September 1-8 Charleston and Tropical Strom Hermine

Hermine is the Tropical storm barreling up the Gulf.  It’ll be a Category 1 hurricane by this evening, then is forecast to cross the panhandle at Apalachicola and run inland crossing back into the ocean around Charleston.  Hey!  That’s where we are!

It's expected to be down graded to a tropical storm with winds around 45 mph as it crosses over us but the track could change. Being downgraded to a tropical storm and not a hurricane means the  winds wont be so devastating.  In any event we doubled up all the lines, I caulked some leaky spots and put out extra fenders.

Actually, most people here have doubled their dock lines and laid out extra fenders.  On one sailboat though, a  young couple were nonchalantly scrubbing their decks.  Maybe they know something we dont?

I rode to the store for hurricane supplies.  Rum and thin chocolate filled Oreo cookies.

Storm Prep

I returned and put the rum away but was dismayed to find a whole row and half of Oreo's missing without any evidence of the package being opened.  I cast a suspicious eye towards the dog but she was happily snoring away oblivious to my return.  I was ready to complain to the store until I realized where they had gone.  And it wasn't Bubbie.   Right Mary?

The last Oreo ... before the storm

We met a friend from Mary’s old CUPA-HR days, Stuart who is at Medical University of South Carolina located here in Charleston.  We had a few drinks up at the Bridge Bar.  Stuart is on the emergency response team and now that Hermine is slated to arrive tomorrow afternoon, he was pretty busy, inter-spacing phones calls and drinks. 

We also happened to run into Elizabeth from the marina office.  We have taken to her because she was the only one who seemed to follow through with anything.  Very competent. But alas, she was promoted and has left the marina to assume the duties of  Concierge at the resort office which is 200 yards away.  Not surprising she was chosen.  She is really good.  Our loss.

Current forecast are now calling for sustained 30-40 mph winds tomorrow afternoon and into the evening.  That we can handle without having to think about removing the fly bridge enclosure.

Walk on the night before the arrival of Hermine

Not much more we can do to prepare.   Lines doubled, fenders out, rum replenished, Oreo's on board.
Wait.   Scratch that last one.  

We woke up to torrential rain followed by a slight mist and then nothing.  Wind began to pickup so by noon we were beginning to bounce around and jerking the dock lines.

A little stormy out

A catamaran across the fareway on the next dock did suffer a parted stern line but they caught it as it parted, and were able to fend off the boat in the slip next to them and avoid a collision.

Otherwise its just a vision of bouncing boats and rough seas.  And high tides.  The storm, is a Tropical Storm not a hurricane as it passes over us.  When I last checked at 11, it was centered a little south of Savannah and maybe 50 miles west.  It’s slowly curving its way to the east towards us here in Charleston and is projected to be over, or very near us around 5pm.  Winds will clock round to the west then and we’ll probably get more backside rain, and some heavier wind gusts.

Its now expected to re-enter the Atlantic in North Carolina near Southport (Cape Fear) and then dawdle up the coast becoming a hurricane again.  Mid East coast and up to New York may have an exciting holiday.

All this wind is noisy.  Even Bubbie is having a hard time napping.  Not Mary though.

Video at the height of the storm

The stormy winds built throughout the day but the rain subsided.  We are on the eastern side of the track which means we get the winds, but not so much rain.

A good hurricane demands a hurricane party.  Many of the boaters here gathered in the Tiki bar to ride out the storm.

Hurricane Party.  They even extended Happy Hour

Northwest winds for us mean the boat while be blowing off the dock.  So I was out there several times tightening lines because Margret Rose next to us was, at its closest, 2 feet away.

After 11PM the strong quests moderated and the winds slowly dropped and we were fine.

Woke up to cool air and sunny skies.  We sustained no damage.  Well, the wifi booster did break leaving us with no internet connection.  The Cat 5 cable contacts had corroded but I don’t think that was storm damage but an existing condition.  I had meant to replace the wiring in Brunswick. 

Dennis’s boat next to us though must have really been hobby-horsing in the winds.  He sustained a broken rub rail in the center of the boat and his bowsprit and anchor literally smashed the dock box on the main pier.

Dennis's Boat hobby-horsed so badly his anchor literally chopped up the dock box

Another consequence of hobby horsing when the rub rail caught on the dock

During the height of the storm the owner of Margret Rose (next to us) and I re-tied another boat's lines to keep it's extended swim platform from banging on the dock.  But at that time Dennis's boat was fine.  His damaged must have occurred later during the night when the winds clocked around.  

Only other damage reports were from a few bimini tops being blown off and A Dock (the whole dock, all 35 slips) broke loose I guess and the dock guys had to go out in small boats and lash the thing back to the breakwater.  The docks here are floating and slide vertically on pilings. 

So we can log this as another storm we were lucky to ride out without too much damage.  I’m fondly thinking of house ownership and the many storms we enjoyed from the soft cushions of an arm chair.

More gadgets.  Port side Battery Charger Monitor

Later in the afternoon Mary cleaned windows and I installed the first remote battery charger monitor for the port side.  Have to order another one for the starboard side now.

Replaced the corroded CAT 5 cable that this afternoon after riding over to Staples which is near the Harris Teeter grocery store.   After Staples I made a stop there too.

We managed to take he dinghy down today and took a ride up the Cooper River near the Charleston Naval Shipyard.   Bubbie rode along, looking like a Pillsbury doughboy dog in her life vest ... Bright orange very bulky.

We were out for over an hour and when we returned to the boat, Mary and the dog went for a nap.  I took dinghy over to the fuel dock for gas then ran out in the rough water and up Ashley River.

Sorry Bubbie.  No ride this time.

The Ashley River has as much current flow as the Cooper river.   Most of the marina's are there and they were filled with large, mega yachts.

I was gone about two hours, mainly because it had gotten so rough out it wasn't possible to go fast.  Once I was back I woke everyone up and we hauled the dinghy back aboard.

Later a friend of Dennis, the sailboat owner, came over and he and I removed some of the broken rub rail pieces.  It's not too bad really.  It will just require a piece of stainless and some teak scarfed into the existing rub rail.

I took a stroll along the docks and chatted with a couple who had just returned toting some water  toys.  I was curious where they went and, it turns out, there is a nice spot up the river about 6 miles but with strong current which the use to ride on their big floating lounge chairs.

On the night time dog walk, we ran into a lady who warned us about coyotes here, as many as 20 in roving packs.  There is a warning sign to that effect we discovered shortly after being informed about it.

Cleaned windows and hull today.  Updated nav systems and reserved a car for tomorrow and the next day for shopping.

Clean boat, at least for a few days

I finally labeled the Racor Fuel Filters so I can keep a better record of what filter I've changed.  Then we went to the pool again tonight but only stayed an hour or so..

Labeled Racor fuel filters

Later I walked on bridge paused for a few minutes to  watch a large bulk carrier go through.  

Big bulk carrier going through the bridge

Picked up the car today.  The guy who came to fetch me from Enterprise listed off a whole series of great restaurants to try.  I forgot them all.

Full crowd at the Enterprise car rental office

I drove over to Lowes after waiting an hour to even get up to the counter at Enterprise.  There were at least 30 people at Enterprise either returning or getting cars.  The lady that seemed to be in charge, did a great job of handing the crowd.  We even had a sign up sheet which is why I know there were 30 people in line.  I was the 30^th to sign in.

At Lowes they didn’t have a 1/2” – 5/8” reducing nipple putting a crimp in my plans to change the shower head in our shower with something a little less massive.  Maybe a plumbing store?

Lowe’s also didn't have any herb plants.  But they did tell me about a Damp Rid alternative made by Arm and Hammer (the baking soda folks).  Its just plain, non-smelly de-moisturing stuff you hang in the closets to keep any mold and mildew at bay.  Remember we do live on a boat in the water most of the time.

Next was West Marine where I was hoping to find Klear to Sea, a plastics cleaning product which is phenomenal.  It’s the best stuff I’ve ever used and its especially good at cleaning my array of dollar store glasses.

Back at the boat I lamented my shopping sorrows to Mary who was ignoring me and concentrating and polishing up the last of the stainless rails on deck.  I turned to the dog but she just rolled over and continued her 6 hour nap.

Later we walked to the car by way of the hotel and stopped in to see Elizabeth who worked at the marina office when we arrived but has since moved up to being the resort concierge.  She’ll do really well up at the resort although the marina is already suffering from her absence.

We then went to the UPS store to mail a wind thing Mary made for some friends of ours, then to Walmart where we bought more stuff including food items in quantities to assure a starvation free trip on the 4 day trek to Savannah.

We had dinner aboard, and then while walking Bubbie, we ran into a Pit Bull (on a leash) who, instead reciprocating the usual butt smelling dogs enjoy, tried to eat her head.  No damage though.  Bubbie didn’t seem effected and was happily back to de-mulching the plantings like normal.

The bridge at night

Another superb night to walk on the bridge too.  Many people out strolling, running or skiing up the steep incline which is a little nuts.  The skier was a young guy, an athlete I'm guessing, who returned my hello with normal hello back in a normal, un-strained voice even though we was skiing up hill!  

We didn’t get over to the hardware store and Publix until later this afternoon.  The morning hours were consumed with boat cleaning, specifically the swim platform.  I use Sno Bol toilet bowl cleaner to take the rust stains out.  Then lemon juice to treat the more mild stains left behind.

Resort entrance and the dog walk

Looking back the Fish House restaurant (R) and the new resort building (L)

I spent a good share of today figuring out where we can anchor now that we have a dog to consider.  This significantly narrows the anchoring choices because we need to be close to a landing spot so we can take the dog ashore.  Boat launches, marinas, little towns and beach areas to be exact.  Down here such places aren't exactly abundant especially when you toss in weather and current considerations.    The abundance of small patches of sand and brush look like possibilities until you consider that  alligators and snakes prefer those areas.  An encounter would probably not turn out well. 

Walking on the bridge tonight I watched a RoRo and huge container ship pass each other.  Very cool observing this from way above.  Alas it was a overcast night and the pictures turned out murky.

Tonight as I was walking I saw a couple concentrating in the sidewalk pathway leading to the bridge.   Naturally curious fellow that I am, I walked over to see what they were studying so intently.  A snake.  Tiny little fellow that had somehow ended up on the sidewalk.

So the guy, at his wife's urging, used his foot to gently nudge it into the brush.  I thought it was a garter snake.  Looking it up later though, it appears it was a pigmy rattlesnake. 

Sparkling clean sea strainer basket

Had to clear out the sea strainer for the AC again this morning.  And there was a live crab in the strainer of all things.  It escaped by attempt at capture and sunk back down in the strainer body where I couldn't reach it.  The crab will probably just waltz out the thru-hull when I open the valve.  I don't think it enjoys the dense muck any more than I do.

The aft AC raw water pump experienced several minutes of strained pumping as in no water flow.
It's a little weak so I have to bleed it for an extra long time before it will get water moving.   But it works now so we are cool!

Bubbie is acting weird.  Last night she got all excited when I returned from a walk and skittered out the door onto the deck for awhile before deciding to return inside.  Tonight she was hopping all over the place and waited patiently on my side of the bed for me to finish showering.  Then went back up in the salon.   Last night she ended up on the dinette seat until Mary fetched her back to bed where she immediately sprawls out between us and falls into a deep, snoring sleep.

Our last day here.  I took the car back around 9 this morning to avoid the rush hour traffic.

We cleaned the shower, and I changed all the fuel filters and made sure the engines ran.  We had the bottom cleaned by Mickey, from ICW Divers.  Very good guy.

I biked, for the last time,to Harris Teeter for a few, last minute items including my favorite, Canada Dry Seltzer.  They had a special going, 2 for 1.  But there was only a single 12 pack so I asked and someone went and checked.  Yup.  Only one.

At the checkout I usually say right away I'm from out of town could you use your  courtesy store VIC card.  The nice lady complied and listened to my story of woe concerning the seltzer.   Evidently I made an impression because she gave me the 12-pack of  Polar Seltzer I had as a substitute, for free.  Nice store.

Bubbie was treated to a spa like shower by Mary and spells flowery.   Although I suspect she may have incurred a deep distaste for the shower.

We went to the pool, well I did, and then Mary joined me at the bar for some food and a few drinks before taking Bubbie for a walk.  I usually split off from them and head for the bridge walk.  I'm really going to miss that.

We are all set to leave tomorrow at slack water, around 9:30.