The Roads Back to Charleston

After the great Annapolis Boat Show ended, we decided to take a side trip before we returned to Charleston to our boat. Thanks to an idea from Kenya, we drove across the Maryland state line to visit wineries in Pennsylvania's Dutch Country Region, in scenic York County. We didn’t make it to all thirteen wineries, but we were pleased with the quality and selection of wines that this established wine region offers. The oldest, Naylor Wine Cellers, was established in 1975 (uncorkyork.com).

We would have liked to visit Philly, but the cold front that arrived with wind and rain reminded us how much we don’t like cold weather. A self-guided viewing/driving trip would work. We drove the Civil War Trail through historic Hanover, admiring the unusual and historic homes and churches. In Gettysburg, we joined the other vehicles in the drive-through Memorial Park, learning more about some of the biggest battles and events in our nation’s history.

From Gettysburg, we did head south. We had gone west to Gettysburg, so we drove the Shenandoah Valley interstate though West Virginia and Virginia. Last year, we very much enjoyed driving this highway from Knoxville, TN north to Charlottesville, so we were glad to drive the north half of one of America’s most scenic highways. Shenandoah Valley is bound by the Blue Ridge Mountains on the east and the Appalachians on the west, as well as the Potomac River on the north and the James River on the south. With better weather, we could easily spend several days exploring the trails and caverns as well as visit the small towns and museums. Still, the drive was beautiful, with the rain gently falling on the spectacular fall foliage.

Charleston greeted us with chilly weather, though not nearly as cold as where we had been. In fact, on the day we were back in Charleston, snow was falling in Pennsylvania!

After the cold front, warm seasonal weather returned with 70+ temperatures. Along with monitoring the progress of our boat, we're enjoying the Charleston area.

Lapidus On the Hard

As planned, we were away from the docks by 8:30 for our five plus nautical miles down the ICW to Ross Marine. The cool morning air greeted us as we motored around the tip of the peninsula past the Charleston Yacht Club Marina and the City Marina, then under the suspension brindge.

We missed the 9:00 opening for the Wappo Creek Bascule Bridge. When we called for the opening, the Bridge Tender said we were too far away to make the bridge opening. Well, we were pretty darn close, we thought close enough to make it. A bascule bridge takes a bit to raise, plus bridge tenders do not stop traffic until the exact opening hour, so the opening would not have been at exactly 9:00. But we were the only request for an opening and we weren’t right at the bridge, so she chose not to open the bridge, thus the heavy flow of traffic that crosses over the top of the bridge was not interrupted. Without other options, we motored around for thirty minutes. In this lovely area of the ICW, the channel wide and deep. The tide was still slack so we had no current problem. When we called for the 9:30 opening, the bridge tender requested that we come as close to the bridge as possible and be ready for the opening! Right! We eased up close but still at a safe and comfortable distance; then, with bridge up, we sped under the bridge (sped is such a relative term in sail boat language).

We continued up the Wapoo Creek for a while; then we followed the ICW as it turned into the Stono River. We were now in a hurry; we might lose that valuable slack tide. We radioed Ross Marine for a slip assignment, but the person filling in for the weekend told us to take any empty slip, not a good idea. As we pulled into the closest slip, we realized how strong the current now was that we were motoring into.With the boat cross-ways in the slip, Larry stayed at the wheel while the dock guy, the captain of the sailboat close by and I quickly moved the dock lines and were able to pull the boat stern-in into the next slip. What an ordeal! But we were now safely secured in a slip and the haul-out was not scheduled for a few days.

We had the rest of the day plus the next to drive a rental car to Brunswick to get our pickup. In addition to the road trip to Brunswick and back to Charleston, we would be driving to and from Annapolis and probably a side trip. Of course, after we take the boat back to Brunswick, we’ll be driving a rental up to Charleston to retrieve the pickup. We plan to leave the pickup in Brunswick for the winter while we are in Florida and the Bahamas.

Back at Ross Marine, we met with owners and the general manger to go over what will be done. Projects will include a bottom job, new zincs, the max-prop adjusted, and sanding and painting the bad spots on the topsides. This damage happened while we were tied to a dock in Mayport, Florida during a bad storm with 50+ knots of wind. The dock (which was on old, worn-out fuel dock) rubbed the paint off on two places on the topsides. The boat yard needs three weeks to complete these projects.

We packed our bags and readied the boat for haul out. At slack tide, we were told to leave our slip and tie up broadside on a long dock. Then we were to leave the boat and watch as two guys (obviously experts at their job) pulled the boat by hand into the lift. They just kept moving the lines and coaxing our 16 ton boat around the corner of the dock and centered in the slip. We were told the current is just too strong to drive a boat into the lift. We totally understood since we had not been able drive her into a slip.

With Lapidus on the hard and arrangements and schedules agreed upon, we took off for the Annapolis Boat Show, a long way from Charleston, SC! We met up with lots of old friends at the show as well as at functions and parties close to the show. And we made lots of purchases - most of them planned.

We have time for a few side trips on our way back to Charleston.

Lapidus Sails Again

Our overnight sail to Charleston on the outside was immensely satisfying. We've had a full summer, but sailing has been missed. After leaving our slip (we feel like we own it after over four months), we had to return. Our speed was slow even considering the current, so we knew we had a barnacle problem. We were fortunate to quickly locate a diver to clean the barnacles off our prop; we were out again and on our way at 2:15 p.m. The trip was a fast 25 hours; this includes three hours out of the East River and St. Simon's Sound and almost three hours in the Charleston Channel to Charleston Harbor. Our new Alpha Auto Pilot (now known as AA) seems to like us. We have a bit of a learning curve to really allow it to perform to its potential, but it's already so much better than Mr. Otto, who must have been a little worn out; he sure couldn't hold a course for long.

Lapidus was also delighted to be on open water again. With a West/Southwest breeze we danced along briskly on a beam reach. When the wind shifted to the northeast, we were close hauled, but still sailing along nicely. Savannah and Charleston are large shipping and commercial ports, so we weren't surprised to have lots of ships for company, most of them at night. We range out on our radar to check for traffic often. Our AIS provides the position, course, and speed of a ship as well as its name and identification numbers. We know it greatly increases our safety at sea. Plus, when we hail a ship by its name, we almost always receive a response. Using the EBL (Electronic Bearing Line) on our radar, we can determine if we are on a collision course (or uncomfortably close) with these behemoth guys. The two ships we hailed both immediately said that they would alter course. The words of one captain were, "Don't Worry. We will take care of you." The accent came close to convincing us we were in a Russian spy movie, but the ship changed course, and all was well.

The channel into Charleston is long, but very wide and deep. In fact, a pleasure ship also heading into Charleston passed us just as a tug pulling a barge headed out to sea passed - three of us side by side and room to spare. Charleston Harbor is lovely, large and alive with activity. In addition to sail and power boats of all sizes, several tourist boats were cruising, including one large schooner. Many church steeples are viewable above the historic buildings. These steeples are the tallest structures; no skyscrapers in downtown Charleston. We plan to spend more time in Charleston after the Annapolis Boat Show. I think a quick review of the history will make seeing it more remarkable.

This is a stock photo, so it will not enlarge, but it does show a nice view of downtown Charleston from the harbor

We took a slip for the night in the Maritime Center. We were, of course, tired , but we also needed to check the tides for our trip to Ross Marine south of Charleston. The tides are significant and the current is strong. Our route would include a Bascule Bridge opening and we did not want to be going with the current if we had to wait on the Bridge to open (which is almost always).

We checked the tides for both the Bascule Bridge and Ross Marine on the ICW and the Stono River. Though they are less than four miles apart, the tide at the boatyard is an hour and a half later! That should work out OK, but we would need to be out of our slip at high tide to catch slack tide for the bridge - that meant leaving by 8:30 a.m. We took a shower, had dinner on board, and were in bed just after dark.

Sharing Cool Travel Spots

In late August, I was in Oklahoma; Larry took needed time away from boat projects to drive to Oklahoma to see mom and family and to pick me up. We picked a couple of places to stop and treat ourselves to two mini vacations on the way back to Brunswick.

First was Ernest Tubbs’ historic record shop in Nashville. In business for over 62 years, the shop specializes in hard-to-find recordings and still hosts a live radio music show from its own stage every Saturday night at midnight. A display of old albums had various price tags; those with the album still covered in plastic were marked several hundred dollars.www.etrecordshop.com

Our goal was to listen to live music, so our next stop was a few doors down the street where we had Bar-B-Q and listened to live music. The two guys were great musicians and did a nice job singing traditional country music.

We visited the famous Tootsies and several other fun bars, each one loud with live music. As the day turned into evening, the bars filled up with tourists and the bands cranked up. After exhausting ourselves and our eardrums, we called an end to super-fun day.

One surprising tourist attraction is Nashville’s Parthenon, the only full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens, Greece. Originally built in 1897 for Tennessee’s Centennial Exposition, the Parthenon serves as the city’s art museum and is the centerpiece of a beautifully landscaped urban park. The 42-foot Athena, placed in the center of the Parthenon, is the most striking feature. We really enjoyed the architecture, history and art. The cool morning was also perfect for a walk around the park’s water gardens.

We left the next morning with a course from Nashville to Birmingham, then a slow but beautiful drive across the Northeast Georgia mountains to Helen, Georgia. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Helen is a recreation of an alpine village. Complete with cobblestone alleys and old-world towers, the village boasts specialty and import shops offering everything from candle making to cuckoo clocks. Our pickup automatically turned into the winery at the edge of the village. Nice wines, great information. We bought a few bottles and were soon in our room at Unicoi State Park and Lodge. Set on a pristine lake in the midst of 1063 acres of woodland, the lodge, built in 1972, stands in the heart of the park. After a short hike on one of the trails, we had dinner in the lodge where we enjoyed fresh trout caught in the streams on the lodge grounds.

The next morning we were ready to see more of this beautiful area, so we hiked up to Anna Ruby Falls, a scenic recreational area that boasts twin water falls. Two thundering rush of water flowing over the rugged cliff face is created by two creeks that are fed by underground springs, rain, and snow.

A few hours later, we were famished when we sat down for lunch at the Old Bavarian Restaurant in downtown Helen. The marinated Reuben sandwiches and a German beer were satisfying and delicious. Plus the accordion player/singer, whose hometown was Munich, Germany was entertaining.

We can make the Oklahoma trip in two days, but adding our mini-vacations along the way makes the trip much more enjoyable and just added two extra fun-filled days.