Hello followers--we have now travelled to ICW (IntraCoastal Waterway ) mile marker 469, which in layman's terms is Charleston, South Carolina.   Considering that our home on the the Bay River is approximately marker 160, you can see we have travelled a far piece.  Added to the fact that most of the travel was at seven miles an hour--well you get the idea. 
It is interesting that as soon as one gets on a boat and heads out, all priorities change.  Weather, especially wind, takes center stage.  Is there enough wind to sail?  Is there too much wind to sail?  How cold will it get tonight--do I have enough blankets?  Will it be raining when we're trying to set the anchor?  Second are sounds and movement.  Is the motor behaving?  Can you hear water coming out the exhaust?  Is the anchor holding?  Are we swinging too much or too little?  (Too little means the boat has gotten stuck on a shore--  too much means one better think about a second anchor).  Is the boat (she--they are always called she--more on that another day) staying on course?  Is the current helping us or hurting us?  Now--landlubbers--how many of those questions did you ask yourself today?  I must say that we have had a few problems with anchoring and the like, but have come thru unscathed and feeling pretty good about ourselves and our ability to handle the boat.
Then, once that all becomes pretty automatic, you can look around and behold the wonders of the water and the land around the water and feel quite blessed.  We have had good weather and lovely anchoring spots.  I'll give you some photos soon.  We have already met some nice people and Tango has gotten pets from a number of admirers.  Right now he is stalking the cowbirds that are flying overhead.  We'll remain here a few days to do a bit of sightseeing and then be off to new territory for us--the waterway south of Charleston, heading for Georgia, Florida and the Keys 
We had a small world event today--friends from Oriental were bringing their new boat back from Florida and we passed on the waterway, exchanging a few brief messages over the radio.

From the Captain:  After reading the Admiral's comments you might think that we are roughing it.  Suffice it to say that every morning Roberta gets up and reads the New York Times which has been delivered to her Kindle during the night-- while sipping fresh coffee from the Keurig coffee machine onboard.