I was up early and under way by 0700. I got the main up as I entered the channel and proceeded out onto the Atlantic. It was a beautiful morning with a light northerly wind which put it on my starboard quarter. I noticed a sailboat a mile or so in front of me who seemed to be going in the same direction.

I hailed them on the radio and found that "Dream Catcher" was also headed to Charleston and also eventually to Key West. (Small world...) Even though we lost sight of each other as the day progressed, it was good to know that someone else was out there.

Once I was on the open ocean and had the auto pilot set, I was free to read, wander around the boat, make lunch, etc. It was a far cry from travelling down the ICW.

About 1:15, I was reading in the cockpit when I heard a splash and a spraying sound just outside the cockpit. This turned out to be the first of several large schools of dolphin to visit me today. This school stayed with me for about twenty minutes and they were jumping and playing all around the boat.

Two of them kept taking turns swimming directly beneath my bowsprit keeping perfect pace with the boat. I managed to walk up and get their picture. Since I was able to get so many cool pictures, I decided to break this post up into segments. Here are my buddies!