May 26 Toogoodoo Creek to St. Johns Yacht Harbor

 May 26 Toogoodoo Creek Anchorage to  St. Johns Yacht Harbor

Final leg of this trip bringing the new boat from Stuart Fl. to our home base of Charleston, SC   We stay at St. Johns Yacht Harbor  on the Stono River rather than the mega dock downtown.  We have friends who live nearby on Johns Island, we like the folks who run the marina, it's a bit  more laid back, and despite it being a bit further from the downtown action, we always have a car so can get around easily.    The trick at all the marinas in Charleston is timing  the 7' tidal flow for slack current - which usually lasts about 10 minutes. Low slack occurs at 1:10 PM today.  So up anchor at 10:15 for our 3 hour trip. We'll fight the outgoing Edisto River current until the top of Johns Island where it switches and we'll catch the outgoing tide  going down the Stono River.  We arrive a few minutes early and contact the marina.  Always great to hear our favorite dockmaster "E" answering our call, giving us  our slip assignment and  line and fender adjustment instructions.   Tells us wait 5 more minutes  for full slack tide since there's a stiff 15-20 SE breeze which will be giving us an  adverse push  on the beam away from the dock.  A check of the flags on shore confirms the strength with them flying straight out in the wind.  The bow thruster gets a good workout as do the dockhands who manage to help get us all secured.  Great slip on the inside  of the T at the end of D dock with a full length finger pier alongside.  It can get a little bouncy  with boat traffic on the river during the weekends, but that settles down at night.   The benefits of a better view and being able to catch a breeze more than offset a little rolling.

View from the flybridge at St. Johns Yacht Harbor

Overall, it was a nice enjoyable trouble free trip.  Let's hope they all continue that way.

Some stats as best  as I can calculate:

529.3 miles,  63 engine hours,  320 gallons of diesel,  avg rpm between 1200-1500

Avg 8.4 mph,  Avg 1.65 miles/gal., Avg 5.08 gal./hr

Journey for May 26