Charleston, SC

When we left Osprey Marina, our goal was to try and make it to Charleston SC before a major cold front and storm came through the area. Freeze warnings were issued as low tempuratures were predicted to be in the high 20s. The weather was too cold to stay on anchor, so as I was driving the boat, Sue was calling marinas in Charleston to try to find us a slip with power so we could run our heater.

We weren’t the only ones with this idea and we were finding most of the marinas were booked. Our 3rd choice, which is across the river from downtown Charleston, had an opening. It cost the same as the premium location marinas plus it had an additional “resort free”. The marina is part of a resort and we had to pay a fee for the “resort amenities” — whether we used them or not. I suspect this is why they still had openings. But, they had shore power, and that’s what mattered.

The tides in Charleston are significant and cause heavy currents. The marina recommends coming and going during slack water only. Normally, it’s easy to time my arrival except there is a swing bridge that needs to be opened just before Charleston. It’s an on demand bridge, which means there is no opening schedule. If I missed slack water, I’d have to wait about 6 hours for the next one so I gave myself an extra hour just in case there was an issue getting through the bridge. Well, everything went smoothly and I made it to the marina an hour before slack water. I called the marina on the radio and they had me circle outside until the current let up.

I’ve been to many marinas and have received some unusual instructions over the years. The directions I got here have to be the most unusual. “Come into the marine, head towards the bridge. When you reach the submarine, turn towards port. Before you reach the aircraft carrier, turn hard to port and parallel park between the two catamarans. Someone will be waiting to help tie you up.”

Submarines and aircraft carriers, huh? I thought those were boat names or references to sinking boat and a large boat, but no. As I entered the marina and started heading towards the bridge, there was a submarine and I saw the old aircraft carrier — the Yorktown. Our slip was on the far outskirts of the marina, in the middle of another maritime museum.

When we arrived the tempuratures were in the 70s and it was sunny. Around 4 in the afternoon, the cold front and storms came. The wind picked up, rain fell, and the tempuratures dropped. We decided we’d go out and see what “amenities” the resort had and take advantage of them. Problem was, we were trapped on the boat. The winds whipped up waves that were crashing over the walkway. Unless we put on boots and foul weather gear, we were going to get soaked.

The next morning, the wind and waves still made the walkway unpassable. Finally, in the early afternoon, we were able to make it off the boat. As for the resort amenities, almost everything was closed for the winter. Technically, the outside pool and hot tub were open, but there wasn’t a locker room to change in and the boat is probably a quarter mile away. The gym was equally disappointing.

They had AC power and the heater ran all night long. We were warm and comfortable and that’s what really mattered.

We did make it to Whole Foods to pick up some Amazon orders. The Amazon lockers have been making deliveries easier for us.