Anchoring

 11/26- Yesterday we froze our asses off as it was windy and rainy Although it didn’t really rain until late in the day. The minute we stopped I turned on the heater and we huddled around it until we thawed out a bit. 

    The anchorage we stopped at yesterday was where the river went around an island. It was a really large area and was reasonably deep for the area. They said in the guide book that it only offered protection from the south. Well the surrounding land was just flat marsh and old rice fields. The only protection might have come from the occasional tree. Then there was the current. The tide rushed through here at around a knot and a half changing direction every 6 hours or so. It turned out to be a fine anchorage for us as it warmed up during the night. 

    We had decided the other day to skip Georgetown as we would be spending several days in Charleston. That’s why we picked that anchorage as it was just short of Georgetown. 

   It was pretty cold again this morning as we headed out and the wind was blowing across the river and raised a little chop. After passing by Georgetown we entered a canal near the Tom Yawkey wild life preserve. This is the same Tom Yawkey that used to own the Red Sox. Everything got much calmer there. The landscape quickly became low lying marsh. There were inlets and rivers and streams all chrisscrossing each other. You could easily get lost out there but then all you’d have to do is stand up and you could see for miles. Each crossing had its own current and so you would be going at 5 knots and then suddenly 4 and just as suddenly 7. There were also many very shallow sections and lots of shoaling. There was one section near McClennanville that had shoaled in and was barely 5 feet deep. This went on for several miles. It was nerve wracking to say the least. 

   We finally put down the anchor in Awendaw Creek. This one is even more wide open and exposed than the previous one. This is in the middle of a large marsh which would contain alligators if it was warmer. You can literally see for miles just by standing on the coach roof. Again the current rages through here flipping us around every 6 hours. We have several very shallow stretches to go through tomorrow so we will get up early to catch the tide and help us through them

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