Another good night at anchor. We were warm and safe and finally found that we could have the heat going in the boat as well as the lights and the TV. Life is good. It has been so cold and damp during the days that we need some comfort at night. Warm dinner, hot tea and a warm boat.

Peaches has been combing over the guides and the charts and contacting her navigation Gods on the iPhone about our going through the Charleston Harbor. There is one bridge there, the Ashley River Bridge, vertical clearance is 56 feet. She has had nightmares about this, goes into long dissertations about our exact mast height added to our antennas and instruments on top, added to the waterline to mast bottom measurement. No matter how many times we add them up or debate the validity of the guessing part (the instruments and antennas) we come up with 58+ feet. We have to hit it at the lowest low tide, but they talk about higher tides this week because of all the rains. We are screwed! Finally last night we went over it again and it said on all the guides that it was not on the ICW course. Peaches confirmed this by calling the marina on the other side of the bridge. She gave them our statistics as if we were coming for a couple of days to see Charleston. "You can come if you feel confident enough" the guy said, in other words you can come if you are feeling lucky!. So, we cruised though Charleston in the rain without any bridge worries. I think that we got through this with the help of the iPhone Gods and possibly the use of the Nun card again.

So, we did take off in the rain this morning. We had been ducking this because we are already driving the boat through these shallow and deserted rivers and creeks, looking through plastic windows that make the outside look like it is being seen through Vaseline! Now add rain that makes it impossible to tell the color of the markers until you are almost abreast of them. Luckily, it lightened up and quit raining about midday. It was still cold and damp. It was also a day of duck hunters.

We really hunted and pecked our way, Peaches watching the markers and me watching the depth meter, trying to keep the boat in more water than the depth of our keel, 6". It seemed endless today. We got to the deeper part with lots of current and Peaches took over for a while. She did so well with the first range markers we used to keep us from being pulled of course. We caught up with three other sailboats who were obviously having the same troubles we were, then the Boat US towboat roared past us. Whew, at least this time it wasn't us. We then had some concerns about coming up too close to a towing situation in a place with no water depth to move around them. They were pulled off quickly and we all made it through. We followed them into Beaufort along with a string of motor yachts. All of thinking of a place to stay for Thanksgiving.

It was slack high tide when we got to the Downtown Marina of Beaufort. We took our turn at the fuel dock for diesel and for gas. A good docking, and then another good docking at our assigned slip. We are starting to get compliments when we slide into small spaces with Star of the Sea. More teamwork. Peach out on the deck and me under the tent.

Beaufort is a town perfectly suited for the transients coming down the ICW, going south for the winter. It has a handsome waterside park with park benches that are like porch swings, throughout the park. The most magical trick since we came here was sunshine. It dawned warm and brilliantly sunny this morning, Thanksgiving. We were told that there were two free dinners today, one in Hemingway's bar and another in a church. They don't call us homeless, but transients who need a home to come for dinner. How cool. I now find out that this is THE place to be for Thanksgiving. I agree. We slept in so late this morning that we weren't hungry enough at noon to go, but the others said it was fantastic. I took a long walk this morning and took some pictures (posted). The buildings and the town are beautiful. Peach on her walk later this afternoon talked to a fellow who was from Savannah. He comes here to see the historic architecture. It is a real temptation to go on the horse drawn historic tour. Maybe if the sun continues to shine.

We are working hard but having fun. I was pretty sure that couldn't happen simultaneously. It can. Come join us if you want to give it a try. Happy Thanksgiving!

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The day was stormy and dark. I awoke feeling like I shouldn't crawl out from under my blankets and start the day. Alas, it doesn't work like that in the world of southward bound sailors. Every day another slog though the swamps of the eastern Atlantic coast.

The smell of strong coffee faded quickly from the cold and damp salon. We were up in the cockpit, Peaches with her charts and notes, binoculars at the ready and myself at the wheel. We were going from one river, through a cut and into yet another small shallow river picking our way in the rain toward Charleston Harbor.

There were few other travelers on the ICW this morning. The birds were in hiding under the leaves of the marsh grass. Not even an insect stirred (not even a mouse).

We ran out of conversation quickly, only keeping track of the depth of the rivers and the markers. Suddenly, around the bend of the river in front of us came the sound of large boats at full speed. We couldn't see them and already I was looking for places to duck the obviously hugs craft (s) coming our way. It seemed like an hour of holding our breaths when they came, boat after boat.

They were all camouflaged, small fast boats, low to the water. They were festooned with corn stalks, hay and branches. The men were in heavy clothes in greens and browns, some with masks covering their faces. They were heavily armed and heading right towards us.

All of our preparation, expense, research, and yes, light hearted jokes, did not prepare us for this onslaught!They were bearing down on us at a great rate of speed, each boat bristling with rifles. Pirates!

I was frozen at the wheel. Peaches had the camera out from taking pictures of a barge making yard we passed and instead of running for her sawed off shotgun, grabbed the camera and began shooting. I kept the boat going straight down the narrow course of the river, wondering what would become of us. I was like a bad dream, our worst nightmare!We had to save ourselves somehow. This adventure couldn't come to and end like this!

The first flotilla split and roared around us, heads down and looking like the terrorists they were. More came from around the bend in the river, each more frightening than the one before. Peaches cried "I got them, I got them on the camera!" I was thinking, what was going to happen if they got us; offer them our money, our guns, our jewelry, our dinghy? What could they possibly want from us? I thought that we both needed to take this and turn it around, grab the guns and show our strength. No one else was here to do it for us. All the warnings and concerns of our friends and families at home were burning in my mind.

Three more boats passed, none of them acknowledging us as is the custom on the ICW. Each seemed more sinister than the last. What was to be our fate?

Then, common sense took over. Why would there be Pirates on the ICW in the middle of the swamps of South Carolina? Why would grown men who weren't commandos or thugs dress like that? Why would grown men travel in open boats in the rain with the temperature in the 40s? Why the hay and corn stalks and the masks?

It was a dark, cold and stormy day in the South Carolina Swamps and we were just passed by a bunch of duck hunters.

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We were excited that we would depart the next day from Hazard Marina. Sue from the office said the turn off of the western channel from Winyah Bay to the ICW was extremely shallow. You need to make it at high tide. She no more than finished her statement than Sandy said "I recently went aground in McClellanville, and you need to make that at high tide. Oh, especially below the town too." Then the Doyle guide we use talked of yet another area near Minim Island that was shallow and needed attention.

I would like to explain the tide in relation to the chart, so you will get the idea better of what we have to do to get this keel boat to Florida! The turn Chris had to make into the ICW had to be on the up side of the high tide. The depth at the entrance is not even labeled on the chart which gives you the big picture. Chris had to hit that area between 0830 and 1058 to pick up an extra four and a half feet in depth on the turn. As Chris made the turn in huge currents, at one point she saw the depth meter at 5'8" and we at least 6'!

Without the tide, we would have been stuck on about 2' of water! You know, they don't tell you this in the books. You have to just learn to anticipate this.

All tides have a bell shaped curve of 8 hours, with the peak after 4 hours. Chris had this period to get through all the shallow water spots. She went through Esterville Minim Creek with about 12' of water, a cushion of about 6'. We saw so many birds today along the edge of the river. I took pictures of all of them, digital you know. They were great egrets. Now I know cormorants, blue herons, snow geese, laughing gulls and now egrets.

We spent our first night Santee Swamp/Marsh, in the southern branch of the Santee River in about 13 feet of water. It was a very early day. We threw the anchor around 1130 am. The next shallow area needed high tide and we would have come through at low. We had the time to properly launch the twin Honda generators. No carbon monoxide detector went off this time, so we got it right. It gave us the option to have heat in the boat overnight and recharge our batteries. The two Honda generators are put on the bow of the boat in open air and all the hatches are closed. The temperature was up to 72 and we shut it off for a while to watch the TV. Then we cycled it on again. When it cycles on, it is like a 747 breaking the sound barrier. Then they go to a low hum.

Based on the weather predictions for the next day for rain and high winds and possible thunder storms, we decided to stay anchored on Sunday. Another sailboat stayed the extra day with us. We relaxed, cooked, read, and went through papers. I worked on the charts while Chris entered figures for our business taxes.

Today we were up at 0715 to leave at 0900 to reach McClellanville at high tide. The planning was extremely successful with the lowest water level of 10' all day. And, by the way high tide was 4.5' at McClelanville. It could have been a big problem. There was a fellow traveler in a large Tartan sailboat behind us for the first half of the day. He took over the lead and Chris really responded quickly when he darted to the left and the right. This is not the easy part of the journey.

We ended the day after about 35 slow miles at ICW mile marker 455. We went into the Dawees Creek anchorage. We then went up no-name creek where Chris found at well protected 20' anchorage. I dropped about 150' of heavy chain. There was a current in the creek and we expected N-NE winds, so there was enough room to move on the anchor. Just as we finished the anchoring, we saw another sailboat enter and pass us.....St. Catherine on her stern. I yelled St. Catherine, she yelled Buffalo. Lots of waves.

We hauled the two generators up onto the bow, filled them with gasoline and rigged the canvas tent over them in case of showers overnight. As we turned around, Chris spotted the first dolphin. Then there were four or five. It is always exciting when you are from Buffalo. The camera just doesn't work fast enough to catch them when they surface. We'll try again tomorrow.

The nights are about 50 and the days are only in the 60s, so Chris and I think we'll skip Charleston this time by. We have both done a lot of business trips there in our past lives and have seen all the sights. We are heading to Beaufort, SC (same name as the NC city but this one is pronounced beau-fort, not bo-furt and will be there for Thanksgiving). We have slowed up the pace and I am finding the trip beautiful and relaxing. Everything on the boat is working.

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Today was a busy but productive day. At 0830 we pulled up the anchor and poked the boat's nose into the lift at Hazzard Marina. I have loaded all the pictures. We watched in fear and trembling as she rose into the air. Not so much green goop as we thought, and most of the VC Offshore was still on the bottom. There were a few scratches on the bottom of the keel, and the offshore paint was off. Surprisingly we forgot that the rudder is almost as long as the keel. It had lost some of the offshore paint also and had only one 1/4 inch scratch through the interprotect 2000. Because this is fiberglass, it was repaired, resealed and repainted. We hung around most of the day (sorry about the pun).

While it was up, I hand cleaned the waterline with Culinite by moving a ladder around and around, going up and down. When everything was clean, I went around and around and up and down and got a couple of coats of wax on the sides as far up as I could reach, and the waterline. It looked like new.

Peaches was over talking with some of the people who were here for repairs and some who were on the way south, but not gone yet. She got some very good information. The next 20-30 miles have some shallow areas, just our draft, so we are using calculators, tide tables and our fingers and toes to get the timing right for high tide. Charts and books, notes Peaches took today and out experience combined will give us the answer. I think it is going to be to leave at 0730. We are ready. We also will be using range markers tomorrow to stay alligned in the deepest chanel. There are lots of currents through the Winyah Bay at Georgetown.
We have a brand new shiny bottom to protect.

We talked about the shrimp industry yesterday. Today I bought shrimp directly off the boat, brought in late last night. I cleaned them, they were huge, and used some lime pepper and panko crumbs and a little canola oil. Amazing. I guess I never really had fresh shrimp before. I noticed that Peaches was no longer talking and just eating. This is the way to live!

Just before we left Myrtle Beach, Frank and Valerie took us to the Burroughs & Champman Art Museum on the beach. It was such a great space, a big beach house (150 tons) moved back off the beach. Big open rooms, windows, and great people .It was saved from the wrecking ball by the Arts and Crafts Guild. Peach really loved the Bassmi exhibit. It is called the Isness of Being. It goes from 10/15/09 through 01/08/2010. They were mixed media, an oil wash and acrylic. Great colors and not something you had to make something out of. You just felt the work. (Chris' words from the review of the exhibit)

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This has been a very interesting day. The sky is blue with lots of cumulous clouds. There is no rain like yesterday and it is warm enough to be out in just shirts and shorts. We wrote about how hard it was to wiggle Star of the Sea into Osprey Marina. Shallow but ok, lots of boats, but none as long as we are. I didn'y lose sleep over getting the boat out this time. A 10 day rest does wonders for your stress level. We had help from the dock backing it up. We went back and forth, about a 34 point turn for those of you who remember your drivers test at the age of 16. Success, we were out of the narrow entryway, almost, when a blue motorboat turned in. He got the picture and backed out, letting us out into the deep, beautiful Waccamaw River. Frank had taken us for a great ride a few days ago, so it all looked familiar.He said it would be wider and easier travel than north of Myrtle Beach and he was right. It was beautiful. We pulled out the books and started towards Georgetown, about 34 miles away. It was 0900.

There was lots of floating debris from the storm yesterday. There were a few logs but mostly detached green plants. They weren't lilly pads but something like it from the marshes. There were few other boats out today so we happily moved on, not too fast because of the debris. It felt like Indian Summer weather at home, warm but color in the trees.

In our extra day yesterday at Osprey because of the rain, we got a lot done. I couldn't varnish, but could do 4 loads of laundry. Peaches made one phone call after another to follow up with the bank, insurance for the boat, friends and Raymarine looking for a chip that didn't come. We greased the wheel, it was squeeling. We talked with our friends about their previous 6 trips down the ICW. I might do parts of it again, but never the whole thing in a boat this deep. Hey, maybe in a trawler though? They gave us some great information about moorings in the Florida Keys. We are considering going down there for December, waiting for the Christmas winds to calm in the Bahamas. Andy Lopez from RCRis going to be there over Christmas diving so Peaches could have company. I only snorkle.

We learned so much from Erik and his wife Pam. She is from Honduras originally. They have a 34' sailboat that they have lived on for years. He is a professional captain and has worked in the islands. They have a schnauser named Max. They also left today.

We arrived at Georgetown about 1330 or so, much earlier than expected. After a little discussion about which side of a red and green marker was the safest approach to the Hazzard Marina turn off, we came in and anchored in front of the lift we will be hauled out with in the morning. There were shrimp boats everywhere, one of the main occupations in Georgetown along with the paper mills. (see the surreal pictures)

A grumpy guy crawled out of a beat up small white sailboat without a mast. "Your anchor won't hold there, it's all mud!" He was like a gnome crawling out from under his bridge and saying "be gone, be gone with ya!". Our anchor stuck just fine. We sat out in the sun, watching the boat's position and thinking we were seeing dolphins. Pelicans swooped and dove all over the river. Shrinp boats came in with their catch and other sailboats straggled in at the end of the afternoon. Nice place!

I changed into something to revive my tan while I sanded the new front toe rail for another coat of varnish. The whole afternoon was there to work, to relax. This is the way to do our adventure. With my iPod playing tunes, I started to put the new generators in tandem for our trial run tonight. They went together easily, and as I finished, Nick, my oldest son, called from Columbus asking if we had used them. So, here is the rest of the story.

Like everywhere else in the South along the coast, it was 5:12 and the sun set. Total darkness. The generators are ready so we start them, plug in the cord from the boat and everything goes so perfectly. We carefully close up the parting boards, Peaches even taped the little vent holes. We started slowly by turning on lights, then the fans, then the TV, then I cooked dinner. All was well. We each got a shower with the hot water generated by running the engine part of the day. Then I pulled out the computer, downloaded a bunch of pictures from the camera and just started the blog when there was the loudest beeping, like a home smoke dectector, but louder and more insistant. I dove for the doors to the cockpit. It must be part of the new generator system, no, the sound is behind me. Peaches is tearing out stuff from around the navigation station where the sound is the worst.

Did I mention that with the two heavy generators we were so glad that we could start working with them in the cockpit and not haul them to the pointy end of the boat every night. (We want to anchor as much as possible now because of the, you got it, the generators.) It seemed like a sound decision because the boat will always point into the wind, and the breezes will carry the exhaust out the back of the boat. All the canvas curtins are up and there is lots of breeze. So where were we, oh, in the salon watching TV. All the windows forward of the cockpit are open with screens, fans on. What could happen. Carbon monoxide, that's what. We finally found the source of the sound, on a shelf under the navagation station, right where I put it when we packed the boat, a carbon monoxide detector. What luck we had today.

The generators are shut down, relegated to the bow from now on. We sat under the new moon, trying to shut up the detector that was in our hands. It was so quiet before we had our emergency. We managed to disarm it. When it was safe, we pulled the battery and returned to the cabin. With the battery inserted, all was clear.

So, it was quite a day. Beautiful sun, great clouds, easy trip and somewhat of a miracle. Our hard preparations prior to leaving Buffalo paid off. Peaches put a new battery in it and sent it with me to the boat. I just barely remember placing it in just the right place so long ago. Teamwork.

Stay tuned tomorrow for more pictures. We'll take pictures of the bottom of the boat as she is hauled out. Hope it is just a scratch that can be covered with interprotect 2000 and we can plunk her back in. At least the green gunk will be power sprayed off. Star of the Sea will just slide through the brown water from no on. On to Charleston.

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Today was the day that everyone must expect us to have everyday. It was sunny, warm and I was sitting on the pointy end of the boat sanding the new teak toe-rail with iPod music right between my ears. Perfection! Here was a job that didn't hurt, didn't get me wet and cold, and that went well. Then, I took a shower and we went to an oyster roast and pot luck dinner with Frank and Valerie. So very good; these southern folks are really great cooks. Peaches even tried a little piece of oyster, but just one. S0, as you might have noticed, we took a week away from everything, even the blog. We are doing fine and appreciate the time here so much.

When we arrived here we were pretty battered and tired, even a little disappointed in our slow progress through the ditch (as the locals call it). With the help of Peaches' friends Frank and Valerie, we have recovered well. We have a car we can use from their neighbor Sam, so we have re-provisioned and been to West Marine at least three times for pieces and parts. We have also seen a lot of this tourist area in the off season, when the 29000 locals can actually drive around without any problems. We are posing as locals of course. Frank says Peaches is still talking too fast for the locals to understand.

A lot of you called and emailed us because of the storms along the east coast. It rained here for almost a week, inches and inches, and was cool verging on cold. Most of the big tides and winds were about 100 miles north. I just wanted some sun to do the outdoor repair work on the boat. There is a term I heard from another cruiser about Georgetown that makes sense. It is called the Velcro-harbor. People come in after a long time in the ditch or 'on the outside' in the ocean and get comfortable. They make friends, find out where the stores and post office are and have a couple of favorite restaurants. Then they cannot rip themselves and their boats away from the dock to continue their planned trip. I kind-of of understand. We have made a lot of friends here, but we are getting itchy again to go more south, where the sun shines and where sails can be unfurled.

Star of the Sea Update:
The Broken Toe-rail: a fellow named Richard came over to help us at Osprey Marina with assessing the broken toe-rail. It could have been a big problem if the joint of the deck and the hull was pulled apart by the large bow cleat being loosened when we were towed off of the shoal at Myrtle Beach Yacht Club. The teak board was cracked and broken, but the cleat was firmly attached and the joint of the deck and hull was uninterrupted. Bingo, replace the wood. The wood arrived from France originally via Beneteau USA in three days. It was cracked at one end. They refunded our money and will send another one in......................six to eight weeks. We put the cracked one on and it looks great. Christopher and Lee were visiting from Chautauqua and were a huge help. The crack is sealed with glue mixed with the sawdust from me sanding it for the varnish. The teak plugs were the wrong size, but with some sanding, they fit. Tomorrow the first coats of varnish. Then, away we go I hope.

The Leak: Peaches asked Richard to help us think out the leak. She went through the steps we have taken, closing all thru-hulls with no water in the boat in 24 hours. We opened the thru-hulls one at a time. He looked at the water intake in the bottom of the boat for the heat and air and found it was loose where it went to the filter before the pump. It was sealed with plumber putty and it had dried out. The plastic pipe could be twirled. It now has Teflon tape there and does not leak. As soon as we prime the system, we can have heat again, although it is a lot warmer than last week.

The Battery Banks: They are in fine shape right now because we have been plugged into shore power for the past week or so. We pick up our second Honda generator tomorrow and now have the option to hook them in tandem to produce enough amps to use the heat and air as well as the TV and coffee maker (the big amp draw appliances) when we are anchored. I as the amp-czar will feel empowered (no pun intended) to always be able to keep the big battery banks charged. We are now very much self sufficient.

Peaches Computer and the Raymarine Navigation Software: Christopher helped her clear up some problems that kept her from using it at all to put in the possible anchorages or marinas on the E-80. It would be so much better to have them in the navigation system rather than on a piece of scrap paper. Whew!

So, again, all is well. Our plans are to drive the 36 miles to Georgetown tomorrow morning and check out a boat yard there that might be able to haul out Star of the Sea to check for damage to the Interprotect coating on the bottom of the keel and power wash off the long green strands of marine growth on the hull. Going through the ditch has not been without some biological hitch-hikers If this doesn't work, we will plan to do the pull out in Florida before going across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas.

Peaches wants to talk about Osprey Marina, the unknown jewel in the marches. We were astounded when we found out that we can stay here for $1 a foot for the first two days, then 25 cents a foot thereafter. What a deal. We have paid up to $3 a foot for a 43' boat just for a quick overnight stay when there were no deep enough anchorages available..
She loves the main marina and the grounds with the sheep grazing as we drive out. We heard owls in the woods surrounding the marina. There is a 500 acre zoo next door and people say you can sometimes hear the lions roar. The docks are floating so there is no changing of lines every time the tide goes in or out. The grill is open for breakfast and lunch, free coffee all the time. Other cruisers we have met say they return here again and again, often keeping their boat here while going home for the hot months. (Watch out, VELCROW HARBOR. Even Valerie and Frank said they could add another turkey to their feast at Thanksgiving) One problem, poor cell coverage and you know what happens when she doesn't have coverage for the iPhone. She wanted to dive under the boat here in the marina to check for damage to the keel but it is that famous tea, actually coke colored water and there are alligators, so we will have it lifted. The boat yard down the river a bit sounded good, but someone said they had dropped some boats lately. Scratch that one!

I have one more story. We needed to refill the propane tanks on the boat used for the stove and oven. They are a smaller size than for a backyard grill, and places are few and far between that fill them. I was directed to Socastee Hardware, not far from the marina. I went in the hardware store after West Marine and a great hair cut (thanks Guy). I walked in with one and a man came out to grab it from my hand. You guessed it, "I'll take that heavy ole thing little lady. You wait right here and I'll take it back to the car for you." This little lady took herself into the store and started to look around. This is a great place with everything from supplies for butchering and making jerky to small appliances, paints, hardware, boots, and finally lamps and shades. I spotted the Fabreeze Max and got one to complete the cleaning of the car we borrowed from Sam. (It is her second car, 224,000 miles plus, on the original clutch, but used only to transport her dogs. It is the least we can do to clean it up a little. Valerie and Sam do a lot of yard sale cruising in this vehicle!) Oh, the story. The man came back in with the propane tank, placed it carefully at the door and smiles. "It's so small, don't you want one of these out here?" I said no, it just fit the compartment in the sailboat we were living on. He was tongue tied. I went on to say we were leaving in a couple of days to go on down to the Bahamas. As he carried the tank and the bag with the Fabreeze he said he hoped my husband really appreciated me doing all these errands for him. He opened and closed my car door, smiled and said "drive safe little lady." I'm getting a lot better about this southern hospitality thing. It just makes me smile now.

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