21 January - Day#49. Today was a bit more exciting than we really like. We left St. Augustine at 12:30 PM and promptly heard weather warnings. The HAM radio was a buzz with talk of the winds, hail and rain hitting Jacksonville. We've learned that we much prefer to be underway rather than at anchor and so continued south. The first two hours of the trip were beautiful with clear skies. Then the radar showed the storm was gaining on us. At 2:30 the winds hit 50 knots with sustained winds in the 30s. Coming from behind they simply pushed us along. When the rain hit it looked more like a sand storm. The ICW was a boil. We slowed to idle but still sped along at 5 knots. It was all we could do to see five feet in front of us. Then the thunder and lightening started. But hey, we lived, how bad could it have been? Anyway, it was nice tying up to Jeanie and Bill Schreiber's next door neighbor's dock--thank you Bob. We used every towel and rag aboard to mop up all the water that had blown in through Nellie's pores. A nice social evening with Bill and Jeanie was followed by an early 'lights out'. In Palm Coast, FL. 22nm today and 1157nm total. BJH
