The Intracoastal Waterway continues south past Charleston through Wappoo Creek. We returned briefly to the ICW on a tour of the area by tender that included a run up the Ashley River beyond our marina, and a pass by the Port of Charleston where we watched the tugs Moira McAllister and Patrick McAllister assist the…
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Historic Charleston
Charleston, SC was founded in 1670 and has done an excellent job of preserving its heritage and historic sites and buildings. On a surprisingly cold and frosty morning, we did a bicycle tour along the city’s historic waterfront. Trip highlights from January 8th, 2017 in Charleston, SC follow. Click any image for a larger view,…
USS Yorktown
The USS Yorktown is the second of twenty-four Essex-class aircraft carriers launched during World War II. The Yorktown served in World War II and Vietnam and was the recovery ship for Apollo 8, the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon. Today the Yorktown is a National Historic Landmark and open for tours as part…
Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge
The three-mile-long Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge crosses the Cooper River between Charleston and Mt. Pleasant. The bridge has a pedestrian and cycle lane with fabulous views to the city, the river and out to sea. We got the bikes down and spent a great day riding through Charleston and across the bridge, and explored a…
Charleston Arrival
As we neared Charleston City Marina from sea, we’d started to wonder if we were heading in the right direction. The marina was supposed to be walking distance from downtown, but where were the tall buildlings? The city, it turns out, looks different from other downtowns due to zoning restrictions that limit building heights. We’d…
Return to Cape Lookout
Our final leg along the ICW brought us to Beaufort, NC. South of here, the ICW is shallower than the section we just ran from Portsmouth, Virginia and has more bridges, current and shoaling issues. So we’ll be making a direct run offshore to our next stop in Charleston, South Carolina. A major weather system…
ICW Miles 84 through 161
South of Albermarle Sound, the ICW continues south through the Alligator River. The swing bridge there, at mile 84, is the last of four bridges that we needed to have opened on our run between Portsmouth, Virginia and Beaufort, NC. The bridge won’t open in high winds of 35kts or more, which can be a…
Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge
The Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge includes 111,106 acres of wetlands south of Albermarle Sound. The refuge is home to over 300 different wildlife species including otters, muskrat, turtles, and the endangered red wolf, plus tens of thousands of migratory birds in the winter. Sponge-like peat soil in the wetlands retain water and hold it…
Pasquotank River
TCOM manufacturing has a major airship manufacturing facility in North Carolina up the Pasquotank River, with a 1,000ft-long hangar that can accomodate airships up to 150ft tall. We were lucky to arrive in the area during a test flight of a smaller model, and got a glimpse of a much larger ship when the massive…
ICW Mile 12 to 50: Great Bridge, VA to Coinjock, NC
In our second day along the ICW we travelled 38 miles from Great Bridge, Virgina to Coinjock in North Carolina. We passed five bridges, but only needed to have two opened for us. Depths generally were at least 10ft, with a few brief drops to about 8.5ft. A video of our transit between Great Bridge…
