Note: We posted more than one entry today. If you click on the "older" tab at the bottom of this entry you will be able to see the previous entries.

Cheryl's Notes;

Tuesday - We waited for the tide to rise a little this morning and then set out towards our next anchorage. We only had a short run down to Whiteside Creek. We talked to Scandia and they said avoid Charleston for a few days. They are in a marina tied to a dock, and the winds are blowing pretty good there. They are actually going to move north to the Isle of Palms area to wait out this weather. We are tucked in here with our new friend, Bob of Pelican.

Wednesday - Our anchor is holding and we are in a good spot to wait out this storm. We are getting a lot of rain, but it is coming in waves. The winds are predicted to pick up considerably tonight. We spent the day reading and watching TV. We got our first chance to really use our generator to recharge the batteries. Everything worked as it should, and without too much noise or fumes. We have a new boat that came in this afternoon, and I hope that he knows what he is doing. He went past us up this creek, and it really shallows up there. We have a six foot tide in this area of the waterway. You better be good a math and know when high and low tide is. If you anchor in nine feet at high tide and you draw more than three feet, you are in trouble. We are anchored in 16-20 feet at high tide, depending on how we swing with the wind and current.

Thursday - We had a little excitement last night and this morning. We were right about the new boat. At low tide last night he was sitting on the bottom. In the dark, he tried to pull up anchor and move to deeper water. The high winds caught his boat broadside and pushed him to the shoal on shore. He was beached and heeling hard to starboard. He radioed us that he was going to wait until high tide and try to move his boat to deeper water. High tide was at 2:00 am this morning, but he was pushed too far onto the shore and couldn't get off. They must have spent an uncomfortable night tipped sideways. We felt bad, but there was nothing that we could do to help. Our little dinghy and 8hp outboard was not going to be able to move him. Towboat US was here bright and early this morning to haul him off the shore. He is now anchored in deeper water towards the mouth of the creek, closer to the waterway.

We have now decided to skip Charleston. We have already lost days because of the weather, we don't feel like spending days sightseeing. We are sure that Charleston is a lot prettier in the spring anyway. As soon as the weather clears, we are going to continue south.

Note: Please check previous posts. We will be posing several entries at one time when we get wifi.

John's:

Very short run today. If there is any truth to the weather forecast, we will be here for 2-3 days. We are in a small anchorage but the holding is good. According to the weather, Ida is supposed to dump 5 plus inches of rain on Charleston. Not exactly good sightseeing weather. We can stay here and catch up on our reading or whatever else comes to mind. I'm already beginning to read between the lines.

Thursday:

It began yesterday. Cheryl and I had figured that if we did not post anything in our blog for a few days, it wouldn't be long before one or more people called to make sure we were all right. Sure enough, Barb, Jodi, and both Paul and Denise called. I'm thinking that my sister Debbie is next. Although she is already pretty sure that we are either in a marina or securely anchored some place. When our father was at sea we mostly never knew where he was but he was the professional mariner so he knew how to take care of himself.

"Whatever else" came to mind yesterday. Maybe it will again today.