We knew that today’s leg would be through some very shoal areas, so we needed as much water under the keel as possible.  High tide was at 7:05 AM, so we were motoring out of Toogoodoo Creek at 7 AM.  We don’t normally raise the anchor in the dark, but it was worth it this time.

After viewing comments on Active Captain and Salty Cruisers, we were particularly worried about four areas:  Dawho River, Watts Cut, the Ashepoo Coosaw Cutoff, and Brickyard Creek.  All of them were narrow, shallow (some as low as 4.5 feet at MLLW), and had squirrelly current.  We hit the first three on a falling tide, but it was still high enough to have a few feet  of insurance.  It was very tense going through these areas, and I don’t know that we would have made it through the Ashepoo Coosaw Cutoff at low tide.

The areas that we traversed were truly beautiful.  We saw flocks of stark white pelicans floating in the water, but I was too busy navigating to take any pictures.  We also had dolphin everywhere, all day.  They kept startling me by surfacing right next to the cockpit, which is always a treat.  It makes my heart happy to see them.

Brickyard Creek was near the end of our day, just before Beaufort.  There was plenty of water, it’s just that the actual channel (as opposed to the marked channel) was about 20 feet wide.  The current was swift and unpredictable, and it tried its hardest to push us out of the deeper water into shoal water.  The Captain later reported that he was manhandling the boat through that stretch.

We hit the Ladies Island Bridge just in time for their 2 PM opening.  Just after the bridge is the Downtown Marina of Beaufort, and we picked up one of their $20 moorings.  It includes access to the bathrooms/showers, laundry room, wifi, and courtesy car, so that’s one heck of a deal.

We plan on staying in Beaufort while waiting for a weather window to head offshore to St. Mary’s, GA.

Today was 7.25 hours for 36.8 nm (42.3 statute miles).

The view just before we took off from Toogoodoo Creek.  Love that moon!