A Miacle has occured

We got into Brunswick Landing this afternoon and a fantastic diver found that the prop and gear had been literally unscrwed by the mass of line. The diver was able to srrew the prop back in and IT WORKS. Even the diver could not believe it. We will stay here tomorrow because the Noreaster is coming tomorrow. Sometimes things work out.

Beaufort to Walburg Creek

Monday, November29, a fast day of 84 miles from Beaufort to Walburg Creek, 55 miles north of Brunswick. A good travel day ended with a bad accident. While anchoring one of the small lines used to help handle the anchor got sucked into the bow thruster. We managed to break the line and finally anchored but the bow thruster is not operating. We will go to Brunswick boat yard to try to fix the problem.

Charlston to Beaufort

We had a uneventful but windy trip from Charlston to Beaufort. We had hoped to take some day trips outside from here but the weather has turned with a noreaster coming thru and small craft advisories thru next Wednesday. We can travel on the ICW but outside is out of the question.
Continuing south tomorrow, anchoring some place tomorrow night.

Charleston tonight

We left early and made good time to Ashley marina in Charleston. An uneventful trip which is the best kind. Pictures: (1) The Cooper River Bridge with a three masted schooner in the forefront (2) The famous Charleston Battery from the harbor.

Another day in Georgetown

This morning the weather forecast was not good for travel on the ICW; winds and rain. We decided to stay here and it turned out that the four other transit boats made the same decision. A cool and wet afternoon. Hopefully off tomorrow.

Thanksgiving Day in Georgetown

A quiet day in Georgetown. Some catchup on chores and a nice dinner at the only restaurant open today. Off to Charleston tomorrow.

Off to Georgetown

A short trip to Georgetown from the repair marina. We will stay here over Thanksgiving and move on to Charlston on Friday. Pictures:(1) The land entrance to the marina with the most impressive captain you ever saw (delusion) (2) The older the cats get the more attention they want. Sam climbs up on my shoulder when he MUST be petted

An unusual day

Tuesday, November 23, 2010, The day started off badly. While checking the oil level I noticed a bad tranmission fluid leak in the engine drip pan. Investigation showed the transmission in three days had lost a quart of fluid (out of 2 3/4). A call to American Diesel set us toward a solution. It was obvious that the transmission seal was leaking and the advice was don't involve a diesel mechanic but find a Borg Warner technician through the Southeast transmission distributor. A call to Tranmission Marine yielded Hague Marina 12 miles from Barefoot Landing. Hague Marina said to bring it down and it would be repaired today. We were underway by 1015, and by 1245 2 mechanics were working on the problem In one hour the tranmission was out and the seal replaced; in 2 1/2 hrs the job was done. A $500 job, but a mavelous solution to what seemed to be a horrible problem. Sometime things do work out.

The pictures: (1) The transmission disconnected in one hour (2) Beautiful color at this very old marina (we had to hammer some nails in to walk safely on the dock) (3) Ducks all around the boat

Southport to Barefoot Landing

We left Southport expecting a fast trip to Myrtle Beach since we had been told that the new high rise bridge at Sunset Beach was finished and the old pontoon bridge, that is far and away the worst bridge on the ICW, was open and being torn down. To our dismay we arrived at 10:05 and found the bridge still operating. The picture shows the operating high rise and the ICW blocked bythe pontoon bridge. We and a half dozen other boats had to wait an hour. This is an example of government stupidity: Spend millions on a high rise and leave the pontoon bridge in operation "for the convience of the contractors" so they don't have to use the high rise to move dirt.

The sailboat pictured is a classic boat that we have seen several times over thelast few days.

Here we are at Barefoot Landing where we had a birthday dinner at a new restaurant, The Flying Fish. We were joined by Fred and Denise Schubert, Fairfield Harbour residents and Denise is a PEO member in Dixie's chapter. Fred and Denise are working their way south on their boat. A nice evening.

A short day to Southport

Our next destnation stop is Barefoot Landing in N Myrtle Beach but it was to far to go in one day so as we have done in the past we made a short day to Southport and stayed at the South Harbor Village Marina. The tibe on the Cape Fear River was outgoing and we had the fastest run down the river we have ever had. The tidal current was 3 1/2 knots and we were making 12mph over the ground. A short day; we were tied up by 1:45PM. Another short day tomorrow to Myrtle Beach.

A long day to Harbour Village Marina

We got underway early Saturday morning , November 20 antcipating a 80 mile day to Harbour Village Marina 15 miles north of Wrightsville Beach. Normally this would be a long but not particually difficult day. Between runnung into at times very dense fog almost as soon as we got underway and dealing with bridge schedules that are not friendly to boaters it was a long day. In the Winter after DST is converted back to Standard time, the day is always cut short with the early sunset. A boat has to be secure for the day by 5 PM since it is dark by 5:15PM. We lost 1 1/2 hr travel time with the fog and just made the 4PM Surf City bridge opening. That left us very little time to reach the marina. We got there just as it was turning dark rapidly (you do NOT want to be underway on the ICW after dark). Anway we made it but with no time to spare. Normally if time is short you can drop anchor or swith to another marina but in this stretch of the ICW there were no suitable anchorages and alternative marinas. All ended well but it was a hectic day.

Underway

As planned we got underway Friday, November 19, after a concentrated two week effort to get the boat ready. We left 2 weeks later than planned because we had to wait for Dixie's orthopedic doctor to be satisfied that her right knee had healed from the surgury to "clean it up". We are planning on spending the winter at Loggerhead Marina in Vero Beach, FL. This was short day since we left at 1 PM. We anchored in Cedar Creek just inside the ICW from Palico Sound.