Food for the flies - Day 226 - Beaufort to Charleston, SC

Kodi and I made the 66 mile run on the ICW from Beaufort to Charleston on Sunday.  The day was perfect; sunny with light winds from the south.

We departed at 7:47 and continued north on the Beaufort River enjoying the benefit of a rising tide.  For first two hours we averaged 9.8 MPH and covered 21.3 miles on 9.2 gallons (2.1 MPG).  As expected, the tide turned and our speed dropped accordingly.  For the remaining 6 hours we fought the current by adding power to maintain an average speed of 8.3 MPH for the trip.  Final fuel consumption was 39.6 gallons for an efficiency of 1.6 MPH.


A single barge tow - We haven't seen one of these for 600 miles

A beautiful day with calm water and no deadlines was rudely interrupted by an infestation of marsh flies.  You will recall that Kodi and I encountered these flies on the Savannah to Hilton Head run.   They mysteriously departed shortly after we crossed the Savannah River and entered South Carolina.  Hence, I thought we were through with the flies.  WRONG.

The consequence of my faulty thinking was failing to put in the camper canvas screens before we left Beaufort or at the first sign of a fly.  The infestation lasted over an hour but it felt like three.  Again, I needed to break out the repellent, which did work, but not before I was literally eaten alive.  Notice in the photo below that these are large flies.

Note: The flies entertained Kodi.

Marsh flies on the windshield post

Most of this trip runs through uninhabited marshland.  Then as we got close to Charleston we saw homes with docks along the ICW.  What's unique is the long piers needed to cross the marsh and mostly small boats (less than 30 feet).

Large home with elaborate pier holding a small boat

We arrived in Charleston at 3:30 PM and docked at the Charleston Municipal Marina.  This is a large facility on the Ashley River with 19,000 feet of dockage and a face dock that is quarter mile (1,530 feet) long.  The face dock also acts as a limited breakwater.  Unfortunately, due to the weekend demand, the only space they had was on the outside of the face dock.  The combination of increased afternoon winds and high boat traffic resulted in bumpy situation.  The boat was pressed against the dock and moving up and down.  Not a pleasant situation.  Diana would not have been happy (and neither was I).

Tall ship Rene Avis out of Brest, France

Monday morning, the marina moved us to an inside slip.  The photos below show the impact of a 7 foot tide.  At low tide, part of the docks at the Yacht Club next door are on dry land.

Guided Discovery at Charleston City Marina

We used 82 gallons of fuel for the three day 121 mile run from Savannah to Charleston.  That yields fuel efficiency of 1.48 MPG.  More good news.  We filled the tanks at Charleston for $4.029 per gallon, which is much lower than the $4.49 we paid at Isle of Hope.  Either Charleston Municipal is a low priced provider or, consistent with the latest news, fuel prices are coming down.

Written by Les.