We're anchored just across from City Marina in Charleston, SC at the moment. We realized that since departing we'd spent no more than 2 days in any one location, and then only once, in East Moriches, NY. We were beginning to feel the fatigue creeping up on us when we picked up Aaron last Sunday, and a week spent trying to make tracks down to Charleston in some unfavorable conditions almost did us in. We're here until we don't want to be here any longer, and then we'll leave. No agenda, no schedule.
I've kept everyone pretty up-to-date regarding the damage Cody did to his hand making coffee on Sunday night. We kept it well wrapped this week, and the burn blistered after a couple days. I had the idea to cover it in tegaderm, but, go figure, I can't get it to stay on Cody's hand for the life of me. The unfortunate effect of that is that, after the blister popped, the skin peeled right off with his latest application of tegaderm. Oops. And ick. But it's actually looking pretty good. I honestly can't believe he sailed through the night on Sunday right after it happened, I'm sure the pain was extraordinary. I made some joke about how he thinks he got his Man Card stamped by toughing it out and Aaron said, "Cody knows he doesn't need any more stamps on his Man Card." Huh, that came across a lot stranger in writing than it sounded at the time. Oh well.
I've kept everyone pretty up-to-date regarding the damage Cody did to his hand making coffee on Sunday night. We kept it well wrapped this week, and the burn blistered after a couple days. I had the idea to cover it in tegaderm, but, go figure, I can't get it to stay on Cody's hand for the life of me. The unfortunate effect of that is that, after the blister popped, the skin peeled right off with his latest application of tegaderm. Oops. And ick. But it's actually looking pretty good. I honestly can't believe he sailed through the night on Sunday right after it happened, I'm sure the pain was extraordinary. I made some joke about how he thinks he got his Man Card stamped by toughing it out and Aaron said, "Cody knows he doesn't need any more stamps on his Man Card." Huh, that came across a lot stranger in writing than it sounded at the time. Oh well.
Last Monday we pulled into Bald Head Island at 6 AM, slept until 11, then spent the day docked at the marina getting caught up on laundry and showers. We had to pay $20 to dock for the day, but we opted out staying there overnight, as it was $2/foot (pretty typical cost for a slip) and it we enjoy being anchored away from town. When early evening rolled in we motored up river and found a little branch to anchor in for the night. We were all exhausted from the previous nights adventure and passed out early and quickly.
The next day we were bound for the Little River Inlet right on the NC/SC border. It was only 30 miles away, so we enjoyed a lazy morning before departing Bald Head. The day started out pleasant enough, but with about 15 miles to go the wind and seas built considerably. Unlike our downwind run of Sunday night, this time we were on a close-haul against a stiff Southwest wind. It was . . . damp.
Funny story - prior to our trip someone asked Cody if Tri-oomph is a wet boat to sail. "Nah," he replied, "we stay pretty dry." That should serve as a testament to how little we'd sailed her in rough seas last year. She is not a dry boat. Big spouts of water come up from her sides and drench anyone sitting in the cockpit. Which isn't bad when it's hot out, but does grow tiresome after several hours. But I digress.
We made it to the inlet only to be met with considerably higher waves over the shoaling near the entrance. Fortunately we were able to turn downwind and sail in, rather than having to drop our sails in the midst of that mess. Still, we must have made contact with the bottom at some point because when we went to pull our centerboard up we found that it had already popped. Yikes. But that's the beauty of the centerboard.
We found another pretty creek to anchor in and had another nice evening. We looked at the weather forecast and decided it might be best at this point to jump back into the ICW to take us down to Georgetown. The next two days were forecasted to bring 30 knot winds and 7 foot seas. We enjoyed a relaxing motor through some scenic swamps and forests. The beauty of the ICW is that we can drop an anchor basically anywhere we like. About 20 miles north of Georgetown we did just that, and enjoyed a still, scenic evening on the ICW.
It was a quick motor into Georgetown the next day, although when we left the creek the promised wind kicked up right in our faces. We were trying to stay to the side of the channel because it afforded a little bit of protection, and Cody had just commented that he was afraid to get too close to shore because of the numerous partially submerged treestumps that were evident. Not two minutes later we heard a great scraping sound followed by a hard thunk, and our rudder popped. We both said, "F#$%!" and leaned over the stern to inspect the boat. While Cody pulled the rudder back down I emptied the coffin-sleeper to inspect the bilge for, well, water gushing in. The bilge was dry, and the rudder seemed all right, so we continued the 5 miles to Georgetown.
We'd been reduced to bandaging Cody's hand with papertowls and a strip of fabric, so the first thing I did was walk to CVS to resupply the first aid kit. Cody intended to dive below the boat (in not-very-clean fresh water) to inspect the hull for damage. He put on a nitrile glove and I duct taped it to his wrist, but I wanted to be prepared to clean his hand well when he came out of the water. The hull appeared unscathed, but we'd cracked the rudder body, and that would need to be repaired. We left everything out in the sun to dry and headed into town. I'd been hoping for a haircut, so I bid the guys adeiu after finidng a nice place to get a cut (and a shampoo! it was divine!) while they walked to the Piggly Wiggly and Ace Hardware. After my haircut I enjoyed walking around Georgetown and petting a kitty that lived on a boat there. Her name was Xandra and she lives on the Xanderzone with her owners. Eventually the guys made it back and Cody fixed the rudder while I walked to the bookstore. I had seen "Do Not Feed The Alligators!" signs and asked a man in a shop if he'd evern seen gators out there. "Sure!" He asked if we were travelling with a dog? No. He told me if you have a dog, tie it to the dock and let it bark. Come out there at 3 AM and shine a flashlight and you'll see a dozen pairs of eyes staring at that dog from the water. I was glad he'd told me that after Cody had been swimming in there.
Another quiet night on the boat, then an early departure for the 60 mile sail to Charleston. There is a long jetty extending several miles into the ocean on the South side of the inlet, so we had to motor pretty far east before we were able to raise sail. Numerous dolphins were hanging out in the channel - important, because I'd promised Aaron we'd see dolphins on this trip and they had heretofore eluded us. Once under sail we had a nice 10 kt wind and were able to hold our heading well. I was at the helm for the first couple hours, and the wind began to increase and the seas to build. We put two reefs in the main, and continued on. It was definitely the biggest wind and waves I'd personally sailed the boat in (for any length of time, that is) and I think I did pretty well. Eventually I was having a hard time holding course so I asked the guys to drop the jib. That was sort of a mistake, because they we just stopped moving. Cody took the helm and we raised the jib back up. We were having a hard time holding course and would find ourselves heading over some unfortunately placed shoaling, so we tacked back out. I was tired from the early morning and made myself a little queasy going down into the cabin to make breakfast, so laid down for a nap. While I was napping a severe weather alert came over the radio, with thunderstorms predicted for the afternoon. Cody made the executive decision to cut over to the coast and jump back onto the ICW so we could get to Charleston that evening.
Once in the river we saw dolphins again! Cody said, "You wanna swim with the dolphins?" In I went! There were probably 8 of them swimming around, doing their dolphin thing, looking for fish. I was hoping they'd come up to me, but they were pretty ambivalent to my presence. The closest they came was maybe 10 feet, which was super cool, because I could hear them breathing and see them really well at water level. After ten minutes or so they made their way down the river and we proceeded up it onto the ICW.
It was a long day, but eventually we made it to Charleston. We dropped an anchor next to City Marina, and then the two old guys who had their boats anchored nearby came up and rambled on about the currents and how we were going to swing into them. Congrats, Old Guys, you scared us off. We moved across the river with the other transients. It was almost 9 by the time we got to shore. We'd wanted to get a nice dinner, but we were a mile away from anything exciting so we got dinner at the restaurant at the marina. Then passed out.
The next day we slept in, then wandered around Charleston with Aaron. His flight left in the afternoon, and we settled back in for some R & R. Charleston's pretty neat. We are about 350 miles, as the crow flies, from Grand Bahama, however, so I'm sure we'll be moving on before too long. I'm too excited for clear water and white beaches.
Funny story - prior to our trip someone asked Cody if Tri-oomph is a wet boat to sail. "Nah," he replied, "we stay pretty dry." That should serve as a testament to how little we'd sailed her in rough seas last year. She is not a dry boat. Big spouts of water come up from her sides and drench anyone sitting in the cockpit. Which isn't bad when it's hot out, but does grow tiresome after several hours. But I digress.
We made it to the inlet only to be met with considerably higher waves over the shoaling near the entrance. Fortunately we were able to turn downwind and sail in, rather than having to drop our sails in the midst of that mess. Still, we must have made contact with the bottom at some point because when we went to pull our centerboard up we found that it had already popped. Yikes. But that's the beauty of the centerboard.
We found another pretty creek to anchor in and had another nice evening. We looked at the weather forecast and decided it might be best at this point to jump back into the ICW to take us down to Georgetown. The next two days were forecasted to bring 30 knot winds and 7 foot seas. We enjoyed a relaxing motor through some scenic swamps and forests. The beauty of the ICW is that we can drop an anchor basically anywhere we like. About 20 miles north of Georgetown we did just that, and enjoyed a still, scenic evening on the ICW.
It was a quick motor into Georgetown the next day, although when we left the creek the promised wind kicked up right in our faces. We were trying to stay to the side of the channel because it afforded a little bit of protection, and Cody had just commented that he was afraid to get too close to shore because of the numerous partially submerged treestumps that were evident. Not two minutes later we heard a great scraping sound followed by a hard thunk, and our rudder popped. We both said, "F#$%!" and leaned over the stern to inspect the boat. While Cody pulled the rudder back down I emptied the coffin-sleeper to inspect the bilge for, well, water gushing in. The bilge was dry, and the rudder seemed all right, so we continued the 5 miles to Georgetown.
We'd been reduced to bandaging Cody's hand with papertowls and a strip of fabric, so the first thing I did was walk to CVS to resupply the first aid kit. Cody intended to dive below the boat (in not-very-clean fresh water) to inspect the hull for damage. He put on a nitrile glove and I duct taped it to his wrist, but I wanted to be prepared to clean his hand well when he came out of the water. The hull appeared unscathed, but we'd cracked the rudder body, and that would need to be repaired. We left everything out in the sun to dry and headed into town. I'd been hoping for a haircut, so I bid the guys adeiu after finidng a nice place to get a cut (and a shampoo! it was divine!) while they walked to the Piggly Wiggly and Ace Hardware. After my haircut I enjoyed walking around Georgetown and petting a kitty that lived on a boat there. Her name was Xandra and she lives on the Xanderzone with her owners. Eventually the guys made it back and Cody fixed the rudder while I walked to the bookstore. I had seen "Do Not Feed The Alligators!" signs and asked a man in a shop if he'd evern seen gators out there. "Sure!" He asked if we were travelling with a dog? No. He told me if you have a dog, tie it to the dock and let it bark. Come out there at 3 AM and shine a flashlight and you'll see a dozen pairs of eyes staring at that dog from the water. I was glad he'd told me that after Cody had been swimming in there.
Another quiet night on the boat, then an early departure for the 60 mile sail to Charleston. There is a long jetty extending several miles into the ocean on the South side of the inlet, so we had to motor pretty far east before we were able to raise sail. Numerous dolphins were hanging out in the channel - important, because I'd promised Aaron we'd see dolphins on this trip and they had heretofore eluded us. Once under sail we had a nice 10 kt wind and were able to hold our heading well. I was at the helm for the first couple hours, and the wind began to increase and the seas to build. We put two reefs in the main, and continued on. It was definitely the biggest wind and waves I'd personally sailed the boat in (for any length of time, that is) and I think I did pretty well. Eventually I was having a hard time holding course so I asked the guys to drop the jib. That was sort of a mistake, because they we just stopped moving. Cody took the helm and we raised the jib back up. We were having a hard time holding course and would find ourselves heading over some unfortunately placed shoaling, so we tacked back out. I was tired from the early morning and made myself a little queasy going down into the cabin to make breakfast, so laid down for a nap. While I was napping a severe weather alert came over the radio, with thunderstorms predicted for the afternoon. Cody made the executive decision to cut over to the coast and jump back onto the ICW so we could get to Charleston that evening.
Once in the river we saw dolphins again! Cody said, "You wanna swim with the dolphins?" In I went! There were probably 8 of them swimming around, doing their dolphin thing, looking for fish. I was hoping they'd come up to me, but they were pretty ambivalent to my presence. The closest they came was maybe 10 feet, which was super cool, because I could hear them breathing and see them really well at water level. After ten minutes or so they made their way down the river and we proceeded up it onto the ICW.
It was a long day, but eventually we made it to Charleston. We dropped an anchor next to City Marina, and then the two old guys who had their boats anchored nearby came up and rambled on about the currents and how we were going to swing into them. Congrats, Old Guys, you scared us off. We moved across the river with the other transients. It was almost 9 by the time we got to shore. We'd wanted to get a nice dinner, but we were a mile away from anything exciting so we got dinner at the restaurant at the marina. Then passed out.
The next day we slept in, then wandered around Charleston with Aaron. His flight left in the afternoon, and we settled back in for some R & R. Charleston's pretty neat. We are about 350 miles, as the crow flies, from Grand Bahama, however, so I'm sure we'll be moving on before too long. I'm too excited for clear water and white beaches.
Almost a week later. Looking much more hand-like, less ebola-like.
Swimming with dolphins? Omg Marian that is super cool. Jim says that worn out cleats on the centreboard and a breakaway line on the rudder have always been a great idea for us in the past. Glad Cody's hand is mending and that you two rest when you can - so important. Btw, how do you make the cinnamon rolls? Boy we wish were there...I like gators :) Finally, as an art teacher, I love the expressiveness of your drawing! Take care, Carleen
ReplyDeleteThanks Carleen! I am generally a strictly-stick person artist, but I branched out in this case. :) For the cinnamon rolls - we have these pyrex glass tupperwear/baking containers. They're little - the biggest holds maybe 4 cups? A friend got them for us. Anyway, I just made bread dough (I think it was leftover from pizza or something) and formed cinnamon rolls, then put them in a well-buttered Pyrex, then put them on the grill and closed the lid. We just have one of those little Magna stainless grills everyone has on their boats. In this case we had it on a medium heat, but the sugar started to get a little overdone on the bottom and so next time we'll set the heat lower and let it cook longer. Your Boat Galley friend says you can do it stovetop by doing a double-burner, only instead of using water in your lower pan, prop the second one up on a tuna can or something to make the heat less direct. We're trying to keep the heat outside the cabin at this point - it's hot out! :) Hope you are almost out for the summer! :)
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