Tag: Live Oak

Beaufort South

We started the day with a Mexican breakfast on the griddle.

warm tortillas

Then it was onto the Dawhoo River which has some depth issues.

North Creek near Dawhoo River

We would occasionally have to move over and let a tug pushing a barge past.

  • Approaching Tug/Barge
  • Dangerous Cargo
  • Gun Trader or Sun Trader

This home sadly lost it’s live oak to a bit of wind it would seem.

Such good looking trees if there is such a thing?

Soon we passed under the ladies Island Swing bridge, hailed Beaufort Downtown Marina on the VHF radio. They responded back “Safe Harbor Beaufort”. Safe Harbor is the same marina corporation that purchased my marina in RI. Heck, Safe Harbor seems to be buying dozens of east coast marinas.

Safe Harbor taking over the world of marinas

The Safe Harbor Beaufort marina has a strong tide that is not quite parallel to the face dock. This means as you pull up to the dock, the current is either pushing you onto or away from the dock. I took an approach that kept the current aligned to my keel and soon we were tied up and plugged in.

MV Simple Life on the back side of the face dock

We snapped a few quick photos of a sun low in the sky.

Sun on Safe Harbor Beaufort docks
Sun over Ladies Island Swing Bridge

The large 100+ foot yacht next to us lit up as night arrived.

Large Yacht Lit

Not to be outdone, MV Simple Life lit our lights 😉

MV Simple Life Lit

When you walk off the docks there is a beautiful waterfront park.

Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park in Beaufort, SC

Walking along Bay street in front of the marina you’ll find many restaurants and shops.

  • Bay Street
  • Panini’s – Live Music
  • Southern Sweets Ice Cream Shop
Downtown Beaufort, SC

We decided to stay two nights in Beaufort so we could hit some of the local restaurants and pubs.

  • Wood Fired Pizza Guy
  • Menu Front
  • Menu Back
  • Telephone booth leads to the next room
Bull Tavern in Beaufort SC

We wanted live music and that can always be dangerous. I’ve had the mic turned off while singing karaoke and lets just say it does not get any better with IPAs.

Sunshine Highway

We got a lazy start and the boat that was anchored next to us (captured in the photo below taken just after anchoring) was long gone by the time we weighed anchor.

Atlantic Ocean anchorage in South Carolina

Last night’s view of the sky was amazing. The stars popped like I have never seen. It would seem that being devoid of any extraneous light makes the cosmos seem even larger and us even smaller.

Moon

We navigated beneath several bridges.

Ben Sawyer Swing Bridge located at SM 462 along the ICW in Sullivan’s Island South Carolina.

Wappoo Bascule Bridge located at SM 470 along the ICW in South Carolina. Bridge height board

Both of these bridges had about 30′ of vertical clearance so no need to hail the bridge tender for an opening.

We also passed several ADVs (Abandoned or Derelict Vessels) along the way.

NOAA has a website dedicated to helping with ADVs.

Abandoned boats are a problem everywhere. When she is new everyone flocks to see her. When she falls into disrepair, her value can be upside down. The cost to junk an old boat or the salvage fee after an accident or storm only adds to the abandonment problem.

As we sailed into Charlestown, SC, you could see the tall steeple of what I think might be St. Philip’s Church built in 1836.

Charleston’s shoreline

While the thought of exploring Charleston was buzzing in our heads, we remarked that we could stop on the return trip. There are so many great stops along the ICW but if we stopped at all of them we’ll never make it to Florida.

The moss on the trees reminds you that this is South Carolina and not Rhode Island.

The type of tree that surround this home are everywhere along the shore. Maybe a type of oak tree?

I’m dying to see one of those live oaks that look like something out of a fairytale down here.

We passed many crab boats that would race between the crab pot floats that line the channel. You can always tell the boat up ahead is a crab boat because the birds follow them wherever they go. As the pot is pulled to the surface, the crabs are measured and those to small are discarded back into the sea. The flock of sea birds use this opportunity to nab an easy lunch.

Crab Boat

Don’t you just love that man’s best friend is tucked up behind the windshield absorbing whatever warmth from the sun could be found?

Kelly & I got a kick out of seeing this “flats boat” with a man on the back pushing it through the shallows with a push pole. I could only imagine how difficult it must be to balance on that small platform as the boat rocks. We slowed as we passed so our wake would not flick him into the cold water.

As the sun got low in the sky it became clear that I needed to pick which anchorage I was going to drop the hook in tonight. Kelly requests that I research anchorages ahead of time that have strong Verizon cellular signal strength so she can watch the football games using the NFL Mobile app on her iPhone. While cruising we consume cellular data like teenagers stranded at the adult party.

We anchored in a creek called Toogoodoo just in time to watch the Patriots game.

Toogoodoo Creek