Here we are in Charleston again (Well - in the pretty picture above - we are still in Fernandina Beach!) Seems like yesterday and seems like forever ago that we had dinner at the BBQ place with Mary and Blair (Strathspey), and roamed the streets with Terry and Sue (Jim's cousin).

We departed from Fernandina Beach at 0800 hours on Tuesday when it looked like we'd have a smooth passage up the coast. Yes - it was smooth. A few rolls but nothing to complain about, and some wind but not enough to allow us to turn off the engine completely. We covered 157 nautical miles and dropped the anchor in the Ashley River about 1030 hours today. It is amazing to realize that in two jumps up the coast, we covered miles that took us two weeks on the way down. We had to skip Georgia this trip north so we'll return to visit Savannah and Cumberland Island in more depth next time.

After a rest, some lunch and some discussion, we moved over to the Charleston Harbour Resort Marina. I'm flying back to Nova Scotia on Friday for a few days and Jim decided he'd feel more comfortable on a dock for that time period. It makes it easier for him to come and go. He can do more boat jobs - washing, scrubbing, waxing! And if a big wind blows through, he'll be in a better position to manage it.

Last fall we stayed at the Charleston City Marina and were very pleased with it. We thought we'd try the Charleston Harbour Marina this time for a change; we'll see how it works out. So far, we can tell that the staff is not as well trained as those we met at the City Marina last year - in handling lines, in providing information, and it seems to me that it isn't as convenient - we can't just walk to the downtown.

I've just read a couple of good books: The Water is Wide, Pat Conroy's story of the year he spent teaching on Yamacraw Island, a tiny island a whole world and just a sliver of water away from South Carolina, - a very good read; a totally different one but entertaining and informative, (and it kept me awake on my watches last night) was Shark River by Randy Wayne White - a Florida writer. Jim is reading Charlie Wilson's War by George Crile and finds it enlightening and baffling at the same time. After we've both read it, we'll rent the movie.

That's it for now - an astoundingly short posting for me!