We had a visit today from Michelle, Chloe and Hazel from Brooklin, ME. They are in FL visiting relatives and drove an hour and a half to come spend the afternoon with us. Tani was thrilled to see her buddies. She has been missing friends from home recently so it was especially nice for her. And it was nice for me to catch up on things in Brooklin and spend some time with Michelle.

Jimmy spent most of the day running around gathering items from a "wishlist" for our friends on Sunrise who are already in the Bahamas and have found that there is much that you cannot get (or afford) there. It has been very helpful getting info from them about what to expect once we're over there.

So now we just wait for the right weather...I know it will get here eventually...

So here we are in sunny, southern Florida just in time for the record breaking freeze. Who would have thought.
We motored our way down the ICW last week testing out our new Pro-Furl jib. We had been toying with the idea of putting the jib on a roller furler but had hesitated both because of the cost and the dilemma of keeping with the traditional feel of the boat or modernizing for convenience. We were lucky to stumble upon a barely used Pro-Furl just the right size for our boat for a fraction of the cost of a new one and even better, they said they could use our existing sail to put on it (we had been told by other people that we would have to make a whole new sail) so we jumped on it. The results are in and we LOVE it. Our hardest sail to use is now our easiest and we can roll that thing in and out in seconds instead of having to climb out to the end of an 18 ft. bowsprit and wrestle the sail up or down clinging on for dear life.
The water here in Palm Beach is finally clear and blue, just what we have been dreaming of. Unfortunately it is so cold that we have yet to swim in the ocean once this whole trip! We do have a blow up baby pool that we put on deck and when there is a hint of sun the kids run to fill it up.
I had to leave the boat to spend a few days in Colorado helping my mother (who broke her leg in a fall - she is recovering very quickly) and visiting with my sisters. River came with me and Tani and Jim stayed behind to tend to the boat and finish our provisioning and preparations for heading offshore. They drove down to Ft. Lauderdale on Tuesday to pick up Aaron and Maddy, a young couple that are going to travel with us for a little while. They are a fun addition to our crew.
Now we are hunkered down huddled in all the clothes we have listening to the wind howl outside and waiting for our weather window to head to the Bahamas. ...any day now.

We miss Starbound and our quieter life and it's only been four days. The big kids couldn't make it south with their hectic work and school schedules so we decided we couldn't have a christmas without them. Starbound safely snugged into Halfax Harbor Marina in Daytona Beach -- I drove up north in 19 hours, then picked up Heather and the kids who got the last 2 seats from Orlando to Westchester County Airport. It has been a whirlwind of fun and snow. Traffic and family. James and Savannah are doing wonderful things James at RIT studying International Business with a minor in Chinese, Savannah is getting through her Junior year at GHS and working lots of hours at her new job at a Lilly Pulitzer store on Greenwich Avenue. We are very proud of them both. We love to see our family and have a snowy Christmas - we don't miss the traffic, people in large SUV's driving one foot from our bumper and honking their horns like they change channels on their 400 channel Cable Televisions, the video cameras on every other traffic light that gives computer generated automatic tickets if that yellow light turns red while you are in the intersection, the crowds in the grocery stores. I guess we are becoming more small town all the time. On the 28th we arrive back in Daytona and head to Ft Lauderdale then over to Bimini.

We have an unexpected uninvited guest. Quickly dubbed by the kids "Crash Landing Cassidy (just Crash, for short), a boy pelican" - our exhausted, large feathery friend. A Pelican. As we were coming into our anchorage behind a small barrier island in Georgia a pelican was heading right for the starboard side of the boat. We didn't pay much attention because we have found that Dolphins and Pelicans tend to be drawn to Starbound. We had read something about the dolphins having an affinity for the boat in the book STARBOUND, and have found it to be so. We have had more than our share of Dolphins riding our bow wave from North Carolina all the way to Georgia. We hope this continues! The Pelicans are another story altogether, but just as fun. Although looking at our Pelican crap covered deck right now somehow he doesn't seem as fascinating as he was last evening. He stumbled in for a crash landing around 3:00 pm, just 10 feet from where I was sitting back, reviewing all that has happened in 2 short months sice leaving Brooklin, Maine - I was thinking "He's gonna hit, he's too close, he's too close - what the hell is this bird doing" and sure enough he plopped clumsily onto the rail, bounced gently off the cabin top house and landed on the starboard deck. Much to our amusement. It has been windy and cold for this area and we have surmised that crash is just tired. We offered him Salmon which he has so far refused but at least he doesn't seem too bothered by our presence. We are delighted by his.

Alright, alright we're still getting used to this blog idea. A slight blush crept across my cheeks as I realized that the last (and only) post was in Wrightsville Beach. Ah, Wrightsville Beach...it seems so long ago. The green long board has yet to touch the water but is lashed to the deck, ready on a moments notice. A few highlights of the trip between Wrightsville and Charleston: A nail-biting trip through the (aptly-named) "Rockpile" (a canal with submerged sharp rocks jutting out into the deep channel) on a dark rainy day; The birds, oh the birds...bald eagles, golden eagles, egrets, herons, shore birds by the dozens and some of the most beautiful salt marshes, estuaries and creeks we have ever seen. We spent a quiet secluded night anchored in a little creek by Dewees Island sailing the Sassy Girl and watching dolphins frolic and play around us, right out of a movie it was. One of those moments in life when one might question "is this really happening? could it be this good?" The next morning we were up and on to Charleston with the sunrise. (Note: What's 9:00 PM? - Cruisers midnight!)

After spending way too long in Charleston where we hid from the whooping cough, made bad attempts to get some canvas work done (it didn't fit), managed to get a haircut, waited around for an electrical guy that never showed up, ate lots and lots of good food with other people trying to escape the madness of life on land for a short time, did two grocery runs totaling over $1,000. (prices in the Bahamas are very high we hear), met the mustache travelers www.mustachetravelers.blogspot.com, spent three nights in a real bed at our friend's (Joe, Natasha, and Kuffin on Seabrook island), visited a few museums and let the kids stretch their sea legs, changed the oil in the Yanmar ourselves for the first time, met lots of interesting people, helped a new friend who flipped his dinghy - losing two bicycles in the process, put in four shelves for storage, finally got together for a fine dinner with three lovely people (Stephan, Julie and The Incredible Melanie) on "Coincidence" who have coincidently been popping up every week or so since New Jersey--- we are finally on the move again.

The waning moon is dropping down to the horizon and we can see a glimmer of sunrise so it is time to make the tea, weigh the anchor, and get going.

We rolled into Wrightsville Beach yesterday afternoon, escorted by pods of dolphins, and decided we just couldn't leave this morning. This is the kind of place we almost feel we could stay a month, the sun is shining, the surfers are out by the dozens and our friends on Sunrise (Dorset, VT) rolled in at 9:00 this morning just in time for some wild Maine blueberry pancakes with Vermont maple syrup. It was difficult letting our friends on Benne Vita (Portsmouth, NH) pull out this morning without us but we'll catch up with them down the line. For today the kids needed some shore time so we spent the day at the beach playing in the crashing atlantic surf, bought ourselves a used long board, and did a whole lot of overdue cleaning.
We stayed up extra late tonight (it is almost 9 pm!) to get this blog started so now we must bid you good night. Stayed tuned for more episodes of sailing Starbound...