Home in Marathon

     We are back home in Marathon in the Florida Keys. My last posting hinted that we may not be headed this way but we did, and here we are.

     This trip south was unusual in a couple of aspects. One, we started later than usual from Annapolis and two, we came almost direct. We did not stop for a two week work break along the way and never stopped anywhere for more than two days.

     My medical issues, while serious, do not warrant treatment at this time so we were given clearance to head to Marathon again if we promised to fly home in January for a follow-up exam and bloodwork. The flight home will make it an expensive doctor visit which are expensive enough on their own.

     We left Annapolis with two days left on our mooring rental and you know how much I hate wasting money but the weather was changing and if we didn't leave right away we would be stuck there quite a bit longer. We went down to the Solomons and got stuck there for a couple of days because of the weather. But because we were 40-something miles further south we we better poised to move on when the weather improved. When we were anchoring an exhaust elbow on our starboard engine let go spraying water everywhere in the engine compartment and threatening to sink us. Fortunately when the engine was shut down the flooding stopped. We were able to buy a part at Zahnisers and since we were stuck due to weather I managed to install it with a bit of pain and a little blood. Okay, a lot of pain. From the Solomons area we went to Jackson Creek in Deltaville and from there out of the Chesapeake into Hampton Roads. The two passages were a little rough but not too bad.

     We spent a night alone (surprisingly) at the free dock at Portsmouth, VA. There is a sign outside the basin that says no overnight tie-ups and perhaps some people think it applies to the dock inside the basin. It doesn't. Does make it less crowded, however.
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     From Portsmouth it was a short day to Great Bridge and the free docks there. We had to pick up a Yanmar part I ordered as a back-up, get fuel and go out to dinner. Then we went down the Virginia Cut to Broad Creek, our staging area to cross Albemarle Sound. The Sound was pretty benign as was the Alligator river. We had some rain which only got bad as we were anchoring at Belhaven, NC. The Pungo, Pamlico and Neuse areas were tolerable if a little breezy. The Neuse was the worst, of course, but bad only in a couple of spots and for a short period of time. To give the Neuse a chance to settle down a bit, we stopped early at R E Mayo in Hobucken for dockage. Paid dockage. You might know that's pretty unusual until I tell you it was only 40 cents per foot for the night.We spent less than 18 dollars for dockage but more than $60 on seafood. The seafood went down real easy.

     After the Neuse we went to our usual spot in Cedar Creek off Adams Creek. Gelato caught up with us there and we had a visit with them aboard. Mile Hammock, our next spot, was crowded but we found room. After that is was Wrightsville Beach. We usually spend a couple of weeks here for Carol to go off to work but this year we only spent  couple of days. Enough time to get groceries and go to King Neptune for dinner. We also learned that the new owner of Perfectly Normal will not be able to recover it after it went ashore during Hurricane Florence. Since he bought the boat he made one poor decision after another. He damaged sails, parts of the engine, the anchor roller and more. He also let the insurance lapse. Dumb. He'd better make the payments he owes us or there will be issues.

     Because more bad weather was coming we ran from Wrightsville all the way to Sunrise, NC, near the SC border. It was $1.75 per foot but included free laundry and nice heads. Then we went to Cow House Creek which we've passed by the last few years followed by Minim Creek which we also have been skipping.

     We barely made it past the shallows by McClellanville and went down to Charleston. We went to a marina just past the Ben Sawyer bridge. This let us stage to go out into the ocean to do an overnight passage to Florida. This offshore venture was just a little short of awful but we kept telling ourselves to suffer through it because the reward was nice weather at St Augustine, FL.

     From St Augustine we went on the ICW to New Smyrna, Eau Gallie and Fort Pierce. No incidents except for the threat of rain and storms which mostly missed us except at night. We also had a dolphin play around in our side wave, looking at us and rolling over with some up-side-down swimming displays. Still not jaded by this.

     We only spent a few days at Fort Pierce with Mike and Carol. Time enough to visit, re-stock and have lunch together. We got to the Saturday market for breakfast and my favorite breads. Or is Great Harvest my favorite bakery? Can't remember.

     The weather again was threatening and someone decided we would not go outside in the ocean to Marathon. Instead inside to Palm Beach and Lake Sylvia in Ft Lauderdale. This is an awful passage only because of all the bridges we have to have opened for us. And the traffic. And the wakes. Fortunately the Orange Asshole was not in town so the bridge restrictions were not worsened. He was in Europe embarrassing the US.

     From Ft. Lauderdale we have no choice but to go outside in the ocean. It was a bit rough but not terrible. We also encountered the US Navy and some of their operations. We were forced to stay within one half mile from shore and still had a semi-close encounter with a submarine. When we got to Miami we decided we would push it and travel farther and longer than normal because of weather a couple of days ahead of us. We anchored off Key Largo just before dark after a 10 hour passage. The next day we had a long passage both inside and outside all the way to Marathon. Two long days instead of three normal days got us here ahead of the cold front and its associated wind and seas.

     So here we are, home in Marathon. Just starting to get settled in, seeing what's new, what's old, deciding what we'll be involved in and just enjoying the tropical weather. Hot, humid, thunderstorms, sunny and rainy. All in the same day.

     

2018 Southbound (maybe)

     I'm writing this from Annapolis, our normal southbound extended stop. But, it's been 'interesting'.

     We left Mystic after a 'rush-job' needle biopsy on a neck/shoulder lymph node. I had an ultrasound first and with great difficulty it found a 'hot-spot'. My surgeon wanted a follow-up biopsy to be sure to eliminate possibilities. I had a small lump that appeared and disappeared over two years and everyone said it could not be serious. I had the biopsy and we left the next day.

     We stopped at Port Jefferson as usual after a nice day with a light breeze on the stern. Seas were calm but increased very slightly towards the end of the day. We had good current about half the way to PJ. The next day was even calmer as we went to Port Washington. Sometimes we continue our trip through the City from PJ but the timing of the currents through Hells Gate were not good. Stopping in Port Washington gave us the chance to see Cobbe and Heather and Mike one last time before their Christmas visit in December. We stayed two nights and almost got ourselves another cat.We went to North Shore Animal League and I really like an all gray one year old cat. He liked me too. Another couple was looking at him but he was indifferent to them. Must be my charm. Anyway, Carol said no, the timing wasn't going to work. Sigh. Oh, well.

We went through NYC the next day and had the current with us the whole way as planned. At one point in the East River, just south of the UN Building, a seaplane landed alongside us. Not too close but close enough to startle Carol.

     We then went to Atlantic Highlands, NJ inside Sandy Hook. We hadn't been there in several years as we've been going directly offshore after going through the City. This time we had to wait out weather and seas. Good thing.

     At 0630 our first morning there my oncology surgeon called me. He wanted me to return to have the suspect lymph nodes removed. He believed I had a MALT lymphoma but wanted to be sure. In any case it wasn't going to be serious. From our point of view a 0630 called from an oncologist was serious enough. All this meant we had to scramble to find a pre-op physical and a way to get back home. We were lucky Carol found an APRN to do the physical the next day in Atlantic Highlands and we planned to head to Annapolis as is normal but this time to rent a car to go home from there.

     We headed offshore a few days later than normal mostly because of the weather and seas. The window was small and the conditions were not great but not terrible. Not too much sleep overnight but we got a little. We went up Delaware Bay after rounding Cape May in late morning. That was a little exciting near Prissywicks shoal as the channel seems to be a bit further west than it used to be. Just a little. Delaware Bay is a long trip and we usually try to start it first thing in the morning but it was late morning this year and we didn't have good current until later in the day. The C & D Canal also had a counter-current so that wasn't too quick either. We exited the Canal in the dark and headed to the anchorage in the Bohemia River. Leaving the canal is a visual challenge with confusing lights but as we got a little bit away the channel and the lights simplified. Anchoring in the Bohemia was straightforward. No problems.

     The next day was a bit rough but we went to Bodkin Creek anyway. Pleasure Cove Marina is on this creek but we were not going there again this year. Just one night and then we headed to Annapolis.

     We went to Back Creek which is in the Eastport section of Annapolis. We were going to have scheduled engine service at a work dock in a week or so but first we took a city-owned pay mooring so we could safely leave the boat and go home by car.

     We stayed on the mooring for a week so I could recover after the lymph node surgery. Then I went to the Bayshore Marine work dock for 2000 hour servicing. They let me go there a couple of days early and when they were done I went to anchor right next to where were moored earlier. We sit there now as I write this.

     Gelato with Al and Sue showed up the day I left the dock as they were delayed several days by weather systems while in Atlantic Highlands. We've visited, had breakfast and dinners together and went to the Sailboat Show this past weekend. Now I'm waiting as Carol heads off to work again. After that it will be a PET Scan and bone marrow biopsy back home to find out how serious this formerly not serious Mantle (not MALT) non-Hodgkins Lymphoma really is. Turns out it might not be as minor an issue it was forecast to be. If I need major treatment we may have to turn around and go home to winter in Connecticut instead of Marathon. Not looking forward to that.

     Everything is up in the air but because of Hurricane Michael (yes, I'm serious, Hurricane Michael), we would have been delayed a little anyway. The ICW is still flooded and technically closed but it has been improving. The rain from this new storm may slow things down for everyone else, too. We'll see.     

   

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.