Another SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR announces expansion plans!

Charleston City Marina plans to add 40 more slips………. see news article………
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/oct/31/plan-adds-40-boat-slips/
C. Winston Fowler

Wow.. have cruisers noticed the mention that they are going to take away from the public anchorage to shift the channel over? The anchorage that’s there is already one of the more difficult anchorages to deal with along the coast. There are numerous derelicts and the reversing current requires a lot of spacing between properly anchored vessels. When the wind picks up the chop gets fairly significant and requires even more scope. In other words, there’s not much room right now in the anchorage, and they’re looking to reduce its size? Their cost of building new slips is less than dredging. I get that, but what happens in another 10 years when they lose even more room to shoaling. Put a marina management plan in place to deal with the shoaling rather than taking away from the only `real’ anchorage in Charleston! I’d be curious who to contact to express an opinion.
Captain Chris aboard s/v Pelican

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s South Carolina Marina Directory Listing For Charleston City Marina

Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of Charleston City Marina

If we are going to berth on the Charleston peninsula, we choose Charleston City Marina every time. All the many attractions of the “Holy City” are within a quick bus or cab ride. And, these good folks are a SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR!!!!

Charleston City Marina – Charleston, SC, ICW mm 470. This is a terrific spot to stop and see the sights. The marina is extremely competent, has all the services you could want, provides shuttle service from the marina to downtown, and is very professionally managed. There is a great restaurant at the entrance to the marina, called The Variety Store. They serve excellent southern style food, breakfast/lunch/dinner, with an unexpected gourmet flair to the menu.
Sabra Morgan

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s South Carolina Marina Directory Listing For Charleston City Marina

Click on Chartlet Below to Open a Chart View Window,
Centered on the Location of This Marina:

Struggling through a tough economy, the new St. Johns Yacht Harbor, formerly Buzzards Roost, is regaining momentum among local and cruising boaters. Without doubt, the facilities – including pool, showers, ship’s store and captain’s lounge – are among the finest in South Carolina. St. Johns Yacht Harbor – a SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS NET SPONSOR! – is on the Stono River, just off the AICW near statute mile 472.5.

I just went to Saint Johns Yacht Harbor in Charleston. The marina is beautiful, the staff was very professional and the gas was the cheapest I could find. They also have a wonderful bar with a gorgeous view overlooking the water . It was a great place to get a hot dog and a cold beer!
Captain Louise

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s South Carolina Marina Directory Listing For St. Johns Yacht Harbor

Dolphin Cove Marina is located on the Ashely River upstream of the other Charleston Ashley River facilities. I can personally vouch that this is a quite, reasonably priced facility, with excellent management and a new on-site restaurant. It is located well away from the action of historic Charleston, but if you are looking for a place to keep a boat for an extended period of time, look no further. And, of course, Dolphin Cove is a SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR!

Subject: Dolphin Cove Marina
Cruising News: I can recommend Dolphin Cove Marina about 2 miles up the Ashley River – through the 16ft clearance bascule bridge – which does open upon request – eventually that is!
Dolphin Cove is an easy going friendly marina. They will be seeing me again!
Capt. Arnold

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s South Carolina Marina Directory Listing For Dolphin Cove Marina

Always a popular stop in a narrow, but well protected span of water behind a small island just south of the Hwy. 17 bridge, just a stone’s throw from Charleston and the Ashley River.

Behind the island in the Wappoo Creek is about the best [anchorage near Charleston] – and you can dinghy to the Charleston Crab House restaurant and walk a half mile to a Piggly Wiggly and a Subway and a liquor store – though not necessarily in that order. You can dock temporarily at the City Marina for $5 an hour but the overnight transient rate is outrageous unless you are of mega-yacht status.
Captain Arnold

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s South Carolina Anchorage Directory Listing For Wappoo Creek Anchorage

Very nice comments about one of the growing number of premier marinas in the Charleston area, and this one is a SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR! Charleston Harbor Marina is actually located on the Mount Pleasant side of Charleston Harbor, within a stone’s throw of the Patriots Point park exhibitions and facilities.

Stopped by to refuel and I was impressed with the facility. The `attitude’ of the entire marina seemed better than last fall and prior to that with the marina crew seeming to be happy to help with anything needed. I’m not sure what the change was, but the entire facility was more `user friendly’ and I’ll definitely stop by again. Food was good and the `Reel Bar’ is a blast. Customer service has definitely become `first class’.
Captain T Jones

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s South Carolina Marina Directory Listing For Charleston Harbor Marina

Having visited this boatyard, formerly Charleston Boat Yard, on several recent occasions, I can attest to the excellent work being done by the new owner, John Brophy. Like most owner-operated concerns, Pierside Boatworks is having great success. 843-554-7775 and john@piersideboatworks.com

If you ever need a boatyard for maintenance: bottom paint, prop work, through hull fitting work etc. or just to have your boat on the hard for a period of time, please think Pierside Boatworks with John Brophy. He is an upfront owner who will give quotes and timing and then stick by them. John operates the yard to accommodate owners who want to do work themselves or to have his professional team look after your needs. The yard is secure and the staff is welcoming and professional in their areas of expertise. We have done business with John for the past few years and have not been disappointed. Please check them out.
Captains Tim and Marion Barnett (WHATEVER)

We spent almost a month on the hard here. While they raised our waterline by 3 inches and put a new bootstripe on, we spent 2 weeks compounding, polishing and waxing our sailboat from stem to stern and worked on various other projects. They took care of us every step of the way, and John Brophy deserves a lot of credit for the work he’s done to the place. They were incredibly welcoming, even allowing us to use their conference room to homeschool our kids while we were working on our boat. I can’t recommend them enough.
Captain Chris, s/v Pelican

I have always found the Charleston Maritime Center a bit cramped, but others obviously have a different point of view.

Great Marina. Reasonable ($1.50 for BoatUS, deals on weekly and monthly), friendly, helpful staff. Close to very good grocery, city library, coffee shops, restaurants, gym, movie theater and walking distance to historic Charleston’s great old homes, Battery Park, good restaurants, galleries, museums, bus and trolley lines etc. Some pretty good surge on tide changes, but not unreasonable. Definitely the place to stay if you are passing through and want to see some of Charleston. City Marina on the other side is a little far out.
Jack Robinson

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s South Carolina Marina Directory Listing For Charleston Maritime Center

Charleston City Marina is another long time SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR. This facility is located on the Ashley River side of Charleston and is very convenient for visiting the city’s dreamlike historic/business/dining districts. There is also a surprisingly good restaurant on site known locally as the “Variety Store.” All three meals of the day are very good here, and the prices are reasonable!

Stayed here 3/24/2010 thru 3/27/2010. Outstanding service. They don’t seem to be able to do enough for you. Transient dock is easy to get into and out of. Is oriented with the current so you can approach in one direction or another and not worry about a cross current.
Shuttle makes trips to the down town area on a regular schedule at no charge. Really a great city to spend a few days.
SV Aquarius

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s South Carolina Marina Directory Listing For Charleston City Marina

Charleston Harbor Marina is located on the Mount Pleasant side of the Charleston Harbor. Thus, you must take a land or water taxi to reach the Charleston historic district and the MANY wonderful restaurants in Charleston. Of course, there are also some good place to slake a healthy appetite in Mount Pleasant and at Patriots Point, where the marina is located.

We have been going to the Charleston Harbor with our boats for several years. We have stayed at the City Marina twice and the Charleston Harbor Marina 4 times. We like the CHM better as they have a pool at the hotel that you have acess to as well as entertainment at the Hotel.
The currents can be strong but we’ve never had a problem docking there. Just have to know to navigate the currents with your boat. The rates are only $2.15 per ft with 30Ft minimum so only about $64.50 a night for 30’³ and under plus 7$ a night for Shore power. City Marina has about the same rates.
Both Marinas take good care of you at all hrs and make you feel like you have a 100Ft Yacht docked there.
We’re heading down again in June and are going back to the CHM.
Kent Zessin

Click Here To View the Cruisers’ Net’s South Carolina Marina Directory Listing For Charleston Harbor Marina

It’s interesting to me how many cruisers like to stay at the Charleston Maritime Center on Cooper River. We prefer the Charleston City Marina on the Ashley River side, but, hey, that’s just us. As Captain Felix points out below, there’s lots of shopping and sightseeing readily accessible from the Maritime Center.

We are currently staying at the Maritime Center in Charleston, SC. The price is reasonable ($1.50 per ft for boat US, 5 days pays for a week and two weeks pays for a month), the staff is very friendly and helpful and the location is great. (Did I mention free use of the washer/ dryer?) We are in easy walking distance of a great grocery store and the county library (you can get a card with a marina letter and check out DVD’s). Lots of small restaurants and coffee shops nearby. Slightly longer, but still close and an easy walk to lots of very good restaurants and museums. Also a good place to walk from to see all the great old town Charleston old homes and other sights. It is right next to the Fort Sumpter tour boat and the Aquarium so the low-priced downtown trolley stops here. The only down side – some surge from passing ships and tide changes. We are a 34 foot catamaran and hardly notice it; friends on a Pacific Seacraft 27 commented on it a lot.
Captain Felix

The discussion below is copied from the T&T (Trawlers and Trawlering) Mail List. It began with the first messge below, asking for Charleston marina advice. I have plucked out two responses which pertain to Charleston City Marina (A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR). Several other respones mentioned the Charleston Maritime Center on the Cooper River side of the Charleston peninsulla. I’ve appended them to a recent string of messages about this facility.
Let me just register my own, personal opinion here. Whenever we are in Charleston (perhaps our favorite port of call anytime, anywhere) we always coil our lines at the City Marina.

We are on our way South and need to leave our trawler for a week at a secure location in or near Charleston? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Don Kilpatrick
MV My Dream

Last Christmas we left ours at the City marina “Mega dock” for 10 days with no problems. The marina is very nice and near town. The dock is huge and it can be a very long walk to shore if you are out near the end. We had our dog and made the walk about 4 times a day.
Steve Willett
Monk 36, Gumbo

I second the City Marina. I live in Charleston and keep my boat at the sister marina. The person to contact is McKenzie who is the delightful and lovely dock master. She knows the marina like the back of her hand. They have a shuttle that will take you to a limited number of places. I don’t have the marina number handy but you can get it at citymarina.com I think.
George
Metafora
Sabre 36

Click Here To View the South Carolina Cruisers’ Net Marina Directory Listing For Charleston City Marina

County owned Cooper River Marina is a very nice faility, particulary in light of improvements to docks and shoreside facilities over the last several years. My problem with this place is how far removed it is from the Charleston historic and dining district. A LONG ride is necessary to reach the attractions, but I do see below that the marina is now beginning to provide courtesy transportation. This is a welcome innovation indeed.

Subject: Cooper River Marina , Charlston
Cruising News: Have stayed here this past week. It is a neat and clean marina, and well managed and staffed. It is located on the Cooper River just above the bridge and has clear and easy access. Although somewhat remote, the marina staff will drive you to town ( 7 mi ). The docks are floating and transients are welcome. At this time the slip fee is $1.50 + 4.00 elect. Longer stays are also reasonable. There is ships store, Wi-fi,showers,T V,lounge and washer/dryer. The marina is not that far out of the way and it is peaceful. The staff go out of their way to please. It has been an enjoyable stay,and I will stay here again.Marina Ph # 1-843-554-0790

Two years ago we left Morning Star at Cooper River Marina, in Charleston. The facility is just fine but it is out away from town. I wouldn’t want to use it for a brief “tourist” stay but for short term storage its just fine. It is owned/operated by either the City or the County (I don’t remember which), has fairly new docks and they operate a courtesy shuttle. I got a ride to the auto parts store and also back from the airport when I returned my rental car. They will take you into town to do your sightseeing but you need to hop a cab back. I’d do it again.
Regards,
Randy Pickelmann
MORNING STAR

Click Here For The Cruisers’ Net’s South Carolina Marina Directory Listing For Cooper River Marina

The Charleston Maritime Center is located will north of the AICW’s passage across Charleston Harbor, on the western (Charleston) banks of the Cooper River. Personally, this has never been our choice of “the” spot to coil our lines in Charleston, but we certainly have been getting many positive messages about this facility here on the Net within the last several months. Looks like Captains Larry and Suzi had a mixed experience (see below)

A friend recommended this marina. I agree with the comments and add that is is the best located marina in Charleston. It is one of the lowest priced marinas with your BostUS card. It is rocky, but its a boat! The view is the new bridge, Patriots Point, and all the great ships.
There is a bakery and deli a couple of blocks away and Market Street is about a 8 blocks walk. We enjoyed the convenience.
Judith Richardson

We were at the Maritime Center end of Oct 09, rates were $1.60 ft with BostUS discount. The staff was great but we found the rolly situation very uncomfortable. The laundry is free but there is only one washer and dryer so don’t plan on getting all your laundry caught up unless you are there a long time. The walk to town is easy and Harris Teeter is wonderful. Great wine selection there as well.
Larry and Suzi

We’re currently tied up at Charleston Maritime Center. Yes, it can be occasionally rolly and current can be an issue, but the location is better than most others, that rely on a water taxi or hourly van to get to the center of the city. And the price is hard to beat. Also, the laundry is FREE!! There’s one home washer and drier and NO quarter bandit. Whatta deal! Finally, a big Attaboy to Jeff (dockmaster) and Alex of CMC for getting us tied up without a surprise or ding.
Rick Emerson

We just left Charleston Maritime Center, stayed 3 nights. It’s our 2nd stay. We stayed previously at City Marina aka: MegaDock on the other side of Charleston last year, nice facility, but too rich for our blood. Lots of big high end boats if you like walking the docks. The Maritime Center is more low key, less expensive, and only blocks away from things. There’s a Harris Teeter close by, an easy walk to a terrific grocery store. They have one of those RedBox DVD vending machines, my 1st encounter with one, and I’m hooked. A buck for a DVD rental.
The Center may be a bit more exposed to passing wakes, and has more fetch in a NE wind, can get a bit rocky, but not always, and is much
closer to town and the historic section, many restaurants if that’s your thing. We travel with dogs, and we found the folks there to be dog friendly, and there’s a huge field/park across the street, little traffic. Next door to the Aquarium, lots of interesting neighborhoods and beautiful old homes to see within easy walking.
Staff was very accommodating, always offered to help with lines. BTW, best approach is in slack tide, second best is flood, ebb can go pretty
quickly, and I’ve witnessed some folks having trouble with the current during docking. They’ll help you, there were 2 guys there to take our
lines, and they were very helpful.
Saw police on bike, by car at least once a day in the area during our stay, there are always lots of cruisers coming and going, so I’d guess
it’s pretty secure, although not gated.
4 stars from me.
Steve Sipe
Solo 4303
lying Ashepoo River by Fenwick Cut

Click Here For The Cruisers’ Net’s South Carolina Marina Directory Listing For Charleston Maritime Center

The Cooper River Marina is a Charleston County owned and operated facility. It is located well upstream on Cooper River from the Charleston’ downtown/historic district, on the grounds of the old US Navy Base. While the dockage is pretty good, even if somewhat unsheltered, and the shoreside support buildings are very acceptable, you will be docked a long way by land from most Charleston attractions.

We docked at Cooper River Marina during the month of November last year and were very pleased with the cleanliness of the facility and the very friendly and most helpful staff. We hope to stay at Cooper River Marina again the next time we’re in Charleston. It’s very cool watching huge ships traveling up and down the Cooper River…nothing boring about this marina.
Ginny Walsh

Click Here For The Cruisers’ Net’s South Carolina Marina Directory Listing For Cooper River Marina

I would add to Captain Arnold’s recommendations below for cruising Charleston Inlet and Harbor (apparently he is speaking about nighttime passage of these waters), to have a well functioning and very visable GPS chartplotter aboard. There are so many lighted aids to navigation in Charleston Harbor, it’s very easy to become confused. And, there has been more than one tragedy in these waters from vessels trying to navigate after dark.
Personally, we never cruise these waters at night. If you choose to do so anyway, please proceed with the greatest of caution!

Charleston Bay area generally is notorious for shifting shoals, low depths at low tide. Keep very carefully to main channel markers and particularly if entering Shems Creek or at the top entrance to the ICW – can’t tell you how many boats I’ve seen stuck there – even small center cockpit fishers drawing only 2ft. (At one time one of them was me 🙂 And for sure stay clear of the “jetties” and go either side of them through the green and red markers. When approaching Charleston in the main channel (to starboard coming in) which the big ships use, you can see a spotlight on one of the downtown buildings and aim for that always keeping it in sight (if you stray out of the channel the light in effect dissapears)
Best wishes
Arnold

I penned the first edition of my “Cruising Guide to Coastal South Carolina and Georgia” in 1985, and have been researching the waters around Charleston ever since. However, even I have never cruised upstream of the “bridge” on upper Wando River. Below, Captain Arnold certainly does make it sound like an appearling prospect, however, at least by dinghy (on the uppermost stretch).

The prettiest area of Charleston’s waterways is the upper Wando River – it has good depth all the way up to the old bridge – and the only DIY very well equipped yard in the Charleston area is up there – I forget it’s name alas. Dinghy up further to see some very pleasant marshlands and wildlife. You can moor in a small creek west of the new Charleston Bridge, just east of the container dock facility, which goes behind the town of Mount Pleasant – around 8 ft of water in the middle – and a nice little beach as bonus. As a matter of interest the only two people to lose their lives – boatowners – during Hurricane Hugo, decided to moor as far up the Wando as they could get. Theoretically they were correct – but Hugo barreled straight up the Wando for about 20 miles. One last message from one captain was that he could see nothing but white water on the windscreen – and logs rushing past…….. Then his VHF went dead.