Cruising Savannah to Charleston – Murder Scene or Steering Pump Failure?!!?

After a marvelous couple of days in downtown Savannah, we were excited to continue northbound up the ICW.

We thought we were getting back into our cruising o, and enjoying the variety that life on the water can bring.

Time with friends, time in remote gorgeous anchorages and being in the heart of amazing downtowns.

But things immediately went awry, giving us another challenge to overcome.

Which is all part of boat life too.

This entry covers May 9-21 and our 111nm journey from Savannah to Charleston.

First, our video version for those who care to follow along that way:

Stop 1: Downtown Savannah – East Dock

Moments after we pulled away from the downtown Savannah city docks into a busy shipping channel, I came up to the flybridge after bringing in the fenders and lines.

And I see red fluid streaming down the steering helm.  What could it be?

1. Chris has finally succumb to the biting flies and is bleeding out?
2. Dexter has decided to film a reprise episode onboard Y-Not?
3. A sudden hydraulic steering pump leak has developed?

We quickly ruled out biting flies and Dexter visiting. We had a hydraulic steering pump leak and were losing steerage in a busy shipping lane. Not ideal at all.

Every touch of the steering wheel resulted in more red hydraulic fluid pouring out.

Thankfully, another set of city docks was just down the way, so we rode the river down, and used differential thrust for steering to walk the boat over and get re-secured to assess the situation.

Steering leak!

Steering Leak!

Safely docked again.

Remove the steering wheel and released the pressure – leak stopped for now.

We knew that it was a seal failure, and that a similar thing had happened to the pilot house steering during our sea trial of Y-Not, and it was repaired right before we took ownership.

But how hard would it be to fix while on a random dock in Savannah?

We also checked in with Hinckley Yacht Services in Thunderbolt, a boatyard where we had done a ton of work on Y-Not five years prior.

Hinckley said they might be able to squeeze us into their docksif we could route back to Thunderbolt – about a 90 minute cruise away – and then assess the situation.

We did some system tests and confirmed that we could still drive safely from the indoor pilot house helm. As long as no one touched the flybridge steering wheel, the leak was contained.

We weren’t stuck.

Chris had tracked down a Hynautic seal rebuild kit on Amazon for just $29.99. But it could not be delivered to Savannah for 2 more days.

He also found several YouTube videos showing the process involved in rebuilding a helm steering pump.

So – should we order the part to meet us in Charleston, drive indoors until then (including tricky docking without visibility once we arrived!), trust that our more recently rebuilt lower helm was solid and do it ourselves?

Or – play it safe, get stuck in Thunderbolt for a week or so and have professionals handle it?

And to add some extra urgency – severe thunderstorms were inbound in a few hours, so a plan was needed soon. The docks we were on offered little protection.

Of course – on to Charleston it was!

Stops 2 & 3: Daufuskie Island & Pinckney Island

Once we felt we were safe to continue on with a game plan, we got to the New River South Anchorage outside Daufuskie Island just in time to set a storm anchor with a 10 scope for an anticipated blow.

Watching the storm cell approach with ominous blue clouds.

Storm on radar

Rain!

Sunset

Snagged on a float

With plenty of depth, lots of room around us and no other boats – we felt as safe as we could be.

Thankfully, the blow was short lived and we even enjoyed a sunset in the hot tub.

However, when we weighed anchor in the morning seems we snagged on a submerged crab pot (that was most definitely not visible when we anchored).

We were able to get ourselves released with a line hook and continued northward.

Winds picked up a bit as another huge cell hit south of us, and we rode pretty swelly and choppy following sea conditions on Calibogue Sound going past Hilton Head.

Getting the pilothouse organized and ready for cruising!

Anchored off Pinckney Island

Anchored off Pinckney Island

Going ashore for a hike.

Another sunset at anchor.

We decided to duck into a favorite protected anchorage off Pinckney Island before attempting Port Royal Sound in the morning. Which allowed us a nice morning hike on the island and opportunity to really get the pilothouse organized and ready for the rest of the cruise to Charleston as our only helm.

Ahh.. boat life. It’s not all dolphins, sunsets and rainbows. But those sure make up for the challenges!

Stop 4: Fenwick Cut

One of the challenges with boat at anchor life and having a running addiction (especially Chris’ commitment to Sunday Runday) is finding places to get ashore for our miles.

So for Saturday’s cruise we needed to end up somewhere we could run in the morning.

The obvious choice was grabbing a mooring ball or anchoring in Beaufort, SC – and then getting ashore there.

But we’ve done Beaufort multiple times (great stop, for sure!) and we wanted to get more miles to Charleston as there was more possible bad weather in the forecast for Tuesday.

So Chris found an anchorage off of South Fenwick Island near Edisto Island. It’s a wildlife management area run by the Nature Conservancy and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, with several miles of hiking trails.

Only accessible by boat, the island has a free dinghy dock too.

And it was perfect and serene to explore. Including a refuge of nesting egrets and an armadillo who chased us.

We got in a hike upon arrival to make our Apple Watches happy for the day, and then a 5k trail run in the morning before continuing northbound.

Stops 5 & 6: Charleston, SC

We had made a reservation at Charleston Maritime Center, with an arrival on Tuesday.

But weather was forecasting to be rather crappy. So we called ahead, and got the go ahead to arrive in Monday late afternoon and stay at the fuel dock to get in ahead of the storm. And then we’d move over into our slip.

We overnighted just a couple hours south at Church Creek Anchorage (lovely, but no shore access) and weighed anchor in the drizzle to start making our way in.

Signs all over the marina – they ain’t kidding.

Charleston Maritime Center

Elliot Cut

Approaching Elliot Cut

The approach into the marina can be tricky with stiff currents if you’re not coming in at slack – which didn’t line up with the availability of the fuel dock.

So we had some windy conditions and current to handle – and doing this from the inside helm without great visibility.

It was a challenge, but we did it with the help of awesome dock hands who know the conditions well.

And we may look like complete dorks wearing our bike helmets while docking.. but since ours have intercoms integrated into them, they are perfect for keeping in touch while maneuvering.

They’re hands free (no buttons to fumble with), won’t fall off and oh so stylish. And hey, if we crash into the dock, our noggins are safe.

We have loved our Sena R1 Smart Communications cycling helmets for years – they’re perfect for our bike adventures to keep chatting, communicating directions and upcoming obstacles. And now, they have a second use for docking! They’d probably be practical for backing an RV too.

Charleston is such a fabulous city to visit.. and the Charleston Maritime Center is a great location to do it from on a boat. Even if it is quite subject to intense wake and whipping cross currents.

We’ve now visited Charleston multiple times over the years by RV and boat, and it was the turn around point at our first attempt at the Great Loop nearly 5 years ago. On that stay, we got a monthly spot for July and did just about every touristy thing we could.

On this visit, we just did a weekly rate ($10/ft) – and we focused on just having Charleston at our doorstep with access to dining, groceries and exploring.

We also had our designated work week with lots of calls and webinars at attend to, so it was nice to be in a slip with full amenities.

And we of course had the steering pump to rebuild – which was challenging, but doable. And now we have a working upper helm again!

We enjoyed indulging in yummy food (Shiki Sushi, Thai Zapp, Lewis BBQ, Breizh pan Crepes and White Duck Taco being some favs this stop). We took advantage of having an Apple Store in walking distance, to test out the two new iPads just released for marine navigation.

And just getting around by foot and bike – even biking over the Ravenel Bridge to restock at Trader Joe’s!

We did have our friends and work mate Daniel stop in for a visit, which was fabulous to catch up!

We have Resumed our Loop!

When we pulled out of Charleston a couple weeks ago, we turned left heading north up the ICW – officially resuming where we left off on our last attempt at the Great Loop.

We have a post in the works recapping what the Great Loop is, and then we’re excited to share all new cruising territory to us in the months ahead!