Charleston Maritime Center - last day

These modern ships are so ugly! He blew his horn 5 times to warn a sailboat right in front of him!

Well we did some really exciting things today, like sleeping in, doing laundry, doing the NYT crossword, etc. If you're really into the cruising lifestyle, it's a typical day. The weather changed to the cooler side with a high of only 73 today, good thing we're headed south on Monday.

I spent most of the morning preparing for the shallow water south of here. We can get through most of it even at low tide but not the Ashepoo River where 3.5 ft has been reported at low tide. So with that we'll stop off at B & B Seafood just before the Ashepoo River. They have a flat rate of $25 for any size boat but it's really not a marina. They only have room for at most 2 boats and it's really an unused shrimp boat dock. We'll have to dock at the far end to make room for the shrimp boats that come in a night. The place is closed Mondays so I told the girl that answered the phone today that I'd put the dock fee into an envelope under the door, she was fine with that. We've been there before so we know where to dock.

A view from our marina at night, goodbye Charleston

We'll leave Monday at 8:00 am so we can make the 9:00 opening at the Wappoo Creek bridge. Then it's a race against a falling tide to make the shallow spots before low tide. Should be fun...

Charleston Maritime Center - Harris Teeter and Downtown

One of the many horse drawn carriages along the streets of Charleston

The main attraction of the Charleston Maritime Center is that Harris Teeter is one block away and downtown is only one more block. So this morning it was a visit to Ann's favorite supermarket (Harris Teeter) and restocking for the trip to Florida. Next was a trip to downtown Charleston and a visit to the Charleston City Market, a must see when in the city. It's composed of several long, narrow buildings that house displays of wares from local people.Most are homemade and offer a large variety of things to wear, display or eat. It's interesting just to see the offerings from such a unique area as Charleston.

Oh, which one to buy?

One of the art forms that Charleston is famous for are the intricate, hand woven baskets of all sizes. Some impossibly small and others very ornate. You can find all kinds at the City Market. You'll see the artisans weaving the baskets in the market as you walk by their displays.

Some are quite intricate

We walked over to the Roseway after dinner. We first saw the schooner in Maine many years ago and it's been refitted and is now sails for the World Ocean School . What a great experience for high school students to spend weeks sailing the Atlantic. It's headed for St Croix, its southern home port.

Looks like a great time being had - they have courses to take and skills to learn along the way

The temperature today was 85 but Sunday's high is only projected to be 70! But then it will start to climb again the next few days, good to be headed south which we plan to do on Monday.

Charleston Maritime Center - at a dock

It's a small marina - but a great location

We had intended to anchor at the halfway point, Awendaw Creek but we reached the anchorage a little before 11:00 and then decided to go on to Charleston. Earlier that day they had a cancellation and we took advantage of that for one of their limited supply of docks. It's a very small marina, only a dozen or so slips but it's very convenient to downtown Charleston, within walking distance and it has a great grocery store - Harris Tetter.

However, getting there involved transiting some of the most shallow areas of the ICW at low tide! There were long stretches of 5 to 6 ft depths and that was with a 1.0 foot plus tide! We don't draw much, only 4 feet, 9 inches but that's too skinny for even us at a dead low tide. But with the 1.0 foot tide, we made it through, barely. It is inconceivable how irresponsible the government is in not providing the funding for maintaining a public trust. The answer is always the same from the Army Corps of Engineers - there's no funding for dredging. And yet just think of all the billions of dollars spent on frivolous projects benefiting a few people in a congressman's district!  It's really sad.

We found our old friend from Maine - Roseway

Regardless, we finally made it through and we're both exhausted from the tension of transiting shallow water, it takes it out of you. So we did make it to Charleston and we're going to celebrate with three days of rest and exploring of downtown before resuming our trek south on Monday (through more shallow water! - Florida and North Carolina dredge, South Carolina and Georgia don't give a dam-)

Georgetown Landing Marina - at a dock

Typically scenery along the Waccamaw River - away from civilization

We had wanted to dock at downtown Georgetown but this was the weekend they were hosting their annual wooden boat show and everything was filled up. So we took a dock at a nearby marina out of town, the Georgetown Landing Marina. It's the same price but not as convenient to downtown.

Now this is real alligator country - you're in a kayak???

We are in the part of the ICW now where we seldom anchor unless it's right at an inlet. There are alligators aplenty in the area and we aren't keen on taking Hoolie ashore where he might become a snack for the local wildlife, especially after dark, his 7:00 pm run. So we usually take a marina through this section of the ICW. Even in the marina we're in now, there are signs all over the place to "Don't feed the alligators". You are warned that they are much faster than they appear (the alligator surprise.... - the last thing many of the local wildlife sees). So we take a dock and mark it up the good judgment, we think.

Don't miss the Shrimp Dock fish market when in Georgetown!

I borrowed one of the loaner bicycles for a trip to town to get fresh seafood. The Shrimp Dock had fresh grouper which was outstanding. They also had shrimp (of course) and local flounder. The grouper was just excellent!

On Friday comes a very difficult stretch of the ICW. We are in South Carolina and Georgia where they do not dredge (unlike North Carolina), claiming they do not have the money. As a result, the local towboat companies do a land office business. Some spots are down to 2 ft at low tide. So on Friday we are going to try making the 52 mile run through the shallowest spots to take advantage of the late afternoon high tides but we have to beat the Ben Sawyer bridge closing at 4:00 pm, a tough assignment. I don't know if we'll make it but we'll give it a try.

Barefoot Landing Marina - Last day

The rain finally stopped

It stormed all through the night and into most of the morning. I did find a gap in the rain to take Hoolie ashore but then it started up again. By 2:00 it was all over and the rest of the day was fine. We were going to stay here today anyway so we just enjoyed the good weather for the afternoon.

Have I heard these before.....?

So I wandered around the shops and discovered the "Women's 5 Most Deadly Vocabulary Words" on a tee shirt. I think I've come across these before... For the rest of the day it was planning the trip south. We are not in sync with the tides and we'll hit some of the shallow areas at low tide, not a good plan but I think we can make it through (wow... says Ann?)  So I refilled the water tanks and washed out the cockpit, we're all set to go. We met a couple in a sailboat with a 5' 6" draft, wing keel, that were taking their first trip down the ICW and were unaware of all the shallow water ahead of them?! Live and learn I guess.

We are headed this way Thursday morning

We are aiming for Georgetown on Thursday and the trip down the Waccamaw River is one of the most beautiful stretches of the ICW. It's alligator country for sure but they are mostly in the side branches and not out in the river itself. We don't plan on anchoring anywhere nearby and will take a slip in Georgetown. Unfortunately, it the weekend of the wooden boat show so we'll be upriver from the town itself.

Barefoot Landing Marina - Greg Norman's Australian Grill

The place has seen some renovations since the spring

Well, we needed to replenish our wine supply so it was off to the nearest Walmart. They are allowed to sell wine in South Carolina. The marina here was a service to take their customers to the nearest Walmart or anywhere else close by at no charge. We took advantage of that for keeping an amply supply of wine on board. However, along the way we found a liquor store and discovered that it also sold White Lightening (see photo). I had never seen it for sale before in a store.

White Lightening in a store?!

We met John and Chuck on the boat behind us today, a large powerboat. They are also on the way south and invited us aboard for drinks at 5:00 pm. It turns out that he's also Air Force (retired) and we had much to talk about. While having drinks, Fred Bergheim acosted me and it turns out that he had been following my blog for the last three years and when he knew I was in Barefoot Landing, he dropped by for a chat. Such meetings have happened with regularity over the last few years. There are about 30 to 50 people that follow my blog on a regular basis and at some point along the ICW we may meet. Of course, all are invited to drop by to say hello!

We always have dinner one night at Greg Norman's Australian Grill and we spoke so highly of it that John and Chuck decided to come along too. We just had a great time trading stories, one of the unique attractions of the ICW, the people you meet along the way.

We often meet people who read our blog and want to see us in person - they know about Ann and Hoolie too

Severe storms are forecast for Wednesday so we'll stay another day before starting south again on Thursday.

Barefoot Landing Marina - at a dock

Scenery along the way south - we're starting to get into the grasslands

Low tide was at 7:15 am Monday morning but the current was still rushing out until 8:30 am. So as we left the marina at first light, around 7:00 am, to catch the outgoing tide we still experienced a rising tide on the way out. It seems strange that water can  be rushing out of the inlet (2 kts down  river!) and still have the depth of the water (tide) increasing?! When we came into the marina yesterday, it was against a 2 kt current coming up the river and yet the tide was falling as we entered the marina. The tides and currents have a complex relationship around here, not easy to understand.

Entering the Rock Pile!!

The trip down the Cape Fear river was as calm as any we've ever experienced. No wind and the current was with us. As we entered the ICW at the bottom of the river, we even had the current with us there too. So we sped on. We found that North Carolina, unlike South Carolina and Georgia, dredges the trouble spots on the ICW. There was no slowing down and feeling your way through Lockwood's Folly or Shallotte Inlet, they had been dredged in the spring of 2014! So with that we made good time and arrived at Barefoot Landing around 1:30 pm after surviving yet another trip through the Rock Pile.

Just a long face dock but it's interesting to wander along the shops and eat at Greg Norman's

The marina here is really not a marina. It's just one long face dock. There's no restrooms, no showers - just a dock and electricity. However, they do offer free trips to the nearest Walmart which we'll take advantage of on Wednesday. Whenever we're here, we always have one dinner at Greg Norman's Australian Grill. They have the best steaks on the ICW and we're dying for one.