We decided to wait one more day before starting north. This gave us the opportunity to walk into "downtown" Ft. Pierce yesterday afternoon, and to be reminded again of how much we want to leave Florida. With the extra day I was able to arrange to have the bottom cleaned. Although I had cleaned the waterline, there was still a lot of moss and growth from our time up the New River. Barnacles had also started to appear, so it was worth having a diver clean and check everything.
Once again thunderstorms are predicted for late this afternoon and evening, so a secure marina slip will give us a much better night's sleep.
The current plan is to move north at whatever pace seems comfortable, stopping for a day if there is something of interest to see. Once we get to Fernandina Beach at the Georgia state line, we will decide whether to jump offshore (saving about 45 miles) or whether to stay on the waterway. Either way we are expecting to be in Charleston around May first.
I've uploaded a few Bahamas pictures to the gallery.