Hanna Montana

We've gotten a few calls and emails from home asking us how we are doing. So I thought it would be nice to give a quick update.

We're definitely fine. I got off work early today, and LeeAnn has been off since Thursday. We've got everything tied down nice. We are all stocked up on food, water and movies from Blockbuster.

Hanna is pretty much a blow out anyway. Everyone was all worked up in the marina (including ourselves). Quite a few boats were hauled out, some people went up the river, but it appears that we are just going to get a little wind, and some rain. Not really a big deal at this point unless Hanna gets a sudden second wind.

I personally blame our good fortune on Captain Jim, who is a few boats down from us. Captain Jim is known to be a bit of a witch doctor. If you ever meet him, try not to maintain eye contact as it has been reported that he can "read you" by the colors in your eyes. I have never actually seen this done, but Captain Jim has let me in on a few "eye reading" secrets.

It is not unlikely that Captain Jim is on his boat at this very moment preforming a séance which is diverting the heading of Tropical Storm Hanna.

Captain Jim is also a bit of a ladies man. Though I am not completely sure if the women I see him with are real... or simply wizardly apparitions. The inside of his boat is decorated with statues of nude angles, both black and white. It would not surprise me if he some how bewitched these statues, kinda like that one movie "Mannequin" - starring Andrew McCarthy and Kim Catrall.
Or perhaps the angels are simply guardians.

Right now it's just a rainy day, hardly any wind at all.

The last few days have been beautiful.

Swimming In Charleston Harbor

We anchored out with some friends (Josh and Amy) a while back:















I don't know why I decided to flip off the camera. LeeAnn said "do something" and... I suppose I could have just gone with a "thumbs up" or maybe "rock and roll". I don't know. A woman gives me a command and first thought that comes to mind is the middle finger. I might need to see a counselor about that.

Cyrpess Gardens - Charleston, SC

We recently took a tour through the beautiful Cypress Garden. Scenes from three major motion pictures have been recorded at this location:

The Patriot - Mel Gibson civil war movie.
The Notebook - AWWWWW
Swamp Thing - They say it's still out there!!

We thought it was a very nice place, and LeeAnn and I encourage you to go, if you are ever presented with the opportunity.

It cost 10 dollars per person to get in. The attractions include a few small aquariums/live animal exhibits, a walking path, and a guided (and/or self guided) boat tour through the swamp.

The boat swamp tour is the main event, and it alone with worth the 10 dollar admission. They give you your own boat to paddle around in, Or you can take the guided tour and have someone paddle you around.

I think you are presented with a lot more information on the guided tour, but you have to squeeze into a boat with a dozen southerners, in a swamp, on a South Carolina summer day. Sounds awesome. Maybe next time....

Anyway, here are a few snapshots:

Keriikee!!!

Oh black water, keep on [stagnant], Mississippi moon won't you keep on shinin' on me!

Don't make eye contact!!

These yahoos seemed to think it was a race!

more videos

So videos have been down on Blogspot for a long time. The bug is fixed enough that you can upload videos after a few tries.

I might have died in this:

gah - technology! video of accidental jybe with Chad halfway up the mast is lost to the internet!


Video of sailing on the ICW:



Video of windy conditions on the Chesapeake Bay:

Happy Birthday Chad

Take One:

Take Two:

Take Three:


Birthday video from last year 2007:

Some pictures of our Privateer 35 Sailboat

Sailing to the Azores, Portugal

I recently Sailed From Bermuda to the Azores in Portugal. This was my first Trans-Atlantic sail. Here are some videos:











Above ground... well graves I guess. In Bermuda
Our Vessel

A few hundred miles off of Bermuda this little bird flew into the cabin and landed on my shirt. Bill grabbed him and warmed him up for a while. It was a very gusty day, and we assumed the bird had been blown offshore.After seeing nothing but blue and grey for days and days and days it was really a pleasure to see some green. And on top of that, a really strange looking foreign green. All I could thing about was getting food and ice water. it was my mantra.
The restaurant by the red umbrellas had these really good shrimp pastry things called Rissóis de Camarão.
Horta, Azores - One of the few places in the world where more people arrive by sailboat than airplane.




This appears to be an abandoned church, what's amazing about it is in the next few pictures.




Standing on the rim of a Volcano, or Caldera. It's last activity was sometime in the 1980's.

Lisbon, Portugal:

An update, and a lizard.

We are halfway through our stay in Charleston. It's been a good time. We're making friends, money, and progress on the boat.

We intend to leave Charleston this winter, sometime between the end of November and the beginning of January. We will head for the Bahamas to start with, and I don't know where from there. Either the Caribbean sea, or the Gulf of Mexico.

Some Bad News: My bike got stolen yesterday and LeeAnn's drivers license is expired.


Some Good News: New refrigerator installed! New Toilet installed! LeeAnn scored over 80% in an online college class (I don't know her actual score). I found a sweet candy store. LeeAnn doesn't have a car anyways!

Here are some pictures of a lizard I found on my way back from taking a shower today:

LeeAnn's Friend Chelsey

Half Head

When we first got here we learned that Charleston is known as one of the most haunted places in America. Neat! I thought. But I never believed much in "ghost" stories.

I went about my business and got a job at Embassy Suites, which turns out is the old Citadel. First built as an Arsenal in 1830 then later converted into a military college in 1842. It was citadel cadets who fired shots at a Union relief vessel approaching Fort Sumter... starting the Civil War.

Well the hotel is haunted. There are places where some of the employees refuse to go, such as the weird “basement” under the catering staging area on the mezzanine.

I went down there once, and it is creepy as all get out. There is a hole in the wall leading into a completely unfinished area with a sand floor that might as well have a sign above it reading “undiscovered bones located in here, complete with ghost of angry confederate cadet.”

The staff told me how some guests end up switching rooms. Some leave in the middle of the night.

One ghost is called "half head" or "the lost cadet.” He is young, has no head from the eyebrows up, and is often reported as a happy ghost.

One lady woke with an eery feeling that someone was in the room, and she asked if anyone was there. The reply was, as stated by the lady, that his name was George. She then asked "George" what he wanted and he replied that he was looking for his pocket knife which he had lost. As she reached around to -touch -George, she found that his head "was not all there" as she stated later upon having her room changed to another part of the hotel.

The hotel does have an old pocket knife on display. It was excavated from the hotel site along with many other artifacts of Civil War and Colonial origin.

There are people who say they've seen men in full confederate uniforms walking around. These "ghosts" are mistaken for Civil war re-creators.

I haven't seen any ghosts... yet. but I will be keeping my eyes open!