27 Sep 13

Slept in till 08:00. LW is not until 10:10 and there is no point in starting the 15 mile run to Georgetown before half-tide. We read and played guitar and knitted (well, Terri did) all morning. About noon, we started to get ready to go and thought the wind seemed a bit “fresh”. Turned on the instruments and it was blowing NE 30 - 35 with gusts to 38 kn (in the ocean, this would be called a gale), although it was clear and fine outside, otherwise. We got the anchor up and motored (and sailed for a few minutes) into Georgetown. On Wednesday morning, we got passed on the ICW by the Charleston FD Fireboat doing about 35 kn toward the north; we did not think about it much at the time (just figured it was the boys out for a lark; to “exercise” the engines), but some old - i.e., circa 1850 - buildings in historic downtown Georgetown caught fire early that morning and burned to the ground. Apparently, at the time, it was pretty exciting and it was only about 150 m from the Harborwalk Marina where we parked in Georgetown, but our marina came through unscathed.

When we arrived, all of our latest capital improvements - port visors, spare screens for the A/C raw water strainers, mosquito screens for the salon hatches and kayak racks - along with the replacement inflatable kayak from Hobie, and a mail packet from Houston, were waiting for us; Christmas in September. We also met Jim and Paul on “Sea Eagle”, who are good friends of Dean and Nancy, from “Pegasus”, who we met in Charleston.

28 Sep 13

Beautiful, cool morning. I spent all morning installing kayak racks, hatch screens and port visors, while Terri did the laundry. We are looking more like a cruising boat all the time: foredeck is loaded down with toys - kayaks and bikes. At lunch time, we rode up to the “Wild Fish” and had burgers and a beer as part of the benefit for the victims of the aforementioned fire. Eight 3-story buildings burned up in minutes and a number of families got out with only what they had on their backs at 05:30; sometimes only pajamas. It was a miracle no one was killed, although a couple of pets were lost.  

Then, we went by bicycle the 1.5 miles to the local Piggly Wiggly (a poor second to Publix or Harris Teeter, although there was a very good special price on chicken feet - gag me with a spoon) to get in the shopping, with a second run to the local liquor store. Later, we had docktails on board “Sea Eagle” with Jim and Paula and local friend Fran, who, along with her husband, Capt. Rod, runs the local tour boat, followed by dinner at “River Room”, followed by a walk on the Georgetown Boardwalk to view the fire damage from the water side; still impressive.

29 Sep 13

Another beautiful, clear, cool morning. I love the fall. We had a leisurely breakfast, read the newspaper, tidied up a bit, and then went for a late lunch at the Coffee Break Cafe - very nice. Then we went for a long bike ride around historic Georgetown and ended up at the Rice Museum; I bought a combination ship’s clock, tide clock and hydrometer/thermometer and Terri bought some seaweed pressings for friends. When we got back to the boat, we unlimbered the two kayaks and went for a paddle around the island in Georgetown harbor; very efficacious. Later, Paula and Jim joined us for docktails. Dinner aboard.