Again we were only going about twenty miles today. Since we are not in a hurry to get anywhere, these short hops are just fine with us…
*** Our trip home is one of three options, of which all are currently closed to navigation and/or delayed in opening- if they open at all, due to the virus. Our first option of routes will take us though New York Harbor and along the Hudson River to Waterford, New York, where we will continue north through the Champlain Canal into Lake Champlain and on to the Saint Lawrence Seaway eventually arriving in Lake Ontario. Traveling through this area is scenic and filled with early American history, but goes through Canada, which the border is currently closed. Our second option route will take us up the Hudson River again to Waterford, New York, but this time we will turn west through the 363-mile Erie Canal across New York State to Buffalo, New York, on Lake Erie. Although traveling the full length of the historical waterway is scenic and educational, the route has two problems: There are bridges on the western half of the canal charted as low as 15’ and we will exit the canal in Lake Erie, not Lake Ontario. The third option follows the Erie Canal about halfway across New York State into the Oswego Canal that leads directly to Lake Ontario. The Erie Canal is currently closed. It usually opens May 15th, after they do routine maintenance in the spring. Due to the virus, the routine maintenance has been stopped, and the canal will not open until that is complete- and as of today (5/2/20) the maintenance still has not been started…***
Back to our story: Beaufort was on Lauren’s list as a place to stop. “Beaufort is a city on Port Royal Island, one of South Carolina’s coastal Sea Islands. It’s known for its antebellum mansions, especially in the downtown historic district. A notable example is the John Mark Verdier House Museum, an early-1800s Federal-style mansion, with period furniture and exhibits on area history”. We looked and saw they have a free day dock, right next to an anchorage. We made our way to the free dock and tied up there, paying no attention to the ‘dock closed’ sign. Once we were secure, we hung out on the boat for a little bit to make sure no one was going to give us a hard time for being there. We did see a police car cruise through the parking lot, but he didn’t pay us any attention, so it was time to get the bikes off and go for a ride. Once I had the bikes on land, we hopped on them and I realized my chain was now having issues. Damn. We called a local bike shop and he said he was open and would be happy to look at it right away if we could bring it to him. I realized that if I kept peddling, the chain was okay, but when I stopped pedaling, the chain would drop and get tangled. We decided to try to ride to the bike shop, and we made it there in about ten minutes. I showed the bike technician the issue and he said “Oh- your flywheel isn’t spinning- He then grabbed a can of WD-40 and gave it a spray- “Wait a couple of minutes then we’ll try it.” Lauren and I waited off to the side, and after a couple of minutes he picked up the bike, hopped on and rode around the parking lot. It worked! WD-40 does fix anything that is supposed to move! That was easy enough! He told us “no charge”- we thanked him and off we went to explore the town. We rode around the downtown area and the surrounding streets, marveling at the historic mansions and amazing scenery. We found a store that was open for take out- Lowcountry Produce Market and Cafe. Since it was lunch time, we decided to order some carryout and eat in a park overlooking the water. We shared a crab cake sandwich and shrimp and grits. The shrimp and grits were the best we’ve had. Yummy. After lunch we rode around a bit more then went back to the boat. We took Frank for a walk, then hung out on the boat for a bit. Soon it was getting close to sunset, and we had to move to the anchorage. We started up the boat, moved out by some other boats that were anchored and/or moored, and dropped the anchor. We made sure it was set well then had dinner and figured out our next stop.