Saturday, October 28, 2017

Windmill Harbor Marina on Hilton Head - at a dock

The sunrise from B&B Seafood - see, we do rise early sometimes...
We made it through Ashepoo without a problem since we had a 2 ft tide with us although without the tide we would have scraped bottom with our 5 ft keel. I remember more water in the spring but it was probably due to the increased rains in the spring. There's been no rainfall here for weeks.

On the way in you pass through a lock
We came to the Beaufort swing bridge which is supposed to open on demand over a weekend. We asked , the bridge operator tried - but no go! There was some kind of a maintenance problem! So we did donuts as she called for maintenance. We saw people crawling around the structure and finally got the message that she was going to try again. We waited and waited - and finally the bridge did open, slowly. I don't know what the problem was but we got through! All of these bridges ought to be 65 ft.

A nice yacht club is also a resident here
This is the first time we docked at Windmill Harbor Marina. The unique feature of this marina is the lock you must go through to enter the harbor. It's a one-boat dock and it keeps the water level in the marina at a constant depth. As you might expect, the marina is thereby totally protected from wakes and even the wind has a hard time getting into the marina since it's surrounded by three story homes on all sides.

The remnants of the tropical storm coming up the coast will pass by us on Sunday bringing 20 to 30 kt winds but no rain. With that forecast, we'll probably just stay over in the marina another day and leave on Monday for Kilkenny. Why travel when it's not comfortable?

4 comments:

Ted A said...

Hi Bob - thanks for stopping in at Windmill Harbour, our current home port. I'm sorry I missed your visit, as I would have hounded you to autograph your ICW Guidebook that stays in our cockpit while transiting the waterway. As you point out, we're pretty protected in here and our boats fared quite well thru Matthew last year and Irma this year. I hope we may see you again in the future.
Best Regards,
Ted Arisaka
s/v Little Wing
V42-186

Bob423 said...

Ted, you have a great marina there! Hope we can meet sometime farther down the line or in the spring. I did autograph one book there.

S/V Gratitude said...

Bob, We have not met, but we have followed your way points through some skinny spots, and you saved our bacon on the way up the ICW this Spring. We keep Grastitude in Windmill Harbour and will be back down there come December. Unfortunately, for medical reasons, we will not be venturing forth this winter, so we will have to look forward to meeting up on another occasion. Thank you for all you and Ann do!
Fair winds,
Van and Lauren Schwiebert
S/V Gratitude
Brewer 44-284

Bob423 said...

Van and Lauren, you’re welcome. Maybe we’ll meet in the spring.