Traveling south out of Charleston became difficult as a cold front with major wind gusts rolled in from the north and the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) was full of muddy shoals that made some narrow cuts impossible to navigate at low tide. We left Charleston Harbor in the morning of Dec 21 knowing that temperatures were dropping and winds were piping up. Waving to our friends aboard the s/y Antic still anchored in Charleston Harbor, we headed down the ICW. That night we tried to out-smart the severe north winds by anchoring off the Ashpoo River in Mosquito Creek. Well--we were right about the protection from the wind, but we discovered that Mosquito Creek has a huge tide that can drop and rise 6 or 7 feet! We went to bed at dark but woke up around 9PM as the tide dropped and Caribbean Soul settled down in the soft mud. There was nothing to do but wait for the tide to finish going out and cycle back to a higher tide that would float us off the mud. I slept as Caribbean Soul listed more and more to starboard as the tide continued to go out. Capt. John was awake and watchful. Finally at midnight or so, we were floating again, so we got up, pulled on multiple layers of clothes, and crawled out into the freezing cold weather to reset the anchor. My job is to stand at the wheel and move the boat as John directs from the bow. Capt. John's job is to pull up the anchor and reset it in deeper water. We were safe but mighty tired. Whew!! We know this is all part of the adventure, but we were tired and cold!
So on December 22nd we tied up on the dock at Port Royal Landing Marina just south of Beaufort, South Carolina. With dock power, we gave our little propane heater a rest and ran two electric heaters wide open. Yay! It was toasty warm in our little boat. We spent two days at Port Royal spending the first day resting and warming up and the second day downloading ocean charts (John) and doing the laundry (Penny). There was a nice little dockside bar and grill which wasn't exactly Backstreet Pub, but we did get to play some dominoes and chat with folks. Our waitress was from Beaufort, NC and had graduated from East Carteret High School--amazing. Her mom is Ginger Simpson who taught at Beaufort Middle and Beaufort Elementary--small world! The bar tender also laid claim to Beaufort, NC saying that she was born in Morehead and lived in Beaufort as a child.
Here's what a layover day looks like. Nice thick down quilt, a good book and our new stereo system!On December 24--Christmas Eve--we headed down the ICW toward Savannah. We were aground for a couple of hours in the narrow shoals of Field's Cut. We were on a rising tide so we just waited and ate a good lunch. Capt. John rolled out the jib which helped us tip enough to get unstuck. We were mighty glad to see the Savannah River which is nice and deep. Pictured here is Savannah off in the distance as Caribbean Soul cruises closer.
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