Fast Update

Our internet is limited, but our adventures haven't been!  Here's a quick update till we get into a place we can provide a longer one.  With the work list finally finished, we left Oriental on Sept 28, resolved that we were going to make our way south very leisurely.  And we did - a half-day motoring took us to Morehead City, where we traded sea stories with friend Rob and tried a new brewpub for dinner. Then it was one night anchored out at a favorite anchorage in the middle of Camp Lejeune, a long travel day then anchored a few nights in Wrightsville Beach, connecting up with blogging friends Paul and Deb of Latitude 43, some anchor drag drama that I'll write about when we're in port for a while, and an evening with old Annapolis dock neighbors Tom and Debbie.  We had hoped for a marina here because of predicted bad weather but they were full; luckily next day when even worse weather was predicted they had a cancellation and we grabbed it.  Nice to sleep soundly when the wind is blowing 30 knots and the rain is dumping!  Three easy short days took us to our next stop at the south end of Myrtle Beach, one of my favorite reaches on the trip.  And fun for other reasons -- we promised ourselves that we would make sure this trip wasn't "work," an ordeal slogging our way south.  With short (6-hour) days of travel, we still had plenty of time after the anchor was set in the afternoon to read books, cook a fun dinner, talk, (and of course, have a glass of rum -- you wouldn't know it was us otherwise right?).  And we planned only 2-3 days each stretch before a layover day to explore, rest, or meet friends.  The pace was lovely!  And at Myrtle we had a treat planned, a visit with Dan's sister and her husband, who have been vacationing here for decades, a great chance for us to get a true insiders view -- and we did!  On tomorrow (weather permitting) to Charleston and then Beaufort.  When we get to Beaufort we'll linger a while, and I'll update with more details, some sea stories, and some pictures.