We stopped yesterday afternoon in Georgetown, SC, before noon, in order to have a mechanic check out the engine that was leaking oil, and so that Charlie could get a rental car and start home this morning.
The night before (Wednesday night) we anchored in a little tidal stream about four hours north of Charleston. It had been a hot day, and we were planning on taking showers on the aft deck. Charlie decided it would be a good idea to take a quick dip in the stream before showering, so he jumped in off the swim platform and got wet. After we showered, and were cooking dinner (pork tenderloin and salad) a couple of young boys came by in a boat, having been fishing. I asked them if there were alligators in the area, and they said “Oh, yes, sir!” with some emphasis on the “yes.” The next morning before getting to Georgetown, we spotted five or six good sized gators in the ICW!
Everything was a success. As far as I can tell tonight, the leak was stopped. It was being caused by a small fitting that got bent when the port engine was removed or replaced, allowing a small amount of oil to escape. The mechanic spotted it right away, and was able to remove it and straighten out the base, then replace it with a slather of silicon added for good luck!
The three of us ate out for the first time in a week, last night, in Georgetown, had an ice cream cone, then returned to the boat to read and talk. Charlie couldn’t get his rental car until 0800 this morning, and then took me shopping to restock a few items. Judy stayed aboard to rearrange the v-berth into the cats’ room, get ice, and fill the water tanks. By the time Charlie and I returned about 0915 everything was ready to go. Charlie departed as soon as we unloaded the groceries – we’re going to miss him – he was a big help. We got underway about 0935.
We seemed to hit the tidal current at the wrong time throughout the day, and for eight of our nine hours underway had a current running against us. As a consequence, we didn’t make very good time – only 55 miles in nine hours (exactly).
We’re tied to a dock in North Myrtle Beach at Dock Holidays Marina. We were in a stretch of the ICW where there isn’t an anchorage for over 40 miles, and between our late start and the setting current, we couldn’t make it through that area today.
We’ll make the Chesapeake in another 4-5 days. I was thinking about running the length of the Chesapeake without stopping, but I heard from a friend that the Chesapeake (and presumably the Delaware Bay) is full of debris from the heavy rains of the past couple of weeks, so running at night may not be practical. We’ll have to make that decision later.