Never let it be said that this cruising thing is just laid back relaxing. Lately it seems to be one "incident" after another.

The sun was out; the wind was down; the Ben Sawyer Bridge was open; everything looked rosy on Thursday when we left Georgetown. We got fuel and water at Harborwalk Marina, headed into the Estherville-Minim Channel and had a perfectly lovely time for 4 or 5 hours. The marshes of the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge are still beautiful even this late in the season and we watched birds all along the way. The trouble was... the tide was falling. I know you can guess the next part of this story!

We were doing well - following the "magenta line" on the chart and paying attention to the bits where the cruisers' website reported shoaling. We paid too much attention to one part that said to stay over on the red side. If we had ignored that and stayed in the centre of the channel we'd have been fine because as we sat in the mud, "Latitude Adjustment" went along beside us in 8 feet of water. After an unsuccessful attempt to tip ourselves with the headsail, we dropped the anchor, got out our books and waited for the tide to finish dropping and come back up again. Two and a half hours later we were on our way. We got to one of our favourite anchorages (Awendaw Creek) just at dusk so although we hadn't gone as far as we'd hoped, we did have a quiet starlit night in a curve of deep water in the marsh.

We were up before dawn and off at 6:30 on Friday morning in order to make best use of the tide along the rest of the route. Friday's "incident" showed up early - our chartplotter wouldn't come on. The screen would light up, go off, light up, go off. We had trouble with it back in Nova Scotia but Jim had reset it and it had been working fine since. This time, it just didn't work at all. Fortunately, the ICW is well marked, we had back-up paper charts - but it will need to be fixed or replaced.

The Ben Sawyer Bridge opened when I called so we didn't even have to wait for the 11 o'clock opening. They are working on it, but the last word we have is that it isn't expected to be closed until January. We just got across Charleston Harbour and were headed for the Ashley River when I spied a police boat coming up behind us. We slowed down and they called out, "Maintain your course and speed - we are coming aboard." The boat snuggled up to our port side and three fellows hopped aboard. It was a combined operation between US Coast Guard and Charleston Harbour Police, and when I commented that it was the most thorough check we've ever had, they laughed and said it was the short version. These men were all polite, professional, genial. They wanted to see all our documentation - boat and personal. The first 2 questions were, "Do you have a cruising permit? Have you been checking in as you have travelled?" How happy we were to be able to say, "Yes!" to both. While the coast guard officer filled out his forms, one of the others checked our PDF's, fire extinguishers, flares, and air horn. The other one just made conversation! They said they are part of an effort to combine forces in some areas and are checking out US flag vessels as well as foreign ones - any vessel that looks like it is passing through.

When I thanked them for a happy experience, they laughed and said there are enough bad ones, they don't try to create any more. Nice attitude - and very different feeling from the time we were boarded in Sodus Bay, NY.

Besides that bit of good news, we found an anchoring spot in the Ashley River off the City Marina, dinghied ashore, and taxied to the West Marine Store where Jim bought a new C-80 Raymarine chartplotter because the old one was indeed dead. We were lucky that they had a new one in stock and it was cheaper than the one he bought 3 years ago.

After a stop at the Harris Teeter Grocery store (the most wonderful fresh produce!), we arrived back at the boat just as the rain started so it is an evening aboard for us. Tomorrow we'll take in the sights and tastes of Charleston - the parade of decorated boats in the evening, and sweet, nutty pralines are on the for-sure list.