Hopping Out Offshore - Twice

After we arrived in Georgia, I checked in with the dock master of Lang's Marina and paid for 25.1 gallons of diesel and 2 nights dockage. This marina has two parts - the west part is for long term dockage.

Lang's marina west from the road

The east part where we are is mostly for transients. The transient part has floating docks (a necessity), and two bathrooms with showers (one each sex). They have fuel, pump-out ($15) and dockage is $1.00/ft. There is CONSIDERABLE tidal range here, and also it is quite subject to wakes - even the wakes of small boats going relatively slowly will slam into those on the outer docks. The exposed tidal flats also give rise to many no-see-ums.

NOTE: If you are tempted in spite of the no-see-ums and wakes to stay here, be aware that you may not stay on board your sailboat more than 30 days per calendar year.

I then walked up to the National Park Service headquarters

Bulletin board

and found that disappointingly they had no spaces on their boats to Cumberland Island for tomorrow.

National Park office from inside the restaurant

Went back to the boat and took a nap.

When I woke at 5, I was so stiff I could hardly move. We walked the two blocks down to Lang's restaurant

Door of Lang's Restaurant

(which came highly recommended) but the place was packed and had a wait of 45 minutes, so we left. I overheard someone say "Well if you want fast food, go to McDonalds". But I was tired, my hip hurt (and there weren't many places to sit). Under normal circumstances, we try to go early enough so that this doesn't happen, but we really don't like to wait for a table and will almost always leave and go elsewhere. We walked back up the street and ate at the

Village Cafe

which was across the street fro the National Park Service headquarters. There's a handicapped ramp that leads up to the veranda where there are some tables. I don't think the inside restaurant is accessible. At any rate, there was a guy in a wheelchair eating outside and the no-see-ums were terrible out there. I had a

Spinach salad (which had hard boiled eggs, olives and tomatoes)

Corned Beef sandwich

and Bob had the shrimp salad platter.

Bob's plate

I also had

Coconut ice cream

and Bob had rice pudding with real whipped cream.

Rice pudding - partly eaten

Bob making a face

We walked around town a bit

Hotel and square with cannon

Main Street

Cannon in the square

Waterfront Pavilion

Cyclist goes by Market on the Square

Since we expected to stay over on Saturday to explore St. Mary's, we didn't want to do everything on the first day. So I never got to sample the advertised ice cream of Market on the Square, and I don't know what else they had to offer.

Outside tables beside Market on the Square

Trolley's Food and Spirits

We saw this restaurant, but the sign put me off because I thought it was mostly a drinking establishment, or maybe even a market where one could buy "Food and Spirits".

Howard Gilman Park

As we walked from the marina to dinner, we passed this park. It is named The Howard Gilman Memorial Park. The Howard Gilman Foundation donated approximately $1 million dollars for the construction of the waterfront park. (No I don't know who Howard Gilman was.) Residents of the city were asked to choose which amenities they would like to include. The park officially opened on June 30, 2001, and on July 4th they had the fireworks display there.The website offers a virtual tour of the park and says:"Don't miss the Tilden Norris Marsh Walk a short walk from the waterfront park"

Howard Gilman Park entrance

Submarine museum

This is another place that I intended to visit on Saturday. Bob was in the U.S. Navy submariner reserve in high school and the following year before he went to the U.S. Naval Academy. I put it off partly because I was too tired to do it Friday, but also because I was saving the tourist stuff for the following day

Cumberland Island National Seashore Museum

This museum was under construction when we were there - it was not open. The old museum was apparently located on Osborne Street, two blocks from the waterfront, but the new one is on St. Mary's Street, right on the water. The NPS website says:"The exhibition uses pieces from the collection to highlight the people of the island. The lives of Native Americans, African Americans, the Carnegie family as well as others who lived on the island in the 19th and 20th centuries are seen in the island environment. The museum was designed to provide a glimpse of Cumberland Island to those who are unable to visit the island."

Cumberland Island National Seashore Museum - Another angle

Some confusion in museum names has developed between the Cumberland Island Museum and the Cumberland Island National Seashore Museum. The Cumberland Island Museum is a separate entity and was incorporated in 1985 to assure the protection and maintenance of the library, archival materials, and natural history collections of Carol Ruckdeschel and C. Robert Shoop. Unlike some museums, The Cumberland Island Museum does not have exhibits or displays, but simply houses and curates the research materials. It is open to the public.

And then went back to the boat.

Bob walking across the street toward the marina

There are only two single hole bathrooms both with showers and the mens is almost always in use.

Marina bathrooms at low tide from the dock

Bob had to use the bathroom and eventually couldn't wait anymore and used the ladies. Bob is talking about coming down and staying here for the winter. I think he has forgotten that they will only allow live-aboards 30 days a calendar year.

View of town from the marina

Main street of St. Mary's at dusk from the marina

We have lots of wakes that bounce off the shores and other boats. I thought it must at least be a submarine making the wakes, but it is just little fishing boats.

Lang's Shrimp boats and mud flats at dusk/low tide

Sunset from the marina

April 10-2004 Offshore to Charleston

I suggested to Bob yesterday that we leave this afternoon, because there are supposed to be thundershowers in coastal Georgia Sunday afternoon. He didn't think that was necessary. But after listening to the TV weather, he decided to go this morning to avoid the thunderstorms. He took the trash and put it in a can on the street and walked up to the bakery hoping to get some bread, but they are closed this week.

I took a shower and walked up to the Lang's Seafood to get a refund for tonight. They gave it to me in cash. There is a large power boat on the end of the dock named CARPE DIEM III. The professional captain came over to talk because he went to Camp Calvert in the mid 50s so he knows where Leonardtown is!!. He eventually helped us to cast off about 0845.

The sailboat between CARPE DIEM and LOOKEN GOOD is from New Bern NC and are here for Easter leaving Monday. LOOKEN GOOD has just gotten their boat (which is a Bluewater Coastal Cruiser -Bluewater and Coastal seems like an oxymoron to me) and are planning to go to Jekyll today. CARPE DIEM is waiting for word from the boat owner as to whether to go to St. Augustine or Newfoundland to have the boat modified so he can have dinner parties on deck.

Bob thought the tide would be going out, but it was already low this morning and we have about one knot of current against us. However it looks as though low tide tomorrow in Charleston will be about 0830 and so will be coming in when we get there, which is good.

Range marker in St. Mary's River

St. Mary's River red harbor entrance buoy

Smoke from Fernandina Paper Mills

Silhouette ship exiting St. Mary's River

After we get out into the Atlantic, we pick up speed.

Ship that passed about 1015

Sleeping did not go as well this trip. I went down and had a nap this morning from about 1000 to 1300 and that was really the last good sleep either of us had.

After lunch, Bob went for a nap at 1345. I'm not sure he really slept though. There is a lot of radio traffic about a boat named WILL FISH which has run out of fuel. Bob came back to the cockpit about 1500. After dinner, I sent Bob down for another nap, but he comes back up in less than a half an hour and says he can't sleep. We are off St. Catherine's Sound when the sun goes down at 1950.

I go down to sleep about 2100, but I only doze until 2200. Then Bob goes down again at about 2345. I am monitoring his time but I don't think he is sleeping well, as he goes to the bathroom twice (when he turns the light on in there I can see the light coming out the porthole), and then he comes back up into the cockpit at 0200.

April 11th - Easter

When I try to sleep, it is difficult because The large swells make it hard to sleep. They are coming from two directions at once, and the wind has died down so the sail doesn't help a lot to keep us steady. I come back up a couple hours later. Bob now says he's tired and thinks he can sleep.

A big ship calls the sailboat on Ft. Sumter range, and I am so groggy that I don't think of the navigational ranges in Charleston harbor, but think of the Point No Point bombing range. So I answer. But I'm still way south of him, and he's talking to another boat and it isn't a bombing range. I hear the Savannah River pilots saying that the harbor is shut down because of fog. There are 5 ships stacked up out there waiting to enter. I can't see the lights from Charleston in the sky, and I think I should be able to do so. At about 0700, the big red sun rises above a sea level fog.

0715 - Bob wakes and looks at his watch and thinks it says 1000, and looks out the port and doesn't see anything (there's no shore visible). He thinks we should be coming in the harbor, so he gets up and shuts off the lights, starts heating water for tea and starts the refrigeration. Then he finds out that it is only 0730. Since Bob says he can't go to sleep, I go lie down, but don't sleep long.

While I am down there, a sparrow hawk tries to land on the boat. First he tries the lifelines, and slips off. Then he tries the solar panel but again there's not anything for him to hold onto. Finally he grabs the jib sheet about 10 feet up from the deck and is slanted.

Sparrow Hawk on jib sheet

After a rest, he tries again for a good resting place and ends up on the top of the mast. Now the big rollers make the mast move more than any other place on the boat - it is describing a BIG arc back and forth. He's balancing with his tail, but I imagine if birds get seasick then he's on his way to getting seasick. Finally after a couple more passes on the boat he wedges himself in on the top aft solar panel next to the radar and I see him peeking over the top.

Solar panel with sparrow hawk

We are approaching the harbor entrance, and we can see the buoys on the radar, but cannot see them in person. We can't see the jetties, or the surf on the jetties. We know they are there, but can't see them. We have to get to within 1/8th of a mile of a buoy before we can see it.

Buoy appears out of the fog

I finally have a cell phone signal and call Rob at work (he's working 4 am to 4 pm today)

Bob goes out to put on the dock lines, and that was too much for the sparrow hawk and he flew off for good. I see a BIG BLACK target on the radar and call to Bob - There's something BIG out there. He comes back to the cockpit and we go just outside the red buoy at the edge of the channel. As he does that, a BIG BLACK container ship (SEALAND MAREK) looms up out of the fog and blows his foghorn. He's not making any wake as he's going very slowly.

We continue slowly in the channel, and I call the marina on the cell phone (we finally have a signal) and ask what the visibility is in there. The dock person says the fog has just lifted. Whew - would not like to navigate through the harbor with no viz.

1030 - Hooray, we can see. We have the current with us. We pass another boat and hear him say after he passes us that he has zero visibility. The marina we are heading for is well run and pretty easy to find from the water (you can just look for the Yorktown), but has a LOT of current.

1147 - we are tied up after 187 sm at an average speed of 7 mph. It has taken us 27 hours, just like the trip down.

We were tied up before noon. I went to the Charleston Harbor Marina gas dock and checked in. NOTE: This marina is NOT in Charleston - it is across the harbor in Mt. Pleasant. Out at the end of the docks where they put transients there is virtually no wind protection. Fortunately we were in a slip. The marina has someone on duty 24 hours, and they are very accommodating. There are floating docks (necessary because of large tides). There is a LOT of current in this marina but they have a big barrier to protect against wakes. I saw dolphins twice right near our boat in the marina. I even managed to get a picture of them.

Dolphin in the marina

We had seen them in the ICW before, but never actually in the marina with us.
---Transportation. In lieu of a courtesy car from the marina, you can use the van from the Hilton to go into Charleston or to the grocery etc. There is no charge for this although you may be expected to tip the van driver. You can also use the water taxi to Charleston, for which there is a charge. It runs every half hour.
--- Laundry Laundry can be done at a local laundromat via the van from the Hilton, or you can give it to the marina and they will do it for you. Don't know the charge.
---TV and Internet. Cable TV is a charge of $5/day for only 12 channels which is IMHO a rip off. With an antenna, we can get almost that many channels and the quality of the cable reception is not that great. We just used our DirecTV antenna. They will not allow downloading of e-mail and you can no longer get phone service, but there is a free WAN that you can get the internet from.

Fountain at the hotel

We were tired so we just walked up to the Reel Bar for lunch. When we were here before it had large TV sets in the bar, but there were just a couple over the bar now. There were comfortable chairs and couches, and also a bar with stools. We ordered at the bar and they bought the food to us while we sat in overstuffed chairs at a coffee table. We both had grilled chicken sandwiches on a sour dough roll. They had various ingredients in addition to chicken, lettuce and tomato - such as cheese and guacamole. I also had sweet potato fries with mine.

Chicken sandwich and sweet potato fries

The fries were very salty - I'm not used to so much salt. Otherwise they were good. We also drank iced tea. Including the tip, the bill was $38.29.

RosalieAnn in the marina

We rested on the boat the rest of the day. We had dinner at the Reel Bar too because we were too tired to go anywhere else. The best thing to eat in the bar is the barbecue sandwich. There is also a real restaurant in the hotel. The hotel has a pool and you can use their fitness equipment.

When I looked at the marina bill, I found out the dates on it were wrong. Also I thought the bill had been figured incorrectly.

April 12, 2004 - Easter Monday

Our son normally works second shift and is off in the morning and has Tuesday and Wednesday off. But of course since we are visiting, they've shifted him to working Monday to Friday on first shift. Our grandchildren are out of school for Spring Break and our DIL has the day off, so we picked up a rental car from Enterprise and went out to our son's house.

Grandson and his self portrait with his dog

Had lunch there and then went to the Charleston Museum.

Visitor's Center

A visitor's center is almost always a good bet to go to first thing when you come to a new place. The Charleston Visitor's Center is no exception. And you may not even need to visit in person. Their website is chock full of deals and packages plus all the upcoming events. There is also parking (sometimes difficult in Charleston) and many tours leave from here, such as Gray Line of Charleston Having said that, I have not actually been into the Visitor's Center myself although we parked here to go to the Charleston Museum. That's because we do our Charleston Things-to-Do visits in between visits to our grandchildren. So it's kind of one or two attractions per visit instead of a couple of days of intensive sightseeing.

We visited the Charleston Museum with our grandchildren and DIL at the time when the Civil War submarine Hunley had been found and recovered.

Huntley submarine sign

The Charleston Museum had an exhibit out front which was a reproduction of what they thought the Hunley looked like. Some of the details were wrong.

Sub outside the museum

Grandchildren exploring the sub

Checking the sub

Detail of the sub

Grandchildren by the sub

Plus there is an earlier version inside.This museum (although currently situated in an angular brick building) was established very early in Charleston history - it was founded in 1773. As a result it has many "collections" which were given to the museum early that don't really 'fit' with the stated mission of the museum, which is to "preserve and interpret the cultural and natural history of Charleston and the South Carolina Lowcountry"

Looking at the exhibits

Slave Tag Badges

Rice production

Wooden gate

Horse trough

Battle for Sullivan's Island (Revolution)

Fabric and weaving section

Fabrics and clothing

Front of a dollhouse

Inside one of the dollhouses

Grandkids looking at a Victorian dollhouse

Toys

Cypress shutters

Ironwork gates

Charleston Police Station Clock

Electric car

You have to be alert - mixed in with the indigenous animals,

Local marsh bird diorama

Pigeon hawk

Atlantic Right Whale skeleton

there are exhibited polar bears, giraffes, moas, and dinosaurs not native to the area.

Granddaughter and daughter-in-law in the non-native animal section

And in the historical section, in addition to Charleston Silver, slave tags, artifacts from eras of rice and cotton, the chair in which delegates sat to sign South Carolina’s Ordinance of Secession, and firearms and ordnance from the War Between the States,

Looking down from the balcony

there are also such things as an Egyptian mummy, .. and

A plaster cast of the monumental statue of Pharaoh Rameses II

There ARE local fossils on exhibit such as the skeleton of an Oligocene crocodile

Suspended Oligocene crocodile skeleton and back of it the Pseudodontronis

and whale fossils from the same period and a giant false-toothed bird, Pseudodontronis. The bird is a Pliocene ancestor to modern pelicans, to which it appears similar in form, with the notable exceptions that it has a wingspan of 18 feet, and its jaws appear to have been borrowed from a barracuda.

Looking down on the museum shop

The store at the Charleston Museum is on the ground floor. As I was walking around the balcony, I took this picture looking down onto the store. They sell clothing and various items that are featured in the museum. I didn't buy anything there for myself.

In addition to the main museum, there are two historic houses across the street which can be toured.

25 John Street - typical Charleston architecture next to one of the historic houses

We walked back to the garage where the car was parked.

Walking back to the car

Chapel Street Fountain Park

Children's Museum from the parking garage

I had intended to visit the Children's Museum, but we were too tired. We were going to meet our son for dinner at Fisherman's Quarter,

Fisherman's Quarter (which was closed)

but it was closed on Monday so we had dinner at Logans in Summerville.

Logan's sign

Logan's Roadhouse is another franchise/chain restaurant operation. It was founded in 1991 and the home office is located in Nashville, TN. It is supposed to be like a roadhouse from the 1930's and 1940's. I don't think of roadhouse with a positive image, but apparently Logan's has been very successful with this idea. They have TV sets in various corners, and

A juke box

There is a meat counter display case showing the various cuts of meat.

Logans meat display

Inside Logans

Son, Bob and grandson at Logans

Son's a french dip sandwich (Roast beef, sauteed onions and mushrooms topped with melted Swiss cheese on a French roll; au jus for dipping)

my husband had a

Logan's Club Sandwich (Ham, turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese and mayonnaise served on toasted bread)

I had

Steak and sweet potato

and an apple cobbler with ice cream. My grandchildren had kids meals.

April 13-14, 2004

Tuesday, April 13 - I can use the marina wireless network at the boat, so there is no urgency about going to my son's house to use the computer. After I straightened out the bill with the marina office, we drove to the AFB and I put my prescription in for refill. I have to register with Tricare at the AF (Since we are so late returning this year, I need to have one prescription refilled before we will be back). We ate lunch at the exchange

Lunch at the exchange

and shopped at the commissary, before we went back to the boat.

USS Yorktown

Marina office

Large sailboat at the outer docks

For dinner, we drove out to Sullivan's Island. We were looking for a restaurant where we had dinner last spring, and went across the

Ben Sawyer bridge

turned right and went almost out to the lighthouse. Then we turned around and came back and stopped here.

Station 22

The decor was interesting - there was wooden wainscoting and above that palmetto trees were painted in tones of brown and green. There were lots of photos on the walls - most b&w of old beach scenes, and there was also some art work. Over the door was a large Santa, a lawn flamingo, and a clock with neon around it. Hanging from the ceiling were some old riding toys

Station 22

(car and fire engine). Strung along the ceiling were strings of lights in various shapes (shamrocks, parrots, sailboats, cocktail glasses, power boats, lighthouses). It was too dark inside to take really good pictures.

This was an interesting list on the back of the Station 22 restaurant menu. Below is an abbreviated section of this Dictionary
Apparently the cross streets on Sullivan's Island are all called Stations. It has been speculated that this is because of the military history of the island.

Island Dictionary

Atlantic Beach Hotel - hotel at Station 22 in the late 1800's and early 1900's which was destroyed by fire.Cove Inlet - site of first trolley car bridge from Mt. Pleasant to Sullivan's Island.
Edgar Allen Poe - stationed here in 1827. Sullivan's Island was the inspiration for the short story "The Gold Bug"
Osceola - Seminole Chief who died in prison at Ft. Moultrie
Sappho - ferryboat with a unique stabilizing system - heavy barrels in the hold would be rolled to the windward side to offset the listing effect in a strong cross wind.
Sullivan's Island - named for Florence Sullivan who was the first lookout in 1670.

For starters they gave us four small pieces of pizza.

Small pieces of pizza as bread

Bob had a two chicken breasts and mashed potatoes with cheese. I had the pasta of the day for $17. This was shrimp on noodles which also had peas and bacon in it. It was too dark to get a good picture of them. We both had delicious coconut cake for dessert.They also had a children's menu and there were a lot of children there.

Coconut cake

Sunset

Sunset

Sunset

Wednesday April 14th - We spent the day on the boat. Bob hired a diver go under the boat and scrape the prop for $10 and check the zincs. I heard his bubbles under there and wondered what was going on. Our son came over after work and we had dinner at Andolini's

Counter of Andino's

Pickup counter collage

in Mt. Pleasant like we did on the way down.

April 15-16, 2004

Thursday April 15th - Our DIL is off work today, so after I call the base about the prescription (and give them the base pharmacy number at Pax to call so they can get a person to talk to because the number on the bottle is the automated refill line), we go over and pick it up,

Exchange food court

and go to our son's house. I saw dolphins from the Cooper River bridge on the way over. We have dinner there with our son's family.

Friday April 16th -

Charleston harbor

We went to see our granddaughter at

Gymnastics practice

Afterward we went over to our son's in the afternoon and went to a friend of theirs (Mike and Priscilla) for a pot luck. The hosts provided steak and salad and our DIL brought country potatoes.

Children at the party

Mike is a friend of our son's from high school and Mike's wife Priscilla knows our daughter from the high school band.

April 17, 2004 - Saturday

Our son's family met us at the marina

Great blue heron

and we drove to Sullivan's Island

US Naval Support Base in Mt Pleasant

Submarine in the park

Re-enactment camp in Mt Pleasant

Re-enactment tents

and we had lunch at Poe's Tavern on Sullivan's Island across the street from Station 22.

Welcome to Poe's Tavern on the steps

Poe's Tavern menu

Children in Poe's Tavern

Son in Poe's Tavern

The Charleston Post and Courier dining guide says:"Handñcut fries, gourmet burgers, fish tacos, salads, soups, specialty sandwiches. 20 imported & micro brews on tap and broad wine selection. I had

A quesadilla

and I think Bob had a hamburger. The children had cheese fries and my son had chili.

Lunch

Then we visited Fort Moultrie. Up to then I'd only seen it from the water. There is a little museum across the road from the actual fort

Walking up to the museum

Geotag marker

Fort Moultrie sign - a unit of the Fort Sumter National Monument

Son in "Real Men Don't Need Instructions" T-shirt reading an informational sign

The exhibits in the museum cover the whole history of coastal defense in this area.

Bob and our DIL in the museum

Drawing of the Revolutionary War battle

While there has been a fort here for 171 years defending the seacoast, the most important part of Fort Moultrie history was the first decisive victory in the American Revolution. The first fort was hastily erected using palmetto logs. On the 28th of June 1776 the battle of Sullivan's Island was the first victory of the Patriot cause. The fort defenders discovered that the palmetto logs just absorbed the cannon balls fired by British warships and rendered them harmless. Plus of course, the British fleet commander made a number of mistakes in deploying his fleet and ended up running several ships aground right under the guns of Fort Moultrie. After a nine and one-half hour battle, ten British warships were defeated by South Carolina Patriots manning a half completed unnamed fort built of palmetto logs and sand on Sullivan’s Island. A sizeable British fleet and army had been drubbed in a decisive way and British pride was seriously wounded. Word was rushed to Congress in Philadelphia by a single horse-borne messenger in a manner reminiscent of the battle of Marathon. The importance to American morale cannot be overstated; as news spread throughout the nation, there was rejoicing everywhere. "After the battle, the fort was named Fort Moultrie in honor of its commanding officer, Colonel William Moultrie

You can take a photo of the fort from the museum

On the roof of the museum

VIew of the fort from the roof of the Visitor's Center Museum

Flag on Fort Moultrie

Looking toward the ICW

Osceola Grave marker

Information on Osceola’s grave

Obelisk monument erected in memory of the sailors who perished during the 1865 sinking of the ironclad USS Patapsco.

The National Park Service website says that you can tour the fort using the self-guided brochure.

And you can.

Turret

Harbor Defense c WWI

Kids with anti-aircraft gun

Stairs down from WWI section

Grandchildren on steps

Ammo room

Son looking out from the gun

Rodman gun

Defending Charleston (Civil War)

Civil War Armament sign

Enlisted men's barracks

Fort ramparts

Tunnel in the fort

Children looking at the mortar

Interpretive signs are posted throughout the fort. By using these signs and the park brochure, visitors guide themselves through the fort traveling back in time from World War II to the American Revolution. The current fort is the third Fort Moultrie which was built in 1809. The only problem with the NPS presentation is that I don't think that they made enough of the Revolutionary War victory that occurred here.

Palmetto Fort

General Moultrie's grave

Information about Moultrie

This is also the burial place of Seminole Chief Osceola.

There have been a lot of ceremonies this week to do with the raising of the Hundley. Included in the festivities was an re-enactment encampment. There were soldiers camped at Patriot Point and also at the fort.

Re-enactment camp

Re-enactor sitting by the tents

Bob walking by the tents

Re-enactor encampment

Washboards and table outside the tent

Cookfire set-up

Laundry

Drying laundry

After we toured the fort, I wanted to see Sullivan's Island Lighthouse (from the outside - you can't tour it). It is just down the street from Fort Moultrie. We always see this lighthouse as we cross Charleston harbor. I wanted to see the lighthouse up close, but I discovered that on the road next to it was TOO close. So I walked out along the trail at the end of the road toward the beach. I saw several folks taking their dogs for a walk and there are apparently dog litter bags for their use handily here by the beach.

Beach access signs

The left hand sign says
Pet Waste Transmits Disease
Leash and clean up after your pet
Please Keep This Area Clean

and then below it says
Dog Pot

The center sign says "Sullivan's Island Station 18.5 Access." (The streets on Sullivan's Island are called Stations)

The sign on the right says "Sullivan's Island Beach Access Path"

Prohibited on Beach or Path

• Alcoholic Beverages
• Fireworks
• Vehicles
• Parties without Permit from SHPD
• Fires without Permit from SIPD

Leash Law in Effect
All watercraft must have permits and comply with town ordinances.

Beach

Next to the lighthouse, the NPS owns the 1898 lifesaving station dwelling and boathouse. They use the historic buildings as housing for seasonal rangers and as maintenance shops. "The Park Service is interested in obtaining the lighthouse to protect the historic nature of the property and to prevent commercial development on the site. If the Park Service is successful in obtaining the tower, the Coast Guard would still maintain the light, but the Park Service would be responsible for the upkeep of the tower.

Charleston lighthouse

The triangular lighthouse which was built in 1962 is not open to the public and has been declared surplus inventory by the Coast Guard. Information on the lighthouse (which we always called the Sullivan's Island Light although that's not its official name) ".. When erosion threatened the Morris Island Lighthouse, located south of the entrance to Charleston Harbor, the decision was made to place a replacement beacon on Sullivan’s Island, north of the harbor’s entrance. ..Inside the tower, the keepers of the light are treated to air conditioning and an elevator that can quickly whisk them skyward. {I am told that the elevator is only for freight.}

Charleston lighthouse

After the elevator ride, it is still necessary to scale a small staircase to reach the lantern room, where a powerful light source is housed. Originally, the light produced an amazing 28 million candlepower, but this powerful beam proved dangerous and was downgraded to a light of just over a million candlepower that has a range of twenty-six miles."

Coast Guard buildings

Then we found a park

The "Mound" is closed temporarily

Statue in the park

and the children played on the equipment for awhile.

Son watching the kids in the playground

Children on play equipment

Granddaughter hanging sideways

Son's family in the park

We stopped in the Sugar Shack

Sugar Shack sign

Sugar Shack

Inside the Sugar Shack

after we finished touring Fort Moultrie and let the kids have some ice cream. They also have beachwear (such as sun glasses, and beach bags) souvenirs, and the sign says they have internet access. In addition to ice cream they have Italian ice, smoothies, sundaes, shakes, cocoa, various kinds of gourmet coffee, candy (Nancy's home made Fudge cups), and cookies I thought it was expensive for the candy, so I didn't get any.

Children eating ice cream

The kid's scoop was $1.75 for under 8 years old. The bigger kids had to pay $2.75 for one scoop of ice cream and $3.75 for two. A float or malt was $4.25.

Son's house

After we got back to our son's house we went to have dinner at

Fisherman's Quarter sign

Bob waiting outside the restaurant

Fisherman's Quarters in Summerville. There was a wait time, but it is pretty short. Inside tables are jammed in together with very little space between them.

Son and granddaughter inside Fisherman's Quarter

The tables have paper place mats and there are signal flags around the room. Almost the only thing on the menu is fish. Service is a bit slap-dash, but reasonably quick. I had

Swordfish baked potato and onion rings

and then I had cheesecake for dessert. My husband Bob had

Bob's shrimp

My daughter in law and son had a rich looking chocolate dessert

Son's dessert

.
The waitress "overlooked" several optional extra charges on the menu. Our bill for 4 adults and two children was a little over $70 not including tip.

Night in the marina

April 18, 2004 Sunday

Two fishermen

Our son and DIL and the kids came over to the boat and the kids swam in the pool.

Hotel pool

The pool was too cold for me and the spa was too hot. After the grandchildren swam in the hotel pool next to the marina, we wanted to go someplace for dinner and ended up here. Although I think of TGIF as primarily a drinking establishment (happy hour after work type of thing),

Sign in TGIF

they do have a large children's menu.

Son and grandson looking at the menus

Hamburger

I had a

Steak and mashed potatoes

and then I had a sundae for dessert.

Bob walking down the dock

Monday 19 April 2004- Off to the Cape Fear River

Bob returned the car, and then we got organized and went and got 27 gallons of fuel and a pumpout. The boat absolutely refused to back the direction it normally goes and we almost had to back all the way out of the breakwater. It started out very windy - up to 19 knots. Bob put up all the sails. We passed a barge and tug that were coming into the inlet.

Tug and barge

We have never been offshore off Isle of Palms before. I can see the low fixed bridge between Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island, and the high fixed bridge over the ICW that is near the Isle of Palms marina. I can hear the Ben Sawyer bridge on the radio trying to get people to stay between the fenders. (There is only water under one side of the swing bridge - the other side is very shallow.)

Charleston Lighthouse on Sullivan's Island

Bob says the rpms are worse than ever. I had a nap and read from Claiborne Young's book to Bob.

1339 - trip so far 35 sm at an average speed of 7.4 mph. There are some rollers rocking the boat. We are coming up along Cape Romain but we are so far offshore that I can't see land or the lighthouse. After Bob's nap I went down to rest, and dreamed I was riding a bike with the inner tube sticking out. I think this is because of the rollers. Bob said there were dolphins playing around the boat while I was asleep.

1834 - trip 69.4 sm. We are going to have to slow down or we'll get there in the dark. We have a nice steak dinner, and then Bob goes down for a nap. Didn't stay long and came back up before it was really dark. I took another nap and came up about 2300.

Bob went down for to try to sleep again (I didn't have to tell him - he suggested it this time), and was only there about 20 minutes when he came up in his stocking feet (!!!) to sheet the main in harder so that when the rollers rocked the boat it wouldn't bang around so much. Then he went back. In order to keep the boat from rolling so much and also in order to slow down our speed a bit, I'm tacking back and forth (or actually jibing back and forth) and keeping the wind about 120 degrees on each side.

I see a bright light in the western sky. A ship? Where would a ship be coming from? No - too big and too high up for a ship - plus I can't see any red or green lights.

A lighthouse? Can't find any lighthouses over on that shore, and again it's too high up.

There's no moon tonight, and I know stars don't rise in the west, so it can't be a star (one time I kept thinking that rising stars were ships until they got up over the horizon too far) and it's too bright.

A plane taking off? But it doesn't seem to get higher. Eventually the light goes away, so I guessed it was a plane that landed. After a bit I saw another one.

It wasn't until much later in the night after I heard the CG asking people if they'd seen flares that the light dawned. Those were FLARES!!!

Not much traffic on the radio except the CG all the way from Mayport to Cape Hatteras. Heard an Army ship saying that it has hazardous cargo.

About 0430, I waked Bob up to take his watch, and lay down for a bit. When we came in the river, it seemed like the cargo ship ahead of us was on another track. I later found that they've changed the channel so it doesn't come straight in the river like it used to.

7:30 in the morning April 20

Coming in the Cape Fear River

Green buoy

Bald Head Island

Bald Head Island ferry

Car ferry

Barge and tug against the sun

As we came in - about 0700, I heard people asking where they could get fuel. I heard LITTLE BLUE talking to Southport marina and asking for fuel. So I got on the radio too and said we needed fuel. We got there right as the marina opened, and got 22 gallons.

Starship on the floating docks

There were two power boats there that had spent the night at Bald Head and could not get fuel there because their fuel docks are being renovated. One of the guys had a Chub Cay shirt on, and I said Oh Chub. He said "What" in a sort of insulted way. I said - Your shirt is from Chub Cay. (He thought I was making a personal comment as he was a bit of a Chub.) They needed fuel and one engine of one of the boats was not working, so while they were fueling up and waiting for the mechanic some of the guys off the boat came over to help us tied up as there was only one dock attendant. We got off the dock just before LITTLE BLUE came in for fuel. Our trip was 162 sm and took 23 hours.

We both napped until about 2, and then I went up to get email. I went to use the computer, but the outlet in the laundry room no longer worked. There is wireless internet but you have to pay for it. The marina has a LAN high speed router but I couldn't figure out how to use it, so they let me use their phone line for a few minutes so I could send the previous message. I noticed that you cannot go down the concrete pier, you have to walk on the floating docks. This is because the rebar in the concrete under the pier has rusted, and parts of the concrete have fallen off, so it isn't safe.

Fish Tales (marina restaurant)

I thought the bathrooms were substandard because there were no locks to keep people from walking in on you in the two marina toilets. In addition to the two regular toilets there was a handicapped bathroom for each sex (also with no way to lock it). All the people from the upstairs Fish Tails restaurant used the marina bathrooms which were supposed to be just for marina people. There were locks on the outside bathroom doors, but they were not engaged so that the bathrooms weren't really locked. The restaurant people probably didn't use the showers of course, but I think the restaurant should have it's own bathrooms.

We walked over to the Provision Company for dinner through the edge of the historic district. I had intended to go into town the following day and get the walking tour brochure and really see some of the old houses.

Walking to dinner

Bob walking up to dinner ahead of me

Provision company

The Provision Company was a really interesting place.

Order counter

You order from the counter - the menu is on a board. Then go get your drinks from a cooler

Self-serve drinks

Cold beer

and sit down. There are tables under a roof outside right on the water.

Provision Company

The waitress will bring you your food. You pay on the way out - drinks are on the honor system.

Shrimp

Steak and salad

Pie

Great Egret

There are free docks outside the Provision Co. if your boat is shallow enough draft which will hold two 40' boats.

Pelican on a post

Prop and a rope on the dock

Great Egret

Docks

Only an extension cord could be plugged in, not regular boat power. Free overnight with meal (which is very reasonable in price). The guys there had no clue as to what the depth at low tide would be, but one of the girls said she fell off the dock once, and she could stand up in the water - only up to her chest. She wasn't a particularly big girl.

Lighthouse framed

Boardwalk out to the river

The Southport Marina is in a basin so is protected from current, but there is some wake from passing boats. We were solidly aground at low tide

Low tide

and there are also a lot of mosquitos etc. That combined with the lack of internet access and the bugs made it so we decided to go to Masonboro tomorrow.

April 21, 2004

Sunrise

The marina guys recommended that we leave and go up the Cape Fear River on an incoming tide (which is sensible), so we leave earlier than we otherwise might for such a short run.

Since the electrical hookup next to us was completely taken up by the houseboat in the first slip, we had ours up on the fixed dock. It was too high for Bob to reach at low tide so we could unhook it (it was above his head). Fortunately one of the guys from the little power boat in the second slip from us (5 or 6 guys all apparently Spanish speaking) was up on the old (unsafe) fixed pier and unhooked it for him.

Plugged in on the fixed docks

Bob untied the lines and pushed the boat out (it wasn't quite aground) and then proceeded to back into the weeds because the keel was caught by the current. I pulled the fenders into the boat (when we are at floating docks they drag in the water) and shut the gate while he got turned around. We were quickly out into the river and were going up the river at 9.4 mph as the tide came in.

Yesterday as we were coming in we passed a car ferry (a tug with a barge with cars and trucks on it) going down the Cape Fear River to Bald Head. It passed us again today.

Car ferry for Bald Head

I wouldn't want my car on that barge getting salt spray all over it, but I guess it is mainly contractors as they don't have too many cars on Bald Head so they probably don't have much choice.

There wasn't too much current against us in Snow's Cut. We have been warned about extensive shoaling not only at Carolina Beach, but also between there and the New River. We went through Carolina Beach about 0934 and saw better than 8 feet in the inlet area

We saw a catamaran tour boat go out into the inlet area - must be connected with Earth Day- they have buckets and long handled implements aboard.