2020: That naughty green hat

 9 May 2020

Depart: Cowen Creek Anchorage near Port Royal, SC 9:10

Arrive: Anchorage near St. John’s Yacht Harbor near Charleston, SC 6:10

Distance:   68 nm

We woke to 57 degrees Fahrenheit and the never-ending wind. When we looked at the anchor line, we found it at a 90-degree angle to the boat.

Results of current versus wind

 Before leaving, I snapped a couple of pictures of the anchorage.

Once Clark was ready to go, we took our stations with him at the bow and me at the helm. He gives hand signals, and I operate controls. When I saw that he had the anchor up and was just doing residual cleanup, I started heading out of the anchorage back towards the ICW. Suddenly he came running back pointing at the water. I thought he had noticed a crab pot that I had missed seeing.

When he opened the pilot house door, I said, "What?!" He shouted, "My hat flew off into the water!" I looked towards the stern of the boat, and yes indeed, there it went traveling away at high speed with the current. Clark took the helm to bring the boat about while I ran for a boat hook to go hat fishing.

I decided that I would try to grab it from the bow as we passed by. That way if I missed I could run down the side of the boat and try again and again if need be. That worked as on the third try I managed to hook myself a hat and reel it in. Other than being saltwater logged, the hat was fine. When I brought it in, I immediately gave it a freshwater bath.

When I returned to the upper helm, I told Clark that I should write a children's book - "The Adventures of the Naughty Green Hat". One day it sat on the swim platform for a ride along the ICW. Another time it hid under the dinghy for a game of hide and seek. Today, it went for an unauthorized swim. What will it do next?

With the hat excitement done, we set out once more to be on our way. After exiting the anchorage and putting us back on the ICW, Clark wanted to read his email, so I took the helm. Everything was fine until, unfortunately, I got confused and followed the markers instead of the magenta line and took us on a little side trip. Looking at the chart, I quickly figured out that I had erred in my navigation as, the last time I checked, the ICW did not come to a dead end!

It was a very short detour, and as a result, we got to see some things we would not have seen otherwise.

Sailboat on storage supports

Lookout tower by Butler Marine

Long walk way ...

from the covered area to the lookout tower

Clark took the helm and made a U-turn in the channel to return to the ICW. Funny thing though, once there, Clark did not give me back the helm. Oh well!

Once again, we had a long, somewhat tedious day on the water. Many of the sights were ones we have seen on prior trips. A couple caught our eyes though.

American Star Cruise Ship

Nice home on the water’s edge

For the past several days, I have struggled to keep my eyes open. The need for sleep with the movement of the boat does me in. Today, I decided to succumb to my desire for a nap. Clark noticed.

Nap Time

When I woke up, we still had miles to go past yet more familiar sights. 

Mud Flats of SC –
note crab trap high and dry

We came upon a sandbar party with lots of boats and non-physical distancing participants. Several boats were on the beach and others were milling around in the water nearby. One of those gawking at the boats on the sandbar had “DNR Law Enforcement” written on the hull. 

Clark suggested that the folks on the law enforcement boat might be waiting for reinforcements. No sooner did he finish his sentence than we saw another “DNR” boat show up with two more law enforcement agents on board. It would have been interesting to see what happened next, if anything, but we kept going, so I’ll never know.

Sandbar party in SC

The nearby beached sailboat appeared to be an attraction.

We also passed a couple of busy boat ramps.

 And two boats rafted together that were high and dry on the side of the waterway.

It felt like it took forever to get to the anchorage today. Jokingly, about half an hour out, I said, “Are we there yet?” Finally, we dropped anchor after over 9 hours on the water.

 Sunset at John’s Island Anchorage ...