Me! Me! Me! I should win. I should win! I am already
planning my acceptance speech … “Ladies and Gentlemen, my parents, my wife and
my children had nothing to do with this award. I worked so hard to win this
'Dummy of the Week' Award that I do not think anyone else should get any credit
or blame as the case may me.” Oh, I forgot. Most of you don’t know what I am
talking about. Well, if you really want to know, read on. But believe me that
if you think I am kidding – that I could not be that stupid – then please,
just skip this week’s Blog. You are my true friends : - ) Otherwise, read on.
As you will recall, after we left Ocracoke we went to River
Dunes Marina in North Carolina. However, it got cold there and we decided to
continue our journey south – to warmer climes, sunnier weather and more inviting
waters. Our next stop after River Dunes was Mile Hammock Bay. Some of you may
remember that we have stopped here before – in fact, every time we come past
Camp Lejeune we stop here. There is nothing particularly scenic or anything else.
It is, however, a great anchorage, contained inside a ¼ mile x ¼ mile box. The
night we stayed about 15 other boaters thought it was a good anchorage as well,
among them were two Selenes, Duet and
Passage, about which, more later.
Still, it was a fairly pleasant night as there were not
Marines exercising in the field to all hours of the morning and there were no
V-22 Ospreys flying overhead. The only problem was that it was cold at Mile Hammock. In fact, as we
were weighing anchor, Ann decided that before she did that again, she was going to get a pair of gloves. I was still
wearing sweat pants and SOCKS. Anyway, it was definitely time to head on south.
I know that I have complained enough about bridges and how
they slow us down, so I am not going to beat that subject to death – but I am
going to beat it. There are three bridges around Wrightsville Beach, NC. The first
and the third open only on the hour and they Are 26+ miles apart. If we want to
avoid sitting at the bridges and waiting for up to an hour for the bridge to
open, we have three choices:
Option
|
Why It is Not Good
|
Average 26 MPH between the bridges
|
Not gonna happen. Traveling Soul cannot move that fast
|
Average 13 MPH between the bridges
|
We could do it – if we used Saudi Arabia’s weekly production of
petroleum AND we were willing to wake everyone in our path
|
Average 6.5 MPH between the bridges
|
Our “idle speed”
|
We travel, of course, at 6.5 MPH. To go that slowly, we
sometimes have to take the boat out of gear so we can coast for a while. Why
can’t they open one of those on the hour and the half hour? (I am going to stop
here only because I swore I wouldn’t beat this subject to death.) This is also
part of the ICW that has very shallow spots. Most of the inlets to the ocean
let water and sand in to shoal the inlet. So, while the controlling depth of
the ICW is supposed to be 12’ in these parts of the water way it can easily
shoal to 5’ or less. We have to make sure we are going through at or near high
tide or risk running aground.
Anyway, after winding our way through the maze of bridges and
shoaling inlets we continued our journey south to St. James Plantation Marina.
We have been here, before, too. Originally recommended by our friends Andy and
Sharon (from Finally Fun), this is
the third time we have stopped at St. James. The first time the experience
there was a very good one. They put us at a facing dock, and they helped us
hook up water and electric – and the prices were pretty good. The second time
was when Ann and I had pressed our son, Tim, into service to help us move the
boat south when I had a bum foot. Again, service was excellent. And, while I
couldn’t get to the restaurant, Ann and Tim offered “boat service” and I had
some of their ribs. Excellent.
This time … eh … not so much. First, they did not put us
into the slip we wanted. We wanted the facing dock we had always had. Instead
they put us into a facing dock that, while long enough, was not quite as nice
as the original. That would have been ok – since they told me that had another,
bigger boat coming for the nicer dock – except that the new dock did not have
50 amp service. (For those of you who don’t know, boats with an electrical
connection usually have one 30 amp connection, two thirty amp connection, one
fifty amp connection or, for some boats, two fifty amps plugs. We rely on one
fifty amp connection.) So they gave us two choices: go without electricity or
move to an interior slip. The one criticism that has been made of St. James has
been that their fairways are narrow and it is difficult for a large boat to
maneuver into an interior slip. If they had not had a slip on the end of the
dock behind us – so I could just kind of back into it – I am not sure what we
would have done.
It is not a bad marina, but I have two big complaints. First
remember that “big boat” that was going to take the slip that we wanted? I was
told it was on its way into the marina “right now.” Well, it never showed up. I
think they fibbed to me – and Mother Natu … I mean Captain Mike doesn’t
like being fibbed to. Second, the dockhands were sooo disorganized that they
were assigning boats to slips, then changing their minds … finding that some
slips did not have 50 amp power … etc. I am not sure we will be going back. Next
time we will certainly look more closely at the alternatives.
We were not alone at St. James, however. Duet, whose crew (Karsten and Peg) we
had met at River Dunes and spent the night before at the same anchorage at Mile
Hammock were also there. Karsten and Peg have been cruising for SEVENTEEN
YEARS. Wow! That, I am sure is some kind of a record. Also there was Passage the 53’ Selene that we had seen
at Mile Hammock and her crew Win and Judy. They are a really nice couple who
spend a lot of time cruising, but he still has to return periodically to
California where they still own a business. Since the three of us were the only
transient power boaters at the Marina, we all had dinner together. The dinner
was good, the conversation enjoyable and the company unbeatable.
If you have never seen the Waccamaw and/or the Great Peedee
Rivers you have missed something. They are wide, slow, rivers that meander
thorough cypress forests, salt marshes and abandon rice fields. At times there
are islands in the river separating one branch from the ICW itself. There are
also a number of slow, deep tributaries along the length of these magnificent
waterways. Some of these detours off the main river –whether formed by islands
or tributaries – have idyllic anchorages. The last time we came through, I
really wanted to pull over top the side, pull out a fishing rod – probably with
a corn cob pipe – and enjoy a lazy afternoon.
On our way south we
stopped at Butler Island, which has one of these anchorages, but we got there
late in the afternoon and all we had time to do was light up the grill and eat
a couple of steaks. Also, it was not fishing season and I didn’t have a fishing
license. (Ain’t it terrible how reality and governmental regulations impinge on
an idyllic vision?) Oh well.
 |
| Rubble from the fire in Georgetown. The picture doesn't do it justice. It was really bad. |
Early the next morning we were on the way to Georgetown, SC.
Although we have been there before, since our last visit there has been a fire
– a pretty big fire. It burned down maybe ten historic buildings along the
waterfront and around a dozen businesses. Although they were built of brick,
the buildings had a system of interconnected wooden attics which appears to
have been the conduit for the fire. I am guessing that one-third to one-quarter
of the waterfront businesses were affected – and none on the other side of the
street – so there are still plenty of things to do and see, but it is sad.
One of the places we went was to the Rice Museum. For those
of you who don’t know, the area around Georgetown in antebellum South Carolina
was not built on cotton, it was built on rice. The museum has several dioramas
that explain the rice growing process. All of those dioramas refer to “farms”
and “laborers” rather than plantations and slaves. In fact, I did not find one
diorama that mentioned the word slaves. Moreover, when the docent was giving
the presentation she remarked several times on how “well off” and how happy
these laborers were. In fact, she pointed out that they were so happy with
their lot that very few tried to leave the area after emancipation. The fact
that they had no money and no place to go seems to have eluded her. I will
admit to being a bit sensitive to these things, but good lord, this attempt to
rewrite and reinterpret history does not belong in a museum for heavens sake.
After Georgetown we were on the way to Beaufoirt, SC. On the
way there we saw Salty Turtle a
DeFever we met last year in Nassau along with her crew GiGi and Victor. We
later had lunch with them at Beaufort (but you’ll have to wait for next week
for that story). As we were proceeding down the waterway we also heard familiar
Tony and Bente on the radio. We met them in Marsh Harbor on their previous
boat, a power catamaran called Side by
Side. They, however, have traded in their catamaran for a power cruiser and
are moving ashore! They are headed for Kent Island in Maryland, the same place
where our friend Rick and Lynn Nissan live. We hope to see Tony and Bente on
their new boat T and B (I think that’s what they said) next spring.
 |
| Remember the linguini in clam sauce I wanted in Ocracoke? Well, in Georgetown seafood markets stay open 7 days a week! |
Seriously that was just the honorable mention award. For the
real dummy award, here we go. We had gone a short day and by 1430 or so we
anchored on the South Santee River in about 10-15 feet of water. Now the Santee
– like all the other rivers in this part of the country – have a very strong
tidal current going through them. The tides are around 5 – 7 feet and to move
that amount of water around in 6 hours there has to be a very strong current.
Basically, if you set your anchor when the tide is coming in, you will face into the current, drop and set
your anchor. As the tide changes, you turn around 180 degrees. That puts some
stress on the anchor which CAN, but does not usually drag. I was a bit concerned since, in addition to
the tidal currents we had quite a bit of wind so I woke up often at night to
check the anchor. It worked as it was supposed to. That discussion has very
little to do with my nomination for the dummy award.
 |
| The day we were going to leave Georgetown, there was just an itty bitty bit of fog. It delayed our departure by about an hour. |
At about 1700 every day we start up the generator to
recharge our batteries – especially the inverter batteries that run the
refrigerator – and so that we can cook dinner and watch a few DVDs on TV. At
1700 I got up, cranked the generator and … nothing. I mean nothing. We have had
problems with the generator before, but usually we hear it try t crank. This
time nothing. I went down into the generator room and tried to start it from
there. This time it cranked and almost started, but would not stay on. “Houston”,
I thought, we have a problem.
I looked around the generator. I saw a small leak in the
fresh water system that shouldn’t cause the problem, but I was grasping at
straws. The only way to tighten the screw was to reach around behind the machine
and blindly use a socket to tighten it. The first time I tried, I lost the socket
which fell behind the generator. I couldn’t get to it, but my lovely assistant
managed to catch it on a magnetic kind of wand that we have and save it. We
tightened the screw but, of course, that didn’t do anything. We checked the
oil. It was way low and I didn’t have the 10W 30 that I should have had, so we
took down our kayak and I paddled over to the only other boat in the anchorage
– he didn’t have any either. So I used the only oil I had on board, 40 wt.
Still, nothing. We tried to call some friends who might be able to help, but
late on Friday no one was home.
We finally decided on Plan B. We would turn the refrigerator
way down for now and turn off all the other draws on the inverter batteries. We
would then turn off the inverter later that night because I did not want my
brand new batteries to drain below 50%. (This is a different discussion, but
below 50% is very bad for batteries.) We woke up early the next morning and as
soon as it was light enough, we turned on our running lights headed towards
Beaufort. We called the Beaufort Marina and they had a slip for us and gave us
the names of several mechanics who they thought could help. It turned out that
one of the mechanics was already at the marina working on a boat and he would
be glad to help. Almost immediately after we turned into the slip he was there.
His name was Wayne Mallen and he was a really nice guy. He
came on board, went down into the generator room and asked why a harness was
unfastened. My response was the very knowledgeable and sophisticated, “Duhhh …
I dunno.” He thought maybe some else might have bypassed the harness in one of
the other repairs but he plugged it in anyway. Ok, ok, you got it. The
generator started right up. What bothers
me most is that I saw the female end of that plug the night before, I just
didn’t see the male end. It was right there, on the floor. ARRGH!! You see? I
really do deserve that award!!!
Next time I will discuss the rest of our trip to Beaufort,
SC and our subsequent stays in Georgia anchorages. Until then … here is Ann.
Ann’s Notes: As you
have just read, we have had several exciting things happen. What Michael has
told you actually has a whole other part…that would be MY part. When `things`
go South..( pun intended) I am the one that is the `gofer`. I like that job
because I feel like I am helping. I bring all the tools that are needed to fix
the problem and add a few suggestions. Sometimes they work…sometimes not.
I also help lower 60 pound kayaks off the bow of the boats.
That may sound easy but not really. We have to let it drop from the railing
into the water, then I walk the kayak, attached to a line, on the outside of
the boat to the stern and tie it off. Traveling
Soul is not a full walk around boat, we have a section of the boat where one
needs to walk on the outside on a narrow walkway. Then, of course, one has to
reverse this when we have to get the kayak back on board. That is actually
harder than getting it down. Imagine that…
Then I have what is something like the Chinese Fire Drill … remember
jumping out of the car at a stop light and running around the car and getting
back in before the light turns green? Well, when we are going to dock I preset
our lines on the side of the boat on which we will be tied off. Normally an
easy thing to do ... until … you set the lines , then, on the way into the
marina, things change. Then I have only have a minute or two to get it all
correct. I run around like a mad women in and out of doors at lightning speed.
Geez…what fun? And will it ever end?
On the bright side, we have met some wonderful new people
and have seen some old friends also. That is the fun part for me, catching up
and exchanging adventures.
OK…Wildlife count and Quotes from the Water…
Friday 25 Oct 2013
·
Dolphin 4 single
·
5 playing in our bow wake…3 playing….1 playing
·
Pod of 5
 |
| Yes, that's right. This is a deer crossing the ICW. And he made it! |
Saturday 26 Oct 2013
·
1 playing dolphin
·
2 sets of 2
Sunday 27 Oct 2013
·
2 Turtles sunning them selves at the Rock Pile SC
·
1 Deer swimming across the canal…yes he/she made
it to the other side
·
A few crazy people water skiing in the middle of
the ICW…can`t fix stupid
Wednesday 30 Oct 2013
·
2 Dolphins in the North Santee River
·
2 Single dolphins
1 Mom dolphins with a baby playing on the side of the boat.
For every one breath that Mom took, the baby took four or five...fun to watch
them
Thursday 31 Oct 2013
·
Dolphins single 4
·
Dolphins 3 sets of 2
·
2 playing in our wake
Quotes:
Two sail boaters
talking to each other... traveling during a very low tide with their draft 5 to
6 feet…”If you run aground…would you please call and let me know”
Quote…Bridge tender talking to a slow sailboat about making
the opening of the Figure Eight Bridge
(in a very heavy NC accent) “Jest bump ‘er up Cap`n, we’ll hold this
here bridge for y`all.”
Ann asking Michael with a puzzled look on her face, since we
are in the middle of now where…"Where is the ferry going?" Michael answer “To
the other side” … ok… thanks for that …duh … the answer, by the way, was to a
state park.
Traveling Soul…OUT
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