Skip,

My impression of your trip so far is that you didn't learn a lot from your
first attempt. You need to get your boat in order before heading offshore.
You clearly have a lot of electrical/instrument issues that need to be
resolved. Personally, being offshore with problems is not high on my list
of things to do.

You also seem to be in a rush to head north. You're in a beautiful area.
Why not enjoy it? That's what cruising is supposed to be about. I just
passed through there a few weeks ago and I thought that the Waccamaw river
area, which is just N of you on the ICW, was one of the prettiest sections
of the ICW.

Listen, if the wind isn't blowing, you're not going to be sailing anyhow.
Enjoy the beauty of the area. I used to feel that the ICW was for wimps
and sailed up and down the coast without seeing anything other than water.
Then weather (no wind or too much wind) kept me inside on parts of the
passage S and N this past year, and I really enjoyed the trip. You can
find lots of information on where we stopped at my web site.

So while you're sorting out your issues, take your time and enjoy where you
are. You don't need to be tied up to a dock at $2/ft without any breeze.
You can be anchored out in some lovely areas and if you need to plug into
shore power, you can. It's pretty much hot everywhere, so heading N won't
change that a lot.

Cruising is about enjoying where you are. There are lots of nice places to
stop and see, but if you're sailing (motoring) by on the outside, you'll
never know what you missed.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org