Last little tidbit

As we drove home across the Bay Bridge this morning - through the driving rain and cold blustery NNW winds - we marveled once again at our great luck with beating bad weather the whole trip!

I know, - we're home, - the trip is over, but the memories will linger for quite a while and one of them will be of meeting so many wonderful people in the Bahamas. One of them was the very talented craftsman, Andy Albury, of Man-O-War Cay. He is a third generation woodworker and makes beautiful half models. We fell in love with one of his new creations, a beautifully crafted lamp showcasing one of his half models.

When we got home this afternoon, one of the first things I did - after marveling at the amazing amount of room a full size refrigerator has - was to find a spot for our new lamp. It is nestled in among many of our other precious memories - photos of family - past and present. We cherished every minute of our time off cruising, but look forward to many minutes shared with family and friends here at home. Love to all, ~~~_/)~~~M&D

Two days up the Chesapeake - we're HOME!

Our luck - related to the weather - held out to the very end! As we rounded Green #1 at the south end of Parson's Island, just 2 miles from our home marina this evening, the skies still didn't show any signs of the large cold front that is approaching from the west.

We really didn't intend to make it home in just two days when we left Tidewater Marina in Portsmouth, VA at Mile Marker "0" Monday morning, but the winds were right and all of us were ready. The original destination for Monday night was Reedsville, but we actually shortened our sights as the afternoon wore on. We had a good SW wind and were able to motor-sail all day once we made it out of the craziness known at Hampton Roads and environs. There was a lot of movement of Navy vessels and we had to make sure we stayed clear of them.

Hampton Roads/Norfolk area in a nutshell.

We started studying all our different guides and iPad programs to decide where to stop. The trusty cruise dictator (Dan) found the perfect spot for what ended up being our last night out. We went into Fleets Bay just north of the Rappahannock River, and anchored in Little Bay at the mouth of Antipoison Creek. Betty had decided to get domestic as they sailed along and invited us over for dinner. We were anchored by 5:00 and dinghied over to Andiamo for another great dinner.

We watched these guys work their fish traps this morning as we headed out of Little Bay.

Solomons was to be our next stop. We knew we were facing another big cold front and we thought we would hunker down in Solomons to wait it out. We headed out at 7 o'clock and set both main and jib. The winds were from the south and around 15 knots most of the day. As the day progressed we began thinking about the possibility of making it all the way home. We were making 7 knots or more and would have arrived at Solomons by one o'clock. We had our little communicators humming for about 20 minutes as we all plotted courses to see just when we would get home. We figured we could be at our marina by 8 pm, Andiamo a little before that and Pekabu III was shooting for 8:30. We all made it!

The only problem with today was all the flies. They were everywhere, AND they were the bitey kind. I spent the last 7 hours of the trip with a fly swatter in my hand. We'll be thankful for all the rain that is due tomorrow morning, hopefully it will wash away most of the corpses.

This doesn't come close to showing the hordes of flies that descended on all three boats as we charged up the bay.

As we turned into Marshy Creek towards Lippincott Marina, Pekabu III motored on past on their way the the Kent Narrows Bridge - on their way to their slip at Castle Harbor Marina.

Good night all, it's been a great trip. ~~~_/)~~~M&D (Brunelle is turned around and ready to go again!)

We're in Virginia at Mile Marker "0"

No winning lottery tickets, but a winning day. We left our anchorage at 7:45 having gaged the time it would take us to arrive at the South Mills Lock at the southern end of the Dismal Swamp. It was slow going, partly because we couldn't get into the lock until 11:00 and partly because several other boats traveling the same route chose to move slowly. We all arrived in good time and were lifted 8 feet to join the level of the Dismal Swamp. It was quite warm in the lock and we shed a layer or two of clothing. The sun was out for most of the day but we're far enough north for the air to have a nip to it for most of the day.

We decided that this "nessie" lawn ornament was guarding the "lock(h)" we were about to enter.

Someone in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway or US Army Core of Engineers has a real sense of humor. The very tasteful sign identifies this as the Superintendent's House!

The bottom three pictures show us in the South Mills lock. The top three show the lushness and closeness of the Dismal Swamp Canal. Surveyor George Washington did a good job making it straight!

Most of the Dismal Swamp is tree-lined on both sides, but occasionally you see a house or two. This house had placed the large "Flat Stanley" across the canal from their house. He was riddled with bullet holes!

One of my favorite Sesame Street number songs is "Ten Tiny Turtles", so when I started seeing several tiny turtles sunning themselves I made it a challenge to get pictures of 10. I just made it and some are a little fuzzy, but just count them! If you don't remember the song, just google ten tiny turtles and you can watch a U-tube video of the song!

We made it through to the Deep Creek Lock at the northern end of the canal with only a few bumps on deadheads (sunken logs) that lurk at the bottom of the canal. The depths were fine throughout. We emerged from the second lock 8 feet lower and headed towards Tidewater Marina. We were taken by surprise at the Gilmerton Bridge that used to be on request, but they changed their schedule in December and only open on the half hour and we arrived at 4:36! We decided to anchor for the hour wait and Andiamo and Pekabu III rafted with us - the first raft in our whole trip! Pretty strange for CCYC boats who usually are rafted each time we meet!

We went through the bridge at 5:30 only to have Andiamo's engine overheat. They dropped their hook and I dropped Dan off aboard - the engine belt had failed. They had a spare and he made quick work of putting it on and we continued on to Tidewater - arriving at 7 pm. Dinner ashore at Tidewater's restaurant after a long day. ~~~(\_~~~M&D

Sunset today found us wending our way through the busy port area of Portsmouth/Norfolk.

From Mile Marker 203 to MM 50 in 2 days!

Morehead City Yacht Basin doesn't open until 8:30 and although we all needed to buy fuel, we opted to leave at 8 Friday morning and put a few miles in before stopping at Jarret Bay Boat Works to buy diesel. We managed to get in and out and all three boats fueled in about half an hour when we did stop. Our goal was to get to Belhaven, at the turn in the Pungo River. It meant a long day that included the Neuse River (often called the "Nasty Neuse") and Pamlico Sound - also notorious for stirring up a chop now and then. Our luck was still with us and both bodies of water posed no problem. We motorsailed as much as we could and made it to the anchorage off the town of Belhaven by 6:30pm.

Large bodies of water don't always lend themselves to good photo ops, but we did see this cute tug on our way up Adams Creek on our way to the Neuse.

With another long day ahead of us we were up and on our way before 7 this morning. The most remarkable thing about this morning was the number of bugs - most of them May flies that were EVERYWHERE when we all came on deck. We finally got the vacuum out and tried to clean the cockpit a bit once we were underway. We still had a few of them flying around and dying all over for most of the day!

The weather both yesterday and today was beautiful. Clear skies, mostly fair breezes and pleasant, if a bit cool, temperatures. We continued up the Pungo, through the Pungo-Alligator Canal and out the Alligator River with what little wind we had on the nose. We still had a long way to go and were glad we could put up the main for crossing the Albemarle Sound, but it was too close to carry the jib, so we motor-sailed the 12 miles across. Luckily we turned further west when we reached the Pasquotank River and had a nice beam reach with both main and genoa drawing well. We averaged over 7 knots under sail alone for the whole ride up to Elizabeth City and scooted through the swing bridge there at 7:15. We were anchored in the bend in the river by 7:30. We all opted to forgo all cockpit lights of any kind in the hopes that the bugs won't find us so appealing. Tomorrow - the Dismal Swamp. ~~~(\_~~~M&D

The home of USCG Aviation is located along the shore of the Pasquotank River. The Waterway Guide talked about all the different types of aircraft that are based there and how far and wide their missions carry them, but it didn't mention this blimp-like thing. I thought it looked like an overgrown weather balloon.

We never tire of pretty sunsets - Pekabu III is on the left as we anchored in Belhaven last night and Andiamo on the right just after sunset here in the bend in the river just past Elizabeth City.

Sitting pretty in Morehead City

A pod of dolphins accompanied us out of the bay Wednesday morning as we headed up the ICW past Camp Lejeune.

Dan was up before 6 and went to buy a lottery ticket! We had marveled at how our trip from Mile Hammock Bay, through Bogue Sound and into Morehead City had been as lucky as yesterday - without a drop of rain and no thunder and lightning. We did hear lots of booming though - ordinances or whatever they were from the Marine base. The weather reports all day long talked about how storms would be popping up along the coast. We arrived at Morehead City Yacht Basin just before two and the three of us were tied in slips in a very snug basin.

The Morehead City Yacht Basin is very protected and well run, we felt we were ready to face the dangerous front that was due Thursday morning. Pete has just finished removing his ICW "smile" from the bow. Brunelle still had hers at the time I took the picture, but Dan got out there shortly after that and we look just as white as the other two. Andiamo seems to be immune because John keeps her so well waxed.

The dockmaster suggested we try Floyds 1921 for dinner and it was an excellent suggestion. We enjoyed a delicious meal with all sorts of southern accents. We were back aboard before dark and battened down the hatches and added extra lines just in case the front blew through before morning.

We awoke to gray skies but no storms and watched all the devastation that hit Alabama and Georgia on the morning news. Unbelievable. We had signed up for the 2 hour courtesy car for 8:30, so five of us piled in (Pete had to work) and headed to Harris Teeter and West Marine - two of our favorite places! Back aboard we hunkered down again to wait for the storms to hit. I spent the afternoon making a case for Andiamo's extra hatch doors while Dan worked on logging our daily progress during the whole trip. Meanwhile John was cooking up some mean chili for our dinner.

We gathered aboard Andiamo for yet another great meal and John, Betty, Pete and Kathy surprised us with a thank you gift of a gorgeous starfish shaped platter!

The card is addressed to Mr. & Mrs. Cruise Dictator!

Once again we awoke to no storms!! During dinner the wind picked up a bit, but still no storms. We headed back to Brunelle around 8:30 and finally a small burst of rain hit us, but THAT WAS IT! So, as I said at the top, Dan went and bought lottery tickets for everyone!! We are on the way this morning (Friday) heading into the NC dead zone, so it'll be a couple of days before I'll be able to report in again. ~~~(\_~~~M&D

Southport, NC to Camp Lejeune, NC

You could feel the tension in the air as we headed out of Deep Point Marina at 8:30 this morning. Today was the day. ----We would be passing by the very spot where we ran aground two years ago and lost our rudder as TowboatUS pulled us off! The weather forecast didn't help matters any either! Thunderstorms were expected throughout the day. In spite of all the trepidations, we forged ahead and had an amazingly pleasant day. We managed to make it through the timed bridges that plague slow travelers through this part of the ICW and made it past "the spot" and also Anchors Away Boatyard where Brunelle spent a week high and dry.

THE SPOT. Note the buoy on the left side - - - that's where it all happened and NOW they put a buoy that says "DANGER"!!

Another twenty miles up the waterway we passed our favorite NC boatyard, Anchors Away. Dan was tempted to call and just say hi for old times sake, but he didn't.

All day long we kept getting reports from John aboard Andiamo telling us just how close the next big storm cell was, but not ONE hit us all day long and we were able to motorsail most of the day. The wind did pick up through the afternoon, but it was behind us and didn't cause us any problems. It did cool down a bit as the day wore on, but nothing a long sleeved shirt couldn't handle. We arrived at Mile Hammock Bay which is controlled by the Marine base at Camp Lejeune but is open for cruisers to anchor at 5:30 with the winds gusting higher than they had all day and storm clouds all around us, but still none came close. We are due some rain tonight, but none has shown up yet. We saw hardly any traffic on the waterway today, seems most people were worried about storms. We just wish we were near a convenience store so we could buy some lottery tickets! We all felt this had been a lucky day. ~~~(\_~~~M&D

There are lawn ornaments and lawn decorations, but this is the first lawn giraffe I've ever seen!

Still "south of the border" but into NC

Two years ago we loved Osprey Marina, and this time wasn't any different! We hated to rush off, but once the trek north begins we find ourselves pushing to get home!

We headed out the narrow tree lined entrance Monday morning and turned right (into the sun! - - this part of the ICW was actually heading just a little south of East) The only thing disturbing the peaceful morning was a jetski that came roaring by at about 8:15 - a commuter??)

The scenery continued to be lusher and with more luxurious homes (many dotting the edges of the Myrtle Beach Golf Courses that surround this part of the ICW, so it made for a pleasant ride with plenty to look at. Once we crossed into North Carolina, our course took us within spitting distance of the Ocean and we passed several inlets - some navigable and some not so.

Its hard to tell one inlet from the next, but it was a nice change to see the Atlantic after several days without a glimpse of it.

Last trip we stopped at Indigo Plantation Marina - the home of the Bald Head Island Ferry, and this year we stopped at the home of the Bald Head Ferry again, but this time it is at a brand new marina, Deep Point Marina, with much better facilities and still the same reasonable price. They even have a free laundry, so I'm still up waiting on the second load right now! We were able to carry our jib for more than half of today and it helped us battle the current which changed every time we went past a creek or inlet! I hope we can be so lucky tomorrow. ~~~(\_~~~M&D

Easter Sunrise and onward

Each sunrise signifies a new beginning of a new day and today's(Easter Sunday) was just as spectacular as any we've seen. The serenity of our anchorage unfortunately was marred by the onslaught of a multitude of mosquitoes and mayflies as we weighed anchor at 7 am! I put on my Easter bonnet as a spoof, but was actually glad for the protection it provided - keeping the annoying bugs off my head!

We had set a goal of making 60+ miles today, so we needed an early start. We gauge our travel time on the ability to make 6 nm per hour, but the first half of the day was against a certain amount of current so we didn't come close to our goal. We finally reached the incoming current at Winyah Bay, just south of Georgetown around 11:30 and began to make up for lost time - averaging almost 7 knots.

The first half of the day was through the marshes and creeks that we had been traversing yesterday, but after we left Georgetown the ICW follows several rivers that are wider, deeper and much more lush. We spotted several bald eagles in the trees along the shores and many more ospreys nesting in both dead and live trees. I decided to make a study of all the interesting trees that line the shores. I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked to because we ran into engine trouble shortly after 2 pm. Luckily we were motorsailing at the time, so we continued to sail while Dan tried to figure out why the engine chose to just shut down. He determined that it wasn't getting fuel, but the solution didn't become immediately apparent. He spent about an hour troubleshooting the situation while I jibed back and forth (jib only) as we continued on through several "S" curves of the Waccamaw River. We were still with the current and refused tows offered by both Pekabu and Andiamo for the first hour and a half, but began to realize we might not make it to our destination before the current changed if we continued on at our "leisurely" pace. Pekabu headed on to the marina so Pete could put his dinghy down and be available to help us in the long narrow entrance to Osprey Marina and Andiamo gave us a tow the last 5 miles or so. We arrived at 4:45 and were given the berth on the gas dock (easiest approach) and by 6:00 Dan had changed out the electric fuel pump and all was right with the world, and especially with Brunelle! Kathy quickly organized an Easter dinner that was held aboard Andiamo and we toasted to another successful day!

~~~(\_~~~M&D

My tree study isn't what I'd hoped for, but you get the idea that we are out of the marshes !

Ft. Sumter in the AM and Awendaw Creek in the PM

Twas a smart move to hold off until today to take a tour of the harbor and visit Fort Sumter. The weather was much better and we enjoyed to the trip out and back with the running commentary almost as much as seeing the fort. Its significance to our country's history is great and we learned more than we did back in school about the sequence of events that lead up to the Civil War.

The trip out was aboard a mock paddle wheeler which was packed full of visitors (Easter weekend and all) that set us free to roam for an hour before returning to Charleston. The little 10 inch mortar launcher is the type of canon that fired the first shot on that fateful day, April 12, 1861. The other canons pictured are ones that were added when the fort was refortified during the Spanish American War in 1898. I was particularly fond of the flag that was raised at the end of the war. 35 stars - because two new states had been added to the US during the period of the war. The official US flag must have only rows and columns nowadays, as the uniform flag code was adopted in 1912.

As we prepared to leave Ft. Sumter we watched Sheet Music (a fellow ICW traveler) anchor and dinghy into the Fort (we preferred the ferry). The other shots are from our departure through the busy weekend Charleston Harbor.

The courtesy van from the Marina whisked us back to the marina by noon and we prepared to depart. Another look at "Buoyweather"(Dan's favorite site) had us reconsidering our decision to do an overnight to Bald Head Island. Instead we opted to head up the ICW looking for a place to anchor before it got dark. We dropped the hook in Awendaw Creek behind the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge at 6:45 pm after a pleasant afternoon of motorsailing. Quite a change from the bustling Charleston harbor! ~~~(\_~~~M&D

A peaceful change from Charleston's MegaDock here in Awendaw Creek. We are less than half a mile from the Atlantic here with only marshes separating us from the big O.

Hilton Head-B&B-Charleston

It did take us two days to meander through the creeks, rivers and canals of the South Carolina marshlands to get to Charleston. The days were sunny and the temperatures were warmer than we liked whenever the wind was directly behind us. We discussed several possible anchorages but decided we would head back up Mosquito Creek to B&B Seafood to tie up at their less than glamorous docks! It turns out it isn't shrimp season yet so the Billy B was sitting idle and the shop was closed, but we called and reached someone who said it would be OK to tie up and maybe he'd be able to find us some frozen shrimp. We ended up buying their next to last 5 lb. bag of frozen shrimp and feasted instead on lobster from Andiamo's freezer (they had bought it in Marsh Harbor, in the Abacos). We ate below because the name of the creek is very apt and the bugs were biting. In fact we found our decks darkened with masses of bugs as we headed off Wednesday morning.

As we rounded the bend by marker number 177 we marveled that every time we go past it, it is low tide and it's high and dry! A major part of the two day trip to Charleston looked like this - - - just not always with so much mud showing.

The closer we got to Charleston, the lusher things became. The Trumpy that passed us was such a lovely lady. We tied up right opposite the large dark hulled power boat at the Charleston City Marina - home of the megadock - a quarter mile long. It is QUITE a hike to the bathrooms and showers!

We pulled in around a little before three and kept our eyes peeled as the skies began to get darker and darker. We were glad to be tied up when the storm hit. We had hail (a new experience - being aboard in a hail storm) and thunder and lightning along with buckets of rain. The winds were not as bad as some storms we've experienced, but strong enough. We were still hearing wind and rain as we went to sleep last night.

Today, Earth day, Good Friday was supposed to be adventure around Charleston day, but the storms were still around so we headed into town, visited our favorite kitchen store (who would have thought), had a delicious lunch at S.N.O.B. (Slightly North Of Broad) and ended our tour at Harris Teeters. Luckily the courtesy van from the Marina came and got us before the next downpour and we were back aboard at 2:30 (instead of taking the harbor tour to Fort Sumter as originally planned!) We decided a dinner of hors d'oeuvres would be a good idea - and we did still have 5 lbs of shrimp to eat! So between showers we bounced back and forth between boats, cooking, cooling, peeling and then eating lots of shrimp (and a few other goodies too.) Hopefully we can see Ft. Sumter in the morning before shoving off for points north. ~~~(\_~~~M&D

Overnight to Harbour Town Marina on Hilton Head, SC

Out one inlet (St. Mary's Inlet) and in another (Tybee Roads) - this is all we saw of Georgia.

All we saw in between the inlets was one sunset, one moonrise (too rolly to get any photos) and one sunrise and one moonset.

Andiamo is close astern as Dan caught the moon still high in the sky after sunrise.

Luckily the marina had slips available for us as we arrived at 8:45 am. The overnight trip was one of the easiest we've experienced. We left at 5 pm and had a nice beam reach in winds generally around 10 knots until well into the night. We averaged close to 6.5 knots most of the time, and then got a good boost from the incoming tide as we entered the Tybee Roads. The moon was brilliant and a welcome companion throughout the night. We did alter course for about an hour off of Brunswick, Georgia to avoid a cargo ship that ended up coming to almost a complete stop in front of us as she waited for the pilot to arrive. We slipped by her stern less than half a mile away, but as she was making 2.3 knots we weren't bothered by any great wake!

After tying up and receiving our welcome packet (which includes a bottle of wine) we headed around the circular marina to the showers - located next to the decorative lighthouse. Several shops dotted the area by the lighthouse, but we did our shopping yesterday! We hadn't realized when we arrived that this week is the big PGA tournament here and crowds of golf fans are all over the place!

Our walk over to the showers took us past the elegant condos that surround the marina, this one festooned with the plaid of the Heritage Tournament. We explored the watersports area of the resort and found the full moon had brought all sorts of horseshoe crabs to the beach to mate. All clean and refreshed we walked out toward the 18th green and found the 19th hole just in time to have our 11z's beer!

My first look at this big rig had me puzzled until I went around the "stern" and realized it was a travelling sports bar! I assume it will be set up when thing really get underway with the golf tournament.

We enjoyed walking around and seeing all the activity even though the real action doesn't start until Thursday. Today people were wearing tags that said "Practice Rounds". The 18th hole looks out on Calibogue Sound and Daufuskie Island AND the ICW.

Tomorrow we'll skip all the hoop-la here and mosey on toward Charleston. It should take two days (on the inside.) ~~~(\_~~~M&D

Touring Fernandina Beach

The longest part of our walk was exiting the dock!

We were all the way at the end of the facing pier. We started on our adventure expecting to explore all the interesting historic sites of the area, but found that the shops held much more interest. Of course that sent the guys wandering back toward the boats before we ladies were done finding unique and artsy "stuff". We met up with the non-shoppers at Brett's Waterway Cafe for our big meal of the day and enjoyed sitting out on their deck watching the harbor as we ate.

We noticed that Brunelle was

nestled right underneath the

stacks of the paper mill.

Made Dan feel right at home.

Very well restored and maintained center city in Fernandina.

The afternoon was spent resting and readying the boat for the overnight trip outside from here to Hilton Head, SC. We will be heading out St. Mary's Inlet which is on the FL/GA border and come in the Tybee Roads on the GA/SC border. Once again we are avoiding the winding shallows that make up the ICW throughout Georgia. ~~~(\_~~~M&D

St. Augustine to Fernandina Beach

Our 8 o'clock departure from Camachee Cove Yacht Harbor put us right into the incoming tide as we headed up the ICW, so we got a boost half the way to Jacksonville. We then picked up the outgoing tide as we headed on toward Jacksonville, once again getting a lift. The only problem came as we neared our destination of Fernandina Beach at dead low tide (on a full moon) and found lots of spots right in the middle of the channel that were less than 7 feet! We managed to avoid hitting, but Andiamo had to back off twice after running aground. The winds were from the northern quadrant all day, so we had no chance to sail and we had to keep adding layers of clothes!

Dan and I had a contest to see who could

take a better picture of us lined up along

up along the dock at the marina. He won!

We made it to Fernandina Beach around 4 pm and found that all the moorings were full, so we tied up at the Fernandina Beach Municipal Marina for the night. It seems that we are right in the middle of the big northern migration of all us snowbirds. Weather permitting we will leave here tomorrow afternoon for an overnight trip on the outside to Hilton Head. We plan to explore ashore tomorrow. ~~~(\_~~~M&D

Not a lot of new scenery on the 60 mile trip north up the ICW, but we did get a kick out of these fish chairs along the way.

On the move again - after 5 days in St. Augustine

Just a brief recap of our busy stay in St. Augustine. We awoke refreshed on Wednesday morning ready to face to world, but more importantly, ready to face the Customs and Border Patrol officers in Jacksonville. We buzzed over to Jay and Pegg's house early and put in a load of laundry so we could be back at Camachee Cove Harbor Marina to pick up Andiamo and Pekabu III's crews at nine. We arrrived at the office of the CBP without incident and proceeded to watch at least 10 different CBP officers try to figure out how to process the three boats!

Their first question was "Does anyone speak German?" because they were having trouble communicating with a man who was trying to pick up his car. His English was so-so and they didn't like his "plan of action" anyway, so he watched us come and go and was still standing there waiting when we finally left on hour and 15 minutes later! We had every paper needed and every "i" dotted and "t" crossed and it still took forever! We left there with LBO (Local Boaters Option) cards that SHOULD allow us to do the check-in over the phone in the future.

Pegg had planned a gala evening for all so we made our way back to St. A and over to Jay and Pegg's. Added to the crowd were cousin Andy Bliss, his mom, Aunt Jane Bliss, who were down visiting from New England, and two friends of Pegg's. Pegg declared it a Dark n Stormy evening, so we brought all the fixings and had a great time!

Betty, Erin, Pegg, Martha, Deb and Kathy enjoying the evening.

Pegg was excited to show off her new Androsia fabric tablecloth to all of us.

Thursday and Friday were spent getting boats clean and laundry done AND putting in new Engine Mounts in Brunelle. Dan enlisted help from brother Jay and cousin Andy (who is 6'10" - and had fun trying to snuggle down next to the engine!) and they got it accomplished in fine order. Dan also tried to install a flexible coupling between engine and shaft for the second time, but it still doesn't fit.

What with all the engine work going on, I stayed clear of the boat most of the time and enjoyed visiting and shopping and partying! Saturday Dan washed down the boat, filled tanks and put things back together down below while I did laundry, finished provisioning and joined Pegg at an Easter extravaganza at her friend Judith's house. It's an annual event for all her friends and neighbors and their daughters. There were several craft stations for the kids and TONS of food for all the adults. I couldn't resist making a tissue paper flower (hey girls, remember folding kleenex into accordions, sticking them on bobby pins and then "fluffing them out"? Well this was with full pieces of colorful tissue paper. The Easter bonnets were cute. She had taken a paper plate, cut out the center and glued a paper bowl on top. The creations were adorable.

Easter bonnet making plus my tissue flower lower right.

We had our last dinner at Jay and Pegg's and are ready to head off Sunday morning, this time inside as far as Fernandina Beach. ....I'm turning the sailboat around .....~~~(\_~~~~M&D

Facing the Gulf Stream -the Banks to St. Augustine

Leaving the anchorage near the Lily Bank at sunrise.

After a very comfortable night anchored in the middle of nowhere, we had a hearty breakfast and weighed anchor at 7 am. There wasn't a breath of air and the waters were glassy for the first 6 hours of the trip. When we left the bank I had plotted a slight zig zag course that would take us over to the center of the stream west of the rhumb line to St. Augustine and then we would head more northerly than the course to St. A for around 80 -100 miles before turning to the northwest to move out of the stream and head for St. A Inlet. It took a little doing to convince Pete that going and extra 10 miles or so would actually save us time, but he finally bought into it. It took a LONG time to finally reach the axis of the stream, but after making 7 + knots for hours we immediately shot up to 9 and then 10 knots by following the axis of the stream.

We didn't ride it as long as planned because the wind shifted from SE to S and then SW and freshened quite a bit, so we angled back NW more and drove on through the night with the main up, still doing 9 knots for much of the time. Daylight had us still 7 hours from St. Augustine, but that would get us in around 1 or 1:30 pm and the tide would be going in at the inlet, so we were fine with that.

Unfortunately no one had mentioned a series of small squalls that we would encounter as the wind made its way from SW to NW Tuesday morning. John picked them up on his Satellite Weather Program and we got sails down before they hit and rode them out without too much difficulty, but after a long night, no one really wanted to face even a little adversity! All had quieted down by the time we entered St. Augustine Inlet and we made it through smoothly. Everyone took a slip at Camachee Cove Yacht Harbor and here we sit with our yellow "Q" (quarantine) flags up waiting to take a road trip to Jacksonville tomorrow to go through customs. Nobody had any big plans to go out dancing tonight, so it's no big deal. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

What would an ocean voyage be without a little entertainment.

These guys didn't stay as long as our first experience with dolphins, but they were very playful and loved riding the bow wake. I loved they way their bodies sparkled in the crystal clear waters.

Later in the day we had another visitor, he made the rounds between all three boats, but Dan put out food and water for him, so we had him visiting for quite a while. I think he is a seaside sparrow.

Andiamo before the storms and after!

At least being quarantined didn't keep us from taking showers ashore!