It has been a busy few days! When we last wrote four days ago we had just entered Georgia... but we have traveled about 330 miles in the last 4 days by leaving before 7am and only stopping for the night around 4pm in time to get anchored before dark. Those long days are tiring because the ICW is shallow (often less than 8 feet -- we need 4 feet to float!) and winding back and forth through the salt marshes. We spend most of the day sitting next to each other on the bridge with Chris steering the boat and slowing down in the shallow areas when the depth alarm beeps and Marianne reading the cruising guides describing the sights and hazards in next few miles and planning the night's anchorage or marina. We enjoy anchoring many nights rather than tying up in a marina because we often have the anchorage to ourselves and we can chat, sip wine, watch TV, read, and catch up on email. However every few nights we head for a marina when we need fuel and we'll often go for a long walk and find a local restaurant for dinner.
The dolphins have been swimming along with us-- 
here you can see them jumping our wake. Some of the islands on the ICW have wild horses and some goats-- like this "goat island" -- makes us miss our Goat Island in Newport!
here you can see them jumping our wake. Some of the islands on the ICW have wild horses and some goats-- like this "goat island" -- makes us miss our Goat Island in Newport!
We've seen some lovely spots-- the anchorage on the Frederica River in Georgia was especially pretty-- and we've had some marina "adventures"-- last night we had to steer down a narrow channel and squeeze Pathfinder in between two huge megayachts next to the Chart House restaurant. As we came down the channel we kept asking the dockhand at the marina if he was sure we would fit-- we slid in with about 4 feet to spare! As we tied up the boat we looked up to see all the people eating their Thanksgiving dinner and clapping! We closed our blinds and sat down on board to a delicious turkey dinner that Marianne had planned.
It was a thrill to cruise through St. Augustine and see the lovely waterfront and the huge cross at the La Leche Shrine Marianne's parents had visited more than 60 years ago.
We traveled a total of 1,463 miles from Newport but we still have about 500 miles to go to get to Sarasota! It looks like the canal across Florida is too shallow due to the drought so we need to go all the way around the bottom of the state and up to Sarasota! We'll keep you posted!
We traveled a total of 1,463 miles from Newport but we still have about 500 miles to go to get to Sarasota! It looks like the canal across Florida is too shallow due to the drought so we need to go all the way around the bottom of the state and up to Sarasota! We'll keep you posted!
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