FINALLY MOVING ON-After over two months at the Brunswick Landing Marina in Brunswick, Georgia, Tantara has finally resumed cruising.

During January, Steve was busy installing a single side band radio, replacing the battery bank, performing routine maintenance on the boat, and achieving his technician’s license for HAM radio. Meanwhile, he continued working on the MadRiv project.

The kids enjoyed getting in a little sailing in Triple Dip, their sailing dinghy, playing with other cruising kids at the marina, and entertaining anyone willing to listen to their piano, penny whistle, and harmonica. Home education continued, and the cold days were made brighter (and a little warmer) by the cutest west-highland white terrier named Winnifred (Winnie for short). Our dock neighbors, Craig and Mary on the catamaran Rum Tum Tiger were working hard remodeling their home in Brunswick. Meanwhile, Winnie was lonely staying on their boat all day by herself. A wonderful arrangement developed for the kids to dog sit during the day, making sure Winnie got lots of exercise and lavish amounts of attention. Winnie did her part by behaving like a true lady on our boat, performing little ballerina dances for treats, keeping our laps warm during morning math lessons and charming her way into our hearts, even though she never did catch on to the finer parts of changing percentages to reduced fractions or finding the area of a triangle.

Julie joined a morning walking group with other folks living at the marina and enjoyed making friends as well as getting regular exercise. Every Wednesday evening, the marina folks organized a casual gathering in the marina lounge where we brought our own appetizers and drinks and shared food, stories and future travel plans while the kids happily serenaded with their instruments. One of Julie’s walking buddies taught her how to make real Italian bread from her travels in Italy, filling our boat with the heavenly aroma of freshly baked bread.

As we prepared to leave the marina at the end of January, we received numerous offers from our kind marina friends for transportation to the grocery store, Lowes and West Marine as we began provisioning Tantara for our passage to the Bahamas. The Brunswick Landing Marina offered us a supportive community where help, advice, and companionship were only a dock’s walk away. People actually had time for each other, a rarity in modern society. We made many friends there and they will be missed. We hope a few will catch up with us in the Bahamas and perhaps we will see others as we continue our cruise.