Savannah: October 30 - November 29, 2006

Boat Stuff

After arriving at Delegal Creek Marina south of Savannah, we secured the services of local diver Mike Bousquet, who soon reported that the *#&@** log way back at Atlantic Yacht Basin had indeed banged up our propeller.  Not a lot, mind you, but enough to be seen or felt, and enough to cause the vibration we had been experiencing.   Mike was able to remove the prop while the boat was still in the water, and delivered it himself to Champion, the local prop shop.   He also picked the prop up a few days later and delivered it back to our boat.  Several days later we purchased a PropSpeed kit and screwed up our courage and did the application ourselves.   The directions sound a little scary, but all went smoothly.   It definitely is a two-person job, however, since the clear (final) coat must be put on between 3 and 5 minutes after the initial etching priming coat, and it takes longer than five minutes to apply the primer to the entire propeller.  So Chuck started with the priming and after a suitable delay Barb followed with the clear coat.

The next step was to re-install the propeller.  But it was far too heavy for diver Mike to just grab and swim with.  We discussed using an inflatable lift bag, but getting that assembled would have meant a delay while Mike rounded up the necessary equipment, and so instead we decided to run a line under the boat from one side to the other -- with the line passing across under the boat just at the end of the shaft.   We used Krogen's North Sea manual to judge just where the end of the shaft was, and decided that running the line from the rear port hawsle to the side starboard gate would put the line in the correct position. and avoid going over the cap rails   So we ran the line and Mike did a dive and came up with his thumb pointing skyward.   The line was perfectly positioned.   We attached the prop to the line with a short piece of chain,  gently lowered it over the dockside and past the hull, and tightened the line with a come-along for a guestimated amount of tightness.  Mike disappeared back into the darkness (he was doing the dive in the early evening after finishing his regular job).   We heard some clinking and clunking, and soon he was up asking the for hub nut!   What a piece of cake!  The guy is good!

We had never seen the inside of our Viking life raft, weren't really sure how to deploy it, and it was time for its service.  So we made an appointment for service at River Services, in Thunderbolt, and asked that they let us watch while they unpacked and inflated it.  Servicing would actually take place later in the week, but we would get an immediate  lesson on deployment and the contents of the survival kit.   Servicing ain't cheap, but it will give us peace of mind and we really felt like we needed the lesson.  We hope we never never never need to actually deploy the raft, but now feel much more confident about doing so if it should ever become necessary.

Prop blade bent from hitting log south of Atlantic Yacht Basin in Virginia	Prop has been repaired, Chuck has applied the PropSpeed etching primer, and here Barb is finishing the clear coat	All finished and ready to be reinstalled	Using come-along to tighten line used to hang prop so diver could reinstall -- he did it in no time!	Liferaft was taken in for service in preparation for our Caribbean trip
Raft being taken out of valise	Raft out of its valise	Raft with ties severed and air cannister disconnected	Raft being blown up (with auxiliary air from the shop in order to preserve the air canister)	Air canister and supplies normally inside of life raft
Room for four?	Barb checking out the life raft	Chuck ensuring he knows how to disconnect the lights from the battery (in order to conserve power during daylight hours)

 

Time spent in Savannah

We also arrived in Savannah in time for Barb to join the grandkids for Halloween.  Kristen (11 years) decided to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz so she could take her new dog Boone along as Toto and Abigail (3 years) was Tinkerbell. They had great fun and even wore themselves out before Barb and daughter Danielle did.   We plan to spend as much time as possible with Danielle and the grandkids while in Savannah this month since it will be some time before we see them again. 

When we arrived in  Savannah we were excited to discover that the Savannah Film Festival had just started.  We were able to buy tickets to two matinees but had to go "stand by" for the sold-out evening movies.  We did get into three of them and were quite pleased.  The Festival was a real success and we will be sad to miss it next year. 

When we learned that Pam and John on Compass Rose were anchored in the area, we invited them to join us for a Saturday afternoon seeing downtown Savannah, attending the Telfair Art Fair and the Seafood Festival on River Street.  They later decided to move their boat to Delegal Creek Marina for a few days after we told them how nice and inexpensive the marina is.   No sooner had they departed than Bill and Staci on Tapestry arrived at Isle of Hope Marina.  We spent an enjoyable evening with them on their boat and at a near-by restaurant.

What a hopping time in Savannah.   In addition to the Film Festival and Art Fair and Seafood Festival happening during November, the Historic Society sponsored their "Blues and Barbeque" weekend at the railroad roundhouse.  We've attended several times before, and found the food and micro-brewed beer as good as ever, but were disappointed in the music acts.   Enjoyed the demonstrations of the steam engines on the turning platform, however.

Granddaughter Abby hiding	Abby getting ready to be Tinkerbell	Kristen as Dorothy (also took along her dog Boone as Toto) and friend Amber as the Wicked Witch	Trick or treat	Danielle & Boone
Kristen ready for Tai Kwon Do	Kristen in Tai Kwon Do class	Daughter Danielle's new hot pink kitchen	Kristen on slide	Kristen & Abby enjoying slide
We saw five films at the Savannah Film Festival which was in progress when we arrived in Savannah	Fun on River Street in Savannah with Pam & John on Compass Rose	Chuck & Barb at Seafood Festival in Savannah	Interesting entertainer at Savannah Seafood Festival	"Blues and Barbeque" Festival at Roundhouse in Savannah
Steam engine demo during a break between blues acts	Abigail reading	Dinner on Tusen Takk II	Kristen, Boone and Santa	The girls with Boone
Abigail and Santa

Travels while docked in Savannah

On 11/12/06 we drove up to Knoxville, TN to visit son Jeffrey and his girlfriend Amy.  Since they would not be with us for Thanksgiving, Amy prepared an early Thanksgiving dinner for us.  Delicious!  Jeff took Monday off from work and gave us on a tour of downtown Knoxville.  We also checked out the Tennessee River where we just may cruise someday.  Good visit.

We then headed to Brevard, NC, to visit friends Ed and Gwen Flinn.  They have a beautiful cabin in the mountains that was on the Brevard tour of homes last year.  We spent Tuesday morning hiking in the DuPont Forest and seeing a number of waterfalls.   Later that day Ed and Gwen gave us a tour of the many interesting galleries in Brevard, including two that include wildlife paintings by Gwen.  Brevard is obviously a very busy tourist town, but everything is very tasteful.  We were impressed by the public wildlife sculptures adorning their streets.   Brevard is also famous for its non-albino white squirrels, and we managed to find some just as it was getting dark.

Barb and son Jeff downtown Knoxville	Jeff & Barb checking out the Tennessee River	Jeff & Amy's cat Raven -- otherwise known as "Chickeneck" after her vet recently shaved her neck	Barb and Chuck at Hooker falls	Ed & Barb at Triple Falls
Beautiful High Falls	Covered bridge just above High Falls	View of beginning of High Falls from covered bridge	Over the edge of High Falls	Triple Falls earlier this year*
White squirrel found in Brevard, North Carolina	DuPont State Park*	Ed & Gwen's cabin in North Carolina*	Gwen in their cabin (which was on a tour of homes)*	Family room
Check out the neat bannister	Gwen tried her hand at pastels and created this gorgeous owl in less than four hours*	Red fox statue along street in Brevard	Bobcat statute in Brevard

*Photo by Ed Flinn