Isle of Palms Winter/Spring 2019-20

9 www.IsleOfPalmsMagazine.com | www.ILoveIOP.com | www.IOPmag.com I speak with the guests to explain what to expect during today’s travels. My mate and I use headsets to communicate during docking operations. This is a blind boat, meaning when I am at the helm, I cannot see the dock we are tied to. Crew communication is vital at this time. The mate unties the lines, and we ease away from the Isle of Palms Marina and head south. It is 7:15 in the morning when a guest approaches me and says, “What a wonderful way to make a living ... just driving a boat all day!” I smile and say it is more of a lifestyle than a job. My focus remains steady on navigating the waters that are at times less than the 6-feet, 6-inches of draft our vessel requires to operate, all while dodging crab pots and smaller boats that don’t require deep water but are often found in the dead center of the channel. We clear the Ben Sawyer Bridge by just a foot. We continue to make our way out between the forts and jetties. Now on the open sea, I take my first deep breath since we left the dock. I turn on the autopilot and set the engines to a 16-knot cruise. I relinquish the helm to my mate then do an engine-room and deck walk-through to make sure everything is secure and ready to ride the 4- to 5-foot seas I expect to encounter today. It is 9:00 a.m., and I am back in the wheelhouse checking our plotted course and calling out adjustments for the mate to enter in the autopilot. I place a call to the next two marinas we are scheduled for and confirm our arrival dates and power needs. One guest comes up the steps and says the toilet isn’t flushing right. My mate says he has it and turns the helm back over to me. Minutes later, another guest says the air conditioner in his room isn’t cooling. I look over the top of my glasses at my mate who has just returned and say to him jokingly, “Typical day in the life of yachting.” First, I reset the air conditioner’s control panel and get it running, then I proceed to repair the head. I clean up and return to the helm. With the dolphins riding our bow, we move up past Cape Romain and Georgetown as we eat a sandwich for lunch. The first sign of land is an intermittent flash of light from the Oak Island, North Carolina lighthouse. As we get closer, I turn off the autopilot and line up on the channel to Southport, North Carolina. We call the marina upon approach and inform them we will need fuel and a pump out. Once this is completed, we move to our slip for the night. As soon as the lines touch the dock, I am on the phone with the rental car company and making dinner reservations for our guests. It is now 4:30 in the afternoon and the guests are off the boat to tour the town. I check Photos by Mac Finch.