Beautiful Beaufort!

Crossing the Savannah, note sailboat

We left Thunderbolt, GA and wound our way north through a stretch of the AIWW that had a channel that meandered all over the place. As we approached the Savannah River we monitored the traffic in the shipping lane and heard on of the big ships call to a sailboat 4 times with no answer. One could tell that the captain of the large ship wanted to know what the sailboat's intentions were, and it was really stupid of them not to respond. A large container ship is not something to mess with! We got to the Savannah River and aimed the boat for the AIWW cut on the other side. No large ships were encountered, and when we got to the other side, we saw the sailboat that we were pretty sure was being hailed. It was flying a British flag, but that's no excuse for not responding to a call.

Lighthouse on AIWW

We had an uneventful ride for the rest of the way to Beaufort with the exception of some rather large sea swells in the Port Royal Sound, but we are gaining confidence in our ability to handle most conditions. At the Beaufort River we got off the AIWW and went to the harbor host home of Chuck and Claria Grogen. We ran with Chuck and Claria across the Okeechobee and they invited us to tie up at their dock when we got to Beaufort. They invited us for happy hour and dinner that night and we had a delightful time.

Nancy-Rhett House

Pirate Hanging Tree

The Rhett House

Jane & Buck

The next day our hosts took us to downtown Beaufort where we took a horse-drawn carriage ride through the Beaufort historic district. Because Beaufort was occupied by Union forces during the Civil War, the city was spared the destruction that occurred other places and the old homes were magnificent. We saw several old churches and saw the Succession House where the Confederate succession papers were drawn up. The carriage ride was informative and entertaining. Beaufort has a long history involving different occupying forces, pirates, and the Civil War. We had lunch and were taken to a hardware and grocery store to re-provision the boat. That night Chuck and Claria invited us to a birthday party they were hosting for a friend and we got to meet some wonderful people and had a great time.

The Chapel of Ease- tabby construction

Claria & Jane at a working plantation

Gullah Chapel

Jane's she-crab soup!

Historic lighthouse

On the beach with the Grogens

The next day we were taken to some of the islands east of Beaufort. These islands are largely occupied by descendants of the Gullah who were largely from the Angola region of Africa and were brought to this country as slaves. After emancipation the Gullah were given 40 acres and a mule and today reside primarily in the lowlands of South Carolina and Georgia. They are a tight-knit community that have preserved their language, culture, and heritage. We went to a beautiful state park on Hunting Island where we saw a lighthouse and walked the beach. We stopped at the Gay Fish Company on the way back to the house to purchase some shrimp for supper. The company's shrimp boats were used in the filming of Forrest Gump. We had a great supper and conversation that evening.

High tide on Distant Island

Low tide on Distant Island

A long dock over mud at low tide

High and dry at low tide

The next morning we decided to move on. We had thought that we would like to anchor out about halfway between Beaufort and our next stop, Charleston, but when we heard that a major storm front was moving into the area, we decided to go the 70+ miles to Charleston in one day. It was a long trip and and the conditions gradually deteriorated throughout the day. By the time we got to Charleston we had 15-20 kt. winds. The wind and tidal current made it difficult to dock the boat at the Charleston City Marina. Although we radioed and were told a dock hand would be waiting, none were there when we got to our spot and we bumped rather hard into the pier. A neighboring boat helped us get tied up, after which the dock hand arrived. The marina staff seemed more concerned that we might not be close enough to the boat ahead of us for other boats to come in than helping us get set up. After this was all over, the dock hand lingered around, obviously waiting for a tip for doing nothing! That night and all the next day we rode out gale-force winds and really rough conditions. Someone said that the winds in the marina reached 42 kts., but many of the sailors thought it was higher than that. We stayed on the boat, did some chores, and invited Gary & Lori from Tessa which is home ported in Put-In-Bay, OH down for happy hour. We had a great time visiting with them.

A nasty blow in Charleston!