Two Many Beauforts

We continue our push south today inquiry a goal of getting past Isle of Hope inside of the Wasaw Sound. The heat has begun to ease slightly with mid-70s forecast for the evenings over the weekend. Our passage through Georgia will likely include a lot of white knuckle sailing as the cruising guide cautioned, "The Savannah USACOE does not have the funding to maintain the depths in the areas of southerly South Carolina and through Georgia, caution should be taken at MLW." it goes on to explain some of the other issues but todays high tide will be reached at about 11:30 with low tide 6 hours later. This means we'll have to continue to be vigilant as we approach our destination today as we'll be on an outgoing, very low, tide. Oh, an if I haven't mentioned it before, the tides run 6-8 ft.

On a sad note, we had a "hat overboard" alarm yesterday and due to the current, muddy waters, and lack of depth, we were unable to maneuver quick enough for recovery.

It's 7:30, and while not humid (yesterday morning was like waking up in a wet blanket) it is starting to warm up a little bit.

Oh, and no update or the 4th of July except that a good time was had by all, services the engine and treated myself to a Dark and Stormy and a celebratory cigar given to me by a friend.

Got Charleston On My Mind

Aside from some ripping currents an resurgence in heat, our arrival into Charleston, SC was uneventful. We are docked at the City Marina, home of the MEGA Dock where we have taken on fuel and new crew. Welcome aboard to Beth and safe travels to mom (who has become quite the able bodied sailor during her time aboard)!

This afternoon has been designated as "sit still" afternoon where aside from getting new crew settled in, no boat work will take place until tomorrow. Things on my todo list:

Service engine
Run new reefing lines
Adjust stuffing box
Calculate new route in ICW

Unless there is a significant shift in the weather in the next few days, it looks like our trek will continue south in the ICW. While this will likely minimize the amount of actual sail time, this is the fact of pushing south when everyone else has already headed north and I'm fine with that. I remember a guy stating once that, "It's not a challenge, but an opportunity for success." For a long time I had only heard horror stories of the ICW. I have come to find that while the intracoastal does have some significant challenges, the communities you find and people you meet along the way make it worth while. While I would like to be underway in the Atlantic healed and surfing the waves, taking it easy down the inside has turned out to be somewhat charming.

Happy Independence Day all and have a great time!

Swamps - Shallows - Serenity

We got another early start at first light to put us within 30 miles of Charleston. The tides in this part are huge, 4-8 ft in areas! My Florida senses aren't use to such variations yet. We caught the tide right and averaged 6-6.5 and topping out at 8.5 knots today under power and no sail because, you guessed it, wind right on the nose. The swamps south of Myrtle Beach were a larger version of the Dismal with various country marinas strewn every so often. We passed by the Great Pee Dee River (big brother no doubt to the Little Pee Dee) ad entered the Winyah Bay where there was a paper mill hard at work (shout out to my friends at AF&PA). The intracoastal turned south out of the bay and became nerve rackingly shallow very quickly, from 29' to 7 and 6.5. The worst part was creeping through the Santee River Swamp with readings as low as 5' and channel markers far and few. We made it and hammered down once the tide started rolling against us. After monitoring and keeping a sharp eye for a boat that was in trouble (the Coast Guard's twin 250 motors got there before my 28) we turned into Leland Oil Co. for the evening. What a great little fishing town an as it turns out Mr Leland apparently owns most of the water access (and probably the town). We were invited to stay for Independence Day but had to respectfully decline. Unfortunately we will miss their smorgasbord of fresh caught sea goodies!

Charleston tomorrow!

Here Comes the Heat, Wind and Rain Again

Well, day 8 began with an attempt to make an offshore passage from Cape Fear to Charleston we estimated the journey would've taken about 24-30 hours. After exiting the inlet and working a few different courses, we determined that the cards weren't in hand with winds higher than forecast an building seas on the nose. We doubled back and headed down the waterway. We were lucky today that there were no bridge delays, however the weekend warriors were still out on the waterway. We made Myrtle Beach and listened in on some thunderstorm warnings, which after confirming their threat on the radar we pulled in to Barefoot near Crescent City SC for the night. An hour after we pulled in the storms we were wane about moved through with significant force. At least we'll have A/C this evening, a spoiled time indeed.