Sail Pandora

We are tied up to the municipal pier here in historic downtown Savannah for a few days to enjoy the sights.   The weather has turned cold with a periods of rain and the sky is the color of slate.  Having said that, it’s not as cold as Essex back home where I am told that it dipped into sub freezing temperatures overnight.

Because of the strong north/east wind blowing offshore the tide was particularly high yesterday, perhaps 3-4′ higher than usual.  As a result, an amazing amount of trash washed into the river.  As we were heading up the river on Wednesday morning we passed plastic bottles, branches and all sorts of stuff floating along.   Brenda was at the wheel as we came to within the last mile of the dock, dodging debris as she headed up.  All of sudden the engine RPM dropped to almost nothing and the engine nearly stalled with tons of thick black smoke billowing from the exhaust.  We were dead in the water.  I couldn’t imagine what we had tangled with.  As the engine had quit so suddenly but there wasn’t a “clunk”, my first thought that it was some sort of fabric or plastic that had wrapped itself around the prop.   However, I did imagine that it might be something much , much worse.

Oh, and did I say that there was a 900′ car carrier bearing down on us along with two 90′ tugs?  Oh yes, it was not a good situation at all.  Besides, the river is so narrow, you can’t believe it.   Given the amount of traffic that comes up the river you’d expect that it would be much wider than the 650′ that it is where we were drifting.    So…no engine.  drifting in the middle of a busy shipping channel.  Over 1000′ of steel bearing down on us.  So, what to do?  Hmm…

Well, I did what anyone in my predicament would do.  I CALLED FOR HELP!  As luck would have it, Brenda and I have been traveling with another boat, Brilliant, for the last few days.  Traveling with a “buddy boat” is something that we almost never do but we were yesterday.  So, I called our new best friends on Brilliant and asked for a tow.

Brilliant’s crew are Pete and Stephanie who have been living aboard for about ten years and brought their boat across from the Med about 5 years ago and have been doing the snowbird thing here in the US since then.    Boy, was I glad to have them near by.

So, Pete and Stephanie sprang into action mode putting out lines and fenders so that they could come up along side of Pandora, raft with us and take us in tow to the dock.

At the same time Pete was on the radio talking to the tugs and ship about our situation and plan so that they would know that we weren’t just idiots waiting to be crushed by them.  When I tell you that the ship was close… Trust me, it was very close, and getting closer by the minute.

This isn’t the actual ship as I was too busy to get out the camera.   However, it was one more in a constant stream of massive ships that are coming by us as we sit on the dock.  This one was passing a lovely schooner that gives day trips on the river.  Trust me on this.  These ships are very LARGE!!! As I was on the deck getting fenders and lines ready for the tow, I couldn’t hear the conversation going on about Pandora.   It seems that the plan, if Pandora couldn’t get out of the way in time, was for the tug to hit me with his prop wash and push me to the side of the channel.  Remember how narrow it is?  I shudder to think what that prop wash would have done to Pandora as she was blown to shore by the tug.  However, I expect that it would have been a lot less traumatic than being crushed by a 900′ ship.

So, how did it go you ask?  Swimmingly.  We were able to drift with the wind and current to the side of the channel.  Get out of the way of the ships and tie to Brilliant who deposited us on the dock like a pro.

People often ask me how big Pandora is when they hear that I have a sailboat.  I say that she feels really little the further we are from land and really big when she is near something hard like a dock.  I think that I will add to that one more description now.  Pandora feels like a fly spec, about to be squashed, when she is in the path of a 900′ ship.

Once all the fun was over and Pandora was safely at the dock I couldn’t help but be curious about what had tangled in our prop.   So, how about a swim in the Savannah river?   I have to tell you that it’s not that much fun.  The current is immense  the water about the color of coffee with milk.  That would be strong coffee with milk and what I estimated to be about 6″ visibility.  And, the temperature?  A lovely 63 degrees.

I waited several hours until the tide was slack, suited up in my full wet-suit, boots and hood.  Fired up the compressor and went for a swim.

So, I went for swim to see what I had “bought” from lovely Savannah.   I ducked in and under the boat and immediately realized that I had misjudged the visibility in the water.  No, it wasn’t 6″, it was ZERO.  Even with the front of my mask touching the blades of my prop, I COULDN’T SEE A THING!!!  Well, it wasn’t hard to “see” what had caused the problem.  I could easily feel that it was a large piece of polypropylene cloth and I unwrapped it in less than a minute.

This is what was what we had picked up.  I am so glad that we had someone standing by to help. I must have someone watching over me, my own personal guardian angel along with Brilliant.While I was waiting for the current to slacken at low tide, I decided to drop by and visit another boat on the dock.  This survey boat was waiting for a job up river and the owner/captain was only too happy to answer some questions.    Fred’s boat is a technological wonder and he was happy to share information about it with me.

His business Bottom Line Echo Company which maps or surveys waterways for folks who have “lost” stuff.  Along with finding sunken planes and boats, he has found plenty of great things for insurers and owners over the years.  He told me that his equipment is so precise that he can find a handgun in the bottom of a muddy river.  Note to self, as you are running from the cops after robbing that liquor store, don’t throw that illegal handgun off of the pier if Fred is working in the area.

Fred’s boat certainly looks like a good example of “form follows function”.   Pretty slick.   That pole on the port bow with the two black disks is a fancy depth sounder.    His site says that it’s a KNUDSEN 320mm depth recorder with dual 28 and 200 KH depth transducers.  OK, yeah, got it.  I guess that means he can tell how deep it is. 

If that’s not cool enough for you, how about the side scan sonar that he can tow behind his boat.  Very high tech.  This isn’t the actual one.  His is a lovely green. The cabin is pretty tricked out. Here’s Fred slaving away at his PC.  Or should I say “at one of his PCs”.  This is his nifty towed sonar.   It looks expensive and Fred said that it is.   I asked him what was the most interesting thing that he had found.  After thinking for a moment he described finding a whole collection of heavy equipment, that’s bulldozers and dump trucks heavy equipment, that he located for an insurance company.  It turns out that someone had stolen the stuff, taken out the engines and had pushed the “remains” off of a barge.  They assumed that they would never be found however I guess that they had not met Fred.  Oops!!

The boat is small enough to tow behind a truck so he can move from place to place easily to take on jobs.  After he is finished in Savannah he was headed up to New Jersey to survey a harbor near an oil refinery that had been badly damaged by Sandy.  It seems that some equipment had washed into a harbor there and he needed to map it so that the stuff could be pulled out by a salvage company.

Unfortunate for us, Fred had not yet found that great poly tarp that we tangled with.  However, it just proves once again how much fun cruising can be and validates that boating is “hours of boredom punctuated with moments of sheer terror”.   Or, put another way, “cruising is boat repair in exotic places”.

Me, it adds spice but Brenda may have another view on that.   Besides, on occasion we do find interesting stuff when we are on the water.  Sometimes, a bit too interesting.

Yesterday we left Beaufort SC after several wonderful days exploring the city and enjoying the local eateries.  Brenda and I really loved it, the food, homes.  Such a nice city.  What was even better is that the temperature has finally warmed up into the 70s and we didn’t even have to turn on the heat.  The last two days are the first since about a week prior to our friend Sandy that it has actually warmed up to something that is compatible with palm trees.

I can hardly decide where to begin with the wonderful architecture.  We went for a number of walks and spied these, and many other, fabulous homes.

It’s just wonderful to see the live oaks draped with Spanish Moss.  Some of the trees are too big and sprawling to imagine them staying up in a hurricane.  They are so stately and individual that you have to believe that the locals might be inclined to name each one.  How about this one hanging out over the street.  The last time that I saw a tree marked with sign on a road was in the Redwood forests in California where the tree had been carved out so you could drive a car through it. It’s hard to say where I should begin in posting about these houses.  Somehow, stucco doesn’t look tacky here like it does in NJ.  Far from it. Just like in Charleston, the locals must get a bonus or painting their homes white. You can just imagine a horse and carriage driving up to drop off the owner here. Not all the homes are old.  There are some lovely “contemporary” homes too.   Not to be picky but it would be even better if the posts on the porch were a bit more substantial.   But then, perhaps it’s just me.  Agree?We were told that one of the homes in the area was used in the movies “The Big Chill” and “The Great Santini”.  I thought that I had taken a photo of the right one but I am not sure.  We thought that this was the one.

I looked it up on the Web and see that this is the one credited with being in the two movies.   Not sure if I have a shot as it looks a lot like others that I saw.  Oh well, we saw a lot of great homes.   I loved this one.  The trees and gardens just swallow up the home in spite of it’s size. Speaking of a nice setting, how about this perched on a lovely marsh.   To come home to this means that you have arrived in more ways than one. This one was nicely nestled into the landscape.   Sitting on that rocker wouldn’t be tough duty. We saw some great gardens but none that could rival this one.  The photo doesn’t do it justice. There is a strong military presence with two bases nearby and a national military cemetery in town.   We were there on Veteran’s Day and were treated to a first class parade.
It’s great to see folks from the service in dress uniforms. Each branch of the service was represented. After enjoying the parade we did a bit of shopping in the local gourmet store.  Compared to prices in the New York area, this was a downright bargain.   What a great looking store.  I think that we bought one of everything in the store.  Perhaps not but we did buy plenty.  Not a great idea to shop when you are hungry.

Beaufort goes out of it’s way to encourage folks to visit.  The waterfront has a great park that is very popular.  There are plenty of places to eat that look out on this lovely scene.  I still haven’t gotten used to the palms that are everywhere.

As I write this we are tied up at the city docks in Savannah GA.  It’s hard to believe that we have made it all the way to Georgia.  Massive ships go by and the river isn’t that wide here.  As you can imagine, the current runs very hard.  As we were about a 1/2 mile from our destination today we snagged something big on our prop and it tangled it up badly. As  a result we were dead in the water.  Happily, we were traveling for the last two days with another boat and they towed us to the dock.

As soon as the tide is slack I plan on going swimming with my wet suit and dive compressor to untangle whatever is wrapped.  That should be fun in the 65 degree water.  Oh yea, did I mention that the visibility is about 6″?   Wish me luck.

And yes, the two cities, one in North and the other in South Carolina, are spelled the same but the pronunciation is much different.    So, we enjoyed both cities and it was fun to visit Beaufort.  That’s Byoofert to y0oou.

I guess it’s almost time for a dip in the Savannah river.  Yuck!  Make that a double yuck.

We left Charleston on Thursday to continue our journey south, working our way to Beaufort.  As we were leaving Charleston we circled under the bottom of Charleston and got a good view of the lovely historic homes on the waterfront. Yes, these homes look as good from the water as they do when walking around Charleston.  Love the whole palm tree thing.
I didn’t quite know where to put this photo of a local canine that we ran into the other day so here goes.  As random as it may be, how about this for a great looking dog?   What’s even more interesting is that the breed is fairly large, about the size of a Golden Retriever.   The owner said that she is a Briard, a Russian breed but this link says French.  Well, the French would say that they were there first.
 The cropped ears make her look, to me, like a breed that George Lukas would have conjured up for Star Wars.  I suggested to the owner that to me she looks more like an Ewok than a dog.   The owner didn’t seem particularly amused.   See the resemblance?After leaving Charleston we continued to head south and decided to anchor up a creek in a marsh for the night. The view was spectacular and we were treated to a brilliant sunset.    Did I say that I like sunsets?   Indeed, and made all the better when accompanied by a proper beverage. In the other direction there was a new bridge.  The contrast between the soft, flowing marsh grass and angular bridge was striking. Brenda and I arrived with Pandora to our current spot near Beaufort SC yesterday and are anchored in  one of the most tranquil spots we have seen to date.  We anchored here, as opposed to downtown Beaufort because there is a SSCA cruising station, the home of Rick and Carol, long time cruisers, who were highly recommended by other SSCA friends as a particularly nice place to stop.

The view that greeted us this morning was so tranquil in the soft morning mist.  You could almost imagine a hippo surfacing to look around.   Our hosts, Rick and Carol lived aboard and traveled to the Bahamas for something like 10 years.  In their travels, Rick and Carol were looking for a place to live when the time came for them to “swallow the anchor”.  Just like us, they anchored where we are now and found out that there was a piece of property on a point that was for sale and the rest is, as they say, history.

They open their home to visitors from SSCA whenever they arrive and even have dock space for some.  When Pandora arrived we were instructed where to anchor and last night they hosted a cocktail party for the 15 to 20 cruisers that were visiting.   What a great time we had making new friends and even seeing a few who we had met along the way.

Rick and Carol have done a wonderful job of crafting the design, siting and details of their home and it is an inspiration for me and Brenda.  What an attention to detail, from the kitchen cabinet details, built from Rick to the huge copper mobile hanging from the tall ceiling in the living room complete with a flock of our favorite, the pelican.

Windows dominate the front of the house.  This is the living room and the bedrooms are behind.  It’s a bigger house than meets the eye.Rick is a retired Navy skipper and you can certainly see an attention to detail in the house with a nautical flare.  That and a penchant for keeping everything ship-shape.  Even his dock, which is nearly 600′ long is carefully painted and in excellent shape.   Rick told me that he had the house framed up and covered and then spent three years finishing the inside himself.  His work is really impressive.  The floors are cherry and trim is carefully varnished and looks for all the world like mahogany.   The kitchen cabinets were built from scratch by Rick and there are wonderful cherry accents on the counters and cabinets.  The moment I walked into the home I realized that Rick had done the work himself as nobody pays for that level of detail.

Perhaps the most elegant room in this amazing home is a diminutive bedroom up in the loft that Rick designed and built to look like a ship’s cabin.  The room has bunk beds just like you would see on a ship.  Notice the wainscoting on the walls.  The room doubles as a place to keep artifacts from his time as skipper of ships in the Navy including commissioning pennant from his commands.The details are impressive, including ships knees and curved deck beams overhead.  There are even port holes, complete with blast covers.  You can almost imagine the movement of the ship if you sat here to write a letter.

This box with cutouts is actually the AC and heat vent crafted to look like it belongs.  Nice work, really nice work. He even went to the trouble to install a speaking tube that was once used on a ship to speak from the bridge to the engine room.   Alas, this one does not go to the kitchen as one would hope.  Perhaps commands from a disembodied tube “please bring me my slippers” wouldn’t sit well with Carol.Among the many details in their home, Rick was once given a porthole by a friend.  The gift was contingent on Rick promising to use it in the finishing of their home.  After much thought, Rick decided to install it in the one room in the house without a water view, the bathroom.  So, he had the mirror over the sink specially cut and now there is a water view, all 10″ of it that you can see as you brush your teeth.How’s this for a view of the water from their back yard?   At night the live oaks are lit with flood lights.

Their side yard has an equally brilliant view.  This is a wonderful setting to share with friends and share they do. Rick and Carol have hosted some 500 cruisers over the last 10 years and even keep an old pickup truck on hand to lend to those who need to make runs to the market.  He told me that they call it the “magic truck” as it is used all the time and yet never needs gas.  Visiting cruisers always put in a gallon or two to replace what they have used, enough so that the tank always has enough gas for the next visitor.

Even though we have only known Rick and Carol for only a few hours, we feel like we’ve been friends for years.  I guess that’s the best way I can describe this trip, making new friends that we have already known for years.  This whole trip is turning out to indeed be “our little slice of heaven, one bite at a time” and we aren’t even in the Bahamas yet.

I should note that Rick visited us aboard this morning to give us a very thoughtful tutorial as to what makes a successful cruising couple.  Words of wisdom and great advice for us and me in particular.   Perhaps I will share some of his advice here soon.

It’s Wednesday morning and we are still in Charleston and look forward to our last day of sightseeing after a week in this wonderful city.   Our loose plans have us heading down to Beaufort SC over the next few days, perhaps on to Savannah and then on to St Mary’s GA for Thanksgiving.

St Mary’s is home to perhaps the largest Thanks Giving Feast/Party on the ICW and attracts nearly 100 boats and hundreds of cruisers who make it a point to stop there on their way south each fall.    As I understand it, the Riverview Hotel hosts the event and volunteers provide turkeys and help run the event.   Here’s a description on the hotel’s website that describes what is involved.

“Every year the St. Marys boating community hosts a Cruiser’s Thanksgiving at the Riverview Hotel.  Local volunteers bring the turkeys and hams, set up tables and chairs, and organize the annual feast.  The cruisers bring all the side dishes.  We gather the night before at Seagle’s Saloon for an Oyster Roast and pot-luck social to meet new and old friends.  On Thursday, the Captains come over early to set up tables along with the locals.  Complimentary coffee and donuts are served.  During this time tables may be reserved for your party and decorated however you like.  The Captain & First Mate, and their Crew bring over the side dishes around noon with dinner at 1:00 p.m.   Also, on Friday morning there is a Swap Meet Sale and Book Exchange in the side yard of the Riverview Hotel.  Coffee and refreshments are served.  (Because of limited seating, the Cruiser’s Thanksgiving dinner is not open to the general public.)  To RSVP please email:  gailabrandon@tds.net“

I RSVPd today and look forward to learning more.

As we have headed south over the last two months we have met many cruisers who say that this is one of the highlights of their trip and a visit to St Mary’s should not be missed.

While we have done the entire ICW to date inside, we do plan to head out into the ocean from Beaufort or perhaps Savannah and do a run outside to St Mary’s.   Me, I am looking forward to sailing again as the mainsail cover hasn’t been off since we left the Chesapeake.  Going outside is a must for us as we draw 6′ and there is considerable shoaling in Georgia.  In order for boats with our draft to make the trip, we would have to time much of our time underway according to the tides which would make the trip very tedious as there just isn’t enough water at low tide for us to make it through.

Last evening we hosted two couples aboard Pandora for cocktails having met them both while doing laundry at the marina.   One couple, aboard an IRWIN 42 has been sailing to the Bahamas for the last 5 winters and it was fun to hear of all the great places that they have visited.   Hearing more about where we are headed was inspiring to us both.  The other couple, new to cruising, are heading south on their first trip. On top of that, they were also new to sailing so this is all new to them.  We learned a lot and it was fun to make some new friends.

Another highlight yesterday was the arrival of a Volvo Ocean Racer 70 footer.   Maserati was at the face dock at our marina and had just arrived from Spain with a full crew.  Their next step, after clearing customs here, will be to head north to New York City where they plan to make an attempt to break the New York to San Francisco monohull record originally set by the clipper ship Flying Cloud in 1854, a record that she held for over 100 years.   Interestingly, the Flying Cloud captain’s wife, Eleanor Creesy was the navigator and is credited with much of the success of the record run.

I didn’t take this photo of Maserati.  However, if I did, it would have looked much like this.   What an awesome machine. 

This is her under speed.  It seems that she can run 40kts.   That’s cooking.   Besides, at the dock she looks like she is moving fast already.  
As Maserati is an Italian boat, some of the crew feeds on their site are in Italian although much of it is in English.  The site is worth checking out.  There are also videos and photos worth looking at as well.  This is one slick looking boat.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough on the trigger to get any photos before they shoved off from the dock.  It seems that the captain of Maserati was with the customs officer in the same room as the laundry, trying to stay warm, where Brenda was doing the wash so she was able to listen in as the officer went through the clearing process.  She overheard the captain say that their plan is to have Maserati in New York soon and that they hope to leave around December 11th to begin their attempt.  They fully expect to break the current record.  So where was I while this was going on?  I was off doing grocery shopping.  Bummer.

From our standpoint, Maserati is headed in the wrong direction and a NYC to San Francisco run certainly isn’t in Pandora’s future.  With regards to records, I don’t expect that the crew of Pandora will be breaking any records today with the possible exception of the most visits to the local grocer in a single day.   Well, you have to have goals in order to do your personal best.

Ready, set, grocery shop!!!

As we were having morning coffee today we heard a low rumbling and looked out to see what it was.  It was a wall of steel slowing moving by.   This shot doesn’t begin to give a feel for how the ship blocked out the sky, or how close it was to us as it slid into the dock.  I am perplexed as to why they can’t build attractive cruise ships these days.  I guess that if “form follows function” then these floating feeding stations should look at least as bloated as their passengers.   By that measure the designs are just perfect.  Yesterday, Sunday, we went for another walk through downtown Charleston and although we had visited some of the same neighborhoods the prior day, we found ourselves noticing things that we had not yet seen.  Being here for a full week is very nice as it takes some of the pressure off and makes us feel less like “ohmyGod,ineedtoseeeverythinginasingleday”.

While I may not be, or may never be, in full cruisers mode, (I’ll get to that manana dude) I am trying REALLY, REALLY HARD not to overachieve.  Wish me luck as it will be tough to unlearn a lifetime of time management in the extreme.  I am not optimistic that “laid back” will ever be a phrase that others will use to describe me.  Perhaps if I get a pierced ear with an anchor earring and a tatoo and let my hair grow out it will be a start.  Hmm…

Not sure where that was going so I’ll just drop it.  In any event, I thought that it would be fun yesterday to take photos of some of the nicer, as if that’s even possible to decide, doorways that we saw.

We also visited another mansion, one of several that are open to the public.  This particular one, the Calhoun Mansion, is still in private hands and we were told that the owners, when they are in town, live there.   Not sure that I buy that but it’s what we were told.  They didn’t allow photos inside, but the website has an impressive slideshow that gives a feel for how much stuff is in the home.  It’s PACKED in the extreme, the fashion of the day we were told, where the rich collected massive amounts of stuff to prove how rich they were.  It seems that the current owner is making the same statement and I am convinced that he has firm footing as a member of the 1% club.

I like doorways as it tells you a lot about how the owner wants you to think about their home.  Some are very spare and shabby chic.  Old money perhaps?Some make it clear that a 15 year old SAAB doesn’t live there. Some seem to say “I am above it all”.Some, like this door onto a porch, seem to say “enter, but you aren’t there yet”.Some seem to say “my life is very orderly and if you saw my sock drawer, which you never will, you’d agree”.This seems to say “if you think my patio is nice, you wouldn’t believe how nice it is inside my home”.    Me, I believe!!!

Ok, this isn’t a door, but it’s certainly a window into another world.  No, it doesn’t really fit in this post but I like the shot.
This seems to say, “If you like this door, you can only imagine what’s behind it”.  And, indeed it is an OMG moment when you enter this one, the front door of the Calhoun Mansion. This one?  Not sure what it says.  Me?  I say it’s very nice.I can only guess what is behind all the wonderful doors in Charleston.   However, it’s fun wandering around and imagining.  If there is a common theme here it’s probably “I have money and am not afraid to show it!”   And, I expect that you won’t run into many of them at the buffet table on the cruise ship docked near by.  “Go away you bloated thing, you.  You are blocking my view!”

Perhaps to say that this post is in some way a documentation of the gardens of Charleston overstates it a bit. However, when Brenda and I went for a walk yesterday I thought that it would be fun to find some nice gardens to include in a post.  The weather continues to be wonderful if a bit chilly but it’s perfect for walking around town.

Into every life a bit of rain must fall and our day will likely be Tuesday.  I guess that will have to be our chore day.  Besides, the engine oil needs to be changed and wash needs to be done.  At some point I also have to change the zincs on the prop but will have to wait until we are in a place with less current.  I’d hate to be swept under the dock with the current, pretty creepy thought.

It’s amazing to see just how scenic Charleston is.  The level of detail that goes into everything is inspiring.  In lusting after the gardens I do have to remind myself about the cost of all this.   However, taking pictures is cheap so here goes.   We were told that when a gate is let open to the street it means that the owner is welcoming you to explore their gardens.  Alas, on a Saturday with loads of tourists, no gates open.  These photos were taken through a hole in the gate or bars.   Most of the best gardens we saw were very compact and some, like this one, surround a driveway.

Some are very simple with meticulously sculpted hedges.   Not a lot of oil stains on this driveway.  Very elegant. The architectural details are a visual feast.   This patio/driveway wouldn’t last a single winter in Essex.
Some are perhaps better described as intimate vistas.  It was hard to tear myself away from this one. Imagine an evening pitcher of mint juleps here with friends.  Mmmm…
Container gardens are wonderful and there are plenty to feast your eyes on here in Charleston.
And an endless variety of window boxes, most with automatic watering systems.  You’d surely need them in the heat of summer.
There is an amazing amount of ivy growing everywhere but it’s nearly always very carefully maintained.  I expect that it is trimmed nearly as often as the yards, as small as they are, are mowed.  Labor intensive is the standard here in the nicest neighborhoods.
You can be pretty lavish with your attention to detail when your front yard is only 5′ deep.  I wish my yard was smaller.  How great that would be.
Intimate of not, these gardens are nothing compared to the homes that they surround.  I can’t imagine keeping such a work of art looking fresh for a hundred years.  This would be a good example of the house owning you.
However, in all their grandeur, no house, even here, can rival the beauty of today’s sunrise as viewed from Pandora.  And the cost is only the willingness to be up early enough to enjoy it.
I am blessed to be here with Brenda.  What a wonderful city.   So, what to do today?  So much to do, so little time.

Friday was our first full day to wander around Charleston and wander we did.  We are very pleased to have chosen, and gotten into, the Maritime Center with it’s 21 slips.  It’s a very small place compared with City Marina on the other side of the city with it’s 100s of slips.  While this spot is a bit rolly, it is so convenient to town, shopping and the historic district that the occasional bumping isn’t a real problem.

We walked around the city much of the day and enjoyed seeing all of the wonderful homes, most in nearly perfect condition.   I understand that the “hysterical society” is quite aggressive in making sure that owners don’t allow their homes to be altered or managed badly.  I would find that intrusive but it would be nice to know that everyone has to keep things just so. I do like “just so”.  And just so they are.  Keeping these, mostly white, homes looking perfect takes a massive amount of effort so it’s a rare block that doesn’t have some sort of home repair going on. Masons, carpenters and groundskeepers are everywhere and the loving care and open check books really shows.

I can’t begin to describe the scale and number of beautiful homes but perhaps this random mix of photos will give you an idea of just how amazing it is.   I do love porches, so perhaps that’s a good place to begin this tour.  If one porch is good surely two is better and there are plenty of homes with multiple porches.  There are many curved porches.  I just can’t imagine what it costs to maintain such a home.  No vinyl siding here. One of the grandest homes is now the Two Meeting Street Inn.  We tried to have afternoon tea here but it’s only available to guests.   Everything about this house cries out “wow, I am really expensive to maintain!!!”  It’s a beautiful place and had better be as it’s not an inexpensive place to stay.  One night costs about twice what we are paying for an entire week at this marina.  Somebody has to pay for all that white paint.
The turret is an amazing piece of construction.
Ok, no porch here to speak of but what a home.  Someone told us that many of these homes are only used for a few months a year.  Yikes!!!The home above looks out on this park at the Battery at the southern tip of Charleston.  What a riot of live oaks.  Actually, as they are all lined up,perhaps “riot” isn’t a good word to describe this carefully manicured vista.  I am trying to imagine living in an area with this sort of landscape out in front of my home.  Hmm…  The scale of all of this is a bit overwhelming.While white is the color of choice for homes here, I expect that this one was always painted a color other than white as getting a color change past the local historical society would be nearly impossible.   It also may be the largest porch we saw.  If the outside is this elaborate I can only imagine how the interior must look.
Some of the homes look like they have been heavily updated with new siding and detail work like this one.  Others show generations of paint.   This one is downright modest.  One must have pity or the owner who’s porch is perhaps less than 100′ long.  How demoralizing that must be.
One particularly fun place to visit is the city marketplace.  There are many vendors selling everything from food to baskets.  Brenda’s very focused on one of the sweetgrass baskets and it’s fun comparing the offers from all of the vendors.  You enter the market through this front door and wander for what seems like 100s of yards through packed stalls. We enjoyed a late lunch in this lovely courtyard restaurant.  Perhaps not the most artfully composed photo but the lunch was great.  I can almost hear our son Christopher saying “dad, you can’t get good metering with your camera on auto mode”.   Oh well…

Last evening we had dinner at the Charleston Yacht Club compliments of the local SSCA cruising station hosts Emmett and Mecca, who are now living ashore after eight years of cruising.  They sold their boat last year which must have been tough.  Emmett and Mecca are one more example of how helpful the community of cruisers have been to us on this trip.  The club is informal and very friendly.  We were introduced to many nice folks and had a great evening and were, once again, shown what southern hospitality can be.

Tours by horse drawn carriage is a popular pastime for tourists.  As we are in fact, tourists, we will be taking a ride in one of these before we leave town on Thursday.   It’s fun to walk by the stables and see all of the carriages.

Oh yea, speaking of “a horses ass”, this shot of me making our bed yesterday morning seems to evoke something equine.  Getting under the mattress is the only way that I can get the sheets secure and tight.   And, anyone who knows me realizes that I like things just so.  Tight is good.   Who says that I don’t put photos of myself on the blog. So, that does it for today.  Off to do some more sightseeing.

Well, it’s hard to believe but we are finally here in Charleston another important milestone for us as we have not been in this town together since before we became parents.  With all the fun of Sandy, our arrival was delayed by about a week but we have finally arrived.  In fact, the last time we were here was “less” than a year since we had Rob, our oldest.  You do the math.

We arrived yesterday, Thursday, now over 1,000 miles into our trip on the log, and have splurged on a slip for an entire week. Last night we kicked off our visit with a dinner at a very nice restaurant Sermet’s Downtown.  The food was just terrific and the wait staff was very attentive.  The staff was even wearing bow ties, supplied by a high end men’s store right next door.  Bummer, I should have brought a few of my bow ties aboard Pandora.  Who’d have guessed I’d need them.  Interestingly, there was a 21st birthday girl with 17 of her best girlfriends at a table near us.  I’ll bet that daddy will choke on the check when he sees it.   He wasn’t there to defend himself and it was clear that the management had been told to take care of the girls, which they did.  More champagne girls?   Oh yea, ID first.   As an interesting observation, of the 18 girls there were only two that were not “blond” or some derivative of same.  Must be the gene pool here in Charleston.  Perhaps not.   Only their hairdresser knows for sure.   Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo of the happy group but this one of some pelicans that we took yesterday morning is more similar than different.  And, they were just about as noisy.  I wonder if the sign says “happy birdday Sally Mae”?

Today we head out to do some sightseeing and I know that Brenda has her heart set on getting one of the local sweet grass baskets that are synonymous with this area.  I expect that she will be posting a photo of one in the next day or two.   Me,  I want to get a haircut and have already scoped out a place to get it done.  Interestingly, the barber is directly across the street from a very fancy hotel that I stayed in a few years ago when I presented at a medical society board meeting.

It’s good to be back in town without worrying about projectors and presentations.   No, a haircut, the first one since early September, is what I care about.  That and restocking the fridge which has run low after nearly two weeks without a proper market to visit.

For now I will close with a few shots of Pandora and environs.  Lot’s more to photograph here but this will have to suffice for now.   How’s this for a backdrop?My dad loves bridges and I expect that this one will really get him excited.  Here Dad, a closeup.Now, I am off to get a haircut.   So, how short?  Hmm…

It’s Tuesday morning and the winds have finally died down enough for us to continue south.  After a few days anchored in an oxbow just off of the Waccamaw river we decided to venture further south but after a few hours of enjoying the continued strong winds buffeting us (not!) we decided to pull into another protected area.  So, for the last few days we have been holed up in a little creek deep into an old rice plantation.  Even though there wasn’t much breaking the wind, that was taller than high grass, there wasn’t much wind and even fewer signs of civilization.  It was very pretty and cozy and given the still brisk NW winds, there was not a sign of mosquitoes.  Having said that, there were massive flocks of swallows which certainly suggest that mosquitoes are abundant when they are not being blown away.

Today we decided to move, picked up the anchor and were back on the river shortly after 07:30.  It was really cold, the most frigged yet with the thermometer in the cabin registering a frosty 52 degrees.  It was still breezy with about 15kts on the nose most of the day.  As is usually the case with NW winds, it was also plenty gusty.

Our destination was to be Charleston for tonight but we couldn’t make enough distance in time to make the last opening of the swing bridge a few miles short of our destination.   The bridge doesn’t open between 4-6pm on account of rush hour.  With the short days this time of year that’s a problem for us as going into Charleston in the dark is a non starter for the crew of Pandora.

A few days ago, prior to moving into our latest anchorage, we were treated to a visit by a friend’s aunt, the amazing 88 year old June that I mentioned in an earlier post for a day of sightseeing at a local botanical/sculpture garden.   If you are following Brenda’s blog you have already heard about our day with June so I won’t belabor it here.  Having said that, I will include some photos as the place was just stunning.  I understand that this place, Brookgreen Gardens, has the largest collection of american sculpture anywhere in the world.  Who’d have guessed, here in South Carolina?

This is a nice picture of June and Brenda.  June said that we wore her out and that she was pooped after our time together.  If she was tired while we were touring the garden she didn’t let on.  The number of sculptures was overwhelming.  I expect that there were thousands of them.  Some large and some small.  One theme that carried across the collection was the human form and there were plenty to choose from.  Yes, good form from my perspective. The sculptures were set into the landscape and what a great landscape it was.  Live oaks everywhere. Some views were grand and some more intimate.  Plenty of water features.  I was told that there were some resident alligators but all we saw was a big snake, perhaps 4-5′ long coiled up above us at one point in an arbor just over our head.  Brenda loved it.  Not!!!There were even some late season magnolias still in bloom.  These fragrant flowers are amazing.  This one was at least 6″ across.
After our visit to the gardens our hostess, who I should also add bought us lunch, took us for a visit to a beach that was just teeming with wildlife.  There were hundreds of birds, some quite large.  These birds, wood storks, have a wingspan of some 5′.   They seemed completely unperturbed by our presence.   When they fly their wings are black and it’s an impressive sight.   They are the largest shorebirds that live in South Carolina and are listed as endangered.  Well, there are plenty of them here.  However, we didn’t see any elsewhere on our trip so far.
They look a lot different, and more graceful, when they are flying.    After driving us around town June took us back to her home.  We would have loved to stay a while for a drink on the back deck but I was concerned about Pandora on the ho0k in so much wind so we headed back.  What a lovely view.  There is a massive live oak growing out of the middle of her back deck.  It’s so scenic.  June told us that she had gotten rid of her outboard powered John Boat that she used to go out in, but she still used her kayaks regularly.  She boasted that when her son takes away her driving license that she will just have to get around by kayak.   What a hoot.

As I mentioned, for the last few nights we were anchored in a really remote area, although it did have great cell reception.    It was so narrow that we would surely have run aground when the wind shifted if it weren’t for the current keeping us in the center of the channel.  The view of the grasses and cypress was primeval.  I did look around for alligators but didn’t find any.  Hmm…   Not a bad looking  boat, that Pandora in the evening glow. It’s amazing how different things look depending on the time of the day.  The three next shots were taken within about 30 minutes.  They are not exactly the same place but pretty close.    They are the same general view of Pandora above.  Of course, the sunset is in the opposite direction.  It’s all about the lighting  it would seem. A bit later as the sun set lower in the sky.  And, finally, the setting sun.   Today shortly after we got on our way we passed what I understand is the only ferry on the entire ICW.  And, it’s not much of a ferry at that.  This is such a remote area that you can go for miles without seeing a house or a bridge.  I guess that there aren’t enough folks living here to warrant a bridge of their own. I am not sure what this is.  It’s clearly a lookout of some sort.  However to look at what as it’s just flat marsh in every direction?  Judging by the look of this they have been on the lookout for something for some time.   Too busy looking and not enough time spent painting, it would seem.  I SEE YOU!!!  of should I say THEY SEE YOU!!!  Me?  I see that they need to spend some time on cosmetics.  Perhaps I will close with this picture of a bouquet of water hyacinth that I picked  for Brenda yesterday.  They are pretty small as Brenda has arranged them in a shot glass.  “Hey Buster, that’s a pretty puny excuse for a bouquet!”  Yes, perhaps, but what girl isn’t impressed when a boy/guy brings her flowers?   Small or not…  Besides, as I reached into the swamp grass to pick these I imagined an alligator rising up out of the black water to snatch my hand. Well, that’s what I told Brenda.  She was impressed.  And, that’s my story and I am sticking to it.
Well, it’s opening time so I am going to soon reach for an adult beverage so we can enjoy the sunset.  Tomorrow, on to Charleston for a week.  I am excited.

As I begin this post, it’s Sunday morning and Pandora is anchored in a very scenic spot on the Waccamaw River in South Carolina.  This part of the ICW is fresh water as we are in the middle of a cypress swamp complete with Spanish Moss, tea colored water and all surrounded by low country.  Here everything has to be able to grow with wet feet as there isn’t any dry ground anywhere.

We left Southport on Thursday with the goal of getting a bit further south and away from hurricane Sandy as she churned up the coast.  The recommendation from Chris Parker, the weather router that we use, was that the further south we were when Sandy headed by the better.

It’s hard for me to sit still this long but here we are for the third day after coming down from Southport to Myrtle Beach, where we tied up at a marina that had been recommended by a number of folks as a good place to spend a few days.  The marina is adjacent to a large shopping area.  Unfortunately the “shopping” didn’t include access to any food stores within a reasonable walking distance and the rest of the shopping was primarily a tacky mess of tee-shirt shops and chain eateries.  After one night there I couldn’t stand the thought of paying for another three or four days to be somewhere I didn’t particularly want to be.  The other boats that were in the marina were primarily powerboats and generally folks that never anchored out, just heading from one marina to another, a different mindset compared to the “off the grid” sorts that I generally hang out with.   What, no solar panels?  More than anything though, I am just too cheap to pay for a marina when I can anchor for free.  Besides, I hoped to find a place that was more protected.   Me, I’d rather spend money on food and drink.

After some discussion we decided to head a bit further south and find a good hurricane hole on the Waccamaw River.   Where we are now is quite protected and while the storm hasn’t passed completely yet (as of Sunday morning), the sun is beginning to peak out and the winds are still gusting into the low 20s.  While it’s a good amount of wind, it’s nothing like we would be seeing in a more exposed area where it would be more like the 40s.  The oxbow off of the river where we have anchored isn’t much more than 100′ across here and is surrounded by cypress trees and swamp everywhere.   One particular benefit from wind is that the mosquitoes are not able to do much to annoy us.  I expect that mosquitos can’t fly at 20kts.   Those gusts have to be hell on them…

On our run down the ICW from Southport to Myrtle Beach we passed all sorts of development including some that looked like they had stopped mid construction years ago and never got going again.  We passed strings of private docks built on the waterway where there were no houses, just street lamps and roads.  I guess they were “delayed” by the recession.

However, there was still plenty of examples of conspicuous consumption in Myrtle Beach, home to over 100 golf courses.  How about this little vacation spot?   It’s a bit tacky to be sure.  I wonder if the owner is happy or sad that they purchased this at what was surely a high price.

Or this one perhaps. You have to love the infinity pool and all that blue tile. I am told that the locals refer to this area as the Italian Riviera.    Works for me. But wait, there’s more!    This development even had a highway bridge that matched the local aesthetics.   At least it was the regulation 65′ clearance.  Every one of the many bridges we have passed under on this trip have been your usual concrete ones.  Not in Myrtle Beach, at least not in the “high end” part of the neighborhood.   I wonder if the trash cans are color coordinated.  Hmm… Well, as we passed south we entered the much more remote Waccamaw River and were treated to a view that was more primeval than planned.  And, here we are, anchored on an oxbow off of the main channel and ready for the storm.  As of Sunday morning, as Sandy passes us offshore, it’s more windy now than has been the case for us in the two days we have been here.    At the same time it’s also becoming brighter with a bit of blue peaking through. Remote or not, we continued to have cell coverage although it was strong enough to talk on the phone, data wasn’t working during the storm.    So, now that it’s Monday morning and it’s dead calm the full moon in a clear sky has now set and we have good data again.  Go figure.  In any event, I am able to finally finish this post, a few days in the making.

As I finish writing, Sandy is continuing to churn up the coast and is expected to make landfall near Atlantic City sometime tonight, Monday.  As the storm is such a whopper, the expectation is that there will be a big storm surge and it is expected to be greatest north of the storm, in Long Island Sound and New York Harbor.

Brenda and I are very happy to be here and not further north.   Today we are looking forward to being on the move again as we continue on our trip south.   Yesterday, as the wind whipped around Pandora we took our dink ashore to a marina across the way to meet up with the aunt of one of our friends LeaAnne and Garrett, Garrett’s aunt actually, the 88 year old aunt June.

June, a real pistol and southern lady if there ever was one, picked us up shortly after noon yesterday to  show us the sights including a local sculpture garden that was just amazing.

However, I will have to leave the details of our great day with Jume for another post.   For now I will leave you with a pre-Halloween wish brought to you by Radar, the loyal boat guard traveling along with Frank and Gayle, friends of ours who are making the trip south as well this year.   When they heard that we were anchored here, they decided to make a stop at one of the local marinas, actually the same one where we met June yesterday.  After our day ashore we had a lovely dinner with Frank and Gayle.  We met Frank and Gayle some years back after they returned from years cruising in the Med, Turkey in particular,  aboard their SAGA 43, Alcid.   This time they are aboard a power cat, stinkpot, for a change of pace.  This boat, all 35′ of her, powers along at 25kts compliments of twin Volvo Penta 225 hp diesels with a total of 500hp.   Well, while they may outrun us by a factor of 4x the speed of Pandora, I take some solace in knowing that they are paying about 8x as much for fuel.   While we count our consumption in the miles per gallon range, there’s is more like gallons per mile. What, you can’t make Miami in a day from here?

So, again, Radar, all dressed up in his lobster suit says, Happy Halloween!!! Doesn’t he look humiliated?  Poor guy. His mother is tough on him as you can see.  However, he is from Maine and all dogs in Maine have to dress up as a lobster at least once.Today?  The sun is out and we are finally on our way again.  And, this post is FINALLY done!!!