September 16-30 to Brunswick Landing

We were up at 6AM.  It's not real bright at this time.  Dark might be a better description.

Mary took Bubbie for her morning walk and I cut over all the boat systems so we could leave Thunderbolt.  And we did, following out the Fleming 55.  At 6:20.

Alas, Hal didn't make it in time.  This was a donutless departure.

Our Nav computer, an old HP running XP blue screened just as we left the dock.  Subsequent reboots were causing the mouse to go bonkers, but the fourth one seemed to work and everything remained stable.  Meanwhile we were slowly crawling up the channel in the dark using a tablet to navigate.

Passing by Isle of Hope Marina on the Skidaway River

Once the navigation computer was back on line we boogied on down the Wilmington River and then, with a turn to Starboard, the Skidaway River.  A surprisingly strong ebbing tidal current was giving us a nice speed boost.

Sometime later we approached Hells Gate and buzzed right through with 10 feet of water.  Our ETA to Walburg Creek, as calculated by the navigation software,  was now 11:30.  The stronger than expected tidal flow pushed us at well over 1.5 miles per hour faster than I had figured

So we debated about just going another 30 miles to Duplin River which would have been our second nights stop anyway.  This idea would get us into Brunswick a day earlier.

It took moments and the question was settled.  We were going to Duplin.

The Duplin River flows into Doboy Sound.  The entrance to the river has a nice ferry dock on Sapelo Island where we can take easily the dog.  The island borders Sapelo Sound to the north.

With our speed boost we should be arriving  before 4PM giving us plenty of daylight.  The river is plenty wide and can accommodate many boats.  However it does have some strong tidal currents which will cause us to swing 180 degrees when the tide changes.

But ….

As we began making the turn into the Duplin River a Georgia State Marine Patrol boat hailed us on the radio and wanted to board us.  I kept replying back but they couldn’t hear me for some reason so I just went on on the side deck and talked to them. 

They pulled along side and requested we provide ID,  a drivers license.  And then asked if we had any firearms.

After we said no, the boat pulled up close and the two coasties hopped on board.

I had to drive the boat and while I was occupied doing that, Mary handled the official stuff with aplomb just like before.   She did present the Coast Guard Form given to us when we were boarded at Ft. Pierce 3 months ago.  They took it and basically repeated the same check as they did in Ft. Pierce.  Meanwhile I was making a wide circle in Doboy Sound to try and keep close to the Duplin River entrance.

Great guys.  Cheerful, professional.   And cute, so say some.

Anchored in Duplin River looking out towards Doboy Sound and the ferry dock

After they left we went about a mile up the river guessing it would be calmer there in these 15 knot North winds.  Maybe, but in any case the anchor stuck fast and we enjoyed cocktails in a bug free sundeck because the wind was keeping the little critters away from us.  I had my electric zapper just in case.

Almost sunset overlooking Doboy Sound

We took the dinghy down after feeding the dog.  She needs to, ah, percolate a bit before we take her ashore.  The ferry dock where we can tie up is about ¾ of a mile down river.  In our dinghy, its about a 10 minute trip.  I had forgotten how fast the current rips through here.  It made docking the dinghy a less than smooth experience but no harm done.

In search of "the" spot up the road 

Mary and the dog walked up the road leading to the buildings of the university research station here.  Mission completed in 15 minutes and we were back aboard with the dinghy secured within an hour.

As the sunset I was still waiting to see if the rising tide will bring clearer water in here so I can run the water maker.  Probably going to have to guess at this.  But I have new filters installed so if its crappy water they should take care of it for the most part.  

We have to be at Little Mud River (about 7 miles away) tomorrow around 9:30AM.  High tide is basically a necessity for traversing this little stretch of the ICW.

Ferry dock and the ferry well before it's 7AM departure

We ran the water maker tonight but after an hour or so it began making horrible noise so I had to shut it down.  I’m thinking it was clogged filters because the water here was pretty laden with stuff and I'd venture to guess the tide didn't flush it out.  Oh well.  We’ll be in Brunswick tomorrow and for all of this month and October so I have time to fix it.

Even so, we were able to get the water tanks close to full.

Not being morning people, we staggered around at 7AM but had the dinghy loaded and running by 7:15 and tied up at the ferry dock 10 minutes after that. 

Mary and Bubbie wandered off looking for a suitable spot while I talked with this guy on the dock who was a ferry boat captain here for 30 some years.  Interesting guy.  His wife still works for the university research station on the island.  He said the ferry leaves every week day at 7AM to take the resident kids to school in  Crescent, about 7 miles away. 

Us anchored in the distance taken from the ferry dock

There a several families that live here.   Blackbeard island lies along the north eastern edge of Sapelo Island and really isn’t an island but more of a spit of land.  The island designation must have been from years ago when Blackbeard Creek was more than a creek.  At least that's what I was told.

Mary and Bubbie soon returned and we zipped back to the boat.  I started the engines and we hauled the dinghy aboard and went out the river into Doboy Sound and then re-joined the ICW. 

Our target of making Little Mud River by 9:30 to take advantage of the tide was a little off.  The flood tide was pushing us along at 9mph so we went through there 30 minutes before high tide which worked out just fine but left me wondering where my math skills went.

After that excitement it was a slow cruise down the ICW in the typical 90 degree heat although the sun wasn’t out all the time so it wasn't over a 100 on the fly bridge this time.

We cruised by St. Simons Island and came into Brunswick, went under the big bridge and made the turn into the East River to the marina.

I called them on the radio and Chris, the dockmaster today, put us on dock 15 which is the last main dock up the river.  It's where I wanted to be.   Very protected up there and near a bathroom too.  We're going into slip 4.

Making our way to dock 15 way off in the distance on the right

Rhonda was there with Chris and a few other people we remembered but couldn't name.  With all those people we had a hassle free docking experience.  I put the bow in first because we shared the space with a small sailboat and there was enough wind and current to make backing in an ify proposition.  We could have done it I'm sure, but in a few days we'll be going out again to test the water maker so no need to try it now.

We of course had to chit chat about the latest news, most specifically Sherry, the previous dockmaster who was let go.  Sherry was iconic.  Her presence pretty much set the tone here so we'll see if anything has changed.

It took us a bit of time to hook everything up and walk down to see Chris.  She had all our paperwork completed but I had forgotten about the 4% fee for credit card transactions so we agreed I'd return in a day or so and write them a check.

They also seem to have added an environmental fee which is nothing state mandated or even state suggested.  Not much information as to what this is intended for, exactly.

I’ve taken to running the engine room blowers for an hour or so after we arrive somewhere and it seems to greatly reduce the engine room temperatures especially during these sweltering days with the burning sun and temps up in the 90’s.  In this case it did its job. 

We met Matt and Karen on a Lagoon 43 built in France and sailed over by here by them.  They are on the end of the dock, two slips away from us.  They're and are Aussies and immediately gave me the impression of being fun.

We also noticed Tim and Anne on Ivanhoe who we met last year.  Chris mentioned to me there is a boat next to them with a lady who seems to have dementia.  I'm pretty sure I ran into her as we were walking back to the boat from the marina office.  She was trying to get into the mens room so I pointed her to the ladies room and the let her in.

Brent and Susan meeting the dog for the first time

Pizza at Foxes

Went out to eat at Fox's Pizza with Brent and Susan.  Brent and Susan now operate a rooming house, from the house they bought last year.  They refurbished it but realizing they would have plenty of room, decided to make it into a rooming house.  They furnished it and then did a few things to make it livable including A/C, free wireless etc.  So now it's the premiere rooming house in Brunswick.

Fox pizza as good as always.

Tomorrow is Sunday and Packer game day so Mary is getting all primed.  Did I mention Brent is from Minnesota?

Oddly I had to reset the port battery charger tonight.  According to the display, it wasn’t charging for some reason.  I see phone calls in my future Monday.

It was hot today so we stayed in the boat a good portion of it.  I was cleaning up email and log files and Mary was reading and researching door screens and dog food.

I eventually took a computer break and cleaned out the watermaker filters and sea strainer hoping the watermaker problem was due to clogged filters.   It doesn't seem plausible we would have had  a sudden pump failure.

Got our cadillac of bikes down and after greasing it up and inflating the tires, rode to the Winn Dixie and made a stop at West Marine where I talked briefly with a guy I met last time we were here.  Forgot his name.  But he forgot mine too.

Winn Dixie is the same but awful pricey.  Cant wait to get to Walmart!

Packer game is tonight so Mary started the laundry early (the machines are free here) and I took it all back to the boat when game started.  She stayed in the lounge with other football devotees and the small cadre of Packer fans all resplendent in their green and gold.

Looks like some rain for the next few days.

They lost yesterday.  The Packers that is.

We stayed aboard, Mary reading and I cleaning up emails and beginning the long ordeal of ordering spare parts I have to install while we are here until November.  Speaking of November we, and Once Upon a Time (Brent and Susan's boat) are planning to depart here on the same day for the same destination, Huckins boat yard.  They are having a bottom job.  So are we but also some additional work.  We’ll have that completed while we are in WI for medical stuff so we can returned to a fixed and shiny clean boat.

I rode to Winn Dixie again.  The roads on my usual route(s) are all torn up.  They are covered with a thick layer of sand and if you’ve ever ridded a thin wheeled bike through sand you may appreciate the difficulty.  Not fun and there is no other easy access to the store.  Even my coveted short cut is all torn up.  Ugh …

First cocktail party (on the left, Mary talking to Bruce)

First cocktail party since we arrived.  Old friends were there and the wonderful camaraderie still strong as before.  We get to experience this for a month a half!  

Yesterday we didn’t do much at all

Today though, I received answers from the battery charger company and the stove company.  Basically the new battery charger is toast and the stove has to wait on a tech guy returning from vacation next week.

No word yet from the water maker people.

We walked up and paid for the slip today.  Ralph and Chris are the dockmasters.  Cindy is the same person handling the office.  Sherry, the previous dockmaster, now works managing a gas station. She will be missed.

The owner of the marina here, is not quite "right".  Little things like the environmental fee and general attitude send red flags up.  Well to me anyway.  They certainly displayed their naivety by not fixing the Sherry situation since she was a prime reason many of us came here.

Bob, had a 88th birthday party.  He’s an old electronics guy from the 50’s … think vacuum tubes and such.  He married a younger women 28 years ago and bought a Westsail 32 hull.  And completed the rest of the boat himself.

They then sailed off to Europe and spent 16 year over there cruising as far north as Norway and into the Mediterranean spending time in Africa, Israel, Greece, Italy Turkey and all the other spots over there.  He's got some stories!  And for 88 he’s in superb shape.  She's about 15 years younger.

Under intense pressure from certain crew mates I agreed to hook up the cable so we can have 38 cable channels!  We still have over the air TV and the Satellite too.  

Today I was aboard most of the time dealing with the battery charger problem, watermaker problem and the oven issue.  Many email exchanges and several phone calls later the battery charger has been declared malfunctioning and will be replaced with a new unit.

The oven was finally declared dysfunctional because of a design flaw.  The engineer I was talking with, sent me a long, very detailed email with directions on the only solution they know of short of replacing the whole unit.  As it turns out the company, Seward, went out of business shortly after we bought the stove.  And in an interesting twist of fate he said ours was the last production run before they closed their doors.  Are we lucky or what.

The fix involves drilling a ¾ inch hole in the face plate of the stove near the oven control valve.   This hole would ideally line up with the low flame bleed screw which I need to turn slightly to increase the oven flame so it can stay lit when the thermostat decreases the flame on the main burner.    Getting the hole drilled in the correct spot is all luck and guess work.

This screw controls the size of the flame when the main burner is shut off, or more precisely, turned down very low.  The low main burner flame acts like an OPL (Operating Pilot Light) so the main burner can fully re-light when the temp falls below a set value.   Most ovens employ a pilot light for such purposes.  But not ours!

The water maker remains in limbo since they haven’t responded to any of my emails.  It could be any number of things from malfunctioning generator voltage regulator, faulty pressure control valve, failed pump seals, failing motor windings …. and the list goes on.  But I still think its a clogged filter problem.

Mary decided we needed to have our curtains cleaned so we took all those down today and she and Susan ran the over to the dry cleaners.  She also went carpet hunting and brought back samples.

More gauges, meters and brightly colored displays

I finished installing the remote battery charger displays and the engine temp sensor, another easy job that morphed into a four hour affair.

And I hooked up the cable so now Mary has a plethora of entertainment options.  Regular over the air digital TV, Cable TV, Satellite TV and WiFi sourced stuff like NetFlix.  It’s lucky I purchased a new TV a few years ago.

Bubbie continues to acclimate.  The normal cocktail parties schedule is a three days a week but we are slowing down and only managing 2 a week.  Probably because we have to care for a dog?

Cuba is beginning to look less likely this year.  I’m reading some posts which don’t paint such a rosy picture. 

We went out to dinner with Brent and Susan, the The Copper Pig.  A fresh produce, seafood and meat store.  With a restaurant attached which was pretty good.  Pulled pork  Yumm.

Brent and I were going to play Euchre with Bruce and Ronda among others but at the restaurant they had live alligators which you could feed from a pole that had a 10 foot string attached.  On the end was a horse devore fork to which you attached cut up hot dog pieces.  Then you dangle the hot dog by the gators.

Who could resist.

Mary and Brent feeding the gators

I hit one on the head a few times.  They would quickly waddle up on the shore and try and grab at it but need to turn their head sideway in order to grasp it.  Quite fun in a Wisconsin Dells sort of way.  The gators were only 3-4 feet long at the large end.

We missed the card game tonight but there are always Euchre games going on.

Otherwise we didn’t go out in the boat but stayed in pretty much most of the day debating carpet choices.  Brent and Susan picked out a reddish hue carpet while Mary was set on the ever popular tan … ugh.  I was pushing for one with a flecks of red and gray.

Carpet samples

We are going to have to lay this ourselves and its rather easy.  Just contact cement and a few staples.  Having said that, I'm figuring it'll be a two day process.

We overslept until 10 this morning.

Brent and Susan wanted to go to St. Simons Island and the beach.  And we were going to leave early.  Well, that didn't happen so the modified the schedule required us to meet them at their car at 12:30.

Beach at St. Simons

Beach is wonderful.  It was windy though, windy enough to blow over our heavy poled umbrella with the separate heavy duty screw anchor right on top of Brent.  Meanwhile, their beach umbrella, with it's skinny little pole, stayed upright!

We walked the beach and came upon a little boy trying to catch a scurrying crab.  His mother asked for our help because he wasn’t having much success and was in tears.  So we did, chasing a smirking little crab in and out of the heavy surf for a few minutes.  We never did catch him but the kids seemed to have it corned so we left them on their own.

We eventually returned to our beach spot which was being threatened by the rising tide.  Mary commanded everyone to pack up and leave for lunch.  So, of course, we did.

We drove back into the little town's main street and the first place we tried was closed so we ended up  a few blocks away at the Mescaline Mushroom.    A neat place with TV’s and outdoor seating under a huge moss covered oak tree.

At the Mellow Mushroom

NO, no.  It's the Mellow Mushroom, not the Mescaline Mushroom!

Really good mushroom soup but the pretzels I ordered was a surprise.  Instead of good old salt and mustard it was drenched in honey and cinnamon.

Mary and I had sangrias.  Her's red, mine white. Quite tasty.

Then we walked to the village pier and saw the damaged dock where, so said a couple we met, a shrimp boat tied up to the dock to sell shrimp, apparently illegally.  A coast guard boat came in and the shrimp boat tied to leave but forgot they had one of their outriggers deployed across the dock and it tore up the railings pretty good.

Susan talking to the crafts expert

After that Mary and Susan met a women who was collecting shells (with their respective creature inhabitants intact) from the fisherman on the pier using casting nets for catching bait fish.  She evidently makes crafty things from them too.  There was a long discussion on craft technicalities. 

We drove back to the marina where we parted ways, they to their boat to relax, us to tackle taking up the carpet stairs. 

Well, that was my job.  Its was laid down with contact cement and the backing of the carpet was turning to powder so I hauled out the shop vac we havn’t used in 4 years and pulled the carpet off and sucked up the crumbled dusty residue.  And then scrapped what I could of the residue still left on the treads.  Lots of fun.

Old carpet removed.  Tape covers old stair light holes removed years ago

Tomorrow we take the carpet samples back with the old carpet so they can cut the new stuff to size.

Should be easy except we haven’t decided on a color yet.  Susan still thinks the reddish hue is great. Mary is for now eyeing a camel color and I’m holding out for a multi-colored gray.  Only time will tell.

Arnold Palmer died today too.  But the Packers won  

Debates are tonight.  Well, my characterisation  would be more  Reality TV show complete with insults and scowling gestures amidst finger pointed accusations.   There's enough bellowing noise in the world without this so I'm seeking quieter environment.

Susan kindly took us to Publix and then the carpet store A1-carpets today.  They still have their mini van thank goodness.

Nice people at A1 Carpets.   We picked out a color and a style (marine backing) and they will cut it for us.  Mary and I will install it with contact cement which is what Tony recommended.  We even have some left aboard.  

Tony who runs the place has a son who was attacked by a pit bull and severely disfigured.   The poor kid has had 30 surgeries so far and is looking pretty good.  Toni does garage sales to supplement the funds he needs to continue his sons surgeries.   Great man Tony.

We hung around the boat for awhile when we returned and then I took the re-cycling to the re-cycling dumpster here.  It’s ½ mile so they don’t make it easy.

On the way I stopped to chat with Rhonda a Bruce on dock 8 and they asked me to pick up a package for them at the dock office.  So at the marina office I started looking for my package which was mislabeled as George Carter, and found one for Brent and Susan.  Ralph, the dockmaster started chuckling when I asked if he saw a package for Bruce and Rhonda.  Turns out it was the 100 lbs. box in the middle of the floor.  I discovered that just as Rhonda walked in laughing.  Jokesters are pervasive here.

We went to cocktails tonight and I started up a conversation with Bob.  Not birthday Bob from a few days ago, but new single-handler Bob.   It turns out is a nuclear physicist and is semi retired.  I thought he was pulling my leg but he knew exactly who Sean Carroll was, and Richard Feynman.  And we both got a laugh when I mentioned Sean Carroll's, What-Particle-Are-You diagram.  So I guess he’s not pulling my leg.  Not that I’m a little sensitive about that now … Bruce?

The reality show … er I mean debates if you can call them that, are annoying.   If Canada were warmer …

Nothing much doing today.  Mary made a plane reservation, I consolidated my blog notes and we took Bubbie for a walk.  Brent went to the hospital for tests, and we drank a bottle of wine.  What a concise, compact description for a days worth of activities.

We hung around on the boat for awhile this morning and then I helped Brent inspect a tent he had to repair.  Mary went off with Terry to the fabric store and Susan was getting ready to do some home care work on Jekyll Island.

When Mary returned we all drove off to Jekyll.  It costs $6 to get on the island which is evidently all state owned and leased out to people who wish to build homes and become island residents.

We dropped Susan off at a condo where she was expected, and then we remaining three drove out to Driftwood Beach.

Mary by one of the uprooted trees

Driftwood beach

The beach is distinctive.  Very large, uprooted trees render the beach an almost surreal appearance.  Very cool place.

After an hour or so we then drove back looking for a bar and found Tortuga Jacks, a mexican style restaurant over looking the beach.  Pretty tasty!  And good drinks.

We left and drove back to fetch Susan who was walking along the main road and trying to direct us to where she was while we were slowly driving around in the condo parking lots looking for her.

We did take a little driving tour of the Jekyll Island Club grounds on the way back.  Impressive!  Large, old style homes surround the hotel.  If I recall correctly some of the homes can be rented too.

Then back to the boat.  Productive boat-chore-day it was not.

Even though the forecast was calling for rain, there is rain again today.  But clouds for a little while.

I rode to the UPS store, a 10 mile round trip.  I mailed the LCD screen head from our main depth sounder, to a marine electronics in Pompano Beach, FL.

Whitish streaks is the crinkled screen

They can replace the screen which has an increasingly large sun wrinkle on the sun which obscures the screen scrolling and data.  Since we will be here for several weeks I thought it would be an ideal time to get this repaired.

Later when I got back, I helped Brent, and a helper of his, George, take down a scaffolding 4 sections high and move it, and then put three sections back up.  But before that we watched the Glynn Acadamy high school homecoming parade.

The parade seemed to lack the spattering of smiling politicians but did include an over abundance of shiny cars.  Only a few floats though.  And oddly enough, no one was tossing out candy?  Maybe that's just a Wisconsin thing.

George and I were on the scaffolding and took it apart.  Then we reassemble three sections aboout 20 feet further on to afford easier access when they paint the soffits on the roof

When we returned to the marina I finally placed a phone call to  Daniel from Aqua Marine about the water maker pump and right away he said it was a water starvation problem.  Clogged filters or a bad raw water pump!  Yeah!I was right!

 High pressure pumps cost a few thousand dollars. A raw water pump is  a  $100.  Most likely suspect is the 5 micron spun filter cartridge which I'm not going to use any longer.  Pleated or string wound is the way to go.

I called Jeff and he’s doing very well up there in Canada.  We may actually get to cruise with him again on our way to New York since he is planning on moving his boat from Titusville up to Ontario this summer.

Also called Daff but he was tied up with a party so we’ll talk tomorrow.

We did laundry today.  Exciting day!

We borrowed Brent and Susan’s mini van today and went to the dry cleaners who didn’t quite have the curtains ready.  So we went back to A1 carpets where Tony explained that the color we had first agreed upon wasn’t available anywhere.

Good old A1 Carpets on on Highway 17

So he found a roll of something close but it didn’t have a marine backing but his suggestion was it would be fine anyway since the carpet would be indoors.  He also suggested we let it sit in the sun for a few hours before laying it.   Makes it more pliable.

Then it was to MacDonalds for breakfast (it was early, before 11 after all) and then to the dry cleaners who had the curtains all spiffy and clean.  Mary says they weren’t wrinkled either.  I never knew they were.

Back at the boat I cleaned the windows and trim off while Mary threaded the sharp hanger things.  And then we started to hang them only to discover we needed some extra doodad hangers, these little plastic things that run in a metal track.  We had several dozen.  But where?

Clean, and wrinkle free curtains.  Can you tell the difference?

It took me 30 minutes to find them in an old Band Aid box.  Once we added the extra hangers we hung them all and we’re done.  Only have the sliding door of the salon to get next week (they were repairing the backing).

I walked over to the marina office to fetch my generator fuel pump and the replacement battery charger.  Stopped on the way back to kibitz with Bruce and Rhonda who like to hangout on the dock gazebo where they have a nice comfy hammock. 

Back on board I got the battery charger installed and working so we’re good to go.

Next was the Friday night cocktail party and then dinner on board with a few episodes of Frasier before a short walk and bed.

A new month tomorrow!  And some simmering tropical weather again.

September 9-15 Charleston to Thunderbolt

October 9, 2016 
Returned to the boat yesterday.  Couldn't enter the city for a few hours until the state troopers started letting everyone passed their checkpoint.  The city was dark, no power.   Only a few streets were littered with debris,  The marina was also without power but that didn't deter many boat owners from returning early.  Armed with flashlights, everyone around the docks was quite jovial , relieved it was all over.  

Our boat fared well.  So far the only broken thing I can find is the wifi booster which limits our internet capability until I can order another.   We lost a kayak paddle which ended up on the dock.  The heavy rains did a far better job than Mary or I would have achieved if we'd tried to wash the outdoor carpets and decks.  It all sparkles even the sundeck couch which, oddly enough, was almost dry last night..

So all is well.   

Ready to leave Charleston, we were up early in anticipation of slack water which was, depending on source, at 9:04.  Luckily though we were in a moon phase which made the tidal current transition very mild.  In some cases the current can pause for literally a few minutes before swinging the other way with an unsettling acceleration of current speed.

There was a sail maker on a sailboat a few slips from us who graciously agreed to help with our lines but he had another appointment so we had to leave about 8:30.  Current was not strong but it, and the stronger wind conspired to push us towards Ron's boat next to us.  It’s a 1988 Sea Ray 40 foot sedan bridge aft stateroom cruiser.  He and Meg got married the day before and left for the southwest on a trip.

Anyway we didn’t hit them but I had to play the shifters to jockey the boat around as the sail maker slowly, really slowly, took off our lines.

Once out of the slip we zipped around Charleston through Elliot Cut cut fighting the incoming current.   Elliot Cut is a narrow channel between Charleston Harbor along Wappoo Creek to the Stono River.  The narrow confines of the cut act to accelerate the current and so we found ourselves skating along at 4.5 mph.

Once in the Stono River we had a push from the current for a few miles until it switched back pushing against us and dropping our speed but not nearly as dramatic as Elliot Cuts.  But no worries since we had plenty of time to reach an anchorage beyond Fenwick Cut which is the last of the notorious shoal areas.

Winding our way along the ICW it began to heat up.  Another 90+ degree day.  We went through Watts Cut with no issues since it was high tide.  And then further down stream we sailed through the narrow and short Fenwick Cut which is another one of those areas best down at higher tide levels.  

Anchoring in the Ashepoo River

A few miles up the Ashepoo River is a wide spot in the river near Mosquito Creek.  And that's where we anchored.  This spot was only a few miles from  B&B Sea Food docks up the creek

The B&B Seafood docks are reported to be a little rough, but the people there are fine with cruisers like us using the dock to take pets to shore.

Grounds at B&B

Walking the dog down what is main street.  The only street

B&B Sea Food Company grounds

Tiny dot in the distance is us anchored

We took the dinghy down and put a perplexed dog in with Mary and then rode the mile into Mosquito Creek and the dock at B&B.

B&B docks

The dock is, well, a dock-of-sorts.  It's in pretty rough shape but stable.  The people there were all hanging around a pickup truck drinking beer.  A lady who evidently is the store person came over asking if we wanted to buy shrimp.  I said yes, but tomorrow morning.  But I went in the store anyway.  It's like a little fish market with a few other items including beer and candy.

The store

Mary in the meantime had started down the road being pulled along by the dog who's  intrigued with all the new aromas (shrimp, fish and other rich sources of smells).   It was a good 30 minutes before they returned to B&B, Mary carrying the dog half way back.

By then the beer crowd had doubled.  I joshed around with them for a few minutes, declined the offers for beer (Bud Light) and then we headed back to the boat.  Mosquito Creek is aptly named.

It was quite windy so embarking before and debarking after was a thrill ride.  Bubbie seemed unappreciative being tossed around and handled back and forth.  But she survived.

B&B as I said has a bit of a crumbling dock but they sell fuel and until recently would let boats tie up for the night.  There is one shrimper boat and next to the dock is a boat ramp.   All this is located basically in the middle of nowhere with only a few houses and a volunteer fire house.  Nice folks though.

Once back on the boat we hauled the dingy up after I got the generator started.  The generator start  battery is really getting weak and it takes several tried to crank it over.  We would normally just tie the dinghy to the boat overnight but the current was so strong through here it figured it would be better to have it on board.

I started the water make and the A/C units.  It was still near 90 outside at 7:30.  Hot!

I let the water maker run awhile before sampling the output and it stunk.  Even Mary could smell it.  So we let it run another 20 minutes and the smell slowly dissipated so I flipped the lever and it starting filling out tanks.  The odor was probably from the membranes which had sat for several weeks without being back flushed.  But the water in the tanks seems just fine.

It only took 2 hours to fill the tanks, about 140 gallons.  The boat sort of cooled off but once I shut everything down the soothing air conditioned air seemed to evaporate and it was humid and in the mid 80’s inside the boat within a half hour.

Not good sleeping so I ran fans and tried to sleep on the couch where it was cooler.  The dog, a smart one, stayed with me so I had a nice little furnace to keep me sweating.

After awhile I went to our stateroom, 85 degrees so I kicked the fan in high gear and had a fitful nights sleep.  Mary can sleep through anything.  So can the dog.

We sort of woke up this morning around 9AM.   82 degrees.  Ugh …  I think I'm obsessing about the heat.

I ran the generator for about an hour to top off the batteries and lower the dinghy.  Made coffe and then after I shut it we all climbed aboard the dinghy and went back up Mosquito Creek to the B&B Sea Food docks.  While Mary and Bubbie set off I went into the “store” to buy shrimp.  2 pounds for $14.   They even packed it in ice for me in a really nice plastic bag.

As I was walking back to the dinghy I met a South Carolina DNR cop-like guy who was about 6’7”.  They were just getting in their duck boat.  He was really a big old boy with this almost child-like sweet disposition.  Probably not someone to annoy though.

Also met “Tough”, an old black lab who walks with a sort of limp.  My guess is hip dysplasia.  He wanders around the property and then barks to get inside the store and the cool air.  

In the store there was a little container for donations to a lady who worked at B&B but who was burned pretty badly and is currently unable to work.   So they were soliciting donations.  I added some and then went walking to find the poop expedition.

I didn’t see them until I turned back towards the store.   The expedition failed but we at least got fresh shrimp.

We hung around on the boat until noon when we hauled anchor after rigging the dinghy for towing.

The Ashepoo and Coosaw cutoffs are waterways that we have to travel through and are notoriously shallow.    We normally take a different route which adds about 5 miles, but in this case we were so close to the cutoffs it made more sense to just wait for high tide and go through.

Boats do go aground here often.  Running through at high tide reduces that risk substantially.  So we went through at high tide.  We had plenty of time to make it to Beaufort about 25 miles away.

Entering the Cutoff ... guided by Bubbie the navigator

Staying in the visual center of the cutoff and not cutting the corners worked fine for us.  Lowest depths I noted were in the low 6 foot range which provided us with about 1.5 feet under the keel.

Looking towards the City through the mooring field from our anchorage spot

We arrived in Beaufort after a few hours and noted that the mooring field has been doubled in size.  Nice for bigger boats like ours because they’ve finally added  balls large enough to handle boats our size.

But we chose to anchor (its free) and went to the far western end of the field and anchored.  We put out 125 feet of chain because the depth was 23 feet and adding our bow height over the water gave us an effective depth of 33 feet.  125 feet was an about 3:1 or 4:1 scope with the tides.  In essence we weren’t going to be moving anywhere.

Wedding guest in the blue shirt.  Our dinghy is 3rd one from left

We fed Bubbie and then took her into the public landing dock where we squeezed in behind a guy going to a birthday party.  Funny man!

We are anchored in the distance beyond the mooring field

The river front here is very ice, with a dog park, swinging benches and playgrounds all in the back of many shops and restaurants located on the main street.

Mary took Bubbie over to the dog park and dropped the leash so she could sniff butts with the other dogs.  Evidently she's a bit more demure that most, and immediately rolled on her back and started wiggling around, scratching her back and ignoring her brethern.  Then suddenly she sprang up and took off running, knowing full well no one could catch her.

Savvy Mary though, enlisted the assistance of bystanders who leaped up and helped corral  Bubbie until Mary could grab the leash again.

We stopped for an ice cream and strolled back to the dinghy amidst a sea of evening strollers, many with dogs and children.  Quite the family town,  Bueaufort.

Ice cream for some, not everyone.  Right.  Like the dog didn't get a taste

Back at the boat we grilled some of the tasty shrimp we had bought this morning and than watched Donna Reed.  It would have been a Fraizer night but we only have a marginal internet connection to the free Beaufort waterfront wifi. 

We shut the AC off with the generator at 10:15 and I was able to enjoy a few minutes of coolness before the heat built up again.  Did I say it was in the mid 90’s here again?

Beastly hot last night.  We all tossed and turned and complained until about 4AM when the boat finally started to cool down. 

 If the sun is out the boat becomes a oven and the solar panels do a superb job of charging the batteries.  If the sun is obscured by clouds then the boat is cooler but the solar panels don’t put out as much power.  Catch 22

River walk with Ladies Bridge in the distance.  .

Disrupting restaurant traffic

We dinghied to the free dinghy dock again (sans  dog) and went to Q on the Bay, a bar with TV’s so Mary could watch the Packers (they won in a cliff hanger).  Met a Joe and Courtney from Pewaukee, Wisconsin of all places.   She is a vascular PA working at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee and she knows Dana.  Small world.  Especially so when you consider she lived in Green Bay for many years.  And yes.  Another rabid packer fan.

Back at the boat the winds kicked up quite a bit from the south, south west.  We are rocking pretty good but non of us, including the dog, mind the motion.

I wanted to see how much Beaufort charged for the mooring balls so I checked on their web site.  $20 for a mooring ball.  $1.95 per foot in the marina.  $0.00 for anchoring.

I made a reservation at  Isle of Hope Marina to ride out some weather forecast to be blowing through Wednesday and Thursday.  We are staying at Thunderbolt marina tomorrow and the next day but Hal the dock master there isn't too keen on us remaining past that time.

The forecast had been laying out how it wasn't going to rain until Monday.  Well, its Sunday afternoon and severe weather warnings are all around us.  So far tonight the most severe storms tend to be skittering by Beaufort to the north or dissipating before the reach our area.

Storms all around but not on us

 But I can see a large line of thunderstorms out to our northwest sort of making their way towards us.  I expect the really severe stuff will bypass us, but we’ll for sure get some rain.

Its only 85 outside at 10pm.  At least it isn't still in the 90's.  My obsession with heat continues...

We were up early in anticipation of the rain that was forecast to arrive around 8AM.  It didn’t.  But we took Bubbie in to shore anyway.  She did her thing rather quickly.  The water front was almost deserted which was perplexing at first until I realized it had to be a week day and everyone was at work.  I knew this becasue the day before we watched a Packer game.  Memory aids take many forms.

 A quick ride back to the boat and once we were all aboard and had the dinghy hoisting harness attached, I started up the engines and then hauled the dinghy back aboard.

As we made our way out of Beaufort I was watching another boat about a mile ahead of us, John William according to how he talked on the radio.  It appeared to be a Pilgrim 40 Tug which made us think of Dave and Joanne who now own one.

We had the current pushing us along at almost 9mph so we had time to burn since we didn't want to  go through Fields Cut before 2:30pm because of the tides.  So what the heck, we decided to abandon the normal ICW route we always take and go out Calibogue Sound and back in to the Savannah River at Tybee Roads.  This is the big ship channel leading into Savannah which intersects the ICW after a few miles.

Passing by Harbor Town Marina where we were going to meet Greg and Laura

This route is a little longer but avoids Fields Cut which for us means having to through at  high tide.  And it was different.  We've been through here half a dozen times now and it's a nice change to have some new scenery.

The detour was uneventful except for the large freighter which was barreling out to sea as we came into Tybee Roads.  We slowed and slid along its side which minimized the wake effect it had on us.  Otherwise, it was rather easy and more enjoyable because the channel is large and I can let the auto pilot steer the boat.

We pulled into Thunderblolt's face dock, and recognized Josh, one of the dock master from past visits.  And he instantly recognized us.

Tied up at Thunderbolt next to a 60 foot Hatteras 

After we tied up and talked with Josh it seems the has changed their policy and now wont let anyone stay past 2 nights?  Weird.  We'll have to check with Hal, the venerable head dock master who has been here for 15 years and has an astounding store of knowledge about the area.  

On the plus side, there are plenty of big mega yachts to salivate over.  The weather is supposed to be nasty.  Maybe and tomorrow and Wednesday, the day we slated to leave.  Maybe even Thursday depending on which forecast you read.

In any event I made a reservation at Isle of Hope marina just a few miles down the Skidaway River to spend Wednesday and Thursday which, averaging all the weather site predictions, are the high probability storm days.  Besides, we can have the AC on which Mary and I may desire, but Bubbie the dog seems to need.  She doesn’t do well in hot and humid.

We stayed aboard tonight and didn't walk to one of the three restaurants within a mile here.  Mary caught upon Laundry and I on some record keeping so I know when to change filters etc.   Then I washed off the bow where some alien flying creature left alarmingly large stains.  Same for the solar panels. 

After dinner we took Bubbie for a walk.

Obeying the law

At least she didn't befoul the pretty landscaping around the sign

This is really a mega yacht boatyard … eye candy for me, plethora of new and exiting smells for the dog.   Free donuts aside, not much for Mary here.  Not even a good selection of dead things collect! 

Watching the radar, the rain seems to swirl all around us but never on us.  It's like there is a god of umbrellas who chose us for some reason.

A splattering of rain this morning woke me up at 7AM while the AC was humming away enveloping us in cool and less humid air.  Wonderful!  Mary, covered up in a blanket along with the dog.  And me splayed out uncovered and luxuriating on the cool air.  We all slept soundly for the first time in several days.

The usual form here at Thunderbolt Marina is to deliver ½ dozen Krispy Kreme donuts to every boat on the docks..  But it wasn’t honored this morning.  Mary who got up 10AM along with the dog who also has a penchant for sleeping late, hurried me out the door to speak with at Josh at the marina office about the missing donuts.

He had them but didn’t want to leave them on the boat due to the rain.  Chuckling, he whispered to me that Mary, when she was paying the bill yesterday, started poking around the front desk.  Josh asked what she needed and Mary, not batting an eye said, “donuts.  Any old donuts back there?”.

Mary brought the dog up to the office and we took her for a walk and then collected the donuts.   We
brought them back and needless to say, the ½ dozen barely survived being taken on board after the dog walk.  I turned down Josh's kind offer earlier, to take along another box, something Mary doesn't need to know. 

We hung around the boat as the clouds thickened again.  I wanted to get to River Supply, a West Marine type store just up the road for some cleaning stuff.

River Supply

They are reasonably priced unlike West Marine which is the place most of us have to go for marine supplies all the while choking on the price markups.    All 4 of the items I purchased here, were $1 to $2 cheaper here than at West Marine.  And all I bought were cleaners, waterproofing spray and some wax stuff.  Nice folks there too.

I made it back before it began to rain and we spent most of the day inside exploring various places to anchor down the way and trying to correlate those places with the weather which is just basically horrible.

A Tropical Storm, (Julia) is expected to form over Florida tonight and then track over Jacksonville and up the coast before veering out to sea near Savannah.    We do like our storms.   I think we are approaching the point where they should at least name one after one of us.  Hurricane Bubbie?

Mary wasn’t feeling well and headed for a 3 hour nap.  The dog, apparently trying to show her support, waddled down to the stateroom with her so I was pretty much alone the whole afternoon.

I did some navigational work and finished up a lingering blog posts and started another.  I’m at least into June now, translating my notes and pictures into something close to readable.  Hunched over a computer though is disturbingly familiar.  I must have done a lot of this in a former life.

We needed a few things from the store so I rode to the BiLo a few miles from here.

Grocery store

And I also stopped in at Home Depot to buy some 5 micron water filters for the primary water maker filters.   We need to make water one more time before we get to Brunswick where I'll pickle the membranes since we wont be using it for several months.

Later we took Bubbie for a walk and I ran into a guy who was walking this impeccably trained Aussie shepherding dog.  Turns out Scot is a professional animal trainer and behaviorist and regaled me with tales of his academic travails (he has two master degrees)  with his thesis research up in Denali.  Interesting guy.  And the dog, was incredible.  Meanwhile Mary and Bubbie had wandered off ack towards the boat.

When I returned we were able to watch some Fraziers and then went to bed.  Rain was on and off. 

Earlier this afternoon I talked with Hal, the head dock master here.  Interesting guy who knows all this history of the Thunderbolt marine from the large mega yachts that arrive here for refurbishment to the little mini dredges they have in the basin complete with a permanent pipe for spoil.  The pipe goes under the river over to the other bank which is their spoil area.  Very interesting.

Eye candy and interesting stories

He told me he has a Master degree in History from somewhere and derives great enjoyment amassing facts about the area.  Did you know there was a fort right on the spot where Thunderbolt Marine is situated?  And there was a Civil War battle here?   The things you learn ...

Anyway I asked about staying here and he said sure but  two big (86 foot) yachts were arriving later. He said were good for tomorrow and I told him we’d talk in the morning.

He normally gets here before six with a stash of donuts.  Every morning.  We define morning as sometime after 9AM.  But  he knows us and so we’ll be fine when we stagger in at 9:30 asking if we  can stay another day.

I really like this place even though its really just a boat yard.

After a short stroll through the yard (love these towering mega yachts) we went to bed.  Bubbie though seems to prefer the dinette cushions at least until I’m in bed with my computer.  Then she’ll saunter on down and hop into bed, or wait for me to pick her up and put her in bed.  

We all woke up this morning.  At 9:15.  Donuts were at the door.   After we returned I had to snatch the 3 remaining ones away and dispose of them lest they be consumed making a breakfast of a half dozen Krispy Kremes.

Those Krispy Kremes are lethal.  The things are laced with sugar and fats.  300 calories per innocent little donut.  I'm told, in no uncertain terms, that they are simply divine.  I cant eat them.  Nor should the dog but I suspect complicity here because the dog gets excited now when that little box appears.

We walked up to the office with Bubbie in light rain and spoke with Hal who was fine with us staying another night or even two!  

While Bubbie and Mary dodged rain drops on a walk, I called Isle of Hope marina and changed our reservation from today to tomorrow.  I’d rather just stay here because of the scenery (mega yachts) and I can talk with Hal for hours about the facility and the large boats stay here for refits etc.  Interesting stuff to me.  

Tropical storm Julia is now a real Tropical Storm.  Its currently raining hard and blowing hard too.  The track is still up the coast but now looks like it will just hug the coast all the way through South Carolina.  For us that means lost of rain and some troublesome gusty winds.

We could leave and go anchor at Walburg Creek to ride out the weather, but the lack of sun and difficulty going anywhere in the dinghy for Bubbie to do her thing would be an un-fun experience.  How do I know this?  I’ve been through it numerous times. 

In a marina we have power and water and internet so there is entertainment available to take the edge off the crappy weather.   At anchor we would have to limit the satellite use since the batteries power everything and the solar panels wont come close to keeping up with the power consumption with the overcast skies.

Like I said earlier, we are getting soft.  In the old days we’d tough it out.  Those good old days in 2012 and 2013 …

They love their oak trees down here

We went to eat out at Tortugas Island Grille down the street.  We walked there since it was a little less than a mile.  The river front street is scenic.

Tortugas Island Grille 

Tortugas is touted as a really good place.  Those touting must have exceedingly low expectations.  Or maybe we’ve become too hoydee-toydee?   The food was marginal, the price high and the place was in sort of a strip mall but actually comfortably decorated.  Only beer and wine though.

Looking at the ever changing weather I think we will be staying here yet another night to let the winds settle and then leave Friday morning.  Seas are forecast to be 2 feet so it’s the ocean for us.  Maybe we can make it into Brunswick Landing Marina Saturday night.  But for sure Sunday.

Taking the ocean route avoids Hells Gate and the Little Mud River,  shallow areas that are best navigated at higher tide levels.  It makes timing a challenge.

The ocean route out the Wilmington River is deep and wide and is right in front of us.  Easy passage if the ocean cooperates.

Weather is looking good Friday.   Thunderbolt marina here let us stay another night so we will be cancelling the Isle of Hope reservation and leaving from here Friday morning for Walburg Creek.

Ugh ... The marine forecast changed.  We wont be taking the ocean unless there is yet another drastic forecast change.  The ocean was forecast with 2 foot swells.  Now they are calling for 3-4 swells.

The ICW (non-ocean route) takes us through a place called Hells Gate, a short and narrow little cut that is impassable at low tide.  So we have to leave the dock by 7AM to make it through there and also Little Mud River, another shallow stretch, a few miles further down.

Today I helped a shrimp boat off the dock.  Brians Crew was the name of the boat and Brian is the captain.   A bit of  controversy.  Yesterday they came in.  The story goes that Hal took a radio call from a “trawler” which he inferred was a pleasure boat.  It wasn’t.  Brian came in being towed by another shrimp boat.  They stopped near the dock and the let the tidal current nudge them against the pier right behind us.

Brian wanted to be hauled to fix a rudder problem.  Wayne and his boss from the boat yard refused.  Stalemate.

Seems Brian is not much liked by the yard guys here.  Wayne the yard manager refused to lift the boat out of the water because, as he told us, they’d probably end up breaking the thing because Brian was looking to get rid of it.

Brians Crew being towed by Norma Jean

When I returned from the store again there were Chatham County police on the dock.  One,of the group of 4, was Brian’s cousin so Brian tells me.  While the police were talking with the marina management, Brian was just finishing up arrangements to be towed by Norma Jean II, another shrimp boat.  They were headed up to another facility to be hauled out.  Brian's boat lost its rudder so he couldn't steer.

Everyone eventually left and I was out on the back deck as they were getting ready to leave so I went out to see if they needed help with their lines.   I got an earful from Brian about Thunderbolt’s lack of consideration towards commercial fisherman and eventually, as he was winding down, Norma Jean pulled up and got a few lines tied to Brian's boat.   And they just let the tidal current gently nudge them off the dock.  I took off the lines as they slackened up. 

So next time we are through here we will have to look him up an buy shrimp.  His brother was also with him and serves as the front office guy.  Brian is the shrimp boat (he has 3) captain.

A rather weird experience.

This morning Josh left 6 more donuts and Mary got to them first before I could get them away.    Not sure how the dog fared.

A Fleming 55 pulled in here in the evening right behind us.  They are on their way to Ft. Lauderdale and are leaving before 6AM.  We’re planning on a 6:30AM departure because of the tide levels in Hells Gate.  They are from Boston and immediately fawned over Bubbie, a Boston Terrier.

Had another nice conversation with Hal.  He’s bringing donuts again before we leave tomorrow morning.  Maybe ...