First things first, 30 hours from Fernandina Beach to Charleston, SC. It was a good trip for the most part. Winds started at zero with residual rollers (3' or so) which ended up on the beam so kinda sloppy. Wind picked up after a couple of hours and we put out the 150% genoa and mizzen, we picked up speed nicely; no need to put up the main, it wouldn't have done that much...nice wind came off the beam at 8-15, seas became following, and we zipped right along, 6.6 - 7.2 knots - which for us is very, very good. Greg on Argonauta left at the same time and doing 9+ he was over the horizon in no time though we kept radio contact through the night until we lost each other, such is the cruising world...you'd better become friends fast because you're parting ways soon (only to revisit in another anchorage.)
Winds dropped significantly overnight but the swells got weird and sloppy with occasional 4+ on the beam all night long, rail to rail for a long time. Off-watch, trying to nap was fun...slide into the sleeping bag, wrap an arm around a cleat or stanchion, and doze. But no matter how we changed course, the winds were destined to rock us and make rest difficult. Winds resumed coinciding with sunrise, so we shook the reefs out of the mizzen, rolled the genoa out all the way and began truckin' again. We were, on average, 15-30 miles offshore depending on how the coastline curved, had a nice, trouble-free run, got a lot of reading done, lots of soduku and word find puzzles.
We were anchored off Charleston by 1pm, hooray!
And now for today's adventure...
Who says there is no free lunch? We worked the system today to say the least. We were pulled off the sidewalk by a resort timeshare salesman...you know the type...listen to our presentation and you get free stuff. Believe it or not it was not too good to be true. We burned 90 minutes of our day pretending to listen...we got a nice tour of a beautiful building and learned a little of Charleston's history. In return we got two $25 certificates good for 15 different restaurants. We also got 2 passes to the Aquarium. We also got 2 free passes to the Ft. Sumter tour. We planned on doing both anyway so now they're at no cost to us. Our time is cheap and in return we saved the admission to both blaces, two free dinners. Can we do this in every city? Please?
Charleston is historic, beautiful, and walk-friendly. Open air markets, craftsmen and artisans, lots of sidewalks, etc. We got bus passes and plan to ride out to the other end of town tomorrow. At some time we have to get HP back in shape, get some provisions, and do some laundry...but those things can wait... right now there's a sunset in a new city calling me to come see...
cheers,
Cats & Crew
ps...I can spell, I just don't spell check these since I proof other peoples things for a living...my mistakes are tolerable. Thank you for your cooperation. |
