Cricket Cove Marina to Hilton Head and back

In May 2025, I took ASA 104 Bareboat Cruising with Myrtle Beach Sailing School, and this trip was the course: six days as crew on the school’s Elan Impression 444 Storyteller. It was my first time offshore, up to 20 nm out, and my first overnight passages.

Legs

Date	From	To	Distance	Time underway
May 19	Cricket Cove Marina	Butler Island, Waccamaw River	45.3 nm	8:27
May 20 to 21	Butler Island	Harbor Town, Hilton Head, SC	155 nm	30:13
May 22 to 24	Harbor Town, Hilton Head, SC	Cricket Cove Marina	200 nm	37:16

Day 1. We went under several bridges, radioing the bridge operators, and anchored for the night at Butler Island in the Waccamaw River.

Passage south. We were beating into the wind and motored most of the way. It was an uncomfortable passage, and I got seasick. We stood watches in shifts. At night, our skipper, Captain Jason Cox, paired us up for watches, so there were always two of us in the cockpit.

I felt seasickness coming on during the day. In the middle of the night, I was down in my cabin while we motored hard into the wind, with the bow banging into the waves, and that’s when it fully hit me. I spent the next 24 hours up on the starboard cockpit seat, sleeping and resting until the symptoms passed. I tried to keep my eyes on things that stayed still, and the best were clouds during the day and stars at night. I still stood my shifts at the helm, and that’s when I felt best. With a job to do and my eyes on the horizon, my symptoms subsided dramatically.

Passage north. The return was good sailing, and I had no seasickness at all. That first bout on the way south was the only one. This time, Jason trusted us to stand two-hour night watches alone, with the five of us taking turns. Mine was 04:00 to 06:00 on May 23. At about 05:00, we crossed the entrance channel into Charleston Harbor, the shipping lane, about 14 nm offshore. I helmed the boat solo in the dark while the rest of the crew slept below, and it was one of the highlights of the trip.

Before we went in, about 2 nm off Little River Inlet, the ASA 106 student on board did his man overboard drills in the dark. He had to motor the boat up alongside the person in the water and stop there. I mostly watched, but it was fun and interesting to see what ASA 106 Advanced Coastal Cruising requires before I take it myself. It was good to have a student a level ahead of me on board.

We came back in through Little River Inlet after midnight on May 24, with all hands on deck. My job was to find each channel marker with a handheld spotlight and call it out as we got closer, so the helmsman could steer us in. Jason coached me through it. The helmsman was an ASA 106 student, and he and I worked together to dock the boat at Cricket Cove Marina in the dark.

The two offshore legs account for most of my near coastal miles and several of my USCG near coastal sea days.

Wind, temperature, and sky are from the airport weather stations along the route: North Myrtle Beach (KCRE), Georgetown (KGGE), and Hilton Head (KHXD).

Track

Cricket Cove MarinaHarbor Town, Hilton HeadCharleston channel solo night helm, offshore10 nm