Day 16 and 17 November 29-30th, 2013 Mile 469.9 Charleston

This portion of the ICW is the last leg before the bay at Charleston South Carolina. There are some huge beautiful homes along the way.

We will be pulling into Charleston City Harbor voted the #1 marina in the US! It is right next to the city of Charleston.

Best BBQ in South Carolina!

Last bridge for a while!!!!!!

Fort Sumter where the Civil War began April 12, 1861

Bridge at Charleston harbor (I borrowed this picture from the internet)

Day 15- Thanksgiving- Mile 456.8 November 28, 2013

This day is just gorgeous. Very thankful. The Lord is good- first Thanksgiving without my Mom- Marjorie- look at the name of the boat next to us- too cool.

Golf course along the ICW

Shrimpers right on the edge of the ICW

Reminds me of Lido Isle- Mom would love it! Very upscale! The name is "Isle of Palms" The restaurant was full so we had cocktails for dinner and sandwiches on the boat for dinner- perfect!

TORNADO WARNINGS!!!!! November 26,2013

TORNADO WARNING!!!!!!!!

November 26, 2013 Mile 403

This has been a weird day from the beginning. Just an odd feeling. I’m a little crankier than usual. The bright spot is that tonight there is a tornado warning!!!!! Steve whisked us off the boat when he saw the RED of the weather channel over Georgetown So Carolina- exactly where we were!!! We went to the lovely waterfront restaurant that we had a fabulous meal of seafood pizza and a roasted beets and feta salad…..it was closed. Then we went from restaurant to restaurant only to find them all shuttered! When we crossed the street it was freezing… when we walked out a minute later it was HOT!!!! Very weird!

We went in to a locals bar & restaurant (ordered fish and chips… they only had fish and beans and rice, but you could order fries- sounds like Easy Rider- remember Jack Nicholson with the tuna sandwich-it felt like that.

 We want to watch the Voice but this doesn’t seem like the crowd that I could talk into that….

Anyway, one of my fun childhood memories was when we went next door and  waited out hurricane Donna in Florida!!!! That is why I love storms!!! I’ll never forget Ritchie Purie helping his dad cut limbs off the tree so they wouldn't hit the house… AND HE CUT THE END OF HIS FINGER OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so gross- he always stuck it in the girls faces and we would all scream!!!! Oh childhood memories!

Darn it looks like we may have to go back- the storm is only high winds- so bummed!!!!! Talked to Shanie and she said we would probably be safer in a 40 ton boat that a 1000 pound Prius!

Day 1000 Mile 403 Georgetown

It's cold and it's wet and it's going to last for the rest of our lives.. (line from groundhogs day, but it works here) Hopefully the storm warnings will let up and the sky will clear and we will be able to move on. We have been stuck here for a few days now. Hopefully the weather will lift and we can get moving on.

Oh yeah- it is so cold that there is ice on the docks...of course everyone says "it's never like this" and "this is the coldest it has been in history". Girls- remember when we used to drive through Eureka California when it was raining and the smell from the pulp plant? Georgetown has one of the largest paper mills in THE WORLD! Same smell X 100!

Pulp mill in the background

ROCK PILE!!!!- Ships Log Blog day 9 thru 11 November 22-24 2013

Mile 321

We survived last night, Steve was up at the crack of dawn studying the charts and the tides. I realized that being "First Mate" wasn't what I told my sister in an email-

 "ok- i looked it up on wisegeek.com and this is what they say:

"The first mate is in charge of the ship's deck department, manages the ship's cargoo, and is responsible for the well-being of the ship and crew."

sooooooo, i am taking it to mean i get to go shopping for stuff for the boat, make cocktails for the crew and decide where we go to dinner- sounds like i have this one down!!!!!!"

Ok- today I realize I have to get serious. I'm up top with my books navigating and pointing out any obstacles ahead. The "Shallott Inlet" was more "shoaly" than the one we got stuck in yesterday. Steve studied the tides so we were there at high tide and he did great. We had heard that several people were towed out of that stretch yesterday. 

Mile 340.1- Enter into South Carolina! South Carolina has so many golf courses you may have to duck to miss any balls being hit into the ICW!

Mile 347.3 THE ROCK PILE!!!!

This is a stretch of the ICW that some people dread the most. It is a narrow channel that is characterized by rocks!! Very stressful! Steve was constantly looking at the depth finder and plotter- sometimes it was only a few feet under the boat--- and you don't bounce off, you scrape!!

Fun areas along the Rock Pile

Mile 354.3- Barefoot Landing Marina. This Marina is part of a huge shopping/entertainment area adjacent to the ICW. We ended up staying for three days while Steve worked on the boat and we rested up. On the coast is Myrtle Beach- wild and crazy resort town. Must be nuts in the summer. There are more miniature golf courses here than I have ever seen- Sadie and Scott would love it!!! There is one that reminds me of the Pirates of the Caribbean!

The "Strand" is where one of the longest boardwalks in the US is- very carnival feeling! They are very proud of their new ferris wheel- it is even air conditioned (which of course we didn't need because it was FREEZING!) We at a great Mexican restaurant on the beach called Banditos! Wonderful food, great drinks and even a free desert from a darling gal that works there- I know she will be famous some day- it was Mexican Chocolate Brownies with tequila! REALLY good!

Fried pickles in honor of Roy

Steve took me to see the Starbucks because it looked like Christmas! So cute! Speaking of Christmas, there is a store Shanie would die for! All Christmas, all the time!

We have been really fortunate to have met some wonderful people along the way- the Welches that helped we make our way from Oriental to Beaufort, North Carolina and on to Camp Legune.

Today the boat next to us belonged to Geoff and Cathy Geier- they have the most gorgeous 1979  58' Hatteras I have ever seen. It took them several years to restore it and it is absolutely stunning! i will need to get some more interior pictures. Geoff knows everything about the Hatteras line of boats.

Cathy made a fabulous dinner- it felt like Thanksgiving! We are looking forward to meeting up with them in a few months in Key West Florida.

Mile 411.5 to mile 425 Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge

The ICW here is really narrow, sometimes shallow, sometimes deep. Weather is freezing. Below is a dredger- this area is really "shoaley"- sandbars come out of nowhere- you have to really watch yourdepthfinder. The area we are in today has birds everywhere- very scenic.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

 Below is a camouflaged boat- thought Don and all the kids would get a kick out of it!

Camo man- can you see him?????

In South Carolina they can't gamble on land- they get around it by having giant cruise ships (In about a foot of water!) that go out at high tide (about 6-8 feet of water...I think!) and cruise up and down the ICW so people can get lucky!!!!

Dredger- they could use about 500 more!

RAN AGROUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ran  aground!!! Adventure at sea! (ok the ICW!)

As I was admiring the inlet, the "shifting sands" proved to be treacherous one again!!

Lockwoods Folly inlet

We were going along just fine, only going 7 knots and all of a sudden the boat STOPPED!!! We had read this area had shoaly moving sands, but the area to pull over a few feet to the right hadn't started yet!! Steve had done drills in case this happened, so no harm was done to the boat. The rudder and propellers were fine.Thank heaven I had just signed up for TowBoatUS! (Like AAA on the water. Otherwise it could have been thousands!) Steve called the Coast Guard and TowBoatUS.

Steve hailing the Coast Gaurd

 Within about 25 minutes the tow boat operator, John Bruton, had us tied up and was doing all these maneuvers to try and get us loose.

 I knew we would be fine as soon as we got "unstuck", but decided this would be a good time to do a practice "abandon ship" drill. I got on my life vest and packed our "drybag" that Capt Eric said we would need with passports, wallets,cameras, the computer and was ready! Now if it was the real deal and the ship was sinking I probably wouldn't have been so calm! I'd probably look in the dry bag to find I packed the Christmas ornaments I bought for the grandkids and a bottle of wine!

Dry bag

Depth of water at low tide- about two inches under the stern of the boat! (When we first got stuck the water was several feet and you couldn't see the sand)

Houses on the sand stand

Eventually we had to wait for the tide to come in and he pulled us out. It took several hours and by then it was pitch black. There was no availability at any of the docks closeby and the nearest marina was 10 miles away.  It was so wonderful- John sped ahead to talk to some friend that were at a boat yard and they found us a slip. Steve then followed the light of Johns boat and got to the dock.

The current was really strong and kept moving the boat past the slip, but after a few attempts, Steve pulled it in- with the only light coming from the tuna tower on our boat! John and his  friends helped tie the boat to the dock........ what an ordeal! John tried to console Steve that he had done everything correctly and that the buoys were actually in the wrong place. The good news for the other boaters that came by after we got stuck was Steve waved them to the right path - many thanked him and yelled out "Thanks- I would have been in there too!"

THANK YOU "SAINT JOHN" for the skill, the slip, and for making this not so frightening!

Soooooooooooooooooo, you think this day is over?????? Steve went down and checked the engines and everything was good. No harm. Steve checked the generator and it turned on well. He had to go down again to prime the water pump and as he opened the door to the engine room smoke poured out of the hole!!!!!!!!!!!!! It turned out it was steam! He immediately turned off the generator and sat there with his hands over his eyes- it was so scary!! The good news was if he hadn't had to open the door to get the water going, the generator would have burned out! A new one is almost $15K! The Lord was really looking out for us- Steve checked the generator and the impeller was almost completely worn flat from wear!

After all that Steve set up the table on the deck, lit a candle, and we ate leftovers and had Tanqueray and tonics! As I always say "When life hands you lemons, drink Tanqueray...and pray!"

Ships Log Day 8 November 21. 2013

Ships Log Day 8 November 21, 2013

Traveling from Wrightsville Beach to ??? I've learned this is a different destination each day! You THINK you know where you are going but sometimes nature dictates differently! Today we are going through the inlet to the Cape Fear River!!!!!(The graveyard of  the Atlantic!!!!)

 IT IS A SHIPPING LANE AND AS YOU ENTER THE SHIPPING LANE WHERE HUGE SHIPS TRAVEL THE ICW DISAPPEARS!!!!  No white strip with magenta lines! All you see is OPEN OCEAN AHEAD and no markers! Steve somehow figures out how to get back to the ICW... and we survive!!!

Cape Fear River

On to Southport, up the Cape Fear River where we visited before we bought the boat. It is such a great town- one of the top town in America to retire. The pictures below were the ones we took before.

The pictures below are taken from the sea. We are so tempted to stop and relive the fun we had before, but decide to go on... it's only noon and we can make up so much more time.

Look at this inlet- it is right next to the sea! Gorgeous!!!!!

But...OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (SEE NEXT BLOG)