December 11, 2008.

We’re comfortably anchored here in Beaufort, SC. The trip here from Charleston had to be a 2 day affair. The bridge just below Charleston didn’t open until 0900 so that left us with only 8 hours of daylight to make the trip south.

We opted to spend the night in a very protected anchorage in the Bull River. The bridge just north of Beaufort is also a problem these days. It only opens twice a day, once at 1000 and again at 1400 hours. We were up and underway from Bull River at 0700 for the 16 mile run to the bridge. It was a good thing that we decided to leave plenty early as there was a very thick fog enveloping the area. Visibility was variable; it was anywhere from 50 yards to a half mile but the trip went well. We arrived at the Ladies Island Swing Bridge with 20 minutes to spare.

We listened with amusement to a couple of boats traveling through the fog about 15 miles behind us. When traveling in fog you’re supposed to blow a long blast on your horn every 2 minutes as you move along. One boat was a big trawler with a built in horn while the other boat was a sailboat with only a hand held air horn. They decided that the trawler would use his horn so the sailors didn’t have to waste their air canister. The problem was that he couldn’t seem to tell time. The sailboat called him every 2 minutes for at least an hour to tell him when to blast his horn. They completed their journey safely and made it through the bridge at its 1400 hour opening.

We’re waiting out a serious front with big winds from the south. So far we seem to be in a gap with horrible weather to our east and to our west. This system is supposed to pass this evening and give us decent wind from the northwest. If that happens we’ll be riding the tide out at 0800 and head out Port Royal Sound and once again into the ocean. Next stop Florida, hopefully.