It's been so long I don't remember when I sent the last email - perhaps we were still stuck in Annapolis, Maryland. Well, we're now in Florida.

The weather has been absolute crap - we're still stuck in the US and our visas are running out fast. We might just end up joining the other thousands of 'illegal aliens' here!! We've talked to customs and they don't know what to do with us. They have no exit control, only entry control, so the chances of them knowing that anyone is still in the country when they shouldn't be are pretty slim. Might just come in handy for us at this rate.

Don't know if you've heard, but NOAA - the national weather people here have run out of alphabet to name the storms and have had to start over again. I think we're up to 'Gamma' now. We're supposed to be out of the hurricane season, but they're still around.

Apart from that, we're having lots of fun!! We've been making our way down the east coast via the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), except for the state of Georgia, where we sailed off shore. The ICW is basically a mixture of natural and manmade canals stretching from Norfolk, Virginia to Florida - more than a 1200 miles it. I think it goes alot further and joins with other inland canals. Some of it is breathtakingly beautiful - particularly the Dismal Swamp, which is the very first section of it from Norfolk, Virginia to Elizabeth City, North Carolina. We're currently up to mile 895 and have about 100 to go - about another 2 days - before we leave it and head out to the Bahamas. In all we've sailed about 2000 miles of the east coast. The ICW is supposed to be maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers, but some of it has been so shallow that we've run aground a few times (our draft is 5 feet 6 inches) - we're not the only ones either. The boat traffic on the ICW has been busy - it's like a mass exodus to warmer waters. And most of the boaters seem to be heading to the Bahamas like us.

The further south we come the more evidence we see of the storms - quite a few shipwrecked boats litter the canals, shattered wharves and jetties, and although we have fairly up to date charts, some of the shoals have moved.

We've had dolphins swim in our bow wake since Beaufort NC. It's been surprising to see them in the canals, but always a joy! Lots of Christmas stuff happening, including boat parades and fireworks, and beer o'clocks (of course). We be havin' fun! And the accents are just like in the movies. It's sometimes hard to take them seriously, especially the North and South Carolina drawls. But the hospitality has been outstanding!! Elizabeth City, North Carolina, put on a cheese and wine night to welcome us boaties to their city!! How good is that!! We felt very special.

The weather is starting to warm up - thank goodness - no more ice on the decks!! We've been having to wear 7 layers under our wet weather gear, plus balaclavas and beanies. I don't remember ever being so cold in my entire life!! We took pictures so that you would believe us. We've had to wear tracky dacks under our jeans under our wet weather dacks, two pairs of socks and long johns under (although I shrunk Marno's in the dryer back in Elizabeth City's laundromat. Thought I had some child's duds mixed in with mine until I realised what they were.)

We had an interesting time last week. We had decided to skip the Georgia ICW as we had heard that it was badly maintained and took a weather window outside to do an overnighter to Florida - about 120 miles. So we spent a night anchored near Daufuskie Island near the boarder between South Carolina and Georgia. There was a very strong current, so we made sure our anchor was well set and put out extra chain for weight. The next morning before daybreak (about 5am - sunrise here is around 7am) we lifted the dingy onto the deck, hauled anchor and as we started on our way, we got a line caught around our prop, which of course, stalled the engine. We were dead in the water. Marno, thinking quickly, as the current was about to beach us on the shore, threw out a stern anchor. We couldn't set it as we were dead in the water, so we chucked the dink back in the water and in record time rowed a second anchor out from the bow and we were safe from being wrecked on Daufuskie Island.

We tried every way we had read and heard about cutting a line from the prop, including a few of our own ideas, hoping that Marno wouldn't have to go for a dip in the chilly water - especially with the current ripping through. We tried for 4 hours to no avail. With great reluctance we unearthed the dive gear from the depths of the V-berth and waited for slack tide so the current would slow down. Morale at this time was very low, so I put on some Bee Gees and played "Stayin' Alive" very loudly from the cockpit, ate some chocolate and danced on the decks to the passing boats. Trust me, you do some crazy things when you're looking at your partner for potentially the last time (just call me a drama queen - but I did have everything prepped to treat Marno for hypothermia). It was just after midday when Marno dived into the very cold water and in under 15 seconds cut us loose. Yeah!! After a well earned hot shower and some steaming hot chocolate we then joined the dolphins and headed out to sea.

It started out so calm - in fact no wind - that we had to motor. It was during my watch - between midnight and 3am that the wind and waves picked up. Marno took his watch between 3am and 6am, but I didn't get much shuteye. The seas had really picked up and everything that wasn't permanently epoxied to the walls, including me, was thrown around the boat. The seas weren't really that big - probably only around 10-12 feet, but the waves were in close succession.

We hoisted a sail to stabilise the boat and as daylight grew on the horizon, we counted down the miles to Jacksonville. Finally, around 9am we started our approach. On the chart, however, the entrance to Jacksonville was marked as a bar with no published depths. I radioed out to any listening mariner to get the condition on the bar. One of our sailing mates we hadn't seen for a week or so came back. How nice it is to hear a friendly familiar voice unexpectedly, especially when you're tired and a little stressed. We tried several different channels, but just couldn't get a clear reception. What we didn't see, until it was too late, was the naval war ship coming right up our stern following us into the bar ploughing through the waves at about 25 knots. It had probably been trying to contact us while I was trying to get a condition report. Close proximity to it would explain the bad reception with our friends. In any case it passed us on our port side, leaving a 12 foot wake perpendicular to the waves. What wasn't already sprawled throughout the boat or smashed joined the objects that were. I caught the laptop we use for navigation in midair and held on tight as the boat heeled over so low the sail touched the water. It was very exciting! There's a thrill you kind of get out of these events. You certainly know you're alive.

The bar, as it turned out, was a major shipping channel, with depths of 50 feet. We later heard some speculation that the seas were caused by some phenomenon with the Gulf Stream. Anyway, after cleaning up the boat and mopping up smashed raw eggs throughout the tangled debris, (yep, it was at least as yucky as it sounds) we enjoyed the next couple of days in the company of our friends in Jacksonville.

Today we passed Cape Canaveral and have anchored with about 2 dozen other boats in a place called Cocoa. Tomorrow we hope to tuck another 50 miles under our belts. The day after we'll be in West Palm Beach and ready to leave the US.

Sorry about the very long email. There's so much to tell - so much has happened. Anyway, since some of you have been asking for photos, I've included a few. Consider it a kind of Christmas Card, seasons greetings thingy. These have been taken throughout our trip extending as far north as Gloucestor, Ma to Jacksonville, Fl. Some of you may find a few of these in bad taste - but you know what Marno's like. Enjoy!!

They had lots of these in Norfolk Early morning start in Norfolk

The Captain Some weirdo on the fordeck

The Smithsonian

Annapolis, a drinking town with a sailing problem

It was starting to get cold, ICE

Our first lock, at the start of the Dismal Swamp

It wasn't so dismal