Wintery conditions persist

Wintery conditions persist   ...   Friday 16^th Nov 2012

Another cloudy, cold morning greeted us.  Before leaving Beaufort, we filled up with diesel and water.  We left the fuel dock just as the current was going slack.  It seemed that the ICW from Charleston to Beaufort was a real confuse-o-gram.  Today’s route carried on in the same vein.  From the Beaufort River we turned to starboard to enter Port Royal Sound. Then we turned to port to enter the Skull Creek.  This led past Hilton Head Island and dumped us into the Calibogue Sound.  Turning to port we entered the Cooper River. [I’m pretty sure this is at least the second Cooper River we have encountered in SC.] From the Cooper River we turned to port into Ramshorn Creek. A final turn off the ICW into New River brought us to our anchorage.  The impact of all the twists and turns into different bodies of water is that sometimes we are going down stream (or with the current) and other times we are fighting current. There doesn’t seem to be any way to time your passage.  Well, perhaps I should say, we can’t figure it out. 

Of more importance to us is the state of the tide.  According to the US Army Corp of Engineers they no longer have adequate funds to maintain the portions of the ICW through southern South Carolina and Georgia.  So the USACOE web site has a status report of depths through the various sections.  Ahead of us are several sections where the depth, at mean low water, is only four feet (our boat draws 5ft 6 inches).  So tomorrow we will need to leave here at the mid-point of the tide and keep a close eye on the depth finder.  More challenges ahead.

Gloria

32 06 48.7 N, 80 54 12.2 W

The channel scan be narrow and shallow and every now and again we see evidence of the consequences of screwing up!  We try to stay alert - the auto pilot helps a lot as it doesn't get so easily distracted by dolphins, birds etc