Our position is 32:46.567N 79:57.020W
ICW miles to go: 469.3
Ladies Island Bridge does not open between 7am and 9am so we were
up early and went through at 6.45 with 4 other yachts and a fast moving
catamaran, who was soon racing away from us all. We were very unsure whether we would be
able to go fast enough to make the Wappoo Creek bridge, which only opens on the
hour and half hour and is closed from 4pm to 6.30pm, meaning the last opening
before 7pm would be 3.30pm. Although overall we had a fair
amount of tidal help, it ran very hard against us through Elliot Cut
(a narrow land cut linking Stono River and Wappoo Creek) and the earlier
sections were very shallow in places. We were advised by the boat ahead that he
had come close to the bottom between two of the marks so we tried a
different track only to run aground between the red and green marks. Full
throttle and hard on the helm got us off and pushing the keel through the mud we
made it back into deeper water. (Touch wood we have managed without the
services of Tow Boat US but we did join just in case) However all the boats that
had been with us in the morning just made it in time to get through the
Wappoo Creek bridge and moored up to the Charleston City Marina megadock in
time for tea.
The length of the dock was such that the richer inhabitants had
their own golf carts to get about on. Luckily the dockmaster who had helped us
tie up gave me a lift to the office to check in, otherwise I might have given up
before I got there. After our early start we took it easy for the rest of the
day in anticipation of exploring the town the next day. The marina had provided
a bag full of information and maps to help us plan our
activities.
The marina provides an hourly bus service into town but we didn’t
get up early enough to catch the 10am bus so walked the mile or so to the
visitor centre and the city museum on the grounds that the exercise would be
good for us and we could get the bus back. The city museum is at the top of what
the town calls “museum mile” as there are many historic homes now open as
museums. In the museum we were particularly interested in the exhibits detailing
the history of rice production in South Carolina. This was rendered uneconomic
by the abolition of slavery after the civil war as the marshy terrain prevented
the use of machines to replace the manpower previously used. We also took the
opportunity to learn more about the civil war and the development of HL Hunley,
apparently the first submarine to be used successfully, although it did not
return from this foray after sinking the blockading ship it was attacking. In
any case it was a complete death trap for the crew and had killed several before
being ordered to only operate half submerged.
We continued on down museum mile and took in the old Slave market
museum which was sited (unsurprisingly) in a building that had been a slave
market after abolition. Slavery was not completely eliminated by abolition as,
although no more slaves were brought from Africa, there was still a trade in
home bred slaves until after the civil war. This museum had a lot of oral
history, recorded earlier in the 20th century, with reminiscences of
slaves, some of whom had actually been traded in the market.
We also looked for the Dock Theatre, reputed to be the first
theatre in America, but it must have been lost in the myriad of historic houses.
We did manage to identify a tavern on a site where an inn had been since the
1500s and we wandered in yet another beautiful waterside park; this one had
fountains which allowed public access but only subject to a host of rules and
warnings about the absence of lifeguards.
By then we were tired but decided again not to wait for the free
bus but to walk back, stopping only to buy some cakes for tea, and we were soon
back at the marina. We stopped on the way back to the boat to look at a fleet
of Open 40s which were gathering to race from Charleston to New York, two-
handed as part of the Atlantic Cup, setting off on 11 May. They were certainly
full on racing machines and didn’t promise anything by the way of comfort for an
Atlantic crossing. I suspect the European competitors had been shipped
across.
Going through
Ladies Island Bridge before
sunrise
and sunrise not sunset!
Typical marshy
waterway
terrain This
section of the waterway uses transits (called ranges) for navigation
Deep enough
where we are, but low water reveals the
mud
The docks have to be taller and have floating platforms as well to cope with the
tidal range
Plenty of birds
to watch us pass on this sand
bar
Not everyone's navigation is as careful as ours
Docks can be
used for more than just
boats
Elliot Cut
Houses
alongside the cut can be
small
as well as big
3.6 knots of
current against us in Elliot
Cut
not all turtles were sighted in the water!
Wappoo Creek
Bridge
Kay being driven off by golf cart along the megadock
Makes a change
from carrying a flag to alert pedestrians about
cars
Typical Charleston street
Free trolley
bus (appropriately called Dash as it dashes out of the picture)
Polishing up James Calhoun (a US vice president)
The Citadel
(now offices and previously a state militia training
college)
Another way we didn't travel sround Charleston (although all the ones we saw
were full)
Replica of HL Hunley outside the museum The
explosive charge is on the end of the bowsprit
Waterfront park
fountain
and its rules (I was particularly struck by "no solo wading"!)
View of Fort Sumter, where the civil war
started USS
Yorktown, now moored at Patriots' Point and open to the
public
The "old"
tavern
Lots of buildings had these gas lanterns alight (even though it was
daytime)
New use for old
cinema
One of the Open 40s getting ready for the Atlantic Cup
race
