Oh man did we start the next portion of the trip out with a bang!!  After traveling through pretty uninhabited Georgia, we opted not to stop in Savannah but press on. After crossing the Savannah River, Darrell commented that I should head more to port when we stopped cold!!  Grounded with a falling tide (2 hrs until low) and not budging. A power boat came along, heeled us over using the main halyard. My eyes about bugged out of my head when he almost dipped the rail in the water. With an anchor set to kedge us off and him pulling and me driving, we got her off - rather than wait 4-5 hours for enough water to float free. Whew!!!!!
     Next stop Beaufort, SC. A little more cruiser friendly than we found coastal GA. Tons of history, good food, and friendly people. Why Bill's Liquor Store staff even drove Darrell to the marina and back to the grocery store!
     It was hard to depart such a lovely and friendly place but we have been making plans. Next stop Charleston - home of Dean, Patt, and their dogs!  Yes we have been missing them since they moved from Miami. Drove most of the way there but got slowed down by a rain and thunderstorm. Lightening strikes galore - even saw one strike a channel marker about 1/2 mile ahead of us. Thank the Lord, we were spared!!
     Arrived at Wappoo Creek on Friday. All the next weekend we spent with Dean Revels and Patt Roldan. What a great time seeing most of the top sites in Charleston and eating like kings and queens!  It would be difficult to say what our favorite has been but the USS Yorktown has to rank up there!  WOW!  Dean and Patt have been such good hosts and sightseeing companions!!  
  The next week, we decided we needed to look into our increasing shifting issues a little farther. With Jason and Nicole expected the end of the week, we would take off the transmission to get it looked at. Shipped it to a mechanic we had been in contact with in Jacksonville. The tranny is history - too worn out to be cost effective to repair. Now, we are at a marina in Charleston trying to find one (new or used). 
     Meantime, Jason, Nicole, Kelsey, and Ava arrived in Charleston. We had dinners together, went fishing, exploring (Aquarium and Farmers Market) and swimming with the kids while they were here!  Good times as always!!  
     

East Coast Tour

     This trip is as good or better than either of us imagined it would be!  The museums, architecture, and hospitality of St. Augustine have been wonderful.  It is time to move on, though. 
     We are going to stop in Jacksonville, FL for long needed repairs. Our autopilot has not worked since our lightening experience. There is a company in JAX that works on our brand. Going to have it looked at to see if it is worth repairing or replacing. We will see, it would be very difficult to compete with St. Augustine for our favor!
     If we have a long wait on service or parts, we can get started sewing for our grandson. We have the honor of getting to make the crib set. We have had the fabric and notions on board since we left and of course we would like to remove excess "baggage". 
     We have had time to sew and have completed some of the parts. Hope to get the whole set finished and shipped to Jessica and Craig soon. 
     We moved inland on the St. John River while waiting on parts to be shipped from England for the autopilot. Did a little exploring while killing time.  Back towards JAX for July 4th. We found a Publix grocery store only 2 blocks off the river - so we got some more provisions! Looking forward to having a good spot to watch fireworks. And were we ever rewarded!!  The best fireworks show either of us has ever seen. Done in stereo - 2 barges with near simultaneous displays! Great!
  Then we got the autopilot fixed and recalibrated. We left Jacksonville that afternoon. Having that is gonna be nice!
     Today, off Jekyll Island, we were part of something pretty fantastic. We went exploring by dinghy just before sunset. We saw some boys scooping water from the river and splashing something white near the shore. We drove closer and asked what they were doing. They had been fishing and caught a southern stingray ( fairly large). While she was on their fishing line, she gave birth to four babies. After they got the stingray loose from the line, she was upside down in shallow water and couldn't get turned back over - enter DnA. We were able to get close in the dink and use our oars to get her flipped over so she could swim off!!  Incredible!  Sorry no pictures - the camera was back on the big boat.