Days Events:
Wx - cloudy until arrived in Georgetown and sun appeared! Temp in upper 60's, cool, pleasant; little wind.
Travel - left Charleston at 07:25 with winds WNW at 3mph; travelled 65 miles, for 7.5 hr, averaging 9mph, due to having ebb tide current with us for a fair bit. Great day on the water, little traffic, smooth water essentially all day. Had a few spots we had to be extra vigilant due to narrow and shallow channels, but staying in mid-channel was fine, with 6ft being the most shallow, which was even at low tide [4ft tides here]. Our Navionics Sonar has been bang on accurate and we can easily remain in the deepest water and stay out of trouble!
Photos - took one showing the dredging pipes stacked along the shore and one of the dredging barge and its apparatus; one of low tide along the route - rather muddy [note boat sitting on the mud] and altogether showing how tight the channel can be. Several of the Harbor Walk area and promenade by the marina; very nice downtown Front St. next to our docking, well kept and fairly new, with buildings offering shops, museums, art, restaurants. Not bad for a city of 8,000.
Marina - great staff, helpful docking; we are on an outside face dock again, which is fine with us since there is no real problem with waking or wind or waves along here. New docks and offices. Short walk to the downtown [as in 1-2 blks!!]. Met another looping family who arrived right after we did; they are from Oklahoma, living now full time in their Hampton 490 [v. similar to our Meridian 490].
Tourist - only staying tonight, so I walked to River Room restaurant for take-out - food v.g. I had crab cakes, mashed potatoes, salad, 'sweet rolls'; Marg had crab stuffed grouper, sauteed veggies, salad.
Tides/tidal effect - a couple of folks asked what 'ebb', 'flood', and 'slack' tide mean. Ebb refers to the tide going 'out'; Flood is when the tide is coming 'in'; Slack is the 1/2 to 1 hr around either ebb or flood when the current is almost nil, and a boat has the least problem when crossing an inlet or passing through narrow channels because you don't have to deal with the tide current. 'Mid-tide' refers to the approximate mid-way time of either ebb or flood - we had aimed for that period today in a 2 mile section that was shallow [we could not get to that section any earlier to benefit from a higher tide]. Tidal current can really cause turbulence - as we experienced in Charleston - and can be 2-4 mph; it is not the same as a 'normal' river current, and can be additive - if a normal current is going 2 mph downstream, and the ebb tide is another 3 mph, then you have 5 mph pushing either against you or helping you along, depending which way you are cruising. In some waters, the locals will not venture out except at slack tide for example.
MECHANICAL:
Throttle - the psi in the hydraulic engine control system remains good - 92psi - higher than yesterday likely due to temp and use. Had to readjust the STBD handle when it wouldn't go above 1700 rpm - will review tomorrow.
Voltages - battery charger and engine alternators obviously working well - at the end of today, 14.4v, 14.0v, 14.4v for the port, house, stbd batteries respectively.
Tomorrow, we go to Myrtle Beach, at Osprey Marina; they have several Amazon pkgs waiting for us.
That's all folks. Keep on distancing while keeping in touch. Covid19 is spiking again down here - again.
Comments:
Janice - 17 Jun 2020: What anniversary # did you just celebrate? I’ve lost track!
Ernie R - 17 Jun 2020: Rob, not sure but it would appear to me that we are way too relaxed changing the fridge bracket, might be more “cooling off” than hard work going on!? At least it did not require those famous knee pads! I like to think OCD is just another tool the captain has to keep his vessel/passengers safe and in proper working order! Besides, replacement is much less stressful than troubleshoot/repair!! Be safe, looks like COVID increasing everywhere!
Robert & Margaret - 18 Jun 2020: It was our 49th. Time marches on!!
Robert & Margaret - 18 Jun 2020: Each year gets more interesting too!