Winter SC Cruising

January day in the Toogoodoo Creek

Yes it has been since the 1st week of October since Summer Breeze has been away from the dock. Hurricanes, rain, holidays, valuable family time, snow storms, ice, wind.... have kept us away! We had some time blocked off on our calendars for a January trip but the weather has not cooperated and it seems that we might be blessed with a couple of wonderful days now. So, off we go for what we think might be 3 nights, Sunday through Wednesday for some coastal cruising, 

still learning Summer Breeze.

Pelicans flying across the creek at 10 AM

Bella in her boat bed

 We left the dock at 10AM this morning with an incoming tide and we had a smooth departure. The incoming tide seems to to suit us. It is a beautiful day with no wind and the water is as calm as can be. It took us about 2 hours to get to Botany Bay Beach so we tested out South Creek entrance for a possible night anchorage and at high tide, we found it sufficient and then we tested it going out again at about mid tide to confirm that we could leave early in the morning. It was fine. Being that it is a beautiful day and calm waters, we exited the creek and decided to go play offshore for just a bit.

We cruised to Red#6 buoy and the turned around so we could get back into South Creek before low tide. Offshore is smooth as glass today and we are hoping that it will be the same tomorrow for an offshore trip to Charleston.

We got back into the creek without any worries and decided we would be fine for the AM departure and we anchored about 2 PM. We had thought of putting the dinghy down and exploring the island but it is a bit cold out even though it hovering in the mid to upper 60s and it cools off real fast in the afternoon. So, we just relaxed and had a nice evening in the creek.

We hope to leave early in the morning to leave the creek at about mid tide and go offshore to the Charleston inlet, past Morris Island Lighthouse and by Sumter Fort and then back into the ICW through Wappoo and Elliot Cut to anchor by St Johns Yacht Club. We hope because it will be a bit rainy on Monday night, Tuesday morning. This should position us well for an ICW return while we have experienced some good offshore time.

I decided to capture the image of our nav charts of our location last night. It was a good one! Protected, easy access to Botany Beach if we want, easy access to offshore or anywhere around Edisto. We will be here again!

To see other posts, previous or later, click here.