Port Royal and Bohicket.

Sunday, June 9
After an uneventful day at sea we arrived at Port Royal Landing Marina, Port Royal, SC. Right next door is Beaufort, SC. The two, historic towns are separated by the width of a sign post at the local Burger King. There are many magnificent antebellum homes here. 'The area, and specifically some of these homes, have been host to a number of award-winning movies, such as Forrest Gump, The Big Chill, The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini. In fact, in the closing scene of The Prince of Tides, the Port Royal Landing Marina can be seen as Nick Nolte rides over the adjacent bridge.'
The ramps that run from the dock area up to the main walkway that lead to the store/restaurant are very steep at low tide.  (Poor Joe)  The tidal range is 9 feet.  That's the largest we've run into so far.
We borrowed the courtesy car (F150 Pickup) and ran into town for a few items.  We decided to have dinner at the marina restaurant.  On the way to dinner we stopped along the main walkway and watched the local marine life as the tide was coming in.  We were there approximately 10 minutes and Joe swears the tide rose at least a foot. During that time we saw several good sized crabs, a whole bunch of minnows and a small stingray.  There was a larger item (we assumed a fish) that was feeding on the minnows, but was so fast and kicked up so much mud, it was hard to determine what it actually was.  At dinner, Joe overheard one of the locals saying that 'it gets really interesting here after 9pm', but we didn't have the energy to hang around and see. 
When we pulled into the marina earlier, we noticed a Bayliner 43MY (motoryacht) for sale.  We walked down and looked around the outside. It had obviously been sitting for awhile and needs lots of attention, but since we were there and since we hadn't been inside one like this, Tim called the broker and made arrangements for a walk-through.  He came the next morning before we left.  The guys really liked the layout.  I couldn't get past the tiger-striped cushions and dark green wall paint. 

From the top of the ramp.

Headed up for dinner.

Monday, June 10
After being "Lookie-Lou's" (what boat brokers call people who just 'wanna-see' what a boat looks like without really being interested in buying it), we departed Port Royal, SC, and headed north.  Monday's travels take us to Bohicket Marina.  The Captain knew we couldn't get all the way to Charleston in a day and didn't want to anchor out (too hot and buggy), so Bohicket it was.  Remember the 9 foot tidal range?  Well, apparently a couple of fishermen either didn't properly prepare or took a wrong turn because they and their center console were about 50' into an area called Mud River when we drove by.  After getting over smiling, we really did feel sorry for them.

Stuck in the mud.

We also saw a shrimper boat with an interesting figurehead on it.  I'm sure there's a story behind it.

It's a goat!

Getting to Bohicket marina took us about 7 miles out of the way, but the time spent was worth having AC.  Besides, Monday night at the restaurant was All You Can Eat Crab Legs night!! Yumm, as Jessica would say.
Tied up, powered up and made our way to the office to pay.  On our way back, we spotted an ice cream/breakfast shop.  We almost never pass up an opportunity for ice cream :) 

Enjoying ice cream.

After our cones/sundaes Tim and I played a game of Bag Toss.  (Someone calls the game Corn Hole....)  He beat me soundly and we proceeded back to the boat until dinner. 

Bag Toss
 

Walking to dinner we noticed the sky was getting 'angry'.  Have we told you about our fortune with weather, hmmm????  I had the crab legs and the guys patiently waiting for me to finish my 8 bunches of legs. 



The remnants.

On our way back to the boat, the wind started howling. Enough to rip off a table umbrella, which Tim captured and folded up just before being skewered by its pole.  The sky really looked bad and just as we made it to the top of the dock ramp, it started raining.  Now, just about this time a young (20 something) lady passed both Tim and me, but caught Joe long enough to say "Do you live on a boat?  Oh, I've always wanted to live on a boat.  Can you tell me all about living on a boat?"  Poor Joe.  It's raining and he's doing his best to be polite and answer her questions, but still having to hobble his way back to the boat before becoming entirely drenched.  Once aboard, it really poured and the wind blew pretty hard.  Another thunderstorm warning, according to the local TV station.  After it calmed, we settled in for the night.  Oh, our 'slip' at the marina was on the outside end of 'D' Dock.  We felt at home.  Right next to us was a 23' Chaparral cruiser, very similar to the Ussary's 'Dirty Boy'. Sent a picture to Daria.  Mark wanted to know if it's name was 'Dirty Girl'.