Hilton Head-B&B-Charleston

It did take us two days to meander through the creeks, rivers and canals of the South Carolina marshlands to get to Charleston. The days were sunny and the temperatures were warmer than we liked whenever the wind was directly behind us. We discussed several possible anchorages but decided we would head back up Mosquito Creek to B&B Seafood to tie up at their less than glamorous docks! It turns out it isn't shrimp season yet so the Billy B was sitting idle and the shop was closed, but we called and reached someone who said it would be OK to tie up and maybe he'd be able to find us some frozen shrimp. We ended up buying their next to last 5 lb. bag of frozen shrimp and feasted instead on lobster from Andiamo's freezer (they had bought it in Marsh Harbor, in the Abacos). We ate below because the name of the creek is very apt and the bugs were biting. In fact we found our decks darkened with masses of bugs as we headed off Wednesday morning.

As we rounded the bend by marker number 177 we marveled that every time we go past it, it is low tide and it's high and dry! A major part of the two day trip to Charleston looked like this - - - just not always with so much mud showing.

The closer we got to Charleston, the lusher things became. The Trumpy that passed us was such a lovely lady. We tied up right opposite the large dark hulled power boat at the Charleston City Marina - home of the megadock - a quarter mile long. It is QUITE a hike to the bathrooms and showers!

We pulled in around a little before three and kept our eyes peeled as the skies began to get darker and darker. We were glad to be tied up when the storm hit. We had hail (a new experience - being aboard in a hail storm) and thunder and lightning along with buckets of rain. The winds were not as bad as some storms we've experienced, but strong enough. We were still hearing wind and rain as we went to sleep last night.

Today, Earth day, Good Friday was supposed to be adventure around Charleston day, but the storms were still around so we headed into town, visited our favorite kitchen store (who would have thought), had a delicious lunch at S.N.O.B. (Slightly North Of Broad) and ended our tour at Harris Teeters. Luckily the courtesy van from the Marina came and got us before the next downpour and we were back aboard at 2:30 (instead of taking the harbor tour to Fort Sumter as originally planned!) We decided a dinner of hors d'oeuvres would be a good idea - and we did still have 5 lbs of shrimp to eat! So between showers we bounced back and forth between boats, cooking, cooling, peeling and then eating lots of shrimp (and a few other goodies too.) Hopefully we can see Ft. Sumter in the morning before shoving off for points north. ~~~(\_~~~M&D