We anchored out last night trying to get out of the wind. Turns out, wind is a fickle thing. It can change in a moment. And, as is typical in these parts, the tidal changes are quite large creating strong currents in the 1.8 kt. range. Well the two forces collided last night with the tide going one directions, and the wind coming from the opposite direction. The result was again like a rocking chair, up and down, up and down with the swells hitting either the bow or the stern depending on how the boat swung around. I set the anchor drag alarm and it went off about an hour after I fell sound asleep. I never heard it until Rick woke me up. We checked our orientation and declared it OK. The boat had swung with the current facing the opposite direction, so back to bed we went. It went off again around 4:30 a.m. and I got up to check again. The boat had swung back around to it's original orientation and everything was fine. So back to bed I went. We finally got up around 7:00 and after our morning tea and something to eat, I checked the weather forecasts. I really didn't want to spend another night in this situation. The winds were supposed to clock around to the west and then the northwest where we had zero protection from the wind. I looked at the charts and decided we should move to another location closer to Charleston on a small creek so there wouldn't be as much fetch to stir things up. We upped anchor and motored on. About an hour into the ride it started to rain. I had already decided to pilot the boat from the lower station today because the winds were just too strong and the possibility of rain was quite good. As we were motoring I kept listening to the NOAA weather reports which said the heavy storms would not happen until later this afternoon and into tonight. They were calling for 30 kt. winds which is something you don't want to be out in the open on a boat if you can help it. So, I thought why not keep going and get as close to Charleston as we could. I didn't want to try to cross Charleston Harbor today which has a reputation for being tricky on a good day, much less a day like today where I was hearing reports on the radio of 4-6 ft swells at the outer buoys. Rick set to work looking into possible marinas South of Charleston we could aim for. There really aren't any marinas until you get pretty close to Charleston, so once we committed, we were committed. We picked one, I called to make a reservation and we were in. It rained several times on the way, once was a real downpour, the winds were quite strong making handling more difficult, but we made it. As we tied up it really started to rain. The guys helping us tie up and both Rick and I got very wet. I had to pilot the docking from the bridge which is open, so getting wet was the only option.
Tomorrow will be the changing of the crew. Rick who has been with me for 11 days will be leaving and heading back to the work world next week, and my good friend George will be coming on board for a few days. Rick was finally getting the hang of how things work and the routine. Now I will have to break George in. George is no stranger to boats, he has had several of his own and currently has a 40 ft. Robbins Chesapeake bay style boat that he graciously takes us out fishing on several times each year. So he knows his way around a boat.
With high winds expected again tomorrow, we will catch our breath and stay put here until Saturday when it is supposed to be much nicer. Tomorrow is laundry and shopping day. Need to restock the pantry for the new crew.
No pictures for today, the weather was not ideal for any shots. Maybe I can take some tomorrow.
Statistics for today - Distance traveled 41 miles, 4hrs. 19min. moving, 3min. stopped. Total time 4hrs 23 min. Total distance traveled 815 miles.
Until then.......
No comments:
Post a Comment