May 25, 2021
Playing With The Big Boys
After Hilton Head the next stop is Charleston. I had a pretty uneventful day going in the big water until I got to the Charleston Harbor inlet. I saw a large tug towing an ocean going barge and we were going about the same speed and headed to the same point. I slowed and was going to let him go by and then he hailed me on the radio. He asked if I was going to Charleston and how fast I was going. After I gave him the information he said there is plenty of room and just go in with him. Me being the rookie, of course that sounded just fine. It was all good, if not a little stressful until another tug pushing a barge crossed in front of us and started heading in my direction. I was turtle meat in a tug sandwich! Actually, there was plenty of room and there was nothing to be worried about. Of course I can say that now all calm, cool and collected. I will mention that on the way out the next day I was about run over by a large container ship. After I heard a large horn blowing and looked behind me I quickly moved to the side. If you haven’t seen the bow of a large ship up close, believe me it is a scary sight when it is coming right at you. Once again, no big deal. I was cool as a cucumber. Yah, right.
I did cruise by Fort Sumter and had a cool place to anchor where I could watch the commercial traffic. I look forward to coming back when I have more time.
