ones drinking wine, beer was very popular. On the way in I noticed that out of 10 vehicles in the parking lot, all 10 were pickup trucks! The owner of the place personally prepared each plate and served it himself. He attracts quite a crowd this way which I think is the plan since they all buy drinks which are not at a special price.

When I snapped this picture, one non-truck had sneaked in

We'll leave here at 8:00 am Thursday to take advantage of the high tides at the shallow spots and anchor out at Steamboat Springs, our usual spot before coming into Charleston. It's supposed to be warmer tomorrow (that was a joke...)

Thunderbolt Marina in Savannah - Jack and Kay Cothren visit

Jack and Kay Cothren from the Poughkeepsie Yacht Club - we greatly enjoyed getting together

We prefer not to travel on rainy days, especially when the rain is predicted to last 9 hours, effectively, all day.We've had so few rainy days that it hasn't  been a problem for travel. So today we sat out the storms and listened to the wind and rain as we were snug in our harbor. As promised by the marina, we had Krispy Kreme donuts delivered to the boat at 6:30, nice.

It stormed so much and rained so hard we were concerned that Jack and Kay may not make it to the boat but they came down the walkway in rain gear and a large umbrella, prepared! Fortunately, it had stopped raining for a brief period so they made it without getting too wet. We just chatted for a couple of hours in the cockpit and we caught up on PYC news. Nice to meet friends along the way back north!

Look at the size of that building, they do painting inside for big ships

John Kwak has passed us and is now headed to Charleston. We'll be there in two days ourselves where we'll probably spend the weekend. On Wednesday we'll get the back end of the front that came through today with a low tonight of 44 (!!) and a high of only 63. We haven't seen weather this cold since our trip north in December. Nevertheless, it will be sunny with no rain so we're on the move.