Boating with Sunset Delight: 2018: Duck Creek to Tolers Cove Marina, SC

11/1/2018
Depart: Duck Creek, SC 8:45
Arrive: Toler's Cove Marina, Mt. Pleasant, SC 2:05
Distance: 40 nm

Given the short distance we planned to travel today, we gave ourselves a wee break and set the alarm for an hour later than we have been doing. The calculations proved the inside route to be a shorter distance than going out into the ocean. Clark had hoped that we could bypass the shallow waters near McClellanville, but no such luck!

We traveled among a few boats today including a number of deep-draft sailboats. We followed one non-sailing vessel named "At Last" for most of the day.

Of course we came upon McClellanville at the worst possible time, i.e. at low tide, and my-oh-my was it low! For a while we found ourselves behind a sailboat requiring around 5 feet of water (we need four). When Clark talked to him on the radio to request a pass, he told us to go ahead but that he needed to stay to the center of the channel because he had been “bumping along” the way and could not afford to lose any depth. We had not “bumped along” today, but at one point we did see just over 6” of water to spare.

We heard a sailboat owner calling to a commercial fishing vessel, or as she said "fish boat". She got no response. Having just come through the hair-raising low section, Clark figured she was looking for information on depth and haled her. He gave her the inside scoop as he saw it, and she sounded very grateful for the input.

Poor weather was predicted for today, and as we got closer and closer to our stop for the next two nights, the clouds in the sky got darker and darker. Clark had me check the phone app "Rainy Days" to see how much time we had until the storm hit. I told him 20 minutes or so, and he said we would need to wait it out before docking at the marina. As it turned out, it was a skinny and fast-moving shower that gave us very poor visibility for a while but did not delay our arrival at the marina.

We tied up just after 2:00 with the plans of kicking back and relaxing here for two nights before continuing on our trek to Florida. Clark told me this was a "no-frills" marina. Having done the Great Loop, I've seen quite a few "no frills" places. I wondered what exactly that meant for a marina so near Charleston, SC.

As soon as we got tied up at the dock, I settled in to relax. Clark relaxed so much that he slept for two hours on the couch while I played with apps on my tablet. He woke up in time to take a sunset picture.

Sunset at Toler's Cove, SC

11/2/2018
No Travel

Early morning at Toler's Cove, SC

I can quite happily say that we used today as a day to rejuvenate ourselves by doing nothing of consequence. I read, played some games on my tablet, and watched many episodes of a Netflix show I enjoy. Clark spent a lot of time on his computer.

As Clark had warned me, this was definitely a "no frills" marina. The good news - the restroom was only 10 to 12 steps from our boat. The bad news - it was a commode and a sink only. They offered no shower. We showered on the boat. The marina did offer a service to drive someone wishing to do laundry to a nearby laundromat. We passed. The very good news - this marina had the best WiFi I have ever experienced at a marina. I made speedy progress on my blog updates. The very bad news - the toilet plugged easily. Weighing the pros and cons, I would have to say that other than grimacing each time I used the fussy toilet, we had a great stay here. (I got out of doing laundry!)

I never saw anything more of the marina than I could see from the boat or on the 30-second trip to the marina's head. Clark on the other decided that he should at least have a look around before we left and went for a walk around the area. Had he mentioned it at any time other than when I was in the middle of making dinner, I would most likely have joined him for a stroll. Alas, I did not miss much!