Beaufort, NC to Charleston, SC

We waited for a good weather window so that we could take an outside route from Beaufort, NC instead of following the ICW, which would have taken longer, but Beaufort inlet was no joke! I came to appreciate why the fishing boats in the Carolinas tend to be overpowered and have high, flared bows. Even though the wind was dying down offshore, it was still opposing the current when we departed, creating ~7-8' waves in Beaufort inlet, which is lengthy. I fought the waves for over an hour while Ian scrambled to secure the items flying around inside the cabin and comforted the cats, who were ready to stage a mutiny. As soon as we left the shallow inlet the waves moderated to normal 2' ocean swells. We put up the mainsail mostly as a steadying sail and made it to Wrightsville Beach well before nightfall - thankfully an easier inlet than Beaufort. On the way in we could see dolphins and white sand beaches. The cats pouted but eventually forgave us because we are their source of food and they have little choice.

We met up with our friend Anne who took us to run some errands by car and we all had a great dockside dinner. The next day was a perfect beach day.

After leaving Wrightsville Beach it took three lengthy days underway, two outside jumps and one day on the ICW, to make it to Charleston. The scenery underwent a remarkable change and we saw several alligators in addition to small dolphins herding balls of fish along the edges of the narrow channels through the low country. Since the Charleston anchorages are known for being a bit iffy, we decided to splurge on a marina for our stay and ended up on the absurdly long Megadock at the Safe Harbor. Being at the end of the dock, it took about 15 minutes to walk from our boat to land, but the marina will pick you up and give you a ride on a golf cart if you ask! With unlimited fresh water at our disposal we immediately cleaned the outside of the boat and then took some much desired long showers. The next two days we spent exploring Charleston, which had the best shopping and restaurants of the trip so far. 167 Raw Oyster Bar was a highlight, and we enjoyed the Rusty Bull Brewing Company as well as the dive bar, Salty Mike's, at the marina. We toured the historic Nathaniel Russell house, filled with period furnishings, but it was a bit overshadowed by the nearby antique shops, some practically museums themselves, with a great quantity of incredible 18th and 19th century furniture and decorative art. The architecture in Charleston was unique and we enjoyed seeing the many Victorian and Greek Revival homes lining the streets.