Southbound - Long Way Southbound

[MBILL]

We've finally upped anchor and begun our trip to Florida!
The MargaritaBill was underway at 6:06AM on 6/26/16 which happens to be our 29th wedding anniversary.

After a great sendoff by Ray Geiger at the dock we were off and out the inlet. The boat did not seem to want to let us go though!
I entered our first route and started it but the GPS kept telling us to go to the JI buoy! After that was squared away I noticed that the generator was running but giving no juice... I gave up on that and shut it down. Problem solved when we reached Cape May, I had tripped the breaker when I started it.
The seas were calm and the ride to Cape May went well. Lot's of custom Vikings and assorted yachts around here. Diesel was $2.49/gallon in our slip today.

Last night a boat came in behind us at about 10PM with a lot of activity. I went over to check it out and saw that they had a nice Bigeye Tuna. It weighed 265 at the scale.

We're going to hang in Cape May for a few days and then hit Ocean City MD. We'll start moving faster after the 4th of July.

It's sad to leave behind so many friends but the memories travel with us. We'll keep in touch and post some of the sights we see along the way.
Bill and Theresa

[jbjr]

You both shall be missed. Best of luck!!!

[Paul H / Emily S]

Safe trip ! And yes, your contributions to the club will be sorely missed. Once you figure out how to catch fish down there, send along some pics for the bulletin reports ! Especially when it's winter here ....

[Old Sam]

May you have calm seas and light winds for the rest of the trip. The truck should be on its way by now. Theresa, the selection was excellent too bad it didn't last long enough,oh well! Hope to see you in Fla. this winter, then we'll have to get a bigger bottle.

[Mike S]

“The days pass happily with me wherever my ship sails.” – Joshua Slocum

Safe passage. You'll be missed.

Mike S

[MBILL]

We're hanging in Ocean City, MD for the July 4th holiday at Sunset Marina.
It's a very upscale "resort" marina with big custom sport fishing boats in the slips and lots of fishing activity.

I'd guess that 50-70 boats left the inlet this morning to hit the Tuna grounds. There's a good Yellowfin bite going on (40-50lb range) and lots of fish came in yesterday.
Boats and crews are all very friendly. Sort of another world... Unlocked boats, gear all over the place, everybody making rigs for the next day.

A little girl just weighed in a 95lb Cobia which I'm told beats the MD state record by over 20lbs!

Diesel fuel is $2.45/gallon.

[The Betty]

Bill,
Sorry I missed your good bye. Safe trip and the Club will sorey miss you.
Tim

[Bob Joint Effort]

Best of luck - you will be missed tremendously. Love the updates! Wishing you tight lines and following seas!

[MBILL]

Just arrived in Portsmouth VA on 7/5/16.
Watched the fireworks in Ocean City, MD last night and left at 6:30am. Tight 3-4' seas all the way (120nm) on the nose... BAH

Lots of Navy ships here of course and plenty of commercial tugs to avoid. We'll stop by the naval museum and maybe the battleship Wisconsin.

The marina has a floating pool (which I jumped into immediately) and the dock water is out temporarily so the boat will stay salty for awhile.

[Time Well Wasted]

Safe travels you two!

And Bill, you guys must really rate, only one spelling error in Timmy's goodbye post.