November 11th- Georgetown, SC to Awendaw Creek, SC
Another cold morning. We need to keep moving south.
We continued on down Winyah Bay and turned into a canal. This part of the trip went through a series of canals and rivers. Some of it passed through forest but most of our passage went through marshland. Grasslands that stretch on for miles. It also becomes extremely shallow. 2 to 3 feet shallow. There are a lot of different currents to deal with. The tide around here is 5 or 6 feet so a lot of water is moving in and out of the waterways.
One of the shallower areas is near McClellanville. The idea here is that you don’t want to pass through at low tide. In my own defense, I planned on getting there after low tide. We made really good time to McClellanville. We got there at exactly low tide. There was also a full moon that evening. This tends to make the tides more extreme. It was shallow. They had two dredges working to keep the channel open. We had to pass very close to one in order to find enough depth to pass. We had one reading of 5′ 6″ (our draft is 4 feet). The catamaran that was following us did not get as close to the dredge as us. They went aground in 2 feet of water. We radioed back where the deeper water was but could do nothing else to help.
Rather than push much further through the mud, we decided to anchor near by, in Awendaw Creek. It’s more of a bay than creek and is bordered by marsh grass. We located a small sandy beach for Ollie. Eventually one other boat pulled in. We had a great sunset, full moon, glassy seas, and a nice sunrise to cap it off. On Ollie’s morning commando run, we were followed by dolphins. We see dolphins and pelicans almost every day now.
Pictures from Awendaw
Sunset
Full moon over our neighbors
November 12th- Awendaw Creek, SC to Charleston, SC
We left Awendaw at high tide and experienced no more shallows for the day. There is an area around Isle of Palms that had shoaling issues but it was just recently dredged.
Houses along the way.
I knew we had some weather issues coming. Before reaching Charleston harbor we had to go through the Ben Sawyer swing bridge. You can see the weather rolling in.
Ben Sawyer bridge
Charleston Harbor is large. By the time we entered it the wind was starting to blow. We had to negotiate a few shipping channels before heading up the Ashley river to our anchorage. The current was against us on the river as was the wind. Then the sky opened up and it began to pour.
That night the temperature dropped down to 30 degrees. We tried to keep the inside of Catalpa warm with our hurricane lanterns. A new experience for us was condensation. All of our bronze ports started to sweat. It was like being in a cold rain forest. It was a difficult night. Catalpa got down to around 40 degrees by morning. We were warm in our sleeping bags. The problem was getting out of them.
November 13- Charleston, SC
The weather stayed cold but the sun came out. This much improved morale. We went into Charleston for the day. We really only just scraped the surface of the city. There is a lot to do. Museums, restaurants, clubs, art galleries, and the carrier Yorktown. We ran a few errands and had lunch at JohnKing Bar and Grill. They definitely had one of the best burgers I’ve had in a long time. The beer was good too. Morale was further improved.
Scenes from Charleston
Lynne and Ollie with a big old live oak.
November 14th- Charleston, SC to Steamboat Creek, SC
I’ve had some time today to think about climate control. As a species, we’ve gotten very good at it. 100 years ago it was much more difficult. 1000 years ago it was probably almost non existent. Many people in other countries live with little or no climate control. In the US we have plenty of electricity and oil to go around to keep us warm, dry, or cool. Boat life is a little different.
We’ve been really lucky with the weather until the other day.
Charleston Harbor is very open. With more bad weather coming we decided to move on towards Beaufort. We’re chasing the sun.
The first problem of the day (beside the cold) was the Wappoo Creek bridge. We got up early so we could get to it by 8am. It doesn’t open until 9:30. They usually open every hour or on demand. We anchored near the bridge to wait it out. About 20 other boats showed up for the opening. We had a big parade of boats.
We continued on down the Stono River for a few hours. The sky opened up with a downpour. The temperature dropped. Visibility dropped. I started thinking about climate control.
We made it to Steamboat Creek. It’s one of those places that the anchorage is usually empty but there are about a dozen boats, waiting out the weather. It’s supposed to be stormy for a couple of days. We might just stay here to wait it out also. There is a dock nearby so I can get Ollie to shore.