Well, all good things must come to an end. We have been proceeding north and tonite is our last nite of travel. We had a nice short day, only 40 miles, which in trawler time is a short day. We have been trying to anchor as much as we could on the return and actually were able to avoid marinas for 9 straight days. More weather was coming in...lots of rain, some wind, but what was disconcerting were the temps. We ended up in a marina in Beaufort and Charleston. If my memory serves me it started getting very grey Sunday and we anticipated rain during the nite which did not materialize. We took off Monday to some rain but still not bad. As the day progressed it got progressively colder and more and more miserable. It really felt like a March day up north. We pulled in to a marina in a miserable cold rain...actually bone chilling. It was only then that we realized that Another Chapter is really not a good cold weather boat. Way too many air leaks, but thank goodness for heat. It got down to about 38* the next morning and we took off for Charleston. Decided since it was still so miserable with rain and cold another nite would be spent in a marina. Fortunately the skies finally cleared yesterday about 4PM and we have been able to anchor out again. Of course by the time we pull into St. James it should be 70*. I cannot believe we have been gone almost 80 days. I will need to calculate miles gone, but I know it was far. All around it was a good trip and Another Chapter was very good to us (knock on wood...absolutely no issues). The only issue we had was the cold temps. We have worn more winter clothes than shorts which I feel is unusual for Florida. The huge highlight of the trip of course, was Alyson's shower and the arrival of Grayson, which was spectacular. We are looking forward to our creature comforts of home and I am sure Madison is looking forward to walking around just a bit more.
Whenever I take these trips I always think of the explorers that discovered our world. I could have cared less in school who discovered what but when you spend time on the water you develop a whole new respect for it and how difficult it must have been. We saw re creations of the Nina and Pinta and let me tell you there is no way you would have gotten me on those boats. They would have thrown me overboard with all the bitching I would have done. Talk about no creature comforts and that fact that it crossed an ocean is even more remarkable. We have charts, GPS and books and we still get confused. I will make a last entry of the stats and it may take a few days. We have a lot of stuff on this boat that needs to come off. Always feels like moving.

Absolutely wonderful spot to visit.

mansion

Carnegie's mansion in ruins

gnarly trees

more cumberland