Started late this morning. Lenore slept in and we finally decided to leave at about 9:00. It was cold, cloudy and moderate winds. The weather did improve as we moved north and we had sun for most of the afternoon.
We were on the water for 8 hours so it was approximately 5:20 when we arrived in Charleston.
For the most part the ICW along this section is undeveloped. There are large stretches that are the really low country with grassy islands and no trees. The last 20 miles had quite a few homes along the waterway. Some of the homes needed a dock several hundred feet long to get to the river. We did pass one dock that had a sunken sailboat in front of it. You will need to look closely at the picture to see the mast and what appears to be the radar dome sticking above the waterline. The tide was coming in so the radar dome would probably be covered at high tide.
The last cutoff from the Ahsley River to the Charleston River had about 3.5 mph of current against us for the first mile. Fortunately this cutoff is not to long and it widens out a little for the north portion.
First impressions are that Charleston is a busy town and the marinas seemed full. We originally called the City Marina and they were full. They suggested that we call the Harborage at Ashley Marina and they did have room for us. We did not hear any of the other boats having any issues finding a slip at the other marinas on the radio, so maybe it was just the downtown marinas.
The harbor front has probably 1/2 dozen mega yachts moored. The marinas appear to be about 50-50 between sailboats and power boats.
The Marina is a modern facility with floating docks and the Trex type wood for the dock surfaces. Docks are wide enough but I do not like the way they did the anchor posts thru the walkway. It does keep the slips open but the walk is interrupted by the posts.
I noticed 4 or 5 Looper Burgees on the boats last night so a representation for the Loopers. Many of the Loopers are headed North to the Rendezvous in Norfolk, May 6th to 9th. We are not attending but we are still headed North. Still 470 Miles to Norfolk area.