The moon is our friend

Tuesday, 24 November

Today we knew we would have two shoaling areas to transit, and again planned for transit during high tide.  The water was deeper than expected and the currents were strong.  But no dramas or complications were experienced and we enjoyed a lovely day.

IMG_0144We commented on the crazy currents to the dock master at Dataw Island Marina, and that is when we learned we had hit the spring tide effected by the full moon.  We could expect the water to rise by 10 feet when the next high tide came in.

With the greater tide swings the currents would also be running stronger.

This also meant that low tides would be lower – so we definitely knew we wanted to time shoaling areas with rising or high tides for the next day.

So with everything else we have to keep in mind for life on the boat we are learning we must also consider lunar cycles.

IMG_0145

 

Moving along in Charleston….

Monday 23 November –
Charleston to St. John’s Yacht Center – still Charleston

Today’s itinerary was for a very short day, leaving Charleston City Marina and making our way 5 miles south to St. John’s Yacht Center located in the outskirts of Charleston.

The primary reason for this was just to stage our departure for the next day which is going to be our longest planned day so far.  But to do that we had to schedule around a bridge opening which doesn’t have its first opening until 0900 which would mean we would be forced to navigate a known shoaling area at lower tide than desired.   By spending the night on the south side of the bridge, we would be able to leave earlier in the morning and transit the shallow area with deeper water.  

Just past the bridge we encountered Elliot’s Cut which is a small channel known for strong current.  And indeed the current was swift.  We tried to plan the day for slack water but there was nothing slack about it.

We were glad we didn’t encounter any other boats in the tight quarters with the current making maintaining control of the boat a bit of a challenge.

Grounded boatOnce through the cut we headed to the Marina.  As Bob was navigating through the channel finding the deep water,  we saw a grounded sailboat which because we were at low tide we could see the full hull of the boat sitting on it side.  (The photo was taken the next morning at high tide, so you can’t see the hull in the photo.)  We decided that was not where the deep water would be found.  

When we had called to make the reservation with the marina the dockmaster told us he was putting us in a slip that would be an easy in and easy out.  We would not have to contend with the strong current to navigate a fairway – excellent news.  

But….we also wanted to top up the fuel and pump out the waste.  To do that we would have to make our way down a fairway with a strong current coming at us crosswise.  Bob basically had the boat angled at a 45 degree angle and the current pushed us down the fairway going sideways  (Imagine how a crab walks sideways and that is what it looks like.)  

So much for trying to plan for slack water….these currents are crazy.

Once full and empty we made our way back up the fairway and into our slip with no incident and enjoyed the afternoon at this very friendly marina.

Bridge

Weekend in Charleston

Saturday and Sunday 21/22 November –

Sailboat racesWe didn’t intentionally plan to avoid Charlestown Harbor over the weekend, but we’re very glad we did when on Saturday the harbor was full of sailboats for a day of racing,  imagine this stress this would have added to yesterday if we had to navigate around a bunch of racing sailboats!  This is something to definitely remember for future visits…..avoid the weekend.

We spent the morning with boat chores including changing the oil for the first time – which took a bit longer than expected with many lessons learned and still wondering why the quantity of oil that came out and went back in does not equal the capacity per the manufacturer.  More to research.  But the engine started like a champ afterwards and was running more smoothly, so it must have liked was done.

Later we enjoyed the walk into town and discovering some fine dining in Charleston both Saturday and Sunday.

We’ll be back.