Jim and Pat: Plan B

First things first, we have made it safely back to St James Marina in Southport, NC.
When last we wrote we were at the Osprey Marina on the Wacamaw River heading north, but we never did fill you in on our adventures in Charleston. Here are a few images of our tour of the city.

As you would expect there were many restored buildings and churches

One interesting point that our tour guide gave us was the difference between a grave yard and a cemetery. A grave yard is next to a church.

You could only be buried in the grave yard here if you were a native of Charleston. One story started with a young wife from the city dying and being buried in the church yard shown above, but her husband the Governor was not from Charleston. When it was his time, he was be buried across the street in the cemetery. Who knew?


James noticed a lot of cool bars with inventive names.


The town is cut in two by Broad St. So you are either Slightly North of Broad or South. This makes you a SNOB or SOB. Apparently in the social structure you want to be a SOB.

After a day of touring we returned to the boat to prep for guests. The crew of S/V Veranda stopped by in Charleston but we missed them. To Bill and Christy we hope your travels south are safe and we look forward to meeting you somewhere down the road. Keep on cruising.


Bob and Ann arrive for an overnight stay. After a nice visit and a final dinner with Jerry and Sue, we left the next morning for our trip back north


Waving goodbye on a beautiful morning. (Thanks Bob, we didn't have pictures of us underway)


Leaving the marina and turning right.

We had great weather for traveling (see previous post for the beginning of our trip back). After leaving the Osprey Marina we headed up to North Myrtle Beach to a little place called Cricket Cove marina. At the outer dock where we tied up the depth was 6 ft. That is how deep we are at the keel. After "kissing the bottom" on the way in we finally made it to the dock. We were sitting in the mud during low tide. While the marina got a good write up in the guide, we could have done with a little more of their reported depth.

At "O dark 30" the next morning we got the engine stared and left for the final push to Southport. We had to get through three inlets that have very shallow depth and were racing a falling tide. Of course our beautiful weather was gone and fog/rain showed up to make our day a bit more interesting. With the wind coming dead on our nose with gusts at 15 to 20 knots we were little cold to say the least.

With my foul weather gear on and Pat under a ton of fleece, we rounded mile marker 315 at around noon and were tied to the dock in St. James Marina by 1230. It was a sad homecoming and not the place we planned to be. We unloaded some clothes and food and headed for the house.

After settling in a bit and unloading more stuff to the house, we thought some trip planning was in order. Pat used her "Harry Potter like" powers to scour the internet for deals on travel. After a few hours she found us 6 days at Disney World in Orlando so we can visit my mom. After that there is a cruise ship headed to the Bahamas for four days. At the least we can say we made it to the Bahamas by boat. Then there is the killer airfare to Europe that we can't pass up. We think some time backpacking Germany, France and Austria would do us well. Although, the 24 day trip to the Caribbean and South America sounds kind of fun. Which one?? So many choices, so little time.

Over the next few weeks we will be working with the electrician and Raymarine repair folks on the boat issues. Before that drama begins, we decided that a retreat to the Outer Banks to Bob and Ann's place for Christmas was needed. There was a wifi connection that needed a workout and a hot tub that needed testing. It is good to have friends.


Pat and Bob testing out the hot tub. It passed!

We have to be back to St James by the 27th. The movers are delivering the final shipment of household goods for the parents. We have a number of our land things in the truck, but honestly haven't missed any of it over the last few months. OK that is a lie, there are the golf clubs. Poor planning on my part to say the least. Pat has retrieved her paint sets from the boat and is looking for subjects to paint everyday. I think that gnome in the yard is in serious trouble.

We just had a Christmas dinner of roast lamb with gratin potatoes, sugar carrots and asparagus. Not your traditional Christmas dinner but then again we are kind of playing things by ear these days. It really is a nice way to live your life.

Everyone out there have a wonderful holiday and keep yourselves warm and safe and dry.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

JT and Pat

Jim: Rhyme or Reason?

We have been at this for a while now and have the lay of the land, but our arrival in Charleston was something new. We traveled to the Isle of Palms just north of Charleston in a rain storm with under 50 feet of viz in dense fog. I got to practice my radar plotting, but won't miss if I never did that again.

While in town Jerry and his wife Sue took fabulous care of us. They had a warm bed and a great washing machine. Did I mention them taking us to a bar named "Reds"? We toured the town learning all the history of Charleston. Thanks so much you two, it was a great time. You really know how to make a couple welcome.

Bob and Ann also came to town and stayed for the night. We caught up and after many G & T's we all went to dinner at a local place. Thanks for the good conversation and the Guardian Angel.

As for the trip in general, we have the following problems:
- The autopilot is a traitor and has a habit of taking over the steering when we don't want him too.
- It is the middle of December and we are only in South Carolina.
- We have a couple of really bad electrical problems that are going to need some serious work to solve.

Our considerations: we need to fix a couple of the show stoppers before we go on and we need a safe port to leave the boat while we have the work done. We need to have transportation and a place to live. We need to take a real vacation and get ourselves in some nice warm water. Time to make the call. Yep, you guessed it. We are heading north.

The marina at St. James has a slip we can rent. My truck is there. Pat's moms house is there. We can fix the problems and leave the boat as we travel. We headed out of Isle of Palms on Sunday and turned right to the north. It was a tough choice, but we think it is the right thing to do.

We anchored in a Minim Creek (MM 415) last night and tonight we are at a the Osprey Marina (MM 373) just south of Myrtle Beach. The cable is plugged in, the shore power is kicking, and Pat has full WIFI coverage. This is kind of like a vacation.

Now we are looking at traveling around a little and seeing some sights. I need some warm water and a Spanish accent. Pat would like to do some painting in exotic locations. We are going on "walk about" and the world is calling us. Life is kind of funny out here on the open road. Lucky for us, we can bend to meet the flow.

Still no sign of Elvis, but we are looking.

JT

Jim: Pit stop in the sea of grass

The view out our window is a sea of grass the likes of which would make the Everglades jealous. We stopped just north of Charleston for the evening. There is a nice channel behind us that has a steady flow of shrimp boats returning home.


The vast sea of grass.

We stayed last night in beautiful little Thoroughfare creek at mile marker 388 on the ICW. We awoke this morning to a light mist and only one other boat in sight. I believe it was about 25' long and of course it was from Canada. The gent on board the "Black Dog" seemed like a nice fellow and he anchored about 100 yards aft of us. He left just before we pulled anchor.

Thoroughfare creek in the morning.

As we headed south the sunshine was a nice change to the recent cold snap. We made our way down to 22 miles north of Charleston and thought we would stop for the night. We are at anchor down in "Five Fathom Creek". The current is about one knot and the dolphins are cruising the point looking for their next meal. Have to love those little guys.

Tomorrow we should arrive in North Charleston at the Isle of Palms Marina. We had a autopilot failure today and we have a guy coming to look at it in the afternoon.

As to the questions and comments on the last few posts, here goes some random thoughts.

For Larry, the bikes we have are Port Runners from West Marine and they work well. They had a very nice write up in Practical Sailor a few months ago. We enjoy them a lot and will add a few pictures when we can.

For Angus that is just a little behind us on the ICW, I am a Renegade too and my call sign is Reallybadeggs. We will be at the Isle of Palms Marina through Sunday. If you are in the area drop by for a drink.

For Joe and Sarah, when they say that cruising is fixing your boat in exotic locations, "they" weren't kidding. More on that later.

For John, the adventure never seems to end, especially that boat maintenance part. We haven't found Elvis yet, but are hopeful

For Ann, please bring that guardian angel and rum!

Finally, Jerry we can't wait for the rescue.

Cheers.

Pat: Update from the Water

We are in a beautiful anchorage on Thoroughfare Creek off the ICW at N36 57.163 W76 18.580. Should be in Charleston late on Wednesday afternoon.

Jim: The Helios Frostbite Tour 2006!!!

Ok, I know we are not breaking any records with our trip south, but this really nice couple passed us on the ICW yesterday:


She seemed a little pushy to me.

The state of North Carolina is holding us hostage. After a week and a half in Southport we were ready to head south. The alternator problem had been solved and the engine tested. Wednesday morning I put "old blue" back in the storage lot and rode my way-cool folding bike the three miles to the marina. Once aboard we disconnect everything and headed out. About 50 yards from the slip, the alternator starts to sound like someone is strangling a cat. A quick check of the engine room reveals the alternator is eating itself. I think to myself, its ok, we can fix it later. No one will notice the ear splitting screeching. Right? Pat gives me the look and we returned to the slip. She really is a good communicator.
We almost got away. DAMN YOU ALTERNATOR GODS!!!

I call Pedro, the terrific boat repair guy that we met and I tell him to come get this %$#$*^& alternator and fix, replace, or exorcise the damn demons out of it so we can get along with our "RELAXING VACATION".

Meanwhile, in the background I see Pat is on-line looking up airfare prices to Aruba. Not a good sign. I think the wife may jump ship. Need to take quick action. How about a day off with some sight seeing and dinner Honey? She agrees. I need a plan. On my bike, back to the truck...

On Friday the parents show up to visit their new house. A family reunion commences and we have a nice weekend. On Saturday night I cooked dinner with a big red wine and we watch "Pirates of the Caribbean II". The alternator is fixed (AGAIN) and we will set out on Sunday for points south. Things are looking up.

Did I mention that the temperature outside last night was 27 degrees. That is a five year low in Southport. As a matter of fact, it is the coldest year that the Southeast Coast has seen in many years. People are freezing in St. Thomas. It is cold in Key West. Dogs and cats are sleeping together. MAN!!! We pulled out this morning with about 1/8" of frost on the boat. No screeching. No smoke. Not sinking. Wife is still aboard and still believes I am a good sailor. WHEW, that was close.


today's date written in the frost.


Dan in the cockpit with the frost on the windows.

We had a nice day motoring down the ICW and we arrived in North Mrytle Beach at a marina named "Dock Holidays". Did I mention that we had a little victory dance when we hit the border. At last we are finally in a state with the word "South" in the title. We plugged in the boat and kicked on the heaters. You see my friends, old Helios has two reverse flow heater/air conditioners on board. I didn't install them, but I am taking full credit. So we kicked them on and the cabin is about 300 degrees right now. I think Pat is going to grow ferns. The marina also had cable TV so we are watching 87 channels of stuff. We decided that this is a vacation and we are going to have max-comfort from here on down.

My lovely bride is sitting over on the other settee with no blankets. She looks comfortable. She is actually not wearing three pairs of socks. This is a good sign.

Tomorrow we get another step closer to Charleston, SC. We have friends there, plus some other friends (Bob and Ann) are coming to visit. I guess they got tired of waiting for us to be in the islands and are settling for SC. So tune in everyone for more interesting adventures of Pat and Jim, two hobbits that must return the ring to Mount... Oh well, you get the picture.

If anyone in the Wilmington NC area needs boat work done, I have to give a big recommendation to Pedro Cordero of Unlimited Boat Services. (910) 231-0837 or Unlimitedboat@aol.com He is the owner. He and his son Pedro Jr. did a great job of killing the evil demons that were living in our alternator. He also put up with all my stupid questions. He knows his way around boats and makes a hell of a good Paella. Thanks Pedro for the help and the lunch. We will see you in the spring.

Cheers,

Pat: Another View II

Tomorrow Team Helios is leaving the warm comfort of St James Plantation, to head down the coast. Before we left I thought you might like to see more pictures of our life on the ICW.


Just like with the bed we have staked out our sides of the boat. This is "my" view from the starboard side.



Just south of Wrightsville Beach the porpoises came to visit.


Here is the sign to the St James Marina. We had been waiting for this moment since Norfolk.


After getting the boat put to bed it was Miller time. 007 has nothing on my man!

There is bad weather forecast for tomorrow night (of course), so we should be making an early day of it in Myrtle Beach, SC. We will let you know how it goes.

Enjoy

Pat: A Vacation from Travel?

Have you wondered what we do when we aren't sailing? Well the great thing about having a boat is that when you aren't sailing you are fixing.

We have taken the last week to finally connect the propane to the oven so we can cook on something other than the Coleman stove, install our water filtration system for the drinking water and stop the squealing alternator belts. We put all the ceiling tiles back up that needed to be down while we were waiting to "fix" things and lightened the boat of all the extras. The extras included clothes, pots, glassware, linens, and all manner of nicknacks. We dumped at least a couple of hundred pounds of stuff at the parents house. At the same time we brought off anything that could be washed to really break in their new washing machine. I washed down the sides of the boat to remove all the black streaks we accumulated. This job involves standing in the dingy with a brush on an long pole, a pail of soap and a hose. It is one of my favorites! Also washed down the deck and topsides and polished the stainless fittings. Oh yes, I almost forgot that we put a new coat of paint on the dinghy to keep away the bottom growth.

We did take some time for non-boating activities. We went and saw the new 007 movie, two thumbs up. We also received a much needed care package from Larry with the episodes of Heroes that we had missed, getting us ready for tonight. Thanks Larry, we have a reason to live until January.

Now that all that is done the boat is much more comfortable to continue the next part of our travels. It is time to move on, but when? It is Monday night and we are sitting next to the fireplace with a cup of warm cocoa. We would like to make Charleston, SC by this weekend, but I have a cold coming on so we may sit for a bit.. That is the great part about this whole adventure, we are in charge. I told James that it is an anniversary of sorts for me, I have not seen a powerpoint slide in a month. Instead I watched James put new strings on the guitar and it seems he can still remember some of his favorite songs. Life could be a lot worse.

UPDATE: Found some bandwidth and have uploaded pictures of our completed projects. To get a clearer look, just click on the pictures to view at full size.




James looking very happy that the "to do" list in the galley is done.
For those following along at home, we have installed a Technautics DC Fridge (new compressor and coldplate), a Whale water system with accumulator and new collapsible water bladders (140 gallons), a Seagull X-1F water purifier, faucets and a new propane box, regulators and hose run to the stove.


The deck and sides are clean for the first time in 500 miles. Nothing special here except we have been very happy with Collinite's Metal Wax for maintaining the stainless. Expensive, but worth it.

Hope all are well and life is good.

Enjoy