Winter in Charleston

Jan 16 thru Jan 19

—Blogpost written by Bob

Wednesday, January 16

Today was an absolutely beautiful sunny day with the high temperature reaching close to 60 degrees F. The current warming trend is expected to continue through the remainder of the week.

After my morning shower and a light breakfast onboard I corrected some typing errors in my last blogpost that was just published last night. I made a cup of coffee and sat out in the cockpit while I read the morning’s news on my iPad. (This has become my normal morning routine here in Charleston.)

In our enclosed cockpit it is 10 to 15 degrees warmer than it is outside. It is very comfortable here in the cockpit (maybe 70 degrees) while still somewhat chilly (mid 50’s) outside. The cats are out here with me, keeping me company.

Captain Jack scratches behind his ear with
his rear foot. Wouldn’t it be nice if
we were that flexible?

Since I’m at a temporary standstill on the wiring of the autopilot remote control I decided to work on the software upgrade to my chart plotter.


I followed the instructions to back up my data (waypoints, tracks, and system configuration). 
Even though I eventually made the backups for the waypoints, routes, and system configuration for the chart plotter, it was not without incident. I couldn’t get the chart plotter to acknowledge the brand new 32 GB microSD card that I purchased. It wouldn’t work in either of the two microSD card slots. I had to save the data on my microSD card that contains all my chart information. (Later, I found out that the microSD card had to be initialized using Lighthouse II Version 11 or later and formatted to FAT32 but I haven’t tried to do this yet. The instructions for the software update didn’t mention this little fact.)

The opening screen shot of my chart plotter
shows the current software version
number (circled in red) and the
need to update my charts
(underlined in red).

As luck would have it during this process I temporarily lost my microSD that contains my electronic charts (and now contains the backup for the waypoints, etc). (A microSD card is very small—the same size as a SIM card in a cell phone.) I found it when I shook out a bath towel that was drying nearby. The microSD card contains about $150 worth of chart data! It could have easily fell into a cockpit drain or something. (While I’m involved with the software update I might as well update my charts too.)

This image shows the microSD card (upper center)
with the SD adapter to use in a computer (left
side) along with the tip of my Apple
Pencil (lower right) for size
comparison.

Thursday, January 17

Today was an even nicer day than yesterday with the high temperature reaching just over 60 degrees by mid-afternoon!  

Today is my one day of the week for some socialization as I take the courtesy van to West Marine--I get to meet and talk with other cruisers while on the van.  (Socialization seems more important to me while Maggie is away for the week.)  Also, I went out for lunch today for the first time this week--at East Bay Deli along Savannah Highway. 

After I returned to the boat and put away the groceries I purchased, I looked into formatting the microSD card.  This involved using the Disk Utility on a MAC.  As it turns out, I couldn't get my MacBook Pro to recognize the microSD card I was trying to use yesterday.  So, I dug out another one (I previously bought three) and found out it was already formatted to FAT32.  So, the problem could have been a faulty microSD card.

As it was getting late in the day and time for happy hour, I made a frozen strawberry daiquiri (using Splenda) and called it a day.  I will continue this effort of updating software tomorrow...

Friday, January 18

The weather keeps getting better--it is expected to be in the low 60's by this afternoon and its already 57 degrees outside!

I started out the day's work toward the chart plotter software update effort by initializing the (already formatted) microSD card--I did this by inserting it into the lower card slot and then ejecting it.  (I understand this places a small data file on the card that allows it to be recognized by the chart plotter in the future--later in the day, I saw this data file on the microSD.)  This is the card that I will download the updated software onto.  I've decided to use the marina's computers to do the download since the marina's WiFi is not very good and I didn't want to use my cell phone as a hot spot for so much data.

The marina has two old computers
for use by boating tenants.

So, after lunch I walked to the marina office with my (formatted and initialized) microSD card.  The computers at the office are old desktops connected directly to the internet by ethernet connections.  I was able to download the software in about 10 to 15 minutes time.  However, I couldn't copy the data to my microSD card with its SD adaptor because no one had ever hooked up the SD drive on the marina's computers.  Of course, to hook up the SD drive, an administrator's password was required and no one had it.  The college kids at the marina office (who were very helpful) suggested that I bring my laptop down and hook it up the Ethernet cable.  So, after walking all the way to J-Dock and back (maybe 1/4-mile) for my laptop, I found out that my MacBook Pro has no place to hook up an Ethernet connection.  So, at this point I simply used the marina's WiFi and started to download the Zip file.  After 50 minutes, the Zip file was about half downloaded and seemed to be standing still, I abandoned the download.  (The marina's WiFi is pitifully slow!)  Then, I turned on the hot spot on my cell phone and proceeded to make the download that way--it took about 15 minutes to complete.  I then opened the Zip file and copied the individual files onto the microSD using the SD card slot on my laptop.  By the time I got back to the boat it was 3:30 PM--I had spent 2-1/2 hours just to get the needed software onto the microSD card!  Right now, I feel like banging my head against the bulkhead until I pass out--it is that frustrating.

Loading the updated software onto the chart plotter will be tomorrow afternoon's project.

Saturday, January 19

The sky was overcast as I started my day.  It had rained lightly during the night judging by the rain drops still clinging to the plastic windows of our cockpit enclosure.  I slept very soundly and never heard the rain.  It is expected to rain harder tonight and get cold (a high in the low 40's) on Sunday.

This morning I took my camera for a walk down the dock.  The following photographs tell the story of my morning:

This white egret was sitting on a concrete wall above
the floating dock.  This was a particularly
challenging photo because of the white
bird against an overcast sky.

These boats are docked on the inside of
the MegaDock as the sky was
beginning to clear.

These three tugs docked at the MegaDock for a
crew change I think.  The three tugs
were hip-tied together,

Many times I think my boat doesn't look "nautical"
enough. This boat looks a bit too nautical.

As I was roaming the MegaDock taking photographs this morning, I stopped to talk with a guy who owns a Pacific Trawler about 35 feet long.  It was a nice boat and small enough for two people to handle easily.  It was built in Washington where Nordic Tugs are built.  He told me that it burns 2.4 gallons of diesel fuel per hour running at 7.5 knots.  (By comparison, we burn 0.6 gallons per hour running at 6.5 knots.)  He purchased the boat in Mississippi and is currently exploring the east coast.  Next winter, he wants to take it to the Bahamas.

I had every intention of continuing my effort to update the software on the chart plotter but I just did’t feel into this afternoon. Tomorrow it’s going to be cold outside and I may not work on it tomorrow either.  The update will be completed in our next blogpost...

Thanks for following our blog!