Count your blessings

October 26, 2016

Air conditioner fixed.

We spent one night at the Portside Marina in Morehead City NC, the owner there is very accommodating and will take you to get supplies.  After the air conditioner was fixed we headed to Swansboro NC for an anchorage. I love it when we can pick up wifi and watch Netflix in a very small town.  Swansboro is the first place we have been on the hook this year and it was so nice, except for the loud music from the bar close by.

We met people in Morehead City that are going our way so we have been catching up with them at marinas. It was nice to socialize with people and compare notes about anchorages, plans and hazards to name only a few things we shared.

The weather has been gorgeous, in the 80’s and sometimes 90’s without humidity.  I understand that it has also been nice in Maine.  Global warming?

From Swansboro we motored on to Wrightsville Beach for one night. When I lowered the anchor (windlass) the housing broke again, always something.  We found a fabricator to make a windlass cover, but from raw materials and not using any of the old parts.  The part is made of stainless steel and it seems to be holding.  When I first raised the anchor, the part moved and I sucked in air and held my breath hoping this meant a temporary adjustment and it did.  We were very fortunate that the company picked up the old part and delivered the new part all in a day. As soon as the piece was installed we headed out to St. James Plantation, Southport NC.

Windlass Fix

St. James Plantation in Southport

Condo in St. James Plantation

St. James Plantation is a very pretty and interesting place that came highly recommend from one of our friends back home. We entered the marina at a narrow short canal that opened up to a small and nice marina.  Think about a 45 record laying on a table and at the center of that record is a marina.  On the outer edge of the 45 are condos all facing the marina and on the inner circle there are places to walk, a bar, a restaurant and a few offices.  Also along there is a large artists store that sells only items made by the people of St. James Plantation. 

From there we headed to Osprey Marina, Myrtle Beach SC.  I love Osprey.  Our dear friends first told us about the place and we will stop there whenever we can to spend at least the night. Miles, the dock master, is great in fact all the staff is great.  We probably will leave our boat there in the spring, it will be much less expensive and more appealing than the last storage marina. Tried to get the Patriots without any luck.

No luck means being flooded out of your home.  I have mixed feelings about sharing pictures of the homes after the flood.  It is very sobering to look at their homes and property that one day was worth a lot of money, comfort and memories.  

Waters came down from higher ground after Hurricane Matthews had past by and the people in South Carolina thought the worst was over.  The inland waters flowed down to the coast and into Myrtle Beach where there wasn’t any channel for the water to flow out to ocean.  Boats on the waterway couldn’t continue south because one of the draw bridges we needed to open for us was flooded.  We thought we were going to have to make a run on the outside from Little River Inlet about 50 miles to Georgetown.  When I was talking to Rob about going “outside” I told him if we have to make a run for it, I guess we have to.  Rob corrected me telling me that it is called “make a run on the outside” not “make a run for it on the outside”. My eyes went back and forth, back and forth and I thought, hmmm, there is a difference.

Lets see where I was I before I interrupted myself with the rant about traveling on the outside.

We anchored in Georgetown, the weather was beautiful for a walk to Piggly Wiggly for groceries.

After Georgetown we traveled to Whiteside Creek SC for the night.  We stopped at Awendaw Creek but I didn’t like the exposure to the NE winds. On the way to the anchorage we were passed by a large boat, very considerate with a slow pass then another boat came up from behind traveling very fast without any intentions of slowing. The area of the ICW we were in was a narrow swath through grasses. Linda Jean and the first boat were staggered one passing the other when the second boat passed us and zigzagged between us way too close to our bow, to get in front of the line.  It was the same as lane changing on the highway.  All of that isn’t funny and dangerous, but I was so flustered that I got on the radio to “Mr. Hinckley, Mr. Hinckley this is Linda Jean”, but there wasn’t any reply.  Well I couldn’t read the name of the boat, but I knew it was a Hinckley power boat so I thought it might be worth a try.

I am sure that when I have more experience all this traffic nonsense will be old news but…today was another story.  We were in a no wake zone and taking it easy when Serendipity radioed us to ask if we could pick it up so both of us could make the next bridge. We told him we would be glad to pull over some, but it was a narrow shallow area so we couldn’t do much.  He wasn’t happy with that, so we pulled aside, stopped and let him pass.  I thought it was over the top to tell us to go faster. When we caught up to him at the bridge we heard the bridge tender say that she would open the bridge after the next sail boat arrived at the bridge, which was over a mile back.  We didn’t need the bridge open because we could travel under it. I waved as we went by. Rob and I thought that was very serendipitous.

Today we are on an anchorage in the Ashley River in Charleston headed for Beaufort, SC.  Beaufort, SC is pronounced Beau (like Beauty) fort and Beaufort, NC is pronounced Beau (like you put on a present) fort.  If you pronounce either one wrong they will correct you.

I found on this adventure that I like small quaint towns rather than big cities such as Charleston or Miami. We don’t want to rent cars to get groceries, do laundry and we want to be able to experience the town on 

foot.

It seems the South really likes Halloween and the Fall, another pretty setting

Check out this parallel parking

Canoe Stern? and check out the number of spreaders

Lenny, is this a canoe stern?

What I was reminded of this week:

The inverter can’t run at the same time as the generator or shore power

Remember to shut off the windlass, the anchor wash, the inverter

Remember to cover the bridge and zip up the windows on the bridge

The snubber needs to be straight and the chain needs to have the loop.

… and that he loves me.  AWE!

Tricia