Beaufort, Then Onto Hilton Head

Beaufort to Hilton Head  – 27 nautical miles sailed, 3 bridges, 4 kilometres walked

We awoke to a bright and sunny day with highs of 22 degrees forecast and a new city to explore. As it was Sunday we didn’t expect there to be much open so after cruising over to the expansive and very new-looking town dock, we walked the harbourfront. It is a beautiful spot with manicured gardens, a kids playground, gorgeous concrete walkway with dozens of swinging benches facing the waterfront, and rows of tropical trees. When the park ended we continued along a street past a large marshy area near the anchorage, admiring the hundreds of year old houses, adjoining canopies of tree growth, and noticed several sailboats that had been washed up on shore and abandoned, likely after the last hurricane that passed through. We wandered through a residential area then worked our way back towards downtown, where we noticed most of the shops opened at noon, so we went back to a waterfront café we had passed earlier and had a long, slow coffee and shared a blueberry cheese Danish as we looked over the ocean and listened to the conversations around us.

 

There was a family beside us – Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, and the cutest little red-haired girl bouncing around amongst them, maybe 3 years old. Grandma asked, “How did you sleep last night sweetie?”

“Good, Grandma,” the little girl replied.

 

“What did you dream about?”

 

“Cake!”

 

“You dreamt about cake?” asked Grandpa.

 

“Yep. All night.”

 

“Well so did I!”

 

With that, the little girl took off towards the grassy waterfront where a massive Christmas tree had been installed. Ana and I laughed as we watched her go. Little kids never really run or walk; instead they lurch from side to side, from one foot to the other, sometimes falling down, sometimes leaping in the air, as if they’re getting hit repeatedly with electrical shocks. Grandma chased after her then stood back as she ran laps around the tree, stopping once in a while to try and yank off the oversized and colourful decoration balls.

 

We did a tour of the main downtown strip  but Ana wasn’t too excited about the shops, as most of them were tourist places, selling Beaufort-themed knick-knackery, beef jerky, real estate, gourmet jellies, or outrageously priced clothing. We did see a car with a fancy band-aid covering up a boo-boo. Along the way we had made a new plan for the rest of the day. As tomorrow was Ana’s birthday, we decided to continue onto Hilton Head today then stay in a marina so we could have a full day exploring the island and not have to worry about where to stash the dinghy or the anchor letting loose. We hadn’t stayed in any marinas since Oswego and Castleton where we had to in order to remove then replace the mast, so we have been very successful with just anchoring and the occasional mooring ball.

 

We left at 12:30 and arrived around 5pm after a non-eventful ride, although we did see the mast and shredded remains of a sail from a sunken sailboat, dozens of pelicans, plus several pods of dolphins, which seem to be plentiful in this area.

 

We anchored SeaLight in Broad Creek, not far from the Shelter Cove marina that we had booked for tomorrow. There was still a bit of sunlight left for a sundowner so we sat in the cockpit for a long time enjoying the views, particularly the sun-stained fiery red and yellow contrails left by the dozens of airplanes we counted passing overhead and on the horizon.

Tomorrow was going to be a big day.