Summer 2018

     As I write this it is only a few days before we plan to depart on our southern cruise again. However, a hurricane, like last year, is affecting our plans. Last year Irma was on our minds when it hit our winter home port of Marathon, Fl in the Keys. This year Florence is scheduled to hit North Carolina very badly just before our departure from Mystic. This could affect the ICW in a very negative way before we get there but if it goes inland, as it is currently forecast to do, the seas should subside off New Jersey before we get there. But it will be close.

     Our former boat, Perfectly Normal, is in the direct path of Florence and could be lost. The current owner still owes many payments to us, nevertheless.

     This summer was mostly a lot of fun, with new adventures, because of our grandson, Cobbe. He was on the boat in May and July and went on a two week cruise with us at the end of July and the beginning of August. Each time he was on the boat there were dramatic changes as he developed rapidly as kids his age tend to do. A week or so ago he turned nine months old while on another cruise to Block Island with us. By the time we see him in person again he'll be a bit more than one year old and walking. Almost there now.

     In May he wasn't crawling, by August he was a speed demon. He seems to love the boat. There are always new sights, a breeze in the face, water to splash around in and, of course, grandma and grandpa to give him plenty of attention. On his vacation cruise (he needed a vacation?)  he visited the animal farm on Block Island, splashed in the pond and ocean and played in the sand. In the Cape (Cod) and Islands area he chased hermit crabs, saw seals, rode on a carousel and had other adventures such as long passages in big seas and/or fog. His favorite thing may have been steering Improbability or the dinghy outboard. He always wanted to take the helm. He is very much a boy.

     It has been more than 35 years since a baby cruised with us so it is all a mix of old memories and new adventures. It'll keep us young, Maybe. We hope.

Home Again

     We are once again back home in Mystic on our mooring.

     We left Annapolis when Carol got back from a work trip and went all the way up to the Bohemia River again. It was a mostly calm day with favorable current at times so we made decent time to the northern Chesapeake. Good thing. We anchored as the breeze was picking up and the sky was getting darker. Darker, but not from the sun setting. Weather had been off to the west and north of us during the afternoon but it was sliding in our direction. About dinner time it slid right over us. A very strong gust front hit us with a brief downpour. As we were having dinner I noticed we had dragged when the front went through and although it had stopped we were closer to shore than I would like and the wind shift had us worried about the lee shore. We re-anchored closer to the northern shore of the river with a little less exposure to the NW wind. A little. At least there was less fetch so the waves were smaller. We felt secure for the night and there were no further adventures.

     The next day we were set up to catch the current through the C & D Canal and that was a quick passage. The trip down Delaware Bay was not terrible, at the beginning at least, as the wind and seas were behind us. the waves started out as 1-2 ft. but later increased to the occasional four or so. The last part of the passage from the shipping channel to the Cape May Canal exit area was no fun at all and then the passage around Cape May itself via the Cape May channel was even less fun. Really bad. Really, really bad.

     We survived the 90 minutes or so of this great fun and went into Cape May Harbor. There were no boats anchored there (I wonder why?) so we had time to cruise around and choose a good spot. We didn't. We chose a lousy spot. We dragged our anchor, again during dinner, and had to find a better spot. We did. Just a few feet from the old spot but this time the anchor held fine. We spent the next day here, too. It was too rough in the harbor to put the dinghy in the water to go get fuel to top off our tanks. Not matter as we had plenty to get the rest of the way home but I always like to have full diesel tanks.

     The next day we got underway to go to Atlantic City. It was only a five hour trip so we stopped to have an early dinner before getting underway again to head up the New Jersey coast overnight. This stop was to time the overnight passage to arrive in the New York City area when the currents would change to our favor. It didn't work out.

     We got to the Sandy Hook area much too soon. With the seas and breeze behind us most all the way our SOG was too high. Too fast. It was still dark and too early for the current. We went around Sandy Hook using our GPS as all the lighted buoys for the many channels are very confusing. We 'borrowed' a mooring at Atlantic Highlands but only stayed there about 45 minutes as the trip around the Hook used up all our extra time.

     The passage through the Narrows, up the Bay and the East River was mostly uneventful except for the very heavy traffic. Many barges and all the ferries kept us on our toes. Hells Gate was reasonably easy and our speed throughout the City was very high. Average was over 10 kts with highs over 12. Fast.

     With this speed we did not stop at Port Washington and went all the way to Port Jefferson to 'borrow' a mooring there.

     The next day was mostly flat calm except for a bit of breeze as we got to New London. We went against the current so our passage was not too quick but we were home on our mooring by about 1500. The end of  our eighth eight month cruise.

     A few days after getting home we rented a car to go to Astoria, Queens to retrieve our car and to see Cobbe. Oh, and our daughter, too.

     Now it's work on the Pearson, catch up on bills and other obligations and get the boat ready for another trip south in September.

Annapolis Spring 2018

     Been in Annapolis two weeks now. A couple more days to go.

     We left Great Bridge in cold weather, of course.Temps. have been up and down all spring. Mostly down. Brrr.

     Had no issues or delays due to bridges but we encountered the USCG Cutter Eagle in Portsmouth, VA. She was just getting underway as we passed her. She then passed us with more than two knots more speed. Beautiful. Talked with them on the VHF about safe passing and told them to hurry home to New London so we could walk her decks again. They giggled.

     We stayed the night at Hampton City Marina as we had a coupon for a free night from the Fall Annapolis Boat Show. Did laundry, topped off water and showered. The next day we entered Chesapeake Bay. Not so much fun. Breezy, on the nose. Pretty choppy, too. We stopped in Jackson Creek instead of Reedville because of the roughness and cold. Rain was not fun either.

     The next day we only went to Reedville, our normal first Chesapeake Bay stop northbound. Not very far but the seas were still a pain. It was sunny so that was an improvement. For protection we went a little further up into the anchorage and had a comfortable day and night.

     The trip to Solomons wasn't too bad. Mixed conditions but generally okay. Topped off fuel and anchored in our usual spot in Mill Creek. Our passage up to Annapolis was the most benign we've had in a  while. Near calm and fairly warm.

     We visited the USN Academy and went to Chick and Ruths. I went to the Boat Show in the middle weekend. Not very good. The weather turned very cold again but when it warmed up it turned rainy. Fortunately I did not have much work to do. Spread it out over the two weeks.

     Gelato may catch up to us tomorrow (Friday) but we leave Saturday. A pleasant forecast for Delaware Bay and the New Jersey coast is no longer valid. Looking breezy. We'll see.

Great Bridge

     I'm writing this update from the library in Great Bridge, Chesapeake, VA. We've been to this library before but it's been so long I cannot remember the circumstances. Of course not remembering could mean it's been more than a week.

     This is our third day here at the one-day-free dock. Major violation of local regulations! F'em.

     There has been no one with us although there is another boat on the southern-side-of-the-bascule-bridge dock. Usually there is no hassle, especially if it's not busy.

Great Bridge Dock. 

     We sat out some weather at Osprey marina for three days as mentioned in my previous entry, then went to Wrightsville Beach. We stopped at the anchorage near Little River Inlet that is right on the SC/NC border and then stopped at a marina in Southport. The free dock in Southport is mostly destroyed and the Pipeline anchorage has silted in a lot. We probably could have used it this year due to the tides we were expecting at arrival and departure but it was very cold and we paid, yes PAID, to plug into marina electricity and have heat on the boat. Kept it very toasty but cost $10. Ridiculous. The only other downside was the fancy restaurant we dined at in the fall had a fire a few weeks before our stay and was unavailable.

Bait, maybe.

     We had a surprisingly smooth ride up the Cape Fear River and a swift passage through Snows Cut. My cousin Patty came down to the Cut to wave and take pictures but we did not see her while in Wrightsville Beach. Again.

     It was pretty breezy when we arrived at WB and the weather varied wildly the 2 1/2 weeks or so we were there. Windy-cold. Warm-sunny. Warm-windy. Cold-sunny-windy. And sometimes, just windy. Didn't snow this year, however. We ate out a little more than usual and watched UConn basketball several times at couple of different bars. I watched the last game, the National Semi-Final Game, alone on the boat and we lost. Again! Second loss suffered in two years. Both in the championship semi-final. Fire Geno!

     I think we've lost four games in the last six years. Unacceptable! Way below our standards. Uh, we're spoiled. But we suffer through each loss as rare as they are. But could these losses not be in the NCAA tournament, Geno? Sigh.

     From Wrightsville it was pretty uneventful. We stayed at the Camp LeJeune anchorage and then went to Oriental. Stayed at a free dock there but learned the hard way that we could not fit in the newer free slip next to a huge trawler. A red huge trawler. Red. We gently touched it but got some of its paint on us. Red. Sigh.

     Leaving Oriental was very foggy and the same person that guided us into the RED trawler nearly ran over a sailboat I had met and chatted with several times. We should scare the heck out of people we don't know at all. Less embarrassing.

Dragon nesting area. 

     Other than that the Neuse and Pamlico systems were not too bad when the fog cleared. We also had good current in the non-open areas and went all the way to the Alligator River and anchored in the most southern end of the wide part of the river. Choppy, but not bad because we don't rock and roll much. We also got boarded by the US Coast Guard to be inspected. No problem passing and got the "Golden Ticket" which means we don't have to go through this again if the USCG requests to board within a year. Heading up the Alligator was breezy but the wind and seas (1 1/2 ft.) were behind us and therefore not too bad. Same with the Albemarle Sound crossing.

     We went to Coinjock that night and paid for a slip. Obviously we don't like doing that but our timing and previous anchorages determine when and where we stop. The fact that severe weather was forecast for the afternoon also influenced our decision. The very serious weather missed us but did come fairly close. Close enough to justify our decision. The downside? They raised the rates by 25 cents a foot. We later learned that so did the other nearby marina so the one we stay at is still cheaper. We're usually alone there (the other is more popular) and did laundry and had showers, etc.

     From there we came here to Great Bridge. We could have left in one day but we planned on two to re-supply, go up the mast and put fuel in the boat. Our next stop was a free dock in Portsmouth, VA. Portsmouth is only two hours away so the rainy forecast didn't bother us. When we woke up to get ready to it was decided to stay put one more night in Great Bridge. So, here we are.

     It didn't really rain all that hard and the wind didn't pick up until after we would have arrived at our destination but we wouldn't have done much there so staying here was not an issue. Library, shopping, restaurants are all within walking distance here but Portsmouth has a funky movie theater we enjoyed last fall. No matter. Nothing great playing anyway. Maybe in the fall, southbound.

     Tomorrow we head to a pay marina slip in Hampton, VA but we have a coupon for one free night. May stay two, the forecast has been pretty unreliable the last few days. It's only about five hours to Hampton then it's three days to our Annapolis stay. We had ten days to make four days passages so we have been taking our time.

     We'll see what happens.

Cruising North

 
  As I write this we are at Osprey Marina in Socastee, SC. We left Marathon about a week later than normal because Heather, Mike and new grandchild Cobbe came for about a week. First nights on a boat for Cobbe. First of many more we hope.

     We went overnight direct to Fort Pierce offshore of all the Keys and the east coast of Florida. We made sure we were well into the effects of the Gulf Stream. From the exit of Boot Key Harbor to the entrance of Fort Pierce took us just under 24 hours. 220nm. It was not a bad passage. Not rough at all but just enough rocking to make for poor sleeping for me. Oh, well.

     We only spent two nights visiting the Guays and topping off our supplies before heading north on the ICW. No incidents until we left St Augustine. It was breezy out of the north which meant going outside was out of the question. We had boat damage the last time we tried that. $1000. worth. In the Amelia River south of Fernandina we went aground. Again. In the same place as last year. Grrr. We followed the new directions from the Waterway Guide and Bob423 and still went aground. The Tow BOAT/US operator gave us the correct route... after we got towed off. Sigh.

     We anchored at Cumberland Island as usual but had anchor chain issues because we let too much out in the dark. We got into the rusted, balled-up parts. Needed a hammer to break chain parts free. Turned out we had enough for our regular anchoring depths but if we had to anchor someplace very deep we might have problems. Our timing for our passages through Georgia was pretty good. It was rising tides most of the way. We timed our stops each afternoon so the next day would give us the correct tides. All went well. Even the normal scary spots.

     We stayed a night at Thunderbolt Marina for the first time in a few years so we could go to Tubby's for a UConn basketball game. Went with some trepidation because we lost to Notre Dame the last time we were there. This was the AAC final against South Florida and it was a decent game. We won in a close (for us) game. Twenty-something point lead. Onto the NCAA Tournament.

     From there we continued on the ICW to here in Socastee. We stopped for the forecast weather which got delayed coming east so we will spend a third (unheard of) night at the marina. Never happened before. Going to be cold, nasty weather a few days from now. Since we are no longer in a hurry to get to Wrightsville Beach it's not a problem. We can use up our cushion as we are as few as two days away. We'll take three to do that.

     Summing our winter in Marathon: The damage after Hurricane Irma was extensive on shore. Boot Key Harbor was heavily affected also. A lot of boats were in the mangroves and several had sunk in the harbor. The sunken boats were mostly removed before we got there but the mangroves needed extensive work. It took another month for those boats to be hauled off and we volunteers spent that month cleaning out smaller items. Some of those 'small' items included refrigerators and dock boxes. I was involved in pulling three of those out myself so the total was much larger. Before we left in February we saw more along the shorelines. They were floating out of the canals where the debris was just starting to be cleaned out in February. Just starting. After four and a half months. Route 1 still had roadside debris until well into January so land clean-up efforts were well behind the harbor efforts. Of course the harbor had many more volunteers doing the work. It needed doing, we did it.

                                     Al Van Kirk and I pulling taps at the Celtic Fest, Marathon.

     That's the summation. It needed doing. We did it. The boating community, year-rounders and snowbirds. Together.

     There may have been partying and beer involved with the efforts. Maybe. A little.

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.