There is an interesting bit of calculus, particularly this winter, to when I can launch at Wappoo Creek to begin the sail from Charleston to Florida. Usually it is a matter of time and tide. This year I need to figure in the temperature.
The boat ramp I use at James Island is at Wappoo Creek. It is a good ramp and this time of year, with cold weather, there is plenty of room to rig and launch SPARTINA. To get from Wappoo Creek to the Stone River, I need to go through Elliott Cut. The cut is very narrow with strong running tides the create swirling eddies. I can only get through the cut at slack tide.
Above you will see the slack tides circled in red. The morning tides are preferable. Leaving in the before noon means I can make a decent distance that first day, maybe reaching Wadmalaw Sound. With afternoon slack tides, I could get through the cut, but because of daylight I would need to anchor less than a mile down the Stono River in Sandy Bay. The 4:43 slack tide on Wednesday would allow me just over an hour to get through the cut, reach the anchorage and set up the boom tent. It could be done, but not ideal for a first night on the water.
The third element is the temperature. As I wrote a few years ago, "the polar vortex is broken, and I don't feel so good myself." The polar vortex has been reaching down south the past several days and will continue to do so through the middle of next week. This forecast shows a Wednesday morning temperature of 27 degrees. I don't want to be out on the water at 27 degrees, I am not geared up for that.
So can I launch Wednesday morning and make the morning slack tide? It is possible. But rigging at dawn at 27 degrees is not easy. There are a lot of knots to tie, hard to do with numb fingers. Or do I rig early afternoon when the temper is up in the 40s, make the pm slack tide and plan on anchoring in Sandy Bay for the night?
Forecasts change, of course, so I will just keep and eye on things and see what looks best.
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