Shelter Cove Marina

Monday July 10, 2017
32 10 874 N
80 43 692 W

Apparently the approach to this marina can get a bit skinny at low tide so we upped anchor at 8:30 AM so we would arrive right at high tide about 10 AM. All went per plan and the approach up 3 miles of Broad Creek was very pleasant, with lots f fancy houses on both banks.

The marina is pretty posh and very well protected, although a bit squeezed and with a depth problem (so we now have seen for ourselves). The marina is the central feature of a vacation resort with lots of restaurants, shops, music just about every night and fireworks on Tuesdays. And the marina delivers a newspaper to Tide Hiker every morning! Sweet.

We were assigned a slip and settled in, but noticed 6 hours later, at low tide, that we were sitting on the bottom. A visit to the office got us a new slip assignment and when we had some water under us we moved. I suppose they try that on all the new comers. Now we have about 12" to 18" under us at low.

Friday July 28, 2017

We have been here almost 3 weeks now and are pretty settled into a routine. We like the marina and the island and we are within day-trip distance from Charleston. The only negatives are that its been bloody hot and there are few live on boards and we have not made any new friends.

There is plenty of entertainment here. Tuesday nights are "fireworks nights" and maybe a couple of thousand people gather here and crowd the walkways and ice cream shops. Thursday night is "big band" night and the whole place is crowded again. This entertainment is very much oriented to families and kids, which makes it extra fun. There are at least 5 restaurants around the water and two or three of them have music every night, so usually Deidre and I will eat on the deck and be serenaded.

Last week we drove to Charleston for Deidre to see the hip specialist. He recommended a replacement hip, soon er rather than later. The recovery period adds up to about 2 months and living on Tide Hiker is not an ideal arrangement. We seem to have had some "close calls" on selling her, but no deal as yet, so we are a little uncertain as to the next step. But our priority is to get her a new hip ASAP. In the mean time the steroid injection into Deidre's hip is still helping a lot.

In the meantime life goes on. We have rented a beach front apartment in Florida to share with Kylie and family for the weekend of August 12/19. We have just booked flights to Houston to visit David and family, August 24/28. And Adam's family are visiting us here September 7/10. So that's all good.

"Big Band" night. Lots of families and kids.