Perseverance2

A few days in St. Augustine stretched into almost a week at Rivers Edge Marina. Not super fancy, but very close to a lot of things, and very friendly. With friends nearby from Belum, Shearwater, and Sequence, our social calendar was not lacking. We managed to attend a Rhythm and Ribs Festival (great barbecue) and depart before the skies opened in a deluge. We enjoyed an Art Walk, toured a museum, and walked through the historic section of the city.
We left St. Augustine on Wednesday, April 9, and headed north on the inside/ICW to Fernandina Beach. This is one of our favorite stops, but this time we stayed on the boat in the anchorage area and made contact with Warrick and Wendy on Belum, who had left St. Augustine earlier and were in the area. On Thursday, we both headed out the Fernandina/St. Mary’s Inlet, intent on going north overnight to Port Royal Sound or Hilton Head. Weather forecasts led us to believe it was going to be a motor-only trip. To our surprise, we could sail, we could head in the right direction, and we could move as fast as if motoring. Belum stayed with their Hilton Head destination; we, however, modified our goal and headed further north to Charleston. The sailing did not last the whole night, but the rest of the trip was uneventful.
We arrived in Charleston around 1PM on Friday - just in time for some of the Charleston Race Week races to come screaming down the channel. We could only power back and try to stay out of their way.