Wake to a glassy calm morning. Light overcast. For once, not too cold.
Two tide changes overnight and the anchor line is caught up in a mass of loose spartina. That's what happens when anchoring in a marsh.
No wind. Under power at 7:30. 8:05 passing Red 186 entering the Coosaw River I am surprised to see a strong flood tide still running. It will help us on our way.
Calm, peaceful morning. Dolphis and buffleheads. 9:05 sun peeking through the overcast and getting warmer.
All that wind the morning I launched in Charleston and now light winds for a couple of days. Where's the wind. Plenty of current having launched closer to the new moon.
Give a wave and a shouted thank you to a large power boat that slows down to reduce wake as we are in the entrance channel to Brickyard Creek. 10:45 wind! Sails up in the creek! 11:00 crossed the head of the tide, now have an ebb tide that is helping us down Brickyard Creek.
Making a tide-aided 5.9 with some better wind at 11:30 to round Pigeon Point. There's an interesting seem in the clouds above. Noon doing 3.5 as we pass under the bridge and approach the Beaufort waterfront. Round up to drop the main and the jib, the strong ebb tide carrying us past the marina.
Power into the fuel dock to top off the can. There's a brief debate with two young women at the deckhouse over SPARTINA's length when I ask for a slip. They question is whether or not the boomkin is considered part of the boat's length. They find my reservation from the previous year and that seems to answer their questions. $58 for a slip for the night. Time to clean up the boat, get rid of some trash and resupply water. Friend Sam takes time from a busy day at the law office to drop by and say hello. At the marina store I see they are selling single cans of beer. How nice. Dinner at Hearth Wood Fired Pizza.
17.95 NM
Steve, I am noticing that on my powerboat, I have to include the bow 'anchor' sprit, which overhangs the hull, but is fiberglass with the pulpit and clearly part of the boat, as well as the swim platform in my LOA calculations, so my 35' boat is nearly 40' long. I guess people were underestimating their lengths and had anchors sticking out of the shorter slips. That is my guess anyway. This actually first came up on my 2022 haulout, the owner wanted to run a tape measure on the boat to make sure he could squeeze me in a spot.
ReplyDeleteLooks like this was a good tide day!
Boat length is an interesting topic. I have a friend very involved in sailboats and she refers to my boat as a 17' boat. I refer to it as a 19' boat. Some marinas charge me for a 30' boat, others tell me to tie up to the dinghy dock. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteI do think it is total BS to charge you more for a smaller boat in their bigger slip that they would have unoccupied otherwise. When we were in St. Michaels this summer, I think we got charged for 35' slip, but we clearly poked out the front a bit at Higgin's, which is an older marina with shorter slips...not sure where else they would have put us.
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