Yesterday, we didn’t go too far and stopped at a marina. All the adrenaline of the first day combined with very little sleep on our first night anchoring had us feeling super crappy and pretty worn out. We just needed a day to celebrate all our firsts and relax. So we pulled in for fuel and when the dock master at Hilton Head Harbor Marina said something about a pool we caved.

After a relaxing day, we got back up and going around nine. We left Hilton Head behind and entered Calibogue Sound. I got to see a stingray jump out of the water which pretty much made my day.

After the open sound, we had to navigate some narrow and shallow cuts. I had just downloaded a new FREE open source navigational software called openCPN. I like it so much better than SeaClear (what we were using). It’s much easier to use. In case you are wondering..a lot of people pay big bucks for a chartplotter system on the boat to keep them on track in the Intracoastal Waterway (or ICW, or The Ditch). We bought a $50 gps that plugs into a laptop and downloaded NOAA charts for free, then use a free software program for a chartplotter. It’s awesome.

Anyway if any other cheap ass sailing people are reading this, use OpenCPN instead of SeaClear.

So we successfully navigated Fields Cut, and a few other tight spots with this set up. In the sun its hard for Josh to see the screen so we tag team it and all those years working together came I’m handy.

We made it to an anchorage in Turner Creek and are here now. We are just watching the sunset and about to make tuna burgers on the grill.

We might stay a few days and take a bus into Savannah. Once we move on, we’re gonna go to a really inexpensive marina not too far away. I saw the price on Active Captain…then I saw that they have golf carts you can take into town. Uh, yes please!

Now that you know all the nitty gritty details of our day, I am going to get a little emotional on ya’ll.

To all the friends and family who told us not to quit and who encouraged us…thank you. Seriously….if you have a dream that seems ridiculous, or scary, and it’s really hard to see it through…surround yourself with people who won’t let you quit.

People who tell you (in slightly fouler words) to buck up and sail the crap out of your $4000 sailboat.

People who call you and help you problem solve every step of the way.

People who pray for you, and give you homemade limoncello, and cards stuffed with cash for the hard days.

Read blogs of people who have done what you are interested in.

If you’re a fellow Christian, find a church full of people telling you to get off your ass and do what you’re made to!

It was really hard to quit a job I loved, pack up a home I loved, and leave neighbors I loved. You know what though? Josh and I wanted to live on a boat. We wanted to go back to Haiti (less than 10 weeks until that happens). We wanted to live overseas. God turned those wants into something more and we couldn’t be happier that (to quote my favorite movie) “It’s all happening.”

God has literally provided every step of the way.  At the boatyard we were at, a new friend even gave us sailing gloves which we ended up needed really badly.

Things will work out. It won’t be easy…not at all. It will, however, be worth it. Be wise, have some common sense and faith and do what you know you are supposed to do.