Beaufort NC to St. Augustine FL

2: CHARLESTON TO SAVANNAH

The marina at Charleston City Docks was the nicest we had seen.  Too bad it cost money and we were in a hurry - otherwise we may have stayed awhile.  Needing to go to West Marine in the morning to see if they had the alternator we wanted (they didn't), we left Charleston a little late.  We planned on going all the way to Beaufort, SC (BEW-fort) but stopped a little north of Beaufort at Dataw Island Marina as we weren't sure of how much daylight we had left.  Dataw was a nice stop - not much going on but they had a very nice park so Nolan got to play and he also rode his bike all around.

Dataw Island to Beaufort SC

The weather forecast for Saturday was very windy with thunderstorms in the forecast.  Our original plan was to go all the way to Savannah, leaving very early.  We then modified it to stop at Hilton Head.  In the end, the weather was already getting so bad that we stopped in Beaufort, only a couple of hours after leaving Dataw.  At this point, our trip started getting very nostalgic for Ria because her family had owned a vacation home in the Beaufort area for years when she was growing up.  There's a special feeling when you sail your own boat to an area that feels like home.  For Ria it was momentous going through the bridges that she sat at as a child (such as Ladys Island Bridge) while they opened for shrimpboats, etc, but this time were opening for our own boat.

The weather on Sunday wasn't much better - no rain but still strong winds.  Nothing like the Neuse River but we knew that crossing the Port Royal Sound would be "sloppy".  Since Maria had family greeting us in Savannah, we decided to push on anyway. 

Nolan enjoyed a blueberry bagel after leaving Beaufort.  Then he got hold of the camera and started taking pictures of everyone else...  He didn't do too bad!

After crossing over the Savannah River, we didn't have far to go before reaching Thunderbolt.  We did touch bottom again but kept moving.  We were about 30-45 minutes late getting in, but considering what we had been through, we felt we did a great job.  And it was so nice to make it there to see Ria's family.

Below (left) is the Savannah River and the Causton Bluff Bridge just before Thunderbolt.

Ria's parents and her brother Steve and his family were waiting for us in Thunderbolt.  Other than her mother, no one in her family had seen Belisana so we had been cleaning all day to get her shipshape.  Nolan was very excited about seeing Mimi (we have two Mimi's - Ria's mother and our dog) and went out on deck to wave to her on the dock as we approached.  After a quick tour of the boat, we all walked to lunch and came back and hung out for a while longer before Steve and his family left to return to Columbia, SC.  Ria's parents stayed in Savannah because her father was making the trip from Savannah to Jacksonville, FL, with us.  We stayed in Savannah a few days (and got our new alternator installed).   Nolan enjoyed going off with Mimi and Papa each day - he rode his bike all through downtown Savannah, watched a parade, went to a toy store, etc.  While Ria visited with friends, Brian worked from sunup to sundown on the boat each day.

Ria's brother Steve and their father, "Papa".

Andrew at the helm

Nolan had a great time with his cousins, Andrew and Abigail.  And it seems that Andrew and Abigail had a great time, too.  Steve, Robin, Andrew, and Abigail will all be joining us in the Bahamas or Turks and Caicos for a couple of weeks in April - we can hardly wait and look forward to having alot of fun with theml...!