November 2006
The weather has continued to play tricks with us as we have moved SW from Beaufort NC. We have had warmer sunny days but the nights have been cold and this has meant running the heating and wrapping up in winter clothes at either end of the day.
We are told this weather is unseasonable and at least we still have the what we need to cope with it. Burrowing in the hidden depths of lockers brought forth woolly hats, thermal underwear and sailing gloves. Inside the boat we are experiencing condensation for the first time on a daily basis.
In North Carolina we spotted unusual artwork in the gardens of houses along the Intra Coastal Waterway and we just missed a tornado on the Cape Fear River by half a days travel. It hit a trailer park and several people lost their lives. The weather gave us an excuse to shelter in Little River at the Lighthouse Keepers Marina where we met up with friends John and Beth Schwab who keep their Pacific Seacraft 34 - Norstar - there. Thanks for the help with shopping and the wonderful steak meal at your house!
The beautiful Wacamaw River with its cedar swamps was a much changed place from the summer since all the leaves had gone from the trees. We spotted snapping turtles basking on logs to make the most of the sunshine whenever they could but the water lilies had died back for the winter.

Huge statue in the garden of a waterside property in NC
We have no clue why this property has a statue of a life-size giraffe in the garden!
Two foot long turtle basking on some tree roots in the Wacamaw River
Bidding for what we wonder!
Student life appears to little changed from the 1960s then...
This fraternity House at Charleston College dates from the late 18th century as the plaque explains
This is the plaque for the house featuring an advert for a party - we hope it survived!
Out to another seafood supper with Elaine, Kim and Bob - great Shrimp 'n' Grits!

The weather was again brewing up for a weekly bout of fury and we decided to hole up in Charleston. A high pressure had settled over the Carolinas and a low pressure was winding up just off shore. This promised howling northerly winds up to 50 knots and torrential rain and we knew we needed to be in hiding. It also gave us another opportunity to meet Elaine Hojnacki!

Elaine is the step-sister of our son-in-law Mark and she has visited us in the UK as well as met up with us in the USA. She now lives down here and we have arranged to use her address as a place for receiving shipments of spares.
As we approached Charleston from the north we were hailed by Kim and Bob DeMattia from Northern Winds who were on the ARC with us in their gorgeous Farr 56. We promptly met up on the docks at the City Marina and went out for supper at Hank’s which served great seafood. Bob and Kim have married since we last met up with them - Congratulations!!
We walked in to the city on the first day before the weather turned foul and found the area round the College to be ready for the party season in a big way!

The next day the bad weather arrived with strong winds as forecast - what they had not expected was the very low temperatures and snowfall! This was the earliest snow on record here but it did not settle since the earth remains too warm. We hunkered down in the boat with heating on and watched television - we have found our tuner copes with dockside cable TV!

We are due to eat at Elaine’s place tonight and are looking forward to meeting her mother for the first time. The weather will settle once the US Thanksgiving holiday is gone and we will be off to find more warmth further south as we travel through the remoteness of Georgia.

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