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.

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.

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.



   

    

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.

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.

The WB

     No, not that WB. This one is Wrightsville Beach, NC. We are anchored here for Carol's work period after an interesting time since we left Marathon. Interesting. Not quite as bad as an adventure. Those are worse.

     We knew when we left Marathon we didn't have quite enough time to get here and we'd have to do something to pick up days in case we had bad weather or other issues. We went from Marathon to Tarpon Basin, Key Largo our first day. A little rough due to wind and sea direction but not terrible. You'd like your first day underway after a three month layoff to be a little nicer to get acclimated. Well, not this time.

     We left the Keys and instead of stopping in Miami we went out Government Cut and kept going. All the way to Fort Pierce. I expected to go overnight and get to FT Pierce Inlet between 0900 and 1100 but we were on the edge of the Gulf Stream and sailed fast. Very fast. Even though  it was a little choppy we were doing close to 10 knots. During the night I calculated (okay, the GPS calculated) we would get to Ft Pierce before 0300. Dark. I furled the genoa, shut off one engine and near idled the other one to slow us down to a first light arrival. This one overnight passage gave us more than three days in hand for the future. We visited our friends Mike and Carol, topped off fuel and groceries and moved on the next day in late morning. Even though we left three or four hours later than normal we went close to our normal anchorage and were caught up. The next day we pushed all the way to Daytona and so picked up another day. Then we visited St Augustine and had dinner with friends Bob and Jane and their guests from Conn. Things were going great.

     In order to pick up one more day we went back into the ocean out of St Auggie. Things were not so great. It was very choppy, 2-3 ft just off the nose. Not a good direction for a catamaran. We could turn towards Europe or turn towards shore and hit land sooner. Neither option would work and we pounded on. Then the extension of our stern arch that holds up the dinghy and the wind generator broke. This dropped the dinghy down and almost caused us to lose the generator. I managed to secure both at great peril and we headed for the St Johns River and comfort and safety (relatively).

     We hadn't wanted to go this way due to dredging and bridge construction but we managed those areas okay and ended up at Cumberland Island, GA. From here we had normal passage days until we got to Thunderbolt, GA, part of Savannah. We had our damaged arch evaluated and stayed two days for very expensive repairs. $100 for stainless steel and $1000 for labor. We have to consider ourselves lucky that they were willing to do this on short notice at any price. We were docked among multi, multi million dollar yachts who looked down at us in more ways than one. This two day delay was not an issue because we had picked up enough time earlier with our off shore passage and other long days on the ICW. Plus we only stayed one day in Ft Pierce.

     We had good days from Georgia  with mostly positive current until our last passage to here so we still got here a few days before Carol's flight. Pushing a bit and good weather made up for the bad scheduling. Cruisers are NOT supposed to have schedules and one day we could be bit on the  
          if we keep tempting fate.

Damaged stainless steel. Bottom middle pipe leads to the wind generator.

     Our small boat among the rich. They looked down on us in more ways than one. We needed repairs.

Northbound 2016

     It's been a few days short of three months since we arrived in Marathon. Boot Key Harbor. It's time to start heading north.

     December here was very warm and humid, mid to upper 80s, then the El Nino effects started to affect us. Windy, squally, rainy about once a week. Record rainfall amounts but with all that it wasn't really all that bad.

     The end of the month turned out pretty nice for Heather and Mike's Christmas Holiday week. Mid to upper 70s, very little rain, and several beach days. We took the boat out to Sombrero Light Reef for the first time since we started coming here and had a great day of snorkeling. The reef is less that three miles offshore and has mooring balls for public use. Very nice. Mike and Heather treated us to a  New Years Eve sunset cruise off of Key West. Very, very nice. We left them the car and took the bus back to Marathon. Due to poor scheduling and demand we waited a long time to get a bus and spent midnight on the bus somewhere on Route 1. Not so nice. Normally we are asleep at midnight so I'm not sure this was an improvement or not.

As Marathon has become our winter (second) home we have gotten even more involved in the community. I was asked to be the net controller on the morning cruisers net on the VHF a couple of times We also became NOSE pickers and proud of it. I can't quite remember what N O S E stands for besides Nautical Obstruction something something. It's a program where we boaters help clean up the harbor and the mangroves and get a small rewards like credit on your laundry card and coupons at local businesses. We may have done enough in February to get some prize but we won't know as we'll be GONE. No problem. Happy to contribute.

     I also play senior softball about three times a week. I managed to avoid serious muscle pulls until late in February but some of the bruises were impressive. I'll need a couple of weeks to recover once we get to sea.

     January was kinda normal weather for here. Mostly in the 70s with a norther every 10 days or so. Northers are cold fronts but cold is a relative term. A high temp of only 60 is pretty cold. The tourists are in shorts and tee shirts but we are bundled up like the natives. January didn't get below 60 but a few days in February did... 58... twice. Awful.

     It's amazing how quickly our three months here have passed. Too busy, I guess. Worse still is the fact I now have a job. Not just magazine freelancing (previously mentioned) but also writing for the Waterway Guide, Northern Edition. With a contract and everything. Oh, the pressure. It's terrible. The Waterway Guide is a major cruising publication. I will be in the 2017 edition covering most of Long Island Sound out to southern Mass. and the Cape of Cod.

That's my update. Next one should be once we get to Wrightsville Beach, NC, Carol's next work stop.

   
                                           Sombrero Reef Light