October 23 - 26, 2014
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| Beaufort Eagles bus |
As
we chugged into the harbor of Lady's Island Marina, we quickly found new
dockmaster TJ to be cute, personable, warm, welcoming, knowledgeable and
cautious. We slid into a temporary slip until more favorable tides (slack tide)
allowed us to reposition for the three-night duration of our stay. TJ assured
me that he'd find plenty of folks to crew for Clay as I took off for lap
swimming at the City Pool. Post-swim (it was wonderful and a bargain at $3
senior fee!), I arrived back at a relocated SaSea Sally to find it had taken
Captain Clay four tries to get her repositioned; so glad I missed the stress of
that move!
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| Fill'n Station Pork chop dinner - $6 |
Dinner
was an easy decision with Clay eager for the Fillin' Station's Wednesday night
pork chop dinner ($6) and my willingness to eat up some of our frig's
leftovers. Neither my brain nor my digestive system desired deep-fat-fried pork
chops! A joyous ending to the day to have dinner an easy fix and to be 'home'
of sorts on Lady's Island!
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| $10 Ribeye Steak dinner |
On
Friday's docket: lap swimming, bathroom cleaning, absentee ballot notarizing,
bicycle riding (which resulted in a no-brainer decision that we need new
bikes), and ribeye steak dining at the Fillin' Station with many of our
near-and-dear friends. We had a crowd rally for the $10-a-plate steak, baked
potato and corn dinner. Realizing the sheer numbers of folks who would also
rally for the steak special, marina dockmaster Steve (who alternates with TJ)
has fine-tuned his approach for Friday dining; Steve collects reservations,
$10, and
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| Westminster College grad at the "Fill'n Station" |
rare/medium-rare preferences during the day, then heads over to the
restaurant to submit our order and get a head start on happy hour before the
rest of our crowd arrives. Steve's timing is pretty good as well it should be;
he's had plenty of Friday nights' practice!
A
note on our vintage bikes...our Dahons are dated (old); they sport a golden
patina (rust); and it has become quite apparent that they are no longer
cost-effective to fix nor safe to ride. As I added bikes to our shopping list,
Clay was even quicker to boot up Craig's List, Jacksonville, FL to search for
options. We'll see how this plays out. Just as Mother Nature has been hard on
our hair/skin, so has she worked her 'magic' on our bikes. Reality check here
as we realize the bikes are truly not safe to ride.
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| Beaufort "Eagle" painted on the stadium lot. |
Saturday
morning early, I found myself sitting not only on the toilet seat, but in
an overflowing toilet bowlful of water. Yuk! What a rude awakening! Clay
explained the phenomenon's potential cause as a leaking solenoid. Thankful that
I'd just yesterday cleaned the bathroom and thankful that the bathroom floor
has a drain (as does the adjacent shower floor), I realized precautionary
measures need to be taken until that valve is fixed. Don't want the boat to
sink because of excessive water intake through the front head toilet!
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| Capt. Morgan by liquor store lot |
Probably
a good idea to shut off the shore water supply when we leave the boat anyway!
Clay then proceeded to elaborate on all the other ways the boat could take on
water and sink. Midway through his monologue I covered my ears to block his voice;
I don't want to know all of that. Ignorance is bliss!
As
Saturday played out, we joined a few marina friends at Huddle House for a
farewell breakfast for Sailboat Steve's Nancy. A few swimming laps and a few
biking miles repositioned me back at the boat to test ride Clay's
rapidly-deteriorating bike. It's an easy decision with broken spokes, broken
brake cable, and an out-of-alignment rear wheel. Parts are dropping like flies!
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| Homemade sailboat at Lady's Island |
Too
soon we are facing our Sunday morning departure from Lady's Island Marina with
a crew of five hearty, knowledgeable male boaters (acting as dock hands)
assisting our movement away from the dock. Earlier morning, a fellow Looper,
anxious to get 'on the road,' made the mistake of trying to fool Mother Nature.
And we all know it's not nice to fool Mother Nature! The force of the swift
current caught our friend's trawler broadside, pinning him against both the
dock and a
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| Lady's Island Marina |
now-damaged sailboat. Drama of the day! Dockmaster TJ was
reprimanding himself, saying he should have warned the boater a fourth time.
Really, TJ? We needed no further encouragement to await slack tide! And our
shore crew of five was there to make sure SaSea Sally was not a second
casuality of this day. Kudos to all involved! Clay powered up to steer us safely
out of Factory Creek and southward toward Hilton Head Island.
We
continue our adventures as October days become fewer, and we move southward.
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| No white table cloths at the "Fill'n Station" |
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