South Carolina

Well, I’d like to say that it was the jewel of our trip, but I would be lying. It is the first time that CBP (customs and border patrol), have wanted us to call every time we stop. They ask 20 questions, not always the same, they don’t really want to know where we are, just which city we are closest to; and they give us crap for things we should have done, but were not told about. The anchorages have been good, but they are few and far between, and we haven’t had any luck with free wifi. We haven’t even been off the boat since we left Myrtle Beach, where we got our new batteries. But, it hasn't been all bad. In fact some of it has been really nice, and all that travelling has us a day away from Georgia. We are hoping to make Thanksgiving in St. Mary’s Georgia, we heard it was quite the party.

People will ask, why didn't you check out Beaufort or Charleston or Georgetown? Well, we intended to, however, when we got to Georgetown, it was Sunday, and Georgetown closes up on Sunday. Both Charleston and Beaufort are pretty big places, and we are small town people. And, lastly, the weather was horrible. High winds, cold days; not the nicest sightseeing weather. It’s unfortunate, because we would have liked to take a look at the south. We also considered going to Savannah, GA, but now we have found other things that interested us more. There just isn't enough time to do everything.

So, we left Myrtle Beach, all topped up. The trip was okay, good temperatures, but boring. The waterway had gotten a little monotonous. About 2:00 pm we shut her down and dropped the hook in a little creek away from everything. We went fishing, relaxed, had a few coolies. I practiced my guitar, and made apple crisp in cupcake papers. It was a nice evening.

The next morning dawned early. In fact we are starting to get up before the sun, and going to bed shortly after it goes down. I guess the move to cruiser life has finally been accomplished. Apparently midnight in the cruiser world comes at 9:00 pm. Appropriately  called, “Cruiser Midnight”. We laughed at this statement when we first started out, and now it makes perfect sense. Even Serena, “the night owl”, has succumbed to the new hours the lifestyle seems to require. She is still not a morning person though.

Floating weeds everywhere. I am sure they have a name and an explaination, but since we haven't had wifi much lately, I haven't looked it up. We had to be careful though, because sometimes the clumps were hiding sticks, logs, and trees.

We passed right by Georgetown on Sunday, as mentioned above, and kept right on going down the ICW. It was so tempting to just head out the inlet into the Atlantic Ocean, and just keep going. But, as I mentioned before, we are determined to see the ICW all the way until we jump to the Bahamas; once.

We dropped the hook in a cute little creek just out of one of the main channels that the shrimp boats use. It was low tide, and just the right time to try casting a net for shrimp. I had an oil change to do, but all work and no play makes Robby a dull boy. So, where’s the net. The water was too deep for our little net, so we extended the rope 6 feet to make sure we were hitting the bottom. I caught my first shrimp, and so did Serena. She was a natural, netting her first shrimp on her 2nd throw. Maybe I’m just a really good teacher, right? If I hadn’t had the oil change to do on the engine and transmission, I would have dropped the dinghy and spent some time hitting the shallower areas. Oh well, into every cruisers life a little maintenance must fall, especially when the oil change is overdue. The manufacture recommends an oil change every 100 hrs. That’s about once a month for us right now. It also recommends only changing the filter every third oil change. Now, I’m old school, and believe that the filter should be changed at every oil change. But holy crap, that’s a lot of filters. So, for the first time I am stepping out of my comfort zone, and leaving the filter on. But I think I’ll change it every 200 hours, instead of the 300 hours recommended. Old habits die hard.

Ahhh, there is nothing quite like the sound of an engine after a fresh oil change. Most people don’t notice, but there a very distinct sound difference, and the engine seems to run smoother. I love that. Maybe I should have been a mechanic? Oh wait, I’m a budget cruiser, so therefore, I am…

The two little shrimp jumped right out of the pot as I let them go. It didn't seem right to steam only two.

The following day we upped the anchor early again, and headed out. I remember saying a long time ago that we were not going to be in a rush, travel maybe 4 or 5 hours a day, take lots of days off, etc… Not like those other cruisers who get up with the sun every morning, travel all day, and do the same thing the next day. Wait, that sounds familiar! When you want to make miles, and there really isn’t anything better to do, because of weather or attitude, then why not, make tracks. 33 ½ hours in 4 days. 

Neat how the water flowing out of two rivers are separated by colour coming through Charleston harbour.

In the land of spanish moss. We have also started into the areas where palm trees grow wild. It should be warmer, right?

We stopped on the other side of Charleston, then in Beaufort, just for the nights. Leaving Beaufort we jumped the gun a little, seeing as the bridge didn't open for another 45 min, and we were anchored right beside it. But, as luck would have it, there was a tug boat pushing a barge coming down the river, and the bridges always open for commercial traffic. A little radio call and the bridge operator let ourselves and one other cruiser, who was on the ball, pass through with the barge; 20 mins early. Last night we stopped in the middle of nowhere, SC. Luckily the CBP officer I talked to was really good about not having a town name to give him, and we had a little chuckle about it. I guess that's just how my luck goes, the best customs call in happens to be the last.

Great night, the wind howled like mad, and 8 foot tide shoving us all over the place as it fought with the wind, and I slept like a rock. At least until 5:00 am. I am slowly gaining faith in our anchor set up. It hasn't failed us yet, so cross fingers, knock on wood.

Off to Georgia.