Mini-Cruise

     We completed a little cruise out to Nantucket with Heather. We were calling it a vacation cruise, out of habit I guess, but were reminded you can't take a vacation from no job at all. So... Heather's vacation.

     I spent a few days solo (with Cleo) at Block Island before heading to Point Judith, RI to pick up Carol, Heather and Luca. This was supposed to also be the WPS summer cruise but the other participants decided not to followed the planned itinerary. We overlapped briefly at Block and met at Cuttyhunk and Oak Bluffs but no one else went to Nantucket. Their loss.

     Luca seems to be becoming a little more civilized (a little) and we can pick her up without losing pints of blood. Mellowing. Or dying. Who knows?

Weather was pretty good. Calm to Cuttyhunk but there was a leftover swell from a distant storm. Carol hates this passage. Trip to Oak Bluffs (Ma.) was flat and the passage to Nantucket was nearly so. No sailing. We anchored for two nights there. Moorings are $70 a night there!!!!!! Bike riding and dining were the main things on the itinerary.

The trip back to Martha's Vineyard was uneventful but the trip back to Point Judith was "fun". Strong winds right on the nose. More motoring. And an alternator V-belt broke on the way. Replacing that in rough seas was not fun but we've had to do that before. Experience.

The last evening on this cruise was marked by a visit from 'nephew-in-law' Chris H. and his daughter (our grand-niece) Brooklyn. They seemed to have a great time and were interested in the lifestyle of living and travelling on a boat. 

Just a couple of more boating weekends to go before our departure south in late September. Can't wait!

Summer of No Sailing

We getting ready to take a mini-cruise in just a few days. We have hardly used the boat since we've been back in Connecticut.

We've been busy with working on the house, working on our Pearson with a little work on the Dean, too. Family picnics that we used to blow off have also taken up our time. In the past we rarely let these things take away from our boating but now that we're away (on the boat) so much of the year we feel a little obligated.

We did take a little boating trip to Rhode Island for the 4th of July weekend. Dutch Harbor at Jamestown, RI. Motoring all the way as usual then Heather and eight of her friends joined us to view the fireworks display. Unfortunately an hour or so before they arrived the fog rolled in staying a few hundred feet in the air. When fireworks time came we could not see them because the cloud was right at the display altitude. Bummer. We could see the bottom of the bursts and occasionally the top but mostly we missed everything. Sigh.

The trip home on the 4th itself was eventful... of course. Fog. Dense fog. The whole way. Going around Point Judith caused anxiety because of the traffic. We can navigate fine in poor visibility but we worry about the idiots out there that travel at high speeds relying on their radar. Only one encounter as we neared Watch Hill Passage caused any cursing aboard Infinite Improbability. A boat close enough and fast enough to cause a good sized wake. One we never saw, only heard and felt. Crazy.

So that's the summer so far. Not much boating but our cruise starts later this week with hopes of getting out to Nantucket. Going to Nantucket never seems to work out. We've only visited on 20 % of our attempts. And now the first Tropical Storm has formed in the Bahamas. We'll see.

Home

We are at our home in Wallingford. It's been almost two weeks. We are making it as sellable as we can (again). A lot of work.

We are also trying to get used to the weather up here again. IT'S AWFUL!!!!! Rain. Rain. Rain. Our backyard is full of water and we actually had a roof leak (minor and fixed). We also have to get our Pearson ready to go in the water and to Mystic. The rain isn't helping.

Let's wrap up the end of our trip north...

We went from the C & D Canal down to Cape May, NJ. It wasn't a bad day even though we left an hour before sunrise. Reasonably calm but we had the main up and had a little help from the wind for a little while. We took a short cut right along the coast of Cape May inshore of the reefs. Even trickier than the stunt we pulled when we were southbound but this time the weather and seas were not too bad. We shouldn't make a habit of this but the time saved is so tempting. Still a long day 0500 to 1600.

After a night at Cape May and getting fuel we went to Atlantic City. Calm weather with storms predicted in a few days. We decided to just stay for lunch and dinner (six hours) and get underway again about 1800.

Seas were calm as we motored along the coast of New Jersey through the night. After a couple of rain drops the sky cleared about 0200 and the stars came out to play. Beautiful! Big 'W' out to remind us of Wallingford and our friends in the Waterbury Power Squadron. Cassiopeia (the big 'W' in the sky) is on the burgee (flag) of our Squadron.

In the morning we approached New York City and went through the Narrows-Verranzano Bridge. A lot of big ship traffic this time but since we were northbound we could get way to the side and stay outside the channel and still be in safe water. The bouyage system also seemed to make more sense or was more readable to us in this direction. The City was beautiful in the blue skies but we arrived later than we hoped and we missed getting the chance to wave to Heather as we went by the Brooklyn and Williamsburg Bridge area. 0 for 2 in these attempts. Since we were late we went through Hell Gate after slack water but had the current with us as planned. A little rough because of the opposing wind but not as bad as it could be. We ended up in Port Washington on Long Island. Back in Long Island Sound! Our home waters once again. We picked up the free mooring we used back the previous September. Full circle.

On Tuesday we headed to Mattituck. We had a great sail most of the way. The wind was NE at 15+kts and we just barely had a sailing angle but it went well. It's just so damn cold. Freezing. Carol has a ton of layers on. At home people are in tee-shirts but we are in a good breeze blowing over 50 degree water. Last week on the Chesapeake we had the same conditions but the water temp was 65 not 50. Big difference in comfort on the water.

Wednesday we motored home to Mystic right into the wind. Seas were not big but it was just miserable. Into the gray. Into the cold wind. 30nm seemed way longer than some of our 60+sm days recently. Statute (sm) miles are quite shorter than Nautical (nm) miles but our last day made nm seem even longer.

But we made it of course. Borrowed a mooring in the Mystic River as we waited for the tide to get higher at our marina and then went and anchored near our mooring. It was occupied by a poacher. Now who would do THAT?

Home again as I said at the beginning. Lots of work to do on the house and the Pearson and little time this summer for cruising. We'll get a little boating in as we prepare to do this all over again in the fall.

CAN'T WAIT.

C& D Canal

We are at Chesapeake City on the C & D Canal. Paying for a marina again.

I hate paying for marinas.

We're paying because the FREE dock is being taken up by people who do not tie up close enough to the next boat. Too special, I guess. Also the anchoring area is filled with people who anchor too close to each other for my comfort.

We spent two nights in the Solomans because of stormy weather and very strong winds. We headed for Annapolis on the next day. Windy, just not quite as windy. It was a beat into two foot seas. We banged around quite a bit. Scared the heck out of the cat. But we did get a three hour sail in. Three out of an eight hour day. Can't remember the last time we were underway and had the engines off like that.

Tomorrow it's an early start to head down Delaware Bay to Cape May, NJ. Likely to be a very slow day against the current. Hope it's not against the wind and sea also. Everyone hates this passage. When we were northbound it was pretty nasty.

If the weather holds we should be home next week. If.

Stormy weather

We are at a marina in Coinjock, NC. What???? A marina?

Yep.

We needed to do laundry, get fuel, etc.

We had an eventful last few days. Dodging thunderstorms. Braving gale force winds. Bashing into very big seas. See, it's not all fun and games.

We made it into Belhaven without getting wet a couple of days ago and hoped to get ashore to buy some groceries. We got there and it started pouring. And got windier. Then windiest. It's a nice harbor but open to the direction the waves were coming from. It didn't get too uncomfortable but it wasn't great.

The next day it was very breezy but the seas were on the stern and we made it all the way up the Alligator River. We went to an anchorage recommended by 'Skipper Bob' because very bad weather was forecast. Well Skipper Bob never said the anchorage was almost 6 miles off the ICW. It took a while to get there. Once we were there it was fine for the night even though it was a little lumpy. Another boat was there and he took exception to us being in his sight. Weird. We were not anywhere near to crowding him. More than a hundred yards away.

In the morning in got even windier. Up to 40kts. We dragged. We reset. We dragged. We moved to the next cove and dropped the anchor again. We were hooked. The day turned out not to be too bad. Even had some sun but it was very humid. And windy. Did I mention windy?

We emailed several people about our location and the chances of severe weather, up to and including tornadoes. Thanks to all who were monitoring and checking on us!!!! It didn't rain until dinner time and the main (and big) T-storm cells all missed or just grazed us. At 11:30 PM a big one finally caught us. It was too late to be as bad as a tornado but it got windy and very rainy. We were swinging around but all was fine.

Today we finally crossed Albemarle Sound. It's about the size of L.I. Sound but much shallower. That means much rougher. It 15kt winds we had 3ft. seas to bash into. Imagine what it would have been like the day before with 40kt + winds. I shudder to think about it. That's why we stayed in South Lake.

From Coinjock we will be headed into Virginia tomorrow. We hope to get space at a free dock and go real grocery shopping. By Sunday will be off the ICW and into the Chesapeake.

Home soon.

Easter

It's Easter and we're in Mile Hammock Bay which is part of Camp LeJeune, NC. The Marine base sometimes uses this harbor and could toss us out without notice.

Didn't happen and we're underway on Monday. We're going past Beaufort, NC today. My last post was from Beaufort, SC. Bo - fert today, Byew - fert last week.

We met up with friends while we we're underway leaving Charleston. Symmetry has a mooring near us in Mystic and were with us when we spent January in Marathon. They spotted us going by and hailed us on the VHF radio. Because they heard us talking with Symmetry, Voyageur called us also. They winter in St Augustine and we got together with them just before Thanksgiving down there. They followed us up the ICW and we anchored near each other in Minim Creek, SC. We had them to dinner. Great meeting up with friends!

The next morning we left earlier than them and got well ahead of them. Maybe they'll catch up to us up the 'road'.

We stayed two nights at Wrightsville Beach, NC. Oil change day and we got fuel. $250 worth. Ouch. Wrightsville is a beach town. Bikinis on the streets and in the stores. Wearers were all too young to be interesting. Well... most anyway.

So now we're going along the longest state on the ICW, North Carolina. More than 50 hours to traverse. Virgina will be the shortest.

Nice areas, however.

Southern South Carolina is not the greatest area on the ICW. Georgia is the buggiest. And there's one small area of Florida I didn't like. The Cape Canaveral area. Except for these spots it's been pretty nice. Hope it continues.

Cat excited about all this.

South Carolina

We are now in South Carolina. I left Georgia on my own after the windlass replacement was complete. Had to wait an extra week because they ordered/sent the wrong one. While we were there we also had them weld a pole onto our stern arch so we could attach our new wind generator.

Leaving Thunderbolt was fine except it was very shallow in two spots. I got stuck in the middle of the channel a couple of miles before Causton Bluff Bridge. Three minutes aground but it was soft and the tide was rising. Approaching the bascule bridge I touched a couple more times but did not get stuck. A couple of miles later I was passed by a very large powerboat that sped up after I slowed to let him pass. Idiot! He threw a huge wake a nearly killed a nearby canoeist.

Crossing the Savannah River brought me to South Carolina. The air was suddenly like perfume. No, really. I couldn't figure out what it was. I assumed it was the brush along the backs of the ICW. After a few miles the scent went away as the shore was back to the normal marsh/grass.

When I tied up to a marina at Hilton Head I smelled the perfume again. Turns out it was a flowering bush that it plentiful in the area. Cut off some and put in in a vase in the main cabin.

Carol returned from working and together we headed to Beaufort, SC. This is the Beaufort that is pronounced Byou-fert. The Beaufort in NORTH Carolina is pronounced Bo-fort.

We spent the day in town and then went to anchor in nearby Factory Creek, Lady's Island. Nice spot. Boat launch dock nearby as well as grocery, hardware and other stores. Homeowners along the shore were friendly, too. The marina had friendly staff that offered us the code for the showers for free. They also had unfriendly staff that told us the fee was $10 per use. Needless to say, we stopped going after one use.

Carol is working in NYC and visiting Heather and then will spend a weekend in Wallingford checking out the house. On her return we will spend a month pushing home and should be in Conn. by mid May.

See you then!

Maybe