Day 3 Columbia: My plan for today was bicycle to Family Dollar or Dollar General to buy an ice cube tray (because, it turns out, that even in 80F our freezer still freezes things! Exciting!) Hubby decided to join me and we end up spending $32! We have family members coming to visit, so we splurged on $20 sheets. A few citronella candles and some rug remnants made him realize--HE MUST ALWAYS TAKE A BACKPACK (I have mine)! Sun tea is put out on deck and blankets are put out in the sun. My Captain, Oh Captain makes an excellent chop salad with blue cheese dressing for lunch, then I'm off to the winery for some air conditioning and free wifi. An afternoon rain shower had me scrambling to bring everything inside. The air conditioning wass turned on & a Harry Potter movie was started.
Albemarle Loop/Columbia to Plymouth: Yes, tropical storm Ana made landfall in SC last night. It's still a day away from us and the winds are forecast to be 15 kts with heavy rain tomorrow. We elect to leave Columbia, since our 3 days are up--although I'm sure they would have let us stay. The First Mate makes it on deck a little earlier to help remove the sail cover, wipe down the windows and solar panels and start the checklist. We wave goodbye to the cruising group having coffee on the dock in their pajamas and casually shove off the dock by 7:00 am (Captain likes arriving at lunch time so he's motivated to get up earlier now). It was a little stuffy this morning, but there is a nice breeze on the water.
First Mate at the helm and the Captain on the sails when he announces, "we're gonna sail under the bridge." We're gonna what?! He lowers and starts an engine to make the First Mate feel better. It makes sense, since we're only halfway to our destination.
Bald eagle port side before buoy 13! Flew below the tree line down the river to his nest.
The next bridge is only 50 ft. (We've done it before in Edgewater!) The Captain checks the water height before we head under. I can't watch (I'm later told, I should have watched to see if our VHF whip touched, for future reference.) We call ahead to the the city dock & Brenda gives me some info and says she'll meet us at the dock. We haven't beaten the rain, but she insists on meeting us. We were warned about the current and as usual, go with plan B (the docks are 90 degrees to a river with a several dams upstream).
Columbia is our sleepiest town so far. Downtown closes at 2:00 pm, so we eat on the boat. I decide on a quick run to the Piggly Wiggly since we will be stuck on the boat tomorrow.
Day 2: Tropical Storm Ana passes by. If the winds here were 15 kts, we couldn't tell. We are sheltered by the lighthouse and the wakes from the fishing boats don't even reach us at the dock. Movies, reading, naps. The Captain is convinced the rain showers are over so he bolts on the bicycle (Walgreens to check for movies, McDonalds for lunch, and grocery store for celery & a bell pepper for the Red Beans & Rice). He comes back drenched. "Was it worth it?" Nope, but he brought me a snickers bar.
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