Charleston – Sheila365

Days 1, 2, and 3.

We left Seabrook, South Carolina, on Sunday morning, taking the ICW to Charleston. We spent an hour or two getting fuel and a pump out, and then picked a spot in Charleston Harbor to anchor for the night.

Monday morning we left at first light, headed for Winyah Bay. We sailed on the outside with wind pretty close on our nose. We anchored near Georgetown Light.

Today, Tuesday, we are opting to stay at anchor for another day, as the weather offshore will be more favorable for where we want to go. The wind should shift from the NE to the East tomorrow making it easier to sail on a NE heading.

We’ll leave tomorrow for an overnight to Cape Lookout. More later.

Finally offshore!

After Carolina Beach, Lori and I stopped in Southport, North Carolina at a marina on the Cape Fear River for one night. We used Lori & Mike’s folding bikes to go into downtown. It was t-shirt and shorts weather again!

We grabbed nibblies at the bar, watched a little football to keep up on our fantasy football team scores, and then headed back to the boat.

The next day, Tony joined us, and we left North Carolina, heading south in the Atlantic Ocean bound for Charleston, South Carolina. That is an overnight sail, so we took turns at the helm overnight; in the cockpit for 4 hours, sleeping 2 hours, repeat.

Navigational goodies to steer by when you can’t see anything on a moonless night.

The sail to Charleston was great! We were able to sail with main and jib up all the way, pretty much on the same tack, in a straight line to Charleston ship channel entrance. It was, however, brutally cold. You take what you can get.

A view of Charleston waterfront along the Ashley River

We stayed at anchor overnight in the Ashley River, across from the Battery in Charleston. Then, in order to keep moving, we opted to go south on the ICW. We enjoyed a beautiful night at anchor in the Ashepoo River.

The next day, we continued on the ICW, exiting out to the ocean in the afternoon at Port Royal Sound, bound for Brunswick, Georgia. It was not as cold as the other night, but this sail was an uncomfortable one. NNE winds, 15-20knots, gusting in the 30’s, almost directly behind us, with seas around 6′ which got bigger towards the morning. A bonus was a squall that hit about 3 AM, with rain and gusts up to 40knots. It was warmer, but it was 15 hours of pounding up and down waves. We couldn’t use the autopilot, with the stern being thrown with each wave, so we hand steered – or as I like to call it, wrestling the bear. Not to fear, though, we made it safely into port yesterday morning. As we entered St. Simon’s Sound at dawn, we went by the wreck of the MV Golden Ray, a massive car carrying cargo ship that heeled over and was run aground a year ago. Lori, Monte and I saw it last December when there to move Trident to Brunswick.

Work continues on the MV Golden Ray, laying on its side under the yellow saw that will cut it up in place.

With a not-improving weather forecast, Trident will be heading down the ICW into Florida today. We hope to be in St. Augustine, Florida, by sunset tomorrow night.

We’re almost there. Stay tuned!

2019 moments.

This year sped by, but it was jam-packed with short adventures, wonderful visits with friends and family, lots of good food & wine, and a few projects squeezed in.

A quick breakdown:

States traveled to/within: Texas, Florida, Washington, Colorado, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia
Countries traveled to/within: US, Bahamas
Siblings visited: Noreen & David, Brian, Colleen, Fran & Art, Susanne, Gene & Jo
Nieces & nephews visited: Rachel, Julie, Neil & Miranda, Jared, Rebecca, Aaron, Jacob, Pat & Nga, Dan & Erin, Patricia & Florian, Michelle, Amy Lee & Chris
Great nieces & nephews visited: Diego, Tionna & Alex, Will, Nick, Grace, Aly, Mae, Austin, Copeland, Anna Sutton
Great-great nephew visited: X’ander
Births celebrated: great-great-niece Aubrielle
Iron-men cheered on: Jamie
Weddings celebrated: Neil & Miranda, Dan & Erin
Friend & family visits to Austin: Noreen & David, Susanne, Rob & Owen, Asha, Fran & Aaron, Rachel & Becky, Irene & Liz & Keith, and Noreen (one more time) 🙂

I’ve picked one photo from so many enjoyable moments of each month below:

January: Sailing from Venice, FL through the Florida Keys, to Biscayne Bay; on a mooring ball at Garrison Bight Mooring Field off of Key West. This was a magnificent trip. The Keys are amazing. We had enough time to really enjoy Key West and see the sights and maybe have one too many cocktails. We hopped up the outside of the Keys, anchoring a few nights. If I did this again I’d spend many more days in the Keys. We ended anchored outside of No Name Harbor near Miami for two weeks, which sounds like a long time but I thought it was a really nice place to be stuck, waiting for a weather window to go east to the Bahamas.

February: Sailing from Florida to Great Bahama Island and through the Abacos; dolphins in the Great Bahama Banks. We enjoyed a really tame crossing to the West End from Miami, then spent several days making way through the bank and through the Abacos to get to Marsh Harbour. It was a real treat to be back there for a while. Sadly, Hurricane Dorian devastated the Abacos this hurricane season, and they will rebuilding for the foreseeable future.

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March: Springtime in the Hill Country means wildflowers. I simply LOVE spring in the Hill Country. Monte has cultivated an amazing bluebonnet patch at the chez. I can’t wait to enjoy next year’s bloom, only 3 short months away.

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April: Spring migration means birding trips; a visit to the bird blind at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. I spent much less time birding this year than I would have liked. But I did make several trips to the coast at the peak of migration, and will definitely do it again this coming year.

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May: A visit to the Pacific Northwest; a view from Mount Rainier National Park. I have always loved Mount Rainier. We picked a nice, though not an absolutely perfect day, to go up to the mountain. The views on the way up and down are almost as stunning as the views from Paradise Visitor’s Center. I also made it back to the Bahamas for a week in May, but this trip to Washington was the highlight.

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June: Roadtrip to Colorado and back; one stop was Cadillac Ranch outside Amarillo. We had fun on our trip to Estes Park. And on the way home.

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July: A two week trip up the ICW from Charleston, SC to Portsmouth, NC; the full moon rising just as we anchored near the Neuse River in North Carolina. It was an amazing experience to take this trip up the Intracoastal Waterway. I learned much, saw many birds, enjoyed the changing scenery along the trip, and never tired of the company. If you ever have a chance to do something similar, just say Yes.

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August: Summer heats up in Austin, lots of fun times on the lake, including enjoying Cupholder back in the water. We enjoyed having both Nirvana and Cupholder on the lake this summer. We love having boat guests for the day and / or night. We enjoy our boat friends immensely. And we really need to spend more time out on the lake next year.

September: One of several visits with out-of-towners to Barton Springs Pool to cool off. I have my own custom tour of Austin for friends that are visiting. Sometimes we walk around doing it. Sometimes we do an express version by car. But I love sharing my town with my friends and family when they come for a visit. If the temps are anywhere near 100 degrees F, then we must visit Barton Springs Pool.

October: Let the boat canvas and sail projects commence! I finally organized my various and sundry craft/project supplies in my new, amazing closet workspace. Looking forward to knocking another couple dozen projects of my to-do list next year.

November: Enjoying the Christmas decorations going up at Donn’s Depot. You can walk in the door a Grinch, but as soon as you enter Donn’s Depot after Thanksgiving, you can’t help but feel the Christmas Spirit warm your heart.

December: A trip south along the coast from Charleston, SC (Rainbow Row, below) to Brunswick, GA, via Beaufort, SC and Savannah, SC. Our last trip of the year took me to a place I used to live MANY moons ago, and a few places I’ve never been. I would like to make a followup visit to these parts again.

So many great moments! I’m looking forward to the ones 2020 brings.

Quick trip.

Last week, Monte and I flew to Charleston to meet up with Lori, to crew for her as she moved S/V Trident south to Brunswick, Georgia for the rest of the winter.

Trident in her slip in Charleston is in the foreground, to the right, of the picture below, with 2 tankers getting ready to pass nearby in the narrow Cooper River ship channel just outside the marina, and the Ravenel Bridge in the background. The two-masted schooner at the dock to the left is the 140′ Spirit of South Carolina. We finagled our way on board her to watch the Charleston Christmas Boat Parade up close the night before we departed.

After we landed in Charleston, I had the Uber driver make a side trip to my old house. I moved many times when I was a kid. When I lived in Charleston, I was around 7 to 9 years old, and I think it is the first place I lived where I have lots of my own, real memories – as opposed to memories from snapshots, stories, or individual moments in time. The old chez:

After provisioning and finishing the short pre-departure list of boat chores, we had a chance to walk around Charleston a bit, and sample its great seafood, which was nice. I would like to come back with more time to see the sights. The Pineapple Fountain in Waterfront Park:

Colorful housefronts along Rainbow Row:

We took the Intercoastal Waterway from Charleston to Savannah, anchoring one night in a creek just off the ICW, and staying at marinas in Beaufort and Savannah. We strolled around Beaufort’s oak-lined and moss-draped historic streets, making a stop by the house where The Big Chill was filmed. We had a lovely visit with our niece and her family in Savannah. Amy Lee gave us the best car-tour of its historic downtown, as a slow rain fell. Then we took the outside ocean route overnight from Savannah to Brunswick.

It was very COLD overnight on the ocean, but we made it! Another adventure in the books.

MM420.

Day 1 – 4 bridges. 52 miles. We decided to go 10 miles farther than we’d planned today. We are anchored in the South Santee River for the night. There is one other sloop a couple hundred feet away, which is odd since we only passed one other sailboat all day.

This is a really beautiful spot; surrounded by nature preserve on all sides. AND we, surprisingly, have two bars of cell signal!

We saw much of South Carolina’s marshy Low Country today. I logged many birds through binoculars. A Great Day!!!

A far-away view of Charleston waterfront from the harbor…

We celebrated Day 1 after we anchored with a glass of bubbles.

This is what a 63′ mast looks like when it passes under a 65′ bridge. Whoa, Nellie! This is why we have to time our arrival at bridges to be when it is NOT high tide.

It’s beautiful here at our anchorage…

Sunset!

Next post on our ICW journey: https://sheila365.com/2019/07/10/mm373/.

(Note: If you’d like to read the entire 2-week adventure from the beginning, THIS LINK will take you to the first post in the series.)

MM472.

I have arrived in Charleston to help Lori bring Trident up to Norfolk. We plan to take the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, which winds its way through coastal marshes and towns, through countless bridges and locks, crazy strong currents and tidal flows, and some very shallow and narrow water passages. We hope to make 40-50 miles a day. Norfolk is at MM 0.

We had time for a short visit to the historic downtown last night, then drove to Sullivan’s Island for a delicious send-ourselves-off dinner.

The boat, a 45′ Island Packet 445…

The marina @ St. Johns Yacht Harbor…

Shadowy oaks in the Battery…

Crossing the Ravenel Bridge over the Cooper River, by car, the easy way. 🙂

The next post on our ICW journey: https://sheila365.com/2019/07/09/mm420/

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