As you can see, Water Dancer is rafted to Palmetto Moon in the background with Sue and Jim, and Jim and Su wearing our EMS Yacht Club T-shirts. EMS could stand for the EMS Shelter we lived in last summer in Palatine Bridge, NY; however, it really stands for Evacuated Motor & Sail.

On Tuesday, August 7, Jim and I left Oriental, NC and headed south to Myrtle Beach, SC with stops in Swansboro (had dinner with Brenda and Geoff), Masonboro, and St. James (had dinner at Joseph's, a great Italian restaurant, with two couples who keep their trawlers there). On Sunday, August 12, we docked at Marina at Grande Dunes, a great facility with several restaurants, laundry, small continental breakfast daily for boaters, daily newspaper, an outdoor pool, fitness center, and very friendly staff.

We met Renee and Scott, on Lucky Dog, who we had seen underway on the Waterway; they are planning to winter in The Bahamas, and we met Mike and Rose, on C'est La Vie, who are docked next to us. Our friends, Jim and Durrell, on Xanadu, are docked at the marina; we last saw them in March at Black Point Marina.

The middle of August, we drove back to Greer for my thyroid removal surgery. Now that it is over, I can say that I was nervous!!! The pathology report showed a "big, ole goiter" as the surgeon said. On August 26, we returned to Palmetto Moon where we spent the rest of the month relaxing with our boat friends. On August 31, Jim had an electrical/battery survey done and now must decided how much to spend and what to have done!