Charleston and South

     We spent 2 nights at Dewees Creek and rode out steady winds of about 17 Knots with gusts of around 20-22.  But we really never had the feeling that they were that high.  The anchor was stuck well and I put out 170 feet of chain as there was a lot of room to swing.  But swing we didn't.  We stayed pointed west into the wind the whole time.  We left on Wednesday, 31 Oct., and went into the Charleston Maritime Marina for a 2 night visit.  It's really hard to pass up a fantastic town like Charleston when you're on a trip south.  Our entry into our slip was not one for the record books, swift current and a mean cross wind.  No damage, no foul.

Our boat anchored in Dewees Creek

     We spent the afternoon cleaning the boat a bit, going to the drugstore and just enjoying the activity in the marina.  There is a water taxi service and a tour boat that make regular stops and departures with interesting people on board.  Great place to "people watch".  We took a PediCab ( rickshaw ) into town to meet Laura and Graeme at an Irish pub, Tommy Condons.  Had a great dinner of fish and chips and washed it down with Smithwicks.  Back to the boat with the same PediCab peddler and slept in calm winds.  The next day we went grocery shopping, twice, to pick up some essentials.  The winds kicked up again so we decided to stay put and not venture back into town, too cold and too windy for us to enjoy walking around.  More puttering on the boat and happy hour on board with Laura and Graeme.

PediCab in Charleston with Annie, our peddler

     The next morning we left as soon as the sun was up and we could see to steer.  Heading south we had to wait for one bridge to open along with an additional four boats.  Clearing the bridge we spent the next 4 hours traveling through winding paths of saw grass to arrive at a pleasant anchorage called Steamboat Landing.  Yep, an area where "back in the day" steamboats used to stop to load and unload.  The water was calm with almost no winds.  Laura and Graeme came over for a "Weenie Roast" and we talked of future plans.  Decided to go to Port Royal for three days and see a bit of Beaufort, SC.
     We left Steamboat Landing early in the morning and made it to Port Royal around 2 pm.  Mostly a rather boring trip with no winds and not much to see along the way.  Our first night there we had a great dinner of Sweet and Sour Chicken over rice on Sweet Chariot, Laura and Graeme's boat.  The next day, Sunday, my brother Ric and his wife Donna drove up from Augusta, GA to see us.  He took us to the PX on Parris Island Marine Base as we needed to replace our coffee pot that broke.  We couldn't find a coffee pot there but I did walk out with a great US Navy T shirt.  After a successful trip to Wally World for the coffee pot, we went back to the marina and ate a great lunch.  Later that evening Laura and Graeme came over and we watched some football on the TV since the marina has a cable hookup.

Ric and Donna at The Back Porch Grill

     On our last day at Port Royal we did a bit of grocery shopping using the free courtesy car provided by the marina and went into the town of Beaufort for a late lunch at Luther's.  Luther's is an old drugstore which has been turned into a nice pub.  Fantastic burgers and wraps with lots of different beers to sample.  Back to the boat for a quiet night of relaxing and reading.  Tuesday morning will find us on our way towards Savannah, GA as long as the weather co-operates.