November 13th- Awendaw Creek to Steamboat Creek/ Edisto Island, SC

Today was a work day. Up at sunrise, Ollie to shore, dinghy on deck, anchor up, finally coffee! I planned the day with a few possible anchorages but Steamboat Creek was our preferred stop. We decided to pass Charleston. I like the city but not the anchorage. The day involved 2 bridges that I had to time. Charleston harbor was rough when we passed through.

Charleston Harbor

For part of the day the river currents were running against us. It was starting to look like we were going to arrive at our destination after sunset. The boat is low on rum and the crew doesn’t like to sail at night. MUTINY! Mutiny is to be avoided if possible. We eventually picked up a favorable current and made it to our anchorage on Steamboat Creek.We arrived around sunset. The shortness of the days, during the winter months, have an affect on navigation.

Some scenes from Steamboat Creek.

November 14th- Steamboat Creek to Beaufort, SC

Steamboat Creek is a good place to stage for the transit to Beaufort. There are a bunch of different rivers, canals, and bodies of water to traverse. We were looking forward to anchoring off of Lady’s Island Marina as we did on our last trip. We also spent some time at the marina. They have changed policy and no longer allow anchored boats to use the facilities. Very unfortunate for us. This seems to be more common than our last southern voyage. Many marinas allow anchored transient boats to use their facilities for a fee.

We spent a couple days anchored on Factory Creek near the state boat ramp. There is an excellent butcher, hardware store, and “packie”, within walking distance. I had some rigging work on the maintenance list.

Dredging.

Rigging work on Factory Creek.

November 16th- Beaufort SC

We decided to move over to the Marina at Downtown Beaufort. We stopped at the dock for diesel and water. Afterwards we tied on to one of their moorings.

Early in our trip some cruising friends strongly recommended getting a tomato pie from the Low Country Cafe. At the time, I didn’t find the idea of a tomato pie to be appetizing. Two months later and I have become Ahab hunting the white whale/ tomato pie. We found the cafe and baked the tomato pie. If I were to be shipwrecked on a deserted island I would spend the rest of my days happy, if all I had was tomato pie, and Sicilian wine. Fresh tomatoes, cheese, pie crust. The Beaufort tomato pie is indescribably delicious.

Some scenes from Beaufort SC

Evergreen moored off of Beaufort SC.

The Holy Grail.