May 7, Day 316 – Daufuskie Island to Port Royal

We were up early this morning. However, we were in no hurry to leave so we just enjoyed the peaceful quietness with a cup of coffee and watched the critters swimming by. We saw an alligator and several dolphins jumping and swimming right by the boat. We decided we really liked Daufuskie Island. After breakfast and doing a few minor maintenance things, we finally got underway around 8:30. On our trip today we passed by Hilton Head, a very popular tourist area and much more developed than Daufuskie, and Parris Island which is used by the Marines for training.

We reached our destination for the day, Port Royal, just before noon. Port Royal is a small town right next to Beaufort, SC – pronounced Bew-fort; not Boe-fort as in Beaufort, NC. We’ll also be going there, but that will be down the road. Not being locals, we still keep getting the pronunciation mixed up.

We checked in at the marina and received the welcome package. The staff was very helpful and gave us several recommendations on what to see and do. We also got a good discount on dockage through our MTOA membership. The marina had a restaurant on site (and the welcome package included a discount coupon) so we decided to have lunch there. It was pretty good.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, catching up on e-mail and trying to finalize our boat insurance which expires at the end of the month. Our current carrier is no longer insuring boats so we need to get new coverage. We’ve been working on that for a month or two now and, hopefully, have it squared away.

As evening came, we went for a walk, but discovered the area right outside of the marina was not really walker-friendly, so soon came back and just hung out on the boat. Tomorrow Gerry is going to do boat maintenance (an oil change) and then we are taking a taxi into Beaufort to explore the area and have an early mother’s day dinner.

Early morning at Daufuskie -- no fog -- just a light haze and total calm

The next island, Hilton Head, was very developed. According to the guidebooks, there are over 200 places to eat on this island.

We passed by the Hilton Head Harbor Marina

The northern end of Hilton Head -- not quite as developed right here as other places along the island

Parris Island - the water tower had a big Marine sign on it

At the Port Royal Landing Marina -- a long walk to the marina office from our boat dock. Because of the huge tidal swing and the marshlands the docks are very long.

Monk's Vineyard at the dock