Myrtle Beach to Hilton Head
No, not in one day. We arrived back at Myrtle Beach November 23rd, and son Tristan met us at the airport as he is working in Augusta again, and could spend a long weekend with us.
The boat looked quite good considering it had been sitting for 2 months, but the past month had been
wet and "self-washing". The weather for most of the week was sunny and dry, but cool mornings (~5C) and warm afternoons.
Good thing Tristan was there for the weekend, as one of the boat re-commissioning jobs was to reinstall the bridge canvas, and having a second set of hands on the end of long arms was very helpful. The canvas had come down at the end of September as the boat would be left exposed for the last two months of hurricane season. Canvas comes down a lot easier than it goes back up as it fits very tightly. Also had the opportunity to clean and polish the outside of the clear vinyl before installation which is largely impossible to reach when the canvas is all up.
We enjoyed some recreation time in MB as well, with a walk on the strand and a ride on the Ferris
wheel, which is the largest on the east coast. Even managed to find an "Average American bar" that was showing the Grey Cup game!
Tackled a number of other needed maintenance jobs such as a new carburetor for the dinghy outboard, domestic water line leak, refrigeration service, new blower in the engine room, varnish on the stern name plaque, and even a new lid switch in the washing machine. Tristan departed Tuesday and we decided not to leave until Friday, as this suited our destination plans and the expected weather, and US Thanksgiving would mean most marinas would not be open for receiving boats on the Thursday. We did enjoy Thanksgiving dinner at the marina, which was huge and great value.
We departed Friday morning under sunny skies and light winds but cool temps to commence our southward journey. First stop was Georgetown, a 55 mile run, where we had stopped on the way north. Had to get the engine synchronizers serviced as for some inexplicable reason they had quit working, which left the port engine only able to run at idle and the starboard engine doing most of the work. Made for slightly awkward steering with disproportionate power, but not too bad. I had phoned ahead for a mechanic and he was able to solve the problem in less than a half hour. Apparently some re-set of the system was all it needed. Another example of "boats like to be used" as this developed while the boat was sitting idle. So all in, a full week of maintenance jobs.
The 58 mile run Saturday was designed to give us two nights in Charleston, to enjoy the city again, and sit out some expected poor weather Sunday. The strong winds did develop Sunday morning, but the boat was snugly at the City marina, and Judy and I enjoyed a walk thru the Battery area of the city. The Battery is the historical residential area of the city populated by beautiful antebellum mansions. We had a great walking guide book that referenced about 60 of the homes on the walking tour. One near the end of our walk, the Calhoun Mansion, at 24,000 sq ft the largest in the city, was available for a guided tour. The timing was excellent as soon after we went in, the rain started. One of the great things about this city marina is that they offer a shuttle, and when done the tour we called the shuttle to pick us up and return us to the marina. And by then the rain had largely stopped!
We departed Charleston early Monday with plans to get to at least Beaufort SC, or Hilton Head. The day was sunny and still cool, but variably windy as well so we had some sections of the trip with significant spray. Dolphins showed up again on this leg. We get small pods in our bow wave or side
wake 3 or 4 times a day for periods of 5 minutes to half an hour. We spent a fair bit of the day steering from the inside steering station, with the heat on. We made good progress with the currents so decided to push on to Hilton Head. The last open water crossing, Port Royal Sound, left us wondering if we had done the right thing as the wind had increased to 20 to 25 knots, and it was a very wet crossing.
We arrived at the marina late in the day and very happy that we had pushed on. Windmill Harbor marina is unique in that the entrance is protected by a lock, which transits one boat at a time. So the marina is very protected and the water doesn't change so there is no movement against the dock at all. Makes for a very quiet night.
This marina is part of a development of very high end homes and the South Carolina Yacht Club. The homes are very nicely lit with Xmas decorations and makes for a beautiful nighttime setting. We spent the day with an Uber provisioning run, getting the boat de-salted, and a walk to enjoy the neighbourhood.
The real reason we wanted to get to Hilton Head though is our friend Steve Wilkinson was driving
from his ex-home in Raleigh NC to his new home in Bradenton Fl, and we had arranged to host him that night on the boat. It happened to be tree lighting ceremony night at the yacht club, with a great buffet, so we enjoyed the dinner opportunity.
So back to where I started, Myrtle Beach to Hilton Head, which is about 165 nm, in three travel days, over 5 elapsed days. As we look further ahead we can see warmer temperatures at more southern latitudes, and we look forward to getting there. At this point, it is likely three good travel days away, with the possibility of two of those days forecast to be lighter winds finally. Lets hope it holds.
The boat looked quite good considering it had been sitting for 2 months, but the past month had been wet and "self-washing". The weather for most of the week was sunny and dry, but cool mornings (~5C) and warm afternoons.
Good thing Tristan was there for the weekend, as one of the boat re-commissioning jobs was to reinstall the bridge canvas, and having a second set of hands on the end of long arms was very helpful. The canvas had come down at the end of September as the boat would be left exposed for the last two months of hurricane season. Canvas comes down a lot easier than it goes back up as it fits very tightly. Also had the opportunity to clean and polish the outside of the clear vinyl before installation which is largely impossible to reach when the canvas is all up.
We enjoyed some recreation time in MB as well, with a walk on the strand and a ride on the Ferris wheel, which is the largest on the east coast. Even managed to find an "Average American bar" that was showing the Grey Cup game!
Tackled a number of other needed maintenance jobs such as a new carburetor for the dinghy outboard, domestic water line leak, refrigeration service, new blower in the engine room, varnish on the stern name plaque, and even a new lid switch in the washing machine. Tristan departed Tuesday and we decided not to leave until Friday, as this suited our destination plans and the expected weather, and US Thanksgiving would mean most marinas would not be open for receiving boats on the Thursday. We did enjoy Thanksgiving dinner at the marina, which was huge and great value.
We departed Friday morning under sunny skies and light winds but cool temps to commence our southward journey. First stop was Georgetown, a 55 mile run, where we had stopped on the way north. Had to get the engine synchronizers serviced as for some inexplicable reason they had quit working, which left the port engine only able to run at idle and the starboard engine doing most of the work. Made for slightly awkward steering with disproportionate power, but not too bad. I had phoned ahead for a mechanic and he was able to solve the problem in less than a half hour. Apparently some re-set of the system was all it needed. Another example of "boats like to be used" as this developed while the boat was sitting idle. So all in, a full week of maintenance jobs.
The 58 mile run Saturday was designed to give us two nights in Charleston, to enjoy the city again, and sit out some expected poor weather Sunday. The strong winds did develop Sunday morning, but the boat was snugly at the City marina, and Judy and I enjoyed a walk thru the Battery area of the city. The Battery is the historical residential area of the city populated by beautiful antebellum mansions. We had a great walking guide book that referenced about 60 of the homes on the walking tour. One near the end of our walk, the Calhoun Mansion, at 24,000 sq ft the largest in the city, was available for a guided tour. The timing was excellent as soon after we went in, the rain started. One of the great things about this city marina is that they offer a shuttle, and when done the tour we called the shuttle to pick us up and return us to the marina. And by then the rain had largely stopped!
We departed Charleston early Monday with plans to get to at least Beaufort SC, or Hilton Head. The day was sunny and still cool, but variably windy as well so we had some sections of the trip with significant spray. Dolphins showed up again on this leg. We get small pods in our bow wave or side wake 3 or 4 times a day for periods of 5 minutes to half an hour. We spent a fair bit of the day steering from the inside steering station, with the heat on. We made good progress with the currents so decided to push on to Hilton Head. The last open water crossing, Port Royal Sound, left us wondering if we had done the right thing as the wind had increased to 20 to 25 knots, and it was a very wet crossing.
We arrived at the marina late in the day and very happy that we had pushed on. Windmill Harbor marina is unique in that the entrance is protected by a lock, which transits one boat at a time. So the marina is very protected and the water doesn't change so there is no movement against the dock at all. Makes for a very quiet night.
This marina is part of a development of very high end homes and the South Carolina Yacht Club. The homes are very nicely lit with Xmas decorations and makes for a beautiful nighttime setting. We spent the day with an Uber provisioning run, getting the boat de-salted, and a walk to enjoy the neighbourhood.
The real reason we wanted to get to Hilton Head though is our friend Steve Wilkinson was driving from his ex-home in Raleigh NC to his new home in Bradenton Fl, and we had arranged to host him that night on the boat. It happened to be tree lighting ceremony night at the yacht club, with a great buffet, so we enjoyed the dinner opportunity.
So back to where I started, Myrtle Beach to Hilton Head, which is about 165 nm, in three travel days, over 5 elapsed days. As we look further ahead we can see warmer temperatures at more southern latitudes, and we look forward to getting there. At this point, it is likely three good travel days away, with the possibility of two of those days forecast to be lighter winds finally. Lets hope it holds.
Thanks for the updated information so I can live vicariously through you. Interesting read.
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