We have completed another adventure aboard Margarita Daze. Our last trip took us south from Charleston to Beaufort so this time we headed north to Georgetown. I checked the weather for the weekend and it seemed very favorable for our first off shore run. Friday we had waves 1 to 3 ft and winds from the north at 5 to 10 mph. The day was partly cloudy and temps in the high 70’s which was a little cool for the run but we enjoyed it. Once we left Charleston Harbor we set the autopilot and ran the next 4 hours about 3 to 3-1/2 miles off the coast. Since this was our first trip off shore we wanted to stay within sight of the coast and in cell phone range. This was much more relaxing than our last trip down the ICW because this time we just sat back and kept a lookout for hazards and let the boat drive itself. Everything was great until we came off autopilot entering Winyha Bay and realized we had lost our steering on the flybridge. After moving the wheel right and left a few times the steering returned but was not operating normally. Once inside the bay I returned to autopilot and had no trouble until we arrived at the marina where I used the transmissions and throttles to control the boat.
We enjoyed eating, drinking and shopping in the historic town of Georgetown. The food was excellent and so were the people. We look forward to returning here again for a longer stay next fall. The weather for our return trip on Sunday was calling for waves at 2 to 4 ft and winds 10 to 15 from the north changing to SE in the afternoon. We waited till 10:30AM before leaving because we needed to arrive a couple of hours after low tide to enter our marina in Charleston. On our way out I checked our steering from the flybridge, Nothing! I went to the lower helm and checked steering there and all was OK. We decided to go as planned and return to Charleston via our offshore route and realized when we departed the inlet the waves were at least 4 to 5 ft. We had an uncomfortable ride back to Charleston but nothing that the autopilot and stabilizers couldn’t handle. We have really gotten a lot of experience in the last 2 trips, which will be a big help when we head to the Abaco’s next spring. Our next adventure will give us experience on the hook not far from home.
