Like the weatherman said, we woke to rain, thunder and lightning. Jen’s dog, Harley, doesn’t like the thunder. He spent the morning hiding. Kelly did laundry while Mike worked. After work, they walked around town and toured the Georgetown Museum.  For dinner, it was fried chicken leftovers. We called it an early night because we are leaving early the next morning

Weather is a huge factor in our travels. We were supposed to leave Georgetown the next day but storms were coming. Fortunately, the marina is able to accommodate us another day. Now, Kelly will need to reschedule a couple of our destinations out one day.

Mike and Kelly had lunch in town which is a short walk. We ate “Soco” outside sideway. It was a perfect lunch. We sat in the shade with a nice breeze. Kelly had southern fried chicken and Mike had a fried bologna sandwich. We really enjoyed the lunch. We discussed that we should do lunch more vs. dinner. It is a lot cheaper and we don’t order expensive alcohol. Kelly still had leftovers.  

Mike walked back to the boat to work and Kelly shopped. Downtown Georgetown is really cute with small town restaurants, shops and services. Kelly bought a sundress and found some clothes for Mike for him to come back and try on. Mike will be traveling to Chicago in June and needs some dress clothes.   

After work, we decided to defrost the freezer. It hasn’t been holding a freezing temperature. It has been fluctuating from 7 degrees to as high as 22 degrees. Because of that, we had some shrimp thaw and leak which was a stinky mess to clean up. We put the food in our backpack coolers and put a hair dryer on the coils to get the frost to melt quickly. It took 6 hours to get the temperature to 32 degrees with the freezer empty.  Seems defrosting it wasn’t the problem. More research is needed. Ugh.

At 7:00 am, started our engines and we pushed off from the dock. The calm waters made for great sleeping but tricky to pull away from the dock. We were parallel parked and turning out is a challenge to avoid hitting our swim platform on the dock. Kelly used a pole to push us from the stern while Mike turned us out.  

Once we got on the ICW, it was a beautiful morning – calm winds and current. No one was on the water … except birds, dolphin and horse flies! Jen sprayed the canopy and the horseflies left after they bit Mike.  

It was one of those days that energizes us on why we are doing this. This isn’t a vacation, it is a adventure. Many days, it can be stressful and hard work. Today wasn’t one of those days. It was a beautiful trip.  

Kelly drove while Mike worked and Jen did blog posts. Kelly prefers to help plan and navigate. She drives when the water is easy and calm.

Getting into Harborwalk Marina in Georgetown, SC was easy. It was another parallel parking but there was a wide open spot. Mike backed into the marina, Jen tossed the dock hand a bow line, then Kelly tossed him the stern line. Easy, peasy!  

Once we got settled, Kelly and Jen got an Uber to Enterprise car rental and drove Jen to the airport. We were all a little nervous about Jen leaving. We’ve established a routine with each one of us having our jobs. Our routine will be thrown off without her. We believe we can do it but still nervous. We will also miss Jen a lot. We love all love each other very much (Michael included) and it is hard to say good bye. So, instead, we said “see you soon!”

Jen’s Day 207: Leland Oil Company (McClellenville, SC) to HarborWalk Marina (Gerogetown, SC) to Charleston International Airport (Charleston, SC) to George Bush Intercontential Airport (Houston, TX) to Home (Cypress, TX)

Major travel day for boo boo Jen! Below are pictures from the rest of her day after getting dropped off at the airport.

At 6:30 am, we started our engines. It was too early for the dock crew and we were on our own. To understand the current, Mike put a piece of a popsicle stick in the water to watch its movement. It slowly moved straight back. Kelly and Jen each held a line and let it slip through the cleats. By doing so, it allows us to keep the boat close enough to the dock as we pull out to not drift in to the boat in the slip next to us. Mike turned the boat just like pulling out of a parking space and backed into the ICW. Kelly watched the stern which is a blind spot for Mike. When we plan carefully (over plan actually) we don’t have issues.

We scheduled the time we needed to arrive at each shallow area and used AquaMaps to help us zig zag through it. Low tide was at 10:30 so we anchored at 9:45 am. While we waited, Jen made lunch and we started studying the weather. 

Weather reports showed storms at our destination, Georgetown. We decided to stop 3 hours south of Georgetown at Leland Marina in McClellenville for the night.  

At 1:00 pm, we pulled up the anchor and headed for Lealand Marina. Jen drove and Kelly helped navigate the zig zagging needed to avoid shallow areas. It turned out to be a good decision. We had an extra 3 feet under the boat and didn’t see depth less than 7 feet. Whew!!

Staying the night at Leland Oil was a good decision because McClellenville was a nice surprise.  It is a small and quiet fishing town. While Mike finished working, Jen and Kelly walked to a seafood store and got some fresh shrimp caught same day. It was probably the best shrimp we ever had.

It was a quiet night with no wind or current, hoping for a good night sleep as tomorrow will be a long travel day for our crew mate Jen.

Happy Birthday Grandma Shimmin! Kelly’s mom celebrated her 78^th birthday today. We love you mom/grandma!

Today was a domestic day of cleaning and navigation planning.

The trip to Georgetown is a tricky one. There are many place with shallow depths during low tide. Tides in this area can change as much as 5 feet and some areas in the ICW can be as low as 5 feet. We have a draft of 4.5 feet so that is cutting it too close. Also, the tide changes were at inconvenient times. We think we are going to get as far as we can during low tide in the morning, anchor and wait till it switches and drive again on a rising tide. Let’s hope it works!

For breakfast, Jen and Mike made grits with cheese and bacon. We decided that since we were in the South, we should have grits! It was great and heavy.

After, we took and Uber to tour the USS Yorktown. Per the website, 

The USS YORKTOWN (CV-10) was the tenth aircraft carrier to serve in the United States Navy. Under construction as BON HOMME RICHARD, this new Essex-class carrier was renamed in honor of YORKTOWN (CV-5) sunk at the epic Battle of Midway (June 1942). Built in an amazing 16 ½ months at Newport News, Virginia, YORKTOWN was commissioned on April 15, 1943. World War II’s famous “Fighting Lady” would participate significantly in the Pacific offensive that began in late 1943 and ended with the defeat of Japan in 1945. YORKTOWN received the Presidential Unit Citation and earned 11 battle stars for service in World War II.

In the 1950s, YORKTOWN was modernized to operate jet aircraft as an attack carrier (CVA). In 1957, she was re-designated an anti-submarine aircraft carrier (CVS), and would later earn 5 battle stars for service off Vietnam (1965-68). The ship also recovered the Apollo 8 astronauts and capsule (December 1968). YORKTOWN was decommissioned in 1970 and placed in reserve.

In 1975, this historic ship was towed from Bayonne, NJ to Charleston to become the centerpiece of Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum.

We spent about 3 hours touring the ship. It was a like small city. They thought of everything, including a dentist, eye doctor, laundry/pressing….even a jail! The stairs (and there are a lot of them) were narrow and steep. We tried to imagine what it was like for soldiers to quickly move about the ship. 

We then took a ferry to Fort Sumter which has significance to our American History:

Fort Sumter is an island fortification located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina most famous for being the site of the first shots of the Civil War (1861-65). Originally constructed in 1829 as a coastal garrison, U.S. Major Robert Anderson occupied the unfinished fort in December 1860 following South Carolina’s secession from the Union, initiating a standoff with the state’s militia forces. When President Abraham Lincoln announced plans to resupply the fort, Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard bombarded Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, kicking off the Battle of Fort Sumter. After a 34-hour exchange of artillery fire, Anderson and 86 soldiers surrendered the fort on April 13. Confederate troops then occupied Fort Sumter for nearly four years, resisting several bombardments by Union forces before abandoning the garrison prior to William T. Sherman’s capture of Charleston in February 1865. After the Civil War, Fort Sumter was restored by the U.S. military and manned during the Spanish-American War (1898), World War I (1914-18) and World War II (1939-45). It’s now a National Historic Site.

The ferry dropped us off in downtown Charleston so we used the opportunity have dinner in town. We had traditional Southern food at Rudy Royal. Mike and Kelly had fired chicken, they gave it a little twist by deep frying it in honey. Jen had chicken and dumpling, so yummy. After, we went to a desert bar called, Carmella’s Cafe and Desert Bar. We had a waffle sundae called the “Godfather” with cannoli and mascarpone ice cream on a waffle. Loved it!

Because of weather concerns, we got a late start. Jen made a light breakfast…crackers, smoked salmon, cucumbers, tomato cream cheese and capers. It was a refreshing breakfast. At noon, we pulled up the anchor and headed for Charleston. It was a short 4 hour travel day.  

There was a lot of current, wind and traffic approaching the Safe Harbor Marina in Charleston. It was a bit concerning but Mike got us straight into the slip! The marina is one of the largest marinas we’ve visited. They have 415 slips and can accommodate very large yachts, we saw one that was 120ft long. We enjoyed walking around the marina looking at the yachts and pristine sail boats. 

It was also helpful to watch (and learn) the boats dock on the long face dock. The best way to describe it is parallel parking. It is more of a challenge for us because we don’t have thrusters. 

Jen made a bruschetta as a light dinner….we were hungry later and Jen made a french onion dip with cut up brats while we played a card game, Shanghai. We didn’t get to finish the game but Jen is leading

After fueling up and getting ice at the dock, we pushed off for our next adventure. Some new friends we met on “Knot R O’Ky Home”. We hope to see them in Charleston.

The drive was a bit tricky today. We need to leave at high tide because some of the ICW areas were low on depth. Some areas were as low as 5 feet but with high tide, we had an extra 6-7 feet. Kelly helped closely navigate using “Bob tracks” to guide us.  

The highlight of the day was watching all the military aircraft training. Several flew low and close to our boat….that is the loud sound of freedom! It was excited to watch them do their touch and go landings.

There was a speedboat race taking place today as well, it was super loud. Brings back memories when we would take our first boat to Lake Of the Ozarks in Missouri for the summer. We used to get waked by speed boats all the time. But now in our big 42ft we hardly rock at all from their wakes.

At 4 pm, we arrived at our anchorage – Church Creek Anchorage , mile marker 488. Jen made some bruschetta and we had leftover hamburgers for dinner from last night.  

BTW. We traveled 48.5 miles and 5.5 hours.  

Today, we took Marcia and Steve’s car to the car wash. We found a car wash that only washes and offers vacuuming and cleaning towels for free. Jen and Kelly were dressed nice and it was a hot day but we cleaned the car anyway. We also stopped and the gas station to fill up the car. We then did the usual provision before leaving tomorrow….include a stop at the liquor store to buy some local beers!

Jen and Kelly finished some last minute shopping in town before Mike finished work.  We spent the evening at Marcia and Steve’s boat dock. It is a cute enclosed “porch” with a kitchen, bathroom and breezy living area. Steve made fantastic burgers and we spent the evening chatting and playing games. We are so fortunate to have friends like them. We love you Steve and Marcia!!

We they dropped us off at the marina, we said “see you soon!” because don’t say goodbye.

Today is 200 days on our adventure!!

Here are some stats about our trip:

Traveled 2,030 miles and 253 hours

Out of 200 days, we cruised 37 days 

Used 1,150 gallons of diesel

Kelly and Jen did some shopping at the local shops in downtown Beaufort. Jen bought a cute sundress. At lunch, Mike joined us for a horse and carriage ride around town. We learned about the history and architecture of Beaufort.  

Here is some brief history during the Civil War:

In the antebellum era, Beaufort became a summer retreat for rich Sea Island cotton planters and even richer mainland rice planters, who maintained a wealthy and cultivated society in the town. By 1860 Beaufort was one of the wealthiest towns in America and a center of the secession movement, led by Beaufort native Robert Barnwell Rhett, the “Father of Secession” in South Carolina. During the Civil War, Beaufort was the first southern city conquered by Union forces after the U.S. Navy victory in Port Royal Sound on November 7, 1861. Beaufort became the headquarters of the U.S. Army, Department of the South, and most of the buildings were converted into hospitals for Union army wounded.  

When the wealthy left their homes in Beaufort, they didn’t continue to pay their taxes.  After the war, their homes were auctioned to pay the taxes. Freed slaves worked for the Union and used the money saved to buy those homes. 

After Mike finished work in the afternoon, we took Harley for a walk, got some ice cream and enjoyed the swings along the coast at the park. Later, we celebrated our 200 days with beers and appetizers at “Q on the Bay”.