Knowing we were now ready to leave at midnight we left the Marina at 4pm, went under the Las Olas Bridge and anchored nearby (why pay for another night at the dock!), had a great and relaxing dinner and took naps. We left at mid nite for our trek south towards Miami. We timed both Bridge openings perfectly and were soon motoring about 1 mile off shore towards Miami. As we neared the Port Entrance, traffic was getting heavy, we had a Cruise Ship coming at us from 8 o’clock, a large private yacht coming at us from 12 o’clock ( our collision alarm sounded), Freighters and Tankers coming at us from 2 and 3 o’clock, so we turned East towards the Bahamas a little earlier than planned to avoid all this traffic! Once traffic subsided we couldn’t have asked for a more relaxing crossing with a gentle breeze out of the ESE @ 5kts and flat seas.

By sunrise the traffic subsided and we had a pleasurable motor sail to Bimini. The inlet was unmarked but NancyLu, who had arrived the previous afternoon road out in their tender and escorted us in. Currents at the inlet are strong but we had the benefit of coming in at a rising tide with currents in our favor.We tied safely into Slip N6at Browns Marina. Within a few minutes the DockMaster presented us with customs/immigration paperwork to fill out. Only the Captain can leave the boat to present our documents and obtain a cruising pass. Captain A soon had us cleared with a 120 day pass and we were able to leave Dolphin in short order and visit the Island. We visited and enjoyed the beach on the eastern shore and collected many shells, and an abundance of sea glass and other flotsam. Late that afternoon we joined fellow boaters at the Marina’s comfortable lounge area for cocktails, stories and sharing sail plans.

The next day was action packed once we got going! We got lunch at Captain Bob’s and carried it back to the Marina lounge to enjoy. We visited the Dolphin House Museum, a unique home that has been crafted into an overwhelming sight for the eyes. Later we rented a golf cart and visited the entire Island including the completed Bimini Resort Club with breathtaking views, an infinity pool; and, homes under construction that will ultimately make up the Bimini Bay Marina Complex. At sunset many of us met on the East beach to take in the view. Adrien learned to blow a conch!

(Note: pictures did not come out in the order intended. Sorry for the confusion!)

Sunset at Bimini

Sue at Dolphin House

Route from Ft Lauderdale to Bimini, roughly 65 miles. Leaving at midnight allowed us to arrive at Bimini in the morning light to safely navigate the very shallow and poorly marked entrance.

Sunrise over Bimini in our sights about 20 miles off shore

Beautiful clear blue water at the dock, easy to see the school of Sargent Majors

Brown’s Marina “Beach”

Eastern shore, great beach to collect sea glass!

Cruisers gathering at sunset

So serene!

Sue captured this great shot of a Man-O-War as we crossed to Bimini. They put up their sail and let the wind carry them to their next victim!!

Sue took a position on deck to help the Captain navigate through the shallow entrance to Bimini

If you are tired of all the sunsets and beach shots, here are a few from the hub of Bimini

Customs and Immigration Office, zoom in and notice they want you to knock before entering!

The tourist shops. The lady in the car is selling roasted chicken/ brown rice etc out of the trunk of her car to the locals.

We enjoyed lunch at Captain Bob’s

Lunch! Snapper, very good!

Liquor store, cases of beer start at $48!

Cemetery

Inside the Dolphin Museum. The gentlemen in this shot is the owner and craftsmen. Pretty much every material he used came from the island or trinkets he was presented by his many guests. It’s truly been a labor of love that had taken years. The walls are molded of coral ground cement and mosaics he’s created over time. If you can zoom in you might see a bit of the detail.

Kids all over the Bahamas wear uniforms to school. In Bimini it appeared that each grade wore a different color scheme.

Main road that runs from north to the south end of Bimini

Rum drinks! Delicious!

Wanna beMermaids !

The first blow!

Thanks for you patience for this very delayed post!!!

We left the slip at Loggerhead Marina in Lantana and timed four bridge openings perfectly, then anchored at Lake Worth ( West Palm) where we would patiently (or in the Admiral’s case, impatiently) wait over a week for good weather to sail south and position ourselves to cross to the Bahamas. While there we met up with Greg and Luba on Rhapsody and dinghy’d to Rybovich Yacht Marina North to visit with Mark and Cathy on Nancy Lu. Both these couples we met and enjoyed their company at Brunswick, GA. We enjoyed Lunch with them and accomplished several on shore tasks like reprovisioning , etc. We also enjoyed a couple of luncheons at the very lavish facilities at Rybovich South. Including Pool, hot tub, gym, 10 foot round fire pit, etc , etc. While there we walked the docks and “awed”many Megayachts, spoke with several Crew members, and Nina even got us an invitation to board and tour Honeyfitz, the Presidential Yacht up to the Kennedy Administration. We also visited the Immigration office nearby for our LBO certificate… a painful process! (Having our LBO will allow us to call customs upon our return to the states without having to make a personal appearance at the office.) We filled our empty Propane tank,……..complicated by the fact that our tank certification had expired. But this was easily rectified. We had an opportunity to enjoy a few hours at the beach on Peanut Is., followed by a Curry Chicken dinner and lovely evening aboard Dolphin catching up with good friends Sally & Frank Graves, s/v Ciao
who drove down from Stuart, Fl.

Getting antsy with the wait we decided to take advantage of a NE breeze to head further south to Ft Lauderdale to take for a better position to ” Cross”. We weighed anchor and as we motored out the Inlet we met face to face with 3Tugs coming in the narrow inlet towing dredging pipes into the area. Soon after squeezing past the Tugs we were comfortably sailing on the outside towards Ft Lauderdale, passing many Flying Fish!!!!

Prior to entering Port Everglades we experienced starter problems ! With short time and rolling seas we did not have time to replace the starter, so the Capt used a screw driver to jump the starter winding, with the engine running we were good to enter! Soon we passed closely by 5 Cruise ships boarding new passengers for an evening departure, and waited a short time for the 17th St Bridge to open. We docked at Los Olas Marina for the night. we arrived just in time to receive Sue, our experienced first Mate. We called her on Friday morning when we learned good weather for a crossing was eminent… By Saturday afternoon she had cleared her schedule, scheduled a one way flight and arrived to board Dolphin! Her return flight was yet to be determined. After a Welcome cocktail went out for a great dinner at Bubba Gumps and walked the “Strip” along the Beach.
With all the interesting people watching experiences, we did some shopping, and listened to some great sidewalk musicians, had some frozen yogurt, then back to Dolphin for cocktails and some relaxation. The next day we took a trolley and reprovisioned, yes again, (beer, wine and food ). The Captain worked on getting the “starter problem” fixed and we were wondering where we were going to watch the Super Bowl Game ! That decision was made easy for us as we were invited onboard the 110 ft Mega yacht, Picosa Lady, for the Game and dinner ! She was 2 slips away from us. Thanks Capt Nick and Super Chef Kelley !! Kelley served mouthwatering pulled pork sandwiches, hot wings and a fabulous salad chocked full of vegetables included kale. It was a delightful evening meeting their friends, Capt John and his first mate Lise, and other Crew members and first mates from nearby stationed Megayachts ! It was an exciting Game with relaxed and interesting people.

We now waited for a good weather window to leave to cross to Bimini. That window opened the next evening, we planned to leave at Midnite !

“Privacy” Tiger Woods yacht. Rumor has it that the name of the boat is covered with canvas when she comes into a dock so no one will know who it is.

Honey Fitz still carries the Presidential Seal but is now privately owned and chartered out for small dinner cruises up and down the InterCoastal. The current owner enclosed what was once an open aft deck to allow for more dining space. They did a great job maintaining the look of the boat but too bad they had to modify it!

There were pictures throughout the boat like this one.

The Captain was happy to show us around.

Very contemporary, a work in progress. This vessel was being built for Steve Jobs. Wonder what will happen to it now.

Our next boat?! This floats on a mooring north of Peanut Island. Looks like a fun weekend hangout!

The Captain relaxed on Peanut Island. As long as he’s sitting in the dink he can drink a beer, but he can’t set foot in the sand!

Sunset at Lake Worth

Moonrise at Lake Worth

Crews Happy Hour at Rybovich Marina, $1 drafts and free pizza! Love the gas fire pit…. Good idea for the Woodlands!

Yah! Sue arrives in Ft Lauderdale!

Dinner at Bubba Gumps

Artwork on the Ft Lauderdale strip. This sculpture was lined with empty water bottles and lite at night with a color wheel. Pretty clever!

Sunday/Monday, Jan 20/21st

We transited 35 miles to Peck Lake. It was a leisurely motor ride arriving at dusk, we motored close to the sandy beach surrounded by green trees and lowered the anchor just after sunset. We were in the company of several other boaters but everyone was down below for the night. This was a very quiet and protected anchorage and the gentle breeze was very enjoyable. As we settled down with our evening cocktail we enjoyed listening to the rythmetic, thundering waves hitting the beach just 200 yards over the trees from our bow. We planned to visit the beach at first light before departing…which allowed us to get this pretty sunrise shot.

Sunrise on Peck Lake

Within seconds the gentle breeze subsided and as we went on deck we discovered we were surrounded by Nosee’ms! They were so bad, they were swarming the boat. It was all we could do to lift anchor and motor away! The beach could wait for another day. Unfortunately many of those pesky gnats worked their way through our screens into the cockpit and down below. We soon discovered we’d acquired quite a few bites through the night and were plagued with them for several days. Once underway we opened all the hatches with the hope that the wind would carry them away! We were swatting those pests the rest of the day and the next morning!

As we motored south the timing of the Bascule Bridge openings became a strategic part of our navigation plan. What’s the challenge? Each bridge works on a different opening schedule, and is spaced at varying distances from one another. Some bridges open on the hour and half hour, others on the quarter after and quarter of the hour, some open on demand and still others are fixed bridges typically 65′ tall depending on the water level and require no opening. If we don’t time the opening correctly by adjusting our speed, we miss the opening and sometimes have to wait a half hour, thus delaying our arrival time or forcing us to adjust our destination target. We learned the hard way that even if a bridge is scheduled to open on the half hour, it won’t open unless you ask the Bridge Tender to open it! So we call ahead for each bridge and sometimes are moving at near maximum motor speed (a whopping 7.5 kts) so as not to miss an opening! Our experience with bridges on the ICW thus far has been pretty uneventful but ahead of us the frequency of bridges in our path is about to increase exponentially! From Vero to Peck Lake we travelled under 6 bridges, from Peck to Lantana we travelled under 11 bridges. By the time we reach Fort Lauderdale we’ll travel through another 18 bridges! That’s why many boaters travel outside via the ocean…. But thus far the weather has not been with us and strong winds and high surf are scheduled for the next week, so to keep moving, we’re staying inside!

As we arrived in the N Palm Beach area Adrien call a fellow boating friend, Clayton, from Warwick, RI, who has a winter residence in a high rise overlooking the ICW. As we motored by his condo we heard a loud whistle and we saw Clayton on the banks waving! He ran down 11 flight of stairs to meet us and take a photo of Dolphin passing by. We agreed to get together in the next few days since we’d be staying in the area.

The day had turned cloudy and shortly thereafter we found ourselves in the middle of a heavy rain shower. It was hard to see out the isen glass to oncoming traffic. We both realized that this was the first time it has rained since we left Brunswick in early January and first time on our journey that we were traveling in the rain.

Dolphin needed the bath!

Looks like Dorothy’s house!

“And the clouds parted, the sun shined down on the pearly gates of heaven, and the heavenly choir started to sing,
Alleluia!!! Alleluia, Alleluia!!!” …. And in walked Sister Mary Rose Alma. And the last nun, Sister Mary Andrea, knew all the easy questions were gone!

Continuing 10 miles further south, and under a few more bridges we arrived at the Loggerhead Marina in Lantana at 16:45. We were greated by Alex and his helper who helped us tie off and get settled. We checked in with the Dock Master, and Alex gave a tour of the facility. You’ll see from the pictures it was lovely. The pool, showers, saunas, jacuzzi, and fitness center and club/meeting/billiard rooms are part of a high end condo complex and top notch!

We pulled in bow first to our designated slip but soon found out we were too far from the electrical outlet to hook up! The slip next to us was empty so the CAptain decided to unfasten the dock lines and manually move and wiggle Dolphin between the concrete dock and the wood pilings. We had to lift the Dinghy (on davits) over the electrical boxes to get her to squeeze by! Leave it to Adrien to pull that off!

Tuesday-Friday, Jan 22-24th

Dolphin rested here while we left to join the Kings for three nights in Delray Beach. Adrien has known the Kings since the mid 80’s. Bob a former retired boss from Raytheon, and Sandy his lovely wife are affectionately referred to as our ‘surrogate parents’ ! They have invited us to join them at their winter home in years past and this year entertained us and helped us provision for our Bahamian Trip! Adrien enjoyed a few rounds of golf with Bob; and, Sandy arranged for my much needed pedicure! We enjoyed Happy Hours promptly at 16:00, delicious meals, lots of laughs and the excellent chauffeur services all around the area as we gathered a carload of supplies!

Wonderful evening with the Kings at Deck 84

Friday-Saturday, Jan 25-26th

Back to Dolphin on Friday, we enlisted the help of the Deck hands and their golf cart to transport our provisions from the car to the boat. It took a full 4 hours to find a place for everything! After unpacking we connected with Clayton and met he and his wife Robin at 18:00 for a delicious dinner at Maison Carlos, a quaint French restaurant on the outskirts of West Palm. The cheese soufflé was out of this world!!!

We were up and off the dock at 7:45 on Saturday morning to motor 10 miles north back to Lake Worth to position ourselves for the much anticipated crossing to the Bahamas! By now we have bridge openings “down pat”, and we perfectly timed the 4 we needed and arrived by mid morning and anchored near “Rapsody in Blue”‘ friends we met in Brunswick.

Tuesday, Jan 15th
Our landing at Ocean Club Marina afforded us a comfortable nights sleep and the luxury of a leisure morning! We checked in with the Dockmaster and were pleasantly surprised to learn that we could stay on the fuel dock until the Barge Canal Lock opened at 18:00; and, since we arrived so late the night before and did not plan to stay long enough to take a slip, we were given quite a deal . We promised to be discrete about the details! Unbenounced to us, the locks were being repaired and only opened from 18:00 to 21:30 each day.

What a gorgeous day, clear blue skies and approaching 80 degrees this was just what we needed! Finally warm sunny weather! FL was welcoming us! With no place to go we were forced to enjoy a day of rest and relaxation! It was not hard to do! With electronics in tow it was a short walk to a beautiful pool surrounded by palms with piped in music and wifi. While basking in the sun Adrien caught up on Emails, and took a dip while Nina caught up with a few business calls.

On the way back to Dolphin we met up with live-a-board, Peter on ” Bel Conta” a Formosa. With local knowledge, he recommended a few restaurants for lunch within walking distance. He accepted our invitation to join us at Grills, a local tiki fish restaurant, for delicious Mahi Tacos and a Mahi Rubin on sunny deck of overlooking the inner coastal. We shared stories and stopped at a few hardware stores for odds and ends on the way back to the Marina. After a few chores we refueled, topped off the water tanks, called the bridge tender for an opening and left the dock at dusk to make two bridges, a barge lock and 6 mile ride to Cocoa Beach. It was dark and a bit difficult in the narrow channels. Since we started our trip we have not run at night unless we were outside with lots of water around us, so we were both on high alert with a Million Candle Power lantern on hand and Nina taking the bow watch to sight our channel markers. We arrived safely, secured the anchor and enjoyed a comfortable night.

Wednesday, Jan 16th
The next morning the Admiral rowed the Captain ashore for breakfast and a walk. Cocoa Beach is a charming village with lots of shops and a beautiful waterfront park. They also offer a very nice dinghy dock for boaters, very welcoming. It was a short walk when we came upon an outdoor market and coffee shop, Ossorio’s, with a row of umbrella covered tables curbside and a walk up window to order breakfast. We placed our order then realized the tables filled up quickly. Sue and Larry, a lovely snowbird couple from Dayton, OH invited us to share their table with them. Before you knew it we were fast in conversation while Nina enjoyed a delicious omelet with Brie and roasted asparagus, and Adrien, scrambled eggs with ham and cheese….not so good!

Brevard Avenue, Downtown Cocoa Beach

With half a day on the water our next stop brought us to Serenity Island just south of Melbourne. We anchored in 7′ of water protected from the south wind and sipping cocktails while enjoying the aroma of a campfire built by a few campers on the island. We were also treated to a few fireworks.

Serenity Island

Thursday, Jan 17th
The next morning the ICW was like a mirror as we resumed our trip south. We intended to put in a full day of motoring…… but plans have a way of changing!

By late morning the winds freshened and we were able to set sail and shut down the motor. It’s the first time since transiting the Potomac in early November that we’ve been able to sail!

What’s that white thing?!
Evidence of a relaxed Captain!

Going a breakneck speed of 4.2 kts with the Genoa, it was so peaceful as we sailed by beautiful homes, birds and passing vessels. As we approached Merrill P Barber Bridge (Rt 60) , two boats we were transiting with take a sharp left turn into the Vero Beach Municipal Marina. We kept going but it got us curious so Nina looked it up…..

$ 14.60/ mooring
Showers, laundry,
Walk to the beach
Thurs night Happy Hours
Free bus service to market hardware stores and TJMaxx….. What more could we want!

We made a U turn and came back under the bridge and grabbed a mooring for the night… or so we thought.

It was still early in the afternoon and sunny so the first order of business was a 4 block walk to the beach! Ohhh, to feel the warm white sand tickling our toes!

Of course Adrien made sure we were back by 5:00 for Happy Hour! The first folks we talked to knew our friends from home, the Graves on Ciao! They cruised together several years ago…what a small world! We met several other boaters, some that live aboard in this harbor and are very involved in the community. We learned a lot about the area and all it has to offer as well.

Friday, Jan 18th
The next morning we checked in with harbor master and learned that we were in for some strong winds and rain that night. We decided we were staying put for another night! After hot showers, we grabbed the bus to town to explore, visiting West Marine (we always need something) and had lunch. We were referred to Kelley’s pub for sandwiches and beer. The Rubin and infamous Tuna salad sandwich were delicious and Yuenglings, cold and thirst quenching…. And, all the bartenders
were Pat’s Fans! As we were about to leave, in walked Darrell and Ruth from , Night Cap II. We met them in Atlantic Highlands at Sandy Hook, NJ and travelled down the coast of New Jersey, up the Delaware River and into the Chesapeake….then lost touch around the time Hurricane Sandy made her appearance. It was a great reunion; we caught up on each others journeys and agreed to dine together on Saturday night. As we dinked back to Doplhin we came upon Dean and Susan on “August Borne” from NH. We met them in Sandy Hook as well! We’ve been texting along the way but were always several days apart so it was nice to reconnect.

Saturday, Jan 19th
On Saturday morning we walked back towards the beach hoping to find a good cup of coffee and light breakfast. No luck with the coffee but we did happen upon a Farmer’s Market with all kinds of freshly made foods, fresh vegetables and trinkets. We enjoyed a delicious ham and cheese crepe and tasty crab cakes as we explored the booths. As we walked back towards the beach we came upon an open house for beach front condo’s. I can’t resist these so in we went! These condo’s were georgious….priced in the $3M’s! I felt a bit out of place wearing flip flops, cargo shorts and a fanny pack but what the heck, some of the most wealthy folks look pretty grungy right? I took a few photos for my idea book and we politely declined to make an offer!

The tide was up, the surf was pretty rough making a beach walk out of the question, so we pulled up a stool up at Mulligans and enjoyed tall spicy Bloody Mary’s and chatted with stool neighbors that were also moored in the harbor, “Water Hog” from Stonington, CT.

Back to Dolphin we had just enough time to get dressed and pick up Ruth and Darrell via dink to Riverside Cafe where 50% off Happy Hour drinks started at 17:00! We had a great night and delicious dinner but when it was time to go it was pouring! We made it back to Night Cap II and were invited in for….a night cap! Back to Dolphin for a good nights sleep….we were leaving in the morning!

In FL the Live Oaks are adorned by ferns!

Sunday, Jan 20th
Up early to a clear sunny morning we decided to take a dink ride through Riverside Gardens, a community of homes on a winding canal just north of our mooring. We enjoyed a peaceful ride admiring homes, each unique with well groomed gardens and all kinds of boats at their docks. The birds enjoyed this neighborhood as well; osprey and pelicans were plentiful.

Saying Good Bye to our friends as we motored out of the mooring field, we were underway by 11:30. Our one night stop turned into three and it was so much fun!

Osprey with breakfast!

Nice little ICW cruiser!

Vero Beach Sunset

We could have stayed on the dock for another week, there is always something to work on but with Nina itching to get underway and fearful the cold weather would return, we left the dock on Saturday Jan 12th at noon. Plan “A” was to depart via Brunswick Inlet south of St Simon’s Island and head offshore to Cape Canaveral but as we rounded the first turn we saw a thick dense fog across the entrance to the canal. So on to Plan “B”! We entered the ICW North of Jekyll Island and enjoyed a comfortable motor ride past Cumberland Island.

We decided to keep this buoy to Port!!

We anchored at dusk at the southern end of the Brickhill River and enjoyed a comfortable night.

A peaceful sunrise and dense sea mist.

We continued on past the Trident Submarine Base at Kings Bay and down the St Mary’s River, leaving Amelia Island to starboard, out to the Atlantic Ocean.

Trident Nuclear Submarine Base at King’s Bay

We flew down St Mary’s River with a 2.5 kt current carrying us out to the Atlantic. We were met with a gentle 6-8 kt SE breeze and 3′ swells on our nose. It was a sunny warm day and comfortable. We followed the coastline easing out to a course of 165 degrees which brought us about 10 miles off shore.

With a long night ahead of us Adrien took the first shut eye while listening to the Pats game on his iphone and following texts from Pat’s fans at home. At the helm, Nina plugged into music and kept us on course.
The afternoon turned to dusk as we past Jacksonville.

As darkness set in the winds increased to 15kts and the swells became more intense. With all the rocking, rolling and yawing it became difficult to follow the GPS and compass so we used the FL coastal light and stars to guide us….until the fog set in and hid the coastal lights, and the clouded hid the stars, and the cockpit enclosure fogged up! We were forced to go back to following the GPS and compass. Thank goodness for the bag of ginger candies Nana packed in our travel bag!!

We continued to take 4 hour shifts and somehow we made it through the long night on course and were greeted with a beautiful sunrise!

As the sun rose the wind died down and the swells subsided. It was tolerable again! We still couldn’t sail but we were both revitalized by the sun for the full day ahead of us. Cape Canaveral was still 13 hours away! Our ETA to the outer entrance of the channel was 20:30 PM! With an additional 10 miles to the marina, ETA at the dock would be about 23:30!

We continued to take shifts throughout the day as we rolled down the coast averaging about 5 kts. We kept a lookout for Right whales (prevalent and protected in northern FL) and were entertained by several pods of playful dolphin and a lonely Loggerhead turtle. We saw only a few other vessels and none near our path. It was a long comfortable day. The sun set as we passed Kennedy Space Center.

As we approached the channel entrance the swells were growing again and hitting us abeam, but the last leg was short, the channel well lit and we made it to the dock as anticipated at about 22:30. A stiff drink in hand and a walk around the the beautiful Ocean Club Marina to stretch our legs and we were ready for a good nights sleep! We’d traveled 173 miles over 36.5 hours! Glad that is behind us!!!

What a pleasure to be back on Dolphin! We arrived to find her dry and clean. She was well taken care in our absence. Fellow boaters kept an eye on her and the efforts we took to string monofilament lines about her sparse keep most of the birds away!

We spend the next 6 days unpacking the car, finding storage for all the “stuff” we lugged from home, provisioning and finishing a few projects on board.
We were pleasantly surprised to see warm weather coming. Within a few days we were enjoying low 70’s with the promise of 80’s on the way.
Surprisingly, Nina learned she packed too many clothes, so with confidence of warm weather coming, a few boxes of the warm clothes got shipped home!

We made new friends on the dock and enjoyed a few sundowners with folks headed to the Bahamas for returning visits. The stories and info they share are always so helpful! With some guidance from our friends on “Rhapsody” and “Nancy Lu” we started experimenting with the single side ban hoping to get some weather info with recommended routes and passage info. We also took copious notes on potential ports of entry, scenic beaches, fun destinations and protective anchorages to supplement current knowledge.

With a forecast of gentle winds and calm seas we topped off the tanks, cut the monofilament lines and eased out of the slip with the help of our friends!

After a wonderful Christmas respite with family and friends we ventured back to Dolphin waiting in Brunswick, GA.

We drove a rental car one way filled to the brim with summer clothes, supplies, spare parts, an extra Danforth and rode, and vodka and wine. Our rental, a Ruby Red Ford Tauras got quite a bit of attention as we drive South. Literally, at every stop someone would walk by and comment on the car!

Yuengling lager beer $5; Lemon 33cents; strong knife $ 5; Cotuit Oysters on the half shell at a SC Rest Stop…. Priceless !!!!!!

We stopped in South Jersey to visit family friends, then opted to take our time driving down the Delmar Peninsula, crossing Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel to Virginia Beach. It was a great opportunity to explore the eastern side of the Chesapeake so we will know where to visit on our sail north. Chesterton, St Michael’s and Oxford are places we look forward to visiting via the water; lots of history and charming villages.

This Chestertown resident is honoring each Afghanistan fallen soldier with a white flag.

Sunset in Oxford, MD

View from VA Beach Hotel

As we drive south we could feel the excitement growing! We couldn’t wait to get back on Dolphin and the water!

From Virginia Beach we hopped back on Rt 95 and made our way to Savannah and spend a relaxing evening , dinner out and the night with friends from “Crescent Moon”. The next day we took a tour of Tybee Island and enjoyed a delicious lunch at a beachside restaurant.

A beautiful island, the beach is pristine!

Tybee Island
By early afternoon we said our good byes and made plans to get together again soon. We reunited with Dolphin by 16:30 on Saturday, Jan 5th! Yeah!!!

Brunswick Landing Marina

A Brunswick sunset!

Sending Our Very Best Wishes

To You And Your Families For A

Happy, Healthy and Joy Filled Holiday Season!

You probably  thought we ‘d be in the Bahamas by now!  We  put our journey on hold so we could travel home to enjoy Christmas and New Year’s with family and friends.  We plan to resume our journey just after the new year!

Stay tuned, we have some catching up to do as well!

What a fabulous day! We met on the dock at 08:45. Thanks to Sanity Check and Avanti we enjoyed Memosa’s while we waited for our 09:00 Mercedes Limo pick up. Our driver gave us a brief tour of the city to get our bearings then dropped us off at the Market Place, recommending several breakfast spots. Eli’s Table was able to take us right away. Bloody Mary’s the special, $5.00, adorned with lemon, lime, olives and celery stalk. Knowing we’d be walking all day I indulged in Eggs Benedict and creamy grits, and Adrien enjoyed French Toast. Just delicious!

Wiith a 17:30 rendezvous location determined, we were on our way to explore the city. Adrien and I opted for a guided carriage ride through town. We learned details about the history and people of Charleston, and the architectural details that make this city so delightful to the eye! We walked a similar route after the tour so I could capture some pictures. It was had to decide which ones to post so you’ll see most of them!!

City Market

St Johns where Bud got married!

Love the front doors that lead to an open porch!

Beautiful porches, inviting courtyards and gardens!

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At 17:30 we gathered at TBonz for beers to wet our whistle and burgers to fill our tummies! Then to a stretch limo back to the marina.

We’re enjoying Bloody Mary’s this morning as we motor sailing down Little River past Georgetown, SC while smelling sausage stuffing in the oven! Turkey breast soon to follow. We are traveling with 3 other vessels, 1 American and 2 Canadian. We Americans are cooking dinner tonight, hosted on Dolphin. Lots if good food is being prepared while underway.

Have a wonderful day with your families, we’re with you in spirit!!!

We’ll be catching up on the blog in the next few days. ATT reception in the Carolina’s has not been as accommodations as the wonderful Southern Hospitality we experience every where we go!

Cheers!
N&A