Connecting with Friends in Charleston, SC

Days 17 & 18 (December 19 & 20)--anchored in Ashley River, Charleston, SC.










Oh happy day! We found and spent some good times with two couples we know in Charleston. Pictured here are Chris and Vickie Blackwell. Chris is a recruiter for Bulldog Trucking Company for whom John drove a flatbed truck for 2 -1/2 years. The Blackwells helped us shop for some electrical equipment to repair our onboard inverter, then came out to our anchorage in the Ashley River. Vickie and Chris brought the Caribbean Soul a couple of bottles of wine, which the CS was willing to share with all of us. Good time--good friends! Thanks Vickie and Chris.















Then our fellow Tartan 37 sailors--Preston and Chennie Wright--picked us up at the Marina and treated us to an evening of fabulous food, wine and Bahama cruising stories. Unfortunately we don't have pictures of Preston and Chennie, but we'll try to describe well enough that you can "see" this fun time. The Bahama picture of P&C is from their blog--check it out at http://prestonchenniessailingadventures.blogspot.com/ We first met Preston and Chennie in October 2007 at the dock in Norfolk, VA as we both were traveling south with our newly purchased Tartan 37s. Preston and Chennie lived in Oregon, purchased their beautiful Tartan in New York , and were planning on cruising the Bahamas for 6 months or so.

As it turned out, they had some wonderful adventures in the Bahamas and went home to Oregon only to get a job offer in Charleston, SC.
It was great to see these two after keeping up with them on their blog.
So while dining on wild salmon in their town house on John's Island near Charleston, we got to meet their happy little hotdog dog--Newman--and got a world of cruising advise about Bahama charts, ocean crossings, partying in the Exhumas, etc. We have since purchased the Bahama charts they recommended and are getting eager to get down to Florida so we can cross over to the Bahamas. Thanks Chennie and Preston!

And as Christmas approaches, we did a bit of Christmas card decorating on the boat. We also gave some serious thought about were we'd like to spend Christmas Eve and decided Savannah, Georgia would be good.