Good Bye to Charleston and friends

It's been nearly a year to the day since we arrived in Charleston, South Carolina. It's hard to believe how fast it has passed. Initially Charleston was just a place to stop at. Somewhere to make some money, and nothing more than that. But as time passed, and the more friends we made, the more we fell in love with the place.

I think many people have tried to describe the allure of Charleston, I don't believe that anyone has put their finger on it, my guess is that there is a mysterious tractor beam that simply sucks you in.

Whatever it is, I was happy to call Charleston home for a year, and I will always look back on it as one of the happiest times of my life. At least so far :)

It's always hard to say good bye to the friends we make.

Patrick!!

John!!
ChelseaBrad
Chris
Ted (and Bec, not in the picture)

And everyone we don't have pictures for:

Nicole
Greg and Heather
Craig
Rob
Tom
Lauren
Josh and Amy
Charley
Tom and Carmen (well see you in the Bahamas!!)
Ken and Lauren
Dillard and Abrems
Will and Newman

All the awesome people we have worked with at Victories Secret, and Longerdays.com.

Plus everyone I don't have time to list because LeeAnn wants to watch a movie... We will miss all of you, thanks for the great year!!!

And thanks for giving me a great going away party last night!!! It made it all the more difficult to leave the next morning!!!

Marvelous Night For A Moon Dance

Ready.... Set.... WAIT!!!

We're already to go, but we are stuck waiting on two things:

1. The new AutoPilot.

2. The Official Coast Guard Documentation.

The Documentation is on the way, and could be here any day. Our autopilot is supposed to ship tomorrow (12/2/08) but i'm skeptical.

Today would have been a GREAT day to leave... but sadly we are stuck here playing the waiting game.

See the ghost!!

Everything on the bed is full of food, as well as the container behind LeeAnn:

Took this picture of a dolphin jumping while out sailing with Patrick:

How to quit your job and sail away

Update:

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Original Post:

My sister came to Charleston for work. I brought her an a few others out to dinner. The service was horrible. Our dinner took over 4 hours because the server kept forgetting about us. So I complained!

Apparently this was a big no-no. The “operating partner” of the company that owns several restaurants in Charleston, plus the hotel where I work called me in for a meeting. I’d never met this man before. He refused to shake my hand upon greeting, and then went on to tell me how stupid I was for complaining about the service at a restaurant that was owned by the company I worked for.

I did not see his point. Bad service is bad service. So, I submitted the following letter and never went back:

Dear Daren,

After an appropriate period of deliberation, I have come to the decision to tender my resignation, effective Monday, June 30th.

Please know that I still maintain a high level of respect for you as a manager and colleague, and I thank you sincerely for the support and assistance you have offered me in each of those roles. I have been proud to work for your company; it has been a journey that has provided me an unparalleled foundation to move forward to new and exciting opportunities.

As such, I have decided to become a professional pirate. It has always been a dream of mine to live the life of a swashbuckling corsair, beholden to none and master of all I survey. Once my crew of unabashed rogues is assembled, we shall take to the capacious expanse of the high seas to pursue fortune, fame, and hair-raising adventure.

Our path may not be comforted by porcine operating partners such as yourself, but we shall nonetheless move forward to carve a name for ourselves in the annals of bold insurgency and death-defying derring-do. With keen blade at my hip and a Jolly Roger flapping high above me, I believe I will have found my true calling.

Please note that I am currently accepting applications for First Officer, if you are at all interested in applying. Me hearties would warmly welcome a scallywag such as the likes of you. I will provide a full medical and dental plan, which will offer immediate coverage of all maladies other than scurvy and the occasional bout of rickets.

Yours Sincerely,
Chad Lawie
(Hereafter to be known as Captain BoneHead)

I returned to the hotel a few days later. My manager gave me a smile, and told me I had to go. He said that my letter had been circulated around all of the restaurants and the hotel, generating a lot of laughter, and that Daren had “banned” me from the hotel. Alas, I’m pretty sure I got the last laugh!


If you ever visit Charleston, stay away from the following restaurants:
Coast bar and grill
Virginia's
Rue De Jon

Yes, I am a disgruntled employee. The asshole called me stupid and a bonehead!

Getting ready to go (again)!

I'm happy to inform you that we are once again stocking up on ramen noodles and beef jerky in preparation for another poorly funded, and recklessly-unplanned cruise!

Our destination this time are the pool-clear waters of the Bahamas Islands.

We've slowly been preparing to leave over the last few months, but now preparations are in full swing:

We've informed our employers of our two weeks notice, we've informed the Slip-Owner that November will be our last month in his slip, and today we bought the first of our "Bahamas" provisions which, among other things included: a 10 pound bag a pancake mix, 500 ziplock bags, and 160 ounces of Shampoo and Conditioner for LeeAnn (as a rule of thumb I try not to wash my hair when cruising, it ruins my hobo image).

We have many more supplies to buy, and the list of preparations still to be made to the boat is long. We have less than a month!

At the risk of sounding cheesy, it brings me pleasure to once again invite friends and family to once again travel with us to where ever the breeze might take us - It's not as fun with out you!

Welcome aboard!!

Sky Valley, Georgia

We went up into the Appalachian mountains with our buddy Patrick and some friends for a long weekend. It was a great time. As much as we love boating, the change of scene was a welcome one. The campfires, cold air, trees and changing leaves reminded me of home.

The photographs below are a chronicle of our high altitude adventures:


Way down yonder on the....
Never knew how much that muddy water meant to me!


They don't call them the smoky mountains for nothing

I don't recall what this place was called, but it was cool:



On the plate is a "southern chili dog" A hotdog in a bun, buried in chili, topped with cheese, oyster crackers, ketchup and mustard. Eat it with a fork and spoon.

The view from the porch:She thinks my tractors sexy.

LeeAnn and Patrick... you can clearly see, are holding up the waterfall.

Galley Rebuild (almost complete)

This has been a seven month process. All the work has been in two chunks. The bulk of the work was done in March 2008. It wasn't until October 2008 that I completed the laminate counter top, and it might be another 6 months before I complete the last few finishing touches. There are other things that are more pressing that need completing.

Overall I'm really happy with how the rebuild has gone. It's turned out better than I'd hoped. Although I owe a lot of that to borrowed tools and generous help and advice from various boaters whose knowledge and skill far exceed my own!

(it might take a few minutes for all the pictures to load)

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!