Day 252
At 7:15 am on Friday morning, 05/20/21 (after almost an entire month), we finally untied our lines and cruised away from the docks at Ross Marine in Charleston, SC! We enjoyed perfectly still, glass-smooth waters, even though a strong current carried us through Elliott’s Cut, part of Wappoo Creek. We headed straight east, directly into the rising sun, which was blinding. As our journey progressed, and it got later in the day, our smooth waters changed to choppy with the increasing winds. We could see 1 to 2-foot waves out in Charleston Harbor, the closer we got to the Atlantic Ocean, but the weather remained beautiful and sunny.
As we left Charleston Harbor and entered into the narrow AICW, we passed by Sullivan’s Island and saw the familiar beach, lighthouse, and Fort Moultrie from a different perspective. This portion of the waterway is obviously man-made, as it is straight as an arrow passing the Isle of Palms and connects Charleston Harbor with Copahee Sound, north of Dewee’s Island. Approaching the Isle of Palms Connector Bridge at low tide was a bit nerve-racking, as the depths beneath our keel skinnied down to less than 2-feet for a short distance. Steve mentioned that if we did happen to run aground, we could just wait for an hour or so until the tide came back in, which would float us free. Fortunately, that didn’t become necessary. As we cruised along and crossed Mark Bay, we were still very much in marsh world. Steve commented that we would be headed due east for the next several days on our way to Belhaven, NC, with very little northward movement, as hugging the coast of the Carolinas would force us to do.
During this day’s travels, we were refreshingly treated with the utmost courtesy as two large power boats voluntarily slowed down when passing us, even though we’d observed them previously plowing heavily through a long, no wake zone prior to reaching us. Those two boats were named Candide and See Life. That politeness helped to restore my faith in humanity on the water. Continuing eastward, we passed long expanses of water-front homes spaced acres apart along the marshy shoreline, for ultimate privacy. We followed a trawler named Blue Yonder, out of Stuart, FL, for quite some time on the ICW today. It was obvious we were both traveling the exact same speed.
We skirted northwest of Sewee Bay, past Bull Harbor, and Bull’s Bay, through the Francis Marion National Forest. It was here we encountered the first midges and biting horseflies of our journey. NOT FUN. As Steve helmed the boat, I lept into action, swinging our electrified bug killer (shaped like a racquetball racquet) all around the inside of the flybridge, narrowly missing Steve’s head on several occasions, but never managing to hit any flies. What in the world those insects were doing out in the middle of that large waterway, rather than over on the shoreline where they belonged, we had no idea. Because we have no screens in our flybridge windows, the flies would swoop inside the flybridge and then get trapped inside, because only SOME of our flybridge windows will open. As the flies flew around inside, they’d light on one of us and bite the crap out of us, which we felt was totally uncalled for. Here we were, innocently cruising through the water, not bothering anyone, and just enjoying nature. We did not deserve such vehemence!
We passed more Loopers aboard a boat named Oh Happy Days as we cruised through Santee Coastal Reserve on the AICW. We followed the North Santee River for several miles before entering Duck Creek, which lead us into man-made Estherville Minim Creek Canal. We entered into the Winyah Bay just before reaching Georgetown, SC. Winyah Bay is part of the beautiful Waccamaw River, which winds north-eastward beyond Georgetown. Dolphins rode our wake in several different spots and a magnificent Bald Eagle swooped down right above us today.
We arrived at Harbor Walk Marina, in Georgetown, just before 3:00 pm, and tied-up on the end of the marina’s fuel-dock, as instructed. After we showered, we walked into historic Georgetown, which is immediately adjacent to the marina, and enjoyed an early dinner at River Room restaurant, which has been a fixture in Georgetown since 1984. Steve ordered the chargrilled Yellowfin Tuna and I had black bean soup and a small plate of shrimp and grits. I let Steve try a bite of my shrimp and grits, which made us comment again on how the dish is prepared differently (but always delicious) at every single restaurant.
Position: N 33° 21.823, W 79° 16.898
Distance traveled: 73 SM
Total distance traveled: 3330 SM
Total marina nights: 229
Total nights at anchor: 22
Locks today: 0
Locks Total: 27