August 13: Peanut’s Birthday and Hilton Head

 Although we were both up around 5 AM, we still had to wait until 6:15 to depart in order to be able to see. Normally I’d welcome a chance to sleep in but we have 95 miles to cover today.

Peanut is two today. Three Leos and a Gemini. I still have them out numbered. 

We left Charleston headed for Hilton Head. For the most part we’ve seen a whole lot of sandbars and shallow water.  

This green marker was so shallow it lays over at low tide.

To make things even more thrilling, South Carolina is rather stingy in its use of channel markers. They are so rare it’s almost exciting when you find one. And when you get to it, it is more than likely surrounded by land.

Debbie had a quandary today when the GPS told her to go one way and the iPad showed a completely different route. Usually that crap only happens when I’m at the helm!

Since we usually cannot sit in the helm seat because it is Gaffer’s, we stand on a box of light beer. It is the perfect riser since clearly we aren’t drinking light beer!

We just passed through the quaint looking town of Beaufort and around Parris Island where Dad did basic Marine Corps training.

My shift took us across the Beaufort River at the mouth of the inlet as a storm was building. The rain waited for Debbie’s shift! 

We arrived in Hilton Head around 4:30, showered, and had a beer at the restaurant. Then we grilled fish, had a salad and took the cats to the flybridge to watch all of the people go by. People were surprised to see cats on a boat!

Tomorrow we hope to make it through the awful part of Georgia to St. Simon. It’s more than 100 miles so wish us luck!