Beaufort Yacht & Sailing Club

SHIP'S LOG:

Sorry about the gap, then again tin cans & string!!!!!

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2010 - The night at Church Creek was uneventful, a nice quiet night. It was one of those really "silent places" than seem to be everywhere off the beaten track down here. They are wonderful and scary at the same time. I was joined by another sailboat but again, it anchored 100yards away. Either they were very concerned with respecting my privacy or perhaps not being able to shower every day is having a down-wind adverse effect!!!! (His, not mine!!!)

I got a call from Bob Cullen's Friend, the "Outrageous" Guy Mc Sweeney. I can wait to meet this guy, no pun intended. Talking to him on the phone, I have formed a mental picture of him: tall, thin, a shock of white hair and a white mustache. It will very interesting to see how close I come to the real thing.

Leaving Church Creek and continuing down the ICW, I was passed by :Twins Spirits." It took me a moment to figure out why the name struck me and then I remembered that Tom & Shelia were at Pleasure Cover Marina back up in Bodkin Creek south of Baltimore. I had given them the "10 Rules for Traveling the ICW" and I asked them if they had been helpful. They were loud in their praises . . . . having only once gone aground! They're doing better than me! Being that they were in a trawler, they soon "left med in the dust" but it was great to see someone at last that I "knew" on the journey. I got a call for them later about a tricky spot past the Dawhoo River Bridge. And I am glad that they sent it.

AS I mentioned before, the ICW is not one long canal. Basically it is small canals and channels that connect rivers, bays & lagoons. The canals themselves have no current or tides save what the rivers, bays and lagoons on either end provide. In some case, most actually, the entrances and exits to the canals are the really "exciting parts" as the currents and tides fight against each other and produce some rather turbulent waters. When I hit the mouth of the canal that connected to the Dawhoo River, the down stream current sent me sideways. Then motoring upstream, I couldn't do more than 4.5 knots. The really fun part was finding the deep water. The river was rather twisty and so the shoaling parts shifted from side to side before and after turns. One of "The 10 Rules" is that "crabpots rule." Local fishermen set their crabpots along the edge of the channel between the shallow water and the deep water. Sometime,increasingly more as I get further south, that edge is encroaching on the ICW channel The US Army Core of Engineers in this area doesn't have the funds necessary to do the dredging necessary and so you are engaged in a constant search to stay in "deep water." Following the lines of crabpots, often in conflict with the "official Markers" is the best way to stay in the deep water. I have seen several boat cross those lines and get stuck, including one today on this stretch. A wing bridge on the Dawhoo River has been replaced by a nice, new, tall bridge with the ICW 65 foot clearance but just beyond it was the spot that Tome & Shelia warned me about. The passage under the bridge was 20 feet of deep water. A little over 100 yards beyond the bridge were to channel markers a good 100 feet apart. Tom warned me to stay right, far right, right up against the shore for the middle, where you would expect the channel to be deep was not. As I got there , I could see the surface of the water "rustling", all disturbed like a school of fish were feeding. It didn't make sense but the depth sounder kept decreasing and so I moved right, far right. Along the bank, which I could have reached out and touched I had 23 feet of water. Tom said that when he had tried the center, hit got readings of 6 feet!!! before he moved right. I got through it OK but it has made me even more the "slave to the depth sounder."

By early afternoon, I had made it to the Edisto River - pronounced "ED -isto."Actually, it was the South Edisto River, and followed it south. I came to a wide spot in a turn that was something like a small bay and anchored there for the night. There wasn't much in way of spots to anchor between there an Beaufort and it was a good spot. All day long the wind hadn't risen above 5knots, but once the hook was down it went up to 20-25 in a heart beat. It cranked like that until about 5pm when, with the approaching sunset, it calmed down to nothing. Three other boats also came in to anchor and again, a 100 yards of separation was the rule. I called Guy McSweeney and told him that I would be in Beaufort on the morrow and he said that a friend of his at their yacht club, David Dixon, was a miracle worker at fixing things and would take a crack at the dinghy. The weather is to continue in the 70's though the winds would be light and David will fix my dinghy. All is right with the world!

November 22, 2010 - Monday

I wasn't in a rush to get started today as Beaufort is only 20 miles away. Guy called in the morning and said David was eager to get his hands on the dinghy. He also said that he would explain why "Beaufort" is pronounced "BUU-ferd" in South Carolina and "BO - Fort" in North Carolina and why the South Carolina pronunciation is the correct one. I can't wait to hear that.

The three other sailboats were anchors up and gone before I had my morning coffee . . . again! I hope they get safely to wherever it is that they are going. I found out, after I had started, that the Lady's Island Bridge in downtown Beaufort opens on the hour only and not, as the cruising guides say, on the hour, half hour and/or upon request. I had to push it a little as I got out of one of the canals as the river I hit mas moving against me. Once I got into a place called "Watt's Cut, that changed about half way through as the river on the other side of the cut started pulling me through with a heck of a push. It was a tug of war between the Whapoo River and the Ashepoo River. I am not sure who won, but as I approached Beaufort, I was doing 7.8 knots and I was at idle speed setting on the throttle.. I got to the Lady's Island Bridge in time for the 2pm opening and cruised into downtown Beaufort. from the water, it is a small town but beautiful, the image of what you think of when you think of a Southern Town. I got a call from Guy as I passed through town saying he could see my boat and that I should head for the Beaufort Yacht and Sailing Club which turned out to be across the river from his house. By the time I got there, He was on the dock to handle the lines. I am not very good at docking, but have had a lot of practice during this trip and made a successful landing. In other words, I didn't sicken the dock or Guy. I hate to say it, but my mental image of Guy - tall, thin, white hair, whit mustache, couldn't have been more wrong. Think in terms of a "semi-tall Truman Copte." Guy greets me like a long lost friend and we hauled the dinghy to the workshop they have at the BYSC. Dave showed up within minutes and went to work. Dave is a British ex-pat who has been in the States for 30 years plus. An engineer by trade, he loves to fix things. Finding something that needs fixing and finding a way to do it seems to be the greatest enjoyment in life for him. He did things to prepare and fix the dinghy that the people I talked to at the various companies I called, and even the surveyors I talked to, would never have thought of. Meticulous in his approach, he set the patch with the adhesive, and it looked "right" even as it just sat there. He also looked at "ABISHAG . . . I think he liked that it was an "English Boat" . . . and suggested a new separator bar for the davitts . . . that he would fabricate and set in place, along with some padding to keep the dinghy off the boarding ladder. When there was nothing more to fix, he left! Quite a guy.

Speaking of Guy, he took of and came back about 6pm "to put some real southern cooking into that empty Yankee belly of yours." He took me to his home that was beautiful beyond description. Guy and his wife, Mimi, built it 25 years ago but it looks completely Antebellum. The inside was incredibly decorated. It was straight out of "Southern Living" meets "House Beautiful."The first of his children was there, Along with her husband and one of their daughters. The rest would be showing up of the next 24 hours for the big family Thanksgiving celebration. The dinner was true dinning, not feeding. Everything was slow and measured and wonderful. I hated to leave but had to get back as at 10pm it was way past my bedtime. I was driven back to the boat and slept the sleep of the just, too tired to even blog.


November 23, 2010 - Tuesday

A long slow morning. I laid out the course for the next day or whenever it is time to go. The effectiveness of Dave's handiwork will determine that. Beau, the manager of the BYSC came by, showed me where the showers were, and said that if i need to do laundry, well he and his wife live on the club's ground . . . yes, they have a lot of grounds, and I could do it in their home. That was too more than gracious so I will wait until the next marina. I got a call from Guy and he picked me up at 1pm. I sent off the Charleston City Marina Bathroom Key from the local post office and Guy gave me a tour of Beaufort. It is a beautiful little town. It is Charleston with everything modern removed. Most of the streets are original and so narrow that they are only one way. The home are beautiful beyond telling. You go down what appears to be an alley and it is lined with the marvelous antebellum homes in what can only be described as perfect settings. If Charleston was wonderful Beaufort is spectacular. If you picture in your mind the perfect small southern town, this is it! There are probably not more than 8,000-10,000 people in the town and Guy knows everyone of them. Getting the tour, we stopped constantly to say "Hi" to seemingly everyone we passed. I can't begin to say what a wonderful host the man is. After a wonderful personalized, story-filled tour, I did my shopping at "Piggly-Wiggly" and Guy took me back to the BYSC. It was hard to say "Goodbye" to him. He became a friend, a good friend in less than 24 hours. I can really understand why Bobby Cullen speaks so highly of him.

If the patch doesn't take, I may be "stuck " here another day. Right now, I am at the dock waiting for Dave so that we can put the "strut" on the davitts and test the patch. Beau, the club manager, gave me a key to the place and said to stay as long as I wanted. I have access to the bar and the color TV, but if the patch holds an d the strut fits, it is time to move on.

Oh yes, "Beaufort " and "Beaufort." well, according to Guy, the correct pronnunciation is "Bue- ferd". It is after all a French name, and besides, would you want to be "bu-tiful" or "bo-tiful?"