Approaching McClellanville

We are in a wild and beautiful part of the country. It's an area of marshlands and estuaries that form an extended wildlife sanctuary. Interconnected rivers, canals, cuts and bays are labyrinthine and are populated by dolphins.

Several days ago smoke from forest fires to the west reduced visibility and the smell of burning wood was omnipresent. Shoaling now dictates when we move. We look ahead, plan a route, review tide levels, and read crowd-sourced posts from other boats. Yesterday, even at mid-tide, we plowed a furrow through an unmarked shoal. Tonight we're anchored north of Beaufort, SC with five other boats, all of us waiting on the morning's high tide.