Locked and Loaded

Monday, February 29, 2016   Leap Day

We spent a hectic day of packing last minute items and perishable food and leaving the house clean.  At 5 PM our neighbors picked us up and drove us to Fillets and joined us for dinner.  It was a nice evening followed with a shuttle to the boat.  Yes, we locked the door and opened the champagne.  We finally are experiencing a plan that was interrupted with a hip replacement for me and a torn meniscus for Dave.                                      

Tucked in by 9 PM and then a message from our local man in blue.   He had been informed of our departure and he went by and saw our bathroom light still on.  Kudos to you Matt Pasqurell.  It is nice to know we are well protected by the observant man in blue.

There are not too may additions to the boat for this trip.  A more substantial dinghy, a new VHF radio that will send emergency signals with the boats location, and a step Dave fashioned for boarding that can be moved to port or starboard.  We are overwhelmed by the tech knowledge and the charging chord we need to use.







 

Calling for the Swing Bridge to open, we are on the way!

Day 1 on the water

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

52 degrees and cloudy until mid afternoon and a high of 73 degrees

With a quick breakfast under our belts we were underway at 8 AM.  A bit of glitch with the operation of our new VHF radio kept us from hearing the bridge tender.  Our friends from Ref’s Time Out gave us a heads up that the bridge had answered us.                                                                                                            A few cruisers are headed North, we saw two sailboats and about 6 power boats.                                                  

On our approached to Georgetown we missed seeing a log because of the chop and believe the prop has some minor damage.  We still averaged 14.5 miles an hour and arrived at the Isle of Palm Marina; north of Charleston at 3:45 PM.  110 miles.  While doing the log Dave discovered that fuel is $1 to $1.50 cheaper than the last trip.                                                                                                                                      After eating dinner on board we reviewed the goals for the second leg of the trip.