Amazing things on the water . . . and Cumberland Island
Charleston to Cumberland Island
November 3, 2010
We arrived at a marina outside Charleston this afternoon. We anchored last night; it was cold but tolerable. Today it was supposed to rain all night and then all day on Thursday so we decided to hit a marina. The place was new and the facilities great. Francie was so impressed with the laundry that she searched for laundry to do. Part way through the early evening a boat came past us to go to the gas dock; the current caught the back end of this boat and his stern and dinghy hit our dinghy. This collision produced a 4 inch slash in the tube of our dinghy. Mike and the Bob (the owner of the other boat) tried to fix it but the patch didn’t take. This is our $250 dingy that we bought last year after the demise of “Crash” the previous used dinghy. This dinghy was in really good shape except for the dry rot in the transom and the paddles that didn’t have complete oars! We decided that in the morning we would find out how much it would cost to have it patched or possibly buy another used one.
November 4, 2010
To make a long story short we are out of a dingy and we wasted ½ of a day. Bob made good on the cost of this old dinghy, but we are out a dinghy and a little frustrated. Meanwhile we reminisce about “Crash” and its predecessor “Accordion” while we contemplate the naming of our current injured soul. The name “Slash” comes to mind. While we were getting ready to take the dingy into town to get an estimate for a professional repair, a gentleman who has a boat in the marina asked if we needed anything – groceries or trip to West marine. Francie talked to him and he told us that he belongs to a cruising group. The club was having their monthly meeting and the guest speaker works for the Army Corp of Engineers maintaining the ICW. He invited us to the meeting. His name is also Bob and he came to the boat and told us about anchorages and marinas that he has used in the past.
The professional repair for the dinghy costs more than the dinghy, so we decided to try 5200 (we had read online that someone had done that and it had worked). We are not optimistic, but have nothing to lose. We used a patch, some 5200 and some clamps and will let it sit for a few days to see if it seals.
Bob and his wife Beth picked us up and took us to the Charleston Curding Club meeting. When he introduced us he asked if anyone had a dingy for sale. We received lots of questions but no dingy. The speaker was very interesting and we learn about some of the things to expect as we continue our travels south. Shoaling is a huge problem and we have heard about many people going aground. We certainly have been in shallow water. There is nothing like going 8 miles an hour and watch the water depth go from 5 feet to 1 foot or lower and have no idea where the deeper water is.
We love Charleston and Bob and Beth along with the people we met at the meeting just made us love it more. We had a delightful evening.
November 5, 2010
As always we were up early and ready to go at first light. Mike had already started the motor when Bob appeared at the dock. He had offered us his old dingy that leaked a little air and we had declined. Yesterday he had pulled it out, inflated it and in the morning it still had air so he came to see if we wanted it. We now have a dingy that we can use until we are ready to buy a new one or really good used one, so we accepted the offer, both dinghy’s sit on our foredeck, strapped down. It looks like a dinghy hospital.
Tonight we are going to anchor out even though it is supposed to be in the 30’s but we can’t make it to Beaufort, the next city. Once we cook the boat will stay warm for a while. This isn’t a complaint; it is warmer than being in Chicago. We have traveled 2,374 nautical miles so far. That doesn’t seem that far but at an average of 8 miles an hour – well…..
After we anchored the sun warmed our surround, an enclosure that has plastic windows. It is our Florida room. There were dolphins playing around the boat but one pod of about 6 came up near the boat and played for close to an hour. Francie took the camera and made a movie. Between the dolphins and a beautiful sunset, it was a memorable evening even though it was cold.
We watch the boat move around at anchor as it deals with an 8 foot tide and a swift current. We are good and dug in, so we sleep sound and are up early to move toward a marina on the other side of Beaufort, South Carolina.
November 6, 2010
We were off the anchor at first light. It was hard to get out of a warm bed, but it was high tide and we would use it for speed. We passed Beaufort and Paris Island (Marine training ground) and came to Hilton Head Island to a marina offering two days for the price of one. Francie says we need heat tonight. We also plan to sit out the weather and do an overnighter on the Atlantic to go around Georgia. It would be nice to be out of the ditch (ICW) and into some open water.
Postscript: The patch on our old dinghy is holding, so the dinghy has earned the name “Patch”, (much better than “Slash”). We also have a spare dinghy just in case Patch becomes incontinent and leaks air!
We are having the Bill and Cheryl from Walk About (who we first met on the Erie Canal) over for dinner. Francie baked soda bread and a desert. This will be our first “dinner party” on the boat, we will celebrate Cheryl’s birthday.
November 7, 2010
It is nice staying in the same spot for more than a day. Sleeping until 6:30 or 7, newspaper, and a leisurely cup of coffee is a great way to start the day. The goal for the day is grocery shopping. Off come the bikes, which have aged incredibly. They are rusty – thank you salt water. At one point the chains were so rusted they wouldn’t go around the sprocket. There are areas where the paint is gone from rubbing on the life lines.
We are in the Plantation Development of Hilton Head. There are several golf courses and expensive houses. It is a gated community with armed guards. There are also no straight roads. Finding our way to the store and back was a challenge, but we managed to pack all of the groceries on our bikes.
When we go back, I met Bill and Cheryl at a restaurant/bar which was supposed to be only a mile away. It was a long mile. I had no idea that the restaurant was about 300 yards outside the gated community. Francie had our id cards to allow us to leave and come back. I approached the guard and asked if I needed a pass to get back in. The guard’s demeanor reminded me of Drill Sergeant Battle. That was his name, no joke. I don’t know what I said but I seem to piss her off. After repeating my name, the name of the boat and where I was going a multitude of times she finally wrote me a pass. We came back when Francie called and told us the “kids” from Colorado had arrived. They had fixed their broken steering and traveled 30 miles to get to our marina. We first met them back in Lake Erie. We all celebrated our reunion and told ICW stories. Telling the stories was Type 1 fun, fun as it is happening. Some of the things we were relating were Type 2 fun, fun only when it is over. This is now our favorite way to categorize events, thanks to our Colorado friends.
November 8, 2010
We decided the weather was conducive for an overnight run down to St Mary’s inlet, about 120 miles. Francie made breakfast for the “kids” and us and we left. What was supposed to be winds from the north, relatively flat following seas, and diminishing winds at night were southwest winds, which made growing seas and strong winds at night. Our 3rd overnighter was not what we expected. Thank you NOAA – you are 3 for 3 --wrong. Bill and Cheryl also went out and their engine died. They were towed in when they reached the inlet at about 8:30 the next morning. We arrived early in the morning and came up the inlet in the dark. That was a first for us. It was a good experience but a little tense. We decided the overnighter was definitely Type 2 fun – fun to talk about when it is over. Bill & Cheryl have decided that some things are Type 3, not fun at the time and not fun to recollect.
We arrived at a beautiful anchorage next to Cumberland Island, Georgia. It is owned by the National Park Service. It was originally owned by the Carnegies. We dingy’d to get to the island. (Yes, Patch it is still holding air.) We visited the island and the ruins of a Carnegie Mansion. There is also an old Fort on the island. There are wild horses and we saw our first armadillo.
We are a stone’s throw from Florida. Now it is time to plan the next leg of the trip.
We arrived at a marina outside Charleston this afternoon. We anchored last night; it was cold but tolerable. Today it was supposed to rain all night and then all day on Thursday so we decided to hit a marina. The place was new and the facilities great. Francie was so impressed with the laundry that she searched for laundry to do. Part way through the early evening a boat came past us to go to the gas dock; the current caught the back end of this boat and his stern and dinghy hit our dinghy. This collision produced a 4 inch slash in the tube of our dinghy. Mike and the Bob (the owner of the other boat) tried to fix it but the patch didn’t take. This is our $250 dingy that we bought last year after the demise of “Crash” the previous used dinghy. This dinghy was in really good shape except for the dry rot in the transom and the paddles that didn’t have complete oars! We decided that in the morning we would find out how much it would cost to have it patched or possibly buy another used one.
November 4, 2010
To make a long story short we are out of a dingy and we wasted ½ of a day. Bob made good on the cost of this old dinghy, but we are out a dinghy and a little frustrated. Meanwhile we reminisce about “Crash” and its predecessor “Accordion” while we contemplate the naming of our current injured soul. The name “Slash” comes to mind. While we were getting ready to take the dingy into town to get an estimate for a professional repair, a gentleman who has a boat in the marina asked if we needed anything – groceries or trip to West marine. Francie talked to him and he told us that he belongs to a cruising group. The club was having their monthly meeting and the guest speaker works for the Army Corp of Engineers maintaining the ICW. He invited us to the meeting. His name is also Bob and he came to the boat and told us about anchorages and marinas that he has used in the past.
The professional repair for the dinghy costs more than the dinghy, so we decided to try 5200 (we had read online that someone had done that and it had worked). We are not optimistic, but have nothing to lose. We used a patch, some 5200 and some clamps and will let it sit for a few days to see if it seals.
Bob and his wife Beth picked us up and took us to the Charleston Curding Club meeting. When he introduced us he asked if anyone had a dingy for sale. We received lots of questions but no dingy. The speaker was very interesting and we learn about some of the things to expect as we continue our travels south. Shoaling is a huge problem and we have heard about many people going aground. We certainly have been in shallow water. There is nothing like going 8 miles an hour and watch the water depth go from 5 feet to 1 foot or lower and have no idea where the deeper water is.
We love Charleston and Bob and Beth along with the people we met at the meeting just made us love it more. We had a delightful evening.
November 5, 2010
As always we were up early and ready to go at first light. Mike had already started the motor when Bob appeared at the dock. He had offered us his old dingy that leaked a little air and we had declined. Yesterday he had pulled it out, inflated it and in the morning it still had air so he came to see if we wanted it. We now have a dingy that we can use until we are ready to buy a new one or really good used one, so we accepted the offer, both dinghy’s sit on our foredeck, strapped down. It looks like a dinghy hospital.
Tonight we are going to anchor out even though it is supposed to be in the 30’s but we can’t make it to Beaufort, the next city. Once we cook the boat will stay warm for a while. This isn’t a complaint; it is warmer than being in Chicago. We have traveled 2,374 nautical miles so far. That doesn’t seem that far but at an average of 8 miles an hour – well…..
After we anchored the sun warmed our surround, an enclosure that has plastic windows. It is our Florida room. There were dolphins playing around the boat but one pod of about 6 came up near the boat and played for close to an hour. Francie took the camera and made a movie. Between the dolphins and a beautiful sunset, it was a memorable evening even though it was cold.
We watch the boat move around at anchor as it deals with an 8 foot tide and a swift current. We are good and dug in, so we sleep sound and are up early to move toward a marina on the other side of Beaufort, South Carolina.
November 6, 2010
We were off the anchor at first light. It was hard to get out of a warm bed, but it was high tide and we would use it for speed. We passed Beaufort and Paris Island (Marine training ground) and came to Hilton Head Island to a marina offering two days for the price of one. Francie says we need heat tonight. We also plan to sit out the weather and do an overnighter on the Atlantic to go around Georgia. It would be nice to be out of the ditch (ICW) and into some open water.
Postscript: The patch on our old dinghy is holding, so the dinghy has earned the name “Patch”, (much better than “Slash”). We also have a spare dinghy just in case Patch becomes incontinent and leaks air!
We are having the Bill and Cheryl from Walk About (who we first met on the Erie Canal) over for dinner. Francie baked soda bread and a desert. This will be our first “dinner party” on the boat, we will celebrate Cheryl’s birthday.
November 7, 2010
It is nice staying in the same spot for more than a day. Sleeping until 6:30 or 7, newspaper, and a leisurely cup of coffee is a great way to start the day. The goal for the day is grocery shopping. Off come the bikes, which have aged incredibly. They are rusty – thank you salt water. At one point the chains were so rusted they wouldn’t go around the sprocket. There are areas where the paint is gone from rubbing on the life lines.
We are in the Plantation Development of Hilton Head. There are several golf courses and expensive houses. It is a gated community with armed guards. There are also no straight roads. Finding our way to the store and back was a challenge, but we managed to pack all of the groceries on our bikes.
When we go back, I met Bill and Cheryl at a restaurant/bar which was supposed to be only a mile away. It was a long mile. I had no idea that the restaurant was about 300 yards outside the gated community. Francie had our id cards to allow us to leave and come back. I approached the guard and asked if I needed a pass to get back in. The guard’s demeanor reminded me of Drill Sergeant Battle. That was his name, no joke. I don’t know what I said but I seem to piss her off. After repeating my name, the name of the boat and where I was going a multitude of times she finally wrote me a pass. We came back when Francie called and told us the “kids” from Colorado had arrived. They had fixed their broken steering and traveled 30 miles to get to our marina. We first met them back in Lake Erie. We all celebrated our reunion and told ICW stories. Telling the stories was Type 1 fun, fun as it is happening. Some of the things we were relating were Type 2 fun, fun only when it is over. This is now our favorite way to categorize events, thanks to our Colorado friends.
November 8, 2010
We decided the weather was conducive for an overnight run down to St Mary’s inlet, about 120 miles. Francie made breakfast for the “kids” and us and we left. What was supposed to be winds from the north, relatively flat following seas, and diminishing winds at night were southwest winds, which made growing seas and strong winds at night. Our 3rd overnighter was not what we expected. Thank you NOAA – you are 3 for 3 --wrong. Bill and Cheryl also went out and their engine died. They were towed in when they reached the inlet at about 8:30 the next morning. We arrived early in the morning and came up the inlet in the dark. That was a first for us. It was a good experience but a little tense. We decided the overnighter was definitely Type 2 fun – fun to talk about when it is over. Bill & Cheryl have decided that some things are Type 3, not fun at the time and not fun to recollect.
We arrived at a beautiful anchorage next to Cumberland Island, Georgia. It is owned by the National Park Service. It was originally owned by the Carnegies. We dingy’d to get to the island. (Yes, Patch it is still holding air.) We visited the island and the ruins of a Carnegie Mansion. There is also an old Fort on the island. There are wild horses and we saw our first armadillo.
We are a stone’s throw from Florida. Now it is time to plan the next leg of the trip.