Barefoot Marina to Safe Harbor South Harbour Village
Century Club: Wally Parolari
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Number of days:
1 day
Left Georgetown and motored to Barefoot Marina in Myrtle Beach at average speed of 8.7 mph with favorable current! Prop motors in forward slightly better than MaxProp. Arrived 1PM
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Number of days:
1 day
Had Tow Boat US tow me to Hazard Marina for a short haul. Prop was indeed sticking and felt like it had sand in it! Put the fixed prop and new zincs back on. Looked like no grease was left in the prop and there was play between the two spinner halves. Was back in the water and returned to dock in about an hour total.
Sunday, May 3, 2020
Number of days:
1 day
Beautiful sunrise! Before leaving, recieved a DSC emergency call from a 37’ sailboat aground in mouth of Five Fathom Creek (Oceanside). He was hard aground in 4’ of water with a 5.5’ keel on a falling tide with 2’ of drop left to go! USCG and DNR skiffs and a CG Heliocopter responded and DNR skiff ended up removing the couple from the boat. I got underway late (8 AM) which put me at the shallow area at Jeremy Creek right below dead low tide. Rather than running aground myself, I elected to anchor about 2 miles south to wait for the tide to turn. Went thru Jeremy creek area at about 12 noon and saw 7.2’ min. Arrived Georgetown at 3 PM. Almost crashed Makaira into the back of a trawler on the face dock because , once again, I had transmission shifting problems! Dock hands managed to save my rear! After getting secured at the dock, worked shift back and forth and concluded that the only explanation was a sticking Max Prop. Not leaving until I get the prop replaced with my spare fixed 3 blade.
Saturday, May 2, 2020
Number of days:
1 day
Left Steamboat Creek at 7:15 and motored against a foul current to Price Creek. Along the way, missed the bridge opening at Isle of Palms by 5 minutes which cost me an hour! Lots of boat traffic and dock parties going on. What virus??? Anchored in Price Creek with lots of traffic early, then peaceful evening.
Friday, May 1, 2020
Number of days:
1 day
Woke up early to make a 6:15 opening of the Lady Island Bridge. Shortly after first light, noticed that the ground tackle associated with the mooring was fouled between my keel and rudder due to a bad combination of wind and current. While trying to get free, noticed that an old Gozzard on an adjacent ball had broken free and was headed my way! The same swirling current that had fouled me on the ball saved me from the Gozzard!! Marina staff came out in a skiff and secured the Gozzard. Shortly afterwards, I got free and got underway in time to pass thru the bridge at 10AM. So much for an early start!
Wednesday, April 29, 2020 to Thursday, April 30, 2020
Number of days:
2 days
Stayed put on mooring for two days. Went ashore in dinghy both days. ALso took a longer dinghy ride across the river to Lady Island Marina to see if friends were there by chance. and walked to town.
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Number of days:
1 day
Left Thunderbolt at 7:15 to make 8 AM bridge opening. Motored to Beaufort, SC- Downtown Marina and got a mooring ball.
Sunday, April 26, 2020 to Monday, April 27, 2020
Number of days:
0 days
Stayed connected to the dock trying to figure out the transmission problem.. Checked linkage at both ends and found nothing. No idea what is going on but need it resolved. Decided to call Yanmar tech on Monday morning to check transmission. Tech came out and declared the transmission health and adjusted the linkage slightly. not sure how the linkage could produce the symptoms I experienced but time will tell.
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Number of days:
1 day
Got up early and watched the sun come up. While pulling anchor, tried to motor against current but boat seemed to have problems shifting. Not sure what happened but it started to work properly again. Lots of small boat traffic today and it got progressively worse as I approached Savannah. Went into Herb River to anchor and traffic was absolutely horrible! No social distancing going on here! With wind and current, I ended up anchored in middle of creek with boats going by on both sides of me nonstop. Tried troubleshooting transmission problem but it was so rough from wind and traffic I couldn’t really run engine in forward and reverse safely. Decided I needed to find space at a dock somewhere to try to sort things out. Thunderbolt Marine had space on a face dock so I decided to move up there at 4:15 for the evening. Pulling anchor, had the same problem again -no forward, only reverse! To leave creek, I ended up having to back toward a lee shore at high speed to get steerage and came very close to going aground in reverse. Would have been painful! Once I got out into the main body of the creek, unrolled the genoa and escaped the creek into the Wilmington river. For unknown reasons, I got forward gear back and managed to dock with only minor difficulty. Basically, just called it a day and had more than enough rum!