McCllelanville to Charleston to Steamboat Creek to Port Royal, SC

Day #429; Loop Miles to Date = 4,952

Ok...we've been a bit delinquent on the blog postings, so time to catch up. We left McClellanville a week ago and motored into Charleston...and in the process catching back up with our friends on Corkscrew, which of course meant that we enjoyed ourselves while there. It was a bit of a gray and dreary travel day, but more or less uneventful. Last time in Charleston, we stayed at the Maritime Center, but it took a beating from Matthew and was closed for repairs until further notice. So, we stayed at Charleston City Marina...a huge marina with one of the largest docks on our route (the Megadock). There were some awesome boats docked here, and we were frankly glad to not be on the Megadock, but located on a T-head on one of the other docks. More quiet and peaceful there.

This trip to Charleston brought some good news and some bad news...the bad news was that we were unable to coordinate schedules with Rob's cousin Phyllis this time. We were glad that we saw them on our last visit, and hope to again when we come back north. The good news was that we were able to spend a day with Sandy's sister Lisa. We missed her on the last trip, so it was great to catch up. Lisa drove to the boat to see us and visit for a spell, and then Lisa and Sandy took off to spend the afternoon together...and they had a blast. We're really glad it worked out this time!

Lisa and Sandy on a gray day in Charleston.

And now for a brief detour to share some details about what "a day in the life of Sandrobber" sometimes entails. It isn't always easy and simple. This installment is about puppy walking! Sometimes it is as simple as pie...just grab a puppy, hop off the boat to the dock, and walk about 20 steps to some grass and green space. But sometimes it is quite painful. This last week found us with 3 of our less than desirable situations. #1 was in Charleston...it was a LONG walk to get to some grass. The only walk that has been longer was in Washington DC. The walk in Charleston was also on dock planking that had gaps in it large enough to snag a dogs paw every 50' or so. Each trip to "grass" (there really wasn't any) was about 1/2 hour round trip...4 times a day. Phew!

#2 - Our next stop after Charleston was in an anchorage called Steamboat Creek. This is a lovely anchorage, and one that we used last spring. It has a floating dock available for landing the dinghy to get the dogs ashore. This time around however, we arrived to find the dock was no longer attached to land...Matthew had destroyed the part between the floating dock and the fixed dock on shore. And this area has 6'-7' tides, so landing at the fixed portion of the dock was not always feasible. Needless to say, we had a challenge here...especially after dark, with the wind blowing and the temps dropping into the 30's. This wasn't fun either.

And #3 - We are at Port Royal, just south of Beaufort, SC. The marina is nice, the people are friendly, but once again we are faced with a very LONG walk. With tidal ranges of 7, many of the docks are located far from shore with long walkways to get between the two. In this case, it is all aluminum decking, with no gaps, thankfully. But, each trip to walk the pups is about 1/2 mile round trip...which adds up when we're trying to walk them 4 times per day.

But...enough of that...these are small hardships to endure in the grand scheme of things. In the meantime, we are off to points further south as we reflect on these more peaceful moments from the last week...

Sunset at Steamboat Creek anchorage.

Sunrise from our boat in Port Royal.