December 1-16, 2025

Here is a visual summary of our Oct-Nov road travels including a one way rental trip to Charleston to launch the boat on Dec 3.

On this road trip we discussed our concern about remembering our boating knowledge. It has been six months and our apprehension is real.  😳 We reminisced about our water travels thus far and reassure ourselves it’s like riding a bike, right?  Here is another visual summary showing our Great Loop travels this far (ignore the sailboat icon, it is the only “free” boat icon for the TravelBoast app).

Boatyard activity starts well before the 10am appointment getting the travel lift in place and transitioning Nauti Nerds to the sling from the boat stands.  She looks great with her new paint job and wash/polish!

The travel lift moves her to water’s edge where she is switched over to a crane which gently and slowly lowers her into the water.

We hold our breath until all is checked out by the boatyard crew. Whew – No leaks!  Now it is time to get on board and try out the new portside transmission! All worked as expected. On approach to the boatyard after our sea trial, Cory (our Zimmerman Marine project manager) noticed our bow thruster didn’t sound right.  After some debug, it was discovered the bow thruster batteries were not holding charge appropriately. They were old lead batteries (required maintenance, adding distilled water, etc) and we decided to replace them with new maintenance-free AGM Deep Cycle Marine & RV batteries.  WOW! What a difference. With full voltage those bow thrusters really move the bow of the boat. We have been living with fractional maneuverability all this time. Woo-hoo – it’s like having a new boat! 🤩

Our original marina reservation could not accommodate our request for an easy access slip so we switched to Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina (CHRM). The docking process went smoothly given we were a bit rusty and weather was not favorable.  It was very cold, rainy and windy. The water was slapping the docks and produced foam from the violent movement. We were located at the farthest point possible from marina land and facilities. Normally we welcome this level of exercise but given the weather, it was miserable even with multiple layers, hood and gloves. However, these conditions encouraged a quick pace! First steps on the dock from our boat I wasn’t paying close enough attention and I fell. Luckily, I rolled and no single body part had full impact. There were still scrapes and bruises with soreness taking a full 4 weeks to fully disappear. MY Apple watch detected my fall and offered to call for help which is reassuring. Luckily the boat Captain was there to assist. 😉

The photo above of Nauti Nerds shows the helm enclosure missing. The boatyard removed it to prepare for a possible hurricane over the summer. The helm enclosure was aging and did not survive removal. As it turned out the hurricane went out to sea without any harm. However, we were left in need of a replacement enclosure.

Gioia Sails South, a business in Palm Coast, FL, was identified by its tag on the enclosure panels.  Our original panels were made using Isinglass. The latest product used for this is Strata-glass which is of higher quality, clear vinyl and is much more resilient. Good news they can absolutely create a new enclosure for us at a reasonable price. Unfortunately, we will be operating the boat without a fully enclosed helm for approximately 6 weeks.

Our first destination is Hilton Head Island, and we can choose between the inside ICW route or Atlantic a few miles offshore. One takes longer given the slow speed “no wake zones” and many curves in the waterway. The other is much shorter but subject to waves and wind depending on the day. Being the fair-weather boaters we are, we waited for a weather window to take the outside route. 

Even with the favorable forecast, it was a rough ride with lots of ocean spray. Did I mention it was cold? We are really missing that enclosure about now. There was a wave so angry it knocked over a fairly heavy table in the helm area and rang the bell under the captain’s chair. The admiral and captain were both turning green. 🙀 

We moved a little closer to shore and watched the water depth carefully. The afternoon became easier to handle as both the waves and wind subsided.

Palmetto Bay in Hilton Head is one of our top favorite marinas.  The staff is friendly, the marina has decent bathrooms/showers, on site restaurants, FREE laundry and self-service diesel!

There are numerous stores available within a 5-mile radius. One of our discoveries is the Social Bakery which makes incredible cheesecake! We settle in here for a bit to recover. The boat is covered with salt and looks like a giant pretzel! Alan gets the SALT OFF cleaner out and sprays down the boat while I work on cleaning the windows (inside and out).

Alan says I am laying down on the job – HA! Accessing certain areas can be challenging and often requires innovative approaches. 😝

Being the Nerds that we are, we have a voyage planning process with a custom spreadsheet. It contains all the data we need to determine our next stop. Distance is only one aspect. The weather forecast (mostly rain and wind) as well as tides are important. Why are tides important? Do you remember taking a bath as a kid and how the water would flow from one end of the tub to the other when you moved around? Ocean tides similarly affect water depth and currents.  We look up the Tide Chart for our current and target destinations so we know what departure and arrival times would be best (and worst). Marinas are unique with their layout and amenities. We use abbreviations to indicate Diesel (D), Pump Out of waste tank (PO), 50-amp electric service (50A), Floating docks (FL), Water source for freshwater tank refilling (H2O), Rest Rooms (RR), Showers (SH), Laundry (LA) and Restaurant on site (Re).  These amenities are mostly apparent. We prefer floating docks due to tide swings. If the docks are floating, then they move along with the tide change and therefore the lines on the boat do not require adjusting. Middle of the night line adjustment ruins a good night’s sleep.