December 26, 2008
Departed for Georgetown, about 60 miles. Winds light, 5 - 10 S. 55°, partly sunny.
Hauled anchor and left with the tide ebbing, slowing us down for a while - speed about 5 knots. The initial plan was to stop at Bucksport for fuel, but by that time, the tide was very much in our favour - we were doing well over six knots. This is a really beautiful section of the ICW, the Waccamaw - wild, very remote from nearly everything - the kind of area where, if you hear banjos, you attempt to sail much faster!!
We came into Georgetown at about 1820 hours, tied up at the town dock (NO overnight docking!) and found the payphone for Sue to call her family back home in the snow! And after supper, we went off to our secret shower spot - after three days without, we didn't want to anchor upwind of anyone!
December 27, 2008
Decided to take yet another layday, sunny and warm.
Sue was feeling iffy this morning, and the tides weren't really favourable for leaving - our shopping couldn't happen until Morsels, a lovely shop in downtown Georgetown opened at ten, plus I had to book my flight back to Canada for the Toronto Boat Show where I'll be speaking (click here for details).
So all in all, it seemed like a good day to slack off! We got the bikes out for their first test, pedaled our asses off to the Piggly Wiggly- I hauled a backpack full of groceries, gotta remember not to get the BIG bottle of wine when I do this!! And saw something I've not seen before - pumpkin flavoured egg nog! Not sure about that one, wanted to try it, but no room in the backpack...darn!
Georgetown has a lovely downtown of beautiful old southern styled homes, dating from the early to mid 18th century - if architecture is your thing, Georgetown is one of the places you have to spend some time at.
Met Richard Burton, the publisher of a local magazine, Harborwalk - we discussed a dream of his, the development of Goat Island. Goat Island was once a lumber mill, it's now entirely grown over. It lies in the middle of the harbour, facing the town perhaps a hundred yards from the waterfront.
He, and others, would like to see the property developed with finger docks, some parkland, walking trails and so forth, so that Georgetown becomes a boating destination. It's a wonderful idea - Georgetown is in the middle of nowhere, you're almost mandated to stop here with the distances involved, but as it stands now, there's little for the cruiser.
I've always liked Georgetown, even to naming it the friendliest town on the ICW in a SAIL magazine article I authored. Should the city fathers awaken from their slumber and see the power of this dream, Georgetown will quickly become one of THE stops on the ICW.
Full Circle emailed us, they went offshore from Southport and are now in Charleston after an uneventful motorsail. They had a fabulous time at Atlantic Seapath in Wrightsville Beach - no surprise there! The folks at Seapath are really good to cruisers. Check them out your next trip if you haven't yet been there.
December 28, 2008
Foggy morning, left at 0730. Fog cleared by about 8, warm, light winds S-SW.
We left Georgetown in fairly thick fog, calling a securité as we left the harbour as visibility was restricted to about 150 feet or so. This would be another morning on which the Garmin chartplotter would be vital to our progress.
The securité call was answered by Cloud on Cloud, a J40 which I had watched leave about fifteen minutes before us. He wanted to follow us out, as his chartplotter was below deck and he couldn't both sail and read it. No problem.
The fog cleared by the time we were into the ICW channel off Winyah Bay. Knowing we had to be running low on fuel by this point, I turned into McLellanville about noon headed for Leland Marine. Imagine my surprise when I put 15.1 gallons into a fourteen gallon tank! That was cutting it a bit close - my habit of filling the tank to the top of the nozzle is likely the only thing that got us there! That, and a favourable tide that saw us scooting along at over 7 knots.
On approaching the Ben Sawyer bridge, we found that it was restricted until 1800. Slowing down to about 3 knots, we reached it just at six. We entered Charleston Harbour in the dark, crossed over to the anchorage, saw Full Circle and found a clear area at 22 feet to anchor in.
Once the hook was down, I discovered that the VHF was not working. It seemed that the speaker had failed, as it was broadcasting just fine, as Full Circle said they could hear us when I used the portable. Fine, I'll deal with it tomorrow.
Departed for Georgetown, about 60 miles. Winds light, 5 - 10 S. 55°, partly sunny.
Hauled anchor and left with the tide ebbing, slowing us down for a while - speed about 5 knots. The initial plan was to stop at Bucksport for fuel, but by that time, the tide was very much in our favour - we were doing well over six knots. This is a really beautiful section of the ICW, the Waccamaw - wild, very remote from nearly everything - the kind of area where, if you hear banjos, you attempt to sail much faster!!
We came into Georgetown at about 1820 hours, tied up at the town dock (NO overnight docking!) and found the payphone for Sue to call her family back home in the snow! And after supper, we went off to our secret shower spot - after three days without, we didn't want to anchor upwind of anyone!
December 27, 2008
Decided to take yet another layday, sunny and warm.
Sue was feeling iffy this morning, and the tides weren't really favourable for leaving - our shopping couldn't happen until Morsels, a lovely shop in downtown Georgetown opened at ten, plus I had to book my flight back to Canada for the Toronto Boat Show where I'll be speaking (click here for details).
So all in all, it seemed like a good day to slack off! We got the bikes out for their first test, pedaled our asses off to the Piggly Wiggly- I hauled a backpack full of groceries, gotta remember not to get the BIG bottle of wine when I do this!! And saw something I've not seen before - pumpkin flavoured egg nog! Not sure about that one, wanted to try it, but no room in the backpack...darn!
Georgetown has a lovely downtown of beautiful old southern styled homes, dating from the early to mid 18th century - if architecture is your thing, Georgetown is one of the places you have to spend some time at.
Met Richard Burton, the publisher of a local magazine, Harborwalk - we discussed a dream of his, the development of Goat Island. Goat Island was once a lumber mill, it's now entirely grown over. It lies in the middle of the harbour, facing the town perhaps a hundred yards from the waterfront.
He, and others, would like to see the property developed with finger docks, some parkland, walking trails and so forth, so that Georgetown becomes a boating destination. It's a wonderful idea - Georgetown is in the middle of nowhere, you're almost mandated to stop here with the distances involved, but as it stands now, there's little for the cruiser.
I've always liked Georgetown, even to naming it the friendliest town on the ICW in a SAIL magazine article I authored. Should the city fathers awaken from their slumber and see the power of this dream, Georgetown will quickly become one of THE stops on the ICW.
Full Circle emailed us, they went offshore from Southport and are now in Charleston after an uneventful motorsail. They had a fabulous time at Atlantic Seapath in Wrightsville Beach - no surprise there! The folks at Seapath are really good to cruisers. Check them out your next trip if you haven't yet been there.
December 28, 2008
Foggy morning, left at 0730. Fog cleared by about 8, warm, light winds S-SW.
We left Georgetown in fairly thick fog, calling a securité as we left the harbour as visibility was restricted to about 150 feet or so. This would be another morning on which the Garmin chartplotter would be vital to our progress.
The securité call was answered by Cloud on Cloud, a J40 which I had watched leave about fifteen minutes before us. He wanted to follow us out, as his chartplotter was below deck and he couldn't both sail and read it. No problem.
The fog cleared by the time we were into the ICW channel off Winyah Bay. Knowing we had to be running low on fuel by this point, I turned into McLellanville about noon headed for Leland Marine. Imagine my surprise when I put 15.1 gallons into a fourteen gallon tank! That was cutting it a bit close - my habit of filling the tank to the top of the nozzle is likely the only thing that got us there! That, and a favourable tide that saw us scooting along at over 7 knots.
On approaching the Ben Sawyer bridge, we found that it was restricted until 1800. Slowing down to about 3 knots, we reached it just at six. We entered Charleston Harbour in the dark, crossed over to the anchorage, saw Full Circle and found a clear area at 22 feet to anchor in.
Once the hook was down, I discovered that the VHF was not working. It seemed that the speaker had failed, as it was broadcasting just fine, as Full Circle said they could hear us when I used the portable. Fine, I'll deal with it tomorrow.