C?? est la Vie left her summer home of Beaufort, NC early in the morning of Wednesday, Sept 21. Anne and Carlie are currently pursuing other adventures so I recruited John Grey and Bud Lovett as crew. With a forecast of fair weather and moderate swell from a distant Hurricane Helene we planned to sail offshore and attempt to come in somewhere around Jacksonville, FL. The seas from Helene haunted our passage and made sleeping and meals difficult. We rounded Cape Fear around 04:00 on Sept 22. We found ourselves in a small craft advisory with 20kt winds and 8+ foot seas off of Charleston, SC around midnight on the 23rd. The winds slowing veering onto our bow, we were finally forced to tack back NE off the outer buoy at Charleston, this placed us running close hauled directly into the 8+ foot seas, while C?? est la Vie performed admirably, the crew was not eager to hold the NW tack for long. The forecast called for more of the same so we bailed out and joined the ICW via the North Edisto River. Anchoring in the South Edisto River on Saturday, the 23rd, provided our first full nights sleep since leaving Beaufort. We took the ICW south to Beaufort, SC and tied up at Lady?? s Island Marina. The attached image is John & Bud motoring along the ICW.