Run up to Beaufort, SC -- June 9


We started the day with the 10:30 service at Christ Church in old Savannah -- the so-called "Mother Church of Georgia" because it was founded in 1733 along with the colony. It was Church of England then and is Episcopalian now. The present building is the third at this site and dates to 1838. It was a lovely service, but long, as they had a baptism. We used the marina's courtesy car for this trip. We didn't have time for brunch in Savannah as we had to have the car back by noon and be at our marina in Beaufort, SC by five. (Maybe we're pushing too hard again?) John Wesley, the Anglican cleric who founded Methodism, served at this church from 1736-37.


After lunch aboard we got underway at 12:40 and just made our five o'clock deadline at the Lady Island Marina in Beaufort. The Captain thought it would be fun to run out in the ocean from the mouth of the Savannah River over to Port Royal Sound. This started out looking like a good idea, as the tidal current was pushing us out the Savannah River at over 19 mph, and when we got to the Atlantic it was pretty calm, with very mild swells. However, it was blowing 10-15 knots out of the south and by the time we approached the entrance to Port Royal Sound we were experiencing a mild chop. This turned into an ugly sea of two-foot square waves as the incoming waves met the outgoing tide. But it didn't last too long and there was no danger, just some uncomfortable pitching and rolling, which the First Mate wasn't too happy about. Despite this uncomfortable spell, the Captain is glad that we ran outside because it gave us a change of scenery and we learned some lessons; namely, the ocean on this stretch of coast can chop up quickly because it is so shallow (we were running in 10 to 15 feet of water two miles off the coast of Hilton Head) and don't forget about square waves (having learned this lesson before).

Heading out the Savannah River we passed the Coast Guard station, the pilot station, Fort Pulaski, and a couple shrimp boats anchored off the long jetty at the end of the river. There was a little tour boat circling around the shrimp boats, which was rather odd, but it didn't seem to bother the shrimpers. Fort Pulaski is noteworthy for being where Union forces in 1862 demonstrated that brick fortifications were obsolete in the face of fire from rifled cannons.





Beaufort is a charming little town with some beautiful antebellum homes. (The first photo taken on our way in Sunday and the second on our way out Monday.)



The fellow at Lady Island Marina was very friendly and helped us with taxi advice so that we could get over to town (the downtown marina was sold out and we were almost two miles from town) for dinner. The First Mate got us a reservation at Saltus, which is a top-notch foody restaurant looking out over the Beaufort River that we visited with our daughter when we were here two years ago. She found the place when she rode with us from Savannah to Charleston, which was great fun. 


We had a nice sunset glow after dinner. Downtown Beaufort is in the distance to the right. 


Comments

  1. AshleyJuly 12, 2024 at 5:00 PM

    Hey I remember Beaufort! Sweet town with some nice shops and restaurants. Poor First Mate suffering the dreaded square waves!

    ReplyDelete

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