Sorry for the delay, but........

We apologize for the time we have spent loafing around central Florida for the last few days but to recap:

 - We did our last overnight going down the coast to Cape Canaveral and  pulled in past the lock and crashed for the afternoon and evening.

 - From there we did a short motor over to Cocoa for a couple of nights to check out the town since we have never stopped there in the past.

 - Then, onward further south and we eventually ended up in Waterline Marina for a week to harass Jean and Tom along with getting mail and some good ole fashion cleanup on Nati.

Earlier today we pulled away from the marina and continued out trek south.  The wind was supposed to be 5-10kts from the NE and we actually are sailing a little today!

So to go back and talk about some of our events over the last couple of weeks.........

From Osprey Marina where we topped off the diesel tanks we continued our southward movement.  As always the Waccamaw River was very pretty and the moving was pleasant, still cold all the time but not terrible.  Eventually we caught up to Windward and Maluka at South Santee.  We met Windward last year on the way south and it was good to see them again.  Like us both boats are heading to the Bahamas this winter.

This area of the ICW has a ton of wildlife in the lowlands.  During one day of going through SC we saw a Golden Eagle, 4 Bald Eagles, dozens of Oyster Catchers and many other birds.....fun!

In the South Santee River

Charleston  - A lovely town.  Too bad we never got a chance to see it this time as it was still cold and the "Charleston Shuffle" made leaving your boat for any length of time a little scary.  The current and wind made the anchorage crazy and boats of all types were sailing on their anchors and it didn't make for a very comfortable scenario during the day.  Towards evening the winds and current were less so sleeping wasn't too bad but we were happy to leave when we did.

Maluka & Windward in Charleston

Note our wanderings at anchor!

Just before dawn on November 23 we weighed anchor and headed out of Charleston Harbor with Windward and Maluka for a sail (we hoped) on the outside.  This would enable us to make good time and save the Georgia portion of the ICW for another time.  Light winds were the word at the start but the sunrise was hard to beat!

Heading east

Maluka & Windward lead the way

The sail/motor to Fernandina was not the best time we've had.  Overall it was OK but the winds didn't not cooperate as all of us thought and we spent the better part of the first afternoon and night beating into 20kts of wind from the SW.  It wasn't until the later part of night that the winds did as expected and turned to the NW and cranked up.  Then.....nice!  Headsail sailing in 20-27kts and doing 6-7kts in beautiful water.  Nati just loved it and so did we!!

downwind sailing

Northern Gannet

We pulled into Fernandina before noon and after a little grub the bed took hold of me and it wasn't until the next day did I move.......slept really good!  We did 174 NM in a little over 28 hours.  Not too bad for the conditions.

Fort Clinch at Fernandina Beach