We intended to spend one night here but we hear that there was a boat show so we decided to stay for two nights. Thunderbolt marina was great. It was not far from downtown and also had a few shops and restaurants that were in walking distance. Each morning at 7 AM they deliver 6 Krispy Kreme donuts to your boat! We met up with another couple and their friends who were heading north. We shared a taxi to downtown and the boat show at the convention center. The show was smaller than the Cincinnati. They had a number of center consoles and fishing boats. Only a few pontoons and two tug trawlers.
We took a ferry across the river to downtown Savannah and had a great lunch. We checked out a few shops and found a neat design store that fabricated furniture from airplane parts. We called the same taxi for a ride home and then checked out a marine store near the marina.
Since we had a near miss at Hell’s Gate we were worried about the rest of the trip to Charleston. A sail boat had come in during the day and we asked them for information because the captain had made this trip a number of times. There is a channel called “Fields Cut” that we needed to be careful in. Janis also read up on this area on our web reference pages. Chris checked tide charts, blogs and ask every one who came by the boat. We needed to reach Fields Cut before low tide. The next day we got up early 6:30 and got our boat fuel up and was on our way by 7:30 AM. We made it to Fields Cut about 2 hours after high tide and followed some instructions that were suggested on Active Captain. There was one spot on the north side where we only had 3.5 feet and if it was low tide we may not have been able to pass this area. We marked this on our chart plotter for reference next time we come by this area.
We continued on the ICW and passed by Hilton Head Island. Hilton Head also had a RV park and marina at the same property. This could be a good place for us to meet up with Chris’ brother or others who have RV’s. We also passed Parris Island the Marine training area. We stopped at Beaufort City Marina. It is right downtown in the historical district. We checked out the shops and tried some BBQ out. Our neighbor (Jan), displays her artwork at a café named Common Grounds, we made a point to go in and see her work. It is very very good!
goparaiso.com 