65 nautical miles
My mom woke me up around 7 am so that I didn't get seasick from the rough water we were sailing in. When I came topside, I saw that we were leaving the Waccamaw River. Two underwater jetis on either side of us were reflecting waves every which way, making the channel a pit of turmoil. The waves became bigger and steadier as we left the channel. We hoisted the dinghy onto the boat and strapped it to the deck so that it didn't take on water in the following sea state.
The wind was behind us so we hoisted our spinnaker. Things calmed down with the sail up because the boat stopped rocking as much. We were even able to turn the engine off and average 9 knots! The poor boys kept throwing up one after the other until they got distracted playing a game. I was at the helm for most of the sail because the auto helm doesn't work well in following seas. The spinnaker is also finicky and requires precise steering based on wind angle and pressure to stay full. It rained for a little bit as we neared the Charleston channel.
Taking down the spinnaker was quite the ordeal! The wind had picked up over our sail, building to about 17 knots. My dad got lifted off the deck when he tried to sock the spinnaker. Even when both my parents tried to sock it at the same time, they still got pulled off the deck! Eventually, we managed to get the spinnaker socked and in the anchor locker, but not after great risk to my parents.
In the channel, the waves were rough. While there were jetis to block some of the waves, the waves still rolled in from the mouth of the channel. We rolled out our jib to help stabilize the boat. I am still amazed at how well sails can absorb rocking!
We picked up our cousins, the O'Conors, on the mega dock at Charleston City Marina and took them out for a sail. They have a 5-year-old named Emma, a 3-year-old named Rowan, and an 18-month-old named Ethan. It was a short sail, but everyone enjoyed it. When we got back to Charleston City Marina we all piled into their car and drove to their house for dinner. The dinner was amazing and we even got s'mores afterwards! Uncle Andrew let us borrow his stick-shift Jeep for the weekend too.
When we got back to the Marina, we took showers. Then we met the Greenes in the parking lot and brought them to the boat. The Greenes are good friends of my dad's from the Navy. We went to bed right after arriving. Figuring out sleeping arrangements was tricky considering we had 11 people sleeping on board! We settled for my parents in the forward stateroom, Uncle Jeff and Aunt Diana in the aft stateroom, Jude (6) in the upper bunk, Jocelyn (9) and Quinn (8) on the L-couch, Celeste (5) on pillows wedged between the table and L-couch, Clarke and Cyrus in the cockpit, and me in a hammock on the bow. It was a tight fit!
I'm so glad that we got to see the O'Conors and Greenes today! Side note: only after walking the whole length of the mega dock do I understand why they call it the mega dock. It's HUGE. I honestly think it's a mile long and we, sadly, are at the very end.