Our departure from Isle of Hope was at 6:15 in the morning. It was right at low tide, so the water was calm and glassy smooth. We quietly idled out of the marina and out of the area before speeding up to our 8 knot cruising speed. As the tide came in we were headed into the current, so that meant that our speed was reduced to 7 knots much of the morning. It was a beautiful ride as we passed by Hilton Head, SC. I would like to visit there sometime, but not on this trip.

During the ride I heard a strange sound that I couldn’t identify. Later on Melissa mentioned that we were out of fresh water. I wondered if it could be related, so I turned off the water pump to keep it from burning itself out. I also decided I would have to deal with it after we arrived at the marina.

We arrived in Beaufort, SC just after noon. I re-filled the water tank and then turned on the water pump. Immediately the pump began running nonstop and I could tell something was seriously wrong. The water tank was emptying itself into the bilge (the bottom of the boat where any extra water goes.) So I shut down the pump and opened up the innards of the boat to find the problem. Eventually I found the reason. There is a T connector where the fresh water is split into hot and cold sides. One side of the T had detached itself and was spraying water directly into the hull. It was a simple fix, but it took a while to disassemble and reassemble the access panels inside the boat. It was good to see that the bilge pumps did their job, which is to take the extra water that is in the bilge and pump it out of the boat.

With that emergency addressed, we went for a walk in town. We found some good pizza and then we walked around and looked at the hundred year old homes.