March 21, 2007

I left Isle of Hope Marina this morning near Savannah, GA and arrived in Beaufort, South Carolina at the Downtown City Marina by about 12:30 after trolling through a few slow spots and doing at total of 55 miles today. Most of the time the tides would let me either gain in speed or lose depending on the direction of the tide. Beaufort is one of those cities that let you know when you pull up to the dock that they are special. Some docks handle you with care and some just want the money and leave tomorrow. This is definitely a tourist destination. I got all signed in fill my gas tank and got my slip assignment, tied up, and connected to the electricity in just about 30 minutes. Then went up to the office to get the packet of information they give you on the area that you are in. The first thing I did was go get cleaned up and then put on my walking shoes. I knew I would get my exercise here. The city has a park along the waterfront which stretches about a half mile. Along that half mile they have put benches and porch swings under all the old live oak trees. The flowers are just beginning to bloom in all the areas I am approaching now. Then just behind the park is the old downtown area of Beaufort. Behind that is an area of old homes and churches and the city is laid out in such a fashion that it is easy to find your way around and you always end up at the waterfront. We have had kind of an off and on day of rain showers all around us but it did not rain here except for a few sprinkles. I will do more walking around town and looking for historical things again tomorrow.

The trip this morning was really great. It was a very calm morning when I started and the marshes in the sunshine at about eight in the morning look gorgeous. It was high tide when I started out so I could see for miles across the marshes in all directions. The first thing when I came around the bend at Thunderbolt, GA they were having rowing practice in pairs of eight. There three boats of eight getting in their training sessions. You could hear them counting cadence and I slowed to give them no wake so they would not have to deal with that. Around the next bends I began to see all the big and beautiful homes around the Savannah area and then you about two or three miles and you hit the Savannah river and right when I was about to cross it two ships were meeting with one going out to sea and the other coming into port. I have a shot of one of them going by in the marshland. You cross the Savannah River and go back into the many islands and rivers of the lowlands again. You go past the places that everyone has heard about, like Daufuskie Island, Hilton Head Island with all of its rich and beautiful homes and boats in the marinas. After you cross under the bridge at Hilton Head you travel just a little bit further around a couple more bends and there is the city of Beaufort laying before you like a walk back in time as you see the old mansions from the water before you get here to the docks. But I also had to cross a couple of big sounds or inlets from the ocean today and travel a long distance up them and this is where the tides can really play havoc with your time line if you have one. The big ones were the Calibogue and Port Royal sounds where you travel on headings toward bouys which you sometimes can’t see right away and they can also be rough. Since the winds were forecast to increase later in the day I wanted to get away from the dock as soon as possible to avoid the large waves if I could. The wind gods were with me and when I reached the last sound they were only about 15 miles per hour. But Shorty loves to ride the waves and cruised along at between 13 and 15 knots and about 3000 RPM’s again today. On big water that seems to be about a good way to run. You get that fluid wave motion and since she is on plane the waves first hit the boat right about where I sit and she cuts and takes them and the movement and the power of the waves can be felt as you hiss along on them. I drive with the windows open and the back door which allows me to hear the movement and the power of the engine which is smooth as can be. Some days the motion is so nice that it goes real well with the classical music I listen to when all is well.

I also put the pictures of Savannah which were few because I took the tour which did not stop for photos. The photos from my walk around Beaufort today are also published on the photo link. Let me know if all links are working.

As always there are some beautiful boats in this marina both sail and power and all brands, shapes and sizes. You can certainly tell if the boat is just sitting in the marina or if it on the waterway and been moving. The people are all very friendly and fun to meet and talk to. I am so fortunate to be seeing America from its back door and seeing things I will never see again. I saw the first flock of ducks come in tonight that were also headed north before they split and landed in the marsh. I am facing the sunset again as usual and no matter what is coming for weather I really look forward to all the colors that are reflected on the water and the tide as it ripples by on its way. The tide really needs to come in here because I did not bring mountain goat shoes.