"Mike" wrote in news:1161119366.751945.167400
@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

I would like to take my Endeavour 32 down to Florida from NC offshore,
on a coastwise route, over a series of six weekends. I would be
interested to hear from sailors in the Charleston, St. Simons Island,
New Smyrna Beach, and Stuart areas, about the feasibility of leaving
the boat unattended at anchor for up to a month at a time in between
trips, in those areas, and any suggested anchorages. Thanks.



CHARLESTON, SC.....

There's a mooring field on the opposite side of the channel from the
Charleston City Marina in the no-wake zone. The local boaters lost in
court to the city bureaucrats, so call City Marina on (843)723-5098 to ask
about the status and fees to use the mooring field they stole. Lots of
boats have gone adrift trying to anchor in the 5-7' tides of Charleston.
Anchoring out would be OK if you were aboard, but don't leave it for a
month there. If I were you, I'd rent a mooring bouy in the field if I
could. This field is easy to find, too. From sea, come into Charleston
Harbor and take the Ashley River channel to port right after you pass Ft
Sumter National Monument. Where the ICW turns south at Wappoo Cut, the
mooring field is straight ahead of you across from the big Charleston City
Marina. It's 11 acres big on the port side of the channel. City Marina
monitors 16, 24/7.

There are some boats that anchor just towards the ICW from Buzzard's Roost
Marina in the Stono River, not far from the south end of Elliott's Cut
(where tides REALLY rip through the cut, by the way). Buzzard's Roost has
a little boatramp, but you'd have to take your dingy with you. Tides don't
rip through there as the river widens into a bay, but boat wakes might be a
problem. There's plenty of room but zero security.

Here's some good information, too:
http://mysite.verizon.net/tomdove/icw.html

WARNING - I know some people at City Marina who were on their way to
Florida, like you are. That was 3 years ago and they're STILL HERE!
Coming into Charleston Harbor was their downfall. Why would anyone want to
go to Florida and drive their boat in a DITCH with thousands of other nut
cases, lined with condos, when they can have nearly the same weather AND
3200 miles of uninhabited waterways within 50 miles of any dock?

Download Google Earth (earth.google.com) and compare.....
Man, look at NSB and Stuart! That water doesn't look deep enough to float
a rowboat! I remember those damned sandbars we dragged the bulb
through...how awful!...(c;

We'll save ya a spot on City Marina J-dock when ya git this anchor-out
nonsense out of your head. Do you like oysters, crabs, shrimp and parties?

"Larry" wrote in message
...
We'll save ya a spot on City Marina J-dock when ya git this anchor-out
nonsense out of your head. Do you like oysters, crabs, shrimp and
parties?

And "Palmetto Bugs," and the wonderful smell of that paper mill...

God, how I miss it... lol

"KLC Lewis" wrote in
et:

And "Palmetto Bugs," and the wonderful smell of that paper mill...

God, how I miss it... lol


One needs to spend the night on an unairconditioned ketch in August at the
little marina just north of Ponce Inlet, Florida, finding out by midnight
why they call it "Mosquito Bay" to appreciate how much one would trade a
thousand Palmetto Bugs for only 100 Florida mosquitoes.....(c;

Been there, done that, never again. Ended up sleeping on a table in the
marina lounge....

As to the paper mill, I'm sorry to say sailors will not be sniffing the air
coming home from the Med to sense Charleston's presence by the smell of
black liquor any more. Millions of dollars in pollution control equipment
were forced upon poor Westvaco's brown paper plant as the new Mark Clark
Expressway bridge over the Cooper River was completed so the drivers
wouldn't be asphixiated from the fumes of cooking wood. Even Mt Pleasant,
home of lawyers and doctors and other vermin, cannot smell the plant's
peculiar fragrance unless staring down on it from the bridge. Those days,
just like Koppers' creosote plant or the fertilizer plants is over. Hell,
Charleston rates as one of the cleanest air places in the country, now!

Some might appreciate this:
At 45 minutes past midnight:
75.7 °F / 24.3 °C
Light Rain
I'm reading 72.1F up here on the river 9 miles from the sea...(c;

Wednesday
Mostly cloudy with a slight chance of showers. Highs in the mid 80s. West
winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Wednesday Night
Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 60s. Northwest winds around 5 mph.

We keep our Palmetto Bugs warm....(c;
http://www.blufftontoday.com/images/palmettobug.jpg
For those that don't know, they are all over the South, anywhere there is
water. They eat almost anything, are gross but totally harmless, don't
bite or have venom. I've clocked them across the kitchen floor over 30 mph
running and 45 flying in on final approach. When one only lives a few
days, ones flying skills, especially turning and landing are extremely
limited to a controlled crash. So, they crawl like the little German
Yankee roaches, but mostly outdoors, though one crawled across my desk two
hours ago on his way to meet his maker!

DON'T STEP ON THEM IN BARE FEET! THEY EXPLODE INTO PROTOPLASM!

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"KLC Lewis" wrote in
et:

And "Palmetto Bugs," and the wonderful smell of that paper mill...

You are talking about the state bird of South Carolina. Btw, we had some
friends that stopped here in Beaufort for a couple weeks and it was 14
months before they were able to cut the lines and get away......

Leanne

And yes I know that they say the Carolina Wren is the official state bird