TwoGether

Wednesday 12/7/11.           McClellanville  has house after house with historical markers on the front wall.  Large Live Oaks are in almost every yard covered with Spanish moss. 

It took me back to being an eight year old living in Florida.  I could just imagine riding my bike with my friends tearing up and down the streets. 






It was a great day to explore. The people are very friendly.  A smile and a wave came from nearly each vehicle that past as we walked the sidewalks. 

We found one huge oak tree with a marker so we had to check it out.. 
Deerhead Oak: Height 67 ft; Cricumferemce 30.6 ft.;Longest Limb 70 ft.; Age 1000 yrs.
We found the only restaurant in town.  We got there too late to eat because they only serve lunch Tue-Sat 11A to 3P and dinner Thu – Sat 530P to-930P.  You just gotta be there at the right time!

After sundown the wind started to pick up.  Soon we were rocking gently at the dock.  In about an hour the cold front went through and the storms had us rolling at the dock. The wind must have gone to over 20 mph sustained and frequent gust around 35.  The little harbor was full of whitecaps.  This continued until 11 P.  We were so thankful we were tied to the dock.


Thursday 12/8/11     The storms have pasted and the morning is bright and a chilly 38°. The weather forecast is good for cruising.  We’re on our way by 9A.  (Guess we’ll have to check out the restaurant another time.) 

We made good time since there were very few no wake zones.  We caught up with a tugboat about 15 miles north of Charleston and followed him quite a ways.  The water was low from all of the wind blowing it out last night plus there are some shoal areas locally on the ICW.  We passed him just north of Charleston.  He asked if we might not make it to bumpy because, as he put it, “I’m sniffing the bottom”.

The trip through Charleston Harbor was pretty straight forward but I didn’t get any pictures to speak of.  Hopefully I will make up for it on the return trip.

Because both Charleston and Savannah are deep water ports there is considerable Tug and barge traffic between the two on the ICW.  Today was Tug Boat day.  Linda and I both have a love of workboats be they tugs, shrimp boats, lobster boats or most any waterman’s vessel.

Just pasted the bridge in Johns Island, SC there is a creek on the northwest side of the ICW.  This will be home for tonight. 

An email from Wendy brought some sad news.  They had met a couple from Canada cruising in a sailboat.  As they were traveling today they saw the sailboat up on the rocks.  Apparently the high winds last night broke their anchor loose.  We are all praying they are alright. 

Johns Island:            N32 47.025   W080 06.917

Friday 12/9/11    This part of the trip deviates from the long man-made cuts of NC and now we find ourselves twisting and turning through the rivers and creeks of the Carolina Lowlands.  Occasionally there will be a cut  less than a mile long to connect one river with the next. 

Just as we turned into Fenwick Cut between the South Edisto River and the Ashepoo River  the tug “Candice L” came around the other corner.  I later measured the cut using a tool on the electronic charts.  The entire cut is 120 yards across and the channel is 30 yards wide.  Because of his deep draft we snuck along the starboard side and gave him the center. Since he is about 10 yards wide and we are three yards wide that only left about 10 yards between us when we passed.  Linda exchanged waves with the captain.

Beaufort (Bue’ fort) SC has a four mile long “Idle Speed No Wake Zone”.  This one is a bit different.  As you pass under the bridges on each end of the zone there is a sign

“Idle Speed No Wake Zone.  Strictly Enforced.  Fine $1025 or 30 Days In Jail”

Idle speed for us is about 2.5 mph.  It will take an hour and a half to transit through

The end of the day found us south of Beaufort tying up at Port Royal Landings Marina.. 

Port Royal , SC:        N32° 23.762  W080° 40.660