Here is valuable information and advice from Larry Shick aboard his Valiant 42 about the AICW just north of Charleston:

As we were entering Charleston Harbor from the S, we got a VHF call from a skipper from one of the towboat companies (sorry, I can’t remember which, or I’d give credit) warning of shoaling between the Ben Sawyer Bridge (MM 462) to the Isle of Palms Bridge (MM 459). His advice was to avoid the green side (which does not mean favoring the red side). According to his report, this is a new (last several months) problem.We went through at MLW and “touched bottom” (6′ draft) at 32-47.3N 079-48.3W (32°47.3000N / 079°48.3000W, 32.788333 / -79.805000), which is a bit N of the channel according to the e-charts, but by turning SW we were able to proceed immediately.As a reminder, the Ben Sawyer bridge is passable only on its N side. After several weeks of swing bridges, I made the assumption that both sides of the swing were available, and was saved from ignominy at the last moment by the bridge operator. Also, the operator’s VHF was *very* faint: even when we were just below her cupola we could barely hear her.Captain Larry Shick aboard S/V MoiraClick Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Grounding N of Ben Sawyer Bridge Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s South Carolina Bridge Directory Listing For Ben Sawyer Bridge Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s South Carolina Bridge Directory Listing For Isle of Palms Bridge