This is what I've been looking for!
15 November 2010 | Charleston, S.C.
alex
The last 24 hours made this whole trip worth it.
We left the town dock in Georgetown Saturday morning around 11.30 with the tide (fool me once..) and made our way down river - back towards the inlet to stage for an early morning set off for Charleston.
We knew that there are now not enough hours of daylight (if we use an average run time of 6 kts even though we usually do 7kts) to make it all the way from Georgetown to Charleston, and we wanted to avoid the overnighter, as we would miss Charleston all together.
So we loafed around in Georgetown on Saturday and left after everyone else, took our time, enjoyed the trip through the marshes, the warm sun all day (high 60's) and anchored around 2:00pm beside the long slim sand beach of an old disused coast guard station/cottage on one of the barrier islands, just inside the Winyah Bay inlet. We anchored in 11' of water, well off the channel. The anchor set immediately (I put 80' of chain down) and I had a large glass of wine. Dolphins were playing around the boat from when we arrived until dark (3.5 hours). Two bald eagles were screeching from the trees, probably mad at the flock of pelicans wheeling around the boat, looking for scraps from the dolphins.
The view from the cockpit was over the beach (50' away) through old growth oak with spanish moss hanging down and it was through this view that the sun set! Looking off the other side of the boat was an old stone lighthouse.. We then BBQ'D fresh shrimp - from right off the boat in Georgetown - and ate while the dolphins frolicked around the boat. Faune then drags out sweet potatoe pie for desert.
Hard to beat a day like that! One thing of note was that the current on the ebb was so strong that it sounded up forward like we were sailing! The Rocna anchor never flinched, and even after a 180 degree reversal of tide never moved at all!
We got up at 5:45am the next morning, to ready & up the anchor. The anchor came up easily with no need to wash it down - for the first time - most times I rinse the chain 5-6' at a time, hose it down with the salt water hose, and then bring up the next 5-6'. This of course takes awhile when you have 80-100 feet down. The other thing that happens more times than not, is that we have to run up against the anchor, using the engine thrust to break it free of the bottom, and then it pull it up. Faune couldn't believe that it came up so quickly.
We were underway toward the inlet at first light and with the current, doing 8-9 knots over the bottom, so we were spit out by the sea buoy 30-40 minutes earlier than expected. The other surprise - there were no standing waves in the inlet. I had been listening to the groundswell breaking against the sea side of the island(s) overnight and usually, when the ebb (going out) tide opposes a swell, there are short steep waves in the channel going out.
We ran down the coast, with our biggest concern being the time needed to be in and settled before dark. The wind was 10 kts from our quarter and we ran at 7.5-8.5 kts almost all day! The wind died all together around 11:00 am and it was (for only the second day since leaving Nova Scotia) flat-arse calm.
The current/tide ran with us all day right into the inner harbour in Charleston until we docked before 3:00 pm. As we were coming in, the wind and current were against each other so it can be a bit of a guess as to how the boat will behave. Faune brought the boat in so cleanly that all I had to do was step off onto the dock and cleat a line.
So:
Sun, some warmth, quiet, a secluded anchorage, dolphins, eagles, pelicans, fresh shrimp, low wind, no seaway, easy departure, and arrival before dark, everything was working...
What a day!!