Folly Beach - 2017

Jan 6 thru Jan 8

--Blogpost written by Bob

Our time in a rented oceanfront apartment in Folly Beach continues as we wait for our boat's re-powering to be completed.  We continue to explore the low country by car.

January 6

This morning for breakfast, I tried something new: a toasted whole-grain english muffin with cream cheese, topped with a layer of homemade cranberry sauce (made from raw berries, water, and Splenda), and a dash of sea salt--it was scrumptious!  (The dash of sea salt provides a nice compliment to the sweetness of the cranberry sauce.)

A whole grain English muffin with cream cheese
topped with homemade cranberry sauce
plus a dash of sea salt.

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We visited our sailboat this morning, primarily to check on parts coming in for the transmission (damper plate, adaptor plate, and linkage mechanism) to make sure that we don't have any delays once the new transmission arrives.  

The quirky boatyard goose greeted us
as we walked to the boatyard office.

We found out that if we need to stay longer in our rented oceanfront apartment, we have until January 27 before we really have to be out for good--this is great news!  Once the new transmission is installed and the bottom is painted, we need one day to get the boat ready (install engine panels, hard dodger, bimini and connector, fill water tanks, etc.) and then another day to load up all our stuff from the rented oceanfront apartment.  We also have to return our rental car.  All this must be accomplished during the week--not a weekend because we have no access to the boatyard on the weekend.

Our new transmission was delivered at 1:55 PM this afternoon!

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After visiting the boatyard, we drove into Charleston for lunch at the Noisy Oyster (near the Market House) and a some sightseeing.

Rainbow Row is comprised of a number of colorful town
houses--they are the oldest town houses
in the United States.

This fancy metalwork is common in the French Quarter of Charleston.

This mannequin served as a sign for an art gallery.

A very colorful bike and complimentary-colored lock.

A colorful beer truck passes by the outside 
of the Market House in Charleston.

January 7

Today, a Saturday, was overcast and rainy and the forecast is for much cooler weather (down to 25 degrees F) tonight.  We decided that our big event of the day would be to catch a movie, Rogue One, a Star Wars Story, at James Island Cinema.  (I've been hooked on Star Wars since the original movie in 1977!)

An image advertising the movie, Rogue One.

In the movie, "Former scientist Galen Erso lives on a farm with his wife and young daughter Jyn. His peaceful existence comes crashing down when the evil Orson Krennic takes him away from his beloved family. Many years later, Galen is now the Empire's lead engineer for the most powerful weapon in the galaxy, the Death Star. Knowing that her father holds the key to its destruction, a vengeful Jyn joins forces with a spy and other resistance fighters to steal the space station's plans for the Rebel Alliance."

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We've experienced freezing weather here in South Carolina this weekend with snow flurries as we drove to the movie!  The temperature got as low as 27 degrees during the night--in this situation, I'm glad to be in a rented oceanfront apartment as opposed to being on the waterway.

January 8

Today is Sunday.  We cancelled our plans to drive to Savannah today because of the cold weather (I know, we've become wimps!).  The only source of heat in our rented oceanfront apartment is the reverse-cycle A/C and it has been running constantly all morning.

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We decided to go shopping for engine oil and transmission fluid today, boat supplies that are close to my heart right now.  I've been thinking about synthetic oil and my brother recommended Amsoil-brand.  However, there are only two stores in Charleston that carry it and, if it is that hard to obtain here, it would be nearly impossible to get in other areas where we will be traveling.  Since there is almost always a West Marine nearby places we would travel, I decided to make West Marine my source for engine oil and transmission fluid.

This is only a part of the selection of engine oil
at West Marine in Mount Pleasant, SC.

The assortment of engine oil at West Marine is overwhelming.  The engine oil I'm selecting is for the oil change after break-in of the engine (after 50 hours) and beyond.  When I pump the old oil out through the engine's dipstick, there is always a little of the old oil left inside and it mixes with the new oil being added.  I also have a stock of conventional oil already onboard.  Therefore, I decided to stick with conventional oil (as opposed to changing to synthetic oil) and use 15W-40 viscosity as recommended by the engine manufacturer for warm climates.  I finally chose Pennzoil brand.

I chose Pennzoil Marine Heavy Duty
Multigrade engine oil in 15W-40

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