Southport to Charleston
Southport and Oak Island
We spent two months in Southport because Andrea's sister was doing Christmas in Oak Island, and the closest marina was in Southport. The monthly rates at some marinas are about the same as the weekly rates, meaning buy one week, get three free. And since we both wanted to fly somewhere in January, a long stay in Oak Island would give us time to get more comfortable on the boat.
The weather was a little chilly, but there were a few perfect days, too. Unfortunately, when there was a streak of perfect days, the bugs came out. Fortunately, that didn't last long.
We had enough time to order some parts, change the impeller, mount the StarLink dish on the arch, try out the spinnaker, and buy a few kitchen items that were lacking.
Night Sailing
Andrea hates night sailing. But, unless we quit our day jobs, it's hard to get very far on short weekend sails. Getting to Hilton Head is our next goal, but it's 30+ hours away, and the weather window says we can sail in that direction from Friday at 5pm until Sunday morning at 9am. Before and after that, the wind is too strong and in the wrong direction. So, we could either creep down the coast 60 miles on Saturday, or we could sail through Friday and Saturday night and knock out 200 miles.
Charleston
In the end, we didn't make it to Hilton Head because we were tired and grouchy and Saturday Night was supposed to be rainy. So, we ducked into Charleston Harbor and anchored for the night. It looks like we will have to wait until Monday to go to Hilton Head.