Charleston, South Carolina to Fernandina Beach, Florida

Our time on Dewees Creek/Long Creek was not the most fun we have ever had, but we accomplished our goal--to keep our boat in the creek and not outside of the creek. We like to "drive" between the lines. The winds were to be from the north, so after 2 nights we moved just inside the mouth of Long Creek where it intersects with Dewees Creek. The strong current in these creeks is tidal and is quite impressive. Basically, it switches direction every 6 hours. When the winds are light it's no big deal, but when they pick up, it gets interesting. When the tide was with the wind, we were stress free, but when it opposed the wind, we went flying from one side of the creek to the other. So we did anchor watches on the ebb tides. We were not able to leave on Friday the 13th, because the winds were still a bit strong, but we were able to leave early Saturday morning. The north winds created flooding the morning we left, so even the 2 foot tall grass that protected us through the week was going underwater at high tide. It actually looked pretty cool--especially since we were leaving. We needed to go offshore so that we could get some rest.

There were a lot of boats that had been stuck in the Charleston area waiting for weather, so we had plenty of company as we left the jetties and pointed south. At least one boat got stuck on the jetties outside of Charleston. A lot of the jetties on the east coast are under water at high tide waiting to catch the unaware. We had a new moon (which means no moon), so the stars were spectacular--you see, my glass is half full. Once again, we had wonderful weather. We sailed as long as the wind was there, then motorsailed. We made it to St. Mary's Inlet (at the border of Georgia and Florida) Sunday morning, and continued on to the small town of St Mary's.

An old Presbyterian Church in St. Mary's.

St. Mary's is a small, quiet town which is very friendly to sailors. They have a Thanksgiving dinner for cruisers every year--which is a big draw. We met a lot of nice people during our week there. Among them were fellow Texans Rick and Linda from Sojourner. Rick's a retired police officer from Mesquite, Texas where Lisa and I lived before moving to Frisco. I even got to watch football on his boat--he has a TV--go figure. Lisa and I really enjoyed our time with Rick and Linda.

On a side note...having a Texas registration sticker on your boat or dinghy works as well as walking a cute dog to pick up a date. Texans spot you and will talk to you, and they are out here. If you are in New York, the locals will start talking to you about President Bush. He's from Texas, so they assume he's your daddy. So if you are lonely, or need a dose of common sense, raise the Lone Star to the starboard spreader, or slap a Texas registration sticker on your dinghy and your problem is solved.

I found this pretty lady standing in front of a house at St. Mary's.

I whistled at her and I finally got her to look.

We left St. Mary's and grabbed a mooring ball at Fernandina Harbor, which is just across the state line. Our friends, Randy and Carla, are going to meet us here for a couple of days around Thanksgiving. They're driving all the way from Cleburne, Texas (what was that about common sense). We haven't seen them since leaving Texas, and are looking forward to their visit.