Current Position: 32 28.748 080 36.850 Lucy Point Creek, Coosaw River, SC Hi everyone, Well a lot has happened in the past several weeks since I last wrote. We stopped in Georgetown, SC for a day or two, since we really like the town and the people. Then we found out that on the Saturday they were hosting the 23rd Annual Georgetown Wooden Boat Show, so we stayed for a few more days. For those who have never been to one, you should try to make it sometime. There are lots and lots of old wooden boats, invariably for sale, brought in on trailers and lined up along the street. The town shuts down part of the main street for it! There are both power and sail boats, some radio controlled model boats, various nautically themed jewelry and art shacks, food and beverages etc etc. It’s a lot of fun and was well attended, downtown being absolutely packed. But maybe the best part of the show is the race to build a rowing dink. There are teams of two people, they all have the same materials and plans and have 4 hours to complete their craft. After the judging phase the boats are raced across the creek, in heats, with both builders having to run a leg. We took our dink out and anchored just by the turning line. It’s great to watch, especially if they didn’t use enough caulk around the seams, because then the boat leaks. Some old cruising friends of ours, EZ Breezes pulled into town one day and we had a nice time visiting with them and their cruising friends and catching up on old times. And of course we had to go to the seafood market and buy some shrimp. The shrimp boats had just finished unloading and some of the by catch was grouper, so we bought some of that as well. Georgetown is one of our favorite stopping points along the ICW. We took the opportunity to go to the grocery store while we were there, just to top up. From there we moved south. So Sunday morning I had started up the engine, and we were letting it warm up when Holly smelled something burning, not a good thing on a boat. We quickly shut everything down and began looking for the cause. We could smell burnt wiring, but nothing felt hot. I was looking in the lazzerettes and noticed that there was a drip from one of the coolant hoses, and it was dripping right onto the alternator! I replaced the hose clamp, which had rusted through, and everything seemed to be OK, we couldn’t smell any more burning, but the alternator was cranking out the amps. Our battery monitor system was showing an open circuit on battery 2, our starting battery, but I could find where it was. We decided to move on and see if things got better or worse, and luckily things got better. I don’t think we fried anything and the system seems to be working OK. On our way into Charleston, we got a call from our friends Bobbie and Francie on Barefootin’. They were supposed to leave but hadn’t gotten away from the docks yet. They invited us to tie up next to them in Shem Creek, just north of Charleston harbor. It was a fun couple of days, they had a car and drove us all over getting parts, food and wine, yes there is a Trader Joes in Mt Pleasant. But then it was time to leave. The weather gods were playing with us again with a strong low developing south of Jamaica, which would become tropical within a couple of days. Bobbie offered us to stay rafted up, but no way with a named storm coming. But we were able to figure out why they call this section the Low Country. I was looking through our charts, trying to find a nice creek with deep water and high banks, and there just aren’t very many. We needed a good hurricane hole, but apparently down here they just move the boats into marinas, tie them up and leave. With Bobbie’s help we decided to head towards Beaufort, SC. The forecasters were predicting tropical storm force winds up the entire east coast, and we needed to get somewhere secure. They had all indicated that the winds would be mostly out of the northerly quadrant and backing from East to NE to N to NW over several days. Lucy Point Creek seemed to have the a nice anchorage at the northern end, so that was our decision. And it turned out to be a fine choice. The creek is deep and wide with lots of anchor space, the northern shore has a little rise to it and many tall trees, handy for blocking the wind. We set out three anchors, just in case, roughly 120 degrees apart with 150 feet of rode. It was a little disconcerting that the tidal range in here is so big, around 7-8 feet, but we got settled in nicely. And so we hunkered down, keeping up with the storms progress via NOAA and the SSB. We have been very lucky, the maximum winds we felt were around 20kts, the water had barely a ripple on it, and it has been a most comfortable anchorage. There were lots of higher winds, but we were protected by the land and trees to our north. It’s lucky that we had no southerly winds, because we are completely open from that direction! Today we have spent getting the genoa back up, putting the BBQ back on the rail, getting up 2 of the three anchors and basically getting our boat back together again. It’s been a full day’s work. Tomorrow we will move on to Beaufort, SC. We have a couple of packages waiting there for us, and it’ll be a good opportunity to take shore showers and catch up on laundry and groceries. From Beaufort, we will head rapidly down to Florida. We’ve been delayed quite a bit and the Bahamas are drawing us closer. I’d like to cross over by mid-November, so we need to make some southing and off shore from Beaufort to Fernandina Beach is a nice hop. We hope everyone is safe and sound with not too much hurricane damage. Take care Rob and Holly S/V Hampshire Rose ~~~~_/)~~~~_/)~~~~_/)~~~~~~~_/)~~_/)~~~_/)~~~~~~~_/)~~~~_/)~~~~_/)~~~~~~~_/)~~_/)~~~ _/)~~~_/)~~~~_/)~~~~~~~_/)~~_/)~~~_/)~~~~~~~_/)~~~~_/)~~~~_/)~~~~~~~_/)~~_/)~~~