May 6th Sat. destination .....Noname creek off Hamlin Sound

PICS: The bottom picture is of the Francis Marion (all the way to the right)

We have a picture of some more Osprey chicks

A barge in front of Charleston

Brittany standing on the starboard side of the VICTORIA waiting for the handoff

SUCCESSFUL HANDOFF



Today started off pretty much the same. Gary or I get up, go to the bathroom, turn on the propane, have a cup of tea, start the bilge blower, bring the charts, Skipper Bob, binoculars, pad of paper, pen, water and Eddie upstairs. Then Gary goes out to the bow and starts the back breaking process of hauling the anchor. I sit up in the flybridge and drive as Gary gives me hand signals. Noooooo, real hand signals silly. Brittany wakes up at just the right moment, drags herself out of bed, (now without being told) and meanders out to the bow to take her position in our morning ritual. Her job is to hose off the chain and anchor as Pop pulls it up. Then Gary comes up to the bridge and takes over driving. Eddie hasn't gone to the bathroom since Beaufort in the am. His eyes are looking a little diluted. So this am we started out dragging the dinghy behind us looking for a place to stop. I'd drive and Gary would take the little monster to some appropriate shore. That didn't happen all day. Finally we just lifted the dinghy and told him he'd either have to go on the boat (preferably the bow) or hold it............his decision. He decided to wait and drive us crazy.......... looking and whining at us desperately all day.

It is a beautiful day for motoring...variable winds 5-10 , 70 degrees

Then we have the story of the day. As we motored into Charleston we overheard Skipper Julie on the radio pulling into Charleton Harbor. So I give her a call and the following ensued. Julie asked us if we'd like some fish. They had plenty (sure rub it in)and offered us some Mahi Mahi .
I asked how we'd get it and Gary took care of that as I ran for the camera. Brittany is standing on the gunnell with a large fishing net in hand. She's waiting for the hand off from Skipper Julie. Julie is the Captain of the Francis Marion and they just came back from the Bahamas. We met her back in Vero on our trip down. Anyway, she packed it up, stuffed it into an orange bag and attached it to a long pole. She then stood on the side of the boat as you can see.... and handed off the 3 large Mahi Mahi fillets to Brittany's waiting hands. Then Julie called after us," Thanks, now we can keep fishin!!" ............fine

Looks like I can catch fish..............one way or the other!!

After getting past the busy, crowded Charleston Harbor we headed down the home stretch to
Hamlin Sound. The weekend warriors are almost as abundant as the green biting flies, only more annoying. Oh, at one point the markers were not matching the charts and of course this took place at the buisiest part of the channel. No problem though , a huge tanker was kind enough to bring us to our senses with 5 ear deafening blasts..........meaning DANGER you are about to get run over- get out of the way!! Talk about STRESS........absolutely no vitamin C left after that one.


+++NOTE+++
Please keep my Mom in your prayers. She packed FL in and is on her way to RI, driving by herself.



Keep us in your prayers, your in ours
XXOO
Victoria's Perspective