Isle of Hope

Day 10 & 11
Jan 11 & 12, 2016
Monday & Tues
ICW Georgia

Day 10 & 11  We came to Thunderbolt GA and found both the marinas full and unable to take us. Since Stricklands were very uncomfortable Sunday night from the cold and wind on the hook we continued on hoping to find another marina. We found the one at Isle of Hope was officially closed Mondays but you could leave a call back number and dock yourself.  Mitch took the lead and we tied up on a face dock there.  It was a nice marina with laundry and showers etc. 

Journey needed some repairs and a competent mechanic looked at it and found a part that was causing generator problems. The issue was getting one or fixing the existing one. After a search the decision was made to fix the old part. That fixed the generator and we planned to be off Tues morning but then another issue was found by the mechanic that dealt with the exhaust. That would require staying another couple of days. 2 nights in a marina are high dollar items and a 3rd or 4th was a budget breaker so the decision was made for us to travel on Wed. and stop when  we reached the GA/FL border at Cumberland Island and wait on the hook for the Stricklands. They are faster so they can catch up after their repairs were completed. 

Days have been sunny, warm and beautiful. Nights cold but tolerable inside a heavy sleeping bag. Stricklands got some bad news while at Isle of Hope.  Their garage/storage building flooded AGAIN. It had a ft and a half of water in Octs flood and now had a foot of water. What a dilemma should they go home to deal with the mess or what? Thanks to good friends that are going to handle it for them and they can continue on to FL.  Good friends who you can count on are worth a pot of gold. I treasure the ones we have who are always there in a pinch. Feeling blessed Life is Good. 

Cold and Windy

Day 9
Jan 10, 2016 Sunday
Mile 573 ICW

We unhooked from the mooring ball in Beaufort, SC after a quick dinghy trip to Bi Lo for a few things.  We got off around 9:15 to a partly overcast sky and temps in the 40s. We were in everything from shallow narrow streams to broad wide sounds.  For a while we were able to put up our main and sail a bit.  The winds were variable going from 8 to 24 kts and back. We had current with us and against us.  It was a day of some of everything. 

We anchored around 4 at mile post 573 just 3 miles from the GA line.  We will travel through some skinny water in Georgia tomorrow. Stricklands are having refrigerator and generator problems so we will make a marina stop for gas and see if someone can fix their problems.  Since tonight will be in the low 30s we will wait to see how comfortable we are or are not tonight before we decide if we will anchor or stay in a marina tomorrow night.  If we are going to have cold we at least should have sunshine.  

Beaufort, SC

Days 7 & 8
Jan. 8 & 9, 2016
Charleston to Beaufort, SC

Day 7
We left Charleston ahead of the Strickland's since we are slower and he was waiting for the mechanic to fix his oil leak. We had mild temps and partial sun so was not unpleasant travel. We got to Church Creek where we anchored before Journey but she came along. It was a nice quiet but popular anchorage.

Day 8
Today was supposed to be a sunny day with highs in the mid 60s and it was dreary, overcast and sprinkled. NO sun.  We arrived in Beaufort about 3:40 and it never warmed up in the cockpit/sunroom all day, We had fog until nearly noon making reading markers and buoys difficult. We took off around 8 this morning but Journey waited til after 10. Mitch was uncomfortably with the fog and knew his faster speed would let him catch us before the day ended. We both grabbed mooring balls in Beaufort Town Marina.  A quick trip to Walmart is planned in the morning with the courtesy car to get some milk and engine oil.

Sure looking forward to some warm temps south!

Charleston SC

Days 4-5-6
Jan 5,6,&7, 2016
Tues -Wed- Thurs
City Marina
Charleston, SC

We came into the marina in the blowing cold Tues afternoon.  
We took the shuttle to the grocery store and walked to the market district. It was cold and the market area was almost empty.  We then went to a greek restaurant Martha and Mitch like and stuffed ourselves.  My knees were killing me I could hardly walk.  

Wed. the guys and Martha went to West Marine for odds and ends of things.  I stayed on the boat because my knees had not recovered from the day before.  We put some of Lee's purchases to work on the boat. Martha and I did a little laundry at the marina laundromat.  Our new water pump started making loud pulsing noises like it was having trouble drawing water. Lee was inclined to ignore it and figured it did not matter. We filled the jerry jugs with water and got things ready to go in the morning.

Thurs morning changed our plans. Stricklands boat was leaking oil and we tore up the bed to look at the offending water pump in our boat.  After a mechanic looked at Stricklands motor he thought a part would fix their troubles but it would take til Fri to get the part. After a call to Richard Truett our boat guy in Little River, we decided that a filter might be our issue. So off the guys went to West Marine again. We all stayed another day at City Marina in Charleston. 

We will see Fri if everyones problems are solved and hopefully we will leave here Fri. It is a bit warmer today and less windy and bright sunshine so we are all more comfortable. We should be able to spend Fri night on the hook if all the repairs go as planned. 

Sunshine Yea

Day 3
Jan 4, 2016  Monday
Lelands Oil, McCellanville, SC

Left Georgetown in bright sunshine but cold temps.  The sun soon caused the canvased-in cockpit to heat like a greenhouse.  It was nice not to be cold.  The trip was uneventful except for a little skinny water as we approached our dock at the end of the day. We tied up about 1:20 and bask in the warmth and sun. (as long as you stayed inside the canvas)

Today was Mitch's 68 th birthday.  We had made brownies on Wed night and we put a 6 & 8 candle on them for him to blow out.  Lee is dyslexic so the candles got put on 8 & 6 but Mitch never said any thing so pictures will attest to his 86th birthday.  Considering the age of the brownies by Mon they were not too bad. They say it is the thought that counts right? 

A friendly dock dog named Boone met us. That made Martha miss Teddy who got left behind this trip. Cold night and day ahead for tomorrow. We are shooting for Charleston so will be a long day. 

Chillly Trip

Day 

Jan. 3, 2016

Hazard Marina, Georgetown, SC

We traveled about 28 miles on the ICW in cold cloudy weather.  We had 2 1/2 knots of current going with us so we made good time.  We arrived at Hazzard tMarina in Georgetown to find the marina closed so we pulled in and tied up.  Got the electric hooked up and turned on the heat.  It was a cold trip.  

We arrived at Georgetown around 2 so we had time to loaf, clean, nap and what ever.  We had a good dinner mostly of Christmas left overs.  After dinner Martha and Mitch came over and we played cards.  We gals have not beaten the guys in a while but we took them to the cleaners tonight. 

Stricklands had some problems with their fresh water tanks.  One of them is leaking. They have two so it is not the crisis it would be if they only had one tank like we do.  

Tomorrow is supposed to be another cold day and night so we are planning on staying in McClellanville, SC. and hooking up to electric for heat again.  

Third Times a Charm

Day 1

Jan 2, 2016

Osprey Marina, Socastee, SC

Today we left Lightkeepers Marina in Little River, SC. We planned to leave Dec. 31. We were 10 min from departure when we discovered our fresh water pump was not functioning. It had worked fine the day before. We filled and drained our fresh water tank 3 times the day before. It took until 4 in the afternoon to get a new pump installed and working properly. 

Jan 1 we made our second attempt to start. We departed Lightkeepers Marina at 10 and as soon as we pulled into the ICW a cold breeze hit us. I turned to put down the canvas behind me and only the screen was there. The solid panel was still at the canvas makers and had never been put back on the boat after we had him make screen panels. Being New Years Day the business was closed so we had to wait until Jan 2nd to get the missing canvas piece. 

Having had 2 false starts the 3rd time was a charm. We got off about 9:30 Saturday. We traveled about 6 hrs to Osprey Marina in Socastee, where we met up with Martha and Mitch who will be traveling with us in their trawler. When we were almost to the marina we decided to roll up the front panel to get clearer vision. As soon as I started to roll it the plastic window broke and cracked. I stopped and I taped the cracked part with packing tape. It was so cold it lost its flexibility. We cleaned the front "windows" after that but do not know if it helped much. 

Some of Mitch's friends were taking him out for dinner as he has a birthday coming up Jan 4. We were invited to join them. There were 10 of us altogether.  After wishing the old guy a happy birthday and eating we returned to our boat and everybody went home.