Still February 2009

SPANISH CARIBBEAN

Culebra, Spanish Virgin Islands

It was a fairly short hop to the Spanish Virgin Island of Culebra.  We anchored in Ensenada Hondo, right by the tiny town of Dewey and tried to figure out how to check in.  Technically, this is part of Puerto Rico, another US territory, and as US citizens traveling from one US territory to another we were told by a VI cruiser that checking in was not necessary.  Yeah, we’d heard that in Mexico too, and it turned out to be incorrect, so we decided to be safe and not sorry.  A fellow yachtie directed us to the town dock and told us to get the number off the sign posted on the pier.  A few phone calls later (Ade’s cell phone worked here) we were given a number and told that we were officially checked into Puerto Rico, which is required if you are going to stay there.  Once that was settled, we sought out the few places that were listed in the cruising guide, and took a nice long walk.  We people-watched at the harbor side Dinghy Dock and adjusted our ears to rapid Spanish again.  We even found little Mamacita’s colorful Bar & Grill on the canal that cuts from Ensenada bay to the ocean.  There is a ferry dock on the ocean here that brings Puerto Rican’s over for holidays.  Despite the ferry, Culebra is much like the old Virgin Islands, a nice quiet island with perfect weather, a little local color, and a great place to just hang out and read a good book.

Puerto Rico

The crossing to Fajardo on PR’s east coast was lumpy but uneventful. Puerto Del Rey marina is huge, over 1000 slips, and it’s near nothing, so for transient’s, not the best choice.  We were told it was quite safe, but laughed when after all the security gates, locks, etc., we saw that our dock was the one where the ferry dropped passengers off, so hundreds of people walked by, unescorted on a Sunday…really glad this is NOT where we decided to leave WS while we went home for three weeks.

Wanting to see something at this end of the island, we arranged for a taxi to take us to a popular beach area where we were told there was a boardwalk.  No boardwalk, just a family beach with lots of beer drinking locals out for a fun Sunday…not in the mood for that, we asked what else we might see.  “El Conquistador Casino and Resort” we were told…and as taxi fare was already at $40, we decided we’d better get out.  The resort is actually lovely, beautiful buildings and grounds cascading down a hill to a small marina.   We spent a few hours just strolling around, enjoying a late lunch and people watching.  We’d missed the Latin people; they are so…so…alive, so passionate about everything.  We had the doorman get us a cab, and guess what…another $40 to go the 8 miles back to our marina.  Glad we saw what we did, these cruisers probably won’t be going back to Fajardo.

We ran the length of the northern side of the island with fairly stiff winds at our back.  When we saw the impressive walls of El Morro it was time to navigate the tricky, in this weather, harbor entrance that would take us into San Juan.  We surfed our way in and found Club Nautico, a private club and marina deep into the harbor past all the cruise ship docks.  The yacht club is very safe, with good docks and a beautiful clubhouse and office complex, but for people without a car - a challenge to deal with.  A major highway runs in front of it, on a blind corner, and beyond it, two lane highway on and off ramps, one in each direction, and a raised, but not too high, highway bridge…what we in California call a spaghetti bowl.  At least eight lanes converge here.   After the first day, I learned that if I walked a block or so, I came to a spot where I had pretty good visibility and could run across two lanes to a V like median; pause, cross two more lanes with a small median; pause, and then cross two more double lane sets, and there, finally was a nice big sidewalk bordering the ocean and leading to hotels.  Like a bunny I would dash across two lanes. Stop. Dash. Stop. Run like hell… all pretty exciting, made all the more so by the fact that I actually scream as I do this…not blood curdling wail, but an audible AHHHHHHHHH.    By the time I get to El Malecon to take my walk, I am really warmed up.

We finally rented a car, as Ade didn’t like my method for getting around, and went out for a night on town in Old San Juan- and just fell in love with it.  It reminds me of Cartagena.  The fact that the cruise ships dock right down town adds to the crowds and T-shirt shops, but also to the color and excitement of the waterfront.  Artists set up shop in the square and displayed some really lovely things, like the sea glass earrings and necklaces I bought.  Following the advice of a fellow we met in Culebra, we found that on the streets several blocks north of the piers had great restaurants that the locals frequent.  Baru was one he’d suggested and he was right.  It’s a Tapas restaurant (poor Ade was so disappointed, he thought I was saying Topless) and we shared several delicious dishes, and walked the cobblestone narrow poking our heads into interesting looking galleries and restaurants.    Another night we made our way to the resort area, and the old El San Juan hotel, where Ade and his buddy Jim stayed after their college graduation.  It’s still elegant and has great restaurants, we chose the Palm.  Not Latin, but very nice.

We found someone at the yacht club to watch and wash the boat each week; emptied the fridge, and buttoned Wandering Star up for our first trip home in seven months…the longest time ever.  We missed our families and friends.

HOME for three weeks

We were back aboard in no time, and the others had all caught up.  I finally finished Les and Rose’s Superhero capes that I’d wanted to make for them after they towed us off the coast of Columbia in October.  With no sewing machine on board, I just couldn’t execute my vision.  They got a big chuckle out of the Dobbe Wan and Princess Lena capes…now I dare them to wear them!

We all wanted to see Old San Juan again, so back downtown again - navigating our way through the particularly heavy and drunken cruise ship passengers and back up to Baru for dinner.  Dottie and Ken went off on an island adventure on their motorcycle for a few days, while we stayed at the club with Rose as Les had to fly home for a quick business trip.  We did the mad dashes across yet another set of major highways to the local Pueblo market to re-provision for the next leg of our journey.  Rose is much faster off the mark than I, she’s like a gazelle, and I think my screaming scared her.   I wonder if they will miss all of this nonsense when they go back to the real world of starting a new business.  We will miss them.  Dottie and Ken are going home too, but we have a few more weeks together.

The Dominion Republic, the country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the always impoverished and chaotic Haiti is not on most cruisers itineraries.  Strategically it’s in a brilliant location for a stop traveling north or south, but has few good anchorages, and it’s expensive to check into for just an overnight stop.  We determined, however that we wanted to see it, and decided along with Dot & Ken, on Puerto Plata, and the recommended Ocean World Adventure Park and Marina.   It’s a lot like Sea World with a much lower budget, but equally enthusiastic “trainers” who work with the animals and participate in the silly, but kinda cute, skits.  You know the “CLAP NOW” kind of enthusiasm, all in rapid Spanish and LOUD.  We had a back stage pass as our slip was right behind the set and seal pool, and when we’d hear the theme from the Pink Panther, we’d brace ourselves for Showtime.  I know I sound cynical, when in actuality; I laughed every time as the kids squealed and sang out, “Who Let the Dogs Out-woof-woof”, and clapped at the antics.  I’m a sucker for people having a good time.  It is also a Casino with a floor show; scantily clad beautiful girls with elaborate headdresses, gloved arms out and barely covered in feathers and sequins, prancing to canned music…of course we went, how can you resist a taste of the  Copacabana?.  It’s a good marina, but it is ¾ empty, and should probably lower its rates to attract more yachties as they would then feed the other parts of the operation, including the good and fairly priced restaurants.

We took a van/bus to the town of Puerto Plata for an afternoon.  Everyone was very friendly, but in particular one fellow who, at the end of our day, clung to us like saran wrap, showing us lots of things on our way to where he said we could catch the return bus to the resort.  He insisted, in that “me thinks thou protests too much” way, that he wasn’t doing it for money, he didn’t need money…only, after an hour of this…maybe - only if we wanted to, buy some milk for his daughter.  He took us to a squalid bar where the bus supposedly stops, or at least passes by, which by coincidence, sold the milk - which turned out to be formula at $25USD, along with cold beer.  But, hey, the free bus did go by, and he did run out in front of it to stop it, so I guess it was a win-win situation; sometimes being played is such fun.

We hired a car and driver to take us on an island tour - as much as we could see in one day, this is a big island and we would only scratch the surface.  You hire the guide, and he in turn goes out to a taxi van and hires the taxi.  The guide told us to call him “Macarena”, he considers himself quite the historian, and claimed many celebrity clients, none of whom registered with us.   We understood very little of what he said, it was an unusual kind of Spanglish he spoke.  Dottie and I fell into a fit of giggles when we thought he was taking us to a whorehouse when what he said was courthouse.  There are a lot of both on the island apparently.  He loved to point out hookers, and some looked like young teenage girls, others like peasant women selling fruit by the side of the road.  The taxi driver rolled his eyes at us from time to time.  We visited a cigar factory run by a lecherous Robin Williams look alike German ex-pat with tiny reading glasses worn way down a long nose with piercing, laughing blue eyes, show us how they roll cigars on our thighs.  We also found ourselves in Amber and Larimer workshops…you know the drill.

A big attraction was Playa Cabarete.  It’s a wind surfing and kite boarding beach that attracts hundreds of enthusiasts, and is such fun to watch.  There was every color of sail, and every level of boarder.  The learning curve seems quite steep and I know I am much to chicken to try it, but what a thrill it must be to catch the wind and just skip across the rolling surf.  Wow, most impressive.  We stayed for a few hours. I checked out the hotels there, and they are quite nice and seemed to be doing a good business.  I can see why it’s catching on with Canadians.

At the end of the day, Macarena was very pleasant and helpful though, and took us to the fresh market and helped us bargain for lovely fruit and vegetables, and stopped at the supermarket for other items we needed.   We thoroughly enjoyed our very full day, and our time in “The DR”.

Time to go, next it’s the Turks and Caicos, and my 99^th country!  WooWoo indeed.

 LIKE A VIRGIN- ISLAND-again

FEBRUARY 2009

British Virgin Islands

Woo Woo, we made it to Virgin Gorda at first light after a beautiful overnight run from Anguilla.  We first visited the lovely British Virgin Islands waaaay back in 1974 and it became one of our favorite places to charter sailboats.  We’ve not been back since the mid 90’s and see that it continues to change.  For us nothing can match the simplicity that was, when the Bitter End was just a small collection of cottages with a nice bar and fresh seafood eatery.  Chartering was a pretty new idea and brought work to the lovely gentle “Queens English” speaking locals.  Today, with the proliferation of charter companies, that attitude has changed.  Polite, but not what I’d call “welcoming”.  Nevertheless, the island is still beautiful, large boulders tumble down into the still sparkling blue sea, the trade winds blow, and the sun shines brightly.  Speaking of trades, they really are blowing this year and it’s cooler than the normally ideal 80 degrees in and out of the water.

After making landfall and checking into the country, we were off on a rip roaring dinghy ride to the Baths, the renowned beach at the SW tip of the island with large granite boulders extending out into the sea.   The waves crash into the rocks and form large azure blue pools with the light and rushing water altering the look every few seconds.  It’s fairly easy to clamber in, over and around these giants, and gentle enough to swim and splash in the pools, but getting to them is a riot.  You used to be able to just pull your dink up on an adjoining beach and walk over.  Now in order to protect the coral and I imagine with the crowds, there is a thick rope barrier to prevent you from dinking in.  You tie the dinghy to the rope and swim ashore, timing the waves to insure you are not picked up and deposited ON it, or into the rocks.  Not easy and I almost wimped out.  But after watching others do it, and especially ladies I judged to be older than me…well, I sucked it up and jumped in too.  Nothing motivates me like feeling like a complete dork sitting in a dinghy tied to rope while everyone else is in the water.  On the eve of my 59^th birthday, I guess I’m a little long in the tooth to use the high school excuse of “it’s that time of the month” to avoid doing something I’m afraid to do.

I survived that, took the obligatory photos for the “At the Baths” wall at home which shows the kids at various ages, and went back on WS for a nice afternoon nap.  It was dinner topsides on the fly bridge, and movies that Pat brought from her “For Your Consideration” collection.  As part of “the” Academy, she gets the great Oscar nominated films on DVD’s to preview, and she knows we just love movies and haven’t seen anything new for months, and the Oscar telecast is next Sunday, so we’ll be caught up.

The next day we cruised the length of the long mountainous island up to the Bitter End Yacht Club and took a mooring.  Tried more snorkeling, but “where oh where have all the fishies gone?”  We hopped on and off the dinghy with a little coral reef chart looking for the perfect spot…but never really found much, maybe we’re spoiled, or maybe things really aren’t as they used to be, people moved in, the sea life moved out.

In honor of my birthday, we had a progressive evening and went place to place in the dinghy.  First it was cocktails at the BEYC, then to Dreamweaver for a fantastic dinner Dottie and Rose made of fresh caught Wahoo (Capt. Chaos caught it) and then over to Voyager for a riotous game of Cranium, and the rich Bread Pudding cakelike dessert Dottie and I learned to make in St. Kitts.   What fun, I love a fuss over moi!  Friends, food, wine, presents, cake and games…life is good, and in fact it keeps getting better.

Weather being so -so, and not clear enough to dive the Wreck of the Rhone, we decided to stay put and have a nice relaxing day.  We went ashore to explore other parts of the bay.  Posh Biras Creek Resort is “next door”, we climbed to the top of the hill and down to the beach on the other side at Bercher’s Bay.  We had lunch out at the waterside Fat Virgin Café, and tried the water again.  Pat and I cooked up some Caribbean favorites for dinner onboard, and we selected another great movie.

Our guests don’t have much time left, and we are determined to see our old favorite haunts and with that intention, we cruised all day through the BVI chain, planning to stop at the ship restaurant William Thornton on Norman Island for lunch, but it looked abandoned, so we just cruised into the bay, dropped the hook and had lunch aboard.  We continued onto Jost Van Dyke for a big Thursday night at Foxy’s.  Hmmm, apparently Thursday is no longer the big night at Foxy’s, now it’s Friday.  Darn.  Never mind, we had 6 members of the Big Bear Lake Yacht Club in attendance and we were going to have fun…no matter if we were the only ones.  With a little effort, we livened the place up and had a good time.  When Les and Rose went the following week with their young nieces, and on a Friday night, it rocked.  Timing is everything.

Wind and seas picked up and it was a nasty wet ride back to the boats, but we survived the night and even made it back on shore in the morning for a walk through the town.  As this was Bob & Pat’s last night aboard and we needed to get them within ferry distance of their flights out of St Thomas, we secured reservations at Soper’s Hole on Tortola’s West End, a nice, but very busy and pricey marina.  In tootling around Frenchman’s Cay we discovered a wonderful new restaurant at the little hotel that Bob & Pat wanted to take us to for dinner.  It was wonderful and a nice walk from the marina under starry skies.

After breakfast with Dottie and Ken, we learned that the marina needed our slip NOW as they had returning charter boats that they had to turn around, and guests that had to catch flights.  Panic!  The boys quickly went across to clear out of the BVI, we tossed Bob and Pat their luggage, thanked them for coming as they rushed to catch the next ferry to the USVI and we threw off the lines just as the charter boat was turning down the finger.  Before we knew it, we were out the channel, waving goodbye and on our way…somewhere.  Let’s see can it be that we were only in the BVI for five days, and somehow, it was enough?  Looked at each other, and said, “Yeah, we’re done”, let’s see what St. John has to offer!

USVI

St. John is one of the islands we have never explored, and we were ready.  We found a dock to tie to in Cruz Bay and checked back into the USA!  We’d been out of the country, well Wandering Star had, for a year and a half.  I thought Uncle Sam’s Customs official would come down, pull her apart, demand to see everything we’d purchased, confiscate our liquor and hand us a tax bill.  They could not have been more blasé.  “Your Passport please” and we handed them over, he scanned it, handed it back and said “Welcome Home”.  I asked if that was all, and he said, “Yes”.  Not a man of many words, so we picked them up and skipped out the door.

There is no place to moor, anchor or tie up in Cruz Bay, but not far away is beautiful Caneel Bay and a wide open anchorage.  We knew that Ade’s long lost cousin on his father’s side was due there somewhere, but Ade didn’t know what the boat looked like, and in fact had only seen his cousin once a few years back.  Ade’s sister and brother in law were also flying down to join them.  Amazingly, soon after we settled on our mooring, a nice guy dinked by and asked Ade if he was Bobby’s cousin.   It was Michael, the fellow who’d just sailed the boat down with him from Mystic, Ct.   “Joy for All Seasons” was nearby.  They were on their way to Red Hook to pick up Bobby’s wife Paula, and Don & Audrey.  Small world.  In the meantime, Dottie and Ken caught up with us and we had a dinner together before Dottie flew back home for a job interview.

Over the next days we cruised around St. John, had the gang over for drinks and nibbles, and enjoyed fantastic hamburgers on “Joy”.  Once everyone else flew home, we met again onshore at one of Bobby’s favorite haunts.  I spent lots of time in the square where local artisans had set up an open market for an art festival.  I found lots of little trinkets to share with friends back home.

We made our way to St. Thomas and soon realized that the marina had changed completely and that this IGY was so totally catering to mega yachts that it is not even practical for a 43′ to tie up - huge concrete docks and almost impossible for us to get on and off the boat.  We anchored out instead.  Met Les and Rose for happy hour and told them that we’d be heading back to St. John.  Too much city for us…we need a more gradual reentry.  Les is in the midst of forming a new company and needed to be in close contact with his partners and the real world, so they were staying put until their guests arrived.

We couldn’t get back to Caneel Bay fast enough.  We went ashore for lunch to the still elegant Caneel Bay resort, formerly one of the chic Rock Resorts developed by the Rockerfellers and catering to the elite, it is still nice, but less exclusive.   At the other end of the scale, we also spent a few days over in Coral Bay, this is where the real people of St. John live…some on their boats, others in artist cottages, or hippie huts scattered along the shore and in the hills.  It’s Funkytown to be sure.  We liked it.  Craziest dinghy dock we’ve ever seen with an astonishing assortment of boats behind Skinny Legs.  Too early to try that  renowned Bar & Grill, so we walked the entire bay, found lunch at the Aqua Bistro, provisions at the complete Lilly’s Gourmet Market and Deli, and finally tired, stopped back at Skinny Legs for happy hour.  We found the people to match all those dinghies’s…artists and sailors, and hippies in a time warp, with a few middle aged cruisers like us on the outer edges.

It was time to get some clean up done, so off to the quieter side of the island of St. Thomas at Red Hook.   American Yacht Harbor, another IGY marina, is still cruiser friendly.  As we were backing in, we realized that our immediate neighbors were Walter and Susan from Kingdom, a fun couple we’d met at Thanksgiving in Grenada.  We made plans to get together and later heard all about their amazing few months.  They had crew aboard, one of whom turned out to be a Cuban doctor with a Guyana passport who sought exile in the US once they arrived in the USVI.  What a story.

Red Hook is very convenient.  A good market is across the road, there are several great restaurants (fish at Off the Hook was very good), and a sophisticated Wine Bar & Restaurant for evenings when you want quiet conversation, not reggae. I was able to take long walks, but warned not to do it at night as apparently there is a crime problem.  I tried walking to a large shopping center with a K Mart, but after 4 miles realized I was either lost, or it was much further than described.   I was rescued by a bus-van that is very inexpensive and goes in a counter clockwise route around the island all day long, much like in the Windward’s.

We had only a few days before we were due in San Juan, Puerto Rico for our flight home for work, so we plotted our course and reluctantly made plans to leave the Virgins.  The weather was really nice now, and we would have liked to have had another week or two to just hang on a mooring in St. John.  This island is still like a Virgin.  Thank Goodness.

Leg XVI     Maine to Chesapeake Bay

(Logs are posted with the most recent entry first)

THE END

Bitter sweet words to be sure as we come to a close of this log that started with Leg I on April 22^nd, 2007.  If you have been with us for the entire voyage, thanks for the interest, moral support, and perseverance.  Jo and I both hope it was an enjoyable experience.  If you recently joined us, we hope you will go back sometime and catch up on rest of this adventure.

As our trip evolved, it became our mission to show what a safe, fun experience could be had in a small,  43-foot, unstabalized trawler without going offshore and facing the perils of the open ocean.  There is plenty of adventure in just seeing the Americas from coast to coast as I hope our humble attempt at writing was able to convey. In the company of good friends, this is a very doable trip and any well-found boat can do the same voyage!

Our mission now is to encourage others to follow in our wake. Toward that end we will be starting a website by years end about “The Big U,” Cruising from Maine to Alaska. In its pages, we hope other fellow travelers will share their adventures and add to the legacy for all to enjoy as they too voyage through the truly wonderful Americas.

Annapolis to Solomons - the final passage!

9/11   Saturday

From: Latitude: 38:58.58 N   Longitude: 076:29.13 W

To: Latitude: 38:19.93 N    Longitude: 076:25.50 W

Weather: cloudy   Wind: 270⁰ at 12-16 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1007  Passage time: 6 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2312   Fuel used/on board:  5768/562

End Engine Hours:  2318   Fuel used/on board:  5783/547+231=778

Distance trip/to Date: 44/14,668

This is it!  Our final day at sea and the completion of our 14,668-mile voyage we now call “The Big U” that started in Seattle some 30-months ago.

It was still overcast and cool this morning in Annapolis but yesterdays waves and wind are only a memory. The new classes of Midshipman were all out for their morning run around the Academy as we slip past the school’s waterfront and head out into the Bay.  Our last 44-mile, 6-hour passage will be in calm seas and little wind as we head south from Annapolis to the Solomons, our last destination.

Wandering Star’s autopilot steered almost the entire way as even the crab pot buoys seemed to be aligned for an uneventful day at sea. Lots of fellow cruisers are out and about, many, I am sure were trapped in various ports by the three days of storm and are finally heading home. Summer is over here and the cooler nights foretells of winter just around the corner.

We’ll leave WS in the care of Washburn’s Boatyard for the next several weeks while we head home to the west coast to see family and take care of some business.  We’ll also take a short vacation in Bali to see our good friends Roger and Suzanne who run an Ashram there. In early November, Jo & I will be back here to finish up some maintenance on WS before we head her south again for Key West and the Bahamas for the winter.

By 1:00 PM we are making the final turn into Solomons Harbor.  First, we’ll make a quick stop at the fuel dock to top off our fuel tanks to prevent condensation from accumulating and adding water to our fuel while we’re away. Being Saturday, the usual crew at the boatyard are off but Scott, who lives in the marina, is there to catch our lines and tie us up this last time.

Our good friends Bob and Cheryl on Kasekuchen, a Selene 53 parked next marina over, our quickly on the phone to invite us to dinner. Friends Jake and Susanne, on Annaruth, another Selene 53, are here too and a great night of catching up as well as sharing our previous to boating life’s stories. It seems only fitting that we share this happy occasion with new good friends as the evening subtlety reminds us of all the great occasions we shared with Les and Rose and Dottie and Ken to get here.  Also, how much we wish they could be with us now to help put a special end to this closing chapter in our Alaska to Maine adventure.

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St Michaels to Annapolis

9/11   Friday

From: Latitude: 38:47.14 N   Longitude: 076:13.21 W

To: Latitude: 38:58.58 N    Longitude: 076:29.13 W

Weather: Overcast   Wind: 315⁰ at 16-40 kts. SEA:  4

Barometer: 1007  Passage time: 4 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2308   Fuel used/on board:  5757/573

End Engine Hours:  2312   Fuel used/on board:  5768/562

Distance trip/to Date: 25/14,624

Forty plus knot winds, angry five to six foot short, steep waves, blowing foam and spray reaching the top of the pilot house…sounds like a great day for a passage to Annapolis!  The good news was that the gale warnings were lifted this morning but someone forgot to tell the wind and waves. With the promise that perhaps the weather would be improving, we decide to press on for the 25-miles run to Annapolis across the Bay. While no where near as bad as it could be here under these same circumstances, it is still a bumpy crossing with the wind rattling the bimini on the Fly Bridge as the spray keeps the wipers busy.

The wind is coming out of the west so as we get closer to the western shore, the waves begin to subside with the shorter fetch and by the time we make the long channel that leads into Annapolis harbor, conditions have calmed down substantially. We head directly to our usual spot on the dock in the front of Pusser’s Rum Bar where Rook, the very attentive dock boy is waiting to take our lines. It’s a nasty, old wood piling waterfront that takes a few minutes of bumpering and line adjustment to get the old girl comfortable for the night but she soon snuggled in tight, safe from wind and wave.

Our immediate project is to get Twinkle, the  wayward dinghy, pumped back up and lowered into the water for her trip to the dinghy doctor for repairs.  In a half hours time she is ready for the short putt across the harbor to the inflatable shop. Once delivered and hauled to the shop, the water taxis takes me back to WS.  Chores complete, we now have the afternoon off to relax with a movie after the strenuous days crossing.

One of the nice perks of our bar side location is the full room service catering that can be ordered right from our boat. Later,  Jo and I order a nice dinner of steamed mussels and salad to eat on board followed by a twilight walk around the still busy, Friday night streets of Annapolis  The midshipmen at the Navy Academy, now in Fall session, and the girls that they attract are very much in evidence everywhere. Fall is in the air but it is still just warm enough for a sorbert before heading home for the evening.

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St Michaels

9/10   Thursday

Gale Warning - well the weather has continued to deteriorate over night and we wake up to formal gale warnings on the VHF from NOAA and 25-knots of wind.  While we probably could have made it across the Bay to Annapolis before the storm hits, we decide to stay put hoping for better weather tomorrow to make the short 24-mile passage.  We want to stop there and drop off our leaking RIB dinghy so it can be serviced while WS is in dry dock in the Solomon’s.

Baltimore to St Michaels

9/09   Wednesday

From: Latitude: 39:16.87 N   Longitude: 076:36.14 W

To: Latitude: 38:47.14 N    Longitude: 076:13.21 W

Weather: partly cloudy   Wind: 45⁰ at 16-20 kts. SEA:  2/3

Barometer: 1012   Passage time: 6 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2302   Fuel used/on board:  5743/586

End Engine Hours:  2308   Fuel used/on board:  5757/573

Distance trip/to Date: 38/14,599

Is a nice day to cruise down the Chesapeake Bay.  Heavier weather is looming before the weekend but today is fairly mild with even occasional glimpses of sunshine.  We’ve decided to head for St. Michaels, a small town on the Chesapeake’s Eastern Shore. It has sentimental value for us as it was the first destination for the original Wandering Star almost ten years ago.  To get there we shall need to pass through the Kent Narrows directly across the Bay from Annapolis some 26-mile south of Baltimore.

The Kent Narrows is a narrow gap between a large, Bay side island and the mainland of the Eastern Shore.  It features some very shallow approach water, down to 7′ in places, but also has Harris’ Crab Shack, one of our favorite hangouts from when we were here for months getting WS I commissioned.  With dockside tie-up space available, we decide to stop in for a nice lunch before continuing on to St Michaels.

After lunch, we must get one more tiny bascule bridge to open before we can get through the Narrows.  The bridge attendant was not paying good attention and gave our right away to a north bound sailboat without telling us a second boat was coming behind it a swell. Normally the boat traveling with the current - us in this case, has the right of way.

Naturally when we started into the narrow bridge opening, a 2^nd hidden boat was coming from the other side at the same time and only the combinations of my horn and the other guys quick reactions prevented a collision in the narrow passage.  The bridge operator apologized for his lack of care - too little too late - but it was still as near a miss as we’ve had this whole trip.

The rest of the voyage across Prospect Bay went without incident except that the wind is continuing to build, now up to 20-knots plus as the afternoon wears on so it is blowing pretty good by the time we arrive at St Michael’s Marina.  We decide to take an easier to get at side tie on their face dock rather that to try to back up into the now strong wind  into a narrow slip and are soon tied down safe and secure.

After a walk around town and dinner at a great little wine and pizza bar called Ava’s, we are back on board in time for our president’s health care speech and a good night sleep (not because we were much relieved by anything in his speech).

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C&D Canal to Baltimore, Maryland

9/7   Monday

From: Latitude: 39:32.79 N   Longitude: 075:42.23 W

To: Latitude: 39:16.87 N    Longitude: 076:36.14 W

Weather: cloudy   Wind: 90⁰ at 10-16 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1012   Passage time: 7 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2295   Fuel used/on board:  5721/608

End Engine Hours:  2302   Fuel used/on board:  5743/586

Distance trip/to Date: 52/14,561

It’s a log way to Baltimore!  While only 52-miles by water, it seemed to take forever when you’re fighting the currents.  First going out of the canal had us down to barely making 6-knots against the incoming ebb and then you must go quite far south into the Chesapeake Bay, cut across some shoals to the west, then back up north again a long ways, again against the current, to get into Baltimore’s harbor.  So we ramped up the RPM’s to 1680, burned more fuel than we like at 3.3 gallons/hour and plowed along to make it in 7-hours where it would have taken 9 at our normal cruising settings.

The voyage itself was somewhat rocky, not because of the weather but from the wakes of the dozens of high speed power boats heading in all directions trying to get home from their holiday weekend.  Once in Baltimore’s inner harbor, we took a slip in the East Inner Harbor Marina which is conveniently located next to all of the major tourist attractions; the aquarium, nautical museum, Orioles ballpark, and every major chain restaurant plus 20 some smaller places in the nearby Italian district. There are street performers, old ships on display and even a huge Borders Book store along with a nice shopping district here too. This is definitely the place to be in this city.

Jo and I did our usual walk about before heading for La Tasca, a Spanish tapas (small plates) bar we always seem to enjoy. Then it was a stop for ice cream before heading back to WS early as we are still trying to get over the all night run to get here.  Incidentally, today’s weather shows the expected waves hitting 18′ this week off the Jersey Coast so we certainly did the right things in heading here early.

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Stamford to Summit North Marina, C&D Canal, Bear, Delaware

9/5-9/6   Saturday and Sunday   Overnight Passage

From: Latitude: 41:02.60 N   Longitude: 073:31.84 W

To: Latitude: 39:32.79 N    Longitude: 075:42.23 W

Weather: clear becoming cloudy   Wind: 90⁰ at 8-12 kts. SEA:  3

Barometer: 1013 to 1017   Passage time:  28.4 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2266   Fuel used/on board:  5656/674

End Engine Hours:  2295   Fuel used/on board:  5721/608

Distance trip/to Date:  215/14,509

The promise of big winds with matching seas early in the week off the Jersey Coast talked us into doing one last, 215-mile long, 28+ hour run all the way from Connecticut to the beginning of the Chesapeake Bay.  We had looked forward to a more leisurely final lap through NYC and even a stop in Atlantic City for the first time but getting stuck for a week that far north or a miserable ride down the exposed Atlantic coast were strong enough incentives for us to make a whole new plan.

As it turned out, the weather and timing could have been not more perfect.  We left Stamford at a lazy 0900, carefully timed to catch the 12:28 PM flood through the infamous Hell’s Gate into New York City’s East River.  And the gate to hell it was!  The current had us virtually surfing through the final gap at a blistering 13.9 knots even with the throttle pulled all the way back to idle.  We haven’t seen anything as wild and exciting as this since we left the fjords of SE Alaska so long ago. With the swirling currents and confused waves, it was all I could do to keep WS under control and pointed in the right direction. Once safe in the east River, the favorable push lasted all the way past NYC and out through the Narrows into the Atlantic Ocean.

Darkness overtook us shortly after we hit the New Jersey Coast but the full moon was already on the rise, the sea had a gentle 2-3 foot swell, and the night was clear for a stunning shoreline vista of twinkling lights as far as you could see.  There was even a fireworks show along the way as some little beach community celebrated the start of their big Labor Day Weekend.  We arrived at the Cape May breakwater as planned, right at 0630 and first light of the new day.

Sure enough, the ugly dredge we dangled last time by here in July was now working on the lower section of Cape May Bay.  This time, I did manage to guess the correct around it thus avoiding getting tangled up with the snakey, 3-foot diameter plumbing pipes that carry her tailings out of the bay.

Once past the dredge, it was still tricky to sort out the day markers and find the deep water path across the Bay’s inner pond to the canal out onto Delaware Bay.  Why they can’t mark this channel better is beyond me.  It has to be the worst navigation signing on East Coast. Cynically, one might think that it is because Seatow and Towboats US both have bases here and need to make a living pulling visitors off the mud. Both of their advertising bill boards are on prominent display as you enter both ends of the bay…very suspicious.

By 0800, we were through the mess and out in Delaware Bay, steaming north for the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, the gateway to the Chesapeake Bay.  After 28-hours on the water, we were relieved to find that the Summit North Marina, located half way through this 12-mle long ditch, has room for us for the night so a quick right turn and we are soon secure for by 1330 in the afternoon.

Beside lots of bothersome bugs, this marina has a lot of good things going for it.  Helpful dock boys who gladly drive you to the grocery store and back, the cheapest fuel prices we’ve seen since the ICW, a tree covered park setting and even a popular destination restaurant called Aqua Sol we would loved to have tried if we weren’t so physically shot from being up most of the night.

So it’s a quiet dinner on WS after a quick trip to the store and early to bed for your crew…the bright lights of the party life will need to wait till we pull into Baltimore tomorrow and officially start this, the last week of our 126-week odyssey.

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Milford to Stamford

9/4  Friday

From: Latitude: 41:12.68 N   Longitude: 073:02.96 W

To: Latitude: 41:02.60 N    Longitude: 073:31.84 W

Weather: clear   Wind: 90⁰ at 8-12 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1008   Passage time:  4 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2262   Fuel used/on board:  5646/684

End Engine Hours:  2266   Fuel used/on board:  5656/674

Distance trip/to Date:  28/14,294

This is still real summer cruising…with yet another perfect day on the water.  To bad it can’t last but we sure are enjoying it one day at a time.  Today’s run was only 28-miles to Stamford and a rendezvous with Joanne’s high school friend Patty and her husband John.  It is the start of the Labor Day weekend so boats are pouring out of the harbor, all off to a race or a final summer cruise with the family, as we make our approach to the narrow entrance channel.

Our marina, Harbor Park, was just about as far up river towards the town of Stamford as you can go. While far from as pretentious as some of our recent stops, it was an easy place for our friends to meet us, have happy hour on board and then take us to their home and back for dinner. We did not spend much time sightseeing but it was great to see their beautiful Connecticut home surrounded by acres of woods, where the deer come right up to the porch and eat the flowers out of the pots.  Jo had a great time catching up with her good friend and we all had a very enjoyable evening together.

It was back to WS fairly early for a good nights rest for tomorrow we will do our last overnighter of the voyage as we make our way back through New York City and down the New Jersey coast some 200-miles before more bad weather (high seas) arrive early next week.

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Mystic Seaport to Milford

9/3  Thursday

From: Latitude: 41:21.75 N   Longitude: 071:57.88 W

To: Latitude: 41:12.68 N    Longitude: 073:02.96 W

Weather: cloudy becoming clear   Wind: 90⁰ at 8-12 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1012   Passage time:  8 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2254   Fuel used/on board:  5627/702

End Engine Hours:  2262   Fuel used/on board:  5646/684

Distance trip/to Date:  52/14,266

Off the dock at 0715 to make the scheduled 0740 opening of the Mystic Highway Bridge.  As luck would have it, the very busy commuter train bridge, just a coupe hundred yards down stream was open long enough for us to slip through that as well.  We were then on our way the mile or so back down the Mystic River turning east to our next port of call, the Milford Yacht Club in tiny Milford Harbor.

We are still enjoying perfect summer weather and the sound was as smooth as it can possible be as well. Not even a ripple most of the 52-miles/8-hours to Milford.  I was even able to take time off to lay on the foredeck to read, snooze and get some sun…the first time in months.

Milford is mostly a commuter town for NYC but the yacht club was very active, friendly and comfortable with our side-tie dock looking right out the breakwater into the sound.  Thursday night is race night at the club so we had the extra treat of seeing their entire fleet of sailboats head out for an evening of racing around the buoys in the sound much like our old Wednesday night beer can derbies in Marina del Rey back home.

After our usual walk around this very small town, obligatory drink at the yacht club bar, we headed back to WS for a nice dinner on board and a quiet evening at home.

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Newport to Mystic Seaport, Connecticut

9/2  Wednesday

From: Latitude: 41:29.30 N   Longitude: 071:19.07 W

To: Latitude: 41:21.75 N    Longitude: 071:57.88 W

Weather: sunny and clear   Wind: 325⁰ at 12-14 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1017   Passage time:  5.5 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2248   Fuel used/on board:  5614/715

End Engine Hours:  2254   Fuel used/on board:  5627/702

Distance trip/to Date:  38/14,214

A nice little run today with the wind and the waves still in our favor.  As you recall, we visited Mystic on the way northeast but want to return to spend more time with my cousin Bob and wife, Paula.  Jo was also able to finesse a hair appointment in the afternoon so all I had to do was get her the 38-miles by 1pm.  This sounds easy but involved leaving Newport in the early morning dark and timing it so we could pass through two bridges, one that only opens once each hour, and be tied up to the Mystic Seaport dock with enough time for her to walk the mile to the saloon.

As it turned out, we did it all with time to spare and I even managed to work in a haircut and see more of the wonderful Seaport museum in the afternoon.  Mystic Seaport is a very special place that is dedicated to preserving the history of the sea and I always wanted to bring my own boat here so we can check the box on this one too. By docking here we had full run of the place, even after hours when all of the tourist are gone so it is a very unique experience.

Evening was spent enjoying the hospitality of my cousin and Paula at their beautiful home on Mason Island with steamers, corn on the cob and swordfish stakes, Bobby barbequed to perfection.

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Sandwich Marina to Newport, Rhode Island

9/1   Tuesday

From: Latitude: 41:46.24 N   Longitude: 070:30.21 W

To: Latitude: 41:29.30 N    Longitude: 071:19.07 W

Weather: sunny and clear   Wind: 90⁰ at 10-12 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1017   Passage time:  7 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2241   Fuel used/on board:  5596/733

End Engine Hours:  2248   Fuel used/on board:  5614/715

Distance trip/to Date:  51/14,176

No rush to leave this morning till the tide turns to ebb at 0828.  Jo had 30-minutes for a short walk to the store while I got the boat ready so by the time she got back it was time to leave. Then it was quick run west on the 10-miles of canal reaching a speed of 8.5 knots by the time we got to the Buzzard Bay end.  With calm seas and the 12-knots of wind at our back, the rest of the 51-mile trip into Newport was as nice as it gets out here.  This shallow bay has the reputation for being really nasty when a strong prevailing wind is against the opposite tide so we were very pleased with our warm and sunny day when it couldn’t be more like a lake.

Everyone connected to boating for any length number of years has heard of Newport Rhode Island as it is a hub for sailboat racing.  It was best known for hosting the America’s Cup (1930 to 1983) when it was the exclusive property of the New York Yacht Club who borrowed the facilities of the Newport Yacht Club here to run their race. While these days are long gone, the town still has the remnants of its past glory in the nautical shops, atmosphere, and street names. Once Jo & I were welcomed and secure by the great club crew at NYC to our dock for the night (at $5.75/foot and still the cheapest in the harbor), we did not waste any time getting off and exploring its old brick paved waterfront..

Tourist shops are much the same in every town so you look for the unusual or something unique to the area. Here, we found a huge second hand consignment shop full of nautical antiques and old model ships. There was also a very special modern school committed to the training of young people in the restoration of old wood ships which looked like fun at any age.

After very over priced drinks at the Black Pearl, a classic tourist trap bar, it was getting dark and cooler. George, our dockmaster, steered us to the locals favorite Brick Road Restaurant for a nice dinner with a great salad bar (something that’s become quite rare) before returning to WS for an early night’s rest after a perfect day.

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Boston to Sandwich Marina, Cap Cod Canal

8/31   Monday

From: Latitude: 42:22.28 N   Longitude: 071:03.35 W

To: Latitude: 41:46.24 N    Longitude: 070:30.21 W

Weather: sunny becoming cloudy   Wind: 70⁰ at 8-12 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1011   Passage time:  7 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2234   Fuel used/on board:  5579/750*

End Engine Hours:  2241   Fuel used/on board:  5596/733

Distance trip/to Date:  49/14,125

It is a beautiful, pre-dawn morning as we leave Boston and sail out of the harbor into the sunrise. The sky is clear, the ocean is smooth, and the boat is running great while we cover the 49-miles to the eastern entrance to the Cape Cod Canal.  As you may recall from our eastbound passage, timing is everything transiting the canal and even more important heading west as the current can run over 5-knots east to west on the flood. So you must be riding on the ebb to make it through the 10-miles of waterway in any sort of  reasonable time.

Our plan is to spend the night in the small Sandwich Marina at the Cape Cod entrance, then head through at the beginning of the ebb first thing in Tuesday morning.  After our 0530 departure from Boston, we arrived at the east end at 1230, too late to go all the way through today but with just enough ebb left to easily get the ½-mile up the canal to the marina…perfect timing if I do say so myself.  Dockmaster Dave soon had us secure in a nice slip in this old but comfortable marina.

What was totally unexpected was the quaint town of Sandwich. While rich with the early history of our country, being one of the first areas settled after Plymouth, it later became the American center for the art of commercial glass lowing.  This large and profitable industry was based here for many years dominating the local economy of the whole area. All that is left now is an incredible museum with some of the most beautiful glass on display to be found anywhere and most of it made right here.

Jo & I had a delightful afternoon wandering around and enjoying this undiscovered gem before heading back to WS for the evening.  The weather returned to gloomy late in the day with low’s predicted in the 50’s for tonight, it feels like we are getting out of New England just in time…winter is on the way!

*Note: took on 360 gallons of diesel at $2.60/gal. to bring total back to 750gal. on Board.

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 Boston

8/29-8/30   Saturday and Sunday

While “hurricane” Dave didn’t mineralize, it sure dumped a lot of rain on us all day Saturday so we just stayed snug in our little boat most of the day.  Sunday was as nice as Saturday was miserable so Jo & I were able to spend the day walking around Boston, taking in a movie, and then joining the multitudes lurking the streets of the Italian section searching for the perfect place to have dinner. Tresca Restaurant looked like it would do nicely and served one of the best Cioppino’s I’ve had anywhere outside of San Francisco.  Then it was early to bed with a predawn departure planned for the morning.

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Kennebunkport to Boston

8/28   Friday

From: Latitude: 48:21.29 N   Longitude: 070:28.43 W

To: Latitude: 42:22.28 N    Longitude: 071:03.35 W

Weather: mostly cloudy   Wind: 70⁰ at 10-15 kts. SEA:  3

Barometer: 1014   Passage time:  11 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2223   Fuel used/on board:  5551/450

End Engine Hours:  2234   Fuel used/on board:  5579/422

Distance trip/to Date:  73/14,076

Can you believe it, as we left Kennebunkport, yet another hurricane was boring down on New England.  We had planned to visit Gloucester one more time but it is too vulnerable to wind and weather and not a good hurricane hole. Our plan now is to take refuge from Daniel at our favorite marina way back on the Charles River on the north side of Boston but we had to get there today before it hits us tomorrow.  This made for another long day at sea but well worth the eleven hours it took to cover the 73-miles for the peace of mind in Boston Harbor.

As it turned out, old Daniel fizzled out before it made it to Massachusetts, thank God, but we’ll still get hit with the moisture it was carrying. Construction Marina only had one slip left with everyone running for cover and it is all the way at the end of the last gangway overlooking the special dock where the square rigged warship “old Ironsides,” (US Constitution) has a permanent home.  I can look right out of my pilot house window as I write this and see her in all her glory not 100-yards away.

We’ll hunker down here for a couple of days and let Daniel pass on before we continue our journey south.  For tonight, it was off in a light sprinkle of rain to our favorite pub for a brew and some crab stuffed mushrooms before dinner and rerun TV on board.

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Kennebunkport

8/27   Thursday

We took the day off here to play with cousin’s Kathy and husband David.  It’s the first time we’ve been able to get together in way too many years so we made the best of this opportunity by having lunch on board while pourng over the family albums going back to our common great grandparents.  Kathy has done a remarkable job of keeping all of our clans history together so it was great fun sharing all of the memories and family we have in common..

Then it was off in their car for a driving tour of the surrounding country side.  This is a real treat for Jo & I who usually have to walk, or at best bike everywhere and usually don’t get much beyond the waterfront. Today we went south all the way down to the village of York with its neat little lighthouse, perched on a rocky point (we passed it again at sea on Friday) and popular beaches.

Once we were back on board, it was time for happy hour followed by a very good dinner in Kennebunkport across the bridge at Grissini’s Italian restaurant.  It was after 10pm when we finally had to say goodbye with the promise that it won’t be so long till our next time together.

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Boothbay Harbor to Kennebunkport

8/26   Wednesday

From: Latitude: 48:51.04 N   Longitude: 069:37.59 W

To: Latitude: 48:21.29 N    Longitude: 070:28.43 W

Weather: sunny turning mostly cloudy   Wind: 230⁰ at 10-15 kts. SEA:  4

Barometer: 1001   Passage time:  8 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2216   Fuel used/on board:  5532/474

End Engine Hours:  2223   Fuel used/on board:  5551/450

Distance trip/to Date:  50/14,003

We finally hit 14,000-mile mark for the voyage on the 50-mile slog back to Kennebunkport. And what a slog it was, the sea decided to be as ugly today as it was nice yesterday with nasty 5′ short interval waves right on the nose beam most of the way. Luckily, the wind stayed mild so new wind waves did not compound the problem but the spray was flying as WS did her best to keep on an even keel for most of the 8-hour trip.

At one point, we seriously considered turning off at Portland and calling it a passage but with 10-miles to get in there from our course line as we passed and only 20-miles to continue on, we decided to stay the course.  As it turned out, we made the right decision  as the seas began to moderate and were downright mellow again by the time we reached Kennebunkport’s breakwater.  Just as well too, as I was not looking forward to surfing WS into the small, narrow entrance to the Kennebunk River.  Chick’s Marina was a welcome sight, even with the highest docking rates on the trip, and the dock boys were there standing by to tie us up in short order.  Then it was the all call to mops and hoses for the next hour as the crew scrubbed her down fore and aft to get all the salt off  and  we could forget that passage in short order.

Needless to say, it will be a quiet night tonight.  Just hanging on to stay upright for 8-hours tends to exercise every muscle in your body so its not surprising to feel as tired as we did and ready for a good night sleep.  We’ll take the day off tomorrow for a visit with my cousin Kathy and husband David who will drive over from Massachusetts to spend the day.  In the meanwhile, the weather will hopefully sort itself out before we head off for Gloucester on Friday.

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Southwest Harbor to Boothbay Harbor

8/25   Tuesday

From: Latitude: 44:16.45 N   Longitude: 068:19.52 W

To: Latitude: 48:51.04 N    Longitude: 069:37.59 W

Weather: mostly clear with some fog   Wind: 225⁰ at 5-8 kts. SEA:  3

Barometer: 1012   Passage time:  10.5 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2205   Fuel used/on board:  5506/499

End Engine Hours:  2216   Fuel used/on board:  5532/474

Distance trip/to Date:  74/13,953

We were off the dock before 6AM for our 74-mile return trip to Boothbay.  Much to our surprise, the outside ocean was calm today compared to just yesterday’s huge swells.  Local patches of dense fog provided the challenge for most of the morning. Were it not for the lobster trap buoys, cruising in fog is not much different than the overnight passages with no moon that we are so used to from the Caribbean.  Up here we also need to watch our radar for the lobster boats that dart around without much regard to where they are headed, thankfully not the big commercial container and cruise ships that were the bane of our existence in the warmer waters.

Our old friend (as of our last visit), dock master Judy was there to greet us as we pulled into our slip at Boothbay Marina. After over 10-hours at sea, it was all we could do to get WS tied to the dock before we were off to the dockside pub for a Guinness and some oysters followed by a great dinner at Kaler’s, a locals favorite fish place much like our old Crab Cooker in Newport Beach back home.  Instead of crabs though, it’s a $12.99 one-pound lobster dinner that packs them in even on a Tuesday night.  I’m about done with lobster but we did try a lobster roll (like a tuna sandwich made with lobster, mayonnaise and lettice served on a hotdog bun) as an appetizer and it was quit good.

Not much energy left in the crew by the time we got back on board so we called it an early night after only a half-hour of rerun TV and internet email.

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St Maarten and Anguilla                                                                  February 2009

Okay, geographically this is part of the Leeward’s, but this felt like a new chapter…

We set our course for St. Maarten, thinking it would be a quick stop for us as we were to meet friends and Big Bear neighbors Bob & Pat in the BVI in a week’s time…or so we thought, and then we heard it… that  engine noise, the choking one that says “help me I need fuel”, and then confirmed by a look at the dropping rpm gauge…”no no no no no, don’t you dare you miserable piece of %&$#@ “- stop that thinking Jo, breathe, center - “I take that back, you lovely wonderful, fantastic hard working engine - I know you are fine, all is well”…rumble rumble….”oh crapola!- pleeeese don’t stop!”  Ade slowed her waaay down and she stabilized.   She would not allow us over 1000 rpm’s.    Our floating pit crew, Ken on DW and Les on V were there hovering, helping us call marinas to see if there was a Cummins mechanic on the island and where we should go.  For usually lucky people, our luck ran out on the mechanic…the one and only Cummins guy was at the airport and on his way off island for a class, and yes, he was taking his diagnostic computer with him…won’t be back for a week.  But we didn’t have a week - guests were coming - they already had their airline tickets…to St. Thomas!

To enter Simpson Bay, where we definitely wanted to be, and where we were able to secure a slip at IGY, we had to pass through the cut, which has a drawbridge that opens on a limited schedule.  Thankfully we got that far, dropped the hook and hoped that she would start up again when it was time to pass through.  She did, and we had Les & Rose in their dink, the IGY dockhand in another and then Dreamweaver close behind just in case she decided to stop mid transit.  Our own little parade.  As we passed thru the drawbridge, we got our first taste of what this Dutch side of the island was all about, the deck at the SMYC was jammed with happy hour enthusiasts shouting out a warm welcome.  We were escorted to a slip in the lovely Simpson Bay IGY marina.  Phew!

Ade, Ken and Les figured out what they thought it was, and a call to Hatton Marine in Seattle confirmed that it sounded like a fuel pump problem.  We did not carry a spare, cuz apparently ‘IT NEVER GOES OUT’  - oh yeah?  There were no replacements on the island, but thankfully Hatton had one in stock and would FED EX it to us, but with a very haphazard air schedule, we learned we would not have it for several days.

Okay, well now, what about dear friends on their way.  I was heartsick, what do we tell them, we might make it to the Virgins?  We might be stuck in St. Maarten for a few days or a month?  We didn’t know for sure if it was the pump, and if not, then we would be stuck until the St. Maarten mechanic returned, and then, who knows?

I bring this up because it is a very real problem that we all encounter while cruising and meeting guests.  Stuff happens, plans don’t always work out.  Well, there is a perfect solution.  Pick great, understanding, ‘we are in it for the adventure’ friends and no matter what you throw at them, they are game!  Such are our friends.  Bob & Pat took their original flight to STT, then purchased a one way to St. Maarten and met us there.  They said they’d figure out how to get back for the return flight from wherever we were.  Aren’t they terrific?

That settled, and we in a more accepting place on the current engine glitch, we realized that we were “stuck” in a wonderful place.   It is filled with more Mega Yachts than we have ever seen, even in Ft. Lauderdale, St. Bart’s, Antigua or Seattle, those big babies were all in St. Maarten in February.  Jimmy Buffet’s beautiful Wedgewood blue and modest by comparison “Continental Drifter” was there, as well as the huge “Limitless”, which apparently belongs to the owner of the Limited.  We peeked in her “garage deck” and if you can imagine this, she carries two pristine Chris Crafts along with several jet skis and other water craft.  I think Wandering Star could fit on her decks.

We’d figured out how to get into the exclusive other IGY at Isle de Sol where they were all berthed.  We announced to the guards that we were going to the public “Sand Bar” restaurant and after they made note of our passports, etc., they allowed us to pass into this rarified gathering of the world’s best yachts.  We quickly realized that there were very few owners aboard; it was mainly idle crews having a wonderful time.  In fact, these boats are seldom used by the owners-especially these days, and the charter business is way off.  So we mingled with the impossibly young crews.  They are from all over the world, have great stories to tell, and are so darn cute.  We all wished we’d known about these jobs when we were 20!

Simpson Bay is a great location. Jimbo’s restaurant was right there at the Marina and was our internet gathering space.  Dottie and Ken were there most days clicking away, when he wasn’t helping out with various mechanical issues.  The boys found fantastic marine stores with everything  (but Cummins fuel pumps), great supermarkets, even another really good hair dresser, a first class movie theatre, top notch restaurants and bars with live music, and a really helpful and friendly cruising community.  We danced like we’d not been able to since Mexico.  Lagoonie’s was crazy on 007 night.  We wore sort of costumes and sipped apple martinis, but Les and Rose really got into it with circa 1960’s groovy James Bond outfits.  Other than a tree falling on me and knocking me to the ground, (a huge free standing teak trunk)  while I was boogying - and let the record reflect that it was a stranger that danced into it, thus pushing it ON ME,  it was a fun night.

Bob & Pat arrived in good spirits on Thursday night.  The next day we took the dink over to Marigot Bay on the French side to spend some Euro’s and enjoy a nice sidewalk café lunch.  It was Ken’s birthday and we’d cooked up plans for a great celebration at a few of the local haunts. The pump finally arrived and Ken and Les came over to help out with the installation.  Apparently Les has also been a diesel mechanic and was limbering up to climb into our engine room and take it on.

Bob decided to escort us girls to downtown Philipsburg for a look around.  We poked around the shops and craft/artist stalls and wandered the almost deserted beach.  We came across an adult toy store and left poor Bob on the steps for an hour…he refused to accompany us inside- good thing, we were in hysterics looking at the “toys”… do people really use…oh, never mind.

We returned to the boat, and to our great relief heard the engine purr once again-it was the fuel pump - yippee.  Thank you guys!  Trip On!   We had a weather window and so the intrepid three once again made plans to move onto the BVI, via Anguilla.

Anguilla is just a three hour run and it was a beautiful day, so we waited for the 11AM opening and headed out into the Caribbean Sea.  It was a Sunday afternoon when we arrived and all the little beach shack restaurants were busy.  A great bluesy group was playing at Johno’s and they were fantastic.  We shared a few of the local dishes and the non-skippers had a few beers.  The music and people watching was great.  Wish we had more time here…but a weather window must not be ignored in these circumstances…maybe we will be back!  As the sun set, we were off again.

January - February 2009

Jammin thru da Leeward Islands-a wild fast ride!

Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua, Nevis & St Kitts and St. Barths

Dominica is situated between the two French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, and the fact that they are not part of France is evident immediately.  They are poor.  Really poor. But they are a lovely people living on a beautiful unspoiled island.  After a particularly rough passage for Dreamweaver and WS, we pulled into calm, protected Roseau Bay.  Pancho, a boat man, came right out and directed us to one of his moorings.  We liked him immediately and so allowed him to tie us up just in front of the Anchorage hotel where we could pick up the internet.  He offered to take us to customs, but we independent souls decided to do it on our own; it wasn’t quite as easy as it looked, but we figured it out.

Roseau town has charming old Caribbean houses, many very worn, but some are being ‘fixed up’ (renovations would be stretching it) and colorfully painted, their gingerbread trim repaired and gleaming.  Everything we need is here, a marine store to fix things that broke on the last passage, a bakery for Ken’s bread, and a farmers market for fresh produce.  Much of the fresh produce for the eastern Caribbean islands is grown here.

I had an opportunity to do what I love to do best, get up early and walk for miles through the small island towns, to see things with fresh eyes and when possible, capture images with my camera.  A lovely Botanical Garden is at the edge of the city, and there are several streets heading in each direction.  Roseau has three old stone churches, and church bells loudly wake up the town at 6AM on Sunday mornings.  Everyone seems to go, and in grand style.  The ladies dress to the nines!  Many wearing floor length dresses, much like bridesmaids or mother of the bride, with hats to match.  As I walked by I could see that each one was filled to capacity with clean well-dressed people.  They may not have much money, but they do not use that as an excuse to be unkempt. They are elegant, beautiful and graceful in their Sunday finery.

Pancho was our boatman, and as such, the one to go to for anything and everything we might need, like taxis or a tour…and we get the impression it is very bad form to not use your boatman’s services.  Well, it just so happens that both he and his wife, Belgian born Cecilia, are tour guides…and the old family car, a taxi!  What a coincidence!  The lovely Cecilia took us, along with their 5 year old son, on a tour of the southern part of the island.  It’s lush and beautiful, much like St. Lucia and Martinique.  We went inland to the Rainforest, visited popular Trafalgar Falls, visited a private waterfall park with bubbling hot sulphur pools, and had lunch overlooking the river and springs.  We continued up into the Mourne Trois Pitons National Park and all the way back up to the Fresh Water Crater Lake, which is above the tree line, foggy and cold and quite remote.  There are so many hikes one could do with more time; this is an outdoor enthusiast’s playground.

Our next Dominica stop was Portsmouth Town Anchorage.  Near the anchorage there are several beach side restaurants and bars.  The once popular Purple Turtle is suffering due to the loss of their dock.  Portsmouth, like many of the island ports were especially hard hit in October 2008 by Hurricane Omar.  Small docks and piers have been washed away and beached ships litter the harbor.  It is terrifically expensive to rebuild the docks that are the lifeblood of the small waterfront establishments, there is no government clean up money to loan, and heck they don’t even have the money to remove the ship wrecks.  We hope a salvage company steps up soon.

Martin, aka the water taxi “Providence” was our boatman here.  He set us up with a mooring, offered to provide us with anything we needed, took garbage, laundry, etc., and arranged to take us on a tour up the Indian River.  He picked us up from our boats very early the next morning, navigated around a huge wrecked freighter that almost completely blocks the entrance to the river.  We were the first ones out that day, and it was still and perfect.  We wove our way through the tree canopied shady river,  Martin pointed out the spooky, swamp buttressed bloodwood trees, exotic birds, blue crabs and other flora and fauna that we would’ve missed without his skilled eyes.  At the head of the river, we hiked up to the waterfalls, it was a good tour, rather similar to the “jungle” dinghy cruises we did in Mexico.  Martin dropped us in town to shop, find ATM’s, and have a look around, and then came back for us a few hours later and delivered us back to our boats.

Town isn’t much compared to Roseau, but hey, they had Big Papa’s!  It’s not much either, but it does rock out.  A medical school, Ross University,  is nearby and it attracts many western students, and each Thursday night, they all head to Big Papa’s. They serve dinner upstairs at big funky tables with pretty good BBQ style food, and then quickly the action moves downstairs to an overcrowded beach bar with loud, fun music.  Trying to get to the restroom from anywhere is a close encounter of the most intimate kind.  Oh my!  Age does not matter to these people.  Naturally I had to go several times!!!

Guadeloupe

Cruisers like us, who intend to do the whole Eastern Caribbean in one winter and meet friends and family, know that choices must be made.  Do we have time to stop at Guadeloupe; the butterfly shaped ‘other’ French territorial island?  And if so, where in the butterfly do we want to go?  It is divided in two, the east side is Grande Terre, the west, Basse Terre.  In the middle is Point a Pitre and for shallow draft boats a chance to sail right through from the south to the north, dissecting the island.  That was an option for Dreamweaver and ourselves, but not for the larger Voyager, and they are always there for us.  We were all together again, and we know that those “halcyon” days will soon end.  Hmmm, we decided we had time for a quick stop, and that Deshaies, a fishing village on the northwest coast was our best bet.  It’s another charming island, with more restaurants than anything - also affluent compared to the other islands and quite European.  We chose poorly that night, we went for waterfront (why? don’t we get enough living in the water?) ambiance, which with bad food loses its charm, oui?  We should have stayed with the ones the Doyle guides suggested - and here is a good time to mention how much we like the Doyle Guides.  They are the very best!  Informative, well written and complete…when you have a Doyle, you don’t need others.  Kudos to you - we wish you had them for all of our travels.

Antigua

We had reservations at the marina in Nelson’s Dockyard, but it took them almost an hour to answer us on the radio, so we just circled around in the narrow passageway - a boat boy from the marina came out and said, “oh yeah mon, hmm, well, sure, let me get someone….” Another hour… finally the manager comes along in a dink and directs us in; it’s stern to, drop the anchor and back in up to a low stone wall.  Once in, it was over to customs and immigration, which is conveniently right in the Dockyard. Customs was well …government at work…slowly.  They were nice enough, just miserably disinterested in their jobs and customers.  We finally got through but only because the soap operas playing in each little cubby hole office finally ended.  Seriously, TV was the priority.  It also explained the non-existent service at the marina. The Dockyard, and the marina in it, are considered a national park, and therefore employees are also civil “servants” (ever wonder about that term?) …it’s all so clear now.  Despite the hurry up and wait nature of our arrival - we were thrilled to be there and ready for all the company we expected.

Our friends Mark and Sue Ohlendorf were on an extensive Princess Cruise and we coordinated a day together to begin in the capital city of St. Johns.  We rented a car, right side steering as this was a former English colony, and off we went.  We had a great day and somehow traveled the whole island and saw nothing at the same time.  Every little road that promised some wonderful sight seemed abandoned.  We were frequently lost and laughed a lot.  We did find a lovely beachside restaurant near Long Bay for a delicious lunch and visit, and were able to take them down to English Harbor and Nelsons’s Dockyard and to Falmouth next door to see the dozens and dozens of super yachts that were currently moored there.  The futuristic looking Maltese Falcon was in!

Our neighbors at Nelson’s were a young couple, Eric and Kristi, on a 43′ Nordhavn “Kosmos”.  They are amazing, very bright and enthusiastic, and in the final legs of a two year around the world odyssey.  They were here on a stopover to see her visiting father, and then on their way westward, covering some of the territory we just completed, and home to Southern California.   They did not have a lot of boating experience, but saw this window of opportunity at this stage of their lives (early 30’s) and prepared brilliantly, trained themselves and once commissioned in Dana Point, California hung a right and out across the Pacific.  Eeeek.  Rich experiences that I hope Kristi does put in book form.  With the right boat, attitude, proper preparations, anything is possible…and yes, they admit to good luck too!

Everyone we met at Nelson’s was interesting, they came and went, and each left a little sunshine.  We timed it right and were around for the insane Sunday night at Shirley Heights.  Everyone (really) in the area goes up for the music and sunset.  There is BBQ for dinner, full bars, and crafters selling their wares, and lots and lots of people dancing and having fun.  Big communal picnic tables where groups mingled and conversations took on several directions.

Dottie flew back in and fortunately was on the same flight as Ade’s sister Audrey and hubby Don Hazen who would stay with us for the week.  We took another stab at a circle island drive, but this time we were better prepared and checked out resorts, windsurfing beaches, etc.  There are several great restaurants just outside the gates of Nelson’s that often have live music.  We enjoyed a yummy dinners out at “Abbra’s”, found little Pasta Rite Ya, and Trappas closer to Falmouth.  Thursday night it was back for the midweek Shirley Height’s experience, much quieter, but we had to show the others that splendid view.  We were looking for more live music with our dinner, and Uncle Don found a local place across from Trappas and was able to talk his way onto the keyboard and offered up a mean rendition of “Johnny be Good”, which the band and female singer caught onto quickly - we got everyone up and dancing- patrons, staff, everyone.  What fun.  Our newest marina neighbors, two lovely, and up to that point, we thought, proper English couples were there and ROCKED.  Told Audrey they thought our party patrol group of 8 was “brilliant,” …hmmm, first time we’ve heard that!  One of those nights we will always remember.

Off to harbor hop and find places to snorkel, maybe windsurf and beach comb.  We gunk holed all day and finally decided to overnight in Deep Bay on the north west end of the island, just below St. John’s.  The shallow wreck of the Andes is there, as well as Ft. Barrington which gave us a chance to do some snorkeling, swimming and hiking and BBQ on deck.  We next went into the marina in Jolly Harbor.  Ken’s brother Marshall and family had flown in, and soon Don & Audrey would fly out, it’s close to the airport and therefore the ideal place for those situations.  We finally found a resort with windsurfing, and wind, so the Hazen’s purchased a Day Pass at neighboring Jolly Beach Resort and spent their last day on island playing tourist, instead of yachtie.  We stayed aboard and watched the Obama Inauguration for the morning and then mooched in on them for the afternoon.

Time to move on up island after a really great visit to Antigua.  We had a lot of company on Antigua and stayed a few weeks, and we would do so again.  I mention this because just after we left there was a tragic murder of a mega yacht Captain right along the walk between Nelson’s Dockyard and Falmouth - the route we walked several times each day and night.  It was a purse snatching gone wrong.  Despite that, we still think that most Antiguans are wonderful and the island worth a visit, just pay attention the way you would in any city, especially at night and if someone tries to grab your bag - let them have it.

From here, there are many choices.  Some backtrack to Montserrat, but she was “erupting” again.  Others go to Antigua’s sister island, the remote and pristine Barbuda, but for us - as time was again a factor, that routing would mean missing Nevis and St. Kitts.  We have to guard against that “been there done that” attitude which kills the spirit of any adventurer…there is always something unique about another island, or town…but if we try to do them all, we will insure that attitude.

ST. KITTS & NEVIS:

We were on our own in Nevis and it was a frustrating stop.  Too many rules, too many ways to break them without even trying.  Tie up to a buoy, go in, wait for hours to check in and pay fees for moorings not used - adds up to a $100 stop.  Nothing open in Charlestown at all, streets deserted except for insistent taxi drivers.  It was a Sunday, and how we keep arriving on Sunday’s is a mystery, it’s never planned, often a factor of weather I guess, but it complicates matters for sure.  Decided to just overnight and move onto St. Kitts at first light where it seems it will be a bit more hospitable and have more to offer.

*We did however take a ferry back the following week and had a great day tour of the island when it was “open”.  We had a very professional driver-guide, and he filled us in on the local situation.  St. Kitts and Nevis, are two islands but one country.  St. Kitts built a cruise port and currently all the cruise ships are going there.  They also have more resort hotels.   Hurricane Omar damaged the resort hotels on Nevis.  The Grand Hotel, a very luxe property brought in big spending clients for golf and quiet unspoiled beaches.  This property had been the best source of tourists and income for the island has been closed since Omar hit in October, and it looks like it will be down for at least a year.  It’s a major blow to the economy and is killing lovely little properties along the coast, like the new Coco Palms, an elegant restaurant and beach club.  We told our guide about the frustrations of yachties who are skipping Nevis due to the costly and confusing check in and mooring system.  He knows they are over regulated and is trying to convince the government that we boaters are a good source of revenue.   There are lovely anchorages north of Charleston, so my advice is, don’t arrive on a Sunday, and plan to stay awhile to amortize the fees…or take a ferry for a day trip!

St. Kitts:  St Kitts is great.  It’s another drop dead beautiful island, although the anchorage outside of Basseterre is just awful.  There is an okay marina at Pt. Zante that they are trying to improve.  The Wi-Fi they advertise means than you carry your laptop into the cruise port shopping area and find a curb or bench and steal it from whatever shop is open.   Weather dictated a few day stop and it was welcome and wonderful to kind of dig in.  We walked all over town, there are a few decent grocery stores (the best one is about a mile out of town), and took another of our all day, circle island tours, again finding probably the worst van and craziest driver - we sure have had some doozies, but they are always memorable characters.  This one ended up stealing a baby goat from a herd as we were coming back from Cockleshell Bay.  Dottie and I hope that he will raise it for milk, but Ade thinks he’s dinner.

Ken, still on his quest to find the best rum in the Caribbean asked about St. Kittian Rum - Tony, our driver proceeded to pull over to a small neighborhood rum bar along the road.  This was definitely a local place, and we all bravely took our shots, deciding that we wanted none of it- shutter. There are little townships all along the coast with funny names like Old Road Town, Bloody Point, Newton Ground.  Everyone knows everyone else and it’s very political.  You are born into a political party.  If your parents were…say, “New Socialists for a Democratic Society” (I made that name up, but they sound like that, you have no clue what they really stand for), then you are too.  Jobs are doled out based on who is in power and you are lucky if you belong to that party.  It’s really almost tribal and with serious consequences.   The people however are all very polite and well mannered, and speak with beautiful Queens English accents and very little of the Rasta sing song we’ve become used to.   We met a lovely older dignified black man, and learned that he was a UCLA graduate, from the 1940’s. He and Ade compared notes and were delighted to meet another Bruin.

There are many Anglo’s who have lived there for generations, in fact, the sugar industry was initially run by Irish indentured servants, and it was the Sephardic Jews from Brazil who  brought the  secret process of crystallizing sugar, which was necessary for shipping, to the island.  The islands finally had a valuable export and no longer needed to try and compete with the South for tobacco production.  Then of course there are those whites who never left once the island won its independence from England.  We took a cooking class from American sisters who have lived there for decades and who were restaurant owners.  They said that many of the recipes originally came from the rather boring Irish and English dishes, and then adapted by the African slaves using local ingredients.  Where the English had four ingredients, they now have 12.  Look for a weekly special “Goat Water”.  Sounds terrible, but it’s really an adapted Lamb Stew using Goat…and God only knows what else.  Tasty.

Needless to say, the restaurants are plentiful and good.  In town we enjoyed “Stone Walls” and “Ballahoo”, and out on the SE peninsula, where there is a good anchorage, Reggae Beach Bar & Grill is great.  But it is on, or near Frigate Bay that you will find an endless variety of restaurants.  For fun however, you really must try Mr. X’s Shiggidy Shack for a Thursday night Jump Up.  Delicious lobster and ribs, a live band and a huge bonfire draw tourists from the posh resorts, locals, yachties and rummies.

SABA/Statia:  We’d stopped there on a charter back in the 80’s, so we skipped it this time, but Dottie and Ken made it over and loved the diving.

St.Barthelemy (aka St. Barts or St. Barth’s)

Gustavia, St. Barts:  Oooo, lala!  Well, this is just beautiful.  We tried to tie up inside the harbor, but it was not to be.  It’s stern to the wall and outside where they had a spot for us but it was crazy with wakes and just not a nice ride, so after two hours, we hightailed it out to the anchorage where the others were, settled our tummies and dropped the dink.  Good choice.  It was fun watching mega yachts, little boats and people in the anchorage.  We checked in which is convenient and friendly.  It is a French Island, but a free port like St.Martin.  Euros are the currency, and French is the official language, but English is spoken everywhere.

It had been many years since our last visit and it was a brief one, so it was with new eyes that we explored.   Casual Elegant…that fits it.  Even the shabby places…and people, are shabby chic.  It’s a small town you get to know quickly, but still there is something new that catches your eye when you walk down a now familiar street.  I loved it.  We went to ‘Eddie’s’ for dinner the first night and it was as good as the Doyle Guide said.  We of course sat outside at ‘Le Select’ a few times, trying to act casual and spot celebrities.  The people watching was phenomenal. Beautifully clad Europeans were plentiful, but then you’d spot something…or one, amiss.  There she was, an older women with Marge Simpson hair, an all white linen outfit, large Olsen twins sunglasses, a huge Kate Spade colorful bag and then hot pink plastic CROCS…it’s just not right.  We only hope she wasn’t American.

We usually parked the dink at ‘Le Marine’ on the SW side of the harbor and had lunch a few times, pricey, but good and convenient.  The ‘Strand’ has a wonderful location and champagne Lounge.  The ‘Wall House’ is also excellent, be sure to make reservations.  It would take weeks to try all the great restaurants.

We wanted to see the whole island, and the Dobbe’s, who were here with their Catamaran a few years ago, suggested seeing the island via Quads.  Dottie had a neck problem and insisted we go on without them, while they continued to explore on foot.  The first order of business is to get to the top of the hill and watch the planes land, right over your head.  It was a blast.  Up and down the steep hills to the beaches we went.  We stopped at posh ‘Nikki Beach’ at Baie St. Jean on the NE side and considered having lunch-until we looked at the menu, and quickly made the decision for just a little cold beverage.  It is a seductive ritzy white oasis with beach beds, filmy white draperies and low sofas and tables, and prices to pay for the spectacular view.  Great for date night, but just not where you want to dine after a dirty ride around town on a Quad with outfits to match your ride.  We hope others weren’t playing “spot the Yank”.   We hit every corner of the island and could easily have lingered at any of them.  Ahhh.

I could live on this island, can you tell?

Holidays 2008

HO HO HO - A Jolly Christmas in St. Lucia and Happy New Year in Martinque

The problem with cruising guides is that they are rarely right up to date.  This we discovered again as early morning dawned and we made our way to the entrance to Rodney Bay having sailed all night from Bequia…only to find a huge sign at the mouth of the harbor announcing that anchoring is no longer permitted inside the bay.  Well drat.  We know that the marina is not taking reservations as they are “firmly committed to the ARC”.  The outside anchorage is rough this morning and not at all what we intended, so we decide to go on inside for a look see anyway.  We are looking for the customs office as on the chart it looks like there might be temporary dock space, but there is a huge new marina section being built for mega yachts and we can’t quite figure it out.

So, as we are winding our way through this shallow but lovely harbor we see an outside slip open, no tell tale leavings of it being an owned slip, so figure it must be transient and decide to slip in and wait for someone to wake up and give us suggestions…well that was my idea, Ade’s was, “a-hah, we’re in, harder to turn us out”!  So with that attitude, we start shopping answers to our query, “can we stay”?  The angle that worked for us was to find one of the many boat boys offering cleaning services to help us get permission to stay.  With that and a sincere promise to the office to vacate the slip should any ARC boat need it we were set for the week.  Yippee.  Now we can dig in and get ready for the kids to arrive.

The ARC, the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers is a big deal, over 200 boats sail from Las Palmas in the Canary Islands at the end of November and make their way to St Lucia for winter cruising in the Caribbean.  It usually takes about 3+ weeks and they are beat, but joyous, as they make their way in.  We were there to see many arrive and it’s a big celebration, with family that did not cross with them waiting with champagne and the committee there making announcements, mini steel drums playing, etc.  Lots of fun, we were lucky to be able to join in.

Rodney Bay is the perfect cruisers harbor with great supermarkets, laundries, marine stores, restaurants, and lovely beaches.  There was a masseuse who came by the boat to advertise, and we quickly signed up.  Sigh. I even found a pretty good hairdresser.  The only hope I have for finding a good salon is to find a local woman whose hair I like and ask for her hairdresser’s name.  In the Caribbean, where the majority of people are of African descent and frankly do not know how to deal with my baby fine very straight hair, it’s been more of a challenge!  For me, the drama comes up every five or six weeks.  I’ve had everything from snow white fried hair to various shades of rust!!  And this was with recommendations.   We had a mutt called Patty when we were growing up; my hair currently looks like her fur in the later part of her life!  Lovely.

We moved right in and got ready to welcome Heather and Ted for the holidays.  They arrived, but their luggage did not.  It of course included all those supplies and parts that we’ve been ordering for months, plus mail, gifts…and oh by the way, their clothes and essentials.  They made do and the inconvenience didn’t bother them at all, so we lost no time making plans and seeing the island.

St Lucia is just fantastically beautiful.  One of the Lesser Antilles, she was formed from ancient volcanoes millions of years ago.   She is lush, green and mountainous with steep river valleys, rainforests, waterfalls and fertile land.  Quite a contrast to desert islands like the ABC’s.  We hired a guide from the many who wait just outside the marina and belong to the professional association.  Prices are pretty much set, but you can negotiate a little.  The vans are in good shape and the guides speak perfect English and are very knowledgeable and accommodating.

Our first day’s journey took us to downtown Castries and the fresh markets, up and down the mountainous roads of the west coast through all the little villages and beaches and down to Soufriere and the spectacular Pitons.  We went to the exclusive Ladera Resort for lunch at the Dasheen Restaurant and were able to take a tour of the property and rooms - the suites each have their own pool inside the unit extending out onto decks that look out to the Pitons and the ocean…really a slice of heaven!  We hiked back to see the Diamond Waterfalls, toured the Botanical Gardens, and saw the last trace of volcanic activity at the Sulphur Springs.  Regrettably, we did not have time to climb the Pitons…we will do that the next time…when we stay at the resort!!

We moved the boat over to Vigie Cove in Castries, a little used anchorage that we really enjoyed.  The cruise ships dock near here, so there are lots of touristy things to do.  It is also near the domestic airport, so when the last piece of the kids luggage finally arrived, mysteriously at this airport (the international airport is at Vieux Fort, at the southern end of the island) they just walked over and retrieved it.  There is a duty free center right there so people watching was great, as was the opportunity to do a little last minute Christmas shopping.  Two of the islands best restaurants are in this cove, but darn it, neither open on Sunday…and it was Sunday.  We decided to stay long enough to make it in for Monday lunch at the famed Coal Pot Restaurant.  It was worth it.  Fantastic.  Michele Elliott is an artist who creates wonderful plates and dishes and this is owned by her family and her studio is on the property.

We made our way to the Marina at Marigot Bay where we had reservations for the holidays.  The marina is lovely, and Voyager was there with Les’ sister and brother in law, who we knew from the FUBAR.  Dottie and Ken joined us all a day later.  Heather and Ted did an all day inland Zip Line and Challenge Course that they said was incredible fun, we’d done one in PV last year and decided to let them go on their own.  We all went scuba diving though.  It was a riot.  Ted is not yet certified, but they have a program where non-Padi divers can go along with an instructor.  Ted is all long lean arms and legs and to watch him maneuver and work at buoyancy and not be able to ask questions (he is a most inquisitive fellow) as we dove 30 feet on our first dive was hilarious.  Trouble with laughing underwater is that water leaks up into your mask and floods it over and over again.  It was worth it.  He of course figured it all out and had a blast.  We all did.

St Lucia has really great restaurants and we lucked out and found ourselves across from another amazing one… the Rainforest Hideaway at Marigot.  The ambiance was brilliant, and everything we ordered was delicious, the kids said it was the best meal they have ever had!

The gang (there were ten now) all got together for a festive Christmas Eve of music and food.  Rose and Ade got out our big-ass drums from Cartagena, as well as all of the other instruments we’ve been gathering and we danced and sang well into the night.  By request, I think they requested it, we girls again sang “I Must Follow Him” and the boys “My Girl” - if we didn’t have video to prove otherwise, I’d think we were actually getting quite good.

Christmas was lovely, the boat was decorated with our 2 foot tree, lots of lights and stockings hung on the carved dolphins with care…we opened gifts, made a few Skype calls to family at home, brunched at the resort, and that afternoon Dottie and Ken joined us for dinner, while Les & Rose and Tom & Babe dined next door.  We just wish Kevin and Jenn could have been with us!

The kids flight out was the next day, so we sadly said goodbye to them, and to Dottie a day later as she had to fly home to take care of some family business.  We decided to take advantage of a weather window and move up island, back to Rodney and be in position for a run to Martinique for New Years.  Coming back into the Bay felt like going home.  It is a great marina and very well run, we really like St Lucia and encourage anyone who gets a chance to spend time here, it was the perfect island for visitors.  Easy to get in and out, so much to do on land and sea, and the restaurants are all different, and those we tried, all good!  Our New Year’s Resolutions will have to include dieting!

The weather window didn’t appear until New Year’s Eve Day, so we intrepid souls set a course for Fort de France and the promise of a fabulous French Fête for the evening.  Alas, said fête was actually the night before, we were told they had a huge fireworks display, music, etc…darn.  But, the market was open and we topped up on what we needed to celebrate on board.  I found a lovely looking piece of beef, called, oddly enough, faux boeuf.  OK.  My year of French is a bit rusty, but I think it means, phony beef.  It didn’t look like phony beef, so I bought it, along with a lovely baguette and fresh veggies.  Les and Rose brought out the lobsters they’d saved, we made lots of yummy nibblies, BBQ’d the lobster and steak (which tasted great) and voila…a four star meal to compete with anything they could have served onshore.  Les had French café music on, so the boys decided they needed little moustaches drawn on to complete the ambiance…and we girls donned wigs and a cancan attitude!  There were lots of individuals along the beaches who put on their own fireworks displays, so the show was complete.  We toasted the New Year in several time zones, amazingly even made it to our own Midnight!   Vive la Martinique!

We realized that this was a major holiday weekend and that nothing was going to be open in town, so we scooted over to the resort area of Trois-Inlets and Pointe du Bout where there was a prospect of more things being open.  Wrong.  Not much open at all.   But we went ashore for nice long walks, found a place for café and tried to get the internet, seems it is off all over the island for a few days.  We still had the buoy-weather report from St Lucia and we knew that we needed to keep going to take advantage of this short period of mild weather.  We needed to as we had to get to Antigua in time for our rendezvous with Don and Audrey and Dottie.  So, it was a one day stop at Trois-Inlets and then up to St. Pierre for WS and Dreamweaver.  Les and Rose had a few more days with Tom & Babe, so they were able to stay and see a bit more of the island.

St. Pierre was a good stop, not only is it a nice anchorage, there is lots to see.  This town had been a major city in the 1800’s with grand theatre’s and buildings, but it was completely destroyed in just ten minutes in 1902 when Mt. Pelee erupted.  All but two of the 30,000 residents were killed in the blast.  The blackened ruins are still evident, and many building incorporate these stone walls into their newer buildings.  The Museum, the Musee Vulcanologique is well worth the effort and the few Euro entrance fees.  Did I mention that Martinique is actually part of France?  We were told that citizens here enjoy the same rights and privileges of all French citizens.  The language is French and the currency the Euro…and consequently, it is more expensive, but the standard of living for the citizens is way beyond that of any other Caribbean nation.   I am sorry that these three stops were all that we were able to make in this lovely island country.  It’s on the “we’ll be back list” for sure.

And just like that, we are out of the fabled Windward Islands, and onto the Leeward’s.

Leg XV     New York to Maine

(Logs are posted with the most recent entry first)

Well here we are at the end of leg XV and as far north as we will go. It would have been fun to go on to the Canadian Boarder but the last 67-miles from here are not good cruising in the sense that the coast is not hospitable for little boats…thirty-foot tides, no pleasure boat facilities of any kind, few harbors of refuge with only one offering any real protection from a blow or serious waves and not much to see once you get there.

Between hurricane Bill and the prospects of more bad weather coming, we are just out of time too.  As it is, we only have three weeks to get WS all the way back to the Chesapeake and her “beauty” appointment with the boatyard.  Her crew needs some time off too.  Our business commitments and family duties are calling as well as a much needed “vacation” in Bali.

I had intended to stop updating these logs here but due to a steadily diminishing number of requests, I will keep reporting on our adventure all the way back to the Chesapeake so I hope you will continue to join us on this the final (I promise) leg of this going on three-year voyage.

Northeast Harbor to Southwest Harbor

8/24   Monday

From: Latitude: 44:17.73 N   Longitude: 068.17.04 W

To: Latitude: 44:16.45 N    Longitude: 068:19.52 W

Weather: partly cloudy   Wind: 360⁰ at 5-10 kts. SEA:  5

Barometer: 1007   Passage time:  1.5 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2203   Fuel used/on board:  5500/502

End Engine Hours:  2205   Fuel used/on board:  5506/499

Distance trip/to Date:  10/13,879

We set out today on WS with the best of intentions to explore the east side of Mount Desert Island and perhaps cruise across the sound to Winter Harbor for an overnight stay.  Once we cleared the protected confines of Northeast Harbor it soon became apparent that this was not such a good idea and it is still to soon after Hurricane Bill to do any outside, unprotected voyaging.

While to winds were light, the waves were something else again. By the time we got to the southeast end of the island and the place where the seven-year old girl was swept away yesterday, it was obviously not good seamanship to proceed.  Giant sets of waves, as tall as I’ve ever experienced in a boat, where still rolling into the sound and pounding the rocky cliffs so we did an about-face and headed back to Southwest Harbor instead.  For the record, we’ll call 44:18 N/068:11W at the mouth of Otter Cove the official end of our journey north.

Southwest is a nice big cove with a full service marina but lies completely unprotected to the east and vulnerable to wind and waves from east to northeast.  Today, it was flat calm and an easy matter to find our reserved spot in Dysart’s Great Harbor Marina.  We’ve been assigned to a side tie along the main dock and soon have WS secured for our last night on the island.

With a whole unexpected and unscheduled afternoon before us, Jo and I decided to take one last trip on the free bus and cover the rest of the interior and eastern shore of Acadia National Park.  The park bus travels all the way down the seashore on this circuit and it was fun to hop off and walk along the cliffs to see the same monster waves crashing on shore we had just been riding up and over on WS.  The rest of Acadia Park is very nice with lots to do, hiking, biking, kayaking, camping etc. but it still can’t touch our western mountains for shear rugged beauty.

Tourist fever duly quenched, we stopped in Southwest’s little town to do some provisioning for the trip west before returning to WS for dinner on board and preparations for a first light departure in the morning.

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Northeast Harbor - Hurricane Watch

8/21 - 8/23

Just when we thought we’ve had all of the excitement we could wring from one trip, Hurricane Bill comes on the scene heading straight for us. Thankfully there’s a pressure ridge currently in place (as of noon on Friday) keeping old Bill out to sea where he would miss us by 130-miles…still way to close for comfort.

After some negotiating with Northwest’s Harbor Master, we are allowed to raft up along side the huge steel, 98-ton Maine Missionary Society trawler; Sunbeam V.  We are about as close in to shore and protected as we can get in this perfect hurricane hole - reported  by locals to be the “Safest” harbor on the New England Coast!  For Jo and I, we’re just thinking you can’t go too far wrong when things get dicey tied to a church ship so here we are snug as a water bug, waiting till Bill arrives with his 17-foot seas and 30+ mph winds on Sunday afternoon.

We had a nice fun day Saturday while waiting for Bill.  Jo went off in the morning to join a charity walk while I gave WS a bath and filled her tanks. It was interesting to watch the other boats around us get ready for the predicted high winds; taking in their canvas and loose cushions, tying down their dingys, and doubling or tightening up their dock lines.

In the late afternoon, we took the bus for our second trip up to Bar Harbor for another look around.  Bar is not a harbor for little boats, much to our surprise, so we won’t be bringing WS up here like we had thought.  There is no marina, just a very rickety old town dock and a few scattered moorings without much appeal.  As a town though, it has lots of unique shops featuring local artisan talent rather then just selling T-shirts.

We then took another one of the free, constantly circulating, park buses over to Southeast Harbor, our original destination before wild Bill headed our way. It is very exposed to the east and not a good hurricane hole at all but a pleasant little village with a good market and gourmet/wine shop.  While walking the dock there, we met up with Bruce Kessler, the guru of trawler cruising (he’s been around the world on his) and the leader of the FUBAR cruise we joined from San Diego to La Paz, Mexico in ‘07. We made plans to get together when we move here on Tuesday.

The highlight of the day was the cabaret dinner show at the Deckhouse Restaurant right on the dock at Southwest’s marina.  This show featured aspiring college kids studying for Broadway who did double duty as our wait staff intermixed with their performances of song and dance.  A great show with lots of interaction with the players, all combined with excellent food and service made for a very memorable night indeed.  Even our pre-arranged taxis home (the park buses stop at dusk) was right on schedule so we were back on WS before eleven.

Sunday morning we awoke to the promised wind and rain from our visit with Bill who was now directly offshore.  Fortunately, he has lost much of his vigor and is down to a Category I (winds of 95-mph) while still headed Northeast far out to sea.  Down in our protected cubby hole, the wind barely clocked gusts of 18-20 mph but we can see the much higher winds on the surrounding hillside trees and fast moving clouds.

It’s out at sea and along the exposed coast where it is really happening.  The waves today are over 17′ and the winds are hitting 39-knots - not the place for little boats!  All we feel in here is a little storm surge now and again as WS tugs at her mooring lines to Big Sister. The rain, while heavy at times, was intermittent by noon.  By afternoon, the sun was shinning so all in all we really dodged what could have been a very hairy situation.

Tomorrow we will make one more move to the east and the beginning of the Bold Coast before we must turn around and start to make our way back to southern waters.

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Bass Harbor to Northeast Harbor

8/20   Thursday

From: Latitude: 44:13.95 N   Longitude: 68:20.95 W

To: Latitude: 44:17.73 N    Longitude: 068.17.04 W

Weather: sunny and warm   Wind: 180⁰ at 5-10 kts. SEA:  1

Barometer: 1008   Passage time:  3 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2200   Fuel used/on board:  5497/509

End Engine Hours:  2203   Fuel used/on board:  5500/502

Distance trip/to Date:  18/13,869

We did some sightseeing today on our way the 6-miles to Northeast Harbor.  If you look at a chart, you will see that Mt Desert is a large, round Island with a fjord running north to south almost splitting it into two halves.  Named Some’s Fjord, it is the only true fjord on the east coast so we traveled up its entire 5-mile length to have a look and were rewarded with deep, still water and pine covered mountains (east coast size) on both sides.  Interestingly, there are three small boat yards up in its upper reaches and  John William’s yard is well known up here for making a line of top quality line of picnic boats. Also, a few nice homes can be spotted among the tress and not much else.

Once we are back out of the fjord, it’s just a quick left turn and we are in the small. Compact hurricane hole of Northeast Harbor where we would like to hang out till Hurricane Bill passes on Sunday afternoon if they have room.  Once secure in a slip, we take a quick reconnaissance trip through the village, didn’t find anyplace that grabbed us for lunch so we came back to WS for it and the rest of the afternoon.

Thursday night is “Stroll the Village” night in Northeast Harbor’s town where there is music on the street, stores stay open late serving appetizers with wine, and most of the locals turn out to enjoy their town so we headed back to join the fun.  We do something very similar in Big Bear too and it’s a great way for the town folk to get together and support their small businesses.

By seven PM, we’ve revisited most of the shops, met lots of nice people, and had plenty of wine so we settle in at the Bassa, Casino de Tape’o (small plates) restaurant for a nice dinner on their porch before heading back to WS and calling it a day.

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Buck’s Harbor to Bass Harbor, Mount Desert

8/19   Wednesday

From: Latitude: 44:20.32 N   Longitude: 068:44.11 W

To: Latitude: 44:13.95 N    Longitude: 68:20.95 W

Weather: hazy but sunny   Wind: 195⁰ at 5-8 kts. SEA:  1

Barometer: 1003   Passage time:  3 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2197   Fuel used/on board:  5489/517

End Engine Hours:  2200   Fuel used/on board:  5497/509

Distance trip/to Date:  21/13,854

Well, we are really in cruising mode now.  Lazy morning departures, short day trips, and afternoons hiking about on shore at a new port each day with the occasional pub visit thrown in before heading home to WS for a sunset happy hour, dinner for two on board and some sort of video entertainment before early to bed.  Life is good!

We left Buck’s sometime after nine, cruised 21-miles/3-hours down the glass smooth Eggomoggin Reach, along the north shore of Deer Island, through Casco Passage, and across Blue Hill Bay to tonight’s stop in Bass Harbor.  Bass is our first port on the fabled Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park. Here, at last, is said to be the best cruising New England and perhaps all of the East Coast has to offer.  Dozens of pristine coves and anchorages, sprinkled with working lobster towns and full service marinas.  This is a truly a boaters paradise.

While beautiful scenery is everywhere we look, Maine is not as dramatic as Alaska with her snow capped mountains forming a background for much the same looking seascapes.  The foreground is still awesome and with the hint of constant fog, we probably couldn’t see the mountains anyways. Weather is in the forecast for Sunday, not from hurricane Bill which won’t affect us till early next week, but we have red flags from Buoy weather predicting up to 29-knots of wind with 13-foot seas offshore so naturally we’ll be laying low back in these protected islands.

Once we picked up a mooring from Morse Services and rowed ashore, it didn’t take us a half-hour to walk the length of the waterfront part of town. We did find a really neat, old time nautical store specializing in ship models and I found the kit of a New Bedford whaling skiff I have been looking for months.  Once built, it will go perfectly with the model of the Charles Morgan whaler I am just rigging back on land.  Looks like I’ll have something more to do once we get done cruising.

Typical of how it goes out here, we met locals Michael and Maria when we stopped for a brew on our hike.  Within minutes, they had invited us to use their cabin front mooring free of charge should we need a place to tie up while in the area.  We just keep meeting the nicest, most generous people everywhere we go on WS.

Back on our mooring ball for sunset and to watch one of the local, 100′ charter schooners maneuver in and drop her hook for the night just like they did at the turn of the century…very cool!  Jo and I are really enjoying our quiet nights on board at this point but know things will get much more social again tomorrow when we hit the main cruising community of Southwest Harbor.

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Camden to Buck’s Harbor

8/18   Tuesday

From: Latitude: 44.12.55 N   Longitude: 065.03.75 W

To: Latitude: 44:20.32 N    Longitude: 068:44.11 W

Weather: hazy but sunny   Wind: 190⁰ at 8-12 kts. SEA:  1

Barometer: 1009   Passage time:  3 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2194   Fuel used/on board:  5482/524

End Engine Hours:  2197   Fuel used/on board:  5489/517

Distance trip/to Date:  18/13,833

I got WS ready to depart while Jo took the Enterprise car back so by 10AM we were ready for the 18-mile jog across Penobscot Bay to the tiny, well protected bay called Buck’s Harbor (often confused with Buck’s Town further up the coast).

The 3-hour crossing from Camden went smoothly with little wind and flat water as we passed the many small interesting looking islands heading north.  The harbor entrance is wide, free of shoals but has a large, pine covered island right in the center of the bay with plenty of moorings available on its opposite side between the island and the Buck Harbor Marina’s dock .  A quick call on VHF10 and we are assigned a vacant buoy just off their dock It is an easy, few minute row for us to get ashore and look around.

The small town here of Brooksville just up the hill from the waterfront consists of a store, restaurant, church and community center and that’s about it. After doing our best to support the local economy at the store and a brief walk on the narrow windy main country road with no sidewalks, we headed back to WS for an afternoon of working on the photos and our logs. Our BBQ dinner on board was followed by a DVD from the archives of unseen movies we carry for just these occasions.

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Camden

8/17   Monday

We took a nice day off here to rent a car and really see the country side.  Our afternoon trip took us from the towns of Rockport to the south to Belfast to the north and to the top of Mount Battie in Camden Hills State Park for the view of all of Camden Harbor and even to the islands offshore.  Had it not been for the afternoon haze, I’m told we could have seen all the way to our next destination of Desert Island and Acadia National Park.

Tenant Harbor to Camden

8/16   Sunday

From: Latitude: 43:57.50 N   Longitude: 069:12.38 W

To: Latitude: 44.12.55 N    Longitude: 065.03.75 W

Weather: clear & sunny   Wind: 190⁰ at 8-12 kts. SEA:  1

Barometer: 1013   Passage time:  3 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2191   Fuel used/on board:  5475/531

End Engine Hours:  2194   Fuel used/on board:  5482/524

Distance trip/to Date:  19/13,815

It was a nice Sunday morning to do some boating so after our special Sunday morning omelet breakfast on board, we were off of our mooring float and on our way to Camden, some 19-miles further up the reach of Penobscot Bay.  It is still beautiful weather for cruising with absolutely flat calm seas, little wind, and bright sunshine as we wound our way between the many islands and shoals that make up most of “Down Eastern” Maine.

The town of Camden nestles around a tiny cove in the back of the larger Camden Bay and is every bit as picturesque as we had heard. Using a unique system of short floating docks in rows across the harbor, these folks have found a way to crowd in more boats per foot then even possible with mooring balls.  The docks around the shore are lined with all manner of classic, gaff rigged schooners (we counted ten) and mega yachts while we little folk fill up the floats in the middle.  The village itself has nautical looking shops and restaurants around the entire cove with church steeples and homes perched on the hills behind. And everywhere, you get the sense of motion from the circling gulls to the constant coming and going of a flotilla of watercraft.

It is here we finally became aware of the huge tidal range that this area is known for in the lower 48.  One hour, your boat is down in a hole with the entire town high above and several hours later, you are 20-feet higher and level with the streets and wharf tops.  I understand it even gets more dramatic the further up this rigged coast you venture to the point that even anchoring becomes a real challenge or you will wake up with no water under your boat.

Once we are settled on our float, right in the middle of things, we decide to pump up “Twinkle” our little 8′ back-up dinghy for the short row ashore.  The two streets of town don’t add up to a mile in length so even after taking our time stopping in most of the shops is still doesn’t take long to see it all. After our look around, it was back on board for an afternoon of reading in the sun on the top deck, a glass of wine at sunset, and then dinner ashore at the highly recommended Waterfront Restaurant.  I had a really good Tuscany Fish Stew which was very similar to my all time favorite Cioppino from San Francisco.  After our post-dinner walk around the now quiet village, it was late by the time we were back on board WS.

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Boothbay to Tenant Harbor

8/15   Saturday

From: Latitude: 43:51.03 N   Longitude: 069:37.59 W

To: Latitude: 43:57.50 N    Longitude: 069:12.38 W

Weather: clear & sunny   Wind: 190⁰ at 8-10 kts. SEA:  1

Barometer: 1013   Passage time:  4 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2187   Fuel used/on board:  5466/540

End Engine Hours:  2191   Fuel used/on board:  5475/531

Distance trip/to Date:  27/13,796

We had one last walk around the town before pushing off the dock for the 27-mile run to Tenants Harbor on Muscongus Bay.  We are getting spoiled by these easy, 3-4 hours of on-the-water travel per day…so different from the 50-60 mile runs with the many overnights we had to do to get here.  This really feels like we are on vacation at last!

This morning’s challenge is all about the lobster traps again.  They are getting so prolific now that I can’t even use the auto pilot but must hand steer for hours at a time constantly maneuvering our 25-tons so we don’t run one over and come to a grinding halt.  I will say this though; there are so many different color combinations (each boat has its distinct set of color patterns on their buoys so them can recognize their own quickly). When the sea is smooth and calm, as it has been, it is a virtual flower garden of buoys as far as we can see in all directions.

We pulled WS into tiny Tenant Harbor around 1PM and called one of the four listed dockside “companies” pot luck for a mooring ball assignment.  The harbor is so small there is no room to anchor so they have just divided it up with the balls and we are directed to any yellow one that is available by the very casual shore staff. Once secure, its pump up the dingy again (it seems to be having trouble hold air in all three chambers now), get her launched, and then head to the dock with the name of our mooring company to pay and  take a quick look around.  It is quick too since there is little more than a library, convenience store, two take-away restaurants and a fuel/lobster dock to see anyways. The big event for the week is a self guided tour of all the local homes that have decided to be “green” and live off the grid with solar/wind power and self grown food etc.  Lacking in much of a fun factor we decided to pass.

Dinner of fresh, just caught this morning, haddock in hand, it’s back to WS for a relaxing afternoon followed by great dinner which was delayed a couple of hours while we tried to figure out why the shower sump (pump that drains the showers and head sinks below the water line over the side) is no longer doing its thing.  We can hear it running but the grey water in not going anywhere. After determining that the drain hose must be blocked upstream somewhere, we decide to disconnect the darn thing and just let the bilged pump do the job till be can get dockside again to try and clear the obstruction.  Where is my crack plumber when I need him?

Dinner was to a nice sunset anyways as they last quite late this far north.

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Portland to Boothbay

8/14   Friday

From: Latitude: 43:39.25 N   Longitude: 070:15.05 W

To: Latitude: 43:51.03 N    Longitude: 069:37.59 W

Weather: clear & sunny   Wind: 69⁰ at 12-16 kts. SEA:  3

Barometer: 1010   Passage time:  4 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2182   Fuel used/on board:  5453/552

End Engine Hours:  2187   Fuel used/on board:  5466/540

Distance trip/to Date:  34/13,769

The march to the Canadian boarder begins in earnest today.  Sure, we’ll stop to have some fun and hopefully meet up with some old friends from down island along the way but the underlying goal is to get to the end of Maine by next week and then pace ourselves more slowly on the return trip south.

It is only 34-miles east to Boothbay, our next port of call so we plan on a 0900 departure to take advantage of the ebb out of Portland Harbor and the flood into Booth.  The seas today are mostly on the beam but not tall enough, 1′- 2′ to cause much of a roll.  What is different is the marked increase in the number of cruising boats we now see heading in all directions.  We must be one of the last boats arriving this far north as most everyone seems like they have been here for awhile already.  While it does make the anchorages and marinas a bit more crowed, it feels good to be back among our own in the cruising community again.

Boothbay, like most of these ports, lies back up a long entrance bay.  The closer we get to town, the more it seems like the authentic Maine we remember and you always see on travel brochures.  Rocky shores covered with thick stands of pine trees mixed with dozens of islands are everywhere.  The town itself is off to the right hand side of a small bay where it is protected from the wicked winter wind and seas. Boothbay Marina, like the town, is small, and compact. It is at the far edge of town just before a pedestrian bridge closes off the rest of the bay.  Dockmaster Judy is there at our side-tie dock waving us into a tiny spot between two bigger boats that looks to be much too small for WS but with lots of direction from her and the other skippers, we manage to parallel park her with a foot to spare on each end. Whew!  The last time we tried this tight a fit in Alaska, we punched a hole in the Nordic Tug just in front of us with our anchor.

We only have an afternoon here so as soon as we are cleaned up, Jo and I are off to see the town.  The old replica square rigger “Freedom” from Salem is in dry dock here being refitted so that is our first stop and she is grand. She was built in 1996 as an exact copy of the original to every detail but with diesel engines you would never know she had until she is high and dry.  From there we spent the afternoon visiting the many art galleries and shops till we were too hungry to go on another step. Thankfully and just in time, I found the old Seafarer Pub that had a Guinness/raw clams special so I stopped in to imbibe to get my strength back while Jo went back to WS to start dinner.

We spent a quiet evening on board enjoying the solitude, our direct TV, and the internet while the neighboring bars rocked out to the usual Friday night festivities as folks gear up for what promises to be a great summer weekend.  Sometimes it is just as nice to know you could go party if you wanted too but enjoy the chance more to just stay home.

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Portland

8/12   Thursday

Our very active sports minded crew was up early to jog, walk, exercise on deck, and even pro-level jump rope on this, there last morning on board.  I made the WS traditional French Toast breakfast for all hands while they packed up and then we started doing some boat clean-up chores.  Later, we had a final lunch ashore before Ted & Heather caught the train back to Boston where they will take an advanced fitness training class before heading back to the California on Sunday.

Jo and I spent the rest of the day finishing up on our boat chores, doing some provisioning before catching a new movie and having a late, farewell to Portland dinner, on the DeMillo’s very nice ferry restaurant.

Kennebunkport to Portland

8/11  Wednesday

From: Latitude: 43:21.32 N   Longitude: 070:28.44 W

To: Latitude: 43:39.25 N    Longitude: 070:15.05 W

Weather: cloudy becoming fog   Wind: 90⁰ at 12-16 kts. SEA:  3

Barometer: 1010   Passage time:  4 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2178   Fuel used/on board:  5443/562

End Engine Hours:  2182   Fuel used/on board:  5453/552

Distance trip/to Date:  27/13,735

With newest crew member Ted on board, we set off at 0930 this morning for the 27-mile jaunt across up the coast to Portland. While it was clear and sunny as we left, it soon became foggy in spite of the freshening wind now out of the east for the first time since we left Cape Cod.  Lobster traps aside, it still was an enjoyable passage with everyone excited about arriving in the “Big City” of Portland. We even managed to work in short marketing meeting about H & T’s new business, The Mountain Fitness Center in Big Bear Lake while at sea.

I don’t mean to harp on the lobster traps but they are a constant pain to navigate around.  There are just so many of them and they go so far out to sea, in depths from 50 to over 100 feet, it is almost impossible to go out far enough to get around them if you are coastal cruising.  I do have some empathy for the lobstermen who own them and try to make a living when faced with the short season, lobster prices at a paltry $3.50/pound, sometimes downright ugly weather and competition with their fellow man for the best locations.  The papers up here are full of articles about lobster poaching, buoy cutting, and even a shooting or two. Some of these two-man lobster boat teams maintain over 800 traps and at two traps to a set of buoys that means they need to haul up empty and re-bait 400 a day to keep them working.

The entrance channel to Portland Harbor is very straight forward with a wide, easy to find and hazard free opening.  Once past the welcoming Portland Point light, the channel expands into a wide bay that we just needed to follow around to the right to the city’s bustling docks.  Here we encountered all manner of sea craft from local ferries for the bay to the huge international variety headed for Nova Scotia. Added to the mix of dozens of sightseeing and whale-watching boats, day sailing charter schooners, and the usual sword and lobster boats are the occasional ocean going cargo ships found in all major sea ports. So it is a busy harbor and the most northern of all US shipping ports.

As we make the final turn towards the city, DeMillo’s Marina is apparent dead head. The large ferry they have converted into a floating restaurant is their distinctive landmark.  A quick call ashore and we have directions to our slip where a dock hand is waiting to take our lines and tie us up.  While expensive at $3.95/foot, they are the only game in town that has immediate, walking access to the city and all of the other amenities we want and need (showers, laundry, wifi, security, the restaurant).  In a half-hours time, our crew has merged on main street with the hundreds of other tourists out seeing the sights and enjoying this sunny, summers day.

The evening finds us back on board for a late BBQ dinner and early to bed after a very full, but enjoyable day.

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Portsmouth to Kennebunkport, Maine

8/11

From: Latitude: 43:03.44 N   Longitude: 070:43.57 W

To:   Latitude: 43:21.32 N    Longitude:  070:28.44 W

Weather: cloudy becoming rain   Wind: 240⁰ at 5-10 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1002   Passage time:  3 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2175   Fuel used/on board:  5435/570

End Engine Hours:  2178   Fuel used/on board:  5443/562

Distance trip/to Date:  22/13,708

Off the dock at 0930…stuck firmly in the mud at 0935 due to one of those senior moments when you forget which side of the red buoy you are supposed to be on but with my excuse of just passing the fuel dock which was in deep water.  Thanks to the rising tide and the passing wake of a lobster boat we were able to slip off within a few minutes and minimal embarrassment.  By now the bottom of our keel must be nice and shiny - certainly all of the bottom paint is gone. I’m looking forward to hauling the old girl next month to see the results of two mud groundings and thumping over the log strewn bottom on the Dismal Swamp.

Substantial rain was in the forecast for today but with the Doppler weather radar it is easy to time our travel between the approaching storms. There has been little wind making the 22-mile passage smooth and flat.  We stayed close to the shore so we could enjoy the scenery in spite of the pain dodging so many traps and were rewarded with close passes by two outstanding lighthouses.   We even had some sunshine around noon as we approached the breakwater lined entrance to the Kennebunk River.

Chick’s Marina, our stop for tonight, happily is just a mile up this very windy, narrow waterway that is only 5′ deep controlled depth.  Coming in on a flood at about 4′ above MLW certainly helps reduce the SPF (sweaty palms factor). Two dock boys are already standing by to catch our lines as we reach our spot on the long face dock of this small, but well organized marina and we are quickly secured and ready to go ashore for the first time in Maine, 13,708 miles since we began in April of 2007.

A short walk to town and the crew is soon enjoying the quaint ambiance of Kennebunkport along with a surprising number of other tourists on this rain threatened Tuesday.  The shops are interesting and varied, lots of tempting restaurants and good things to eat, even the brew pub home of Old Shipyard Ale are all on our very walk able tour. I also managed to work in a quick haircut along the way without even being missed by rest of the Wandering Star gang.

Tonight, it’s off to the casual elegance of  Mabel’s at the Old White Barn Inn. A favorite, we are told, of George and Barbara’s (Bush) when they are in summer residence just up the road.

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 Newburyport to Portsmouth, New Hampshire

8/10   Monday

From: Latitude: 42:48.78 N  Longitude : 070:52.16 W

To:   Latitude: 43:03.44 N    Longitude  070:43.57 W

Weather: cloudy becoming sunny   Wind: 240⁰ at 5-10 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1002   Passage time:  3 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2172   Fuel used/on board:  5429/576

End Engine Hours:  2175   Fuel used/on board:  5435/570

Distance trip/to Date:  18/13,686

We were able to take our time getting away this morning while waiting for slack water to go out over the river’s bar.  I spent my free time at first light taking a 12-mile bike ride across the bridge to the beach town of Salisbury and back while Jo took her walk and Heather took up the bike once I returned.  We were all back on board and ready to shove off on the 0951 slack water for the 18-mile harbor hop to Portsmouth.

In talking to the locals, we discovered that the Merrimack River Bar can be the most dangerous harbor entrance on the east coast.  It compares nationally as only second to the Columbia River Bar on the Oregon coast in nastiness under the right conditions and many ships have met their fate in its grasp.  But thankfully those conditions occur most often during a Nor’easter in the winter and today it was a smooth as Golden Pond.

While cloudy enough to look like rain was eminent all morning, the sun broke out just as we turned the corner and made our way the short run up the Piscataqua River to our new home for tonight at the very deluxe, Wentworth by the Sea Marina.  It comes complete with pool, a grand old historic hotel were we have full privileges and, most important, the courtesy car we needed to pick up Ted at the bus station as well as doing some provisioning. While there is a city dock right in the town of Portsmouth, our reconnaissance later showed it to be, as rolly and miserable as promised in the cruising guide so we made the right, but expensive choice ($3.50/foot).

Once we had Ted and our groceries in hand, it was back to WS for an afternoon of settling in, resting up, and BBQ dinner on board followed by a marketing meeting about H & T’s new business, The Mountain Fitness Center in Big Bear Lake.

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Gloucester to Newburyport

8/8   Saturday

From: Latitude: 42:36.63 N  Longitude : 070:35.33 W

To:   Latitude: 42:48.78 N    Longitude  070:52.16 W

Weather: clear   Wind: 270⁰ at 15-20 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1014   Passage time:  4.5 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2168   Fuel used/on board:  5419/586

End Engine Hours:  2172   Fuel used/on board:  5429/576

Distance trip/to Date:  27/13,668

A beautiful morning as we steamed out of Gloucester Harbor, except for the boy waving goodbye from the lighthouse rocks, it was identical to the final morning of the long-line boats as they left here in Perfect Storm. Our passage, thankfully was a bit milder than theirs with 1-2 foot waves and little wind as we rounded the often turbulent Cape Ann. Thacker Island sits just off the eastern most end of the Cape and features two identical lighthouses dating back to the British that are less than a quarter mile apart and line up directly with True North.  We are told that this was done so departing ships could check their compasses for accuracy for a safe return.

Once around the point, it is a straight run across 10-miles of the Gulf of Maine to Newburyport, our last stop in Massachusetts.  This little known town has a rich history dating back to when it was the major east coast port for all the clipper ships that made the cargo runs to Europe and beyond. Now it is a very popular tourist town with some of the nicest shops and restaurants we’ve seen anywhere since Annapolis. It has that same feel, steeped in nautical traditions of the sea, as well. Even our Coast Guard was originally started here.

The town is located a couple of miles up the Merrimack River and like so many river entrances on the northern west coast, we must cross over a bar of shallow and sometimes rough water to gain admittance. At half a rising tide, it holds good for our 5′ draft but I wouldn’t try it on anything less.  As our good fortune would have it, we found space that just had been vacated on the long city dock that is part of their waterfront walk and right in the heart of the downtown scene.

We had an excellent lunch ashore, followed by a look around town before we settled in back on board to be part of the scenery for the hundreds of tourist walking the waterfront well into the evening. Dinner on board and a few games of Rummy Cube finished off a nice summers day.

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Salem to Gloucester

8/7   Friday

From: Latitude: 42:51.25 N    Longitude : 070:52.91 W

To:   Latitude: 42:36.63 N    Longitude  070:35.33 W

Weather: clear   Wind: 280⁰ at 15-20 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1007   Passage time:  2 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2166  Fuel used/on board:  5415/590

End Engine Hours:  2168   Fuel used/on board:  5419/586

Distance trip/to Date:  12/13,641

Today was our lucky day…we finally ran over a lobster trap buoy but didn’t get it caught in the prop!  Besides being hard to see and so prolific, this happened because we had to evade a crossing boat under sail and a red harbor buoy so the only choice was to go over it or hit something else much bigger and harder.  We could hear it clunk all along the keel but somehow it missed getting tangled up in our prop spinning at 1520 RPMs. We do have a line cutter fixed to the prop shaft that spins with the shaft against a fixed blade as the last hope but the buoy didn’t come loose so I assume it was fine after our encounter.

Otherwise it was a beautiful day for the short, 12-mile run over to Gloucester Harbor.  The sky was clear and the winds were offshore at less than 20-knots for the passage.  The harbor entrance is well protected form the dreaded Nor’easters but wide open for us to enter from the south. Once inside, we easily picked up our pre-assigned mooring ball right in the split between the north and south inner harbor channels and were quickly secure for our over night stay.

Without a public launch service, we launched our dinghy, had a bite to eat for lunch, and then were off to explore this famous little fishing town by 1:30 PM.  After a quick stop at the Harbormasters Office, we roamed the streets in search of an authentic Sou’wester hat for me.  These beauties were developed in the 1800’s and made of sail cloth covered in linseed oil (waterproofing) and lampblack for their dark color.  They kept the water out of your eyes with a turned up front gutter and from going down your neck with a wide brim down the back. They are called Sou’wester’s because that would be the direction you needed to face when a Nor’easter was blowing.

Besides finding my hat we visited the well known statue of the “Gloucester Fisherman” and the memorial to the over 8,000 from this town who have been lost at sea, met the mayor, had a beer in the old Crow’s Nest bar of Perfect Storm fame, and a great lobster dinner at Capt Carlo’s on the pier.  All in all, it was a great day on the waterfront as we headed back to WS to secure the dinghy before dark and get to bed early for tomorrows passage around Cape Ann, the last sometimes treacherous cape of our voyage.

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Boston to Salem

8/6   Thursday

From: Latitude: 42:22.22  N    Longitude : 071:03.57 W

To:   Latitude: 42:51.25 N    Longitude  070:52.91 W

Weather: partly cloudy   Wind: 265⁰ at 5-10 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1007   Passage time:  4 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2162   Fuel used/on board:  5407/598

End Engine Hours:  2166   Fuel used/on board:  5415/590

Distance trip/to Date:  22/13,628

Time to leave Boston at last.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s been a great stay here but we are anxious to get north and complete our goal, to establish “The Big-U” as a very doable trawler experience (more on that later).  Now that Heather is on board, we are ready to go.  Heather and Ted have been able to join us in all four corners of our 3-year odyssey.  They were with us in Alaska, Mexico, St Lucia, and now here for the final leg to Maine.

Our nav system indicated that 0822 was the best time for time and tides to make the short, 22-mile hop over to Salem so everyone had some time to do their early morning activities - Heather took a run, Jo her walk, and I got WS ready to leave port. By 0820, we were all on board and ready to push off.

If you recall from coming in, it takes a good half hour just to get clear of Boston Harbor.  Inbound traffic was light this morning so exiting went easily and soon we were back to dodging lobster traps as we made our way up the coast.  Aside from these nuisances, working our way around the east end of Marblehead Neck with its shallows, shoals and rocks was the only thing worth mentioning in the way of a boating experience.  Once inside Salem Harbor, it is just a matter of finding your way through a very full mooring field with hundreds of boats to get to the Hawthorne Cove Marina, our stop for tonight.

Since Boston we have started to experience the effects of the extreme tidal changes common to many northern latitudes.  In Salem, the present 10-foot difference between high and low can easily make the difference between being in the mud and cruising in 12-feet of water to where you want to go.  This morning, we arrived at near high tide so we had the luxury of room to maneuver as we waited for the dockboys to assign us to a space and tie WS up. It would have been much more difficult at low tide in the tight quarters of these small marinas, especially with the crowed moorings covering all floatable water space in the harbor.

Once WS is secure, it did not take us long to have lunch and be off to explore the witch crazy town of Salem.  The locals, to their credit, have taken a very dubious past incident from 1692 when they hung 19 “witches” and turned it into a major area tourist attraction.  There are stores named Broom Closet, Crow Haven Corner, Old World Wichery, and even an Angeles Landing just to balance things out I guess.  There are witch museums, witch villages, witch dungeons, nightmare factories and a popular, long running stage play every night about the famous Salem witch trials of that era.  Added to the witch mania is a nice, but small maritime park featuring the old square rigger Freedom (out of town for refitting during our visit) to amuse the less witch inclined so they do a nice tourist business here during the short summer season.

In about four hours, we were able to see most everything of interest to us, spend some time in at a local farmers market, and be back on board for dinner and a movie.  Tonight’s feature was the epic “Perfect Storm” which was based on the rugged life of the long-line sword fisherman of Gloucester, our next port of call.

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Boston

8/1   Saturday to Wednesday

If you’ve never been to Boston in the summer, you’ve really missed something.  This place is alive with people.  Last night, we walked around Little Italy in North Boston. The sidewalks were so busy with folks out having a good time you could hardly get by without stepping into the street. Of course, you won’t want to miss the Freedom Trail, one of the most historical 2.5 mile walks you can take anywhere. The passionate sports fans have their lovable Sox conveniently reachable from anywhere by subway.  Then there are the hundreds of great places to eat, second only (perhaps) to NYC   All of this served up against a backdrop of life on the water and sea lore.  If only the friendly locals wouldn’t talk with a mouth full of marbles it would be perfect!

I even found a guy that makes the most exquisite model ships (a long time passion of mine) that lives just over the bridge from our marina and he lets me stop by anytime to watch him at work. A former MIT prof, Pat has on display the most detailed collection of old ships I have ever seen…it rivals even museum quality, all made by him to scale from the original blueprints or drawings right down to the individually placing of the copper plates that often covered their wooden hulls.

We like it so much here, we’ve decided to stay for a few extra days, $3/foot/day dock fees be damned, to wait for our daughter Heather to join us for the ride north.  She gets in on Wednesday night so we will have plenty of time to soak up all there is to see and do and even get in some work on WS if fun time allows. Then it is off to Salem, followed by Gloucester, Newburyport, and, Portsmouth (Ted will join us here), before our first port in Maine; Kennebunkport, then on to Portland where we will drop off Heather and Ted before we continue to march up the coast another 140-miles to our ultimate destination of Bar Harbor.

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Plymouth to Boston

7/31    Friday

From: Latitude: 41:57.67 N    Longitude : 070:39.69 W

To:   Latitude: 42:22.22 N    Longitude 71:03.57 W

Weather: clear to stormy   Wind: 175⁰ at 10-14 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1007   Passage time:  6 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2156   Fuel used/on board:  5392/613

End Engine Hours:  2162   Fuel used/on board:  5407/598

Distance trip/to Date:  40/13,606

A beautiful day’s passage to Boston was spoiled, at the end, by a rain storm that was not supposed to hit till later in the afternoon.  We woke to a clear, sunny morning, left our mooring ball right on schedule at 0650 and made our way out though the long circuitous channel to the first waypoint by 0730.  Then it was just a matter of dodging hundreds of lobster traps the entire 40-miles to the entrance to Boston Harbor.

We seem to see a pattern developing here. All of the harbors are a long ways back in a bay or up a river so it takes a fair amount of time at the beginning and end of each passage just to get in and out of port.  With Boston, it was just about an hour after it took over a half hour to leave Plymouth. Then we had perfect weather the whole 4-hours at sea only to watch with frustration as the approaching rain on the Nexrad radar beat us to our marina while we were still on the long approach into Boston Harbor.

By the way, we get the Nexrad images through http://www.wunderground.com after entering the zip code for the area we are in and marking as “favorites” the cities in our future.  Next to Buoy weather, http://www.buoyweather.com, which we have relied on for wave heights since are early days of cruising the Channel Islands in California, we like Wunderground’s versatility, good 7-day forecasts, and ease of use. Offshore and down island other factors come into play like an absence of internet access so phone in/fee for services like Commanders Weather (1-603-882-6789) help make the tough go or no-go decisions when all else fails.

The Boston Harbor approach involves working your way around or through a dozen off shore islands that are great for day cruising from Boston but stand right in the way of a clean entry.  Today we used the end of the South Approach, after taking a shortcut across water too shallow for the big boys, to get to President Roads (the big ship entry channel) and the entrance to the Charles River.  By the time we passed Boston’s City Docks, it was really coming down so we knew a wet landing was not going to be avoided.

Constitution Marina is ideally located just before the bridges and locks that guard the entrance to the Charles and we had our slip assignment by phone before we made the final turn and spotted two very wet dock boys waiting to help with our lines.  As it turned out, the first slip was two small for our girl’s broad beam so we had to do a180 in very close quarters and take a wider slip on the opposite side.  Once secure, we just battened down the hatches and waited about an hour for the first wave of the storm to pass through the area.

We like this marina for it’s proximity to North Boston, location on the “Freedom Trail” and friendly, helpful staff with out the much higher slip rates (a $1/foot more) just across the water.  Umbrellas in hand, your crew is soon off between storms exploring our Charlestown side of the city with a walk up to the top of Bunker Hill and a visit to the old historic “Warren Pub” where the likes of Jefferson and Washington stopped in for a brew to plan the Revolution so many years ago. A much damper forecast for the evening, kept us on board tonight where we began to make plans for touring the city in sunshine tomorrow and the rest of our voyage up the New England Coast.

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Woods Hole to Plymouth via the Cape Cod Canal

7/29    Wednesday

From: Latitude: 41:31.50 N    Longitude : 070:41.23 W

To:   Latitude: 41:57.67 N    Longitude 070:39.69 W

Weather: overcast some fog  Wind: 195⁰ at 10-14 kts. SEA:  3

Barometer: 1004   Passage time:  6 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2150   Fuel used/on board:  5377/627

End Engine Hours:  2156   Fuel used/on board:  5392/613

Distance trip/to Date:  42/13,566

Today is all about timing as we transit the Cape Cod Canal that cuts across the long arm of Cape Cod and saves 135-miles of open ocean exposure (see the “Chart of Voyage” map website section).  The tidal driven current gets flowing so fast through this canal that we must arrive at the beginning of the flood to have a chance of getting through its 17-miles of waterway.  East bound boats can expect a 2 to 4-knot push when transiting on the flood while the ebb would be 2-4 knots against them - not a reasonable alternative when you only go 7-knots at cruise speed.

Our magic moment for the start of the flood this morning was 0953. Taking into account the couple of hours it will take us to get out of Woods Hole and across the remainder of Buzzard Bay and into the canals long approach channel, we needed to be off the dock in time for the 0800 bridge opening out of Ell Pond.  Thankfully, there was not any fog to slow us down so we made it to the canal entrance on time just as the current switched from ebb to flood.  Here we were joined by a small armada of other cruising boats who have been waiting in the canals western anchorage to do the same passage.

The canal itself is wide and beautiful as it gently snakes across the Cape Cod peninsula.  With very little oncoming traffic, we can spread out and WS passes the smaller sailboats with ease and is leading the charge by the exit onto Cape Cod Bay.  From here it is just an and easy, 16-mile putt up the Bay to Plymouth where we take a mooring just off the Mayflower II overlooking this historic town.  The oldest street in North America is just off our bow and with the complementary shuttle launch from Plymouth, Jo and I are soon out for an afternoon walk with all the other tourists the length and breath of the town.

With rain looking eminent, we head back to WS for the evening deciding to stay an extra day for the Yacht Club’s dinner tomorrow night and a chance to meet some of the members and take in more of the hospitality.  Tonight it will be BBQ steaks on board WS with a wonderful DVD program on classical music Dottie & Ken gave us last Christmas.

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Block Island to Wood Hole, Massachusetts

7/28    Tuesday

From: Latitude: 40:11.42 N    Longitude 071:34.68 W

To:   Latitude: 41:31.50 N    Longitude: 070:41.23 W

Weather: fog sunny late Wind: 190⁰ at 8-10 kts. SEA:  3

Barometer: 1007   Passage time:  7 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2143   Fuel used/on board:  5361/637

End Engine Hours:  2150   Fuel used/on board:  5377/627

Distance trip/to Date:  49/13,572

Pulled up our well buried anchor this morning in the densest fog yet. We don’t like traveling in fog, especially when one needs to thread their way out a narrow breakwater entrance, but up here in the Northeast, it sometimes just can’t be helped if you ever need to move the boat early in the AM.  Today’s 49-mile, 7-hour journey to Woods Hole was such an occasion so off we went, basically flying by instruments.

Once we were free of the Great Salt Pond on Block Island, it is just a matter of not running into another boat or over the hard to see anyways, crab traps. It just takes constant vigilance by the crew to do both for 7-hours or until the fog lifts which today did not happen till after lunch.  The seas and winds have backed down considerable from yesterdays more trying crossing so all in all it was a nice passage up Buzzard Bay to the Hole entrance.

Woods Hole is world renowned for its oceanographic Institutes. Harvard, Yale and many other East Coast Universities all have a presence here.  It has always been a favorite vacation spot or summer home refuge at the end of the road just down the peninsula from Cape Cod.  For us boaters, it offer access from Buzzard Bay to the Atlantic, through a very current dominated channel as well as a small, limited access back bay, called Ell Pond where we were able to score one of the only open slips at the 26-slip Woods Hole Marina.  To get into the Pond, we had to pass through the smallest bascule bridge yet - just 20′ wide (WS is 16″) and only 4′ of clearance when closed.

Once inside, marina manager Buzz directed us to a tiny slip which was wide enough but only 25′ long so WS stuck out a good 20-foot into the channel.  Fortunately, it is quiet enough water back in here so the lack of bow cleats was not a problem.  Soon, we were off to explore the Oceanographic (the exploration of the Titanic originated from here) and the local Historic museums, just two of the many this town is known for, and to see the sights.  Dinner was dockside at a Hawaii Fusion restaurant of all things, overlooking WS. The annual WH Film festival was going on too so we sat in on a screening of “American Casino, a depressing film about the recent crisis in our financial system, before heading home.

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Mystic Seaport to Block Island, Rhode Island

7/27   Monday

From: Latitude: 41:58.18 N    Longitude 071:58.18 W

To:   Latitude: 40:11.42 N    Longitude: 071:34.68 W

Weather: sunny some clouds Wind: 190⁰ at 15-20 kts. SEA:  4

Barometer: 1008   Passage time:  4 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2138   Fuel used/on board:  5351/647

End Engine Hours:  2143   Fuel used/on board:  5361/637

Distance trip/to Date:  24/13,525

We were able to delay our departure this morning long enough to get in a nice last bike ride around old Mystic and for Jo to take her long walk.  Around 1015, we finally dropped the dock lines only to be delayed another 20-minutes for two passing trains which kept the railroad closed till 1035. Once we do get going, it still takes a good hour just to get down the Mystic River, out through Fishers Sound, and then finally into the Block Island Channel.

It’s a 24-mile run over to Block Island in 3-6 foot swells off the starboard bow…not all that comfortable but doable for WS.  The real surprise came as we entered The Great Salt Pond breakwater on Block Island.  The wind immediately picked up to 30+ knots with gusts as high as 40.  We had thought about grabbing a mooring for our overnight stay but the Harbormaster was not ready to bother to find us one till after 3 o’clock, a half-hour wait so we decided to drop the anchor and save the $40 instead.

After one practice drop, which wound up two close to other boats, we got it right and settled back on 200′ of chain in the 35′ of water. With our anchor rode bridle in place, it will be the equivalent of 250′ of scope which should hold us secure even in this wind. As the afternoon past, the wind did back down to a more reasonable 15 to 20-knots but still it was hardly conducive to launching the dinghy and going ashore.

While disappointed not to be able to see Block Island up close and personal, we did have a nice evening on board just relaxing and getting back in our cruising mode…BBQ dinner followed by a little TV and early to bed - all without a party - what a concept!.

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Mystic Seaport

7/24 - 7/26   Friday to Sunday

Lot’s of fun here so I want to share some of the highlights.  Cousins Bob & Paula Walker, sister Audrey & brother Don along with niece Lexie were all here for a long weekend get together including a dinner party at Bob’s Yacht Club, an old fashioned New England style beach BBQ (steamers, saltwater soaked corn on the cob, salmon, tuna, & steak), touring the quant shops in the town of Mystic, and Jo & I spending Saturday at the Mystic Seaport Museum.

It was the antique boat show this weekend at Seaport with vintage sail boats gong back to the turn of the century as well as the beautiful early wood Chris Crafts runabouts and Trumpy luxury yachts.  They also have the Charles Morgan (early whaling ship) out of the water for a three-year refit.  I’ve been building a scale-model of her for a couple of years when at home so it was especially great to be aboard her in person.

When you throw in some provisioning, Jo’s hair salon visit, boat chores, touring the countryside with my cousin’s borrowed car, breakfast at the historic old Stonington Village just east of here and a farewell dinner with Bob & Paula at the S&P Oyster Co on Sunday night, it has been a very full weekend indeed.

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Threemile Harbor to Mystic Seaport, Connecticut

7/23   Thursday

From: Latitude: 41:00.86 N    Longitude 072:11.52 W

To:   Latitude: 41:58.18 N    Longitude: 071:58.18 W

Weather: fog Wind: 090⁰ at 10-15 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1011   Passage time:  4 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2134   Fuel used/on board:  5341/657

End Engine Hours:  2135   Fuel used/on board:  5351/647

Distance trip/to Date:  24/13,501

We woke up this morning floating suspended in a “pea soup” fog.  At times, I could hardly see the front end of WS let alone the few boats around us. Fortunately, by 0830 it lifted just enough for us to make out the shore across the bay so we could up anchor and feel our way out of this peaceful place.  The hour delay in our departure allowed the incoming tide to be in full race against us at over 2-knots as we threaded our way out the narrow, Threemile Harbor entrance.

Once out at sea, the current settled back down to a knot on the beam but the fog would open and close all the way across the 20-miles of sound to Fisher Island just off Mystic River.  At Race Rock, on the south tip of Fisher, we experienced the full effect of the incoming tide as it rushed to fill the 100-miles of Long Island Sound.  At times, the auto pilot had to point WS a full 40^o more to the east just to stay on the course line and we still would have lost ground if I had not increased the throttle to full speed ahead.

Fortunately, as we rounded the North Dumpling lighthouse, it cleared enough for us to make an easy entry into the Mystic River and find our way up stream to Seaport Marina, our home for the next several days. A quick call on VHF13 to the operator of the railroad bridge just before Mystic let us know a train was coming so we had to crank up to top speed again and race thru the bridge opening before the train came…very exciting.

Seaport Marina is located right in the town of Mystic so once we were tied up, your crew was off to see the sights and find the S & P Oyster Company for lunch.  We stopped in Mystic on a road trip when Heather was just five. We loved it then and it has always been on our bucket list to come back again by sea so here we are at last.

Rain was on its way any minute as we took a quick look around town and made it back to WS just as the clouds finally let go.  Evening was quiet time on board with the back ground sound of rain on the overhead decks of WS - a very nice day indeed and great to be back in Mystic on our own boat after 30-years.

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Threemile Harbor at anchor

7/21 & 7/22   Tuesday - Wednesday

We decided to take a couple of days off in this perfectly protected, uncrowded anchorage after the fast paced, but fun week it took to get here. Probably a good thing we did too because it rained on and off all day Tuesday - the first serious rain we have had in a couple of weeks.  Jo and I have always enjoyed rain days to catch up on our writing and just to lazily lay about and read.  What a treat!

On Wednesday, it was sunny and warm, a perfect day to dinghy ashore, rent a car and tour the Hamptons so off we went by nine AM. This area is best known for its huge, multi-million dollar estates but you get no sense of this just driving around.  The only things you see are the modest homes and quaint villages the locals and tourist enjoy. The big estates are simply not visible from the public roads.  It is only when you stop and check the listings in a real estate office window that all start at several million and head upwards of 30 and 40 million that the true cost of living out here apparent.

We had lunch in Montauk (the far east end on Long Island), shopped in East Broughton and drove through Bridgehampton in just a few hours time before turning our car back into Enterprise and getting a ride back to our dinghy at Threemile Harbor. Of the three villages, East Hampton is the most up-market mostly featuring dozens of designer dress shops. Montauk, somewhat to our surprise, was just the opposite. It was a very modest beach town that seemed to cater to mostly vacationing, blue-collar families from the rest of the state.

By five, we were back on board WS, the dinghy was stowed and we settled in for another nice quiet evening at anchor.

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Sag Harbor to Threemile Harbor

7/20   Monday

From: Latitude: 41:00.15 N    Longitude 072:17.49 W

To:   Latitude: 41:00.86 N    Longitude: 072:11.52 W

Weather: sunny Wind: 090⁰ at 8-10 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1014   Passage time:  2 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2133   Fuel used/on board:  5339/660

End Engine Hours:  2134   Fuel used/on board:  5341/657

Distance trip/to Date:  9/13,477

Friends Jim & Pam caught the noon train back to JFK so after a quick trip to the market, we said goodbye to Sag Harbor and continued east.  Our next stop is just around the corner in an almost completely enclosed bay with an excellent anchorage.  After a several weeks of dock fees and the hustle bustle of marinas, it is good to out on the hook again. It’s only 9-miles from Sag to Threemile Harbor so by 1:30 we were already circling the 12-foot deep bay water looking for a likely spot to anchor and settle in for the night.

At the far, south end of this bay up another narrow cut is the access to the town of East Hampton touted as “America’s most beautiful village.”  We may stay another day to check out what all the fuss is all about and use this opportunity see at least some of the famous “Hamptons” along the southern shore of Long Island.  But for tonight, it’s just the two of us for dinner and a movie again as we spend a quiet night on board our great little ship that neither of us would trade for a mega yachts even if we could afford any one of them.

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Greenport to Sag Harbor

7/19   Sunday

From: Latitude: 40:06.02 N    Longitude 072:21.60 W

To:   Latitude: 41:00.15 N    Longitude: 072:17.49 W

Weather: sunny Wind: 260⁰ at 8-10 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1011   Passage time:  2 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2131   Fuel used/on board:  5335/664

End Engine Hours:  2133   Fuel used/on board:  5339/660

Distance trip/to Date:  11/13,468

Just a short harbor to harbor hop this morning so we are in no hurry to leave Greenport.  Our crew got up to our traditional Sunday morning custom omelets on board then walked over to the local Starbucks and the grocery before finally getting underway at 1110.   Today 11-mile passage will take us another third of the way around Shelter Island to the very popular (and pricey) Sag Harbor Yacht Club Marina.

The several bays we pass though are very busy today with local boaters enjoying the beautiful weather and their wakes provide the only waves for most of the journey.  Once we are backed into our assigned slip for the night, we are off to do a quick tour of the town and to pick a place for our farewell dinner tonight. Jim and Pam will be jumping ship here to take the train back to JFK and Los Angeles in the morning.

Sag Harbor is a nice town that has worked very hard to develop a tourism industry which is about the only industry that remains this far out on Long Island besides real estate.  It has plenty of cute shops and the typical tourist attractions but we felt Greenport was better setup for boaters and more convenient.  Still Sag remains the place to be seen if you are in the mega-yacht society.

Jimmy Buffets “Continental Drifter III” was just leaving the other dozen mega yachts parked here as we were pulling into the harbor. Once we were docked, Jim figured out the 102′ Broward yacht from Daytona just behind us named ‘Hi Banx” belongs to the Francis family, the owners of NASCAR.  Unusually, you have no idea who owns any of these huge yachts as it is a well kept secret so it is fun to identify two owners in a row.

Dinner was at the old American Hotel restaurant on Main Street which was probably the most up scale place in town and was quite good by any standard.  The wine list, while huge (30-40 pages), was shockingly expensive which seems to be the trend we are seeing as we move around the northeast and divinely discourages that second bottle unless you bring your own which we did tonight.  After dinner, it was a final stroll though town back to WS for a nightcap before turning in by midnight. Jo and I will be sad to loose our guests in the morning as it has been really fun having them on board for the 100-miles to get here from New York City.

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Greenport

7/18    Saturday

Our crew took a much deserved day off today after four mornings at sea exploring the harbors of South Long Island Sound.  It did seem a little strange to start off what was supposed to be a day on shore by immediately taking the ferry over to nearby Shelter Island.  Here we walked a mile to a rental bike shop and then did a 10-mile pedal tour across this island of beautiful homes and rural, wooded roads. All this exercise led to a nice lunch at the quaint Dory restaurant before heading back on the ferry to Greenport.

Next it was off to the movies for the afternoon matinee before returning to WS for the happy hour concert we could enjoy right from our fly bridge from nearby Claudio’s Clam Bar.  Dinner was on board tonight made up from all the leftovers from yesterdays abundant dinner ashore. Not much energy left in the old crew after the full day so Jo & I had a last walk through the very active Saturday night town while our guests relaxed before turning in to the less than gentle strains of the evening’s rock band at the clam bar.

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Mt Sinai Harbor to Greenport

7/17    Friday

From: Latitude: 40:02.30 N    Longitude 073:02.30 W

To:   Latitude: 40:06.02 N    Longitude: 072:21.60 W

Weather: sunny Wind: 095⁰ at 8-12 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1002   Passage time:  7 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2124   Fuel used/on board:  5318/680

End Engine Hours:  2131   Fuel used/on board:  5335/664

Distance trip/to Date:  49/13,457

We are off to Greenport today, the longest leg of our voyage.  It took us just 7-hours to cover the 49-miles in calm seas and light winds to the end of Long Island and make the turn through Plum Cut into the large bay surrounding Shelter Island and Greenport.

To get in early on what promised to be a busy summer weekend for boating, we had to be off the MSYC docks by first light and clear of their breakwater by 0600. Even so we didn’t get into the Greenport City Docks at Mitchell Park till 1230 just as a visiting Yacht Club from Connecticut were starting to arrive.  Luckily we were still in time to get a good, inside the breakwater position, on the long fixed dock.

The marina is in a great position for a walking tour to most everything in town and handy to the Shelter Island Ferry as well.  Greenport has a long boating tradition going back to the original colonies and then then early whalers that were based here. Things haven’t changed much today as now it is now the crossroads for pleasure boats of all sizes looking for a good time place to stay on the water.

Our crew spent the afternoon touring the town before enjoying happy hour on our top deck followed by an memorable dinner at Caudio’s, the oldest single family owned restaurant in the US dating back to 1870.  The food was good too as was the service which is nice to find in an obviously tourist based business.  Then it was early to bed for all hands after the long but well rounded day of boating and exploring our new port.

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Huntington Harbor to Mt Sinai Harbor

7/16   Thursday

From: Latitude: 40:53.80 N    Longitude 073:25.30 W

To:   Latitude: 40:02.30 N    Longitude: 073:02.30 W

Weather: sunny Wind: 178⁰ at 9-12 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1002   Passage time:  3 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2121   Fuel used/on board:  5311/687

End Engine Hours:  2124   Fuel used/on board:  5318/680

Distance trip/to Date:  21/13,408

This morning was another easy passage of only 21-miles but with just a touch more wind and an increased chance of rain that never materialized.  The sound is as flat as a pond and I’ve seen more waves on Big Bear Lake than we’ve experienced on Long Island Sound so far.  I’m sure it must kick up quite a bit during a Nor’easter but it’s hard to imagine under these conditions.

The trip between the two well protected harbors takes only three hours but they are as different as they are interesting.  Where Huntington has more activity, more obvious affluence and more to do, Mt Sinai is more peaceful, remote and serene.  The Huntington Harbor Yacht Clubs is impersonal and business like, Mt Sinai’s club is friendly, down to earth, and interested in just having a good time.  The members also went way out of their way to be sure we felt welcome and even sent a committee down to offer a Burgee exchange and our Ventura Yacht Club flag now hangs proudly in their club house.

Our crew joined a very animated group of members for tasty lunch on the Club’s deck overlooking the marina which was busy even on a Thursday. Then the crew had a needed afternoon off from touring and sightseeing just to enjoy the cool afternoon on WS.  Our evening BBQ salmon dinner with fine wine was on board and was followed by a rousing game of Rummy Cube till lights out.  It will be an early departure tomorrow with a 50+ mile final run to the east end of the sound to the boating town of Greenport at first light.

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Manhasset Bay to Huntington Harbor

7/15  Wednesday

From: Latitude: 40:50.15 N    Longitude 073:43.36 W

To:   Latitude: 40:53.80 N    Longitude: 073:25.30 W

Weather: sunny Wind: 270⁰ at 6-10 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1012   Passage time:  3 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2118   Fuel used/on board:  5304/694

End Engine Hours:  2121   Fuel used/on board:  5311/687

Distance trip/to Date: 21/13,387

Another short, easy passage on Long Island Sound. This cruise so far is such a leisurely pace compared to the grueling, 50-plus miles a day it took to get here.  We left our marina side tie at 9AM and were secure in are new slip in the Huntington Yacht Club by noon.  With virtually no wind, the Sound was smooth as glass and even the sun was out to make it an ideal morning to cover the 21-miles.   The harbor itself is one on the best protected on the north coast, not that we need it today, and is chocker full of boats of all descriptions on mooring and the several marinas.  Obviously, we have found a very popular spot with boaters.

After lunch on board it was off on foot for the 2-mile plus walk to the town of Huntington and while far, it was worth the effort.  This town reminds us of the small, water oriented communities we found on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on WS I back in 2000.  It has unique, mom & pop shops and not the usual redundant franchises that have become the norm most everywhere else.  After a couple of hours we have covered it all, had our ice cream, and hired a cab to take us back to the Yacht Club to rest up for the evening activities.

Tonight is our night to eat out and we have selected “Prime” as the restaurant of choice out of dozens that abound in the area.  While the food was decent, the extensive wine list was extravagantly overpriced which took the fun out of ordering anything new. We did find a somewhat decent Australian Shiraz at $45/bottle that worked for us.

In talking to the locals, this town is still basically a bedroom community for NYC and most of the residents have high-end jobs on Wall Street and need to commute by train into the city the hour and a half each way each day…ugh!  But you can see why the boaters make this choice, to live by the water close to their boats in this ideal setting and, at least, they don’t have to drive.

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New York City to Manhasset Bay, Long Island Sound

7/14   Tuesday

From: Latitude: 40:43.54 N    Longitude 074:01.88 W

To:   Latitude: 40:50.15 N    Longitude: 073:43.36 W

Weather: sunny Wind: 315⁰ at 6-8 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1016   Passage time:  3 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2115   Fuel used/on board:  5298/700

End Engine Hours:  2118   Fuel used/on board:  5304/694

Distance trip/to Date: 21/13,366

It was a much more leisurely departure this morning than in recent memory.  We had time for a walk to the nearby Starbucks, a nice breakfast on board and then finally got underway by 0845 heading for the Battery end of Manhattan before turning up the East River.  The navigation planning objective here is to time the boats arrival at the Battery exactly two-hours after the tides low water (today’s was 0712) so that you can catch the flood up the River and all the way through Hell’s Gate right into Long Island Sound.

Traffic on the East River

After dodging a fair number of ferries, tugs with tows and work boats on the waterway, we make the turn into Hell’s Gate right on schedule.  We have a 1.5 knot current push, hitting speeds of almost 10-knots as we zip up this narrow connection joining NYC and to the Sound. We are not going far today, just a total of 21-miles to the Brewers Capri Marina on Manhasset Bay.  This gives us most of the afternoon to take the dinghy ashore in the small town of Port Washington, have a walk around, and then a beer at the local pub before heading back for relaxation on board for the afternoon.

Tonight, we spend our evening on board WS having a steak BBQ dinner, enjoying some fine wines and the great company as we celebrate the beginning of this weeks adventure.

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New York City

7/12 - 7/13   Sunday & Monday

After a nice couple of days refreshing WS, getting Jo over a chest cold, and seeing some of NYC Sunday life in Greenwich Village, we are ready to resume our cruise north to Maine.

We have really enjoyed our dock location here in Newport Marina on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River.  It has excellent spot close to shops, a major mall, ferry terminal, a subway stop to NYC and Michael Anthony’s, an excellent new restaurant right at the end of our gangway.  Its only disadvantage is a bit of roll you get during the weekday commuter hours from so many passing ferries but even that can be mitigated by taking a side tie on the long dock (for a slight increase in dock fees) further up the marina’s channel instead of a slip.

Jim & Pam Truran

On Monday, long time friends Jim & Pam from California, join the WS crew for this next week of exploring Long Island Sound.  Once they are settled into their crew’s quarters, we all head off to the handy super market to do a major provisioning followed by the usual happy hour on board and ending up with a great dinner at Michaels were we are treated like honored guests by the friendly wait staff.

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(Logs are posted with the most recent entry first) 

This is the end of Leg XIV.  It started in Florida just two months, over 1,400 miles ago.  ,.  It has been a quick trip to be sure but much less daunting doing it for the second time.  Probably, one could argue, we traveled too fast through some delightful places where others tend to stop for weeks but it is all part of the master cruising plan and we know we’ll be back through here again, probably a couple more times as we continue to enjoy the East Coast in 2010.Leg XV will take us all the way from New York through the New England States to Maine thus completing “The Big U,” the planned Alaska to Maine through the Panama Canal cruise.  Hope you will stay on board as we explore, what promises to be one of the most beautiful maritime areas in the Americas.

Manasquan Inlet to New York City - End of Leg XIV

7/11   Saturday

From: Latitude: 40:06.41 N    Longitude 074:02.93 W

To:   Latitude: 40:43.54 N    Longitude: 074:01.88 W

Weather: sunny Wind: 095⁰ at 6-8 kts. SEA:  2

Barometer: 1016   Passage time:  6 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2109   Fuel used/on board:  5283/759

End Engine Hours:  2115   Fuel used/on board:  5298/744

Distance trip/to Date: 41/13,345

Verrazanno Bridge entrance to New York Harbor

The home stretch run today was as nice as yesterday’s was ugly.  Smooth seas, no wind, with clear, blue skies . . . what a way to finish the last 40-miles to New York City.  Off the Hoffman’s dock at 0515, we are out the breakwater even before the fisherman this morning. Then we hugged the coast till the end of Sandy Hook; cut across the shallow flats to the deep water, big ship channel; passed under the Verrazanno Bridge; then into the busy NY harbor at last.  Next, WS passes close by both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island where our  friends Jim & Pam are out on the veranda to wave us in  (they are here for a wedding this Sunday and will join our crew for next weeks cruise of Long island Sound).

We’ve booked into the new Newport Marina on the Jersey side of the Hudson River for the weekend after staying at the pricy Liberty Landing, right across from where the World trade center use to be, on our previous visit.  What a pleasant surprise, not only is it cheaper here by almost half, it is in a much better location, walking distance close to high-end stores, the subway, ferries and most everything you would expect  from life in the big city.  While there is no fuel, chandleries or other boat services, that’s not why we are here anyways and we can’t wait to get off and hit the malls.

First, we need to get the salt off WS and give her a good general clean-up after a week on the move and the rough day at sea.  In a couple of hours, she is looking presentable again and we can head off with a clear conscience.  After shopping and a much needed hair cut,  Jo and I return to clean out the ship’s pantry.  There was stuff down there that has been on board since Mexico so it was not hard to fill three shopping bags with food for the local homeless. With Jo just recovering from a chest cold, we’ll take it easy tonight so we are in good shape to head over to explore the Big Apple tomorrow.

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Cape May to Brielle, Manasquan Inlet

7/10   Friday

From: Latitude: 38:57.04 N    Longitude 074:54.31 W

To:   Latitude: 40:06.41 N    Longitude: 074:02.93W

Weather: sunny Wind: 095⁰ at 6-8 kts. SEA:  4

Barometer: 1017   Passage time:  14 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2095   Fuel used/on board:  5248/555

End Engine Hours:  2109   Fuel used/on board:  5283/521+238

Distance trip/to Date: 86/13,304

The peaceful and calm of the early morning belies the long, wet, rough day at sea ahead for we mariners.  Thankfully, it is going to be sunny with very light winds all day which certainly helps make this 14-hour, 86-mile Atlantic Ocean bashing into 3′ to 6′ waves, mostly right on the nose, much more palatable. With the forecast getting worse for the weekend, this is the best weather we could expect till way into next week which would really mess up our schedule for meeting friends in NYC, Jim & Pam and heading north.

I’m really getting to like our pre-dawn departures. It’s just me and the fisherman usually moving out to sea in the mist and blue-grey light that often turns into a spectacular sunrise with the promise of adventure to come.  So it is this morning as our 0530 start  also takes advantage of some ebbing tide to help glide us out of the long harbor entrance in short order. Once we are clear of the breakwater though, it all breaks loose.

One might think that after 13,000 miles (thankfully not all of it like this), we would get conditioned to the constant movement and need to hold on for dear life just to stay seated much less move about but I don’t think your body ever does.  It is just physically very tiring using every muscle hour after hour to stay vertical.  Laying down is not easy either as you tend to roll around or even off a moving flat surface too.

We were about 5-miles offshore when we passed Atlantic City by sea for the second time (the last was in June 2000) without stopping in.  We’ll need to put that on the list to do on our Fall trip back south. By noon we seem to be through the worst of it as, at least, the seas are not quite as confused (coming from several directions at once).  My concern was that our course needed to gradually turn more and more to the north as we round the widest part of New Jersey.  This would make the present uncomfortable seas on the bow downright miserable directly on our beam.

The sea gods were very kind to us today.  It seemed with each turn we made all afternoon, the waves slowly diminished until our beam seas really were not as bad as they started and were even downright mellow as we made the final turn into the setting sun towards Manasquan Inlet.

It was 1930 (7:30 PM) by the time we finally came in the breakwater and reached our dock at the newly redone Hoffman’s Marina.  This is a small game fishing marina which wants to become known for tournaments and has a Mako shark one starting tomorrow at fist light.  The semi-resort town of Brielle is located here not far from Point Pleasant, New Jersey.

Once we are secured to the end of fuel dock where they will keep us for the night, we decide to put on a couple hundred gallons of fuel to bring us back up to full since it is so handy and notoriously expensive in New York State and beyond.  Then Jo and I head out for a short walk up the street to the Sand Bar Restaurant for a late dinner.  The local bars along the way are jumping with Friday night celebrants but we are not even tempted to join in and are just happy to get a hot meal and ino bed early for tomorrows final 40-mile jaunt to New York City.

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C & D Canal to Cape May, New Jersey

7/9  Thursday

From: Latitude: 39:31.56 N    Longitude 075:48.51 W

To:   Latitude: 38:57.04 N    Longitude: 074:54.31 W

Weather: partly cloudy Wind: 090⁰ at 10-16 kts. SEA:  Bay

Barometer: 1014   Passage time:  8.5 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2085   Fuel used/on board:  5224/575

End Engine Hours:  2095   Fuel used/on board:  5248/555

Distance trip/to Date: 566/13,218

Yet another early departure, this one to catch the flood tide and get a big push through the canal into the Delaware River. I weighed anchor and was out of our small cove by 0555.  The strategy worked great as we hit speeds of over nine knots with less RPM’s then we would ordinarily use to make 6-knots. This rush lasted about 20-miles down the River too until to tide inevitably turned and we were back in a struggle to make 6-knot against it’s 1.2 knots on our bow.  At the end of the day, it all balances out to some degree but without the early start, it would take an hour or two longer to make the same distance.

The rest of the 66-trip down the river is about as boring as boating can ever get..nothing to see on either side, especially during the lower half when it is so wide you can’t even see the shores.  Only the occasional challenge of sharing the narrow deep water center with a barge and tow or a huge oil tanker heading up river make for a relief from the tedium.

That all changes as you make the turn for the Cape May Canal, the “back door” into Cape May Harbor.  I had an adventure when here last in’00 too.  As I recall, our new Mainship 390 was on the third-day of our one-year Great Loop cruise when I turned too soon for the marina and went aground, filling the salt water cooling strainers with mud and while we got unstuck on our own having the engine shut down due to overheating - all within 10-minutes of entering this harbor.

Today’s drama, involved having a dredge’s hose stretched across the charted canal entrance channel with no indication of any sort telling us which way to go, only that there was shallow water in every direction.  As our luck would have it, some kind soul noticed our dilemma - probably because we stopped all forward progress and were just sitting there in center channel trying to figure it out - took pity and gave us some directions on the VHF radio.  While our chart showed only 4′ of water and our depth sounder showed only 5′ we slide over the former mud bar into deeper water on the other side.

We had toyed all day with the idea of going for another over nighter all the way to NYC. But with Jo not feeling well (cough and cold), the weather kicking up outside (4′ seas with 20-knots of wind), it was an easy decision just to stay here and start fresh in the early morning yet again.

One phone call and we find room at a very friendly Utsch’s Marina, followed by several more calls for some round about instructions that took us back over the shoal we had just crossed to finally get into their place and our slip for tonight.

Hopefully getting out of here in the morning will be easier with some newly gained local knowledge - even in the before dawn light.  For tonight, it will be early to bed again with the bright lights of Manhattan still over 100-miles away.

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Annapolis to Chesapeake City Anchorage, C & D Canal

7/8    Wednesday

From: Latitude: 38:58.58 N    Longitude 076:29.13 W

To:   Latitude: 39:31.56 N    Longitude: 075:48.51 W

Weather: sunny  Wind: 280⁰ at 10-16 kts. SEA:  Bay

Barometer: 1005   Passage time:  8 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2076   Fuel used/on board:  5204/585

End Engine Hours:  2085   Fuel used/on board:  5224/575

Distance trip/to Date: 50/13,152

Off to a rough start this morning.  The waters on the Bay were churned up with a 3′ chop on the nose and a 16-knot wind on the beam as we passed under the Lane Memorial Bridge heading north.  This is not easy to face after a night of revelry in old Annapolis. Fortunately, things continued to get better, both internally and outside as we continued up the Chesapeake and by early afternoon downright mellow again.

Today’s relatively short run of 50-miles in eight hours took us to the beginning of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal built in the days of Ben Franklin. It shortcuts the passage between these to large Bays making it possible to save the miles and time it would take to go the long way around.  It is a busy ditch with lots of commercial barge traffic mixed in with we fun boaters all going in both directions.  As you might imagine, the tides play a huge role in whipping up a strong current that head east on the flood and west on the ebb.

Not much room to stop along the canal itself so we opt to anchor for the night at Chesapeake City’s small anchorage just a few miles in on the Maryland side. The only other option is a rather pricey marina at mile 8 from the Delaware end. Our choice will make for a good start in the morning with a favorable current to push us through the 12-miles in a hurry.

We set the anchor in about 9-feet of water. After a very skinny water entrance, the cove opens up with room enough for about a half-dozen boats. Tonight we will share it with just two sailboats. I have the dinner roast on the Barbie before the sun sets over the quiet little town and we settle in for a much different night than the one in our most recent past. The contrasts of cruising are truly amazing!

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Smith Creek to Annapolis

7/7   Tuesday

From: Latitude: 38:07.27 N    Longitude 076:24.58 W

To:   Latitude: 38:58.58 N    Longitude: 076:29.13 W

Weather: sunny  Wind: 225⁰ at 6-10 kts. SEA:  Bay

Barometer: 1002   Passage time:  9.5 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2066   Fuel used/on board:  5176/623

End Engine Hours:  2076   Fuel used/on board:  5204/585

Distance trip/to Date: 67/13,102

We are out of the Potomac River by 0630 and on our way north again to Annapolis which is pretty much a straight run from here.  It is a perfect day, smooth water, light wind, and plenty of sunshine. A real day of leisure for the crew with not much to do or worry about.

We do begin to notice that small boat traffic is increasing some as this area we are entering is the yachting capitol of the Chesapeake.

Things get more interesting once you make the final turn towards Annapolis harbor.  The water gets shallow, lots of buoys and floats are everywhere, and suddenly boats of all sizes are heading in multiple directions.  For our dockage tonight, we made reservations at the Marriott “Marina” which turns out to only be a side tie to the wharf right in front of their waterfront Pusser’s Rum Bar on Ego Alley and not a marina at all.  Ego Alley is a long, narrow channel extending from the harbor 100-yards into the heart of downtown Annapolis and is notorious for the power boaters who like to cruise in and out to showoff their boats, nubile girlfriends, or own shirtless physiques.

Once we spot the Marriott dock boys and figure out that this is where they waqnt us to go (they even have cute little signs made saying “Reserved for Wandering Star” all along the dock), we back into the Alley and parallel park WS blocking the view of most of the drinkers at Pusser’s. Not to worry, we are close enough so they can look right through our windows and portholes anyways…life in a fishbowl at its best.

Acting as nonchalant as possible, Jo and I climb off WS around the tables filled with happy hour revelers’ to head into town for a look around, ice cream cones, and to take some photos. We’ve been here many times before when commissioning our first Wandering Star across the Bay so it’s like a coming home of sorts and still one of our favorite boating destinations.

By seven o’clock, the Naval Academy Rock Band is play full tilt in the park next to us on the Port side and the Pusser’s Rummy band is playing on the dock to our Starboard.  We are back on board WS trying to have a meaningful conversation with our new friends, Chuck and Andrea, the owners of Selene Annapolis. There are not any newer Selene 43’s in the Chesapeake area so they jumped at the chance to see ours and talk about how much we are enjoying her on our cruise.

Once on our own again, Jo and I have cocktails on the flybridge and enjoy the ciaos around us for an hour before ordering dinner which is delivered, plates, dinnerware and all right to our boat by our friendly bar staff.  It’s a full moon night, the bands have died down and peace again has captivated the city by the time the WS crew turns in for some much needed sleep after a very full day of boating Chesapeake style.

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Washington, D.C. to Smith Creek, Potomac River

7/6   Monday

From: Latitude: 38:31.70 N    Longitude 077:00.83 W

To:   Latitude: 38:07.27 N    Longitude: 076:24.58 W

Weather: sunny  Wind: 195⁰ at 3-8 kts. SEA: River

Barometer: 1002   Passage time:  12 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2054   Fuel used/on board:  5145/652

End Engine Hours:  2066   Fuel used/on board:  5176/623

Distance trip/to Date: 29/13,035

We spent a long day running some 85-miles of Potomac River today to within 5-miles of its end in the Chesapeake Bay.  A first light (5:30AM) departure was necessary and we still did not set the hook in Smith Creek till 5:30 PM after an uneventful day of trawlering down the gradually widening river.  With a buoy to buoy course set on the nav system, all the steering responsibility is up to the auto pilot so on watch you just watch out for the occasionally passing go fast power boat cutting too close on the turns.  There is not even any commercial traffic to worry about so I was even able to get some waxing done on the topsides gelcoat.

Of course, it is always exciting to go by the live fire area of Quantico Marine Base.  Here, as we learned coming up river, we need to hug the Maryland shore in 8-12 feet of water to stay out of the impact area.  Range patrol boats standby to be sure no one encroaches on their firing range which is something of a comfort as the bombs are splashing in full view just across the river.

Smith Creek is a small, woodsy, tributary and the last protected place to anchor before going out on the big Bay so we needed to stop here for the night as the Solomons are just too far to get to before dark.  Jo has not been feeling well all day with a bit of the flu or cold so once we settle in she’s back to bed and I’m on my own devices for the evening.  Nothing too exciting to do 100-yards from shore and no place to go anyways so it will only be some network TV, a quiet dinner and then early to bed with another long, 65-mile day ahead to Annapolis.

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Washington, D.C.

7/2 - 7/6   Thursday to Sunday

We are spending the long holiday weekend with son Kevin and girlfriend Jenn here in Washington.  Boats are being cleaned up and decorated, the Capitol Mall is set up full of music and food pavilions, a big parade is planned down Pennsylvania Avenue followed by the traditional evening fireworks we will see from the fly bridge on Wandering Star.

We’ve been busy seeing the sights too including taking in the play “Shear Madness” at the Kennedy Center, having dinner in Georgetown, and meeting boating friends past and present that have gathered at the Capitol Yacht Club. I even managed to work in a day of boat maintenance so even WS looks happier.

While the fireworks on the 4^th here were no more spectacular than the fireworks we have at home in Big Bear, there’s just something special about being in the Capitol for the countries birthday celebration.  After visiting some new friends, Alan and Kat on their beautiful 65′ Andale for cocktails, we had a up market 4^th BBQ on WS of steak & lobster with Kevin & Jenn.  Our slip was in the perfect position for watching the fireworks from the fly-bridge (they are launched from the Capitol Mall by Washington’s Monument), sipping on a cold beer, all while listening to a little of Sousa’s Stars & Stripes on the ships system.

Sadly, on Sunday afternoon, Kevin & Jenn left for home in California after a very nice week of having them on board and sharing the DC experience.  Later, old cruising friends from the Great Loop in 2000, Gary and Dawn dropped b for happy hour on WS followed by a casual dinner from the locals fish market which is convenient to have next to the CYC (unless the wind shifts).  It was great to see them again and we had fun catching up before lights out.  Tomorrow it will be a long day as we try to make the entire 100-miles of the Potomac on our way to Annapolis.

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Belmont Bay to Washington, D.C.

7/1   Wednesday

From: Latitude: 38:39.30 N    Longitude 077:13.94 W

To:   Latitude: 38:31.70 N    Longitude: 077:00.83 W

Weather: sunny, rain late   Wind: 190⁰ at 8-12 kts. SEA: River

Barometer: 998   Passage time:  4 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2050   Fuel used/on board:  5137/661

End Engine Hours:  2054   Fuel used/on board:  5145/652

Distance trip/to Date: 25/12,948

George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon is the morning’s first stop once we have tip-toed out of the shallow Belmont Bay at low tide.  We anchor WS just off the main Potomac channel in 8-feet. drop in the dinghy, motor in to George’s dock to tie up and then explore the picturesque estate on foot.  Knowledgeable staff, a great job of restoration, and a well laid out tour really helps make it a worthwhile experience for our entire crew.

By early afternoon, we are back on board, dinghy and anchor are up and WS is back on her way up the river. It is only a few more hours till we are under the newly rebuilt Woodrow Wilson Bridge with the Capitol rotunda and Washington Monument visible over the trees ahead. We will spend tonight at the James Creek Marina just south of the mall before moving on to The Capitol Yacht Club by the Jefferson Memorial in the morning.

The rest of the afternoon was devoted to R & R on board and a long walk to check out the neighborhood which ended at the CYC for a beer.  Then it was an even longer walk back home for dinner on board, all well before the forecast rain finally hit the area.

###

Solomons to Belmont Bay, Potomac River, Va

6/30    Tuesday

From: Latitude: 38:19.96 N    Longitude 076:27.52 W

To:   Latitude: 38:39.30 N    Longitude: 077:13.94 W

Weather: lt overcast   Wind: 225⁰ at 8-12 kts. SEA: River

Barometer: 994   Passage time:  14.5 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2028   Fuel used/on board:  5076/406

End Engine Hours:  2050   Fuel used/on board:  5137/661

Distance trip/to Date: 96/12,923

A really early start (0545) this morning. Before most of my crew even were awake enough to realize we were underway, we slipped the dock lines and headed back down the Pax River, out into the Bay to the south, then turned right to head up the Potomac. It’s over a hundred miles to Washington and we want to get as far as possible this first day so that we can coast on into the Capitol tomorrow at leisure.

The weather sure cooperated today with light winds and a mostly clear sky till late afternoon. The river was smooth and calm with only to tidal flow to impede our forward progress late in the afternoon. It flows a substantial 1.5 knots here on the ebb so when it’s against you, 7-knots of speed through the water is cut to a dismal 5.5 knots over the ground.

Once we past the 301 bridge, some 70-mles up river, it occurred to us that there were not many good options for an overnight at anchor or even any marinas in the last 30-miles before DC. It was all we could do to make Belmont Bay and a well off the river marina there before lights out.  So it was some 95-miles and 14.5 hours, not to mentions the extra 3-miles to get up into a very shallow side bay to our dockage for the night in our long days run.

Needless to say, it was a short, quiet evening with a light dinner, our crew turned in early. Kei & Jenn are still recovering from there red-eye flight here as well. With only 21-miles to go, we’ll be able to have a much more time for a fun-filled day tomorrow.

###

Solomons - Zahniser’s Marina

6/27 - 6/29   Saturday-Monday

Taking a couple of days off here to get Lexie back home, stay over at her house with sister Audrey & brother Don Sunday night in Spotsylvania where Gigi, Brock, sister Michelle and David joined us for dinner.

Early Monday morning we picked up Kevin and Jenn at Dulles Airport before returning to WS in Solomons where we spent the rest of the day settling our new guests in on board, using the pool, and then having a nice sunset dinner at Pier Solomons Crab Grill overlooking the Pax River.

Note:  Took on 325 gallons of fuel at $2.40/gallon to bring the total on board back up to 714 gallons.

###

Reedville to Solomons, Patuxent River, Md

6/26   Friday

From: Latitude: 37:50.25 N    Longitude 076:16.78 W

To:   Latitude: 38:19.96 N    Longitude:  076:27.52 W

Weather: lt overcast   Wind: 225⁰ at 8-12 kts. SEA: Chesapeake Bay

Barometer: 1002   Passage time:  7 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2028   Fuel used/on board:  5076/406

End Engine Hours:  2035   Fuel used/on board:  5093/389

Distance trip/to Date:  42/12,827

A soft departure at 0700 this morning with my crew still asleep for the last section of this week’s run to Solomon Island, a yachting center just north of the entrance to the Potomac River.  Here we will arrange for WS to spend a couple months in the Fall getting some of the more serious cosmetic warranty work done, some of which has been delayed since our departure from Seattle  in the winter of ‘07.  This weekend we will also change crew exchanging niece Lexie for son Kevin and girlfriend Jenn for the 4^th of July cruise up to Washington DC.

Still, calm, and hot best describes our Bay passage today.  If fact, it was so still the bugs could fly the 5-miles out to WS and to make pests of themselves.  It was 42-miles taking seven hours for the run between Reedville and the Solomon’s.  As you head into the harbor, yacht marinas line the shores on both sides for several miles. Washburn’s Boat Yard, our stop for the estimates and overnight, is the next to last facility up this waterway on the starboard side.  It is a Selene’s commissioning and warranty center for this area of the east coast.

It took us a couple of moves to finally get WS to our side tie for the evening due to the need to shuffle boats by the yard.  Once safe and secure to our dock for the night, Jo went off to pick up the Enterprise car we’ll need for the next few days, while yardboss Eric and I went over the hit list for the needed warranty quote.  He’ll contact Brad at Selene Seattle to work out a cost.  Then, hopefully, we’ll be able to get the work done at the end of this summer’s cruise.

When Jo returned with our rental car, we headed over to Lexington, at Navy Airstation town across the river for dinner and a movie.  Dinner was mediocre at best but the movie, “Proposal” made up for it and was most enjoyable and funny.  Back on board by 10PM for desert and bed for all hands.

###

Crown Pointe Marina to Reedville, Wicomico River

6/25   Thursday

From: Latitude: 37:15.97 N    Longitude 076:25.48 W

To:   Latitude: 37:50.25 N    Longitude: 076:16.78 W

Weather: cloudy   Wind: 210⁰ at12-18 kts. SEA: Chesapeake Bay

Barometer: 1003   Passage time:  7.5 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2020   Fuel used/on board:  5056/426

End Engine Hours:  2028   Fuel used/on board:  5076/406

Distance trip/to Date:  49/12,785

Sure enough, WS was sitting on the mud in the morning with the -.2′ tide.  As our good luck would have it, we were able to wiggle off after some anxious moments of full forward throttle with nothing happening before slowly easing off at last.  I was concerned about some other low spots (off the fish factory pier) we had crossed yesterday at high tide when entering the narrow channel to the marina.  After talking with some of the local toothless waterman and following the track they used departing before us this morning, we were able to slip over the shoaling (probably pushed through some soft mud) and were able to reach the deep water beyond.

The rest of the morning was uneventful if not downright boring.  It is always surprising how little boat traffic there is on the south end of the Bay during the week.  Oh sure, there is the occasional fishing boat or crabber but very few pleasure boats or fellow cruisers.  We did see the famous menhaden fishing fleet, down to about 8 boats now.  Their forefather’s have been working these waters since 1873.  The fleet processing factory is near our marina for tonight and I can almost smell the ambiance already. Otherwise, a huge Navy transport that past us within 100-yards off our starboard quarter just before turning into the Wicomico River was the day’s only excitement.

The short course up the channel to Reedville was easy and much more straight forward then yesterday’s shallow water experience. It takes us past a rather large and fragrant menhaden fish processing plant, past the ruins of the old previous 1800’s plant, then it’s a straight shot over to The Crazy Crab, a restaurant/marina, and our stop for the night.  As soon as we are secured by the owner Charles, it’s off to explore the village with a nice ice cream store and excellent “Fisherman’s” Museum.  This all volunteer built panoramic history of the area is really worth a visit with an intact period home, complete pictorial time line of the events establishing Reedville, model shop with a room size HO train layout, and even an area were they teach the local kids to build their own 8′ dinghy.

Dinner, of course, was at the Crazy Crab since we are tied up literally on the doorstep.  We ate outside on the porch and had a great crab feast featuring both King and local Chesapeake crabs and even paid for our night’s dockage right on the meal check.  Back on board, it’s an evening of Batman and the “Dark Night” on HBO with niece Lexie.

###

Kingsmill Resort to Crown Pointe Marina, York River

6/24   Wednesday

From: Latitude: 37:12.23 N    Longitude 076:39.76 W

To:   Latitude: 37:15.97 N    Longitude: 076:25.48 W

Weather: clear   Wind: 140⁰ at 8-12 kts. SEA: Chesapeake Bay

Barometer: 1002   Passage time:  8 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2013   Fuel used/on board:  5038/444

End Engine Hours:  2020   Fuel used/on board:  5056/426

Distance trip/to Date: 49/12,746

Our newest crew member was up early with her uncle getting WS ready for today’s voyage down the James’s River and out on the Chesapeake Bay.  By 0700, she was joined by Aunt Jo and we were on our way. Today’s trek will take us some 49-miles to our overnight stop at the nice sounding, Crown Pointe Marine on the York River.

There was a fair bit of traffic coming up the James as we headed back down towards Norfolk including a couple of Army ferry boats and a tug with tow plus the normal array of fishing boats.  Most notable was passing the George H. W. Bush, our newest fast attack aircraft carrier which was at the docks in Newport News after just completing her sea trails. Once around the bend and heading north on the Chesapeake itself, the Bay waters were unusually calm with very light boat traffic for the rest of our passage.

It takes several miles to go up the wide mouth of the York River just to get to Crown Pointe, the first marina in the river.  We are only stopping here because it is 1/3^rd of the way to the Solomon’s and it’s ad in the cruising guide promised some nice amenities like wifi, free use of a car, movies. shopping, restaurants, and a Boaters US discount.  The shock and disappointment was that none of these were true.  It was miles to the nearest store etc. and there was no car available.  To add to the insult, the slips were too small for WS so the rather blasé young dockhand stuck us on a side tie over very skinny water.

Once we uncovered all of the false advertising, we would have probably left if we were not so far up the channel, distant from anything else, and so tired after the early start and the 8-hours in transit. Making the best of it, Lexie spent a Huck Finn afternoon catching crabs with some old chicken pieces on a string off the back swimstep. We did manage to land about six blues but most were too small even to catch in the net to get on board let alone try and eat.  A nice evening meal on board and a rousing game of Rummy Cube rounded off a nice evening anyways.

###

Kingsmill Resort

6/22 - 6/23   Monday - Tuesday

We’re going spend a few days here in Kingsmill catching our breath from the run up the ICW.  WS is now due for her 2000 hour oil change and a new set of fuel filters.  In doing this task, I accidentally disconnected the Fireboy engine room fire suppression system which, of course, keeps the engine from running or even starting again and causes the captain several hours of frustration.  I finally had to get some consultation from Cummins in Portsmouth to figure out what went wrong and to help get her started again.

On Monday, thirteen year old niece Lexie arrived just after noon.  Her Mom and my sister, Audrey drove her down from Spotsylvania with her grandma and cousin Luca also came along for the ride. After a quick, sightseeing drive around Williamsburg and doing some provisioning at the local market, they all said goodbye and Lexie officially became a part of the Wandering Star crew for the next week as we move the boat up the Chesapeake to Solomon Island, about 200-miles to the north.

Tuesday was Busch Gardens day. This is a major amusement park laid out in countries similar to Epcot in Orlando but in a much more scenic setting. Acres of hills, trees, lakes, streams and waterfalls cover the property with bridges connecting the represented countries.  Besides a variety of shops and stage shows built around national themes, the park is best known and loved (by the younger generation) for its wide selection of roller coasters.

Innocent sounding names like Griffon, Alpengeist, and Apollo’s Chariot actually disguise these terror laden, high-speed monsters with hundreds of feet of vertical drop, inverted loops, and hairpin turns, some without even floors to provide some small sense of security. Your captain, lead on by Lexie managed to ride every one of these beasts for an entire day of body abuse to say nothing of frayed nerves and stressed libido.

By evening, a very tired crew was back on board WS after a nice dinner at the Kingsmill Marina Gill.  Alvin and the Chipmunks was the movie of the night and it was all I could do to stay awake but too tired to drag my bones to bed after the “fun filled” day at Busch Gardens.

###

Hampton Roads to Kingsmill Resort on the James River

6/21   Sunday - Father’s Day

From: Latitude: 37:01.48 N    Longitude 076:20.48  W

To:   Latitude: 37:12.23 N    Longitude: 076:39.76 W

Weather: clear   Wind: 330⁰ at 18-24 kts. SEA: River

Barometer: 996   Passage time:  4.5 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2008   Fuel used/on board:   5027/455

End Engine Hours:  2013

Fuel used/on board:   5038/444

Distance trip/to Date: 11/12,697

It is always tough to spend Father’s Day without your kids close by but I did receive a nice card from Heather who is very busy putting on the annual Big Bear Lake Yacht Club Waterman’s Party (usually our job) and I had a long talk to Kei on the phone in the afternoon - always a treat.  The mission today is to move WS up the James River 28-miles to the very fancy Kingsmill Resort Marina. Here for $100.night, we get full use of all resort facilities including, pools, spa, many restaurants, and even free transportation to area attractions including Busch gardens and Colonial Williamsburg.

What should have been an easy ride up a calm river turned ugly early as the wind piped up to 20 to 24 knots with a few gusts hitting even 30.  This, of course, blew right down the long fetch of the river kicking up wind waves that hit us right on the nose most of the way.  We turned off the river’s narrow ship channel at buoy #40 and headed for the North shore towards the resort’s marina.  After some concern over the depth of a spoil area, a fellow boater assured us that he crosses it all the time without a problem.  It did turn out to be 14′ deep all the way to the entrance.  Once behind the wooded breakwater, it was all our thrusters and crew could do to get us backed into the slip and secured against the nasty wind.

However, by late afternoon, the wind died down, the sun came out and soon Jo & I were enjoying Father’s Day with a view from the peaceful flybridge.  We’ll stay put for a few days to enjoy the amenities of the area.  Tomorrow, our young niece Lexie will join our crew for the next week as we move WS further north on the Chesapeake.

###

Deep Creek to Hampton Roads, Chesapeake Bay

6/20   Saturday

From: Latitude: 36:44.88 N    Longitude 076:20.28  W

To:   Latitude 37:01.48: N    Longitude: 076:20.48 W

Weather: Partly cloudy   Wind: 230⁰ at 8-14 kts. SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1000   Passage time:  3 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 2005   Fuel used/on board:   5021/461

End Engine Hours:  2008 Fuel used/on board:   5027/455

Distance trip/to Date: 21/12,669

It was a nice quiet night with only the occasionally curious jet skier cruising by to break up the absolute quiet of the swamp.  Hard to believe that only two weeks and 700-miles ago we were still in Florida and here we are about to arrive at the Chesapeake Bay. We’ll spend a couple of good weeks exploring the Bay before we move on to New York City.

There is only a few miles to go this morning before we are out of Deep Creek and back into the main ICW which here is also the deep water port for Norfolk and Portsmouth. Leaving the creek, you turn left, pass under several railroad bridges that are usually left open, call for an opening of one last bascule bridge, go through a second opening bridge that was under repairs so is always open and we are free of the Intercoastal Waterway at last!  I like cruising by the busy port of Norfolk docks as they are mostly Navy shipyards and much of our Atlantic Fleet seems to be here in various stages of refit.

A 300 boat sailing race is just getting started as we pass the Portsmouth Yacht Club.  The racing fleet soon fills the entire channel shore to shore for the next several miles.  Once you think you are finally clear of the racers, they turn around the downwind mark and all start coming at you, back to the starting line.  Of course, mixed in with this ciaos, the normal big ship traffic is trying to get into or out of the ports as well as Navy ships under armed Coast Guard escort with a 500-yard security zone around them are all trying to force everyone out of the way so they can pass.  What fun!

Once clear of it all, it is only a couple of miles north across the bay to Hampton Roads’ buoyed entrance and then up stream to our destination for tonight, the Hampton City Docks. It is still before lunch so as soon as we are backed in and tied up, Jo & I are off the explore town and find some lunch. Hampton Roads is a nice town that has tried hard to reinvent itself as a tourist destination but seems to be struggling from lack of interest.

We’re in luck though; a street fair is planned for tonight so after a rest we are back downtown to see the festivities.  Live bands, beer for sale on the streets, and more Great Danes (a local animal rescue project) than I’ve ever seen in one place are the evening’s main attractions.  We find a likely pub, have a decadent meal, a couple of local beers and are ready to call it a night just as the street party seems to be finally getting started. Feels good to just go home to WS…hope we’re not getting old.

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Elizabeth City to Deep Creek Lock, Dismal Swamp

6/19   Friday

From: Latitude: 36:17.86 N    Longitude 076:13.11W

To:   Latitude :36:44.88 N    Longitude: 076:20.28 W

Weather: cloudy   Wind: 130⁰ at 4-6 kts. SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1002   Passage time:  7 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1998   Fuel used/on board:   5009/473

End Engine Hours: 2005   Fuel used/on board:   5021/461

Distance trip/to Date: 35/12,648

We sort of knew going into the Dismal Swamp that it would be a long, slow day.  To make the first 0730 opening of the Elizabeth City Bridge, we needed to cast off by 0715.  Then, as we progressed up the ever narrowing channel, I soon was reduced to hand steering as nothing automated could keep is in the winding, Pasquotank River.  At mile-37, 13-miles up stream from EC, Turner’s Cut of the Dismal Swamp Canal begins. By now it is just 50-feet wide and 6 to 9 feet deep if we are lucky.

This is the oldest manmade waterway in the US, its hand digging by slaves began in 1793 and was completed in 1804.  As you might imagine, it has had a tortuous history surviving the civil war, various bankruptcies, and the politics of being in two states, Virginia and North Carolina. Edgar Allen Poe wrote “The Raven” while staying at the canal’s state-line hotel popular in his day for marriages, duels, and with criminals escaping the law in either state.

While the controlling depth (maximum draft for passage) is six feet, WS never hit bottom but she did bump her way over dozens of logs that, when finally saturated with water, have found their way to the bottom. Nothing gets the old heart racing like a resounding bump on the keel as you slide over yet another snag, hopefully without it hitting the prop.  This drama makes for a very long day indeed.

Added to the whole canal experience is the South Mills Lock that raises you 8′ up into a fresh water fed section that lasts for some 23-miles before dropping you the same at the Deep Creek Lock just 10-miles for Norfolk. The trick here is that the locks only operate on a very limited schedule so unless you want to spend the night up on the Swamp, you need to maintain a solid 5-knots to make the second locks last opening at 3:30 PM.

Once we are through Deep Creek, after a tiring day of thumping bottom and hand steering, here for the night so with the blessing of the friendly lockmaster Robert, we drop anchor in the center of his 10 foot deep channel just outside this last lock.  Here we can still enjoy the quiet beauty of the Swamp for the evening and be on our way early for the morning run and dozen  lift bridges that still await us before Norfolk.

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Alligator River Marina to Elizabeth City

6/18   Thursday

From: Latitude: 35:54.35 N    Longitude 076:01.78 W

To:   Latitude: 36:17.86 N    Longitude: 076:13.11 W

Weather: cloudy   Wind: 180⁰ at 10-14 kts. SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1007    Passage time:  5 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1992   Fuel used/on board:   4998/484

End Engine Hours: 1998   Fuel used/on board:   5009/473

Distance trip/to Date: 33/12,580

We just used our 5,000^th gallon of diesel fuel since we began our trip 12, 500 mile ago…still getting 2.5 miles/gallon.  Even at an average cost of $2.00/gallon we’ve only spent $5,000 a year on fuel - still a bargain when you consider we are moving our home right along with us and seeing this incrediable part of the world in the process.

We were up and away early to get as far as possible across the often nasty Albemarle Sound before the wind picks up again.  We don’t need to wait long this morning for our first obstacle, a shoaling problem around the day markers just off Long Shoal Point.  The shallow water has moved into the waterway and encroached on the Red #8 day marker instead of the Green #7 as shown on the charts.

Most trouble is being caused by a problem with the ICW preferred track as displayed on the electronic charts. It now goes right over the new shoal and, you guessed it, any one following the track precisely goes hard aground.  Sure enough there was a sailboat stuck fast in the mud already this morning as we passed this area.  Local knowledge says that if you just follow directly between Green #9 and Green #7, you will stay in 12-feet of water the whole way.

Once past this excitement, you come to the fork in the waterway with the choice of two ways to get to Norfolk.  To the left is the Great Dismal Swamp adventure past Elizabeth City and the other direction is the normal ICW trek up through the North Carolina Cut, passed Coinjock, and eventually into the Albemarle-Chesapeake Canal leading to Norfolk.  Both routes are about 50-miles long. Since we did the “normal” route in 2001 it will be the Dismal Swamp for us and the left turn for this trip.

The last 20-miles of the sound, while only 10 to 20-feet deep most of the way, is covered with crab traps so this keeps you busy on what should normally be an easy crossing. After the Sound ends, you will start up the Pasquotank River.  Soon we were sliding by a huge Coast Guard Air Base and even a blimp hanger left over from World War II before finally getting to our destination, Elizabeth City.

Elizabeth City in known for it’s hospitality to boaters. To encourage tourism, the city fathers have provided free dockage for all boaters along the main city waterfront.  By noon, we were backed into the first convenient pole slip right on Mariners Park and ready to explore our new city.  We walked the historic walk through the quaint town, visited the heritage museum, and had a free van pick us up for a grocery run.  Later, we tried something new to us, dinner while watching a movie.  It is a converted movie theater with 30 dining tables instead of theater seats. Each table has a phone for calling in your order and you dine while watching a first run movie…in our case we saw “Hangover” and it was a laugh riot, sometimes crude guy film.  Then Jo and I walked back to WS just before a torrential downpour that, I’m sure, cleaned the last of the salt off our girl as we head into more protected waters.

###

Belhaven to Alligator River Marina

6/17   Wednesday

From: Latitude: 35:31.95 N    Longitude 076:36.85 W

To:   Latitude: 35:54.35 N    Longitude: 076:01.78 W

Weather: cloudy   Wind: 135⁰ at 17-21 kts. SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1012    Passage time:  7 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1986   Fuel used/on board:   4981/500

End Engine Hours: 1992   Fuel used/on board:   4998/484

Distance trip/to Date:   46/12,580

Our challenge today is to navigate without our electronic charts.  Of course, we still have the backup paper charts so doing it the old fashioned way will not be a problem just inconvenient. Your skipper did not realize the C-Map charts for the Nobeltec do not cover all the way to the Chesapeake as would seem logical but instead cleverly, for increased sales perhaps, end at Cape Hatteras or around ICW mile-100.

The good news is that the rest of the charts are all furnished on the CD’s with the original Admiral software so you need only to have an internet or a phone to purchase the “Unlock” codes to access them.  The bad news is that they are very pricey at $499 for each section which only covers us for the next leg to Long Island Sound before we need another $499 to get the charts for the rest of the way to Maine.  You can rent them at $150 for 4-months which works if you don’t plan on spending longer time in the area.

Much of the early morning was spent in the narrow Alligator-Pango River Canal so navigation was all line of sight in the narrow channel.  In open water, our journey up the wide open Alligator River was still easy using the visual day markers of the ICW just like boaters did for the hundred years before GPS driven chart systems. Between mile-102 and our destination for today at mile-84, I was able to place waypoints on the day-board markers using coordinates given in the chart book.  Then it is just a matter of connecting the dots (waypoints) to get there.

Our stop for tonight is literarily in the middle of no where, 12-miles from the nearest town.  As soon as you come through the last highway swing bridge of the day, it’s a hard left into the marina which is actually a truck stop gas station on a main highway.  Alligator River Marina is renowned for having the lowest fuel prices on the ICW so most experienced boaters can’t resist the bargain they get by stopping here and it is convenient for starting the next leg across the wide and exposed Albemarle Sound in the morning.

Friends from the FUBAR (the boat rally from San Diego to La Paz last year) on Annaruth, Jake and Suzanna were already secure at the dock when we arrived.  They were quick to invite us over for Happy Hour once WS was snuggled in for the night.  With no where else to go, it was back to our boat for the evening after a very nice visit with them. It is so different to go to sleep to the sounds of trucks on the highway after months of just the quiet rustle of wind and water.

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Oriental to Belhaven

6/16  Tuesday

From: Latitude: 35:01.47 N    Longitude 076:41.74 W

To:   Latitude: 35:31.95 N    Longitude: 076:36.85 W

Weather: rain    Wind: 090⁰ at 18-20 kts. SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1009    Passage time:  6.5 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1979  Fuel used/on board:   4966/515

End Engine Hours: 1986 Fuel used/on board:   4981/500

Distance trip/to Date:   42/12,534

This morning’s fare took us from ICW mile 182 at Oriental to mile 160 up the big and broad Neuse River.  Then a narrow canal and a couple of creeks bring us out on the Pungo River where we go to mile-136 and the Belhaven turn-off. It was a day of nice, rustic scenery only marred by higher winds and waves then we would like on the open stretches and a consistent sprinkling of rain most of the morning.

The River Forest Marina and Shipyard at Belhaven is a bit past it’s prime but still serviceable and a pleasant place to stop before heading through the long Alligator-Pungo River canal tomorrow.  Not much in the town either, which is an easy walk from the marina and even lacks a grocery store.  The off and on rainy afternoon kept us from wandering too far and soon we were back on board catching up on computer chores.

We had dinner on board rather than at the small but pleasant grill in the old hotel on the marina grounds where we would have been the lonely only guests.

###

Beaufort to Oriental

6/15   Monday

From: Latitude: 34:42.97 N    Longitude 076:30.92 W

To:   Latitude: 35:01.47 N    Longitude:076:41.74 W

Weather: sunny    Wind: 135⁰ at 8-10 kts. SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1009    Passage time:  4 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1975  Fuel used/on board:   4958/524

End Engine Hours: 1979 Fuel used/on board:   4966/515

Distance trip/to Date:   23/12,492

Brother Raymond was at the helm for most of today’s short, 23-mile run to the small shrimping town of Oriental. The waterway this morning took us past the marina with the high and dry Dreamweaver just off the ICW.  Wandering Star managed a rather forlorn farewell toot salute for her old friend of so many, many miles as we past her by.

Our 9AM departure allowed us to make this next port in time for lunch and a nice afternoon walk around the very quiet, two street village. The marine store and a much sought after ice cream shop where about the only establishments open worth mentioning.  All to soon, Ray and Kathy had to depart with their truck and trailer to drive back to Beaufort and pick up their other car they deposited there for the cruise  before heading back home to Raleigh.

Jo and I spent the rest of the day doing some boat chores and laundry before we were joined again by Steve and Bard as they docked their boat in the next slip. This lead to an hour of trading tours and comparing notes of each others 43’s which is always a favorite activity of boaters.  Later, just the WS crew had a pleasant late dinner in the marina’s handy restaurant before retiring for the evening.

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Topsail Bay to Beaufort

6/13   Saturday

From: Latitude: 34:23.16 N    Longitude 77.38.26 W

To:   Latitude: 34:42.97 N    Longitude: 076:30.92 W

Weather: sunny    Wind: 220⁰ at 12-16 kts. SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1003    Passage time:  9 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1967   Fuel used/on board:   4936/545

End Engine Hours: 1975 Fuel used/on board:   4958/524

Distance trip/to Date:   58/12,469

Today was about heading to our weekend destination where we will pickup Brother Ray and wife Kathy for a couple of day of fun together.  The 58-mile run is just more of the same ICW except with a remarkable increase in small boat traffic enjoying the perfect weekend weather.  By the time we hit the outskirts of Beaufort, this became complete pandemonium.  Hundreds of small, center-console fishing boats, the local favorite, four and five abreast were heading in both directions on the waterway.  It is nice being in the biggest, slowest boat here as the rest had to give way so we could stay our course.

Beaufort Docks was waiting for us with a nice slip right in front of the Dockyard Restaurant, one of the favorite night spots for folk music for the town’s visitors.  Once secure and her salt hosed off, WS was ready for company.  Soon after Ray and Kathy arrived, Ken and Dottie stopped by in their fully loaded U-haul with everything but the “California or Bust” sign needed for their cross-country trip home.  Dreamweaver is on the hard just up the river from here where she will wait patiently for their return.

After saying our final goodbyes to D&K, our expanded crew spent a great evening just walking the waterfront of Beaufort.  We checked out every eatery in town before making a decisive decision to have a great meal at the waterside “Front Street Grill” before returning to WS.  Minutes later, after dinner cordials in hand, we were all on the top deck where we listened to the bluegrass music by tonight’s local band on the nearby porch.

Sunday morning was at leisure followed by brunch at the landmark “Grocery” with an afternoon of shopping along the docks.  Steve and Barb on our sister ship, a Solo 43′ “Maerin” pulled into our marina just after naptime. Solo’s were the original name of our design before the molds were sold to Jet-tern and the name changed to Selene. Otherwise it is the identical boat and they have number 4 to our #23. They were assigned to the slip directly across from WS and by 5PM had joined us for a cocktail party that was already in full swing.  After they departed, the evening continued with a sumptuous dinner on board, and a late, unrequited search for ice cream in the now sleeping town of Beaufort..

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Calibash River to Topsail Bay, North Carolina

6/12   Friday

From: Latitude: 37:52.38 N    Longitude 078:34.19 W

To:   Latitude: 34:23.16 N    Longitude: 77.38.26 W

Weather: sunny    Wind: 145⁰ at  8-12 kts. SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1005    Passage time:  10.5 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1956   Fuel used/on board:   4911/560

End Engine Hours: 1967 Fuel used/on board:   4936/545

Distance trip/to Date:   69/12,411

A nice long, 69-mile day on the ICW. Weighed anchor at 0600 to make the 1st of three bridge openings we will need today.  Unfortunately, none operate on demand which means we must carefully plan our arrival at each bridge so it is exactly on the hour or wait until the next opening up to an hour later.  Our first bridge is the oldest design left on the waterway, a floating pontoon monstrosity which also is the slowest opening and very seemingly very cumbersome to operate. At extreme low tides, it can’t open at all.  Good to see that they are finally building a new, 65′ high, fixed bridge next door so this relic can finally be retired.

The scenery through out the day is a nice mix of beautiful homes, meandering rivers, and lots of fellow travelers…jet skies, tubers, joy riders, and fisherman, as the pace of the water sports begins to pick up in earnest for the first real weekend of summer. We manage to time our second bridge, an older swing bridge, to arrive just minutes before the scheduled opening.  To make it happen, we had to start an hour ahead and average our speed up to an unheard of 9.2 knots with the help of a flooding tide much of the way.

We’re early for our last bridge late in the day and only an hour from our destination for the night, Harbor Village Marina.  Ironically and quite by coincidence, we stayed here nine years ago with WSI too.  We should have remembered that while it is located in a nicer, high-end residential community,  it’s miles away from even a decent restaurant . So after a nice long walk and some boat chores, it is dinner on board again and another quiet evening. Fear not fellow partiers, things are sure to pickup again soon.

###

Georgetown to anchor in the Calibash River, mile 342

6/11   Thursday

From: Latitude: 33:21.80 N    Longitude 075:11.91 W

To:   Latitude: 37:52.38 N    Longitude: 078:34.19 W

Weather: partly cloudy - some sun    Wind: 145⁰ at  8-12 kts. SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1003   Passage time:  9 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1947 Fuel used/on board:   4893/578

End Engine Hours: 1956 Fuel used/on board:   4911/560

Distance trip/to Date:   55/12,342

Up and away early again but this time with our friends on Kasekuchen right behind us as they move on today to Myrtle Beach.  The ICW is a lot more interesting in this section with lots of beautiful homes and tourist facilities along the stretch past Myrtle Beach and the town of Little River.

Just after lunchtime, we bid our friends farewell as they turned off at the posh Marina at Grand Dunes to spend some a couple of weeks there with visiting friends.  Soon after their departure, the ICW gets very interesting between miles 347 and 365 as you must go through a section called “The Rockpile.” Here the channel was cut through solid rock so it is very narrow and unforgiving should you stray at all from dead-center of the slender waterway.  It is still high tide for us through this section so depth was not a problem just hoping you don’t need to pass a larger boat coming the other way keeps your anxiety level at the top of the chart.  Once through this, the worst of the ICW is behind…or so we thought.

Hoping to get closer to the North Carolina/South Carolina boarder before calling it a day, WS continued on till mile 342 (in case I didn’t mention it before, ICW statue miles are measured starting with mile1 in Norfolk, Virginia and ending with mile 1095 in Miami). Our chart shows a designated anchorage here just a short way north on the Calabash River.  What it failed to show and was not made clear in the cruising guide was that the channel markers for this stretch of river are the opposite of the ICW with red back on the right instead of the left as it is in the rest of Intercoastal Waterway heading north.

Well before we realized what was happening or could reverse course, WS was hard aground.  We were literarily stuck in the mud in 4.5 feet of water with the tide still rapidly departing.  No amount of forward or reverse throttle could get us off so instead of just waiting for the tide to come back in a couple of hours and hoping it floats us off, not further aground, we hailed a passing SeaTow tug (most boaters belong to this service - it’s like AAA for boaters) and our new best friend Brian spent the better part of the next hour using his prop wash to get WS unstuck and off the infernal sand bar.  Once back afloat, he was nice enough to show us how we should have gone up the river and soon we were comfortably swinging at anchor with only our pride the worse for wear

We’ll hopefully spend a quiet night here so we can up anchor at first light and continue on to North Carolina tomorrow morning.

###

Charleston to Georgetown

6/10   Wednesday

From: Latitude: 32:46.65 N    Longitude 075:57.13 W

To:   Latitude: 33:21.80  N    Longitude: 075:11.91 W

Weather: partly cloudy - some sun    Wind: 140⁰ at  8-12 kts. SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1005   Passage time:  9 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1937 Fuel used/on board:   4871/600

End Engine Hours: 1947  Fuel used/on board:   4893/578

Distance trip/to Date:   57/12,287

Up early to squeeze in an early morning bike ride around Charleston’s downtown while Jo took a nice long walk.  We were still off the dock and on our way across Charleston Harbor before 8:00 AM.

Once back in the ICW, we immediately had our first bridge encounter but at 32′ off the water, we could sneak under it without an opening (we are 30′ tall).  From then on it was mostly a rather featureless day on the Intercoastal…mile after mile of either swamp land or thick forests right to the water’s edge.  This section is mostly a national wildlife preserve but other than seeing an occasional heron, I’m not sure what we are preserving.

It was late afternoon by the time we finally pulled out on Winyah Bay and headed up the several last miles to Georgetown.  We almost decided to anchor out in the bay instead of heading up the channel to the town itself but were very glad we didn’t!  As we made the final turn toward our marina, there sat our good friends, Bob & Cheryl on Kasekuchen on an end tie dock.  We hadn’t expected to see them till tomorrow in Myrtle Beach.  It didn’t take but a few minutes for Cheryl to show up on board with her famous, hot from the oven, Passage Cookies and to invite us over for cocktails and dinner.

A great dinner it was too!  Bob out did himself whipping up the best parmesan crusted fresh grouper in a lemon caper sauce I’ve ever had finished with a homemade cherry pie…heaven! All followed by dancing on the aft deck, needless-to-say it was a tired but very full happy WS crew that walked the mile back to our marina and a good nights rest.

The evenings last dance…

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Brunswick to Charleston, South Carolina

6/8 - 6/9   Monday to Tuesday - overnight passage

From: Latitude: 31:9.48 N    Longitude 081:29.99 W

To:   Latitude: 32:46.65 N    Longitude: 075:57.13 W

Weather: partly cloudy - some sun    Wind: 180⁰ at  8-12 kts. SEA: 2

Barometer: 1009   Passage time: 24 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1914 Fuel used/on board:   4826/348

End Engine Hours: 1937 Fuel used/on board:   4871/276+324=600

Distance trip/to Date:   155/12,232

Okay, so we cheated and snuck put to do yet another “overnight passage” on the high seas.  Well, hardly high in this part of the Atlantic where depths 20-miles offshore only reach down about 40-50 feet.  True, the benign weather, soft wind, and ripples for waves are also hard to resist after the months of bashing north through all manner of crumby conditions we had in the southern Caribbean. Our true motivation this time however, was speed.  Much as we love meandering up the ICW, we needed to really make some time these two weeks if the rest of our summer plans are going to all fit into three short months.

Frankly, it was nice to spend a rather leisurely day out on the salt again.  With WS happily steering herself, one only has to glance up occasionally from a novel or Sudoku to be sure all systems are still functioning well and nothing bigger than us was in our immediate future.   The gentle south easterly swell carefully rocked WS so as not to disturb her occupants from their quiet repose as well. Nighttime brought the promise of a beautiful night only a full moon can deliver. With little or no big boat traffic the dark hours radar watching proved no harder then the daylight’s hours of rest and relaxation.

I like to spend my night watches with rousing episodes from the TV series “24.”  Jack and company keep me wide awake, adrenalin pumping, and make the time pass quickly all in one. Tonight was so perfect, I just enjoyed the quiet and read my current book.  Jo took the 9 to 1 watch so I got some good rest and then stayed awake till we were secure at the Charleston City Marina in downtown.  They put us out on the mega yacht dock so WS is in some big company. We also needed to put on 324 gallons of fuel at $2.45/gal. - the first fuel since leaving San Juan, Puerto Rico - not bad!

The rest of the day was spent at leisure enjoying Charleston, one our favorite cities on the whole East Coast.  We started with a great seafood lunch at “The Landing” one of the better locals spots at the end of Market Street. After that I was able to go on board the USS Freedom, our Navies’ newest fast attack frigate.  At 300, long this jet turbine driven  ship can do 47-knots from a standstill in 5 minutes and still turn in her own length.  All systems on board are fully automated cutting the normal frigate crew size down from 300 to 40 officers and enlisted men and it only takes three of these to run the entire ship at sea.  Fully equipped with the latest and greatest in anti sub and anti aircraft gear she and eventually 55 sister ships with take over the duties of guarding our aircraft carriers.

Jo and I spent the afternoon on board followed by a nice BBQ dinner and a movie on the Direct TV.  Tomorrow, it will be back on the ICW early heading for Georgetown .

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Jacksonville to Fernandino Beach (Florida/Georgia Boarder)

6/6  Saturday

From: Latitude: 30:16.61 N    Longitude:081:42.83 W

To:   Latitude: 30: 40.18 N    Longitude:081:28.17 W

Weather: CTS (chance of thunder storms)- rain   Wind: 200⁰ at  10-15 kts. SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1005   Passage time: 6 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1902 Fuel used/on board:   4801/372

End Engine Hours: 1908 Fuel used/on board:   4814/360

Distance trip/to Date:   40/12,033

Back on the water again…

Out of our slip at the posh Marina at Ortega Landing and escaped the clutches of Ortega River and by 10:30.  We got a late start since Jo did not get back from the west coast until 9:30 last night and we needed to turn the rental car back this morning before we could leave.

Spotted sunshine this morning right up until we cast off, then it proceeded to go down hill with rain and threatening thunder storms much of the afternoon.  Today’s objective is to make the long, 20-mile passage back down the St. Johns River and pick up the ICW north just a mile or two from the rivers opening on the ocean. Making it almost to the Georgia boarder was an added bonus but not without some high anxiety.  The waterway is very shallow in many places as it makes the long sweep around Amelia Island.

We bumped the bottom about a half dozen times including one patch were we had to literally plow our way through the soft mud for 10 or 15 yards. In these spots, you just need the courage to push the throttle down and hope for the best   You either get good and stuck then delayed until the next high tide or you get through it and keep on truck’ in.

Happily, we got through it and made a total of 40-miles to the boarder before calling it a day at 1630 and grabbing a mooring buoy off the town of Fernandino Beach for the night.  We would have preferred to anchor but the current is too swift, the channel is narrow, the wind is blowing 20+ knots and we want a good night’s sleep for an early start in the morning.  We tried on several different moorings to find one that did not swing too close to our neighbors in the contrary wind and current but finally one that worked and settled in for the night,

Some work on the internet, a good BBQ dinner, some Comedy Central and Jo and I are ready to call it a day…only 718-miles to go till we’re back in the Chesapeake!

###

Ortega Landing Marina, Jacksonville

5/15 - 6/5

Time out…Son Kevin is graduating from College!   His proud parents are flying home to California to duly celebrate his commencement from Chapman University on the 23^rd of May with a degree in Creative Writing.  He plans on becoming a screen play writer, a passion he developed as a young, captive lad on our previous year-long voyage around the Great Loop in 2000/2001.

I was back on board doing boat chores by the end of May and spent a week on my own just getting things done while Jo did the same for our Las Vegas home. Finally, by June 5trh, we are together again, refreshed and renewed and ready to continue our long journey North.

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St Augustine to Jacksonville

5/14   Thursday

From: Latitude: 29:53.52 N    Longitude:081:48.55 W

To:   Latitude: 30:16.61 N    Longitude:081:42.83 W

Weather: cloudy and cool   Wind: 0125⁰ at  10-15 kts. SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1014   Passage time: 7 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1893 Fuel used/on board:   4781/388

End Engine Hours: 1902  Fuel used/on board:   4801/372

Distance trip/to Date:   55/11,993

We hit the ground running this morning.  If we are to cover the 55-miles to Jacksonville in one day, we need to get out on the ICW early…especially with the restricted openings of the Lion’s Bridge due to morning traffic and construction.  So by 0630, we had called the bridge tender for a  0700 opening and were on our way at first light. Weather calls for possible isolated thunderstorms later in the afternoon too so we would like to be safe in a slip before they start up as well.

The ICW continues to wind its way up the coast looking much the same these past hundred miles.  Narrow isolated stretches followed by miles of modest waterfront homes, each with its own boat suspended on davits from the family dock followed by wide, natural lagoons with all manner of wild life everywhere.  We have seen lots of dolphins  and even a few Manatees along this section of waterway and more than our share of deerflies that get so thick we need to keep WS closed up for hours at a time.

By 1:00 PM it is starting to get dark ahead and Cumulonimbus clouds continue to build on the western horizon as we make the turn up the St John’s River toward Jacksonville.  The bad news was that the marina we selected and made reservations thinking it was a safe place to leave WS for the trip home turned out to be anything but safe.  After a very difficult time and several attempts to back WS into a crosswind challenged dock, your captain was not very happy with the new accomodations. Short rickety docks, inadequate and poorly positioned bow pilings, few cleats and, worst of all, miles of exposure to the wind and waves blowing in off the St John’s River made the marina very marginal even for an overnight stop let along two weeks without us on board.

In less than an hour, we were on our way again up river as we frantically called every marina we could find for a better place to leave WS.  We felt bad deserting our new friends on Full Circle at the unsafe marina since we were indirectly responsible for them staying there too but a skipper must do what is best for his boat. Finally, we were able to make arrangements with Ortega Landing to stay at their new marina past Jacksonville just up the Ortega River.  The only problems now are the isolated thunderstorm forecast has turned into severe storm warnings for the Jacksonville area…and already we could here them rumbling off in the distance and the chart we need for the upper St. John River just ran out of its detail on my chart plotter.

So basically flying blind, we had to make the run across the wide shallow bay past Jacksonville with no idea where we were going or what lies underwater only by reading directions from a paragraph in the cruising guide.  Next we had to get the Ortega River Bridge to open up so we could get through and finally make the dash to find our marina and back into our assigned slip on D dock just as the full fury of the storm was about to hit.  Definitely an SPM (sweaty palms moment)!

Once safe and snug, we relaxed while waited out the storm on WS over a couple of beers and two fingers of rum before checking into the marina office and finally settling down for a simple night of  BBQ  chicken and the last regular episodes of Survivor.

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Palm Court Marina to St Augustine

5/13   Wednesday

From: Latitude: 29:34.63 N    Longitude:081:11.62 W

To:   Latitude: 29:53.52 N    Longitude:081:48.55 W

Weather: cloudy and cool   Wind: 0125⁰ at  10-15 kts. SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1012   Passage time: 3.5 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1890 Fuel used/on board:   4774/395

End Engine Hours: 1893 Fuel used/on board:   4781/388

Distance trip/to Date:   22/11,938

We had a much enjoyed leisurely morning. Jo was able to take a long walk and I dusted off the old folding bike and did about 5-miles along the ICW we had just come up yesterday. By 0930 we were back on board and ready for today’s short, 22-mile ride to St Augustine.  This is the birthplace of our first Wandering Star and we had visited the Mainship factory here back in 1999 and again when we came through on our great loop cruise in 2001.

St Augustine is a great tourist town filled with gift shops, historic buildings, museums, and good restaurants so by 1:00 we were tied up to the city dock right down town so we could walk to it all.  And walk we did!  Up and down all the old streets, past the oldest school house in America, the old fort, art galleries and, of course dozens of t-shirt and souvenir shops.  The real find was a gallery of world artifacts an ex-school teacher and his wife had gathers to sell from all over the far-east.  Here I found the small, grieving Buddha statue make of carved coconut wood I had been looking for since I saw a full size one of teak in an ashram style beach resort in St Maarten.

Part of the afternoon’s mission was to find a great restaurant for our dinner later. Out of many candidates, we returned later to ‘The Tasting Room” which specialized in fine wines and great Spanish and international appetizers meant to be shared.  It was a memorable two-hour dinner of many flavors and inspired wines to complement each course.  A happy and satisfied crew walked the mile back through now empty St Augustine streets to our less than quiet marina.

We soon figured out that the bridge construction to remake the Bridge of the Lions that crosses the river right behind Wandering Star’s slip goes on 24-hours a day.  Thankfully, running the stateroom air-conditioning masked all sounds for sleeping so it was still a peaceful night for tomorrow’s early morning departure.

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Titusville Marina to Palm Court Resort Marina

5/12   Tuesday

From: Latitude: 28:37.26 N    Longitude: 080:48.31 W

To: Latitude: 29:34.63 N    Longitude:081:11.62 W

Weather: cloudy and cool   Wind: 050⁰ at  15-20 kts. SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1010   Passage time: 10 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1880 Fuel used/on board:   4751/418

End Engine Hours: 1890 Fuel used/on board:   4774/395

Distance trip/to Date:   65/11,916

A long day on the water is planned for today.  We got an early start despite all the fun of yesterday’s “launch” party.  I was up and had WS ready to cast off by 0700.  In fact, Les was even up to do the dockline honors one last time as he and Rose head back to Georgia by car today and then mothball Voyager before they head home to Wisconsin for the summer.  It is doubtful we will be together again, as boaters, in the foreseeable future.

It has been an incredible experience traveling together with Les & Rose these past two years…the many memories and adventures we have shared have made us family and it is hard to finally say goodbye.  One can only hope that it is only a matter of time and circumstance till we’re all together again.

I wanted Jo to be able to sleep in a bit but, like a good mate,  she was up in a flash as soon as she felt the engine start.  We had planned to just go the 47-miles to Daytona today but we made such good time, thanks to good currents and few bridges, we didn’t even stop there but just pressed on another 20-miles to Palm Court Resort.  This quaint marina is just a small turnoff on a long and narrow stretch of the ICW with no place even to anchor and about half-way between Daytona and St Augustine.  We pulled in to our slip just before closing at 1645, tied up quickly, and took off for a nice walk to stretch our legs after 10-hours behind the wheel.

Back on board, it was a dinner of BBQ steak, a quiet night of TV, and early to bed for a very tired crew.  Since we did so well with a 65-mile run today, we can afford to take it a little easier tomorrow with a more leisurely departure.  I might even get the old bike and go for a early morning ride for the first time in months,

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 Titusville Marina - Kennedy Space Center

5/11   Monday - Atlantis launch day

The gang was all here for the big day.  Bob & Cheryl on Kasekuchen, Les & Rose from Voyager, Dot & Ken on Dreamweaver, Tim & Jan on Full Circle were on hand at the marina nearest the Canaveral Space Port for our celebration to mark the launch of the shuttle Atlantis’ mission to rescue the Hubble Telescope. Actually Tim & Jan took Full Circle out to the ICW marker 38 where they can see the actual launch pad since they can fit under the now, pre-launched closed bridges over the waterway.  Dot & Ken are anchored out in front of our marina and will join us for the watch on board.

While the launch itself was great and exciting, it was not as spectacular as the one we watched on WSI in 2001.   The were just too many clouds in the way that obscured much of the ascent.  We still had the full effect of the ground (water) shaking power and roar of the rockets even from 13 miles away.  As soon as the shuttle was out of sight, the party really got started on Kasekuchen as the champagne corks popped and the snacks were unveiled.  Girls on the top deck and guys on the rear cockpit partied on till well past dark and a great time was had by all.

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Cocoa Village to Titusville Marina

5/10   Sunday - Mom’s Day

From: Latitude: 2828:21.49 N    Longitude: 080:43.55 W

To: Latitude: 28:37.26 N    Longitude: 080:48.31 W

Weather: sunny, hot   Wind: 135⁰ at  3-5 kts. SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1013   Passage time: 3 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1877 Fuel used/on board:   4745/424

End Engine Hours: 1880 Fuel used/on board:   4751/418

Distance trip/to Date:   17/11,851

My crew was a little slower getting going this morning but we did have our traditional omelet breakfast and still were on the water by 0900. It is still and hot today - even hotter already than yesterday for the short run up to Titusville.  Other boats are already heading that way for the coming launch of Atlantis tomorrow. There are just two bridges to open including our first old style swing bridge this trip, the Max Brewer at Titusville.

The marina is just off the ICW on the left once we are past the bridge and we pull into our assigned dock at the end tie right behind Kasekuchen stern to stern.  Once secure, we greet our old friends again (Les & Rose are on board K for the launch too), then Jo gets our Budget car while I check in and we are soon loaded up, on our way back to Melbourne Beach.  The plan is to take Lorelei and Conrad back home from their cruise with us then spend the afternoon with them there and have dinner before coming back to WS.  Conrad is an excellent chief and the Osso Bocco is awesome!  After an impromptu stop at Cold-Stones, It is very late by the time Jo & I return to the marina for bed.

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Melbourne Beach to Cocoa Village

5/9   Saturday

From: Latitude: 28:04.67 N    Longitude: 080:36.06 W

To: Latitude: 28:21.49 N    Longitude: 080:43.55 W

Weather: sunny, hot   Wind: 135⁰ at  3-5 kts. SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1012   Passage time: 3 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1874 Fuel used/on board:   4737/431

End Engine Hours: 1877 Fuel used/on board:   4745/424

Distance trip/to Date:   19/11,834

While I thought this morning would be a good morning for our guests to sleep in, both were up soon after first light so the day started early.  After a light breakfast, we were back on the waterway by 0800 heading north just the 19-miles  to Cocoa Village for lunch, some shopping, and watching some of the Players Golf Tournament on the satellite.

It is hot today and the outside air is virtually still - a first in longer than I can remember. Once settled into a slip at the newly refurbished Cocoa Village Marina, it was batten down all the hatches and turn on the air conditioning to make the coming afternoon heat more bearable. A nice walk through town to the local pub, a couple of pints of Guinness with lunch and then Conrad and I were heading back on board for naps and TV as planned while the ladies took their time doing some shopping in the now sweltering heat.

Tonight’s dinner was on board featured a homemade Bermuda Bouillabaisse with shrimp, mussels, lobster, and Mahi Mahi from a recipe collected by fellow Caribbean boater Morgan Freeman. It was delicious!  The evening passed learning a new bridge-like card game from our guests called Eucher and a good time was had by all.

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 Vero Beach to Melbourne Beach

5/8   Friday

From: Latitude: 27:39.49 N    Longitude: 080:32.22 W

To: Latitude: 28:04.67 N    Longitude: 080:36.06 W

Weather: mostly sunny   Wind: 110⁰ at  10-12 kts. SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1010   Passage time: 4.5 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1869 Fuel used/on board:   4727/442

End Engine Hours: 1874 Fuel used/on board:   4737/431

Distance trip/to Date:   29/11,815

Sorry if these days on the ICW are not as exciting as the Caribbean but in fact, we prefer to keep them that way.  Here the biggest two dangers are running aground or being run into by someone else…neither one are very good options.   The center channel water is shallow with an average depth of around 10′ and shoaling quickly to 3-4′ or less on both sides of the day board waterway markers.  If you pay attention and stay in the center you should be alright with only the occasional high spot that has silted in to give you concern.

Passing boats are another matter entirely.  Most pass carefully and with concern for the damage their wake can cause by violently rocking your boat from side to side but there are always a few that roar by you at 20-30 knots and knock on your beam.  Some pass as close as a boat length in the narrow stretches of the channel.  This causes a corkscrew response as our boat struggle to maintain course as it passes over their mountainous bow wave.  The danger is that the bow of your boat can actually swing into the stern of the passing boat in this out of control process. We had one such close encounter today and just missed the swim step of a passing boat by only several feet.  Not much you can do except pull back on the throttle quickly to hope you avoid a collision.

Our quests, Conrad and Lorelei arrived this morning from their home in Melbourne Beach at 0900 and by 1000 we were off the dock and on our way the short haul to Melbourne Beach. .  Today was another 40-miles of narrow waterways followed by wide, lake-like bays.  Only a few bridges on the way, all over 60′ clearance, so no problem there with WS only being 30′ tall.  The day started out hot, in the 90’s, but gradually cooled as we moved north to a pleasant 81-degrees.

It was around 1430 when we pulled off the ICW at day-marker number “8″ and made the turn for Melbourne Harbor.  We called ahead on the VHF so Dockmaster Dave was waiting on the assigned dock to greet us.  After squeaking bow first into a very tight slip (6″ to spare on each side), it was discovered the dock was not long enough to reach the aft railing so we could get off WS. So it was back out again turn WS completely around and do it all again, stern first this time.

Once settled in our slip, the boys watched some golf and news on the satellite TV while the ladies took a long walk around greater downtown Melbourne.  Evening dinner was at the Chart House of the same chain we always enjoy in California.  Food was great but in its corporate evolution it has lost what was once the greatest salad bar to be found anywhere.  The surburb yet reasonable priced wine selection more that made up for the change and there Ceasar salid with anchovies still is one of the best.

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Hobe Sound to Vero Beach

5/7   Thursday

From: Latitude: 27:01.54 N    Longitude: 080:06.23 W

To: Latitude: 27:39.49 N    Longitude: 080:32.22 W

Weather: sunny   Wind: 110⁰ at  10-12 kts. SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1011   Passage time: 6 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1863 Fuel used/on board:   4712/456

End Engine Hours: 1869Fuel used/on board:   4727/442

Distance trip/to Date:   41/11,786

Up early after an especially quiet and restful night. Got the anchor up, engine started and on our way again before Jo’s feet even hit the deck. Today, promises to be much easier than yesterday…only a handful of bridges and 40-miles to go to get to our stop for the night at the Vero Beach City Marina.  Lots of wide spots on the ICW today made up of large inland salt water lakes a mile across in places.  These would get a bit boring were it not for all of the traffic in the narrow, ICW channel, going in both direction.

Passing and being passed was the order of the day which keeps you on the alert at all times.  Even our new friends from Nassau, Tim & Jan on Full Circle managed to pass us on their way north. Most boats are very considerate slowing down from a plane and passing with slow care but there are always a few maniacs that seem to delight in seeing how much they can rock a slower boat. Well that’s what God gave us a middle finger for I guess.

By 1:30 PM we were tied up along side at our marina on a back slew in Vero Beach. Jo took off immediately to get a rental car and provision while I got the salt off and got WS ready for company.  Jo’s best friend Lorelei from Melbourne Beach and husband Conrad our coming on board in the morning for a couple of days of waterway experience. It’s the first company we had on board since Bob & Pat in the Virgins and we are looking forward to some group fun as we share the Intercoastal experience.

This evening, once Jo was back, we finished clean-up chores and had a nice BBQ dinner on board resisting the temptation to dine at the lovely Vero Beach Yacht Club next door who were nice enough to extend us their hospitality.  It’s also “Survivor” night and we have not seen a episode since we were home for the Board meeting in March and it is the only TV show I think we really miss.

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Fort Lauderdale to Hobe Sound

5/6   Wednesday

From: Latitude: 26: 08.49 N    Longitude: 080:06.56 W

To: Latitude: 27:01.54 N    Longitude: 080:06.23 W

Weather: sunny   Wind: 135⁰ at  10-12 kts.  SEA: ICW

Barometer: 1013   Passage time: 10 hrs.

Start Engine Hours: 1853  Fuel used/on board:   4693/475

End Engine Hours: 1863 Fuel used/on board:   4712/456

Distance trip/to Date:   55/11,754

Today was the day of bridges.  As we moved north 55-miles along the Intercoastal Waterway, we passed under 26 bridges…22 of which were draw bridges we had to have open for WS to fit through with her 30′ of height.  The trick was that most only open on a fixed schedule so you must time your arrival to coincide with the scheduled opening or you are stuck trying to hold your 24-ton boat in place against wind and current for a half hour till the appointed next opening.  Some of these bridges are only a few hundred yards apart and others can be several miles so it is quite a navigational challenge to get the speed and distance timing to work out.

Most of the day, Jo did the math and the radio (yes you must call each bridge and request an opening even though the operator can see you out the bridge control room window) while I steered WS along the waterway.  Even staying in the middle of the charted channel, we still managed to bump the bottom on two occasions.  Luckily with our momentum and narrow keel we able to keep her moving over the shallow spot to deeper water on the other side.

Once we were past Jupiter Inlet, we started looking for a wide spot in the channel to anchor for the night. We were much relieved (and tired) when we finally dropped our Rochna anchor in 8′ of water along the western shore in the wildlife sanctuary of Hobe Sound.

Tomorrow should be much easier with fewer bridges and lots more space between each. Tonight, we are just glad to swing quietly on the hook, have dinner, watch some normal US Direct TV (just got it working again after over a year of Spanish programming out of Trinidad), and enjoy OUR almost full moon.

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Still December 2008 - THE LOVELY GRENADINES

St. Vincent and the Grenadines are a sovereign nation consisting of several smallish islands just above Grenada, with the much larger St Vincent as its Capitol in the north.  Union Island, Bequia, Mustique, Mayreau, Canouan, and the Tobago Cays, are probably the most well known, but there are dozens of them.  This was another new country for us, and an opportunity to visit places that clients from my past life as a travel agent and charter broker always really enjoyed.  Time and weather were again a factor, I don’t think that will ever end-until, and if, we decide to just sit somewhere for several weeks with nothing on the calendar for the foreseeable future.  Many of our fellow cruisers make this choice and look at us like we are on a race, but we are not, just trying to see a big world in our allotted time.  We set a goal and go for it, and for the calendar year 2008, these islands just about wrap it up.  2009 will take us the rest of the way through the Eastern Caribbean and up the East coast of the USA to Maine.  Perhaps winter 2009/10 will allow us time to just BE in one of these tropical paradises.  That’s on the to-do list too.  Right there, number 97, “just sit somewhere on a boat and veg-out.”

We stopped at Clifton, Union Island.  Securing an anchoring spot is the challenge here, but it’s still a great place to visit.  It’s a weird anchorage with the airport runway and a huge reef on the east side and a rather large shoal smack dab in the middle, so getting your bearings and scouting a spot is not easy.  We all had issues getting settled, we were made to move from what looked like a perfect spot, and Les and Rose had set and reset their anchor a few times. They finally found a great spot and got a good set and Les dropped the big dinghy and went out to explore.  We next heard Rose on the radio frantically calling “Voyager Mobile, Voyager Mobile”.  Seems they were anchored in the direct path of the rapidly approaching high speed ferry and were advised to move NOW.  Well, first she had to find her captain and get him back onboard… she is normally so calm and cool, we could hear stark terror in her voice - he made it back just in time and as the sun was setting, had to begin the search again.  Arrive early and I’d suggest looking for a spot east of the middle shoal, just west of the reef, or find a good boat boy and have him get you a mooring…but dive it, as some are not much of a mooring at all.  Onshore there is a lot to do.  The Anchorage Yacht Club is great and there are several other restaurants that are good for a quick lunch or breakfast.  Not much in the way of fine dining though.  We found a great ramshackle shop/coffee bar/bar, sort of at the end of the road in the SW part of the bay, Castello’s.  Everything is gaily painted here, EVERYTHING!  It’s got about

10 foot road frontage and then goes straight back, hooks to the left, then another quick right where it opens up quite a bit to about 50+ feet, then narrows again and goes up a hill…it has clothing, pictures, knickknacks, fresh baked good, coffee, beer and whatever, their house, a chicken coop, and a killer view from the top.  Castello, the wife, is an artist who we thought to be French, but is actually Israeli and sailed here with her husband who I think is Dutch, several years ago.  She told me in colorfully accented English that they bought the property for a good price; no one else had the imagination to see the possibilities.  They have inspired minds to have imagined this.  He sits, shirtless, on the porch of their house which, as I said, is somehow in the middle of this maze, working on his writing or computers I think.  You just have to see it to believe it.  Ade got a great shirt there.  I’ve washed it a few times and it holds up great and he gets compliments every time.

Too wordy today, so I will shorten this up to say, Tobago Cays - cool diving, but not as alive as we’d hoped, great giant Sea Turtles however, and worth the stop.  Boat boys with colorfully painted boats come by all the time trying to sell you everything from T-shirts, to bread, fruit, lobster, jewelry and anything else you are willing to pay them for.  Caution, they are not well bumpered and we have the deep scratches on our blue hull to prove it.  Throw your bumpers out, they will visit, invited or not.  They are very pleasant though, we used Mr. Fabulous and he is proud to be named in the cruising guides and introduces himself as a local celebrity.  We bought T-shirts, but most are the ones you can find ashore but still at competitive prices, and there are some that feature the work of local artists.

We also stopped at Mayreau, and Canouan, and did a close cruise by Mustique, but because time was short, opted not to stop and pay the high fees just to be able to go ashore for a few hours.  It’s pretty, but doesn’t seem to have that much to offer the cruiser; land tourism is probably great if you are willing to pay the prices to stay there.

The jewel for us is Bequia.  It is a charming island, we found the people to be quite nice, not overly friendly, but never rude.  Port Elizabeth is where we spent most of our time and think it best. There are many restaurants, shops, markets, etc. to enjoy.  There are nice long roads for long walks, a huge bay in which to anchor, a HotHotHot internet connection, laundry and fresh water service from Daffodil, and ferry service to St. Vincent and other islands, including Mustique if you want to visit some of the Grenadine islands that way.

We did most of our Christmas shopping here.  Bequians are great boat builders, from full size schooners and sloops, “two bow” fishing boats to collectable small replicas.  Ade looked at all of the “model” boats, (but not models at all, each one is hand crafted) and settled on a traditional grey hulled gaff rigged fishing boat which he proudly has added to his assortment.

We took the ferry to St. Vincent as reports of violence against cruisers persist.  It apparently is mainly in the otherwise perfect anchorages on the northwest coast where a few boaters have been brutally murdered over the past few years.  Police say it is a deranged individual, but on a small island where everyone knows everyone else, and their business, we think if they wanted him (or them) caught, it would have happened.  There are those in tourism who realize that cruisers represent money for the local economy.  They say there is talk of a coast guard station strategically located in Chateaubelair or Cumberland which should help cruisers feel more comfortable.  No way was I going to stop there on Wandering Star, big Chicken of the Sea that I am.

We had a great day though; we took the first ferry over and the last one back.  We were met by a young driver from Hazeco Tours and he took us everywhere along the west coast.  We were joined by his wife and her young brother that they are raising, and two Canadian Travel Agents that were great company.  We even went by the Hazel’s home where Millie had prepared and packed lunches for us all.  The island is quite mountainous and drops directly to the sea, so that the coastal road goes all the way up and all the way down into each little bay.  The roads are mostly paved, but narrow and high, there is no shoulder or gradual segue from road to roadside, and it drops right off, as much as a foot in some places, so staying on the road is a must, not an option.  Driving would be exhausting and we are so happy we chose a competent driver so we could just enjoy the sights.  We stopped at the melodiously named, Wallilabou, where Pirates of the Caribbean II and III were filmed.  The film used what was there and added a few building facades that still stand, there are cast and crew shots from the several months they were filming, but not much else.   It would be still be a lovely spot to just sit on your boat and enjoy the beauty.  This is just one of the stunning bays along this coast.  We are truly sorry we did not feel safe enough to spend a week cruising this lovely coast.

Next it is onto the last of the Windward Islands, St Lucia, and Christmas with the kids.

December 2008:  Land Ho!  Grenada at Last! 

The sun was just rising and we beheld a beautiful sight - mountains.  “Land Ho” Ade shouted, and there she was, the large and lovely island of Grenada.  We entered St Georges Harbor, scooted in the well buoyed channel, hoping to find that anchoring was still possible in the lagoon.  We knew that the Port Louis Marina development would eventually take it over as they had somehow wrangled a way to buy it all.  Junior, Port Louis’ dock master hopped in his runabout and ran out to Voyager and made us both a deal we couldn’t refuse- a bargain priced opportunity to tie up alongside the sparsely populated brand new docks and just in perfect time to get ready for a Thanksgiving celebration.  Junior is a hard man to say no to.  He is powerfully built with yards of long braids (not dreads) extremely clean cut, and with a killer smile.  Before we knew it we were all aboard V planning a week’s worth of activities with various relatives of his and enjoying celebratory champagne as we had finally stopped going east and were now ready for our northward journey up the Caribbean chain of islands, which we assume will  be a bit easier going!

St Georges, Grenada is just fantastic to see, colorful 19^th century buildings, forts and churches built up steep and lush green hills that look out across the sea and down on the beautiful harbor.  The Carenage is the other lobe of the harbor and is lined with all sorts of commercial boats, small cargo ships that unload right onto the cobblestone streets, fishing boats and small brightly painted skiffs.  No matter what time of day I was out and about, I would see crowds of beautiful school-aged children dressed smartly in their uniforms quickly walking, talking and laughing on their way to or from classes or lunch.  They speak the Queens English here, quite easy to understand and communicate with - but quite impossible to understand when they are talking to each other… and everyone says “Ya Mon” (yes) and “Irie” (kind of life is good),  “lime, mon” (chill out dude) and the easy to understand, “every tin’s gonna be awl-rite”.

On a perfect early morning walk with camera in hand,  I saw that, on closer inspection, many of the buildings were in ruin, and most I learned, from Hurricane Ivan who came ashore unexpectedly in September 2004.  Ninety percent of the homes on the island were damaged and the islands vegetation devastated.  Many islanders live on a subsistence level, which until that point had been a veritable Garden of Eden; fruits and vegetables, spices, fish all in abundance provided food for the people and for export.  Four years later, much of the landscape has recovered, and most individual homes have been repaired, but few of the churches and buildings.  I think they want to do more of a restoration, which eliminates the possibility of quick demolition.  Some of these buildings had also been damaged during the American rescue mission of 1985.  I will not call it an invasion and most Grenadians still thank us for our help getting rid of  Maurice Bishop’s Cuban Communist friends, who were taking over all branches of the government, and threatening to turn it into another Cuba, which is not at all what the majority of the islanders wanted.

Provisioning is fantastic as there is Food Fair/Foodland and other good Supermarkets along the waterfront (Lagoon Rd) and also in the “suburban” Spiceland Mall area and the resort areas towards Grande Anse.  (which I of course remember as Grand Arse, as in mine). Crazy inexpensive van/busses ($1.50EC) make getting around from St. Georges and the anchorages very easy.  The money is also quite easy as they use the EC, or Eastern Caribbean dollar, fixed at $2.67 to the USD, and this currency is good in almost every island country (except the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe who use the Euro) all the way to Anguilla.  ATM’s are everywhere.  The marina will take your laundry even if you are anchored out.  The small marinas in the southern anchorages around popular Prickly Bay also have laundry facilities, but it’s more hit or miss, i.e., maybe it’s working or maybe “not working so good today”.

Grenada has some wonderful restaurants, but downtown St George’s was pretty limited the week we were there, more often than not, they were closed or empty when we wanted to go and with provisioning so easy, we found that our best meals were on board.  Do try BB’s Crabback on the waterfront for said crabback or other fresh catch, it’s quite good, he has a quirky dinghy dock, but if you keep your eye on your dink you can keep from it ramming underneath the restaurant, its fine.

This Thanksgiving was truly a feast and we all had so much to be grateful for.  We started the day off with a brunch onboard WS, and Les & Rose hosted the turkey and trimmings meal that early evening.  What fun to be able to make traditional dishes with a Caribbean twist…we’d been hording for weeks, not knowing that we could buy anything we wanted once we got to Grenada… Rose had a turkey from Panama she’d been saving and dealing with in her freezer all this time.  Dottie had Pumpkin bread for everyone and her famous cranberry chutney; I managed to find a leek so I could make my Pumpkin soup according to my recipe and not have to improvise.   Boney, Junior’s uncle, and former policeman, took us on a great island tour that ran from the SW to the NE, and introduced us to the plethora of plant life on Grenada.  We toured River Rum Distillery, the Grenada Chocolate Company, parks and beautiful waterfalls, made pals with Lover Bay, his “pet” monkey, ate lunch at a delightful “locals” restaurant near Grenville and he still got us back safe and sound (not easy on those roads with aggressive bus/taxi drivers) by sunset.

We left a day ahead of the others as we had canvas work done and need to get around the “corner” of Pt. Saline, for installation.  While there were only a few other cruising boats in St. Georges, there are dozens and dozen’s in the Prickly Bay/True Blue area.  We dropped the hook and took a nice long walk around to familiarize ourselves with the area, have a drink at the well advertised Dodgy Dock, and check out the True Blue Marina.  It’s nice, but didn’t really have the “vibe” we were looking for, funny some places feel like home and others just don’t click.   We saw that Musetta was indeed tucked in safe and sound there, for them it must have felt like heaven.  We met

Stephanie and Jeff in Cartagena and they have had nothing but trouble since they left that secure port.  Made our troubles seem small indeed.  They have decided to stay put for awhile - no wonder!

While Prickly Bay is nice, we opted to move over to the popular Hog Island/Calvigny Island area.  We found a great spot near Clarks Cove, and Whisper Cove - easy dink ride to both and free internet to boot!  The new Le Phare Bleu Marina and Resort complex is where Dave & Jane have their canvas shop.  While there we realized that the gourmet restaurant housed in the old lighthouse ship, Vastra Banken, had opened the previous week.   We made dinner reservations for the next day - and it was one of the best meals we’ve ever had.  Chef Mark Bankthorpe, of the cookbook “Tastes of Spice” has created a fantastic menu, and wonderful atmosphere.  Magnifique!

Sublime evenings like that are followed by a humbling 5-hour for one load of laundry ordeal.  I went ashore to the French hippie run Whisper Cove to do a quick load of laundry as I’d been told the dryer at Clarke’s was kaput.  There is one washing machine, one dryer and it sits outside next to the bar/restaurant/reception/patio/everything area. This machine had a mind of its own and was a bit of a nightmare as it accepted my wash, started off fine, but washed for over three hours and wouldn’t let me open it up to retrieve my now tired, soapy and heavy with water items.  There was no sink to rinse them out, so I’d be stuck with a mess anyway.   So I stayed, kept ordering waters, doing emails and tried to act nonchalant as a couple argued non-stop in rapid French using frenzied hand gestures just next to me, and then realized that I was absent-mindedly scratching my legs, not paying attention to the fact that I was being eaten alive.  Argg.  A radio call to Ade brought bug spray and company for what looked like was going to be an overnight ordeal.  Thankfully, the dryer was much faster, only 2 hours to complete its cycle.  Ah the glamour of the Yaaachting life!  If it were fresh water we were floating in, a rock on the shoreline would have been much faster and better.

There’s a great cruising community in Grenada and it can be quite social.  We were able to get out to Clarks Court for their Burger and a Movie Night, and over to Woburn for the Lasagna Thursday nights and socialize with fantastic people who have spent years cruising these waters.  I can see spending a nice winter here, Grenada has it all for the cruiser, including a community.

Grenada and Carriacou (locals pronounce it Carrie-cou) and Petite Martinique make up the nation of Grenada.  We passed by Petite Martinique, but did not stop, preferring Tyrrel Bay on Carriacou and were delighted with it.  Very friendly people enjoying gearing up for the Christmas holidays.  We walked everywhere, picked up a local girl, I should say, she picked us up and proceeded to identify every leaf and plant as well as the local inhabitants, who she would greet with big kisses and hugs.  No one walks she told us, so it was a very big deal, and actually a very long walk, to have her escort us from the anchorage to the town of Hillsborough for marketing.   Town consists of several streets of markets, shops with just about everything, churches and bars.  Back in Tyrrel Bay, we decided on an evening ashore and  enjoyed Lobster Pizza for dinner, and the music of an almost all girl steel drum band playing Christmas carols.  It’s not just the music that is so great, it is watching the locals dance and sing and play along.  All ages, all sizes, all manners of sobriety (probably stoned is more like it) just hanging out on the dirt road that separates the outdoor establishment and the beach.  Some come inside for a drink, but often the real party is on the road.  Dogs, cats, chickens, lizards and mossies complete the assemblage.   Nice kick off to the holiday season.  Two very tall Nordic looking Canadian Peace Corp workers edged two local girls off their drum sets and played a few sets - they must have been here for a long time as they were GOOD.

It was all good.  We really feel a connection with Grenada and its people.  If there is a way, I imagine this is a place where we could spend a season…or two.