Today we moved out of the marina and into an anchorage so we could stop hemorrhaging money for a dock slip. Initially we had been told that we might be able to haul out on Wednesday (today), but the strong winds have put the kibosh on that so the earliest haul out would be next week. At $138.80/night, we had no intention of staying in the marina past this morning. Ten days was bad enough.

Jeff and I were both really stressed about moving the boat out of the slip. The engine can truly seize at any moment. It could last a month, a week, a day, an hour, a minute. The last thing we wanted was to have it seize while we were maneuvering through the marina and collide with another boat.

It’s windy today, but the wind was blowing on our bow and we were the first slip in from the t-head with the fuel dock behind us. All we had to do was wait for slack, wait for an empty space at the fuel dock, and back her out. From there it was a few hundred yards to the breakwater and we’d be home free.

We filled up our external dinghy fuel tank with three gallons, waited for slack, took a deep breath, and went for it. I can’t begin to describe how relieved we both were once we were clear of the marina, and we heavily praised Big Red for hanging in there!

Now we’re at anchor for free. It’s far from the best anchorage we’ve ever been in as far as protection is concerned, but when the dockmaster heard we were planning to anchor by the USS Yorktown, he strongly advised against it. With these winds, he said a few people always drag when the current changes, and that’s the last thing we need. So we sacrificed some physical comfort for mental comfort instead.

So what’s next? Now that we’ve left the slip, it feels like everything is falling into place and we are in a REALLY good headspace. We’ve decided not to get the work done by Zimmerman here in Charleston. The lack of communication has been unimpressive, and we haven’t been able to find any reviews on the quality of their engine work with a job like this.

We have received several recommendations for WW Williams out of Thunderbolt/Savannah. All they do is diesel work – 18 wheelers, pleasure boats, commercial boats (they take care of the pilot boats that bring the cargo ships into Savannah), etc. They are FAR from cheap. Far. From. Cheap. In fact, the estimate made us both blanch when we saw the hourly rate (which includes travel time to the marina).

However, they clearly know what they are doing and their communication has been outstanding. We called them on Monday morning and had an estimate at 6:00 a.m. this morning (Wednesday). Zimmerman knew by noon on Friday that we needed this work done, and we still haven’t received any information from them besides a call saying we can’t haul out until next week at the earliest.

A few other things in WW Williams favor: they will do the job from start to finish, so the amount of time we’re waiting will be minimized. The only exception to that is if a pilot boat has a problem in which case it’s all hands on deck because it affects a container ship, but we’ve been told that’s rare. They will also do it in the water, so we don’t have to pay for a haul out and land storage. And they can get started within a few days of our arrival.

Besides WW Williams, we called Hinkley in Thunderbolt to cover our bases. Their hourly labor rate was 1/3 less than WW Williams, but we had to haul out of the water and it would take 4-5 weeks to get the job done (they don’t do the work start to finish). We had also read mixed reviews about their work which made us pretty nervous. After lightly investigating a few other mechanics and places, WW Williams it is!

Now what? We were going to wait for a weather window to go outside, but the wind is howling for days with MAYBE a small window this weekend, and then more howling. The wind is bad (for us) for going outside, but absolutely perfect for continuing to sail inside – both in strength and wind direction. The only tricky part will be Elliott Cut – a .2 mile stretch where the current can rip and the wind is blocked by houses on a high bank.

After getting some advice from our friends on Lone Star, we have decided to put the dinghy together tomorrow morning and side-tie it to Pegu Club. We’re going to hit Elliott Cut at slack tide and simply use the dinghy engine to motor us through the Wappoo Bridge and Elliot Cut. Then it’s back to sailing on the inside. The first daylight opening at the Wappoo Bridge is at 9:30 tomorrow, which is right around slack. It’s perfect timing.

Next week is Thanksgiving, so we aren’t planning to get to Thunderbolt until after that. We have plenty of time, and honestly, we enjoyed our fancy sailing from Georgetown. Might as well keep it going! Looks like we’ll be getting our tomato pie in Beaufort after all!

Yesterday (Friday) was another highly successful day of sailing down the ICW, from Graham Creek to Dewees Creek. In fact, we didn’t need a tow from Infinity at all!

It was warmer than the day before, and although the wind started out light, it picked up enough to give us a steady downwind push to allow us to sail for a quick 15 nautical miles. Once again, almost every boater was very kind by giving us a slow pass, and a few people complimented us on going for it and wished us luck.

We are very fortunate in several ways, only a few of which are: the geographic location where the engine problem occurred; our familiarity with the ICW along with what we’ve learned over the past five years of cruising on it; and the forecast.

If this had happened on the Waccamaw River, for example, there would have been too many trees to give us enough wind, regardless of how hard it was blowing. Or it could have happened on the Alligator River where we were VERY far from any repair facilities.

Had this been our first year, we wouldn’t have known what areas had the potential for sailing, and what didn’t. Instead, we knew exactly what the next 40 miles or so would bring. A mostly straight waterway with a few areas with trees (but occasional gaps in those trees to allow for puffs of wind to come through), and then a very long stretch with nothing but marsh where the wind could blow uninterrupted. We also knew to leave at almost high tide to give us more wiggle room to use the entire width of the river without worrying about running aground. Perhaps most importantly, we had the confidence to know we could do this.

Finally, the weather. The location and what we’ve learned wouldn’t have helped us at all if the wind had been on the nose, or calm like it had been the few days before it happened. Instead a timely front pushed through with accompanying northerly wind that blew strong enough to move us downwind. That was 100% luck.

So put all of the above together, and the result is that we didn’t have to rely on Infinity to tow us the whole way, although he repeatedly said he’d be happy to. But it was great knowing he was behind us as our “support boat” if needed!

We also didn’t have to pay for an obscenely expensive tow from Georgetown. We were able to take advantage of our knowledge and the weather to get close enough to Charleston where it’s a slightly-less-than obscenely expensive tow. Wait! Don’t we have unlimited towing? Why yes. Yes, we do. But we have learned that unlimited is not defined the way it used to be. But that’s a subject for another post.

Instead, we enjoyed a truly unique experience of peacefully sailing between Georgetown and almost Charleston over the past few days. We heard birds singing, pelicans splashing, and dolphins puffing through their blowholes. All things that are usually drowned out by the engine. And we really felt like we accomplished something too.

So my goal is to hang onto those good feelings as we anxiously await the mechanic’s diagnosis. He’ll be at the marina on Monday. Hopefully we’ll know what’s going on shortly after his arrival. Fingers crossed.