Monday, December 6, 2010

Day Five-Monday Dec 6-Heading to Charleston

It's Monday am and time to get back underway after a day off from running south.   Beth visited with her family who live closeby and Kelly and I washed the boat down.   After three days of travel she needed a bath for sure.   We also did some provisioning and passagemaking plans during the day.   We will stop in Charleston, SC tonight and give the weather a close look before venturing out into the Atlantic tomorrow.
Steady Hand at the Helm - Captain Dave

More to follow when we are secure in Charleston.

Captain David

We are in Charleston, SC at the Ashley Marina.   We arrived here about 2:30 or so.   Not much business for the marina with all the cold weather.   We ran the entire day inside the "ditch".   The winds are still pretty heavy so we decided to stay inside.   We may do the same tomorrow and run down to Thunderbolt in the "ditch" too.   From there we hope to make better time south on short hops outside where there isn't so many bridges and cutbacks.   It is very chilly here with temps in the 40's during the day and an expected low in the high 20's tonight.  Brrrrrrr!  Hope it gets warmer as we make our way to Florida.   Beth is back in Maryland and is trying to post some of our pictures on the blog.   Check it out later on.
TOYS on the Waccamaw River: Hurrying S to Warm FLA

Crew comments to follow.

Crew comments...that would be me, Kelly Jo!

Another wonderful sunrise and brisk day in the ditch! When I think of a ditch, I generally think of muddy water or a gravel trough alongside an old country road. So naturally I thought that the ICW was going to have somewhat unpleasant scenery. I mean who really wants to travel via a ditch? However, I have found it incredibly wonderful. The landscape changes frequently. For instance, this morning we left the Waccamaw River which had an eery barren and backwoods feeling...then this afternoon we passed several towns and homes along the channel that were distinctly South Carolina...later the water became a warm blue and on either side of the ditch were canals, bays, and sounds tucked away behind long sea grass blowing in the winter breeze. Besides the cold spell we seem caught in, we spotted many palms standing tall  along the channel banks. Dolphin sightings are getting more frequent. I think laughing dolphin-like squeaks of joy sound from me with each sighting...Today they were feeding right in front of our bow. It was so exciting.

The last ten to fifteen miles to Charleston were a little nerving. Our whole run down seemed to perfectly coincide with the leaving tide making for some really shallow spots along the ditch. At one point our depth sounder read 2.6 ft! Wow! I'm not sure I would ever want to run the ICW at night. Glad we are doing it during the day...and that I have a solid captain. I watched others scream on by...maybe that is why so many end up grounded.

Charleston is a neat historic city. Lots of young people and lots of beautiful boats! I bet it is wonderful in the summer months.

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