The ICY Double-U

And here I thought it was ICW.  Nope, it's Icy W.  As in "Frost Warnings".  And we are in Carolina!

Today was Day 3 of our marathon attempt to souther (is that a verb?) ourselves as fast as possible, and the weather is getting colder!  Today I wore 6 (SIX!) layers on top, including 3 (THREE layers) of fleece in addition to my big yellow foulie jacket.  And two pairs of wool socks under my foulie boots. And 3 layers of pants, including of course my long undies.  And my dorky hat.  And I was still cold. And I don't even wear that much back home in Minnesota!

And we were motoring for 10 (TEN!) hours, non-stop (except for waiting for two bridges to open). 

For the first time, we ran the diesel forced-air heater system much of the day, inside the cabin - so the one not driving could escape to warmer climates.  We would just plain not be able to do this trip without this heater system.  [Note: Next boat must have a totally-enclosed cockpit.  Or be located in Arizona or, better yet, Death Valley.]

Thursday: Belhaven NC to Oriental NC, 56 miles,
Friday: on to Morehead NC, 30 miles.
Saturday (today): on to where-are-we, NC, close to Wilmington, 73 miles.

But, the good news: We are now only 80 miles to Myrtle Beach, SOUTH Carolina (or 106 if we go to our preferred marina near there), so we will 1) probably get there in time to catch a plane to see our kids and grandkids for thanksgiving, 2) without the boat, 3) in a much warmer state, and 4) get to spend a few or several days just plain sitting, reading, and soaking up heat (see: diesel heater, above).

Did we mention that the rum does help, but only after we stop for the night?

Upcoming events:  More dodging shoals on the Icy-W.  A passage down the (appropriately-named) Cape Fear river. More (too much) experience dealing with tides, current, shoals, and cold.

We are staying in marinas - we are just too cold and tired to mess around with anchoring in thin water, and need the safety of being tied (tightly) to a dock so we can get some sleep.  As usual, we are way over budget.