N32 47 35 W79 55 45, Charleston, SC

It was 153 NM from Grand Island, Bahamas to Cape Canaveral, FL and the trip was a bit lumpy. We were able to sail about half of the way then motor-sail the last half. The winds were stronger than predicted and more NE than E and 25-30K of wind. Seas were 4-6 until we hit the Gulf Stream when they built to 6-8 foot with a 10 footer thrown in every once in a while. We gave Jessie a doggy downer to calm her as she is not a big fan of rough weather. It looks like the captain may have helped himself to one of her meds also.

We got into Cape Canaveral about 11:00 AM on Tuesday. Spent the day clearing customs, refueling, cleaning the boat, getting propane, doing laundry and shopping for food. We were sad to leave the Bahamas but it's nice to be back in the land of the free and home of cell phones, Internet and being able to buy anything you like, not just what they have. After getting our chores done we went out to a local joint for Taco Tuesday and beers with our friends on Treasure Island, Rusty Rudder and Oasis. We were all pretty beat and all agreed that we would not be leaving the next day for Fernandina Florida, another 168 mile trip. It's amazing what a good nights sleep will do. The weather was good and we took off the next day at 10:00 AM for another overnight trip!

We arrived in Fernandina, FL at 1:00 PM and stayed for a couple of days. Then moved about 5 miles north to Cumberland Island, GA to anchor out for a few days and veg. This is a picture of the trails that are on the island that take you over to the beach on the Atlantic side. Jessie was very happy to be running free on the beach until the park ranger thought she should be on the leash. Then the winds switched and the smoke from the wildfire in southern GA descended on us. We woke up to ash all over the deck and could hardly breath. So we decided to leave for Charleston. SC, another 162 mile trip. So off we went with the smoke so thick we had to us our radar to see all the shrimp boats fishing on the Atlantic. After a few hours we were clear of the smoke and had a very enjoyable cruise to Charleston Harbor. No one had to be sedated and we arrived at the Charleston Maritime Center at 10:00 AM on May 1.

It is now May 8th and we are still at Charleston. All the boats are pinned down by high winds that are predicted to last until Thursday. The bridges won't even open until the winds go below 25 knots for a sustained period of time. This has given us an opportunity to explore Charleston and tour the battle ships (aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, submarine Clamagore, destroyer Laffey and coast guard cutter Ingham), Fort Sumter (first shots of the Civil War), the aquarium and much more.

So we will hang here and wait until the winds die, then head up north on the ICW to the next destination.

Until then, B&C