Off after 11 hours....

Karen and Joe on the ICW.

Although we went to sleep thinking we were going to have the opportunity to shower and provision a little before setting sail Monday morning, our captain, Karen, woke up and developed other plans.  Because of the weather forecast and the desire for the boys (The boys are the 20-somethings, Jeremy and Gerrit, that are along for the first eight days of the trip.) to see as much as possible before that have to return to work in Baltimore, it was decided to cast off just after 6am.  Of course, the bathrooms with the showers don’t open at the marina until 8am so we were on starting our third day without a shower.  I watched as my chance for good hygiene faded into the distance as we motored toward the rising sun. 

I tease Karen about the hard pace but the rest of the crew are interested in covering as much as possible in these first few days.  I have a little more of a relaxed approach since I’m committed to the six weeks and know we should reach our final destination, Miami, by August 20.  Our early departure this morning also was influenced by the window of good weather and arrival at the next marina, River Forest Manor Marina on the Pungo River before it gets too late.

Actually, we were considering stopping at the Alligator River Bridge Marina, but because of an improving forecast and desire to cover as much as possible, we pushed on to Pungo River area which meant a predicted arrival of 11pm.