The past three days- Nov 13th 2014

Our “All Clad” wok has chicken fillets sautéing in olive oil, bay leaf, ground pepper, and sea salt. Three cups of lintels have already cooked and a can of fruit will also be a part of the meal. While the food is cooking, I’m using the extra time to update the posts……………

Diann remains intent on being on course

We are docked at Southport Marina as we did not find anchorage today close enough to the town for us to dingy back to make a mail deposit. The charge was $59.50 for the night but did include hot showers and access to the laundry. Diann was happy.

The adventure, since leaving Oriental, has been enjoyable. But don’t assume we are having an extended weekend boat ride. Quite the contrary. To properly navigate the ICW means studying charts and reading resource material. When Diann steers, I review the paper charts. When I steer, she keeps up with exactly where the boat is along its course. That info is matched with information gleaned from The Waterway Guide about what to expect- both good and not so good.

To make sure one arrives at a swing bridge on schedule, you need to be able to regulate the boat’s speed to match the distance and time before the next scheduled opening of the bridge. If you arrive tooooo early, you have to deal with wind and current while standing-off from the bridge. If you arrive too late for the opening, you stand off for up to an hour while waiting for the next opening!

Tonight we took advantage of a free seminar at the Southport Marina. Semi retired meteorologist, Hank Pomeranz, provided a talk on ICW hazards from Southport to Savannah. Diann, and I were reminded of just how much more we have to learn about available resources for making a safe passage.

Caution was my main take-away from his talk.

Following are photos from our past three days……