Hilton Head Island: SPARTINA and Steve Earley have arrived; wives

 

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of going out on our condo’s deck and watching SPARTINA, Steve Earley’s 17’ Welsford Pathfinder yawl round up just past Skull Creek Marina and power into a slip on A Dock not far from GANNET.  I had been checking Steve’s tracking page at intervals and knew about when to expect him.  I enjoyed seeing a dot on a tracking page turn into a real boat.

Steve launched last Friday at Charleston and in four days has come seventy miles which is about a third of the length of his cruise to Jacksonville, Florida.

I will not preempt the story of his cruise more than to say that I am glad to see him and SPARTINA.  You will be able to read of it in time at:

http://logofspartina.blogspot.com/

Monday morning when I biked back from doing some work on GANNET including testing the four Autohelms, all of which work, but two of which are missing end fittings which have broken—replacements have been ordered; waxing a spot on the hull that really needs touch up paint; and drilling the holes in the replacement track for the forward ends of the pipe berths and getting a first coat of black paint on them; I noticed this boat with three people standing in the cockpit, two men and a woman.  I said as I passed, “I like your boat’s name.”  All three laughed so I guess it was all right.