Whenever we are looking for an anchorage north of Charleston we think of Whiteside Creek, first. Even though there is little wind protection from the south any fetch lays down because of its two entrance shoals. A bit tricky to enter, but once inside, the creek  offers tall march grass banks and medium water depths. Another plus for us is a relatively clean bottom.

What a treat it is not to have to scrub chain as we haul the anchor aboard in the morning. In some areas the anchor locker & bilge would become a muddy mess, not to mention the smell, after only a few anchoring cycles.

Expecting a clean haul you can imagine our surprise, at 0756 Saturday morning, when we first saw.....what is that? It's not mud, it's not shell, it's in every chain link, and it moves! Oyster spat, no not spit, spat? It's the stage in an oysters life between larva & an adult. Now, we love oysters but I'm not eat'n that!

So, what do we do? Well, unless you want 1000 dead oysters in the bilge, that's not going to happen, you pick each one out of the links as the chain comes aboard. It really wasn't that bad once we got our timing right with Wendy cranking & Jeff pick'n. All in all about 10 extra minutes and we were off.

As we neared McClellanville the water got very skinny. At an hour before low tide we passed over several areas with the water less that a foot under our keel. This is another spot where extra caution is needed, especially at low tide, but tides are extra low right know being only days away from a full moon.

We pushed on knowing that another weather system would be advancing on us bringing rain & strong winds in a few days. We wanted to "hide" in the protection of the Waccamaw, just ahead. So, at 1835, as dusk closed, in we anchored behind Butler Island (ICW Mile 396), a 55 mile day.

Up this morning to see (pictured above) red sky, mackerel clouds, and calm winds.Time to go! We raised the anchor at 0742 and headed for our favorite Waccamaw Oxbow. As we travelled the gray clouds covered the sun and the calm winds grew more forceful pushing us along at 4.5 knots against the current. At 1219 we anchored, tucked away and sheltered from tomorrows wind & rain.

After settling in we received a surprise phone call from friends, Jim & Jeanne. It seems that the  Space Station will make an appearance, transiting along the Fl/Ga border tonight. From our location, Jim calculated direction & angle for us to get a good look!

So, tonight as we sit in the cockpit we are thankful for our travels, adventures, family & friends. We'll think of all those little Spat we threw back, count the stars, and look south in hopes of seeing the Space Station.

Fair Winds & Quiet Anchorages,
Wendy & Jeff