After spending the spring in Oriental, NC and some of the summer in Baldwinsville, NY we are finally ready to begin moving south for the 2017-2018 fall and winter season. We had a few more minor repairs done on the boat at Deaton's Yacht Services in October and then we moved the boat to our friend's Jerry and Donna's dock located in front of their house on Broad Creek off of the Neuse River. Here we waited for a weather window to begin our sailing trip to Florida with the Bahamas as our final destination.
On Tuesday, November 14, we left the dock and headed to Beaufort, NC where we staged our departure for a two and half day sail to Cumberland Island off Georgia's southeast coast. On Wednesday morning once we got past the inlet out onto the ocean, the winds were out of the north at 15-20 knots with higher gusts. We were moving at 7.0 knots with the main and staysail. Later we added the genoa to the sail combo and our speed increased to 8 knots with an occasional 9 and 10. Scheherazade was moving along nicely. It was a great ride. On Friday afternoon, we arrived at the St. Mary's inlet on the border of Georgia and Florida. Once we maneuvered through the inlet, we anchored in front of the Ice House Museum on Cumberland Island and planned on staying here for a few days. Last year we had a great time exploring the island where we saw wild horses, armadillos, pristine maritime forests and undeveloped beaches. However, the following morning was sunny with light winds making it a perfect day to move to the next destination. We pulled the anchor and went back out the St. Mary's Inlet to the ocean and motor sailed for about 5 hours to the St. John's inlet near Jacksonville, Florida. Today (Sunday) we find ourselves anchored in front of some beautiful homes on the shoreline of Marsh Island. Tomorrow we plan on entering the ICW and will make our way to St. Augustine, Florida.