A visit home to South Carolina
245 Days Looping
3,822.0 Nautical Miles Total (4,398.3 Statute Miles)
.0 Nautical Miles This Week
0.0 Hours Underway This Week
0.0 NMph Average Speed
0 Locks This Week, 154 Total Locks
Monday – Dec 2nd – 0 NM – In: Mobile, AL
Monday was a hurry-up and wait a day. We were waiting to hear when they would be pulling the boat out of the water. In the morning we gave Tim & Katie a ride up to the airport so that they could pick up a rental car, then took a long way back exploring Mobile a little more.
When we got back to the boat, we heard that we wouldn’t get pulled out of the water until Tuesday morning so we just finished packing up the car and getting ready for our trip home.
Tuesday – Dec 3rd – 0 NM – In: Mobile, AL
Tuesday morning right at 8:00 am there was a knock on the boat. It was the lift operator letting us know they were ready for us and to come over as soon as we could. We took quick showers, untied the boat, and brought it over to the lift. We drifted in and they had the boat out of the water in just a few minutes.
We did an inspection and could see that our port propeller had a slight bend in it. They pulled off the propellers, and then brought the boat into the yard and blocked it up. We then got the rest of our stuff off the boat. Brenda emptied out the refrigerator and stripped the sheets and blankets off the bed to bring them home for washing. I took the dinghy off of the boat deck and we lowered it down onto a pallet so that they could move it out of the way while they washed the boat. By 11:00 we were ready to go, so we checked out with the office and headed toward home.
We made it through Atlanta around 6:00, we needed gas and decided to stop for the night. We picked a random exit with a Quality Inn and a gas station near Greensboro, Georgia. The Quality Inn was nothing special but clean. For dinner, we drove to a restaurant “The Pickle Barrel Cafe” near Lake Oconee about 10 minutes away. Lake Oconee looks amazing with a huge Ritz-Carlton resort and a beautiful Adirondack-style hospital building. It was dark so we couldn’t see much but it looked like the area was a pretty high-end resort.
Wednesday – Dec 4th – 0 NM – To: Murrells Inlet, SC
We took off around 7:30 and made it back home to Murrells Inlet just afternoon. The house was in good shape, our landscaper/house watcher from Condo Care, and our cleaner had done a great job. Brenda spent the rest of the day doing laundry and I did some minor maintenance items around the house.
Thursday, Dec 5th – Saturday, 14th – 0 NM – In: Murrells Inlet, SC
For the rest of our visit home, we’ve been getting the plants and house ready for winter, taking care of doctor visits, and catching up with friends.
Progress is being made on the boat, and we’re planning to head back to Mobile on Sunday the 15th.
Sunday – Dec 15th – 0 NM – In: Mobile, AL
On Sunday we drove back to Mobile. It was a 10-hour drive, but it went smooth and we arrived back at the Marina around 4:30 Central Time (we gained an hour when we crossed into Alabama). The boat looked very good. They had done the bottom paint and most of the polishing of the hull, the cutlass bearings had been installed and the straightened props were back on.
Because the boat was out of the water, we didn’t want to stay on it. We did have power, but we had no heat and couldn’t flush the toilets so we got a room at a nearby hotel for two nights.
NEXT WEEK: Back on the move again heading toward Florida!
Thanks for visiting! –Tom & Brenda
