Saturday and Sunday we continued to prepare for our planned Monday departure. We met several new boaters some who docked near us. We had snacks on Sea Quill and snacks and drinks on Windkist. The winds were continuing to gust up to over 30 knots on the ICW! We actually had very little wind and it reinforced our feeling Osprey Marina would be a good hurricane hole! Lots of rain all day Saturday, part of Sandy's effects! Much of Sunday it rained lightly but stopped most outside activities.
While the weather forecasts called for high winds we felt much of the first day's travel we would be protected by the narrow river winding down to Winyah Bay! Georgetown is just off the bay on the Sampit River. We turned off the ICW at R42 headed into Georgetown Harbor to get some relief from the wind, it had gusts up to 32 kts on more than one occasion during the day. A gale begins at 36 kts. Arriving in the harbor we found several derelict boats and our anchor wasn't holding in the mud with the powerful wind! We pulled up anchor and headed back out into Winyah Bay. Just two miles south we turned into the Estherville Minim Creek Canal. Nine miles further we arrived at the South Santee River and anchored there. This is our usual anchorage but with the weather we weren't sure we would make it. The holding is great even though it is an open anchorage and the wind kept gusting all night long. The holding is so good I had some difficulty in weighing anchor in the AM!
The rest of the trip I was concerned whether or not my engine troubles were truly over or just a temporary lull in more issues! The engine performed with all important gauges and warnings working as expected! It's late and I need some sleep.
Captain Sid
