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December 7, 2004
Hello to all our friends and family,

Every time we head back to South Carolina after a long cruise the anticipation of seeing family and old friends, having internet connectivity, watching TV, getting caught up with the news, long showers, shopping, etc. have us stoked with expectation. We ooh and aah at all the goodies in the stores, the new movies, advancements on the internet and so on. But then, after 4 or 5 months things change. For sure it is always hard to leave family and friends, but it is then a relief to get away from TV, the dismally repetitive news and the advertising scams. By the end of summer we have been thoroughly saturated and can hardly wait to get underway again to see cruising friends, visit new places, quietly read books and return to relative isolation.

For cruisers, progress is not measured so much in miles as in experiences. This past month has been filled with both so I think we can mark November as having been particularly successful. Francesca left the dock at North Myrtle Beach the day after the November 2 national election. Moving south, the daytime outside temperatures in South Carolina and Georgia were moderate, mostly requiring a jacket to be comfortable. On the fly bridge, however, with sunny days and most of the windows zipped, it was shirt-sleeve and shorts toasty warm. Then in the evening and at anchor, even though the outside temperature was much cooler, the dissipating heat of the engines helped to maintain the cabin temperature nicely throughout each night.

Last summer, Francesca had been outfitted with a new autopilot, a fly bridge radar receiver, two new depth sounders, and lots of other things that we felt would improve our comfort and safety as well as Francesca's reliability for the very long upcoming voyage. At last we have a full compliment of instrumentation on both the fly bridge and lower helm station. The previous winter, in Cartagena, Colombia, we had lots of other work done to the boat. It was with some relief that we completed the summers outfitting and ended the financial hemorrhage. Now, after a month of cruising, the lions share of those upgrades have been tested with favorable results.

On this trip our 8-year-old grandson, Johann, is accompanying us for the next several months. We are carrying on the home schooling that his parents (Sterling and Soon Ae) have begun. Most folks aren't very knowledgeable about "home schooling" so I'll include a little helpful information. Home schooling is done in a very programmed way. There are many companies