Charleston, South Carolina, we have arrived!

Last night Jorge was up a few times checking the anchor and height of tide as Mother Nature was giving us a bit of grief. No problems.

Jorge and I decided to leave our anchorage at 0800 this morning and head to Charleston. It was going to be a 6 hour trip provided the current was favourable. Diana and Gilbert followed shortly afterwards.

Serenada peeking out of the marsh at anchor.

Abandoned boat.

Ditto.

Some local birds enoying the sunshine.

No basement with these tides!

 

We motor sailed off and on when we had good winds and yes the current was quite favourable. We had a short delay at the Ben Sawyer swing bridge while we waited for another sailboat to catch up to us, so the bridge master didn't have to stop traffic twice within half an hour. No easy feat as the wind and current were both pushing us towards the bridge. This swing bridge opened on request, others open at specific times. Once past this bridge we were in the Charleston Harbour. We had decided to anchor off Crab Island, should have been called Pelican Island with the amount of pelicans roosted on it. Anchor was set at 1400, dinghy and motor down and tidy up chores done shortly after that and Jorge and I were enjoying a beer in the cockpit in T-shirts and shorts. Yes the weather has improved again. Sunny with cloudy periods and a temp of about 23C, not too bad!

Waiting for Ben Sawyer swing bridge to open before Charleston, S.C.

Bridge opening (clearance 31').

Inside Charleston Harbour - old bridge inhabited by birds.

Cruise ship in Charleston harbour.

 

I had booked a marina to keep the boat at for two weeks while we are back home and also booked our flights for Nov 14. Our close friend and Jorge's compadre, Chris, is picking us up at the airport so things are falling into place nicely. Pub night is booked for Nov 16 at 6 p.m. at the Bull and Barrel to facilitate seeing as many friends as possible. It is going to be a whirlwind trip between doing things with the kids, seeing friends and doctors' appts!

The evening was quiet. We have a week in Charleston to have some down time and do some sightseeing before heading home.