Decisions, decisions, decisions!
As previously noted, we are moving slowly north, as in we are encountering the infamous 'salt marshes' of Georgia and South Carolina. The ICW seemingly meanders aimlessly north. In some ways it is tranquil and a refreshing change to the comparative Florida 'freeway vibe' of the ICW. In other ways, the salt water marshes have their own set of challenges: 1) tides of 8’ are a normal event now, 2) there are infrequent marinas, 3) reduced, cautious cruising speeds due to frequent ICW sections that have shoaled in to very shallow depths (no boat will get thru here without touching bottom), 4) nights on the hook can be unnerving given the strong tide currents, and, 5) the timing of low tides dictates how far and when you can move (i.e. a low tide in the middle of the day could mean you progress very little). For us, it has meant that we have learned a lot of new boating skills & techniques in the salt marshes, but by the time we got to Doboy Sound, enough already!
I had determined that if we ran outside the ICW (i.e. the Atlantic Ocean), in one long day we could travel 55 miles to Beaufort, South Carolina, or we could stay on the ICW and take 3 to 4 days to travel 104 miles to Beaufort. Assuming good boating weather, we could cruise at an additional 2 knots, over our top speed, by getting out into the Gulf Stream's north running current. We checked our Buoyweather.com maritime forecast app and saw a perfect weather opportunity; waves less than 3 feet from the southeast, wind from the south at 10 knots or less. Wow, this seems too good to be true!
Alison and I did some serious deliberations on this “Atlantic” option. You may recall we had conducted a 168 mile overnight crossing of the Gulf of Mexico earlier in our trip. This 55 mile run had 2 inlets along the way that we could use as “bailout” contingency options, if the unforeseen should arise. We decided to sleep on it, check the weather in the morning and make a final decision then.
We awoke to good weather and calm seas as forecast, and we were off! Although it took an hour to clear the inlet channel out several miles into 30+ feet of water, everything went as planned. We were running smoothly under sunny skies, proceeding north at 11 knots, being pushed by both waves and winds from the south. We found ourselves approximately 5 miles offshore to give lots of leeway from “Blackbeard’s Shoals”. I had projected we would arrive at our destination inlet of Port Royal (also called Hilton Head Inlet) at 1500hrs. At 1430 hrs some very localized, darker, cumulus clouds started to form ahead, and the seas started getting “confused” (typical when boating in the proximity of a protruding “head” of land into the water). Very quickly our local weather and sea conditions degraded. Due to our day’s good progress, the two “bailout” options were behind us. We were now committed and knew the last 2 hours of getting behind the barrier islands was going to be hard work for us all, Catan included. My job was to assess and wrestle every wave into submission with Catan, while Alison’s job was to pray.
By the time we docked at Beaufort (~ 1800hrs), the conclusion to our Atlantic “option” had left us mentally and emotionally exhausted. Although the unsecured contents of Catan had been thrown around something fierce, everything was fine otherwise (and nothing broken down below). We sorted ourselves out and headed off into town for a well-deserved meal. Conversation over dinner was quiet and our moods were sober. After a lot of retrospective analysis of this day/decision, we concluded the Atlantic will do whatever she wants to you and you had better be up to the task; and we were! But we have no intention of doing so again in the future. Below is a photo of Alison as we headed off to dinner upon arrival (rainbow is a little faint), and the rest were taken over our two day stay in Beaufort.
Stay tuned for more adventures…
