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.
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Sunday, March 19, 2017
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.
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.
Friday, November 18, 2016
Home in Marathon
We have gotten to our winter home in Marathon, FL after an overnight passage from Ft Pierce, FL. We left Ft Pierce about 0700 on Tuesday and arrived in Marathon before noon the next day. Very fast.
Normally I would have written several blog entries before we got to Marathon but this year we did not stop anywhere long enough to do any writing except for Ft Pierce. At Ft Pierce we had several computer update issues that prevented any writing, just got some bill paying in.
We left Annapolis a week and a half later than normal due to wrist surgery for Carol to repair a break and the addition of a screw to the wrist. We were very lucky with the doctor and the surgery scheduling.
We had very good weather southbound until we got to Florida, no wind, no big seas. We had our usual stops in the Solomons, and Jackson Creek in the Chesapeake and Hospital Point Cove in the Norfolk area. The Dismal Swamp Canal was closed due to damage from Hurricane Matthew but we did not plan on going that way, anyway. We took two nights at the free dock at Great Bridge for resupply, maintenance and taking down the stuff at the top of the mast. Then we stopped at all our usual spots along the ICW. The Albemarle, Pamlico and Nuese systems were okay. Not great. Okay. Our stop at Wrightsville Beach was unusual because we only stayed one night there. Carol is 'unable to work' so there was no stop to fly off. It was extremely crowded in the anchorage but we were fine. We also were lucky we arrived on a Thursday and got the buy one, get one free Hibachi Bowl at the King Neptune Restaurant. Yum!
After Wrightsville Beach we went down the Cape Fear River and out to sea. Again. For the second year in a row flooding in the Carolinas made the bridge clearances too low for us. This year it was Mathew's fault. We had a decent overnight at sea. Not great but okay. We went in up the Savannah River to rejoin the ICW following the same pattern as last year. We were at Cumberland Island, GA planning to go out to sea again but the fog was way too dense. After a couple of hour wait we started to crawl out in hopes we were right in our 'slightly clearing' guess. We weren't but once we got to the St Marys River entrance things suddenly cleared and off we went. We went in at St Augustine having learned that just the day before the USCG had placed the channel buoys to mark the entrance. The buoys had wandered off during Mathew. The late start meant we really had to rush to get fuel, showers and dinner before bedtime.
From there it was all ICW until we got to Ft Pierce. We anchored in our usual spot in Faber Cove but our friends, Mike and Carol, were away on a cruise. We rented a car to drive to Cape Coral on the west coast of Florida to attend my Aunt Bonnie's 100th birthday party. She is doing amazingly well in spite of only very recent slowdowns due to age. Very recent. After Mike and Carol got home we were able to visit a bit, do some shopping, and get X-Rays on broken bones before moving on as noted at the beginning of this blog entry.
Now we are here in Marathon and starting to get into the rhythm of our winter home. Long time resident, 94 year old Cap't Jack, passed away the day before we arrived. The marina moorings are nearly full, much earlier than normal. Must be a good economy. Thanks, Obama.
The weather right now is terrific. Very dry and crisp. Almost like New England in the Fall except it's nearly 80 degrees. Since we got to Ft. Pierce we had a few days of passing showers but no real storms. We had some light rain on our overnight from Ft Pierce but nothing bad at all. The winds were light and/or behind us so the seas were not an issue. We went outside on our passage past Miami for the first time. Had some issues with the reefs and crab pots but we didn't hit anything hard enough to do damage.
Friday, September 30, 2016
Pasadena - Annapolis
As I write this we are supposed to be in Annapolis. We're not. We are on land in Pasadena. On land for our annual bottom painting and maintenance. It has rained all week so the bottom could not be done. They could have started on the light sanding prep work during some dry periods but they did not. After seven years we may not be coming back. It has screwed up our scheduled engine tune up in Annapolis. It's likely that will not happen although the company will try to get us in after we get back in the water. I'm doubtful.
We got to the Chesapeake Bay almost two weeks ago. We left Mystic and went to Port Jefferson on a pretty calm day. From there our timing for Hell Gate and the rest of New York City was near perfect so we went all the way to Cape May in one over night passage. It was a fairly rough trip. The seas were about two feet but right on the nose. That gave us a choppy ride. Not dangerous. Just uncomfortable. A few things, like the dinghy, took a beating. This was a slow passage and we were very late to the Delaware Bay area so we stopped in Cape May for an overnight.
We left just before sunrise the next day and rounded Cape May without much discomfort. Seas were about a foot and on the beam, so not too rough. Once we were around the Cape the angle was much better and so, much more comfortable. The light breeze did shift to being ahead of us much earlier than forecast but in the Bay it wasn't a rough direction. It did rain on and off during the day and heavily a few times but it wasn't a bad passage. We also had timed the current very well and got up the Bay faster than ever before. We got to Chesapeake City before 1500 (3PM). We stayed two nights because we had time and had never done so before. We went to the Canal Museum and went on several walks. Met some new cats, too. There are water depth issues at the free dock now so our second night we were alone at the dock even though the anchorage was full.
From there we went to the Sassafras River for one night and Worton Creek for two. We also spent two nights in Bodkin Creek awaiting our scheduled haul out day. It was a very nice, relaxing, do nothing week to make up for the one night not so nice passage. Once we get painted we will go to Annapolis for our engine tune up, if possible, and then go to the Annapolis Boat Show. After that we start south again. We are hoping that Hurricane Mathew will be gone by then. This season these storms have been hanging around far longer than is normal. This one is a serious hurricane so it would be nice if it acted 'normally' and buzzed on outta here without affecting more than Florida and the Bahamas. Oh, Carol fractured her wrist. She fell at the fuel dock of Pleasure Cove Marina while handing me the fuel hose. Landed flat on her side with no twisting but, well, old bones get brittle. Lawsuit in our future?
A week before we departed Mystic, Heather got married at Mystic Seaport Museum. We took the boat and tied up at their docks the day before and day of the wedding. We tied up at 'Bart's Dock' right next to the Boat Shed where the reception was held. This is just a few steps away from the Brant Point replica Lighthouse where the actual ceremony was held.
The day before the wedding we took the flowers aboard as well as table decorations and other "stuff". The boat looked more like a shipping barge and smelled like a funeral parlor. After the rehearsal at the lighthouse and the rehearsal dinner at Latitude 41 several female members of the wedding party stayed with us overnight. It was the first time all our berths were put to use.
The wedding day started off with a lot of photos taken of our surroundings by almost everyone aboard. It was a very beautiful scene. A bit of fog. The lighthouse and river. The seaport buildings and small craft near us. Really special. Everyone left me for hair and makeup work and I had to get all our stuff over to the reception area for the caterers and set up the wedding arch near the lighthouse. Didn't get hair and makeup done.
As it got near 1600 (4pm) the wedding party started arriving for pre-ceremony photos by the professionals. The back drop of Mystic Seaport was terrific. We even got a few photos in the Buckingham House on the museum grounds. An ancestor lived in it several hundred years ago when it was in Old Saybrook. It was very hot and the bride put some ice cubes down the neckline of her dress. The father of the bride just suffered in his suit.
The parents of the bride barely held it together as we exited the Rope Building to start towards the aisle. Barely. The ceremony was moving. Happy and serious. Funny and poignant. But mostly joyful.
And then it was time for the reception. It was a walk of about one hundred feet to it. In 90 degree heat. Find your seat. Drinks. Dances. Chat with friends and relatives. Watch the sun set. See the lights of the Mystic Bascule Bridge come on and the stars blink into view. Magical. And the beacon of the lighthouse shone over everything.
The dinner was terrific and everyone seemed to have a great time. I believe the bride and groom had fun with their friends AND family. After dinner many wandered over to the dock near our boat for conversations and just to enjoy the evening with the scenery.
At the end of it all the couple left under a blaze of two foot sparklers held over their heads by the guests as we tried to avoid setting them (the bride and groom) on fire. They left to continue the party at a nearby bar/restaurant with the younger guests as the parents of the bride and perhaps some of the other older folks called it a night. We helped a bit with the clean up so the caterers would have our things in one place for us to retrieve in the morning and get it all back on the boat.
The boat was just a few feet away and anxious to be going on our seventh cruise south away from winter in the cold of New England.
We got to the Chesapeake Bay almost two weeks ago. We left Mystic and went to Port Jefferson on a pretty calm day. From there our timing for Hell Gate and the rest of New York City was near perfect so we went all the way to Cape May in one over night passage. It was a fairly rough trip. The seas were about two feet but right on the nose. That gave us a choppy ride. Not dangerous. Just uncomfortable. A few things, like the dinghy, took a beating. This was a slow passage and we were very late to the Delaware Bay area so we stopped in Cape May for an overnight.
We left just before sunrise the next day and rounded Cape May without much discomfort. Seas were about a foot and on the beam, so not too rough. Once we were around the Cape the angle was much better and so, much more comfortable. The light breeze did shift to being ahead of us much earlier than forecast but in the Bay it wasn't a rough direction. It did rain on and off during the day and heavily a few times but it wasn't a bad passage. We also had timed the current very well and got up the Bay faster than ever before. We got to Chesapeake City before 1500 (3PM). We stayed two nights because we had time and had never done so before. We went to the Canal Museum and went on several walks. Met some new cats, too. There are water depth issues at the free dock now so our second night we were alone at the dock even though the anchorage was full.
From there we went to the Sassafras River for one night and Worton Creek for two. We also spent two nights in Bodkin Creek awaiting our scheduled haul out day. It was a very nice, relaxing, do nothing week to make up for the one night not so nice passage. Once we get painted we will go to Annapolis for our engine tune up, if possible, and then go to the Annapolis Boat Show. After that we start south again. We are hoping that Hurricane Mathew will be gone by then. This season these storms have been hanging around far longer than is normal. This one is a serious hurricane so it would be nice if it acted 'normally' and buzzed on outta here without affecting more than Florida and the Bahamas. Oh, Carol fractured her wrist. She fell at the fuel dock of Pleasure Cove Marina while handing me the fuel hose. Landed flat on her side with no twisting but, well, old bones get brittle. Lawsuit in our future?
A week before we departed Mystic, Heather got married at Mystic Seaport Museum. We took the boat and tied up at their docks the day before and day of the wedding. We tied up at 'Bart's Dock' right next to the Boat Shed where the reception was held. This is just a few steps away from the Brant Point replica Lighthouse where the actual ceremony was held.
The day before the wedding we took the flowers aboard as well as table decorations and other "stuff". The boat looked more like a shipping barge and smelled like a funeral parlor. After the rehearsal at the lighthouse and the rehearsal dinner at Latitude 41 several female members of the wedding party stayed with us overnight. It was the first time all our berths were put to use.
The wedding day started off with a lot of photos taken of our surroundings by almost everyone aboard. It was a very beautiful scene. A bit of fog. The lighthouse and river. The seaport buildings and small craft near us. Really special. Everyone left me for hair and makeup work and I had to get all our stuff over to the reception area for the caterers and set up the wedding arch near the lighthouse. Didn't get hair and makeup done.
As it got near 1600 (4pm) the wedding party started arriving for pre-ceremony photos by the professionals. The back drop of Mystic Seaport was terrific. We even got a few photos in the Buckingham House on the museum grounds. An ancestor lived in it several hundred years ago when it was in Old Saybrook. It was very hot and the bride put some ice cubes down the neckline of her dress. The father of the bride just suffered in his suit.
The parents of the bride barely held it together as we exited the Rope Building to start towards the aisle. Barely. The ceremony was moving. Happy and serious. Funny and poignant. But mostly joyful.
And then it was time for the reception. It was a walk of about one hundred feet to it. In 90 degree heat. Find your seat. Drinks. Dances. Chat with friends and relatives. Watch the sun set. See the lights of the Mystic Bascule Bridge come on and the stars blink into view. Magical. And the beacon of the lighthouse shone over everything.
The dinner was terrific and everyone seemed to have a great time. I believe the bride and groom had fun with their friends AND family. After dinner many wandered over to the dock near our boat for conversations and just to enjoy the evening with the scenery.
At the end of it all the couple left under a blaze of two foot sparklers held over their heads by the guests as we tried to avoid setting them (the bride and groom) on fire. They left to continue the party at a nearby bar/restaurant with the younger guests as the parents of the bride and perhaps some of the other older folks called it a night. We helped a bit with the clean up so the caterers would have our things in one place for us to retrieve in the morning and get it all back on the boat.
The boat was just a few feet away and anxious to be going on our seventh cruise south away from winter in the cold of New England.
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Summer 2016
Summer is not quite over yet but Labor Day has come and gone so I thought it would be a good time to sum up the summer as the next week or so will be a little hectic and then we will get underway for our winter cruise south.
We did not do much boating this summer. We did not plan to. No cruise. No daysailing. No nothing. We did go to our annual Waterbury Power Squadron Rendezvous at Hamburg Cove off the Conn. River for the Memorial Day Holiday weekend. This was just a few weeks after arriving home to Mystic. Heather and Michael joined us and the weather was good. Squadron attendance was down a bit as several boats had 'issues' and were not ready for prime time yet. After that Infinite Improbability did not move off her mooring again until the end of July.
This does not mean we had an uninteresting summer, however. Mystic Seaport Museum gave us some wonderful opportunities to be at very interesting events. America, a replica of the boat that sailed to England to win a trophy that would be named after her, America's Cup, came to Mystic Seaport and I got a chance to board her and ask questions of the crew. Because of Instagram hashtag skills in my photo postings I got to meet a crew member (Tasha) online and then in person aboard America. We now follow each others blogs and Instagram accounts. Who knew that hashtag skills would become something needed in my life? How did it become a 'skill'? And where did 'hashtag' come from? Hmmm, something to ponder on our next night watch... or not.
In this spot would be photos of America and Tasha but somehow my computer ate them. They're gone. Probably forever.
Another very interesting event at the Seaport was the arrival of the "Hokule'a". Hokule'a is a native Hawaiian canoe. This traditional Polynesian canoe was launched in 1976 and is now on an around the world cruise that started about two years ago. Although it is called a canoe it is a sailing catamaran about 62 feet long and 20 feet wide. It has very limited crew comforts, canvas covered deck berths and external (to the vessel) toilet facilities. It has a very basic food cooking set-up and navigation is by the ancient, no instrument, methods developed by the Polynesian cultures called wayfinding. When Hokule'a arrived it was met by one of our local Native American tribes, the Mashantucket-Pequots. Yes, the Foxwoods Casino tribe. The ceremonies, dances, and presentations were very interesting. And moving. The Navigator of the Hokule'a spoke at length of "Malama Honua", caring for island earth. I also got the chance to attend a talk by Keala Kimura about traditional navigation, the spirit of Malama Honua and stories about events on this cruise. Fascinating.
Sadly, this is the other batch of photos that disappeared. Sigh.
The Seaport also hosts the Wooden Boat Show and I visited the show a few times. I got the chance to chat with the assistant editor, Bob. It helped that I had an article in the current edition at the time. July.
One of the coolest things our Seaport membership did for me was getting me aboard the USCG vessel "Eagle". It's open to the public at times when it's in port but I had an escorted, private tour of the entire deck with about 16 other members. I spent about an hour roaming the decks and asking questions of the young cadets. An honor and a privilege.
We got out on the water in July as Heather came for her vacation cruise. It was interrupted by doctor visits so we spent three days at Block Island one week and three days at Montauk another week. A brief daysail in August with Mike and Heather and another short one during the Labor Day Weekend wrapped up our summer boating. Labor Day Weekend was marred by the approach of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hermine. It was forecast to come close and hit much sooner than it actually did. We could not plan an escape due to the variables so we stuck it out on our mooring. As I write this it's still in the neighborhood but the 40 knot winds that came Labor Day overnight seem to be gone. It didn't get too rough but it was gusty with many direction swings.
We are now less than two weeks until our southbound departure but before that we have a wedding to attend. And prepare for. And fret over. And run errands for. A build stuff for.
Heather is getting married at Mystic Seaport Museum and we're taking Infinite Improbability to their docks for two nights. It ought to be interesting.
My next blog post should be from the Annapolis area and include wedding details.
We did not do much boating this summer. We did not plan to. No cruise. No daysailing. No nothing. We did go to our annual Waterbury Power Squadron Rendezvous at Hamburg Cove off the Conn. River for the Memorial Day Holiday weekend. This was just a few weeks after arriving home to Mystic. Heather and Michael joined us and the weather was good. Squadron attendance was down a bit as several boats had 'issues' and were not ready for prime time yet. After that Infinite Improbability did not move off her mooring again until the end of July.
This does not mean we had an uninteresting summer, however. Mystic Seaport Museum gave us some wonderful opportunities to be at very interesting events. America, a replica of the boat that sailed to England to win a trophy that would be named after her, America's Cup, came to Mystic Seaport and I got a chance to board her and ask questions of the crew. Because of Instagram hashtag skills in my photo postings I got to meet a crew member (Tasha) online and then in person aboard America. We now follow each others blogs and Instagram accounts. Who knew that hashtag skills would become something needed in my life? How did it become a 'skill'? And where did 'hashtag' come from? Hmmm, something to ponder on our next night watch... or not.
In this spot would be photos of America and Tasha but somehow my computer ate them. They're gone. Probably forever.
Another very interesting event at the Seaport was the arrival of the "Hokule'a". Hokule'a is a native Hawaiian canoe. This traditional Polynesian canoe was launched in 1976 and is now on an around the world cruise that started about two years ago. Although it is called a canoe it is a sailing catamaran about 62 feet long and 20 feet wide. It has very limited crew comforts, canvas covered deck berths and external (to the vessel) toilet facilities. It has a very basic food cooking set-up and navigation is by the ancient, no instrument, methods developed by the Polynesian cultures called wayfinding. When Hokule'a arrived it was met by one of our local Native American tribes, the Mashantucket-Pequots. Yes, the Foxwoods Casino tribe. The ceremonies, dances, and presentations were very interesting. And moving. The Navigator of the Hokule'a spoke at length of "Malama Honua", caring for island earth. I also got the chance to attend a talk by Keala Kimura about traditional navigation, the spirit of Malama Honua and stories about events on this cruise. Fascinating.
Sadly, this is the other batch of photos that disappeared. Sigh.
The Seaport also hosts the Wooden Boat Show and I visited the show a few times. I got the chance to chat with the assistant editor, Bob. It helped that I had an article in the current edition at the time. July.
One of the coolest things our Seaport membership did for me was getting me aboard the USCG vessel "Eagle". It's open to the public at times when it's in port but I had an escorted, private tour of the entire deck with about 16 other members. I spent about an hour roaming the decks and asking questions of the young cadets. An honor and a privilege.
We got out on the water in July as Heather came for her vacation cruise. It was interrupted by doctor visits so we spent three days at Block Island one week and three days at Montauk another week. A brief daysail in August with Mike and Heather and another short one during the Labor Day Weekend wrapped up our summer boating. Labor Day Weekend was marred by the approach of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hermine. It was forecast to come close and hit much sooner than it actually did. We could not plan an escape due to the variables so we stuck it out on our mooring. As I write this it's still in the neighborhood but the 40 knot winds that came Labor Day overnight seem to be gone. It didn't get too rough but it was gusty with many direction swings.
We are now less than two weeks until our southbound departure but before that we have a wedding to attend. And prepare for. And fret over. And run errands for. A build stuff for.
Heather is getting married at Mystic Seaport Museum and we're taking Infinite Improbability to their docks for two nights. It ought to be interesting.
My next blog post should be from the Annapolis area and include wedding details.
Monday, May 16, 2016
Home in Mystic
I've written how we've come to think of Marathon, FL as our second home and Annapolis as maybe our third home but now we are back to our 'real' home, Mystic, CT. At one time Wallingford may have been our home but our home now is not dirt related. It's on the water. On our boat.
Mystic, CT. Home number one.
We got here about 12 days after leaving Annapolis. It's never taken us more than a week or so and lately it has been much quicker but this time we had a stop for Carol's travel.
We left Annapolis by noon the day Carol got back from California and went all the way to the Bohemia River which is the northern part of the Chesapeake Bay, almost to the C & D Canal. It was another new anchorage for us. This snowbird round trip cruise saw us go to quite a few new to us anchorages. This would prove to be the last. It wasn't bad, a little exposed but only slightly to the wind direction expected. It was fairly shallow but nothing we're not used to. Just not used to being shallow in the northern part of our cruising range.
We were looking at a very small weather window to get to Long Island Sound with wind easing a bit then returning with rain along with it. We departed at first light and headed to the canal against the current. By the time we got to the eastern end we had current with us and it it stayed with us most of the way down Delaware Bay. We encountered America 2.0 a couple of times and got some photos while they were sailing.
We were motoring, what wind there was was on the nose, and they were tacking back and forth across the shipping channel. We believe they were timing their arrival to New York City. We were trying to time our arrival at Hells Gate the next day so we had different agendas.
Towards the end of the day the sun came out and it was merely cold and choppy, not cloudy, cold and choppy. Going around Cape May was slightly rough but not too bad, mostly swell just off the nose. The wind and seas faded as we got into the overnight hours but it got cloudy again and started to rain. Due to the cold we only did hour on hour off watches and didn't get much sleep. On watch we were cold and wet, off watch we were only cold but we've had worse. Much worse.
Did I mention it was cold? In Annapolis I had days in the high 70s and a day it got to 85. The very next day it was 55 and it stayed that way for quite some time, nearly two weeks. Yuck.
We got to the Narrows-Veranzano Bridge (New York Harbor) at about 1100 Sunday morning, tried to see Mike and Heather on the Brooklyn shore and went through Hells Gate around 1300. Didn't see them. They saw us.
We picked up a free mooring at Port Washington, Manhasset Bay and they were nice enough to let us stay a week without paying. Not a busy time of the year yet. Carol flew off to Chicago and we went to brunch with Mike and Heather at the end of the week. A very cold, rainy, windy week.
From there it was to our usual spot at Port Jefferson and, because of the weather, we stopped in Mattituck for a night before heading home to our Mystic mooring.
Here for the summer. Not as much boating planned this year but we'll get some in. Wedding planned for September so that may keep us busy.
Mystic, CT. Home number one.
We got here about 12 days after leaving Annapolis. It's never taken us more than a week or so and lately it has been much quicker but this time we had a stop for Carol's travel.
We left Annapolis by noon the day Carol got back from California and went all the way to the Bohemia River which is the northern part of the Chesapeake Bay, almost to the C & D Canal. It was another new anchorage for us. This snowbird round trip cruise saw us go to quite a few new to us anchorages. This would prove to be the last. It wasn't bad, a little exposed but only slightly to the wind direction expected. It was fairly shallow but nothing we're not used to. Just not used to being shallow in the northern part of our cruising range.
We were looking at a very small weather window to get to Long Island Sound with wind easing a bit then returning with rain along with it. We departed at first light and headed to the canal against the current. By the time we got to the eastern end we had current with us and it it stayed with us most of the way down Delaware Bay. We encountered America 2.0 a couple of times and got some photos while they were sailing.
We were motoring, what wind there was was on the nose, and they were tacking back and forth across the shipping channel. We believe they were timing their arrival to New York City. We were trying to time our arrival at Hells Gate the next day so we had different agendas.
Towards the end of the day the sun came out and it was merely cold and choppy, not cloudy, cold and choppy. Going around Cape May was slightly rough but not too bad, mostly swell just off the nose. The wind and seas faded as we got into the overnight hours but it got cloudy again and started to rain. Due to the cold we only did hour on hour off watches and didn't get much sleep. On watch we were cold and wet, off watch we were only cold but we've had worse. Much worse.
Did I mention it was cold? In Annapolis I had days in the high 70s and a day it got to 85. The very next day it was 55 and it stayed that way for quite some time, nearly two weeks. Yuck.
We got to the Narrows-Veranzano Bridge (New York Harbor) at about 1100 Sunday morning, tried to see Mike and Heather on the Brooklyn shore and went through Hells Gate around 1300. Didn't see them. They saw us.
We picked up a free mooring at Port Washington, Manhasset Bay and they were nice enough to let us stay a week without paying. Not a busy time of the year yet. Carol flew off to Chicago and we went to brunch with Mike and Heather at the end of the week. A very cold, rainy, windy week.
From there it was to our usual spot at Port Jefferson and, because of the weather, we stopped in Mattituck for a night before heading home to our Mystic mooring.
Here for the summer. Not as much boating planned this year but we'll get some in. Wedding planned for September so that may keep us busy.
Monday, April 25, 2016
Annapolis, almost our third home
We're in Annapolis, MD. It is the area we spend the third most time out of every year. We are in Mystic about four months, Marathon about three and combining our fall and spring stops here in the upper Chesapeake area we stay a little more than a month. Sometimes a lot more if we have major fall work done. We like the area.
We left Wrightsville Beach in late morning right after Carol got back from LA and headed to our usual stop at Mile Hammock, Camp LeJeune. When we got there we saw a boat we had talked with earlier in the day. He was aground, way out of the dredged anchorage basin. It took TowBoat/US several hours to drag him out. He then anchored in front of us. We stared long enough at him to get him to move farther away and off to one side. Not far enough.
In the middle of the night I was awoken by a large bang and found him, a Grand Banks 42 trawler, broadside against our two bows. A bad situation that was rapidly getting worse due to his slow response time to suggestions. Took a while to get him to start his engines. He was just trying get free by pushing off us against the wind and his 20 tons of boat. Not going to work. He had also smashed his teak railing against us which was threatening to impale someone. Luckily when he started his engines and backed away he did not catch our bridle or anchor chain. He then went in the opposite direction I suggested and promptly went aground again. We discovered that his extra weight on us had caused us to drag and we had to re-anchor up near our original spot. Hard to do in complete darkness. Few people in the US these days know what complete darkness is like. In some areas, boaters do. It looked to us that he had thousands of dollars of damage to his boat. We had some scraped paint and scratches. A little buffing and we'll be fine. We cancelled our insurance claim.
End of adventure one.
We then went to a free dock in Oriental to watch the semi-final game in the UConn WBB run to the National Championship. After that we usually anchor somewhere in the southern end of the Alligator River. The winds were pretty strong out of the south but some time during the night they were forecast to swing to the north and approach gale force. This meant the next day would be bad, very bad. We decided to do something we had never done before, travel at night on the ICW. This is usually not recommended. And for good reason. But we were going to cross Albemarle Sound which is open water, then go up the Pasquotank River which is fairly open until Elizabeth City, the seas would be behind us most of the way, and we have a chart plotter we have come to trust. We had an hour of rough stuff when we had to turn broadside to the seas but otherwise it was kinda okay. Much better than the next day would be.We tied up at the free dock at Elizabeth City a little before midnight. BTW: we watched the NCAA final and we won our 11th National Championship. No other basketball team (of either sex) has that many.
End of adventure two.
Now we were going to be going up the Dismal Swamp Canal, something we enjoy even though it is very narrow and we have hit many things... logs, trees, and zombies. Okay, unknown things not zombies. It is only three hours to the Dismal Swamp Visitors Center which is a highway rest stop, a free dock and a park. We stayed two nights and did some walking and bike riding when it wasn't raining. The boat that had dragged and hit us days earlier came up the Canal but, lucky for us, kept going. Then it was up to Deep Creek and Elizabeths Dock. This is a free dock near the Deep Creek Lock that is a short walk to groceries, hardware, automotive supplies and now, diesel. It is also a great resource for the history and ecology of the Great Dismal in the person of Robert Peek, the Deep Creek Lockmaster. I had several chats with him as traffic was still pretty slow. He also offers breakfast to visitors. He talked us into staying a second night at the dock because of the weather forecast north of us. I also got to start the fill operation of the lock. Robert went to one end of the lock to start the procedure there and told me to go to the other operation shack and push three buttons labeled UP. Because of my years as a chemical reactor operator I could recognize the word up on a button. And could push them. With authority, of course.
Then it was up to Hampton, VA and the end of our seven night string of staying at free docks. $1.25 per foot but we got water, showers and laundry facilities. We were also able to put things back up at the top of the mast that would get destroyed by the low bridges of the ICW. After that we headed out into the Chesapeake Bay. A little rough but not terrible. The second day we were bouncing into 2-3 ft. seas when our engine water alarm went off. Investigation revealed a leak in a coolant hose caused by chafing with a serpentine belt. Of course I had spare coolant, and I did a temporary repair but sea conditions did not make it easy at all. Or fun. The next day I had to re-do the repair but didn't lose much coolant. It got us to Annapolis where I could buy a replacement hose and more antifreeze.
End of adventure three.
I hate adventures.
We are hoping to get home without any more. Our next passages should take us back to Long Island Sound but do involve a stretch off of the New Jersey coast. The forecast is not good. And it's colder up there.
CVN George Washington
Lynx out of New England, southbound in Hampton Roads. Saw it a while later in Annapolis getting a Coast Guard inspection.
We left Wrightsville Beach in late morning right after Carol got back from LA and headed to our usual stop at Mile Hammock, Camp LeJeune. When we got there we saw a boat we had talked with earlier in the day. He was aground, way out of the dredged anchorage basin. It took TowBoat/US several hours to drag him out. He then anchored in front of us. We stared long enough at him to get him to move farther away and off to one side. Not far enough.
In the middle of the night I was awoken by a large bang and found him, a Grand Banks 42 trawler, broadside against our two bows. A bad situation that was rapidly getting worse due to his slow response time to suggestions. Took a while to get him to start his engines. He was just trying get free by pushing off us against the wind and his 20 tons of boat. Not going to work. He had also smashed his teak railing against us which was threatening to impale someone. Luckily when he started his engines and backed away he did not catch our bridle or anchor chain. He then went in the opposite direction I suggested and promptly went aground again. We discovered that his extra weight on us had caused us to drag and we had to re-anchor up near our original spot. Hard to do in complete darkness. Few people in the US these days know what complete darkness is like. In some areas, boaters do. It looked to us that he had thousands of dollars of damage to his boat. We had some scraped paint and scratches. A little buffing and we'll be fine. We cancelled our insurance claim.
End of adventure one.
We then went to a free dock in Oriental to watch the semi-final game in the UConn WBB run to the National Championship. After that we usually anchor somewhere in the southern end of the Alligator River. The winds were pretty strong out of the south but some time during the night they were forecast to swing to the north and approach gale force. This meant the next day would be bad, very bad. We decided to do something we had never done before, travel at night on the ICW. This is usually not recommended. And for good reason. But we were going to cross Albemarle Sound which is open water, then go up the Pasquotank River which is fairly open until Elizabeth City, the seas would be behind us most of the way, and we have a chart plotter we have come to trust. We had an hour of rough stuff when we had to turn broadside to the seas but otherwise it was kinda okay. Much better than the next day would be.We tied up at the free dock at Elizabeth City a little before midnight. BTW: we watched the NCAA final and we won our 11th National Championship. No other basketball team (of either sex) has that many.
End of adventure two.
Now we were going to be going up the Dismal Swamp Canal, something we enjoy even though it is very narrow and we have hit many things... logs, trees, and zombies. Okay, unknown things not zombies. It is only three hours to the Dismal Swamp Visitors Center which is a highway rest stop, a free dock and a park. We stayed two nights and did some walking and bike riding when it wasn't raining. The boat that had dragged and hit us days earlier came up the Canal but, lucky for us, kept going. Then it was up to Deep Creek and Elizabeths Dock. This is a free dock near the Deep Creek Lock that is a short walk to groceries, hardware, automotive supplies and now, diesel. It is also a great resource for the history and ecology of the Great Dismal in the person of Robert Peek, the Deep Creek Lockmaster. I had several chats with him as traffic was still pretty slow. He also offers breakfast to visitors. He talked us into staying a second night at the dock because of the weather forecast north of us. I also got to start the fill operation of the lock. Robert went to one end of the lock to start the procedure there and told me to go to the other operation shack and push three buttons labeled UP. Because of my years as a chemical reactor operator I could recognize the word up on a button. And could push them. With authority, of course.
Then it was up to Hampton, VA and the end of our seven night string of staying at free docks. $1.25 per foot but we got water, showers and laundry facilities. We were also able to put things back up at the top of the mast that would get destroyed by the low bridges of the ICW. After that we headed out into the Chesapeake Bay. A little rough but not terrible. The second day we were bouncing into 2-3 ft. seas when our engine water alarm went off. Investigation revealed a leak in a coolant hose caused by chafing with a serpentine belt. Of course I had spare coolant, and I did a temporary repair but sea conditions did not make it easy at all. Or fun. The next day I had to re-do the repair but didn't lose much coolant. It got us to Annapolis where I could buy a replacement hose and more antifreeze.
End of adventure three.
I hate adventures.
We are hoping to get home without any more. Our next passages should take us back to Long Island Sound but do involve a stretch off of the New Jersey coast. The forecast is not good. And it's colder up there.
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