Beaufort...a South Carolina favorite

We came back to one of our favorite little towns on the coastal journey—Beaufort, SC! But first...how did we get here? We have never arrived here via the ICW, but have rather always come from offshore via the long inlet. We passed Charleston at 0400 on our transit and just kept going as we would end up at the mouth of Port Royal Sound at the start of a flood tide with only 10 knots of wind in the forecast. Well...that’s not how it all went down. As I was coming off my 04-08 watch dark clouds were ahead of us. Heavy rain limited visibility at times and winds were a solid “+10” over what had been forecast. As I turned into the inlet on my next watch, winds were on the beam at 20kts creating steep, short period waves. It was hell. I got pushed off my track to the other side of the channel and struggled to get back on “my side” and there was a boat exiting. My confidence was shot and I turned the helm over to the Skipper. The next hour was rough, but he got us through no problem. A few more hours up the river and we were securely moored! Whew!

Once there, Beaufort was every bit as charming as we remembered. It was also cold and windy again (is it us?), but we were able to enjoy walks around town, dining outside at Herban Market and Cafe (our favorite!), some local shopping, and the Skipper even got a visit from a college friend.

We also had to trace the source of some major water that was pooling up in our pantry over our fridge (where the microwave used to be). A leak? Condensation? After taking down some panels, drying condensation, and removing an outlet, we think we have solved the mystery. Nothing appears to be leaking (had a good rain with everything dried and taken apart and couldn’t see a leak), but we found a weird void behind an outlet that was filled with slimy, old water. We think that condensation may have pooled here over time and just recently “overflowed” on our transits, causing the pools of water in the pantry. For now, everything is dried out so we can continue to monitor it. 

Forecast is good for a cold, but easy departure from the inlet tomorrow and we are bound for Cumberland Island, GA!