Day 205: Heading North

Day 205: May 7:  With Ladys Island Bridge in the distance, we pulled up anchor, leaving Beaufort behind as we headed back onto the ICW a bit before 8:00 a.m. It was a beautiful, sunny day ensuring the day's travels would be glorious. As it turned out, our cruise was uneventful as we motored along, heading north and putting many miles behind us. 



Tides are tricky; as we twist and turn we never know what to expect. We have seen depths of 4 and 5 feet even in the channel. As you round a corner going with the current, you might find you are now going against it. This is especially true when approaching one of the ocean inlets. Most of the docks bear witness to the drastic tides; most sitting in the mud during low tide. 


As we traveled, I noticed these two southern houses off in the distance. I could imagine plantation owners using them as their summer homes many years ago. Ladies and gents returning from their winter abodes, ready to enjoy life's pleasures while slaves worked the fields. 

Many creeks shoot off the ICW along this stretch, making anchorages very accessible. We cruised along the Ashepo and South Edisto Rivers into the Stono where we planned to anchor. The day had been hot and sticky with very little breeze until we pulled off the ICW and tried to anchor. With a swift current running and winds kicking up finding a suitable spot in a small area was difficult in itself. Add to this a clay like bottom preventing the anchor from grabbing. Given the conditions, we decided to head to another spot. We moved to Sandy Bay, also just off the ICW. It was a much larger place with good water all around. The plow grabbed quickly so we felt we would have a good night. A sailboat and another Looper pulled in just before dusk; both single handed. 

About 2:30 a.m. the anchor alarm sounded. John determined that when the tide had turned, the anchor did not catch resulting in us sliding back a bit towards the sailboat behind us. We pulled the anchor and reset further away from the other two boats. By the time we got back to bed it was about 3:30, almost time to get up! Tomorrow is another day. 










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