Since our last blog post, on the morning of Friday, October 23rd, we departed Goat Island and about an hour later tied up to a free dock in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and hiked to the laundromat. Later we walked to Mariner's Wharf and greeted Gus, the friendly local host of all the cruisers.

An early morning start, a smooth passage across the Albemarle Sound, and a gentle breeze in the genoa, all aided us in getting to the anchorage at the bottom of the Alligator River on Saturday, October 24th before sunset.

A first light start on Sunday, October 25th, plus some perfect wind for turning off the engine and sailing with just the genoa for a few hours on the Pungo River, and the day's passage concluded with anchoring after exiting the Hobucken Cut.

Following a rousing motor-sail for the first several hours of Monday, October 26th, we pulled in for fuel in Oriental before continuing on to anchor a short while later in Adams Creek.

Our passage on Tuesday, October 27th, brought us to anchoring near the Coast Guard Station, near Beaufort Inlet.

An early morning start on Wednesday, October 28th allowed plenty of time to get a decent spot to anchor for the night in Mile Hammock Bay with a couple of hours to spare before dusk and the evening entertainment of watching the additional boats pulling in to find their spot amongst the plethora of south-bound cruising vessels. (The day actually went quite smooth for us, considering the previously announced closure of passage in Camp Lejeune for the morning, which we heard no actual reports of on the VHF radio as we were underway, and the Browns Inlet shoaling which grounded multiple boats, but the timing of our passage allowed us a guided escort through as we arrived at that spot just as a towboat was pulling a boat off the shoal and had us follow them through the deep water.)

On Thursday, October 29th the majority of boats left before we did in the morning, and therefore we encountered less boats as we transited the three scheduled opening bridges during the passage to Wrightsville Beach, where we anchored for two nights waiting for better weather for transiting the Cape Fear River (or as we refer to it on s/v Grace, the "Daisy Patch").

Saturday, October 31st, an annual sailboat race takes place in Southport, which we would encounter and be delayed by for about an hour before we could continue along the ICW; nonetheless, we were able to get to the anchorage in Pipeline Canal for the night.

On Sunday, November 1st, after the success of most of the day's passage, we were hard aground upon our first attempt approaching a new free dock. We unsuccessfully attempted to get ungrounded with the dinghy as well as putting out a stern anchor, which would later be cut loose and left on the bottom since it was wedged under something and was unable to be retrieved. Former Vermonters in a small power boat attempted to give us a wake, at our request; fortunately since that did not help, we then saw the towboat we had called for coming into sight; much trepidation later, Grace was afloat and apparently undamaged by the incident; we turned around, and travelled the short distance back to Barefoot Resort Marina, where fellow sailors who overheard our VHF call for the tow quickly came to swap tales of each others groundings.

Monday morning, November 2nd, we cast off and stopped for fuel before anchoring for two nights at Butler Island.

On Wednesday, November 4th, we stopped for our first time at the courtesy day use dock in Georgetown, South Carolina for a captain's haircut and a rolling cart full of groceries before casting-off and continuing to anchor in the North Santee River.

Inlet Creek was our anchorage at the end of the passage on Thursday, November 5th.

Friday, November 6th, in the late afternoon suddenly a thick, un-forecast fog developed, and we made the choice to anchor for our first time in the South Edisto River, near ICW mile 508.

Looking ahead at where we wanted to be for the upcoming forecast strong winds, we planned for a first light start on Saturday, November 7th. Fog delayed the start, as it began to lift and we could begin to see the nearby shoreline, we hauled anchor and called on the VHF our position and heading; many other boaters responded on VHF; not long later, we dropped the hook again as the fog thickened. Our second attempt at getting underway was continuous, in intermittent fog, and with continuous VHF reports. Hours later, just before entering the Beaufort River, the fog had cleared completely. We waited for nearly a half hour for the road traffic to clear as the only boat for our "on request" opening in Beaufort. A boost from the current and brisk wind for motor-sailing with while we crossed Port Royal Sound helped us transit those few miles in a hurry. Light rain was followed by a vividly stunning complete double rainbow as we entered our desired spot to anchor for two nights in Bull Creek just before sunset.

Monday's passage on November 9th, was interrupted by a brief mid-day anchorage in the Herb River while rain passed by. Once we saw the radar was clear, we continued to anchor for our first time in the Vernon River in Georgia.

Tuesday, November 10th's passage concluded just off the ICW near mile 664.

On Wednesday, November 11th, we were invited to happy hour onboard s/v Autumn Bourne upon the conclusion of the day's passage when we anchored at Cumberland Island.

Following a morning walk on the National Seashore, where we got to see wild horses and turkeys, on Thursday, November 12th, we were underway a short while before stopping for fuel in Fernandina Beach, Florida and then continuing on to anchor in Alligator Creek.

Friday, November 13th's passage brought us to anchor near the Guana River.

On Saturday, November 14th, we were able to motor-sail for a significant portion of the day, and anchor south of Memorial Bridge in Daytona Beach.

Another nice wind for motor-sailing with on Sunday, November 15th, a transit well after the hours of closure of the Addision Point Bridge in Titusville, which quite a number of boats were waiting for, allowed us to transit the opening bridge by ourselves, and anchor just south of it.

More wonderful wind for motor-sailing with on Monday, November 16th, helped us get to Vero Beach Municipal Marina shortly before 5:00 PM, where we rafted up to Tom and Ollie on s/v Our Freedom. During our time there we rented a car, took the alternator to be serviced, got a replacement solar controller, changed the engine oils, did multiple shopping trips, and participated in the cruisers meet and greet where we saw many familiar faces.

On the morning of Friday, November 20th, we returned the rental car, and did laundry. At noon we pulled over to the service dock before departing, and anchored that night for our first time outside of Faber Cove.

We anchored in Peck Lake at the conclusion of Saturday, November 21st's passage.

Following a morning beach walk, during which more than a half dozen heart sea beans were found, on Sunday, November 22nd, we got underway. One of the many opening bridges of that day took five minutes after the scheduled opening before the bridge was actually open so we could pass, which caused us to miss the next opening bridge by six minutes and have to wait for the following opening a half hour later. Regardless, we were able to pull in to top off fuel before the nearby marina closed for the evening, shortly before pulling in to anchor in North Lake Worth. During our time here, we have taken the opportunity to go to shore for our first time here to get a few groceries and marine supplies. We will be here for a few more days until there is a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream to the Abacos in the Bahamas.

During these passages we have gotten to see the numerous dolphins, pelicans, eagles, fresh water turtles, a few sea turtles and rays, two alligators (one of which is pictured above), and one black bear in a tree.

During our time in the Bahamas, we will post updates to the blog whenever we have access to internet service, which could be intermittent as we cruise through the more remote islands. As always, we will look forward to reading your comments as we have opportunities to read them!