There is something about this bit of northern Florida... we feel very much like we've arrived somewhere home-like. Perhaps it's the fact that we have several friends here (an oft-mentioned benefit of cruising), perhaps it's the friendliness of the folks around the marina and the town, perhaps the way those huge old trees laden with spanish moss just envelop a person, but this is a place to linger.

After the best night's sleep in a long time, we left Steve and Sandra's (in their graciously loaned car) to see how Madcap had fared overnight. All was well, fortunately. We picked up Ken and Connie and drove to K-mart and the other big stores on Sadler Road. Jim managed to replace our cell phone that stopped working, we picked up some other odds and sods and Ken and Connie took care of some things.

In the evening, the four of us returned to Steve and Sandra's for dinner and, once again had a lovely, conversation filled time. These folks are superb hosts!

We have checked in with the Cruisers Net on SSB a few times. We've often been able to connect with the Bahamas. Today, Karin on Passages just down the dock relayed for us so our buddies know where we are!

After Wednesday's wild night of wind and rain that had us straining at the dock lines and every line/halyard/assorted other pieces of rigging on the boat rattling loudly, we woke up to cold weather again.

Thursday saw us at work on computers and phones. Jim ordered a new condenser unit and freezer bin from Sea Frost, I caught up on postings, and we booked ourselves into a slip at Fernandina Harbour Marina for a month. We had planned to fly home from Nassau on Dec 17th. That is clearly not going to happen so we're trying to negotiate a change in departure locations. After much discussion about getting farther south, and weather windows and fronts and possible marinas, we decided to just stay here. We got a good rate at the marina - they'll deduct the daily fees we've already paid from the monthly rental, and we don't have to be trying to meet one more schedule. We will just have to hope for decent weather after we come back to get us on the move again.

We're off to Tina's tonight for more fun and keeping our fingers crossed that everything falls into place!