We left Georgetown at 9am, just after the early morning rain showers ended and the skies cleared. We had a uneventful transit along the ICW to our anchorage at Awendaw Creek, about half way between Georgetown and Charleston. This is a great anchorage with good protection from waves although not from the wind as it is completely surrounded by grasslands, nothing to block the wind.
And the wind was definitely blowing, steady in the 20s and gusting to 33kts, under blue skies.
We put out our full 200ft of anchor chain to ensure good holding in the strong winds. If you look closely at the photo you can see the red paint marks on the anchor chain which tells us we are at the end of the available chain.
With 200ft of chain out we were stretched back to about 50ft from shallow water behind the boat, which led to a nervous night but, the anchor held with no problems and our anchor alarm app on the phone kept us assured we were safe. The wind subsided some during the night and all was well.
The ICW was full of challenges the next day. The day before we had transited at near high tide which safely took us through several shallow spots with no problems. Today however, we were transiting at near low tide.
The first challenge was a slow moving tug and barge in front of us that we had to pass. We followed the tug for over 30 minutes as he plowed through some shallow spots and finally reached a section wide enough for us to pass (which takes awhile when you can only go 1kt faster than him).
Next up we had to pass dredging operations at Isle of Palms. This dredge pipeline extended fully across the ICW and we had to move well outside the channel to slip around the end close by the shoreline docks. The depth alarm was blaring as the water was less than 2-3inches below our keel as we passed.
Then came another dredging operation. As we approached, a tug pushed this pipeline out of our path, greatly appreciated; but, ahead there was a cable coming out of the dredge in front of us. Again, we had to move to the very edge of the ICW outside the channel to get by with the depth alarm blaring. But we made it by with no delays.
Not so the barge behind us that we had passed. He had to stop and wait 10minutes for the dredge to retrieve the cable as he was too wide to pass like us.
Next up is the Ben Sawyer swing bridge just before Charleston. Fortunately, we arrived outside the rush hour closure periods so the bridge opened for us with no delay.
After departing the Awendaw anchorage at 0730, we entered Charleston Harbor at 1300 right on schedule.
The strong winds of yesterday had finally died down by noon just as forecasted and we headed directly for the inlet channel, heading for sea and for Florida.
We motor sailed all day with 10-12kts of wind directly behind us. It was good the seas were down from 7-11ft yesterday to 2-3ft but having them directly astern means we rock back and forth - yuk.
Sue had fortified with her anti-seasickness medicines and actually did ok, no toasting to Neptune. I never get that sick but felt fairly nauseous the whole day/night/next day.
With the cold north wind blowing it was a 4 layer night with blankets around our feet. Fortunately, the ocean temperature is in the 50s so it wasn't as bad as the 31 degrees back in Charleston and Georgetown.
We had a wee bit of moonlight in the early morning hours, otherwise pretty dark.
Yea, the sun is up and the cockpit will start warming up. Within an hour it was up in the 60s and we could take a couple layers off.
The wind had died to near zero during the night but now was coming back up from the north as forecasted. We are still motoring, now 24hrs into the journey.
Sue brought a new bed this trip for Rivah and it worked out great, keeping her warmer and holding her better in place on the rocking boat. She slept most of the trip only getting up to eat and pee.
Just to add a small touch of joy to the cold and uncomfortable voyage, the wind shifted and increased and we were able to sail the last two hours to Fernandina. Its amazing how quiet and relaxing it is to finally turn the engine off and sail in comfortable seas.
By 1300, we were approaching the inlet after 24hrs at sea and 30hrs underway. The wind died down so we restarted the engine and drove in the last couple miles to our anchorage area off the town marina.
As we were sailing up to Fernandina, Sue said the paper mill factory looked like the Land of Oz rising out of the water. I had to agree.
