"At Last" February 9-10
25 February 2016
I felt like channelling Etta James as we let the current carry us away from the dock on February 9. As we eased down the Wando River toward Charleston, the days spent in waiting and anticipation floated way as the rhythm of once again being afloat returned. The day turned out sunny to partly cloudy with winds mostly 15-25 kts with gusts to 30. Of course since we were motoring, other than being a bit chilly, it didn't really affect us.
When underway, we use the terms "eventful" and "uneventful" to describe our days, and we aspire to the uneventful. Unfortunately, this first day proved otherwise.
If you've ever visited Charleston, you will remember the impressive bridge that crosses the Cooper River. Several years ago, this new magnificent structure replaced the classic old bridge. Some may have run the annual 10K race across either of these as we did on a few occasions. I can never resist taking photos of this bridge from the vantage point of the river. As I moved from side to side in the cockpit and assumed various positions sitting and lying down to get different angles, I managed to distract the captain from his duties at the wheel - never a good thing. A sudden jarring of the boat and a crashing sound, along with an outcry from JR, raised me from my prone position. We had hit a floating channel marker! Because we had hit a glancing blow, only some superficial red marks resulted. I will say that if we had taken Johnny's blood pressure at that moment, it probably would have soared off the chart.
After that, the rest of the day was truly benign and uneventful. We wound our way through Charleston harbor and headed south on the ICW. An interesting side note: As we went through Elliott Cut, the current we advanced against moved so swiftly that most of the time we could motor no faster than 1 kt. Only by looking at the shore could we sense that we were making any progress at all.
After calculating time and distance, we decided on an anchorage near Wadmalaw Island. We anchored fairly early, around 4:00, and enjoyed a restful evening.
After a few hours of sleeping soundly, we both awakened to a rocking boat and howling winds; we estimate 30 kts with gusts of 40 or more. We both waited anxiously for the anchor alarm sound, indicating that the we had pulled free. But, it never sounded; we held fast.
When we got up the next morning, we had our coffee and checked the weather forecast. With temps in the 30s and wind still strong, we opted to sit on anchor for the day. I cooked a tasty breakfast, and we mostly read until time for dinner and Dominoes.