Charleston

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  Charleston, South Carolina, United States
Saturday, December 8, 2007

We were up again at 0530, but today it was not as cold as it had been.  And after a good night's sleep, we were ready to hit the waterway.  We were close to getting past the more dangerous part of the ICW called the Rock Pile.  The Rock Pile was a 20 mile stretch of the waterway blasted from rock.  It contains dangerous rock ledges that can damage a boat or even hole it should a skipper be forced out of the channel by a barge or a tug.  So as we begin we announce our presence on the radio in the hope that a tug captain would work with us on safe passage in a tight situation.  "Security, security, this is the motor yacht First Forty entering Rock Pile heading south", I said over the VHF.  Nothing heard, we added more speed as we moved through a light fog as the sun rose over the ICW.  We really enjoy the early morning, moving the boat ahead with hot coffee in our cups.  Its a nice time of day.

As we moved forward we went through the cypress swamps and passed through a very desolate area of South Carolina.  Very beautiful and very interesting.   But after 4-5 hours we begin to feel anxious to get moving.  We had talked about taking the boat "outside" meaning out into open ocean.  Up to this point, the weather had not cooperated, but today was perfect: flat seas, blue skies and little wind.  We had our decision point coming soon at a place called Georgetown SC.  There was a very good ocean inlet there.  Good meaning it was wide, deep and not known for sand bars etc.  This could be our exit to the open sea and perhaps a chance to make it the 100 or so miles all the way to Hilton Head. 

I can some calcs and found we could arrive in Hilton Head over a day ahead of schedule.  We could get into Port Royal Sound outside of Hilton Head about 0500 in the morning.  It was about 1pm now and that would mean a long overnight passage 5-10 miles off shore.   

So as we came around to the "fork in the road" we said....why not..its a nice day.  So we headed out to sea and coughed a 3 knot favorable current out the inlet.  First Forty hit 10kts over the ground and before we knew it, we were out to the Georgetown sea buoy.   I went below to do some safety and engine room checks as we proceed south toward our first way-point at the Charleston sea buoy.  I figure if anything doesn't look right, we can put into Charleston about 8pm. 

So all systems were "go" even though it would be a very dark night without any kind of moonlight whatsoever.  Seas were flat and only a hint of wind.  We tried to settle in as the sun set and the sky took on a look of bright orange.  Soon it was dark and all we could see was an occasional light of distant ship. 

Most people ask us if traveling in the ocean is dangerous and if we will encounter pirates, rogue freighters and other bad things.  While we are far from heavily experienced in ocean passages our biggest issues is a simple one: staying awake.  The boat is very capable and we try our best to make good weather choices.  But you still 'gotta stay up all night.  Its hard when your normal bed time is more like 9pm. 

So two factors changed our plans.  First we were getting tired by 8pm as we began to get within 7 miles of Charleston sea buoy.  Secondly and more important was the weather forecast that came over the VHF:  'dangerous' fog was forecast to come into the South Carolina sounds by midnight.  We listened carefully as the Coast Guard warned mariners not to go out in the early hours and that visibility could fall to zero.  We had fog experience in New England last summer.  But we had not had experience with heavy fog at night and when we were tired.  When we run in fog we do what we call "four eye" navigation.  One watches the radar.  The other looks ahead and looks at the chart plotter to keep the boat on course.
While being out here is not overly dangerous, boating accidents generally happen when people do stupid things.  We opted not to take the risk and decided to make the approach to Charleston harbor at 9pm that night.

So we began to see the Charleston marks flash and we saw them on radar.  We began to head in from about 10 miles out.  After being passed by a large oil tanker whom I talked to on the radio.  The transit in seem to take forever as we had a knot and half adverse current.  By the time we hit the Charleston jetty at 1030 we were both glad we were heading in.  Fourty five minutes later we dropped anchor in the anchorage.  Sue and I raced to the cabin and off went the lights.  It would have been great to get into Hilton Head by 0700 Sunday but it was just not the right time.  We had a nice day but the 110 miles we traveled were long ones.  Day was done.

 

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