Northbound 2015

     It's been a long time since my last posting, Christmas 2014. It's now mid March 2015 and we are in Southport, NC.

     We left Marathon the last week of February shortly after winter came and went there. It was three days. It got down to the 40s. That was winter. Otherwise in our two months there the low (at night) was about 55 a couple of times. Brrrr. We actually missed those three days because Carol had a job assignment in Fort Myers, FL and I tagged along to visit my aunt in Cape Coral. At age 98 she might be sharper than I am. While in Cape Coral the temps got down to actual freezing not our idea of freezing which is 50 degrees.

     Northbound we had to stop in Ft Lauderdale (Harbour Towne Marina) to get hauled for a saildrive oil change. This can't be done while in the water on our boat. It was a preventive oil change because of repairs to one of the saildrive/transmissions and a check for any metal bits in the oil. Very expensive. Over $700 for an oil change! This beat our 50 hour service oil change by $200. Normally I do this service in the fall as part of our annual paint and maintenance haulout but we had to do this twice this cruise, Once as part of our 50 hour new engines service and this second time to check for metal shards. None found so that was good.

     We stopped at a new to us anchorage in North Palm Beach to visit a childhood friend of Carol's and then had a very wet day up to Ft Pierce. The weather was so miserable that we spent big $$$ to go to a marina for two nights. Harbortown. Very nice. Expensive. $2/foot.

     Things went well through our stop at St Augustine to meet our friends, Bob and Jane Fulton. From there we went offshore to the St Mary's River and Cumberland Island. Not a bad passage but the next day was the most misery we've had in a while. It topped the driving rain between Palm Beach and Ft Pierce. Banging into the wind and waves crossing the sounds of lower Georgia is not fun. We had just gained a day of travel by going offshore of northern Florida and I didn't want to give it back right away by staying put for another night. Bad choice.

     Going through Georgia and South Carolina went smoothly to the point that we had several days that we traveled farther than normal and made up days anyway. We didn't have to push that first day in Georgia. Sigh.

     We stopped at Barefoot Marina in North Myrtle Beach for a night to go to one of Carol's former co worker's home for dinner. A very nice house in Conway, SC. Not a lifestyle for us.

     Then it was a day to the Pipeline Canal near Southport, NC and after a rainy day at anchor we saw on a webcam that a spot had opened up for us at a free dock in Southport itself.  We scooted over there and are exploring the town over two days. Nice. Not bad at all, if a little small.  

     We'll be leaving in the morning to stop at Wrightsville Beach for Carol's next excursions to hotel life and work. I'll be working on the boat. Doing maintenance. And freezing. Hope spring comes soon.