Day 23 April 24. On to Edisto Island. 28.9nm Total 676 miles

Left the City of Beaufort on a beautiful morning and followed the winding Beaufort River to the Coosaw River. Named after the native Indian tribe that inhabited this area. The river is about one mile wide and flows between the South Carolina mainland and the islands that make up the Beaufort area- St Helena, Pritchard, St Phillips, Fripp and Parris Islands. We traveled about 10 miles of the river heading east toward the Atlantic Ocean.

Just before the ocean we crossed the river and headed into the Ashepoo Coosaw Cut. We held our breathe a few times as we came to shallow areas, but we squeaked by and made it safely through the cut. There are two more cuts through the marsh islands that we took to finally connect with the South Edisto River.

We traveled up the Edisto River to our anchorage behind Sampson Island.

Edisto Island has a similar history as the other barrier islands. It was named for the Oisto Indians, whose mounds can still be found on the island today. Jesuits missionaries came in the mid 1500’s and then the British settled in the area, eventually rice and sea cotton plantations sprang up. There are several plantation buildings from Middleton and Beckett plantations still on the island. Today Edisto Island is a popular beach resort.

We pulled up anchor and re entered the Intracoastal Waterway through another narrow channel called Watts Cut. As we are going thru at high tide, we had plenty of water. No holding our breath this time. But we did have bit of fog!!

As we left the cut, we turned south into the South Edisto River to travel to Bohicket Creek Marina. We will stay here for three days visiting my sister, Kathy and husband Dick, and also my cousin, David.

April 26

We enjoyed visiting with my relations, with a wonderful food and company. Kathy surprised us by inviting our son to join us. What a wonderful reunion! We all took a short boat trip up the South Edisto River between Edisto and St Johns Island just south of Charleston.

Plus another great sunset!

A side note, Bill entertained us by pulling on his wet suit to check the bottom of the boat. A sight to behold!

June 4-5. Day 63-64. On to Cape May New Jersey. 53.4nm. Total 1534 miles.

Left Delaware City at 5:35am to be able to take advantage of the strong currents going with us while traversing Delaware River and Delaware Bay. The Delaware River goes south about 15 miles and flows into the Delaware Bay. As we travel south, New Jersey is to the east and Delaware is to our west. We are traveling just outside the shipping channel and are really moving at 10.9 knots. That is three knots faster than we normally travel, as the outgoing tides are pushing us along. Nice to have Mother Nature helps us save on fuel. The Delaware River is about 8 miles wide so there is plenty of room for the freighters and the pleasure boats. So far, we have not encountered any commercial traffic, but there is a large freighter behind us that will eventually pass us as they travel at 14 knots. The Delaware Bay proper varies from 23-29 miles wide and 26 miles long. There are five lighthouses on the Delaware marking the shipping channel. We went by Ship J...

Reflections on the Great Loop -

Over the 5 and half months last year and the almost 7 months this year for a total of 351 days, we travelled 6348 miles, through two countries 19 states, traversed over 200 locks to find large cities, small towns, farmland, and vast natural waterways and bays. Our route took us through sites of the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War, as well as the history of how America grew along her waterways. Beginning with canoes, rafts and barges people and goods moved through these waters. The sailing sloops and steamships changed these rivers, requiring locks and canals to be built to facilitate travel and commerce. Today it is amazing how much commerce moves through these waters. We developed a healthy respect for the freighter and tow captains and lock masters and harbor masters that keep the system working. We have lasting impressions of early morning sunrises, beautiful sunsets, and moonlit bays, the hospitality in all the towns...

April 2 2022. We cast off our lines!

Day 1. April 2 We cast off our lines at 9:00am on out Great Loop adventure. Our friends, Phil and Aggie helped record our departure. The weather was overcast as we traveled out our canal and into Tampa Bay. As we approached the Skyway bridge a dolphin twice leaped completely out of the water, playing in our bow wake. An omen of good fortune for our adventure! As we ended our Tampa Bay crossing, the sun began to peek out and as we traversed past Longboat Key/Bradenton and entered Sarasota we had ourselves a sunny day. We traveled 34.4 nautical miles in four hours and anchored behind Otter Key, a mangrove Island near Lido Key in Sarasota. There we joined another boat from St Petersburg, FL. The owners were for many years sailors from the Caribbean down to Panama. What adventures they shared! The anchorage sports lots of manatees, dolphin and of course, the osprey who lords over Otter Key. Once settled properly, we took a nap, Wi...

Crustacean Travels

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