We spent a few days adjusting to life on a sailboat, and although we hadn’t quite sorted everything, it was time to start cruising the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW)!
We are headed south as fast as we can. During our first week of cruising we’ve learned so much every day. First we learned how to negotiate bridges, locks, and canals.
When given the choice, we entered the Great Dismal Swamp.
We spent an extra night in Elizabeth, NC and were treated to their Christmas Parade! The otherwise quiet small town sidewalks were crowded with bystanders armed with umbrellas, blankets, and camp chairs to watch this parade that lasted almost an hour as cars, tractors, marchers, and fire engines slowly circled the town.
And we kept cruising. Sometimes over fifty miles in a day down the ICW. Our routine has been – wake up before the sun, boil water for hot beverages, cast off the dock or raise the anchor, and then cruise until dusk. Secure ourselves for the night, and then repeat. It’s been an exhausting and chilly week, and yet still awesome. We even had opportunities to raise the sails three days in a row! I was so focused on sailing and staying warm that I forgot to take pictures – next time. Most of the ICW is too shallow or narrow for us to sail, but thankfully our catamaran sips diesel.
It gets dark so early!
Sunsets are my favorite. I couldn’t pick just one, so I’ve given you a few:
If you haven’t figured out by now, I recently learned how to create slideshows in WordPress, and I love them.
As we’ve cruised south, we’ve seen the marks of Florence along the way. Communities are still recovering from the hurricane that hit over three months ago. They were sobering reminders of the ocean’s power.
And we continue our journey. These past couple of days we’ve also learned a bit about tides and current.
There were so many memorable moments on the water this past week.
Tonight, I’ll leave you all with this short and shaky video – I promise to use legit filming equipment in the future. All I can say in my defense, I was not expecting to see these guys! And I was beyond ecstatic (if you turn up the volume you’ll hear my witty remark).
I hope you enjoyed this stream-of-consciousness post. I can’t promise every blog will be this jam-packed with photos, but now that we’ve got our hot spot and wifi booster (hopefully) working, I should be able to update more often. Until next time!
Ripples and Leaves 
FAB!!!
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