Folly Beach - 2016

Dec 15 thru Dec 18

--Blogpost written by Bob

We are still in Folly Beach waiting for our sailboat to be re-powered.  We expect to be here until mid-January.

December 15 (Marine Propulsions)

Today, I'm checking on the progress of our re-powering.   I selected Marine Propulsions in Rockville SC to do our re-powering after a personal recommendation from Aaron Vickers (at Isle of Palms) and after reviewing all the positive comments on ActiveCaptain.   Marine Propulsions is a working boatyard--not a marina.  It is located in Rockville SC which is on Wadmalaw Island.  There are no restaurants, hotels, or gas stations nearby.  We are staying in Folly Beach, 40 minutes away from Rockville.

Incidentally, Rockville is just a small village where Route 700 (Maybank Highway) ends at the water.  It was founded in 1784.  In the 2010 census, 134 people resided in Rockville.

The travel lift is oriented perpendicular to Adams Creek.
The salt marsh is just beyond Adams Creek.
Just beyond the salt marsh is
the North Edisto River.

At this time, there are 30 boats (by my count) on jack stands having work done here at Marine Propulsions in Rockville SC.  It's a very busy place!

The Marine Propulsions facility along Adams Creek was previously known as Rockville Marine Inc and way before that it was Botany Bay Marina.

The Marine Propulsions facility was at one time called Botany
Bay Marina with a motel and pool on the property.  The
old motel and pool are now derelict.

There are several large live oaks on the property--this one
looks like it is a couple hundred years old.  The boat
yard office is the low building in the background.

There are about 8 or 10 slips occupied mostly by local boats.
I'm not sure if these boats are here for work or if they
rent the slips.  There are 30 boats on jack
stands in the yard at this time.

One thing that makes this place quirky is a goose that resides on
the property and is blind in one eye.  He/she is well fed
and that is probably why he/she hangs around.

The new engine (without the transmission) is being lowered into the engine cavity this afternoon using a small crane lift.  I will stop by again tomorrow morning to check progress.

December 16

The temperature was under 50 degrees F today.  Matt, the person doing our engine installation, had a small electric heater running inside the boat.  i was glad to see that the engine (less transmission) was in place in the engine cavity.  My first impression was of the noticeably smaller size of the engine, particularly height.  Previously, the top of the engine was so close to the underside of the cockpit floor that is was difficult to pour oil into the top of the valve casing.  Now, there is plenty of space to add oil.  I found out that Marine Propulsions is closed between Christmas and New Years Day and that the transmission is not on order yet.  I hope this doesn't cause a delay!

The new engine is noticeably smaller in size but much busier.

In the afternoon, I drove to the far west end of Folly Island
and took this photo as the high winds caused the beach
sand to drift.  It looked like what I imagine
a "nuclear winter" to look like.

On the way back from Rockville, I drove to the old Fort Johnson where the first shot of the Civil War was fired.  A mortar was fired from this point and exploded over Fort Sumpter which was then occupied by federal troops.  All that is left of the fort is a small brick building and a monument--it is really nothing spectacular to see.

December 17

I spent today reading, relaxing, and watching some of the early college football bowl games.  The afternoon's temperature was about 70 degrees F and being a Saturday, there were a lot of people on the beach, at least for late-December.  My big excursion of the day was trying to get a great photograph of the beach from the fishing pier just after sunset. 

There were still a lot of people on the
beach after the sun went down.
This was taken from
the fishing pier.

December 18

Today, Sunday, was my day of watching NFL football and not doing much of anything else.

After the Giants-Lions game ended I watched the last 
few minutes of the Packers-Bear game.
What an exciting ending!

Summary

The last four days have seemed like a waiting game for me.  Tomorrow, I plan to visit the boat again and make sure my instrument lighting is connected properly.

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