Doing the Charleston

Our diversion from Cape Cod to Charlston has been much more fun than expected. Many of our new cruiser friends also made the stop (some of them their first in the USA) and some long time friends made a four hour drive from North Carolina to visit us for a couple days. With all the great restaurants in historic downtown we hardly ate aboard and touring the historical sites gave us quite a history lesson on the Civil War or as they say down here The War of Northern Agression/War of Southern Independence/War Between the States).

Although we took a ferry, it is possible to anchor off Fort Sumpter and dinghy ashore to the beach or the inside of the ferry wharf. Admission to the National Park is free and the ranger's talk was very informative.

The Charlston City Marina was very convenient and included free shuttle service to downtown, wifi, water and we were able to fuel right at our berth on the 'Mega Dock' ($3.83/gal). We also did a few more boat projects including replacing the rear main seal on the genset. We even hosted a dock party BBQ welcoming the all the foreign cruisers to America.

Last night we anchored across the channel from the marina (32d46.55'N, 79d57.15'W, 25 ft mud) to get ready to start our passage today up around Cape Hatteras and possibly Cape Cod. There may be some tropical weather brewing for the weekend and it is high time to head for more northern latitudes.