Friday, November 2 – Isle of Palms (Mile 458) to Tom Point Creek (Mile 495):

            After leftovers for dinner last night, we watched a little TV, went to bed at a reasonable time, read for a little while, then fell asleep to the snap, crackle, pop sound of the “boat eating” shrimp.  I think we should have the cleanest boat hull ever by the time this trip is over.  After breakfast this morning, we were talking to one of our boat “neighbors” who said they saw an alligator swim by the boat last night around dusk.  I am wondering if they really saw an alligator or if they just had one too many of those fancy little tropical drinks.  A floating log can really play havoc with your imagination!

            Today, we go through Charleston Harbor on the way to our next anchorage – Tom Point Creek.  I was a little nervous about this part of the trip because a few years ago, Bob and I took a cruise with his sister, Elaine and Aunt Marion and one of the stops was Charleston.  As we were coming into port I kept thinking about the openness of the ocean and the size of Charleston Harbor with all the commercial vessels and so many marks to traverse, and I thought it would be nerve wracking to have to do this in our boat.  Well, it was a piece of cake!  We were coming from Isle of Palms on the ICW and when it empties into Charleston Harbor, the ICW route continues to be very well marked.  I can’t tell you one horror story.  It was interesting to watch the commercial vessels and cruise ships move about, and as we cruised by the Battery, it was quite a view.  My family is from Charleston, and it’s a wonderful town – very walkable and friendly.  The ICW route takes you by the Charleston City Marina, and we might stop here on the way back and spend some time here as we decided not to stay in Charleston on the way down.        

            The ICW route takes you from Charleston Harbor to Wapoo Creek through a potentially challenging portion called Elliot Cut.  This is a very short cut through to the Stono River, and we were firmly warned to go through here at slack tide.  Elliot Cut is shallow and the current runs like crazy through here.  So we motored very slowly through Charleston Harbor to time our entrance just at slack tide.  Bob commented that the people living along this small stretch must get to see some interesting navigation from time to time.  We traversed this little part of our journey without a hitch, and I was sure Mother Nature would hold something dastardly for us later on.  We enter the Stono River at Mile 475 and have a fairly straightforward run to the Wadmalaw River at Mile 485 (Church Flats), then as we entered the North Edisto River at Mile 495, we turned right just past Red 102 into Tom Point Creek.  Honestly, you would never know the creek was there if you weren’t looking for it.  Some friends of ours anchored here a few days ago and highly recommended it. 

            It is truly beautiful and relatively isolated.  You come up the creek making right and left turns in surprisingly deep water surrounded on both sides by acres of fall colored grasses.  We go up pretty far to get in the lee of the wind (which has picked up again) and carefully anchor paying attention to the tides and current here.  I find this anchorage to be breathtaking.  Just acres and acres of swaying grasses with a tree line in the distance, and we are basically the only sign of humanity out here.  There are a few houses farther up the creek, but they hardly impact the serenity of our spot here. 

            We settle in, and I look for any signs of wildlife – but none so far.  Oh yes, saw more dolphins, but, honestly, they are getting so commonplace…just kidding! 

            We are in Low County, and I should make a Gullah meal tonight, but we plan on grilling salmon and watching the world go by with a glass of wine – maybe see an alligator or two…I’m just saying…

Cruise ship with tall ship in Charleston