Well, I did not get to "Sail FAR" but I DO have the small boat part of things. Refitting to get things ready for a trip to the coast was 'frantic' with much of the work done within the last seven days:
New cabin cushions/upolstery (gift from wife)
New handrails w/ backing plates
New tires/hubs for trailer
New Steaming light on mast (dang thing still has problems...will rerun wire next)
General cleaning
New fuel line ob end connector
Other minor tasks and some new safety gear
Here's a shot of the handrails. The old ones were split and badly weathered. I was all for trying to refinish them, but my wife said "new ones."
Saturday, May 20: Got the boat down there around 10:00 at Hilton Head Harbour Marina, just east of Hwy 278 bridge as you first get on the island. Arrived too close to low tide to launch, so unhitched to make a run to Boater's World and a storage facility to arrange for trailer storage.
Got back and making ready to launch, noticed the tank end of the fuel line was busted, so I unhitched AGAIN and went BACK to BW to get a new fitting. Luckily it was not far. Got the fuel line fixed and launched the boat. Motored over to slip 46 and nearly bolloxed getting into the slip with the 10 kt cross wind from the west. Got the mast up in the slip and everything ready, but noticed a halyard mast cleat was GONE! Planned another trip to BW for Sunday, and no sailing on Saturday (hot, tired and ready to just hang out).
Monday, May 22: Motored east along Skull Creek solo just to 'be out' for a couple of hours. Turned around at the #3 marker right at the entrance into Port Royal Sound.
Tuesday, May 23: With Becky and the kids, repeated trip from yesterday. 3 year old Hunter helped steer and 11 month old Jonathan napped. Even while motoring into the 4 ft chop at the Sound, he slept. Raised the jib and did some downwind sailing and reaching, but did not want to fight things too much and we had a reception to attend for Becky's work. It was nice just being out for a few hours again.
Saturday, May 27: Left the harbour at 10:30 and motored just above idle under Hwy 278 bridge. Raised sails and had a nice, easy close reach, with only two tacks to clear some docks, on the westerly breeze. Made it to Harbour Town after only 1 hour 35 minutes, but did not stop.
Sailed on out into Atlantic and ate lunch while standing southward along Tybee Island. Turned around at Marker 12 on the Savannah Approach (we were outside the shipping channel, there were container ships coming in) to head back in, so about 5 miles 'off shore' from Hilton Head. Becky got some shots of the Tybee Light and pelicans in flight 'circling' the boat. We saw lots of dolphins, but got no pics. Here's a shot of the Tybee Light off the stbd beam.
Dropped sails just outside of Harbour Town to motor the rest of the way. This turned out to be a good decision, since a thunderstorm hit just as we tied up in the slip. This shot is of the Harbour Town Light as we motored past.
General Comments about Hilton Head Harbour Marina: The marina is co-located with Outdoor Resorts RV park. There is a pool, showers, tennis courts, etc. The private ramp is unusable at low tide (water must be to third piling on the fishing dock before they will unlock the ramp), and there is no overnight storage for trailers. The harbormasters are aggressive about chastising passing boaters to observe the "No Wake" rule.
Our slip was on the inner pier, so we had ample protection from wind in all directions, but E or W winds do blow across the slips. Larger boats would probably need to be placed on the outer row, and I think they let overnighters just tie up at the gas dock. Slip fees are $1 per foot per night, but they gave me a discount and I'm not sure why (maybe for staying the week?). I did not ask. Getting in/out of the harbor is best not at low tide, either.
Author