Happy Brithday, Marine Corps.

To the friends we've made, and the friends we've lost

May their memories be honored, no matter the cost.

Semper Fi.

Belay my last...

I think I'll be staying in Savannah for another week or two. I rather enjoy it here, aside from the cold.

And the beat goes on.

After about ten days in Savannah, I'm finally ready to continue on my journey. I added two new batteries to my system today, and a third six-gallon fuel tank. Hopefully, I'll be able to go for a few days at a time now without having to stop at a marina. I'm only about 130 miles from the Florida border, and I hope to cross that line by Friday evening.

    One thing this trip has done for me so far is renew my faith in the kindness of strangers. It almost seems as though every person I've met had a meeting before I started, and arranged a competition to see who can be the kindest and most helpful. That being the case, Mary at Savannah Bend Marina is shooting for the top spot. Not only has she let me use her car several times to go out in town and run errands, but the other day, she "forgot" to ring me up for some groceries in the ship's store. This morning, she stopped down by my slip with three bags full of stuff for me.

Win.

Yesterday I undertook the task of moving my sleeping quarters from the salon double berth to the v-berth. It was a long, arduous task to shuffle all of my stuff around since I had been using the v-berth as a storage area, but it was well worth the trouble. It feels like I've just upgraded from a studio apartment to a one bedroom, there's so much more usable space down below now. Added bonus; it's warmer in the v-berth, which is a big plus, since it's been dipping into the 30's at night here. I can't wait to get down to warmer climes. 

Rest in peace, HMS Bounty

The sailing world lost something of an icon today, with the sinking of the HMS Bounty. Claimed by the sea 90 miles southwest of Hatteras, NC during Hurricane Sandy. Fourteen of the sixteen crew members were rescued by the coast guard shortly after the distress call was sent out, and one of the two missing crew members, Claudene Christian, was found several hours later. The Captain, Robin Walbridge, is still missing. This struck a particular chord with me, since a good friend of mine used to crew the ship, and I had considered doing so myself recently. To the friends and family of Capt. Walbridge, my prayers and thoughts are with you.

Well, THAT was anticlimactic.

     I guess that Savannah was the perfect place to ride out the storm, because all I got here was about 20kt of wind for about two days. Not a single drop of rain. To all of my friends and family up north that are reading this, sorry. I woke up this morning, expecting it to be another windy, overcast day, and, to my surprise, it's beautiful, a light breeze, clear skies and a comfortable temperature.
     Again, I've managed to find a great marina, Savannah Bend Marina, in Thunderbolt, GA. I've been here for two days now, and will be here for another couple days until my final paycheck from the Marines clears. Today, one of the ladies that works here, Mary, let me borrow her car to go run errands out in town. I had forgotten how amazing Goodwill is, I managed to get some new clothes, a strainer, and a new pot to replace the one at the bottom of the river in South Carolina, all for about $17.

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing...

So, I went offshore the other day, just outside of Edisto Island, SC. I only stayed out for a bit, since the seas were pretty rough, and Justus doesn't handle too well in rough water, since she doesn't have a functioning centerboard.

The dolphins keep me company most days.

      I came back in and continued on the ICW for a while. I stopped just north of Beaufort, SC and dropped anchor for the night. In the morning, I took off south again, and my first leg of the day was the Port Royal sound. I found it a bit ironic that I was sailing past Parris Island almost four years to the day after I first set foot on the yellow footprints for boot camp there. I linked up with two other sailboats, EZ Breeze, and Pyewacket, whom I had seen earlier in NC while waiting for a bridge. Usually, I'm the slowest boat on the water, but I managed to keep up with the two of them for the majority of the crossing.

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      We had about 20kts of wind and pretty rough water during the crossing, so we all only had our jibs up, most of the time reefed, and we were still making about seven kt/h. It was pretty fun, until, just as I was about to reach the end of the sound, a huge motor-yacht came speeding past me, very close, and kicked up a huge wake, which, along with the 2-3 foot waves, served to knock me around like a rubber duckie.

       After leaving Port Royal, I continued on the fair waters of the ICW, keeping track of my progress in my chartbook, (I decided not to use GPS yesterday) and was amazed at the progress that I was making. I crossed into Georgia at around 4:30 pm, and had my mind set on making it to Savannah Bend Marina. The ony thing that was between me and my goal was a bascule bridge that opened for the last time at 5:30. About a mile before the bridge, my outboard started giving me problems, spitting and sputtering. I made it to the bridge, with about a minute to spare, and they closed when I was no more than 200 feet away. After cursing the name of the bridge operator, I turned back to head to another marina I had seen.

      I pulled in to the marina, only to see a sign that said "private - no trespassing". Just after seeing the sign, my motor died on me. I had to use the current, which, thank God, was at my stern, to coast in to an open slip. When I got close enough, I realized that at my current angle of approach, I would slam in to the dock. I grabbed my stern-line, and jumped over about four feet of water onto the dock to catch Justus as she slid in. I secured my lines and set my fenders, and then walked up the dock to speak with the man who was on shore, watching this whole debacle. 

      Turns out, the man, Bill, didn't work at the marina, he just lived in the community and was out for a ride in his golf cart. He gave me a ride to the front gate, to speak with the guard about staying for the evening. She made several calls, and eventually, got the "Okay" for me to stay. Bill drove me back to the dock, and then went home, only to return a few minutes later with a bag full of beer and ice. He showed me where the shower and bathroom were, and informed me of an ice machine in the lounge, to which I could help myself. I grabbed every bag I had on board that night, and filled them with ice, about 60lbs. 

      This morning, I woke up early, had breakfast, and went to work on the motor. I cranked and cranked, but she wouldn't turn over. I opened up the carb, nothing wrong there. Pulled the spark plugs, and they were filthy. I spent a few minutes cleaning each one as best I could, and then reinserted them. A few more cranks, and the motor gurgled to life! I adjusted the mixture, played with the choke, and she was running like a top. 

      About half an hour later, after calling to reserve a slip at Savannah Bend Marina, I headed out. Approaching the bridge, I realized that they open on demand, and my VHF was nearly useless since my batteries were almost dead. I managed to get across the information they needed, and they opened up for me. About a mile and a half down the ditch, and I came to the marina. There were two guys out on the dock to help bring me in, and thank God too. The current and wind were both at my back, so, even with the throttle all the way down, I was still going at about 2.4kt. Unfortunately, I wasn't as graceful during this docking as I have been previously. My bow slammed into the dock, and rose up into the air as it recoiled from the shock. I must have gone white. We managed to get Justus tied off, and I went to inspect the bow. Just some scraped paint and a little ding, no big deal. 

     I'll be staying here for about a week while I ride out the approaching storm, and make some preparations for the next leg of the trip.

What do batteries, anchors, and glowsticks have in common?

After my adventure getting in to Charleston, I rested for the evening, and in the morning, went out to a grocery store to restock my galley. After carrying about 30 pounds of canned goods back to the boat, I shoved off and was on my way. I had set my heart on making it to Edisto Island before I stopped. At around 6pm, I realized that I wouldn't make it to Edisto by sundown, and decided to continue on into the night. About three hours later, I was five miles from Edisto Marina, and my batteries were completely dead. I was navigating with a chart and flashlight, and trying my hardest to find the green and red markers along the channel. I reached the turning point to the Marina, and wisely decided to drop anchor for the night rather than continue on. Luckily, the previous owner of my boat thought ahead, and kept several glow-sticks on board, I used these to mimic my now-dead running lights and anchor light. In the morning, I called Edisto Marina, to make sure that they had a spot for me, they did. I studied the chart of the area quickly, and determined that I had a pretty good idea of how to get there. Boy was I wrong! The St. Helena Sound is probably the most poorly marked body of water I've crossed so far on my trip. There were markers where there should be no markers, incorrectly numbered markers, and absolutely no "danger" bouys to designate the numerous shoals in the area. There's no way I could have made this trip blind at night. I arrived at the marina shortly after 1pm, and have been tackling several projects since then. I'm planning on leaving from here to go offshore tomorrow and try to make Hilton Head or further depending on the wind and my speed.