Boat U.S. - March 2008 - (Page 33)

Water ont Living tially rebuilt. And any of the tours will give you a good idea why Charleston, with its large, easily defensible harbor, was such a valuable Confederate asset, especially in terms of blockade running. Greater Charleston, which includes a number of suburbs that call themselves islands (some are, some aren’t), is becoming fashionable as a retirement area. The climate never gets what northerners would call cold — about 40˚F in January, the coldest month. And desert dwellers wouldn’t find it really hot even in July (90˚F). But it is damp, and in summer rainfalls average six inches monthly. Plus, of course, those occasional hurricanes. There are marinas of all kinds in historic Charleston itself and the surrounding areas, but if you don’t have your own land transportation, perhaps the best bet is the Charleston City Marina, on Lockwood Drive near the historic district. Modern and huge (it hosts the January in-water boat show), it has just about everything, including Wi-Fi and cable TV. Nightly rates begin at $70, plus extra charge for electricity (charlestoncitymarina.com). Nearby is the somewhat more posh Ashley Marina, now a dockominium but still retaining some spaces for transients. A big marina right next to the Naval and Maritime Museum is Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina (24 Patriots Point Rd.), with 459 slips. It’s headquarters for the Charleston-Bermuda Race, and the complex also has a golf course and a hotel that’s received an amazingly assorted collection of web reviews from folks who’ve stayed there. Sportfishing based out of Charleston is deservedly popular, and perhaps the best headquarters for that is Tabor Point Marina on Sullivan’s Island in Mt. Pleasant, where a number of deep sea boats are based. Your own vessel can find a slip there, too, at a minimum of $37.50 a day. And if you come to town with a boat on a trailer, Daniel Island Marina, off Highway 576, may be just right for you. It’s a dry stack establishment with slots for 375 boats, and besides seasonal and annual rates, accepts transient craft at $1.25 per foot per night. Check them out at danielislandmarina.com. — By Tony Gibbs 33 thousands of souvenir items are great fun to wander through, but most of them are overpriced — particularly the locally made, hand-woven baskets made of a straw called sweet grass. Your guide can steer you to better, less expensive versions. Here, as elsewhere in Charleston, unreconstructed northerners like me may find some of the market’s offerings either weird (like the iconic paintings of Confederate heroes) or jarring — such as reproductions of historical posters advertising the sale of slaves. One sight that’s not on the tours is the Hunley, the resurrected Confederate submarine that sank the Union’s USS Housatonic on February 17, 1864, with a “torpedo” — essentially a bomb on the end of a pole — and then disappeared, with her eight-man crew. Located and raised in 2000, the 40-foot submarine is now contained in a 90,000-gallon preservation tank at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center, in the old U.S. Navy Base in North Charleston. A full-size model, built for a TV show, is also on display, and it gives an all-toorealistic notion of a mission that can only be described as suicidally heroic, since the sub had already sunk twice, killing 13 crewmembers, including her inventor, H.L. Hunley, before her attack on the Housatonic. Tours are Saturdays and Sundays only, $12 a head (tickets from www.etix.com) If you’re a naval buff, you probably can’t find anything that matches the fourship extravaganza at Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, located on the shore of suburban Mt. Pleasant, across the Cooper River from Charleston proper. On display are four World War II fighting ships — the aircraft carrier Yorktown, destroyer Laffey, submarine Clamagore, and Coast Guard Cutter Ingham — as well as several other attractions ($15 admission, but parking is free). You may, like me, be struck at how small the living spaces on these vessels are, but there’s a lot of ground to cover: If you want to see the whole fleet, allow four or five hours, wear comfortable shoes and weather-appropriate clothing. The ships can be very hot in summer and chilly in winter. Arguably the most famous event in Charleston’s history was the 1861 Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, which opened the first act of the Civil War (and just may have paved the way for the “Yankee brutality” the tour guides still refer to). The small island on which the shell of five-sided Sumter still sits is at the very mouth of the harbor, three miles away from downtown. The only way you can see it is from the water, and though a number of boat tours circle the island, the only way you can actually land there is by taking a vessel operated by a Park Service concessionaire (www.fortsumtertours.com, $14). You may find the fort itself unimpressive, but remember it was flattened twice — first by the Confederates and then by the besieging Union forces — and only par- BoatU.S. Magazine March 2008 http://charlestoncitymarina.com http://www.fortsumtertours.com http://www.etix.com http://danielislandmarina.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Boat U.S. - March 2008

Boat U.S. - March 2008 Contents Behind the Buoy BoatU.S. Reports Member Forum Cap'n Drew Sailing the Sidewalk Aviators Ahoy Docking and Duffing Waterfront Living: Charleston Waterfront Marketplace Grady Right 2nd Time Around DIY: Keeping the Water Out Hot Tips Boat Smart Ask Chuck Foundation Findings Tangled Line At Your Service Good Foundations BoatU.S. Exchange Behind the Boat Where Our Flags Fly

Boat U.S. - March 2008

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