Run to an Anchorage off Wadmalaw Island, SC -- June 10

In the spirit of earlier comments about trying to take it a little easier on this trip, we decided a couple days ago to give up on getting to Norfolk by June 14 and instead changed our target to the vicinity of Wilmington, NC (probably Wrightsville Beach). We can get nonstop flights from Wilmington to Boston and back from NYC and it will take 280 to 300 miles fewer miles than going all the way to Norfolk. We can make up those miles when we start cruising again on June 25 after our time in Boston and NYC with the family. All this is by way of background for explaining today's and tomorrow's trips, which will both be relatively short runs intended to give us another night at anchor and some tourist time in Charleston. 

Our anchorage was in Church Creek along the northern edge of Wadmalaw Island about 15 miles east of downtown Charleston. We had a rainstorm come through in the early evening, which is fun because rain makes the boat seem that much cozier. We had sporadic TV reception because of the storm, which was a nuisance, but we had a nice sunset sky afterwards due to all the clouds.


We didn't leave the Lady Island Marina until just before their 11am checkout time as we spent the morning doing various boat chores. We left just in time as the boat that was going to take our spot was heading into the channel as we were heading out! (We heard him calling the marina on the radio as we were leaving.) Before we left we noticed that the marina's pump-out boat is called "Captain's Log", which is kind of gross but very clever.


We also noticed this handsome old yacht, which the dockmaster said was built in 1936 in San Francisco, then spent some time in Maine, and has been in Beaufort for the last ten years being fully restored and repowered. 


We had a small adventure buying diesel fuel today when the Captain discovered a marina along our route (by means of some phone calls) that would sell diesel for $3.60/gal cash. We're usually happy to be paying something in the low to mid 4s, so this was very attractive. (The variability of the price of marine diesel fuel is surprising. We've encountered marinas this trip selling diesel for over $5/gal.) It turns out that the "marina" was really the dock of a local shrimper in Bennett's Point, SC who had the enterprise to add a 100-foot long floating dock and call it a marina -- and to sell some of the diesel fuel that he uses for his shrimp boat. It was worth the 4-mile detour (roundtrip) just to see the place. We were hoping to buy some shrimp as well, but unfortunately, they only sold them raw, which wouldn't work for us with the stove still not functioning. 


One final item of note was passing this channel marker, which is near mile 494 on the Intracoastal -- the halfway point between St. Lucie Inlet in Florida and Norfolk. 


We arrived at our anchorage just before 3pm. Here is the view west from our anchorage as the storm approached.

Comments

  1. Connie SquireJune 13, 2024 at 4:57 AM

    Love hearing about your adventures and whereabouts. Always interesting. Because you’re willing to take the road, or should I say water, less travelled you get unexpected experiences. Have a good time with family and Happy Fathers Day John

    ReplyDelete
  2. AshleyJuly 12, 2024 at 5:04 PM

    So glad you decided not to push it to Norfolk so you could feel less stressed and enjoy your time on the water! “Captain’s Log” hahaha!!!

    ReplyDelete

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