Ahhhh Charleston awaiting weather

Whiteside Creek turned out to be a great anchorage. It got a little crowded with 5 boats. The wind died at Sundown and was very nice. Unfortunately it was cloudy so sky watching was not good. There are a lot of strange but interesting sounds in a tidal marsh and that was interesting though. Things did become worrisome around 4 am when the wind came back. I was concerned about the neighbors but all the boats stuck well and there were no problems. Our only concern was that the wind stay under 25 MPH until we reach the Ben Sawyer Swing bridge. It will not open if the winds are above 25 and I didn't want to get stuck on this side of Charleston with heavy weather threatening. Fortunately they were only 17 kts when we got there for the 9am opening.


Temptation did me proud today. She has burnt me over some little stuff in the past but she has always been an easy boat to dock – much to my surprise considering her windage, length, and mass.

The conditions today were not good. They had small craft advisory out for Charleston Harbour and we had to transit the entire breadth. The wind was blowing 15 – 20 with gusts to 27 NE but we got across slowly yet comfortable. Shipped no water on the top sides.

Then came the dock – ohhh I’m still not comfortable docking this big baby. Luckily they decided to put us inside the Mega Dock. Much calmer than the outside but more difficult to navigate. We came in and the dock master signaled my spot -- ohhh boy maybe 50 feet between a mega yacht (that’s a million dollar plus boat) and a personal trawler remember – I’m 42 foot! We had protection from the strongest gusts and the current was coming at me. I eased it in and all looked good till the dock master cringed a little – I was getting close to the bow of the mega yacht. Fortunately I laid her right into the center, backed her down, and the wind pressed me against the dock till the lines were tight. Ohhh boy it was beer 30 even if it was only 10:30am.

There is a really large severe weather system coming in tonight with heaviest winds and rain tomorrow into Saturday. We will stay here till Sunday and reprovision the boat and do laundry and take Beau coup HOT showers – the slip rate is now $2 a foot so I expect to use a LOT of hot water.