After a wonderful trip home, driving to North Carolina, then on to Indiana, flying to Colorado, driving to Illinois, and visiting as many friends and family as we could squeeze in over the holidays we are purely exhausted and back on the open water! Aquaholics Too received a little care during our break including 800 Watts of new solar panels, some fresh bottom paint to deter growth under the water, and Kent getting hauled up the mast by Michelle and Dave to replace our wind vane...she was ready to take us on the next phase of our journey!




We hung out in Florida for a couple of weeks as cold front after cold front was sweeping the nation (you all know it to be true!) and each front brought wind and waves not amenable to crossing the ocean. We spent our time doing small projects on the boat, and enjoying the wonderful company of Michelle's mom, sister Ang, and brother-in-law Dave visiting, playing games, and cherishing the extra time together...then it came, that wonderful e-mail from a guy we hired to evaluate the weather telling us there is a window! A small break in the fronts provided a 24 hour window and we grabbed it! On January 12th at 9 pm we untied our dock lines and headed out!

A little over 100 miles and 17 hours later we pulled into Old Bahama Bay in West End, Bahamas! Overall the trip was pretty uneventful, some rolling seas and of course wind right on the nose so we had to motor the whole way. Jack was a trooper and not once complained that he had no potty stops! A little time in Customs and Immigration and we were welcomed into the Bahamas and hoisted our Bahamian courtesy flag!





The marina is attached to a resort with beaches, a Tiki Bar, restaurant, and a very nice older gentleman that makes the best conch salad! We are staged and ready to sail over to the Abacos islands, just waiting on this latest front to blow through so wind and seas are suitable for the next leg...we will be in the Bahamas until mid-May and are not rushing our way through...this is all about the relaxation now, 'mon!

A quick overnight stop in New Smyrna Beach we then travelled down to Cape Canaveral! Here we were staged for our final hop down to Fort Pierce and with some weather coming through we took advantage of the break to get a little work done on the boat and play tourist of the area! We received a great treat upon pulling into the Port Canaveral Yacht Club, our neighboring boat is one of our favorite YouTube shows that we've been following for years! The boat, Athena, and her Captain Mads Dahlke from SailLife! Over the course of our stay there we were able to talk with him a few times and welcomed him to a cookout there at the marina one evening!



We rented a car for a few days and Michelle stole away one evening to drive an hour to visit her mom and sister Ang! It was so fantastic to be close enough to see them! Kent and Michelle both agree the worst part of this life is not having that local contact with friends and family and while technology means we can always call and touch base, nothing beats a hug from mom!

A priority on our list of things to do was tour the Kennedy Space Center and experience the history of space flight! We were fortunate enough to be there and witness first hand a SpaceX launch! From the Banana Creek viewing stands just six miles from the launch pad we enjoyed watching, hearing and feeling blast off! We got to see the space shuttle Atlantis, learn about the Hubble telescope, and strapped in for a space shuttle launch simulator!




We spent a day getting our gamble on by enjoying a Victory Casino Cruise! It was nice to have someone else skipper for the day and after five hours of slots and blackjack we found ourselves breaking even financially!

The people at the marina were so friendly and we really enjoyed meeting both the yacht club members as well as other transients that were using Cape Canaveral as a jumping off point for future travels. We connected with several other transients including Adam from New York who is planning a Pacific crossing to the Marquesas Islands, and Judd and Simon from Australia who purchased a boat in Annapolis and are working their way back to Australia. A wonderful dinner and over indulgence at a Brazilian Steakhouse in Orlando was enjoyed and left us all very stuffed!

We grabbed a day of nice weather, weaved around the incoming cruise ships, and headed south to Fort Pierce where we stayed in a marina for a couple of days then hauled Aquaholics Too out of the water for storage for a month. It is here we pause...the Holdrens are driving back to Indiana for a month to enjoy some much needed rest and time with family and friends. We will come back to Florida at the end of December and continue our adventure to the Bahamas in early January!



We are so thankful for the opportunities and adventures we've enjoyed in 2024. The sights we've seen, and the friends we've made, are so much more than we ever could have dreamed this trip would entail. Thank you for following along with us, love and best wishes to you all!

It's warming up! Upon leaving Jekyll Island we also left Georgia and arrived on the sunny shores of Amelia Island in Florida! The city marina is right in the historic downtown Fernandina Beach and a great little area to walk around and see things! While we were there the 2024 Amelia Island Open Petanque Tournament was going on right outside the marina! For those that don't know (we were with you in this category), petanque is the French version of Bocce Ball, and this tournament is the largest is America with teams from around the world! We stopped by several times to watch the competition, they had 90 courts set up and the tournament lasted three days!



We visited the little shops, took the obligatory picture with the fake shark hanging on the dock, and had a wonderful dinner of sangria, tapas and paella at a Spanish restaurant! Jack enjoyed watching the coi fish outside one of the shops! This was the time of the super moon, and WOW were the tides showing it! During high tide on Saturday morning the docks at the shore line were easily 4" under water. The dockmaster at the marina said he'd never seen them so high!




Given the high tides and our concern to fit under the bridges, we opted to head out to sea for the jaunt down to St Augustine. It was a beautiful day with winds about 8 knots and the sea swell at about 3 1/2'. The 60 mile passage was going to take us about 10 hours so we left about 6:30 in the morning, just as the sun was peeking herself over the horizon. At about 3:30 we were two miles off shore and approaching the St Augustine inlet. The shoreline looked so angry, large waves crashing for a good distance from the beach and against the rock jetties that line the inlet. Kent went down into the cabin and Michelle was at the helm when she spotted something in the water. Always on the lookout for debris but with the sun in her eyes she wasn't sure at first if it was a log, or maybe a dolphin? Then she heard the shout, "Hey! Over Here! Help!". It was a man!!!

A quick throttle down caused Kent to come running up, still zipping from his bathroom break! Michelle maneuvered the boat to the man's direction while Kent threw the lifesling at him. The lifesling is a horseshoe shaped flotation collar with a 125' line attached. The man caught the flotation and Kent was able to pull him to the back of the boat where he climbed the ladder to board! We learned his name is Mike, and Mike explained that he had parked his truck on the beach and went for a little float (he still had his floatie with him, two inflated tubes with a net between them he would sit in). The tides shifted, and he was unable to fight the pull out to sea. Waves crashing over him coming through those angry seas the water just kept pulling him further and further out. Mike said he had been in the waters for a few hours, a couple boats came through the area but none had seen or heard him. With the sun dipping he feared this was his fate. Mike is 72 years old, and while very fit the fighting to get back ashore had been pretty well drained his reserves. We got him a blanket, some water, and a little food and gave him our phone to call his wife.

Pam, Mike's wife, wasn't aware he had been missing yet so she didn't fully grasp the severity of the situation. We were able to get him into St Augustine where we picked up a mooring ball, then dinghied to the marina. By the time Pam came to the marina their son, a Sargent for the St John's County Sherriff Department, had called her. Some of Mike's friends had noticed his truck still on the beach and called him concerned. Their son had started to invoke the Coast Guard and search and rescue, and was calling his mom to let her know. She shared that Mike had just called to say he is ok! (You can see Mike's floaties next to Kent in the picture below)



We are so thankful that we were in the right spot at the right time! Mike is a great man, a retired teacher from there in St Augustine, and he was a joy to meet. Best wishes Mike, make everyday count!

Upon leaving Hilton Head we had a few days of calm winds and seas and enjoyed some nice anchorages. Our first stop was Kilkenny Creek, a small creek offshoot from the ICW amidst the marshes. We anchored about 300 yards from a marina and aside from the boat shifting where it points when the current turned we barely moved. The calm evening meant it was time for some drone flying! Jack normally goes pretty ballistic when he hears the drone and we have to put him down below. This time we kept him on deck and were training him how to react. He was still excited but not running about and barking! Several times we had dolphins come play around the boat as we enjoyed a cocktail while watching the sunset. The marina was kind enough to allow us to bring Jack there for his potty breaks!




From Kilkenny Creek we made our way 33 miles south to Sapelo Island and anchored in Duplin Creek just north of the Marsh Ferry Docks. Some of you may have heard the recent news of this location, on October 20th the gangway to the ferry collapsed and 20 people fell in the water. Sadly many of them were senior citizens and the accident claimed 7 lives. We got in our dinghy with the new "go fast" motor and made our way a few miles around Sapelo Island towards the Atlantic where we beached the dinghy. Beautiful sand and views, we enjoyed a picnic lunch and Jack had the afternoon free to run the beach...at the expense of a couple of burrs getting stuck to his feet from when he wandered into the plant area! Do you know what a group of Pelicans is called? One option, our preferred, is a squadron! There was a squadron of pelicans on the beach and we paused to watch them hunt, fight, and float.



The next morning we were headed to Jekyll Island. Initially our intent was to anchor but a high wind system was coming through so we reserved a spot at the marina. The marina offered free use of golf carts and bicycles so we took Jack for his first golf cart ride and explored the island! It's a great little island and we found a picnic area with hiking trails, then some more beach time. In the evening we enjoyed some relaxation time in the marina's hot tub! Not sure what this sign means at the pool, how do you have a "theoretical" peak capacity? :) This is our last night in Georgia, the next day is on to Amelia Island in Florida!

It took two days from Charleston and several bridges to arrive at Hilton Head, SC! On each day we encountered a bridge that did not provide the clearance we needed to pass so we had to drop anchor and wait for 4 hours for the tide to drop so we could fit. A nuisance, yes, but it was calm and a great opportunity for a mid-day nap!

We pulled into Palmetto Bay Marina in Hilton Head, SC late in the afternoon and immediately liked it. A small community with several restaurants and a couple of condo buildings, it was to be our home for a week! Free laundry and a bar within 100 yards walking distance...who could ask for more! We treated ourselves to a positively scrumptious dinner at The Black Marlin Bayside Grill, Michelle enjoyed a Grouper Daufuskie on cheesy grits and Kent savored a mixed grill platter with Filet Mignon, bacon wrapped shrimp, and mahi mahi! We will have happy dreams about this dinner for years to come!



The following morning entailed laundry and a thorough deep cleaning of the boat, company was coming! In the afternoon we were so excited to Welcome Kent's high school friends Dave and Daphne, we had been looking forward to this visit and were excited it was finally upon us! The forecast for the couple of days wasn't as positive, it showed rain for the most part with just times of clearing. We spent the visit playing games and catching up. The first evening cleared and we walked the beach a little, enjoyed some cocktails at the beach bar at their hotel, and played some corn hole.



The second evening we scored some tickets to see a local combination magic / comedy show, IT WAS GREAT! The magician drew a bowling ball on a sketch pad then actually pulled an 8 lb bowling ball out of the sketch pad! He was very good at engaging the audience and it was a wonderful show. We were among the last to head towards the door of the theatre and the owner (wife of the magician) approached us to chat. She offered to show us the back theatre where they hold more intimate shows with a smaller audience. The magician himself came up and we ended up talking to them for over 1/2 hour!



The following day was Daphne's birthday! Sadly, they were heading back home, and the time we did have with them involved fixing a plumbing leak in Kent's shower. But the joy continued as we were once again blessed with a visit, Kent's brother Stan arrived that morning! Lots of talking and catching up, it had been a couple years since we'd seen each other. On Saturday we drove in to Savannah, GA and walked around the City Market, River Street Market, and along the river. We enjoyed a Meade tasting at the Savannah Bee Co then lunch at the City Market Cafe.



After lunch we took a tour of the Prohibition Museum! The museum had an authentic Model T car and great displays with wax figures covering Carry Nation, the Temperance Crusade, moonshine making (and it's inception of NASCAR racing) and the gangsters of the time. We finished the tour in the Speakeasy where we enjoyed a Roaring 20's era cocktail ~ Michelle's was with Gin, Stan and Kent opted for Bourbon variations!



Another great visit with wonderful memories! On Sunday Stan headed home and we opted to stay in Hilton Head one more day to allow some high winds to calm down. We used the time to revisit the algae problem in the tank as our engine had started sputtering again. With a bunch of paper towels, and a very long clamp, Kent scrubbed the bottom of the tank to remove a layer of algae. It's looking much better and we are hopeful this time will be the last.

Just two hours on the water (and two bridges) and Bob's your uncle we docked in Charleston! Yay! We were leaving the next morning at 0400 so we wanted to make the most of our day here, it is such an wonderful city! We decided to forego walking around downtown and did two things Michelle has not done in her several visits here...a ferry out to Fort Sumter and a tour of the USS Yorktown!



Throughout our travels there have been various historical figures that have peeked Michelle's interest and desire to learn more about their cause, person, and actions. In Charleston this came in the form of Robert Smalls. During the Civil War, Mr. Smalls was a slave on board a Confederate transport ship in Charleston Harbor. The Confederate Sailors and soldiers went ashore for liberty leaving the slaves on board, and Mr. Smalls took it upon himself to commandeer the ship and sail it to safety behind the Union blockade! He then served the US Navy as a civilian sea captain until 1868, convinced Abraham Lincoln to allows blacks in the union military, and was a founding member of the South Carolina Republican party. He was the last republican to be elected to South Carolina's 5th congressional district until Mick Mulvaney in 2010.

We learned about the history of Fort Sumter and walked inside and out what remains (it was never fully rebuilt after the north obliterated it once it was under Confederate holdings). The obligatory cannons were displayed about in all sizes. Did you know that when new states are added to the union, the flag does not change to add the star until the 4th of July? The flag at the fort is a replica of when the Union surrendered the fort on April 11, 1861. Kansas had become a state in January but the flag still had 33 starts since it was prior to July 4th.



That evening we headed over to the USS Yorktown for a night time (ghost) tour. It was a great tour of the ship and we even got to walk the flight deck! The Yorktown was built at the beginning of WWII, actually it was originally going to be named the Bonhomme Richard but after the previous USS Yorktown was sunk at Midway the name of the new ship was changed while it was still being built. When the new Yorktown made her appearance, it fooled the Japanese for a few months that perhaps they hadn't sunk her! We saw no ghosts, but thoroughly enjoyed seeing the berthing spaces, galley, and rest of the ship!



It was a wonderful visit in Charleston and definitely a place we'd love to go back to! Moving on to Beaufort (Bew-furt) South Carolina next!