Charleston Maritime Marina - at a dockkk

We really have a beautiful view - rocky at times however

We survived the skinny water today but it was no contest since we timed the passage with a 5 ft tide! Nevertheless, it was non-eventful which is fine with us. We also survive the Ben Sawyer swing bridge which has an operator who is rather sticky. We heard over the VHF of a sailboat approaching the bridge that was going to be about a minute late and they asked the bridge attendant to open the bridge for them since there was no other traffic. The reply that got was that the bridge will open on top of the hour if there's traffic and not later (technically, not 30 seconds later!). The bridge attendant told the sailboat captain that he would have to wait for the next opening an hour later! Give a bureaucrat some minor power and they think they're God. So the sailboat captain and the bridge attendant stared at each other for an hour before passing through.

Some ships can  be really ugly!!

Charleston Maritime Center is one of our favorite stops since we can provision at the Harris Tetter supermarket and use the free laundry provided by the marina. Plus, they have an interesting downtown within walking distance to explore which we plan on doing Monday. If you're ever in Charleston you ought to visit the aquarium next door which displays the local flora and fauna.

We've also discovered Redbox which has movies for $1.30, a bargain for recent showings. It's a kiosk where you select the movie, swipe your charge card and out pops the movie of your choice for $1.30. The movie can be returned at any Redbox kiosk, not necessarily the one where you first rented the movie, very convenient.

So on Monday we'll provision at Harris Tetter and do some exploring before preparing for the real skinny water further south on the way to Savannah where we plan on arriving on Thursday for a couple of days.