12/10/14
Beaufort SC
Posted by Bill

Yesterday I neglected to tell you about a power boat that pulled up on the other side of the dock from us. Normally, when you are coming in to a marina you get on the marine radio and tell them you are coming in. The marina staff will usually come and take your dock lines and help you get in to the dock and secure your boat, especially when there is a nasty current like there is at this marina. They obviously did not radio ahead because no one was there to help them. I saw them coming in and stepped off of our boat to help them. It is a boaters code to help fellow boaters, especially when approaching or leaving a dock, as it is the most stressful and difficult part of handling a boat.

There were 3 guys on board this Hinkley power boat (very nice and expensive) and they were dressed in khakis and golf pull overs. I could tell that none of them besides the captain knew anything about boating because they weren’t prepared to hand me dock lines. They had no clue what was going to happen as they approached the dock. I grabbed the spring line off of the boat and asked the captain if he wanted a fore or aft spring. He replied “just tie it off right there”, which didn’t answer my question. I then proceeded to grab the bow line and the one guy jumped off of the boat near the stern. He didn’t grab the stern line, but tried to wrestle the boat to the dock by hand (not at all what you should do in a docking situation). There was a decent chop on the river and the boat was bucking pretty good. The guy who jumped off was trying to keep the stern from slamming the dock and still hadn’t grabbed the stern dock line…idiot. Then all of the sudden his feet were on the dock, his hands were on the boat, and the distance between the two was increasing rapidly. No question about it….this guy was going in the drink.

The guys feet and legs go into the water about the same time that Tricia is jumping off of our boat to help, and he is hanging off the side of the boat between the dock and the boat. I am trying to maneuver the boat with the bow and spring lines and Tricia is trying to grab the stern line and help the guy in the water. My first thought is “wow…with the wind and waves in the state they are in, the boat is going to crush this guys legs and torso against the dock”, and sure enough the boat started to slam him. The second guy on the boat has no idea what to do, and the captain is running the boat into the boat in front of him on the dock. At the last minute Tricia pulls the man overboard onto the dock and the momentum knocks her on her ass, but the guy is safe. We get the lines secured and the boat is safely docked.

I ask the wet guy if he needs some dry cloths that he can use while they use the dryer at the marina to dry his. They reply that they are golfing nearby and he will just buy some new cloths at the club. They are both laughing at their buddy, and nobody even thanks Tricia for saving this guy who would have been crushed by the boat without her help. They waltz off with their golf bags without any comprehension of what just happened.

We were both totally shocked at the complete lack of boating knowledge and seamanship, and especially that the pretentious assholes didn’t even have the decency to thank us…especially Tricia…for keeping their buddy from bodily harm and their boat from slamming the dock. This is not normal boater behavior as the boater community is very close knit.

Today we moved the boat to the end of the dock in preparation for leaving tomorrow morning. This will make a much easier departure in the tidal current. We also borrowed the courtesy car at the marina and got groceries, liquor and propane. We added water to the tanks and pumped out the holding tank again, and we are ready to go! We are anxious to be on the move again, but at the same time, we really enjoyed our stay here.

12/9/14
Beaufort SC
Posted by Bill

The weather, tide, and the end of our month of dockage has all come together. We did some major passage planning today, looking at tides and anchorages, and considering all of the timing, and our plan for the next week looks like this:

12/11 – Depart Port Royal Landing Marina, transit Fields Cut (major shoaling area off of the Savannah River) and anchor in the Herb River, Georgia.

12/12 – Transit Hell Gate (major shoaling area) and anchor in the Crescent River, Georgia.

12/13 – Transit the Little Mud River (major shoaling area) and anchor in Wally’s Leg, Georgia, just north of St Simons Island.

12/14 – Transit Jekyll Creek (major shoaling area) and anchor in the Brickhill River.

12/15 – Transit to Fernandina Beach Florida.

We will probably spend a few days in Fernandina Beach enjoying the area and Amelia Island. The weather looks pretty good for the next week except that it will be cooler than normal, but it is a welcome relief from the winds and windchill. The highs have only been in the 50s the last couple of days and the winds have been in the teens to thirty knot range.

The internet access will be sketchy over the next week so we may not have a blog every day…but I will try! If nothing else, I will post the daily blogs when we get to Fernandina Beach.

Lastly…happy birthday to our daughter eldest. We love you and miss you. Wish we were able to celebrate with you!!!

12/8/14
Beaufort SC
Posted by Bill

Our days in the Beaufort/Port Royal area are winding down. This has been a really nice area to spend some extended exploration time. If you want to have maximum exposure to shopping and restaurants, dock or anchor in the downtown Beaufort area. Port Royal Landing Marina is a 30 minute bike ride from downtown Beaufort and a 15 minute ride from Old Port Royal which has several restaurants. Port Royal Landing is also a 15 minute walk to West Marine, Piggly Wiggly, a liquor store, a fresh seafood stand and several restaurants. From Port Royal Landing you can also bike 15 minutes to Publix, a larger liquor store, and a hardware store with propane. Coming back again, which we will, we will stay at Port Royal Landing Marina. They have been the epitome of southern hospitality, and the facilities are clean and very adequate.

The Beaufort/Port Royal area has substantial charm with it’s waterfronts, Spanish moss hung oak trees, palm trees and true southern hospitality. Our marina has a neighborhood associated with the marina that is very picturesque. Here are some pics of the surrounding area.

Docks leading up to the office and restaurant:

The grounds in the surrounding neighborhood and marina parking lot:

The marina:

The Ladies Island Bridge and Beaufort waterfront (left of the bridge):

The Beaufort waterfront closer up:

A boat from our home port of Catawba Island Ohio:

Snoopy’s boat:

Our Island Bound at dock:

Today we rode bikes into old downtown Port Royal where there are several really good restaurants, and where we ate a late lunch/breakfast. We ate in an old one room school house that was converted to a restaurant and it was really good.

When we got back we met an old salt that lives in our marina who’s name is Red Dog. The following description is not meant to be derogatory, just accurate. He claims to be 69 but looks like he is 125 years old. He has no teeth but he claims that he used to keep them in his pants pocket. He grew up in Beaufort, served in Viet Nam, and has been through several marriages. He has long gray hair and a beard, and looks like a typical old sea dog. I took one look at the guy and thought: “this guy has some really good stories, but he might not live to tell them”. I was right. Almost always drunk and no teeth, he was difficult to understand, but after 30 minutes you kind of caught on to his speech enough to understand him, and he was a hoot!!! We learned stuff about the local area that I am sure very few people could know. If he lives longer than a couple of weeks, which is suspect, he might just be my new hero. I wish we would have met him earlier because he was very entertaining and could spin local yarns better than Rumple Stiltskin could spin gold! I am a descendant of the Grimm Brothers, so I know a good yarn spinner when I see one! I will try to get a pic with him before we leave because I know it will be priceless.

He doesn’t have the link to this blog but the manager of this marina is a gem. His name is Mike and he has been a most gracious host, and a true ambassador for Beaufort and Port Royal. I wish I could spend time enough to become best of friends with him. We will certainly stop here on our way back north, but don’t tell any other cruisers about the glowing remarks for this place because I don’t want it to become crowded…lol!!!!

This area is high on our list of places to settle down when we become dirt dwellers again.

As for future plans…based on the current tide schedule and weather forecast…we are planning to leave Wednesday. If weather permits we should be in Vero Beach Florida by the middle of the month and could be in Miami for Christmas. We would like to be in Miami/Miami Beach for New Years. Stay tuned…..

12/7/14
Beaufort SC
Posted by Bill

The boat parade wasn’t enough, so the town of Beaufort has a Christmas parade the day after, and they actually label it “Christmas Parade”, not holiday parade or some other watered down version of the traditions of our forefathers because we are now afraid to offend someone…I say “good for Beaufort”!! Makes me like this place that much better!

After watching the announcement of the Buckeyes in the NCAA playoff…O! H!, we borrowed the bikes from the marina and rode back to downtown to watch the parade. After looking at the route, I figured we could probably sit at a sports bar called Bricks and watch while we ate a late lunch, and as luck would have it (again today), we got the two bar seats right next to the large plate glass window overlooking the parade route. We saw most of the parade like this:

I did get off my butt to capture a couple of “typical” pictures of what was in the parade. First, this parade was big…it took an hour for the whole thing to pass.

There were a total of 5 boats being pulled on their trailer like this one:

Not something I have seen in a parade before.

Also unique to my parade experience….nothing says Christmas like a monster truck

or excavation equipment

Then there were lots of people walking or riding on trailers like this:

Then a wooden ship.

Then the more typical holiday type stuff:

Oh, and Elvis made an appearance:

And, as expected, at the end of the line, the fat man himself…Santa!

12/7/14
Beaufort SC
Posted by Bill

Lots to post about today…

Yesterday I checked the weather further south at around 5 AM and after looking at the wind forecasts, which were in the 25-30 knot range for Sunday through Monday, I gave second thoughts to shoving off. The tide schedules were not lining up too well for the really bad shoal areas in the Georgia ICW as well, and we are paid up with the marina until Wednesday. The weather forecast showed much better weather starting next Thursday when a high pressure system is moving in, so we thought “why be miserable at anchor and underway with the winds and cooler temps when we can stay tied to our dock and enjoy more of Beaufort”. It turned out to be a really good decision!

Yesterday we relaxed and enjoyed a calm sunny day for the most part with temps in the 70s. Then we went to the Christmas boat parade in downtown Beaufort (more on that below), followed by dinner at the Old Bull Tavern. The waterfront was packed with people for the parade and I figured that we would never get in at Old Bull given it is one of the most popular restaurants in the area, it was a Saturday night, and the boat parade was a block away. We walked in and asked if it was remotely possible to get a table and as luck would have it, someone just cancelled, so we took their reservation! The food was awesome and the atmosphere was casual and unique. Great place!! We drank a couple of those Sazerac drinks we discovered in Charleston…they are ass kickers. A worker at the marina was kind enough to give us a ride to the waterfront but we were unable to get a cab back, so we walked the 4.3 miles back to the marina. Luck was with us again because the weather forecast called for an 80% chance of rain after 7 PM and it stopped just as we left the restaurant. We got back to the boat about half way through the first quarter of the OSU/Wisconsin game (another benefit of staying at the dock…cable hookup and power for our TVs), and damned if OSU didn’t kick some badger ass! What a great day!!!!

The wind picked up sometime in the wee hours and around 6 AM I got up to see what the wind instrumentation was picking up…winds up to 32 knots…is wasn’t supposed to be that bad until tonight. It is creating a pretty good chop on the river and we are doing a bit of rocking, but I am really glad that we didn’t leave. This morning it is blowing 18-30 knots, mostly above 20, and the high today is supposed to be 59. If we were anchored we would be stuck on the boat and bundled up, especially at night as the lows are going to be in the low 40s. At the dock we have enough shore power to run our air conditioner/heat pump. Did I say I am REALLY glad that we didn’t leave?

So back to the parade. Several boats in the parade were out of our marina and we watched them get ready and congregate just off our dock, and also listened to them on the marine radio.

There was a great crowd along the waterfront in downtown Beaufort waiting for the parade to start.

And a beautiful sunset.

The parade started with some caroling kayakers.

Then some paddle boarders.

Followed by the boats. These pics didn’t turn out as good as I hoped, but you get the idea.

The weather was warm and the event was great fun. We have never seen a Christmas boat parade before. Not very easy to see in the north during Christmas.

12/5/14
Beaufort SC
Posted by Bill

The last couple of days were a flurry of activity getting ready to leave Beaufort. Yesterday we had someone remove our old inverter/charger and install the new one we had delivered to the marina. If you remember from earlier posts, the inverter part of the unit stopped working. The inverter allows us to use normal 120 volt electrical devices from our boat house batteries. We don’t use it very much but we do use it to charge my laptop when we are not tied to a dock. The charging function worked so we could continue to charge batteries when connected to shore power, but we plan to anchor more in the next legs of our journey and Beaufort was a good place to get it changed out.

I was going to do it myself, but I don’t like messing with 120 volt systems. Great way to catch your boat on fire if you do something stupid. It turned out to be a good move. The electrician identified that the cables between the batteries and the inverter/charger were too small of a gauge of wire for the new unit and looking at the instructions, he was correct. I would have missed that one. So, once again, a project that you think will take and hour or two, turns into a major effort and takes all day. I helped the electrician and we replaced the wiring, drilling new holes for them to go, and taking the old unit out and putting the new one in. As is standard in boat projects, the area we had to work in was an access hatch about 2 feet square and under the navigation table, but it all got installed.

Then the Link 2000 unit didn’t work for the second battery bank. The Link monitors battery usage, voltage, and allows remote programming of the inverter/charger. With the intermittent alternator/regulator issue we are having, I really need to see the amp usage and charging of the batteries, so this is a big deal! In addition, when we were cleaning up the mess of installing the new inverter/charger, we noticed water accumulated in one of the storage lockers beneath the floor. I tasted it and it was not salt water…good news because that would mean we had a leak from outside the boat…but there was almost 3 gallons of water in the locker…not good. We cleaned it out and tried to find where it was coming from to no avail.

So after drinks and dinner (great mexican place) and sleep, I awoke this morning with a list of stuff to get done…high on the list was troubleshooting the Link. Checking the storage locker again first thing in the morning, we found more water….ugh!!! There are holes to adjacent lockers where wires and hoses pass through so I checked the next locker forward, mainly because the fresh water pump and distribution system is housed there. Sure enough…lots of water. We hadn’t checked that locker for ages. After some observation I found a leaking connection at the water pump, tightened it up, and set up a method for further observation to make sure we got it. The initial observation also showed that the drip rate at the leak could have generated the amount of water in the lockers over the time period that expired before last checking the locker. Lockers further aft in the boat that are connected by the hose runs also had water, so we cleaned all of that out and ran fans to dry it all out. Checking it out later…no more leak.

Then we went to lunch at the restaurant at the marina. It was very good! Next was tackling the Link. After some probing around in crammed spaces full of wires and equipment, I located a loose ribbon cable that was the culprit…fully functioning Link now!!! Fixing two things successfully in a day tells one to not touch anything else…lol!

All of this and some general cleaning and straightening, led up to happy hour at 7:00, and we didn’t get much else done on the list. We are ready to leave if the weather window looks good in the morning. If it doesn’t, we are paid up until the middle of next week, and this place is a really nice place to stay. I would like to finally get to Florida though. Decisions, decisions…..

12/2/14
Beaufort SC
Posted by Bill

One of the questions we always seem to get from non-cruisers is “what do you do all day”? And the number one answer is “work on the boat”. There is always something that needs to be fixed or cleaned or checked. Somewhere in the Chesapeake Bay our bilge pump stopped working. The bilge is the bottom of the boat on the inside. Water drips in from the point where the propeller shaft comes into the boat (called a stuffing box), mostly when the shaft is turning, and eventually collects in the bilge. The rate of drip is one drop every minute or so, which is necessary to cool the shaft as it turns.

This does not create a lot of water and we have a manual back up pump, so unless we get a leak or run the boat into something hard, it is not a big deal. Needless to say, you don’t want to go very long without a functioning bilge pump, so as not tempt fate, and it is prudent seamanship to repair things when they break.

You may remember from an earlier blog that I got a new pump and tried to change out the old one while docked at our friends house in Nabb’s Creek. The bilge is about 12 inches deeper than I can reach so I can’t grab the bilge pump. Island Packet (the builder of our boat) put the pump and float switch on an L bracket so that you can pull the pump and switch up and can work on it. Problem was, someone before us installed a through hull just above the pump and in the middle of the bilge so you can’t pull it up to access it. The through hull is for the air conditioning/heating and we figured we will have to pull the boat out of the water to remove the through hull allowing us to work on the pump. Before we left the boat to go north we figured we better replace that pump, and Tricia (who was working when I tried the last time) was determined to find a way to get the pump out without hauling the boat, so we gave it another shot as a team.

This is the bilge access:

It is 16 inches square, and you can see that there is a lot of stuff in the way of working on anything down there.

I removed several hoses to improve access. Hoses are the worst things to work on. They don’t come off without a major fight and they don’t go on very easily either, and there was not much room to try and get leverage to take them off. After several hours, I finally got the hoses off and Tricia was able to magically maneuver the bracket around the obstructing through hull to where I could grab the pump. The pump had 2 clips that attached it to a base that was screwed onto the bracket. I could reach one, but the other was underneath the hose that is attached to the pump…if I could find the brain trust that designed that pump, I would beat him with it. I couldn’t get 2 arms/hands into the bilge at the same time to press both clips at once to release it, and I couldn’t do it with one hand, so I pried it off the base with brute force and a screw driver. Then I was able to remove the hose attached to the pump and we got the pump out.

Putting the new one on was child’s play compared to the removal of the old one, with exception of getting the hoses back on. The new pump worked great! Six hours of work, cuts and abrasions on hands and arms, major black and blue marks on arms and wrists, and bruised ribs. Pretty typical of a boat project!

The white thing in the bottom is the new pump:

12/1/14
Beaufort, SC
Posted by Bill

Well we are back from our trip back to Ohio. I don’t call Ohio “home” because it doesn’t feel like home any more…we have really made the transition to cruisers. First, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, I know we did. We are truly blessed and are thankful for what we have, especially our friends and family.

We left the boat at Port Royal Landing Marina and rented a car to drive to Ohio. We stopped in Cincinnati, Columbus, up to the lake house, to Akron, back to Columbus and then back to Beaufort. It was non-stop activity and we were disappointed that we didn’t get to see everyone we wanted to catch up with. We just ran out of time before we realized it. We have only been living on the boat for a little more than 2 months, but it was a major shock to make the trip back. The first thing was driving on the freeways…OMG…people have been fearful for us on the ocean, but let me tell you…the freeways are insane. Especially in the cities, including Columbus. We used to just drive pretty much on autopilot, but it was insane coming back. I don’t know how we did it in our old life. It scared the shit out of me (damn near literally). The other major thing was the weather and landscape. For the most part we are used to warm, sunny, green, and water view. Coming back to grey skies, snow, cold and grey city landscapes was a real shocker. When we arrived in Cincinnati it was 19 degrees! I found myself thinking “why did I do this for so long”? I am pretty sure that I can never go back to that.

There were some benefits…first and foremost seeing family and friends, followed by unlimited running water, a toilet that flushes that you never have to empty, a toilet and shower that is not shared by a marina full of boats and is steps away versus hundreds of yards. Then trash that is picked up for you, a bed that doesn’t rock in the wind and waves, not having to worry about your home dragging on to the rocks while you sleep, being able to jump into a car to go get something, and climate controlled environments everywhere you go.

I was surprised to look back at our old lifestyle through the new eyes of a cruiser. It looked like a daily routine that was pretty much removed from nature, centered around work, a sedentary lifestyle (for the most part), stuck inside for the better part of 5 months of each year, massive amounts of time wasted on television viewing, little understanding of the wasteful consumption of natural resources and energy, and a general drudgery of a repetitive pattern year in and year out. It made me wonder why we did it for so long, but I realized that most of it is necessary to earn a living and maintain our American lifestyle. It was all so bizarre, and I am so glad that I don’t have to do it any more.

Our new world as cruisers is not nearly as comfortable or convenient. Nature is in your face every day, and each day brings something different, but it feels so much more “natural” and is very liberating. I still wonder if it is worth the price of not being with your family and friends, but we are pretty much committed to living this way for awhile, and I know I cannot go back to the old way of living.

So much for the emotional dump!!! Now we focus on getting the boat ready to move south again. We have several projects that need to be finished before we go. We had parts ordered and shipped while we were gone, so we can fix some of the crap that broke in the last 2 months. Today we loaded the boat with all of the parts we ordered and the provisions we bought while we had a car. Then we washed the boat, shopped for more liquor and fresh seafood, and Tricia did another stellar job of cooking fresh scallops and shrimp…I’ll never get tired of fresh seafood! I also did some passage planning for our push to Florida, looking at weather and tides. The big decision is whether we go offshore around Georgia to Florida, or do we take the ICW through Georgia? The ICW has some really bad shoal areas in Georgia, but can be managed at the proper tide level. Looking at the weather for the next 10 days, the best departure day is currently Saturday, and the ICW seems the better route. We will monitor, complete our preparations, and adjust appropriately, probably deciding at the last minute. Such is our life afloat, pretty much dictated by Mother Nature.

We’ll go back to more pictures and less emotion in the blog, but it was important to express the feelings we had in the last weeks because it was so dramatic and such a contrast…something I didn’t quite expect… and something I thought was important to share for whatever it is worth to you. The take-aways: family is more important than anything…don’t take it for granted, live some of your life closer to nature, don’t take our natural resources for granted, don’t be a slave to consumerism…save and invest your money so you can break the routine while you still have your health, and, you don’t need all of the stuff you think you need!

Lastly, we want to thank everyone who put us up in their homes and shared food, drink, home, and pets (Victor). I also want to share some of the photos…we had a great time!!!!!

We got to go to the OSU/Indiana game and sit in the club seats thanks to Cindi Englefield and Dave Kaylor who invited us. Great time!:

Daughters and Sons in Law who cooked Thanksgiving dinner for us!:

Grandson Wrigley:

Grandsons Maddox and Jameson, or as they would say…”Maggots and Fudiden” (LMAO!!!):

Grandson Oskar:

Granddaughter Caedence:

Grandson Bradley:

Grandpa and Keegan:

Grandma and Keegan:

Grandma and Jameson (Fudidin..LOL):

Finally…someone asked if boats put up Christmas lights…yes! A boat in our marina:

We can’t express how much we miss everyone!!!!