We have no internet connection where we are staying in Charleston and we won't be here long enough to find a wifi hot spot with our laptops so we'll post this when we get to Fernandina.

We had an evening "do" complete with many glasses of wine last night with two new groups of friends from Seeker and Further. We provided some cheese and crackers and Further brought over a couple of bottles of wine to augment our supply. It was great to touch base with Earl and Kathy again before they set off for their Christmas holidays with family ashore and fun to introduce them to Eric and Cori. The party went on 'till 21h00 or well after cruiser's midnight but we still got enough sleep to get an early start this morning.

We set off in the wee dark hours and as we re-entered the ICW the sun came up on a brisk but very beautiful morning. Today was the sort of day that everyone would like to have every day even though it was still a bit chilly. We had pods of dolphins playing about the boat on several occasions, we saw bald eagles, ospreys, flocks of pelicans and other seabirds and on one point on the bank of the canal I happened to catch sight of 4 young deer who had come down to the water's edge for a drink and some fresh foliage. We managed to catch enough of the tides and had some wind to fill the jib so that we made the Ben Sawyer Bridge for the 16h00 opening. I wasn't expecting the last stretch to be as nerve wracking as it turned out but as Dixie IV passed us they let us know that the stretch between the fixed bridge at Isle of Palms and the Ben Sawyer is very "skinny", particularly where the small creeks intersect with the ICW. Once again luck coupled with some advice from TowBoatUS stood us in good stead. We steamed through the shallow bits and never saw less than 2 feet under the keel. However, I was acutely aware that more than 5 or 10 feet in either direction and the water would shoal up very quickly.

Barb was calling forward to get us a spot to stay and do last minute preps for the departure tomorrow to Fernandina Beach and we found that there was no room in the inn. Then she made a call to an old contact and scored us a free dock for the night. The actual dock will remain nameless by request, but what luck! Of course her personal magnetism didn't hurt either.

We walked down to what I call Harassing Titters but actually has another name and is a really excellent grocery store and bought some "growlies" in case we can't get anywhere before Christmas. Eric and Cori aboard Further will be sailing buddy boat with us and will be staying for a while at Fernandina Beach as well. Great! They are good company and its always fun to share.