Cruising the ICW

Another city with lots of history, well worthy of a longer stop than we can give it. Leaving Beaufort SC, the route became somewhat less tortuous, but still very low-land marsh dominated.   The run to Charleston was our longest day yet, almost 60 miles, as there was no good stopping alternative along the way.  It was a beautiful clear, calm day, which made the trip much more pleasant. A great improvement from the previous day, when we steered from inside for most of the day due to the much cooler weather. There really is a lot to see here.  Charleston was established by the British in the early 1600's and became a major center for trade from the Southern states. There are an amazing number of homes and buildings still surviving from the 1700's and 1800's.  The stretch shown here is knows as "Rainbow Row".  It was also the site of the opening shots of the Civil War at Fort Sumter.  SC was one of the states that seceded from the Union, trying to defend its economi

Since arriving in Georgia, and first night stopping at St Simon's Island, we have made good progress through the state, crossing seven major river entrances from the Atlantic..  There is a lot of nothing on the Georgia Coast, so that even finding a place to stop is a challenge.   Fortunately, at St Simon's Island we met a very nice couple, Jan and Lee, on another Grand Banks. They planned to anchor the next night as well, so we exchanged plans.  The first possible anchorage we tried for an hour, but although the anchor held well, the wind was really blowing, and there wasn't a lot of swing room and I knew I wouldn't sleep well that night, so we moved on.  I had read about another anchorage on the south side of Sapelo Sound, and we decided to try that.  Blackbeard's creek on Blackbeard's Island.  Yes, THAT Blackbeard.  Can totally see why he chose this place.  Good access from the ocean, good anchorage for a larger vessel and access to a creek and island tha