posted 01-31-2010 10:08 AM ET (US)        

Are there any potential hazards to be aware of?

Are there a lot of fuel stations & restaurants along the way?

How is the fishing along that stretch?

What would be a good marina and hotel in Charleston to stay overnight? Approximate cost?

Other advice?

posted 02-01-2010 11:38 AM ET (US)            

"cannot accomodate transients during summer time due to limited dock space. try city marina, ashley marina or patriots."

posted 02-01-2010 04:51 PM ET (US)            

Last year we checked out the Cooper River Marina. It is a good facility and good location from the water. It is also inexpensive and they seemed very eager for our business. The problem is that it is not a very good location for access from the land and there is no hotel near by, at least not one that you would want to stay at. From the hotels in Mt. Pleasent, it is about a 30 min. drive through some pretty sketchy parts of town.

One year we stayed at Mariner's Cay. You can rent a nice river front two bedroom condo for about $120.00/day and they have a good marina on site. The trade off is that you are on the Folly River and somewhat isolated (by water) from Charleston Harbor, Shem Creek, and the city center. You can get to all those locations by water from Mariner's Cay but you have either a long ride up the Stono river then through the Wappo cut or a very tricky trip through the salt marshes where you better know what you are doing or you could easily get lost or grounded, or both.

posted 02-01-2010 07:28 PM ET (US)            

I'm sad to hear about all of this. Have you tried the Ashley Marina, the Charleston City Marina, or Dolphin Cove Marina? Ashley and City are right down in the middle of stuff, and you don't need a rental car. And I think the replacement to Buzzard's Roost is fairly inexpensive, though about five miles from downtown.

City is $2.00 per foot, minimum 30' - expensive
Ashley is $2.00 per foot, no minimum
Cooper River, not sure, but it's a County Park thingy.

Here is a link:
http://www.sciway.net/tourism/charleston-marinas.html

Regardless, Ron, if you can put up with a Bronco II straight drive, let me know when you're coming down, and I'll make sure you have a car to drive around.

Let me know if you need anything else.

posted 02-02-2010 02:24 PM ET (US)            

There are 3 possible scenarios to this tentative ~200 mile round trip:

1 - Three men for fishing & Charleston nightlife

2 - Two men & three women for potty stops & sight seeing. It would be a bit cramped for 5 people in a 17 ft. boat on a 200 mile trip.

3 - There is the posibility that the women will drive a car from Conway to Charleston and meet the men at the marina. So much for the night life but maybe we can convice the women to take a guided tour while we fish.

Ace, thanks for the offer, it would be fun to drive a stick again but I don't think it will be needed. BTW, the clutch is on the left - correct?

posted 02-02-2010 03:12 PM ET (US)         

I believe that's about a 65 mile stretch, so at 20, you're looking at 3+ hours. You'll surely slow in some areas just to take it in.

We found some shoaling, but then again we drew 6'. Charts will have old pilings marked. There are 2 intersections where you need to keep any eye on markers to ensure you stay on the ICW. Most of the traffic along there was polite - only a few a-holes rocked through there completely untrimmed making it a little rough. Common sense prevails.

There's fuel in McClellanville - about half way.

Haven't really fished it, but it looked great. I trolled a line w/o luck. If I had a casting rod, it would have been great. Lots of wildlife. Dolphins, sharks, gators, herons. I know there's redfish and trout all along there.

No idea where to tie up in CHS. The boat I was on is berthed there. Surely some locals will pipe up.