CS H.L. Hunley

One of the many fountains along the Cooper river park

Bear suggested I take another museum trip yesterday or wax the boat.  I thought about it for a long millisecond and drove to the warehouse where the CS Hunley is being de-salted.  Said vessel is a Confederate Submarine and has the distinction of being the first submarine to complete an attack successfully on another ship.  The Hunley was discovered a few years back after being on partol for over 135 years.  Her crew was still aboard and the hatches were dogged from the inside, meaning they made no attempt to escape.  The Hunley now resides in a very high tech fresh water tank at the old Charleston Navy Yard.  It will be there for another four years while the hull is cleaned of salt. 

Cooper River front park

The Hunley actually did three patrols and sunk three times.  The first two missions resulted in three deaths.  General Beauregard consented to the third mission after Lt. Dixon asked for another chance to get at the Yankees.  Beauregard approved the mission but told Dixon not to submerge the Hunley.  It was not until the Hunley approached the USS Housatonic and sunk her that he broke out a blue lamp and signaled the shore party that he may have decided to take her down and wait for better currents.  After all, she was powered by seven sailors manning a hand crank and the currents here can reach 5 knots or better.  The thing is that her only lights were candles and her snorkel not long enough to reach the surface at 27 feet.  The only air they had was what was in the four feet diameter tube. 

The crew was recovered and given a full Confederate Military Burial and equivalent of the Medal of Honor.  There were three descendants in attendance at the ceremony.  These Americans showed the highest form of courage, just like the young lions of today. To learn more about the Hunley, just google it.  There is much to the story. 

Inside the larger movie version of the CS Hunley.  Note bench seat to the left and hand crank to the right. 

About the Bear:  we are on track and have an appointment for a very high tech torture session on August 16th.  Until then, we are staying in Charleston where there is much boat work and many museums.  This marina, like several in Georgia and Florida has a courtesy van that will deliver a bi-pedially motivated sailor to places for parts and provisions.  It leaves every hour.  Not bad, huh?  Some marinas have a courtesy car that transient crews can take for an hour to the store or pars  shops.  Guess the attorneys have not found them yet.  Charleston has a trolley bus line that charges $5 for a day pass, so getting around is not a problem. 

The Beneteau 411 owners group has an active bulletin board and one of the long timers is the owner of Pied-a-Mer ( I think hull 157).  I discovered the boat last Wednesday whilst strolling the dock.  After a brief chat, I was invited to join the crew for the Wednesday races followed by an invitation for Bear and I to join them at the Charleston Yacht Club for post race festivities.  The crew I met included a fellow from the Empire of Britain (never can tell the accents) and a fellow from Ireland, I think.  We are looking forward to Wednesday.  It is always good to encounter another 411 to see what modifications have been made.  This boat cruised the Island for three years so I am sure there are things to be learned. 

Being the smallest boat along this dock, we have one small technical problem:  Internet access.  Since the dock is wired quite thoroughly, one should not have problems with signals.  The reason is that the signal is line-of-sight and when one of the "regular" size boats dock, we are shaded by huge walls of fiberglass.  I mean huge walls.  They block the breezes and even without looking windward, we know when they are windward. 

I have inherited the laundry duties which were completed before 0800 this morning.  One wants to hit the "wash house" before the dryers make it unbearable.  All of our laundry is starting to take on the same color since I do not separate the former whites from the other colors.  Many of our towels have been turned into sweat towels and they impart vivid colors to the tidy whities.