Charleston to St. Helena and Port Royal Sounds

Nov. 10 - Wait for the right tide and time to make the nearby swing bridge which opens on the hour and make the short trip to Charleston and stop at the Charleston Harbor Marina which is at Patriot Point where the Yorktown (WWII aircraft carrier) and WWII submarine and destroyer are moored for touring. Tides run real fast here and despite having tried to time our arrival for slack tide, I didn’t quite get it right and it’s an adventure getting to the gas dock for pump out and then to our berth on the inner bulkhead. We make it an early day and stay on the boat for the balance of the day doing chores.　

Nov. 11/14 - There’s a free shuttle over the Ravanel Bridge from Patriot’s Point into downtown Charleston and we avail ourselves of it every day. Charleston is a terrific town to visit, chock full of history (Revolutionary and Civil War), wonderful architecture (they’ve done wonderful job of preserving the old houses and other buildings that weren’t destroyed in the huge fire of 1860 or subsequent earthquakes), and restaurants. Parts of the "old section" have original cobblestone streets, much like the few that still remain in Greenwich Village in New York City and elsewhere. Day 1 take an "unguided tour" through one of the old sections that has been preserved while waiting to take a tour boat to Fort Sumpter. Fort Sumpter sits on a manmade island at the mouth of the harbor, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. It’s particularly worthwhile as an introduction to the city because the tour takes your along the waterfront and around the harbor and so you learn not only about the Civil War story of Fort Sumpter, but also about the original settling of the city and its role in the Revolutionary War. After the tour to Sumpter we have a late lunch and do some more walking. Everywhere you go there’s something to see. Day 2 we take a narrated horse carriage ride through the "old city" and then tour two of the historic houses and the original customs house, which also served as a British jail for Revolutionary War prisoners and pirates. Tour guide is a history teacher and it’s a really worthwhile experience. Day 3 we start late because we’re doing chores in the morning and then go to the Gibbs Museum which houses an art collection organized to trace the cultural development of the City, but we go because at this time it has an special exhibit of Civil War photographs on loan from the New York City Museum of Art. Day 4 we . Oh, by the way, one of the reasons we stay so many days is that beginning in the night of day 2 and continuing through day 3 it’s the wind is blowing at gale force (literally) meaning over 35 mph (sometimes reaching 40/45mph and the seas are really big. Oh yeah, the temperature also drops to the low 30's at night. Not exactly ideal cruising conditions, so it’s just lucky that we wind up in such a wonderful place to visit at such a time.

Nov. 15 - Leave at first light from Charleston and have a boisterous motor sail with following seas (3-5 ft.) to a lovely anchorage just inside St. Helena Sound. We feared rain and cold from the forecast, but no rain, and moderate temperature. All in all, a really nice day.

Nov. 16 - We take the ICW past Beaufort,SCand it’s finally sunny and warm enough to take off our long underwear and wear shirt sleeves. We get to the mouth of Port Royal Sound (our destination for the day), and because the winds are light and forecast to be light and for and the current would be running against us if we continued up the Chessessee River as planned, we anchor around 1:30 p.m. in the open Sound on the East shore to give us a lee from the wind which is forecast to be out of the East, albeit light. There is very little boat traffic (meaning few wakes) and it’s so warm that I almost (emphasis on "almost") feel like going swimming. Kryss is practicing the piano.