May 23 Vernon River to Beaufort (Bew-fert) the one in SC

May 23 Vernon River Anchorage to Beaufort, SC

Started the day with wiping down the boat after last night's rainstorm. Feels good to grab a handrail and not come away with a covering of salt on your palm. Can't say enough about how much we liked this anchorage. But it was time to move on after 3 nights here so anchor up at 9:00 to make our way to Beaufort for a slack tide afternoon docking.

Nice cruising day. Overcast, WSW breeze, favorable currents most of the way and limited no wake zones had us arriving a bit early so we wound up going idle speed the last hour letting the current do most of the final work for us. The trip wound around the back side of Skidaway Island, past Isle of Hope, Thunderbolt and Savannah area. AIS again gave us a warning about the incoming container cargo ship Hyundai Hope as we prepared to cross the Savannah River channel. Didn't really need the AIS warning as the low-level marshlands allowed us to see it moving up the main channel from a mile away. Still, we prudently waited on the ICW to let it pass before crossing the river and entering SC.

Waiting for the Hyundai Hope to move upriver

From there around Hilton Head, across Port Royal Sound and up the Beaufort River. All docks here are parallel to the river flow, and we were assigned the inside end of the outer face dock. Decent job docking. Breeze working against us but that's becoming the norm. We're at the Beaufort town dock right downtown. Last time passing through we had to stay at Lady Island Marina across the river which wasn't convenient for exploring town. So, we're looking forward to our 2 night's stay here and exploring the town.

A little lumpy crossing the Sound

All secured at the town dock

Tuesday was a "get off the boat and go exploring day". First order of business was breakfast at Brookstone Cafe. Then visit a few museums, check out some of the local stores and do a little shopping, walk through St Helen Church Cemetery then along the waterfront park. Wound up at Panini's for an underwhelming late lunch/early dinner. Unbelievable as it sounds, there was no local brewery to be found! Back at the boat the evening was highlighted watching high school graduation activities being held at the waterfront park