Charleston to Brunswich 2012 Day Two

Anchor up at 7am.  The rain that we eluded the day before caught up with us today and we had rain showers off and on throughout the day.  It wasn't too bad and gave s/v Honey Ryder a much needed wash down.  She had a fine layer of bridge dust from the big bridge in Charleston.  No lie.  The locals in the marina there call it "bridge dust."

Eric's Island

Fenwick Island - inside joke!

Cut through Fenwick -allowed it for the $$ no doubt!

There are some really nice houses on the ICW.  This might be a new way for appraiser Tom to do his drive by appraisals.

We made the noon opening at the Ladies Island swing bridge in Beaufort SC.

It took a while for it to swing completely open

Green on the starboard side?  When heading south on the ICW?  Beaufort River/Port Royal - yes but look closely.  Can you see it?  The little yellow sticker with the triangle shape.  yeah.....I couldn't see it either until Tom spotted it through the bi-knocks.

see the little yellow ICW sticker?

Maybe our RV friends (Peterson's, King's, Hunsinger's) should check this spot out.  It looked pretty kewl.  Maybe we can meet them there on s/v Honey Ryder sometime.

Good motor coach destination

Locked (ie gated harbor) at Hilton Head.  The AIS went crazy with some of the big yachts  hidden inside there. Whatever.  As if tides and currents aren't enough.  How in the world would one deal with a gate/lock?   I know, there is a lock/gate person but it all seems like a lot of hassle.

Gated Marina?????

Iconic Hilton Head lighthouse.

Hilton Head Lighthouse

Anchor down at 5:50 at st mile #565 - Bull Creek, a quiet little creek (but deeper than most) not far from the above light house.   49.5 nm total today.  We got the anchor set and were just relaxing when some small thunderstorms moved through.  Nothing too bad however I did put as many of our electronics as I could possibly manage in the oven because of the lightening.  *Does that even work?  But the Tstroms skirted by us and we only had sprinkle and some cooler wind.

YUM

Dinner was Sabrina's Lazy Chicken Cordon Bleu over rice w/broccoli. 

Charleston to Brunswich 2012 Day One

Headed out

We slipped the dock lines at 8am.  NE wind pushing waves in with ebb tide out made the harbor entrance a choppy ride out.  Oh well.

Wing on wing

Once we made the turn south we pretty much had a broad reach / run.  We always set a preventer just because and with the occasional big swell surfing up behind us and knocking the boat and boom askew, we were glad we did.   The only jibes were controlled and intentional.

Breakers at entrance of the inlet

Our destination North Edisto Inlet.  We opted for a sail down the coast vs messing with the Wappoo Creek bridge opening and fast moving currents through Elliots Cut, south of Charleston Harbor.  Plus we were dying to get some sailing in!  A few missing buoys along with shoaling and breakers made  getting in the inlet a little bit of an adventure but we did fine.

Rain rain go away

Rain clouds filled in all around but we never experienced a drop all day.

Typical ICW in this area

Once we were on the ICW headed south, the smell of the fresh pine trees was incredible.  We found we had the whole ICW all to ourselves with the exception of a few local fishermen. 

Yum

We anchored at statue mile #510 - a nice wide bend in the ICW with extra room in the bend for anchoring.  Again...just us.  We enjoyed a salad along with shrimp and grits.

Sailor's appetite is always good

A good day!

Day one sunset

Bye Bye E Dock and Charleston Harbor Marina

We met some terrific characters in the marina.  We will miss all of our new made friends.  Thanks for taking such good care of us and all the laughs.

Mayor Rick with all his toys

E Dockers at play

Mac out for an evening sail on his gorgeous boat

 

But all it's time to move on.

Ready for departure the next morn

So we wrapped up our boat chores, prepped the boat, left our slip for the fuel dock and then took a transient slip on A Dock so we could easily escape the next morning.