Saturday, October 19, 2013 from 11 AM-6 PM / Free Admission — This year's October Calendar of SC Events is brought to you by the Georgetown Wooden Boat Show, which offers fun for the entire family. The 2013 show will feature one of the nation's best wooden boat exhibits with more than 100 classic wooden boats, a wooden boatbuilding competition, children's model boatbuilding, knot tying, maritime art and crafts, food, and music.

Important Update: Please make a special effort to attend this event in light of the recent fire that destroyed much of Georgetown's historic Front Street, devastating local families and businesses, as well as a beloved cat and dog who lost their lives in the flames. As the boat show's spokesperson Sally Swineford says, it is "very, very sad. Eight historic buildings gone. Businesses downstairs, apartments upstairs. All gone. No time to grab much, so many are without clothing other than what they ran out of the house wearing. Everyone here has come together to help. We have a great town. The boat show will go on as planned. We will recover."

Let's help them recover, South Carolina! Show your support by visiting Georgetown this month!

In 1562 Jean Ribaut sailed to the New World from France with a group of Huguenots. Deeming there "no faurer or fytter place" than the land along the Beaufort River, he named the settlement Port Royal.

The French established their new colony at today's Parris Island, just south of Port Royal, and named it Charlesfort. Ribaut then sailed back to France to acquire more ships and supplies. The settlers he left behind did not fare well, as they had not planted any crops and their provisions burned. They built a boat caulked with rosin and Spanish moss and attempted to sail across the Atlantic, but the voyage ended in disaster. As Dr. Walter Edgar writes in South Carolina: A History, "The return journey was a hell of starvation, cannibalism, and madness."

Want to read more? Discover the complete history of one of South Carolina's most interesting places with our guide to Charlesfort and Santa Elena – featuring the full article, more photos, and a map!