Duplin River to Isle of Hope (Savannah) to Lady's Island Marina (Beaufort SC)

Day #203; Loop Miles to Date = 2,490

Our travel days since our last posting are blending together in our brains. They seem quite similar, and by the time we pen a blog, we can't really distinguish between them. The topography is much the same, with more salt marshes and winding river-like scenery. Sometimes it is even hard to remember that we are in salt water. For now though, we do know that we are in South Carolina, marking the 6th state that we have visited thus far.

Isle of Hope marina was another nice stop...the people were friendly and the access to downtown Savannah reasonably close. We didn't end up with any pics of Savannah this trip, but enjoyed a bus tour around the city for one afternoon. These touristy types of excursions are not usually our first preference, but in this instance we had a great experience. We learned a lot about the history of Savannah, and saw appreciably more of the city than we would have on foot. It is really a very beautiful small city...very southern, and very charming. Lots and lots of beautiful old southern homes. We really enjoyed this stop.

 

OK...so it may not seem so from this picture, but the docking skills that we needed to get our tug into this spot were a bit more than typical (Isle of Hope Marina). We had to BACK down this narrow fairway to get to our spot...past all of these boats. And what you must know is that single engine boats like ours do not back in a straight line. They "walk" to starboard (to the right) as soon as you start backing them up. So...it took a bit of patience, but we made it in one try without touching any of the neighboring boats. It was a  good challenge, and we were thankful that we had only a moderate breeze and had timed our arrival for slack tide (so no current to deal with). Getting out was a bit more straightforward! That's Act lll to our right...they had to do the same thing and did so admirably!

On one section of the ICW on the way to Lady's Island, we had to cross a major shipping channel into Savannah. As we approached, this was one of two huge freighters that we encountered. We decided to let them have the right of way, and idled on one side of the channel while they passed. These things are enormous when you get a front row seat...look at how many of these containers they carry in each load...just breathtaking.

As a nice added bonus, the captain of this freighter hailed us on the radio and thanked us for staying out of his way. I'm sure he encounters plenty of idiots in small boats, and was simply glad that we were not one of them!

Lady's Island marina is a small marina, and not located directly in the downtown area of Beaufort, SC...we're about a mile away from town. But the folks running this marina are terrific, as is the resident live aboard boating community. All we had to do was call the dock master Steve, and request a lift to town. Within minutes, we had one of the other boaters here ready with a minivan to take us to town. Then, when we were done walking around this quaint southern town, we simply called them again, and Steve came and picked us back up for the return trip. This was a very pleasant stay!

The beautiful riverfront park area between downtown Beaufort and the ICW. Our marina is actually on the other side of that bridge in the background.

We're off tomorrow morning to an anchorage about 35 miles north of here, and then on to Charleston...