Back in Charleston

Leaving the dock at Jekyll Harbor Marina on the morning of March 23rd was a bit tricky with the current from behind and the wind pinning us to the dock.  But Randy, one of the dock hands, taught me a new trick. He coached me to put both engines in forward and turn the helm toward the dock.  As the bow of the boat pushed into the dock, the stern came away from the dock, and then the current caught it and moved it out toward the channel. Then, all I had to do was back out into the channel, away from the two boats we were sandwiched in between.
It was only a couple of hours after low tide, so Jekyll Creek was pretty shallow. In fact, we just barely made it through,  but this would put us at the Little Mud River and Hell Gate at higher tide, which was important. As we cruised along, we must have been stirring up some bait fish, because a flock of seagulls followed closely behind us all the way through Jekyll Creek and beyond.

The west wind and incoming tide made the various sounds we crossed rather rough with small waves breaking, so we alternated between surfing the waves, getting broadsided, or taking them head on, depending on what direction we had to go at the time.

Finally, we approached Walburg Creek where we decided to anchor for the night.  This is a lovely spot where we had anchored last fall when we were heading south.

It was a rough night at anchor, especially when the tide changed so that the wind and current were at odds with each other, but any night when the anchor holds is a good night, and we were also rewarded for our trouble with a beautiful sunset.

High winds were predicted the next day, but we didn't want to spend another rough day and night at anchor, so we decided to head for Isle of Hope Marina to sit it out. On the way there, however, we changed our plans.  We noticed some troubling engine fluid leaks, so we continued on to Hinckley Yacht Services in Thunderbolt, Georgia, to get them checked out.

With sustained west winds of 20-25 mph, gusting to 30 mph, it was difficult to get the boat over to the dock, even with thrusters, but port forward and starboard reverse finally helped while three guys on the dock caught and secured bow, stern, and spring lines.  The problems were diagnosed as an oil leak in the port engine fuel injection pump, as well as a coolant fluid leak, neither of which they managed to fix. 

So, after several frustrating days of waiting around, we decided to continue on and get these taken care of in Charleston. We were then only waiting for an appropriate weather window, which didn't appear to be anytime soon.

On the morning of March 30th, we awoke to cloudy skies, calm wind, and no measureable current, so we decided on the spur of the moment to leave. Big mistake!  Soon we were enveloped in a series of rain storms, very heavy at times, and with lightening and thunder, some bolts very close and very scary.  Visibility was almost zero at times, so we followed close behind a sailboat for a while because it seemed that they could pick their way along the ICW, and if they made it through, so would we without running aground.  At one point, we were passed by an inland waterway cruiseship and wondered what the passengers thought about their cruise.

Ken spent most of his time sopping up rain water that came through the zippers on our strataglass windows.  He could barely keep up with it, the volume of rain pouring from the sky was so great. In fact, when we finally made it to Beaufort, SC, where we ended up that day, we found about four gallons of water in the bucket where he had been wringing out the cloths.

Upon arrival at the Downtown Marina in Beaufort, we saw the cruise ship, American Star, already there tied up to the pier.

Then we went ashore and had an excellent dinner at Emily's, followed the next morning with a great breakfast at Blackstones.

Although we only planned to spend two days in Beaufort, the weather had other plans for us.  The wind picked up again, which made the prospect of leaving undesireable.

So, we stayed for two more days, just enjoying ourselves in the lovely parkfront setting of our marina, with roses and azealias in bloom.

Our boat was tied securely to the dock and just as content as it could be, so why go anywhere?

We were rewarded for the wait on March 3rd, which dawned with a beautiful sunrise and calm weather.

So, we threw off the lines for the trip back to Charleston.  And now, after seven months of liviing aboard the "Docker's Inn," cruising 1,300 miles, and consuming about 850 expensive gallons of fuel, we're back at Charleston City Marina where this adventure began last September.