We picked up anchor at 9:15. The Cooper River Marina is 10nm away. The tidal current runs 3kts on the Cooper River on an ebb tide, so we wanted to arrive at slack tide. After picking up the anchor, we left the Stono River by way of Elliott Cut. The current in this Cut runs 4kt. Blue Moon was going 7+kts while in idle. We arrived at the Marina at 10:50 with Dockmaster Dave and his helper ready to catch our lines. Matt brought Blue Moon to the floating dock where she was secured. The only nice thing about this region's 6-9ft tides, is that all the marinas have floating docks which makes docking much easier. Once tied up, we checked the weather. The forecast was looking better for tomorrow, so we might stay here for the only one night. We decided to do our boat chores before we went into town. We changed the sheets, filled Blue Moon's water tank, and gathered the laundry. Then we hiked the .2 miles to the office with our laundry and trash in tow and paid for the slip ($1.62/ft with BostUS discount). It was time to do laundry. This marina's laundry facilities was one of the best that we've used. It was located in an air conditioned room with a big picture window that overlooked the river and the price was a reasonable$1.25 for the washer and dryer. At 14:00, the laundry was washed and stowed. We were ready to head to town. The marina is 8 miles from downtown, so we contacted our friends at Uber. A couple minutes later, Faith was taking us to the Charleston's Historic City Market. We browsed the shops, and people watched. For dinner, we went Sticky Fingers which is a favorite of ours. We got the Sampler Rib Platter for two. They were very tasty. After dinner we moseyed through the French Quarter and ended up at a grocery store called Harris Tweeter. After we finished our shopping, we called Uber to take us back to the marina. The weather forecast for tomorrow keeps changing so we're not sure what we're going to do... stay or go. Trip Log-Day 27: 9nm, 1.5 hours Trip Total: 620nm, 98.25 hours, 124 gal diesel. Doing laundry in style The French Quarter
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We were up at first light and were on our way by 6:15. We had a long trip planned for today.
Our journey through South Carolina's marshlands was uneventful (not that I'm complaining). We saw lots of dolphin and lots of weekend boaters. Internet services out here, were weak and spotty. We arrived at the Stono River anchorage at 14:00 and dropped anchor. We then tried to figure out where we wanted to be for the next several days. The weather forecast is now for 90% rain on Monday and Tuesday with slight improvement for Wednesday and Thursday. We have decided to go into a marina tomorrow and visit Charleston while the sun is still shining. Depending on the rain, we hope to leave Charleston on Tuesday (although a Wednesday or Thursday departure is more realistic). I contacted our favorite Charleston marina, but they are out of commission until the end of the year, thanks to Hurricane Matthew. So I called Toller's Cove Marina, but they were full. Then I called Charleston Harbor Marina and Resort. The dockmaster said that they were full, but they could squeeze us in, that there was a 33ft min and a $18pp/day resort fee. With all the fees, we're talking about over $120/night for possibly 3-4 nights. I then called Cooper River Marina. Their transient dock was full, but they had several of the regular docks available. We booked it for at least 2 nights. Cooper River Marina was an old navy dockyard which is now a county run marina. It's about 5 miles from historic Charleston but since we now are Uber savvy, we can call them for a ride. Now that we had found somewhere to stay while this weatherfront passes, we could relax and enjoy the rest of the day. We read, relaxed and watched the boats go by. Trip Log-Day 26: 54nm, 7.75hours Trip Total: 611nm, 96.75 hours, 124 gal diesel. We awoke and were anxious to get on our way. Mechanic Steve had told Matt to run the engine this morning, to get the temperature up. He would come by "first thing in the morning" to check to see if anything was leaking. After breakfast, Steve was at the boat at 7:30. All was well-no leaks. Steve noticed Dad's 45 year old Mercury outboard. He really liked it. He was impressed when we told him that it still worked and asked if we get a lot of offers to buy it. After Steve left, as Matt continued to test the engine for leaks, I took this opportunity to defrost the fridge. I had waited 10 days since I last defrosted it and I paid for the delay. It was a much harder job. In the meantime, Matt went up to the office to pay our bill, but it wasn't ready. They said that they would work on it. So much for us getting an early start this morning. While waiting, I decided to clean the head, the floors and tidy up. We finally received the bill. It was for$1540 which we weren't too unhappy about. Hinckley had charged a little more for the parts then we would have paid if we had gotten them from the internet. They also charged for rags, and new Volvo antifreeze (Matt usually buys the Prestone concentrate), but they didn't charge us for 3 nights dockage or for ice. If Matt had done the repair, we would have saved the $450 labor charge, but Matt not having to do it was PRICELESS. The parts ordered off the internet would have been less expensive and Matt would have reused the old antifreeze. But if we had wanted the 2 day delivery, the shipping would have been $80. Plus doing it ourselves, we would have been paying for a marina slip for 4 or more nights. So even though we got frustrated with Hinckley Yachts, Mechanic Steve was very thorough, and we are confident that the job was done well. Also, Hinckley did fit our repair into their busy schedule, do it quicker and get us on our way faster. And they were the ONLY people that ever called us back. By 8:45, we had paid our bill and were on our way heading north. We were forging onward. It was a beautiful day to be back on the water with the temperature in the mid-80's and 55% humidity. As we cruised north on the ICW, we continued to see boat and dock carnage from Hurricane Matthew. Although, there are signs of a recovery with many rebuilt docks lining the waterway. We arrived at Beaufort, SC at 14:30. Our plan was to go to the free day dock and tour the town then go out and anchor, but Beaufort now had a mooring field. When we were here 5 years ago, the waters were full of derelict boats and there was no place to anchor near the town. We decided to go to the free day dock, visit the town, then grab a mooring ball for the night. This way we didn't have the hassle of anchoring in the congested anchorage a mile away. On shore, we moseyed along the waterfront park then we moseyed over to our favorite ice cream shop on Beaufort, Southern Sweets (#9 ice cream). We looked through the tourist shops, and we moseyed down the streets looking at all the antebellum homes. Beaufort is exactly what you would imagine a southern town to look like. (BTW they don't take walks in SC, they mosey). After touring Beaufort, we went to the marina and paid for a mooring ($20). Getting off the day dock was a bit tricky with the tidal current, the wind blowing us onto the dock and a boat right behind us. But we used our method of powering forward with the bow tied making our stern move away from the dock allowing Matt to back Blue Moon away. Easy peasy.. We're getting pretty good at that manuveur. We tied up to a mooring ball and enjoyed a nice Happy Hour followed by a BBQ dinner on board. Trip Log-Day 25: 40nm, 5.75 hours Trip Total: 557nm, 89 hours, 124 gal diesel. Passing boats on the ICW Left-The mooring field in Beaufort Right-The day dock Scenes in Beaufort
Paul had said yesterday "first thing tomorrow morning". I guess everyone has their own interpretation of "first thing". We were up at 6:15, had breakfast and had cleared the work space for the mechanic by 7:30. I would be banished to the back deck for the day so we needed to get everything that I'd need for the day out on the back deck. Left-Blue Moon is ready for the mechanic. Right-My space for the day. At 8:00, we were waiting for the mechanic. At 9:00, we were still waiting and hadn't heard anything. At 10:00, we were still waiting and beginning to lose hope. Matt was threatening to begin the job himself. At 10:15, Paul came down to apologize again and explain that there was problem on another boat, but the mechanic would be down shortly. At 10:30, Steve (the mechanic) finally showed up. I told Matt that we should lock him inside the boat and not let him leave. By 11:50, he had the antifreeze drained and the pump out of the boat, then he went to lunch. By the way, we got 1600 hours out of that 5 year old rebuilt pump. Steve thought that was pretty good. At 12:50, Steve was back to work. After an hour, he said "how did the last guy get this pump in here? I'm having a hard time". So I checked my detailed blog from five years ago. I had written that Matt had struggled for 2 hours, without success, to get the pump into place, then Larry told him to think outside the box. He did and after he moved the thermostat out of the way, we were able to get the pump in place. We relayed this info to Steve and he used the same idea, to get the job done. At 16:15, he was finished. It took 6 man hours for him to complete the repair. After he left, we put the boat back together, took showers and had a beer (or two) to celebrate the moment. Tomorrow, we move on. Mechanic Steve working on the engine
We awoke with high hopes that (as sunken treasure hunter Mel Fisher said) "Today is the day".
At 7:30, Paul came down to the boat. He said that the parts did come in, BUT it didn't come with the gasket. So they ordered it and hopefully it will be here later today and they will start the repair. So we waited and waited and waited. At 13:30, we saw the Volvo mechanic finishing up on a nearby boat that he'd been working on. Then Paul told us that the gasket had been delivered and now had all the parts to do the repair. The problem was that he had two mechanics call in sick today and he had some jobs that needed to be finished. He apologized and said that the mechanic would work on our boat "first thing tomorrow". So Matt and I left Blue Moon, borrowed the marina courtesy car and did some errands. At 17:00, our friends, Carrie and Scott came by. We met them on the Carnival Magic Transatlantic cruise six years ago. After we showed them Blue Moon, we had a beer on the back deck. For dinner, we went to Tubby's Tank House. Tubby's is a casual place with good food. It was a nice night to dine outside on the deck. After dinner, Carrie and Scott took us to the grocery store to pick up a few things. We're glad that we were able to get together with them. It was a fun time. We had breakfast and had our anchor up by 9:15. Our first stop was Thunderbolt Marina for fuel, water, ice and a pump out. We bought 50 gals of fuel at $2.45/gal which was a good price, but they also charged $10 for a pump out. At 10:00, we were pulling up to the Hinckley dock. There was only one empty spot left on the dock, which Blue Moon took. Paul, the Hinckley rep, told us that they really got hit hard by Hurricane Matthew and that's why their docks are in such disrepair. They have just received authorization to rebuild them. There was no electricity on the dock available for us, which wasn't a big deal... No need for A/C yet. The Volvo mechanic boarded the boat but the engine was too hot for him to do anything, plus our part hadn't arrived yet and he was already busy working on another boat. So Matt and I took showers and got ready to go into Savannah. We left the boat open so if by some chance the part came in, they could work on it. Then we called Uber to take us downtown. We were "uber virgins" being the first time that we've used it and were very pleased. For $11 (including tip), we were dropped of at the River front. Our driver, Jennifer, was a very pleasant young lady. We spent the day doing the tourist thing. We wandered through the shops, watched the boats go up & down the river, feasted on peanut/nut samples at the Peanut Store, watched candy being made, drank beer, people watched, and we even got to tour a schooner from the Netherlands called the Oosterschelde. We finished our visit to Historic Savannah with dinner at Lizzy's Tequila Bar & Grill where we shared an appetizer of Fried Green Tomatoes. After dinner, we contacted Uber and within 2 minutes, we were on our way back to the marina. Again, we found our Uber driver, Paige, to be very pleasant. Back at the marina, nothing had been done to boat's engine but we really didn't expect anything to be done today. We were just hoping. We spent the remainder of the evening relaxing on Blue Moon's back deck and enjoying the cool breeze blowing down the river. Trip Log-Day 22: 3nm, .75 hours, 50 gals fuel Trip Total: 517nm, 83.25 hours, 124 gal diesel. Blue Moon at the Hinckley Yacht docks
We woke up anxious to get the engine repaired. Matt called Thunderbolt Marina (which we can see from our anchorage). It is a huge complex of boat repair facilities from canvas to painting. When we finally got a hold of them at 9:30, they told us that they subcontracted out the diesel work and told us who to call. We called that company and they said that it would be at least a week or two before they could get to us but they would see if they could get us the needed part quickly. Apparently their computer system was not working and would get back to us(never called back). We called Hogan Marina and they gave us the number of a mechanic to call. We called and left a message (no one ever called us back). We called Savannah Bend Marina, but they don't do diesel engines. Told us to call Hinckley Marina (as in the very expensive Hinckley Picnic Boats). They said that they were very busy, but would squeeze us in. Then we called Marine Parts Express and they said that it would take 3-4 days to get the part to us. We called back Hinckley to find out how long it would take for them to get the part, but everyone there was now in a meeting. Half hour later, Matt called Paul at Hinckley back and asked him if they could get the part in less than 4 days. He said that he'd get back to us. At 12:30, not one of all the people contacted had called us back. So we called yet another marina, Morningstar. Although they didn't do repairs, they gave us the name of a mechanic. We called him, but no answer. He did call us back, but he was out of town. At 13:30, Paul from Hinckley called back and said he could get the part in a day or two. Matt told him to order it. We didn't care what the price was, we just wanted it to get here ASAP. Paul told Matt to come into the marina tomorrow. Hinckley Yachts in Savannah is a boat yard not what I would call a marina.
We're going to go stay here on the river for one more night, then we'll go to Hinckley. We still plan to have some fun in Savannah before we leave, but our priority right now is to get the boat fixed. The rest of the afternoon was spent decompressing. We now have a plan and that's good. For dinner, we had spaghetti (good comfort food), then watched the sunset. This will be a very short blog because nothing has happened today.
Today was Mother's Day. So the first thing I did was to call my parents and wished my mom a Happy Mother's Day. The rest of the day was spent just hanging out on the boat. We read, relaxed, played the uke, check the credit card charges, etc. We researched the engine repair and I found some photos that I had taken five years ago when Matt did this same engine repair. I had them on our portable hard drive At about noon, our quiet little river became a boat speed way. Yesterday, no boats went by, but today was a beautiful day and everyone was out playing on their boats. This finally died down at sunset and now all is quiet again. The last weather forecast that we were able to receive at 13:00 yesterday predicted 80%rain from 10:00 to 15:00 today. We decided to try and get 3 hours of travel in before the rain began.
We were awake by 6:15 and ready to go at 6:35. At 6:36, it began to sprinkle. The skies didn't look bad, so we decided to go. I donned my raingear and we proceeded to pick up the very, very, very muddy anchor. No amount of dunking and shaking got that mud off the chain and anchor. It was like glue. By 6:45, we were on our way. Today, we were mostly cruising creeks so if the weather turned nasty, we could just drop the anchor and we'd be alright. Along the way, we experienced light rain, a little sunshine and no wind at all. The water was like glass. At 11:15, we arrived at Isle of Hope, but that anchorage was small and full of permanently moored boats, so we moved on. The next possible anchorage was 30 minutes away. As we're neared civilization, we began to get consistent internet service and I was able to check the weather. There was a line of showers and thunderstorms chasing us and closing in. At the moment, it was raining only intermittently and very lightly, but we were soon going to get hit. We arrived at Herb River at 11:45, since there was no protection at the mouth of the river, we entered it. We found a wide spot to anchor in 14 ft of water (the tide was going to drop 7 ft) and it had enough room so we could put out lots of line. Just at we were setting the anchor, the skies opened and it began to pour. If we had been 3 minutes sooner, we would have been anchored and dry in the boat when it began to rain. It continued to rain with thunderstorms intermittently throughout the day. We have a bit of a problem. When we were traveling yesterday, we began to hear a chirping sound coming from the engine (it began within miles of where we were towed from 5 years ago). Once we were anchored in the creek, Matt tried to tighten the belts, but no improvement. Today the chirping had increased and it became more of a rattle noise. He checked the "play" of the pump and thinks it is the bearings in the freshwater circulating pump (that is the same rebuilt pump that Matt replaced on this same trip 5 years ago). It was Saturday, so we plan to just hang out here in the river for the weekend then go to into a marina on Monday and find a mechanic. Matt doesn't want to do that repair again, unless he has to (and I agree). So it looks like we'll probably be spending some time in Savannah. We spent the rest of the day reading, and watching the rain come and go. For dinner, it was soup since today was a "good soup day". Trip Log-Day 19: 36nm, 5.75 hours Trip Total: 514nm, 82.5 hours, 74 gal diesel. We both slept well last night. A moderate breeze blew all night keeping us cool. We awoke at 6:30. The west wind was blowing Blue Moon into the dock, we had a $750,000+ yacht 10 ft off our stern and a $200,000 catamaran 10ft off our bow, plus the tidal current was strong. We don't have a bow or stern thruster, only a "wife thruster". What to do... What to do??? We were hoping that one of the two boats would leave before us, but no luck. We carefully planned out our escape. I put a big fender on the forward quarter and released all the lines except for the bow line, which I had looped around the cleat coming back to the boat. Then Matt put the boat in forward. Just then the captain of the $750,000 boat came by to "help us" and he released the bow line. I yelled to him to put it back and Matt stopped going forward. That captain was trying to be helpful but had no idea what we were trying to do. He has both bow and stern thrusters and has no problem getting out of tight spots. Any way, we were ready to try again. Matt put Blue Moon into forward (with the bow still tied) and our stern then pivoted away from the dock. When we were perpendicular to the dock, Matt put her into reverse and I released the bow line. Perfect! It looked like we actually knew what we were doing. I was even impressed. So at 7:00, we were on our way to bug country otherwise know as the marshlands of Georgia. The attack flies here are 1 inch long and won't leave you alone. They are persistent and they bite. I'm so glad that we have cockpit screening for this leg of the trip. We always roll up the screens when we travel, but today we left them down. We're hoping that we'll have less bugs to deal with when we stop for the day. Our goal is to get through this area as quickly as possible, but rain is expected tomorrow, so we may get stuck an extra day here. As we continued at cruise through the marshlands, we saw a few boats. The attack flies continued to swarm the boat, but we were staying inside today. I took this opportunity to tidy up the boat and cleaned the head and the cabin sole. The last two times that we passed through here, we anchored at Cattle Pen Creek. Not because we like it, it is the buggiest place I've ever been to, but because it is right off the ICW, it's not too deep and we don't have to use two anchors and it's half way to Savannah. We expected 8ft tides and we expected to arrive at low tide. At low tide, it is easier to find the middle of the creek. A fear that I always have in these creeks is swinging during the night, then waking up and finding ourselves high and dry on the banks of the creek when the tide goes down 8 ft. We arrived at the anchorage at 14:00 and had no problems placing the anchor. Once we were anchored, Matt went to work on a couple boat chores. It's funny how dependent we got on the internet. Without it, we're unable to check the weather radar, to communicate with friends and family, to research boat problems, post a blog or play Words with Friends. It was just a couple years ago when we didn't have it on the boats, now we take it for granted. We ended the day with Happy Hour on the back of Blue Moon, followed by dinner of Jambalaimo. Trip Log-Day 18: 51nm, 7.5 hours Trip Total: 478nm, 76.75 hours, 74 gal diesel Cruising the ICW in Georgia
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