Lady’s Island to St John’s (65 miles), St John’s to Georgetown (70 miles), Georgetown to Osprey (32 miles)

To those of you haranguing me for not writing recently, I am sorry. I feel as if there were not enough interesting or funny occurrences to regale you with, and then realized that maybe that means we are improving! Perhaps David and I have calmed down regarding our sailing abilities, and have progressed from screaming in abject terror and anguish to just muttering mild obscenities and complaining about how each other performs (mostly me). Hard as it is to believe, I don’t always fit the role of a cheerful, cooperative crew-member for whom her captain’s word is law.

However, even I admit that David is now doing an exceptional job at steering, despite the effects of the wind and currents on this box of a boat. Today for example he was able to stop in a narrow channel, turn Golden 180 degrees and then bring the bow jut close enough to the dock that I could toss someone a line to attach to a cleat on the dock. He then masterfully used the engines to pivot around that line and bring our stern right behind our bow to settle in right next to the dock. And I was able to switch our lines and fenders from one side to the other because I didn’t know til the last minute to which side we were going to tie up–and hardly complained at all! OK, I mean I didn’t complain very loudly. So we’re both doing good.

The only exciting thing that happened at Lady’s Island after I last wrote is that Hunny fell off the dock one evening. Turns out that having a black rope (line) stretched at a perfect tripping height between our swim steps (from which we step on and off), and the dock is not the best arrangement–who would’ve thought? (I simply HAVE to interject here that I mentioned that someone was going to kill themselves over that line someday but was poo-poo’d. But I digress). Here’s a picture of our swim steps, sans black trip line:

David decided to take Hunny out one night while I was working in the galley. Suddenly I heard a thump and a splash, and rushed out to find David kneeling on the dock holding Hunny’s head above water. I ran over to help, and noted that the current was fairly swift (the marina was on a river so there were frequently significant tidal currents) and Hunny was struggling to stay in place. I held her collar, while David wrapped his arms underneath her bottom and lifted, and, along with Hunny’s scrabbling and my gentle tug on her collar, we were all able to haul her onto the lowest swim step. Boy was she happy to be on dry land. Her happiness was short-lived, however, because we immediately grabbed the hose from the dock and soaked her down further to get the salt off, before drying her and finally allowing her to enter the cabin. It was actually quite scary–too scary to think of taking a picture until way too late. We decided she should wear her life vest if we are at all concerned about the possibility of falls because her vest not only provides flotation, but also has a handle attached which can be used to lift her. Oh yes, we had some medical necessities taken care of while at Lady’s Island: Hunny got her rabies vaccine, and I got my first dose of the newest shingles vaccine—expensive, but worth it. Next pic is just a cute one of me and Hunny commiserating (actually I’m putting away lines, and she’s “helping”):

After spending a very pleasant week at Lady’s Island, we decided regretfully to move on. We passed right by Charleston—decided not to stay there because we couldn’t find a great marina to stay at, and realized we enjoy small towns much more than the larger tourist destinations. We enjoyed viewing it from the water however:

We sailed Thursday and Friday, two long days in a row, which was surprisingly exhausting. You might expect that sitting there for 8+ hours wouldn’t be especially tiring, but the combination of the wind and sun, the tension due navigational concerns, and being on constant lookout for buoys and crab pots and other boats and anything else unusual means we’re very tired at the end of a long sailing day. David got the brunt of it– I spent much of the two long days studying for my Safe Boating course, given by our marine insurance company. The fact that I could stay huddled in our nice warm salon in comfort while David suffered in the cold north wind had nothing to do with my decision (hah!). I now drive David crazy by telling him how unsafe his boating practices are. Here is a photo of me studying:

Last night we arrived in Georgetown, a very quaint historic town, important during the civil war, with informational placards on nearly every block. Georgetown has a slew of great restaurants, a seafood store where one can buy shrimp directly from boats, maritime museums, and beautiful facilities. Of course we stayed, you assume. Well, you would assume wrong. David was afraid we’d be pinned down there too long due to another front coming along, So like a good first mate, I cheerfully and cooperatively waved goodbye to what probably would’ve been an enjoyable stay and refrained from pointing out more than every few minutes or so how bad the weather was and how nice it would’ve been to stay in Georgetown.

We traveled on for another 31 miles today, to the Osprey Marina. This IS an awesome marina in a lot of ways. It’s very protected from both wind and current and wake from passing boats. The nearest road lies about 1 mile away, and we cannot hear any traffic. There are large fields surrounding the marina which means Hunny can chase balls and get some exercise. It has the usual laundry room/showers/friendly people. But the best part is that it’s fairly cheap–only $35 a night, including electricity. Don’t laugh–that helps pay for my shingles vaccine!

Don’t know how long we’ll be here–it depends on the weather. We have about 110 miles to travel to Wilmington.