With a low pressure system moving north later in the week, we decided we'd better grab the opportunity to put some of the shallow spots in South Carolina and Georgia behind us by making a run in the Atlantic Ocean from Charleston to Brunswick, GA. Winds were favorable, although out of the south at times, but high winds weren't scheduled to build until Tuesday afternoon. By then, if things went well, we would be in Brunswick safely in a marina.

Up early Monday morning - a bit of anticipation at what our day would bring. A text message from Pat and Bob checking with us that the ocean trip was still a-go. A slight change in the forecast - winds a bit higher and out of the east - was a momentary annoyance, but east winds would also serve us well, so we headed out of the Charleston Cut with the sun glistening on the water. It wasn't pleasant motoring into the wind but we expected things to settle some as we headed south. As the sunshine gave way to clouds, the winds clocked southwest and the waves grew in intensity. The forecast was for 3-4 foot waves; in reality we were seeing 3-5' and some 6-8 footers. Motor-sailing with both sails full and moving at around 7 knots our speed was good. We waited for seas to settle.

And they did some - more in fetch than wave height, and the ride had rhythm. But it wasn't the best of sailing circumstances. We were in hourly contact with Chanticleer and while they were doing okay, the seas were rough and they wished they'd packed some ginger snaps. (In case you don't know, ginger is a great source for helping to settle seasickness.) We all decided this wasn't a fun day and that we would do better to abort night travel plans. The closest and safest inlet, Port Royal Sound just south of Beaufort, SC, was still 35 miles away. We'd have to maintain our current speed and try to get inside before dark. We rounded the marks to the channel at 4:45 pm and still had 10+ miles to go to the next possible anchorage - Skull Creek.

As the skies darkened, visibility changed and instead of landmarks there were a number of red and green buoys marking various channels and shoals. It was a real challenge to identify which lights we would travel between - thank goodness for the magenta line on the chart plotter! We worked our way into the unlit anchorage, thanks to Chaticleer's spotlight, and found our spots to drop the hook. Tired, and hungry, we had arrived. After a quick bowl of soup we settled down for the night. We hadn't completed our intended path, but we'd put the dreaded Cussaw Cut and 86 miles behind us. Tomorrow we'd be back on the ICW.