Depart: Port Royal Marina near Beaufort, SC 9:50
Arrive: St. John's Yacht Harbor South Anchorage 5:15
Distance: 59 nm
When we left the marina this morning, Clark had still not decided where we would end up for the night. He had some ideas in mind, but it always depends on slow speed zones, etc on how far we get in one day. Before leaving, Clark took advantage of the facilities at Port Royal to get one more good shower. We got a later than usual start as a result. We had one more walk on the long Port Royal dock before starting our engines.
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| Long Dock to Port Royal Marina facilities |
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| Boat Reflection |
After that we had pretty drab scenery for most of the day.
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| On the ICW through South Carolina |
4/4/2019
Depart: St. John's Yacht Harbor Anchorage 9:15
Arrive: Waccamaw River Anchorage - Butler Island West 6:30
Distance: 79 nm
Clark debated this morning whether to go on the inside (ICW) or on the outside (Atlantic Ocean). He calculated the distance at an additional 5 nm on the outside. However, the outside eliminates the slow speed / no wake zones and skirted us around McClellanville - a shallow area we would encounter near low tide. Regardless of which route we chose, we had a bit of distance to travel on the ICW before we came to the Charleston Harbor Inlet where we would have to make the final decision.
Charleston, South Carolina ...
Over the past few days while traveling, we have seen and heard (on the VHF radio) a sailboat, "The Edge". As we approached Charleston, Clark heard the captain on "The Edge" say the waters in the Atlantic were fine today. When it came down to the wire and a decision had to be made, this input from "The Edge" helped to tip the scale in favor of the ocean. We decided it would be worth going an extra 5 nm to get away from the ICW and its headaches.
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| Looking good heading out into the Atlantic Ocean |
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| Fort Sumpter ahead |
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| Fort Sumpter |
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| Passing boat ... "Response" |
We definitely had calm seas. The prediction indicated we would have 3 to 5 foot seas with a 7 second period, i.e. swells. I think the waves were 1 to 2 foot at most the whole day. To avoid the cold air, I decided to sit in the pilot house where I could stay warmer but be nearby should Clark need anything. He decided to "tough it out" on the flybridge with gloves and a scarf. I worked on some artwork with colored pencils to while away the long hours on the ocean.
One additional benefit I found of being on the ocean ... all my severe allergy issues cleared up out there. Oh so sweet to be able to breathe again. As soon as we got back "inside", my eyes started to tear. I looked out the window to confirm. Yep, we were back inland.
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| Lighthouse at Winyah Inlet (near Georgetown, SC) |
Because we had good conditions, Clark continued on northward after we entered the inlet to get as far along on today's travel as possible. We knew bad weather is coming our way tomorrow. About an hour or so before we got to our anchorage, I pre-cooked dinner as we moved along so that I could just quickly reheat it when we were set for the night.
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| Ominous Sunset Tonight at Butler Island West Anchorage |
The anchor alarm went off when the tide changed and the boat shifted position accordingly. Clark grabbed a flashlight to go out and check on things to make sure all was well. He shined the light on the anchor and suddenly the flashlight went dark. The next thing he heard was a "PLOP" as the battery became disconnected from the Ryobi flashlight and dropped into the river. Apparently, the battery was not properly attached to the flashlight (probably my error).
Interestingly, Clark worried about galvanic corrosion from the electrical current that would be generated as the battery discharged in the water due to it being saltwater. Since the boat was in the process of re-positioning with the tide, he was glad it would be located away from where the battery went ker-plop into the water. Personally, I was more worried about the $20 now under water.
4/5/2019
Depart: Butler Island West Anchorage 9:00
Arrive: Southport Marina, Southport, NC 6:15
Distance: 79 nm
We expected rain today, and it came. As we lay in bed wondering if we could get out and get the anchor up before the rain started, we heard the start of the rain hitting the boat and knew it was already too late for that. Clark put on rain gear and went out to get the anchor in.
With the steady rain, Clark drove from the pilot house for the entire day. I grabbed my colored pencils and made myself comfortable for the long day ahead. Despite the rain, Clark took a couple of pictures along the way.
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| Good-looking Sailboats |
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| Scenery from today's journey |
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| Looks like a fun place to live with lots of outdoor "toys" |
Our travels today took us through a portion of the ICW known as the "Rock Pile". Since Clark needed to concentrate on piloting, he insisted I take pictures. I balked at the idea but, of course, I gave in. WhenI opened the side door to get a clear shot, I got a shower in the face.
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| Rocks along the "Rock Pile" portion of the waterway (looking closely one can see the rain pelting down and hitting the water) |
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| Lighthouse in the rain |
As we approached Calabash, North Carolina, we heard a "security" call on the VHF radio from the Big M Casino Boat. Basically, "Security, security, security ... Any interested parties, I'm coming through!" Since Clark approached that same area, he replied to the call. The captain of the Casino Boat came back, "Who are you and What are you?" Clark replied with our boat name and size specs.
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| Passing the "Big M" Casino Boat near the busy Calabash, NC intersection |
After that we were back to less dangerous waters, so I left the picture taking to Clark and went back to my artwork.
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| Dilapidated, Covered Boat Dock in NC |
The rain started around 7:00 a.m. We left the anchorage about 9:00. The rain continued throughout the day. Periodically I checked the "Rainy Days" app for the radar view of the weather. For the last few hours of our trip, every time I looked at the radar, it showed the rain almost moving on.
Unfortunately, we seemed to be traveling in a similar direction and a similar speed as the rain. We finally managed to break free of the rain about an hour before we arrived at Southport, North Carolina for the night.
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| Colorful Houses on the water on the way to Southport, NC |
We have never managed to get dock space at the Southport Marina before, so we have never seen Southport, NC. Clark was happy we could snag a spot here for tonight even though we would arrive after their closing hour of 5:00. We finally arrived just after 6:00. Fortunately, two guys came out to grab lines for us and help us tie up. One of the two, a guy named Kim on a power Cat, was a very talkative and friendly local. He made us feel very welcome.
After a long day on the water, I made a quick meal out of leftovers. We found a welcome package attached to the door of the marina office with our name on it that included their WiFi code, so we set up the laptop and watched some Netflix before calling it a night.
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