Beaufort SC to Butler Island

—Blogpost written by Bob

Beaufort to Stono River

We departed from the marina face dock at 7:20 AM, ten minutes ahead of plan. The sun was rising and cast a nice glow over the creek ahead of us. It took quite some time to get out of the creek’s channel and back to the ICW because it was low tide and the creek was severely shoaled. We traveled very slowly as the channel hugged the bridge—the depth alarm went off once as we were nearing the end of the channel. 

As we progressed northward on the Beaufort River, the soft mud banks extended well out into the river in spots.

This image was captured just
above Beaufort SC on
the western shore.

The northern tip of Lady's Island
along the ICW.

For planning today’s trip on the ICW, I used an average boat speed of 6.325 miles per hour. This average boat speed accounts for times when we run with the tidal current and times when we buck the tidal current. Using an average boat speed is the simplest planning method. If I was a little more sophisticated I would determine the distance we spend with the current and the distance we spend bucking the current—if we traveled a long distance on one body of water, I would use this method for planning.

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We arrived at the Ashepoo-Coosaw Cutoff, a man-made junction between the two rivers at 10:15 AM—15 minutes ahead of plan. Since it was an hour after mid-tide and rising, we had good water depths, about 11 feet the entire way through. So, the first of the two problem areas for the day was sufficiently tackled. (It was Maggie’s shift at the helm through this cut.)

Shortly afterward, we went through the (less than 1/2-mile long) Fenwick Cut. The Fenwick Cut connects the Ashepoo River to the South Edisto River.  (We have never considered this cut as a major problem area.)

The second major problem area of the day was Watt’s Cut which runs between the South Edisto River and the Wadmalaw River. We reached this cut at 12:15, about 25 minutes ahead of plan because of a favorable tidal current on the South Edisto River for a long time. (Maggie got both problem areas today!)

We skipped over the spot where we planned to anchor simply because it was a nice cool day and we were still riding a favorable tidal current.  Getting closer to Elliott Cut today gave us more options for tomorrow. We finally anchored in the Stono River (MM 475), about 4 miles from Elliott Cut at 3:45 PM in 14 feet of water and about 400 feet off the ICW. (We were actually anchored just a few miles south of Charleston SC—tomorrow we will pass by Charleston.)

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It was a long day on the water!  We traveled 61 miles in 8.42 hours for an average boat speed of 7.24 miles per hour (well above our planned average boat speed) or 6.3 knots. We traveled through eight different rivers (all of them connected) and required no bridge openings today. 

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Grilled steaks and cooked corn-on-the-cob was on the menu for for dinner in the cockpit—it was absolutely delicious!

Stono River to Whiteside Creek

Fifty-seven degrees was the outside temperature in the morning!  The air was clear and crisp when I started the engine to warm it up for the day’s run.  The sun was up but not very warming yet. The wind and water were calm.  There was one other boat that shared our anchorage, an Island Packet—it was more than 500 feet away from us.

When I pulled up the anchor this morning, the new Ultra Flip Anchor Swivel was bent at a right angle to the anchor and it held the weight of the anchor in this position.  I dunked it back into the water and pulled it up again and it was fine.  Also, during the night there was a lot of noise coming through the anchor chain, like it was dragging on a rock or grinding against the lead keel.  (Sometimes when anchored in tidal water, the anchor will end up beneath the boat.)  I hadn't noticed either of these problems while using my old anchor swivel.

We got underway at 7:15 AM and quickly arrived at the entrance to Elliott Cut. We entered the cut and couldn’t believe how easy it was at slack tide—it was by far the easiest passage of Elliott Cut we’ve ever made. Even though it was slack low tide, we had plenty of water (more than 15 feet of depth). We proceeded toward the Wappoo Creek bridge but turned off the channel into a little anchorage and anchored in 14 feet of water behind a little island to wait for the scheduled bridge opening at 9 AM.

The view while anchored just
south of the Wappoo
Creek Bridge.

When I called on the VHF for the 9 AM bridge opening, the bridge tender advised that the first opening of the morning will be at 9:30 AM because of some type of “curfew.” (I can't imagine how such a "curfew" could help to defeat the pandemic.)  So, we waited another half hour while anchored.

The City of Charleston
as viewed from
the harbor.

We were all bundled up and warm
while traveling through
Charleston Harbor. 

As we traveled through the Isle of Palms area, I noticed that the ferry operator (for individuals--not cars) running between Dewes Island and Isle of Palms was wearing a face mask.  This was just another sign we've seen of precautions regarding the pandemic in South Carolina, even though precautions are not as widespread as we would like to see here.  We only saw one other cruising boat in our travels today.  Where are all the others?

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The extended wait at the Wappoo Creek Bridge caused us to miss the 10 AM opening of the Ben Sawyer bridge (which we found out later opens upon request) across the Charleston Harbor. It became clear that we wouldn’t make our planned destination for the day. Instead we decided to anchor for the night at the scenic Whiteside Creek (MM 452) which meant that we only traveled 23 miles today.

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We had some difficulty with the holding in this creek.  When we pulled the anchor up to re-anchor, the anchor was clogged with dead swamp grass, which explains why it wouldn’t hold the first time. (I'm wondering if the new anchor swivel does not allow the anchor to dig into a soft bottom, as impossible as it seemed.)  We finally anchored at 30 minutes past noon on Tuesday, May 12.

Looking north from our anchorage
in Whiteside Creek

Even though we only traveled 23 miles, I felt like I had enough stress for a while. It felt good to take a short day and relax a bit.  (We will hit it hard again tomorrow with a 57-mile day!)  We've made slip reservations along our way home, for about every three or four days--so, we want to keep on schedule if possible.  We were the only boat In one of the most popular anchorage along the ICW!

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I heard the "anchor chain scraping on a hard rock" sound again today in Whiteside Creek today--so, I believe that the anchor chain was always grinding against our lead keel.  Because the keel is intimately connected to the hull, the sound transmits into the boat hull.  I don't think there was much I could do about this--it's funny though that I haven't heard it other seasons.

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Tonight's dinner was grilled (and marinated) chicken breasts and (cooked) asparagus.  It was another very tasty dinner in the cockpit!

Whiteside Creek to Butler Island

We slept great last night, getting much-needed rest.  Our plan was to leave at 8 AM, with the tide becoming higher as we worked our way northward through Price Creek, Awendaw Creek, and, then, Jeremy Creek, a notoriously shallow area of the ICW.  We had breakfast at anchor and then departed right on schedule at 8 AM on Wednesday, May 13.

The outside temperature at the start of our day was in the low 60’s, certainly cool for this time of year.  We wore sweatshirts and jeans.  The sun was shining brightly and there was barely a cloud in the sky. I was really looking forward to getting today’s boring stretch of the ICW done and behind us.

In this stretch of the ICW (just north of Charleston SC) there are many ocean water access points. So, the tide in this part of the ICW pretty much follows the ocean tides. As we motored north, the tide was rising and giving us a small boost in boat speed all morning. At some points when we were between ocean water access points, we would buck the tide for a short distance. 

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This season, my trusty Nikon D700 (a full-frame DSLR) developed an issue with the on/off switch—it has been stuck in the “on” position for a several months.

The on/off switch on my Nikon D700
has been stick in the "on"
position for several
months.

I researched having it repaired and it will cost $300 plus shipping costs. My camera is currently worth about $500.  So, I decided to upgrade my camera to a (used, semi-pro) Nikon D750–I purchased it on eBay and it will be delivered to our marina in Baltimore. I may still have my old camera repaired and either keep it as a spare or sell it on eBay...we’ll see. 

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At 10:30 AM we reached the southernmost end of Jeremy Creek (the notoriously shallow area) and the tide was at 2 hours past low tide—we were ahead of plan but it worked out fine. I think this area was recently dredged because the shallowest depth we experienced was about 12 feet. Our boat speed was painfully slow in this stretch, about 5 knots. After we passed McClellanville at 11:15 AM (and mid-tide) our boat speed improved to 6.5 knots.

The cloud cover increased as we crossed the South Santee River and the North Santee River (and our boat speed increased to 7+ knots) before finishing the last 12 miles of canal. The Estherville-Minim Creek Canal ended at the Western Channel of Winyah Bay just south of Georgetown SC. We traveled about 7 miles north on Winyah Bay and another 8 miles north on the Waccamaw River (with the tidal current) before reaching our anchorage for the night.

We anchored for the night at 3:30 PM on the west side of Butler Island (MM 395) in 14 feet of water (at high tide).  (We have anchored in this spot twice previously.)  Today we traveled 57 miles in 7-1/2 hours for an average boat speed of 7.6 miles per hour (6.6. knots) because of the favorable tidal current most of the day and the fact that no bridges had to open for us.

We didn’t see a single other cruising boat today!  Where are they?

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Stay tuned for more of our adventure traveling up the ICW during a pandemic...

Stay healthy and thanks for following our blog!