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Griffin Update #7: An Uneventful Day - For
a change!
Inport, Thunderbolt, Georgia, Wednesday afternoon, 1630 hours, Onboard
M/V Griffin.
Our day started at 0500 this morning when the alarm went off. Andrew's cab was due to arrive pierside at 0530 to take him to the Amtrak station and points north. Off he went, a vital member of our meager crew, and the laptop LAN administrator for the boat. Of course, off went his laptop as well, so no more LAN.
Russell and I, based on prior days events decided to take everything very methodically. Not that we were exactly nautical cowboys before, but with only two of us onboard we were extra slow and deliberate with anything that put us in harm's way.
We briefed our undocking drill before we did it. The tide in Charleston rises and falls 5 feet. This creates some pretty strong currents which can make a normally uneventful evolution like untying the boat from the dock quite exciting when you have 6 tons of boat being pushed by a 3 knot current.
Planning ahead, knowing that we would be shorthanded, we had selected the only protected marina in Charleston. Ripley Light Marina is the only one that survived the 15' storm surge that came with Hurricane Hugo. They were priced higher than the other three marinas but we though it was worth the $5 not to have to worry about being pinned to the dock, or shoved off by a 3 knot rip. There was no current to speak of when we got underway.
With the only thing to worry about a Sport Fisherman 2 feet from the bow, we took in all lines except a short one on the stern keeping us from going forward. I shoved the bow out and clambered, carefully, onboard. At the right instant, Russell took in our one remaining line and we were underway!
The run from Charleston to Savannah was uneventful. 110 miles of sparsely populated area. Lots of marsh. Wide open waterways with few speed restrictions.
We did pass a couple of neat things. Parris Island where the Marines have their infamous Boot Camp. Couldn't really see much from the boat. We did see F/A 18's flying out of Cherry Point NAS.
Further south we skirted around the backside of Hilton Head Island. Russell read aloud from our guide books about how Hilton Head was a very ecologically friendly community and in fact should be called a "...real estate UNdevelopment. The houses on this exclusive island don't intrude into the natural landscape, they blend with it." We rounded a corner in the channel and came across a cluster of 15,000 sq ft mansions on one acre lots. Sure, they blend.
We darted across the narrow, but busy, commercial Savannah River and entered Georgia. Ten miles later we pulled into the famous Palmer Johnson Boat Yard. There are only about 100 American owned yachts over 100 feet long. Eleven of them are here right now having a little work done. Pretty cool. We stopped here so we could take a look but we are parked in the cheap seats for the dingys. Some of these yachts literally have tenders that are bigger than us! There is a big fence between us and the big boys. Six foot chain link with barbed wire on top. We will be closer to them tomorrow when we drive out than we are right now! (The real reason for the fence is probably an OSHA requirement as they are in an industrial boat yard with welding, etc., going on all over the place. Hard hats required. It's not that they don't like us. It's for safety. Regardless, we are still a dingy!)
My wife Wendy is due to join us in about 2 hours, being brought from
the Savannah airport by an old family friend, Georgian, Thomas Black.
Thomas is driving 2 1/2 hours each way just to pick up Wendy and have
dinner with us! Nice to have friends like that!
I'm sorry this report isn't as action packed as previous ones, but we needed a brief rest from all the excitement.
We might make Florida tomorrow. The ICW jumps out into the Atlantic for a bit south of Jekyll Island and we will be a little weather dependant in that stretch. Watch tomorrow's update to find out if we make it!
Jon & Russell