Early October, we drove back to Marina Grande Dunes and became weekend prisoners as the Myrtle Beach Triathlon descended on the marina. All roads in and out were closed to traffic. Although we had front row seats for the swimming event as shown here, it was not like the Ironman Triathlon in Kona, Hawaii that Su had witnessed years ago.

We spent the next two weeks stocking, stowing, and straightening for the trip south. On Sunday, October 16, we left the dock, and as we cruised down the ICW, we met MTOA members, John & Barbara on M/V Barbara E and our friends, Mike & Peggy on M/V Avalon.

Our surprise in Georgetown, SC was seeing Peter and Gail motor in the harbor on S/V Jabiru V. They are our good friends from Australia who are usually in Oriental at the same time we are both northbound and southbound. We had cocktails with them followed by lunch the next day followed by cocktails. We caught up on where they had been/we had been during the summer and where they were heading/we were heading for the winter.

After sitting in Georgetown, waiting for the wind to calm down, we finally left on Friday, October 21 and continued south stopping in Isle of Palms, Beaufort, and then Jim's favorite -- Kilkenny Marina outside Richmond Hill, GA. In all our stops at Kilkenny, we had never noticed the white egret tree (shown below). It was amazing how many flew in to find their bed as the sun was setting. Needless to say, the camera wasn't readily available, so this picture was taken the following morning after many had flown off to do whatever they do.

On October 25, we docked at Brunswick Landing Marina in Brunswick, GA to visit with JoJo and Tom who are moved into a home here last year. Their trawler, We B...., was just down the dock from us. JoJo was a great tour guide -- she took Su all around St. Simon's Island, up to Darien, GA and to Mudcat Charlie's restaurant at Two-Way Fish Camp Marina for lunch, and several trips to Publix for groceries. However, our three day trip turned into more days as the northwest/northeast winds just wouldn't stop. Knowing that St. Andrew's Sound can be ugly in nice weather, there was no way the Admiral wanted to tackle the elephant waves in high wind. With forecasts of 20-25 knots and gusts higher, we are still here at the end of October!