Sunday, June 2 - Rumor Has It That It Was A Beautiful Day

We all got up early to leave Wrightsville Beach yesterday. The sun was shining. There was a brisk breeze. The captain thought it would be a great day to take an ocean voyage. So, we ate our yogurt or granola underway.

Now, Rich's son had sent him an email about the cut out of Wrightsville. Supposedly, the wind can really whip it up. In fact, there are times when they actually shut it down. It was not shut down yesterday, but the cut had great wave action. And that, dear reader, is where you lost your intrepid blogger. I said, "I think I will lie down for a bit." And that is the last of my tale for a while.

I did not see it, but the spinnaker flew yesterday. There were a few problems getting it up due to a twist in the top. I don't know for sure; I didn't see it. But the shade kept my cabin cool, so I slept better.

Peggy sighted a gigantic turtle floating along. At first, she thought it was a mass of vegetation. But, no, it was a big turtle taking in the beautiful day.

Others saw a pod of dolphins. They were having great fun, and everyone topside enjoyed the show. I did not see them.

The Cuban yoyos were deployed. According to the fisherfolk, they each caught a BIG tuna at just about the same time. The cry of "Fishy! Fishy!" went out out. I did not stir. The reports claim that Rich's tuna cut across to Terry's tuna, and they tangled. There was a fierce fight. They had to get the Rich tuna on board to hold it while the Terry tuna was reeled in just to get them untangled. They kept the Rich tuna and let the Terry tuna go. Seems there CAN BE such a thing as too much tuna. Terry said, "Now, if the other one had been a Mahi Mahi ......" But it wasn't, so it went free. Other crew members took pictures, so someone will post them later. Not me. I slept through it.

I did get up once to get a ginger ale. My only comment when asked how I was doing--- "The only way I could have more fun would be to have the opportunity to have a root canal this afternoon." Then, I went back down to my cabin to take a nap.

When I finally got up from my nap, we were pulling into Beaufort, NC. We're staying at the Beaufort Docks right downtown. The rest of the crew decided that I needed to get off the boat and go to dinner on land. I did not argue. We went to Clawson's where other people had shrimp and grits or Mahi Mahi wraps or fried shrimp- I had a Rueben- nothing from the sea for me last night!

We came back to LUX, and I took a nap before going to bed. Others have said it was a long day. I wouldn't know. I was not there. 

Rockin' and Rollin' in Wrightsville Beach

The grand plan today was to come to Wrightsville Beach for supplies. The really big plan was that Terry would get to go to West Marine. Extra groceries would be an added value. As with all great plans, they went awry. No slips in any marina here this evening. It seems that there is a giant fishing tournament going on. Every marina was full to the gills ( no, I could not resist that one). For the non-boat people among my readers, that also means this anchorage is full of motorboats. Motorboats busy going back and forth. Motorboats busy making LOTS of wake. So, we are anchored out so that Terry could take the dingy in to go to West Marine. And, while we wait, we are rocking and rolling.

But, I do not want my readers to worry. Terry is not going to West Marine because something serious has happened. No, indeed. He needs wire to install his battery monitor. So, we are not broken down. We will not be waiting for parts.

Once Terry decided to go to West Marine, it was dingy time. And, the dingy was a little dingy today. First, the motor had to be put back on the dingy-always an adventure when the water is active. Then, the motor was not working properly- no water for cooling the engine was coming out the back. Then, we had a hunt for a piece of wire to try to clean out the port. But, we couldn't find the correct size of wire. Then, Terry and Rich took off using the oars. Then, the oar lock broke on one side. But, they persevered. And, they did make it not only to West Marine but to Harris Teeter. We know that because they called to see what was on the list- they forgot to take the list with them. Once again, a fun day on the water- and off!

Welcome to the Sport Fishing Capital

Today is Saturday, and you can tell it is the weekend. The decision was to leave early this morning, but no need for an alarm. LOTS of sport fishing boats have gone by, and it's only 6:30. Terry said they were not serious fisherfolk because they did not go before dawn. Lucky us, huh?

We ended last night with four of the crew playing 500 rummy. Rich claimed he had never played before. Hard for us women to believe since he skunked us big time. And he did it while claiming that he couldn't get any good cards. This morning, he suggested that we stay over another night. He thought his luck was so good that he should go out on the casino boat that we passed yesterday. No. Not happening. He wants to move into dun territory, Peggy's willing to play poker right here on LUX. No time like the present to show that Luck is a fickle lady.

It's 6:43 AM, and the anchor is up. We're on our way north. We'll probably anchor out somewhere near Wrightsville Beach. It's a little cloudy, but no serious rain making clouds in evidence.

Friday Night on Calabash Creek

Well, the anchor went down at 5:20 this afternoon. We are just off the ICW in a creek called Calabash. There's a nice breeze blowing. Mike is cooking our fresh shrimp from yesterday. The rest of the crew? They're enjoying tonight's drink - frozen piña coladas. Another lovely day.

Oh, not all members of the crew are relaxing. Terry is taking apart one of the forward hatches. Yes, everyone is fully entertained.

Newest crew

So, we have a new crew member.

You can barely see it, bit it's a blue, black, and gold dragonfly. We have the screens up, but the dragonflies just seem to be too smart. They manage to get in anyway. We're letting this one stay to catch any wandering Mosquitos. The, we'll help it 'escape' in an hour or so.

Friday- heading toward Myrtle Beach

We were up and off the dock by 7:30 this morning. We're headed up the ICW toward Myrtle Beach.

Yesterday was a great day in Georgetown. Peggy and Terry visited antique shops. The rest of the crew  went on the history tour on the trolley. Georgetown is the third oldest town in South Carolina. And, it was one of the ones not burned by Sherman during his march to the sea. As a result, there are some beautiful homes from the 1700s. The incredible thing is that one of those houses is still being lived in by descendants of the original family! Talk about deep roots!

After wandering about Georgetown, we ended up at the Independent Seafood warehouse, where we bought fresh shrimp. And, it really is fresh! The shrimp boats bring it up to the dock. They unload it at the open doors, sort it, and put the shrimp in big tubs. Then, they pull it out and weigh it to sell it to you! 

Finally, we ended up at WildFish Grill. It was a new restaurant in Georgetown, and they were working on a soft opening. The official opening is not until next week. So, we got to try some of their proposed menu items. Carol had fish tacos made with Mahi Mahi prepared with a blueberry BBQ sauce! And, this place had the best cornbread. A total yum, as Linda would say.

So, we're off to a great start. Terry and Peggy had also visited the Kudzu bakery, so we had strawberry muffins and Danish on the menu this morning. We celebrated the end of National Salad Month and National Hamburger Month with some trivia questions. We carried on enough that Rich said we appeared to be loopy even without drugs. Hmmmm...... We may be looking for new crew soon.

Dinner at WildFish Grill in Georgetown

We decided to try the newest restaurant in town- WildFish Grill.

Advice from Georgetown

Good advice for anyone.

The wonders of a shower curtain or two on a boat

Quite often, boaters look for something to block the sun while you're in the cockpit enjoying breakfast... Or that evening cocktail. We've seen towels, sheets, canvas, and old sails. We have our own solution. Sower curtains! No, not those plastic ones. The nice polyester/microfiber cloth ones are just great. They are lightweight, and they are mold and mildew resistant. Here you can see them shading the cockpit for breakfast this morning.

As you can see, the grommets at the top come in handy! We use Velcro ties to attach our shower curtains when we have lines or other grommets. At other times, clothes pins work well. 

You might have also noticed that our shower curtain has grommets on the bottom as well. That was due to our industrious Carol! She realized that it would be convenient to have tie downs on both sides, so she just took care of that pesky detail.

Now, our shower curtains can be seen all about the boat. Sometimes they are draped across the front windows in the salon. Sometimes they are hanging on the back. But, no matter where you see them, they are doing a great job.

Morning in Georgetown

It's another beautiful morning on the boat. And, even better, Rich is making omelets!

We've already had a great morning discussing serious philosophical issues-- Red Rose tea versus generic black pekoe tea, Dunkin' Donuts versus Starbucks coffee, how much alcohol hairdressers and construction workers imbibe of a weekend..... Yes, these are the issues of the day.

Dinner at Georgetown

Here we are, moored out at Georgetown. It's a beautiful night so far. Although the sun is shining, it is not overly hot.

I'm sure you noticed the black line on the left side of the photo. It's the bug screen. The flies were pretty awful. All day long. We actually decided to put up the screen around lunch time. As you probably noticed, we don't have the standard boat screens. Not having the time or money initially to make the boat enclosure, we came up with an out-of-the-box idea. We took two of the screens that you can buy to go over a patio market umbrella, and (with Carol's sewing skills) turned them into one big bug screen that we can throw over the cockpit area. Since it doesn't snap in, you can't deploy it when it's really windy. But, the flies and mosquitoes aren't bad then either! One of our earlier blogs describes this project- Debugging the Cabin (svlux.blogspot.com/2012/09/debugging-cabin.html).

When the hook went down, we started off with strawberry daiquiris, crab dip, and hummus. We toasted to another great day on the water.

Dinner tonight was shrimp and grits. I made cheesy grits using chicken broth seasoned with onion and garlic. Then, I sautéed asparagus in butter with a little crushed red pepper and black pepper. After about four minutes, I added the shrimp and some Worcestershire sauce. I then sautéed it all until the shrimp finished cooking. Peggy made a salad to go with it. And, it was all a big yum! (Yes, Linda, we thought of you when we used the YUM word!)

For dessert, we have several offerings. One would be banana pudding with vanilla wafers. We also have leftover chocolate cake and bread pudding from last night.

Tomorrow, we plan to dock so we can go into town. This is the home of the famous Kudzu Bakery, where they make the best sticky buns. Yes, we will be getting those!

Preparing for the day

We're getting ready to take off. Rich is hard at work already. The guys are cleaning and polishing. Carol is making oatmeal. We'll need to leave early today if we want to make the first bridge. We're headed to Georgetown, SC- one of our favorite stops. It's the home of Tomlinson's- a wonderful store with really nice folks. It is also the home of a really great bakery. More yummy moments to come!

It's Been A Day

So, it's evening in the marina. We're settling down after our great dinner. We're getting organized to up to the showers. Since there is only one key, you better be ready to go or ready to wait for the key. The three women are waiting for the key master to return to the boat.

Meanwhile, some facts about today's adventures. 

This morning, Peggy relearned that no good deed goes unpunished. Young man with backpack approached the showers and asked if we had a key. Peggy, ever anxious to help, says yes and gets the key. Gee is hesitant. After all, the stranger has broken into a rant about how the people at the shelter just don't understand him. He goes into the shower. A man in a white shirt arrives and asks the worker there if he let a man with a backpack into the shower. He said no. Peggy said, "I did." The white shirt guy knocks on the door and said, "POLICE." Hmmmm... Aiding and abetting.

In the afternoon, Terry and Peggy went to the antiques district in downtown Charleston. They got stuck waiting for the courtesy car to pick them up in town. He was running late taking other people to Harris Teeter. Yes, that would be Carol and Gee. But, it wasn't our fault the driver was running late. That would be the French Canadian couple who wanted us all to wait while their propane tank was refilled!

At Harris Teeter, Carol and Gee picked up the few things they decided they had missed the day before. When they got to the cash register, Carol reaches into the bag she brought, pulls out a pair of black underwear and says (in a loud voice), "Whose underwear are these?" It made the bag boy's day. He's probably still laughing. He also shared that if we needed any help tomorrow, he would not be there. Seems two days of waiting on us was more than enough for him.

Rich had gone to Harris Teeter as well. He took off trying to find a stove top toaster. After lots of walking, he finally found the store - in the opposite direction of the route given to him at the hardware store. After all that, no toaster. Oh well. Tomorrow's another day. And, hopefully it  will be just as exciting.

Dinner with Rich at Marina Restaurant

We had a lovely first dinner with Rich at the Marina Variety Store and Restaurant. Unfortunately, the meals were so large that we had to bring home the leftovers. This wouldn't usually be a problem. But, we just finished reprovisioning yesterday. The refrigerator is packed! Peggy, the refrigerator goddess, had to go in and reorganize everything again in order to get those leftovers in. We are at the point in refrigerator maintenance that you had better not try to move anything unless you ask Peggy. She is the only one who knows where everything is in the refrigerator and the freezer. Her nickname? Refrigerator Goddess!

New crew member arrives today!

Tis afternoon, Rich arrives to join our motley crew. We've had a few days off here in Charleston, but it's time to get back on the water. Tomorrow, we head off to Georgetown, SC. But, today, we're still enjoying Charleston. Peggy and Terry have taken off to check out Antiques Row. Gee and Carol are planning a trip up to the Sea Store- the marina's ship's store. Mike is busy trying to catch up on paperwork.

This morning, we all did some laundry since the laundromat was available. Yes, it's clean sheet night! We also had another visit from Ed and Marybeth- our fellow Leopard catamaran owners. They came for another look at the work we've done with LUX. They left with pages of notes. And, we profited from the exchange as well. Lots of really great ideas were shared. We hope to run into them again in the future.

Rich just came aboard. He was greeted by his bunkmate.

It promises to be a fun adventure!