Well, we made it back to the US of A! Just beating Tropical Storm Debby by a day that was crossing FL heading towards the East Coast. It was good that the storm was a slow moving one.

We arrived on Saturday, June 23 at 4:30 pm in Edisto, SC. What a lovely spot to make our reentry into the States and I can see why they called this area the Lowcountry. The rivers are surrounded by tall bog grasses that stretch as far as the eye can see.

The trip over was not bad thankfully and once we crossed through the Whale Cay Channel into the Atlantic Ocean we were able to motor sail on average 7-8 knots for the rest of the day. The early morning of day two, Evan put out fishing lines and by 6:30 am the lines were whizzing with fish pulling in two large Black Fin Tuna. It was only the third fish John has caught during the entire trip so he was quite pleased. Owen was sleeping in and missed the opportunity as did our boat buddy.



After sailing all day without another hit on the fishing lines it was just before sunset when all three lines started to whiz with fish taking the lines out. What a sweet sound that is and everyone gets excited at the possibility of catching the "big one". Evan and Owen pulled in their Dolphin catch but John wasn't so lucky snapping his line and loosing the fish. Oh well, we got two of the three Dolphins so we'll be eating some good Tuna and Dolphin for next few days.



We made it through the second night but the ride was a bit rocky at first with the water smoothing out just after midnight and the air was quite warm which was nice. It felt great! The night was busy with freighters in the distance which kept everyone on alert making sure we didn't get too close or worse be on a collision course with one of the passing ships.

On day three we were in the Gulf Stream by the time the sun was coming up.



The water was nice and flat like a pond making conditions perfect for fishing and the guys were filled with excitement from the possibility of catching some big fish like more Dolphin, Tuna or even a Marlin. Unfortunately the guys caught more fish but nothing we could keep bringing in one Barracuda (I think they're following us) and several Little Tunny.



About midday I noticed on the horizon an object approaching that looked like a sailboat mast in the distance but soon realized it wasn't another sailboat it was actually a Navy super aircraft carrier, #77 aka USS George H.W. Bush out of Norfolk, VA. I later learned that it's a Nimitz-class supercarrier that is one of ten nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in service. No wonder when John got near the boat to tried and hitch a ride a voice came over the VHF radio informing us to "stay clear" and enjoy the show. What a display we got too we watched and heard several jets coming and going off the deck of the carrier.



We left Edisto, SC where we entered the States and dropped a hook for an overnight stay and headed for Charleston, SC on Sunday to check in with US Customs. I fell in love with Charleston with all it's southern, city charm.



I definitely would like to come back to Charleston and spend some time visiting all the plantations, museums, shops and restaurants. Oh yeah! With Debby heading up the East coast John wanted to start moving up the ICW before the bad weather was able to delay our departure.