After a year of puttering around in our GB49 at 8 to 10 kts we are
beginning to adapt to a slower schedule but it has taken some
adjustment. One fact that has become apparent is that slow and steady
wins the race. Another observation is that when the wind and waves
kick up, we are running as fast as anyone else and doing it a lot more
comfortably. Last but not least, we are still running on fuel that we
bought in May, 700 miles ago in North Carolina at $1.67 a gallon.

On balance, our trip north from SWFL was not all that slow either.
Thanks to the help of two old sailing buddys who joined us for the
trip, we were able to make several offshore runs which saved a lot of
time and distance.

We left Cape Coral on May 21 heading east on the Okeechobee Waterway,
spent Saturday night docked in the wilds of central Florida, and then
made a 2 1/2 day non-stop run to Charleston, SC by way of Port St Lucie
and Fort Pierce inlet. We pulled into Charleston at the crack of dawn
on May 24, already 450 nautical miles from where we started. A day
later, and another overnight run, we were 200 miles north in Beaufort,
NC on the south side of the Outer Banks. From an over night stop in
Oriental, NC it took another 2 days on the Intercoastal Waterway to
reach Norfolk, VA averaging about 80 miles each day. Leaving Norfolk
at the crack of dawn the following day, we were able to reach Ocean
City, MD by late afternoon requiring full cruising speed of 10 1/2 kts.
Ocean City to Cape May, NJ was a leisurely 40 mile run at 8 kts, and
from there it was another 120 miles to NY Harbor, about 1200 natutical
miles total in 11 days, most of which was done at speeds of 9 kts or
less.