Charleston To Beaufort In A Lyman!

Thanks to Woody boater Christopher Stang for sending in this wonderful story from South Carolina, reminding us that the best boating of the year is right now! Take it away Christopher.

Beaufort Trip 2015

While everyone was enjoying what looked to be a spectacular week at Woods and Water, a couple of us down south decided it was time to take Adele, our 23-foot Lyman runabout for a cruise. A little back story, Adele has just come out of a deck restoration and motor swap. She has been upgraded from a 1959 Graymarine 250 cubic inch block to a 1962 Graymarine 327. Besides the actual engine rebuild, all work was done in-house. While she still needs more attention in the coming months, the motor was in and the leaks were minimal, let’s take a ride!

Headed to Beaufort

The trip was set to run the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) south from Charleston, South Carolina 70 miles to the town of Beaufort. The trip meanders through some of best salt marsh in the country, including the ACE basin National Wildlife Refuge. Many people consider the South Carolina ICW the most beautiful section of the entire eastern seaboard. We left at 1PM and promptly cracked a few cold ones to get the trip started.

One of the first rules of any boat trip is to have as many or more women on the boat than men. This simple rule will assure a quality trip by simply always having attractive people around you. Luckily, my wife Lindsey and I had our friends Jayne and Andrew to accompany us.

My wife Lindsey and Jayne riding on the engine box, a favorite seat.

The weekend was a little overcast but winds were calm and temperatures in the low 80s so all was good. The trip down took about four hours at a comfortable 18-20 mph, a perfect speed for the Lyman.

Loaded down with people and proper sundries and still a pretty clean wake. Jayne’s husband Andrew looking comfortable at the helm.

Of course there is a short video of the fun so you can feel what it was like to be on the boat!

It’s hard to drive with two beautiful things in your hand. Somehow, I managed.

Beaufort arrived without a hitch and we walked 5 short blocks from the marina to our rental house. Beaufort is a wonderfully quaint town with a waterfront park adjacent to the main street and the restaurants and bars are right downtown. Maybe too many bars, as I don’t have any pictures of town! Saturday was spent exploring the creeks and waterways in the surrounding area. The sun came out for a while and Station Creek spectacular.

Fish camps along the creek. No power or water; what a way to get off the grid.

Sun’s out, guns out!

Shelter Creek, a wonderful place to cruise

Sunday it was time to return after a nice brunch downtown. Adele never missed a beat and too soon did we arrive in Charleston.

Janye and Andrew with all eyes to the bow.

For those interested, we averaged approximately 2.2 mpg, 7 gph, 180 total miles. Good people, good food and drinks, and a wonderful ride on the Lyman. Adele seemed truly happy to be back in water cruising people around as she has done for at least 2,200 hours since 1959. That’s a lot of memories for what, I am sure, is also a lot of wonderful people. I know we were all glad to be a part of the trip and a part of her history.

-Christopher Stang

Thanks Christopher, also this is a great time to Announce that next year we will be focusing on our Southern Woody Boaters. Stay tuned for some fun announcements on that. Now get out there if your up north, Winter is tomorrow!