First Quarter Update

When you go to a ball game, you can look at the scoreboard and see what’s been happening. When cruising, you should be able to do it too.

So here’s an update.

We’ve gone about 1200 miles, finished 25 per cent of the trip, fueled three times (you don’t want to know the cost), and have had only one crash landing into a dock. No, I was not driving. The captain was concentrating on the wind, not the current. Both were fierce.

Five locks went without a hitch.

Longest hike to a grocery store was two miles; longest walk through beautiful scenery (Middleton Plantation) was five miles.

I’ve seen five alligators. Three were submerged. Two were sleeping. (I didn’t bother to poke them to see if they were real and Mark declined).

Cleanest landing was into the pump out dock at Charleston Maritime Center. (There’s supposed to be a pun in there).

Almost ran aground three times…but backed off or powered through. Shoaling is a real problem in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. We’ll see what awaits us in North Carolina.

Best dinner out: Peninsula Grill in Charleston. We splurged and had two desserts. One was their famous coconut cake.

Worst experience for me was the day of heavy chop through Sopelo Sound when the kayak fell over the side, held by its strap until we could secure it.

Best experience…all the people I’ve met in marina laundry rooms…every one of them with a story to tell…some of them wanting to hear my stories.

We stayed an extra day in Charleston, waiting for a thunderstorm to pass, but now we’re on the move. I looked wistfully at the Cunard’s Queen Victoria liner when it came in the harbor, wondering if I’d like that kind of cruising better.

Probably not. On this boat, I get to sit at the captain’s table every night. And I can wear shorts.

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