Depart: Osprey Marina, Myrtle Beach, SC 8:00
Arrive: Dewees Creek #1 Anchorage 4:15
Distance: 71 NM
Cloudy Skies -> Sunny
Averaging 8 knots, we had a long day on the water to our anchorage for the night. We passed typical scenery and a number of sailboats along the way. I got a surprise as I "nodded off" on the upper helm (Clark was piloting). We came upon a Coast Guard vessel heading north to our south. To signal a port-to-port pass, they blasted one long blast on their horn. That made me open my eyes to look around. Then when Clark confirmed port-to-port with his single blast on his overly-loud horn, I came fully awake.
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| Coast Guard Vessel |
Clark decided that the weather had warmed up enough that we could stay in an anchorage for the night tonight. He did his research and found a few options at Dewees Creek in Mount Pleasant, SC. We hoped for some protection from wind, but given the landscape, this would not to be the case.
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| Dewees Creek Anchorage |
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| Boat in distance at an alternate Dewees Creek Anchorage spot. (A couple of sailboats chose spots in Dewees Creek as well.) |
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| Sun sparkling on the marshes at Dewees Creek |
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| Sunset at Dewees Creek in South Carolina |
When we left Dewees Creek the next morning, we discovered it to be a dolphin playground.
Tuesday 11/14/2017
Depart: Dewees Creek Anchorage #1, Mount Pleasant, SC 7:45
Arrive: Beaufort Town Marina, Beaufort, SC 3:45
Distance: 70 NM
We are traveling long distances each day heading for warmer weather and our reservation in St. Petersburg in early December. Today was another 8-hour day. With tides, currents, and slow-speed / no-wake zones along the way, it is never totally clear in the morning how far we can travel and where we will end up by end of day. Today we got as far as Beaufort where we found three choices for marinas. Unfortunately two of the three had no available space for the night. My only criteria - find me a place where I can buy some whole wheat bread for sandwiches.
Sites on the way to Beaufort ...
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| Charleston, SC |
When we stayed at South Harbor Village near Southport, NC on the 10th, we docked near a classic boat named Coastal Queen. On our way to Beaufort today, we passed that same vessel.
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| Coastal Queen heading south on ICW |
Georgetown, SC is a lovely town with one big drawback - the paper mill. As we did Charleston, we bypassed Georgetown on this trip. We could not see the town, but we certainly could tell where it was located on the waterway. The smell followed us on the waterway for miles.
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| Georgetown Paper Mill in distance |
We have seen quite a few dolphin on this trip south usually in pairs off in the distance. Sometimes, though, they come along for a while to play alongside the boat.
Beaufort offers multiple choices for food stores where I could buy my provisions. All of them , however, required a car. The marina offers a courtesy car but does not loan it out after 5:00 as they close at 6:00. As we watched from the docks, someone took the car out at 4:00, so we were out of luck. Instead, we used Uber (Lyft not available here) for a ride to and from the Publix food store on Lady's Island.
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| Sunset in Beaufort, SC |
Wednesday 11/15/2017
Depart: Beaufort, SC 9:30
Arrive: Isle of Hope (near Savannah), GA 3:40
Distance: 47 NM
Various tasks kept Captain Clark busy this morning, so we did not leave the docks in Beaufort until 9:30. At the time we left, Clark still had no idea where we would be spending the night. Evelyn piloted for 2.5 hours while Clark did route calculations. A major worry for today's planning - low tide and water depths along our path for the next couple of days. After major deliberation Clark decided that we should target Thunderbolt Marina for the night. When he called them, however, they could not accommodate us. Plan B turned out to be the more expensive option - Isle of Hope Marina.
Thinking that we may want to travel out in the ocean tomorrow instead of along the inside / ICW, Clark thought it would be prudent to get fuel. Thunderbolt had reasonable prices for diesel, so we stopped there long enough to add fuel and then continued on to Isle of Hope for the night.
Today appeared to be a "light traffic" day on the water from Beaufort to Isle of Hope, GA. We saw fewer sailboats than we have seen other days. However, we did pass one very pretty boat.
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| Paddleboat - Delta Lady |
We encountered one drawbridge today that, from the chart, looked to require an opening for us to pass under. However, with an 8-foot tide change and our approach nearer to low than high tide, we had plenty of room to pass under without an opening.
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| Passed safely under the drawbridge with about 30 feet of clearance; we need 23'. |
Clark had some repair work to do on the boat upon arrival at Isle of Hope. Our "drip-less" seal for the prop shaft on the port side over time has developed into an almost steady-stream drip. It took several hours of back-breaking work in the hot engine room to complete the job. Due to its very nature of stopping / allowing water to enter the bilge, this job worried me. Clark said that when he was in the in-between state - old one out / new one not yet in place, the bilge pump kept very busy. When completed, the drip had stopped dripping. We will have to check it underway tomorrow to be sure it continues to be drip-less!
Even with his heavy work schedule, Clark managed to capture a picture of the evening sky.
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| Evening Sky at Isle of Hope Marina |
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