posted 02-01-2006 08:42 PM ET (US)            

http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/000639.html

Here is a summary of the last thread:

On Saturday April 29 we will cruise on the Waccamaw River to Georgetown, South Carolina. Some of us will put in at Conway and cruise 50 miles downstream to Georgetown, while others will put in near Charleston and will cruise 50 or so miles up the Waccamaw to Georgetown.

The Conway group will leave the city marina at 11:00 AM. You will need to pay the marina $3 to leave your tow vehicle and trailer there overnight.

The Charleston group seems to be departing from various places.

The estimated time of arrival in Georgetown is 1:30 PM Saturday. Upon arrival, we will meet for lunch at an unspecified restaurant in downtown Georgetown.

After lunch we will secure our overnight dockage at the Georgetown Landing Marina (843-546-1776). It is located in Winyah Bay where Highway 17 crosses the Waccamaw River. Their rate is $1.20 per foot per night. They have showers and heads and you can sleep on your boat if you would like to do that.

Most of us will spend the night in the Hampton Inn (843-545-5000) which connects to the Georgetown Landing Marina. The Inn's rates are $89-$99 per night (plus tax). The rooms have two Queen-size beds or one King-size bed, refrigerator, microwave and wireless internet. A continental breakfast is included.

After securing the lodging we might go fishing, go exploring the area by boat, or walk around Georgetown.

We will meet for dinner at an unspecified restaurant.

On Sunday morning those that want to fish will fish, those that want to explore the other two rivers in the area can do that, and those who want to walk around historic Georgetown can do that.

At 11:00 AM on Sunday we will meet for lunch at an unspecified restaurant. After lunch, the Conway group will head upsteam and the Charlestonians will head downstream.

Good fishing info here:
http://www.worldwidefishing.com/southcarolina/b1541

There is also crabbing around Georgetown:
http://www.blue-crab.org/forum/index.php/topic,4140.0.html

You will need South Carolina fishing licenses, one for fresh water and another for salt water (if you plan to do both). If you are a non-resident, you can get a 7-day fresh water license for $11 and a 14-day salt water license for another $11. Residents pay $5 for each. To get a license online, go to https://www.greatlodge.com/sc/welcome

We are expecting the following people to make this trip:
Skip and his wife in their 15
David, wife Marti, and their 2 children (ages 9 & 12) in a 19
David's friends (a 30-something couple with no kids) in a 15
Ace & Joy in Temptation
Nick & Pup in 15' GLS
Zotch in 15' Sport
Wayne in ??
John Stevens (gnarwhal) in ??
And others--who am I leaving out???

Tides at the Ashley River bridge are as follows:

04/27/2006 Thu 02:15AM LDT -0.6 L 08:16AM LDT 5.6 H 02:20PM LDT -0.9 L 08:39PM LDT 6.7 H

04/28/2006 Fri 03:06AM LDT -0.6 L 09:05AM LDT 5.5 H 03:07PM LDT -0.7 L 09:27PM LDT 6.7 H

04/29/2006 Sat 03:56AM LDT -0.4 L 09:54AM LDT 5.2 H 03:53PM LDT -0.5 L 10:14PM LDT 6.5 H

04/30/2006 Sun 04:45AM LDT -0.2 L 10:42AM LDT 5.0 H 04:40PM LDT -0.2 L 11:01PM LDT 6.2 H

Duncan's is "launchable" at any time.

Charts
Go to Maptech.com and download the free charts, at this link:
http://smcurl.com/Rpn4j

Then pull down the free charting program at:
http://smcurl.com/hnn8v

This is great for a laptop for trip planning and you can print out the chart, but use a laser printer instead of an inkjet printer so that the colors won't run.

For the Charleston guys, it looks like these are the digital charts needed:

11518_2 Charleston to Mt Pleasant
11518_1 Mt Pleasant to McClellanville
11534_7 Jericho Creek to Georgetown
11534_8 Georgetown/Winyah Bay

Ace is printing these out on a laser printer and hopefully can pass them out Saturday morning. He is also going to buy the real chart from the Armchair Sailor just to have a good, legitimate copy.

posted 02-02-2006 11:29 AM ET (US)            

Looking forward to meeting everyone.

posted 02-13-2006 02:16 PM ET (US)            

Did not get the boat or the radios, but she has sent us some Whaler stuff to remember our trip by. A couple of things we can raffle off at supper on Saturday night.

This isn't the level of stuff they give away at the sponsored weekend events (after all--we did not pay anything), but still fun stuff to have. I will keep it all a secret until the Rendezvous, but thanks to Karrin and Whaler for the items.

posted 03-05-2006 09:29 AM ET (US)            

Tight Lines!

posted 03-22-2006 11:27 AM ET (US)            

I called Hampton Inn and made my reservation. It is $93.60 with the AAA discount. It can be canceled with a 24 hour notice.

I called the Georgetown Landing Marina to make reservations. The gentleman did not seem to know about a Whaler rendezvous. I told him up to 10 boats may be staying April 29.

I will depart Atlanta with my Montauk in tow on Friday. I will drive to Charleston, SC and spend the night with relatives. I will either be joined by them or go solo.

posted 04-06-2006 09:10 PM ET (US)            

Then work reared its ugly head, and I have had to do several trips, some with multi-week duration. Time marches onward, but seemingly not that fast. Yet.

No problem, I said to myself, the boat should be in good shape. Seems I forgot that the last time that we used the Temptation was at the Stuart rendezvous last year. Kinda flushed the engine out at the Marine Max ramp, planned to do a lot of work later when I used the boat again. Didn't really use the boat again, because the 15' GLS is just SOOO much easier to throw behind the car and play with it after work -- besides, we can run all day with that 70 HP Yamaha and 12 gallons of gas.

So, to make an endlessly long story shorter, stepped into the Temptation late last week just to "check it out". Steering would not budge! Locked solid. Uh-oh. Now panicking, called around to do that steering fork repair thing. About 2K per engine, parts and labor. Not an option. Forget now about the bow pulpit, chart plotter, depth finder, second VHF, wax, and paint. Gotta just make it work.

Got inventive. Bought a BIG grease gun with Penz Oil grease tube. Took out some of the grease and poured in WD-40. Shot this grease/WD-40 combination into the lubrication zerks for the steering fork/tube. No noticable change that day. Lord was smiling on me, because the next day, in rocking the steering wheel, the engines budged. Shot a lot more grease into the zerks. After several days now, the engines have full steering play, although it is not two-finger easy.

Flushed with success, went to crank the engines that again, had not been used all summer. Remembered that I had MEANT to put fuel conditioner in the tank . . . After a few minutes of trying to start the normal way, I pulled the manual choke on the engines, and they started up! I have let them run for about a half-hour (at an idle) and they seem OK. I have to go to Seattle Monday for two weeks, so I guess I will have one weekend before the rendezvous to take the boat out in the harbor, use it, burn off some old gas, and refill it with this $2.53 per gallon gas they are selling now.

Long story, sorry, but the bottom line is that we are still planning on coming.

I did buy a new Waterway chart and hopefully can pass out some pertinent sections when we meet Saturday morning.

By the way, for the Charleston deparating folks, when and where should we plan to meet? We put in at Duncan's boat harbor and run down the Ashley River to Charleston Harbor, then around Patriot's Point and up the IntraCoastal.

I hope to launch at Duncan's around 1100 on Saturday morning. It's about thirty minutes from there to the City Marina in Charleston Harbor, and from there about thirty minutes to Patriot's Point, and from there, about fifteen minutes to Wild Dunes Marina. So, where shall we meet?

I guess we should confirm our roll call from a few weeks ago. As a separate entry, how about screen name, real life names, number of souls on board, boat model, boat name, and cell phone number.

Still planning on going . . .

posted 04-07-2006 02:42 PM ET (US)            

Can understand your feelings, although we have done this in previous years for the Florida rendezvous that Whaler sponsored.

Taking this for action, then, if the Charleston contingent wants to e-mail this info, I will have a cheat sheet for the ride up. I'll pass these out as we meet the others at the different pick-up points.

Still want some suggestions about what time we should "officially" depart the Charleston vicinity, knowing MY limitations on getting to the ramp.

Thanks,

posted 04-07-2006 07:26 PM ET (US)            

Let me clarify something. Duncan's boat harbor is a boat dealer (I think Bayliners and Magnums and stuff). They launch boats, too, though most of their customers are dry-stack storage. I noticed that they DO have a fenced in area behind their boatyard.

There is a public ramp (SCW&MRD) right next to Duncan's. THAT is where we are going to launch, and at this time of year there should be no problem storing a rig overnight, I would just make sure that the trailer coupler is locked, as well as the receiver in the hitch. We are leaving our Tahoe and trailer there overnight. I plan to be there around 1100.

The Ashley River, which is what we are starting out on, has mud flats anytime except high tide on the right hand side after passing under the Cosgrove Ave bridge, but the channel is well-marked, even though where the channel is is not intuitive. Just follow us - if our boat can make it, so can yours.

I did not get my chartplotter installed either. I know my way around Charleston (actually pronounced "Chawls-tin" by us locals) and up to about Awendaw. By then, everyone should be with us, and there is bound to be someone with first-hand experience that can lead us into Winyah Bay.

Not-so-fun-fact: On the return trip, the Intracoastal turnoff is a lot sooner than one would think, and to miss it takes you offshore. This is what is believed happened to the "Morning Dew" a few years ago when it ended up crashing on the jetties at Charleston Harbor.

posted 04-17-2006 07:19 PM ET (US)            

Billy Powers

15' Whaler Center Console Sport
Florida Registration : FL 6687 HE

Skips Cell 704.572.0226

Billy and I will be staying in Conway Fri night and will meet y'all at the 3rd street Marina Sat morning...Cant wait! We have reservations at Hampton Inn and at the Marina in Georgetown for Sat night and its doubtful that we will fish.

posted 04-17-2006 08:11 PM ET (US)            

I'll join you guys Saturday AM. I plan to put in at Pawleys early and be in Conway by 10:00 AM. I believe my wife and 9 yr old Daughter will be along. However, I can never really tell what they will do until the last minute:-)

One of my favorite restaurants in in downtown conway. It is called the River Town Bistro. It is located on 3rd and Laurel Street in downtown Conway. It's not far from the landing. It is a little upscale. Clean shorts and a polo shirt are good enough. Thorney's is a good place for burgers and beer. It is on hwy 501.

posted 04-17-2006 08:49 PM ET (US)            

Tell your 9-year-old daughter that I will be bringing my 9-year-old daughter.

posted 04-19-2006 10:18 AM ET (US)            

David Jenkins has done most of the organizing for the trip, but I know from this crowd "the more the merrier".
I recommend you call Hampton Inn at 843-545-5000 and reserve a room. It is $93.60 with a AAA discount and can be cancelled with a 24 hour notice.

I am leaning toward driving (boat in tow) from Charleston to Conway on the 29th. I will try to be at the boat ramp at 10:30 AM.

posted 04-20-2006 11:02 AM ET (US)            

1) I have a 15 gal Pate tank on my 15' Whaler, 85 HP Yamaha. I run at 25 mph at about 4000 rpms. is there any reason I need to throw an extra 3-5 gals of gas in the boat for the run down to Georgetown from Conway is I start with a full tank.

2) I dont have a VHF but have been meaning to get one, is this a good idea for a safety measure on this trip?

3) I usually run my boat on a small regional lake, besides life jackets, a good first aid kit, some tools and an air powered horn, do I need other safety equipment for something like this?

Thanks guys, This trip is really starting to get me excited!

posted 04-20-2006 11:32 AM ET (US)            

We will make the 50-mile trip to Georgetown in about 2.5 hours. If your engine burns more than 5.5 gallons per hour when running at 25 mph then you will need more fuel. If that happens, we will give you a tow the rest of the way (and will talk you into trading that engine for a 4-stroke).

My 4-stroke Suzuki 140 will burn slightly less than 10 gallons of fuel going from Conway to Georgetown.

As for the VHF, you do not need one for safety but it would be fun to have one on board so that we can talk to each other while cruising.

posted 04-20-2006 02:31 PM ET (US)            

My hand held VHF came with my boat. I think you will be fine without one. Also, I would not mess around with extra fuel. There should be enough of us around if someone needs a tow.

I would add sunblock and fenders (bumpers) to your bring list.

Hopefully we will have some nice weather.

posted 04-20-2006 06:27 PM ET (US)            

I got a good rate at the Sleep Inn in Conway Friday night, $70 a night for a 2 queen bed non smoking room. I plan on being at the boat ramp around 9:00 Sat morning.

See Y'all there!

posted 04-25-2006 10:50 AM ET (US)            

screen name at CW
real name
boat type
boat registration
contact data (cell phone of VHF channel)
Home port
e-mail address

posted 04-25-2006 11:30 PM ET (US)            

I am Still coming down from Charlotte but it appears that the bimini top wont be up for the trip down the river..the cooler weather will be nice, and probably less traffic from other boaters.

posted 04-26-2006 10:14 AM ET (US)            

Sorry tohear about the boat trouble AND I am sorry I wont get to meet you, I was hoping that 15' hulls were gonna be in good attendance!

I hope you get her straightened out and I promise that minitauk and I will keep you in the loop for the 15' rendezvous on lake Lanier Ga in the fall.

Tight Lines Bro!

posted 04-27-2006 02:33 PM ET (US)            

Put the Temptation in Charleston Harbor Tuesday afternoon -- ran great, so we are going to take out the second mortgage and fill up the tank for the trip.

Had a great thunderstorm last night with about two inches of rain, so all the pollen is out of the trees, and the salt was washed off the boat. Weekend calls for upper 70's on Saturday and lower 70's on Sunday, so should be a nice trip.

And Skip or David (whoever asked) -- We'll bring a blender!

Looking forward to the weekend!

posted 04-28-2006 05:33 PM ET (US)            

From Charleston, it is going to be Joyce & me in the Temptation, leaving Charleston at (hopefully) 1100.

Bringing our ContinuousWave shirts, a Whaler banner, and the goodie packs that Karin sent.

See y'all tomorrow afternoon!

WhalerAce

posted 04-28-2006 06:33 PM ET (US)            

Be at the marina around 10:00 AM tomorrow.

posted 04-28-2006 10:11 PM ET (US)            

I am definitley in. I had a good ride from Atlanta to Charleston today.

Kirk and I plan to depart here at 8:AM sharp. Hopefully we will make it to the boat ramp in Conway by 10:30 AM. We both have our continuousWave shirts and Whaler caps for the photo shoot.

posted 04-29-2006 12:41 AM ET (US)            

Skip
Its a little late now, but I was just reading through the thread and noticed you said you're turning 4000rpms at 25mph. It sounds like you've got propping/tachometer problems my friend. If my memory serves me right, at the same speed I usually turn about 2700rpms if not less.

Anywho, have fun everyone, and I want to see some pictures of a great weekend.

posted 04-29-2006 03:04 PM ET (US)            

Sorry you could not make it. We just checked in, but let me tell you- the ride UP HERE was ROUGH, even in the Temptation. We fought 25 knot winds the whole way up! I would really hate to have fought that in a 15.

We are the first ones here -- the Conway crowd has not made it yet. The ride DOWN should have been OK, so I hope it was just because they are going slow.

Otherwise, we are stuck here with a bunch of Whaler stuff to pass out, and I have an empty blender!

Will advise all later.

COME ON, Conway crowd.

posted 04-29-2006 05:44 PM ET (US)            

I have heard that this year has been too windy in the Lowcountry?

posted 04-30-2006 07:17 PM ET (US)            

I am here in Charleston dripping off Captain Kirk and about to hit the road to Hotlanta.

posted 05-01-2006 02:56 PM ET (US)            

Early Saturday morning, somewhere in or near Charleston, Ace and Joyce launched the 25' (or, with Whaler drive, 27') Boston Whaler Temptation and came up the ICW and up the Waccamaw to Georgetown. They experienced 15-20 knot headwinds and a light chop along the way.

Meanwhile, about 100 miles up river from Charleston, in Conway SC, four boats lay tied off to the dock of the Conway Marina, waiting and waiting for David Jenkins to arrive from Durham, NC. Sorry about the delay! Finally, around 11:30 David, his wife Marti, their two daughters Quinn and Anna, and their friends Cynthia and Mo arrived with two boats--a 1974 Outrage 19 and a 1977 Sport 15. So the Conway fleet consisted of a total of six boats. The other four boats included a second 15' Whaler with Skip Robinson and his friend, Billy (who drove in the night before from ???); and three 17' Montauks. In one of the Montauks was Tom C and his wife Martha (who are from Virginia), in another was Phillip (GAWhale) and his 12-year-old nephew, Kirk (from Atlanta and Charlotte, respectively), and in the third was Mark H and his wife and daughter. Mark and his family are from Pawley's Island, so they were our most "local" boaters.

By the way, Kirk was amazing. This 12-year-old drove the boat the entire way from Conway to Georgetown. Look for him to post soon on Continuouswave!

Anyway, since I had boasted of my previous experience on the Waccamaw river, I led us downstream. I had neither a working VHF nor a chart in my boat. In the 15' were Mo and Cynthia, neither of whom had ever driven a boat in their lives. What were we thinking?

It was not long before we reached a fork in the river and I did not know which way to go. So all 6 boats gathered round and we conferenced. And we decided to take the larger of the two forks. I turned over the lead at this point. Here I was, the supposed expert on this river, completely lost, with no chart and no radio, and I was surrounded by other boats who were all talking to each other on their radios. So I turned over the lead. Who lead the way at that point? Maybe it was Mark who had come up the river from Pawleys earlier that morning. Anyway, it was a fantastic wrong turn. I say fantastic because it was so scenic! The river got narrower and narrower until it got so narrow that the only way to turn a boat around was to bump your bow on the Cypress tree on one bank and to bump your engine on a tree on the other bank. The water was more than four feet deep in the middle, though. It was like traveling down a tunnel of trees. Very cool. But when it became difficult to turn around we back up a bit, turned around, and backtracked to the fork in the river.

The rest of the way to Georgetown was uneventful except that when we were just outside of Georgetown, Skip's engine alarm went off. We think that he may need a new water impeller.

When we arrived at Georgetown it was about 5:00 PM. Did someone say that this would be a 2.5 hour trip and that we would have lunch in Georgetown?

The two nine-year-old girls decided to go swimming in the unheated hotel pool. The rest of us showered and then met back at the boats for cocktail hour. Then it was time to take a taxi to the restaurant. The only problem with that plan was that there were no taxis to be had! Fortunately, Mark had a car there so he shuttled some folks on land and I took 7 of us by sea (in the 19' Outrage).

Topics discussed over dinner included:
*Thanking Ace for getting in touch with someone at Boston Whaler who generously provided us Boston Whaler tote bags, key chains, picture frames, etc.
*Thanking jimh for bringing us together via the CW website.
*The correct way to pronounce Jim's last name (A Bear).
*When was the first year Boston Whaler produced the Montauk (never did resolve that one--needed you there, Tom W. Clark).
*When would we do this again?

We came home in the dark and we managed to hit a submerged log. But we were going slow and no damage was done. To keep us from hitting more things, Ace stood on an ice chest in the stern and held a spot light (over the Bimini to reduce glare). Someone should have taken a picture of that!

The wind had really picked up Sunday morning. The flaggs snapped on the flagpole. It was a bit of a challenge just to walk down the floating dock! Anyway, the first thing we did was to fuel up. My 15' with the 70 Yamaha had burmed 10 gallons. I did not add fuel to the Outrage so I do not yet know how much the 4-stroke Suzuki 140 burned round trip. From looking at the fuel gauge, think it will be about 20 gallons round trip, or the exact same amount as the 70 hp 2-stroke.

After re-fueling, Mark and Skip left first (in Mark's Montauk) to go get Skip's truck and trailer. Because of the alarm, Skip opted to haul out in Georgetown. About half an hour after we left, Skip and Mark called me on the cell phone to say that it was very rough on the ICW and that they thought it might be best for everyone to haul out and Georgetown. But our crew was dispersed and I did not have everyone's cell phone number so I could not get everyone's input on this. Except I did ask Phillip about it and Phillip said that he and Kirk were ready for an adventure and that a little 20 knot wind was not going to deter them!

Fortunately, we were a bit delayed (again!) in getting started and the wind died down to about 10 knots during the delay. We had no difficulty with the seas, although at one point we did follow behind a 60' Sport-fish, which eliminated the little bit of chop that we were experiencing. But the diesel fumes eventually got to us so we crossed over the yacht's large wake and passed him on the starboard.

We arrived in Conway around 5:00 PM (I think).

Photos coming soon!

Hope that I got the details mostly right!

David

posted 05-01-2006 03:50 PM ET (US)            

We had a Blast and look forward to the next trip and I hope to have an engine that will run the entire time!

David forgot to mention that my boat lost its bimini top at one point when one of the front straps broke and we went from 25 MPH to having a LARGE sea-anchor that heeled the boat hard to port and pretty much made the driver and passenger think they needed an underwear change. We managed to NOT get it caught in the prop, and hauled it back in the boat and secured it and then we were OK till the engine overheated.

posted 05-02-2006 01:54 PM ET (US)            

Let' see -- He lives in Charleston and had to go to Columbia to be picked up by someone from Georgia to take him to Conway to ride down to Georgetown?

Wow, that was some traveling!

posted 05-02-2006 01:57 PM ET (US)            

Can you shoot a copy of the group picture to me so that I can forward it to Karin at Whaler, along with our thanks for the goodies for the weekend?

We had a super GREAT weekend, and am just now beginning to recover. It was great seeing y'all again, and meeting other friends we had only corresponded with previously.