The Palmetto Breeze

55-foot catamaran · Off the Shem Creek boardwalk

Some days you run your own boat. Other days you let someone else do it and just watch the creek go by. The Palmetto Breeze is for the second kind — a fifty-five-foot sailing catamaran that slips out of Shem Creek, finds the harbor, and gives the dolphins room to show off while you do nothing in particular.

Find the Creek

The Story

Let Someone Else Steer

The Breeze is run by AquaSafaris, a fleet that has been sailing folks out of Charleston since 1987, so the people at the wheel have done this a few thousand times. The boat is built for it — a wide, steady catamaran deck that doesn’t lurch, with a bar, real bathrooms, a stretch of shade, and enough cushioned seat to lose an afternoon on. You board on the Shem Creek boardwalk, you cast off, and for the next couple of hours the only decision in front of you is whether to watch the water or the sky.

Aboard the Breeze

The particulars

Vessel: A 55-foot sailing catamaran
Operator: AquaSafaris — a Charleston sailing fleet since 1987
Aboard: A wide, stable deck with a bar, bathrooms, shade, and cushioned seating
The trips: Two-hour sunset sails, dolphin watching, and harbor cruises
Casts off: From the Shem Creek boardwalk — public or private charters
Regulars: Themed sails through the week, like Mermaid Mondays and Aloha Wednesdays

The sail

Two Hours, No Hurry

The sunset sail is the one most people mean: a couple of hours out into the harbor as the light goes gold, a drink from the bar, and dolphins surfacing close enough that the whole boat goes quiet to watch. They run dolphin trips and daytime harbor cruises too. None of it is in a rush — that is the entire point of a sailboat. It goes exactly as fast as the wind feels like going, and you go with it.

The boat

55 feet

A sailing catamaran — steady deck, made for a crowd or a couple.

The sail

~2 hours

Out the creek, into the harbor, and back as the light fades.

The locals

Dolphins

A regular sight off the bow, no matter the time of day.