Sat Nov 9 - In which we go native

Heritage Plantation Marina – McClellanville – Leland Oil Company

The temperature dropped overnight and we awoke to a 36-degree chill.  (Dang it – Rick was right.  AGAIN). We tried to start the heater but once again the AC water pump will not pump water through the system.  Rick worked on this once already by loosening the hoses from the pump to each of the compressors and shooting hose water through the hoses.  This worked so the diagnosis is that the hoses are again somehow clogged – maybe due to algae growth.  So, the good news is that a week ago things worked.  The bad new is that now….not so much.  It’s good for Rick to have things to think about… I, myself, am trying not to think about algae growth.

We bundled up, had a quick breakfast and then when for a 30-minute bike ride around the Heritage Plantation neighborhood.  It is so quiet and manicured we felt like we were in Stepford.  Everything is surrounded by a golf course, and there are suspiciously friendly strolling people.   After our short ride we returned to the boat and prepared to cast off for our next marina – McClellanville.  The marina is the Leland Oil company dock. This is once again a working shrimp boat dock but the books say it is a fun place to stop, go to the local seafood restaurant, and buy fresh shrimp (OMG – I hope these don’t have their heads on).   We tried to cruise slowly in order to arrive at our destination with a rising tide, but the current pushed us along at a rapid pace – about 9 mhp, with the motor only barely working.

Because we hadn’t been nervous about anything, other than my health, for about 48 hours, we were pleased to get ourselves worked up about how ‘skinny’ (that’s the word we boat people have for ‘shallow’, apparently – why shallow doesn’t work shall remain a mystery) the water into the McClellanville area was.  At one point we accidently, the driver of the moment shall remain un-named, got into 1’ water.  That’s 1’ under keel though (our lowest point), so really ‘5 so it was not TOTALLY necessary for Rick to get somewhat EXCITED and ask the un-named driver to pay better attention.  I’m just saying…

Doesn’t Leland Oil Company should like a super scenic place to dock?..  Well, it was just as it sounded and we were tied up to the fuel dock for the night, with a passel of shrimp trawlers that were done for the season. 

But we had power – and that’s always a plus.  AND we didn’t bang into anything while docking, so that always makes us love a dock.

AND, guess what?!  We met Wanderbird…  Remember the boat we were helping early on?  He was on the dock and came to introduce himself, and hand out his boat calling card (that’s a thing – I’m working on ours).  How fun is that…

It is important to point out that the ONLY reason we stopped here was to go to a particular seafood restaurant in the ‘town’ of McClellanville that boaters rave about.  So, although tired, we talked ourselves into walking the .5 mile to said restaurant.  Have I mentioned that this restaurant was a CRITICAL ELEMENT of our itinerary???  It was closed.

BUT – a sign on the door said it was closed due to the Annual Oyster Boil at the Town Hall.  So, we decided to go local and try to find the Town Hall.  By this point it was dark and we were stumbling over tree roots as the ‘town’ is apparently too small for street lights.  But we persevered and found the Town Hall!  We didn’t have any cash (it was a fundraiser, $25/person) so they just let us in.  You could tell we were not from around these parts.  Everyone, down to the smallest tot, had their own oyster shucking knife in hand and were gathered around giant plywood tables set on sawhorses with a hole in the middle of each table for throwing the empty shells.  Out back all the local lads were boiling huge quantities of oysters in whatever jury-rigged vats they had come up with.  The best was a giant metal box set in a chopped-up shopping cart with an industrial blow torch under it to heat the water.

I was so impressed by how these locals were going after those oysters because, when someone offered to open a few for us, I found I was not an appreciator of the salty, chewy, yucky, rubbery delicacy.  NOT good umami, in my opinion.  We opted for a few bowls of home-made chowder, which was delicious.  It was really fun to stumble across something so unexpected and, while I’m sure the restaurant would have had better food, this was a much better adventure.

Off to bed to dream of bivalves….