Now that we are back in the water, staying at the dock at Marsh Harbor Boat Works for our upcoming electronics project would mean sitting on the bottom every low tide, unable to run air conditioning or the freezer, as they are water-cooled (not so much appreciative of muck), so we returned to Lady’s Island Marina.
Paul and April’s boat, Parnassia, was behind us when we left for Marsh Harbor Boat Works but across from us upon our return. After docking, we captured this fun reflection in her pilothouse windows.
We are so glad to be back aboard and enjoying those Beaufort sunsets, but look what happened during the few weeks we were away. A definite movement was made. The sun now sets in a very different place. Time marches on as the seasons change.
With the boat on the hard (out of the water, up on blocks, for the landlubbers), why not go to a distillery! Apparently, the owner’s mother used to call him a Rotten Little …, well, you know. (Hey, I wonder if he had anything at all to do with the monster flies??)
After a lovely sunrise, we headed slightly north to Marsh Harbor Boat Works for a haul out and some time on the hard. (Shout out to Peter!) SaltyMare got a bottom job (sand and repaint the bottom to prevent/slow icky stuff from growing on it), new transducers (so we can confidently know whether or not we’re in enough water to remain a boat), stabilizer servicing (heck can’t do it when the boat is in the water, so might as well), and a good rubdown, i.e. detailing. Todd and I stayed in a nearby AirBnB for a couple of weeks while she was getting all this loving. What else are you going to do when your home is sitting up in the air in the August heat without water or AC?
While docked at Lady’s Island Marina on Factory Creek, we shared space with some interesting, and sometimes curious, creatures.
This small Green Heron was quite the crafty fisherman. On breezy days, as the dock lines swayed and lifted up and down with the movement of the boats, he would “ride” the lines closer to the water. If the line he was on rose too high, he would walk the line to the dock, step over, walk around the cleat and down the dock to a different line, then ride that line to the water to snag a fish before the line rose again. This went on for ages as he tried to get his fill. Dockside entertainment!
We have occasional glimpses of Roseate Spoonbills as they pass through the marshy lowlands. In the second image, we tried – not all that successfully – to capture a better image through the binoculars.
There was a gator that frequented the marina area and occasionally joined us for morning coffee time or just swam by to enjoy the bubbles from our AC thru-hull. Betcha he’d really like a chicken bone with his java.
There were lots of dolphins, of course, and even a bonnethead / shovelhead shark, but I wasn’t able to get his picture. One particularly hot summer evening, several boats crammed full of people passed us heading to the top of the creek, where everyone jumped off and leisurely floated downstream. And they still have all of their toes! 😉
Our Travels 