To Beaufort and Georgetown

Did I say rest and relaxation in the last posting?  We had just settled in when our head (toilet) decided it did not wish to cooperate anymore (meaning it would not flush) and, beyond that, the motor stopped turning.   The flushing problem had been building slowly for some time, so I suspected a clog, but the motor was new and troubling.  Something like this, requiring a rebuild, happened at our last stop at St. Augustine heading south, but this seemed more serious.

My first instinct was to replace the whole thing, electric pump as well as the toilet.  It is a lot easier than rebuilding everything.  Either way, it is certainly easier to do all this work dockside where there is plenty of fresh water to wash everything down.  Elena arranged for us to go into a slip that day.  I called West Marine for a replacement toilet, but they had none in stock.  The nearest one was in Jacksonville, some 40 miles away.  We would have to rent a car, probably adding another hundred dollars to the already expensive option.  Instead I decided to replace the electric pump with a spare I had stocked before the trip.

I pulled the toilet out and found: 1)  A major clog starting at the beginning of the pipe, but how far was unknown.  2)  Something wrapped around the pump (macerator) that prevented the motor from turning. 

I worked the clog first.  I sent Elena off to the hardware store to buy muriatic (hydrochloric) acid, which is used in swimming pools.  Then using a combination of a small plumbers snake, the acid, and a hose, started working my way down the pipe.  It took all day, but eventually a got a full flow of water through the system.  Messy work.

On day two, I turned my attention to the pump.  Unfortunately, when I opened the box for the pump, it was the wrong pump.  But I was able to use some parts (the centrifugal pump, the macerator blades, and the gasket) to rebuild the old pump.  We reinstalled the toilet and it worked like a champ.  I gave the whole system another muriatic acid treatment and called the job done.

Elena was a great help, doing a lot of the work, especially when little fingers were required.  The last time we did this, I did this alone and it took a lot longer.

While dockside, we also changed the oil, oil filters and the primary fuel filter (100 hour maintenance).  The last change was in Marsh Harbour back in February. 

We crossed paths once again with the yacht “Freedom” when she came in for an overnighter in St. Augustine.  We have seen her before in Beaufort SC, St Augustine when southbound, and at Nassau.

 

Download and watch the yacht Freedom dock at St Augustine

 

While at the marina, I was walking the docks, when I spotted “Foreign Affair” (Dwayne and Carla) with whom we had spent many days sitting in Nassau waiting for the weather to break.

The marina needed us out of the slip, so we went back to the mooring ball after filling fuel and water tanks. 

Elena loves shopping in St. Augustine, so she was off to do what she does best.  She would take the marina water taxi back and forth from the boat. Our anniversary, the 7^th, was on Sunday, May 14^th.  It was hard to believe that it has been seven years and our relationship is closer than it has ever been.  This little sojourn could have easily broken us (we have seen this happen many times) but it has made us really rely on one another, sometimes to the point where we are thinking the same thing at the same time.  She even let me get away with letting her buy her own anniversary gift, a small trinket that had caught her eye on those shopping excursions.

 

We did our last bit of provisioning on May 15^th and got underway early on the 16^th in company with “Foreign Affair”, taking pictures of each other as we sailed alongside.  “Foreign Affair” was making a 240-nautical mile transit to Georgetown and we were stopping at Beaufort, SC, a distance from St. Augustine about half of that route.  They would motor-sail at 6+ knots and we had a planned speed of 4.5, so they slowly pulled ahead until they disappeared over the horizon in early afternoon.

 

 

Our transit to Beaufort started pleasant enough and we were making good speed with a nice southeast wind of 10-12 knots.   As usually, I had the “mid” watch, 12am to 6am on this transit.  At about 4am the wind shifted to the south and picked up a bit.  The sails were not set well for a wind directly astern, and we bounced around for the next 8 hours, with sailing filling and emptying, and waves providing an unpleasant ride.  Around noon, we entered the channel for a 4 hour transit to Beaufort.  After a brief rest, we went ashore for dinner and then turned in for a much-needed sleep.

Mike, one of the dock staff, said to Elena: ”You know what? Probably somebody has already told you this, but you have a very good radio voice.” She was obviously pleased.  Up and down the ICW, she is known as Captain Sophia.

I had decided some time ago that Elena needed a night off the boat and so for my special anniversary gift, I offered a night at a Bed and Breakfast.  Beaufort has many lovely B&B’s and we picked the Beaufort Inn, a turn of the century Victorian, and slept in a real bed, for me the first time in a year.  It was a nice change of routin

Around the corner from the B&B we found a very non-descript restaurant. the Old Bull Tavern,  that turned out to be, in fact as not a tavern but a first rate food establishment.  We enjoyed it so much, we went back a second time.

 

 

Despite the long trip from the Atlantic to the dock and then back out again, Beaufort (pronounced “Bu-fort”) remains one of our favorite stops and we will be back on our next trip south, despite the long commute up the river.

We left Beaufort at 8:30 am on Saturday, May 20^th on the ebb (outgoing) tide, using the current to easily slip away from the dock and to move us along with an extra knot or two.  The Beaufort River, Port Royal Sound and the entrance channel are all north to south outbound meaning we had 4 hours to get out and then turn north to our next destination, either Georgetown, 100 miles north or Charleston, 50 miles away.  We finally turned north at 1 pm. Winds were at 10 knots from the southeast and we put out all three sails for a nice sail.  We passed Charleston at 2am, too early to stop, so we proceeded on to Georgetown.    Elena relieved me of the mid watch at 5am, but woke me up at 7am to recommend starting the engine as the wind had died out and we were moving at less than 3 knots.  From then on, we motor-sailed to entrance to Winyah Bay for the three-hour transit to Georgetown.  The marina put us into a tight spot into which we successfully maneuvered, for which once again I was congratulated by my fan club (Elena).

We must wait for a cold front to clear on Monday or Tuesday before proceeding to Southport NC,near Wilmington on the Cape Fear River.  I am catching up in the blog, taking care of money matters, and finally getting to taxes.  Elena is getting her fix of shopping in (after all it’s a new place).