We left Charleston, South Carolina, on Thursday, June 7, heading towards Georgetown, SC. As we left the large, busy harbor, our autopilot failed. Bad deal. Fortunately, we knew we could hand-steer the boat especially since we were traveling up the calm waterway to our next destination. We stopped for the night outside a little town called McClellanville, put down the anchor and proceeded to spin in circles as we were beset by conflicting currents from the ICW and a nearby little river. It was 5:30 p.m., quite a bit later than we usually anchor as we’d gotten a later than usual start. We worked and worked trying to still the boat finally putting out a stern anchor as well. Big mistake. That meant the two anchor lines twirled together creating a bit of a tangled mess. In the process, the windlass, our anchor control, broke! Truly a bad day….in terms of equipment. Mike took apart the windlass but couldn’t repair it. At least he was able to fix the controls to pull up the anchor—a good thing, as the anchor rode (chain) is very heavy. In the midst of all this turmoil, we found ourselves aground on a tiny island at the mouth of the river! Of course, we rightfully figured that as the tide rose, we would no longer be aground.
In the morning, we headed for Georgetown finding a marine mechanic who could fix our autopilot—but not till Monday. Alas, our schedule continued to fall behind. Bruce, the mechanic, did a fabulous job and by Thursday, we were all set—except for the windlass. We had ordered a part, but after trying to repair the windlass, we were told it wouldn’t work, and we’d have to order a new one. Of course, we did, but that meant another whole weekend in Georgetown—really setting us behind. Today is Wednesday, June 20, and we’re hopeful the new windlass, which arrived yesterday, will be installed early so we can get on our way.
However, we have had a delightful time in Georgetown, a quaint, historic district with a few good restaurants and charming shops. The town has beautiful live oaks spreading over the streets lined with well-maintained attractive homes—all with appealing front porches. The people here are friendly and helpful. In the marina, we’ve met a few people who have a boat here permanently like Dean Dawson, pictured above with his boat, Pawley Girl. Dean is an avid sports fisherman who has shared his catch with us and even brought us squash and tomatoes from his garden. Bruce Braynerd, the marine mechanic, brought us homemade peanut brittle. We also met a couple from California who along with their two- and four-year-olds were sailing on a large, 42-foot Catana catamaran—they’re picture leaving our boat in their dinghy. Another couple we met in Charleston, Sunny and Blake from Seattle, joined us for the weekend. Before they left Monday morning, Sunny insisted on fixing Korean specialty barbecue complete with sticky rice. It was delicious. We enjoyed their companionship.
No comments:
Post a Comment