Journey to Hilton Head Island

As promised, by Tuesday morning, Sept. 14th, the wind speed had diminished to a slight breeze, making it a perfect day to depart from Charleston Harbor.  We awoke before sunrise and prepared to leave at dead low tide when the current would be nill, with the plan to cruise through some notorious trouble spots along our route on a rising tide later in the day. Surprisingly, the air temperature was almost chilly as we headed out of the City Marina and turned south on the ICW. Hopefully, this means that the worst of the summer heat is now behind us.

Turning around for a final look before the Charleston cityscape was out of sight, we were rewarded with a view of the sun just peaking out over the building tops to bid us farewell and smooth cruising. The tide was just beginning to turn in our favor, and as we cruised through Elliott Cut toward the Stono River, we could feel a gentle push of the incoming tidal current easing us through what can be a challenging passage.

We were amazed at the fact that we had the waterway almost totally to ourselves all day, not passing (or being passed by) a single other cruising vessel all the way from Charleston to Beaufort.  Except for a few locals out fishing in small power boats, we only encountered a couple of barges, which we gladly granted right of way.

After eight hours of very pleasant cruising, we arrived at the Beaufort Downtown Marina, calling ahead to make sure they had dock space for us overnight. This lovely historic town is a favorite of ours, a place we have visited many times before.  The marina is located adjacent to a lovely waterfront park, which is also lined with restaurants, making for an enjoyable stopover for mariners. Unfortunately, however, some of these restaurants are going through tough times.  In fact, one of our favorites, Kathleen's, has recently closed.

After noticing that the price noted on the diesel pump at the fuel dock was reasonable as compared with other marinas we had checked out, we decided to top off the tanks before leaving the next morning. It wasn't until we were halfway through the process that the dock attendant told us that they would be adding 7% sales tax to the price on the pump.  Our previous experience has been that the price on the pump is the price that you pay. Next time, we'll ask before pumping! Oh, well, live and learn.

As we departed and cruised down the Beaufort River toward Port Royal Sound on Wednesday morning, we carefully passed under the 65 ft. fixed bridge immediately south of Port Royal Landing Marina, getting a closeup view of repair work underway.

Again we were experiencing only 5 kt. maximum winds, so crossing Port Royal Sound, which can be troublesome at times, was a breeze (pardon the pun).  Boat traffic was light again as well, but we did pass a working shrimper in the sound.

After crossing Port Royal Sound, we continued on to Hilton Head Island, transiting through Skull Creek, down Calibogue Sound, and up Broad Creek to Shelter Cove Marina, where we will be staying for the next month. We called on the VHF radio as we approached the marina, and they promised to have a dock hand waiting at our slip to catch lines.  When we got there, however, there was no one in sight, so we eased our way in, making good use of the bow and stern thrusters which we had installed last year.  After securing the lines without assistance from marina staff, the dock hand arrived.  No tip for him!

Shelter Cove Marina, which has the atmosphere and architecture of a Mediterranean waterfront village, is also part of the Palmetto Dunes plantation at Hilton Head Island. Although most of the boats here tend to be the size of ours or smaller, the marina also receives visits from mega yachts like the 128 ft. vessel below.

So, this is our home for the next month, until we head south again in mid-October.