Marathon

     We have arrived in Marathon, our winter home for two months. The mooring field is filling up earlier and faster than our experiences in the past. Makes us glad we got here more than two weeks sooner than is usual for us.

     We left Fort Pierce two days after Thanksgiving. We had Thanksgiving dinner with our friends Mike and Carol at their home with members of their family and friends that have also become our friends over the years. Great dinner! It had been breezy in Fort Pierce for several days and the wind was mostly east which meant our crossings of the ICW going to our anchorage in our dinghy were semi-rough to very rough. This trend continued as we made our way to the Palm Beach area, our first stop. The next day continued breezy from a poor direction so we went to Fort Lauderdale on the ICW instead of the ocean. This isn't much fun because of all the bridges we have to wait at due to their schedules. A slow day. We found a spot in Lake Sylvia, Ft Lauderdale to anchor despite it being pretty crowded. This used to be a nice spot but it's hard to get into because, well, it's a nice spot. Form Lauderdale we have to go out into the ocean because a bridge was built in Miami well below the mandated height of 65 ft. It only has 56 ft. of clearance. We often wonder who it was that got paid off to allow this to stand. We know there had to be pay-offs, we just don't know who got them. Sigh. The ocean was not ideal due to the continued easterly wind direction but it was nothing we couldn't handle. Mostly 2-4 ft. seas with occasional 6 footers. Not fun. Not terrible. Our next stop was Key Biscayne, Baggs State Park. This is another very nice spot that can be very crowded, especially weekends. We got there on a Monday and the was only one other boat there. What a surprise! A total of five boats were there eventually. Room for lots more even though one boat cruised by complaining we all were taking up too much room. This boat showed up in Marathon and we overheard them bothering the marina staff. Some people should consider suicide, they're self-centered enough. Their boat name was (censored). Ha! Didn't think I was going to tell you, did you?

     Anyway we spent one more night anchored out. At Matecumbe Key. Mostly an open area with protection to the east which is where the wind had been coming from for a week. Had a nice sunset over Florida Bay.

     Our last ocean passage was also a short one, about four hours, that gets us to Marathon. The only issue was a nasty roll cloud that threatened severe weather for us but just missed us and gave us just some rain, semi-heavy, but no storm. Since it was Carol's turn on the helm, I stayed dry. This was the general pattern since we left Ft Pierce, the storms would cross our path behind us or in front of us leaving us to stay mostly, but not completely, dry.

     So, we're here in Marathon just starting to get into the social activities. We know a lot of people on the moorings and on shore after all our times here. We still like it. In other news, as previously mentioned I been doing some writing and I had my first (of many, I hope) article published. It is in the December issue of Points East Magazine. It is the 'Last Word' column and is about the being a snowbird. What's a snowbird? Read the article. If you don't get down to shoreline marine facilities to pick up this free magazine you can go to www.pointseast.com and click on "read the issue". Hope you like it.

Fort Pierce Pause

     We are now in Fort Pierce, FL, anchored in Faber Cove. We got here in record time and it is hot!

     We were very concerned with conditions in South Carolina after the flooding they had there. A number of bridges were reported to be too low for us to get under. Or at least so close that we couldn't be sure of getting under them. Of course, the bridges did not get lower but the water under them got higher. Another bridge that normally opens on request for boaters broke down and had to be opened by hand, and only hourly. South Carolina had a lot of issues. Boating/ICW issues. It has lots of other issues, of course, but they normally don't concern us. The rest of the country, maybe, but not us directly.

     So... when we left Wrightsville Beach we went down the Cape Fear River and went straight when we came to the turn for the ICW at Southport. Out into the ocean. First time we went out into the Atlantic from this inlet. Once out to sea we spent a day, a night and most of another day underway. We went into the Savannah River and rejoined the ICW. Our offshore passage was okay. Not great. Not bad. Seas were a couple of feet and the wind was almost on the stern. Okay for sleeping but, again, not great.

     Usually we go out into the ocean from Charleston and head to Florida but Charleston is where? South Carolina. See above issues. Leaving the ICW much farther north meant not getting to Florida in one 24+ hour day so we went into Georgia instead. However, that one full day offshore meant we skipped nearly 6 days of twists and turns on the ICW. We picked up a lot of time. This got us to Ft. Pierce more than a week before Carol's scheduled work period. We now had the time to go all the way to Marathon in the Keys but that would have meant major work transportation rescheduling, skipping resupplying and fueling and missing our friends, Mike and Carol. Missing Thanksgiving Day Dinner with them, also. Not recommended.

     The one strange thing about Georgia was we had never gone through it southbound. Only northbound in the early spring. It was more than a little disorienting because our usual anchorages were not in the same place. Okay, THEY were in their usual spots but they weren't their usual distances from previous places we anchored so it seemed we were getting to them earlier in the day than we are used to. Because of this we had to find new (to us) anchorages. Wasn't a problem. Maybe even a new adventure. We normally hate adventures but this wasn't bad at all. We found ourselves cruising with boats we had met years ago in places much farther north and running into people we knew more often than what usually happens. Nice actually. We were semi-lucky to get a mooring in St Augustine because there were so many boats heading south at the same time as us. We usually are a couple of weeks later in the year when we get to Florida. Another 'downside' to this is the weather. It's hot. And humid. And hot. And muggy. And hot. Did I mention humid? Snowbirds complaining about it being too warm? Should be taken out and shot. Of course we're in Florida so that's always a possibility.

     So we are going to spend about three weeks here in Ft Pierce and then head to Marathon. We should be there the first week of December instead of the third as normal. We are hoping we'll be able to get a mooring being earlier in the season. Economy is doing too well, a lot of people are cruising. More than last year which was much more than previous seasons. Maybe the country will vote in Republicans and they'll crash the economy as they usually do.

Here is a video shot at the dinghy dock we use at the City Marina, Ft Pierce.

Momma manatee and her baby.

Chesapeake to Wrightsville Beach

     We're in Wrightsville Beach, NC. It's near Wilmington. Carol is off to Nashville for a conference. We got here 5 or 6 days early so we did some dining out, sightseeing, shopping, lying on the beach, etc. Did I mention it was near 80 degrees? Had a couple of rainy days but that's to be expected over 10 days or so. We hope to head offshore from Cape Fear, downriver from here, but the window is a little small. We could be in Florida by Monday or Tuesday or it could be a couple of weeks from now. That's cruising.

     We left Annapolis is nice conditions and went to the Solomons as usual. Then Jackson Creek, Deltaville, VA. From there we headed back out into the Chesapeake Bay but conditions had really changed overnight. They were pretty bad. 2 to 4ft seas on the nose and 20kt winds. After 13 miles and 5 hours we had enough and turned around and went back to Jackson Creek. It only took two hours to get back to where we started.

                                           A flowing rainbow at Jackson Creek

The next day was fine and we made it to Norfolk/Portsmouth, VA and the ICW. There was a lot of traffic as many boats were trying to get south of a railroad bridge that was scheduled to close and block boat passages the next day. But we got to Great Bridge. Spent some time giving advice to a couple that was heading south for the first time on a smaller catamaran. Advice is very dangerous to give but they seemed to appreciate it. They maintained contact with us and had more questions over several weeks.

     We crossed Albemarle Sound in NC with little difficulty but the Alligator River Swing Bridge was having mechanical problems and we got held up there for about a half hour. Fortunately we got there fairly early because the next group of boaters was held up longer. The next day it didn't open at all. The next day was Pamlico/Neuse day. One of the worst spots on the trip south. It can be very nice, it is beautiful, but slightly adverse conditions feel terrible and nasty conditions are beyond awful. The Pamlico is only three miles across so we went and I could barely hold onto the helm. Because of this we anchored in a new spot for us, Bear Creek. It is just south of the Hobucken Bridge. It was pretty protected but to get to the protected area we had to snake up the creek following the white areas on our chart plotter. Could not have done this without GPS. When we left we saw that several boats had anchored in the open area of the creek. Not as comfortable as we were. Then we continued and crossed the Neuse. This day was not quite as bad. The wind had shifted further aft and eased... a bit. We stopped early in our usual spot in Cedar Creek off Adams Creek. Then it was an easy passage to the Mile Hammock anchorage at Camp LeJeune. Shortly before we got there we saw a long line of amphibious vehicles waiting to cross the ICW. Fortunately they waited to begin their assault until after we passed.

     The other interesting event happened at Brown's Inlet. It is a tricky area that shoals rapidly after dredging and has a really odd buoy pattern. We slowed to let a medium sized sportfisherman pass relatively slowly. He gunned the throttles after passing us and completely missed the buoy pattern and went across the shoal. A week or so earlier a larger sportfish vessel did the same thing and it cost him nearly $100,000. Our guy was lucky it was high tide or he could have suffered the same fate. He was a bit rude (and from Westport, CT) so you can guess which way we might have been rooting. From Camp LeJeune it's one day to Wrightsville where we are now.

     My cousin that lives near here did not respond to my email so we did not see her this trip. Maybe there's a new email address. Or illness. At our age (and she's an older cousin) it could be anything.

Next posting will be from Florida. I hope.

Pasadena

     We are in Pasadena. The one in Maryland. Our annual haulout work is complete and we're just waiting for the weekend to pass to get relaunched. No launching on weekends here.

     We were hauled out on Wednesday and we were done by Friday afternoon but we have to wait before we head to Annapolis for two weeks. In the mean time we are watching sports on TV. NASCAR and WNBA playoffs. Nice lounge here.

     Getting here was pretty painless except for the day we left Mystic. The first time.

     We headed out on Monday, 14 September. Didn't get far. We went out into Fisher's Island Sound and found at least four foot seas right on the nose. That's pretty rough. We've had bigger seas but when they're coming right on the bow it's very uncomfortable. And slow. It took almost 30 seconds of thinking to decide to turn around and head back. Instead of going to our mooring we went to anchor inside the bight at Ram Island, right outside of Mystic Harbor. Comfortable in the lee of the island.

                                 That cloud and chop indicate why we stayed home an extra day

     The next day winds were lighter. We started off sailing but it faded quickly and it was back to our normal motoring. We had the current with us so we got to Port Jefferson before 1600. We picked up our usual mooring there. Wonder who owns it? We've never dragged while on it and it seems to be maintained well. More importantly it's always empty on the weekdays we come to it.

     The next day was nearly calm and as we motored we were calculating our arrival time at Hell Gate if we decided to by-pass Port Washington. Our next calculation was the current heading up the Delaware Bay. It looked like our timing was going to be good so we motored on through the City and then out into the ocean off New Jersey. Current was with us so the passage through the City was quick, not as quick as last fall, but quick. It was calm in the ocean, a very light breeze from the south east and seas of about 4-6 inches, so we motored on through the night. The most interesting event was sighting a large meteor as it passed overhead. It was green and appeared to be the size of a softball. Of course it was much bigger. I watched it break apart and then vanish after travelling at least 40 degrees across my vision. That's a long way. It was amazing!

                                                   Sunrise off New Jersey near Wildwood

      We got to the mouth of Delaware Bay at Cape May a little before 0900 the next day and flew up the Bay fairly quickly with the current and no seas. We got to Chesapeake City on the C&D Canal about 1600 and actually got a spot on the free dock. The anchorage was full and moving on would have been an issue due to the time. We think the monohull sailboats that were anchored could not squeeze into the spot we took between two boats because of their lack of maneuverability. A tight spot is easier for us because of our two engines that are about twenty feet apart. We also had help from the people already there.

     It was Wednesday and we had a week before out scheduled haulout in Pasadena. We waited for a more favorable current in the canal the next day and only went to the Sassafras River. Then it was two days at Worton Creek before heading to Bodkin Creek to wait for our scheduled day and time to start our annual work.

     Except for a nasty, bloody cut while changing engine belts our maintenance and clean up went fairly well. Our only disappointment was the canvas work we scheduled was cancelled at the last minute by the vendor leaving us no time to find another canvas professional. We can no longer recommend The Cover Loft of Annapolis. Too bad. We'll have to find someone in Marathon.

     After we leave Pleasure Cove Marina here we will head to Annapolis until the boat show on Columbus Day Weekend, about two weeks. Then our next work stop should be Wrightsville Beach, NC.
  

End of Summer

     It's the end of summer (okay, not technically) and we're only a few days from heading south again. It was a busy season but we actually got a fair amount of cruising in. Mostly it was doctor visits, maintenance and projects. The norm.

     No major surgeries in 2015 (yet) just a couple of cancer operations. By our new standards that's no big deal. I built a PVC panel hardtop bimini to for our cockpit to replace the old canvas one. The project went pretty well, not perfect but good. We are having the job finished by a canvas shop in Annapolis in October. They will make new side curtains and windows.

     We went to the annual Memorial Day rendezvous to Hamburg Cove with  the Squadron. It was warmer than last year and we had good weather with a good cruise back to Mystic. The major trip this year was the Squadron extended cruise out to the Martha's Vineyard area and we extended that cruise out to Provincetown for a few days and returned via Cuttyhunk and Montauk. Heather was with us on this longer cruise and boyfriend Mike joined us on the very last weekend.

     The most interesting part of this trip was the group decided to go into and anchor in Lagoon Pond, Vineyard Haven for the first time and we decided to join them. Why was that interesting? There is a bascule bridge blocking the entrance to the lagoon and the horizontal clearance is only 30 feet. Infinite Improbability is 24 feet wide making it a very tight squeeze. We estimate we got the boat in with clearances of 18 inches on either side. Carol almost had heart failure it was so close. When I heard her gasp I knew we were close on her side of the boat. If you add up our 24 feet plus 18 inches on each side it doesn't quite come to 30 feet. Something was off here but we made it in. And out.

          Another nice touch to this adventure is I wrote about the lessons learned here and submitted it to Points East Magazine. They will be publishing the article in some future issue and I will be paid for it. Being paid makes me a professional writer now. I think. Maybe. Even if it's a small amount?

     The other interesting event on this cruise was Heather being startled (okay, she screamed) by a whale breaching next to the boat while crossing Cape Cod Bay on the way back to the Cape Cod Canal. I was just a few feet away but by the time I jumped up all I saw was the splash and the "footprint". It was a small whale, by whale standards, but judging by the hole in the water at least 15-20 feet. Maybe a minke.

  That's about it. Just a couple weekends at Montauk and Watch Hill completed our boating while home. We usually don't do much. Our mooring is in such a great location we don't feel the need to leave. Well, we do leave but only because we know winter will come to there and when winter is coming we are going. South. In just a few days as I said.

     As we are travelling blog updates will be more frequent, usually at each longer stop.

Home in Mystic

     We are home in Mystic for the summer. And we got here in record time.

     We stayed in Annapolis one extra day because of forecast small craft warnings in Chesapeake Bay. It wasn't that bad but it allowed an offshore storm to move farther east and northeast and a high pressure area to fill in. I'd been watching this progress for a week with the hopes of it letting us have a smooth passage up the NJ coast or letting us go straight to Montauk from Cape May. Almost worked perfectly.

     From Annapolis we had a flat calm day to Chesapeake City on the C & D Canal. The free dock there was out of service due to repairs/upgrading. There was no deck on the new floating dock. Oh well. Not a problem, plenty of room to anchor 'though it filled up quickly after we got there.

We left at 0500 (dark) with the current in our favor and just made it through the RR lift bridge before it closed for a train. Delaware Bay was a little choppy at the beginning (1 ft) but we still had the current. When the current turned against us the chopped faded away so it all evened out. A couple of hours later the current was back with us and it took us all the way down the bay to Cape May where we decided to head north and not to Montauk direct. Going to Montauk would have meant arrival there well after dark the next day and it would take us closer to the northeast bound storm.

     We did not stop in Cape May, just kept going. We had an easy swell, occasionally 4 to 6 feet, with bare ripples from the breeze so the night went fairly well. Not our easiest passage there but pretty nice. We got to Ambrose Channel into NYC just after dawn the next day and had the current all the way through the City. We averaged 10 knots over the ground and sometimes near 12. The East River up near the northern end of Roosevelt Island was amazing to behold. Standing 3-4 ft waves with whirlpools and shears. Exciting. Hell Gate itself wasn't as bad as just outside either end of it, just very fast. It was so fast that we could have gotten to Port Washington by 10 AM if we had not decided to continue on to Port Jefferson. Chesapeake City to PJ in 33 hours. A new record! We left the C & D on Sunday and we were at PJ earl Monday afternoon.

The next day we were home in Mystic. Way ahead of schedule.

     So our summer work has started. The Pearson was in good shape but filthy. The Dean is pretty dirty, too. A new bimini project is on the horizon and then there's all our medical visits to take care of. Life on board is tough but someone has to do it.

     Next blog likely not until the end of the summer.



     

Annapolis Again

     Here we are in Annapolis, MD again. One of our favorite stops. Another work break for Carol.

     We had a relatively easy trip from Wrightsville Beach to here. Surprising because our Pamlico and Albemarle Sound passages have been awful in the past. We went to the Mile Hammock anchorage with only one delay for a bridge opening, the others we timed well. It's a short day because there are no other good spots further on. That makes the next day longer, of course.

     For the first time northbound we passed up the Cedar Creek anchoring spot we like to go to Oriental for the second time. A couple of boats at the free dock were nice enough to move a bit to make room for us at the end of the 'T' but we were not able to find a sports bar open so we could watch the UConn WBB team at the Final Four. Closed for Easter of all things. Fortunately we are able to watch games on our phones now. A small screen but we hold it right up to our faces.

     After that win we headed out into the Neuse/Pamlico/Pungo system for a long day but it was nearly perfect and painless. We anchored in the south end of the open part of the Alligator River with other boats that had been following us. Then the Alligator and Albemarle passages were pretty calm, too. Even the Pasquatank River up to Elizabeth City was nice. We took ICW Route 2 so we could find a TV to watch the Finals of WBB. We found a sports bar in Elizabeth City and we were Champions AGAIN!!!

     We then went north on the Dismal Swamp Canal on a rainy day but only to the visitors center and park. A guy we met at the Oriental dock was still with us and joined us at Elizabeth's Dock at the Deep Creek lock the next day, too. Lockmaster Robert Peel was not there on arrival but we chatted with him the next morning after his day off before we locked through. We managed to hit a tree again heading up to Deep Creek. Last Fall southbound it was because we were going around an obstruction in the water and couldn't avoid the overhead tree. This year it was just inattention on the helmsman's part. And canal narrowness. And poor canal maintenance. And helmsman's brain fade. Sigh.

     We took a short trip up to Hampton City Docks because of forecast storms and winds but an added benefit for the expense was filling our fuel and water tanks, showering and doing most of our laundry. We also had the experience of having an aircraft carrier call us on the VHF radio to suggest we clear out to the other side of the channel as she was getting underway from the Naval Base. Running us over would have caused a lot of paperwork. For them.

     In the past we have called warships to ask about their intentions or security zones but to be called by them was new. BTW... we moved over. A lot.

     After Hampton, VA we entered Chesapeake Bay in really nice conditions and went to Reedville then Solomons before getting up here to Annapolis. In Annapolis we do shopping, sightseeing, shopping, repairs, dining, shopping and when we get time, shopping. We again went to the Naval Academy to observe their traditional noon ceremony and also enjoyed the silent drill team demonstration afterwards. As interesting as when we there at the same time Michelle Obama was. We're also here for the Spring Boat Show and I had the chance to talk to some people about engines, catamarans, liveaboard life, paddle boards, safety and food.

     We're getting underway in a few days for our last legs to Mystic. Unsure yet if we will do overnight passages or in which direction, towards NYC or Montauk. Not likely Montauk.


     

Northbound 2015

     It's been a long time since my last posting, Christmas 2014. It's now mid March 2015 and we are in Southport, NC.

     We left Marathon the last week of February shortly after winter came and went there. It was three days. It got down to the 40s. That was winter. Otherwise in our two months there the low (at night) was about 55 a couple of times. Brrrr. We actually missed those three days because Carol had a job assignment in Fort Myers, FL and I tagged along to visit my aunt in Cape Coral. At age 98 she might be sharper than I am. While in Cape Coral the temps got down to actual freezing not our idea of freezing which is 50 degrees.

     Northbound we had to stop in Ft Lauderdale (Harbour Towne Marina) to get hauled for a saildrive oil change. This can't be done while in the water on our boat. It was a preventive oil change because of repairs to one of the saildrive/transmissions and a check for any metal bits in the oil. Very expensive. Over $700 for an oil change! This beat our 50 hour service oil change by $200. Normally I do this service in the fall as part of our annual paint and maintenance haulout but we had to do this twice this cruise, Once as part of our 50 hour new engines service and this second time to check for metal shards. None found so that was good.

     We stopped at a new to us anchorage in North Palm Beach to visit a childhood friend of Carol's and then had a very wet day up to Ft Pierce. The weather was so miserable that we spent big $$$ to go to a marina for two nights. Harbortown. Very nice. Expensive. $2/foot.

     Things went well through our stop at St Augustine to meet our friends, Bob and Jane Fulton. From there we went offshore to the St Mary's River and Cumberland Island. Not a bad passage but the next day was the most misery we've had in a while. It topped the driving rain between Palm Beach and Ft Pierce. Banging into the wind and waves crossing the sounds of lower Georgia is not fun. We had just gained a day of travel by going offshore of northern Florida and I didn't want to give it back right away by staying put for another night. Bad choice.

     Going through Georgia and South Carolina went smoothly to the point that we had several days that we traveled farther than normal and made up days anyway. We didn't have to push that first day in Georgia. Sigh.

     We stopped at Barefoot Marina in North Myrtle Beach for a night to go to one of Carol's former co worker's home for dinner. A very nice house in Conway, SC. Not a lifestyle for us.

     Then it was a day to the Pipeline Canal near Southport, NC and after a rainy day at anchor we saw on a webcam that a spot had opened up for us at a free dock in Southport itself.  We scooted over there and are exploring the town over two days. Nice. Not bad at all, if a little small.  

     We'll be leaving in the morning to stop at Wrightsville Beach for Carol's next excursions to hotel life and work. I'll be working on the boat. Doing maintenance. And freezing. Hope spring comes soon.