April 7 and 8, 2011; Thursday and Friday

April 6 - A very nice anchorage at Tom Point Creek.  River was smooth and wide all day.  There were 2 other boats anchored out with us.  One boater took their boat all the way from the State of Washington; they came through the Panama Canal which I thought was pretty impressive.

N32 38.783
W80 16.989

April 7 and 8:   We got an earlier start than planned.  It was a beautiful morning and it reminded me of the old saying. "Red sky at night, Sailors delight".  It sure applied this morning.  Last night we had a gorgeous sunset and this morning the water was smooth as glass and no wind or clouds, just sunshine.  Yesterday Keith made a bridle for our anchor and it worked good.  It kept the anchor chain away from boat and took the pressure off the anchor roller by making the chain go straight to the water before angling off.  We had a very pleasant ride to Charleston, SC, where we spent 2 nights at Charleston Maritime Center.  It is a very nice facility but you get a lot of wake, especially at night, from all the heavy cargo ships and cruise ships.  But the price was right, they had good fuel prices, and laundry was free.  Can't beat that.  While we were here Keith changed the oil so we got that out of the way for another 100 hours.  On Friday we took a water taxi to Patriots Point-Naval & Maritime Museum.  We toured the USS Yorktown, an Aircraft Carrier built in 1943 and used in the last part of WW II and Vietnam.   We also toured the USS Clamagore, a diesel-powered submarine that was commissioned a few week before the end of WW II (1945) and spent her 30 years operating out of Key West, Charleston, and New London.  She is the only one of her kind left today.  I really enjoyed the submarine.  We went to dinner in Market Square on Friday; that must be the place to go on a weekend as it looked like the whole town was out.

CO's comments:  Charleston's currents and tides, no matter what marina you stay at, were a little wild.  The marina we stayed at low tide was a bit shallow.  It reminded me of low water on the Mississippi at Bill's Bay Marina.  I have become accustom to operating in water depths only 2 feet below my props.  I never thought that day would never come.   Departing we saw several cargo ships coming in and also leaving the harbor.  All were surrounded by small Coast Guard craft with men manning the forward machine guns.  I stayed well clear. 

N32 47.346
W79 55.479

Forward Torpedo Room

Executive Officers (XO) Quarters-
 if I was in the Navy, this would be my room

USS Clamagore SS-343
Submarine

USS Yorktown CV-10
Flight Deck

USS Yorktown CV-10
"The Fighting Lady"

Cargo Ship incoming and
Cruise Ship outgoing

Huge Cargo-we think it is
carrying cars, etc.

When Keith was in the CORPS he

used to fly in one just like this

Muse (about 65 feet), towing Amuse

(about 30 feet) behind him

doing a slow pass on us - 4-6-2011

Muse gaining on us

Previously posted pictures from February 16 through 20, 2011

First barge since the Tenn-Tom

Another beautiful sunset

Kids canoe  tipped over because of wind;
waiting here for a ride

Busy marina for the
Festival of Light

2-19-2011 firewords

1958 Chris Craft Capri

2-20-2011 Car Show in Fort Myers; sorry Ronn,
no mustangs but lots of others Fords

Keith is a Jeep guy (Fort Myers)

Kim Jo III from the dinghy

I really like this sunset 2-12-2011

April 1 through 5 -Friday through Tuesday

April 1-Friday-Isle of Hope Marina to Savannah Bend Marina, GA:  We just had a short ways to go today.  Said good-bye to John and Sue and got to Savannah by 11:00.  Got fuel at Savannah Bend Marina as they had a real good price; $3.89/gal where other marinas in the area were .40 to .50 cents more a gallon.  When backing into our slip we had one heck of a time; the wind and current were real strong.  All the guide books say that from Georgia through North Carolina to be prepared for strong currents.  We had a good dock hand who was very helpful.  We spent 2 days here; it felt good to rest up.  We ate at a local pub that served steamed shrimp and crab.  They used newspapers for table clothes and paper plates, etc. so after you were done eating all they had to do was take the silverware off and then roll up the newspaper and plates.  The waitress said it made clean up very easy.

N32 02.142
W81 02.740

April 3; Sunday-Savannah Bend Marina to Factory Creek anchorage-We were on the waterway by 08:45.  Again, it was very strong currents and strong winds.  We crossed the Savannah River into South Carolina at Mile 576.0, but first we had to wait for a huge cargo/container ship going to City of Savannah with what looked like a load of cars, trucks, etc.  They also had a Yacht sitting on top that looked like about 45 feet long.  The cargo ship had to be at least 800 feet long.  After crossing the river we went through Caliboque Sound and Port Royal Sound; both were pretty smooth considering the winds and the outgoing tide.  In Port Royal Sound we passed Parris Island, the USMC boot camp for new recruits from the east coast.  We anchored in 8.5 feet of water on Factory Creek just outside of Beaufort, SC, at low tide.   The creek had houses on one side and marsh land on the other.  There was a nice man out washing his boat and he told us where to anchorage and not to worry about swing room as the creek was deep on both sides.  He even offered his dock for our dinghy if we wanted to go ashore, which I though was very nice.  We had a real good hold on the anchor and a nice night.  The tide rose 9.5 feet between 16:00 and 22:00.  The marsh next to us became a lake.

N32 25.253
W80 39.131

April 4; Monday-Factory Creek Anchorage to Lady's Island Marina:  We just went a mile or so back down the creek and stayed at Lady's Island Marina because there was a bad storm heading our way.  We stayed there for 2 days.  We didn't want to anchor out in the storm and the next marina was 66 miles from here.  The storm hit early on Tuesday morning with thunder, lightning, and very strong winds.  An unattended sailboat was tied up to a personal mooring ball and winds were so strong it dragged the boat at least 1/2 mile where it ran into someones dock; don't know if there was damage or not.  We were just glad it didn't run into us.  The rain stopped by about noon but the strong winds kept up all day.

N32 25.186
W80 39.468

CO's comments:  I sure am glad that we decided to move from an anchorage to a marina and tie up.  Today (Tuesday)  there were wind gusts of over 40 mph.  It was quit a sight to see a sailboat going down the creek, dragging it's mooring ball.  Even our friends that we were with last week in a thunderstorm decided to find a marina to stay in and we were glad.  Use the heaviest anchor that your boat will tolerate and don't skimp on mooring lines-bigger is better.

Rising tide at Savannah Bend Marina
Still  3 feet to go

Sunrise at Savannah

Container ship on the Savannah River
(see Yacht on top)

USMC Boot Camp on Parris Island
from the ICW