Charleston to Hilton Head by Small Boat

SearayPaul

Active Member
Oct 11, 2006
961
Simpsonville, South Carolina
Boat Info
34 Downeaster
Engines
Cummins 5.9 480hp
We went from Charleston to Hilton Head's Harbor Town Marina this past weekend. This has been a trip I have wanted to do for a long time, twelve years to be exact.

We went to Charleston Thursday evening after my wife got off of work. We knew that this would be quite an adventure as we were leaving Simpsonville with the trailer in tow. We had just gotten on the toll road when a state car rolled in behind us with the yellow lights on. It seems my electronic pass had not been picked up as I went thru the toll gate and he wanted his money. Now on to the fun.

We left Charleston Friday morning with 12 other boats for the 95 mile trip to HH. Care to guess which boat was the smallest by far? The entire day we stayed one step ahead of all of the thunderstorms and 20 knot winds. We were routinely encountering two foot chop all the way to Beaufort. Beaufort is a no wake zone for a good long ways between the two bridges. The lead 450 Sundancer got on the radio and suggested that the small boat get in behind a big boat as we cleared the second bridge into Port Royal Sound. Who was Searay1 talking too? I got behind a 320 Sundancer that walked away from me and was quickly on my own in 3 to 4 foot steep waves coming off the ocean on the bow and the port side. Just for good measure an occaisonal 5 footer came rolling in.

My mistake was trying to run too hard to keep up and not trusting my GPS and myself to get me where I was going. My wife was ready to give up boating at that point as we got pounded pretty good. A 36 Sedan Bridge, GiveitUp. came along side and let me drop in on his stern which helped a lot. The water was easily clearing his flybridge.

After that exciting crossing we motored into Harbor Town for a shower and a relaxing night. We ate in the reasturant at the light house. The crabcakes and shrimp were delcious. The Fighting Irish was docked and had a party until the wee hours of the morning.

Golf was great on Saturday on Dufaski Island until the lighting and rain showed up after five holes. We were out of there in a flash. Did you know that you can go four wheeling with a golf cart? The shortest distance between the club house and where we were was an old trail so off we went as the club house tracked us with a GPS . I told them I had a GPS too and was not impressed. The weather never improved so we went home after the best chicken salad wrap lunch I have had in awhile.

Bullbats were offered over by the big boats. The Sara Jane was docked off by herself in a lonely corner of the marina so as not to upset the tourists. I have heard not all people have big boats despite what the tourists think. We strolled over to the center dock where we were welcomed by one and all. GiveitUp got a big thanks for allowing us to ride his stern across Port Royal. All of the big boats were extremely nice and teased about our little boat going the distance. I retorted with wait until you fuel up tomorrow. Dinner was a catered affair that Hall Marine put together. At dinner we met some people and generally had a good time.

Sunday we fueled up at Skull Creek at the rate of 3 gallons per minute. It took better than four hours to fuel everyone. Gallons for the Sara Jane... 33. Gallons for the big boys 175 at least. Knowing what I know now I would have gone to Beaufort to fuel. On the way across Port Royal the slop was only 3 footers and I slowed to my pace to have an easy crossing. Lesson learned. I can catch the big boys later. One fellow lost a water pump so I proceeded with another big boat on the way home while Searay 1 escorted him back to port for repairs. It was now time to return a helping hand. The big boat I was following, he shall remain nameless, made a wrong turn and was on his way to the ocean. We discussed it on the VHF and then he dropped in behind me. I am not sure why his GPS was not on as there were no markers to get a visual on in that area of the ICW. Now my VHF stopped recieving. Transmit works fine. Icom says the radio is fine after I talked with them today. I am going to solder the ends on again to see what happens.

In Charleston Harbor about 500 yards short of the Ravenel Bridge the air tempeture dropped about 10 or 15 degrees as a huge storm was moving in. You could feel the front moving in. We had seen it coming as we made the turn by the coast guard station and the weather radio started going off. We got the boat on the trailer just as a huge storm let go to wash all of the salt off Sara Jane.

A few pictures follow. No I have no pictures of the big stuff as I was too busy hanging on. It also would have been hard to get a picture as GiveitUp's transom kept going out of sight.

Next adventure is Myrtle Beach.


Searide has a knew AlumaCruiser
Alumacruiser.jpg


Big Boys
Big-Boys.jpg


DockTails
Docktails.jpg


Fighting Irish
Fighting-Irish.jpg


GiveitUp
GiveitUp.jpg


Sunset
Hilton-Head.jpg


Sunset
Sunset.jpg


Harbor Town
SunSet2.jpg


Sails
Sunset3.jpg


God Bless America
Patriotic.jpg
 
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Great Trip report and pics!
 
Great report Paul. Who long did the run take? Thanks for the pictures. Where did you stay in HH? Did you have to get a taxi or was the hotel at the marina?
 
We stayed at Harbor Town. Hall Marine arranged for the the condos for the group. I think they used the Yacht Clubs contacts. Most of the pictures were taken off our balcony which over looked the marina. I could not get a shot of Sara Jane from our condo but was able to get a shot of the Alumacruiser. The shutter speed was not fast enough to catch Searide at the helm. Golf also was prearranged for those who wanted to play. To get to Dufuski did require a taxi ride and then a ferry ride to Dufuski.
 
Nice trip Paul............ready for that Cruiser yet?

We were at Harbortowne Marina back in May and really enjoyed seeing all the big boats. A 42 foot Sea Ray looks pretty small compared to some of the big boys that are docked there.

Dave
 
Paul,

Nice shots. What's the distance from Charleston to HHI? 90 miles??

....and yes the Alumacruiser does get around. She was in PCB/Destin just seconds before you took the photo. I learned a bit more about proper canbote operation while visiting. I was able to get the Alumacruiser back on the lift south of Charleston simply by running her outside to the Gulf, going to WOT and then hit Shell Island on a NNE course, catching some air and then enter the intracoastal by the lift.
 
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Next adventure is Myrtle Beach.


Next adventure should be Lake Wylie Aquapolozza. 1 hour and 45 minute drive. I would finally get to meet you, you could bring a salt shaker and spinkle a little in the water to see how fast I woud start pulling up anchor. Again pictures look great.

Wesley
 
Charley that is a great shot of your boat. Good capture and welcome back. Did you get any extra lift from the explosive force of a flat tire?

Wesley: That actually is not a bad idea. How crowded is the ramp going to be? I will check to see if I work that weekend.
 
I will give you the adress to our secret ramp where I will pay the $6 fee for you and you will not have to worry about traffic on the ramp at all. We stay away from the public ramps as much as possible. That said if you do come I need for you to check out my trailer and make sure everything looks ok. :grin:

Wesley
 
Thanks Paul and Bill,

FYI, the picture was taken just south of the Hwy. 98/Destin Bridge.

Paul forget about the distance question. I see you stated that it was 95 miles.
 
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Hello Paul, I sure wish I could have made that trip with ya'll. Sounded like a good time. I've been busy working the spring shutdowns, they just happened to run into the summer. Gotta hate that. I'm free now though. I've been planning the HH trip also with some friends to do this year hopefully.
And if you make the trip down to Lake Wylie, I'll see ya at the festivities. Oh and by the way, all Lake Wylie boaters, if during the Aquqpooloza event you find a need to slip your boat, or use facilities, or Paul use a launch ramp, our employee park is around the corner from the event. We have about six slips and a ramp, and bathrooms. I'll have to arrange for you to get in the gate but if you think you might like to use the facility shoot me a message, or give me a call, I think you still have my number. I think the dock space at the Power Squadron is limited. I'm going to leave my boat in the water all weekend.
 
Good to see you again Mike. We had not seen you in awhile. Thanks for the invite Wesley and Mike. I have to work that weekend so looks like that trip will not happen. Working every other weekend limits what I can do, but I have a job so be happy.
 
Hi Paul, I've been off the board awhile too but just checked back in and found this trip report. It sounds like quite an adventure and thanks for sharing.

My 230 Sundancer is ready to go this summer, but I broke my tow vehicle, so now I'm waiting to get it fixed. I plan to be back on the water sometime this month and hope we can schedule something together soon!
 
Good to hear from you Gerald. I hope that your truck gets fixed real soon. You are on an incrediable run of bad luck. What broke? Certainly not the frame that it sits on.
 
Thanks for the update Paul, sorry to hear you will not be able to make it. We will get to meet each other one day at one of the non-salt get togethers.

Wesley
 
G-rod! Where have you been dude? Sorry to hear about your truck. Hope you get it fixed soon. If you remember my fixer upper F-150, it's comming along well, it's in the shop right now getting a bronco 38 gallon gas tank put in it. 38 gals, WHEW. 12 miles a gallon sucks. Well, I guess it's alot better than the boat!
 
LOL. Actually it was my frame - sort of. I guess all those miles of offroad abuse finally wore it down and it succumbed to metal fatigue. The torsion bar mount under the driver's seat that also holds the tranny crossmember snapped in half. I'm going to ditch the torsion bar front suspension and convert it to a coilover suspension. I'm sort of in uncharted territory doing this modification but it looks like I'll receive the rest of the parts needed by next week.

It kinda sucks having a boat with a brand new engine and outdrive (less than 10 hours on the meter) and no way to get it to the lake. I should be good to go within two weeks though :)

I've been off this site awhile not only because I've been incredibly busy with a new job on top of my real estate investing, but also because it depressed me to get on here and read about everyone else that is able to hit the water. That's gonna change this month and life will be a lot better!

Hey Mike, you bet I remember your F-150 build.... I'd like to see it sometime.
 

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