Cherish 22 April - 29 April 2009
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| Date | Location | Log and Pictures | |
| 22 April 2009 | Fernandina Beach, FL | Underway at 6:30 am for Fernandina Beach. We were bound to make the bridge that was closing for the day at 1 pm. As we moved north we determined that our VHF radio was broken. Luckily Bill had purchased a spare and Barny and Bill installed it as we moved up the waterway, and Cortes supervised. The autopilot we fixed wasn't, so we worked on that again when we tied up. We now think we have the fix in place and purchased the necessary parts. We'll know tomorrow when we make the repair. We in fact did make the bridge we were worried about before it closed and are now safely moored at Fernandina Beach, Fl. We enjoyed dolphins swimming with us on the trip today, jumping as you see below. After tying up, the crew had a glass of wine and then enjoyed the company of Belinda, her son Tommy, and Victoria, friends of the crew. Except for Cortes, who made it to bed early, we all went to dinner and are now home on the boat, getting ready for tomorrow's adventure. We realize we're close to Georgia as the water at low tide is real "skinny." That means the water is very low, so we take our time and make sure we're in the channel. | |
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| 23 April 2009 | Bear River, GA | Underway at 6:30 for a long day. 105 miles make by the time we anchored in Bear River. We're in Georgia and ready for Hell Gate tomorrow morning and then 65 more miles to Beaufort, SC. During the day and finally after anchoring we fixed the autopilot and will make good use of that tomorrow. Two days ago the engine synchronizer broke, but it is a minor inconvenience and we'll fix it when we get a chance. The boat is really running great and all major systems working fine. Bill, Barny, and Doris spent a good deal of time in the pilot house as we passed through some very shallow water in the afternoon. Cortes enjoyed the fresh air on the deck and watched the crew work through the shallows. | |
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| 24 April 2009 | Beaufort, SC | Underway at 7:30 we headed for Beaufort. Halfway thru the trip we came upon a bridge that had broken and we anchored for 3 hours until the tides lowered enough for us to get through. Here in Georgia the tides are 8 feet, with currents about 3-4 knots. While anchored Barny and Bill found and made the barbeque grill work. Finally through the bridge we were at dead low tide through some very shallow waters. Doris recorded a 4.9 foot water depth. The boat draws 4.5 feet so we were close to the bottom, but never touched. We made it to Beaufort at 6:15 pm and Bill did his usual excellent job of bringing Cherish into the pier. Barny and Doris hooked up the electric and water, we enjoyed walking around the marina, and finally made it out to a local restaurant for dinner. A great day. We're headed for Charleston tomorrow. | |
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| 25 April 2009 | Charleston, SC | Up early. Bill, Barny, Cortes, and Phil went to Blackstone's for breakfast. Doris stayed aboard to shower, empty trash, and clean up the boat. We were underway about 8:30 for a nice 67 mile trip to Charleston. Easy traveling and beautiful weather. Late in the afternoon Bill moved topside and enjoyed driving his boat from the fly bridge; prior to that Barny and Bill were the major occupants of the pilot house. The waterway was beautiful today and we particularly enjoyed going through the cut at Wapoo Creek into Charleston harbor. During the day we noted the forward air conditioner quit working. Bill and I checked the water flow and found the problem. All air conditioners now working. | |
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| 26 April 2009 | Georgetown, SC | Up at a reasonable hour, Barny went to the store, Bill paid the bill and we prepared for underway. Bill did another great job maneuvering the boat and we safely pulled away from Charleston City Marina. A beautiful day of travel and we made it in to Georgetown by 2:30pm, a 67 mile trip. Along the way the GPS showed us moving at 24.2 mph. Actually it was a GPS fault but it got us excited as we did have a real push from the current. The crew stayed vigilant and we made it through some shallow water areas. Once in Georgetown we did some laundry as this is a crew change place. Ruth Lovelace is arriving tonight and I'm driving her car back to Colonial Beach. Tomorrow Bob and Vicki Wrenn will arrive and Cortes will drive their car back to Richmond. The new crew will have a lay day in Georgetown to do a few chores and ensure the air conditioners are working. We cleaned the strainers this evening, and they were filled with trash. However the air conditioners are still not working great. The new crew plans to get underway on Tuesday from Georgetown. After the laundry, Cortes went to visit friends in town and the rest of us walked to old town Georgetown for a meal of low country broil (broiled shrimp, sausage, corn, vegetables, and potatoes), a great meal. On the walk home we saw some of the great old homes of Georgetown. From the restaurant we could see Cherish across the bay. See if you can pick her out in the last picture on the right. | |
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| 27 April 2009 | Georgetown, SC |
Today was a day to relax, rejuvenate, resupply, and re-crew. Cherish,
after 667 miles of trolling, caught her first fish. It was on the swim
platform this morning. Remember, size isn't important. Unfortunately Phil
and Cortes left us today to head home to Virginia. Fortunately Bob and Vicki
Wrenn joined us this evening. Ruth, Doris and Barny made the supreme
sacrifice and went to Wally World to resupply after we all enjoyed a big
breakfast at the small restaurant, Harold's, in the center of town where it
was obvious that all the big decisions of Georgetown are made. Bill spent
the remainder of the morning holystoning his decks. This afternoon Bill and
his new bilge buddy Ruth traced gremlins. Bill had a pleasant surprise when
the marina charged him a total of $2.01 for our two night visit. Hell, what
are two decimal places between friends. But, after a few laughs, he went
back and asked them if they really wanted to charge him $201. And, as Bill
is want to do, he parlayed their error into free ice cream for the entire
crew. This evening we will be off to another pub dinner in town.
So, to summarize the crew change, the new crew from Georgetown will be: Bill, Doris, Barny, Ruth, and Bob and Vicki Wrenn. Cortes and I are home and wishing to still be there. We had a great time. As far as the web site goes, I'll keep it up to date as the crew will be sending a narrative and pictures when they can. |
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| 28 April 2009 | North Myrtle Beach, SC |
Underway at 0700 with suspicious predictions of "FOG." Ruth is not Happy. We found the fog...but it turned out to be smoke from the brush fires in Myrtle Beach. Bob had the opportunity to stand the first bow fog watch but in just a short while the foggy smoke broke and it was a beautiful morning. Although we certainly smelled the results of the recent fires in the vicinity we saw no damage along the ICW. The Waccamaw River was pristine. We saw some very unique living quarters. It just made all of us relax and forget life as we all know we will return too. Bill had a workout when we encountered a tug towing six barges and about 300' of dredge equipment and two assisting work boats and yes, it happened in the Rock Pile. We radioed ahead but there was no response. But low and behold there it was. All was good and as usual, Capt. Bill handled "Cherish" outstandingly. The Rock Pile for those that don't know is the narrowest portion of the ICW with rocks on either side. We encountered an interesting challenge at Sunset Beach which essentially put us where we are tonight. The Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge developed some issues that required repair. After great discussion and a slight "smoch" with the bottom (on a falling tide) we retreated back 10 miles and are gently berthed for the evening at "Doc Holiday's" in North Myrtle Beach. We considered anchoring but with a 70' boat on 75' feet anchor line (do the math) it's about a 300' swing. Not good in a 200' canal. Doc Holidays was gracious and friendly. They squeezed us in right in front of a 58' Hatteras. The crew worked great to get us tied up, glasses were raised and another day down in the log book, thanks to Doris' accurate note taking. We are seriously considering taking the New River inlet out to the great Atlantic tomorrow and in at Cape Fear that will help us avoid the "might be fixed bridge" and the always shoaling Lockwood Folly's. This may upset Vicki as there will not be as many folks to give the "Miss America Burger" wave to in passing. We'll see how we feel tomorrow. |
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| 29 April 2009 | Surf City, NC. |
The morning rose with a fog that kept us long enough for a fine breakfast compliments to the chef...Barney, then off we were to the Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge. It "worked" and we continued north. The tides and the NC Bridge Authority were against us, the rest of the day we missed all the bridges by 5 minutes, even though we were rolling at 15 MPH (GPS plotter picture below shows 15.6 mph!). So our planned port was cut short by 30 miles and we are safely tucked in at Surf City, NC. What a delightful town. While Barney cooked dinner (stir fry shrimp and kung pau chicken, Ruth ran to the liquor store and restocked martini makings. The sunset was gorgeous. We experienced some very exciting adventures today ... found dolphins well north of what we had thought and although we were well north of manatee waters our ever vigilant manatee watchers, Bob and Vicki stayed at their post most of the time, or was the picture below posed? Even though Lockwood Folly's had reportedly been dredged recently it remained a mariners challenge with currents crossing channels and twists and turns. We are tied up behind a Hardee's so the plan for the morning is to watch the sun rise on the beach (2 blocks east) get a chicken biscuit and head for Beaufort mid morning. It will be a short day tomorrow as Cherish will not make the Norfolk Jordan Bridge and ICW closure by May 3rd. We're 260 miles from Norfolk now. Plans call for a stop at Beaufort, NC (200 miles from Norfolk) tomorrow, then stops at Dowry Creek (130 miles from Norfolk), Coinjock (50 miles form Norfolk), and then find a place near Norfolk waiting for the Jordon Bridge and the ICW to be reopened on the 5th or 6th of May. |
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