Our Adventures with Seaquel

Friday 9/9/16 We had a great night, were able to keep the AC running so our celebrity guest would be more comfortable. Cast off at first light from Charleston City Marina at 0640, MM470 with plans to anchor near South Myrtle Beach area.. Capt Ron had the engines, Penelope and Suzie warming up and coffee made by 0630. Our first encounter at sunrise was the Coast Guard  tall ship Eagle. It was a WW2 war prize taken from the Germans and is used today for training. and as goodwill ambassador to the United States. Finally saw our first gator in the water so probably won't be swimming there. Really hot day so we have a freshwater hose set up on the flybridge with us for showers during the day. Some interesting sites, a DNR barge pushing tractors somewhere, and a floating swing bridge. Cars drive on, barge turns 90 degrees and cars drive off opposite side. Gail getting familiar with our new boat, spent a lot of time at the helm, did a great job til I nearly steered her wrong, lite...

Friday 9/9/16 We had a great night, were able to keep the AC running so our celebrity guest would be more comfortable. Cast off at first light from Charleston City Marina at 0640, MM470 with plans to anchor near South Myrtle Beach area.. Capt Ron had the engines, Penelope and Suzie warming up and coffee made by 0630. Our first encounter at sunrise was the Coast Guard  tall ship Eagle. It was a WW2 war prize taken from the Germans and is used today for training. and as goodwill ambassador to the United States. Finally saw our first gator in the water so probably won't be swimming there. Really hot day so we have a freshwater hose set up on the flybridge with us for showers during the day. Some interesting sites, a DNR barge pushing tractors somewhere, and a floating swing bridge. Cars drive on, barge turns 90 degrees and cars drive off opposite side. Gail getting familiar with our new boat, spent a lot of time at the helm, did a great job til I nearly steered her wrong, lite...

Thursday 9/8/16 Another awe inspiring sunrise at Bull Spit, MM 521,  with a departure time of 0718. Confirmed fuel, water, oil and batteries so I could give Capt Ron the signal that I was out of engine room. Our destination is Charlston SC and the City Marina so that I can meet Gail for her  9:15pm arriving flight at the airport. We traversed the Ashepoo cutoff to the Ashepoo River by Fenwick Island. I guess there are more than one. I was assigned to replace the dockside end on our 50amp power cord. It's waterproof end cover and male plug side were in need of replacing. Plug and cover around $100 but new cord nearly $700. Took me about 90 minutes to wrestle with wires and only had to do it over once as the clamp  from new plug that goes around old cord did not hold secure. Proud of my handiwork and that should have been enough labor for the day.Arrived ahead of schedule with only a 51 mile trip to MM 470 so had plenty of time to do maintenance such as changing sheets...

Wednesday 9/7/16 Cast off from Isle of Hope Marina at 0840, MM590, with a weather forcast of 90 deg and sunny. We had filled our 280 gallon water tanks, took on 200 gallons of fuel at $2.29/gal for Diesel and pumped out the holding tank of unspecified quantity but familiar contents. Cruised the Savannah River towards Hilton Head and at MM 570 found a free city day dock at Beauford SC(pronounced Booferd) to tie up. With some guidance from the captain I docked boat starboard side to dock without any drama. Since we were running ahead of schedule we were able to spend a couple hours in town. Met a really nice boating couple that when asked where we could find a Hardware store insisted on giving us a ride. On way back we spotted a Farmers Market within walking distance from the boat so off we went to stimulate the local economy. We were drawn like flies to honey to Miss Jannies key lime pie and orange pecan cranberry bread. On to home made lavender pachouli soap for Gail, garlic bread ...

Tuesday 9/6/16 We will remain docked for another night at Isle of Hope Marina in Savannah. Today we will be Provisioning, That is an important sounding term for the Capt needs beer and wine. Groceries, repair items for grill, stove, horn, shore power cord and engine oil. Capt Ron washed exterior of boat while I worked on some interior cleaning and more troubleshooting with the cursed AC pump, diassembled pump, found no problems, inspected impeller, blessed it, reassembled and it worked fine for five hours then stopped pumping, Must be sucking air somewhere. Capt refilled water today. He set up a system of hoses and a big filter to get water into our 280 gallon tanks. Tomorrow we will pump out holding tanks and take on 200 gallons fuel before departing for Beaufort South Carolina. We had a nice dinner at Pearl's Saltwater Grill, a treat from Capt Ron who said I'd been exercising my wallet enough for today. I am so blessed to be on the Fried Green Tomato tour of the with him....

Monday 9/5/16 Woke up to fabulous Georgia sunrise. Our seawater pump for AC shut down after  couple hours so we opened windows/ports and got out the fans. Very quiet, very comfortable with low humidity. Spent 6:30- 7am in engine room topping off the 14 inverter batteries, checking oil on 3 motors and diesel and water tank levels. After nearly 100 hours of cruising still half tank so still 350 gallons. We will refuel in GA or SC before diesel prices have just started going over $2/gallon. Weather perfect for cruise from St Simon island anchorage near Brunswick to Savannah, GA around MM 580. Seems like endless travel through open marshes yet not boring. Dolphins, birds, and interesting homes and boats. I discovered how to cook scrambled eggs and turkey bacon in a microwave, add some tomato and chopped Serrano pepper and get an exciting breakfast. Arrived Isle of Hope Marina in Skidaway area around 4:30pm so had enough time to borrow the courtesy car fr...

Monday 9/5/16 Woke up to fabulous Georgia sunrise. Our seawater pump for AC shut down after  couple hours so we opened windows/ports and got out the fans. Very quiet, very comfortable with low humidity. Spent 6:30- 7am in engine room topping off the 14 inverter batteries, checking oil on 3 motors and diesel and water tank levels. After nearly 100 hours of cruising still half tank so still 350 gallons. We will refuel in GA or SC before diesel prices have just started going over $2/gallon. Weather perfect for cruise from St Simon island anchorage near Brunswick to Savannah, GA around MM 580. Seems like endless travel through open marshes yet not boring. Dolphins, birds, and interesting homes and boats. I discovered how to cook scrambled eggs and turkey bacon in a microwave, add some tomato and chopped Serrano pepper and get an exciting breakfast. Arrived Isle of Hope Marina in Skidaway area around 4:30pm so had enough time to borrow the courtesy car fr...