Day 204 - The Big Switch — Captain Father John

Miles cruised 67, fuel purchased 220 gallons, fuel purchased $440, slip fee $94, daily high temperature 64°f. It is 73° f in Chicago, We have cruised 3,704 miles as of today.

It was a 67 mile cruise (slog) up the ICW. We departed Beaufort, SC at 9:00 am and arrived in Charleston, SC at 4:00 pm. We had a lot of current from the tide running against us. The wind was on our nose at 20-25 mph with moderate chop 1′ – 1.5 ‘. There may be some of you that think the ICW is a straight shot up the coast. You could not be more wrong. Two days ago we cruised up Ramshorn Creek. That creek is appropriately named. In fact much of the ICW could be referred to as crooked as a rams horn. We zig zagged from river to river via canal, channel and creek. Some are wide, some are very narrow and some are very shallow. You might say the ICW is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.

I put pins in all the creeks where we have to transit. We are the red triangle.

We will stay in Charleston for three nights because there is a lot to see here. I have been to Charleston a dozen times or more on business. I have done some sight-seeing but never went to Fort Sumpter. We will do the trolley tour one day and take the ferry to Fort Sumpter the next day. There is a free shuttle from the marina every hour on the hour that will take us almost anywhere we want to go.

We had a little thrill docking the boat at the Charleston City Marina. There was some current from the tide and a 20 mph breeze on the beam. There was one dock hand to catch our lines. I brought the boat in just nice as you please right against the dock. Perfection except the dock hand tied off the spring line too short for us to get into the slip to allow the stern line to be passed over. I kept the starboard engine in forward to to keep the stern against the dock but the brisk wind blew the bow over. He did not secure the bow line. We drifted close to the boat across from us. Both Dale and Andy went to that side to fend off. I realized I could not maneuver the boat any more so I abandoned the helm and grabbed a line and tossed it to the dock hand. He finally pulled us over and all was well. Another landing we could walk away from. No harm, no foul. No tip.

Guess who we saw at the Charleston City Marina when we arrived. Yes, it’s the cruise ship Independence. In case you were wondering how much it would cost to follow CL up the coast on a cruise boat, here is the cost.

Historic South and Golden Isles Cruise
Departs on May 7, 2016
Returns on May 14, 2016

Departure Point – Charleston, SC
Ship – Independence
Stateroom – Category AA, $9,270.00 for 2

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Today was the big switch. The two state rooms on CL are fairly equal but not exactly equal so we switch every six months. We both have infinite “stuff” on board. When cruising the amount of stuff you bring is equal to the storage space you have. I could have left at least half of my stuff behind. Our hero Dave Feiges from Cloverleaf says the most important thing to have on your boat is dumpster. He is soooo right.

This is just a smidgeon of the “stuff” on CL.

The switch reminds me of when I took JP and Alison canoeing to the boundary waters of Canada. The lakes are separated by land so we had to portage (carry) our canoe and gear between the lakes. The first year we had to make three trips with all our gear. The second year it took two trips with all our gear and the third year we carried all our gear including the canoe in one trip.

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Dale with his chapeau. He bought it in Daytona and displayed it in Fernandina. SPF 50. No more bunt ears.

Bonus photo from Alison Simons

Carl (Chef) Wooden – quote of the day.

“The sea complains upon a thousand shores.”
Alexander Smith

Alexander Smith (31 December 1829 – 5 January 1867, 8 January according to Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable) was a Scottish poet, labelled as one of the Spasmodic School, and essayist.