For Sale!

After 6 years of living aboard, a marriage, a pregnancy, two countries and hundreds of islands, we have finally gotten her all cleaned up and ready to list. This is such a bittersweet day for us. We have both already gotten in the land mode mind set and are enjoying A/C, running water, sleeping through the night without having to check the anchor, and dishwashing and laundry machines in our own home.

But, there are so many great memories on this boat, and so many adventures left undone. Moving to land, getting jobs and starting a family are new adventures in and of themselves, but we are going to miss this nomadic lifestyle. It was the best random decision we have ever made and I wouldn't change one second of it (well, maybe one or two of the less enjoyable moments). We have become better individuals and a more united couple because of our time spent at sea. We have met so many great people from all walks of life and will keep in touch with them even though we are no longer on the water.

And although this is goodbye to "All In", this is not goodbye to sailing. It runs deep in our blood now and I am sure that this is only a hiatus.

"All In" looks better now than she has since we bought her - isn't that the way it always goes?! Thanks to some sweat equity from my parents and of course my diligent husband and myself, we have her in pristine condition. My only hope is that she sells quickly and goes to someone who will love her as much as we did. I hope, like us, her travels are only just beginning and that she has many more miles to see.

Working hard:

The finished product:

Final Destination

We left Osprey Marina early this morning to make our way to Little River, the final resting place for our old girl. We had to make it through the "Rock Pile" and were a bit nervous, so wanted to hit it as close to high tide as we could. The Rock Pile has occurred because the ICW had to be blown out to get through Myrtle Beach. There are large boulders and rock piles along the sides, hidden beneath the water, just waiting to catch the bottom of a vessel. We studied the charts carefully and were diligent about staying to the center of the channel - luckily, we didn't have any issues whatsoever.

Must have been due to our excellent steering:

Or our first rate navigator:

The rocks were no issue, depth was great and the bridges all opened up on cue for us. It was a picture perfect motor through Myrtle Beach. We made it to Light Keepers Marina in Little River at 3pm and pulled in to a slip on a T dock - home at last.

Brad's mom met us shortly thereafter and we loaded up the Explorer with the first load of our belongings. We will be staying at her place (her retirement home here in Myrtle Beach) for a few months while we figure out where we want to live and while we get the boat ready to sell.

Although we had high ambitions to completely unload the boat today, we were both exhausted and decided to call it a night and start early the following day.

We managed to pack everything up the following day and got all of our belongings in just two car trips! I don't know if that's a good thing, or sad that we have so few belongings. Tomorrow starts the dirty work - getting her clean and updated so that she shows well for her final pictures.

A Great Day!

This morning we got up early and headed North. We were planning on just doing a half day and anchoring South of Georgetown, but when we got to our anchorage around lunchtime, the wind had piped up and the anchorage we had picked out was extremely choppy. With high tide still on our side, we opted to go ahead and press on towards Georgetown. We made it through the remainder of the shallows without incident and before we knew it, we were in the wide open river running by Georgetown.

We threw up our sails and killed the engine, eager to enjoy an afternoon of sailing. I had just settled in for a nap in the shade of the bimini when I felt the first flutter of movement from our little baby. The flutter turned to full on movement - apparently sailing was in his blood and he loved it as much as we did! He carried on for quite awhile as we made our way up past Georgetown. It was an all around fantastic day and we made it North of Georgetown, where we dropped anchor under sail along a wide stretch of the ICW. It was a perfect evening at anchor and we savored our final night out on the hook. Tomorrow we would stay at a marina.

The following day, we had a visitor bright and early when I took Koa out to pee. I snapped a few pictures of him as the sun was coming up.

Despite my early start, we had a leisurely breakfast and upped anchor by mid-morning. We had a great motor through some beautiful cypress swamps - the scenery was perfect. These waters were reputed to be some of the most beautiful on the ICW and we couldn't have agreed more. We even motored right by the building where we attended the wedding of some of our dear friends only 3 years before!

We made it to Osprey Marina in South Myrtle by early afternoon and tied up to the transient dock. The dock was quite a trek from the office, but that was of no concern to us because the dock master greeted us at our slip with a golf cart for our usage while we were there. Not only was that a first for us, but we were also given an awesome welcome bag - filled with information about the area, menus for the restaurants that delivered to the marina and some snacks and jars of locally made jelly. How's that for a welcome?!! This place was great!

We called Brad's mom and told her we had pulled in to a marina not far from her and would she like to come get us so we could all go out to dinner. We met up at the office and headed out for a nice dinner on land. We were happy to finally be close to our destination and turned in early for our last night on the boat.


Snapped some pics with our sailing mutt:

Furry Friends Part 2: Koa

This post has been a long time coming and my apologies for not writing it sooner. There is so much to write about this guy that it always seems such a daunting post. So this post may be a bit lengthy, but here goes...

Koa adapted surprisingly well to the boat life, which we introduced him to at the age of 5. After living on the streets of Baltimore, we weren't sure how boat life would suit him, but he has thrived. He really just likes to be wherever we are and since we are usually around him 24/7 while on the boat, he seems happy with this crazy life choice.

The first few weeks were trial and error - teaching him to use the bathroom on deck, getting him in and out from below deck, on and off the boat - these were all obstacles we had to figure out together. First, we built this sophisticated ramp that ran from the top of the companionway stairs to the top of the galley counter below. The stairs in boats can be a bit tricky for dogs as it is similar to climbing a ladder and we had read that people had success with these ramps. It was a great feat to build and we even covered it with carpet so that it wouldn't be slippery for him. We used it exactly twice before one day he just jumped up the stairs on his own. Well, at least we didn't have to cart that ramp around!

Next came getting him to go to the bathroom on board- this was a bit trickier. He went the whole day while we were motoring down the ICW without peeing. We both took him out on deck and tried to coerce him, but no go. Finally that night, in one last ditch effort, I took him out and squeezed on his bladder (which I don't recommend unless you know what you are doing!) and voila! He peed! We praised him and gave him all kinds of treats and after that, he was good to go! At first he just peed anywhere, anytime. At one point, he even peed directly into a porthole and onto our setee - which was hysterical to me, it's not like I could get mad at the guy! Eventually though, (and we still wish we could take credit for this, but it is self-taught) he started peeing overboard. Much to our happiness, and the delight of everyone who witnesses this event, he goes to the bow, puts his head alongside the head sail, raises his leg and pees completely off the boat. It. Is. Amazing. For real.

We lucked into the open transom on this boat; this has been a godsend with getting Koa on and off the boat. We pull the dinghy up alongside and he just jumps right in. In fact, one day we couldn't find him anywhere on the boat and were both in a panic when I looked back and saw him sitting in the dinghy which was floating tied to the back of the boat. He must have been standing on the transom for an hour waiting for it to float close enough that he could just jump in. Of course we couldn't resist that cute face just waiting in the dinghy by himself and we took him for a quick ride.

Koa loves dinghy rides and swimming. We try to take him to shore at least once a day, mostly just to swim and tire him out. As he has gotten older, he has developed some joint issues and swimming is great for him. And he will swim for hours! We quickly learned our snooty water dog doesn't like the taste of salt water, so any kind of fetch toy that gets saturated is quickly denied retrieval (ie, tennis balls). We invested in half a dozen hard water floating water toys and he loves them all. After a few rounds of fetch, he is content to flail around in the sand for a bit and make sure everyone around him is also adequately covered before going in for another dip.

His favorite toy!

He doesn't much care for sailing, but we finally found the trick is to bring his bed outside into the cockpit and lay it on the floor in between the seats and he will lay right down and go to sleep. He rolls to whichever side is the lee and settles back against the seat and is out like a light. And this way we know he won't fall off. During rough weather or overnight passages, we tuck both of the pets downstairs and keep them there until calmer seas or daylight prevails. But, give this dog a light 10 knot breeze and he loves nothing more than to sit back beside the helm, nose up and sniff the air. Or curl up on one of the seats looking out over the water as the scenery passes by. And Koa is a born fisherman! Put a fishing line in the water and he goes crazy! He will bark at first, then settle down to just stare at it - for. hours. Literally. As soon as we have a fish on, he goes crazy again.

Looking out over the water:

Loves sitting at the helm:

He loves these folding chairs as much as we do!

Being on the boat is a bit of a small environment so we let him up on all the couches and beds. Otherwise he would only have about 10 feet of space to walk in. And this is fine with him, because he is a cuddler; he must be touching one of us at all times. And he firmly believes everyone who gets on this boat is there just to pet him.

We have enjoyed having him on board and although he makes it a bit trickier to travel, we wouldn't have had it any other way. As he is getting older, it is getting a bit harder for him to get around the boat and he is a factor in our decision to swallow the anchor. He has put in his dues on the boat and we are more than happy to give him flat land, soft beds and walks around the neighborhood whenever he wants.

Keeping it cool:

Charleston Sail

We left this morning around 9 because we had to time the tides to get through the Elliot Cut, just South of Charleston. This is a narrow 2 mile cut through land and if you don't go at slack tide, the current can rush at 5 knots and you will be at a standstill. Add to that the fact that there is a bridge that has to open for us that only opens every half hour and it could be a bit of a problem. If we arrive at the bridge too early, we have to just tread water, but with a current against you or on your stern you can be pushed around quite a bit. We were a bit nervous going through here, but were anxious to head on. Luckily, we made it through with no problems, hit the cut right at slack tide and had no current resistance and even made it just in time for a bridge that is halfway through the cut to open for us. It was perfect and was a great start to our day.

Once we were through the cut, we were right at Charleston. With the wind blowing just ahead of the beam, we unrolled the jib and had a great sail around the Charleston harbour. We sailed for about an hour before making it across to the ICW on the other side. It was a beautiful day and so peaceful with the motor off and the boat cruising through the water. Hopefully we can sail again around Georgetown!

Beautiful Charleston in the background:

Our sailing mutt:

This never gets old:

Dog's eye view:

Koa checking the lines:

We motored through the next part of the ICW, which is said to be very shallow at low tide. This was a bit unnerving to hear because we had found that the ICW for the most part was very shallow and had even hit some parts that had we not gone through at high tide, we would have been hard aground. So, to know that this was a particularly shallow spot was not good news. We were still at mid tide and should have enough water to get through, but it would be close. After some research on Active Captain, a cruising website that helps you navigate the ICW, we were ready to favor the land side and hope for a couple of spare feet under our keel.

As we approached the shallow area, the depth came way up...as was expected. Except it came up more than what we had even thought it would. We were moving very slowly (1knot) through about 5.5 ft of water. That means that the bottom of our boat was only .5 inch above the bottom. At a few points, the reading on our depth sounder was even less. I noticed that all of the smaller local boats were not favoring the land side and were actually closer to the marker and I thought that peculiar. Finally, one of the local guys went flying past us and gestured grandly that we should move closer to the markers. I gladly did as he recommended since we were losing even more water and was happy to find that we now had 2 feet under the keel. So much for the advice from Active Captain! We continued on at our slow pace, with the depth coming and going and finally breathed a collective sigh of relief when we reached depths of 5-7 feet.

We only motored another 10 miles North of Charleston before deciding to stop for the night. It was early today, but low tide was coming upon us and the depths we were seeing were lean and making us a bit hesitant to press on. We are currently anchored in a nice creek off the ICW and enjoying the breeze that is flowing through the cabin.

A few more short days of travel and we should reach Little River in the beginning of next week!

Let's try this Again!

8.13.15

Well, our first attempt to pass through Beaufort had proven unsuccessful and after spending two months waiting for our transmission to be repaired (that's what we get for having a Japanese tranny!), we were more than ready to head further North. By now, the Chesapeake and places further were beyond our reach and we were hoping just to make it to Little River to dock the boat and put her up for sale. With the new transmission installed and the engine aligned and mounts tightened, we were excited to head out. So, last Friday, we waited for the tide to be in our favor and then tossed the lines and were on our way! Or so we thought...

Unfortunately, the boat turned, kissed its bow to the dock and we literally just spun on our axis stuck to the dock so that we went from being tied up on our port side to being broadside on our starboard. Not knowing what was going wrong, but knowing that something wasn't right, I quickly switched the lines to the other side of the boat and made a jump for the dock. I got the bow line secure and by the time I made it to the stern of the boat, Brad was there to hand me the stern line. Hmmmm....not how we had imagined our departure going.

With the lines securely tied to the dock, we were able to look into the matter a bit more. We found that forward was reverse and reverse was forward. This happened because we had to flip a piece of the transmission to get it to fit into our engine compartment (which our repair guy assured us was ok to do). Well, we would have made do with that and just shifted in reverse for the trip until we could fix it, but we have a feathered prop, which means that it cannot go either way, it has to be set up in a certain direction. So, not only were we going in the direction, we had no control over the boat.

A quick call to our repair guy and we realized we were going to be in Dataw another four days. Fabulous. We put on our smiley faces and decided there was no reason to fret, we would just use the time to get a few boat projects done. We were hoping to wait until we got up to Little River, but it just wasn't meant to be. So, for the next few days we crossed a few items off our checklist.

Finally, after the repair guy drove down and fixed our transmission, we were ready to press on - for real this time we hoped! We left the dock at first light and off we went! We were so excited and both of us were holding our breath in hopes that everything would continue to run smoothly. Luckily, we had a fabulous day of motoring and made great time up the ICW. It was a long day and we didn't drop the hook until just before 7 (almost 12 hours later!), but we had made it to just South of Charleston and couldn't have been happier.

We enjoyed dinner in the cockpit and just soaked up the beauty of being at anchor, knowing that this is one of the last few times we will get to experience this. Tomorrow we head up past Charleston.

We were all excited to get back on the water:

Love this little copilot:

Brad ushering in the sunset:

As a side note, the whole time we have been stuck in Dataw, we have had the luxury of getting to know and spending time with the Hausers, Caroline and Rudy. Caroline is from Franklin and has known my Dad and his brothers for years. This is our first time meeting them (you will remember I wrote about her when we had lunch on the day we arrived in Beaufort) and we couldn't have asked for anyone more hospitable. They chauffered us around before we had our car, making sure we somewhere to do our laundry and taking us to the grocery store. They have invited us over for dinner at least once a week and have even come to pick us up via boat a few times! They have been our lifesavers and we just wanted to give a HUGE THANK YOU to both of them for all of their help! We would have had a hard time making it all work without them!

The End is in Sight!

We *FINALLY* got our transmission back yesterday. The repair guy has been nothing but great (albeit a bit slow) in helping us out and was able to fix it quickly once we finally tracked down all the parts. We drove to Charleston to pick it up so that we wouldn't have to wait for it to be shipped down to us. He had completely rebuilt it and also painted it a shiny silver - it looks fabulous! It is sitting cozily on our sole right now awaiting Brad's install of it later today (after lots of research mind you). We hope to have it installed today, checked and aligned by the yard tomorrow and we hope to cast off the lines on Wednesday.....for the first time in over a month! We are excited, and hopeful, to finally be on the move again.

We plan to take a week to make our way up to Little River where we will dock the boat for possibly the last time. We want to make sure we spend a few nights enjoying sunsets out at anchor and also take a few days to enjoy some sailing. She has been a great boat and we have loved *almost* every second of owning her.

They say the best days in a boaters life are the day you buy it and the day you sell it. But I can officially say that the day we sell her will be one of the saddest days of our lives. This is the first "home" we bought together and we have spent the entirety of our marriage in the cozy confines of her hull. She has taken us to far off places and shown us cultures and experiences most people only dream of. And she eased us into the wonderful world of sailing.

With the impending sale of "All In", I am going to be discontinuing this blog. I will document the last of our trip travels and probably a few more photos as we get her ready for market, but then this will be finished. I also, in my sleepless, pregnant nights lately, have realized that I never did a blog on Koa - so rest assured, that is of top priority and will be done as well before we close this down for good. Don't forget to read about our final sailing adventures and thanks for following along with us on our journeys!

Ramblings

Well, we are at it again. Tomorrow we are renting another car (Enterprise loves us right now!) and heading up to Virginia. My sister is getting married this weekend at my parents house and we are heading up early to help with preparations.

We are also on the hunt for a "new" car. We have scoured craigslist for the last three days and found the best possible cars available and will likely spend an entire day test driving cars. While this is a dream for Brad, this is not even close to my idea of fun. But, this is the first logical step in moving back to land life and we are eager to have transportation again - especially down here in middle of nowhere Dataw. Unfortunately the used car pool is slim down here in the sticks, so we are looking in the Norfolk area where we can cast a wider net.

We are excited for the weekend festivities, but sad to be leaving our little floating home bubble again. Being so secluded down here has been great for the past week - we have watched many movies. discussed our future at length and just generally spent time together. And now that the threat of jobs looms before us, I am coming to appreciate this time even more. Not many people I know get to spend so much time with their spouses and I consider myself extremely lucky to have this time and this relationship with mine. There is something so comforting about just sitting quietly together, sitting in the cockpit enjoying the evening, or even taking the dog for a walk in the evenings. I am dreading the time when we get caught up in life again and rarely have time to even carry on a conversation. But that makes this time together that much more precious.

This sailing life has brought us so many wonderful experiences and it will always be nice to reflect back on these times and to use them to inspire us to do it again!

In Limbo

So, these last few weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions: excitement, trepidation, utter sadness. Accepting the fact that we will be selling our boat has been so hard for us both - and add to that the fact that it was the first home we bought together and we are both having moments of doubt and sometimes complete depression. But, seeing all of our friends and family has helped us to realize that now that we are moving to land, we will have the benefit of being able to see all of these wonderful people so much more often. While we have made plenty of cruising friends, we have missed those land lubbers who have supported us and loved us through all of our crazy travels. They say it takes an village to raise a baby, and it will be nice to be close to people who can come running when we raise the white flag!

Being in this middle limbo between land and sea has only made this situation worse. Due to our transmission issue, we have been stuck in the same place for a month now. We are neither land lubbers nor out enjoying the ocean breezes on our faces, soaking up the last bits of sailing we will be doing for awhile. I think the latter part has gotten us in more of a funk than anything. Knowing that our time on the boat is coming to an end, we are both eager to get in as much sailing as we can and being stuck at a dock is just miserable.

On the other hand, we *think* we have decided that Little River, SC will be our new home we are eager to get her up to the marina and begin the process of decommissioning her to be sold. We have lots of cleaning, sprucing up and moving off to do before she can be shown and we both realize that the winter season is closing in on us faster than we would like. Ideally, we will have her sold before cold sets in, but time is of the essence.

Nor can we search out apartments and jobs until we have gotten settled in our new location. So, here we sit, in limbo - trying to plan out our next moves and get a jump on anything we can to make our transition easier, but also trying to enjoy the last few months of boat ownership. Neither is easy in our current state and I think we are both ready to get a move on and hurry this process up on all accounts.

I think a good day of sailing out on the water is just what the doctor ordered...

Baby on Board!

The rest of this year is going to be a big one in our little family - we are expanding by one!

We have been dying to share this news with all of our family and friends, but thought it would be more fun to do it in person, so were waiting to make our semi annual tour. Although the waiting nearly killed us, being able to see the looks on everyone's faces made it worth the wait!

We are thrilled to welcome our newest crew member at Christmas this year and cannot wait to start this new chapter of our lives!! However, with this exciting news came an almost literal slap to the face - how were we going to afford a baby on a boat?! After much thinking, debating, a bit of arguing and lots more thinking, we finally came to the decision that it would be better to start our little family on terra firma rather than on the boat. So, with heavy hearts, we are looking for our final port and a place to sell our floating home.

This decision did not come easily, especially for me. I have been lucky enough to come across a few boating mommas out there (namely Genevieve and Brittany whose amazing blogs you can check out here: ItsANecessity and WindTraveler) who have befriended me and for years I have watched their beautiful children grow into amazing little people with a fierce sense of self. I have always loved and admired the way that boat children are brought up - exposed to so many different cultures and an entirely different way of life - they seem to be so much more aware and easy-going and learn such a sense of independence early on. I have always wanted that for my children and the thought of raising a child on a boat doesn't scare me, it excites me. But, to raise a child, you must have money and that is something that we are sorely lacking at this moment.

To be able to afford this fantastic lifestyle that we have lived, we have both had to work long, back-breaking hours when we are ashore. To cut one of us out of the equation to stay at home with a child means half of our savings gone and in turn, our trips would be cut in half. So, we have to make the decision that is right for us as a new family and will sell the boat. I will, however, be forcing my children to enroll in sailing school as soon as they know how to swim! The sailing bug is in our blood now and we are both still holding onto the dream that we will be back on a boat before we know it!

Semi Annual Friends and Family Tour, Spring of '15

It has been awhile since our last post, and while there has been lots going on in our social lives, our poor boat is still sitting in limbo. Despite multiple phone calls and internet queries, neither Brad nor our transmission repair guy has been able to locate a new transmission for us. So, our boat has been sitting disabled at the marina for over two weeks now, with no end in sight. Luckily, yesterday, our luck changed....kind of. Our repair guy called and said he had decided to do a complete rebuild of our transmission using new parts. He had ordered them from Japan and hoped they would come in within the next two weeks. Add another week for the actual rebuild and another week for shipping and the actual reinstallment of the transmission on our boat and it looked like it would be another 3-4 weeks of being here in Dataw. While we were excited to finally hear that a solution had been found, we were less than thrilled at the prospect of being here that much longer.

Dataw has been fabulous - friendly, caring people abound and now with our spiffy new A/C, we are comfortably biding our time. But, we are car-less and there is nothing within ten miles of our little marina - literally nothing. So, here we sit, plotting out our next big move and waiting to see when things will be resolved. But we are hopeful! At least there is starting to be a dim light visible at the end of the tunnel!

Meanwhile, our social life has been great! (Not in Dataw - we are the only liveaboards and often we will go an entire day without seeing another person!) But if you remember from my last post eons ago, we decided to hit the road and start our semi annual friends and family tour early. Usually we wait until we are settled in one spot before we do this, but with the heat, this seemed like the perfect time. So we loaded our kids and our possessions into a rental car and headed out!


We have the best little travelers!!

We had so much fun catching up with everyone (and soaking in their A/C and running water) and were happy to be able to spend so much time with people since we were not on a strict schedule. We made it to Franklin to see my family first, then on to Baltimore to visit Brad's family and to meet our perfectly adorable little niece, Liliana, who we couldn't get enough of!

After seeing family, we starting trying to squeeze in as many friends as we could - Columbia and Richmond were next to meet up with some of my fantastic college girlfriends and then down to Corolla to see our home away from home and spend some time with the ever fabulous Defeo clan.

**Disclaimer: I was a terrible tourist this trip and hardly took any pictures! So sorry for the lack of photos in this post! I will do better next time!


We rounded the trip out with a tour of the North Carolina water front in hopes that we would find a new port to call home. We were surprised that none of the North Carolina towns had much to offer in terms of boater friendliness and convenience and even more surprised when we found that our two favorite cities actually ended up being Little River and Charleston, both in South Carolina. After a few days stay in Myrtle Beach to recharge our batteries, we headed back to the boat.

Although we love our road trips and enjoy our time catching up with all our friends and family, we were all happy to be back in our little floating home and have been soaking up our little slice of heaven.

Transmission Woes

Well, looks like we are going to have to replace the transmission. After having a mechanic take a look at it, he told us there was nothing he could do. The yard has been great with giving us suggestions and letting us know how much and how long this whole process will take. But, it was Brad who did the most research and finally found an alternative to the expensive transmission replacement. He located a guy (one of only three on the entire east coast) who rebuilds marine transmissions and has done extensive work with our brand of transmission.

We soon realized this process was going to take a couple of weeks and after sweating it out in the sweltering heat for two days, we knew that was not an option. So, we decided to rent a car and head up for our "Friends and Family Tour" a bit early. This way, we could enjoy air conditioning and also visit people we hadn't seen since before our Bahamas trip. Visiting everyone now would mean that once we finally stopped for the summer, we would be ready to jump right in to working. So, off we went!

We had to personally deliver the transmission to the repair guy and then made the trip up to Franklin. All of us were thrilled to be in the A/C in the car, especially the fur babies and they were soon passed out in the back seat. It was an easy trip up and we were happy to once again be on dry land and in the comfort of a home. And it was great to see my parents, too. ;-)

The plans from here on out are tentative. We don't know exactly how long the transmission repair will take and we have no plans to return to the boat until she is fully ready to move again - it is just too hot. So, we are playing each day by ear and we will return to the boat once we are either done with visiting everyone or the transmission is fixed - whichever comes first.

In the meantime, we are completely enjoying the comforts of land life and are looking forward to catching up with everyone along the way! We are going to be making stops in Franklin, Baltimore, DC, Richmond, and Corolla - if you are on the way, give us a shout; we would love to see everyone!!

Dataw Help

So on Sunday morning we woke up early, hoisted the dinghy and got the lines ready to tie up at a marina. We called TowBoatUS and then waited for them to arrive. We did have some forward movement with our transmission, but were worried that we wouldn't be able to fight the current. And we pay for the Tow Package every year and never use it, so - Time to Cash In!!

The tow guy was great and we moved along at a speedy 8 knots and made it to Dataw Island Marina in no time at all. The dockhands helped us get all our lines on and we both heaved a sigh of relief once we were safe and secure at the dock. Right after we tied up, I heard my name and looked over to see Caroline and her husband, Rudy, on their go fast boat coming over to the marina. I had apprised them of our situation and told them we would love to see them again since it seemed we were still in their area after all! So, they came over and checked on us and then we agreed to get together for dinner at their place.

We spent the day sweltering on the boat - Summer is upon us and here we sit with no air conditioning. The heat index was 105 degrees and we felt every degree of it. There was not even a breath of air to be felt to help relieve some of the heat. And even though we had all the fans on, the hot air was just being pushed around. So, when Caroline called and told us to be ready at 5 and they would come pick us up, we jumped at the chance to spend an evening indoors. We took cold showers and made sure the pets had plenty of water and fans facing every spot they liked to lie and we headed over to their house.

What a feast! We had fresh local shrimp for starters and then perfectly cooked, extra large steaks with fresh asparagus and potatoes and finished it all off with homemade peach cobbler a la mode. It was fantastic and we ate double our weight in food I think. And the company was fantastic! We all had a great time and we were so grateful to them for opening up their home for us - she even invited us to do a load of laundry!

Tomorrow morning we find out what the problem is with the transmission and how long it will take to fix it. It seems as if first on the list is going to be procuring an a/c unit in the next 24 hours!

The day from Hell

Friday morning we slept in a bit and then took Koa in for a stroll along the Riverfront parks. He loved getting off the boat, as usual, and made sure to leave his mark on every tree in the park. Once we were back on the boat, we got her ready to head North. We were trying to time the opening of the swing bridge just North of us as it only open three times during the middle of the day and we didn’t want to miss our chance!

We waited until 10:45 to cast off the mooring line so that we would make the 11:00 opening. Unfortunately, the mooring line had become wrapped around our keel. So, with time pressing down on us, Brad jumped into the dinghy, untied the mooring lines and I allowed the big boat to just drift back off the mooring. Brad caught up with me, jumped on the boat and we revved the boat up to head to the bridge, praying we would make this opening. Luck was on our side and we made it just in time! This was to be the only luck we would find today, however, and perhaps when the mooring line was wrapped around our keel we should have taken it as a sign and stayed where we were….

Once through the bridge, we pointed the bow North and headed up the ICW towards Charleston, our next *INTENDED* destination. After about an hour of motoring, I told Brad that something didn’t feel right and that we were moving entirely too slow, even motoring against the current we should have been moving at a steadier clip that what we were. Brad ran downstairs and took a look at the engine, but nothing appeared obviously out of the ordinary.

Brad took the helm a bit later and I went downstairs to tidy up and get a few things done in the galley, when suddenly the boat lurched forward and then came to a dead stop. Immediately I knew we had run aground so I ran outside and while Brad put the boat in neutral, I let the jib sheets fly so that we would not be pushed farther aground. We checked out our surroundings and realized we must have just barely gotten out of the channel and were probably just sitting on top of the mud. As Brad went to the bow, I saw a trawler approaching from the other direction. I hailed him on the VHF and asked him to speed up and throw some wake our way in hopes that we could bounce off. He gladly obliged and sent a large wake our way. I threw the boat into forward, hard over to the right and felt us bounce along on top of the mud….and come to a stop again, still stuck. Luckily, the very nice people on the trawler flagged down a go fast boat coming up behind us and told them to come see if they could help. They were a very nice couple about our age and were more than happy to help. He ran his boat just off our bow and told us that we must be on a small hump of mud because about 4 feet in front of us the water was 12 feet deep. So, we tied a bow line on our boat and tossed him the other end. It took about three tries, but finally we were off and floating freely in the channel again.

**Side Note: While we were sitting stuck in the mud for those 20 minutes, we were unfortunately directly beside a marine air strip, where very loud fighter planes were doing touch-and-gos every few minutes. They were literally flying directly overhead and the sound was deafening!! The first one was neat to see so close to us, but the ten more after that were just too much for all our ears!

As we motored on again, I realized that whatever was happening with the engine was getting worse – we were going unbearably slow –about 1 knot. Brad went downstairs and took a closer look at the engine and realized the transmission wasn’t running as quickly as it should be. We motored a bit farther, hoping to gain speed, but to no avail.

So, with a large storm cell hot on tail and us barely moving forward at all, we opted just to throw out the anchor and figure out our options. After a few phone calls and a closer inspection of the engine, we soon realized we didn’t really have an option. There was a marina, with a yard (repair guys), just a few miles up and we could be towed there and have them check out our transmission. There was no way we were making it to Charleston. So, hopes dashed, we checked in with TowBoatUS and the marina and made arrangements to be towed in on Sunday (no sense paying for dockage when no one can look at our engine until Monday).

As soon as we got off the phone, we looked outside and there was a huge black cloud approaching. By this time, we had been through three small rain storms, with just heavy rain, but no wind. One check of the radar told us that this was a doozy and that the winds were forecasted to be 40knots. Brad ran out and let out more anchor line and I pulled all our things out of the cockpit just as the wind and rain hit. Within minutes we were laid over on our side from the force of the wind and there were two foot waves - in the ICW! We drug anchor a bit, but luckily the ICW is very wide here so it wasn’t a problem. Once the anchor set though, we were fine. The storm lasted about a half hour and was brutal – heavy rain, strong wind, lightning, thunder.
Once the storm passed, we decided that was the last straw – we were tired, wet and stressed out. Under sail, we moved a bit closer to the marina that we were intending to go to on Sunday and then dropped the anchor and called it a day. Tomorrow will be a “Snow Day” or a day of relaxation and then Sunday begins the fun of being towed and figuring out what exactly is wrong with our engine and how much it will cost to get us back on the water again….

After this long and very eventful day, we had only made it 10 miles up the ICW and were still in Beaufort, just North of Ladys Island. What a slap in the face.

Beaufort, SC

We left Savannah early Wednesday morning and for the first time in awhile, made great time and were able to reach Beaufort (60 miles) in one day! We passed by Parris Island and this infamous water tank reading "WE MAKE MARINES" right around 5pm with the rain clouds hot on our tail. Luckily it had been cloudy on and off for most of the day, so we kept relatively cool and the clouds provided a nice breeze so we were able to use our sails a bit as well! We dropped anchor just South of Beaufort right before sunset and will head in tomorrow morning to see the town!

Thursday morning, we were treated to this entertainment while we had breakfast in our cockpit - summer sailing camp! We must have been right in the middle of their course because they all kept circling around us. It was great! And they all loved seeing Koa on the boat.

Soon after, we upped anchor and moved over to a city mooring right in front of town. Thanks again to the power of the internet, we had learned of a close family friend of the Burgesses who lived right outside of Beaufort. After a quick phone call, we agreed to meet in town for lunch; so off we went! We met at a local favorite, Plums, and had a delicious lunch together while we got to know each other. Caroline was fabulous and we all had a great time, and she gave us some must-sees while we were in town.

So, after lunch we headed over to take a carriage ride around the town, at her urging. It was a carriage ride tour and our tour guide, Bud, was fabulous. The weather was perfect with a breeze to keep us cool and we learned a lot about the city and its history, as well as the fact that many many movies have been made here! We loved every minute of this tour and were sorry to see it end, although I was happy that the tour was over for the sake of our horse, Bob; I can’t believe they run those tours in the hot afternoons!

After the tour guide had familiarized us with the layout of the town, we strolled around for a bit, seeing some of the sites up close, including the old Episcopal Church with a brick wall made from ballast bricks from England and grave stones that were used as operating tables during the Civil War – with old saw marks still visible! We walked along the main street and enjoyed many of the cute little shops there, and then we walked back to the boat via the waterfront. The town has delegated the land right on the water to be used for parks only, so beautiful parks line the River.


We headed back to the boat, fully intending to go back in later, but found that we were exhausted after walking around in the heat of the day and so called it an early night.