2017 Summary

     As I write this it is the day before New Year's Eve. New Years Eve Eve? Whatever. Not going on a New Years Eve Cruise off Key West this year as Heather and Mike are not here this year. More about that later. We went to Key West yesterday with our friends on Gelato, Al and Sue, who joined us in Marathon a few days before Christmas. Key West is a 50 mile bus ride from Marathon that only cost $1 each way. What a bargain!

     So this is a summary of our 2017, more or less. Less because our memory is another year older. And foggier. Also because much was mentioned in previous blog entries. This is also a summary of our time in Marathon since we arrived in November.

     Our January 2017 was interesting because we volunteered at the Celtic Fest for the first time. Manned a beer tent and learned how to pull draft beer properly. We are volunteering there again in about a week. Our trip north was fraught with peril as a bridge tender tried to kill us (he failed, BTW) in Sisters Creek off the St. Johns River. We also spent more than three hours aground nearby that same day. Then, in March, we had extreme cold and snow in Wrightsville Beach, NC. After that our trip home to Mystic was without major issues 

     In July we lost our portside propeller assembly on a otherwise great sail to Montauk and had to replace it at great cost during our first haul out ever in Essex, CT in August.

     In September we had another first, a baby shower for Heather and Mike. It was also the first I ever attended for anyone, including the one preceding Heather's birth thirty-something years earlier. September also saw the landfall of a major hurricane near our winter home of Marathon, FL. It tried to ruin our fall cruise south. It didn't, but it tried. Hurricane Jose also tried to wreck (bad choice of words) our cruise also but we beat it to the Cape May, NJ area by less than a day. After that our passages south were not too bad. We even went out to sea out of a new-to-us exit from the ICW, Winyah Bay, SC.

     After we arrived in Marathon and saw all the damage to the mangroves, all the damage ashore and all the wrecked boats, we got to work. Approximately every five days there was a work party cleaning junk out of the mangroves or even cleaning the Route 1 roadside in front of and north of our marina and the park that fronts it. I was involved in pulling out three fridges and dock boxes along with tons of plastics and other debris from the harbor. Not fun. But fulfilling. Having a communal lunch after each work session with the other volunteers also pulled our community together.

     Last year I started an on-the-VHF auction that raised about $500 for the Christmas Bike Fund. About $4000 was raised from various sources and 36 bikes were distributed to needy kids in Marathon. This year when I started talking about another VHF auction it was suggested by a professional auctioneer that he was willing to help in a live auction ashore at the marina. We started working on that idea and started collecting contributions to be auctioned off in addition to the Cruising Guides the Waterway Guide gives to me. We raised more than $1300 this time and the marina was able to purchase 44 bikes! What an improvement!. The need was greater due to Irma and the harbor came through! And we had fun doing it.

     As this was going on we had a new arrival. He was a bit late in coming and caused some problems but Cobbe (pronounced Kobie) Michael Caramanico was born 1 December 2017. He is sure to cause more problems in the future. I visited him for about a week in NYC and grandma stayed a bit longer. He plans to visit us (with his parents) some time in February 2018.

     We participated in our harbor Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinners this season as we didn't have family guests due to the waiting for Cobbe time. A nice chance to socialize with old friends and make new ones. Marathon is getting closer to normal and our harbor community has been much more successful getting back to normal than Marathon and the rest of the Keys at large. A lot to be thankful for.

     It's been a lot of work for all but well worth it when seeing the results of that labor.

   

Marathon post Irma

     We arrived in Marathon a few days ago after an overnight offshore passage direct from Fort Pierce. It wasn't the worst passage ever but it wasn't all that great. Seas were about a foot but not from an ideal direction so we rocked and rolled a little bit. Okay, just rocked. It was warm, however, so we can't complain too much. We do complain, but we shouldn't.

     We left Wrightsville Beach anticipating some nasty weather and only went to Southport. We paid for a slip because our usual anchorage is shoaling in, it was forecast to be very windy and it was going to be low tide when we wanted to depart in the morning. The storm pretty much formed off the coast near us and then ripped up towards New York and New England. They got hammered badly with 60+ MPH winds while we only got an hour or two of 35 knots at a dock. When we left in the morning it was still rainy and foggy but it cleared up as we headed west. As it cleared up the temperature dropped like a rock. Long underwear time. TMI? Sorry.

     We went to another marina the next night. Two paid slips in a row! Unprecedented! The Bucksport Marina was 75 cents per foot so the piggy bank wasn't broken, just scratched. The Southport marina was $1.25/ft. Still not too awful.

     We then went down the Waccamaw River to the mouth of Winyah Bay to time our departure out into the ocean and to let the weather finish its trip up the coast to Connecticut. We'd been in communication with our friends on Gelato and suggested they meet us out near the Charleston Channel in the afternoon and we could buddy-boat them on their first deep-water offshore passage. They departed Charleston a little early and were about ten miles in front of us. We had some VHF communication but lost touch with them. We were well out of cell phone range with the shore so they were on their own even though we were likely within 10-15 miles of them. Their boat is a little faster than us when they want to be so we were shocked when morning came and found them less than a mile BEHIND US! It's a big ocean and their finding us was very, very surprising. They had a interesting tale to tell but, once again, I'll let them tell their tale when we're all back at Waterbury Squadron get-togethers in 2018.

     We went into the St. Johns River in Florida and tied up at a free dock near a former anchorage of ours in Sisters Creek. The next day found us in Saint Augustine and here we started seeing a lot of damage from Hurricane Irma. We also had dinner and caught up with old, I mean, long time friends Bob and Jane.

     From St. Auggie it was New Smyrna Beach, Dragon Point and then Fort Pierce. We spent four nights in Faber Cove, restocking food and fuel and visiting with Mike and Carol Guay. We would have liked to stay longer but a weather window was threatening to close and if we wanted to get to Marathon in time to fly out we had to get moving.

      As I said, the passage wasn't great but after our arrival the wind and rain started blowing 25-30kts for four days. The weather is easier to take when it is 80 degrees out. Of course, someone on our boat complains about the temp. and humidity. Any sympathy from our northern friends and family? No. I didn't think so.

     The damage along the western shores of our ICW passages was extensive but arriving in Marathon showed us real destruction. Many, many boats in the mangroves. Major damage to the City Marina where we stay. And several dozen boats have just vanished. No one knows where they are. The main channel has been cleared of sunken boats but there is debris everywhere. The streets are lined with junk, the mangroves are damaged and a lot of housing is unlivable.

     We debated whether we should come down here and add to the stress on the infrastructure but we felt we have made Marathon our second home and wanted to contribute in any way we could. The businesses need us snowbirds (the land and sea varieties) to survive but there are very few workers for the businesses because there is no place for them to live. It's a tough situation.

     The boating community we are part of is busy trying to get their lives in order and also help others out. People are rebuilding the marina garden, pulling junk out of the harbor waters as well as the surrounding mangroves. There is a lot of work to do. It will take years to get back to normal and at least several more months to even come close to the life we all had here. We are torn between advising friends to come and help or to stay away until next year.

     It seems to me that people are in a kind of shock. I think they would deny it even as they try to overcome it but to me, coming from the outside after being away for eight months, it shows.

     There are fewer boats left, fewer people, it's quieter but in that quietness there is a determination to rebuild and get their lives back and make this area paradise again. 

Still on her mooring

Outer dinghy docks from the City Marina

          The terrible thing is all this damage is relatively minor when compared to the horror in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. We simply cannot imagine it.

Wrightsville Beach

     We're in Wrightsville Beach, NC. We'll be here about a week and a half as Carol goes off to work again.

     Getting here was not a big deal this year. We ran out of Annapolis the day Carol arrived because we were a bit tired of the wakes we get in Weems Creek on busy weekends. We just went to the Rhode River off of West River Bay not too far south of Annapolis. A two hour trip that only cut an hour off of the next day's trip to the Solomons.

     We stayed two nights in the Solomons because of forecast wind and rain. Wasn't bad at all at our anchorage in Mill Creek but we heard it was rougher out on Chesapeake Bay. Sue and Al on Gelato came to the Solomons also but we didn't see them as they took a mooring in a different part of the harbor.

     After that it was Jackson Creek near Deltaville, VA. An easy pleasant day to here and Gelato was able to get in despite the relatively shallow water. They came by after dinner for dessert.

     Then it was down the Bay to Hampton Roads and Portsmouth, VA. We took a free dock for the first time in North Landing. Gelato squeezed in behind us and we found we should have tied up at the southern free docking spot. Much prettier. A chat with a fellow snowbird led us to a nearby movie theater where we all saw a Tom Cruise flic. The theater was very nice. It was the first in the country to provide full restaurant meals with the movie. Very fancy and the food was good, too. After the film we talked a while with the folks on Delta Blues (and Gelato, too, of course).

     Then it was our usual Great Bridge stop. We did laundry and got a few items from the grocery store. We met up with Pru and Burt from Exuberant. We saw them on the city dock in Annapolis and then caught up up with them here.

     Our next stop was Broad Creek just north of Albemarle Sound. Gelato anchored near similarly drafted Exuberant instead of coming to Broad Creek with us. Might have been better protection nearer to us but there was no way of knowing until we got there.

     The next day Albemarle Sound wasn't bad, the Alligator River Bridge was working properly and the Alligator itself was pretty benign.

      We ended up at Belhaven but Gelato had a bit of an adventure getting here. I'll let them tell their own story. The interesting thing was the fireworks display we were anchored almost under. They were celebrating the ICW which the town claims they are the home of. The last segment was completed in 1928 near here.

     The passage through the Pamlico and Nuese River system was near calm this year, just how we like it. We stayed two nights at Cedar Creek off Adams Creek because of the rain and wind forecast. The weather started much later than forecast and didn't last long, either. We got the chance to explore by dinghy for the first time here and buy extremely fresh shrimp at a good price at a nearby processor. The shrimp we ate was swimming in the ocean the day before. 

     We had the chance to phone the range officer for Camp Lejeune to find the ICW would not be restricted by the marines the next day. Good news. We then spent our last night before here at Mile Hammock.

     Since we arrived at Wrightsville we went out to dinner at our favorite spot, King Neptune, with Al and Sue. Plus they treated us. Made the two-for-one special cost even less. Zero (for us). Thanks Gelato!

    Before she goes off to work in L.A. Carol wants to try a much more expensive restaurant we've never been to. We'll see.

     The weather has been good here and the forecast is for just one nasty day during the upcoming week. If I survive there will be another blog entry in the future.

      Navy LCUs (landing craft utility) pass us in Currituck Sound. Gelato is in the background.

Annapolis Fall 2017

     As I noted in my previous posting, we are in Annapolis. Again. We stop here both north and south bound. Carol flies out of BWI and we (or I) go to the boat shows.

     This year was/is a little different. Instead of doing our annual maintenance a little north of here in Pasadena we did it in August in Essex, CT. This meant we had more free time before Carol had to fly out to work.

     We left Mystic a week after Heather's baby shower hoping to beat Hurricane Jose to the corner of Cape May, NJ and Delaware Bay. We went to Port Jefferson with mostly adverse current and calm conditions. We could not find our usual mooring to borrow so it took us a bit to find another suitable one. After getting secure we saw the one we really wanted not too far away. Oh well. Didn't move. We then went to Port Washington to pick up another free mooring because the timing wasn't right to go through Hell Gate in NYC. At sunrise we were underway with a small trawler accompanying us and planning to go offshore NJ overnight, too. We missed seeing Mike and Heather at the Gate because we got there a little sooner than planned and "someone" did not get up early enough.

     We had a pretty calm passage overnight offshore NJ. There were some swell from distant Jose but it did not get bad at all. The forecast was for huge swells by the time we got to Cape May and Delaware Bay but we beat them to the corner. It was still dark by the time we got to the Bay so we went the long way and used all of the main shipping channel. Added a little more time but not much. It was mostly nice and calm, too. Nice. Had good current up the Bay and through the C&D Canal, too. We anchored in the Sassafras River fairly early in the afternoon.

     After that we had a lot of time before we wanted to get to Annapolis so we just wandered around to different anchorages. We spent two nights in Worton Creek as Jose made its closest approach to us. A few hours of a little extra wind but not too bad. It's protected in Worton. That's why we were there. Then we went to Bodkin Creek to get fuel and a shower at Pleasure Cove Marina. Chatted with friends there and had lunch at the Crab before anchoring in our usual spot down the creek.

     From there we decided to try some new to us anchorages. We went into the Magothy River and went up into Sillery Bay. We anchored in Eagle Cove for two nights. A nice place. Decent protection. Then we went to Ridout Creek off of Whitehouse Bay. This is just a couple of miles north of Annapolis. We were close but had no need to get there yet. We also spent a night in Mill Creek which also is off Whitehouse Bay. A very pretty spot but not quite a hurricane hole that Ridout seems to be.

     Finally we got to Weems Creek, West Annapolis. Our number three home. Right away we went to Great Harvest Bakery for one of their terrific breads and ordered Pizza Bread for later in the week.

     The other unusual thing this year is some friends from the Waterbury Power Squadron are starting their first snowbird southbound trip. Al and Sue joined us in Weems Creek and we've showed them around a little, dined out together and visited each others boat. My blog entry yesterday was written while sitting next to Sue in a coffee shop. Really unusual. Not Sue, the circumstances. Okay, maybe Sue is a little unusual, too.

     After the boat show next week we'll restart our trip south. We are not sure of our winter destination due to the uncertainty of the situation in Marathon and when we need to fly home to meet our new grandchild. He or she has not arrived yet.

Summer 2017

     I always make blog entry at the end of our summer in Mystic but... I forgot. We've started south and we're in Annapolis already but I'm going to pretend that hasn't happened and we are still in Mystic.

     Our summer season started off very cold and windy. We got home in good time and just before the poorer weather started at the beginning of May. By the time Memorial Day weekend came around things had gotten better. We went to Hamburg Cove with the squadron and found very few moorings were in for transients like us to 'borrow'. We got there early so we got one and shared with Afternoon Delight. Heather and Mike did not join us this year due to a wedding they had to attend.

     We then started our usual round of medical appointments as well as getting Perfectly Normal ready for summer sitting and hoping to be sold time. New this season was building or rebuilding two dinghies. Our RIB had seen better days. We bought it 2003 and the fabric was so thin you could see the air inside the inflatable tubes. W-e-l-l, almost. It needed constant patching so I decided to rip the tubes off and rebuild it out of wood. Yes, turning a inflatable dinghy into a hard dinghy. But first... I had to finish a dinghy kit we had in storage (and before that our garage) for more than 15 years. Had to have a dinghy to use while I was building the old dinghy. The kit took less than two weeks but the inflatable-to-wood project took more than a month. And about $300 of materials. And a little blood.

     I was reasonably happy with the results of the project but with everything else that was going on I was very busy. Writing work had to get done. Pearson work and two dinghies to be built all kept me extremely busy. Where did I ever squeeze in the time to have a full-time job?

     Things mostly quieted down by the 4th of July. We has a great sail over to Montauk for a holiday rendezvous but lost our port-side propeller assembly en route when we had a lull in the wind and started the engines. At times we were travelling at more than 8 knots over the ground with several knots of current against us. For non-sailors, that is fast. Very fast.

     We had a week long cruise with Heather later in July that weather messed up a bit but still wasn't bad. Spent more time in Block than we planned or had done in many, many years.

     In August we had the boat hauled to do our annual maintenance. We usually do this in Pasadena, MD after we've started south but decided to try a local (Essex, CT) business this year. It was a bit cheaper and we could do most of the work ourselves. We got our new propellers installed just before our two week window was up so it all worked out right. Except for the expense.

     About this time a dinghy I was looking at at Defenders was reduced in price by $300. I looked at it at $900 before deciding to take on the dinghy rebuild project but now at $600 (after spending $300 on the project), it was too much of a bargain to pass up. It's a cheap PVC Zodiac that will probably not last very long with year round use but at $600 for a 11 1/2 foot dinghy we could not pass it up. We'll still use the wood dinghy when we are in Conn. and take inflatable south with us.

      Just before we headed south we had a baby shower for Heather. She is due around Thanksgiving and we'll be trying to arrange our cruising destination with having to fly back for birth time. All this is complicated by the devastation in Marathon for Hurricane Irma. We're not sure we'll be able to get there.

     As I said, as I write this we are in Annapolis but my report on our passage here will be in my

next blog entry.                                                                                                                                            

Mystic... Home

     We are back home in Mystic again. Arrived May first, May Day. We haven't been back this soon in quite some time and it's cold. Not as cold as we were in Wrightsville Beach but plenty cold enough for us.

     Our first passage was to Chesapeake City on the C & D Canal. We had a real good current and got there early in the afternoon. There is not any good spot to anchor until one gets to Cape May, NJ so there is no point in continuing on. The timing doesn't work and neither does it to New York City from the Canal in the afternoon. We anchored in the basin as there is not enough water at the free dock anymore. You need to arrive or leave at mid-tide or better and we would not be.

     At 0600 the next day (Saturday) we got underway. Decent current in the Canal and part-way down the Delaware Bay. It turned against us for a while then in a favor again. All in all, not too bad. Seas were okay, too. Our passage around Cape May itself was a little too exciting for us. We usually hug the shore near the beach but there were breakers all through the area. We went out our old route through Cape May Channel with breakers and Prissy Wicks Shoal to our port. We tried to cut through them at one point but that was nearly a disaster. A fatal disaster. We made it out of potential trouble by taking the long way around. The safe way around. The longer time didn't matter too much because we had decided to go all the way up the NJ coast over night. The night passage wasn't too bad. The seas were mostly on our stern with not much wind. It was mostly a swell from a very distant storm. The wind turned to our bow (from the north) about 0230 but the forecast seas did not develop until  much later in the day.

     We got the chance to wave to Heather and Mike in the Hell Gate area as they live very close to there. Tough to pay attention to boat handling and waving but we managed in spite of the strong following current. Because of the weather forecast we passed by Port Washington and went all the way to our usual mooring at Port Jefferson. The next day, Monday 1 May, we headed home. The wind had not shifted yet and was on the nose (ENE) with more than two foot seas. When the wind did shift to our stern the current then turned against us. Of course. The seas went pretty flat so not so bad of a compromise. Did I mention the fog? Oh, yeah. Visibility was well under a quarter mile until we got to the New London area. We had to maintain VHF contact with a barge and tug for more than an hour as our courses were very slowly merging and he was less than a knot faster than us. Because of AIS we knew where he was and his course and speed. Once we established who and where we were he could track our radar return. Perfectly safe. We later had to check in with the New London - Orient ferries to keep us all safe.

     When we got to the Mystic area the fog got denser but we were closer to the warmer land and visibility was not much of a problem. It got very thick that night on our home mooring and the next day was very bad, too. Then the wind started. 30-40 knots for some periods and 5-6 foot seas on the Sound. Nice to be home on our mooring for that. Got home early but just in time.

     We'll see what our four months at home brings us. Nothing exciting we hope.

   

   

Back To Annapolis

     We are back to Annapolis and only had one incident getting here.

     Mike and Heather just left here after a spring break - Easter Weekend visit. We took them into Annapolis to sightsee and breakfast at our favorite spot, Chick and Ruth's Delly. They got to see the noon formation/march at the US Naval Academy and visit with John Paul Jones in his crypt. Uh, at his crypt. We also all went into Baltimore to visit the National Aquarium again. All this was very tiring for Heather. She has a medical problem and another issue we are not talking about. Yet.

     Carol has a follow-up visit with the doctor who did her wrist surgery before she heads off to work for nearly two weeks. After L. A. she gets to go to the Boston area and will include a visit with her brother. I actually do not have much to do on the boat by way of maintenance. Too early for an oil change. I'll find something. There's always something.

     Getting here was not too bad except for one annoying incident. Okay, two. We left Wrightsville Beach after UConn lost in the semi-final Final Four game. We always lose when the start time is after 9pm. Streak ended at only 111 games because the game started at 10pm. Oh, and maybe Mississippi State played the game of their lives. They had nothing left for the Final and lost.

     The passage to Mile Hammock was without incident other than a jerk who didn't know how to do a slow pass. The second day we stopped at Jarrett Bay for fuel and badly scratched the port side when we were leaving with a very strong wind pushing us onto the pilings. Spent the night in Oriental at a free dock.

     The Neuse River - Pamlico system was uneventful and mostly calm-ish. Albemarle Sound started to pick up a bit when we were part way across but not too bad. We stopped in Coinjock to pay for a slip because rough weather was coming and because we pushed to get farther, ahead of that weather. The next day we  crossed Currituck Sound in pretty horrid conditions that were not bad for us because it was on the stern. We got to the Chesapeake-Albemarle Canal section and all was good again. Except... the railroad bridge that is ALWAYS open closed at 0800 because maybe the weather could get bad. This closed the ICW. We were trapped. The weather was perfect at the time. Didn't matter. We were lucky a nearby marina decided to  let us tie up even though we are much longer than they usually accommodate. Of course they charged us. It was their going rate but money we had not planned on spending. Only good thing was their fuel prices were very good and they actually undercharged us for some of it. Because of this unplanned stop we only stayed one night at Great Bridge. The southern free dock was full but the free spot we usually use was completely open. We talked with some people that had passed us several times in the previous few days.

     From there it was a passage past the end of the ICW to Hampton, VA. This was a planned pay marina stay to shower and do laundry before our stop in Annapolis. We also had drinks with a couple from Paris who began their start of a planned Loop back in Florida. Very interesting conversation about France, the US, politics and history. Boating, too.

     Entering the Chesapeake Bay was very calm to Reidville and almost calm to Solomons. There was a bit of a breeze on the way to Annaoplis but it was very fluky and we unfurled and furled the genoa several times. Too much work.  Arrived at Weems Creek in West Annapolis to find tying up to the Academy moorings is no longer allowed. Picked up a private mooring we've used before and will hope the owner doesn't show up. He never has before. Yet.

     A couple of days after getting here and before Heather arrived we had to rescue a local that had fallen in the creek trying to board his dinghy. We were talking with a police officer about area parking for about ten minutes before he mentioned there might be someone in the water. Fire/Rescue showed up and pointed to where this guy was. He was hanging off the stern of another dinghy and we pulled him into it and towed him to shore and the EMTs, etc. Got soggy feet but otherwise not too eventful. For us. The Maryland State marine police (DNR) showed up at least ten minutes later to rescue him. Too late. They arrested another local boater instead. This was unrelated to the reason they were called but why waste a trip. They later banned that guy from Annapolis waters for 30 days. Weird.

     The Assistant Harbormaster for Annapolis chastised me a few days later for making the rescue. Said we should have let the guy drown. When he told me the reason why (refusing to help a drowning victim last year), I had to agree with him but letting him go under would have brought us down to his level. Perhaps he will realize the irony. Probably not.

     A few weeks and we'll make  our run to Mystic.

Marathon 2016/2017 and Northbound

     A lot has happened and a lot of time has passed since my last blog post. Too busy being retired, I guess. I posted after arriving at Marathon for our 2016-2017 winter season and now we are in Wrightsville Beach, NC northbound. And freezing.

     Heather and Mike came to Marathon for Christmas and we all had a good time. They rented paddleboards and we actually tried them. Briefly. Not for us. We'll stick with kayaks. We, once again, went on a sunset sail out of Key West on New Years Eve. It was planned for the weekend before but the weather was horrible an the trip was postponed and upgraded to New Years Eve. Still a nice time.

     For the Christmas Season I collected a few items from Waterway Guide and fellow Cruising Editors and auctioned them off on the daily cruisers net to benefit the City Marina Marathon Children's Bicycle fund. Because of the auctions he heard on the net a fellow cruiser donated a very expensive bottle of Scotch. The total raised nearly reached $500. When this was pooled with all the other contributions the Marina staff was able to buy about three dozen bikes and helmets. Close to $4000 worth all together.

     We also volunteered at the Celtic Fest which is sponsored by a local Episcopal Church to fund their many community programs. Because of this, I learned to pull beer from a tap and get the right amount of foam. Being able to sample the wares was a small benefit. Because we had unlimited admission we got to watch the concerts of Celtic music. Never thought I'd enjoy bagpipes (not normally a fan), didgeridoos and drums played by guys in skirts. Ya neva know.

      After several years of playing softball without injury, my luck ran out this season. Pulled a groin muscle or a hamstring and then had something pop in my thigh. It took a few weeks for the blood to come to the surface and my whole thigh turned some awful colors.  After more than a month I still have some soreness. Wonder if I ripped something? I guess I wasn't going to get a try-out with the Mets anyway.

     The other interesting thing I participated in was the Women's March on Duval. This was in Key West in conjunction with the march on Washington in protest of the policies of the poor orange excuse of a president we now have.

     We started north a couple of weeks earlier than we did last year due to Carol's work schedule. This gave us more time for weather delays and visits. We went outside from Boot Key all the way to the Lake Worth Inlet, Palm Beach on an overnight passage. We intended to go all the way to Fort Pierce but the breeze and seas started to build on the nose so we ducked onto the ICW route. This just changed our arrival time to a couple of hours later. No problem. And much more comfortable.

     After about a week visiting in Fort Pierce we restarted north. We had a problem after we crossed the St John's River. The new fixed bridge at Sisters Creek was completely blocked by barges and workers. We had to crawl under the wrong section of the bridge not knowing if we would clear the slightly lower section or go aground while out of the channel. We made it. A while later we were approaching the next fixed bridge when the R.R. bridge right after it started closing with no warning. A current was ripping behind us at 3-4 kts and Carol barely got us out of serious danger without hitting the fenders or the bottom. An EXTREME situation saved by terrific helmsmanship, helmswomanship?. Needless to say, we were not happy and expressed that to Coast Guard. They may have also been gestures and words shouted at the bridge tender.

     We were also not very happy when a bit later I put the boat aground in a nasty spot just short of Fernandina Beach. So solidly aground that it took TOWBOAT/US about three hours to get us free after the tide started going back up. A $1300 bill that luckily is totally covered by our insurance.

     Our next annoyance was getting stuck at the Ben Sawyer swing bridge just after Charleston Harbor. It closes from 1600 to 1800 and we got there about 15 minutes late. Grrr. The only positive thing was we got to Palm Island Marina where we had reservations well after they closed and left the next morning before they opened. They'll have to catch us the next time we stop there. Maybe never.

     We also stopped at Osprey Marina at the southern end of Myrtle Beach for two nights. $1/foot/night got us showers, laundry, cleaning and wi-fi. Also a chance to meet with local friends for lunch. Wi-Fi let us pay bills and watch HBO's special on the UConn Women's Basketball team.

     We hoped to stop in Southport to stay at their free dock while bad weather passed. The dock is now damaged beyond safe usage and we went back to our old spot at the Pipeline Canal. This has also become a problem area as it has filled in so even our shallow draft has issues. Don't know what we'll do in the future.

     Because of all this we went to Wrightsville Beach much earlier than planned. We did beat the weather which came earlier than forecast and much colder than originally forecast. We had snow!!!! on our boat. This followed by extremely cold weather. Below freezing at night and low 40s in the day. We ended up getting icicles, too. Not fun at all with the wind, too. First March snow there since 1983. 1 inch.

     As I write this we're at the end of one week in Wrightsville. Carol goes off to work for two weeks as I do some minor maintenance. It is supposed to get to the 70s before the second week. We'll see.