Crew Log for November 30th, 2022
Trip Summary:
• Church Creek, SC – Beaufort, SC
• Trip Distance of 42.5 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 2,056.4 NM
• Departed at 07h00, arrived at 14h20
We had a beautiful night on anchor at Church Creek and were feeling better. We were off to Beaufort, South Carolina, which I mispronounced more than once while we were there.
This section of the ICW tracks quite a bit inland through a winding series of rivers and creeks, joined by constructed canals. Where the ICW crosses the river inlets the tidal currents can be quite strong and have the tendency to push the boat sideways. However, if you can catch the current going in the right direction, you can make some pretty good time.
Our dock neighbors from Great Bridge Village on the Ranger Tug lived in Beaufort. Unfortunately, our timing wasn’t great since they were headed to Texas to visit family the day we arrived.
Beaufort, lies halfway between Charleston, SC and Savanah, Georgia, on Port Royal Island, in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. It is South Carolina’s second oldest city, after Charleston. The city’s historic district is famous for it’s plantation style homes, built between the 1830’s and 1860’s. The city is also famous for it’s military facilities, including the Marine Corps Air Station and Parris Island, a marine recruit training facility.
As we motored our way up the Coosaw River and made the turn into the Beaufort River around Landy’s Island, we heard a massive roar that shook the entire boat. The marines must have been having flight training. The sound was deafening and continued well into the evening. It left me wondering how young parents could possibly get kids to bed. Maybe like the trains in Truro, they get so used to it they don’t hear anymore. It was loud enough to drown out any conversation we tried to have.
We opted to take a mooring ball at the Beaufort City Marina to be closer to town. We decided to only stop for the night, so we wanted to take full advantage of the time we had to explore Beaufort. We also discovered about mid morning that our poor cell service was actually no cell service.
We bought SIM cards from Walmart when we arrived in the US. We aren’t proud of it, but all the other carriers required us to either purchase a phone or a 3 year contract. Walmart has an app that allows you to renew the service online. However, if you do it before the end of the current contract, you lose whatever remaining time you have. We’ve lost a week since we started with them in September. If you wait until it expires, you have to call the automated help line. You know, the “…this call may be recorded for training purposes…” line, in order to reinstate the service.
The genius that designed the system however, obviously ignored the fact that you can’t call if they discontinued your service. Thankfully, the clerk in the Beaufort City Marina Gift Shop was a rebel and allowed us to use their phone to make a 1-800 call to Walmart. For future reference, and to spare you the 10 painful minutes I spent listening to the “Hi, thank you for calling Straight Talk…let’s see how we can help you” guy, all you have to do after you renew your service, is turn the phone off and back on. I’d love to be sitting in the room when they play my exchange from that call, to the new Straight Talk trainees.
Exhausted from the brutality of talking to a computerized voice, we polled several locals on where the best place was to grab a sundowner before heading back to the boat. Based on our limited research, we ended up at Q, a local barbeque restaurant that reportedly had the best selection of local beer and ciders in town. Displaying my complete ignorance of the lingo used in the craft brewing world, the first 2 choices I made were from the non tapped category.
We decided to treat ourselves and ordered some South Carolina BBQ for supper. We ordered a side of burnt brisket ends that were neither burnt, not ends, and both my entrée and Judy’s were obviously not memorable enough to be noted in the crew log. To add to our culinary disappointment, we watched city staff construct an artificial tree, only to stop short, with it only half completed.
To be fair to Q, the staff were great. Our server had a walking boot on, the result of a broken ankle, but was efficient and pleasant. And there was, as our earlier survey noted, a good selection of beer and cider. However, not to toot our own horn, but the meal fell short of the Truro / Hilden backyard barbeque standards. Back to the boat to plan out departure from Beaufort, as the jets continued to roar above us.
Savannah was on our route, but we were concerned with our lack of progress, so it got added to the places to visit on the trip home. We would be on anchor for the next week or so until we reached Florida.
But more about that, next time.
Additional photos.
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