Life Aboard: Herb River, Beaufort SC, Church Creek and Five Fathoms

4-1-11 through 4-6-11

It’s April Fool’s Day but the weather is better so we’re leaving today. Shay said he actually saw the moon and stars when he got up during the night to check the anchor and make sure everything was ok. He’s gotten into the habit of making his rounds several times during the night to make sure everything is ok. The Wahoo River was isolated, but it took good care of us during the bad weather. Florida and Georgia have had bad weather the past few days with heavy rain, strong winds, hail and even tornados, but all we have had is rain so we were very fortunate.

It’s a cool 47 degrees this morning but the water is calm and peaceful. When Shay took up the anchor chain we had 2 horseshoe crabs on the anchor chain. He had to shake them off.

We had some rough water near Hell Gate. We had rolling waves made worse by the wind and current. We had heard some bad things about this area and could see how it got its name.

We anchored in Herb River about 2:30 pm.

We left the next morning for Beaufort SC. That’s BU fort not BO fort like the city in NC. We passed by Hilton Head Island. Shay said I missed a Kodak moment. He said we went by some big mansions but I was downstairs on the phone. Well, maybe next time. We had nice weather, a gentle breeze and calm water. The weatherman was calling for a windy day. Thank goodness, he was wrong.

A pretty boat that passed us on the way form Beaufort to Church Cr.

Lighhouse near Hilton Head

People having fun

Beautiful Hilton Head beach

Pretty houses

Sailboats in Port Royal Sound

We anchored near the city dock at Beaufort. There were several boats there but there was enough room for us. We got the dinghy down and went to town. We have been on the boat for over a week and we need to get off and walk around some. We took our backpack and rolling cart and took off. We walked about a mile to the grocery store and found a Mexican restaurant nearby. We have had terrible luck with Mexican restaurants but decided to give this one a try. We were pleasantly surprised. It was not as good as our favorite hometown Mexican, but it was a close second. We were stuffed when we left to go shopping and had enough leftovers for the next day. Shay had to remind me that everything we bought had to be carried or rolled back to the dock, put in the dingy then out of the dinghy, then back onto the boat. So I decided we didn’t need 6 2-liter bottles of ginger ale. Two would be enough. We had a lazy evening on the boat making calls and working on the blog. We are behind and I need to get caught up. The last blog I posted was the Gulf Crossing.

The water is so calm tonight. It looks like glass. We are surrounded by sailboats in this anchorage.

We left this morning for Church Creek. The forecast for today is good but Monday and Tuesday look like more bad weather is coming in. It’s 54 degrees this morning. We had calm water, blue skies and a slight breeze. We had a good day on the water and arrived at Church Creek at 2:45 pm. We were surrounded by crab pots. Riverdance came in and anchored later.

This is a ship yard that we passed on the way to Church Cr.

Happy birthday to me! We are staying here another day. Shay had been busy and I have been lazy. He cleaned the floors and I laid in the sun and worked on the blog. Well, it is my birthday. I wish I had the birthday cake that Betty made me.

The wind is getting up and we put out more anchor chain. They are calling for bad weather tonight and early tomorrow.

We watched some crabbers come by and check their pots. The wind was rough and they had a hard time. It doesn’t look like an easy job.

I woke up at 6 to howling wind, hard rain, lots of thunder and lightning. I heard a bell and realized the boat was rocking so much that it was ringing our bell. That’s the first time I’ve heard it ring without someone making it. Shay was already up and standing at the helm. He had been up most of the night, keeping an eye on the weather. He said a storm came thru earlier but wasn’t as bad as this one. It was still dark outside so we could only see what was going on when there was lightning but there was plenty of that. He decided to crank the engines just in case the anchor didn’t hold. The storm lasted about 45 minutes and we were glad when it passed. It rained all day but that was ok since we didn’t have anymore storms, just rain. The weather was very windy with white caps and rolling waves.

See how the wind is blowing the flag.

This sailboat anchored next to us. It didn't have any lights on during the storm but we could see it when the lightning flashed. It looked like a ghost ship.

The weather looks better for tomorrow so we will be leaving in the morning.

We left at 7:30 the next morning. It is 44 degrees this morning. The weather is clear, the water calm with a gentle breeze and clear blue skies. We did have some swift current at Elliott Cut. We are going to Five Fathoms today.

Charleston skyline