We left our salt marsh anchorage late as we only had approximately twenty miles to our destination in Charleston. Since Jim Pyke was home from his business trip we decided to anchor off of St. John's Harbor where he and Debbie live on their boat.

It was another beautiful day of sun and heat! There was little to no wind and, of course, it was on our nose so we motored again.The view of Charleston was spectacular; cruise ships, sail boats and gigantic yachts were anchored or tied up at marinas. Matthew caused some destruction as a few marinas no longer exist; this makes reserving a slip necessary and difficult.

We turned and entered Wappoo Creek and encountered a lift bridge (bascule) that opened on the hour and half hour. Our patience was tested as we waited for the opening amidst numerous power boats and a 3 knot current. We continued on our way and were faced with our next challenge "Elliot Cut". It was like motoring through the Lachine Rapids, except it was extremely narrow. Our ground speed when we motor is usually between 6 or7 knots; we were only doing 1.25 knots over the ground at one point . Note to self, next time traverse with tide!! It seemed to be a never ending passage but after 45 minutes of hell we finally reached St. John's Harbour. We will be spending a couple of days here visiting Jimmy, Debbie and their new puppy Abby aboard their beautiful boat "Driftaway" .