Sunset, Barry and Phoenix and two dogs watching boats on the river

Sometimes we ask Hamish where the mouse is. Its his job to find it. He is all JRT! He is such a fun little boy and we love him dearly. Tomorrow if the parts are here in time we will have the boat hauled out again and hopefully fixed in one day. If not, we stay here in a nice motel we found nearby overnight and I get to take a hot bath!

Ripples at sunset on the Stono River

Lots of boats of all sizes going past us on the facedock. At sunset, I noticed the light played really pretty on the waves. We had a great day. Rented a car, drove to Hominy Grill and had fried green tomatoes, she crab soup and the best chocolate puddin' EVER!

Haul Out

This is a very cool process tho nerve wracking to be sure, watching what amounts to your home with all your stuff in it pulled up by its roots so to speak. These guys do it daily so its no big deal for them but I was nausiated. Plus this is a repair marina not a boater friendly, liveaboard equipped as in no pump out, showers and actually they have a great reputation for what they do...fix boats, but its kind of 'rough'. We are going to be here thru Monday evening and possibly into Tuesday. We have a rental car or will have Saturday for a few days and a motel reserved just in case for Monday if they can not get it fixed in one day.....Monday. We have turned down the temps in fridge and freezer so things will be extra frozen. Till then we are plugged in at the face dock with plenty of power and Im watching TV on our new antenna for broadcast. We miss seeing Deadliest Catch and Dog Whisperer but such is life.

Carlos has ordered the parts needed and we are considering what other things he can get done while the boat is out of the water. We would like to have another thru hull dedicated to the generator cooling system which now shares with the engine so can not be run at the same time. Not a huge deal but while its out........it all depends on how long it will take. So we are doing the little daily things....Barry was able to get ahead on new classes and is relaxing in the cockpit. We are sharing the broadband card so Im online less often just FYI.

Here are some pix of the boat being hauled out.

Have some time so...

We heard a suspicious knocking we didnt like from the engine. So we pulled into Ross Marine south of Charleston this morning and will have them have a listen and possibly pull the boat out of the water ARGGGGG!! to fix it. Lots of reasons why that is not good but mostly because we have 110v fridge and freezer FILLED with food...both sides. Its VERY well insulated but things will start to thaw after about 24 hours. We are waiting for 'Carlos' now........we are able to use the generator while we are in the water for the fridge, but its water cooled so.........not when it is out of the water.
They have this huge contraption that lifts boats, even big ones like ours (and bigger) out of the water so they can fix the things that can not be fixed while they are in the water. Anyway we may have to lift it out, work on it, then put it back in......geeeesh and then out again. We are treating it like any other problem....everything is an adventure. At least its not going to be in the 90's today.

Houses like these

and then a big old ugly but interesting boat yard....just around the corner like its in this upscale neighborhood near Charleston!!

short clip

Elusive dolphins...got em!

It is usually me seeing a dolphin, grabbing my camera and then no dolphin. This time I was able to make it happen. The momma's and babies This was a single dolphin. I will keep trying to get the babies and mommas on video!

Hamish can get comfy anywhere!!

The dogs did fine the first day tho Hamish got a little nervous when I pulled out the fly swatter and started killing deer flies.

The dern things came into the cockpit, landed on the undersides of the bimini/enclosure top and just hitched a ride. There were so many at one point I got kinda freaked and started swatting. They really didnt try to bite until dusk and one got me on the ankle. I have heard of barn flies, but BOAT flies??? Geeeesh.

Phoenix seems to enjoy the whole process as long as she is with us. Both dogs are doing their thing like pros on The Poop Deck.

There are some really beautiful homes along the ICW in SC. As we were chugging along, we watched a long line of fantastic homes all with their own docks and boats. Then right around the corner from them was this boat yard! they were working on some really old Navy and Army boats. Hope the pictures do the whole thing justice. It was huge and very interesting.

Swing bridge Beaufort SC

Sunrise day one anchorage. Reflections

I love this shot. My favorite time is in the morning but in the evening sometimes everything is some shade of silver. Its The Silver Time.

First and second Day cruising

We made it to a few miles south of Charleston on the second day. We have a rattle neither of us like the sound of so we will be taking her to Ross Marine for a possible haul out tomorrow. Will see. Our spirits are just fine about it because we know the engine is not any younger than us in engine years!

anyway I will post lots of pictures and attempt a video! So far it has been delightful. Just so slow and relaxing and beautiful. South Carolina waterways are amazingly beautiful. We have seen more dolphins and birds, especially my favorite....pellicans than I can count. Last night we anchored at a very private and peaceful spot and it was even more beautiful in the morning because the water was like a mirror to the sky. Enjoy the pictures.

Random shots and thoughts

These are some photos I have taken over the past year, and now that our departure is well......very soon I thought I would post them. Bill and Lynn walking Derby, sunset and shots from Parris Island Golf Course. We also have Big Bird who fishes from our dock, just outside our cabin porthole...... a gray herron I suspect. He is not shy.

Casey and Emily take a cruise

My son Casey and his beautiful girlfriend Emily took a big cruise on a big boat .....make that ship.....last week.

geeeeeeeeesh

To do our two projects of installing the generator and then the electric windless we had to have the boat a bit 'upside down'
Im so glad to have it back to normal!!
Barry's tools AND JD's tools. Too many tools....tools tools everywhere. Ieeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Installing the generator

Al, Larry (his back) Mike. Gene and Bill Mote pondering the gen.
Right>>Barry and JD set the gen into position.

Mike and Gene discussing lifting the gen on to the boat and down into the aft lazarette.

Chris visiting

Chris visited just before his trip to Europe to visit Beth.

Phoenix seems happy!!

Sailing in days.......well maybe

Well...the generator is/has been installed and is perking along when asked. The electric windless and washdown system are in and all systems are go! We wait for one part (the manual backup on the windless) and a decent weather window (sucky now) and we finally throw the lines off and cruise! We spent last evening with cruising friends who went over our charts and shared their considerable experience....not the first friends to do so either so now we have a nice list of tried and true anchorages and marinas to draw from.
This past year tied to the dock living aboard full time has been absolutely fantastic. We made friends, got to decompress from corporate America and learn our boat inside and out tho Im sure there is still lots to learn!
Our dogs now understand The Poop Deck, and I have food stored enough for months! Our shake down cruises showed us what we needed....hence the geny and elec windless and our sails and rigging seem to be in good repair and order. We have back ups for back ups, and believe it or not, still have stowage room for souviners we must have!
It is still hard for us to believe we sold our farm before the RE market crashed. We found homes for the horses and got rid of 50+ years of stuff down to a 10x20 storage area. It can be done.
We have made good friends at this little marina and are sad to leave them but will be back for a while in fall on our way back heading south to Fl for the winter. Anyone considering staying here know you will be in friendly hands.
So hopefully our blog will get more interesting for our non-sailing friends and hopefully stay boring for our sailing friends!!

Success on a Saturday morning!

Success!!! Hamish finally pee'd!After a failed attempt earlier this morning I decided to walk him but not let him stop to go in the usual place and it worked. Oh Joy on a Saturday morning.

(the picture is of him curled up on my beach ball that I use to support my lower back while sitting)

On the way back he hiked his leg for a few drops, on a dock pedistal (never done that before)I let him, told him good boy, washed it off, and when we got back to the boat I lead him right up to the poop deck and he finished peeing on the turf!!! The second he finished I gushed over him and gave him a treat and made a big deal out of it.

The fun part is that our friends who know our plight, were having coffee on their boat just across the fairway, turned in their chairs, quietly watching......so when he lifted his leg and my jaw dropped and I gave them the thumbs up sign there was this silent pantomime of celebration so we would not spook him.Pooping is next but we are half way there and our other dog Phoenix seems to have figured it out. I can not tell you how 'relieved' we all are. When the dogs are happy we are happy.

We have a new departure date of mid week next week. Our blog should get a little more interesting then but I hope not too interesting!

Thanks for letting me share.--------------------Sami and Barry

s/v Ever AfterPort Royal Landing Marina

everafterdays.blogspot.com