Cathching Up

Friday 4/22/11    Well, the batteries finally arrived. Got installed, and charged and without any further strings holding us back we broke loose from the dock and continued north. Our destination for the day was Bass Creek to anchor overnight before proceeding into Charleston. We made Bass Creek by 3pm and after securing the boat sat down for cocktails. All went well until we tried to start the generator. No Go ! The code said it wasn't getting water. After spending time checking strainers and all hoses to make sure they were clear we decided to pull up anchor and head into the nearby Dataw Island Marina. Since they were closed,  we found a spot on their face dock and settled in for the night.

Saturday 4/23/11    The marina opened at 8am so Pam got to sleep in from our normal sunrise departure time. We paid our dockage and continued on to Charleston, SC.

We passed Hilton Head and Harbortown Golf Course where they were playing the Heritage Golf Classic at the time.

We also cruised past Paris Island Marine base.

Once we popped out of the ICW onto the Ashley River it was just a stone's throw to the Charleston City Marina (http://www.megadock.us/). Fortunately our dockage was on the inside of the face dock which kept the waves from the passing boats and wind to a minimum. Another thing that helped was a huge private yacht which was tied opposite us on the channel side.

Our neighbor while in Charleston.

Our neighbor behind us.

The dock is 4,000 feet long!

We spent three nights in Charleston exploring the historic downtown. Taking a carriage tour. Visiting the USS Yorktown and the USS Clagamore at Patriots Point. And enjoying the variety of food offered on Bay St. A person could have none of their senses and still find food on Bay St.! Unfortunately it wasn't until Monday that I discovered that they only do tours of the Confederate submarine Hunley on the weekends. Bummer!

Some of the sights of Charleston below.

John & Cindy, did you move from Dubuque?

Of course Pam had to tell our horse what a good job he did.

USS Yorktown

USS Clagamore diesel submarine.

All in all we had a great time in Charleston. There is so much more to see and do than we even scraped the surface of. And the marina worked out just fine for us with their courtesy van shuttle service to the historic district. The only drawback is it's a long walk to shore.
As for the generator problem, I found time to take the whole pump off and discovered an O ring that needed replacing.

Needless to say we spent Easter in Charleston and had what has become our traditional holiday meal on Tourist. Cornish Hens. Excellent as always when Pam makes them! I don't know what I'll do if we ever spend Christmas on the boat. It would be hard to give up our traditional meal of KFC!

Cheers! (I look like I'm half popped already. Thank god you're all looking at Pam!)