SailThreeSheets.com

December 31 - We got up this morning to a very windy day - most wind we’ve seen in quite a while.  Ah, now for the fun part, pulling up 110′ of chain and the anchor, with the wind blowing the boat and the current pushing us the other direction.  FUN.  Unfortunately, the windlass is on the fritz, so I am the human windlass this morning.  We realized too, when we got up, that we had been very lucky the previous evening - we had managed to avoid getting wrapped on one of the copious lobster/crab pots that were all around in this anchorage, including the one that was right next to where we’d anchored.  We managed to get the chain up and as I secured the anchor, Brian piloted us out of the little cove and back into the ICW.  We had a very uneventful trip until we reached the Ben Saywer Bridge at about 1:15, where we encountered another familiar boat, the Tharsis, who we had met when we stopped at Barefoot Landing.  The couple aboard this boat were from Alaska, and had bought the boat in Connecticut and are in the process of sailing it back to Alaska!  What an undertaking!  We hailed the bridge and were informed that they were waiting on an electrician to come for a repair, and that they would keep us posted. As the Tharsis circled past us, we hailed them to inquire how long they had been waiting… about an hour and a half.  Brian and I decided that we’d just edge over to the side of the channel and drop our hook.  No point in driving around in circles.  Soon the Tharsis joined us.  We were hailed by the bridge operator at about 2:30 saying that if she hadn’t heard from the electrician by 3PM she was going to try to open for us, so we stood by on 13 and waited.  At about 2:45, she hailed us to let us know that she was going to open at 3, and that we should pull anchor to come through when she opened.  We pulled the hook, and fired up the engine and coasted around in idle, then passed through the bridge when she opened up. The Tharsis followed right behind us, and we came through the last of the ICW before entering into the Charleston harbor.  Just as we entered the harbor, we bumped bottom again, as we had aimed for the wrong mark, we quickly corrected course, and I hailed the Tharsis to try to steer them away from the shallows, but too late, they came aground as well.  We hauled out our Genny, and with the 15+ kt wind were able to pull ourselves over to port and break free of the mud/sand, but we coouldn’t get close enougn to the Tharsis to get them a line They deployed their anchor, and as we headed off they were working to get themselves freed.  We had a really choppy and wet ride across into the Ashley River Channel, but we were able to get over to the anchorage across from City Marina, drop two hooks, and we settled in for the night.  We made a flat bread pizza for dinner, I talked to my family and to Sandi, Bill, Laurie, Jay and the kids, and we settled in to watch a movie until it was time to watch the fireworks from the boat.  We tucked in for the night after my traditional midnight call to my parents after wishing eachbother a happy new year and a quick call with John and Pat who are also in Charleston.