Breath holding on the ICW

Breath holding on the ICW

Monday November 23, 2020

We intentionally had a late start to attempt to make this leg of the journey with the higher portion of the tide.  The anchor came up at about noon and we set off.  The first seven or so miles went well.  Then in the distance we could see a group of boats that seemed to be stopped in the channel.  We managed to raise one of these vessels on the radio.  What we heard was that some boats had run aground trying to get into McClellanville.  The boats we were seeing were waiting for high tide—about 1 hour to go (less than 1/2 foot to gain).  When we got closer, the sailing vessel started moving and we were following for a while.  Eventually, the slow pace overcame our patience and we got on the radio again.  Mike asked the skipper of “Bees Knees” what her intentions were.  Her reply was “my intentions are to avoid going aground.”  She was willing to let us go past and said that the problem area seemed to be near the green markers 35 and 35A.  The depths varied a bit but were mostly fine until we got abreast of 35A.  We saw the depth drop from 12 ft to 8.6 in a very short space.  Just after the worst area, we saw a boat off the channel that we presumed was aground. We later talked to the vessel and he had indeed run aground, but subsequently was having engine problems because of all the sediment he sucked up into his cooling water. For quite a section the depth was making us unhappy.  When I eventually looked back two giant power-boats were right behind us, adding to the stress of the whole experience.  

The tidal range for this area for today was 4.3 ft.  That shallow spot would be about 4.3ft at low today.  In other words, that would have been impassable for us at low.  We do find it hard to hang around in the mornings worrying about the travelling but clearly making use of the high water is the way that might work for us. This afternoon we spent some time studying the Army Corps of Engineers hydrology maps for the next section and placing ‘post-its’ on our paper chart where there are dodgy sections.  I wish I could say that there are hardly any little yellow bits hanging off the map.  Ten ‘post-its’ for twenty miles isn’t so bad, is it?

Gloria

33 02.054 N, 79 32.494 W

"Bees Knees" anchored in Awendaw Creek just off the. This is a wild and magical place.

Looking back to the ICW from our anchorage in Awendaw Creek. The power boat making it's way along the maybe the one that we saw earlier that had run aground.

Past sunset in Awendaw Creek. This afternoon and evening it looked astonishingly beautiful to us, but we can imagine it could be very bleak in bad weather. We could hear an owl hooting as I took this shot