Lots of Wind

We stopped a little early today, just after noon due to high winds. We're going mostly south on the Waccamaw River, which is sorta wide, with the wind right on the nose. Although we could have kept going, we're only a few miles from Georgetown where it opens to a good size bay, so I decided stopping early was a good idea.

Boat watch:

I got most of the engine work done yesterday, but didn't re-align the engine. I was hoping we could get away without doing it, but didn't like the sound it made coming down this morning, so I'll probably do it this afternoon. Another good reason to stop early. Other than that, everything looks good, i.e., the various leaks seem to have stopped.

Zoe watch:

When I checked into the MMSN this afternoon, Dave, W7GOX, mentioned he hadn't seen many Zoe updates lately, so I figured I'd better post one before I start working on the engine.

We stayed at Osprey's Marina off the ICW near Myrtle Beach for a couple of days, and on our walks, we found a pasture full of goats right next to the marina. Zoe got real excited, and the goats seemed pretty curious as well. They wouldn't come right up to the fence, but several did come within a few feet.

Then, we took a walk last evening after dark and went all the way to the road, about a quarter mile or so. As we walked, Zoe got more and more excited. I thought it was the goats again, but she started pulling hard in the other direction and going nuts. It turns out there's a horse farm across the road. For some reason, she goes crazy for horses.

The first time it happened was just after we moved to Manhattan and walked down to Central Park. Once we got within a few blocks she started going crazy and pulling hard. As soon as we got to the park I saw the horse drawn carriages and figured it out. I'm not sure why she likes them so much, but she's practically uncontrollable when they're around.

Later, after we'd moved down near the village, we would see mounted police all the time. She still got excited, but not as much since we'd see them so often. One morning, we saw one crossing the street, so I stopped so Zoe could watch. The police officer asked if she liked horses, and I answered I didn't know, I'd never let her get close to one.

He said his horse was good with dogs, so he rode over and they went nose to nose. It was pretty cool, but all the sudden she got scared, pulled back and started barking. I pulled her back, but it didn't phase the horse a bit, he just moved on and continued his walk down to the park.

I think last night was the first time she'd seen any horses since we'd left Manhattan.