Steamboat (Mickey) and Beaufort

10/22/2012 =>Steamboat Creek

Salty hiding in the "shade" on the passage

Today is a pass-through day; just travelling through the ICW to an anchorage when we feel like stopping!  By 1600, we were ready to drop the hook!  The closest location was a place called Steamboat Creek, truly in the middle of nowhere!  Ha. There was a little dinghy ramp and dirt road to land Salty on, so we were able to take a walk up the road for a bit!  That night we had some more dolphin visitors, but that is about as exciting it got!  A nice relaxing day for us though, is boring for readers however…ha. 

10/23/2012 =>Factory Creek, Ladys Island SC

0900:  We landed Salty at the dinghy dock and I went for a solo, much needed run!  We were going to be pulling close to 8 hrs today, so Mike founds it very prudent to let Salty (and me) off in the morning!  As approached Beaufort, SC we decided to anchor across from the city itself on Ladys Island, in Factory Creek.  The anchorage is rather tight, but close to a food store, as well as West Marine, which we need to hit up!  …and since Publix sucks with meat prices, decided to get some pizza from the local place…Southern pizza test, round 2!  It’s getting better! Ha.  In the morning, we will move into the Beaufort Anchorage area to start exploring the city of Beaufort! 

 

10/24/2012 =>Beaufort, SC (anchorage)

We got through the 9am Ladys Island Swing Bridge and into the Beaufort anchorage!  As we anchored, we notice the boats all swinging in odd ways!  Being chicken from last anchorage (Charleston…) we waited for the next tide change before leaving the boat…and watched the boat off our portside come infront and move laterally across our boat to end at our starboard!  This made us so freaking nervous!! Ha.  We pulled anchor and went further away from the field!  Charleston really did a number on our confidence! When we finally felt comfy, we headed into the townJ.  Beaufort is a cute town, very old and quaint!  I am sure further than the 15 blocks inland it gets more commercial/box-like, but from our point of view, the area looked untouched from the civil war era!!  I had read about one of the graveyards (learned in Charleston:  a graveyard is for a religious burial ground, cemetery for non secular) in town being from the orgin of Beaufort; in fact, became a military field hospital (the above ground graves) during the civil war…so of course I wanted to see this!  Both Mike and I were amazed (in a respectable way) at seeing the many graves marked with a Civil War Vet/Killed in Action icons.  In the North, minus Gettysburg, I have never seen an icon for this war before and was amazed!  Most we saw were survivors of this war; which lead to us wanted to have talked to know how they lived afterwards!  Sounds weird, but it’s such an interesting time on US’s history, all politics aside just military/naval aspects alone!

memorial to Confederate War Vet

After walking around for about 4.5 hours, we were tuckered out (Salty too!) and getting lazy! Ha.  We still have to another 2ish hours until tide change (helps to row with the tide) and were hungry!  A very nice man at the dingy dock earlier that day, had 1-mentioned that he saw us in Georgetown, but that there is a good burger/bar place with free wifi! So we sought this place out:  happy hour with ½ priced burgers!!! WOOOO!  4.50 for a burger/fries and 1.00 tap beers!  Right up our alley!  Salty was even given a huge bowl of ice water!

When we headed back to the boat at near sunset, she was still parked where we left her! Woo!  Our plans for tomorrow are…up in the air!  We know a hurricane is a’coming, but with the way weather can change so quickly, especially depending on the sea, we are not sure of what course to take!  We have to wait till at least 0800 for the fuel dock at Beaufort Marina to open, so I guess will check the weather again then!