ssloop: Hilton Head-Charleston

After spending Saturday night anchored out on Calibogue Sound, we woke to a dark, overcast day.

But we stayed right there and watched the PGA golf tournament final round from the boat. It ended up exciting as Jim Furyk won in a playoff. All the boats sounded our horns when he won. Even though we were moving right next door to the Harbour Town Marina the next day, we decided to move for the evening since storms were predicted. (a tornado watch also) We found a spot up Bull Creek four miles away where we dropped the anchor and rode out the storm. The storm blew through strong but quickly.

Monday morning we pulled into Harbour Town Yacht Basin at Hilton Head. What a great marina located in the heart of Sea Pines Resort. We spent the rest of the day on Monday as well as Tuesday biking around the island on their fabulous bike trails. The scenery was beautiful riding past moss covered trees, southern charm homes and golf courses. We also rode for miles on the beaches.

What a hoot! The wildlife highlights were jellyfish on the beaches, alligators on the golf courses and deer in between. We had so much fun in Hilton Head we wanted to stay longer, but we had to move on.

Wednesday we traveled 28 miles up the ICW to Beaufort, SC. Here we stayed at the Downtown Beaufort Marina. Beaufort is a quaint town with many historical southern mansions. It was fun taking a walking tour by these homes. Shopping wasn't bad either!

Thursday we took the courtesy car for a quick grocery run. We were limited to one hour use of the car so we really had to hustle. Captain "I don't grocery shop" thought it was great fun to prove it can be done in an hour (including drive time!). We departed Beaufort and traveled 44 miles to Toogoodoo Creek. Our wildlife highlights today were sea turtles and dolphins! After dropping the hook we took a dinghy ride to check out the area and then cooked out.

Friday we traveled 33 WINDY miles to Charleston SC. The only wildlife on this trip was the brave captain on the helm wearing everything he had with him including his sheepskin slippers. We had left all the canvas off from the warm day before but once we started traveling we realized the strong winds and cooler temps made it miserable on the helm. The first mate was ordered to stay below and bake cookies to keep the captain nourished. After an hour of this we finally reached a bend in the intracoastal that gave us enough protection to be able to put the canvas up. We arrived at the Charleston Harbor Marina around noon. That afternoon we took the complimentary trolley across the river to historical downtown Charleston. We toured, shopped and had dinner.

We had strong storms throughout the night and into Saturday morning. This gave us a good opportunity to get some chores done on the boat in the morning. By noon the rains had cleared so we walked next door to Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum. This is the home of the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier, USS Laffey destroyer, and the USS Clamagore submarine. The first mate decided to wait on the dock while the Captian toured the submarine. Too close of quarters for Sheli! We both toured the other two ships as well as a Vietnam Experience exhibit. All very impressive!

Sunday morning we jumped on our bikes and peddled to Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church. After the service, we learned from one of the church members that this afternoon was the Blessing of the Fleet at a nearby park and pier. After changing our clothes back at the boat, we again jumped on our bikes and headed for the festivities. At 1pm the shrimp boats paraded past the end of the pier where local pastors said a prayer for each boat. It's a huge event for the town with music, local vendors selling their crafts and of course awesome shrimp! It was a windy day that kept us here for another day and we are so glad we did!

Famous Harbour Town Lighthouse.