Fog!

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  Hilton Head, South Carolina, United States
Monday, December 10, 2007

We had expected to have an easy 25 mile run to Hilton Head today, but the weather threw us a curve ball.  We woke to very heavy fog at our anchorage just south of the bridge in Beaufort SC.  It was 0630 and we were ready to go, but had to give this a second thought.  Radio reports told us that the fog extended many miles south and we would need to proceed in the pea soup.
 
Sue and I had a good dose of fog experience in Boston Harbor and Maine last summer.  While running in fog is very intense, it is not so dangerous as to force us to stay at anchor.  (As I write this, I have to say that I was scared s-less in Marblehead last summer as we faced a surprise when there was a major rock that came 'at us' unexpectedly so I know that is not totally true.  Readers of the summer blog will recall this.) We know these waters down to Hilton Head from when we lived in the area, so we hauled anchor and proceeded south under radar and GPS navigation. 

So we start slowly down the waterway.   As it happens, there is very little traffic in this part of the river and even once in Port Royal sound, there are virtually no commercial vessels.  We proceed south and hear an occasional radio call announcing a vessel showing proper concern for safety.   "Security, Security, this is vessel so-and-so heading south at mark 78"....  We do the same. 

Soon we enter the sound which is only 5-7 miles wide at the point we cross it.  Then into Skull Creek where we hope to see daylight, but no-go.  Just more pea soup.  We speak briefly with a sailing catamaran on the radio who has no radar and is under way.   Personally, I would not run in fog without radar....but heck...thats just me.  

Honestly, its hard enough to understand what is out there looking at a radar screen.  Many dots look alike and small boat may not even show up.  So the captain on the cat calls me and asks if he can follow us up the creek..."sure, cap....follow behind us", I said on the VHF.   So the cat falls into place.  In fact, he was so close to our stern, that Sue said we could hand him a cup of coffee! 

Soon we hear a number of high speed ferries calling on the VHF.  While these fellows sounded like "pros", we take no chances and identify ourselves at many of the major day marks going down Skull Creek.  Finally, the ferry seems almost on top of us and I still cant find him.  Then....he breaks through the fog and we pass safely port-to-port. 

Finally we get close to our destination: Windmill Harbor on Hilton Head.  We plan to dock in this fine facility for 4 nights as we visit our good friends Mike and Pat B.   As we pass under the 278 bridge, we hear a friendly voice on the radio "bring your vessel into the lock captain"..."we will have you tied up right away"....said the harbor master.   Windmill is a locked marina.  You go through a lock (as in canal) and then enter a beautiful, fully protected harbor.  

We enter the lock and he was right...we were tied up under clear blue sky.  The fog had been confined to the river area.  We got out of our sweatshirts and got ready for a break.  After 450 miles, it was time to take a few days off.

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