02/25/2025 ICW Day 56 : All Quiet on the Water Front

by Brian · Published February 25, 2025 · Updated March 5, 2025

We had to leave our great camp from last night. It is true that you don’t know how good you have it…. until you find out how good you had it. We appreciated this “easy” camp with all our might.

Sailing in the morning was wonderful and placid. Since we were in the big opening on an ebb tide, I took the opportunity to relax and brew a pot of tea atop the paddle board, having my own little tea party, except I endeavored to keep the tea onboard in this rendition.

Janet brilliantly discovered that Fort Moultrie National Park was coming up, and it would be just a little out of the way at a point where we needed to burn an hour for tide optimization.

We arrived at the US government dock, only to find it off limits to civilians. Not to be deterred, we landed on the backside of the floating platform, wedging the stern of the boat in the mud, figuring it ought to stay put for one hour. You might think we are law breakers, in which case, you’d be right! But if sweet little Janet gives it her seal of approval, I’m all in.

Back on the West side of the continent, my notion of National Park equals Nature. On this side of the nation, a different story unfolds. The several national parks have all either been forts, or dedicated to the history of civil rights and the struggles of the enslaved. A foreigner visiting America would come home with two wildly different opinions of our country, depending on which side they visited.

A lot of the signs detail the specifications of the artillery; a 15 pound iron ball can be launched pretty far out to sea. Soldiers must have ogled the constantly improving capabilities like a cyclist who pines for that electronic shifter for his (cog n)+1 cassette.

The fort was fort-ified by palmetto logs (think palm trees). Because they were heavy with moisture, the enemy shells would “just bounce off” them. At least, that is how the park ranger described it. Meanwhile, ammunition from Fort Moultrie cracked the wood of the boats in the harbor, causing them to flee - even though they outnumbered the Fort’s military by 3x. And the Palmetto logs? That is how South Carolina came to be known as “the Palmetto state.”

Photos:

We began the morning calmly pedaling, but with a following current to make it easy.

See that gap between the trees? That is Elliot Cut… once we entered this narrow, we were bucked along a veritable river of rushing water. I can’t imagine having to go against this one!

Janet looks like she is enjoying some soul music. Heck, maybe she is?

It is fun seeing the cargo shops when we cross the big inlets.

We went a story or two underground at the fort.

Ok! What is this? Janet thought it was for placing flags.

Looks like the majority of the American slaves came from Western Africa.

These historic places take on a whole new meaning for me now. Whenever I see a vertical pole sticking up, hidden behind the reeds, I get excited to see what lies below. Sometimes, they are just power poles 😞 I do get excited about examining sailboats, just the same as bicycles.

And we camped! It is definitely not our first choice, because we had to clear weeds and the boat parking was tedious. But once you’re inside, it is like your safe little house. Happy times again!

Strava Comments:

Gordon L.

You asked what that contraption with letters and numbers is. I was curious too. I uploaded the photo to ChatGPT and this is what it came up with: "Yes! This is a Coincidence Range Finder (CRF), a device used in coastal defense fortifications to determine the distance to enemy ships. It was commonly used in U.S. coastal forts during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Given the location—a southern fort that is now a National Park—this could be from Fort Pulaski (Georgia), Fort Sumter (South Carolina), or Fort Pickens (Florida), among others. Many coastal defense forts had similar range-finding stations to help aim artillery. The range finder worked by allowing operators to align visual markers, using trigonometry to determine the target's distance. The letters and numbers on the device likely correspond to different calibration settings and measurements."

Janet W.

Thanks Gordon Luce for finding information about the range finder at Fort Moultrie. Fort Sumter is just across the harbor entrance. I really enjoy the boat breaks to learn some history!