Saturday, December 12, 2009 Beaufort (N32 25.751 W 080 40.836) S. Carolina

Rainy, cold… 40 degrees with NE winds and a wind chill of 34. Brrrrrrr….. Isn’t S. Carolina supposed to be part of the south??? All I can say is brrrrr… pass the hot chocolate and I’ll have marshmallows in that please.

I made a skillet breakfast of potatoes, maple Smokey Links, onions and eggs. All that was missing was homemade toast… This is a day meant to stay indoors with someone you love… uhm, but he’s tearing the engine compartment and garage (read that – back berth) apart to give the engine it’s proper maintenance. Oil change. Transmission fluid change. Oil filter change and water strainer clean out. Good time to stay away from the back section of the boat, while Wayne does his “blue jobs”. I think I’ll go to the V-berth and read a book. I finished “Witch Hunt” by Ian Rankin – not bad.

As the day wore on two boats joined us in the anchorage. One came in at dusk and decided to anchor to close to us. He then blasted us with an air horn. When I came up he asked if we were anchored okay because we were swinging alot. I yelled back – yes, and we have 125 feet of chain out. We’ve been here 2 days now and have held just fine. How much scope did you let out? He yelled back 150 feet. I noticed it was rope. We’d been set quite well in this current. I couldn’t believe how close they’d anchored to us though. Hoped he didn’t snag our anchor chain – they looked like they were right on top of where we’d set our anchor. Hmmm, aren’t boats supposed to swing at anchor? Ours always seems to swing a bit different than everyone else’s though. It could be a close night with these winds and currents. He appears to be a boat length away depending on how we both swing. I don’t know why, with all the room around us, he had to anchor right on top of us… Maybe he’s trying to get us to move? I don’t know. We’ll have to keep an eye out.
But for now – it’s time to make dinner. Chicken Alfredo and green beans are on the menu. The worst part of cooking on the boat (besides the two burner alcohol stove that takes forever to generate heat) is the clean up and lack of space for prep work. Oh for a larger sink.