Nov 18 &19, Anchored by Beaufort, SC, position 32 25.805 N, 80 40.586 W, Traveled 21.1 nm from South Edisto River
Nov 20, Savannah, GA City Dock, position 32 04.891 N, 81 05.360 W, Traveled 38.4 nm from Beaufort

Our peaceful night on the hook in the South Edisto River had a few glitches.  The wind which was forecast to be NW, took a decided turn to the NE and decided to blow during the night.  That left us with about a mile and a half of fetch, more than enough to kick up waves during the wee hours.  We'd also anchored between a couple of crab pots which hadn't been a problem until the current switched during the night.  We  hadn't realized the pots had really long lines on them until we heard something bumping on the hull during the dead of night.  It didn't make for the most restful of nights - St. Pierre's Creek would have been a better choice had we been privy to the wind switch.  Eventually, in the morning before we left, Leonard wrapped up a big hunk of line on the crab pot and tossed it back into the water to keep it away from the rudder.  We didn't want to leave too early as we had a couple of cuts we wanted to do on better than half tide.

We were glad to have the extra water on the last of the cuts, as we saw readings of 12' (minus 4-6' of the rising tide would have felt a bit tight).  Once past the last shoal at the end of the last cut, we unrolled the jib and shut down the engine.  With the wind behind us, it made for a pleasant sail through the more open waters of the Coosaw River.  It was the first time I could remember that we'd had no boat traffic in the cuts, making for a much easier passage.  It would appear that the price of fuel and the economy may be having an effect on the number of power boats heading south this winter.  While we have fuel bills around $50 when we top off the tank, I suspect most of the power boats are looking at a minimum of $1000 when they refuel.
 
We should have checked Active Captain more closely, the Ladies Island Bridge just before you reach Beaufort, had restricted hours beyond the normal ones.  Supposedly they are doing construction (no evidence thereof) on the bridge and only open on the hour (except for 1200 when the don't open) on weekdays, so there was no 1430 opening.  Argh!  We dropped the anchor to wait our 34 minutes before clearing the bridge.  At least we hadn't arrived for an 1130 or 1200 for an opening!  Per usual, the bridge was slow to open once the road gates were lowered.  Finding an spot to drop the hook once we were through was easy as there weren't many anchored boats.


We worked on resealing the other tube valve on the dinghy before putting it into the water.  Leonard repaired one side before we left home, and the air has been staying in that tube fairly well, so maybe this will fix the "limp" dinghy syndrome, although when it gets cold, the tubes do deflate due to temperature changes.  We need to do something about the water leak, as the dinghy takes on water, especially when the outboard and fuel tank are in it.  Maybe some calm day we'll put some water in it on deck and see if we can locate the annoying leak, mean while the dinghy pump gets regular workouts every time we get into the dinghy.

Once again several boats appear to be flaunting the regulation that no boats tie up on the town dock between 0100 and 0600.  It would be interesting  if an official arrived at 0100 and told them to move, especially when they spend more than 1 night on the dock.  It was hard to find a spot to tie up the dinghy as locals tend to tie their dinghies bow and stern on the inside of the dock, and several are long, hard dinghies.  We took a short walk along the main street and back along the water front park.  The main street was much the same as in past years, with the exception of more empty store fronts.  The horse carriages were at the dock, waiting to take folks on tours of the town.  Beaufort, like Charleston and Georgetown has many building with historical status, dating back to the 1700s, and an area of  big, antebellum homes along the waterfront.  It's a gracious southern town with a lot of charm.

On Saturday we took the bikes ashore to do some exploring.  It was a pleasant town for biking with plenty of side streets and little traffic.  We rode out to Pigeon Point - a place we passed in the boat on our way to Beaufort.  Most of the homes in this area were attractive, set in a pleasant neighborhood that looked affordable (and liveable) rather than historic.  We eventually found the shopping center with the grocery store which was relatively convenient to the anchorage, especially with the bikes.  After lunch we rode over to Ladies Island but found little of interest there.  Although there was a bike lane along the highway,  there was also a lot of traffic on the road which wasn't very scenic.  I'm not big on extended cab trucks and SUVs doing 50 plus on the road next to me. 


Back in Beaufort we rode to the grocery store to pick up a few things (before the back back was full of stuff we'd gotten at the bakery).  As we were leaving, we were approached by a woman who offered us a ride, bikes and anything we needed to get, back to the docks.  She'd spent time living on boats in San Diego and recognized the folding bike syndrome.  We thanked her and chatted for a few minutes, but declined the offer as it wasn't all that far back to the dock.  She invited us to Thanksgiving dinner - all the local churches offer a free meal and invite any boaters in town to attend.  What we forgot to ask was where does one find hard liquor in SC.  We've yet to see any place where liquor is for sale in the state.  We don't drink much, but I'd like some bourbon for my pecan pie, and there's not much left in the bottle from home!  I can't imagine the south without mint juleps, and that requires bourbon!

In the morning it took longer than usual to wipe the heavy dew off the decks.  The last 2 mornings had been clear and exceptionally dry, not a drop of dew anywhere.  It was easier to deal with than the fog that was in the forecast.  We managed to catch the last few hours of the ebb tide which gave our speed a boost as we headed for Port Royal Sound.  The knot meter had stopped working, and after giving the throttle a boost to no avail, Leonard tried backing.  When that didn't solve the problem he went below to clean on the paddle wheel that registers our speed.  Usually there is a bit of stuff that gets caught in it, and is easily cleaned.  This morning it was full of miniscule shrimp, about 1/4" long, wiggling like mad.  It took a bit of work to get them all dislodged and back in the water.

It was a perfectly calm morning, not even a hint of a breeze until we were well up the Calibogue Sound when a bit of an onshore breeze developed.  We unrolled the jib and took advantage of the extra boost in our speed but it wasn't enough to shut down the engine and just sail.  There were numerous dolphins feeding off and on during the day, but not a lot else to see. 

This year the timing was great for doing this portion of the ICW.  It has numerous shallow spots that aren't close to the 12"minimum standard for the ICW, so an extra 6-7' of water really helps.  I'd have loved to have spent the night in Bull Creek, just off the Callibogue Sound, but it was too early to stop, and in the morning, we'd have to deal with a falling tide and a lot less water.  On our first trip south, we spent a wonderful night at anchor in the creek which is a feeding area for dolphins.  We could hear them breathing through the night as they swam.  The creek has a small creek that intersects it and creates a 50' "hole" that attracts fish and the the dolphins that feed on them.

Leonard did some checking on the Savannah webcam site and saw there weren't any boats tied up at the town docks, so  we discussed going up river again to spend the night in Savannah.  A subsequent check of the sight had one sail boat and a couple of small power boats in the dock, so when we reached the river, we headed upstream rather than continue on the ICW.  First we had to wait for a fully loaded freighter heading out to pass the ICW intersection.  All the other sail boats that had caught up to us continued S for the night.  We  haven't been back to Savannah since our first trip, so it will be interesting to see any changes.


We arrived at the Savannah docks about 1600.  As we approached the dock, a man came alongside to take a line.  He was from Montreal and had kept a boat in Port Kent for years.    He was single handing his boat, about 25', with occasional help from friends, and had left Lake Champlain a couple of days before we did.  Talk about a small world!