A few people have asked whether I might find a town I like so much that I just decide to stay there for the winter. Some have assumed that was my plan. My intention has always been to keep moving and see as much as possible but the question comes to mind whenever we stop for a while.
I’ve certainly seen places that I would be happy spending the winter in. However, each one seems nicer than the last which makes me wonder what the next one could be like. Perhaps this is the essential dynamic driving the wanderer.
Watchers of my SPOT page http://www.cruisingonstrider.us/SPOTbeacon.htm may think I’ve taken root here in Georgetown and, even with the noise of the steel mill and the occasional odor from the paper plant (world’s largest, I’m told), this town lives up to everything I’ve read and been told.
We hadn’t planned to stay this long. I’ve previously mentioned my excellent sense of timing. Just as we were running up the harbor entrance, I began sneezing continuously. I thought it was coming from one of the mills but Lynn told me when we had our anchors down that they both were coming down with colds. Sure enough, by the time I’d rowed around to take the pictures for my previous post, I realized that I had it too. There hasn’t been a better place in many miles to rest up and recover.
There was also a minor engine repair to deal with. Many thanks to forumite Guidera48 who spent half a day driving me to the welder he uses to get a cracked alternator bracket repaired. A modification we made during the repair to relieve the stress that caused the crack ended up making the mounting bolt too short. We went to a marina to try and get an 8mm 1.25 bolt. They didn’t have it but the fellow we asked drove us to two different places until we found what we needed.
We’re getting now to the things we planned to do a few days ago, laundry and food supply. For yesterday’s run, we used the “Tug and Barge” method that has worked so well before. It is especially good for me who doesn’t carry a dinghy outboard or gas on the boat.
We’ve decided now to stay until Friday so as not to get to more expensive and less convenient Charleston too much before I meet Barbara there on the Winter Solstice. So far, I haven’t gotten to see much of the town itself although a 7 foot diameter Live Oak encountered while I was walking around waiting for laundry to dry will stick in my mind. I should have some time in the next two days to get some pictures and find more to report.
The high point of yesterday was seeing my first alligator. It was drifting slowly down the harbor and I called over to Serendipity on the cell phone to point it out. I got out the binoculars and realized that it was just a large stick. I thought of calling them back but figured, why spoil the fun? Then, I saw a sinister little swirl in the water several feet behind the stick. I realized that I was looking at the eddy from the tail slowly sweeping for a small course correction as the animal did its perfect floating log imitation. That little eddy, which I would assume was right at the tail tip, was an impressive distance behind what I could see.
Swimming call is canceled.
I’ve certainly seen places that I would be happy spending the winter in. However, each one seems nicer than the last which makes me wonder what the next one could be like. Perhaps this is the essential dynamic driving the wanderer.
Watchers of my SPOT page http://www.cruisingonstrider.us/SPOTbeacon.htm may think I’ve taken root here in Georgetown and, even with the noise of the steel mill and the occasional odor from the paper plant (world’s largest, I’m told), this town lives up to everything I’ve read and been told.
We hadn’t planned to stay this long. I’ve previously mentioned my excellent sense of timing. Just as we were running up the harbor entrance, I began sneezing continuously. I thought it was coming from one of the mills but Lynn told me when we had our anchors down that they both were coming down with colds. Sure enough, by the time I’d rowed around to take the pictures for my previous post, I realized that I had it too. There hasn’t been a better place in many miles to rest up and recover.
There was also a minor engine repair to deal with. Many thanks to forumite Guidera48 who spent half a day driving me to the welder he uses to get a cracked alternator bracket repaired. A modification we made during the repair to relieve the stress that caused the crack ended up making the mounting bolt too short. We went to a marina to try and get an 8mm 1.25 bolt. They didn’t have it but the fellow we asked drove us to two different places until we found what we needed.
We’re getting now to the things we planned to do a few days ago, laundry and food supply. For yesterday’s run, we used the “Tug and Barge” method that has worked so well before. It is especially good for me who doesn’t carry a dinghy outboard or gas on the boat.
We’ve decided now to stay until Friday so as not to get to more expensive and less convenient Charleston too much before I meet Barbara there on the Winter Solstice. So far, I haven’t gotten to see much of the town itself although a 7 foot diameter Live Oak encountered while I was walking around waiting for laundry to dry will stick in my mind. I should have some time in the next two days to get some pictures and find more to report.
The high point of yesterday was seeing my first alligator. It was drifting slowly down the harbor and I called over to Serendipity on the cell phone to point it out. I got out the binoculars and realized that it was just a large stick. I thought of calling them back but figured, why spoil the fun? Then, I saw a sinister little swirl in the water several feet behind the stick. I realized that I was looking at the eddy from the tail slowly sweeping for a small course correction as the animal did its perfect floating log imitation. That little eddy, which I would assume was right at the tail tip, was an impressive distance behind what I could see.
Swimming call is canceled.
