Sailing Encore

Hi from Charleston, South Carolina. Where we sit, at the City Marina waiting.
We left St. Augustine May, 27th at first light and sailed all day to get to Brunswick, Georgia, arriving at the Marina after 5pm. The sail was quiet with mostly motoring in the hot sun. Once we turned up the buoy channel from sea, we still had two hours motoring into the shallow sea shelf that runs along the lower states to get back through the bay and under a bridge before we arrived at the marine. The very nice marina staff returned to the dock to help us tie up. After a long hot day, the shower and cocktail in the cockpit felt great.

The town of Brunswick sits next to several ‘islands’ that have beautiful golf courses and homes. The land is flat and marshy with long stretches of beaches. The city of Brunswick itself is small with a very old time main street that has been used in movies that reflect the 1930-50s. And there are some old beautiful Victorian homes that surround the area. Many in need of money and love. Our marina is huge. Over 400 boats on 15 docks. There is a big club house with free laundry, hot showers, wifi, big screen tv, huge book library and free cold beer on tap. There are get-togethers of the boaters for some reason almost every night in the club house- cards, birthday celebrations, BBQs, and on and on. Every time I went to shower or do wash I was offered a glass of wine, cold beer or jello shot by the party goers.

We meet people on their boats that had come into the marina over a year ago and just never left. They totally lost the desire to continue and found a marina home.
We rent a car and visit the area. Then decide to see more of Georgia coast from the car, driving north up to Savannah. We spend the day walking the streets admiring the old Victorian homes that have been restored and preserved.

We tour the riverfront street and shops. And I am blown away by the Savannah Candy store. Immense. With fresh pralines samples and salt water taffy being pulled. My favorite, caramel apples, looked good too. The chocolates are all handmade and there was a whole room dedicated to old fashioned candy in barrels and a wall of jelly beans in tubes. I think what it would be like to work there. Would you eventually sicken of the sweets? Probably, but it would take a long time here.
I know what you are thinking, I am in the Old South, surrounded by old historic buildings and events, the history should be the thing blowing me away. Instead it is the candy store.

We stop at a fancy grocery store and pick up some cheese and bread and wine and drive to Hilton Head. We find a park overlooking the marshy wet lands and have a splendid picnic in the shade.

The last day at the marina and I am up at the club house doing wash and jello shots, it starts pouring rain. And I left the hatches open…. will I ever learn? The settee cushions and floor rug get soaked. I mean soaked. We have to dry them out for the next two days while we sail to Charleston. We left midday to sail through the night. Very quiet passage with mild weather and some rain in the night. Thank goodness it was mild, since our auto pilot stopped functioning. I thought we were going to have to hand steer the whole night but Vernon climbed under the cockpit and worked on the system for three hours, getting it to work good enough to help out. Who’s the man?!

We took turns catching a little sleep through the night. At sun up we were just off the coast of Charleston and turned into the long channel motoring into the city’s waterfront by mid-morning.

Fort Sumter is the first thing you come upon. This is where the first shots of the civil war took place with the confederate army firing upon the Federal troops stationed there.
The marina is right by the down town area and we go exploring. The Spoleto Art Festival is in full swing with beautiful paintings, crafts and food.

When we told the kids we were in South Carolina they said be sure to eat shrimp and grits and drink an Arnold Palmer. No problem!

We walk the town and view the beautiful homes and churches and visit the museums. So much history with the Revolutionary and Civil wars fought here. Here is an interesting trivia fact. The first person to die in the Civil war was a Union soldier when a cannon misfired on the 47th round during a 100 gun salute being given to Union army Major Anderson as he left Fort Sumter surrendering to the Confederate army.
We walk through a graveyard. Historical graveyards always make the past seem more real to me. These people lived right here on these streets two hundred years ago. Many died young- in war and childbirth.

We visit a plantation home with beautiful landscape and gardens. And learn more about how slavery brought wealth to the south. Interesting, I had no idea that rice was such a huge crop here. ‘Golden rice’ was harvested along the rivers and was the main crop in this area of the south and it did bring riches to the land owners.

We have a few days of storm come through but that is what slickers are for. So we continue to explore. We see Charleston up Meeting Street and down King Street and all around East Bay and more.

But before we can leave to head north, we need to get the auto pilot replaced and the steering rudder fixed (it gets very tight when we are sailing with a load and is hard to manage the steering). So we are going to get the boat hauled out at a boat yard up the river this coming Monday. Until then we are….