Dump Scows, Hydrofoils, Pedal Kayaks, and More!

 

Well this was a first for the many, many times I’ve been to the beach at Sullivan’s Island. 

No, not her…

Him! What is he riding so ably along the shoreline? Never seen one before.

Earlier we walked past it. I stopped and went back a few steps to snap this photo. Why? Because, like I said, I had never seen one before. What is it! 

Meet the Waydoo Electric Hydrofoil Board. List price: $4,899-$6,499. Expensive toy! 

The novelty caught the eyes of many other beachgoers too. The rider can almost walk on water! 

Waydoo is the brand of the “efoil Evo.” Evo, I just learned, is short for evolution, a marketing word that suggests a brand or model is advanced, upgraded, or cutting-edge. 

I’m pretty sure he’s holding a device to stop the board should he fall off and it speeds away.  

I saw another unique watercraft that is more my speed. This pair pedaled by as we lounged in our beach chairs. 

Have to chuckle seeing this guy’s socks. Looks like he has a walkie-talkie to communicate with his partner. I like the red flags. 

I see fishing poles too. Is there room for fish on the other fellow’s craft? With the help of Google Lens, I’ve identified this as a “sit-on-top fishing kayak equipped with a pedal drive system and fishing rods.” 

Seeing these customized kayaks was also a first for me. Looks like they start at around $1,000. 

It’s amazing all the ways mankind has created to move on the waters of the world. You’d think by now nothing new could be created. Not true as shown by the above images.

Alas, there were several much larger vessels plying Charleston’s harbor highway on a picture-perfect late September Sunday. 

A stacked-to-the-max container ship enters the harbor while a smaller ship exits. 

Once the smaller ship cleared the behemoth’s shadow, it also looked huge. 

This is the Mediterranean Shipping Company’s Passion III. It’s a cargo ship that may, have offloaded its containers in Charleston and is en route to the next pickup port. 

Passion III sails under the flag of Liberia. A check of the Vessel Finder website indicates the ship is on today’s date, Oct. 8, it is returning to Charleston from the Bahamas with the expected arrival tomorrow at 6 a.m. It likely will be stacked high with container boxes to be offloaded at one of the Holy City’s port facilities. 

Like many cargo ships I have seen from Sullivan’s Island over the years, this one was also built in China at the Zhoushan Shipyard, completed in 2008. MSC Passion III is its fifth name, according to an online source. The previous names were Maersk Jefferson, Cap Reinga, Andino and Robin 3. It's not uncommon for these ships to change ownership and names. 

Far off on the horizon, we spotted another ship approaching the harbor. Minute by minute, it slowly became bigger to us on the beach. 

This is by far the biggest sunflower I have ever seen! 

Meet the OOCL Sunflower. OOCL stands for Orient Overseas Container Company. Founded in 1947 by C.Y. Tung who first called it Overseas Orient Line, it is headquartered in Hong Kong and is considered a pioneer in containerized shipping. The company is owned by COSCO Shipping Holdings, a massive state-owned enterprise in Shanghai, China. 

 

I suspect Sunflower is newer than Passion III and research finds it was launched just last year in 2025. Classified as an “ultra” container ship, it can transport 16,800 20-foot shipping containers. Sunflower was also constructed in China, at COSCO’s Dalian Ship Engineering in Dalian, China. Things haven’t all been sunny for Sunflower.

She was in the news earlier this year for a mishap at sea when rough weather and perhaps mistakes in how the thousands of containers were stacked resulted in 57 20-foot boxes falling into the Pacific Ocean between Taiwan and Long Beach, California. 

In this photo, note the guy doing push-ups. Regulars at Sullivan’s Island are so used to the big ships, they barely cause a ripple.

This part of the island near Fort Moultrie is a special place where huge ships regularly pass, looking close enough to touch. This traffic is so common that you may glance away from your book, but just for a moment. 

Sunday is not a day of rest for the crews of these ocean ships. A third container craft crept by during the three hours we spent on the beach.

Registered in Bangkok, Zim Thailand spent time in Boston after departing Charleston. As I write this on Oct. 9 it is, according to websites that track these vessels, on a month-long voyage to Singapore. Wow, that’s a long journey. 

Zim Thailand was built in Hiroshima, Japan in 2022 by Imabari Shipbuilding. Zim Integrated Shipping Services, founded in 1945, is headquartered in Haifi, Israel. 

Sullivan’s Island, as I like to say, is truly an intersection of commerce and recreation. 

Sunday, Sept. 23 turned out to be, I believe, my best day this year for seeing so many interesting, impressive vessels, big and small. Here’s another scene to share. A large tugboat seems to be pulling a very long barge out to sea. 

Look closely at the stern and you’ll see cables that are connected to the barge. Notice too the crow’s nest. I cannot recall ever photographing a tugboat with a lookout tower like this before. There doesn’t appear to be anyone up there. 

The tug looks to be one that’s been around a while. The name is on the bow but is hard to read. A big S behind the bridge can be seen in the above photo. My online sleuthing reveals the tug’s name: Stasinos Boys. This site says it was built in 1975 in New Orleans. Wow, 51 years old and still doing the heavy lifting! 

In 2020, the tug was taken out of retirement in Staten Island, N.Y. when purchased by Stasinos Marine LLC. of Weymouth, Mass. who changed its name from Bouchard Boys to Stasinos Boys. Bouchard Transportation Company of Melville, N.Y. owned the vessel for years. Bouchard has gone through some hard times in recent years, per this and other articles online. 

The tugboat’s “hailing port” today is Boston, Mass. This must be one powerful machine. See here for all the specifications. So what is “Boys” doing in Charleston waters? 

Being pulled by the Stasinos Boys tugboat is this long and low ship. 

I suspect it might be here as part of the ongoing beach renourishment project nearby on Isle of Palms. Let’s see if that’s true.

I always try to take a clear photograph of a ship’s name. Usually the name is on the back or stern, and often is on the front side as well. What I see here is CK-7 in two places and Portland, Oregon in the top right corner of the stern. Turns out this is a “dump scow,” an unattractive name for a vessel that does unattractive work. CK-7 is the name of this dump scow. 

Neither moniker is very flattering, right? “CK-7” is the length of a football field, stretching 295 feet, or nearly 100 yards. It was built in Portland, Oregon, in 1996 at the Gunderson Marine and Iron shipbuilding and fabrication plant. A California marine contracting firm called The Dutra Group owns 

CK-7. So what does a dump scow do exactly? 

A dump scow barge is a specialized marine vessel used to transport and dispose of bulk materials-such as dredged silt, sand, rock, or construction debris—from harbors, rivers, and shipping channels to designated open-water disposal. 

So I think I’m wrong about the barge doing beach repair work. It’s dumping stuff from somewhere way out there in the Atlantic Ocean. I’m curious to know more about this. 

To follow are other pictures I took on what turned out to be a most picturesque day. 

A shrimp boat miles away off Isle of Palms. Its name is on the bow but I can’t make it out. You can see two crew members standing in the back and dozens of birds hovering around.

From working craft back to pleasure craft. 

A yacht zips by Morris Island and its iconic lighthouse. 

Historic Fort Sumter in the background. The visibility was especially good on this day, so clear you can read what’s written on the man’s shirt and the woman’s hat. 

Another neat thing about this Sullivan’s Island spot is how two lighthouses can be seen. This is the Sullivan’s Island Light. Erected in the early 1960s, this is the last major onshore lighthouse built by the U.S. government. 

We saw the 163-foot tower up close while looking for parking. 

A Sanderling (aka Ruddy Plover) nibbles at a fish head.

Willets are also common to see on South Carolina beaches. 

Same with Laughing Gulls. 

 

Brown Pelicans on patrol are also familiar sights.

I am grateful for this beautiful day at this beautiful place spent with my beautiful wife!

Thanks for reading.