Three days in Charleston
AJAYA'S CRUISE
Phil & Nikki Hoskins
Wed 8 Dec 2010 00:00
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Charleston was a weather bolt-hole and broke the passage
southwards towards Florida. Having safely anchored well clear of other craft all
was well until an Aussie boat then anchored approximately 100 yards abeam. This
distance in any normal anchorage would have been fine but like many places
Charleston is situated on a tidal river with quite a current flowing back and
forth. In light winds this doesn't pose any problems as the effect of water over
the keel(s) dominates the direction the boat will face. But add a strong wind
and things become interesting as the anchorage becomes a mass of craft of
different windage and keel configureation sailing all over the place to the
limit of their anchor scope. We had the same problem in St Augustine last year
and it wasn't funny looking out of the window to see ten tons of boat whizzing
towards you, veering off at the last moment as the loose rode finally took up
whereupon the boat would veer off in the other direction. This happened again in
Charleston and the unwritten rule of 'last in first out' was kindly observed by
our Antipodean neighbour who seeing that we were in danger of coming
together finally up-anchored and re-positioned.
We didn't go ashore in Charleston as it was so bitterly cold
and unfortunately our starboard heater developed a problem leaving just the port
side of the boat with warmth (ironically the 'Admiral's side!) However
we were entertained at anchor by a Christmassy event that provided plenty
of laughs with a parade of boats all dressed in Christmas lights making for
quite a spectacle. We had seen persons at the top of masts all day in the strong
winds thinking it was strange that so many boats had masthead issues. We
realised why later in the day. It was quite an acomplishment in the strong winds
and hope there were plenty of people ashore that were appreciative of the
efforts participants had gone to. We certainly were.
  Yacht towing a life-sized 'Father
Christmas' in dinghy.... ...and
a sports fishing boat amongst many entrants
Whilst at anchor we also had front row seats for
any unusual river traffic passing close-by.
  This 'thing' spent the night at the
marina! (Note the person in red seated in deckchair enjoying the ride and
a tinny by the door of his trailer)
  Where's the car
gone!
Is this the shortest 'tug' in the
world
Our weather window arrived after three days and we prepared
for the 350 mile voyage south to Fort Pierce in Florida. The forecast was for a
mixed bag of good breezes, some calm periods and provided we cleared Cape
Canaveral by Thursday we would have a nice casual run in sail to our destination
with gentle northerly breezes. If we didn't then we were in for some strong wind
sailing although it would come from behind. (Best possible wind
direction!!) We left Charleston at 1400 Tuesday afternoon, hoping to finally
escape the chilly weather that was chasing us south.
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