Down the ICW ( Intra-Coasta Waterway) we chugged. Our 8 tonne vessel is pushed by a 15-17hp 2 cylinder diesel. It likes to cruise at 4.5 knots, it will cruise at 5… and if we really want to shake and rattle we can do a little more.  We were sometimes able to roll out a little sail if the wind was in our favour, but generally the channel is very narrow.

We plodded our way along from Oriental NC to Georgetown SC.

From there we made a very bad desision. A small weather window had opened, possibly long enough to make some distance south. We departed Georgetown in very little wind and spent the day kind of blowing towards Charleston. At mid night we were in the approach to Charleston harbour, the breeze was freshening and a boat that had spent the night sailing close by seemed to be carrying on. So that seemed like a good idea to us to as that is what we had intended. As the wind stiffened more we watched as that vessel turned back to the harbour, on we went.

We had wanted to make Orion’s next sail a pleasant one, the night before in the light airs he commented that he was actually liking this sail. And now we were on a 72 hour windward smash in 25-30 knot winds. Many unlit military towers exist in the shallow waters off Georgia. This added an unease to the exhaustion that was setting in on our seasick crew. A pretty brutal 72 Hours, and we were in Florida.

Down the ICW in Florida with the last passage on our minds, we had several pleasant stops. In St Sugustine we rented a mooring, and using a large block and tackle arrangement completely removed our engine and constructed a new mounting bed and engine mounts.

And then off south again.