A Trawler Kind Of Day

Awendaw Creek to Butler Island |  5.9 Hours  |  34.3 Miles  

A long travel day yesterday set us up nicely for a shorter run today. We were able to sleep in past sunrise, although with the heavy cloud cover we could not really tell when the sun peeked over the horizon. I put on all my foul weather gear -- pants, jacket, and boots -- to raise the anchor in a light rain. As usual the blowback from the anchor washdown gave me the biggest shower. That's what happens when Crossroads is pointed into a 25-knot wind. We exited Awendaw Creek into the ICW to find limited visibility from the hazy fog and the raindrops on the windows. A check of the weather radar confirmed that we were in the middle of a passing front and that my sunglasses would not be needed in the near future. It was a trawler kind of day and we were thankful to be warm and dry inside the pilot house. The rain and gray clouds eventually blew over us to the east.  

To the west, the sky was clearing. The poor weather had minimized the amount of personal watercraft zipping around us. We encountered four boats all day and they were all large and well-powered. The smallest boat had twin 300 hp outboards. The largest yacht was a spiffy Zeelander. A Google search revealed that it has a fold out back deck that is spectacular. When exited the Estherville Minim Creek Canal into Winyah Bay, the waves increased as the strong wind moved in opposition to the current. The sea grasses all swayed in unison at the direction of the wind.  

Passage through the Siau Bridge at Georgetown was made a bit more interesting than needed thanks to a rolling following sea. We duck-walked our way through the center span. A short distance later we turned in behind Butler Island and dropped the anchor a short distance from Peter and Nicole on Dauntless, a Queenship trawler. We met them in Beaufort and will travel together for a few days as we both head north. As predicted, another round of storms arrived an hour after setting our hook. I was in the pilothouse watching as the clouds rolled in. For two hours, rain fell and the wind howled consistently at 30 knots with gusts over 40. The Wacccamaw River looked more like Willie Wonka's Chocolate River. 

By dinner time conditions had settled and it turned into a beautiful evening. Winds had decreased to a gentle 10 knots. The low sunlight of later afternoon filtered through the clouds to cast a soft light on the trees of Butler Island. Most of the clouds moved out, but those that remained helped to create a nice sunset. Tomorrow is supposed to be a sunny, but still breezy day as we cross into North Carolina.