Charleston

Geography first.  Georgetown, SC to a sleepy anchorage off Dewees Island on Monday.  Tuesday to Charleston, South Carolina's biggest city.

The good news from Georgetown was that we never had to smell the odor of these paper plants.

 The bad news was that the wind blew 20-25 knots constantly with rain.

But Georgetown is a nice town.  The mills must pay well.  And I love the wide streets lined with live oaks, a gorgeous tree that offers shade in the stifling summers.

On Monday it was still cold but the rain stopped and we headed south.  Charleston was too far so we anchored in a typical tidewater creek just off an ocean inlet called Dewees Creek.  Invited Bruce and Judy from PeaPod over for sundowners.

The trip to Charleston on Tuesday was quick and we took a slip at the City Marina which has been purchased by Safe Harbors, which now owns 90+ marinas including Shelburne Shipyard.  They are moving to quickly dominate the marina industry and I've heard both good and bad things about them.

Boats in this marina are huge and don't seem to ever have people on them.  But when we were here in 2009 the current in the Ashley River made anchoring really sketchy.

It's warming up.

Tomorrow concludes our first two months on this journey.  We've traveled 1500 miles and have 550 left to get to West Palm Beach which will probably be our departure point for the Bahamas.  Over 59 days, we traveled 38.  We spent 21 days either visiting friends or waiting out weather.    So we're averaging 40 miles a day.  That's pretty leisurely.

Charleston is lovely of course.  Jack Hurley, an old Burlington restauranteur who lives here now, gave us a wonderful tour.and took us to one of his latest creations - Mex 1.  Also nice to catch up with Mike and Betty Henry who live on their 42 ft Beneteau here at the marina.  Mike and Betty owned a big successful restaurant in Brattleboro and kept a sailboat at Point Bay for years.
A lot of people seem to just get hooked on Charleston.

So off again tomorrow.  Changed the oil and fuel filter, filled the water tanks, stocked the larder and we're off.

BUT....most importantly, Lacy, who just turned 11 on the 16th, is starting to do her morning duties on the boat!  We'll see.  T'would change our routines for the better for sure!