In 2015 when we embarked on this great adventure, I felt it was important to do quarterly recaps. This is the first one I did.
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.
By the time we left Charleston, we’d traveled about 1200 miles, finished 25 per cent of the trip, fueled three times (you don’t want to know the cost and thank God we aren’t doing it today), and 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 (and boy were my feet tired at the end of that day).
I’d 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 wastewater 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 was a real problem in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. We wondered what awaited us in North Carolina.
Best dinner out: Peninsula Grill in Charleston. We splurged and had two desserts. One was their famous coconut cake. We were joined by Mark’s brother, Keith, and his wife, Charlotte, who drove from Alabama to visit us.
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 met in marinas…every one of them with a story to tell…some of them wanting to hear our stories.
We stayed a few extra days in Charleston, waiting for a thunderstorm to pass, but then were on the move. I remember looking 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 our boat, I sat at the captain’s table every night. And I got to wear shorts.
Each of these are Great Stories!
Thank you. I am having fun reviewing the old posts and updating them.