Beaufort SC to Barefoot Landing

--Blogpost Written by Bob

Beaufort SC to Charleston

In the morning (Tuesday, April 24) we jockeyed out of the Beaufort’s Downtown Marina with some help from the dock crew because of the swift tidal current and the fact that we were boxed in by other boats, as result of the marina being full up. 

 

We caught the 10 AM opening of the
Ladies Island Swing Bridge.

We left the marina at 9:45 AM and caught the 10 AM opening of the Ladies Island Swing Bridge, all so that we arrive at the Ashepoo-Coosaw Cutoff (one of South Carolina’s ICW problem areas) at mid-tide and rising. The morning’s trip went well, despite fighting a 2-knot tidal current for the first two hours. We had a minor grounding at red daymark #210 just before we entered the Coosaw River. 

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Throughout the day today, we kept our engine RPMs less than 2300. This reduction seemed to lessen the leakage through our shaft seal—it also probably provided better fuel economy.

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Once we got in the Coosaw River the tidal current almost disappeared, perhaps because it is a wider body of water. We got through the Ashepoo-Coosaw Cutoff sooner than I planned, so we decided to try get as far as Charleston tonight. We made it through the Wappoo Creek Bridge at shortly after 7 PM after negotiating a 2+ knot current in Elliott’s Cut, acting in the same direction we were traveling. We anchored in Charleston as the sun was setting, after traveling 71 statute miles today. It seemed like a long day.

A view of the marina in Charleston
as the sun was setting.

We were visited by three dolphins in Charleston Harbor just as the sun was setting. Of course, they got more of our attention than the sunset.

Charleston to South Santee River

We were underway by 7:30 AM—in fact, probably a little earlier. We followed the South Channel out of Charleston Harbor and the crossed over the north channel to get into the ICW heading northward.

A view of Charleston's Mega Dock before sunrise.

Our view of the Charleston Harbor
anchorage as we were leaving.

An unusual looking dredge in the South
Channel of the Charleston Harbor.

Because the outflowing tide was pushing us much faster than we planned, we got to the Ben Sawyer Swing Bridge sooner—it doesn’t open until 9 AM because of morning auto traffic. We had to wait about 45 minutes for it to open for us. Once we got through the bridge and about 3 miles north of it, we went hard aground, without warning. It was about 10 AM, maybe a little earlier. Of course, we were in the channel but it was at a place where the nearby ocean inlet at Sullivan’s Island brings sand in during every tidal cycle and deposits it along the ICW channel. We went aground right at MM 460. The resulting sand bar actually protrudes into the ICW channel (and a little north), almost to the center of the ICW channel.

This was our view of the bridge between Isle of Palms
and Sullivan’s Island when we were hard aground.

A small power boat tried to pull us off to no avail. It’s funny that just before we went aground I was thinking of stopping for awhile to let the tide rise a little higher for our passage through Jeremy Creek. However, we had to wait until about 12:30 PM for the tide to rise enough for us to motor off the sandbar—it provided that temporary stop I sought.

During our grounding, I worked on this blog and we had lunch. First, we had to wait for the tide to hit its low point, then watch it rise again. Do you know what it’s like watching the tide rise? It must be akin to watching grass grow. 

Our tilted world view as we sat grounded
along the ICW just below Isle of Palms.

Fortunately, the tide was rising for the remainder of our afternoon’s travels—it caused us to change our destination from Wynyah Bay to South Santee River (20 miles sooner) plus anchor two hours later than we planned. We anchored in South Santee River near MM 420 at 7:30 PM. So, it was another long day—this trip is getting tiring.

South Santee River to Barefoot Landing

Last night’s anchorage on the South Santee River was very peaceful. A good night’s sleep is really beneficial for these long days of travel! We got underway at 7:15 AM (the sun was already up) to take advantage of an early high tide for transiting an ICW canal called Fourmile Creek Canal, which is prone to shoaling. At high tide, of course, we had no issues but there were one or two spots where if the tide had been low, we would have had issues.

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As we were coming by Georgetown SC, I downloaded the manual for our anchor windlass while we had good cell phone coverage. It appears that our windlass problem (which occurred again this morning) is due to a broken stripper—this replaceable plastic part forces the chain away from the chainwheel after 180 degrees of contact. Fortunately, I have a spare part on board and I probably will be able to change it out in the marina this evening. We’ll see.

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As we entered the Waccamaw River, just above Georgetown, we were invaded by some no-see-ums and had to break out Avon’s Skin-So-Soft and lathered up our exposed skin. The stuff works great to repel them!

The Waccamaw River has beautiful
natural scenery along its banks.

A three-masted steel schooner is the last thing
you would expect to see way up the river.

We had a 1.5-knot tidal flow against us all afternoon and we were slugging it out at just under 5 knots of boat speed.  Late in the afternoon, the direction of the tidal flow shifted and we picked up speed (to 6.7 knots).  

We arrived at Barefoot Landing Marina at 5:30 PM.  We traveled 67 miles today in 10-3/4 hours.  We were the only boat at Barefoot Landing Marina.  Barefoot Martina, across the ICW was full.  There is no water or electricity available here at Barefoot Landing Marina and it appears that the marina is going out of business.  They are building a new restaurant along the waterfront where the marina office was previously located.

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Soon after we tied up in the marina, I disassembled the top of the windlass to look for the problem we've been experiencing lately but the stripper was still in tact and I couldn't find the problem.  We rigged up our secondary anchor (FORTRESS F-37) to use for the remainder of the trip so that we don't damage the windlass's gearbox.

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Tonight, we reviewed our plans for the next couple of days.  Our original plan was to leave at noon tomorrow and get to Shallotte Inlet (one of the ICW's worst problem areas) at four hours before high tide but late in the day.  Of course, we would have the second worst problem area just miles further.  Originally, we were going to go to Southport for the night and then onto Wrightsville Beach the following day.

However, we changed our plan so that we travel just 18 miles tomorrow to a marina just south of Shallotte Inlet so that we could hit both problem areas on the next morning's high tide and have fresh minds to tackle the tasks before us.  We will continue on to Wrightsville Beach (57 miles) where we intend to get a slip for a few days.  Stay tuned for the outcome...

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