11/16/2015 ,11/17/2015 Beaufort, SC

 11/16/2015   To 32 31.800N,  80 24.768W,   Ashepoo River       ?? NM

After a quick run to Saffron for bread Monday morning, we slid over to the fuel dock for a pump out before heading out.  It got a bit congested as 3 boats arrived at the marina around 0800 for their reserved slips.  Interesting in that check out time is 1100, and the marina is usually full.  One boat thought they saw an open slip, only to realize at the last minute it wasn't empty.  Lot of hard backing since the current was starting to run.  When I spoke to the dock guy, he said it's a persistent issue, especially during snow bird season.  The harbor is relatively small, so there isn't a lot of space for folks to maneuver, either coming or going, especially when the current runs.

We made the 0930 Wappoo Bridge opening, and glad we weren't in the herd at 0900, the first opening after the 0630-0900 restriction.  We shot out Elliots Cut doing 8.8 -  nice while it lasted, but soon we were going uphill when the river deviated from the ICW.  It was one of those days, depending on which way the current flowed, we either moved right along or slowed to 4kts.  The good part was having high water to pass all but one of the shoal areas on the stretch toward Beaufort.  With 6' of tide, it wasn't white knuckle day.  At low tide it would be touch and go, literally, with 5-6' in places and no room for error.

A ship and repair facility on the Wadmalaw River

After passing through Fenwick Cut, we turned downstream to anchor for the night in the Ashepoo River, rather than tempt fate at the last shoal with the tide low and dropping.  The river was running over 2 kts and the water gurgled past the hull once we were anchored.  At low tide, a large pod of dolphins swam along the river bank, catching dinner.  Other than the gurgling of the current, it was a quiet night.

11/17/15    To 32 25.736N,   80 41.647W    Beaufort, SC anchorage    20.4NM

Boat parade just entering the Ashepoo Coosaw Cutoff

We considered taking an alternate, down stream route, in the morning to avoid the last shoal, but after reading  comments on Active Captain (don't trust charted depths, etc.,) we waited until 0830 to have a rising  half tide to head for the Ashepoo Coosaw Cut, joining a parade of 7 like minded others.  Life is easier when you aren't in a herd.  One of the first boats ran out a jib - fine, but not so great going dead down wind through a cut.  Maybe he didn't realize that a backed jib acts like a brake, slowing you down,  as well as those behind you.  He couldn't keep it filled, but didn't seem to want to furl it either.  ARGH!

Once out on the Coosaw River, we ran out our jib, as did most of the others, but we were the only one not motor sailing, happy to let the herd go on their way.  We sailed most of the way to Beaufort, rolling in the jib when we realized with a bit of motoring, we could make the 1230 Ladies Island swing bridge opening. 

We dropped the anchor just outside the mooring field buoys, having opted to not pick up a marina mooring.  The current was switching, and with the moorings fairly closely spaced, we watched as those on moorings, mostly over 40', shifted closer together than ideal.  One finally moved to a different mooring to keep from bumping.

A portion of the St. Helena Episcopal Church cemetery in Beaufort

After lunch we went ashore for a treat and a walk.  Beaufort is the 2nd oldest town in SC, and unlike many southern towns, came through the Civil War more or less unscathed.  While there are some big houses, rivaling those in Charleston, the historic area has beautiful, but many are more modest.  We found a nice, waterfront place for sale, but the phone link came up with an error message.  We did locate the property advertised in the real estate office for $1.5M, beyond our budget!

$1.5M for this unique waterfront home in Beaufort

Formal garden at the 'Castle' in Beaufort

Another beautiful garden at the Dr. George Mosse Stoney House in Beaufort

Showers, forming offshore, were forecast to bring light rain ashore, and we timed things almost to the minute.  We were lashing the dinghy back on deck when the sprinkles arrived.  It sprinkled off and on during the evening, but the forecast was for some sun in the morning before the arrival of rain and thunderstorms ahead of the cold front, giving us time to position the boat to be tucked in while it passed.  On radar the front line presented a nasty looking slash of green, yellow and red, with moisture feeding in from the gulf.  Time to take a closer look at the chart.

Tying 'on the hip' to get the Eva Marie into the dock

While anchored at Beaufort we saw TowboatUS bring 2 boats into the marina.  The first was Eva Marie, a large sailboat, which required a special bridge opening (commercial traffic get on demand openings).  Once clear, the tow boat needed to get his boat 'on the hip' to get  into the dock - a bit tricky with the current running and a stiff wind.  Then around 2100 I saw strange 'head lights' and couldn't tell if there were on the water or shore.  Next time I checked, a tow boat was approaching the mooring field with a good sized power boat under tow.  It was too dark to see how he got the boat into the dock - some folks must have had a bad day.

11/14/2015, 11/15/2015 Charleston

 11/14/15    To  32 47.355N,  79 55.457W    Charleston Maritime Center    15.7NM

Trying to time our on the hour arrival at Ben Sawyer Bridge - about 9NM away, we got underway just before 0800.  It's a bit ironic that the Ben Saywer Bridge is on demand weekdays except for rush hours, but only opens on the hour on weekends and federal holidays.  We were caught unaware once, and waiting for 55 minutes is a royal pain.  One boat ahead of us missed it by minutes - he'd been 1/2 mile away, but she wouldn't hold it for him - was still anchored when we arrived.  Thanks to a stiff NW wind and a current boost, we were about 15 minutes early, if we'd counted on a boost, it would have been into the wind and up hill all the way, and we'd have been late!

The roost gets crowded at high tide

We got a call from the Maritime Center checking to see if we were still coming and inquiring about our arrival time.  Our slip was available.  The harbor was busy - to reach the Maritime Center, we use one of the big ship channels, and were met by an out bound container ship and passed by another heading in.  Normally we try to stay outside the big ship channels, but at Shutes' Folly,  the shoal extends almost to the big ship channel.  Still, there was plenty of room for both of us.

The Yorktown Exprress coming up behind us

With 15kts of NE wind and the current winding up, getting into our slip was tricky.  The marina staff have always been terrific - on the dock to grab lines and knowledgeable.  This was no exception, and we were grateful since, as Leonard said, we'd have 1 chance to get to the dock before the wind and current would take over.  He got us to the dock and the dock hand had the line on the cleat before I could have gotten off.  A large power yacht had the big boat slip  a dock to windward, providing a handy wind break for us, an added bonus.

Once checked in, we headed to the local Farmer's Market on Calhoun.  It's always fun to see the variety offered at the local markets.  While there are a number of farmers with fresh veggies and fruits, Charleston seems to have more prepared food and craft stalls.  My back pack was full of veggies by the time we left, including some really nice, fresh looking, shrimp.

Charleston Farmers Market

While Leonard worked at installing the replacement sensor on  the 'fridge which we had shipped to Charleston, I took advantage of the free washers at the marina to do laundry.  With those chores done, we made a quick pass at the nearby Harris Teetor and Ace Hardware for groceries and 'O' rings.  With most of the chores accomplished, we'd have Sunday to enjoy Charleston.  While cool, the weather has been sunny since leaving Little River, and the wind gradually died down in the afternoon, making for a peaceful night.

11/15/15  At  Charleston Maritime Center

Another sunny, pleasant day, could we ask for more?  We've been enjoying mostly sunny, warm days since we left Little River.  The last cold front was described by NOAA as 'dry', and other than some cloudy periods we hardly noticed the slight dip in temperatures.  This week's version is forecast to bring rain for a day or so before the sun returns through the weekend.  This sure beats the rainy spell we had through NC!

Charleston Maritime Center harbor with Sea Fox, a 27meter restored yacht serving as a protective wind break

Our lay day in Charleston was spent chatting with some of our neighbors on the dock and a long walk.  After wandering through the beautiful campus at the College of Charleston, we wandered over the city marina docks to check out the scene there.  Plenty of big boats were on the mega dock, and while the marina has better protection in a NE wind than the Maritime Center, it is a longer walk to town.  Actually it can be a very long walk on the dock just to get to shore - once we were at the very end, and I do believe it was all if a 1/4 mile to the dock ashore (and heads). 

Miss Mary Smith House C1799  in the Ansonborough section of Charleston

We checked out the boats at St. Barts Yachts dock - including a 'green' hybrid vessel whose low clearance with fit under a lot of bridges. It looked like it might be a good boat for the 'Great Loop'.  Not sure about the hybrid part, since it had a good sized diesel.

Garden in Charleston

Our wanderings took us down the peninsula to the park along the battery.  Being a beautiful Sunday, lots of folks, tourists and locals, were out enjoying the day.  We ate lunch, sitting on a park bench, watching the boats in the harbor. After stopping at the gelato store, we walked through part of the market on the way back to the marina.  I sent Leonard back to the boat to fill the water tank and rinse the decks while I made another pass through the grocery store.

1915 Ford out for a Sunday drive

After watching half of the Patriots game, we walked over to King Street to a place called Smoky Q, a barbecue place, for dinner.  It was small, with only a few tables, so we sat at the bar ( Leonard got to watch the game while we ate).  The food was very good, worth considering on the way home in the spring.

11/12/2015, 11/13/2015 Capers Island

11/12/15   To  32 52.329N,  79 49.889W    Whiteside Creek Anchorage    47.8NM

We knew we'd be going 'up hill', Leonard's term for fighting current, most of the day, and we'd be transiting a couple of problem areas on a falling tide, so we got an early start.  Once again, we saw a number of eagles contemplating breakfast from perches.  At one point, 2 flew past over the marsh. A few minutes later I spotted 3 of them perched in a tree, and we could hear their discussion as we passed.

The drive unit of a floating bridge over the ICW S of Georgetown - it replaces a ferry

We arrived at the shoals beyond McClellanville with about 3' of tide to assist us.  However, since it was falling, we kept a very close eye on the depth gauge - grounding would involve a very long wait before the tide would lift us off again.  We heard a  two boats a couple of miles ahead of us, discussing the depth (they had a bit more water) on the VHF.  It was skinny, 7' in a few places, and we were thankful not to have traffic in either direction, we wanted to stay in the middle, not move to one side!  Leonard commented that we'd never make it at low tide, and knowing that, he'd anchor and wait rather than run aground (7-3=4, and we draw 5')!

Bundled dredge pipe on the ICW in SC

Although we saw some dredging equipment along the ICW further S, we still had more areas where the depth read under 10', to keep us doing the ICW slalom, zig zagging checking for better depths.  We heard other folks, most likely at the area N of the Ben Sawyer Bridge, a frequent grounding spot at low tide.  Sounded like some had anchors out, either waiting, or aground and waiting, for more water.

Panorama of Whiteside Anchorage looking N from the boat

We arrived at Whiteside Creek around 1500.  I wanted to go over to Capers Island right away, but was out voted by the Captain who said we'd wait until Friday when we'd spend much of the day there.  Unfortunately, it won't be during prime feeding times (dawn and dusk) at the impoundment to look for birds, but I'll get another long beach walk.

Panorama looking E toward the entrance into Whiteside Creek - Capers Island beyond

We'll depart early Saturday, taking advantage of high tide to get over the shoals ahead (but going up hill), remembering the Ben Sawyer Bridge only opens on the hour on weekends, and arriving in Charleston in time to check out the Farmer's Market.  Looks like our timing will be good - a 'dry' cold front is forecast to arrive Friday evening, dropping temperatures into the low 40's overnight during the weekend - we'll be plugged in and can use the space heater.  The forecast is for mostly clear weather into next week, always a bonus.

11/13/15   At   32 52.329N,   79 42.889W    Whiteside Creek    Lay Day

A pair of great blue herons in the marsh - one blue the other the white morph

Thanks to the lack of cold temperatures, mosquitoes and other biting bugs arrived in droves as dusk approached and the wind died, we ate dinner below to avoid being eaten alive.  Consequently I wasn't in a huge rush to go ashore at prime bug time in the morning.   Leonard had suggested moving the boat closer, something we haven't attempted in the past.  He said since we would have high tide both when we'd arrive and depart we should be fine (there's plenty of water except for some sneaky shoals), but given the recent flood and storms which could cause significant changes in bottom topography - the depths aren't charted , I vetoed that idea.  So after launching the dinghy, we headed over  to Capers Island, about a mile  away, to spend the day.

It was a bit of a surprise to find the dock and board walk to shore littered with reeds and missing quite a few boards.  After securing the dinghy and raising the outboard (Leonard remembers all too well what happens when the dinghy and outboard get stuck in the mud), we cautiously made our way ashore.  Although it was around 1100, the mosquitoes still attacked like they hadn't had a meal in days.  When we got to the impoundment, all the brush along the shore had been removed, there were new shoals in the pond and very few birds to be seen.  The pipe controlling the flow between pond and creek had been replaced and the dike reinforced with metal, and obviously still under construction.  There had been no sign of Mama 'Gator at her normal spot to bask in the sun.  Quite a change from last fall.

S bank of the impoundment with the brush removed 

Looking across the island from the beach toward the impoundment - the water washed over this area during the flood

We were unprepared for the changes on the beach.  When we first visited in the fall of 2003, the beautiful old live oaks of the maritime forest were slowly falling victim to a receding beach as nature did her thing, but some remained.  There had been a trail through the woods, behind the beach that could be used, either as an alternative to the beach on a hot sunny day, or in case the tide was higher than normal.  This year, remnants of the oaks were beyond the low tide mark in places, and none appeared to have survived along the wooded edge of the island.  It appeared there would be no beach at high tide along much of the island.  Apparently the water in the impoundment had risen to a level where it had run out over the beach during the October flood, which explained some of the drastic changes we'd seen. 

Remnants of the live oaks on the beach - note shoals running out

The intricate swirls of a live oak remnant

Palm and live oaks stumps strewn along the beach

We hiked the island from inlet to inlet, I'd guess about 3 miles, along the beach on a falling tide.  The sand banks at either inlet seemed to have grown and changed shape significantly, stretching further out into the Atlantic.  The inlets, unmarked, may be possible to navigate, but not without very current local knowledge.  It was surprising how far out the areas of breakers stretched.

A portion of the beach at low tide - high tide mark is at the trees which show salt damage

A sand dollar washed up on the beach

A pleasant surprise was the number and variety of butterflies flitting about, a fair number seen as shadows as they flew overhead.  I thought a number were Monarchs until I checked my butterfly guide and realized they were most likely Vicroys, a southern, non-migrating cousin of the Monarch.  Others were too far away and/or unwilling to pose for photos.

Queen butterfly reading the label of our bug spray

Viceroy - southern cousin of the Monarch

I was disappointed we didn't see more birds as we walked on the beach.  An osprey perched on a dead tree, and took off just as Leonard  tried to snap his picture.   On the way back we startled a flock of sanderlings - they're always fun to watch, looking like wind up toys as they seem to float just over the sand with their legs going almost too fast to see.  We haven't seen as many of them this year on our beach walks.

Osprey in search of a meal

The largest flock of sanderlings we've seen this trip

On the way back to the dinghy, a few more birds were either feeding in the shallows or roosting in the trees.  A slight breeze helped keep the bugs at bay, making it possible to stop and look.  We were rewarded with spotting Mama 'Gator, who looked bigger than ever, I'd guess close to 20', basking under some roosting herons.  Leonard also had another questionable sighting - it looked like a fallen palm tree until we viewed the photo on the computer.  One of Mama's offspring appears to be thriving too.

Immature herons - little blue heron above an immature tricolor

with

Mama 'Gator snoozing underneath

Junior 'Gator - thought he was a dead palm

As we approached the dock, a small power boat tied up.  To our surprise, the boardwalk and dock had been placed off limits, cordoned with official yellow tape.  The boat belonged to a wild life officer who asked if the dinghy was ours. He told us to duck under the tape - we'd be fine if we watched our step.  He'd been requested to close the dock due to damage from last month's record floods.  Apparently the water rose over the dock and boardwalk more than 5' over high tide, lifting off any boards not well attached (there were numerous).  He said the impoundment had breached the bank, causing some of the changes we'd seen.  He also indicated the floods had done a lot of damage on the other nearby barrier islands. 

While the dock was closed to the public, the island wasn't - shortly after we arrived, we watched a ferry bring a school group over, landing on the creek bank.  We could have done that too, but would have had some work to get the dinghy down to the water when we returned.

School trip being dropped off at the Whiteside Creek inlet at Capers Island

The officer was friendly, and waited before leaving, to make sure we wouldn't have any problems getting underway.  By the time we left, the tide was coming in, and if we'd had problems, it would have been possible to row back, although it would have been a looong row.  Back in the anchorage, we'd been joined by 5 other boats.

The barrier islands along this portion of the coast are part of Cape Romaine, a huge national wild life refuge that consists of a maze of constantly changing shoals and creeks between Isle of the Palms and Winyah Bay.  The only marked (not charted) channel is at McClellanville where the local commercial fleet use Five Fathom Creek to access the ocean.  Most barrier islands between Winyah Bay and Capers are undeveloped.  Dewess Island, a privately owned island just S of Capers, has some development, but is only accessible by boat.  Isle of Palms and Sullivans Island, closer to Charleston with access by 2 bridges, are extensively developed.  Seeing the changes would make us think more than twice before investing in ocean front property!

11/10/15, 11/11/15 Georgetown

 11/10/15   To  33 25.655N,    79 12.123W    Butler Island Anchorage, Waccamaw River    48.1NM

We planned on an early departure, but awoke to the sound of rain.  Leonard checked the radar, and it appeared to be an intense, but brief shower, rather than get wet, we waited.  Several other boats departed ahead of us (fewer to pass us underway), and we followed suit around 0830. 

This portion of the ICW has a few remaining swing bridges, but none restricted since all have a high rise bridge close by.  The first was in Little River.  After assuring the bridge tender that no one else was nearby, he opened the bridge.  If there had been, we would have waited until they caught up to avoid multiple openings and traffic delays.

Little River swing bridge - 1st of 3 for the day

Next was the infamous 'Rock Pile', about a 4NM section notorious for underwater rock ledges if you stray from the center of the channel, bracketed by swing bridges at both ends.  Everyone transiting the area make a 'security' call on the VHF radio to avoid traffic meeting in the area.  It was just after high tide, so we had more than enough water, there was no traffic, making for an easy transit, and the Barefoot  Bridge opened in a timely manner. 

Looking back up the Rock Pile from the Barefoot Bridge - this section has rock ledges, not just mud and sand!

With the Rock Pile behind us, the rest of the day should be a piece of cake.  Not quite.  Supposedly, if heading N, it's possible to catch the current in Winyah Bay by Georgetown and ride it most of the day to Barefoot Landing.  Did that mean we'd fight over a knot of current most of the way since we were heading S?   From my perspective, this portion, a straight, man-made canal wasn't all that scenic passing through Myrtle Beach, wouldn't rate as one of my favorite sections - it could go by faster.

Gondolas over the ICW at Myrtle Beach for golfers

Confusing bridge boards at the Barefoot Swing Bridge - not sure which was right

As we approached Socasatee, we noticed 'Lady Sea', the trawler ahead of us, had stopped, and we could see what we thought was a RR bridge in the closed position - usually they're open unless a train is due.  He called to see if we'd caught the bridge tender's radio call.  We hadn't - this is SC which uses channel 9 instead of 13, and I hadn't added 9 to the scan selection on the main radio.  Leonard had also missed the fact that this was NOT a RR bridge, but a regular swing bridge when he'd checked Active Captain.  It's a case of a new 65' bridge having been built to avoid traffic congestion, but the swing bridge staying in place to handle traffic that chose not to use the high rise bridge (right next to it).  They were waiting for us to catch up before opening the bridge.

When we arrived, the bridge was still closed.  Leonard hailed the bridge tender to advise him we'd arrived, but was told there was a 'problem with the bridge'.  Seems the bridge tender intended to clear the road traffic before opening for the 2 of us, but had been unable to raise the gates for the cars.  We were on the verge of dropping the anchor when he called to say he'd open for us before trying to fix the gate problem.  15 minutes spent waiting for an 'on demand' bridge opening.  We wished the bridge tender good luck in fixing his problem after thanking him for the opening.

Waiting with 'Lady Sea' for the Soccastee swing bridge to open - the 65' bridge is right behind it

With the current varying between 1.2 and 1.8kts against us, and the bridge delay, reaching Georgetown before dark looked iffy.  Just before 1300 the current slacked to under a knot as we left the man made canal.  The rest of this portion is the Waccamaw River, an intriguing and desolate waterway winding through a cypress swamp that reminded us of the Dismal Swamp, only bigger and with a number of rivers and creeks joining the river as it heads to the Atlantic.  Before long, our speed increased thanks to the runoff from the recent rains (the rivers were forecast reach peak flood stage by Wednesday) and the current finally switching, giving us a 1.5+ boost.  Too bad we couldn't have flown through the Myrtle Beach area instead of this more interesting river portion.

Looking behind us on the Waccamaw River

With the boost in our speed, we were scheduled to reach Georgetown before dark, but we decided to check out the Butler Island anchorage about 6NM N.  It one of those convenient anchorages - right off the ICW with access from both N and S, no back tracking required in the morning.  It was quiet and rural and all reviews on Active Captain indicating good holding and lots of space, both of which are lacking the Georgetown - a beautiful and peaceful anchorage, and came complete with an eagle perched in a tree.  We had the entire anchorage to ourselves making for a restful night- our kind of spot!

Cypress growing along the Waccamaw River  

Bald eagle by Butler Island

In the morning we'll continue to Georgetown, fighting a flood current, but hopefully getting a spot on one of the free town docks (no overnight docking) for few hours.  Time enough to visit the Kudzu Bakery for some treats, get fresh shrimp from the fish market, do a quick run to the store and take a a walk around town before catching the afternoon ebb to an anchorage on one of the Santee Rivers for the night.  The best of both worlds - quiet, isolated anchorages and the pleasures of Georgetown without the noise and congestion of the Sampit anchorage.

11/11/2015  To 33 21.948N,   79 17.072W    Georgetown Anchorage    8.9NM

Sun shining on the marsh beyond the fog 

Wednesday we awoke to fog. Fortunately not thick, but enough, along with a heavy dew, to make everything sopping wet on deck.  With not far to go, we were underway by 0800, enjoying the scenery as the fog swirled and the sun occasionally lit up  bits and pieces along shore.  I'd been disappointed by the lack of eagles so far this trip, so it was a treat to spot 6 perched in trees on this portion of our journey.

Fog on the Waccamaw River

I'd barely cleaned up the breakfast dishes when we turned into the Sampit River.  It was approaching a high, spring tide, so it was easy to transit the shoal by the little island.  In fact, the tide was so high, the brows on the boat launch docks went up to the finger docks rather then down.  We had our choice of free docks - both were open, so we tied up at the one closest to the bakery and grocery store.  Some folks arrived by dinghy asking if we really were from VT.  They were from Shaftsbury, although had never taken their boat, Nemo, to the lake.

The park at the public dock was dotted with flags - part of a Veteran's Day celebration.  Georgetown was having parade, which the posters indicated would start at 1600.  This prompted a discussion, did we stay for the parade or stick to our original plans to anchor in one of the Santee Rivers for the night?  Time wasn't an issue, and a call to the Maritime Center in Charleston switched our reservation to Saturday and Sunday, so we decided to run our errands while we were on the dock, get fuel and a pump out and then anchor before more cruisers arrived later in the day.

Flags at the park in Georgetown for Veteran's Day

We were early enough to score Kudzu's special apple turnovers and a pecan pie.  Their turnovers are made with 2 slices of  bread, buttered, filled with apples and dusted with sugar.  Last fall they were gone for the day when we arrived.  Leonard overrode my 1/2 pie order - he wanted  a whole one.  They make a deep dish version, another special treat and worth a stop in town.  With that important task accomplished, we headed off the the grocery and the Independent Shrimp Market down on the docks for local shrimp and fresh fish..

We made a quick stop at Harbor Walk Marina's fuel dock where we topped off the fuel tank before sliding over to the floating dock for a pump out.  We got an anchor spot close enough to the dinghy dock to row in rather than use the outboard.  In the afternoon we headed back into town for a walk and to watch the parade.

A waterfront home on Winyah Bay, Georgetown - note sandbags by the front door

Our walk took us past the parade staging area down by the park along the river - they had 51 stations set up, and cars and buses were busy dropping off participants.  As Leonard pointed out, the organizers would have done better had they made the road one way.  It was a zoo of vehicles trying to maneuver on the narrow road since the recent rain and spring tide had water and mud on anything that might have served as a shoulder.

Crowd waiting for the parade at Georgetown

Coast Guard to the rescue! CG parade vessel

Surprisingly, the parade started very close to the 1600 posted time.  It was a fun parade.  We noticed was much of the crowd  was white, as were many of the parade participants, except for the school marching bands and the woman announcing the groups, who were black.  The parade was punctuated by a helicopter making multiple low passes over the parade and anchorage.

Sundown at Georgetown

The anchorage had filled up while we'd been ashore.  Seven boats were anchored between the dinghy dock and the steel plant.  (Note - The steel plant has been closed the last couple of visits, so there is no residue in the air, only the smell from the nearby paper plant when the wind is in the wrong direction.)  The dock hand at the marina mentioned they've been swamped, turning away boats daily.  Apparently the heavy rains and storms have delayed a number of cruisers, making for heavier traffic now.  We must have things timed right - while we've had some traffic (more power boats than sail) when we've been underway, for the most part we are by ourselves on the ICW, which is just fine with us.  It means less slowing to be passed and dealing with wakes.

Georgetown boardwalk reflections on a calm night