Hilton Head to Charleston

An uneventful day, but we covered a lot of miles.  We headed out early from Hilton Head and went outside and up the coast.  The wind was relatively quiet until noon but then it picked up.  We spent a lot of the afternoon at more than 7 knots over the ground.  Arrived off Charleston a little after five, got into the harbor a half hour later, and made the Ben Sawyer draw bridge for its first post rush-hour opening at 6:00 and anchored about 20 minutes later.  We spent a lot of time reading and letting the autopilot do the work most of the day but when the wind kicked up we actually had to steer!  We plan to slow down a bit now and see some of the Intracoastal Waterway that we missed on the way down when we went outside (Myrtle Beach, for example). ~~~_/)~~~D&M
Google Earth track file

"Oh say can you see..." Fort Sumter was a dramatic sight with Old Glory fluttering in the strong afternoon breeze as we entered the inlet at Charleston.

Timing is everything!! We left Hilton Head at 7:30 AM, went outside at Port Royal Sound headed for Charleston. Our favorite Charleston marina was full so we headed north up the ICW as soon as we entered the harbor and arrived at the Ben Sawyer exactly at 6 PM (it is closed from 4-6 for commuter traffic)!

We thought we'd seen it all, but this "cruiser" from Baltimore even carries his car with him! We anchored with him in Inlet Creek just south of Isle of Palms, SC.