Winter in Charleston
Dec 28 thru Jan 2
--Blogpost written by Bob
Friday, December 28
Ever since I retired, Fridays just don't seem the same--they used to signal the end of the work week. Now, there is no work week.
At 10:30 AM the outside temperature is already a whopping 73 degrees! The sky is still overcast but the sun is breaking through the clouds at times. According to the weather forecast, we may experience a stray rain shower sometime during the day, most likely late in the afternoon.
We didn't do much today because of the constant threat of rain. We read a lot and Maggie did some sewing.
It rained lightly this morning but the sun broke through the clouds at about 10 AM--but the clouds returned again by 11 AM.
We performed our quarterly changeout of the fresh water filter cartridge this morning--it was really dirty! We also cleaned the raw water strainer for the first time in a month--it collected about a quarter cup of brown grass but no marine growth. It's nice to have those two jobs done!
In the late afternoon, we watched the Baltimore Ravens beat the Cleveland Browns (but it was close!) to make it into the playoffs as the AFC North Champions. The Philadelphia Eagles also made it into the playoffs aa a wild card team. (Next Sunday, the Ravens play the Chargers and the Eagles play the Bears in the Wildcard Round.)
It was so foggy this morning that we couldn't even see halfway across the Ashley River. Fortunately, it was warm outside (70 degrees F). By the way, the forecast for the remainder of the week is for warm temperatures and overcast skies.
We planned to take it easy today, ride our bikes into town for lunch (about 3 miles round trip), and play tourists in the afternoon. We had pizza had Mellow Mushroom, one of our favorite spots for lunch.
At 10 AM it is already 67 degrees F outside and the temperature reached 79 by mid-afternoon. The sky is still mostly overcast but therein only a 30% chance of rain today. I'm making a beef stew in the crockpot today--it will be ready for dinner tonight.
This afternoon I watched Penn State play Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl--Penn State lost 27 to 24 but what a great comeback in the fourth quarter! In my opinion, the coaches lost this game for Penn State through two bad calls: (1) a fake punt on the 20 yard line in the beginning of the game (which resulted in 3 points for Kentucky) and (2) the call to kick a field goat with 4 minutes left in the game, instead of going for a touchdown.
Maggie took down our Christmas decorations today, both inside and outside.
I feel like the infection in my left eyelid is returning but not quite as bad aa it was around Thanksgiving (yet). I will try to locate an Ophthalmologist in Charleston tomorrow and make an appointment.
Today was warm and the sky was overcast. My big goal for the day was to visit an ophthalmologist and get my left eye lid treated--I got a 2:20 PM appointment and seemed to get some resolution. I picked up eye drops at the closest CVS (which contain an antibiotic) that must be applied daily for one week and an ointment (which also contains an antibiotic) that must be applied weekly. While getting my "elephant eyelids" examined I learned I have early stages of cataracts.
So, I'm feeling old today. I have to face it--I am old. I will be 72 in March. Today we began discussing the next stage on our lives which will probably involve a house boat that will remain stationary in Baltimore. We're not quite there yet--next winter we will be in the Bahamas for sure--but in a few years we will be ready for the house boat.
Thanks for following our blog!
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At 10:30 AM the outside temperature is already a whopping 73 degrees! The sky is still overcast but the sun is breaking through the clouds at times. According to the weather forecast, we may experience a stray rain shower sometime during the day, most likely late in the afternoon.
Near lunchtime the rain was still a threat. We had planned to go out for lunch (using our bikes for transportation) but instead opted to have leftover turkey for lunch onboard. This was probably best for our health and our pocketbook. (Tomorrow, we plan to take the courtesy van to Harris Teeter and get some groceries--our big day out.)
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| One more photo of Rainbow Row from a couple days ago. |
Today I noticed a lot of condensation on the inside of the midship hatch. Last night it was in the mid-60's outside--today in the mid-70's. It is hard to believe that this much condensation can form with the small temperature difference between the inside and outside of the boat.
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| Condensation on the underside of the mid-ship hatch. |
As an experiment, I wiped off the condensation and placed a sheet of plastic over the hatch to see if it disrupts the heat transfer enough to eliminate the condensation. (Two days later we still had no condensation in this area--so, I think insulated hatch covers which we are planning to make this summer will do a lot to minimize condensation on the hatches in the future. We still have condensation forming in other areas that we have to address.)
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On this day last year we sailed from Man-O-War Cay to March Harbour in the Bahamas--it was 73 degrees outside.
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| Christmas lights on our lifelines--we'll keep them up and lit through January 1. |
We didn't do much today because of the constant threat of rain. We read a lot and Maggie did some sewing.
Saturday, December 29
Today offered the warmest weather we’ve experienced since arriving here on December 1! Today’s weather was mostly sunny with a high temperature of 75 degrees! We caught the 11 AM courtesy van to West Marine but actually we went to the Harris Teeter grocery store in the same shopping center. After grocery shopping we went out for lunch at Gene’s Hafbrau, a tavern along the Savannah Highway. We had to take our (4 bags of) groceries with us and I can’t imagine what the bar tender thought of us but he was very friendly and helpful. We had one of the best cheeseburgers we’ve ever had and watched the first half of the Peach Bowl. (Later, Michigan ended up being slaughtered by Florida, 41-15.)
When we got back to the marina, I took our empty propane tank (on the courtesy van) to U-Haul to get it refilled. My propane tank was re-certified in 2018 (this past summer), eight years after its earlier recertification in 2000. Propane tanks must be re-certified every ten years—it proved to be a point of interest that my tank was re-certified after only eight years (two years sooner than it had to be). For a minute, I thought they weren’t going to refill it. A manager soon became involved and declared that it was OK to refill. Geez...
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| Lola playing with her first catnip mouse in the cockpit. |
Sunday, December 30
It rained lightly this morning but the sun broke through the clouds at about 10 AM--but the clouds returned again by 11 AM.
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We performed our quarterly changeout of the fresh water filter cartridge this morning--it was really dirty! We also cleaned the raw water strainer for the first time in a month--it collected about a quarter cup of brown grass but no marine growth. It's nice to have those two jobs done!
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In the late afternoon, we watched the Baltimore Ravens beat the Cleveland Browns (but it was close!) to make it into the playoffs as the AFC North Champions. The Philadelphia Eagles also made it into the playoffs aa a wild card team. (Next Sunday, the Ravens play the Chargers and the Eagles play the Bears in the Wildcard Round.)
Monday, December 31
It was so foggy this morning that we couldn't even see halfway across the Ashley River. Fortunately, it was warm outside (70 degrees F). By the way, the forecast for the remainder of the week is for warm temperatures and overcast skies.
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| This was the view looking across the Ashley River. |
We planned to take it easy today, ride our bikes into town for lunch (about 3 miles round trip), and play tourists in the afternoon. We had pizza had Mellow Mushroom, one of our favorite spots for lunch.
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| One of the many beautiful tree-lined streets around the College of Charleston. |
Tuesday, January 1 (New Year's Day)
At 10 AM it is already 67 degrees F outside and the temperature reached 79 by mid-afternoon. The sky is still mostly overcast but therein only a 30% chance of rain today. I'm making a beef stew in the crockpot today--it will be ready for dinner tonight.
 |
| Beef stew, ready to cook in the crockpot. |
This afternoon I watched Penn State play Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl--Penn State lost 27 to 24 but what a great comeback in the fourth quarter! In my opinion, the coaches lost this game for Penn State through two bad calls: (1) a fake punt on the 20 yard line in the beginning of the game (which resulted in 3 points for Kentucky) and (2) the call to kick a field goat with 4 minutes left in the game, instead of going for a touchdown.
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Maggie took down our Christmas decorations today, both inside and outside.
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I feel like the infection in my left eyelid is returning but not quite as bad aa it was around Thanksgiving (yet). I will try to locate an Ophthalmologist in Charleston tomorrow and make an appointment.
Wednesday, January 2
Today was warm and the sky was overcast. My big goal for the day was to visit an ophthalmologist and get my left eye lid treated--I got a 2:20 PM appointment and seemed to get some resolution. I picked up eye drops at the closest CVS (which contain an antibiotic) that must be applied daily for one week and an ointment (which also contains an antibiotic) that must be applied weekly. While getting my "elephant eyelids" examined I learned I have early stages of cataracts.
So, I'm feeling old today. I have to face it--I am old. I will be 72 in March. Today we began discussing the next stage on our lives which will probably involve a house boat that will remain stationary in Baltimore. We're not quite there yet--next winter we will be in the Bahamas for sure--but in a few years we will be ready for the house boat.
Thanks for following our blog!
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