Charleston to Georgetown

From Charleston to Georgetown and beyond…

We’re way overdue on updating this blog, so we’ll hit the high spots, with more photos.  With our first ten days as “Loopers” behind us, we’ve worked out some of the trickier spots of running the boat: docking, getting underway, stowing the lines and fenders, setting and pulling up the anchor, and we’re getting better at remembering where we’ve put things.  We’ve seen beautiful marshes, spectacular waterfront homes, bald eagles, ospreys, and even a couple of mallard ducks. 

Sunset over the marsh - one of many

After a night “on the hook” on the north end of Hilton Head our first night out from Hinckley Marine Services, Midas was happy to go ashore when we launched the dinghy before settling in for the night in Fishing Creek, off the South Edisto River.  The ladder from the aft deck to the swim platform and the dinghy is almost vertical, but with a little help and lots of encouragement, we made his way down and into the dinghy.  We motored over to a boat ramp and dock, and Midas found the grass he needed.                                                             

 We reached Charleston City Marina early Saturday afternoon.  Time to do laundry, take long showers, and enjoy a delicious dinner ashore.  We burned off some of the calories we consumed by hiking the quarter mile from the end of the Megadock to the central dock several times. 

Dessert was on the house, and we couldn't resist.

 The staff at Charleston City Marina goes out of the way to help, and the facilities are top-notch.  Midas’s favorite new friend was Brandi, a Golden Retriever/Cocker Spaniel mix who has just qualified to be a therapy dog.  We also met another Looper couple, Rick and Anne Davis on Assisted Living.  Dinner at the restaurant and breakfast Sunday morning were both as good as we remembered from our 2007 visit in "They Say."

 The plan for Sunday night was to anchor out in Charleston Harbor, still within sight of the marina, among about a dozen or so sailboats.  The brisk wind that made getting off the dock a bit of a challenge was supposed to diminish by late afternoon, and we had planned to take the dinghy ashore to meet one of our FairTax buddies, then attend a screening of Unfair – the Movie. 

We got the boot - and it rode to Georgetown.

As the hours passed, the wind blew faster and the waves grew bigger – too much for the dinghy.  The new plan – cancel the movie and hunker down for the night – would have worked, if the anchor had not impaled an old rubber boot with one fork instead of catching the bottom. When we realized we were adrift, it was time to crank the engine and head for the ICW on the other side of Charleston Harbor.  It was a rough ride, but we made it, with nothing in the cabin broken or damaged.

The section of the ICW between Charleston Harbor and Isle of Palms has no good place to anchor, but we spotted an open space at Isle of Palms Marina.  By the time we reached it, the office was closed, but Neptune was smiling on us again.  James, Kris and son Jamie saw us circling the area, radioed that they would help us tie up, then did a great job of pulling us in as the wind did its best to keep us away.   After a great spinach salad, with crab cakes for Mike and grilled chicken for Marian at Morgan Creek Grill, we settled in for the night, by now a windless one.

Monday morning, after a hearty breakfast at the Marina Market, which has a little bit of everything, from souvenirs to clothes to fishing gear and batteries, we were underway again, this time to a beautiful, quiet anchorage in Five Fathom Creek, near McClellanville.  As we moved slowly up the creek recommended by a passing fisherman, we spotted a bald eagle perched atop a channel marker.    

Bald Eagle - King of Five Fathom Creek

 The cruise from Five Fathom Creek to Georgetown was an easy run, with Marian’s tendency to oversteer the boat improving with practice as she “manned” the helm most of the way to the Sampit River.

First Mate Marian

We docked at Harborwalk Marina with able assistance from Dockmaster Chris.  Midas was again very glad to go ashore.  We broke out the bikes for a ride to Georgetown Hardware to purchase a chain and padlock to secure them and a few miscellaneous items.  What man can go into any hardware store and not see an "I've been meaning to get one of those"? Midas trots very nicely along- side Mike, and of course we carry water bottles to keep everyone hydrated. 

Georgetown was the place to find an excellent boat mechanic to help troubleshoot what we thought was a bad connection to the radar feature on our Garmin Chartplotter.  More important, John knew exactly why the steering seemed mushy: low hydraulic fluid and air in the lines from the helm to the rudder control, located under our bed in the aft cabin.  If you’re traveling this area and need just about anything electrical, electronic or mechanical done to your boat, John at Jake’s Marine Systems is your man.  

Approaching downtown Georgetown

Georgetown by night

 We can’t say enough good things about Harborwalk Marina.  It’s smaller than many, and if you want extras like use of a golf course, you won’t find them there.  You will find immaculate restroom/showers and laundry facilities, and friendly folks like Captain Rod and his wife Fran, who live on their trawler docked at the marina.  We should have made time to take the Lighthouse and Plantations tour, but we spent the time working on the boat:  washed, vacuumed, mounted fender cages, re-attached a loose rub rail strip, and organized, organized, organized.

With three productive days in Georgetown and laundry done, we turned north again on Friday, traveling the beautiful Waccamaw River and looking for a protected spot to drop the hook. With the correct amount of hydraulic fluid, steering is much better, and Marian was at the helm for most of the trip.  We paused at Bucksport Marina to ask about possible anchorages, and found a perfect place behind a stand of cypress trees less than a mile farther along. We dropped the hook, launched the dinghy, and headed back to the Bucksport.  Midas knows that when we open the back gate to the dinghy and swim platform, he's going ashore, and he's getting braver about the almost vertical ladder with each trip. Mike guides him down, step by step, until he can hop in.  Once underway, he curls up in the bottom, head under the seat, until we reach the dock.

View from our Waccamaw River Anchorage

After two nights at anchor, listening to ducks and geese as well as passing boats Friday and Saturday night, we pulled up the dinghy and anchor, and Marian drove us back to Bucksport Marina, where we're staying tonight and tomorrow while the predicted rain and storms pass through. Bucksport Marina made us an offer we couldn't refuse - $1/foot including power and water, much lower than most of the marinas.  It's not fancy, but it's clean, the facilities are good, Captain Seagrass's bar and grill has good food and friendly folks, and there's a big field where Midas can run.  We couldn't ask for more, and we have the transient dock to ourselves on a quiet, cool night, relaxing after Mike solved the problem of non-functioning deck lights.  Two wires, buried deep in the support beam to the aft deck roof, had worn through and shorted out, so DC current was not reaching them.  Mike found the site of the break, re-connected the wires, and we have deck lights again.  Tomorrow promises rain, so it will be a day to work inside, polishing the teak walls and troubleshooting another nonworking light, this one in the forward cabin where Phil and Barbara will be bunking in a few days.

An osprey surveys the world from her nest

Mike:  We have heard for the years leading up to this trip that it’s about the people you meet, both fellow Loopers and people in the towns and marinas you meet as you stop along the way. I have found this to be absolutely true. Oh, you still have the discourteous boaters who are clueless about their wakes, like Maverick, who passed us in his 40+ foot sport fisherman this afternoon without slowing, but then you meet the real gems, the people who are happy in their lives and who were put on this earth to make a positive effect on humanity.  John, the guy who worked on our boat’s steering in Georgetown, SC, is one of those individuals.  The waitress at Seven Hundred Modern Grill and Bar (formerly Zest) in Georgetown, who talked about rebuilding their restaurant after the September 2013 fire destroyed it and many other businesses along the water front is another.  Fran, who offered to take Marian along on her almost daily outing to Walmart and who made it a point to wave good-bye as we left the dock on Friday, just shines with inner goodness.  

Mike & Midas after a round of Chuck-It

Dusk on the Waccamaw

Midas Touch at the dock