Let’s see, our last blog entry was back at the end of October when we were working our way to Cumber Island. Cumberland Island is located at St. Marys, Georgia. It has pristine maritime forests and beautiful beaches on its ocean sides. The island is 18 miles long making it a 26 mile hike if you choose to walk all round it from start to finish. Or, you can get lost like we did with Karen and Tim on S/V Grace V. We turned a 4 mile hike into 8 or 10 miles before we found our way back. Those of you that are friends with me on face book saw the pictures I posted of the horses and armadillos that we saw. (See pictures in the blog gallery.) I must say, hiking on Cumberland Island is the highlight of our trip south so far this year. One side of the island faces the ocean, so you can walk the sandy beaches of the shore line. The other side faces the ICW where boats anchor just for the night. While others, like us, enjoyed visiting the Island for an entire day. For those of you who like camping, this is the place to go. There is fresh water, showers, and restrooms. The restrooms are a little rustic, but hey, so is camping.

After leaving Cumberland Island we spent the night at a free dock in Sisters Creek for the night. We had access to water so we washed the boat and got rid of all the salt that covered the boat from our overnight passages on the ocean. It was tough to dock due to the rapid current in the creek. Tim and Karen from Grace V caught our lines when we came into the dock and they also helped us off the dock the next morning. It is so nice to cruise with friends, thank you Tim and Karen. Once we left Sisters Creek we moved south to St. Augustine, Florida. The plan was to be there on Saturday, November the 19th for St. Augustine Nights of Lights 2016. Over 2.5 million Christmas Lights were lit in the plaza and we were there to see it. It was a grand sight.

The next day we had breakfast with Karen and Tim, Donna and Craig from Mighty Fine and Jane and Brian from Mar-a-Lago at Theos Greek restaurant. It was nice to catch up with Donna and Craig again. We had not seen them since last Christmas in Stuart. We were happy to finally meet Jane and Brian. We only knew them from speaking on the radio and from our blog sights. After breakfast, we went to a place called Sailors Exchange where you can buy used boat stuff. Tim modeled a wet suit for us. It was too funny. We had a lot of laughs. Then Karen and I went shopping through the old town part of St. Augustine. We had a nice day. We went back to our boats and got ready to go out to Pizza Alley’s Chianti Room for dinner with the same group we went to breakfast with. You buy a drink and get one free with a slice of pizza during happy hour. What a bargain. We had a lot of fun.

We stayed in St. Augustine for the St. Augustine Cruisers Net Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving dinner was a pot luck shared with many other folks who are like us, out cruising the waterways. We met a lot of nice people and the food was excellent. After dinner, we went for a walk with Laurie and Paul from S/V 2 Outrageous. We visited the Flagler College and the Castillo de San Marcos Fort which is the oldest masonry fort in the US designed by a Spanish engineer Ignacio Daza. The following day we took a tour of the Alligator Farm. It was an educational, as well as exciting visit. We couldn't believe how big they are. We had Another nice day in the warm Florida sunshine.

We left St. Augustine a few days ago and are now anchored in Coca Beach Florida, where we plan to spend a couple of days. Today we went ashore with our friends Tim, Karen, Craig and Donna. The town is very artsy. There is a park with hand painted wooden benches and many nice shops that also have painted benches We had lots of fun touring the enormous hardware store where we bought a utility cart to tote our laundry and groceries around from store to boat. Later in the day we all met for dinner on Grace V. Laurie and Paul from 2 Outrageous joined us as well. This cursing life can be busy, but lots of fun. Tomorrow we have lots of boat shores to do. On Thursday, we will move further South to Vero Beach.