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