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The weather finds us: too, too, too

Too little wind, too much wind, too many T-storms, too few? Nah, never too few. One of the downsides to not enough wind is fog, which can make for excitement of the unknown sort. First, a word about our travel day between Charleston and our anchorage in Winyah Bay’s Western Channel, just a stone’s throw off the ICW. Another lovely marsh-lined stretch, much of it through Cape Romain Wildlife Preserve. One is almost guaranteed to spot a bald eagle or two, not to mention the ever-present dolphins, egrets, herons, seagulls with an occasional jumping fish. I completely understood how Alligator Creek received its name, when not 100 yds before coming upon it, I spotted a gator crossing the river.

Bald eagle sits on tall piling along the ICW, Cape Romain

Georgetown, SC did not make our “must stop” list this trip, mostly because we’d spent two nights in Charleston. We still wanted to get as far as possible and with help from our trusty ActiveCaptain iPhone app, found the perfect spot. Saturday we woke to fog; fog that rolled thicker and thicker with each passing minute. Here we were, in the middle of Winyah Bay’s Western Channel; somewhat out of the way but not entirely. This was a weekend and fog or no, plenty of small boats were heading out to where-ever. Oh, maybe we should sound our “anchored in fog” bell- not exactly a great mimic of a real fog bell, but it was official.

Sunset the night before

A foggy morning departure

Boats heading south passed within 100 yds of us as they turned south down the Estherville-Minim Canal; never saw them. Got underway after checking the radar- yes, it was working fine as was AIS. Further inland the fog dissipated and within an hour the sun shone and we began watching for osprey nests along the Waccamaw River. Soon, we noticed an ugly T-storm blob on the chart plotter; the kind with a purple center- the kind you really, really want to avoid. Could we outrun it? Don’t think so. Checked the forecast, didn’t like it; called Osprey Marina and nabbed the last spot on their long dock.

By some miracle, the blob skimmed by us and the next one turned out to be only rain, as it poured 2 mins after we got tied up at the dock. Mike of m/v Happy Hours V caught our lines; we eased in to the spot in front of him. Sunday’s forecast was for high winds and T-storms; none of that occurred. We decided to buy fuel and get a pump out; Osprey’s fuel prices are THE best and a p/o is free. I knew from last year that turtles hung around the fuel dock area and sure enough two paddled over to check us out. I raced to grab lettuce and…. “they liked it!”

Um, yummy- lunch

Bud on m/v Diamond Girl invited us to pizza at Scatori’s, along with 7 others, none of whom really knew each other. The restaurant will pick you up and bring you back to the marina, which is not close to anything. Met a bunch of nice folks- as it happened, all trawler people- from a for-sale Krogen to a Nordic Tug, an American Tug and a Bayliner with a flybridge. A great cruiser evening where even the waitress joined in, expressing how she loved being on the water- the rougher the better! She meant it too.

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Charleston Charm 4/18- 4/19

Charleston Maritime Center was privileged to be our first marina slip since Nassau three and a half months ago. Not only do we like Charleston and have only stopped once, but this marina is on the downtown side of the peninsula with a short walk to everything we need or want to do. Fortuitously, our stay would coincide with forecasted T-storms heading east Wed afternoon.  The weather gods continue to smile on us- so far at least, but you know that can end in a heartbeat.

We’d read mixed reviews on the Maritime Center:  controllables, the marina staff had covered, that which they couldn’t control became the dark side of the mix. Wakes from the almost constant stream of container ships find their way in to the basin while a mix of strong wind and current would challenge most boat captain’s docking game.

Small basin makes Ortolan look larger than life

Once again, we were over prepared for the eventuality that never showed itself.  Instead, we roamed the streets of historic Charleston shopping ‘til we dropped and eating (nibbling really) our way through the day.

One of the many ways to get around Charleston

The Center offers free washers and dryers and up until a month ago, one of each made for a loonnnnnng wait. Thursday was a mostly rainy day; perfect for cleaning, laundry and boat chores. I met 4 sisters who were waiting for the Carolina Belle’s next harbor cruise, departing from the Maritime Center. Every year they travel to a new destination for a sisters-only week of fun and sightseeing. They asked mucho questions about our cruising lifestyle. Been a while since I’d talked with land peeps not familiar with cruising.

Pedal cab (to left) and four sisters by laundry area

A couple of blocks south on East Bay St is Saffron Bakery and Café, a dream come true. Clean, contemporary and comfortable, Saffron offers a huge array of individual desserts, cakes and pies as well as a wide selection of breakfast goodies and cookies. They have a daily happy hour with excellent choices and prices, and on top of that they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. Could I ask for more? Well, if we’d stayed another day….

The marina is small and half of it is too shallow to use. Even at our dock the depth gets down to 4 ½ feet.  Power cats, smaller monos and trawlers do well here, but no one feels too comfortable when north wind pushes the waves inside.

A steady stream of container ships, mostly in the mornings and evenings, made me wonder how such huge creatures could appear to move so effortlessly… almost gracefully.

Container ship backs in to dock