May 16, 2014
Don’t know why, but I’m up early this AM. It could be the
cold air. The temperature plummeted to 54F. It wasn’t any warmer in the boat as
we went to bed with all the ports and hatches open. I decided to take another hot
shower and then get the boat ready for departure.
After the shower, I return to the boat, make coffee,
start prepping the boat and wait for the Krispy Kreme doughnuts to arrive. They
plunked down on the deck a little before 0700. Donna is awake now and we share coffee and the
“freebie” doughnuts. Freebies are a big hit with snowbirds.
About 0800 we are ready to shove off. I had setup extra
fenders and a long spring line in preparation to back away from the pier,
around two boats behind us and out of the marina. When we released the stern
line, the boat started swinging away from the pier due to some strange current swirling
about the floating dock. I jumped aboard and took advantage of the situation. Who
wants to spring-off the dock if you don’t have too? We executed the departure
flawlessly. Text book even. No damage to the boat, the dock, or other boats.
Film at 11.
Back in the ICW, the current has us moving way to fast.
We will arrive at Causton Bluff Bridge before its restricted period ends. We do
a long loop back toward the marina to kill time and then proceed back to clear
the bridge at 0900.
We reach the Savannah River and cross over in to South
Carolina. Two states down, two more before we reach Virginia. We enter and pass
through troublesome Fields Cut at high tide and continue on past Daufuskie
Island. Brisk and gusty NW winds give us a chance to motor-sail as we enter
Calibogue Sound. In fact, we had to reef the jib down and there were some gusts
that showed us we needed to reef a little more.
The wind was giving us thoughts of stopping in Hilton Head,
but we really wanted to make it to Beaufort. So, we continued on out into an
angry Port Royal Sound. It didn’t take long to cross the sound, but it was a
bumpy and wet ride. When we reached the Beaufort River it was a long haul
northward past Paris Island before we reached calmer waters. Our goal was to
reach Lady’s Island Marina. Unfortunately, we were going to be late for the 1600
opening of the Ladies Island Swing Bridge. That meant we would have to wait 2
hours for the next opening. Not wanting to wait, we contacted the Downtown
Marina at Beaufort and were able to get a mooring for the evening.
We arrived at the mooring field, secured a ball, lowered
the dinghy, went ashore and registered. Since we were already ashore, we
decided to find a restaurant and have dinner. The lady in the marina office
recommended we try Emily’s. So off we went, on foot, to find dinner. Turned out
Emily’s was only about 2-1/2 blocks away. We split a huge 14oz steak and it was
great. Teamed up with a salad, steamed broccoli, roasted potatoes, hot yeast
rolls and a couple of brews and we were stuffed.
After dinner, we walked, window shopped the historic
district and then headed back to the marina for a quick dinghy ride back to our
floating home. All-in-all a very enjoyable day!
Started: 0815
Stopped: 1630Distance traveled: 41 miles
Location: A mooring at Downtown Marina, Beaufort, SC, MM 536
