Throwback Thursday Yacht Life Wedding

Baxter and John. Matthew on the dock.

 CP watching the weather radar just to the right of the groom's elbow.

 (I am watching a massive squall line closing in fast) and Andy on deck with the bridesmaids.

June 2017. The charter biz is unique, I know a lot of good boat drivers, super capable but to be a yacht captain and work the professional charter biz you really have to know your crew and they need to be the best.

We were hired as the wedding party transportation for Baxter and John taking them from downtown Georgetown, South Carolina to the Hobcaw Barony a trip of just 30 mins. 

Everything that could go wrong, did. 

I had been watching the weather (Yacht Captains are obsessed with weather) their limo died on the way to the church (which delayed our departure by an hour), but that allowed us to clear an A/C pump issue, but as the clock ran down the thunderstorms started closing in and our 1 hour tide window would soon vanish. 

Matthew, Andy and the crew totally were cool under fire as we eased the 70 foot boat up to a 20 foot dock with 6 feet of water and a 5.5 draft (In other words only 6 inches between floating and being stuck). Unloaded the bride and groom their family, plus 30 others, then slipped back across the bar plowing mud. (meaning just an inch or two of float and clouds of muddy water trailing in our wake).

Andy never broke a sweat. Matthew worked us off the dock with a spring line against the current and soon we were headed back to Charleston. The crew quickly broke down the upper bar secured all the deck chairs, stowed the china and glassware as lightening flashed overhead. 

We then watched from the ICW (Intra Coastal Waterway) as the thunderstorms over took the wedding party while they escaped just in time to the safety of a massive tent.

(Props to the bride who took the time to personally thank every crew member before leaving the boat. Pure class move.)

So the follow on 9 years later

The remainder of the the 2017 Charter Season was profitable. We ran upwards of 29 Charters and everyone made good money. 

The same was true of 2018 until September.

Hurricane Florence was a powerful and long-lived tropical cyclone … the storm caused $24.23 billion in damage, mostly in the Carolinas, and 54 deaths. Florence made landfall in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina on September 14, but the damage along the entire Carolina Coast was extensive.

And we lost "Southern Drawl" the boat the we used to bring Baxter and John to their wedding reception. We moved her from her home at the Patriots Point Marina up river as far as we could go. It wasn't enough. Record tides and wind grounded her and the wood hull couldn't handle the endless pounding of surf and rocks.

Few things in life are as sad as a scuttled ship, large or small. Andrew managed to salvage what he could and insurance company wrote a check, the salvage guys did their part.

And so it goes.