The Best and The Worst

After a Thanksgiving shore leave we are back in Charleston -- happily well south south of the early winter snows in PA.  As usual, our days are filled with the Cap'ns chore list, dog walks, and Loop planning.  Walking about the city is a special treat now as Charleston is dressed for Christmas -- offering a bit of southern charm we don't see up north magnolia leaf wreaths adorn doors and fences.

Here at the MegaDock the parade of southbound boats continues.  The most recent wave are either 1) owner operated vessels who waited until after Thanksgiving to leave the Chesapeake Bay or 2) professional crews moving new boats south for the Ft. Lauderdale boat show. This group of boats are smaller than what we saw earlier in the season -- the mega yachts safely in their Florida slips awaiting winter charters and/or owner visits.

There is not much more to report, so I though I would share the results of an informal poll I took of the Freedom crew:

Question:  What are the Best and Worst parts of living on a boat in Charleston?

The Cap'n: Best: "It's a Boat, and the weather is pretty good"
                    Worst: "Dog needs" (this response came soon after an unfortunate                                           2AM incident involving vomit)

The Admiral: Best: "The fulfillment of a long time dream to live in Charleston;                                              Wearing flip flops in December; Fabulous                                                                        Food;Sunrises and Sunsets; Carolina blue skies;                                             other than washing dishes by hand, less housework"
                      Worst: "No walks or lunches out with my friends.                                                                 Walking Ham up the dock in high winds or when                                                     he sees another dog".

Miles: Best: "Mom can never get more than 10 ft away from me."
            Worst: "The long walk to shore -- it hurts my hips".

Hamilton: Best: "Mom can never get more than 10 ft away from me. All the                                             attention I get from boaters who miss their dogs".
                   Worst: "Not being able to run around on my own".

We're here for another week before heading north for a month or so on shore....

Settled in South Carolina

Evening on the Wadmalaw River. Our last anchorage before arriving in Charleston. It even smelled like South Carolina.

On Monday October 14th we said good bye to our traveling companions and forged on ahead to Charleston. Since we arrived on the 16th we have enjoyed two days of fun, food and music at the Southern Ground Music and Food Festival, organized Freedom for the live aboard life, rode our bikes around town, eaten some fabulous food at local restaurants,  celebrated Halloween, and gotten lots of exercise!  Our slip at the Charleston City Marina is .4 mile from shore. That's a long way at 5:45 AM when you are rushing to get a dog to shore, not to mention the 4 other walks each day, and trips the laundry or heads ( half way to shore).  But, it does give us the opportunity to meet other slip holders, admire their boats, and keep fit.

It only took a few days for us to decide to stay put for the winter. There is lots for us to do and explore here in the low country and we are just a days drive from our onshore home. Charleston also serves as the perfect starting point for our 2014 Great Loop Adventure.

There is always something going on here on the MegaDock.  As the snow birds and charter boats head south to Florida or the islands, the dock space near us fills up every night and clears out every morning, affording us an ever changing array of boats to look at and a beautiful view of the harbor all day long.  The first engines fire up as early as 5:30 AM, serving as an alarm clock for the me and the dogs.

Morning in the Marina-hood

There are many boats here for the long term too, and most of them have crews who are constantly busy cleaning something -- the hull, the water line, fenders, stainless steel fittings. Once they finish all that, they start again. It's exhausting to watch -- but their boats do look fabulous.  We're among the only "do it yourselfers" on our stretch of dock and the Cap'n has a long list of projects for us too. Unlike the paid crews, though, we take a lot of breaks.

So, here we are: settled in South Carolina for the winter.