Today we headed to Beaufort SC. We are learning that the earlier we get up then the longer we enjoy the next destination. Beaufort will be our turn around point. We had hoped to go all the way to Savannah but most days it’s has taken us longer to get somewhere than anticipated. Sometimes this is because of heavy boat traffic ( Philip slows for sailboats so as not to rock them with the boat wake) and sometimes it’s because it’s choppy and Peyton is napping.
Beaufort SC is another quaint little water town. There is a gorgeous waterfront park that extends the entire length of the town. All along the park are scenic archways and swings. It is truly gorgeous. We also found a little park for Peyton that had a tandem swing for mom and child. She loved it!
But back to the journey of getting there. We left as early as we could from Charleston, but still later than we hoped.
For the most part the journey was uneventful and dare I say boring as it was mostly just marshy grasslands for miles and miles. We went through several areas of 2-3 ft water because we were right at low tide. We are definitely in the lowcountry!
While the scenery wasn’t as interesting, this part of the journey is super cool to look at on a map because there were several areas where we went through dredged cuts specifically made for ICW travel. As we went through our last cut we crossed Harbor River and passed another part of our journey that I was really excited about called Morgan Island or Monkey Island. This island is a largely unknown government research island with over 4000 rhesus monkeys. These monkeys were originally in Puerto Rico when several infected with Herpes escaped the research facility there. The monkeys were subsequently moved to Morgan Island. The island was mostly a secret until several years ago. We weren’t able to get close enough at low tide to see any monkeys but a quick Google search and you can find some cool videos.
We had a great dinner at Panini’s in Beaufort and watched a small cruise ship come in. We both went to sleep not as excited about day 7 since we had just gone southbound in the same waters.
| Date | Wednesday, May 4, 2016 |
| Depart | The Harborage at Ashley Marina, Charleston, SC [map] |
| Arrive | Downtown Marina of Beaufort, Beaufort, SC [map] |
| Weather Charleston, SC |
Partly Cloudy High 80, Low 60 Winds WSW 6, Gusts to 20 Visibility: 10 Miles |
| Weather Beaufort, SC |
Overcast then clearing High 80, Low 68 Winds W 7, Gusts to 24 Visibility: 7 Miles Thunderstorms |
| Miles Traveled | 66.72SM / 57.98NM |
| Fuel Purchased | 30.6 Gallons |
| GPX Route | ICW SB – Charleston, SC to Beaufort, SC |