Happy New Year!

How time flies. Our last post was the end of October, as we were once again heading south. I know some of you keep up with Lisa’s Facebook page, but for those who do not, and for our own recollection as well, following is a summary of the last couple months.

We left Pasadena with the sole purpose of getting south before the weather got too cold. We were only a week ahead of our timeline from last year, and definitely wanted to skip the frost this time. We also felt we should try new anchorages, so we stopped in Herring Bay, which was wide open but we had a lovely, quiet night; and the more sheltered anchorages at Mill Creek inside Solomans Island and Indian Creek in Bells Cove. Our last stop on the Chesapeake was at Southall Landings near Hampton to spend an evening with our friends Tom and Ilse. We had a fun night at their boat club’s “Friendsgiving”, with nightcaps aboard Ritual. Tom is prepping Seranata, their Slocum 43, for a trans-Atlantic trip in the spring, so there are many boat projects to discuss, as well as the prospect of tagging along to Portugal! The visit was too fast, but we had a promising weather window that would get us well into North Carolina, so we left early the next day.

Retracing our route from last fall, we entered the ICW in Norfolk, VA, passed through the Great Bridge Lock and spent the night on the very nice free dock. Two long days later we tied to the dock in Belhaven Marina, NC. This was one of our longer (and favorite) stops a year ago, and we were looking forward to seeing our friend Mike, who had helped us install our self-steering wind vane.  We were sad to see that his boat was gone, and then happily surprised when he walked over to say hello and that his boat had been moved to another marina not too far away. Mike was so helpful with rides to the post office and grocery store, as well as referrals for fixing the leaking o-ring in our transmission. And it is always fun to share a few beers on the deck. As an aside, it was on the grocery foray that Lisa first saw the cotton fields at the edge of town, and just before being harvested! Turns out that North Carolina is the 7^th largest cotton producing state.

We ended up hanging out for a week as we watched Hurricane Nicole impact first Florida and then bring heavy rain to the Carolinas, so we were in no big hurry to move on!  Two other boats we had met in Vero Beach and again in Baltimore were staying nearby, and it was fun to have dinner with the crews of Caroline and Rhiannon at Spoon River, a very unique restaurant with great food. As you may have picked up, there is a circuit for cruisers as they move up and down the east coast with the seasons, and we see many of the same boats in passing and hear familiar boat names on the radio.

As we continued south, highlights along the way included watching the USMC Osprey helicopters practicing touch and goes while we were anchored in Mile Hammock Bay at Camp LeJeune; bird watching in Prince Creek in the Waccamaw Wildlife Refuge, and spending several days over Thanksgiving in Charleston, SC.  Once again our friend Nancy spent a day with us as we visited Drayton Hall – a 1738 unrestored plantation; the Hunley submarine museum (first combat submarine from 1864 – recovered and preserved in 2000); and the historic Magnolia Cemetery.

We had decided to make an overnight ocean run from Charleston to north Florida, and ventured out of the harbor, only to encounter 6 ft waves and wind on the nose – NOT the forecast we were expecting. We had made 10 miles when we decided “misery is optional” and turned around!  Retracing our track to the ICW got us into the Stono River before dark and we had a quiet night. Overnights near Beaufort, SC and Hilton Head set the stage for another decision on whether to try an outside run again, but weather kept us in the ICW.  We had skipped Georgia on both legs last year, so we opted to try it this time.  The ICW here is a myriad of rivers, creeks and sounds, with some very shallow areas and stretches of strong currents, requiring good planning for timing tides, currents and wind direction. We passed just south of Savannah and lucked out with tides/currents at Hell Gate in Ossabaw Sound, so we continued to an anchorage in the marsh. As we prepared to drop anchor our windlass quit! We have had issues with corrosion, and did NOT want to hand crank the anchor and chain in the morning. Fortune had placed us only an hour from Kilkenny, a “local” marina and the only thing around for 30 miles, and they had a space for us! We pulled in just before dusk, and were tied to the dock’s 2×6 posts, no cleats! Fred fixed the windlass and we found a good meal at the only restaurant in the area, two doors down.

We were off again early the next morning, weaving our way through the marsh. We crossed St. Catherines Sound, Sapelo Sound, Doboy Sound, Altamaha Sound and St. Simons Sound, passing on the backside of the Georgian Isles. Jekyll Island was our next stop, and we spent two days exploring. The island was the site of the Jekyll Island Club – a Gilded Age hunting and sporting club for the Rockefellers, Morgans, et al.  World War II shut it all down, and then the State of Georgia purchased the island as a state park, restricting development.  The marina is quaint with huge live oaks dripping with moss, and the historic area consists of the lodge and “cottages”, now part of a resort.  We took a golf cart around the island to see the Driftwood Beach, and rode bikes in the evening under the holiday lights. We also enjoyed a drink on the resort veranda – $28 for 2 drinks, yikes!

We had a date with our mechanic Edsel in Palm Coast, so we hurried on south, spending only one night in St. Augustine so we could take in the Nights of Lights once again. Palm Coast is one of those places that just clicked with us, and it was nice to spend a few days there. Edsel gave us some good suggestions for fixing our autopilot. Our friend Meg provided rides to the grocery store, hardware, and bike shop (Lisa got a new seat!). We missed Gus, who was in Portugal, and talked about meeting over there at some future date.  We even tried the goat Tikka Masala at 5^th Element, the Indian Restaurant! It was okay, and is served a lot in the Caribbean, so now we know.

After two more nights at anchor, we motored into Vero Beach and took a mooring for a few weeks. It was so nice to catch up with Jeanne and Sheldon on Shanks Mare, and the crews of Take Five, Rhiannon and Kedge, as well as several others. Friends on Five and Dime had sold their boat and moved to – where else – Portugal!, but were back visiting, so we got to chat about their experience. (Are you sensing a theme here?) There is comfort in being somewhere familiar for the holidays, and we enjoyed the beach walks, favorite eateries, cruisers gatherings and shopping. Along with Jeanne and Sheldon we attended the Art in the Dark outside the Art Museum, music in the park under the oaks, and a Christmas Cantata at a local church. Lisa helped make ornaments for the cruisers lounge Christmas tree, and we lit Ritual’s rigging with lights and had our little tree in the cockpit. Even the weather conspired briefly with temps dropping into the 30’s on Christmas Eve – but at least it didn’t snow! We roasted a chicken with all the fixings and stayed nice and warm, and Santa delivered a new dinghy motor – who could ask for more?

The year ended with a wonderful visit from our granddaughter Emily and her friend Ryan. They fixed us a great meal aboard, and Emily taught Fred to make her famous tiramisu. We squeezed in some beach time and a visit to the Botanical Gardens holiday lights before we said goodbye on Dec. 30.

January plans include the Florida Keys and more family visits. We are currently in Marathon, heading to Key West tomorrow. We wish you all a happy and adventurous 2023! Fred and Lisa