Pipe_Dream
God
My wife and I have wanted to make the trip up to Charleston via the ICW ever since we repowered 5 years ago. Work and obligations kept getting in the way, but since we didn't take any real vacation this year we finally planned the trip as a way to celebrate our 15th anniversary. We didn't have very cooperative weather, but we enjoyed the trip anyway!
We awoke Friday morning, with rain showers moving along the coast, but we thought we could slip in between some of them for a relatively dry passage. We were following a friend who has made the trip many times, and he and I agree about our radar interpretations. Loaded up the boat in a damp drizzle, hoping that it wouldn't come down any harder.
The first half of the trip wasn't too bad, with a temp in the low 70s and winds at 5-10 knots, but the drizzle wouldn't let up. Every time we seemed to be heading toward brighter skies, low dark clouds would descend upon us. I just knew we would get north of the rain soon.
Our prearranged break stop was Bennett's Point, about halfway to Charleston, but as the houses and docks of that place came into view the skies opened up into our first downpour of the day. We tied up, went inside to use the facilities and chat for a few minutes, and the rain seemed to let up so we shoved off to resume our trip. But as we approached the ICW the rain began to pour again, and the wind picked up.
This photo doesn't do the conditions justice. Trust me! The conditions turned more ugly, with a very low ceiling and rain blowing sideways from the wind.
But we pushed on, and by the time we neared City Marina the rain had stopped. The trip up, a little over 90 miles, took 4 hours (if you don't count the 2 hours we spent waiting for the tide to lift us off a sandbar -- but that's another story! Ha ha!)
Saturday dawned beautifully, the rain had moved out, and I comfortably enjoyed my rooftop coffee and paper in shorts and a sweatshirt. Perfect! We enjoyed Charleston, as we always do. Stayed just a block from Market Street, so that we could walk anywhere we wanted to go. The day was sunny, with a high in the 60s. We met our friend for drinks and dinner and to plan our trip south the next day, watching the winds begin to pick up . . .
And pick up they did, along with a drop in temperature. When the City Marina shuttle delivered us to the marina, it was 43 degrees with a wind chill of ??
We put on all the layers we had, and packed up the boats.
Thank goodness we were in the ICW, with WNW to NNW winds of 20 knots, gusting to 30. It was sunny, and the temp rose into the 50s, but the wind was pretty intense. (to be continued)
We awoke Friday morning, with rain showers moving along the coast, but we thought we could slip in between some of them for a relatively dry passage. We were following a friend who has made the trip many times, and he and I agree about our radar interpretations. Loaded up the boat in a damp drizzle, hoping that it wouldn't come down any harder.
The first half of the trip wasn't too bad, with a temp in the low 70s and winds at 5-10 knots, but the drizzle wouldn't let up. Every time we seemed to be heading toward brighter skies, low dark clouds would descend upon us. I just knew we would get north of the rain soon.
Our prearranged break stop was Bennett's Point, about halfway to Charleston, but as the houses and docks of that place came into view the skies opened up into our first downpour of the day. We tied up, went inside to use the facilities and chat for a few minutes, and the rain seemed to let up so we shoved off to resume our trip. But as we approached the ICW the rain began to pour again, and the wind picked up.
This photo doesn't do the conditions justice. Trust me! The conditions turned more ugly, with a very low ceiling and rain blowing sideways from the wind.
But we pushed on, and by the time we neared City Marina the rain had stopped. The trip up, a little over 90 miles, took 4 hours (if you don't count the 2 hours we spent waiting for the tide to lift us off a sandbar -- but that's another story! Ha ha!)
Saturday dawned beautifully, the rain had moved out, and I comfortably enjoyed my rooftop coffee and paper in shorts and a sweatshirt. Perfect! We enjoyed Charleston, as we always do. Stayed just a block from Market Street, so that we could walk anywhere we wanted to go. The day was sunny, with a high in the 60s. We met our friend for drinks and dinner and to plan our trip south the next day, watching the winds begin to pick up . . .
And pick up they did, along with a drop in temperature. When the City Marina shuttle delivered us to the marina, it was 43 degrees with a wind chill of ??
We put on all the layers we had, and packed up the boats.
Thank goodness we were in the ICW, with WNW to NNW winds of 20 knots, gusting to 30. It was sunny, and the temp rose into the 50s, but the wind was pretty intense. (to be continued)
