Last month, the 2026 Blessing of the Fleet and Seafood Festival drew hundreds to the waterfront. Held at Memorial Waterfront Park, this annual event honors our local shrimping fleet with a boat parade, live music, and a ceremonial blessing of each and every vessel for a safe season ahead..
But there’s one view most people missed: from a shrimp boat.
All (Invited Guests) Aboard!
If you’ve ever sat on a restaurant deck in Shem Creek, Whits End is probably in the background of your photos. This locally owned working shrimp boat is hard to miss, and on Sunday, April 26, even more so.
The boat’s owners stayed up passed midnight to dress her up in strings of colored flags for the big day. As we climbed aboard at 10 a.m. her decks were clean, gear stowed and galley was full of fried chicken and t-shirts. Whits End was not only ready for her close up in photos, but to meet with an actual priest poised and waiting across the harbor to bless her and her crew for a safe shrimping season ahead.
For 39 years, the Blessing of the Fleet has honored the fishermen who bring fresh, wild-caught shrimp to Charleston. But today’s event is special. Standing next to us on Whits End is a fisherman born and raised right here in Mount Pleasant. He started working on the boats when he was a teenager yet this is his very first time aboard a shrimp boat for this time-honored event.
“I started working on boats here about 30 years ago, but I’ve never gotten to do this,” he said looking back at the creek as we motored away from the dock to take our place in the fleet of 14 other boats. “A lot has obviously changed. There used to be a lot of commercial activity on Shem Creek. That’s all it was. There were no restaurants. It was all fish houses.”
He remembered Water’s Edge when it used to be a shrimp heading warehouse where the heads of fresh shrimp would be removed before they were shuttled off to restaurants.
“The shrimp boats would come in, they’d sell their shrimp to the dock, then they would pour the shrimp on these big tables in that building. I’m talking like tables from here to the front of the boat. Then women working there would just head shrimp for hours on end.”
Needless to say, we all knew how lucky we were to see the Blessing of the Fleet from this vantage point which is typically an invite-only experience.
A Short and Sweet Sendoff for a Safe Shrimping Season
Our journey along the parade route was full of more waves from onlookers on land than waves in harbor, the water and wind both calm. We took our place in line, following other shrimp boats around Crab Bank, then beneath the massive Ravenel Bridge to end up alongside the main event: a priest perched on the pier at the edge of Mount Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park with a microphone.
As we approached, families and children hovering high over our heads began to cheer and clap. Live 5 News snapped a shot of us. Then suddenly, a hush came over the crowd.
The priest delivered a short blessing for the Whits End crew to have a safe and fruitful shrimping season. We floated as he spoke, engine cut, flags flapping in the wind. There was a moment of collective silence aboard, the exact words of the prayer too hard to hear over the wind. We knew we all were hearing the same words though: a message of love and gratitude for our fisherman as the waves rolled beneath us.
Before we knew it, the cheering kicked up again. There were Champagne toasts and crew members clapping each others backs. Then all too soon, we were on our way back to the docks to celebrate the day away.
FAQs About Blessing of the Fleet in Charleston
What is the Annual Blessing of the Fleet in Charleston?
The Annual Blessing of the Fleet in Charleston is an annual shrimp boat parade that celebrates the start of shrimping season each spring in South Carolina. The event starts in Shem Creek where the shrimp boats are docked, then they make their way to Mount Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park where a priest delivers a ceremonial blessing to every fishing crew one by one.
Where is the best place to watch?
If you want to be a part of the party and hype, head to Shem Creek before 10 a.m. to see the boats get prepped and head out for the parade. Then settle in because they’ll be back to keep the part going once the parade ends. If you’d like to hear the blessing and get a birds-eye view of every shrimp boat, head to Mount Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park to snag a spot beneath the bridge where each boat gets blessed.
Can you go on a shrimp boat?
No. The shrimp boats are privately owned so people aboard during the Blessing of the Fleet are typically friends and family of the boat owners and crew.
