Charleston, via boat!

We are a Citadel family, so we are no strangers to the charms of Charleston, SC. The Captain went to college there, we were married there, and we've been visiting at least every 5 years since. But this is the first time we've visited via boat! We had a pretty uneventful overnight run from Fernandina Beach, FL and decided to drop the hook at Battery Overlook. There is another anchorage closer to the Safe Harbor Marina and a dinghy dock, but with numerous reports of fouled anchors we opted for the anchorage between the USCG station and Battery Point for a few days. Boat wakes were plentiful during the day, especially on the weekend, but we always had pretty peaceful nights.

We spent the first few days making plans to see friends, beginning a galley remodel by ripping out the microwave, tightening up the bolts on our arch, and generally eating all of our fresh food in anticipation of a grocery delivery. The "seeing friends" bit is of course a little tough right now, but we made some limited contact. I chatted on the phone with one of my friends while they were ashore with a view of the boat, and we managed to have a picnic dinner near the marina with another family.

The big excitement of this stop? A DOCK!!! That's right! For the first time in over four months we tied up to a dock for the night. Before that, we'd only had a brief stop at a dock in St. Augustine to get fuel. We tied up at Safe Harbor Charleston after swinging in to the mega dock for fuel. The dockhand was awesome and got us snugged up easily despite the strong current and breeze. From there, we headed to the T-head of H dock, which was easy to get to, in a no-wake zone, and only a short walk to the bathhouse. This allowed us to walk on solid ground, chat with a few other cruisers, give the boat a thorough de-salting, dump trash, fill water, do laundry, get a big grocery delivery, fill the liquor locker, and shower ashore--all the essential cruiser chores. Is it the cheapest facility? No. Is it nice, clean, convenient, and professional? Yes! We ended up staying three nights before casting off the lines to head north.

Docked!

How did we get a pic of our friends’ dog, but not of our friends???

Visiting our wedding reception location.