Charleston North Carolina

We anchored at Steamboat Creek with our buddy boat, Delphinea. I was awakened at 4:40 am to Mystic doing that spinning thing she does on the hook in changing tidal currents. Our full keel hull can be redirected by a strong current as it passes by our boat. It's the same thing that happens as the wind flows past our sail only he have no control over the current. Under these conditions, the anchor line could snap or it could damage the rudder.  I woke Dave and he saw, right away, that our anchor line was caught on our rudder. He let out more rode and the line popped free. We got lucky; this is a serious situation. The longer we cruise, the more in tune we become to our boat. It's always something! 

The air outside was cool, almost chilly. We needed our top sheet and could probably have used a blanket. We were both still tired, but we put a pot of coffee on and started our day. When we pulled our anchor and slipped past Delphinea, Debbie was on deck to see us off. We waved as we passed by and parted ways with our friends.

I wore a jacket until noon when the sun rose enough to keep the chill off the breeze. Water depths were good all day, the best we've seen since Brunswick. We made it to Elliot's cut which is marked on our charts as shallow. It's a busy boating area, full of beautiful homes. We had to move slowly but managed to make it to the Wappoo bridge in time for the 12:00 opening. We were disappointed to learn that the bridge opens every hour on the half hour. We made loops up and down the cut for nearly an hour as the tide lowered. We got through at 12:30 then moved out into Charleston Bay with a gazillion other boats. The bay was filled with the most sailboats, actually sailing, of all the harbors we've visited on the loop.  We watched as a big sailboat ran aground outside the channel. Somehow, they were able to get off the sandbar on their own. We arrived at Charleston Maritime Center around 1:00, noticing that, Don't Think Twice, the Looper boat we've been leap frogging with, was already docked there. In addition, there was a Looper Tug named Golfinder from New Orleans that we'd never seen before. After settling up at the dockmaster's office, we were off to explore. 

Charleston Maritime Center

Mystic tucked in between the big boats (next to black hull)

 

Don't Think Twice at Charleston Marine Center

Mystic in Charleston

We walked around town finding Historic homes, buildings and neighborhoods. We stopped at the old Charleston City Market, which is at least six blocks of buildings filled with vendors, artisans, food and treats. It is much like Quincy Market in Boston only much bigger!

Fountain Art at park near marina

Old City Market

Dave and his new friend

Charleston City Market

Charleston City Market

US Customs House

Cobblestone Streets

We made our way to the row of rainbow houses on East Bay Street. It is very popular. There are tons of people posing and taking photos. A resident gave us a history of the pastel buildings, telling us they were nearly destroyed for development. Luckily, the Preservation Society took over this historical neighborhood and protected it. All the shops and galleries had photos and paintings depicting this iconic place. Charleston is very proud of it.

America's Oldest Liquor Store

We stopped for groceries on our way back. When we reached the Maritime center, we began to see large groups of people dressed in all white; literally hundreds of people all looking like they were getting married. We googled 'Charleston white events' and found out it was the annual "white party". This seemed to be a night to dress in all white and come together for drinking and dancing!

The White Festival

Laundry is free at the Maritime Center but we passed on it so we could explore further. We walked to Bay Street Biergarten and joined the locals. We tried the UFO Georgia Peach beer, a light beer with strong hints of peach. It was very good.

When we returned to Mystic, we sat in the cockpit and watched the tons of boats rocking and rolling along with us. We ate a lovely dinner of roasted chicken with fresh bread. The temperature cooled as the sun set. The cabin was chilly so we added a blanket on our bunk and settled in for a good nights sleep.

We really enjoyed Charleston and would love to return. For now, our schedule pushes us north.