DotCalm

Who knew there was a huge Irish contingent in Charleston? The Hibernia Society is one of the three “blue blood” organizations in town and St. Patrick’s Day puts them over the top. Even a tiny island out in the harbor (near Fort Sumpter) was decked with an Irish flag for the occasion. The warning from the locals was “stay out of town” and so we did. Roger and Will arrived early evening and we enjoyed a cocktail on the top deck, enjoying the sunset over the city and the beauty of the boats and water all around us. Amazingly, they were able to stow three suitcases worth of “stuff” in the guest quarters. Roomier than I thought. Though the suitcases had to be stashed in the bathtub!

Charleston City Marina will be our home for the next four days. We are poised on the far edge of the marina on the Mega Dock. We are definitely the exception. Spent the day scurrying to get lots of work done on board, solving the usual assortment of glitches attendant to getting a boat ready for a cruise. Roger and Will arrive tomorrow so we have an incentive for getting everything done! Charleston is filled with restaurants and, not surprisingly, a number of them are named for the low country cuisine the area is famous for. We had breakfast at the Hominy Grill, passed up lunch at the Okra Cafe and dined at Stars (okay, not a food, but a good description of the night sky here). Couldn’t pass up an ice cream at Jeni’s (there was a line out the door at 8pm!) and you shouldn’t either if you get this way.

Headed from the dirty snow dregs of winter in Chicago to springtime in Charleston. We were treated to a speeded up version of spring’s arrival as we drove south — first with barely visible buds blurring stark tree limbs with a mere hint of color and a hundred or so miles later, Bradford pears showing off their bosomy shapes in drifts of white flowers along with service berry trees laden with blooms. Shy dogwoods awaited more sunshine, but the sunny sides of streets showed magenta and pink flowers dancing along the branches of red bud trees.  We passed up the delights of Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail and the Rebecca Ruth Candy Tour to get to Lexington for our first night and then directly on to Charleston. Even the lure of a stop at Summerville, SC (the birthplace of sweet tea!) or Folly Beach did not deter us. Now, we just have to figure out how to stow all this stuff on the boat!

Do you think it will all fit?!

Moving a boat via roadways is something we’ve done before.  Our sailboat, Ready or Knot, moved from Beaufort, SC to Chicago.  Taken apart and put together again with nary a glitch (or at least any that are memorable.)  Our experience with the Knoxville to Charleston journey is not quite so good.

 I described the new spot as Gdansk. And that was being charitable.

Every scoop from the crane into the barge set off 2 foot waves at the dock.

The less-than-desirable location wasn’t the problem.  The problem was that things that were working perfectly in Knoxville weren’t working at all in Charleston.  The switch that allows you to drive from either the top deck or inside….not working.  The davit for the dinghy was bent and the dinghy no where to be found. (Driver dropped it off and will return it this week….we hope.)  DirectTV system not working and satellite search system won’t turn off.  Ugh and ugh.

Cliff’s cheery email:  “This has not been a perfect adventure, but with any luck will turn out to have only a few shortcomings that we will be able to recover from.”  Sure hope so!

Getting a 52 foot boat to a new harbor via roads isn’t that easy.  Dot.Calm had to be taken apart from the top radar and TV antennas down to the top deck windshield.  Cliff traveled to Knoxville to watch the entire process, then drove to Charleston to see that it was properly put together again, i.e., everything working and in good order.  More about that later!

Here you see the top tier being removed with a crane.

Loaded onto a flatbed awaiting removal of hardtop and windshield.

Saloon area is stuffed for shipment south.

The “navigation pros” in Knoxville have talked us out of a Knoxville to Mobile river journey.  Lots of debris in the water (which translates to “you will wreck your prop”), uncertain waits at locks since everyone else goes before pleasure craft like ours, and long stretches of travel with no marinas, no restaurants and no help if you need it.  So, on to Plan B:  We are trucking boat to Charleston and will depart from there.  Are you surprised that there were a lot more people who wanted to take the journey from Charleston than from Knoxville?

 Here she is with the her new name.

This is the back view…Marathon will be her home port.