Cheryl's Notes:

We are still here in Isle of Palms, SC. We found out yesterday that the parts we need are being manufactured in NY and should be here in time to be installed on Thursday. We got here last Friday. That will be a whole week lost. This morning I woke up and told John to just leave me alone. My plan was to spend the whole day in bed. That lasted about fifteen minutes. We got up, showered (there is a lot to be said for unlimited hot water) and started our day charting our course for when we finally get to leave the dock. We got a new dock neighbor about 10:00 am. By noon, Frank and Debbie of Denali were our new best friends, and were already acquainted with Harley and Janice of Blue Blazes. We got a free ride to the shopping center and beach area. We then contracted to rent golf carts for 24 hours. While we were waiting for the golf carts to be charged and delivered, we walked the beach and had a burger at a beach side bar.

Once we had wheels (the first in over two weeks) we decided to explore more of the island. We got to watch the IOPFD decorate the main drag for Christmas. Luckily there was no fires on the island as the whole crew was involved. We then drove over a causeway to Sullivan Island. The wind has picked up today, and we headed towards the beach. We could see what looked like kites or parachutes rising above the Oceanside houses. We parked our carts and walked down to the beach. WOW. We spent the next hour watching about a dozen kite surfers flying over the waves. What a show! We tried to take pictures, but I am not sure that they really show how exciting it was. We have the carts for most of tomorrow , so we will probably use them to hit the grocery store one last time.

We have seen some really cool beach houses down here. My favorites have a spiral staircase that lead up to the widow's walk. I also like the houses that are painted really bright colors. They have verandas on every story that go from end to end. We found one that was for sale and the price was reduced to 1.9 million. I think that we will wait until it comes down a little bit more before we make an offer..

John's Notes:

We now have four new friends. Frank and Debbie of Denali are from Salem, MA. Everyone knows that Boston is one of our favorite places so that gave us lots to talk about. Harley and Janice of Blue Blazes are from, are you ready for this, C A N A D A! What a surprise. All in all, four really fantastic, interesting people. We had them all over for sundowners tonight. When we inevitably part ways with these guys, I have the feeling that we will probably stay in contact with them for a long time.

I've been saving this to tell everyone. The highlight of the day was walking down the beach looking at shells and all of a sudden finding a wad of cash. $2000 to be exact. Eureka! We can now pay for the new heat exchanger and have some left over for dinner. My excitement was quickly shattered when the group pointed out that while I certainly had found a wad of cash, unfortunately it was Monopoly money.

The wind has piped up again tonight. It's got to be steady 20kts plus. We are hoping for it to lay down later in the week so we can continue our journey to Florida. Not looking forward to taking the ICW through Georgia. According to recent reports, the water is pretty thin down there.

On another note, Cheryl tried to stiff the restaurant for the lunch tab today. After lunch we are down the street getting our golf carts and Cheryl handed me the $20 that I had given her when she went to pay for lunch. I asked her how she paid for lunch and she said that she thought that I had paid for it. I'm asking myself why I gave her the $20 she said she was going to use for paying for lunch. She said that she forgot to pay on her way to the restroom. So I have to sneak back in and apologize to the guy. Only slightly embarrassing.

Before I forget, when we got back to the boat we had a boat card from Sunspot Baby in our cockpit. The name seemed to ring a bell but I just couldn't place it. Turns out it was a boat from our marina and they had stopped here for the night. I went over and introduced myself to George and Lynn but I have to admit that I didn't recognize them. Apparently, they own a house in Fairfield Harbor and don't spend a lot of time in the marina. They are friends of Bev and Arnie. They had talked with them on the phone and that is how they knew that we were here waiting for parts.