I’ll admit it. I was nervous. Sleeping at anchor was a bucket list item for me, but I felt ignorant of and ill-prepared for the actual process involved. As with most things nautical, Todd pretended to know what he was doing and patiently humored me. We practiced with friends (thank you, Chris & Allison on Purrfect), did lots of research, read articles, watched videos, talked to other cruisers (thank you, James & Carol on Excaliber, and Dave & Peggy on Simplicity). So, finally, here it was, the moment we’d been waiting for. After last-minute words of guidance and encouragement, via VHF, from Dave, we gently approached the anchorage, circled around choosing a spot, a-n-d …… lowered the anchor. A gentle splash, playing out the chain, setting the bridle, a few testing tugs, pick a spot in the distance to gauge for any unwanted movement, engage anchor alarm, power down main engine and generator. Aaaah, peace and quiet. We did it! Time for a cocktail. And then, do you think we should go out and check on it again?? That seemed a bit too easy. LOL

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The night was peaceful, and the anchor alarm only went off twice (Todd’s still pretending), but the house bank didn’t perform as well as it should have, so we plan to stop in Thunderbolt, GA to have the battery bank checked, and possibly replaced, before catching up with our traveling companions down the coast.

The plan is to spend a few days traveling to Vero Beach with two buddy boats, Simplicity and Barefootin’, then wait in Vero for an appropriate weather window to cross the gulf stream over to the Bahamas.

The electronics are done. The boat is back together. We’ve been provisioning like crazy. And now, no more car. Our tether to land has been sold. Sold him at a Toyota dealer that basically had no inventory and was desperate for cars. Those in the picture belonged to employees. The days of the Shoe Leather Express officially begin. Hey, Honey, didn’t you say something about electric bikes?? 🙂