Hurricane Wilma

Here we go again....

Since we last wrote we did sail "outside", an overnighter and a day sail. They were both pretty good over all other than a little scare on the overnighter. There was not enough wind to sail and our motor began to sputter... YIKES!!! We arrived at out our first destination on Monday and were greeted by the best site, my brother out on his sailboat Twiga.
Unfortunately, Hurricane Wilma is on her way so we are very busy with preparations and finding a safe place to keep her. We'll fill you in as soon as we can.
With love,
The Allens

We're going out.... we think!

Hello again,
We are so happy! The fronts have seemed to scurry out a little faster than expected though it's supposed to be rainy for a few more days. The winds have died down and so have the seas. We are hoping to kick out tomorrow to enjoy 2-4 ft waves, and 5-10 knot winds on the ocean. We're trying to dry out but aren't having much luck yet. We'll keep you posted!
Salty Sandi and Damp (but not Drenched anymore) Don

The salty dog, just before the big storm hit. He didn't look any better afterwards.... neither did his better half.  

The sun will come out tomorrow........ 

Things are looking a little better. The sky's are beginning to clear. We are hoping to cut outside tomorrow. 

This is a shrimping boat. Friends approached on of these guys and got a HUGE bucket of shrimp for 20$. DELICIOUS! 

Is that a heron on our bow???? 

Closer. 

Closer. 

THE BIRDS!!! 

A cozy little nook that we wished we could have stopped and enjoyed a little more. 

We loved coming up on trees like this one. They grow right up out of the river and people put signs up on them. Its like a regular freeway with billboards and all. 

We've had to pass through MANY bridges. This is one of them. 

A beauty of a pirate ship. 

Our guardian angels, watching over us. 

So... do you like our latest investment. This is the only place we could afford out here. OK. so the names not spelled right but it looks promising.... 

Enjoying the view and the miles we have already traversed. 

Speaking of wildlife, here's KR and her roomie, happy and healthy. 

Buddha, enjoying life. 

Some people just have to much money.... HA! 

Upon investigation, a YMCA sponsored Sprint Tri. We miss our training buddies! 

Can you believe this??? We wake up to a loud speaker telling swimmers to line up according to the color of their caps. A Triathlon! They swam off the back of our boat. You can just see them churning up the water. They look like the wake from this boat. 

Safe and Sound and Soggy again

Hello friends,
Well... this trip hasn't been what we thought it would be so far. Though we have had a couple of great days and seen some beautiful sights the weather hasn't agreed with us.
First there was Hurricane Ophelia. Her winds and overcast skies lasted about a week.
We had a couple of nice sunny days and then the winds turned coming out of the North. A mild Nor' Easter was a brewin'. These can last for a week at a time and that is what this one has done. Last Friday the winds started picking up and have been building since then. We were nailed with 30-40 mph gusts last night wich made for another uncomfortable night at anchor. ON top of that... we are going to be hit with Tropical Storm Tammy today through Saturday. I guess that is what we get for traveling during hurricane season. Our "guardian angels" Ed and Mary have been watching over us and have been a blessing. They have helped us out of a jam a couple of times. Most recently they helped us unwrap our anchor line from our keel. We have found this happens frequently due to the shape of our keel. Unfortunatly, yesterday they got stuck out in one of the rivers we had to pass through, and they had to be towed in because the visibility was so bad and the waves were crashing over their boat. The rain and winds yesterday made it impossible to see more than a few hundred feet.
We are feeling a bit down because of this long streak of bad weather and we are behind schedule. We are hoping for a nice break so that we can sail "outside" in the ocean for a day or two to make up for lost time.
On a more positive note, we have seen some great wild life including a HUGE wild alligator, dolphins galore, and speaking of wild life we met up with an old friend of ours, KR from South Bend. She's living near North Carolina Beach and is very happy there.
Currently, we are sitting at a library in Beaufort, SC. That is right folks. The last place we had computer use was Beaufort, NC. Crazy Eh?
This computer doesn't allow me to transfer pics from our camera so my apologies. We'll put them up when we get a chance.
Just like life, when sailing we have to take the bad with the good... so we figure we have a lot of good coming to us! We miss home. GO ND!!
Love,
Sodden Sandi and Downcast Don