LAT: N 32° 46.6'
LON: W 79° 57.1'
SLOW TIMES 50s, winds 5 - 10 kts, brisk and sunny
today's sunrise, today's sunset
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A Long Dinghy Ride To An Uber Cute City

Captain's Log

700 - Swinging back out of our anchorage in Georgetown we get in line with other boats going in the same direction.
728 - In Winyah Bay the currents pick us up to 9.3 nautical miles per hour.
805 - In the narrow and pretty Estherville Minim Creek Canal.
900 - Just crossed the South Santee River.
1000 - Passing McClellanville.
1244 - Flying by Dewees Island and Copahee Sound.
1310 - We are greeted by dolphins as we enter the Isle of Palms.
1400 - In Charleston Harbor we head in to City Marina.
1450 - Docked at the marina's fuel "Mega Dock".
1700 - Moored next to green can "5" just across from City Marina.


Arggg me maties, Aye slipped and fell on that thar Megadock, and got a megapain in my megabum.



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Heading out for Charleston in the early morning light

Long Day Feels Short


Exciting Arrival To Big City Charleston


ALF- Guest Editor

We made an early start to our day knowing we had another long ride ahead of us to Charleston. We started the day in a line of boats all heading south. It takes a couple hours passing for everyone to find their right place in line, fastest boats in front, slowest behind. We end up somewhere in the middle, and soon we feel alone. The morning started going through a low marshy area that was just loaded with birds. There were more Egrets, Herons, Vultures, Pelicans, and Hawks than we'd seen all together before. Its fun to be around so many large birds because they have such a presence versus the prominence of smaller songbirds that we are used to from New England.

As the day progressed, we had a small collection of exciting events, including Tim's completion of the fourth Harry Potter book, some more incredible time spent with dolphins, and one of the best houses we've seen the whole trip. These events made the cruising day go faster than normal. It seemed so soon that we were passing between the Isle of Palms and Goat Island. The former with big houses and golf courses, the latter across the river, with small places tucked away. Closing in on Charleston, we were struck that we were in a boat looking over at Charleston, South Carolina. At the beginning of the summer it had only been a crazy dream and we were without a clue of how it would actually be accomplished. And here we are, and we can still wonder how it all came together. Ta da! [Hey, No Problem! -Ed]

It took us a moment to get our bearings when we came out of the small ICW channel and into the big harbor. We came across and up into the Ashley River. We had called ahead and were going to splurge on a mooring ($30) so we wouldn't need to worry about the strong currents. We pulled up to the City Marina's Mega Dock to get things filled up and pumped out. It was a big place, and Slowly looked a little scruffy compared to the other boats there.

We hung out waiting to get pumped out and enjoyed the fine weather and the nearby showers. After a while we spun around and grabbed our mooring which was one of the closest to the marina across the river. We rowed ourselves back over and got the shuttle out to the downtown area not knowing how big (or small) Charleston is. Dropped off on King Street between Banana Republic and Victoria's Secret we were overwhelmed with the many retail stores and the amount of people walking around. Everything was decorated and clean and very lovely, though we did not expect to be in the middle of such a dense downtown.

We strolled for a bit trying to decide where to stop for food and drink. It was nice to have many options though that often makes it harder for two hungry people to find a place to actually decide upon. We first went to an Irish Place called O'Reilly's and then ventured a block north to the sports bar the King Street Grille where we indulged in our craving for Buffalo Wings. Full, we walked back to the marina which ended up being a much shorter distance than we had thought. It was a beautiful neighborhood and every house and building looked like it's been renovated. They were all welcoming with a cornucopia of greenery and pleasant porches.

Back at the marina we got our dinghy and carried it over to the other side of the mega dock and rowed home. The marina seems to assume people have outboards because the route to the dinghy dock is around the huge dinghy dock and through numerous docks of boats. That is why we decided to carry Surely a ways. Back on Slowly we fell asleep knowing we were finally really going to be able to sleep in.

Fun Facts!


As you can see in this picture, the "Slow No Wake" signs feature a orange circle. There are many varieties of the "no wake" sign, but this circle is a near constant feature. This was the inspiration behind our latest merchandise design. We figured sharing this bit of iconery would give the design a little more depth.

Animal of the Day


This Yellow Jacket, Vespula spp., was coming along for a ride with us and luckily did not get inside the boat. Probably the most known feature of these insects is that they are capable of stinging multiple times, unlike the honey bee, and will do so especially when the nest is disturbed. These aggressive wasps live in large colonies that have a single queen and feed on nectar and other insects. As we found out during our safe close up examination of this fellow, the Yellow Jacket's abdomen constantly pulsates making them seem even more powerful.

Grub Report
Our craving for wings drove us into downtown Charleston where we went to O'Reilly's where we didn't have wings because they weren't part of the happy hour. So instead we split a pitcher of Miller Lite and had chips with blue cheese and bacon, fried oysters with Buffalo sauce and Chicken Quesadillas. All half price though nothing really blew our taste buds. Our next stop was the King Street Grill where we indulged in their buy one get one free wing night. We had 10 buffalo wings and 10 jerky style along with our Flying Dog Wheat and Rogue Dead Guy beers. The wings were quite meaty and flavorful and both beers were also quite good.



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