The End

Wednesday April 15, 2015
Lightkeepers Marina
Little River, SC

The End

We started from Osprey Marina in Socastee, SC around 8 and motored under dreary drippy skies. We arrived around noon at our home port of Little River. We are glad to be home but are so glad we went. We had our problems, probably the most serious a malfunctioning VHF radio and then the hand held VHF also quiting on us. Fortunately Mark had a spare and we wired it in temporarily. His expertise was an invaluable asset to us over and over. We are most grateful for his guidance on our first lengthly cruise.

The Exhumas are beautiful. The water beyond description and the Bahamians are the most friendly and gentle people. The weather spectacular, we had 2 brief rains in a month. We loved the middle FL keys too. It is true you must have what you need going to the Bahamas because you can not count on buying anything once you get there. If our health and boat stay in good shape we will definitely do more cruising. Maybe not 3 or 4 months but maybe.

We are both in better condition than when we left. Stronger because of the rigors of boat life. Lee ate well but lost 20 pounds. We gained knowledge of our boat and improved our sailing skills. It just proves you can teach an old dog new tricks.

The tortoise lost the race home but, the hare (Windbird) took a little washing machine action to win. We chose the comfortable if slow way home. We enjoyed the scenery in GA and primordial look of the cypress tree swamps in SC. We saw mansions and shacks on the waterway. Our anchorage were often solitary and peaceful havens, we never had a bumpy night. We are not adept at the over night sleeping in shift thing and end up not sleeping much and being too sleepy to enjoy our journey. Since our only time pressure was taxes we could indulge in the slow and easy path. We got over feeling uneasy doing over nighters but have not gotten the hang of sleeping on demand.

I have to admit I missed my garbage disposal and dishwasher. I appreciate my shower with endless supply of water and yes my TV. None of these will keep me from making another cruise. Hope those of you who followed our journey enjoyed some of it with us. Til next voyage of Sea Turtle, good-bye.