Mornings at the dog park...

Well, it's not Goose, but mornings at the Vero Beach dog park have become special. The dogs are now expecting to get in the dinghy as soon as we get up. They are quite interested in a large assortment of dogs that show up each day.

Duke, a large black lab, loves to tug on toys of Dylan's. It makes for quite a scene.

Our latest patient...

We must be terrible parents. We only had good intentions and we did everything right. Or maybe we just have bad dogs. I'm not sure which. But today we created an unexpected patient - Dyna. She's completely fine - just a little scraped up. Here's what happened...

We lowered the dinghy into the water and set off to check into the Vero Beach City Marina. They are super-friendly here and everyone at the office was asking about our dog team. We got the latest schedule for the free GoLine shuttle bus that takes us anywhere around the area. What an incredible feature for this place. It gives cruisers so many options for shopping, projects, or just playing.

After checking in, we checked out the new dog park right next to the marina. This is a Vero Beach off-leash park set up right along the water - about 50 yards from where our boat is located. There were about 20 different dogs of all sizes and shapes and Dylan and Dyna had a great time running around and playing.

Then Dyna found the path to the water...

In and out, over and over, both dogs swam and had a grand time. It had been a long time since either had gone swimming and they loved it. All of a sudden we noticed that Dyna had disappeared. We knew she was probably in the water so we started searching for her. We found her in the middle of the mangroves, unsure how to get back to the deeper water. This was this Maine girl's first time ever seeing mangroves and she just didn't understand them.  She finally undid herself and continued to play and have fun.

Back to the marina for a quick washing off and back into the dinghy for a ride back to the boat. Then we saw it - blood on the side of the dinghy. Back on the boat, Dyna got a full EMT primary and secondary assessment. She had a shallow cut on her left rear leg, an abrasion on her front left paw, and a variety of scrapes on her left thigh - all from the mangroves.

We used anti-bacterial cremes on our patient and created some custom bandages that she couldn't easily remove. She's resting comfortably.

Personally, I don't think she even knows that she was injured.

Nose to Bottlenose...

Today was an exciting day. Sure, it was an overnight over a couple hundred miles at sea. And sure, we transited a lock and had our first glimpse of Florida-sized pelicans. But today, our team came literally face to face with dolphins. Lots of dolphins.

To be fair, I was prepared for this. The stretch from Cape Canaveral through Vero Beach is teeming with bottlenose dolphins. They are everywhere. Early on, I got the team prepared and put them on dolphin watch in the rear cockpit.

Now THAT is a team - alert and ready. Each dog has their own step stool to stand on for a better view over the caprail. The objective is to give them enough view without giving too much height. We want them to stay in the boat. Given the chance, they'll leap. Trust me, they've tried.

It didn't take long. We had about 8 different groups swim, squeak, and slap the water all around the boat. Our team never knew that such things existed. The dolphins took turns jumping out of the water to Dyna's barks and Dylan's howls. They have learned the word "dolphin" because when I say it now, they run to the back and stand on their stools.

We'll make other postings about our overnight in the next couple of days. For now, the total joy was watching our crew experiencing nature at it's best.

At Sea Again

We pulled out of the Charleston Maritime Center right on time. ActiveCaptain user Jim on Arrivederci helped us with our lines. The sea predictions for the next couple of days were unlike any we'd seen – "2 feet and less," all on our starboard beam so the stabilizers should smooth things out to flat calm. We'd decided to take advantage and do a double overnight. I hate them; Jeff finds them challenging. But it did make sense to make use of the conditions. So off we went with two overnight meals prepared and layers of clothing to stay warm.

We experienced perfect conditions coming through the Charleston Harbor and out the inlet. I decided to go ahead and prepare our lunch - chicken burritos. I hadn't found the large wraps I usually used, so I made us each two smaller ones. As I carried lunch onto the pilothouse the boat gave a lurch. Jeff had just come out of the inlet and turned south. We had 2-4 foot seas right on our nose with short periods. My ultimate nemesis.

Experience told us to wait on lunch. Jeff thought maybe it was some effect from the inlet – they hadn't predicted this. Soon my stomach gave that familiar flip. Jeff was also a bit off, partly due to some expected off-gassing from our new exhaust lagging blankets which he got a whiff of with each engine room check.

We decided to try Queasy Drops. Jim McGee from Queasy Drops contacted us several weeks ago interested in supplying a sample for our Captains through our points program. Queasy Drops are sucking candies that use all natural ingredients to calm a queasy stomach. They were developed for kids on chemo and for morning sickness. Now they wanted to promote them for seasickness. I told him they sounded too good to be true but would be willing to try them. He sent samples.

To our delight, they worked. Our stomachs settled almost as soon as we began sucking them. I found it lasted about 30 minutes after the candies were gone. The seas persisted, so we spent the afternoon trying the various flavors. Not wishing to tempt fate, however, we wrapped up lunch waiting for the predictions to prove true. By late afternoon the seas had flattened. We ate one burrito, waited an hour and finally finished lunch.

Over our years of cruising and after many overnights we have developed a routine that works well for us. During the day we switch watch when we feel like it. Jeff takes somewhat more time at the helm as he likes being in control. Around 7 pm we eat half of our prepared dinner – tonight it was chicken fried rice. Then at 8 pm I go below to sleep and Jeff takes watch from 8-10. I take watch from 10-midnight while Jeff sleeps prior to his midnight to 3 am watch. I finish the night with a 3-6 watch because I find it easier to stay awake waiting for the sun to rise. We each finish our dinner at the start of our longer watch. The calories help us stay awake and eating gives us something to do to help the monotony.

The boat runs on autopilot so we mainly watch for other boats. We have MARPA (Mini Automatic Radar Plotting Aid) on our radar which lets us select targets and track their distances from us, the direction they're moving, and how long before we reach our closest distance and what that distance will be. It's mostly entertainment but occasionally there is a “dangerous target” we must hand steer around. On my earlier watch I encountered two shrimp boats, a common site off the coast of South Carolina. One was on a collision course with us. I find these boats particularly creepy. They're large boats with big arms out to the sides that have huge nets hanging from them. At night they display bright deck lights, lighting up the decks like daylight, which send out this eery glow on the water around them. They look like a vampire sent from Neptune. I veered slightly and we passed about a 1/4 mile apart. The lights lit up the pilothouse for a few minutes as we passed.

Daytime temps were fine with the solar heat through the pilothouse windows warming her to the 70's. As night fell it started to get cold. The layers we had shed during the day came back on. The kids complained that it was a three dog night and they were only two dogs. When I awoke for my 3 am watch the boat had a different bounce. The seas had finally turned to our starboard beam as predicted.

As I climbed out of the warm berth I felt the cold – 50 degrees in the pilothouse. The kids were huddled together for warmth. Jeff decided to start the generator so I could have heat during my watch. I love my man. He then informed me that the drip he had noticed on an earlier engine room check had turned into a spray. We were going to have to swap water pumps again.

On our way to Charleston last November, we developed a slow drip on our starboard side raw water pump. Jeff had swapped that with a spare and rebuilt the old one for a new spare. We now needed to use this spare on the port side. No big deal - simple swap - but the port engine runs the stabilizers so shutting down this engine would turn off the stabilizers. And we were in beam-to seas. We decided to see how calm things were at daybreak. Calm seas and we could do the repair while underway, otherwise, we'll head into Fernandina Beach and do the repairs there.

It's 5:22, the end of my watch is in sight. The pilothouse is warm and for now life is good.

Leaving Charleston...really...

We pulled into Charleston on November 3rd with the intention of staying for 2 nights. It's now some 10 weeks later.

The cold kept us from going last week. It was a frigid week all over the country. We're just now coming out of the ice cold weather. The coastal and offshore marine forecasts are glorious for the next few days. This is giving us a great opportunity to take off, and take off fast.

We've prepared everything for going to Fernandina Beach overnight and then continuing on for a second night to Ft. Pierce. Upon entering the inlet, we're thinking about turning right and making a short trip up the Intracoastal Waterway to Vero Beach. We have a history at Vero and we need to do a reset and start over there. It's a long story.

We'll miss Charleston. We've gotten soft with a high-end grocery store, hardware stores, incredible restaurants, dog parks, and normal routine. The view from our pilothouse is just breathtaking - and today it shows the calming, beautiful weather approaching. This is a fantastic city and we'll keep coming back. But there are other towns to explore and other challenges to meet. Besides, the kids were promised some ocean swimming off some sandy beaches.

Dylan's BFF...

Goose comes from the other side of the tracks. I don't mean that he comes from a bad part of town. I mean he literally lives on the other side of the railroad tracks from the dog park we go to every morning.

Dylan wakes up every morning and hurries us along to get off the boat and onto the field. As we arrive, Goose, Huck, and Malcolm (Goose and Huck's dad) arrive on the other side, crossing the railroad area. A mad dash ensues as all dogs run toward each other. From then on, Dylan and Goose never leave each other's side.


It doesn't matter whether there is a toy or a stick - they spend their time running and chasing each other. Both are 2 years old and they are well matched in temperament and abilities.

Dylan might have different dogs in different ports but Goose stands out as a special one along the waterways we'll travel.  He's a best friend forever.

Fleazing in Charleston...

I know at times, the cruising life looks like it is always fun and exciting. The truth is it's much like life on land. There are ups and downs, good times and bad. We're right now in a difficult period with harsh, unexpected weather. And now fleas.

First, the picture above isn't what it looks like. It's just what it feels like. Last night, all of our water intakes froze solid. The ice destroyed one filter and nearly took out most of our outside copper pipes. Being from Maine, we should have known better. It was a dumb mistake that took hours of heating to undo. Everything is working now although I still can't feel any sensation in my fingers.

The flea situation is minor but we can't seem to shake it. The entire boat has been extremely cleaned and vacuumed. Both dogs were bathed with special shampoo - and neither were happy about it. All sheets, bedding, etc. have been washed and dried. And tonight, Dylan is still scratching and we're still finding a few fleas. It's not bad yet and we really need to look hard to find a single flea but we know we shouldn't find any. Tomorrow we need to be more aggressive.

With 20 degree weather facing South Carolina through the upper half of Florida throughout the entire week, we feel like it would be dumb to leave. I can't imagine pulling up an anchor in weather like we're experiencing. I'm also not sure how we'd stop our outside water from icing up when underway in freezing weather (new project to self - add shutoffs and drains to outside water). Right now, I'd rather see the temperature change back to it's normal 40+ degree lows before moving.

It isn't always fun.

Time To Stay...

What a day...

Karen wrote yesterday that it was time to go. She's right - we need to leave. Our projects are done and we're ready to fire up the engines and pull out. Then it got cold last night. Really, really cold. The heat is on all the time. The marina is dripping their faucets so they don't freeze tonight. It'll be in the 20's at night for the next few days. It is definitely not time to go.

Going will mean being out in the weather right away. Instead, we're extremely comfortable at the Charleston Maritime Center. And we're paid up through Tuesday morning. I think we'll stay and let it warm up a little more. Hopefully the calm offshore conditions will persist as well.

So we're sitting in the pilothouse this afternoon planning our next passages to Fernandina Beach and Stuart when Karen says, "there's no one at the wheel of that boat and it's coming towards us." The pilot grabs control from the current but is in a terrible position near our bow. Instead of easing his boat against ours, he does the worst thing possible - he floors the throttles to try to escape. And he came so close to making it.

It could have been a lot worse. He ended up just hitting our monster Rocna anchor. It bounced around a lot and took a lot of paint off his boat. It also ripped off the metal door from his boat. It made a lot of noise and the dog patrol was at full alert barking and carrying on. Ain't no one is allowed to mess with our boat when our crackerjack crew is onboard.

The boat was from the US Park Service and part of Fort Sumter. Everyone around the marina was quite upset but it really caused no problem for us at all. They took a small boat out to inspect our boat and we couldn't find even the tiniest scratch.  I lowered the anchor to make sure the bow roller still worked and to be honest, I think it's working better now than it did before.

So we're going to stay for a couple more days to allow things to warm up a little. Dyna and Dylan will gladly continue going to the dog park - they don't care what the temperature is.

Time To Go

We have certainly enjoyed our time in Charleston, but it is definitely time to go. The galley is fully stocked, the water tanks are topped off, and our list of projects, both planned and unplanned, is mostly complete. We wanted to meander down the Intracoastal Waterway stopping at places we haven't been to before, but the temperatures are suppose to be dipping into the 20's, so our plans have changed. Sunday we'll head offshore and keep moving until we can find some warmer weather.

Despite the cold temperatures and record breaking rain, there is much we will miss about Charleston. The wonderful grocery store, Harris Teeter, is walking distance with a Red Box video kiosk, as is a Blockbuster. A small hardware store is close by and a very large well-stocked one just a 15 minute walk away. Of course, there are an almost unlimited number of excellent restaurants, bakeries, and coffee houses, and the lovely streets with beautiful homes decorated for the holidays, Marion Square, and the Battery. We found something new most every day.

But what we'll really miss are the wonderful people. From our dear friends Jeb and Linda, to the many new friends who made us feel very much at home. This has been a fun place to be.

Of course our canine crew will miss their morning romp at the nearby dog park. For nearly a month now they have both awoken like clockwork, anxious to be on their way up the dock. The moment they turn the corner and the park is in view they begin scanning the far side for their friends Huck and Goose.  When the four of them spot each other they erupt in what can only be called utter joy and the playing begins.  They will most certainly miss their Charleston friends.  But we need to be on our way.  Huck and Goose - we'll be looking for you again come spring.

Re-provisioning

Winter has started to set into Charleston. We knew it would eventually get here but we thought we'd have a few more days of warm weather.

When we arrived back after visiting Karen's family for Christmas, I reconnected the water to the boat. Sure enough, the hose was stiff and difficult to manipulate. That means one sure thing for us - it's time to leave for a warmer location.

Getting ready to go means we need to re-provision.  We've been out for over 4 months and ran out of our supplies of food.  With a supermarket a block away in Charleston, it wasn't a big deal. But now we'll be vagabonds for the upcoming months and it's time to load up on all the important things we need (notice the multiple large boxes of Pita Bites).

Before returning the rental car we used it to go shopping at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club.  Sam's especially is great for buying month-loads of meat.  Some $400 of groceries later, our freezers are full. The kids were extremely interested in each and every bag brought to the boat. Now there are just a handful of small projects to complete before we're ready to head toward Georgia, Florida, and wherever the seas take us.

And to all a good night...

Christmas Week in Charleston

It has been nice to be in a city this close to the holidays.  Each day we walk the streets of Charleston looking for places we haven't seen.  Slowly over the past couple of weeks wreaths, lights, and Christmas trees appeared.  The beautiful homes of Charleston became even more beautiful.  The stores are decorated and the coffee shop has Eggnog Latte as the special.  Several boats in the marina have lights, including ours.  Marion Square in the center of Charleston has the most impressive display.

Tuesday we leave for my parents for Christmas.  Once again we will travel by land to spend time with loved ones.  Fortunately, the crew travels well by land or by sea.

Bill's departure

Our friend Bill Corbett arrived on Spray last week with an original reservation at the Charleston Maritime Center for 2 nights. That turned into 3 nights and then into an entire week. It's one of the "problems" with Charleston. It's so nice that it's hard to leave. The Harris Teeter grocery store is a couple of blocks away and all of downtown Charleston is just a couple of blocks further. It's all walking distance.

This morning Dyna and Dylan had a last romp with Riggs in the field. Riggs is an amazing ball retriever and can easily outrun young Dylan on every throw. That's pretty incredible because Riggs weighs only 14 lbs. But boy can he move!

Prior to Bill's departure this morning, we made breakfast from a recipe that Bill gave us when he made it for us last week. Forevermore on aCappella, this recipe is going to be called, "Bill's Frittata."

Bill took off from the marina at 9:30 am heading south toward the continuation of the ICW. He plans to head down to Stuart and across Florida on the Okeechobee Waterway. Once on the west coast of Florida at Ft. Myers, he'll head south again toward the Keys turning north at Key West and then back up the east coast.

We'll meet up with Bill again, probably in the Florida Keys. Dylan wants one more chance at racing for the ball...

Dyna and Dylan's Field

One of the attractions of the Charleston Maritime Center is the huge field just a block away.  It turns out it's an off-leash field for dogs.  Several dogs gather there every morning to romp and play.  It's a wonderful sight to watch.  Dyna and Dylan's favorite Charleston friends are two yellow labs, Huck (short for Huckleberry), age 10, and Goose, age 2.  They even match each other in color!

Needless to say, with a week of on and off rain, these morning outings have led to piles of muddy towels. A small price to pay to bring those we love so much joy.  A really cool thing about the Maritime Center is that the laundry facilities are free.  That gives us access to a regular sized washing machine and dryer for the messy dog things.  It's a very nice touch that few marinas provide to transients like us.

The weather earlier in the week was cold - 45 degrees at night!  We're now back up in the mid-70's wearing shorts again.

Lastly, we just acquired the domain takingpaws.com!  We currently set it to forward directly to this blog so just use takingpaws.com from now on.  It gives us the flexibility to build on the blog.  But mostly, we just like the name.

Dark and Stormy in Charleston!

If you're a boater, you've most certainly run across a drink called a "Dark and Stormy". Since we have excellent supplies here in Charleston, we decided to give it a try.  We shouldn't have.

To make the drink, you put a shot of dark rum over ice. Then add ginger beer "to taste" which is difficult if you've never had one. Add a slice of lime and you're done. It's simple to make.

Gosling's Black Rum from Bermuda is supposed to be the official rum to use. That was easy to get in a wonderful liquor store right across the street from the Harris Teeter grocery store. We also picked up a bottle of Sailor Jerry's spiced rum. If we're on a boat, we should have a good supply of rum, right?

We couldn't locate Goslings ginger beer but we did find Goya Jamacian ginger beer at the grocery store. The secret of making a good drink appears to be using real ginger beer and not a ginger-flavored soda.

We met up with Bill who is still at the Charleston Maritime Center. He was supposed to originally stay for 2 nights. Then he signed up for the week. He's now showing us the calculations for a monthly stay. I understand there are condos for sale next to the marina too. Anyway, we all went out to a wonderful Thai restaurant called Basils and then back to our boat for a movie and Dark and Stormy's.  It was the first one any of us had ever had.

I have a feeling, there will be many more to come.

Karen's Chicken Soup

Today is a stormy day. There are small craft advisories out and even a tornado watch. Seems like a good day for chicken soup.

So we're getting ready to have lunch when I check on the progress of Bill Corbett aboard Spray. Bill is a friend of ours who left Castine in late September on a mostly solo cruise along the east coast and ICW. He was supposed to show up at the Charleston Maritime Center tomorrow and we've been looking forward to his arrival.

Checking his SPOT tracker (he has one too) showed that he was entering the Charleston Harbor.  How could this be? So I called him on the phone and he tells us something about bad weather and coming into the marina early.

Ten minutes later he arrives and we all share Karen's famous chicken soup (with matzoh balls).

Yeah, sure Bill - bad weather.  We know you could smell the soup...

Our December Cruise

Our December cruise was completed without a hitch.  We pulled out of the City Marina at 9:30 am and arrived at the Charleston Maritime Center by 10:00 am.  We've had more difficult days.  Large tents were being put up and it turns out a Chili Cook-off for the Charleston Humane Society was happening in the afternoon.  We took Dyna and Dylan for a walk where they got to meet several of the dogs in attendance.  There's a large field about a block from the boat where the kids can romp.  Great restaurants, grocery shopping, video rentals, and other attractions are walking distance.  In the evening we look out over the beautiful lights of the Charleston bridge over the Cooper River.

By early evening there was a crowd gathering on the pier beside our boat.  We remembered that this was the night for the Christmas Parade of Boats.  It started with kayaks, canoes, and shells decked out with lights.  The larger boats soon followed, many with quite elaborate displays.  We were able to watch a bunch of boats pass before being picked up for dinner by friends.



The Maritime Center is very different from the City Marina, both great facilities with their own charms.  We look forward to exploring Charleston from this side of the city for a while.

Farwell City Marina

Wednesday called for gale force winds and driving rain here in Charleston. They predicted gusts up to 70 mph, the strongest we've experienced during this cruise and the possibility of tornados. We woke to pouring rain, so much rain it filled a bucket under cover on the cockpit with inches of water. Charleston streets were flooding. The winds were to come later in the day so we deployed almost every line we had (8 in all), put out our large ball fenders, and stowed anything that wasn't tied down. We instructed the crew on storm procedures and waited. The winds did howl but our wind indicator only showed a top speed of 35 knots. Hey, this crew survived a micro-burst 2 years ago - this was nothing.

By Thursday morning we were back to preparations for our departure on Saturday. Yes, after over 4 weeks here at the Charleston City Marina we are about to start cruising again. This cruise will take us a grand total of 4 miles around to the other side of Charleston to the Maritime Center. Even though it's just a short hop, we need to pretty much do the same prep as a full day's cruise. In addition, much of our time here has been spent on some projects which left the engine room in quite a mess. For the true geeks at heart, Jeff has proudly made an engine room video.  Get the popcorn.

Thanksgiving week...

We left Castine on August 25th pulling into Charleston on November 3rd, putting about 1,500 nautical miles (1650 statute miles) in 71 days under our boat's keel.  Last Monday we picked up a rental car for our Thanksgiving week back on land.  A whirlwind week that included Thanksgiving with my folks and our nephew's wedding in Chicago, covering over 2,000 statute miles in 7 days.  I think this speaks not only to the modes of transportation but also to the land vs water lifestyles.  A week of land-based hustle and bustle makes us appreciate our time onboard.

On the boat our schedules are loose at best, impacted more by the weather than anything else.  Dressing up means putting on a clean shirt and shoes.  There are no time schedules and the only firm appointments are breakfast and dinner time for the canine crew - 7:30 am and 4:30 pm, in case you wondered.

We loaded the car with Jeff's single suit and my one dressy outfit along with food, treats, toys, and the kids' other necessities -- and left Charleston.  Dyna and Dylan put four more states under their belts: Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois.

Dyna kept her Grandpa company while Dylan kept his eye on the kitchen hoping to woo his Grandma into some special treats.  She always was a softy.

Their Aunt Jane thought they were indispensible when it came time to carve the turkey.  They were pleased to help clean the floor when pieces of turkey somehow landed there.

Nice big hotel beds were appreciated after months of sharing the master stateroom bed on aCappella.  The wedding was lovely even though Dyna and Dylan's offer of flower girl and ring bearer was politely refused.  Frankly, we think maybe the bride and groom were concerned of being upstaged.  The kids are awfully cute, after all.

There was lots of excitement, good time with family, good food, and the sharing of a very special time with people we love.  A nephew was married, a grand-nephew was born, and a niece was engaged, all in one busy week.  Our niece is planning a wedding for next May or June, about the time we will be returning to the Chesapeake.  That'll call for another trip on land and of course the kids will be there.  Sandra (the next bride to be): Dyna and Dylan are available.  Think about it...

Inverter Converter...

It seems like such a simple thing - replacing our old inverter with a new one. I hated the old Xantrex/Heart 2500. It's modified sine wave output destroyed a sewing machine and a variety of electronic equipment over the years. It stopped working in 2007 in Vero Beach when I wasn't able to do much more than just replace it with a duplicate. I had been waiting for the new one to give me trouble so I could yank it out. That day finally arrived.

An inverter is the device that gives us normal AC/120 volt power from our batteries. Many also include a large battery charger used to re-charge the batteries when connected to shore power or a generator. It's an important component providing power and balancing the battery charge with efficiency. It's a pretty complex piece of gear with a lot of wiring.

The old Xantrex remote stopped working during this cruise. This meant that every time we wanted to use it, we had to crawl through the lazarette to turn it on.  That got pretty old and we just left it on all the time - not great for efficiency but better on the knees. With time and access here in Charleston, I ordered a new Magnum MS2812 true sine wave inverter. It's rated a little larger than the Xantrex but is supposed to be a lot more reliable. It puts out a real sine wave AC that all electronics will love. The new remote and battery monitor provides a lot more information to help us monitor and control our power usage. There's a temperature sensor on the batteries to provide efficient charging and there's even an option to automatically start our generator when the batteries get low (we're not installing that yet).

It should have just been some wire disconnects, a swap of the 60 lb boxes, and some wire attaching. But I decided that I'd rather re-route the wiring properly and keep everything neat and clean. The old Xantrex, to my horror, had no fuse - a possibly dangerous situation if the unit ever had a major failure. I corrected that and installed a large 400 amp fuse to protect the large cables coming off the battery. The battery monitor required a negative bus shunt and it seemed like the right time to clean up the ground wires for that end of the engine room.

It took a whopping 30 hours to install and clean everything up. It really looks so simple but there's a lot going on behind the scenes. I'm extremely pleased with the results - it's clean, efficient, and well-installed. It's now keeping the batteries at full charge and giving us all kinds of data on the remote to let us know what's happening. And next time we need a stern anchor to stop the boat from swinging, I'm attaching a line to the old Xantrex and throwing it off the back of the boat.

We Love Visitors...

We love meeting people who are out here cruising or are interested in cruising.  Having the ActiveCaptain logos on the sides of the boat has brought people from far and wide to our boat.  We've seen other boats circle us at anchor (waving their ActiveCaptain hat); people have come up in their dinghy (offering cars, assistance, anything we need); and we've been hailed on the VHF radio on the ICW (are you the people who run ActiveCaptain?).  But Friday was more fun.  Don and Cindy drove to Charleston to meet and talk with us.  And they brought pound cake.

Don and Cindy are in North Carolina and have been looking for a boat to do some extended cruising.  They had a variety of questions and wanted to just talk some things through about their needs and desires.  And they brought pound cake.

We had a great time with them.  They are cruisers in every sense of the word.  They'll fit very well into the lifestyle and will make the community better for everyone.  I'm really looking forward to watching their progress and helping where possible.  Did I mention that they brought pound cake?

OK, a word about this pound cake.  It quite honestly might be the best thing I've ever eaten ever.  Cindy gave us all types of instructions about freezing it so it would last.  Trust me Cindy.  Your car wasn't out of the Charleston City Marina when we'd already broken into the cake.  There is no chance that this thing is going to spoil - what little is left of it!  Thanks for coming - it was fun meeting you.

Engine Room Checks

My husband is what polite company would call meticulous.  I sometimes have another word for it.  Something he has always insisted on is an hourly engine room check when we are underway.  We do this whether we're out for a day cruise on the Penobscot Bay or heading offshore overnight.  In the beginning I thought he was just "being Jeff" but after discovering some potentially serious issues before they became big problems I realized how important this routine is to our safety.

A week or so ago Jeff did a video about the broken hose clamps he found during our overnight trip to Charleston.  Losing a hose to a water intake could sink the boat.  The engine room checks discovered it when it was just a drip and not a gusher.  He thought the video was a good illustration of the importance of simple safety precautions such as engine room checks.  Apparently others agreed.

OceanLines, the online passagemaking magazine, ran his video this week to emphasize this point.  See what they said at The Underway Engine Room Check: Why You Need It.

Dog Days

On Saturday afternoon Linda called with an invitation from Carly and Andy for Dyna and Dylan - swimming at the dog beach Sunday morning. Carly (Carly Simon) and Andy (Andrew Jackson) are a female Golden and a male Labradoodle who have adopted Jeb and Linda here in Charleston. They said that Jeff and I could come along.  The kids gladly accepted the invite.

We were picked up at 9AM at the entrance to the City Marina and off we went to Sullivans Island.  We parked on a little side street and walked down the boardwalk to a beautiful beach, miles long, full of dogs.  As the video shows, a good time was had. Dyna and Dylan experienced their first real ocean waves.  Dyna quickly learned to ride them while Dylan was frightened by a dead horseshoe crab.

An hour or so later, we led four wet and exhausted dogs back to the cars and headed to Jeb and Linda's for dog baths and an air-dry in the back yard.  The kids got baked sweet potatoes and we got great BLT's.  By the time Dyna and Dylan were dropped back off at the marina, the 1/4 mile walk to the boat was looking awfully long.  Needless to say the rest of the afternoon and evening have been quiet and Jeff and I look forward to being able to sleep-in in the morning.

At Home in Charleston

Charleston is one of our favorite stops. I don't think we've ever missed pulling in. The restaurants are amazing, the city streets are beautiful, there are great grocery stores for provisioning, and the 5 star Charleston City Marina is a wonderful facility with a van to take you wherever you want to go. Typically we stay 2-3 days and move on looking forward to coming again on our next pass.

On our way in on Tuesday afternoon we called our good friends Jeb and Linda and were lucky to have dinner with them before they flew out to Dartmouth on Wednesday morning. They took us to an excellent tapas restaurant where we had the best sliders (small burgers) I have ever had in my life - honest. We hugged them goodbye and promised to stop back on our way north next Spring.

Wednesday morning was glorious, bright sunshine, mild temperatures, and dry air. We discussed over breakfast what to do on our one day in Charleston. First was to get the crew off for a long walk. We decided to take them separately and each headed off in different directions. Jeff has been working with our stubborn Dyna-girl who feels that a creature of her stature should never have to walk on a leash. By the time we had returned to the boat we were wondering why we should be in such a hurry to leave.

A check with the harbormaster presented us with two options for monthly slips. We signed up for the one with the water view for the month of November. So for now, Charleston is home. The kids will have daily walks and Dylan can pursue an advanced degree in Charleston blackbirds. Blame it on the good weather, blame it on good friends, or blame it on the sliders, we are looking forward to becoming more familiar with this lovely place.

Beaufort to Charleston, overnight...

I like overnight passages. You get to put a lot of miles under the keel in one shot and it really tests your nautical skills. There is little room for making mistakes in the middle of the night and the boat has to be in good shape. There's an element of trust between man and machine in the process that I find interesting.

I completely understand that they can be scary too. Once out, it's hard to pull in somewhere if the weather gets too rough. And being offshore can put you so far offshore that just getting back could take many hours.

The trip from our anchorage on the South River outside of Beaufort, NC to Charleston, SC is 240 nautical miles. That's the equivalent of three very long 80 mile days. The weather predictions looked pretty good when we left and moving out the inlet into the ocean seemed within our level of tolerance. In the end, it wasn't our worst overnight, but it was far from our nicest one too. All in all, the videos tell the whole story.