Now this is more like it....65 miles on the ICW finally feels like we are making some progress! We left Beaufort at 6:15, in time to make the bridge opening at 6:30am.
This is definitely the time to travel as the weather was so much cooler in the morning. We left the sun shade down so we could roll out our head sail when we were running down straight rivers or crossing large sounds, which give us a 1.5 knot boost.
Interesting ride on the ICW today ... saw LOTS of dolphins, which never fail to fascinate us. Jim has been trying valiantly to get a picture, while I gave up several months (and 50 attempts ago!). The waterway is lined with big, beautiful homes with very long docks stretching over the marshland that lines the coast.
Besides the usual assortment of fishing boats and motorheads we seen on the ICW, today we encountered our first large barge that contacted us on the VHF radio to arrange safe passage around us.
and river boat casino...
and navy boats ...
The GPS (mounted at the steering station) is our lifeline to the ICW. It shows us water depths, tides, compass heading, and speed. We ordinarily travel at 5 knots, but note our speedily cruising at 7.1 knots, thanks to favorable tides and currents!
We arrived at St Johns Yacht Club, Charleston, at around 5pm. This is the nicest marina we've been to yet. There is a pool, a nice grill and dining area, outside bar, and fabulous bathrooms/showers. We definitely could have stayed another day, but cruise on we must!
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