Church Creek Anchorage, South Carolina

March 28, 2017

Miles Today:  43.1 NM

Total Miles:  485.7 NM

Our next stop is Charleston, SC.  It’s about 70 nautical miles. We’ve been told the tides and currents are very strong in the Charleston area and to time our docking for slack tide (the short period at the end of high or low tide, when the water is not moving).  We opted to anchor 22 miles outside of Charleston the night before, so we could pull into the marina and take advantage of slack tide around noon the next day.

It was to be a day of encounters with shallow water and strong currents.  We met shallow water at the entrance to the Coosaw River, but the ride down the river was lovely.  Still, it amazes us that these wide rivers and/or bays have only 8-14 feet of water and you better stay in the marked channel!  There were several ‘cuts’ we also traversed – Ashepoo Coosaw Cutoff, Fenwick Cut, Watts Cut – again, stay in the middle of the waterway.  The South Edisto River had a strong current which both of us found difficult to steer a consistent heading.  The auto pilot got its first real workout and we enjoyed every moment of its capability!

Riding down the Coosaw River - all alone

After successfully meeting and passing a large barge entering the Dawho River, we headed up the North Edisto River and the Wadmalaw River and turned into Church Creek.  A sailboat and two powerboats were already settled in for the night.  We found a quiet spot a little further up the creek and enjoyed a lovely night at anchor.  In this part of the country, we’re finding the anchorages are often isolated and very peaceful.  There's something about being on our boat, anchored in a sheltered nook of the river, with trees and marsh all around, very few lights and only the sounds of water and birds. It's becoming our favorite thing to do.

Arriving at Church Creek, SC

Crab pots near the shore

Sunset on Church Creek

Night Lights

Sunrise

Lady’s Island Marina, Beaufort, South Carolina

March 25-27, 2017

Miles Today:  20.7 NM

Total Miles:  442.6 NM

A short ride up to Beaufort, SC, where we crossed the calm waters of Port Royal Sound.  It was uneventful trip except for a little excitement at the very end.

We deferred from staying at the Downtown Marina in Beaufort, having read several reviews that warned about the swift currents when docking.   Instead, we went under the Ladys Island Bridge (yes, that’s the correct spelling) and headed to Lady’s Island Marina.

The navigation advice from the dockmaster was ‘stay as close to the bridge as you are comfortable.’  What we didn’t realize right away was there is a green marker in the narrow waterway that leads to the marina that would usually be passed on our starboard (right) side.  Bad assumption. We soon discovered, by our depth sounder going crazy, that we must pass the green marker on our port (left) and get even closer to the bridge!   Jim did some fast maneuvering – the wheel spinning madly and we were back on the correct track.  Will we ever get past these boating surprises that make our hearts race and our breathing stop?!?  Oh wait, that’s right, we named the boat Bazinga -  “Gotcha!!”

Hurricane Matthew did some severe damage in this area.  Several sailboats and powerboats were washed up on the sides of the creek on the way into the marina.  They’d been sitting there for weeks we were told.  It was sad to see the bulldozers and cranes arrive the next day and start destroying the boats that were never claimed, to be hauled away in pieces.

One powerboat and 2 sailboats washed ashore during Hurricane Matthew

Beaufort is wonderful little town – be sure to pronounce it correctly – Bew-fort.  There’s another Beaufort in North Carolina pronounced Bow-fort.  Don’t confuse them!

For a little town, Beaufort has a lot going for it.  It was founded by the British in 1711 and grew despite attacks from Native Americans and the Spanish.  Later it flourished as a site for shipbuilding and when the colony was established as a slave society, it served as the elite center for Lowcountry planters through the Civil War.

Beaufort was occupied by the Union Army at the beginning of the Civil War and the buildings, cemeteries, and old pictures tell a fascinating story.  The Union declared the slaves emancipated. Schools were started to educate the freed people and many enterprising women opened small businesses that offered cooking, cleaning, laundry, sewing and room and board for the soldiers.

The downtown main street is a charming mix of old buildings, housing shops and restaurants.  In fact, downtown has been designated a Historic National Landmark.  We bought t-shirts (of course) and enjoyed a lovely and delicious seafood lunch on the patio at Plum’s Restaurant, overlooking the river.   

Lunch along the Beaufort River at Plum's Restaurant

The streets surrounding the downtown are filled with wonderful antebellum homes and mansions.

Look at the porch ceilings - painted 'haint blue'  -  the blue color keeps away evil 'haunts', ghosts and spirits.  Later they discovered that some blue paints also kept wasps from building nests above your porch!

Beaufort has surprisingly been the setting for novels and popular motion pictures – The Big Chill, The Prince of Tides, Forrest Gump, The Great Santini, Something to Talk About and G.I. Jane.   In fact, the Richard V. Woods Memorial Bridge is featured in the film Forrest Gump as the stand-in for a bridge crossing the Mississippi River.  In the movie, Forrest is interviewed by TV reporters about his cross-country running trip as he is crossing this bridge.

Woods Bridge into Beaufort, SC.  Tom Hanks ran across this bridge in the movie, Forrest Gump

It was the Beaufort River, not the Mississippi!

"The Big Chill" House is really the Edgar Fripp house, also known as Tidalholm. A beautiful home built in Beaufort in 1853 as a summer retreat to get away from the heat and mosquitoes of the plantation -  a usual custom of wealthy plantation owners in the antebellum period.  The Fripps enjoyed the home until the Civil War.  When Union troops occupied Beaufort on November 7th 1861, Tidalholm was among the mansions seized by the Union and served as Union Hospital #7 during the occupation of Beaufort. Legend has it that James Fripp returned from the war and stood with tears streaming down his cheeks as he watched his family home sold at auction for back taxes.  A Frenchman bought it and was so moved by James's sorrow, he presented the deed to James, kissed him on both cheeks and left for France. 

We took a buggy ride to learn all about the town.  And the following day we returned to visit some of the sites more in-depth.  We were also fortunate that Lady’s Island Marina offered a courtesy car and we enjoyed mass at St. Peter’s Catholic Church and a trip to Publix to restock our fridge.

Southurn Rose Buggy Company

St. Peter's Catholic Church, Beaufort

But we couldn’t miss the Kazoo Factory tour - a four-woman operation that ships 5,000 Kazoos a week!  The ‘factory’ part was in the back of the small store in a business park and consisted of a 20’x20’ room with 3-4 stations where the kazoos were assembled using a different machine for each part.  One part had to be assembled by hand - a small 1” clear disk that provided the vibration.  The disks were so thin that they had to be separated and inserted by hand into each kazoo.  It was a fun place and the young women were a happy team.  Jim and I assembled two kazoos and couldn’t leave unless we hummed “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” – the entire song!

I texted this picture to our son and daughter and said, “Guess what we’re bringing home for the kids?!”   All Ryan texted back was, “Nooooooooooooo”

Oh, it's so fun being grandparents!