Saying goodbye to Charleston, hello to Marquesa!

Sorry there wasn't a post last evening, we spent the night on the boat at Ross Marine since we had an early departure this morning.  There was no WiFi connection, and I was simply too exhausted if I did have an internet connection.  We got up Sunday morning and decided to divide and conquer.  The "to do" list was getting whittled down, we most definitely were going to be able to leave Monday morning.  Donnie left for the boat to take care of some water issues, another look-see at the head as to why it is not flushing properly, and to prepare the dinghy for launching.  While he was at the boatyard, Carissa took me to the commisary to purchase all the fresh provisions.  I could really get used to grocery shopping at a military base!  All foods are name brand, lots of organic options, priced way less than any Walmart or Meijer, and no tax.

Unfortunately, I came out with 10 more bags of groceries
to squirrel away on the boat, lol.

The plan was to meet up for lunch at the Mad River Inn to catch some of the Seahawks game.  Mad River Inn is a bar that was once an old church, just across from the marketplace in the heart of downtown Charlestown.  We've been there many times, and its a great place to see a game on their big screens. 


It was blowing snow in Chicago...it looked miserably cold.

I turned to Donnie and said, "Thank you so much for taking me out of the snow;"  My hands were ice cold just watching the game!  We tried our best to root for the Seahawks, for our son-in-law Austin (Carissa's husband).  Apparently it wasn't enough...I'm sorry, Austin. (But how about those Jets?!)

I did about 10 minutes of sightseeing in Charleston; the walk to and from the parking garage. I love this town.

Poogan's Porch- the kids will remember this place
as having the worst she-crab soup, EVER!



There are beautiful old churches every few blocks in downtown
Charleston.  Each one has their own creepy graveyard which makes
for good ghost walks; no time for one on this trip.



At the marketplace. These hand made saw grass baskets are
very popular in Charleston.

I thought of Paps when I saw
this Moon Pie General Store.
I wonder if they sold RC
Colas, too?!

The week I spent packing and cleaning was undone in a few hours as Donnie
and Jim were trying to trace down a water problem to solve the head mystery.
Every hatch was open, every cushion was on the floor, even the bed was
completely torn up, which had taken me three hours to make.

I could hardly grouch at Donnie for the chaos down below, as he was equally frustrated by the head that will flush, but not drain. He took it apart no less than four times on Sunday trying to get it to work properly.  Not to be dismayed, I told him to give it up for the night as it was nearly 11:00pm by the time I got things relatively put back together. We had the alarm set for 0645 for an early morning departure.

While Donnie was working away at the head, Willis was let out of cat carrier to explore his new home.  Being the curious cat that he is, he was all over the boat; from bow to stern, top to bottom.


What is this place, mom?!



Out of the galley, cat!



Down in the belly of the boat.



Found the litter box!




The kitty crew is checking out the charts and
sailplan for tomorrow morning's departure!



He finally settled down for the night...he has no idea
what is in store for him tomorrow. All is well in the world
of Willis, for the moment.

Morning came early for us, especially for me.  I've got to retrain this body off of second/third shift!.  We untied the docklines at 0730 and cast off to the south, down the Inter Coastal Waterway.  It was a pretty exciting first couple of hours, not gonna lie.  We kept looking at each other, smiling, and saying, "Can you believe we are on our own boat heading south to Florida for the winter?!  We are really doing it!!!"


That's a happy couple- dreams really DO come true (with alot of
hard work and persistance!)



Our first bridge of the day. That's one of our fold up
bikes (i.e., car) lashed to the port side bow.



Going under!





We were overtaken by a trawler in the "passing lane".
It was one of only five boats we saw all day.



Honey, I thought you were taking me out of the COLD!

 The key to survival on the ICW, if you are a newbie and it is January, is to have lots of hot drinks and blankets on hand, and a first mate who is reading the charts and calling out the markers.  We were on some meandering rivers, creeks, and cuts.  Sometimes the water was so skinny, it seemed no wider than the White River back home.  It was a little unnerving in a big boat.  We also hit shallow waters several times...and yes, we ran aground our first day out!  We're hoping that's our "one time" and there won't be any others the remainder of the trip, lol.  We were stuck for about twenty minutes, and the tide was clearly going out.  I was praying hard, and wouldn't you know, another sailor shortly came along, PTL!!!  That was only the fourth boat we had seen all day and it was already mid-afternoon.  We chose to follow our 'buddy' for a time until he ran off and left us. While early on in the trip we saw some fine, stately southern homes (mansions by our standards back home), but most of the day was spent in "low country".

Much of what we saw were palm trees, oak trees covered in spanish
moss, marshes and mudflats, and dozens of waterfowl that I have
no idea what they were- wish I had a bird book on board!

One of the highlights of the day were the dozen or so dolphins that we saw along the way.  Several surfaced right by the boat, playing in our bow wake.  So cool.  I will try to catch them on the camera for Steph :)
Due to our little mishap, we missed the 4pm opening of the Lady Island Swing Bridge.  Rather than staying at the City Marina as we intended, we opted for a quick turn to port, up Parrot's Creek a smidge, to Lady Island Marina.  Thanks, Ted, for your assistance with the tie up- no crash landings. Cap'n has an easy touch at the wheel, :)


Hot showers, a working restroom, and WiFi- I'm a happy camper!

I set about doing the day's dishes and started supper, while Donnie went to tear apart the head for the fourth time.  Poor guy....

Our first meal aboard was chicken, black beans and spanish rice.

While I cleaned up the galley, attended to some email and banking online, Donnie tore apart the head, and our bed, for the fifth and sixth times.  The last ditch effort was to take the motor completely apart to replace the impeller.  Like Humpty Dumpty, he put it all back together again, hit the "flush" and....IT WORKED!!!!  No more bucket! :)))))  And now, he is waiting on me to go take a hot shower and call it a night.  The weather looks cold, but no rain for tomorrow, so the plan is to head further south to Savannah.  I've always wanted to go to Savannah.  Just another adventure around the next bend.