As I type it's 55 degrees in the cabin and that's up from the mid 40's. We are tied up at our good friends Cathy and Alan's dock near Beaufort, SC and plugged in so that our $20 heater that we purchased from Walmart last year can put up the good fight against this cold front. Actually, this is not really a cold front. Those pass over - they come and they go. This one came and it seems to be staying. The skies are crystal clear - it's just 30 degrees out. Recent moves have been timed to get ourselves on docks so we can plug in. Yes - I know - it's brutally cold all over the US, but we are pretty much living in it.

Update:
After Carolina Beach we had a wonderful week in Philly attending the wedding of a dear friend and visiting with family. It was a bit of a tease as we found ourselves wanting to visit more and left thinking about what next year will bring.

We returned to the boat in Wilmington, NC and got underway on Wednesday 11/12. This was a really long day - about 45 minutes too long. We wanted to make it to the Calabash River anchorage (right on the border of North and South Carolina) so that we could make it to Charleston, SC on Saturday with a lay day in Georgetown, SC. Not sure why we created this "rush - rush" schedule but we did so we pushed to the Calabash River with current on our nose and a bunch of miles to go. We ran out of sunlight and motored the last 45 minutes in total darkness through some shallow spots and into an anchorage with a narrow entrance. We quickly found an open spot to anchor - that was the good news - the bad news was that it was right in the channel - too bad - it would have to do. It's not like we were going to circle around in the dark to find a better place, and there were already six boats in the anchorage - not sure there was a better place. It worked and we got Casey safely to shore.

The trip to Georgetown, SC was scenic and uneventful. Made it there well before sundown! Plugged in to shore power as there was more cold weather on the way. Georgetown is recovering from a terrible fire along the shorefront. There are lots of new stores and restaurants. It's really very nice although there is a nearby paper factory that seems to coat everything with a thin film of rust colored dust and the smell is - well let's just say, "acquired."

The trip to Charleston was the payback for all the current that we had on the nose going to the Calabash River a few days before. We flew. We had positive current down Winyah Bay, and it stayed with us as we got into the ICW. As we needed a little extra water over the shallow spots, the tide rose. As we needed the bridge to open, it opened....even five minutes early. All of this made for a rather nice - fast trip to Charleston. Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security didn't board us as we docked like they did the prior year. That was particularly nice!

Charleston was a wonderful visit with Cousin Clark and Monti, attended church, visited with dear friends Donna and Lee from our trip 15 years ago, Dave and Suzy who are cruising with us on and off this year - generally had a very nice but cold visit.

We're looking forward to our visit to Hilton Head and then it will be on to St. Mary's for the cruisers' Thanksgiving. Hope we can find some warmer weather by Thanksgiving....