After a thirty mile run from Ft Sumter at Charleston inlet, Quicksilver and Blue put anchor down just off the intercostal. It was the perfect place to ride out the thunderstorms with its 25 to 30 knot winds. We were all tired because of the stress of shallow water. Not to mention the soft aground that happened on the way to Charleston. I was at the helm and was trying to stay in the middle of the channel. To my dismay (really horror) I watched the depth sounder decline steadily. It seemed no matter which way I turned the water receded. All of a sudden bump..true to form, I screamed. At least I was smart enough to slow us down to nothing when we went "soft" aground. (We call it soft when it's sand or mud ). Jon helped us wiggle off..and told me that helmsmen are not suppose to scream.
On Friday we had such a great day with good push from current we left our little anchorage that we decided to go another twenty miles. It was a pretty day anyway and we were both excited because we had seen our first alligator. This is South Carolina, not Florida like we thought. I was steering and Jon had commented that I should watch out for the branch in the water. I had seen it and as we both looked on and we got closer we realized that it was not a log, it was an alligator. I did what I always do, kind of yell it out and singsong it, "an alligator, an alligator --get my camera". (I gotta tell ya, Jon stinks at co-piloting, he never grabs the phone and takes pictures..so any photos you see are when Jon is steering and I am co-pilot. No, we did not get a picture of the cool alligator that was about four feet long).
Well don't ya know the current changed and it took us twice as long to get to Bull Creek, about an extra three hours. Once we got our anchor down and sat down we were taken aback by the quiet. Then we heard it...the absense of machines, the wind in the leaves and all kinds of birds...it's May in South Carolina and all the trees that literally surrounded us were a vivid green and thick..I think we heard Bigfoot's call. Just stunning. We all decided right then, that we needed to stay an extra day to explore.
We spent all day Saturday in our dingys looking for alligators, turtles, osprey and Bigfoot. Well Denise and Ladd saw an alligator in the morning drifting by but we didn't see any after that. But it was quite an adventure and relaxing at the same time. I couldn't take enough pictures or video to help you see and feel what we had there. Guess it was contentment. If you get an opportunity, spend a day just drifting on some of the creeks in South Carolina, you won't be disappointed.
Quicksilver at our anchorage in a Bull Creek.
Jon with his beard..he shaved it off all ready,,,if you put a headband in him he looked like Chong from Cheech and Chong. Haha
Blue at anchorage
More pics of Bull Creek
Sunken boat added to our ambience.
Our anchorage as the sunset.
This the baby....he was as big as the momma...the adult is so cool to watch.. After they catch a fish, they turn it length wise to carry in its claws so it's stream line. Sometimes the fish are huge.
Ladd and Denise
We called this alligator beach..we think we saw "tracks"
Didn't realize we were in a national wildlife refuge
Just can't get enough of it....
Denise..she came equipped with a boat hook in case a alligator got aggressive..Jon and I brought our flip flops
We called this South Carolina trolling
Just a great day!
Turtles were everywhere
There were dragon flies everywhere.. This one traveled with us as we left Bull Creek and traveled about thirty miles to Barefoot Marina in North Myrtle Beach on Sunday.
The cypress trees
We will keep you posted. It's Monday all ready, May 19. Today through more "skinny " water and up the Cape Fear River.
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