Winter in Charleston

Jan 7 thru Jan 11

—Blogpost written by Bob

Monday, January 7

The sky in clear and the sun is shining brightly as we head into a day with the high temperature expected to reach 70 degrees!  At 9 AM it is already in the mid-50's outside.   Today is the beginning of our sixth week at Charleston City Marina in Charleston, South Carolina.

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The seventh is a special day of the month for 
us.  I was born on March 7 and Maggie 

came into the world on September 7.  
Lola, our Maine Coon kitten, first 
saw the light of day on 
November 7.

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This morning we woke up to the (disgusting) essence of explosive cat diarrhea.  Captain Jack, at age 15 (which is like a 100 in people years), has been having digestive issues for the past year now.  I don't think he is going to live much longer.  Of course, Lola walked in the litter box where the mess resided and she tracked it all over the boat.  Never a dull moment in and around s/v Rainy Days...don't worry I have no photographs of this--you will have to use your imagination.

Lola is not the one with the digestive issues
but she is guilty of distributing this
morning's mess all over the
boat on her fuzzy paws,

We took a bike ride onto town for lunch at the Mellow Mushroom, our new favorite pizza restaurant located on King Street.  It was so warm that I wore shorts and a long-sleeved t-shirt (which I didn't even need).  

We opened up all the hatches on the boat and allowed the sea air to circulate.  This nice weather pattern should hold through Wednesday, after which the daily high temperatures will be in the 50's.  (Rain is expected throughout next weekend!)

Tuesday, January 8

Today started out beautiful with the sun shining brightly but some scattered clouds in the sky.  There was no wind to speak of and it was relatively warm at 9 AM--near 60 degrees!

Maggie had a physical therapy appointment this morning--the physical therapist comes to our boat for the appointment.  Physical therapy is still needed as result of our rear end car accident on September 3.  (We were hit by an Allstate-insured driver.  By the way, we still don't even have a financial settlement on our wrecked car.  Allstate really knows how to avoid and delay outgoing payments!  It's been over four months now.)

Some of the inner slips at Charleston City
Marina are mostly used by boat
owners living in Charleston.

This porch arrangement seems to be typical of
the old homes here in Charleston.  A front
door opens to the street from the
(open) side porch.

We rode our bikes downtown to have lunch at the Brown Dog Deli on Broad Street--it has become our favorite (non-pizza) restaurant.  Today we ate outside in the court yard since it was nice and warm.

A colorful seascape painting in the window
of an art gallery on Broad Street.

Wednesday, January 9

Today's big goal was going back to the ophthalmologist regarding the continuing infection of my left eyelid.  The infection has improved in a week but not disappeared as I had hoped.  The ophthalmologist believes that the infection is more dermatological than a vision problem.  He added an oral antibiotic (Doxycycline Hyclate) to the medical treatment with the thinking that I may have to stay on it for a long time.  If the infection is not completely cured in a couple weeks, I should contact a dermatologist but it will be very difficult to get an appointment with one before we leave Charleston because of their patient backlog.  I have to focus on other things and just follow the medical regimen and hope for the best.  (By the way, my medical issue is known as Ocular Rosacea.) 

Thursday, January 10

This morning was sunny but cold--we experienced freezing temperatures last night!  At 10 in the morning, it is 41 degrees and expected to reach a high of only 50 degrees this afternoon.  We understand from talking with Uber drivers and others who live in this area that this temperature roller coaster is normal for Charleston.  Last year, Charleston experienced a 4-inch snowfall and a water temperature of 40 degrees which made it nearly impossible for liveaboard boater's to use their reverse-cycle air conditioners for heat for a period of time.

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The oral antibiotic I started taking yesterday is really doing its job!  I can't believe that I have felt such an improvement so quickly.

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After getting groceries this morning, we started our planned project to solve the condensation/mold problem in the v-berth below our mattress.  The condensation is caused by the cold area under the v-berth and the warmth of our bodies on top of the v-berth.  Condensation forms at this transition and eventually mold grows (black spots).  I think that the temperature roller coaster that we have experienced here in Charleston actually increases the amount of condensation and mold because the warm days are also humid days.

This morning we folded half the mattress over so
that we could run the cabin fans and
thoroughly dry out the area.

We intend to add insulation below the v-berth which will provide the largest benefit but it would be easier to this during the summer when I have all my tools available.  So, for now our plan is to put down a 3/4-inch thick mesh matting that will allow air to circulate below the mattress.  We ordered the Hypervent Condensation Prevention Matting from Defender late last week and it arrived yesterday.  

A close up view of the underside of the Hypervent
Condensation Prevention Matting.

A close up view of the Hypervent Condensation
Prevention Matting as it would be placed
under our v-berth mattress.

The Hypervent Condensation Prevention
Matting cut to the shape of our
v-berth and lying in place,
cloth side up.

The matting comes in a 39-inch width and we were able to take the cutoffs in the forward section of the v-berth and apply them on the aft outside corners--so, we had very little waste material.  As we were installing the mesh (cloth side up) you could feel the dryness, as funny as that seems.  I would expect that the matting will make our v-berth warmer--we'll find out tonight since it will be freezing outside again.

Friday, January 11

This morning started out (again) sunny and cool.  It was really hard to tell if the v-berth was warmer with the condensation prevention matting in place but I know I didn't want to get out of the nice warm berth this morning.

We went out for breakfast this morning for the first time since we arrived in Charleston--we went to a waterfront restaurant which is right here on the marina grounds.  It was awful.  You know its bad when your favorite part of the meal was a cup of fresh fruit.

Maggie did the laundry this morning while I filled the fresh water tanks.  Later, we had lunch on board.  Our cats lounged in the warm sun in our enclosed cockpit.

As I've mentioned on this blog several times previously I am intrigued by the "tiny house" movement.  While it is not something I can make on a boat, this amazing European Style tiny house is absolutely beautiful!  We enjoy the benefits of living "tiny" on our sailboat!  Until next blogpost...


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