We woke up to ice on the dock in Georgetown. We "slipped" out of the marina with no problems with current, wind, or tide,but Merry did need to shout to Captain Wiley who was saying goodbye to fellow sailors that another sailboat was in the channel (which we almost collided with)! The day was mostly uneventful except that at one point we (surprise!) almost went aground. However, almost does not count! The depth finder showed 3.8 feet - of course the sounder is almost a foot below the water line so there was a bit more water than that - we draw 4 foot 3 inches. The best we were able to find at this point was 6 feet - which is still uncomfortably shallow. On the plus side, we both experienced multiple sightings of dolphins in the inlets and Merry saw a bald eagle. It was a sunny but cold trip. We had originally planned on anchoring, however with temperatures dipping down into the 30's we decided to stay at a marina where we could run our electric heater at night. Isle of Palm marina is located on a short channel off of the ICW and they placed us on the end fuel dock. It was easy to get into and also away from. We were able to fuel, pump out, and play with marina cats. We were warned about very shallow water between the marina and Sawyer Memorial Bridge. We were advised that it was important to wait until a rising tide in order to get to and through the bridge. That night Merry studied the charts and tide tables and determined we should leave at 11:30 in order to make the 1:00 bridge opening. However, the next morning one of the local boaters who works at the marina advised Wiley that we should leave between 10:45 and 11:00 - which is what we did. Because of the tide we were able to get over the shallow spots without difficulty, but we arrived at the bridge at 12:10, and therefore had to spend 50 minutes going in circles and trying to stop the wind and current from sending the boat into shallow water where we might go aground. This was very difficult. At one point when we were too close to the bridge we needed to turn to port to avoid shallow water to starboard but the boat would not respond to her helm until Wiley pushed the throttle all the way forward. Finally, the swing bridge opened and we proceeded a short distance into the area where three rivers and the ocean inlet merge that lead to Charleston. We really studied the charts before entering this area. Charleston is a busy harbor with large commercial ships, tour boats, and pleasure craft. We were lucky enough to get a reservation at the Charleston Maritime Center (thanks to the recommendation of John and Kathy Noland) which is close to the historic downtown Charleston. We were enticed by the harbor master to stay for 5 days, include Thanksgiving in our stay, and receive 2 extra free days. We were able to maneuver into a dock in the marina in spite of strong winds with the help of Bob and Chip from the marina. From our boat we looked across the river and saw the USS Yorktown Aircraft Carrier, Fort Sumter, as well as dolphins swimming in the inlet waters.