While at home we had to check out the new addition to the fold,
One of three new born Norwegian Fjord 's

Brandy, and her new baby

Now THAT'S a ship!!!!!

Left overs anyone????

One of the many dolphins we saw on our trip... Oops he is gone again....

A crab fisherman getting ready to deposit his crab traps

The Picobello is docked at Crown Point Marina, in the mouth of the York river.
We traveled almost 200 nm in the last couple of days to get here.
The Pamlico river was not very friendly to us, nor the Albemarle sound. The only other times our furniture was thrown all over the boat is when we were crossing lake Michigan, and the Gulf of Mexico. However we survived.

The boat was so covered with salt that it took most of one day to get it all washed off.

We will be staying in Crown Point for the next few weeks, while we go home for some Fam. functions.

Since our last posting we have come a long way north. We left Charleston on the 13th of May, and have been traveling with Harold and Kathy on the SONSIE of Meafort. We visited Georgetown, and Myrtle beach South Carolina, and then crossed the South Carolina/North Carolina border, and made a stop in Southport North Carolina. From there we left and spend a night in Wrightsville Beach. The Picobello left Wrightsville Beach, and went outside (on the open Atlantic) to Beaufort North Carolina, a 70 nm trip. The weather was beautiful with calm winds, and sunny skies.

A visit from the GRAND kids.
Aren't they cute!!!!

The traveling couple in front of Castillo de San Marcos
(St Augustine)

Today (May 12) the Picobello is docked at City marina in Charleston South Carolina. We came from Beaufort today, and are amazed at the wild and uninhabited parts you see along the Intercoastal Water Way in this part of the US. The more we travel north, the more we are reminded that we are traveling out of a subtropical climate. Temp. during the day can be stifling, and cool right down at night. This is good for sleeping, and nice for traveling. We met some other loopers here and will be joining them for dinner, and continue out trek north tomorrow.

The bench where Forest Gump was sitting when he said "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you get"

We biked 50 km on Jekyll Island

Today (05/10) we visited Savannah. Very interesting place to visit. The historic inner town is layed out with many squares. One square the Chippewa square ( named after the Indian chief with which General Oglethorp, founder of the state of Georgia, became friends) is the square where the scene out of the movie Forest Gump was filmed. The scene is where Forest tells his story to an elderly lady who is waiting for the bus, and he says " life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you get"
We took the public transport from the marina to town, and that initself was quite an experience.
One day is really not enough to take in all the beautiful sights of Savannah, but our itch to keep moving north won out, and tomorrow morning we will depart Georgia, and move into South Carolina, weather permitting

I should have mentioned that we visited St.Augustine, Jekyll, and St.Simon Island by car, while we were docked in Daytona. What a lot of history in those places. We always think of Plymouth Rock, and the May Flower when we think of the earlier settlers, but St.Augustine has that beaten by something like 50 years. Yes that is when Ponce de Leon (1513) first sighted the area of the USA. St.Augustine is actually the oldest City in the USA. Ponce de Leon build a strong hold (Castillo de Saint Marcos) on that spot, and it was never defeated.
Very interesting place to visit, and experience the European (Spanish) influence. Later in the late 1800 Henry Flagler tried to turn this city into the playground for the rich. Henry's influence can still be seen today, all over town. The now Flagler Collage was in those days the luxurious hotel for Henry, and his famous guests. Henry made his fortune in the oil business together with his business partner Rockefeller (Standard Oil). He also has to his credit the building of the railroad to and beyond St.Augustine.

From there we visited Jekyll Island. Also a very interesting place to visit, with lots of history.
Jekyll Island was originally settled by the Morgan Fam. They where to farm the land, and supply the nearby settlement and fort Frederica. Build by James Oglethorp, to defend the colony of Georgia from the Spanish. (Ponce de Leon) Later in the late 1800 the Jekyll Island was sold to a bunch of prominent business people from New York. It was turned into a privet club by people like Morgan, Rockefeller, Pulitzer, and Vanderbilt, plus 50 or so buddies of these families. Many decisions that shaped the USA in what it is today were discussed at Jekyll Island, and eventually became law. The club flourished for some 50 years, and some amazing cottages were build. The great depression was the start of the downfall of Jekyll Island, and by the time the second world war started the club fell apart. In 1947 the Island was bought by the state of Georgia, and it is maintained as a state park. Strict laws keep the Island unique as compared to the commercial tourist places you see along the coast in Florida.

A shot of the Wild horses of Cumberland Island walking on the beach

On May 9th the Picobello was untied from the dock in Daytona Beach, and started on its trek north.
We traveled to Fernandina Beach (over 90 nm) and stayed in Amilia Yacht Harbour. We had planned to anchor out, but the forecast was for some severe weather, so we decided to stay in a marina for the night. We left the next morning at 07.00 hr. and traveled to he Duplin river and anchored out for the night. Even though the weather was overcast for the most part of the day, we had a nice calm day, and made a stop at Jekyll Island for a lunch. Also this stop would put us in the little mud river (20 miles down river) at a rising tide. We needed the tide in our favor in order to pass through here without having to worry about running aground.
We were lucky to see some (4) of the wild horses on Cumberland Island. They where just walking along the beach. We altered coarse and came within a few hundred feet of the beach to have a good look at them.

We left our anchorage in the Duplin river again around 07.00 hr, and moved fast in order to get to hells gate, (again a very shallow passage) in order to get there before low tide. Again low tide in hells gate would have been very tight for us to get through.

At approx. 11.30 we arrived in at isle of Hope Marina, and are staying here for the next couple of days while we explore Savannah.