Day 9: Beaufort, SC, to Charleston, SC.

5 hr 02 min. We depart Beaufort on another glorious morning and immediately encounter our first swing bridge... the Richard V. Woods Memorial Bridge, shown on our charts as Ladies Island Bridge. This was the bridge that featured in the Forrest Gump movie. Unfortunately for we tourists, we do not get to see it 'swing', as it's high enough above the water for us to easily slide beneath.

We head off, on a mirror-smooth surface, up Mulligan Creek, past the Merritt Field Marine Corps Air Station and into St Helena Sound, and then jump across country, courtesy of a series of cuts made across the marshland, to enter the South Edisto River and onward via another winding course to the Stono River, the Elliot Cut (Wappoo River), and finally into Charleston's Ashley River and directly across it to the Charleston City Marina, where, at 1400, our booking scores a very convenient mooring (considering the length of some of their finger piers. One is 1,700 ft long before you have another 630 ft to go to the shore!). With a strong flooding tidal current and under advice from the marina dockmaster, Preston swings 45 North through 180 deg and slots us into a space between two other vessels. We make fast and thank our lucky stars for the berth.

We leave Preston to his 'chores' and catch the marina shuttle bus into town, where we visit the Information Centre, look for a SIM card for Graeme, and walk a few blocks to a restaurant that Preston has recommended.

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