Palm Coast, Florida, USA

After departing Hopetown, in the Bahamas, we spent about another week moving west, slowly, amongst the Abacos Islands, exploring beaches and anchorages along the way.

A bit sooner than we anticipated, we had a weather opportunity to get across the Gulf Stream to Florida, so we took it.  We spent two days and nights sailing from the northern Bahamas to Florida, and entered the Intracoastal Waterway just north of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at Ponce Inlet.

It was a bit sad leaving the islands behind, but time and tide wait for no man, so it was good to get across the notorious Gulf Stream with no drama.  We did one last round of celestial navigation so that Chris can finish off his video series along the way.

After that, it was a half day of motoring up the ICW to get to Palm Coast. Along the way, we hoisted the flags from all the countries we've visited from our starboard flag halyard - technically a breach of flag etiquette, but it was cool to see all the places we've been.  Shortly after, we arrived at Palm Coast Marina, where we were warmly greeted by Tom and Kathy, who quickly ushered us off our damp boat to their house - complete with pool, hot water, refrigerator, and real bed...unbeatable!

We spent a few days enjoying the relaxing compound as well as getting ready for Kellee's upcoming SCUBA instructor examination (she took the course in Grenada, but is now getting certified).  We headed down to Vero Beach for a 3 day examination, and Kellee passed with flying colors!  So congratulations to the latest PADI instructor! Quite an impressive feat.

This week we'll spend enjoying with the Gaffey's, exploring their new home, and next week it will be time to start moving up the east coast of the US - planning to arrive in Connecticut around the beginning of June, to end our trip.  Hopefully it won't be too cold as we head north - but we've broken out our cold-weather sleeping bags just in case!