Week 49: May 7 – May 13

We left Kilkenny Creek Marina for a short ride (26 miles) to Isle of Hope Marina on the outskirts of Savannah, Ga. The wind and current blew the boat sideways as we approached the marina. We hit marker 46A – should have adjusted earlier – and broke a piece of the window trim on the port side. We have the piece so it will need to be repaired.

The 9′ tides in Georgia are not pleasant. As you can see in the posted photos, the ramps to shore can be steep. In addition, the water level rises high enough to flood sections of the walking paths.

When we arrived Peter spoke to the dock hand about New Hope. Apparently they arrived the day before and since there was nothing in the area, decided to leave earlier this morning to meet us at the next planned stop. Had we known, we would not have stopped and would have continued on to Beaufort. Since we were already settled and did not have reservations at Beaufort until Friday, we decided to stay.

We starting walking into town, although there wasn’t anything really around. After walking about a mile and a half, we decided to just turn around and go back to the marina since it was hot. On the way back, we did stop at the Wormsloe Historic Site. Walking the grounds felt like we were at Tara from Gone With the Wind. It was quiet, peaceful, lots of old trees and empty, no one around.

The next morning we left early to get to Beaufort where we planned to spend three nights. One reason was that it would be the weekend (not our preferred travel days) and the other was that Peter’s cousin and his wife who live in South Carolina were coming to visit. It’s been a number of years since we have seen them.

The trip presented a wrinkle. We have been using Navionics to chart our trips but Peter still has the copies of the paper charts at the helm along with the Garmin. We followed the trip on Navionics and did not realize beforehand that it was sending us out to the ocean. By the time we realized it, it would have taken a few hours more to reverse our course and get back on the ICW. Fortunately, the ocean was fine, nice and calm. The other body of water we needed to cross was Port Royal Sound (we would have needed to do this even if we followed the ICW). Port Royal Sound was nasty with waves of 2-3″+. We were happy when we reconnected to the ICW.

We arrived at the Downtown Marina at Beaufort and the wind and current were acting up. The dock hand put us on the inside of the dock since the current would blow us into the dock and make tying up easier. We looked for New Hope when we were secure and they were on the outside of the dock and bouncing. Once the wind and current settled, things were better for all of us. Once again, we had tidal issues and steep ramps.

New Hope has been leap-frogging with their car since Fort Pierce so they rented a car to drive south to bring their car to leave in Beaufort until we got to Southport when they would repeat the process again until we got to Virginia. They were going to be gone all day Saturday so Peter and I just relaxed and walked around town. It’s amazing to see a town so empty.

On Sunday, Mother’s Day, Peter’s cousins came to visit. Our plan was to have lunch and catch up. A number of the local restaurants were offering outside-seating but since it was Mother’s Day, all were crowded (no reservations) and waiting times were considerable. We went to a local bar with outside seating and just had beer and pizza appetizers since no one wanted to wait over an hour to be seated. It was a nice visit and we really appreciated that they drove over three hours to see us…and then drive home to Greenville. We hope to see each other again in November when their daughter is scheduled to be married. Of course, this all depends on the COVID-19 situation.

Monday was our first travel day with New Hope and we were going to spend the night in Charleston. A number of the marinas in the area were not taking transients and others did not have slips so we reserved slips at Charleston Harbor Marina & Resort. The trip went well except for biting flies and wind in Charleston Harbor. When we got to the marina, we encountered more wind and strong currents while docking. There was a restaurant onsite so we had dinner with outside-seating with New Hope and two of their friends who were joining them to travel for a few days until Southport, NC.

The food and the company were the only good things about staying at the marina. Docking was difficult and although the marina was listed as “open” on the COVID-19 Waterway Guide updates, nothing was available. There were no restrooms or showers, it was not pet-friendly since the walk to land was very far, and on top of all this, they charged a “resort fee” even though nothing was open. We rated them with one star on Marinas.com since we could not give them a zero. The next morning, we were happy to leave Charleston Harbor.

Our next stop was the Leland Oil Co. in McClellanville, SC. This is another of the small marinas where you have a dock, restrooms and little else. However, their restroom and shower were open. McClellanville is a small shrimping village with residents who have lived there for generations. The town is small, some places were open. There is a very cool, very old tree, known as the Deerhead Oak. It is estimated to be over 1,000 years old, 70+ feet tall with a circumference of more than 36 feet. McClellanvile served to be a nice, quiet, calm place to stay particularly after our night in Charleston.

We continued along the ICW heading towards Myrtle Beach. Osprey Marina had been mentioned on the AGLCA forum as offering a great price on diesel – $1.42/gallon -so this was to be our next stop. New Hope had stayed there previously on their last snowbird trip and recommended that we stay for two nights. While there is nothing within walking distance, it was a calm, pleasant stop and the local pizza place had a full menu with free delivery. We used the time to catch up on laundry and just relax.

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