04/23/09 to 05/07/09

4/23/09/to 4/25/09 On Thursday we arrived in Savannah in mid-afternoon and tied up at a dock along the riverfront. During the rest of the day at least 6 ocean-going vessels, mostly container carriers, passed on the way to or from the port of Savannah. At one point two of them met in the Savannah River right in front of us. All day Friday there were similar commercial ships passing by. We’ve been having overheating problems with our boat again; both Wednesday and Thursday while we were underway, we had to stop and anchor to clean out a strainer or change a fuel filter. On Friday, Lorenzo and Chuck(a friend of Lorenzo’s who is accompanying them with his wife Julie) came aboard to help Bob try and identify the problem and remedy it. They removed the inner cooler and tried to clean it all out. Bob also replaced the impeller in the water pump, a job that requires him to squeeze into the engine compartment and lie uncomfortably alongside the engine. Saturday we headed out, traveled all day, no apparent problems. In the evening, we anchored at a nice wide area in the Edisto River, south of Charleston, SC. We were joined at a distance by several sailboats, also the vessel belonging to John and Phillipa, from New Zealand, and their 2 teenagers. Before sunset we were passed by a boat 150 feet long, proceeding back the way we had come. It surprised us, because this area is relatively shallow and we had to be careful because of possible shoaling.
4/26/09 to 4/28/09 Although we ran into fog shortly after leaving the anchorage this morning, we kept going with the help of radar and eventually ran out of it, arriving at the Charleston Marine Center about 1 PM. It’s off of the Cooper River, and close to the historic district. On Monday Lil’ David and crew left early, will probably arrive at their home port of Holden Beach, NC, in a couple days, completing the Great Loop. We took the water taxi across the river to Patriots Point and spent most of the day touring the aircraft carrier Yorktown, a World War II and Vietnam era vessel. At numerous locations within the ship are small museums and special exhibits. Tuesday we boarded a trolley near the marina to go to the Visitor’s Center, then took a minibus tour of Charleston. The driver gave the usual commentary on the city’s history and architecture. Later we went into the Charleston Museum near the Visitor’s Center for a short time. Then it was time for dinner at Sticky Fingers, a barbecued rib restaurant, your choice of 5 different flavors, from Carolina Sweet to Habanero Hot. The ribs were wonderful!
4/29/09 to 5/01/09 Wednesday, the 29th, was a beautiful boating day. We left Charleston in calm water with no wind and it remained that way for the entire trip to Georgetown, SC., a quiet town just a short way off the ICW. After docking, we went to pay the dockmaster and ask him where we could buy shrimp. He gave us directions, saying,"These won’t be local shrimp. Our season hasn’t started yet. These’ll probably be Georgia shrimp." ( And we were thinking non-local would be South American!) We went and got shrimp, ignoring the white heron hanging around the stoop at the market, and fixed ourselves yet another seafood meal, one of many we’ve had on the east coast. Dessert was intended to be ice cream, but till we ventured out to walk the town, most stores were closed. On Thursday, we had only 30 miles to go to our next stop, so we started out about 9 AM, 2 hours later than usual. Most of the trip was on the Waccamaw River, which had tree-lined shores, instead of the marsh grass that has predominated for the last few weeks. We stopped for the night at Osprey Marina, just a few miles from Myrtle Beach, SC.
The marina was very pleasant, situated in the trees off the ICW. We were concerned that smoke from last week’s extensive fire in the area would be a problem, but it was not. Shortly after starting out on Friday, the smoke detector sounded. Bob went down to the engine compartment and discovered a small connector in the fuel line leaking. He quickly repaired it with special tape and we got underway again. On this section of the ICW we began to see large, beautiful homes and a multitude of golf courses. Approaching Holden Beach, NC, we had to stop at a pontoon bridge across the waterway and wait for it to open. We had missed the opening at 12 noon by just a few minutes and had to wait until 1 PM. By then, there were probably 10-12 boats waiting for the pontoon to move out of the way. Within a short time after the bridge, we were docking at the Holden Beach Marina, with Lorenzo and John(from New Zealand) there to catch our lines.
5/02/09 to 5/07/08 There were repairs to be done to Going There, so that was the focus of our week in Holden Beach, NC. Monday Bob removed the injectors and the inner cooler and he and Lorenzo took them to Wilmington, NC, for diagnosis and treatment. The inner cooler had to be cleaned at a radiator shop; a diesel parts place ordered new injectors. Both promised he would have the parts "tomorrow", but it was Wednesday afternoon till they were available. When Bob finished putting things back together and ran the engine on Thurs., he was satisfied. Aside from the engine, we went to Calabash, NC, one night with Lorenzo and Lois for seafood. What we saw of the town was lined with seafood restaurants, at least a dozen of them, one after the other. The one we went to had lots of options and was very reasonably priced.