Day 125, Year 11: We Made It
Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Weather: Mix of Sun, Clouds, Rain, Wind, and Tornado Watches
Location: Lightkeepers Marina, Little River, SC (arrived 11:28 pm last night)
Total Miles Traveled from West Palm Beach, FL: 508 nautical miles
We made it here to Lightkeeper’s Marina before midnight last night, and how happy we were to tie up to the dock. We ate dinner right after sunset and then had about two hours to go to get to the Little River inlet. All three of us just sat in the cockpit trying to figure out how to spend those hours. About that time, we noticed that fog was rolling in. So I made it my job to go downstairs to turn on the radar and watch for boat traffic. But the fog also made us all nervous about going in the Little River inlet and then making our way down the Intracoastal to Lightkeepers. Between watching the radar, familiarizing ourselves with the entry path on the chart, and thinking about all the jobs we would have to do once we were inside, the two hours we had to go disappeared quickly and so did most of the fog. By the time we got to the inlet, it was hazy, but not totally foggy, and the moon was shedding a lot of light down on us. Whew! Mark’s job was to stay in the cockpit to navigate the boat. My job was to stand on the foredeck with a spot light in order to find and light up the next mark for Mark. It was not as easy as I thought it would be. I had to scan the waters looking for the reflective tape on the markers and we would be almost on the mark before I could see anything. Kevin’s job was to run back and forth between me and Mark relaying messages telling Mark which way to turn. But Kevin was often quicker than me at spotting the marks, so he ended up doing his job and part of mine . . . for which I was most grateful. But with our electronic track, teamwork, moonlight, and a lot of luck, we made it all the way to our slip at Lightkeepers with no problems. Since there was no one waiting on the dock to take our lines, Kevin got the honors of jumping onto the dock to receive the lines. Sure glad it was him and not me that got that honor! I think we all breathed a huge sigh of relief once those lines secured Windbird to the dock. I wouldn’t want to repeat this experience often, but if I did have to, I’d want to do with this same crew. We make a great team.
Today Mark and Kevin had to do some work. Kevin had a very long conference call and Mark needed to find a few more prospects for his job search. I ran back and for the between the boat and the office where there is a washer and dryer. The machine is small and it took five loads to get all of our laundry done. And between loads, I worked at getting those things we need to take with us packed up. And all of this had to be done with an eye on the weather. Schools here were closed today because of the threat of very high winds, rain, hail, and tornadoes. Thankfully we didn’t get winds any higher than 30 knots and the periods of rain were short—and most thankfully, there was neither hail nor tornadoes here in Little River. But with all the threats, we sure were glad we had made the decision to come all the way into the marina last night.
Tomorrow morning we will drive to Janelia Farm in Virginia to deliver Kevin home. We’ll spend the night there and drive on to Nyack, New York on Friday to spend the night with our friends Ed and Lynne. We’ll then arrive on Cape Cod on Saturday afternoon. We’re anxious to get there to see the Goldstones and then to head on north to Lowell, Massachusetts, where we will be living temporarily. It was only a week ago tomorrow that we learned that we needed to get Mark back to Boston. And we are just thankful that the weather held for us and that we were able to get Windbird back to Little River. She will be happy here in our absence.
