CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN: GOOD MARINAS,THE HOLY CITY AND HOME

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN: GOOD MARINAS,THE HOLY CITY AND HOME

Here we are at the Harborage at Ashley Marina in Charleston, South Carolina. It’s November 12, the end of our first two weeks here – and we have no water and intermittent internet service. Other than that, the sunsets are spectacular from our deck and our heaters are working. Good thing – it’s supposed to go down to 35 degrees tonight. So we’re still not deep enough in the South to avoid Yankee temps.

In the last Blog, I railed against various inconsiderate marina owners and dock masters. Well, we had some good experiences between always friendly Calvert Marina in Solomons, Maryland and the Harborage in Holy City and those marina owners and dock masters who provide great service must be recognized. Let’s start with Lightkeepers Marina in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Jake and Michael introduced us to this place. It’s quiet, reasonably priced and clean. And remember this name: James Blanton, owner, general manager, dock master extraordinaire. He is the best conversationalist on the waterway, bar none. Coming from one of the oldest families of South Carolina, then moving on to the DEA and the FBI, with a stop at the Moscow Embassy on the way, James has a lot of material. Add to that his furious battle against smoking and his passionate efforts to get the seatbelt law declared unconstitutional (yes, he wants them; no he doesn’t want the government to order him to wear them), and you have at least an hour’s worth of discussion every time you enter his office. He’s visited six of the Seven Wonders of the World, more than 100 countries, and he’s raring to go on his next adventure. He can also recommend the three best restaurants in Charleston, since he stays here about one weekend a month. (Number One is Husk.) Did I mention that he’s also a devoted father to a teenaged daughter who excels in sports? Well, he certainly did. A good dock master can make or break a marina. A great dock master like James will make your experience at his marina both entertaining and memorable.

Two marinas that we have visited several times – Belhaven and Alligator – continue to provide great service. On this trip south, Miss Wanda herself, the owner at Alligator (Columbia, North Carolina) came out to the seawall to help us tie up. When the Internet started acting up later on, I contacted the office, and Miss Wanda fixed the problem promptly. She’s not a one woman show. Her staff is also very talented and helpful. Miss Annette makes the best fried chicken in the world, and the potato salad side dish is very fresh and tasty, according to the Admiral. Alligator Marina is quiet and clean – two traits that the Admiral and I cherish in our travels. At Belhaven Marina, the next marina that we visited south of Alligator, Les and Brenda are still providing excellent service. And the women’s bathroom is stacked with fluffy bath towels for your use, along with shampoo, conditioner, soap in neat containers inside the shower and a hair dryer for use après shower. Les and Brenda and a third person all greeted us as we approached the seawall and all three helped us tie up in a matter of seconds. They know what they’re doing. They also provide good fenders, so you don’t even have to drop your own fenders during the stay at Belhaven. An added bonus for both Alligator and Belhaven is that both locations have wowed us with their sunsets and sunrises.

The Morehead City Yacht Basin has one really good feature. They rent a courtesy van – in very good condition -- $10 for two hours. This gave me plenty of time to go grocery shopping at Harris Teeter, about 8 miles away. The folks who helped us tie up were competent, but they were not going to be around in the morning at dawn, when we needed to take off. Some marinas provide help before the regular dock master hours if you tell them you’re leaving early. Morehead City is almost there as a three star marina. The people are friendly and helpful, when they’re there. And the docking crew is very important at this marina, because the winds can be really strong. When the winds are off the dock, you need all the help they can provide.

Still in North Carolina, the South Harbor Village Marina (not to be confused with the cursed Harbor Village Marina) in Southport provides really good help tying up at their docks. In the spring we got assistance backing into a slip, and this time around, we pulled effortlessly on to the face dock and the dock master and his helper took our lines and tied us down without a hitch. There is sometimes a wicked current at this marina, but we came in at close to slack tide, so the docking was a lot easier. The dock master told the Admiral that if he ever tired of me as a crew member, the dock master would have a place for me at the marina. The Admiral was not impressed. I, on the other hand, was walking on air after that – for at least 15 minutes. This marina is, you guessed it, quiet and clean. And the Wi-Fi is good. Some day I’m going to take the time to go into historic downtown Southport to visit all of Linda Shipman’s relatives. But this time we just enjoyed the hospitality of our marina dock master.

Once we crossed the invisible border into South Carolina, we spent our first night at the aforementioned outstanding Lightkeepers. The next day we stopped for diesel fuel at Osprey Marina, a lovely spot hidden down a short channel in the middle of the woods which happens to have a very good price for diesel fuel. They also offered coffee and donuts while we filled the tanks. It’s a busy marina, but there was no wait for the fuel, and the people who serve you are just so darned nice. We continued cruising after getting the fuel, as our destination was Georgetown Landing, the marina which offers free haircuts. The Admiral always talks about getting one, but so far, he has left with the same amount of hair that he has on arrival. Georgetown has a fairly unprotected face dock, so the wind and the currents can rock you pretty good. Still, the staff was helpful and the place was, all together now, quiet and clean. Yay!

When we awoke in Georgetown around 5:30 a.m., we were surrounded by pea soup dense fog. You could not see the edge of the boat. At 6 a.m. we were still at zero visibility and at 7 a.m., no appreciable change. The Admiral had been studying the ocean route from Georgetown to Charleston – a route we had not taken before. The waterway between these two points has a lot of twists and turns, but more importantly, a lot of shoaling areas – read shallow water – and we kept hearing on Channel 16 on the radio from boats that had run aground or were passing boats that were aground. There were two very wide catamarans ahead of us the day before, and we knew that if just one of them ran aground, we would not have room to get around it on this narrow part of the waterway. The Admiral had a brainstorm at about 7 a.m. He checked the map of the coastline between Georgetown and Charleston for any gas stations or convenience stores. He found a gas station, called it and asked if it was foggy on the coast. It wasn’t! Bingo. We had a plan. Just pierce through the fog on the Waccamaw River to the Winyah Bay entrance to the Atlantic Ocean, and turn south heading to Charleston. This plan worked like a charm. Other boaters hailed us on the radio to see how we were doing, and we reported clear skies, much to their astonishment (and ours). Soon there was a caravan somewhere behind us of boats heading out to the ocean. In the meantime, we had reached the ocean, and it was remarkably calm. It was smooth sailing all the way to Charleston. No shoaling, no grounded catamarans, no fog. The Atlantic Ocean rules! We left soupy Georgetown at 8:15 a.m. and arrived in the Holy City at 3 p.m. Mighty fine work, Admiral.

Okay. Here’s a quick explanation of how Charleston gained the nickname “Holy City”:

"This beautiful city is [known] as the “Holy City” because of the prevalence of churches on the city skyline. Charleston boasts over 400 places of worship of many different denominations throughout the city, and religion is deeply embedded in the city's rich culture.

The city was settled on principles of religious tolerance and embraced diversity and equality. In fact, in 1702, the city's religious community was 42% Anglican, 45% Calvinist, 10% Baptist, and 2.5% Quaker and Jewish. In today's Charleston, the spectacular view of the cityscape dotted with steeples is a reminder of the impact religion once had and still has on the development of the city.”

You can spend the better part of a week taking photos of just some of these churches and their graveyards. There is a huge Unitarian Church close to downtown. I went to a concert called the Sound of Charleston at a very old church, Circular Congregational Church, on Meeting Street. John Newton, who wrote “Amazing Grace”, attended this church. Our concert closed with an audience enhanced, inspired version of this hymn. The entire concert was great, highlighted by Lonnie Hamilton III, the ambassador of music for Charleston, a young 86 and still wailing away on the saxophone with tunes like “Summertime” and “Take the A Train”, ably accompanied by John Tecklenburg. The music was out of this world. A young woman named Genesis sang 3 spirituals, all with the hidden message known to every slave who ever sang them that some day they would be free. Carl Bright, the father of Genesis, who taught Gospel music at the University of Pennsylvania (where was that course when I was in college?), introduced each song in its historical context. He plays a heavenly piano and has a bass voice that is a direct descendant of Paul Robeson.

We have just returned from our journey home to Harper Canyon and our dog, Zorro. It is a very cold November 30 in Charleston. The Admiral started the engines on Slow Motion. They both still work! The Admiral has studied the tide charts and the weather forecasts, and it looks propitious to continue our cruise south on Monday, December 2. It will be a while before I get another bubble bath or wash dishes in hot water or walk in the park with Zorro and Ruby. We had a great time with the Admiral’s daughter, Sonja, and her best boyfriend, Michael, as the Admiral cooked up a storm in our kitchen and Brenda’s for two nights in a row (pulled pork Monday, roast beef Tuesday). On Wednesday, the Admiral made clam chowder and I made a big green salad with lots of avocados, and we dined in our own home with Sonja and Michael. It was all together a fishy day, as we had gone to the Aquarium to see the jellies and the seahorses (jellies still there, seahorse exhibits gone) and Sonja and Michael treated me to a sushi lunch. Then we went to Royal, Brenda and Olivia’s for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, aided by my two extremely delicious apple pies. Unfortunately, Brenda’s mother is very sick, and Brenda left Tuesday to be with her. Royal’s mother arrived to make the gravy and stuff the 25 pound bird. Margus and Mara and their children (from Estonia) rounded out the Calkins table. We had to eat and run, but it gave me a little more time with Zorro, who put on the saddest face I have ever seen as I leaned over to give him a kiss. He knows exactly how to get to me.

I wish you and your loved ones the best of holiday seasons. I hope none of you is caught up in Black Thursday, Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Even Giving Tuesday is a bit much. Let’s just enjoy each other’s company, away from stores and computer shopping. I am so very, very thankful to be able to write this Blog to keep you all apprised of our peregrinations. And remember, you all have a standing offer to come and visit and STAY ON THE BOAT. We have not done so well with overnight visitors so far. How about if we throw in a blueberry pancake breakfast and fresh hot coffee or tea or hot chocolate? We have the beds. Now we just need people to fill them. What do you say? Can you pen a visit with us on Slow Motion on your 2014 calendar? Key Largo beckons. And then the Bahamas or Key West or some other tropical paradise. You will not be disappointed. And the stress will flow out of your body, as you soak up the sun’s rays (with plenty of sunscreen) and rock gently back and forth on the turquoise waters. Really – this can be you in January, February, March. Don’t fight winter; avoid it entirely with the Admiral and me on Slow Motion.