We're not supposed to be here.....overnight. But everyone we spoken to here at the free dock (max. 3 hrs) has said we "should be fine." "No one patrols this dock." And a young person who visited us with his three friends told us he "left my boat here for two weeks." He was more local and more brazen than I tend to be. We arrived around 3 p.m. after a short day of motoring, mostly easy. Admittedly, I was pretty uninterested in being the helms person. Still tired from yesterday's long experience. My eyes are tired. As well as my brain and I'm just impatient with these 6-20 foot depths given the depths of 20-45' yesterday.
Still I had a wonderful catch-up phone chat with Ms Sybil Huskey, friend for life; me on the aft deck, she visiting her friend Holland in Beaufort, NC. I look forward to meeting Holland when we are nearby even though I'll miss Sybil there. Sybil and I'll meet later, or earlier depending upon how our boat travel transpires.
Cramps in my legs today. Mustard is an immediate cure. I don't know why. Iwas noticing yesterday that balancing all the wave rolls and ripples caused me to use the outside muscle in my lower legs and today they were cramping. Ho hum. More stretching. More water.
Speaking of water. Yesterday I noticed that my left wrist was tender, hurting. Not major pain but needing a massage. Then I remembered...GOUT. And I remembered that I haven't been drinking water, coffee and beer or wine or Irish whiskey or rum....no water. Yikes! I'm back at it. Water and limiting my alcohol consumption. Today my wrist does not hurt...at all. I appreciate my body's ability to recover quickly. I did a bunch of stretching today just to help it (my body) out.
So here we are on Daufuskie Island. The small amount we've been able to see is so beautifully, iconic southern. We'd stopped, too, partly to have dinner off the boat. But the restaurant is no longer here. The building is but not the business.
We took a short walk not wanting to leave the boat for too long. So quiet. So flat. Such interesting vegetation.
I'm reminded of islands in SC, the Gullah Geechee culture and how the African Americans have had land they've cultivated and owned so readily taken away from them, or it has become so expensive - gentrification or increased tax burden because it is an island in the south - they can no longer afford it.
You can only get to this island, between Savannah and Beaufort, SC, by boat. There are cars and trucks on island but lots of transportation seems to be by golf cart...or maybe that is the tour company. No grocery store and it looks as if the past restaurant used to be the post office.
When we arrived we let a little skiff land before we. It was loaded to the gills with tables and chairs and flowers. Several more boats similarly laden came later in the day. A wedding in the making...this weekend. Decorating was happening and everybody was helping.
Early evening I saw several young men in the "parking lot" where the boat landing was...dark, swarthy men with beer cans. Finally Timothy came down the dock to be greeted by me. "Yes, we're from Freeport. You grew up in Portland? Come inside. Too many bugs out there." So Timothy came in, then one by one his three friends joined us. These handsome young men visited for about half hour, talking over each other, delighted to be on our boat and chatting with us.They live in Savannah with one exception who lives here where I think he was born.
What a totally delightful surprise visit. Timothy keeps his boat off the Eastern Prom so it is possible we'll see him this summer. We quizzed the men about living in Savanah. they all talked of the arts community and the affordability. All were involved in the arts, mostly visual or design. Such delightful energy. They enjoyed us. We, them. And then they left to go to a bar in "town." Their boat is here on the other dock. Too soon to tell if they will go back to Savannah tonight or crash at their local friends place. The brave/brazen Timothy reminds me of dear Simon Skold of Freeport.
Terns or any bird sitting on top of a crab pot (like Maine's lobster buoys) make a great disguise for the buoy. I generally think they are birds sitting in the water and will fly away. They do, the crab pots do not. So far though, neither David nor i have hit one.
Looking out the starboard window toward the south I can see the lights of Savanah. Would that be a good place to relocate to? Or keep the boat in the summer when we're back in Maine? Certainly a comfortable city.
Hmmmmmmmm.
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