Pinopolis lock and Cooper River Charleston SC May 7th

[bronze_10]

Ah

 

[robert843]

On the rooms there are cheaper place available if you like the will just be outside of downtown. There is a holiday inn and a la Quinta inn right across the river that are about 215 a night as well. I booked the holiday inn under the cancel able rate in case something less expensive opens up before then.

 

[bronze_10]

If we go the holiday will be fine

 

[cozilla]

I just stayed in Charleston last weekend and stayed at the Hyatt Place downtown for 139 a night using Priceline. You pick the area you want to stay in and the price range and book the hotel then it will tell you which hotel you are staying in. Unfortunately I don't think you can cancel. For the price it was an excellent hotel in a great location on King St.

 

[DieselCamel]

Room booked

 

[robert843]

I just stayed in Charleston last weekend and stayed at the Hyatt Place downtown for 139 a night using Priceline. You pick the area you want to stay in and the price range and book the hotel then it will tell you which hotel you are staying in. Unfortunately I don't think you can cancel. For the price it was an excellent hotel in a great location on King St.

Yes we can spend this Saturday in the same hotel we are booking for under $200 problem for us is its peak season and Mothers Day weekend we are booking. It was just the only weekend Another and I could do it if we went 2 weeks earlier it would be a lot cheaper.

 

[bronze_10]

OK.. So the boss lady gave me the green light... We will be getting our room in the next day or so... Is there a charge to leave the tow vehicle where we launch?

 

[robert843]

OK.. So the boss lady gave me the green light... We will be getting our room in the next day or so... Is there a charge to leave the tow vehicle where we launch?

There is I can't remember if it was 5 or 10 dollars I will have to confirm it. Glad you can make it!

 

[bronze_10]

Do we need to reserve a spot at the marina as well or do they have plenty of room?

 

[robert843]

Do we need to reserve a spot at the marina as well or do they have plenty of room?

I just made my reservation for a slip. The lady on the phone said go ahead and make them now. They did not require a credit card or anything to hold for the one night so I would just go ahead and do it.

 

[bronze_10]

I just made the slip reservation... All good to go..

 

[tim h]

What were the bridge clearences ??
@andy07sx230ho @robert843

 

[robert843]

What were the bridge clearences ??
@andy07sx230ho @robert843

I think it's 10-12ft depending but the bridges all will open if we need them to by calling them.

 

[robert843]

The pic attached is of my friend Chris going under one of the shorter bridges his t top is at 9 ft

 

[Andy S]

10' clearance is at high tide.

 

[Andy S]

Based on my estimates it appears we will be going under the Cooper River - Strawberry drawbridge between 1 to 2 pm on Saturday and between 10 and 11 am on Sunday, this is the only drawbridge of concern on the trip. @tim h if you bring your boat it will be very close on both days and especially on Sunday for you to make it under.

You/one of us might have to plan on calling ahead, see second picture for phone numbers, to make sure someone is at the drawbridge when we plan on passing under so they can open it for us, it is not staffed except for callouts. I was told last year that as long as we give 4 hours notice we should be good to get someone there when need.

 

[robert843]

I did not realize you could tie off or beach at Fort Sumter that could be something cool to do if the weather permits. I know the conditions would dictate whether this was possible.

Fort Sumter by Private Boat
Visitors are welcome to use their private vessels (including kayaks, canoes, paddle boards, or motorboats) to access Fort Sumter during normal operating hours listed below. Visitors using their own boats are highly encouraged to beach or anchor their vessel on the western side of Fort Sumter, between the fort and James Island.

Operating Hours by Season
Fort Sumter is open year round except for New Years, Thanksgiving and Christmas Days. Hours of operation are:

• January 1 - Closed
• January 2 - February 29 - 11:30 AM to 4:00 PM
• March 1 - March 14 - 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
• March 15 - August 20 - 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM
• August 21 - August 28 - 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
• Labor Day Weekend (Fri-Sat-Sun) - 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM
• Labor Day - November 30* - 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
• *Thanksgiving Day - Closed
• December 1 - 24 - 11:30 AM to 4:00 PM
• December 25 - Closed
• December 26 - 31 - 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Tour Boat Pier
The National Park Service strongly discourages anyone from tying up to the tour boat pier, however if you choose to do so please:

DO tie off to cleats attached to the pier.
DO access the pier only using the ladders.
DO NOT tie off to ladders, pillars or handrails.
DO NOT use lines already attached to the pier, these are reserved for tour boat and NPS operations.
DO NOT remove life jackets until you have safely climbed the ladders onto the pier.
DO NOT leave the access gate to the ladders open.



For the most up-to-date information on visiting Fort Sumter like us or follow us on Facebook.

 

[robert843]

Cool... Ok so I may be over analyzing everything but I am still trying to sell it to the wife..... If we leave on Saturday at 11 ish how long is the ride to Charleston. Will there be time to go to patriots point or the aquirium. I know the most fun is the ride up but its a nicer selling point to say we also will do x when we get to Charleston.... Since it is mothers day weekend!

@bronze_10 Though time will be limited you will get plenty of the touristy items in on this trip just from a much different perspective. Starting from the Lake there really isn't much special about the lakes or diversion canal they are fairly large lakes though which will offer a bit of a big water experience. You will then hit the lock and for anyone who has never done this it is a very unique experience and its a pretty large lock with a 80 foot or so drop from Lake Moultrie to the Cooper River. The next 52 miles is a beautiful roll through the low country its a beautiful nature scene with almost no civilization this whole part of the trip. A good example is there is only 1 no wake zone the whole 52 miles once we get passed a restaurant that sits about 1 mile from the foot of the lock. I have seen Aligators in this stretch almost every year which adds to the experience. The Strawberry Bridge is cool as well you can tell its old and is pretty neat this is usually where I find gators. As we get closer to Charleston Harbor you will start to be on the lookout for dolphins I have saw these every year on this trip but usually earlier in the day so more likely we will see them on the return trip. First Charleston feature we will hit is an active naval base that is pretty secretive for some reason there are usually a few submarines there but they are kind of covered from the water and there is usually an armed boat that patrolls that stretch that will run you off if you stop or slow down there. We then will get to the Large shipping dock area usually 15 or so really large ships in this area docked and usually we can get as close as we like so its a cool experience as well. Once we enter the Harbor its self we can go over to Patriots Point and experience it from the water another spot where basically we can get as close to the ships as we wish. I have never been run out of there on the water no matter how close we were or how long we hung out. Heading further into the Harbor we will pass Folly Island which houses the reminiscence of Castle Pickney which is a fort that George Washington had built before Fort Sumter was built we can not land on this island as special permission is required it was built in the early 1800's if I remember correctly. Heading further we can approach Fort Sumter and go on the island if we like another very old Fort. Coming back up towards City Marina we will pass rainbow row which is another neat historic part of Charleston I have never really swung by here by water but I'm sure its an experience by water. That evening as @waterboy mentioned we will be close enough to Downtown Charleston to be able to go see a few of the historic sites and grab dinner somewhere.

 

[tim h]

I'll just leave the boat at home...
I was just considering options
Thanks guys !

 

[bronze_10]

@bronze_10 Though time will be limited you will get plenty of the touristy items in on this trip just from a much different perspective. Starting from the Lake there really isn't much special about the lakes or diversion canal they are fairly large lakes though which will offer a bit of a big water experience. You will then hit the lock and for anyone who has never done this it is a very unique experience and its a pretty large lock with a 80 foot or so drop from Lake Moultrie to the Cooper River. The next 52 miles is a beautiful roll through the low country its a beautiful nature scene with almost no civilization this whole part of the trip. A good example is there is only 1 no wake zone the whole 52 miles once we get passed a restaurant that sits about 1 mile from the foot of the lock. I have seen Aligators in this stretch almost every year which adds to the experience. The Strawberry Bridge is cool as well you can tell its oldmarina! pretty neat this is usually where I find gators. As we get closer to Charleston Harbor you will start to be on the lookout for dolphins I have saw these every year on this trip but usually earlier in the day so more likely we will see them on the return trip. First Charleston feature we will hit is an active naval base that is pretty secretive for some reason there are usually a few submarines there but they are kind of covered from the water and there is usually an armed boat that patrolls that stretch that will run you off if you stop or slow down there. We then will get to the Large shipping dock area usually 15 or so really large ships in this area docked and usually we can get as close as we like so its a cool experience as well. Once we enter the Harbor its self we can go over to Patriots Point and experience it from the water another spot where basically we can get as close to the ships as we wish. I have never been run out of there on the water no matter how close we were or how long we hung out. Heading further into the Harbor we will pass Folly Island which houses the reminiscence of Castle Pickney which is a fort that George Washington had built before Fort Sumter was built we can not land on this island as special permission is required it was built in the early 1800's if I remember correctly. Heading further we can approach Fort Sumter and go on the island if we like another very old Fort. Coming back up towards City Marina we will pass rainbow row which is another neat historic part of Charleston I have never really swung by here by water but I'm sure its an experience by water. That evening as @waterboy mentioned we will be close enough to Downtown Charleston to be able to go see a few of the historic sites and grab dinner somewhere.

That sounds awesome... I read it out loud at my girls and they became excited..... All three of my kids love to go to patriots point when we go to Charleston so hopefully we will have time but if not it's no big deal.... We are all really excited.. We have our room booked at the hotel and our spot saved at the marina!