CHARLESTON, SC

Yesterday was a loooong day.  We left the dock just before sunrise to time the tides, etc. It was a beautiful clear morning albeit chilly - mid 40's. Nine other boaters had the same idea for they were leaving at about the same time.  There was a bascule bridge shortly after leaving the marina so that separated the boats with high clearance limits and the sailboats.  It wasn't long before the group spread out according to boat speed. There are very few places to stop along this stretch of the waterway so we had Charleston as a destination for the day as did most of the others.  We caught the tide for close to four hours so we had a good SOG to help us.  As the day progressed the winds picked up and produced three foot seas as we crossed the long stretch across St Helena Sound. Once back in the protected waters of the ICW we were confronted with falling tides and we were in very shallow water passing through the Coosam Cutoff.  By that time of day the weather was good enough for me to bundle up and operate from the fly bridge.  This was good for two reasons: I finally got to operate the throttle system for up above and the height above the water gave be an advantage watching for shoaling in the ICW.  All systems worked very well and we made it through to our destination without touching bottom.  We arrived in Charleston late in the afternoon and tied up at the Charleston Maritime Center.  The winds were very strong which made docking another interesting experience.  There are two sailboats here from Hamburg, Germany and a catamaran from East Hadam, CT.

Sue and I have been to Charleston in the past so we had no need to partake in the tourist scene.  The marina is within easy walking distance of the historic district so we took a walk through that area before returning to the boat for dinner. The city was crammed with people and I attributed the crowd to spring break.  However, this mornings newspaper headlines read 'Record number of 34,690 runners finished the 10 kilometer run across the Cooper River Bridge'.  The race ended in Charleston which I'm sure accounted for the crowds.  This morning Sue and I walked to the French Quarter for Sunday breakfast followed by a walked along the waterfront and, of course, a visit to the open market for Sue to peruse the 'trinkets and trash'....  We were expecting a visit from our friends Caroline and Jerry later in the day so we went back to the boat to tidy up!  It was a beautiful day so that we were able to have happy hour on the upper deck when our guests arrived  before having dinner in a fine restaurant in town.

The weather forecast for the next few days is not very encouraging.  I would love to keep moving along but we may have to take a few days in port.

Y'all stay vertical,

Capt John and First Mate Sue