The Closing of Another Charleston Trip

We were up early on Thursday, and we were on the road at 6:30 am. We made great time up to Hickory. The purpose of stopping there was to get some grass planted on my father's property. We accomplished this with the help of a friend of Dad's named Ralph Jenkins. Ralph is a local Hickory man, and all around good guy. With his help, Dad and I got the seed laid down in good time. We checked in to the hotel, and settled in early.

Friday, it was up early again. We stopped at IHOP for a quick breakfast at six, and then got on the road so that we could spend the morning on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was worth the side trip. We were just past the peak season for the changing of the leaves, but we still got treated to an amazing display of color and scenery. The land along the parkway seems to be untouched by modern society. The mountain top scenery is occasionally interrupted by a farm house or some pasture land. There are also one or two historical sites along the way as well. We took our time making frequent stops to check things out. We could have stayed on the Parkway for much longer than we did, but as scenic as it is, the Blue Ridge Parkway is not a great place to make time, and we had to get home Friday night. So we got off after a scenic three hours, and got back on track for the drive home.

Winding Down in Charleston

Sorry, no pic today!

Yesterday, the diesel mechanic came to visit "The Black Dog", and set to work diagnosing the problem, which turned out to be the exhaust manifold. The good news was that otherwise, the engine is in great shape, and Bob got some good tips from the mechanic on keeping it so. Afterwards, we made the trip from Beaufort to Charleston by car. It seemed ignominious to have a sailing trip torpedoed by a bad engine, but we were happy to have a couple of days of great sailing. Upon arriving back to Bob and Ronda's home in Charleston, we kicked back to relax a bit. The only task for that evening was to get Bob's car from the marina, for which occasion we used the MGB. I convinced Bob to detour through downtown, and I got to drive the MGB through downtown Charleston!

Today it was back to work for Bob, so I took Dad through historic Charleston. We visited Ft Sumter, met Ronda for lunch at Toucan Reef (where I had a great bowl of shrimp and grits), and walked around the South Battery and Meeting Street. We then stopped at a local fish market to get some locally caught fresh shrimp as part of a dinner we made for Bob and Ronda.

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Bob and Ronda, and head back to North Carolina to to do some work on one of Dad's properties, and then Friday we will start for home by way of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I hope that leg of the trip will produce some breathtaking photos to share.

In Port Repairs

We all had a good night sleep, and it was up early for us. Some of us earlier than others. Clive invited up to the Greaves household for hot showers. Not sure if it was a generous offer or a prerequisite for driving us into Beaufort, but since we could not run the engine to get hot water, we were happy for the offer either way. After a good breakfast at Blackstone's, Dad and I did a historic carriage ride through Beaufort, which was both entertaining and informative. After that, it was back to the business of the boat. Bob arranged for a diesel mechanic to drop by the boat, and Dad used his talents to fix the outboard motor for the dinghy. After completing some other tasks aboard the boat, Clive and Jennifer treated us to a very delicious home cooked meal with an evening of rich conversation. It was a night that will be long remembered by us.

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Tribulations

Today was a day to separate the men from the boys. I hope that we fell in to the former. We got underway early, and enjoyed some great sailing as we started from the North Edisto to Post Royal Sound. The winds were good. So good, in fact, that we thought we'd like to run out the spinaker. The problem was that the spinaker had a tear. Bob and I tried to patch it, but we seen to have on future as sail makers. The patch lasted about five minutes. We still had a great sail though, until we hit Port Royal Sound. We had to in under power, but discovered the engine had cooling issues. At one point, we could not restart it, but we were able to get it working to get to Beaufort under our own power. It was a trying day, but we had the right crew to see us to port. Fortunately, we had a berth available near where Bob's father lives, so we can get some work done on things tomorrow, as well as enjoy
some of Beaufort's many offerings.

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Under the Black Flag

We made great time to Charleston yesterday. After such a trip, it was nice to relax by the water before dinner. We attended a small dinner party thrown by Bob and Ronda, and were joined by Bob's parents and their two friends, and then we all got into costume and headed into Charleston. Sadly, I took no pix,, but we had a blast and saw many costumes, from Sara Palin to mermaids. Today it was up early for breakfast, and then doing the needful to get the boat ready to go. There was work to do for all hands, but we were underway by four, and the jolly roger was raised soon after. The winds were good so we chose to head out for a night sail. We lost the wind by nine, but as compensation we were treated to a stunning view of the Milky Way. We are now anchored in the North Edisto, and we are anxious to see where the wind takes us tomorrow.

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