Steamboat Creek, SC

[Kevin's Post]We had planned to leave Charleston on Monday but unfortunately our boat and our vet had other ideas. We had taken Boris (our cat) to the vet in Charleston last Thursday because he has lost a lot of weight over the last few months and we wanted to get him checked out. The vet said it was probably hyperthyroidism, but they would have to do bloodwork to be sure. So they take some blood and say they will have the results overnight. So Friday morning we call them and they say to call again Saturday morning. Saturday morning they tell us Monday morning. Monday morning they tell us Monday afternoon. Monday afternoon they won't return my calls. Tuesday morning they have the results and sure enough it is hyperthyroidism and they prescribe some medication for him. Hopefull Boris will respond well to the medication but we'll have to have his blood tested again in a month or so when we get to Florida.

While we were waiting for the bloodwork results we had a plumbing issue with the boat. Over the weekend we had noticed the port bilge pump had been coming on periodically. It would come on for about 2 seconds and stop a couple times a day. Usually that means you are taking on water, i.e. sinking. Most boats that sink at marinas have some sort of slow leak and a failed bilge pump. So Monday morning I am tearing apart the boat checking all the through hull fittings for leaks when I shine a light at the back of the engine compartment and see a slow drip of water coming from the shelf where the rudder quadrant is. Last summer we had a problem with our port rudder bearing leaking and it took me 3 days to dismantle it, fix it and put it back together. So I get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I take apart the bed so I can get at the rudder and I am ecstatic to see that it is a plumbing fitting above the rudder leaking and not the rudder bearing. As soon as I touch it, it explodes spraying water everywhere. But I don't care, I'm just glad it's not the rudder bearing. Ironically, when I went to West Marine a few days earlier, stocking up on spares, one of the things on the list was spare plumbing fittings. And of course they didn't have the right kind so I didn't get any. Luckily we still had a rental car and I found what I needed at Lowes. $5 and 5 minutes later the leak was fixed.

We finally left Charleston yesterday morning and motored down the ICW 30 miles to Steamboat Creek. A front came through last night and it has been blowing really hard, 20-30 knots, ever since. So we took a day off and are waiting out the front here in Steamboat Creek. Hopefully on Saturday conditions will be good for us to go outside from Port Royal to St. Catherine's Sound which will allow us to avoid some of the worst parts of the ICW. And I bought some huge lures in Charleston that that I want to try out.

Where we are:
Location=Steamboat Creek, SC
Lat=32 36.632 N
Lon=80 16.747 W