Surviving a Gale in Hilton Head

We cruised from Savannah (Thunderbolt) to Windmill Harbor on Monday on a high tide. We still poked carefully along through many of the shallow spots but an extra six to eight feet over them definitely mitigates the pucker factor. The day offered glorious weather as we traveled through seemingly endless expanses of marsh filled with water grasses. At high tide (unlike low) you see over the grass creating vistas that seem to go on forever. Early in the trip, a dare devil osprey flew right under our bow sprit--such fun! And once again laughing and ring-billed gulls flew in our wake diving to catch fish fry that our passing had stunned. The admiral caught some of that on film!

We also saw dolphins, a bald eagle, white and brown pelicans, cormorant, and great egret. I'm sure we missed many more.

We arrived at Windmill Harbor on the west side of Hilton Head, a delightful, friendly harbor separated from Calibogue Sound by a small lock.

Houses, town homes, and large trees surround the small, narrow, but somewhat long harbor providing significant protection from the wind and almost no fetch. That proved a blessing as we rode out 48 hours of gale force winds and torrential rain on Wednesday and Thursday. The lock strategy fascinated me. On a high tide, particularly a higher high tide, they open the lock for 20 minutes or a half hour and the harbor fills to that level. The goal being to keep a standard eight foot depth throughout the harbor, they can then go days or weeks without refilling depending, of course, on season and the amount of boater use.

We also enjoyed the hospitality of the South Carolina Yacht Club where we dined both Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

On Tuesday night, we entertained our now good friend, Craig Tallberg, for dinner at the club. Craig was the dealer who sold us Katahdin, arranged for us to ship her to Michigan and store her there for the summer, and has helped us solve a number of issues over the last year, in fact, I first saw Katahdin at Windmill Harbor and did our sea trials with Craig there. With nearly 3000 statue sea miles on her now and our electrical issues fully resolved, I'm a lot more confident handling Katahdin than I was a year ago when I first "tried her out!"

Tuesday, we drove to Sea Pines, a private development that occupiers the entire southern end of Hilton Head. We first explored the Sea Pines light house and museum and then went for a long bird walk in their forest preserve. We saw blue birds, yellow rumped warblers, a white eyed vireo, cardinals, Carolina chickadee, Carolina wren, dozens of turtles, and a couple of alligators (please don't tell the bosun). We had lunch at the down and dirty homestyle Sea Shack--an awesome lunch of grilled grouper for the admiral and fried oysters (don't tell my GP) for me. After that, it was time for a walk on the beach! We enjoyed seeing cold hardie youngsters and teenagers swimming and body surfing. Back in the day that would have been me!

Wednesday, we headed to the nearby but off island town of Bluffton, an historic village that traces its history back centuries. Perhaps of greatest interest to me was the house that Cyrus Garvin built in 1870. Garvin, a 40 year-old newly freed slave, had developed construction, farming and business skills as a plantation work leader. Obviously smart, once freed, he acquired land, built his home and numerous out buildings, successfully raised crops beyond his family's needs, served as a plantation agent, and ultimately acquired and farmed more than 100 acres of land.

Also of interest in Bluffton is the Church of the Cross. Built in 1857, it has overlooked the May River ever since. Sadly, as happened throughout the south, Union troops burned the town at the end of the Civil War but they spared the Church--perhaps in part because they had been allowed to worship there on Sundays despite the conflict. However, the Hurricane of 1898 did significant damage. Repairs took two years and were completed in 1900.

While we're talking about the history of the region, the British prized the forests of Hilton Head and surrounds for two reasons. First, the tall, straight pines that grow here made near perfect ships masts. Second, the live oaks not only provided structural members for ship building but also planking that would withstand the canon balls of the era and made the best warships until true "ironsides" came along.

We had planned to move on to Beaufort on Thursday but the day's gale force winds exceeded those of Wednesday so we took the day to explore the museum at Parris Island where the admiral's father completed basic training at the start of World War II. After a thorough security check and a number of questions, the marine guards allowed us onto the base where "We Make Marines." Not surprisingly, the museum does a terrific job recounting marine history from many different eras and wars with static exhibits, movies, dynamic battle portrayals, and countless pieces large and small of memorabilia. Surprisingly, the museum also recounts the natural history, indigenous history, and modern history of the Island and its region. We enjoyed several hours there. Interestingly, Parris Island graduates a cadre of marines every week from its 13 week basic training course. Over its history, Parris Island has produced more than a million marines.

Today, we enjoyed a short, 20 mile cruise from Windmill Harbor to Beaufort (pronounced Bewfort), SC. Countless dolphins swam to meet and escort us. Two bald eagles harrassed a poor osprey with a fish in an aerial display that would put the Blue Angels to shame. Oyster catchers sat on an oyster bank, hopefully well sated. And we saw lots of small waders along with the usual array of great egrets, great and little blue herons, and even a great blue heron white morph. We're anchored along side a long dock in a large bay where we hope the breeze and boat traffic will die down to reduce the rockin and rollin and the slap of waves against the hull.

Two last things. First, I'm happy to report that the Bosun has recovered from his cold. Sick Bay, for the moment at least, is closed.

And finally, a shout out to my dear late Mom who made this hat in 1977 when I got my first sailboat and named her Snowgoose. The hat, almost a half century old, still keeps my head and ears warm on a chilly day on a boat of which we have had more than our fair share.