January 25/08 - last leg for a while

In front of a court house in Brunswick in March

At the marina - pick a boat

Our last day of travelling! We are heading for the marina at Brunswick, Georgia, where we had the boat prior to taking her north to Virginia. It's a nice marina, and we are really looking forward to tying up for a while, and showers! We get to our slip just before 4, with the ladies from the office waiting to give us a hand with our lines. We are glad to have arrived.

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March 24/08


So now, two months later, we are still here, but just about ready to go. All our water hoses have been replaced. We have a new pump for the head and it almost smells nice! There are new winches and bilge pumps, the galley is all plumbed in and working. We have new stanchions and lifelines and our $25 dinghy floats! There seems to be some life in our hitherto broken autopilot! AND our insurance company is allowing us to stay in the Bahamas until the 1st of June if we wish. That certainly takes some of the urgency out of our trip back north.
Our cruising permit is still requiring us to leave towards the end of April, so we need to get a move on. It will take us about 2 weeks of steady going on the ICW, weather permitting, to get down to Biscayne Bay south of Miami. We will use Biscayne Bay as a stepping off point for the Bahamas. If we are lucky we will get a crossing soon after we arrive, but people can wait up to 3 weeks for a favourable weather window.
In order to get to the Bahamas you need to cross the Gulf Stream. Chris likens this to walking across a moving sidewalk. You need to point down in order to go straight! If the winds are at all strong, or coming from any direction other than south, you do not want to be going. As this is our first time crossing the Stream, and our first time in the ocean on our own boat, we want to go as easily as possible.
I will try to update this blog as it happens, and hopefully it will be more interesting :-).

January 24/08 Crossing the Savannah River

Here it comes!

Some of the support vessels at the rear of the boat

We left our anchorage at 7:45, heading to cross the Savannah River. Our little cut had quite a fast current at the mouth of the river, and it is hard to stay in the channel. We had been noticing a helicopter flying overhead, and vehicles positioned on land. As we got to the river, ready to cross, we were approached by a fast inflatable boat manned by the Coast Guard and sporting a machine gun on it's bow, mounted on a tripod. Once again we were in a security zone! A large Natural Gas tanker was being expected, and we had to wait until it went by. I gave Chris the helm, as it was pretty tricky to back up into the current and hold our position. The tanker when it came was huge! It was accompanied by tugs fore and aft, the Coast Guard inflatable, and the helicopter flying around it.
After it passed we continued on our way and anchored in the Wahoo river, with 60 miles done after 10 hours travelling! Hope we don't get done for speeding

January 23/08 - Boarded!

Lots of dolphins played around the boat today,leaping right out of the water. We saw bald eagles and ospreys, but the big excitement of the day was being boarded by the U.S.Coast Guard. Just after we had transited the bridge at Beaufort, South Carolina I gave Chris the helm and went below for a much needed visit to the head. He was approached by a large inflatable with several personnel and asked for permission to board. Chris was a little worried that he had been going too fast through a No Wake zone, though he had been consciously keeping his speed down, but it was just a routine boarding. Of course, I knew nothing of this, and not expecting visitors had not bothered to shut the door of the bathroom! The officer in charge explained that this was also going to be a training exercise for two new recruits, so he was going into detail that he might not otherwise have done. The new recruits were sent into the boat to check that it out, but they didn't linger too long. We really need to get our sanitation system sorted out when we get to Brunswick! Our papers were checked, our flares, fire extinguishers, and so on. The inspection took just under an hour and at the end of it we were given a copy of their report which we could show if we were stopped again. Looking back we saw them boarding a spiffy looking motor cruiser. It would be quite a contrast to ours!
We went by Hilton Head and Daufuskie Island, finally anchoring in the Wright River, close to Savannah.

January 22/08 - fog and the Coosaw river

Tranquil Coosaw River

We woke up to thick fog, so had to wait until we could see before we could set off. We have been pretty lucky with fog on the way down. In Virginia we could watch it roll in and through, something new for me. I have never seen fog move through a place like that before - it was either there or it wasn't - so to see it roll in and make everything disappear in a very quick while was a bit disturbing. You can understand how you could get quickly surrounded by it when you are out on the water, and lose all sense of where you are. We managed to get going at 10, and set off to cross the Coosaw river. The day was now sunny and calm. On our way up this river had given us a really wild ride, but now it was like a mill pond. It is hard to believe it is the same river! Seagulls and terns followed us for much of the day. I really don't understand why. When I have seen them following fishing boats I have always assumed they were getting old bait, garbage, or unwanted fish that were dumped overboard, but we had nothing of interest to them. Maybe the boat's wake stirred things up?
Lots of dolphins were in the river, many of them coming and playing by the bows of the boat. Dolphins seems naturally curious, and they almost always come and check the boat out if they are nearby.
We anchored in Brickyard Creek at low tide, which was a good thing, as we could see there was a huge pile of rocks or shells several feet high, close to the center of the creek. When the tide came in that pile was completely hidden, and not marked on the charts! After we anchored a tug and a barge using the main channel ran aground right in front of us, and caused us some entertainment while we had our sundowners.

January 21/08 - our turn for a tow

Last night was well below freezing and we wrapped the engine up with as much padding as we could find, along with a couple of hand warmers tucked in among the folds. We didn't want any damage. We woke up to frost on the inside of all the hatches,and along the side of the bed and shelves. Pretty cold, but neither of us were too uncomfortable. I guess it pays to bundle up.
We had another bridge opening to make, so wanted to time it right. We had forgotten it was a holiday - Martin Luther King day - and the bridge was opening on different hours. After treading water, and trying to keep to center channel in a strong current, we were positioned for the 10 a.m. opening. The bars went down on either side of the bridge to stop the cars, we gunned our engine, but the bridge never opened! After a long time, the bars went back up and the cars started moving over it again. I radiod the operator and was told that the bridge had malfunctioned, they would need to call a mechanic, and would get back to us once they had any information. It wasn't a good place for us to wait, so we moved over to a nearby creek in sight of the bridge, and anchored there. It was a tricky entrance to the creek, but once we were in it was a pleasant place to anchor, with beautiful blue skies. It was still cold though, and for the first time we saw rows of herons lining the banks of the shore, huddled up and looking miserable. Normally you only see one heron at a time so row upon row of them was something new.
We have been anxious to get south as quickly as possible because we have a couple of deadlines to make. Not a good thing when you are on a boat. One is that we need to be out of the U.S.A. before the 24th of April. Our cruising permit expires then, and we HAVE to be out of U.S. waters. In order to re-enter the States we have to be able to prove we were in another country for a minimum of 15 days. But our insurance is requiring us to be north of Norfok, Virginia (where we have just come from) by the first of June. So, we need to get south quickly in order to get to the Bahamas, spend a minimum 15 days, and get back north for the insurance deadline. It's going to be doable,but just. Of course, moving south to get warmer is a good incentive too!
Some time after 12 the mechanic radiod to let us know the bridge was fixed and that it would open for us. This was pretty nice as the bridge schedule didn't allow for that. I guess he was wanting to test it out on us :-). We told him we would be right along and after raising the anchor I started to take the boat out of the small creek to the larger channel. The tide had gone out while we were waiting, and I was anxious to get to the bridge, so I cut the corner of the creek. Our port keel with the depthsounder read 4 feet, but our starboard keel ran aground into thick mud. We obviously need to get a depthsounder on our starboard keel too! I thought I could move through it, but just got stuck deeper, so we had to radio the bridge that we were stuck. Take your time, said the mechanic. We called Boat U.S., who came pretty quickly and started to get us out. "How much water do you have over there?" he asked, "because there is almost 12 feet over here!" Ouch!
We were ready to go through the bridge at 1:15 and requested an opening, only to be told that they would not now open until 2! I guess we missed getting the special treatment from the mechanic. We begged a little, but they were adamant, so we once again sat in the channel with the current until the 2 p.m. opening, which went without a hitch.
We crossed Charleston harbour, and Fort Sumter, trying to stay within the markers and avoid the crab pots. They are beginning to get a little too plentiful. There is a lot of boat activity here, and Charleston itself is very picturesque from the water. We rushed through to make the Wapoo Bridge's last opening and anchored, a little later than usual, in Church Creek.

January 20/08 - Hunters and low water

Stay between the markers!

We woke almost before dawn to the sound of gunfire around us. The duck hunters were out! Boy, do they ever get up early!. I can't figure out how they get the ducks once they've hit the ground. I can't imagine that even a dog could negotiate the marshes, but they obviously have a way.
The boat was almost raining inside. Condensation was dripping off every overhead area, and running down the sides. The boat has had it's headliner taken out, and never replaced, so there is no insulation in the roof and sides, other that what was built into the body itself. That is a good thing, as the headliner in these boats (of this age) is supposed to break down and cause a toxic environment. So we are glad that someone took it out before we had to. But we do need to replace it with something else in due time. That will help to keep it cool in summer, warmer in winter, and drier all year round.
Today we transited a part of the ICW that got pretty shallow - 2.5 feet at low tide. The markers are supposed to delineate the safe area to pass through. There are green markers on one side, red markers on the other side, and anywhere in between should be safe. Obviously this is a guideline only!

Carolina Beach State Park

In the marina at Carolina Beach State Park.
The Cape Fear River is in the background.

January 13-19/08 Getting colder!

January 13/08

We travelled to Topsail Sound, just south of the Surf City Bridge. We wanted to be in position for the Figure Eight Bridge opening, which was only going to take place once a day, at noon. The bridge is being repaired, so has very limited opening hours. Obviously if we missed it, we would lose the whole day! The dolphins have started to be quite common, and we had one that played at the bow of the boat for ages. I would give a squeal of delight every time I saw it, and it would roll over on it's side and look up at me almost as though it knew. Then it would dive back and forth under the port bow and roll over again and grin at me.

January 14/08

We meandered towards the Figure Eight Bridge, only to nearly miss the opening by dawdling too much. I hate waiting at bridges, and didn't want to get there early. Luckily they opened several minutes after noon, so we didn't have a wasted day. We took a slip at Carolina Beach State Park Marina, another place we had visited on the way up. It is very reasonably priced, located in a lovely park where the Venus Fly trap is native. You can walk out of the park to fairly close groceries, hardware and pharmacies. There is even an internet cafe nearby! The downside of the marina is that it is very shallow. We sat on the bottom at low tide, and any vessels with a deeper draft would have a problem coming in. It seems to have gotten shallower since we were there last year, and the depth at our slip when we came in was 3.4 ft!

January 18/08

We stayed at Carolina Park Marina until today. The weather has been bad, and Chris was wanting to try and fix our water problems. He has been busy plumbing in the galley sinks, and trying to find a way to stop the perished hot water heater (which isn't in use) from spouting water all over the place every time we go to use some water.We are finally able to use the galley sink drains to get rid of waste water, but we can't use any running water yet. We filled up on diesel at the marina and were ready to leave at 7 a.m. today. It's beginning to be a bad habit: as soon as we started her, the engine made some nasty noises and required immediate attention! Chris changed the water pump, but we are beginning to think it might only have needed a new belt. Even with all that delay, we left by 8 and made our way out into the Cape Fear River, which leads to Cape Fear. Big tankers come down this river from Wilmington, and ferries cross it back and forth at the mouth. We managed to negotiate the river without incident and rejoined the ICW at Southport, near the mouth of the river. We anchored at Calabash Creek, which was a pretty spot in itself, but very busy with shrimp boats, casino boat and tugs and barges all going back and forth for a good part of the time. It made for some interesting watching!

January 19/08

We are beginning to go a bit further each day. We anchored on the Waccamaw River, behind Butler Island. The Waccamaw is quite a long river, the colour of very strong tea. It has cedar swamps lining large sections of it, with the trees growing right out of the water. Turtles sun themselves on the logs, and there are alligators and snakes. Abandoned rice plantations line it's shores,remnants of a different age. It's hard to imagine people trying to make their way through these swamps.
Today was the best so far: 55.5 miles in 9 hours, even though we had 3 bridges to pass through. One of these was the Little River Bridge, which I was dreading as we had hit rocks there on our way north. There is hardly anywhere on the ICW that has rocks, but this is one place. The bridge is one that opens on request, and it took so long to respond that in manoevering we ran aground on some rocks with our starboard hull. Our depth sounder is in the port hull and was reading over 7 feet! It was not a good day.
It rained all day, most of it heavily. The new dodger window is great in these condition; we can stay dry and see at the same time! When we bought the boat it came with a custom made fabric and plastic enclosure for the cockpit.It was over 15 years old and some of it had perished, and some of it didn't want to fit together the way it was intended. We were all for throwing it out. Are we ever glad we didn't! It is like adding an extra room onto the boat, and helps keep us dry while we have to be out steering or keeping watch. It still needs some more tweaking, but we are grateful for it.
Tonight is supposed to get very close to freezing. We have been coping with the cold pretty well, wearing two or three layers, plus coats. Even Chris has had 2 or 3 layers on - unheard of for him. I will wear two layers in bed tonight - not going to take any chances!

January 12/08

Spooner's Creek

We travelled for 9 hours today and did 52 miles. We ended up anchoring at Spooner's Creek, south of Morehead City. Spooner's is reached by going through a narrow entrance. Then you are in a small bay surrounded by expensive homes, each with their own dock and big boat. I felt we had crashed a private party! On our way there we saw lots of what the book said were Surf Scoter ducks. They must have been in their winter feeding grounds. There were large flocks of them in the water, and you could get quite close with the boat before they flew off. We also saw our first dolphins of this trip, in the turning circle at Morehead City. There were quite a few of them. Two minor disasters for the day; old oil had dripped out of the locker where it was being stored and dripped into the bilge. Luckily we caught it in time to prevent it from getting out into the water. Also, our own water supply is still unavailable: the old water heater leaks water all over the place when we try to put the water on, so we can't use it even though we have it. We are making do with bottled water, which is fine.

January 11/08

Today we crossed the Pamlico River and anchored in Bear Creek, a really lovely spot. It was a good day to cross the river. We didn't get the storms that were forecast, and it was fairly calm. We are beginning to see a change in the vegetation. Greener and growing, though the deciduous trees still are leafless. Our port bilge filled with water, but we tightened the through-hulls and transponders and that seems to have solved the problem. Saw our first pelicans of the trip, and fed our first mosquitos. We have been really lucky with the weather. The days have been in the high 50s, low 60s, and we haven't had any frost at night. We bought a small propane heater to use while we are at anchor, and it has been a big help. The only down side is the amount of water it puts into the air.

January 10/08

Our crossing of the Albermarle was pretty trouble free, and we ended up getting 40 miles under our keels. We anchored in the Pungo River Canal and tried to keep to the edge of the waterway. Apart from our anchor light, we also had a small solar light and our cockpit light on all night,just in case there was any traffic nearby. It was a pretty spot, but for the first time this trip we were troubled with mosquitoes, and had to keep the door and hatches shut. Today's catastrophe was a minor one :-). While I was away at Christmas, Chris had started to install the 2 new sinks we had bought to replace the chipped originals - over 20 years old! He also put in a lovely new tap and together with the clean new laminate, that part of the galley was looking really nice! The catch was, none of it was plumbed in. The sink drains opened up onto the shelf below. There was no piping between them and the through hull where the drain water flowed out, so this exit hole to the outside is temporarily stuffed closed with a huge chunk of plumber's putty. On our crossing of the Albermarle the constant jarring must have jolted the putty out, and I came down to find the carpet soaking wet and the shelves and contents covered in sea water. Once we figured out where the water was coming from it was an easy job to stick the putty back in and tie it down more securely.

January 9/08

The near stanchion is broken at the base - it's just resting in it's socket

Finally we were up early and also away early! Today's adventure wasn't due to happen for another couple of hours. We hit a submerged log as we left the anchorage, but other than that the trip was uneventful until we were in Currituck sound. The route for the ICW is delineated by markers and buoys in the water. It is usually pretty important to pay attention to them, as although you might be surrounded by a wide expanse of water it is quite often very shallow. We had our VHF radio on, and had been hearing a boat calling for a tow boat for some time. We could also see several miles ahead that a tug was travelling towards us, pushing a barge. He was taking up his full share of the ICW channel, and it was pretty difficult to pass on either side of him and still stay safe. It was not the first time that we were glad we had the shallow draft of our catamaran. We only draw 2'9" (before we put all our stuff on!). I thought perhaps that the boat calling for a tow had been edged into a shallow section by the tug, and, as it was quite windy and choppy, ended up going aground.
There seemed to be no reply to the stranded boat's requests for help, and as we got closer we could see he was a monohull with a crew of two. I had just been reading an account of another boat very like ours who had pulled a stranded boat off a sandbank, so I suggested to Chris that we could do the same favour for this boat. So we established radio contact and the captain of the mono came out in his dinghy to get a line from our boat to take to his boat. Already things weren't going well, as our line had been tied up in an odd manner after it was put away after being used at the Lock, and it took him ages to free it. Once he got back to his boat and tied the line on, we tried to tow him, but were having no effect at all. We were in 2.5 to 3 feet of rough water as we tried different approaches and angles, all useless, and all the while blowing closer and closer to the immovable monohull. Struggling to communicate between the two boats we didn't notice until it was too late that our slow and hard to manoever boat was blowing right down onto his bow roller! Our starboard side slid by him, from stern to bow, and his bow roller snapped our three stanchions and chopped up our lifeline! The rescue had turned into a disaster, but it could have been so much worse. We moved away a safe distance and admitted defeat. The captain of the mono very generously came over in his dinghy and offered to pay for half the damage, but we could't accept his kind offer. We left him still stuck in the sand, and mulled over the many lessons we had just learned.
Not 10 minutes after this, Chris pumped our port bilge. His mind was probably still reliving all the dumb things we had just done and he forgot the through hull was closed. He ended up breaking the diaphragm in the pump!
It was still only 11:45 a.m. when we got to Coinjock. It's a popular stop for boaters, with a fuel dock, marina shop and wonderful free showers! We fuelled up,got rid of our garbage and really enjoyed the shower. There was a low fishing boat there filled with evergreens. I thought they were left over from Christmas, but was told it was for the duck hunters. They tie these all over their boats, and look for all the world like a small island.
Just before Albemarle Sound we anchored, in Broad Creek. We needed more daylight than we had left to cross the sound. After we got there, three other boats came in and anchored. This is pretty unusaul at this time of year, as very low boat traffic is another plus of travelling in January.
Chris had been planning on replacing our vinyl front dodger window with a lexan one, and he did this at the anchorage, using the generator to power the saw. It is sooo much better than the vinyl one. Now we can see! He also fixed the stanchions so they didn't look to be in quite so many pieces, and let us move about the side deck a little easier. We went to bed with a gorgeous starry night

Blackwater Creek Anchorage

January 8/08 Great Bridge Lock

A professional can make anything look easy

Up early again, as we wanted to make the 8:30 a.m. bridge opening in Norfolk. Along the length of the ICW there are bridges that are too low for us to pass under. Some will open for you on request, others, generally on busier roads, have scheduled opening hours. You really don't want to have to wait too long at a bridge for it to open. There usually isn't a lot of room to maneouver, and quite often there is a fast current. Still learning to handle our boat makes me really anxious at bridges!
But the engine squealed again on starting and needed immediate attention. After trying various things, Chris changed the alternator belt and it seemed to fix the problem. We ended up leaving Norfolk at about 11:30.
We took the eastern route of the ICW, the Dismal Swamp route being closed due to low water. We came north on the Dismal Swamp route, so it was interesting to return another way. The eastern route took us through the Great Bridge Lock. In a lock, once you enter the area, you wrap your lines around a cleat or bollard on shore. Then you hang on to the other end and loose or tighten it depending on whether your boat is rising or lowering in the water. The Great Bridge Lock has lock keepers to help you one one side, but on the other side you get no help. We opted for the side with the helpers, but realized afterwards that the other side had rubber edges and easy cleats, whereas the side where you get help was concrete and steel and barnacles!. The help was great, but I think the boat would have suffered less on the rubber side. This particular lock was there in order to compensate for the differences in tide between Albermarle Sound and the Chesapeake.
After having travelled 30 miles - not bad for such a late start - we anchored in Blackwater Creek, just south of Pungo Ferry. We were surrounded by bulrushes, with huge flocks of roosting cowbirds and grackles.

January 7/08-Got to Norfolk, Virginia

The Wisconsin

Spot the Sub

Container Ship

We started the engine at 7:30 a.m. There were some strange squeals from it, but Chris tightened some belts and that seemed to solve the problem.
We have also had problems with our head (toilet) since we got the boat, which are gradually getting worse. At the moment we can't put any solids down it, as it cannot pump them through. It sort of sprays them about instead. Not desirable. So we aren't using the loo. Chris found some impellers for the toilet today and fitted them, and we are hoping this might help.
We got all the way to Hospital Point in Norfolk today, a total of 41 miles, and official northern starting point of the ICW. In practice the ICW extends north all the way to New Jersey, but Hospital Point is Mile 0, down to the Florida Keys.


Norfolk is a large naval base and container port. The naval boats have fast little boats that patrol back and forth in front of them, keeping other traffic at a safe distance. On our way into Norfolk we were passed by two large container ships (pretty scary). They have right of way in the navigation channel, so we kept well to one side. However, our preferred route was also blocked by a submarine (with their little security boat) so we couldn't go that way either, and in the end we zigged and zagged our way in.
On anchoring at Hospital Point we had our disaster for the day. Our boat is a catamaran, but with a single engine. A lot of modern cats have two engines, one in each hull, but ours has a single one in the center. It has what they call a "sonic leg" which you raise out of the water when you are sailing or at anchor. When you are motoring it is locked in the down position with the propeller in the water. Very like the leg of an outboard motor that you raise up or down. The raising and lowering is done by hand, pulling on a line which leads to the leg. Unfortunately our leg must not have been locked down, so when we reversed during anchoring the leg flew up and the line which leads to it got chewed and snapped by the propeller. This isn't the first time this has happened to us, so we are getting into the habit of being absolutely sure the leg is locked before we reverse. It took a lot of contortions to get the chewed up line out of the propeller and a new line set up, but fortunately that was the only damage done. It could have been a lot worse!
On the plus side we have not seen ANY crab pots yet on this trip.What a bonus! I guess that is because it is too cold. On the way up they were everywhere - even in the official ICW channel. If you get one of those tangled around your propeller it can do serious damage - even rip a hole in your boat!

January 6/08

Finally we were ready to go. Our crack of dawn departure turned into 11 am. A friend helped us off with our lines and we motored out of the creek into the mouth of the Rappahannock River and Chesapeake Bay.
Our plan was to get as far as possible in the day, but the late start and the wind against us meant we got just over 20 miles before we decided we had better anchor for the night. We made our way into Horn Harbour, where we had stayed on our way up (and run aground by marker #8!). And, once again, we ran aground at marker #8! Slow learners. We were on a rising tide, so waited there for an hour, then floated off and were able to make our way into the harbour. It was dusk by the time we anchored, and there were some pretty Christmas lights decorating a dock next to us, reflected in the tranquil waters.
The waters of the east coast, and the IntraCoastal Waterway (ICW) are for a great part very shallow, and with the tidal differences it is not uncommon to run aground. Luckily most of the coast is also sandy so quite often no great damage is done. A lot of boaters, ourselves included, take out membership in Boat USA, which is like a CAA for boaters. Different levels of memebership have different benefits, but the most popular benefit is the free towing you get! Otherwise to get a tow off a sandbar or for any other reason is horrifically expensive.

Early January, 2008

The 3rd. of January Chris met me at the Canadian side of the border and we headed back to Deltaville to start the move down the IntraCoastal Waterway. Five minutes into the trip, at the Buffalo side of the border, we hit a snag. Although we have driven through here with van loads of goods (including the kitchen sink!) and never had any trouble at all, this time we weren't so lucky. The guard at the check point wasn't too happy when we couldn't tell him exactly how long we were going to be in the country, kept our passports,and sent us to "that building over there".
After we parked, we entered a smallish room with standing room only. It was full of people who, for one reason or another, did not immediately meet the requirements necessary to enter the U.S. We were obviously going to be there a long time, so I went back to the car to get a book.
But I was stopped, told I was in a "secure area" and could not go back to the car. It was a long wait! After 2 hours our names were called, we were treated very cordially, and told that our particular situation was not immediately understandable to the guard at the checkpoint. It was suggested we should have our boat papers when we cross borders, and that would help clear up misunderstandings.

After this delay, we didn't get to Deltaville until Friday evening. The boat was now in the water. Chris had done a lot of work on her the last couple of weeks, and she was nearly ready to go.

December 2007

But the guys in the boatyard are great, and it wasn't long before they had moved every boat out of the way and moved ours into pole position right by the water and the boat lift. Then they put all the other boats back, even cozier than before. By the time we left the yard there was hardly a spot left for any more boats.

Although we were right by the water, we weren't quite ready to get into it. Our boat is new to us, but by no means new, and she needs a fair bit of work. Our plan is to do what is absolutely necessary to live on her, decide whether or not it is the life for us, and then add more refinements as we see necessary. So it was that December loomed and we still weren't ready to go. In the end we decided that I would go back to spend Christmas with my Mum and available family, and Chris would stay with the boat to get her ready to leave just as soon after the holidays as possible. Locals to the area talked of getting iced in, and bitterly cold weather, so we didn't want to stay any longer than necessary.

Where is our boat??