June-July, 2025

Just like cars, boats require periodic maintenance for longevity and performance. Cooper River Boatyard and Zimmerman Marine have come highly recommended. We are monitoring the weather for a window to travel northward. Weather is not cooperating at all so we decide to extend our stay at Palmetto Bay Marina in Hilton Head and proceed back to TX for multiple appointments.  First of which is a follow-up from dental surgery. Dentist wants to ensure the implant and bone have healed so I can finally get my gap toothed smile remedied! I am cleared to move forward after 4 months. Just in time too since Alan was about to sign me up for hockey 

With all list items completed at home, we drive our Kia Sorento, “Cleo”, back to Hilton Head. Our friends on m/v (marine vessel) Good Karma have arrived in Hilton Head and invited us for a lovely dinner aboard their vessel. We catch up sharing our boat “tales” over drinks and agree we will catch up again soon, where and when to be determined.

Cleo stays at Palmetto Beach Marina while we motor Nauti Nerds to the Charleston area. We complete the ~78 nautical miles in one day, choosing to go the “outside” route in the Atlantic (a few miles off shore) rather than take the slower and longer Intracoastal route.

Waves were a bit larger than predicted so the ride was not as smooth as we would have preferred. However we were able to reach Charleston in one day. Charleston Harbor is crazy busy with commercial and pleasure craft. We pass Morris Island Lighthouse and Fort Sumter on our way.

Huge container ships are underway, even on Sunday. It is quite daunting to cross the path of these ships.

Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina is on our right as well as the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier.

Then we pass under the Arthur Ravenel Jr Bridge.

Our destination is the Cooper River Marina which is just south of the boatyard. Docking is a bit dicey since the marina is located between two 24 – 7 container ship load/unload stations. These ships are so huge they create incredible waves even at slow speeds. We got heavily “waked” overnight due to their wave movement. 😳

We arrived at Cooper River Boat Yard (CRBY) as planned, early on Monday June 23. They haul Nauti Nerds out of the water using a crane and transfer her to a travel lift.

She gets her belly powerwashed. We get our first look at what has grown below the water line in the warm southern waters. Truly amazing the amount of barnacles who have attached themselves. Let me just say they are foul smelling creatures! We continue to learn about boating. This time we learn the frequency at which a diver should be contracted to “scrape” the bottom to ensure growth doesn’t get out of control. After scraping the bottom of our boat, a paint job will be needed. This paint is expensive since it includes “anti-fouling” to slow future barnacle growth. Something in the range of $400/gallon. 😳 

We have a productive conversation with Cory, our project manager at Zimmerman who will be coordinating tasks on the boat. In addition to sampling/testing of fluids from engines, the generator, and transmissions we have a list of items. For example, one of our bilge pumps is not working and needs replacement. We are particularly concerned about the port side transmission since we had the “O” ring failure back in Venice, FL. The fluid analysis will show various particulates, some of which are normal. This process is somewhat like annual physical blood testing. It gives you an idea of what is going on internally.  We packed up and “ubered” to Enterprise Rental to get a car to drive back to Hilton Head, about a 2.3 hour drive. Then we reverse the trip to drop the rental car off. We are getting proficient at one way rentals and car shuffling!  After visiting family in the area, we head for TX, a two day trip.

No rest for the weary travelers as we have a destination beach wedding to attend in Cancun! Hey – the “nerds” clean up pretty good! 

We return with sunburns (oops).  First day home, I received a call, my replacement tooth (with custom color) was ready! YAY! Christmas in July for me  While we are home, vehicle maintenance is completed for “Cleo”. She has long slumber breaks waiting for us to return from boating trips and is such a pleasure to drive.  Since retiring we have reduced to one car which has been an easy transition and major cost savings. Cleo is a hybrid mid size SUV and her MPG is incredible. We have accumulated 50k+ miles in a little over two years which is quite a few considering all the work travel and boat travel we have done during those 2 years.

Cory keeps us informed on boat task progress. All fluid samples are in normal ranges except the port transmission. No surprise there! However, the report induces wonderment from the transmission expert that it even worked at all! Apparently we got lucky and had been living on borrowed time. So a new transmission it is. Getting the transmission replaced will cost more than the new transmission itself!!  B.O.A.T. (break out another thousand – or multiples!!) The design of our SeaRay 40MY didn’t factor in easy replacement of anything in the engine compartment. Much of our salon will need to be removed in order to access the port side transmission. 

We get a full 2.5 weeks at home before a planned road trip to upstate NY. We will attend a family reunion back in my hometown and visit with some friends in Binghamton where I lived for 18 years.

We have decided to leave Nauti Nerds out of the water at the boatyard until late Fall. When hurricane season ends (Nov 30), our plan is to splash the boat and head south to the Florida Keys & Bahamas. We will head up the east coast in Spring 2026.