04/22/21 – Skull Creek Marina on Hilton Head Island, SC, to Safe Harbor Beaufort Marina in Beaufort, SC

Posted on by Kristin

Day 224

Since Thursday, 4/22/21, would be a short travel day, we didn’t throw off our lines from Skull Creek Marina until almost 11:00 am. Our cruising weather was sunny and pleasant as we traveled northeast up the Broad River, past Parris Island (where Marines are made), into the Beaufort River, past Port Royal, to Safe Harbor Beaufort Marina, just adjacent to Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, on the south end of Old Town Beaufort, SC, and west of the US Hwy. 21/Woods Memorial Bridge.

No sooner had we arrived at the marina, at 2:00 pm, and gotten all tied-up, did Steve discover Legacy was taking on water somewhere, as the bilge pump was continuously running?! We called nearby Marsh Harbor Boatworks to get the problem found and resolved, as Beaufort Marina was not full-service. At Marsh Harbor’s request, we untied Legacy from her wall at Beaufort Marina and cruised her about a mile up river to Marsh Harbor, so they could check us out. Turned out to be a loose packing gland that had slowly been leaking and allowing seawater into the bilge, which was NOT a good thing. The problem was temporarily fixed until Legacy’s upcoming, scheduled haul-out in Charleston, SC, where we could get both packing glands completely replaced, if need be. We kept Beaufort Marina informed of our status, so they’d hold our place on the wall open until we returned, which we were able to do within about three hours, thankfully.

First scenes around Safe Harbor Beaufort Marina.
Legacy tied in her spot on the wall at Safe Harbor Beaufort, SC.

Once we were safely tied-up in our original spot at Beaufort Marina, we got settled in, showered, and then walked into town (which was conveniently just steps from our marina) for an early dinner at Saltus. As we were leaving the marina, we looked down and saw Scott and Shelley Johnson, on Mona Gee, leaving the dock in their dinghy, to head back out to their mooring ball out in Beaufort Harbor, where Mona Gee was waiting for them. Turns out they were staying in Beaufort for a few days, too, so we suggested getting together for drinks and dinner, later in our stay there. Months and months earlier, when we were coming through the locks on the TennTombigbee Waterway, we had locked through with a boat named Safe Haven, which was being single-handed, but we never got to meet its captain. Well, in addition to their faithful dog, Buddy, Scott and Shelley had a friend in their dinghy with them that afternoon that turned out to be Kevin Parsell, the actual captain of Safe Harbor! Kevin said he remembered coming through the TennTom locks with our boat. Safe Haven and Mona Gee had been traveling together for awhile, and Safe Haven was also on a mooring out in Beaufort Harbor.

Safe Harbor Beaufort Marina restrooms and laundry facilities.
Henry C. Chambers Park was full of these wonderful swings. (Love those Bottle Brush trees!)
This historic home was visible right across the street from the marina and park.
As you’ll see in the next post, Beaufort, SC, was full of these gorgeous period homes. I fell in love with Beaufort, SC!
These swings overlook the harbor.
Beaufort Harbor mooring field. Safe Haven is the trawler on the far left with the black hull, and Mona Gee is the white trawler on the far right.
The delicious restaurant, just a stone’s throw from our boat, where we ate dinner on Thursday evening, 04/22/21.

Position: N 32° 25.768, W 80° 40.428

Distance traveled:  18 SM

Total distance traveled: 3188 SM

Total marina nights: 201

Total nights at anchor: 22

Locks today: 0

Locks Total:  27