We logged our first local trip aboard Rita Traveling to Beaufort, S.C. via the ICW. I planned both legs of the trip on a rising tide hoping to avoid quite a few shallow areas along the ICW. We have a draft of around 5’ and scraped by a few places along the way. The area between Beaufort and Charleston has quite a few twists and turns so you have to really pay attention to your plotter. Rita creates a pretty good wake so running the ditch was slow going averaging around 9 knots. 6 hours after leaving Charleston we arrived in Beaufort on a slack tide so we only had to deal with slight wind and very little current. Our friends David and Laurie joined us for this weekend trip and we really enjoyed our time in Beaufort. This town has a beautiful river front park with nice restaurants nearby serving excellent food and drink. After dinner on Friday night we enjoyed sitting in the porch swings along the river and taking in the beautiful night along the river. Traveling on Friday and Sunday only gave us one day to enjoy this historical town which was not nearly enough time. We will return for an extended stay and see the town from the seat of a horse drawn carriage. We hope to get in one more short trip to maybe Georgetown or Hilton Head before winter sets in.
