And now, Irma (Windmill Harbor Marina)

September 6, 2017

Yesterday we cruised from Shelter Cove Marina to Windmill Harbor Marina.  We had arranged with our Buyers to move Tide Hiker to Windmill, and our time was up at Shelter Cove. Windmill is some what of a "hurricane hole" - on the lee side of the island and completely landlocked. The entrance is via a lock that allows the marina to maintain a constant water level, independent of the tide.

However when we arrived and locked thru into the harbor, I realized that the lock gates are only about 4 feet above high tide and so a 5 foot surge will fill the harbor quick smart. And that becomes a big problem because the docks are concrete and fixed.

Wednesday: We spend a lot of time watching Irma and the forecast track. Yesterday the forecast put the eye passing a bit south of the southerly tip of Florida, then maybe turning north and inland - not bad for us. But this morning the new forecast had Irma turning earlier to the north - bad for us. And during the day the turn became more pronounced - very bad for us. We are located right on the coast at the Georgia/SC line - Bulls Eye! But it will change again!

Based upon the current map we have until about Monday lunch time to get Tide Hiker prepped and then to decide to stay locally or run. We sat down after breakfast and made a list of jobs and then got busy crossing them off.  It was a sweaty day with a few thunder storms.

Today I focused on improving the dock. We purchased two vertical dock fenders and arranged for the marina to install. I bought some hardware from Lowes and attached our 14" finders to the face plate. (there is no point having fenders mounted on the boat when you are at a fixed dock, especially when expecting a surge.) Sadly, the face plate will probably fall off when the fenders attached if they are stressed.

Cruising friends turned up in town this afternoon, so we took a break for dinner with them back at Shelter Cove. On the way back to Tide Hiker we gassed up the car.

These bloody things cost an extra $100 each. And if the surge is more than 6 feet we will float over the top of them anyhow! Note the good looking legs of the supervisor on the right. 

Thursday: Today was mainly canvas and lines day - we borrowed a step ladder from the marina office and removed the canvas from the fly bridge and stored the pieces in the pilothouse. Then stripped and/or covered and/or taped and/or zip-tied everything remaining on the fly-bridge.

I dug out all our lines (and anti-chafing gear) and laid them out on the walkway so I could allocate them around Tide Hiker. By tonight they were all roughly in position and so tomorrow we will finalize the set-up, anti-chaff and attachment. Some how we have to set up the lines to hold Tide Hiker to a fixed dock in an unknown amount of surge.

Big day - I am at 14,600 steps for the day and I have not left the dock. Deidre was really pooped and her hip was hurting.

This afternoon the forecast track moved a bit west, so we are now about 50 miles east of the track, with 2+ days remaining. Savannah (about 40 miles away) is being evacuated. We are thinking we will leave Friday night.

Friday: Good news (for us) this morning as the forecast track was moved another few miles west, and that change remained in the 2 PM edition. But we are still "in the bubble" and so preparations continue. All the screens are off, the doors and windows are taped etc etc

Its a nice quiet day in the marina. I estimate that less then 25% of the boats have been visited and prepped so far. Fortunately both our neighbors have been on their boats and done some prep work (although the arrangements on the Searay on the other side of our dock are rather pitiful.)

With the improved forecast Deidre and I are debating when to leave. We have an offer from friends to share a second floor condo near Shelter Harbor and I am keen to stay - Deidre not so much.

Saturday: Last night the governor declared a compulsory evacuation of the barrier islands, so we are resigned to leave Tide Hiker. I spent most of the day tweaking the lines in anticipation of "some amount" of surge.

We left about 3 PM and were settled at a friends home in Charleston by 6 PM.

Sunday: Breakfast with Kylie and the kids. Lunch at "Five Guys" and dinner out at a local French Bistro with Mark and Donna. This is our version of "stocking up with food"

Monday:  Not much weather overnight but a large amount of wind and rain today. Its still raining cats and dogs now at 6 PM, The power has been on and off, and is out again now. The center of the hurricane is now about 600 miles from us, but still having a strong effect on the SE coast. The big issue is the surge. In Charleston today the surge was reported as 6' and much of downtown and the shoreline around us was flooded. We took the car to have a look around and everywhere we ventured a police car of some sort pulled up behind us with lights flashing. Otherwise the streets were rather deserted.

We have received some reports and one photo of Tide Hiker, and she seems to have done OK. As expected, the surge let water over the lock wall and flooded the marina so that the docks and walkways were covered - not sure by how much. So far it seems that Tide Hiker has fared OK. We have a photo sent by a friend, but I have to figure out how to get it into the blog.

You can see the dock on the left is about 6" under water when this photo was taken (and I do not know when that was). I estimate this water depth would represent between 4' to 5' of surge.

And here is a video of the "lock breach"

https://www.facebook.com/robinfirestone/videos/vb.768935373/10159378906845374/?type=2&theater

Tuesday: Early this AM the governor gave the OK to return to HHI. But before we could leave we received a "baby sitters" call from Ryan and since that took precedence we headed over to Kylie's to sit the kids - she was at work, day care had not re-opened and Ryan's parents needed his help at The Creek, which was flooded again. We had a wonderful time with the kids for a couple of hours. Ryan was back about 2 PM and we headed south.

Houston and Harvey

Thursday August 24 to Wednesday August 30, 2017

Thursday morning we drove to Charleston and caught a direct flight to Houston where we rented a car and drove north to David's family home in "The Woodlands". That night it started to rain and I think its still raining. We were aware of the bad forecast before we left, but basically ignored it. Not too sure why - maybe because the press is so inclined to exaggerate bad weather, plus our experience of hurricanes is that they land and make a mess and a couple of days later everything is back to normal. Oh well, not this time.

"The Woodlands" is a beautiful residential area about 25 miles north of downtown Houston and is probably a couple of hundred feet higher than urban Houston. There are several "man-managed" waterways and lakes in the area and as the rain fell these swelled somewhat but the water kept moving and basically flowed into Houston proper. Houston is as flat as a table top. David's house is two story brick and built about 6' higher than the road. The serious rain started Friday and by Sunday the Woodlands had received over 18"of rain. Occasionally the road was flooded from gutter to gutter, but it moved on quickly.

Meanwhile we were entertaining ourselves inside playing board games with the kids and watching TV as the disaster unfolded in Houston. Occasionally we grabbed umbrellas and checked out the local "creeks" as well as the coffee supply at Starbucks (Plenty!) Jen had lots of food in the house which was a good thing because the supermarkets were getting a bit low on some items. The pool wanted to overflow, but there was an overflow drain and so that water probably ended up in Houston too. We constantly received "flash flood" and "tornado watch" alarms on our iPhones but nothing bad seem to happen locally. Jen organized a blanket collection with her friends and took them to the local shelter, but were told "We have plenty". We never lost power, telephone or internet connectivity.

Deidre and I were initially scheduled to fly out on Monday but as the storm extended I moved the reservation first to Tuesday and then Wednesday. However our airport (Houston Hobbie) was south of downtown and totally isolated and had closed on Saturday, and on Monday I heard that it probably would not open until the following weekend. At that point I contacted the rental car people and arranged to return the car to the Charleston airport. We said our goodbyes after lunch on Monday and headed further north and then east.

We had no trouble with flooded roads or getting gas, and made it back to Tide Hiker Wednesday afternoon, 1,250 miles later. The rental (a VW) managed to get 41 mpg, so the gas and two cheap motels probably cost less than the air fare. We had not driven this route thru the USA and we were impressed with the countryside and local towns. I like a road trip

Cinnamon Beach

Saturday August 12 to August 19, 2017

The Taylors and the "old Blackmans" rented a condo for the week right on the beach at Cinnamon Beach, about 45 miles south of St. Augustine, Florida. For us it was a drive from HHI of about 240 miles, for Kylie and family about 100  miles more. Our condo was on the 4th floor of a 5 story building, overlooking the beach as you can see from the photo below. And it was a perfect beach. Kyli and Ryan were looking for a break from work, Deidre and I were looking forward to a week with Mason and Audrey.

Our view

The weather for the week was almost perfect - hot and dry each morning until the thunder storms rolled in at mid afternoon, when we could take a break from the sun and enjoy a beer on the balcony. Mason was a bit hesitant in the waves.

We were able to mix in a few outings - Wednesday into St Augustine to explore the fort and ride on a pirate ship. Friday we visited an alligator zoo. And a few dinners out.

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.

May River Anchorage

Sunday July 9, 2017
32 11 982 N
80 48 712 W

As Sunday tradition requires, we wandered into "town" for Sunday breakfast at the "Hoddle House". We "hoddled" out an hour later with $15 of breakfast in our happy tummies. Such a deal.

Not in a hurry, we did not drop lines until about 11:30 AM and caught the outgoing tide all the way down the Beaufort River, reaching the astonishing speed of just under 9 knots opposite Paris Island, the marine base. By 3 PM we had dropped anchor in the may River, just across from Hilton Head Island. We are now only about 10 miles from "Shelter Cove". Apparently the approach is a bit shallow, so we will go in at 10 AM tomorrow at the peek of the morning high tide.

Our anchorage reminds me of one of the reasons we have so enjoyed this lifestyle. The east coast of the USA is heavily populated, and we are maybe 5 miles from a resort island, but we feel like we could be in the Amazon - not a person or a building in sight. (And yet the internet connection is great and we found over 40 TV channels! So much for the Amazon.)

Today's view from my window

 Its a few degrees cooler today and there is a decent breeze, so no a/c. And we have the two big fans running, so its quite pleasant.

Lady Island Marina, Beaufort

Saturday July 8, 2017
32 11 976 N
80 48 707 W

We hauled in the anchor and got underway a bit earlier this morning so we had time to get to Lady Island and tidy up before our guests arrived. We have visited Lady island a few times over the last 6 years and they greeted us like old friends - quite nice.

Our guests arrived about 5 PM (with a couple of grand kids in tow) and seemed to be quite impressed with Tide Hiker.

Back in the Ashapoo River

July 7, 2017
32 32 427 N
80 27 114 W

Three cruising boats came "home" to the IOP yesterday, initiating the end of Tide Hiker's stay. We were fortunate to be able to stay another night and leave in the AM. A bunch of people came over for a farewell drink Thursday night. Tide Hiker backed out of her slip at about 9:30 AM this morning.

Another stinking hot day. By about 11 AM we were both rather overcome and so fired up a generator and retreated into the air conditioned Pilot House. Received a call from people interested in Tide Hiker and arranged to take a slip in Beaufort on Saturday so they can have a look.

Lots of thunder storms all around but we seemed to slip between them until it came time to anchor in the Ashapoo. The rain was welcome but the lightening was a bit intense. Only lasted 1/2 an hour or so but soon the sun was shining on the marsh around us. Only about 22 NM to Beaufort from here, so we should get in early enough to give Tide Hiker a bit of a wash before our guests arrive.

Ran the big gen and the a/c all night.