We sailed from beautiful Redbird Creek Anchorage with two other sailboats outside in the Atlantic to (Port Royal Sound) Beaufort, SC. It was a very pleasant ten hour Atlantic Passage with wind 8-10 knots, calm surface, west and south winds. We tied up at the Port Royal Landing Marina and were greeted with warmth and southern hospitality by the marina owner, Tom Wilson, and dock master, Dona Butler.

We remained at the marina over the long Memorial Day weekend in order to avoid the wild holiday traffic on the ICW. In Beaufort we attended the Gullah festival, an annual event celebrating the history of culture of the descendants of slaves brought from Sierra Leone for their expertise in rice farming. We visited the Penn Center, the first school for freed slaves, which was started by Quakers from Pennsylvania in 1862. At Hunting Island we climbed the stairs to the top of the lighthouse for a breathtaking view of the coast and discovered shrimp burgers and fried sweet potatoes at a place also discovered by Tom Hanks while he was filming “Forrest Gump”. Beaufort is lovely and rich with history dating back to pre-colonial times. The PRLM has a lively restaurant and nightly shows. We enjoyed beach music and joined with folks doing the Shag (apparently the state dance of SC).