I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration and now engaging in the Xmas/Chanukah festivities. I have had several bouts of homesickness but talking to family and friends did help a little. However, we did get to celebrate with about 150+ people from over 95 boats. We signed up to bring food and the table was overflowing with turkey, ham, potatoes, and fabulous desserts. We sat at a table with 6 strangers who very quickly became new acquaintances sharing stories about their and our lives. There is a good chance that we will cross paths with many of these people when we go to the Abaco's. Yes, we have a destination and hope to get there by the end of the first week in Dec. We are entering in the last stages of preparation - buying food and paper goods to last 16 weeks. That's 112 days of breakfasts, lunches and dinners. But the good news is that we have arranged to get a mooring in a place called 'Hopetown' and there are a full range of services (including an airport) there as well as in other harbors in the Abaco's. If we decide to travel further south (the Abaco's are in the northern Bahamas) there are less places to shop and the islands are less inhabited (there is even a "Long Island" without malls). We have been learning about the unique weather patterns that occur in the winter with calm, beautiful warm days with wind that blows 10-15 kts most of the time. And then there are the fronts that come through with regularity bringing strong winds and squalls that could last hours or a few days. We have heard that the Abaco's may be cooler than the southern Bahamas but that's ok with us. We are planning to stay until the end of March when we turn West and start coming home.
Anyway, we have spent time chatting with people, going ashore for showerstaking the bus to West Marine and Publix and walking to the beach. We do have TV reception for a few local stations and Channel 7 but don't watch much.
We took Simon to a local vet to get a micro chip implanted in his back but before we went Bill and I decided to give him a haircut and pedicure since he was having difficulty seeing anything and his nails where painful when he jumped up or climbed on our lap. Well, we used Bill's hair clippers which were certainly not like the ones used by his groomer at home and Simon was a trouper. The end result???? There was white hair everywhere and he could see again but the style is a far cry from a professional haircut. Hopefully, we will get better the next time.

We are just finishing another day in Vero Beach with not much happening. On two different evenings a few organizer's organized happy hour get togethers, pot luck appetizers and everyone brings their own libation (I have become hooked on Lipton Diet Green Tea-there goes my reputation.). Most of the talk is about, you guessed it, boats, boating stories, boating disasters, boating breakdowns and on and on. In addition, Bill and I have been actively asking about Bahama destinations and there are two very strong opinions - either go to the Abaco's or the Exuma's. It seems there are pros and cons for each of the two places and I was completely overwhelmed, confused and nervous about making the "right" decision. So for the time being we are choosing to go to the Abaco's (the northern most islands) and if we choose to go further south we would have plenty of time to do so. We are sure we won't be happy staying in Vero Beach for the entire winter and we are not really interested in going to the Florida Keys. We have met two couples who will also be making that trip (I'm sure there are many others but we haven't connected with them yet) and it is comforting to know that we might see them during the winter. One couple actually let us borrow their car today and tomorrow for shopping. Speaking of shopping it seems the forward cabin is going to house enough food to last all winter - how many cans of baked beans? We will have access to markets but things like paper towels cost $4.00 a roll so we will be bringing tons of what we think are essential. Snack food (chips, crackers ) , wine and beer is also very expensive. We will have to so some creative stowing. In addition, I have been talking to several of the women and have gotten lots of tips such as putting bay leaves everywhere to keep the bugs away and using specific products to keep clothes, shoes and other stuff mold and mildew free. That will really be an adventure. But we have also heard of glorious harbors, water that is unbelievably gorgeous, swimming with schools of parrot fish, and other wonders that just might knock our socks off (yes it is chilly again and I'm wearing socks).
I do wish my family and friends a very happy Thanksgiving. I'll be thinking of you.

Well, we made it. We are safe and sound in Vero Beach at the Municipal Marina. It is located behind an island and all the boats are at moorings. We are in a wonderful spot, safe from nasty, stormy weather (I hope), and today is the first day since sometime in Sept. when I put on a pair of shorts and a T shirt. We had some rain on the way but when we arrived the sun was out and the sky was clear blue. I took the best shower since leaving home and can do that every day!!!!! Oh the little pleasures. Also great laundry facilities, picnic areas, and the best is a free bus service to the malls, groceries, restaurants, and of course West Marine (Bill's favorite store). We will start exploring tomorrow. In addition, right in front of us, on land, is a dog park and Simon has made many friends even though most are without leash and he has a leash there didn't seem to be any discrimination.
But the best part of this trip was on Monday when a pair of porpoises passed by the bow and decided to play in our bow waves. I was hanging over the rail (Bill later told me he was very worried that I was going over the side) and they stayed with the boat for about 5 minutes. The pictures didn't come out great but I was thoroughly entranced by the sight of them cavorting around the boat.
There is a sign up sheet for those of us who wish to share a Thanksgiving Dinner and I've been told that most people do come and bring a pot luck something.
It seems that my cousin Sandi and my friend Tara are both going to be out of town so I am very happy that they are organizing this dinner. We have already had many initial contacts with other travelers and are gaining much information about the Bahamas, Keys, etc. We still don't know how the rest of the winter will be spent but there are several wonderful options.

It's been awhile since I have been able to spend time on the computer, sometimes no signal available and sometimes just tooo tired. We have had a variety of different kinds of travel days but we are now in St. Augustine,Florida. Getting here was OK with some calm beautiful days as well as our first sea adventure where poor Simon got seasick and needed the brown bucket (Anne and Victoria knows the reference). I think the photos will tell the story better than I can. Just to say, I was not a happy camper with the way the water was acting even though it was still a lovely sunny day. One major factor in our trip on the ICW is the current. On a normal day we travel about 7 miles/hour, however when the current is with us and rolling our speed has increased to 11.5 mph over the ground. This current also affects how we anchor so there is another burden on Bill to make sure we are safe and sound when the tide goes in as well as when it goes out. I just sit around and worry!
Another slight concern is the shallow water throughout the ICW and we have been very careful not to go aground. However, one morning Bill decided to take a "short cut" and all of a sudden I saw another sailboat very far from where we were and I realized something was amiss. The short cut was short on water and Bill, amazing sailor that he be, did get us out of there in time and we never touched bottom. He promised never to do that again (can we believe him?)l.
We stopped at a marina in Jekyll Island and the people there were very friendly. We were able to get a car and do grocery shopping, Simon had a long walk and we were included in a pot luck picnic dinner. We also met up with boats that we had passed or they had passed us , but at a marina we could actually talk to the people on board, and there is a good chance we will see them again. Lots of advice on how to do this trip and how, where and when to go to the Bahamas.
After passing by mega million dollar houses in the Jacksonville area we arrived at St. Augustine yesterday and pulled into a marina. As we left the harbor for St. Augustine Bill noticed that a part of the salt water pump that cooled the engine had fallen off after being in use for 35 years (and to my surprise there was no spare one aboard)_. Fortunately, we only had to go about12 miles (about 2 hours) and he was able to do his magic so we didn't have to call for help. It meant, though, shutting down the motor every 15 minutes to put some grease in the thingy (Anne and Victoria again knows this reference), We made it through the St. Augustine bridge and to our slip without difficulty. But then, where to get the part. After several phone calls it turned out that the part was in Jacksonville. I persuaded Bill to stay 2 nights in St. Augustine since we had to rent a car, drive to get the part and then he had to install it and I wanted to see something of this fabulous city! Happy ending all around. He got the part, installed it and we toured the city today.
In addition, as I was walking Simon yesterday I saw a boat coming in that looked just like ours without sails or masts. It pulled in to a slip right near us and it turns out it was the same hull as ours, built the same year and the owners were delightful. We also met a young man (21) who was traveling by himself on a boat called "Incommunicado". We have seen him several times (including the dock at Jekyll Island) but have not spoke to him. He came on board and told us that he is headed to Ft. Meyers and travels about 11 hours a day on a 30' boat that has very little protection from the weather. I actually took a photo of him when we were traveling through the rough weather.
So many stories, so many different ages and lifestyle decisions with the one constant of being on the water.
But tomorrow is another day, up at dawn and on our way. If all goes well we should be in Vero Beach, our first destination, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. The weather is looking just fine all week and it has finally warmed up a little. I am really looking forward to getting settled for, at least, a little while.

Just trying to fiddle with the setup.

Here we are once again in a quiet, flat, calm river for the night after a gorgeous day traveling from South Carolina to Georgia. Last night we were in the Wright River and I truly thought it was the wrong river to be in because it was exposed and not very protected. However, Bill assured me it would be just fine and it was right after all. When we woke up this morning it was parka, gloves and hat time, even Simon was shivering. We traveled past Savannah and the homes on the ICW were large and lovely. However, we didn't see any boats traveling along and were a little surprised and curious as to where they were. In the past we had at least the power boats, who probably left about 3 hours after us, pass us by but today nothing until we anchored here in Walburg Creek. There are 8 boats, some sail/some power, staying the night. It was a good day for photos - deer and an American bald eagle, a flock of ibis flying overhead, two separate spans on a small drawbridge
and several dolphin ( I still can't get a good photo of them), and of course houses.