OUT TO SEA

CHARLESTON, SC to BEAUFORT, NC.  We spent Wednesday and Thursday in Charleston exploring the city on bicycles, shopping at the Market, touring antebellum mansions and hearing more history of the Old South. Thursday evening we splurged on a wonderful dinner at the Peninsula Grill where we enjoyed the ambiance and people-watching as much as the food. The Spoleto Arts Festival was taking place so we attended a show at the College of Charleston. A somewhat witty monologist spoke about Steve Jobs for two hours--too long for us, especially after a big meal!  Our evening bicycle rides along the Battery were delightful and brought back memories of childhood days, taking my big blue Schwinn out for rides around the block after supper!

On Friday we followed the ICW north to Georgetown, SC and on Saturday it was a very slow trip from Georgetown to Southport, NC.  Nothing too memorable about these two days other than noticing the changes in topography along the shoreline as we continued north. So today we decided to leave Southport early in the morning in an effort to beat some of the Sunday boaters and try to make an hourly bridge opening 25 miles north.  We were about five miles from the bridge shortly before 9AM when we realized that we were not going to make it in time and would have to wait around for the next opening at 10AM. However, we discovered that we were near the Wrightsville Inlet and could easily go out into the Atlantic Ocean.  Why didn't we think of that earlier?  We were just too focused on traversing the ICW where we have to go very slowly through many no wake zones and slow down for other boaters.

Out to Sea

It was a beautiful clear day, the seas were calm and we thoroughly enjoyed the four-hour run up to Beaufort, cruising at 18.5 knots and arriving at Beaufort City Docks in time for a late lunch at 1:30. The MollyBelle lived up to her reputation as a "swift trawler."  We were so happy to be at sea!