OtherGoose: Saturday dec 6

Saturday, Dec.6

This morning we finished checking the fluid levels, and got ready to head down to Charleston. While we were on the back deck two pelicans came over to see what we were doing. Not sure if they were interested in us or the dinghy.

We headed down river and met up with C-Soul who were about 3 miles away. We probably could have seen their anchor light at night. We stopped for coffee and to discuss the plan for the day. We were going to be faced with strong tides and a bridge that only opened on t hour. We also were faced the probability of a restricted zone around the coast guard station because they were commissioning a new ship today, so we might have run into a roadblock or river-block.

We decided to stop at the Toler’s Cove Marina just under the Ben Sawyer Bridge. It was going to be expensive but there was a courtesy car and laundry facilities according to the Waterway Guide.

The river was very shallow running to 3 feet in spots. In fact, as we approached the bridge, C-Soul hit bottom and called the sailboat, Kanga behind her with a 5foot draft to warn about the shallows. Kanga ran aground a few minutes later. I ran aground again when a power boat ran past with a wake so strong it pushed us into the shallows, as I was calling the bridge to find out the opening time, hoping he would open early for us. Rick got us off with the dinghy.

We turned into the marina and I was instructed to park between a small run about and a huge sport fisher...piece of cake! C-Soul parked at the Fuel dock. We found out after we got here...no washrooms, no laundry and no courtesy car. We have to wait for someone to come and drive us to where we want to go.

The dock here is lined with condos. It’s like sleeping in your car in someone’s driveway! But the other Marina in Charleston is subject to the wake from ships running in and out of the port. The anchorages are too far away from any place to land. SO we are going to rent a car today to get our stuff done and then do some exploring in the old part of the city. There is a Ghost Tour that Gail and I want to go on tonight so Mark and Rick are coming with us!

Let you know how that works out!