Georgetown, SC

Georgetown, SC   …   Tuesday 30th April 2013

The rain finally stopped and this morning we went ashore and walked up to the Piggly Wiggly grocery store. We are always interested to see what unusual items we can find (but not necessarily buy) and we weren't disappointed. We passed on the smoked pig jowls, pig tails, turkey necks, head cheese, liver loaf, gizzards for frying and chicken feet. However, we did buy ready chopped collard greens, which you can't get in Sudbury Farms. The staff at the shop couldn't have been more friendly. Somehow they figured out we were off a boat (actually we both had showers yesterday!) and asked if we needed a ride back to the marina with our groceries. I can't see that happening in Sudbury either. 

This afternoon we visited the Rice Museum and learned about the former rice industry in South Carolina. The six great rivers of the region provided vast areas of low lying lands that could be drained and flooded as the tides backed up the fresh water.  These made them ideal for rice cultivation using manual labour. At one point this industry made South Carolina the second richest state in America, after Massachusetts. There were many reasons why it fell into decline, not least of which is that the manual cultivation wasn't viable without slave labour. Other states where the land was more suitable to mechanized approaches stepped in and since the early 1900's really no rice has been grown in South Carolina. In the 1840's 90% of the population in the Georgetown area were slaves. Until relatively recently the majority of people living in the area were African American, but this has changed with the influx of retirees from the north. 

Whilst on the tour of the museum we met a lovely couple called Eddy and Linda who are living on their Grand Banks trawler "Spiritus". They are traveling the "Great Loop Route" - up the east coast to the Hudson River, through the Erie Canal to the Great Lakes and across to Chicago, down a number of rivers (Ohio, Mississippi, Tennessee) to Mobile Alabama, then across the Gulf of Mexico to the west coast of Florida and finally across Lake Okachobee to the East Coast of Florida. It's a journey that takes about a year. We bumped into Eddy and Linda later in the afternoon at a bar / restaurant an then visited them aboard their boat this evening.  It was great to hear about their plans and adventures. 

Mike

Shrimp Boats docked in Georgetown

Rain, Thunder and Lightning

Rain, Thunder and Lightning   ...   Monday 29 April 2013

As we were eating breakfast we heard the rain coming down.  Not to be deterred by a little rain, we dragged on the foul weather gear and set off.  We rejoined the ICW just at 8 am –hoping to get advantageous current on our way to Georgetown.  The skies were pretty dark but only a little rain was falling at first. The marshes looked full of atmosphere.  The dark sky contrasted sharply with the green and gold of the grasses.  The birds were out despite the rain. We saw eight bald eagles during the morning. After about an hour, we started to hear thunder and the rain intensified.  For a while the water looked to be covered in pearls or hailstones.  Somewhat later, it seemed that the storms had moved off shore.  The sun even peeped out for a few moments as we approached Georgetown.  By the time we had anchored in the harbor, the sky was looking threatening again. 

Most of the afternoon we have ‘enjoyed’ thunderstorms.  Each time we think it’s ending, the rain picks up and we hear the rumble of more thunder.  Our plan was to go to town for dinner.  How attractive is that?  It’s a guaranteed case of Wet Butt Syndrome (WBS) on the way to town.  The prospects for the return trip (after dinner) range from WBS to terrifying ride through wild lightning. There’s even a chance for electrocution. 

Which is more likely: being struck by lightning or winning the state lottery? Now if I could remember any of the statistics that I was taught, I might be able to answer that question.  I know that the former can happen even without a ‘ticket’. I’m pretty sure I can’t win the lottery without buying a ticket first.

Gloria

33 21.842 N, 79 16.956 W

Wet weather on the ICW South Carolina

The Lowland marshes of South Carolina

The Lowland marshes of South Carolina   …   Sunday 28th April 2013

We pulled up the anchor at Charleston at 7.30 this morning to start our journey back up the Intracoastal Waterway. The  timing was important because we needed to arrive at the Ben Sawyer bridge at 9am for the first scheduled hourly opening of the day. We knew we would be fighting against current to cover the 6 miles to the bridge but we weren't sure how much, so we left a little extra time. As it happened we arrived with time to spare and had to go really slow for the last mile. Once through the bridge we headed on through many miles of marshes. On a sunny day this area can look very beautiful, but today was overcast and grey and it didn't look so inviting. Nonetheless it does have quite an atmosphere, not dissimilar form the Norfolk Broads in England. We saw loads of birds including a bald eagle, lots of oyster catchers, literally thousands of black bellied plover, osprey, turns, egrets and ibis. Apparently this section of the ICW is dredged from time to time, but the strong currents and large amounts of sediment mean that the channel is always silting up. In the last hour of our journey, as we approached McClellanville, we were close to high tide but still seeing depths of 8-9 feet at times, in an area that has about a 5ft tidal range. It's really spooky, you are doing your best to stay in the middle of the channel but the depth finder just keeps dropping and you literally have no idea whether to steer more to the left or right. As we make our way back northwards there is a tendency for us to stop in the places we are already familiar with. Today we took the decision to pass by Awendaw creek, where we had anchored on the way south, and head on another 5 miles to "Five Fathom Creek" just to the east of McClellanville. Anchoring was also a nerve-wracking experience as the current was flowing strongly in the opposite direction to the wind - so we bet on the current winning out and turned upstream and dropped the hook. It was impossible to back-down on the anchor because the chain ended up perpendicular to the boat! Thankfully, several hours and one tide change later we can confirm that the anchor appears to be holding. Our plans to put the outboard on the dinghy and head into the village got dropped for several reasons - concerns about the anchorage, rainy weather and Gloria had a migraine. It's now dark and actually very peaceful with just a little noise from the wind in the rigging.

33 03.976 N, 79 27.885 W

Dusk falls over the Five Fathom Creek anchorage

Return to the floating life

Return to the floating life—27 April 2013

I got back to the boat last night at about seven pm.  It seemed soothing to be back on the water but also somewhat strange.  It’s easy to forget that you are afloat until the wake of a passing boat sets the hull into motion. 

As for the trip to Maine, I would pick the first week of the FAA sequesters to travel.  The trip to Portland was pure torture.  I think I spent five hours in the Charleston airport before take off.  I arrived at the rental counter in the Portland airport at 7:30 pm, facing a two-hour drive. Mike and I had specifically picked flights that would put me at my folks’ house before they retired for the evening.  You just never know about that air travel. Happily the trip back was less ghastly, only about an hour late.  It was great to see my sister and my parents.  The situation with my parents isn’t good and can’t be easily resolved.  For now it’s just ‘wait and see’. 

Today we peeled off the masking tape after the heroic varnishing feats that Mike achieved while I was away.  I started on removing the tape residue with the ‘Goo Gone’.  After a couple of hours, even though I had only de-gooed part of the starboard side, I needed a break.  We went to shore for lunch (way too much).

After lunch visited the art gallery at College of Charleston.  That was interesting.  There were a few pieces that we liked.  We watched a couple of videos.  One of these was about food/eating and was so revolting that I had to cover my eyes.  Continuing our afternoon of art we walked to the art gallery district and looked at more art.  We saw all kinds of things: huge fish made of glass, paintings of all kinds and some photos. Some things we liked and some things would make us flinch. The range of prices was very large.  Some of the pieces that we liked were quiet reasonable.  Some other stuff had staggering price tags.  It’s hard to imagine that they sell many of the paintings for $88K.  Our only purchases were coffee and ibuprofen. 

Now that's impressive

Now that's impressive   …   Friday 26th April 2013

Undoubtedly one of the great things about being on this trip is meeting new people. Today I went to do the laundry (impressive in itself) and met a couple of really nice guys called John and Andrew who are living aboard and traveling on a Passport 42 sailboat. Over the past couple of years, with some breaks, they have made their way from San Francisco down the west coast, through the Panama canal and up through central America. John told me an incredible story of self sufficiency. Whilst in Panama they had changed the oil and oil filter on their Perkins diesel engine, but not noticed that they had left the old gasket on as well as fitting the new. The consequence being that they leaked oil and ended up seizing the engine. Fortunately they had only just left the marina and could be towed back to the dock. They then proceeded to take the entire engine out of the boat by putting a beam through a pair of ports and hoisting is up on that. Once off the boat they managed to place the engine under some palm trees so they could work on it. They downloaded instructions from the web, ordered a "rebuild kit" which John flew to Miami to pick that up and over the next month completely rebuilt it. John said that the kit contained absolutely everything they needed including a set of oversized bearings for the reconditioned crankshaft. He said the hardest thing was cleaning and de-greasing all the components. Once complete, the engine started straight away but quickly overheated and needed to be switched off. In their excitement to see it working they had forgotten to reconnect the cooling system! I saw a few photos of the operation and have to say I was mightily impressed.

Gloria arrived back safely from Maine - landing in Charleston at about 6pm. I think she was really happy that she made the trip but a little disheartened to see her parents struggling so much. She might write more on this tomorrow.

Mike

p.s I finished the fifth and final coat of varnish today. Building on the layers that were already there from last summer it's starting to get a really sleek smooth look.

USS Yorktown

USS Yorktown   …   Thursday 25th April 2013

The USS Yorktown is an Essex class aircraft carrier that was launched in 1943 and fought in the Pacific in WW2. It's now a museum open to the public and moored at Patriots Point across the river from Charleston. I took the 1.30pm water taxi over the river expecting to spend a couple of hours visiting the carrier. As things turned out it was almost 6pm by the time I caught the return boat. Touring the Yorktown was fascinating. At one time 3500 men served on board - it's a big ship but I couldn't see where all those people would go. I was amazed by the bridge - the wheel is smaller than ours and the visibility for the helmsman was terrible! I think the truth is that the helmsman simply steers the direction he is told. The engine room was also pretty impressive - it's hard to imagine just how hot and noisy it must have been in there. I didn't get the impression that it was a very comfortable environment for the crew, but they do seem to have been fed well. How do you feed 3500 hungry sailors 4 square meals a day - breakfast, dinner, supper and midnight rations? There was a recipe on display for cookies - 10,000 at a time, including 100lb of chocolate chips! In addition to the aircraft carrier there is a WW2 destroyer, USS Laffey, and a post WW2 submarine, USS Clamagore. The destroyer was particularly interesting because it faced a sustained Khamikaze attack over the course of 90 minutes in which it was targeted by some 22 planes, hit by six of them as well as 4 x 500lb bombs and still survived to fight another day. This was the first submarine I've ever been on and I'm telling you the space is really tight. This would not be somewhere I would like to work. During the afternoon a couple of thunder storms rolled through. I thought these had all passed by the time I was making my way back, but 10 minutes from the dinghy the skies opened and by the time I got back to the boat I was totally soaked. 

Mike

Flight deck of USS Yorktown

F14 jet engine

Jet - can't remember which one!

The engine telegraph station

Varnishing and Photography

Varnishing and Photography   …   Wednesday 24 April 2013

It's a bit strange being on the boat on my own. I'm trying to stay focused and get some jobs done as well as make the most of being in Charleston. This morning there was a heavy dew over everything so it took a while before I could get on with varnishing the toe-rail, but by the time I had added the last 10 gallons of diesel to the main tank and also 15 gallons of water from jerry cans into the starboard water tank things had pretty much dried out. After that it was rub down with an abrasive pad, wipe off with a tack cloth, clean with paint thinner, and finally paint on the next coat of varnish. I think it's starting to look pretty good and I hope to get two more coats on before the end of the week.

After lunch I took the dinghy ashore, filled up the empty jerry cans with diesel and water and then headed into town. My first stop was the Gibbes Art Gallery where they had a interesting photographic exhibition of pictures taken by James Karales as part of his coverage of the civil rights era. there were some great shots of some of the leaders of the civil rights movement as they participated in marches and speeches etc, but also some moving personal shots of Martin Luther King with his young family. There were several other painting sections in the Gallery, one of which is a permanent exhibit of set of watercolors by Alice Ravenel Huger Smith depicting life in a rice plantation. Wonderful pictures, but they have a tranquility about them that probably doesn't reflect life as it really was on a plantation. After leaving the gallery I wandered the streets of Charleston with the intention of trying to take some photos. Yesterday I did the same, but despite hauling round a mountain of gear like a pack mule, I didn't take a single shot. It seemed like this afternoon was going to go the same way, but then I spotted the roof of a "circular" church, liked the patterns and started shooting. After that I had a great time. I have no idea why sometimes I feel inspired to take photos and other times nothing comes together. The thought of being a wedding photographer makes my palms sweat … "sorry guys, I'm just not really in the mood today!" The trip back to "Cotinga" in the dinghy was interesting. The tide flows very strongly in the Ashley river and it was also blowing a fair bit. That coupled with the extra weight of 24 gallons of diesel and water meant the dinghy was bow heavy and it was quite a wet ride. Because of the varnishing work we are not using the side gate, but getting on and off the boat from a ladder at the stern. Approaching this in the dinghy is tricky and with the water rushing by it really does feel like motoring up a river. I needed to leave the outboard engine in gear just to hold position long enough to get the line onto Cotinga. Then it was something of a struggle to haul up the full jerry cans. Anyway I didn't end up in the water - so we'll call it  a victory. It sounds like Gloria is having a nice time up with her family. All being well she should be back on Friday.

Mike

Dew on the toe-rail

Roof of the round church

Pillars of the Judicial Building

Pillars of the Judicial Building - from the opposite side

Courthouse Square - space available

Round railings

A friendly young man

... and his younger brother (I presume)

Scooter rider

Gloria flies to Maine

Gloria flies to Maine   …   Tuesday 23 April 2013

Today was the day Gloria took off for Maine to see her parents and sister Liz. It didn't start off well - we had just tied up the dinghy at the marina dock, where we had arranged to pick up a taxi to the airport, when we got an automated cell phone call to say the first flight had been cancelled.  It was difficult to decide what to do because the taxi was waiting but we had no access to internet to start to plan alternative  routes. In the end Gloria jumped in the cab with the aim of sorting things out at the airport. In fairness to Delta it was only another 10 or 15 minutes before they called back to say that Gloria had been re-scheduled on flights leaving a couple of hours later. Apparently these were also delayed! So as I write this at 9.30 in the evening I know that Gloria has landed up in Portland Maine and presume that she is still on the road completing the 2 hour drive to her folks. It's a long haul.

In contrast my day was pretty easy. I managed to get a second coat of varnish on the toe-rail and put some 20 gallons of diesel into the main tank from jerry cans that I filled at the marina. I think another 10 gallons and we should be pretty much topped up. Other than that it was a bit of a lazy day. It certainly seems very strange to be on the boat on my own. Thankfully it's only for a couple of days - Gloria should be back Friday evening. Tomorrow I must try and be a little more energetic.

Mike

no photos today

The Aquarium

The Aquarium   …   Monday 22 April 2013

Yesterday evening was a bumpy affair with winds in the high 20s gusting to 35 mph. We subsequently read that the Charleston sailing race week was cut short and finished at lunchtime yesterday because of the gale force winds. The offshore classes experienced waves of 10ft and according to the newspaper report the decision to curtail the racing was supported unanimously. When we awoke this morning it felt really cold.  The actual temperature based on the internet was 51oF, with a chilly wind blowing out of the north east. For the first time in months we opted for fleece pants and jackets instead of shorts. OK I know I am being insensitive to all of you who have spent the last few months battling through a New England winter, but as I said before, we are big softies now! We spent a couple of hours this morning applying the first new coat of varnish to the toe rail. This afternoon we took a trip to Charleston Aquarium which was fun. It's by no means the most comprehensive aquarium we've been to, but it does have a nice collection of local fish and we were able to recognize many species based on our snorkeling adventures. On the way back we stopped for coffee at Starbucks which was just full of students from the local College. We both really enjoy being in college towns and places where there are lots of young people - it just seems so much more alive. Tomorrow Gloria jumps on a plane to head up to Maine for a few days to see her parents and sister. I hope to be able to get a few more coats of varnish on the toe rail before she returns.

Mike

32 46.490 N, 79 57.170 W

Jellyfish

Jellyfish

Eye of a Ray

Striated Frogfish

Mouth of a Ray

Panther Chameleon

Retail Therapy

Retail Therapy   …   Sunday 21st April 2013

It's astonishing what a transformation of the teak work can be achieved by two people, a couple of sanding blocks and two hours of labor.   Our teak toe rail that had we had stripped and varnished last summer was starting to show some small yellow spots.  Mike correctly assumed that this was a sign of "varnish failure" and set to work on sanding down the bad areas.  When I got out onto the deck about 15 minutes later,  I was shocked at the state of the starboard portion of the toe rail.  It had to be done but it certainly wasn't a pretty sight.  I set to work on the port side teak. By late afternoon we had worked our way back to the gates.  In the evening, we checked out our varnish and thinner supplies.  Sure enough, there was hardly any varnish or thinner left.  This is what led to the shopping expedition.

We hopped on the marina's shuttle at 11am and were transported to the plaza with West Marine, Harris Teeter (groceries) and a bank.  What more could a boater want?  We acquired varnish, the matching thinner (at three times the price of general varnish thinner), a good quality brush (for final coats only!), engine oil, an oil filter and one or two other gewgaws.  Then we enjoyed a browse around Harris Teeter--not that we have a thing about food.  A trip to the bank rounded out our Sunday morning devotional.  The shuttle reappeared and brought us back to the marina.  

The dinghy trip back to the boat was enhanced by substantial swells.  In fact, the wind seems to have been building all afternoon.  The National Weather Service is predicting winds of 35 knots for tonight.  The boat is rocking and rolling as well as creaking and groaning.  These aren't the evenings that I enjoy the most.    

Gloria

no photos today

Charleston, SC

Charleston, SC   …   Saturday 20th April 2013

Well we made it through last nights storms. I have to say it's a lot more scary being on a boat in a thunderstorm than it is on dry land. This morning we needed to pump out the dinghy before heading to shore. I think there was more water in it than I have seen at any time previously. Anyway, once completed we bundled up and motored in to the marina and spent the bulk of the day walking around Charleston. The wind is now out of the north and it seemed quite cold, maybe we just got very wimpy after being down in the Bahamas. Charleston really is a lovely city - of all the cities we have visited on this trip Charleston is probably my favorite. There are lots of beautiful old houses, flowering trees and shrubs, parks, restaurants and art galleries. We visited the National Park memorial to Fort Sumter, although we didn't actually take the ferry to the Fort itself. The very first shot of the American Civil War was fired on Fort Sumter and there was an interesting set of exhibits at the memorial outlining the history and the significance of Charleston during that era. Overall I came away with a strong impression of how contentious the authority of the federal government was compared to that of State government and I can see how that still lingers today in the way that current issues are resolved (or not). I had not appreciated that the whole question of slavery was deliberately not addressed in the constitution, or at least left ambiguous, because the southern States would never have signed up for the Union if it had been included.  I was also a little shocked to read a quotation from Lincoln which he made in Charleston, Illinois in 1858 and I think shows him in a  somewhat different light than history now remembers him. I'd like to read more about him, but the takeaway message for me is that whilst he was strongly opposed to slavery he was not a believer in racial equality.

“I will say, then, that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races—that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this, that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I, as much as any other man, am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race." …. Abraham Lincoln, 1858

Mike

A typical leafy street in the "South of Broad" (SOB) section of Charleston

One of the many beautiful old building - love the purple shutters and the make up of the walls

Buildings old and new - the red roof building is one of several built in the1940s - most of which were leveled in the 1990s when it was found the ground was toxic

Steps and Rail - abstract

Steps and Post - abstract

Pillars and Rails - abstract

Bicycle spokes - abstract

Squirrel in the park

Yellow Flower