Super Sunday in S.C.

[Cruise]

 I sure picked the right winter to stay north (knock on wood). I have been in and out of Georgetown, S.C. for about a month or so doing what I have dubbed my "Low Country Plantations and Lighthouses Cruise". From Georgetown I have cruised the Sampit, Pee Dee, and Black Rivers, and explored many side creeks off of the Waccamaw. It has been very low-stress cruising, and the weather has been great.
Next stop is an exploration of the waters inside of Cape Romain where I hope to find a good (read deep) place to anchor from which I can get out to the Cape itself.
It has been great to be able to take the time to explore waters off of the ICW - waters that I have previously blown by while going down the ICW or missed altogether by sailing offshore.
My Allied Seawind is known as a great offshore boat, but I think she is also a great gunkholing boat, even though a 4.5' draft is a bit deep for some gunkholes. Still, she is solid fiberglass with a full keel and the prop and transom-hung rudder are well protected.
This was not my intended winter destination, but as I mentioned in a previous post, I'm just going with the flow.
I still hope to make it to Maine this summer, so leaving from S.C. is an easier trip than leaving from the Keys.
  Here is a photo from Super Bowl Sunday, where it was 79 degrees I might add.

[Captain Smollett]

Beautiful.  I think South Carolina has some wonderful "off the path" cruising all the way from Hilton Head to Myrtle Beach.

That's a really fun area for someone wanting the 'rural' side of cruising vs port hopping to do the bar-hopping thing.  The area is super-rich in history and natural beauty, and I somewhat feel sorry for the folks who blow by without pause on the trip north or south along the ICW "Interstate."

McClellanville is a really neat little town with free tie-up for a while.  If you like museums, the little one there is WELL worth the visit and is only a few block walk from the docks.  There are some relics there from the old wind powered rice mill that used to sit on Cape Romaine, but caused navigation problems because sailors mistook the mill for the CR Light.

Awendaw Creek is an anchorage I've seen a number of boats in, though I don't know how "long-term" it would be...a bit exposed and maybe get rough with anything blowing from the SE or so.

How long are you going to be in the Cape Romaine area?

I'm thinking about towing the trailer boat down and heading out to Bull's Island for a day or three, perhaps in March.  I want to catch the birds on the migration to get some pictures for a book, and March - April might be a good time to be there for that.  With this winter being what it has been, I'll have to watch the timing pretty carefully, I guess.

Charleston is a fun town, and if you anchor out, you can get a bus pass for a few bucks a day to get around.  The aquarium is cool, the Battery Park/Market area is loads of fun (and lots of history) and lots of plantations to choose from to visit.

You can anchor at Ft. Sumter and visit the fort for free.  Anchor off the "Mt. Pleasant Channel," and dingy up Shem Creek, tie the dink alongside one of several restaurants for dinner...good stuff.  We've eaten along Shem Creek several times and always had a good meal.

[Cruise]

 I am going to be in the Cape Romain area sometime in late March for sure....might be my second trip there seeing how that's 6 weeks or so from now. My brother and his missus want to trailer their Carolina Skiff down there from Emerald Isle, NC when she has time off for spring break and stay with me on Saga. She is a high school teacher in Jones County, so I have to check the dates. Boy it would be great to have their skiff to really explore the creeks of Cape Romain.
We are big fans of Cape Lookout, so we are excited to get out to Cape Romain. My brother and I are lifelong watermen -- fisherman, boaters, clamdiggers, beachcombers, etc.-- and she is a marine biologist. I am also looking forward to the birdlife and shelling out at Cape Romain, and also looking forward to stargazing away from the city lights.
 Speaking of stargazing, I want to recommend a program called Stellarium. It as an amazing planetarium program that is actually used by some university planetaruims. What is best about it is that once you download it you don't need an internet connection to use it. You just enter your lat/lon and it shows you what you  are looking at, and there are too many features and cool things on there to list, and it's free!  www.stellarium.org
Let me know if you are going to make it out to Cape Romain, I'd love to see you again and I can show off some of the things I have done on Saga since you last saw her.