Mercy and Grace in Charleston

The secret to navigating Charleston Harbor is timing your arrival during slack tides. We arrived as the tides were beginning to ebb. Our assigned slip was on the outside of the Charleston City Marina just beyond the marina entrance channel. We tried backing into the slip. The slip grew smaller and smaller as our boat grew bigger and bigger. The swift currents made backing in impossible. John made another pass and pulled in bow first. John and Randy, our next-slip neighbors, stepped off of their boat to assist us. I was grateful for their help, because the strong currents worked hard to push us into their boat. I suspect they noticed that, too. With the boat tied to the dock, we drug the 50-Amp power cord to the bow of the boat only to find that the cord was too short to reach the power pedestal on the dock. So, we asked the marina staff for a different slip. Our new slip was just inside the entrance channel along the megadock. By now about an hour had passed. Our neighbors helped us cast off just before sunset, and we pulled out for the short jaunt to our new slip. By now the ebbing currents were swift and the winds had picked up to 15 knots or so. Having a shoal-draft keel, we need water over the keel in order to steer the boat. Despite John’s excellent skills at the helm, he, our Yanmar 100-horsepower engine, and our bow-thruster were no match for the winds and current. The swift currents swept our stern onto a piling and the stern of a 115-foot aluminum-hull sailboat docked just inside the entrance channel. Unlike our slip, the stern of the other boat looked bigger and bigger as we quickly approached it until we were pinned. I dropped fenders in place just in time to avoid damage to either vessel. Other people at the marina came by to offer support. Many of them had experienced the same predicament. They convinced us that our only safe solution was to wait for slack tides and float off of the other boat. After nearly three hours, the tides slacked, we floated away and drove uneventfully into our slip.

I told you that story to tell you this. Our journey so far has been full of God’s mercy and grace. We received more than our share in Charleston.

God’s mercy: We were not moving any faster out of the slip.
God’s grace: Our fenders were tied in exactly the right place and I could throw them over the side just in time to avoid damage to our boat and the other boat.
God’s mercy: Ronny and Nicolette were on the other boat.
God’s grace: They remained calm, knew what to do, tied more fenders in place, and made sure we were okay.
God’s mercy: Several others docked at the marina saw what happened and stopped by to offer support.
God’s grace: Many of them had the same kind of experience in the past and shared with us the solution that worked best for them, keeping us from making their mistakes.
God’s mercy: Only one trawler tried to motor through the marina entrance channel while we were pinned.
God’s grace: We were able to hold the fenders and boat in place while we rode out the trawler’s wake so no damage was done to either boat.

Every day we count our blessings. Some days we have to use our fingers AND our toes. :-)