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 The air was below freezing Wednesday
morning (day before yesterday) in Wilmington NC. There
was a lot of frost on the dock, and it felt Darn cold. However, the
GRIBs and the weather forecasts indicated light to moderate winds in
mostly the right direction for the next 3 days. Most of the Mona Black
gang were there to say 'bon voyage' and to be sure we didn't hit their
boats.
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 We left the marina at 1000 ET and entered the Cape Fear River
at 1025. Transiting Snow's Cut was a bit slow due to current but we
roared down the river with nearly a 5 kt favorable boast. We left the
inlet at 1200 ET and headed for the Charleston sea buoy; then the Port
Royal sea buoy, then finally the MoA at St. Mary's.
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 Seas were near calm but
there was enough wind to motor
sail and so we did for the next 50 hours. Our kludge for cockpit canvas
worked like a dream and the diesel heater did a good job in keeping the
cabin and cockpit tolerable in the below freezing nighttime. The
satellite radio (Sirius) kept us company during the night when on watch.
Can't escape the news even when at sea. Above Hilton Head we saw very
little traffic; no yachts, one fishing vessel,and two ships. However,
the area between the Savanna and St. Mary's Rivers were chocked full of
very size and type of vessel. Of course it was nighttime. Automatic
Identification System (AIS) is great!
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 It must have been too cold for
the critters also as we saw very few dolphins, no turtles, quite a few
birds and no whales. The boat performed well except the nuts fell of
the stuffing box again and the steaming light became intermittent. We
fixed the stuffing box but we'll have to find someone to correct the
steaming light. Still not too bad at a bit more than 0.5 gallons per hour.
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 We arrived at the St. Mary's sea buoy
at 0830 ET and the
tide tables said it was going to be a pain with a 2.5 kt foul current.
We met a couple of pilot boats, a commercial fishing vessel, a really
big underway dredge, and a couple of smaller vessels. We were planning
on heading up to Cumberland Island and anchor at the park but a strong
Gulf storm was predicting 30+ kt winds so we decided to head for
Fernandina marina. They had us tie up on the inner bulkhead after we
turned the boat around. Not bad.
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 The marina is very nice; nicer
than we remember four years ago. They have a boater's lounge, nice
heads, and a professional staff. We will stay here until Monday and
then head for Canaveral on the outside. We hope to be in Vero Beach by
next Friday. Meanwhile Bob is trying to refrain Ann from too much shopping
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