From Florida to the Chesapeake and Back: Rogue ICW Day 10

I can’t believe it has been ten days since we departed St. Petersburg Fl. and Rick and I are still talking to each other. Actually there really hasn’t been any real moments so I guess that means we are pretty good friends.

Some little known facts for some of you are that Rick grew up in Chestertown Md., the hailing port of Rogue, and where I now live. He graduated from the old Chestertown High School. But, I didn’t meet Rick in Chestertown, I met him at work. Turns out we both work(ed) (he still works I don’t) for the same company, in the same department, in Washington D.C. So, it is a small world I guess.

We left Delegard Marina this morning around 8:00 with the sun shining and a light breeze blowing. It was close to high tide so we had no trouble getting over the hump at the opening to Delegard Creek. We turned north and settled in for the day. More salt marshes greeted us as we motored along putting more miles behind us. Finally the scenery began to change and we could actually see some houses, and those relentless flies finally left. Yay. Looking at the map we had left Georgia behind, it was no longer on my mind. South Carolina beckoned. We had put yet another state in the rear view. Savannah slowly came into view and with it some really nice places on the water. And boats too. Big ones. We idled our way through the Savannah area, and continued forward. We motored past Hilton Head Island and as the day wore on the high tide we had in the morning was now approaching low tide. There are a few stretches where the channel really narrows as the tide goes down, not to mention the depth of the water also receding. So motoring through some of these unfamiliar and restricted passages makes for a little nail biting at times. Not as bad as yesterday mind you, but a little like threading a needle. You don’t know exactly where the deep part of the channel is, but you can’t really stray much from side to side. You pretty much aim for the middle and hope for the best. And, if you see a local ahead of you, just follow him.

We left Hilton Head behind, and headed for Beaufort SC. There is some pretty big open water and the wind was starting to increase in intensity creating some chop. It didn’t hinder us, but it was pretty annoying. We passed Paris Island, and finally Beaufort was ahead and we idled through town. I didn’t think it was as pretty as Savannah from the water, but historic nonetheless. The wind continued, and as we left Beaufort, I started to think about a place to pull up and anchor for the night. The place I originally thought about was along the Coosow River, which is another rather large body of water. With the wind coming across the marshes and the long fetch on the river, it would be rather uncomfortable anywhere along the Coosow. So we pushed on, and on, and on until we found a curve in the Ashepoo River near where there is a short cut into the Edistido River. There are some trees on the shore that we can use to cut the wind and the water isn’t nearly as choppy as the Coosow. There were times as we motored along the Coosow that we had spray come up and hit us on the bridge. The boat felt at times like a horse on a carrousel. Up and down, wave, splash, up and down, wave, splash. But we are here now, anchored. The water is much calmer than the Coosow. The weather reports are for 20 – 30 mph winds tonight and tomorrow with possible thunderstorms. We might just sit tight tomorrow and see what happens. Frankly, I could use a day of rest.

Statistics for today- 92 miles traveled, 10hrs 31mins moving time, 11mins stopped, 10hrs 43mins total time. Total distance traveled-774 miles

Here are some pictures of the day.