This sunset was off the coast of South Carolina, or maybe Georgia. I don't remember but it was very pretty at the time, so I took a picture. I must have hundreds of pictures of sunsets. I guess I never tire of moments like that.

The balance of the trip south to St Mary's, GA was relatively uneventful. The transmission operated flawlessly for the next 10 hours or so. I am pretty convinced there was something just below the surface that was struck by the prop.

The winds eventually backed to the NW and picked up to 10-15 kts so I was able to shut the engine off and sail for about 8 hours at 6-7 kts on a broad reach. But the seas were confused with the NW wind waves crossing the NE swell and there was a lot of pitch and yaw going on. The upside is it gives you good core body exercise!

Timing of entry at the St Mary's River inlet could not have been worse. There was a good 3-4 kt ebbing current met by 15 kt NE wind which created the dreaded standing waves, some easily in the range of 6 ft. The ride in during these conditions is much better than plowing through them when heading out to sea, but really a pain in the ass, none the less. I pushed against the current all the way to the boat yard where Kristinly will be hauled, so after stopping to take on fuel at another place that was an hour out of the way, it was nearly 1530 by the time I got here. I was dead tired after 32 hours.

All told, it was 1,278 nm from Mallets Bay, VT to St Mary's, GA. I left VT 38 days ago. If you subtract the 4 days in Sandy Hook, NJ waiting out the weather, the 9 days spent in Annapolis for the boat show and meeting Nikki and Susan, as well as Joe and his buddy Kevin, and the 2 days spent in Wrightsville Beach, NC waiting out the weather there, I spent 23 days actually moving with the boat. Avoiding the ICW whenever possible and going outside around NJ (which you pretty much have to anyway because of the shallow depths), and from Wrightsville Beach to St Mary's, GA really saved a lot of time, but it's still a sailboat and you don't go anywhere fast.

I love, love, love sailing. I have found no activity or pass time in my life that I enjoy, or have enjoyed, more than this. But leaving Nikki behind is heart breaking, for both of us. I am also missing the opportunity to be with Kristin and Dan, and Jenni and Matt, and all my friends and extended family in the New England area. And by the way, my first grandchild (his name will be Marcus!) is due in December and I can't miss that. So as much as I love sailing, I love my family and friends more, and I have to rethink this whole business of sailing alone for extended periods of time. I don't want to give up sailing, but I need to find a way to do it and also keep the people in my life who mean so much to me, as close and possible. I will work on that. Being one who wants it all, I will have to give this all a lot of thought before heading back to sea the next time.

I will fly back to VT Thursday. Kristinly will be hauled after I leave next week and I have arranged to have a guy soda blast the hull in preparation for repainting the bottom. The working plan right now is to return to the boat late January, repaint the bottom and recommission her, and sail the boat to the Abacos in the Bahamas in time for Nikki to fly in to meet me there during her winter break in February. We hope to sail the Abacos together for two weeks. I will then prepare to sail the boat back to the northeast for summer sailing. As my friend Mayann always says about maiking plans to go cruising, the plan is cast in jello and we'll know more as January gets closer.

This is the last post until the end of January. Check back then for updates as the adventures of Kristinly and crew continues ...

Fair winds and following seas,
Randy