Georgetown to Isle of Palms

November 18-23, 2010

Georgetown is almost midway between Myrtle Beach and Charleston, and was founded in 1729 after Spain unsuccessfully attempted to settle the area in the early 1500s. It is the third oldest city in South Carolina. The area flourished as a seaport because of the ease of navigation to the Atlantic. Rice and indigo were grown on the plantations and the area provided half the U.S. crop at the time. The Georgetown region became the largest rice exporting port in the world up until the Civil War – and the abolition of slavery.

Porter and I enjoyed walks to the park and playing with sticks. I know that you get to see many pictures of houses on this blog but I still had to include a picture of one of my favorite homes in Georgetown.

As we travel, Porter “assumes his position”. He typically stays at one end of the couch or the other. While the motor is running, he doesn’t eat or drink much.

We started later than originally intended because of fog and traveled to Isle of Palms (just north of Charleston) on the rising tide with flood tide being at 10:30. As we neared Isle of Palms, the tide was ebbing. This means the channels were narrower and the areas where shoaling occurs have greater impact on the channel. Captain Mark reads the waterways well and Grateful is powerful enough to not be pushed off course by currents and wind. We passed a sailboat that ran aground just out of the center of the channel. Sometimes captains will ask for a boat to go by giving a wake so that it might lift the boat and with power the boat may become unstuck. But as we passed we went slowly. This sailboat will wait for the tide to rise so that they can resume their trip.

We covered 55 miles and arrived at Isle of Palms in a little over 6 hours. Mark calls Isle of Palms “Grand Central Station” as there seems to be something coming and going all the time. The marina is at the junction of Morgan Creek and the ICW. The Dewes Island Ferry runs hourly from here and there are ferries that carry trucks and cars. We are also by the boat ramp and it is a busy place! Certainly entertaining.

We met John and Paulette (m/v Seamantha) and visited about crossing Florida on the Okeechobee Waterway. They have done it twice and enjoy it very much. Their boat also has a draft of 5 feet. We had heard that the Okeechobee could be shallow, but John and Paulette assured us that there is 7-8 feet and that is plenty of water. We hope to see them along the way.

The Grateful is Back in the Water

We arrived in N Myrtle Beach on November 9th after spending the weekend with Bob & Dianne at their beautiful Wisconsin cabin....

Sammy, Port & Sadie waiting for a treat

and traveling through the Great Smokies.....

The Grateful looked beautiful with new bottom paint and the hull waxed. The anti-fouling paint is intended to protect the bottom of the boat and to keep the bottom clean by easily sloughing off when barnacles and greenery attach themselves especially while the boat sits still.

However, we still had a lot to do to get Grateful ready to cruise. We had worried - alright only I had worried - about mold and mildew being inside Grateful. We had put 40 pounds of charcoal, three moisture collectors from West Marine, and hung sachets of lavender oil and oil of cloves to ward off the mold and apparently one or all of them worked. We did have plenty of mildew on the outside of the boat that had been under the tarp, but it came off with a little bit scrubbing and bleach.

Mark busied himself with repairing the starboard trim tab, connecting batteries and charging them, replacing the zincs on the back of the boat and on the shafts. The zincs are "sacrificial" in that they corrode rather than the metal of the shafts and propellers. The 12" x 6" panel of zinc that was replaced was over half gone from the six months of being in salt water. 

We also sanded and applied two more coats of Sikkens Cetol to the back platform and steps. This job is ongoing.

At any rate we were mostly ready to "Splash" Grateful on Friday, 11-12-10. Fisher's Silver Coast Marina was most accommodating with this schedule. We needed to plan on high tide in order to have enough water under us as we were lowered  - that was at 1:00 pm.

We were lowered into the water just far enough to be sure the motors would start before lowering all the way.. Then it was time to start our motors.. They didn't. Oh boy... apparently the charger we had on the cranking battery did not charge it enough to turn the engines. Well... Joe Gibson and his crew at Silver Coast Marina brought out every possible charging device he had in his arsenal - even a new battery and battery cables - the works. We had until 4:00 before the tide would be too low and we would be hauled out  to wait until Monday for "splashing". It took all of that time and I had cancelled our reservations at Myrtle Beach Yacht Club when Mark got the generator working. Once the generator fires it apparently charges everything and Grateful's engines started. HOORAY! We were quickly lowered the rest of the way, I called the marina and we were in our slip by 5:00. Oh happy day.

We hung in the slings for three hours.

Mark commented after all was said and done that he had a new appreciation for all that the fellows at Afton Marina did on our boats before putting them in the water.

We stayed at Myrtle Beach Yacht Club (same as in June) while we waited for a cable we had ordered. Finally on Wednesday, we started our journey. We stopped at Osprey Marina - only 30 miles south for our maiden voyage. Everything worked well except for steering. Mark says there is air in the hydraulic line and that he should be able to rid the line of the air. This is done by spinning the wheel quickly both to the right and then to the left. It is a little unnerving as we are heading through narrow channels to have Mark spinning the wheel and Grateful not responding. Never fear - Mark can steer by using the throttles - it just makes cruising more intense.

Gondola cables at Waterways Golf Course

Captain Mark at the helm

Grand Dunes Resort and Bridge

We only stayed at Osprey Marina for a day, then moved on to Georgetown. Hazzard Marina was booked so we are staying at Harborwalk Marina. We are closer to town. Mark's landing skills were tested as they have us moored on the inside of the face dock up in a corner. He did it like he had never taken a break from boating. Georgetown is quaint and we are enjoying our stay.

Harborwalk Marina Office and Clubhouse

I hope to add more to the blog regarding the missing summer months soon. We love to hear from all or any of you. So long for now.