December 29, 2008
Warm and sunny, a layday.
We motored in to the Megadock, where we saw Cloud on Cloud. There was also a 245 foot schooner, the Caledonia, from Halifax, easily the biggest boat on the dock.
After fueling, I hopped on the marina shuttle for West Marine with the Uniden VHF in hand. The manager at the store promptly replaced the unit with a new one, no questions asked.
I have to say, despite the grousing we do about West Marine at times, this kind of customer service is what brings people back. I bought this unit from West Marine in Canada. Had I purchased it from any other store, I would have been in the position of purchasing a new one or having this one repaired by the manufacturer - a huge inconvenience when you're cruising.
Kudos to West and to Tom, the store manager, who was wonderfully helpful.
Sue, in the meantime, was off grocery shopping, cruising the megadock on her bike and doing laundry - when not chatting up our neighbours! Late in the afternoon, we headed back out to the anchorage.
December 30, 2008
Chilly morning, no wind. Sunny.
A long day ahead, and the Wappoo Creek bridge was restricted from 0630 - 0900, meaning a very early start to the day. For some reason, it was darker than dark and again, I was grateful for how easy the Garmin chartplotter made finding our way to the bridge, even when I couldn't see the unlit markers alongside the channel.
Lots of favourable tide, we scooted through the cut at over 7 knots and into the river, with Full Circle right behind us.
Sue put in a lot of the driving today, as I was tired and napped in both the am and the pm! At the end of our day, we had made excellent time, arriving at Ladies Island bridge at 1700 - to find that it is restricted until 1800 hours. We rafted up with Full Circle, who had put their anchor down to wait, and watched the sun go down.
At 1815, we were anchor down and a glass of wine in hand in the Beaufort SC anchorage.
December 31, 2008
A bit chillier today, there's a front coming through later. Sunny.
We decided to do New Year's Eve on the dock here again, as we did last year. We let people know and were rewarded with Charlie and Billy from Doolalay, Al and Pattie from Full Circle, and then met two locals, Mike, and Gary from the Fisher in the anchorage.
Mike actually looked at Gypsy Wind, then at me and immediately announced that he had read my articles in SAIL magazine! He said he'd always had a feeling he'd eventually meet up with me. He indicated that he was quite complimented by the favourable comments I had made on Beaufort, even quoting the article.
Well! Was I flattered! My very own fan! Even better, he insisted on buying the beer!
Eventually, we had a eight or nine people onboard, chatting and quaffing beverages. A fun evening.
Warm and sunny, a layday.
We motored in to the Megadock, where we saw Cloud on Cloud. There was also a 245 foot schooner, the Caledonia, from Halifax, easily the biggest boat on the dock.
After fueling, I hopped on the marina shuttle for West Marine with the Uniden VHF in hand. The manager at the store promptly replaced the unit with a new one, no questions asked.
I have to say, despite the grousing we do about West Marine at times, this kind of customer service is what brings people back. I bought this unit from West Marine in Canada. Had I purchased it from any other store, I would have been in the position of purchasing a new one or having this one repaired by the manufacturer - a huge inconvenience when you're cruising.
Kudos to West and to Tom, the store manager, who was wonderfully helpful.
Sue, in the meantime, was off grocery shopping, cruising the megadock on her bike and doing laundry - when not chatting up our neighbours! Late in the afternoon, we headed back out to the anchorage.
December 30, 2008
Chilly morning, no wind. Sunny.
A long day ahead, and the Wappoo Creek bridge was restricted from 0630 - 0900, meaning a very early start to the day. For some reason, it was darker than dark and again, I was grateful for how easy the Garmin chartplotter made finding our way to the bridge, even when I couldn't see the unlit markers alongside the channel.
Lots of favourable tide, we scooted through the cut at over 7 knots and into the river, with Full Circle right behind us.
Sue put in a lot of the driving today, as I was tired and napped in both the am and the pm! At the end of our day, we had made excellent time, arriving at Ladies Island bridge at 1700 - to find that it is restricted until 1800 hours. We rafted up with Full Circle, who had put their anchor down to wait, and watched the sun go down.
At 1815, we were anchor down and a glass of wine in hand in the Beaufort SC anchorage.
December 31, 2008
A bit chillier today, there's a front coming through later. Sunny.
We decided to do New Year's Eve on the dock here again, as we did last year. We let people know and were rewarded with Charlie and Billy from Doolalay, Al and Pattie from Full Circle, and then met two locals, Mike, and Gary from the Fisher in the anchorage.
Mike actually looked at Gypsy Wind, then at me and immediately announced that he had read my articles in SAIL magazine! He said he'd always had a feeling he'd eventually meet up with me. He indicated that he was quite complimented by the favourable comments I had made on Beaufort, even quoting the article.
Well! Was I flattered! My very own fan! Even better, he insisted on buying the beer!
Eventually, we had a eight or nine people onboard, chatting and quaffing beverages. A fun evening.