11/22
Ran to the food store this morning to replenish those things running low. We are waiting till noon to leave because the passage behind Jekyll Is Is touted to be shallow and it's suggested that you wait till the low tide comes up a few feet before trying to traverse it. Before we get to the passage we need to go across St. Simon Sound which shouldn't be bad except for the cold air. Stayed in Brickhill river last night. This was a staging place to get to the Jekyll passage. Was a quiet night but very cold again. Yesterday and today seem to be the two coldest yet.
11/23
Made the passage behind Jekells. Saw pods of porpoise that came right up to the boat and arced a few times. Tried to pull off and go to an anchoring spot just past the St John's inlet, but as we were pulling in we foundthe bottom bumping in 2.5 feet of water so I did a quick U turn back to the main channel. Now the delema was where to stay tonight. Found a marina near Jacksonville Beach and tied up at 4:00. Filled up with 6.9 gallon of diesel today. They offered free beer and hotdogs this evening so we had a easy meal - this was good because I felt the need for a hotdog. In the morning I decided to stay an extra day. The temp is supposed to be the warmest we have had for awhile - in the upper 60s. So this will be a chill day. Plan on sailing to St. Augustine tomorrow and spending a day there. The city was initially constructed near 1560 so I'm interested in seeing the architecture.

12/5 The travel was in protected waters and there was little wind. The temps are in the 70s and need to use sunscreen due to its intensity. Stayed in Harbor town Marina this evening in Fort Pierce Fl. This isn't the greatest place we have stayed but it has hot showers and food store nearby that we can walk to this evening. Filled up the water and added 4.78 gal. of fuel for 13.28. Got to bed early need to travel 50 mile tomorrow.
12/6 Usual morning startup breakfast, check the engine oil and figure out how we're going to leave the dock. The large bush 50 feet from the boat was covered with pelicans, egrets, and cormorants. The day resulted in dealing with 8 bridges that required communicating with and waiting for them to rise. Some raise on the hour and half hour and others on the quarter and three quarter hour. So it's good to be there when they open or you loose a lot of time waiting. Ended up in Lake Worth in North Palm Beach tonight. Tonight they had their xmas on the water parade. Even though we were not close to it we could see the decorated floats/boats through the binoculars and the fireworks at intervals along the parade route. They are calling for bad weather next Wed thru Fri so were going to try and get to Key Biscayne by Wed so we can hole up if necessary. Then we can get to Marathon to secure the boat for the holidays.

12/7 From N. Palm Beach to Boca Rotan on Santa Barbara Lake in one day with 8 bridges is quite a feat. The bridges all open at different times so you need to judge your speed accordingly. There were two boats traveling with us - Mon Ile (My Island)and Chenou (Our House). Traveled 1014 to 1055 today considering the delays resulting from waiting for the bridges. The ICW today was mostly condos and estates lining the banks. The passing boats would create wakes that echoed against the walls of the passage ways. Anchored in Santa Barbara Lake which is quite small about 40 acres.

12/8 Traveled from 1055 to 1094- got up early - 6:30 and checked the engine oil - had to add an 1/8 of a quart - and filled the diesel from the 5 gal. jerry container. Got done before Dave woke up and started breakfast. Have a slew of bridges again to deal with because of their various opening times and the time needed to get to the next one. So, it ends up being hurry up and wait. We were under way by 7:15, which was good because I wanted to stop to fill up completely with diesel, since we will be in the islands and have limited access to fuel. Headed down through Ft Lauderdale and Miami to the Bay of Biscayne and went into Dinner Cay for the night so we could do our last food shopping before heading out. The water turned colors today from a dark green to turquoise and we could see the bottom in 15 feet of water. It was disconcerting because we are only used to seeing the bottom when it is a few feet deep. This is a change we'll have to get used to. It was kinda neat going out into the Bay of Biscayne because ahead you could only see water and after being surrounded by land for the last 6 week it gave a sense of freedom. There is a potential cold front moving across the states later this week and we'll see when it is supposed to get here and how high the winds will be. Currently the weather man is predicting breezy conditions. My experience is that that could mean anything from 15 kn to a gale. Were on our way to Marathon and this will require 2 days of open water passages.