Sunday, still at St Augustine. Walked to breakfast at Kookaburra. They serve Aussie breakfast pies and good coffee. We snatched a table outside (1of 2). Lovely….food and weather both great. Kookaburra is an Australian bird-great name for the place, and a little gold mine. Breakfast places downtown are not numerous. We then shopped….Larry went back to the boat to watch football while I continued Christmas shopping….then the drizzle started….so I ended my shopping event and walked back to the boat. Happy surprise! Larry had brought back pizza from my favorite place, Pizza Time, a absolute must, anytime we are in St Augustine….by boat or car….some nice folks who also own a Krogen came to visit while we were out….sorry we missed them. One down side of St Augustine marina: Larry had to go wash the upper decks again…..tons of bird poop.

Monday, cast off by 7:25. Beautiful day but a loooong day. We finally anchored in Mosquito Lagoon, AICW mile marker 861, in the dark. 83 miles. We do not run in the dark on the ICW, but sometimes anchorages are few and far between. This is a lovely spot, very open, no trees, nothing but a great big bay, only good for anchoring when there is no wind. We could only see one other lonely anchor light a ways away, a sailing catamaran. Larry looked extremely tired. We had a lovely, peaceful night.

Tuesday, up and going at 7:10. Flat, no wind, 64 degrees, and a hell of a fog bank ahead of us. Burnt off so no issue for us. Crossed the Haulover Cut…..lots of birds, dolphins, a couple of manatees….sat near the bow and got some great shots….anchor down 4:15, Rocky Point Anchorage, AICW mile marker 925….another nice anchorage….peaceful, birds, distant civilization….miles ticking up, getting there…..

Wednesday, ready at 7:00 but fogged in…..reminded us of Maine! Fellow boaters were also commenting about Maine on the radio….Finally anchor up,at 9:00, in the fog. Surreal! A dolphin surfaced right next to me, on port side, and I jumped. Then a great blue heron flew across our bow….again surreal ( and extremely cool)….Fog finally lifted around 10:30…..Arrived at Vero Beach Suntex by 12:45 (AICW mile marker 947). Weather was holding….rain expected….so we walked for lunch and a Publix run. It takes about an hour round trip of walking, felt good to walk, and a pleasant walk in a gated community, with ponds, golf course, quiet….Ran into some folks from Hollywood marina that transferred up here for work. Nice surprise.

Thursday, rain and wind-lots of both. Sat all day. Found a leak in the galley But with such much rain and wind, I wasn’t shocked.

Friday, cast off by 6:50. Everything soaked-plants do not need watering….anchor down Lake Worth, AICW mile marker 1014, 4:10. Uneventful…..sometimes, that is perfect!

Saturday, anchor up at 6:50. Very pretty out. Small craft warnings. We hate traveling in Southern Florida on the ICW, on a weekend….We stopped for fuel, some moron from Fort Lauderdale hits our boat and doesn’t even acknowledge. Ignorant…..little twerp with heavy, bearded friend, Chewbacca. It was just cosmetic damage, scrubbed out, but it was the ignorant sense of false entitlement that bugged me. Then we went by Fort Lauderdale as they were getting ready for their Christmas parade….it was crazy. Then, a cruise ship was exiting the docks at Port Everglades, so we had to stop, as it made its way out. Once by, the Coast Guard boat went ahead and we followed. I look right, there is another coming ! With a bow wave….it was underway…..we made it by easy. Still, concerning…..we get to the other side, boats were still stopped…..we just followed the Coast Guard…..GOOD GOD, when will this day end! Anchor down at 5:40, North Lake, AICW Mile marker 1072. Larry doing some engine prep work….tomorrow we dock until May.

Note: Ex day, Sunday, arrived at our marina at 8:30. George, our friend was there to catch out lines. Larry finished his engine decommissioning (as I call it). Then we sprang into action: walked 1.5 miles, caught 2 buses, made it to Miami Beach, saw mom, got our Florida car going, got my hair cut and drove back…..ok, it’s over until May 2020…..

Sunday, storm coming in… still in Beaufort. Around noon, it blew, rain, thunder…..we were clean by 3:00. I got stuff done on the boat today. We looked ahead, it’s going to be an aggressive schedule for this coming week. We had leftovers from Thanksgiving. Larry got to watch 2 football games. Temperature dropped back down to the 40’s.

Monday, WNW15-25…..another day here. We even had white caps in the channel and it was bouncy on board. We walked to Huddle House for breakfast. Only have had breakfast there twice (including today). Coffee good. Stuffed all day. We borrowed the car for a last minute run to West Marina and Publix. And I needed to find a mailbox to pay some bills.

Then………just rested….we got a push ahead of us….

Tuesday: what a way to start my day! Had to throw out the pork roast I had made overnight. I had left the absorption pad and it ruptured in the crockpot. Not worth the risk of upset stomachs while out in Georgia. We were up at 5:00. 36 degrees. Underway by 7:00. Now 35 degrees, feels like 25! Crossed into Georgia. Anchor down in Birthday Creek (AICW mile marker 612) around 5:00. Dinner and in bed by 7PM. Good day, 75 miles.

Wednesday, cold. Anchor up at 6:50, first light. 39 degrees…got our polar fleece blankets I made last year for the pilothouse. I used mine. We went by the car carrier that ran aground and capsized a while ago….still there…. I got some good pictures….guess all the automobile cargo slid to one side. Quite a sight. Anchor down off Jekyll Island (AICW mile marker 685). 73 miles by 4:20. Another good travel day.

Thursday, anchor up at 6:50….high 40’s….sun finally up around 7:15. Larry pointed out a ship, a big fishing boat, that was washed ashore in our 2000 trip. Now only an antenna shows….tons of porpoises….around northern Cumberland Island. Five heading at us at one point-in formation….Anchor down at 5:30, at the Tolomato River, behind Pine Island (AICW mile marker 765). It’s part of the Guana River Wildlife Management Area. Another good run.

Friday, glorious morning ! Anchor up at 8:00. 46 degrees but sunny. Short run today. We were tied up at St Augustine Municipal Marina. Timed it for slack tide. Current can be pretty mean here! Boat chores and hung out until 4:00. Then we went for a walk, toured, shopped, ate pizza at Pizza Time. It is supposed to be the second best in the US! Really good. Love St Augustine at Christmas time. I want to spend a couple of days here. Interesting thing happened today. An Hispanic rapper offered Larry money to allow he and his wife to be videoed on the bow of Panda Bear. Young couple, of course we said yes and only asked them to email us a copy of the video….no money of course.

Saturday: went to the St Augustine Christmas Parade…. right near the marina. Then we went for a long walk to the Sailor’s Exchange, lunch at the Metro Diner, picked up a few things at Winn Dixie. At 6:30, we walked to the fort and in town for the Colonial Nightwatch Parade. Then we just hung out in the commons for awhile. Tons of lights, people…. good time to start the holiday season. We walked 6.6 miles today…..

What a good week. We made major progress, back on schedule and got to visit St Augustine during Christmas! Can’t ask for much more…..

Sunday, walked into Beaufort. Cold, little windy walking over Lady’s Island bridge. Lots of tourists in town and a small waterway cruise ship. Did a little shopping and sat on the swing seats along the waterway. Very pleasant in the sun. Enjoying the peace and quiet. We walked about 4 miles today.

Monday, we walked to Publix, and on the return trip, I stayed behind to go antiquing. Found a good base for a small Christmas tree I am weaving for the boat.

Tuesday, walked to Beaufort again. I shopped. We sat on “my swings” again….enjoying the sun. We got some barbecue and I made some rice and a salad….easy day.

Wednesday, up early and took the courtesy car to Walmart. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving so I wanted to get errands done early before it becomes a zoo. I got my laundry done because we plan on leaving Friday. I had to take the car again to Publix for last minute item and picked up some stuff for the marina gathering tomorrow. These folks are very nice, everyone invited to participate-transients too. We went to the Fillin Station for dinner. A favorite for Larry. Wednesday night menu, a burger, a hotdog, beans, cole slaw, potato salad. All for $4! Tip and drinks separate…..nice sitting there, outside, watching the lights across the waterway and listening to music.

Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving. I cooked a turkey breast in the crock pot. Came out really good. I freaked last night: it was Cajun marinated…..I thought it was going to be horrid. I had to change recipe on the fly. Just added 12 ounces of beer to the crock pot. We ate dinner on board and then went to the marina festivities for dessert. We sat outside because it was crowded inside and it was a beautiful day. Back on board for football. Good day, lots for which to be thankful ….

Friday, decided we are staying until Monday! Storm on Sunday and we won’t make Brunswick for Larry to watch Patriots game. We really only lose one day in the big picture. Today, Jake the cat jumped on our boat….we heard him on the upper deck. Lizzie too was looking up….then his sister fell in the water and was crying out for help. She was stuck in the flotation underneath the dock. A woman just reached in and brought her up. That was one upset cat. She walked away, up a ramp, and across another still complaining. Larry wanted to hose her to remove the salt water but she wasn’t going to cooperate. I think she was embarrassed! Later her dad did bathe her. We saw her the next day and she was fluffy. We walked to the Mexican restaurant for lunch, ran an errand, and walked back. Sunny and nice.

Saturday, walked to the hardware store. Needed felts for our saloon chairs. They are scratching the sole. Then we walked to Beaufort. I wanted to pick up some yarn for my next weaving project. Lunch at Plums. I had my usual Biarritz sandwich plus the fall sangria. Best sangria ever! Larry had the oyster po’boy. We both had the hot bacon salad dressing….and I got to sit and swing again before walking back. Beautiful sunset tonight. Then, the marina lit up with Christmas lights! Some boats really got fancy. Mary dressed up the marina. Great job.

So ends another week……..no forward progress but a good time!