My luck continues to hold…a little bit of bad luck, and a LOT of good luck.
Just like when I damaged the rudder key in Oriental, NC:
I ended up in a marina with haul-out capability.
The damage repair was fairly straightforward.
I had the parts we needed.
The accident happened on a Sunday, and -luckily – the yard was able to get Freedom up on the Travel-Lift by mid-day Monday.
The repair was completed in a single day.
So, here’s a familiar sight: Freedom up on the lift for damage assessment and repair. This is getting boring.
I’m not sure if you can see in this photo, but every blade of the prop was severely damaged. One blade is 50% missing. I told everyone I hit a Manatee. HaHa. The Marine Police will probably arrest me tonight.
Luckily, miraculously, nothing else was damaged. Imagine landing atop a submerged rock jetty and nothing else was damaged!
Still, it took ALL DAY to complete the repairs. The old prop simply did not want to come off. (And yes, they did have a hydraulic prop puller)!
But FINALLY, at 3:30, we were back in the water with our new prop.
I am going to celebrate by having pizza again tonight. Don’t judge me…it’s been an anxious day.
And we have reservations in Jacksonville Beach tomorrow night. Hooray. Mile Marker 750 (out of 1250. 60% of the way there.
Today’s trip to Brunswick was so quick that I started thinking, “Wow, I can easily go for another two hours. Let’s say another 30 miles. That would put me over the Florida line a day early! Let’s go for a record-breaking day!”
So… I stopped the boat in the middle of St. Simon’s Sound (where Brunswick is), checked my fuel, took a pee, called the marina and cancelled my reservation, and turned left to enter Jekyll Creek.
The bad news is…I hadn’t studied this section the night before, and I immediately hit bottom. A stone jetty covered by 4’ of high tide. Although it was completely invisible, I am certain I would not have hit it if I had been better prepared. It is very difficult to drive the boat and try to read the chart and compare it to the chart plotter. You need to work all that out the night before.
Fortunately, I was going dead slow, since I was trying to interpret the confusing collection of markers at the mouth of the creek. That’s what I mean about the lack of preparation. I immediately backed up, but I think I may have damaged the propellor, because the boat has a vibration and is no longer producing the expected speed.
So… I am at Brunswick Landing Marina. It’s Sunday night. I am hoping that when the yard opens in the morning, I can have Freedom hauled and inspected. I hope it’s just the prop, because I have a spare: a $3,500 gift from the prior owner. If the shaft is bent, or if there is other structural damage, that’s another story. First things first: I have to bust into the yard’s schedule to get hauled ASAP.
I’m surprised I’m not more upset about this. The trip today from Kilkenny to Brunswick was as dicey as any stretch we’ve been on. Very narrow channels through the marshes with very shallow water on either side. We made the trip with one eye glued on the chart, and the other on the depth sounder. My hand was on the throttle the whole way in case I had to slow down ASAP. It was pretty intense, but it all went perfectly.
I guess I have to admit that the problem occurred because I made an aggressive and capricious decision to change my plan, even though I had not done the proper preparation. Haste makes waste. And pride goeth before a fall. Etc. Etc. Etc.
I’m composing this post in Word on Saturday night, and you are reading it a day later, because the Kilkenny Marina has no Internet AND no cell phone service. I can’t even use my phone as a hot spot. Amazing that they have diesel and electric power. At least we have heat and light.
This is the ONLY marina in this empty part of the world. One-third of the way through Georgia. At least I can pick up a good Top-40 station from Savannah. Listening to Billie Eilish!
No Netflix tonight, though. Not that it matters… I’m pissed off at all the series that I’m watching, anyway. Lucifer, Virgin River, Peaky Blinders., etc. They’re all formulaic: keep the handsome male lead and the adorable female lead from hooking up, or the series is over. Come on… let ‘em get it on! I need those vicarious thrills.
Time for a DVD. Fortunately, I brought 12 of my favorite movies and 12 of my favorite CDs for just such an eventuality. Maybe Buckaroo Banzai!
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Today’s trip was very cold and very wet – it rained ALL DAY…finally let up around 3PM. The windshield wipers were on high speed all day. The sailboaters we passed looked miserable – bundled up in foul weather gear, exposed to the miserable weather.
It was the first day I had to wear a squall jacket in several weeks. Even though we have an enclosed bridge. It was, however, a good day to travel. Very few boats were moving, and the seas were flat, as often happens when it rains. We made good time.
Which is pretty funny, because it’s like we made great time to get to NOWHERE. There is nothing around here but swamps, three forlorn trailers, and a restaurant on the banks of the creek. I am listening alertly for ominous banjo music when I walk Guinness.
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Tomorrow promises to be rainy but warmer, and we are GOING! The boat is running perfectly, and I have the bit in my teeth.
Tomorrow: Brunswick GA, and – if all goes well – the next day we are in Jacksonville Beach!
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As I was writing this, I realized that Guinness was being very quiet. I found him sleeping in the berth, cuddled into my pillow. This is very cute except for the fact that he was soaking wet from his walk. Looks like I’ll be sleeping in a soggy bunk tonight. Yuck! Oh well…
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Postscript:
To say that the restaurant was surprisingly good would be an understatement. I ordered the whole flounder, deep-fried with a ginger-forward sweet-and-sour glaze, crispy outside and tender inside. Black-eyed peas and rice cooked perfectly, their bowl lightly sauced with a delicious gravy. For dessert a sweet cornbread cake with vanilla ice cream. And all of it home made! Wow!
As a bonus, by the time we settled down with Buckaroo Banzai, the heater had dried the berth. Ahhh.
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BTW, we are safely tied up in Brunswick, GA, but somethings wrong with the boat. More on that tomorrow… I am going to have the yard check it out.
It’s Black Friday 4PM. My wonderful visit with Kathy and Jeff has ended, and we are back on board, preparing to leave for Kilkenny GA.
This marina (the one with the lock) is surrounded by beautiful homes and a gorgeous Yacht Club, where we’ll eat tonight.
This is really a lovely part of the world.
The next stretch – through Georgia – promises to be very different. Here’s how one of the Guides describes it:
The good news is that Georgia’s coastline is actually rather short compared to its neighbors. We will be in Brunswick GA on Sunday night, and then in Jacksonville Beach the next day.
It’s the day after Thanksgiving. Cloudy and cool. Jeff follows the stock market closely, so we’re watching Squawk Box and enjoying the fact that the Dow broke a new high.
Yesterday, we had to move my boat from Palmetto Bluff because they had other commitments for the transient dock. Kathy and I sailed it over to Hilton Head – Windmill Harbor Marina. It is one of only two marinas in the US that you must enter through a lock. Jeff drove over to pick us up, and he took this video of my boat (which has a 12′ beam) passing through their 16′-wide lock. Thank heavens for bow and stern thrusters – they kept the boat centered in the lock.
The trip took just 1/2 hour by car and by boat.
Tonight I’ll have dinner there – at the SC Yacht Club. Very exclusive. And then we’ll leave for Kilkenny Georgia.
I expect Kilkenny to be quite a study in contrasts: Kilkenny is reportedly rather like a fish camp, with picnic tables at which they serve fried catfish. Yummy.
My stay at Palmetto Bluff has been a lovely interlude. It’s really beautiful here, and everything is done first class.
After an easy trip from Beaufort, we were tied up 10:30. I’m here to spend Thanksgiving with Cathy’s brother Jeff, his wife Kathy, and their son Jeffrey.
Cathy and I stayed at Palmetto Bluff 30 years ago, and at that point it more vision than reality. An Inn on the river, a couple of cute small cottages (where we stayed) and a few new homes. Over the years, it has been transformed into a beautiful development. 22,000 acres. A dozen separate neighborhoods.
Wandering paths with over-arching Spanish Moss
Beautiful homes
And alligators. This 10-footer lives right in front of Jeff’s house.
Jeff and Kathy have built a beautiful home, right on a lake, with a southern exposure.
Like most modern waterfront homes, the ground floor is garages, the living quarters are on the second floor, and the bedrooms on the third. A screened-in porch on the second level, and a deck on the third. There’s a fireplace in the Great Room, another on the porch, and another down at the dock!
We are sitting on the screened porch on a warm, sunny day, watching the alligator. And some fish jumping. There’s not a cloud in the sky, there’s a soft, warm breeze, and Jeff bought me a dozen Perdomo cigars. Heaven.
As with Stan and Susan Harris, I am so happy for Jeff and Kathy. To come to the end of the trail and have a home like this is truly a blessing.
The day began with a cruise through Charleston Harbor, right past the beautiful homes on the Battery.
From there on, it was clear sailing. Fast cruise speed all the way. We covered 82 miles today. Left at 8:30, and we were tied up in Beaufort by 1:30. The only issue was water depth. The recent tides have been unusually high and unusually low. We passed through some stretches with just a foot of water under the keel. Sheesh!
We had intended to stop overnight at Dataw Island, but we blew past it before noon, and we continued on to Beaufort. I remembered it as a cute town, and it looks even better than I remembered. Charming old house, a great retail district of restaurants, art galleries, and upscale gifts shops.
The best feature of the town is a long waterfront park and promenade. Many of the town’s restaurants have patios facing the promenade, and on the other side of the promenade is the marina and the water. Here’s a shot of me and Guinness enjoying the park after a lunch of shrimp and grits!
I realize I look like I’m in pain, but it’s just because I’m fighting with the camera and coaching Guinness at the same time!
It is a spectacularly beautiful day here. A very nice trip and a very nice stop.
I expect a short trip tomorrow – about 35 miles to Hilton Head and Jeff and Kathy Drennen’s home in Palmetto Bluff. If I have any anxiety at all, it’s because the ICW charts do not cover the May River, which is how you get to PB. We’ll just have to “keep ‘er between the buoys” and hope we recognize Palmetto Bluff when we see it.
I think we’ll be OK. PB has a prominent Inn on the river, and an antique cruising boat at the dock. Fingers crossed.
It’s Day Two in Isle of Palms, and I have time for a longer post.
The trip down to Isle of Palms was one of the most interesting segments so far. As you saw from the earlier post, Wacca Wache Marina is on the Waccamaw River, and we traveled through that primordial forest and river approaching and leaving Wacca Wache.
Here’s a photo of the marina. Very simple – a single building that house the marina office, the restroom facilities, and a restaurant.
There are hundreds of boats docked in the cove behind it, but its face on the water is very simple. This photo was taken the morning we departed. The tide was so high the night before that no on could come to the restaurant by car – all the parking lots were flooded. The marina building looked like an island. All the customers arrived by boat. And the catfish tacos were great! And they had Guinness on tap!
Leaving Wacca Wache, the first two hours were beautiful – early morning travel on the Waccamaw.
Once we got below Georgetown, we entered a whole new ecosystem – the low country. We were twisting and turning our way down rivers and creeks, surrounded on both sides by low marshes. No other boats except dozens of small open skiffs with outboards. Coming the other way after a morning hunt. The boat, the motor and the occupants all camouflaged.
Sometimes these creeks were just 300 feet across. But we stayed in the middle and had deep water all the way.
This photo does a pretty poor job of showing what the marshes look like. You just have to imagine that they are on both sides, and that they run to the east and the west as far as you can see. You can also see one of the channel markers.
Here’s a closer photo of a channel marker. For most of the trip, you keep the red triangles to your right, and the green squares to the left. Except at Georgetown, where it reverses. And then reverses back three miles later!
You can also see one of the local private piers. Homes in this stretch tend to be set back a couple of hundred feet from the water, seeking higher ground. Then the piers have to reach out another 100′ to seek deeper water. So there is in effect a 300′ long wooden boardwalk reaching out from the homes.
Anyway, we burst out of the creeks just above Charleston. Isle of Palms acts as a barrier island; the ICW runs just inside it/beside it/behind it.
Stan and Susan came to meet me at the marina, a residential community with beautiful homes and boats. You can see Charleston’s iconic bridges to the west, across miles oof marsh and palmetto.
They have built a wonderful home in IoP. Here’s the exterior: two floors of living space, plus a rooftop deck. Four stories in all.
The interior is the surprise: it was designed to accommodate all the furniture and decorations they loved in New Canaan Ct. Plus some gorgeous custom cabinetry by Amish craftsmen that they have known for years.
In contrast to this warm, traditional interior, the main deck feels contemporary, including an infinity pool.
You can see the ocean directly across the street. The beach is deep, and seemingly limitless, and dogs are welcome to run free (unleashed) from 4PM til 10AM. Heaven for man and beast!.
Gotta go because S&S’s daughter Megan has come for a visit. I remember her from when she was a child. And she is still gorgeous.
We made it safely to Isle of Palms, and it is heaven.
I’m staying with Stan and Susan Harris. We had wine on the boat with a gorgeous view of the marshes, and now we had a great home-cooked spaghetti dinner at their gorgeous house in Isle of Palms.
Too much wine to continue.
Love and kisses to all my followers (The hell with Covid. Kisses.)
Rod & Guinness' Amazing Adventures 