Charleston to St Helena Sound to Hilton Head May 30 to 31

We are on our way back.  The last few days have been rather hot, but returning to a boat with AC is fine.  However, the anchorages will not be that cool.  We decided that we would run on the outside for the next two days, since the seas were cooperating, even though the wind would be light from the southeast.  We decided to get an early start, and leave before we had help to get out of the slip.  MISTAKE.   The tide rips through the marina, and even though there was no wind, it still took us into the finger pier and the neighbors anchor roller.  We ended up with a small ding in the starboard side and took out the anchor roller with our rear stanchions on the neighbor's boat.  So much for leaving early.  Jim; thanks for the video.  At least I only got one boat. 

Once we got going, we cruised out of the harbor past Fort Sumter and out into the Atlantic.  A pilot boat is sitting on the edge of the harbor and one is returning from the ocean; and now we know why; a huge cargo ship is coming in.  We immediately dash for outside the channel markers.  As the ship rolls by, I understand now why people in Texas and Louisiana surf the oil tanker wakes.  This small ship threw a 4 foot wake with a 6 second period.   We rolled through the wakes and did not take any water over the bow. 

Out in the ocean with the wind negligible, we are motor sailing.  Much faster at points than we would have running against currents and winding our way through the ditch.  Since we left so late, our original goal has been replaced, and then with thunder storms rolling off the coast, even our next destination is compromised.   We outrun (I know unbelievable) a wall of water moving offshore and head for St Helena Sound, our next inlet off the ocean.  Since there are not many hiding places along this inlet, we make the choice that we will anchor and run the ditch tomorrow. We find a little cut off the sound and anchor for the night. 

Saturday, we head for Hilton Head, with the same anchorage that we found a week ago.  We have an incoming tide which pushes us along.  We stop for fuel and water in Beaufort again, and proceed onward.  The skies have been ominous all day and we have had gust of cool winds from storms nearby.  As we enter the channel for Hilton Head, we understand why it is best to not travel these parts on the weekends, as everyone is out on the water.  Most are knowledgeable, but then you have your jet skiers jumping passing boat wakes not looking at any of the oncoming traffic; fishermen trolling in the middle of the ICW channel; you get the picture.  Having negotiated the crazies, we dropped the hook in the same spot as before as it looks like we are going to get hammered by a storm.  Nope, goes round us; but the forecast is for rain tonight.  Anyway, it looks like cooler weather the next couple of days, but we all want to be weather forecasters. 

Beaufort to Charleston May 26 to 29

We left Beaufort on a leisurely cruise to Charleston.  It is about 70 miles away so we are going to stop at one of the anchorage that Jim and Gail have marked on the charts; a little more than 30 miles away.  With a good tide and wind we get there at about 1 PM.  I am thinking that we can push on as there are other spots to anchor, but decide that this is good.  There are green head flies in abundance, but we get the anchor set and relax.  About 3 PM we look out and see storms approaching as the wind has picked up.  The storms appear to be heading north and in the direction where we would have probably stopped.  Good call on not pushing on!!!  We get a couple of showers and the skies eventually clear.

The next morning we leave for Charleston.  With the exception of the last couple of miles it is uneventful.  We go down this creek and are doing close to 7 knots as the current is running close to 3 knots.  We have a draw bridge to deal with and we missed the 1 PM opening, so we are circling at the bridge dodging other boats that can get under the span.  Finally, the bridge opens and we are on our way to the Harborage at Ashley Creek marina.  We have booked a slip for a couple of nights and with little problem get into the slip.  As we approach the marina, we see the hotel that we stayed at three years ago. 

I work the rest of the afternoon and the next morning, and then we finally go downtown.  We had great time the last time we were here.  The marina provides a shuttle and we are dropped off by the farmers market, which has been remodeled.  Things have changed since we were here and there is a some construction and restoration.  We spend the day in the city and then grab some provisions and call for the shuttle.  We decide to stay an additional day and the next morning grab the shuttle for another trip downtown.  This time we go the the battery and the rainbow house section.  Wandering on the waterfront is cooler since the day is rather steamy.  Along the waterfront we have a good view of Fort Sumter, and there are several fountains with rules and regulations, along with there is no lifeguard on duty; Really!!!  We have some gellato; no ice cream, and wander off toward the shops.  We finally call for the shuttle and go back to the boat. 

We are planning to go offshore tomorrow as it looks like comfortable seas and decent winds. 

Hilton Head to Beaufort, SC - May 24 - 25

Welcome to Beaufort, pronounced "Bufort" as opposed to "Bofort", though both are spelled the same; different state for the later.  We left Hilton Head, in which we saw some of the warmest temperatures so far on this trip.  The days were in the upper 80's and nights finally cooled into the mid 70's.  Not exactly great sleeping in the early evenings. 

We could not have planned the trip to Beaufort any worse, outgoing tide and 10 to 15 knots on our bow.  Leaving our anchorage was swift until we made the turn up the ICW and it slowed to a crawl  Oh well, it is a short trip, 25 to 30 miles.  We weave our way up the ICW and eventually hit the Port Royal Sound, where the tide has changed and we can launch the jib again.  We are planning to anchor in Factory Creek, which Jim and Gail have noted on their charts.  Before anchoring, we stop in the Beaufort Downtown Marina for fuel, water, etc.  As we were approaching the dock, I noticed that they had mooring balls, and we asked if they were active.  (We had read that Beaufort had plans to install them, but did not think they had finished.)  We secured a mooring, but not before a lengthy explanation on which ones to use.  It seems that they had placed them too close together.  Since the mooring field was practically empty, this was not a problem.  Well, Beth and I have become quite proficient with securing a mooring, but that was not today.  The pennant was on too short of a float and I missed both the float and the pennant. So the mooring ball goes through the hulls and I grab the pannant as it exits the hulls.  MISTAKE!!!  Although, I have done this before and walked the pennant forward, the tide and wind pulled it away and I could not hold the pennant so over the side the boat pole goes.  I grab the backup pole and we make another pass and secure the mooring.  In the meantime, we see the pole floating away towards the docks.  Beth tries to get another boat's attention, but he is mooring also, solo.  We see a small power boat that grabs the pole, and finally flag them down with the help of our neighbor.  They bring the pole, and we repay their kindness with several bottles of Fat Tire beer.  Both of us were happy. 

Since we left Hilton Head, a front has washed through and with it cooler temps.  The evening is cool again with the same breeze that we fought to get here.  The morning greets us with some clouds, but with coolness that we welcome.  We head to shore to explore Beaufort.  

We walk down Bay Street which is lined with shops.  It is early Sunday morning, and it is so quiet with hardly anyone about.  We decide to explore the neighborhoods, noting that Beaufort is the second oldest city in SC.  We are walking by this one house and we see this door propped open, with what looks like a dog.  It is a dog, but he was so still that we thought it was a stop, a rather large stop.  We find wonderful old homes, with views of the river and marsh lands.  The streets and homes have these old oaks and cedars, and on one street a tree limb has a height restriction on it.

Several of the older homes have these steps that seem to go out into the street, but we determine that they were used to assist the people into their carriages.  Here is an example on Lauren Street.

 We find an ice cream parlor and Beth gets a cone, while I have a cup and since we are dining in, it is served in a glass reminiscent of the old soda shop's ice cream sundaes.  After our stop, we head south along the river.  Beth takes pix of our mooring and some of the houses.

 After our 4 hour excursion, we come back to the boat.  Tomorrow we are off to Charleston, with a stop about half way.  

St Catherines to Thunderbolt, Ga to Hillton Head, SC - May 21 thru 23

Jim and Gail were right, the anchorage was perfect, even with the current.  Once the anchor is set, there is hardly any movement, like you were in a marina.  As soon as the anchor is set we watch another sunset. We wake early, early enough to see our neighbors for the night leaving. Our thought is to go to Isle of Palms and find a marina and walk around the town. Although, once we called, there was "no room at the inn".  Beth tries Thunderbolt Marine (home of Krispy Kreme and a paper) and they are full, but the Morningstar Marina has space and we book it.  It is a relatively short run (30 miles to the marina), so we take our time as they do not want us there until 3 PM.  Well, a favorable current gets us there at 2, and we wait while a boat with an issue is moved.  We pull in, but not with some issues as an outgoing tide reeks havoc with our docking.  The folks at the marina pull our boat around and get us tied off; problem solved. 

The next day, we are off to Hilton Head, SC, which is just 20 miles away.  We wake to great sunrise even though we are in the marina.  Since we are in the marina, I check in with work and finish some documentation that did not get done before we left.  Beth goes for a walk around the area and finds Savannah State College, and wanders about. All is quiet on the boat and I complete my work, before we shove off for Hilton Head.  It is an easy trip, although we have to cross the Savannah River.  Jim noted that navigation in Georgia is not as well marked as it is in Florida and you have to pay attention.  Just crossing the Savannah River to get back on to the ICW was testament enough.  As we are entering the ICW from the Savannah River, we encounter the first of several barges on our way to Hilton Head.  Once on the ICW there is a stiff southwest breeze blowing and it warrants hoisting the jib.  We cut the throttle to 1/3 and we are still doing over 6+ knots, hitting 7.3 in some gusts.

We left Thunderbolt about 12 and we get to Hilton Head at around 3 PM.  We cross Calibogue Sound and the red and white lighthouse stands in front of us.  In the cruising guide, Broad Creek is an anchorage that is recommended and we find a place right near red marker 4.  We set the anchor and are good for the night.  Across the marsh are several huge houses and town homes.  Another sunset ends our day. 

Friday, we are off to the Harbour Town Marina.  We called to inquire if there was a fee for our dingy and they responded that they would find us room.  They put us on a dock near some condos, and did not charge us anything.  We pass several megayachts, which reminds us of our Bahamas encounter where we were the smallest boat in the marina.  Although this time there were several boats our size.  We went to the lighthouse and did the tour.  This is the first lighthouse that we have encountered where there is a gift shop at the top and the lighthouse is still operational.  We take several pix including hole number 18 where the Heritage Classic golf tournament is played.  Of course, the largest yacht in the marina is anchored in front of that hole. 

We wander through some shops and then decide that we should replenish our fresh provisions.  A quick glance at one of the guides shows that there is a couple of markets on the island.  We find that there is a trolley system that would get us close to the markets.  We wait for the trolley to take us there and are pleased that the operator shares his local knowledge.  The market is about half a mile from his last stop but he will wait for us as his route is on demand.  We pick up fruits and veggies and some fresh fish for tonight's meal.  We ask for some ice to keep the fish and veggies cool on our trip back and we get a small bag from the deli.  Nice!!!  As we approach the trolley stop, the operator comes and gets us about a hundred yards up the road.  He noted that there was a great ice cream place at one of his stops, so we ask him if he would stop there for us.  The ice cream is excellent and after we were expecting to take another trolley, but no, there is our driver ready to take us back to the marina.   Even though it is a Friday, it is already busy.  The driver notes that tomorrow and the rest of the weekend will be crazy.  We are glad we are on the move to Beaufort in the morning.

St. Simons to St. Catherines - May 20

We are really lazy today; well sort of.  I did some “work” work, and Beth used the free loaner car from the marina to run to the store for some fresh produce.   As advertised, the paper and muffins showed up shortly before 7.  Since I had been up since 6, I had already eaten, but having the paper was nice.  We pulled out around 10:30, with our goal to anchor at this one spot about 15 miles away.  We reach the anchorage at 12:30, too early to stop, so we decide to go to the anchorage Jim and Gail had marked on their charts.  It is about another 30 miles, so we figure that we should get there around 6 or 7.  Nope; with tidal ranges of 5 to 7 feet, opposing tides can slow your progress to a crawl.  Usually, when you reach the center of the island you are transiting, the tidal current releases you and gives you a boost.  On the final 5 miles, it seemed to take forever.  We were crawling along, and I am waiting for the tide direction to change.  When it finally does, we are flying compared to the previous 45 minutes.   

Funny thing (well not so funny for the other guy), we approach this boat, and it looks like a boat that passed us (and most power boats do pass us like we’re standing still), and I think he is anchored for the night.  I look at the charts and it looks like he’s near a sand bar; nope he’s on the sand bar.  One of the differences with the way the ICW channel markers are set is the green marker are always toward the ocean.  I am not sure if he misread the chart or markers or both, but he was high and getting dryer as the tide was still going out.

We finally reach the anchorage about 7:30, but not without some interesting bouts with a sand bar ourselves.  The anchorage is up a river, but you have to go down the sound and loop back as there is a sand bar.  Ever since the Bahamas and the Keys, you do not cut corners.  I go down at least a quarter mile and still bumped; the depth sounder was reading 15 feet and all of a sudden bump and then 4 feet.  I point the boat south and the depth slowly comes back to 15, then 25 feet. We finally arrive at the anchorage with another boat. and set the anchor.  As I walk back to the cockpit, a beautiful sunset descends over the anchorage.  Sorry no pix. 

Cumberland Island to St Simons - May 19

After a leisurely morning, we set off for St Simons.  The plan is to anchor near the Morningside Marina.  We are the next to last boat to leave Cumberland anchorage.  The wind is still 10 to 15+ out of the northeast, so we are back in the ditch.  We will be crossing two inlets today, St. Andrews sound and St. Simons sound.  Jim warned us that there can be some heavy seas as the sound is exposed to the Atlantic Ocean.  As we make the turn into the sound it becomes a bit bumpy, but it is doable.  We take a couple of waves over the bow and send some spray flying.  We come through the sound unscathed, but our adventure was just beginning for the day.  We stop at a marina to get some gas, water, and dump our garbage.  After leaving the marina, there is a small cut heading for St. Simons sound, and it is indeed small.  We got into some shallow water, but I was able to find the deeper water quickly.   Then we entered St. Simons sound and got the same treatment as we received from St. Andrews.  At the end, we decided that we would get a slip for the night; no anchor worries.  It turns out that they give you a paper and fresh muffins in the morning.  Nice!!

Amelia Island to Cumberland Island, Ga - May 18

Another first, we have left Florida for another state by boat.  True, we have been to the Bahamas, another country.

Sunday, we leave for Cumberland Island, Ga.  It is a short trip of about 20+ miles away.  We pull up the anchor with the green flies buzzing around us again.  Beth takes several pictures that i am sure she can submit to get me committed.  She is laughing histerically as I am swatting the flies (of course she is inside).  We finally get the idea to drop the sun enclosure, and most of the flies can’t figure out how to get in, and those that do wish they hadn’t.  We cruise through Fernandina Beach, which has numerous factories along the ICW.  The controlling depth in this area is between 40 and 60 feet to allow for larger boat that us to get in, and the incoming tide does not treat our boat nicely.  We cross the St. Mary’s inlet and head to this anchorage west of Cumberland Island. 

 We anchor and go ashore as we have read that there are several things to see on the island, wild horses, old mansions, etc.  We walk through a canopy of old oaks that cover the path until we arrive at the dunes that front the beach.  There is a wooden walkway so that the dunes are not disturbed and we find the beach nearly deserted, even on a warm Sunday.  We walk on the beach for a couple hours, feels great to get off the boat and walk, and then return.  On the way back we spot a couple of deer, grazing on some trees.  We do not see any horses, though we know they are there as we have run across their poop.  Dingying back to the boat, we finally spot the horses grazing near the sound’s shore.  

And now for some excitement.  When we set the anchor we were in about 14 feet of water so I set out about 100 feet of rode.  Well as the wind shifted and the tide went out, I could see the shoal becoming visible and we’re about 10 yards from it.  I start the engine and get Beth to steer while I raise the anchor.  The chain is covered in mud which gets all over me and the boat.  We reset the anchor about 100 yards from that point. 

St Augustine to Ft George Island - May 17

As the saying goes, “Elvis has left the building”.  We are leaving St Augustine.  After a stop at the fuel docks for some gas and water, we headed north.  Even though the forecast was for 10 to 15 knot winds, it is still gusting to almost 20.  With an incoming tide all of the sailboats are doing maybe 4 to 5 knots against the 2 to 3 knot tidal surge.  As soon as we make the turn onto the ICW, we are doing over 7.  

Our destination today is Fort George Island.  There is a small anchorage near the state park, where we hope to spend the night.  After leaving the city and suburbs, we are now in the marsh lands.  With these areas come the bugs.  Our friends warned of the black flies, but what we ran into were the green head files, which just love me.   Before we moved to Florida, Beth and I went to Long Beach Island, NJ.  We walked down to the beach near the end of the developed area and I went surfing.  I had not been in the water 10 minutes, when I was being bitten by these flies.  Ducking under water did not discourage these creatures.  I finally left the water, and literally ran back to the van.  In the meanwhile, Beth is swatting them off me as she is not getting bitten.   Well at least this time, we had weaponry.  One of Beth’s friends recommended these electric fly swatters which zap the flies.   We are whacking these bugs, which take several hits to kill them.  We finally ran into some civilization and the bugs disappear.

Along the way we pass Mayport NAS (Naval Air Station) and part of the surrounding area is a shipyard.  One naval ship is in the drydock and being refitted as we the photo below details that some of the refit is not for our eyes. 

We finally get to Fort George and I look at the anchorage.  It does not look like a good anchorage anymore.  It appears that the channel and surrounding area has filled in.  I look at the charts and there appears to be a small cut that might do.  We start entering the channel and it immediately shallows. We back out and then check the waterway guide and the charts that Jim and Gail gave us.  We see that there is another anchorage about 5 miles away near Amelia Island.  On the way to this anchorage, we spot a boat that is sitting in a cut just off the ICW.  I look and see that we can sneak back into the channel behind him.  We dropped the anchor and get it set, amidst more green head flies.  We have a beautiful sunset and can see that there is a lot of river traffic.  In just 30 minutes, we see two barges go by.   I set the anchor alarm and wake to the beep, beep, beep that we are dragging at 2:30 in the morning.  We weren’t dragging, just the tidal swing that I had not allowed for when I set the drag distance.   Marina and mooring balls make you forget the nuances of anchoring.