Georgetown to Beaufort SC
Old Friends
Georgetown SC: My friend and old Marine buddy, Tom, is flying in from Indianapolis to help us continue moving south with Sea Biscuit. It can be challenging moving along with a boat and a car. We have learned to be creative as well as flexible. Before Tom’s arrival, Tania and I left Sea Biscuit anchored in the harbor at Georgetown, rented a car, drove to Charleston, then flew to Norfolk where we took an Uber to Hampton to get our car. We then drove the car to Georgetown. After one night back on Sea Biscuit, I drove our car back to Charleston to meet Tom. I drove the rental while Tom followed in our car further south to Beaufort SC. We left our car in Beaufort, then drove the rental back north to Georgetown. The following morning Tania caught a taxi to Charleston for a flight to Colorado to visit our daughter and son-in-law. Never a dull moment.
Mother Nature always has the final say on when we leave port. As the taxi pulled up with it’s windshield wipers clapping time, Tom and I said our goodbyes to Tania and I gave her a goodbye kiss, planning to join her in Fort Collins in a week or so.
We saw no need to sit in the boat and watch it rain, so Tom and I turned to one of several waterfront bars in Georgetown. We caught up on old times, told stories, played several games of pool, and downed a cold beer or two. After that, we stuck our heads outside, confirmed it was still raining, and made our way to another restaurant/bar further down the waterfront. There we sat at the bar, ate dinner, and watched a football game. Tom has always been entertaining. We were betting $1 on darn near anything. “I bet the next reception is made by a player with an odd number jersey”. … “you’re on, I’ll take that bet”. The next bet may be if the offense gets a first down on the next series of downs. We made many similar bets, had a lot of laughs, and passed dollar bills like it was a strip club. I’m not sure who came out ahead at the end of the night, but it was a great way to spend time with an old friend.
We left Georgetown in pretty choppy conditions, but the wind and waves were behind us so, while it was a little bumpy, not bad at all for Tom’s first day on a boat. We motored through the intercostal to a nice little anchorage and dropped the hook for the night.
The next morning we stopped in ENTER TOWN, for fuel and we emptied, holding tanks, and pickup up a bag of ice. It was close to high tide as we went under the ENTER bridge, I wan’t sure we could make it. The markings indicated about 62.5 feet of clearance. I slowed Sea Biscuit early and just eased forward very slowly. Tom did an excellent job watching the top of the mast to see if we cleared. We did with an estimated 6 inches to spare.
When we got to Charleston, we raised the main and unfurled the jib. The conditions were right, so we exited the confines of the ICW and went offshore. It turned out to be a really nice day for an offshore run. We shutdown the engines and let Sea Biscuit move with the wind. It’s always nice to shutdown the engines and only have the sound of the water. We entered at ENTER INLET NAME. Unfortunately trying to cover a lot of distance during the short days of winter can be challenging. Nightfall arrived before we reached our anchorage. We continued cautiously and safely made it to a familiar anchorage. It’s the same place we stopped with Brittany and Biscuit when we were northbound in the summer. A place called Monkey Island. The government placed a bunch of monkeys here to do research on. At first I wasn’t sure if that was just a rumor, but recently there was an article about it. Evidently Dr. Anthony Fauci was involved with this too. They infected the monkeys with diseases. Anyway, while it is nice to explore new places, it is nice to be in a familiar place as well.
The last day of this trip was a short travel day. Around noon, motored into Lady’s Island Marina in Beaufort SC and tied up with the assistance of another Tom, the marina owner and Aaron. Our trip with Sea Biscuit was complete. But the adventure and time with Tom wasn’t. Beaufort in close to Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) Parris Island.
We took our car, which we had prepositioned several days earlier, to Parris Island. Being from Indianapolis, Tom was a West Coast or a “Hollywood Marine” as we jokingly referred to Marines from the Western half of the US who go to bootcamp in San Diego. I find the contrast interesting between the two recruit depots. San Diego is in a very visible, public location, it is located right beside the San Diego airport. Recruits can see planes land and wish like crazy they were on one. Parris Island is isolated, sometimes called, the land that God forgot. I clearly remember my time in bootcamp December 1983 -March 1984. I remember writing my mother a letter back then saying, “It is a beautiful here, I would like to see it under different circumstances”. What a great way to see it, with another old Marine.
As we drove up to the parade deck, we could see them practicing for a graduation. We parked and sat in the bleacher for some time observing the practice. That brought back memories of the first time I returned to the island in 2004 with my dad. Dad and I sat in the bleachers and watched a graduation together. I had graduated in 1984 twenty years earlier, dad graduated in 1964, forty years prior. We had a lot of discussions about the changes we each noticed since our days of Marine training. Now here I sat again nearly 39 years since I was a recruit. It is so hard to believe it was that long ago.
Tom and I drove around a bit. Parked and watched a Drill Instructor smoke a few recruits in a sand pit outside the classroom building. Those guys must have dozed off during class, or were caught talking, some offense that they paid for by exercising vigorously in a sand pit to the sound of a screaming DI. Been there, done that! LOL
The PX at the MCRDs are probably the best ones in the country to find Marine Corps shirts, hats, cups, pins, stuffed animals, darn near anything you can label with USMC is available in these places. Parents and family members of graduating Marines fill carts with these items at every graduation of their Marine.
We had a nice dinner that evening sitting at the bar of Dockside Restaurant. This restaurant shares the parking lot of the marina, a convenient place to eat. It’s also a very good restaurant, one of the best in Beaufort and always crowded.
Tom’s trip ended with me driving him to Savannah for his flight back home. I grateful for time we spent hanging out and catching up and appreciative of Tom taking time to help me move Sea Biscuit South to warmer weather. Semper Fi brother.
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