August 10. First off, let’s start off with a little bit about the Brewer’s Pilot’s Point Marina in Westbrook Connecticut. Its part of the Brewer’s Marina empire which means its part of a huge marina conglomerate with over a dozen marinas under one umbrella.

They were wonderful to us in this stressful time. They had a mechanic on our boat that worked like a dog. He was a real pleasant guy that didn’t spend any time bullshiting. If he had to go back to the shop for something he was back on the boat in just moments and we never felt as if our time “on the clock” was being wasted. They encouraged me to do as much of the disassembly as I could so we could save a few dollars.

We could have walked out of there and spent less money to get back underway but since we were so far into a major disassembly it only made sense to refurbish as much of the drive train as possible. A big part of this decision was based on how we were treated and the quality of the work that was done. We just felt like we were getting our monies worth.

We were minor celebrities there as one of the gas dock attendants told us that they had never had anyone actually live in the travel lift before. We were only hanging in the slings for 2 days but it seemed like a big deal to them.

So the boat was finished on Thursday morning. We got a ride into town to go food shopping while the bean counters tallied up the bill for our stay. After lunch we went up to the office and paid the bill then we went back to the boat and cried for a couple of hours. Not really…… crying never helps. We spent the rest of the day filling the fresh water tank, washing the boat, putting the interior of the boat back together and giving the dogs baths.

We left the service dock at 1800 hours and stopped at the fuel dock on our way out into the anchorage that we had stopped in 2 weeks ago when we first discovered our mechanical maladies. We were treated to a beautiful sunset over the regular Thursday night racing. It felt wonderful to back on the hook again.

The next morning we woke to a gray dismal day with 10 to 15 knots of wind straight from the direction we wished to travel. We had several other boats in the anchorage with us last night and each one left one by one. We watched as all of them turned west, finally one, Indulgence turned east. The tide would turn in our favor at about 0930 so we were in no hurry to get underway. We even sat and debated waiting until the next day before heading east. Once our neighbor, Indulgence, was underway for about an hour, Christy hailed him on the radio for a report on the conditions they were encountering. He replied that it wasn’t as bad as you’d think and they were making good time. It sounded fairly encouraging and we were on the fence about leaving so we hauled anchor and got underway.

About 45 minutes later Indulgence hailed us and said that things had gone to hell in a handbasket. The wind had piped up to 25 knots right on the nose and with the tide ebbing behind them they were getting their ass kicked. He advised that if we didn’t have anyplace special to get to today that we should stay put behind the seawall at Duck Island. Christy told him that we were underway 5 minutes after speaking to him the first time and things weren’t too bad as we only had about 12 knots of wind against us. His advice was to turn around and wait for better weather tomorrow and he wished us well and signed off.

Turns out, he was right. I should have turned around but we had already covered a few miles and I didn’t want to give those miles back. (Yeah I know stupid, stubborn, whatever I see it as adventurous) We ended up seeing 28 knots as our high and never less than 20 for the next few hours. The wind wasn’t really the problem; it was the fact that it was opposing a knot and a half tidal flow. This results in a very steep, nasty chop, think breaking waves one right after another. Again and again Veranda would explode out the back of a wave and crash down into the trough of the next wave with a thunderous explosion of spray. Several times we’d run into the odd huge wave that would bury our bow with enough green water to obscure everything on the foredeck.

A quick word about the crew. Christy handled the ride just fine, she said she knew that when Indulgence suggested that we turn back “that wasn’t going to happen.” It really was a crappy day with this being the worst conditions we’ve set out into and I should have turned back, screw adventure. I never heard “I told you so”. (It might have been uttered, I just never heard it) Rover steered the whole time and was spectacular. Molly is usually on high alert whenever we’re underway but today she just curled up and went to sleep seemingly unfazed. Tucker usually sleeps from anchor up to anchor down. Not today, he was freakin’ out. He was trying to stand so he’s falling this way and that like a furry bowling pin. It got so bad for him that we had to put him below where he finally laid down.

At one point on our trip the bottom rises sharply towards the surface. The depth goes from 70 feet to 20 in practically no time. This means that the immense volume of water now has to flow up and over this submerged plateau. This creates an actual lump on the water and with the wind cranking against it it made the area look like we should be white water rafting. It was crazy to see and I checked the depths on 2 different charts and the chartplotter just make sure that the water was really deep enough to pass through.

We decided to cut the day as short as possible (without turning around). We picked a small cove near Great Neck, Ct. as the place most likely to be comfortable for the night. The chart showed a boat ramp there so I knew that meant dog walking would be available.

For the last 2 miles as we motored into the cove the seas and wind started to abate as we drew closer to land. We anchored in a rock lined cove right in front of the boat ramp with only 10 knots of breeze in the lee of the land. It was good to drop the hook and be able to just sit back without having to hold on. All in all it was only a 16 mile day with 9 of those miles being truly horrendous.

We sat and listened to boaters all around the area changing plans and seeking shelter. The Coast Guard was looking for one small sailboat that had disappeared during the day. We heard about dinghies blown away, genoas torn to shreds and even one guy who swore he was encountering 45 knot gusts. Now that’s adventure………

August 4. Today’s been a day of firsts. First a little about Connecticut. I always pictured Connecticut as being in the same boat as Rhode Island and Massachusetts. You know the Kennedy’s, Martha’s Vineyard, Yachts, Kennebunkport, uptight conservative political snobbery. In reality the motorcyclists here wear no helmets and you can buy fireworks on the side of the road. They’re kind of like the hillbillies of the north…….who knew.

Christy got out the sewing machine and replaced the bug screen in our companion way hatch. I’m definitely beginning to domesticate her. First she’s up at any hour, no matter how ridiculously early it is and now she’s sewing bug screens. Who knows what tomorrow holds…….

We went up to Bill’s Seafood again for dinner. The place is way diveier than the Captains Inn but the food is great. Christy asks the waitress what she recommends and she instantly replies “a place with air conditioning”. It sits just past a “singing bridge” with a seven foot clearance. This means that the only boat traffic to watch is the occasional bow rider or tiny center console going past.



There are about a dozen “premium” tables with this glorious water side view with at least 50 second and third row tables available. As we were eating we were watching some guy and his date as they stood and waited for one of these evidently very desirerable front row tables to open up. It was kind of sad actually to think that one of the highlights of their evening was going to be their seat assignment at this fine eatery.

The mood did pick up for me when Christy leaned close to me at the table and said “promise me that you’ll never use ketchup in a restaurant again”. I look over at the next table and there’s this kid about 5 or 6 years old. He’s got the flip top ketchup in his mouth and he’s squeezing the bottle so he can suck the ketchup straight out of the container. Then he see’s that crusty, dry, old ketchup that’s stuck up inside the lid. Well evidently it some kind of delicacy wherever this kid is from. For as he’s putting the bottle down he see’s the inside of the lid has more tasty delights and he goes to work on the inside of the lid with his tongue. I should have gotten his autograph because with tongue work like that the kid definitely has a future in porn. Christy was all grossed out and I’m laughing like an idiot and all the while the kid’s parents don’t have a clue. Children are so precious.

So now I’m thinking I’ve seen everything and I’m still laughing as we get into the dinghy and head back to the boat. As we round a bend a small center console comes into view coming the other way. Now I’ve seen everything. The driver of the boat is wearing one of those full halo devices complete with the 2 screws into his forehead and 2 more into the back of his head. He’s standing there practically immobilized with this framework supporting his head and limiting his ability to move. Think Frankenboater. He and his girl both wave as we go by so Christy and I gave the reciprocal wave……….I was just going to nod but I didn’t want to show off. Holy crap, I can’t believe I just saw this guy in his little power boat with a broken neck. His doctor would have a stroke. I feel like a bobblehead after 10 minutes in a boat like that, I can’t imagine what he was thinking. I hope that was a small step in a miraculous recovery because that was bizarre to see.

As far as our boat goes…….we’re back in the water. The new shaft and shaft log are in and the stuffing box was cleaned up and repacked. As it stands now everything should be ready on Monday afternoon for reassembly. I hope we’ll be back underway by Thursday, we’ll see. We are using the time to do some boat chores and at the same time we are taking advantage of the pool here at the marina because its been hot as hell here.

August 1. Things aren’t going quite as well as we had envisioned. Once the bronze propeller shaft had been removed it became obvious that the shaft was scrap. There were deep grooves worn into the shaft where the packing had ridden on it in the past. Somebody had changed the shaft log and to hide the grooves they had cut the log an extra inch long. This means that the damaged part of the shaft was hidden inside the shaft log where no one could see it. It would probably be fine but as long as we’re this far into it we might as well fix everything we find that’s not right.

This means that there’s a new propeller shaft in our immediate future. On Wednesday morning the old shaft was sent to the local machine shop to be copied. We should have our new stainless version back on Friday. If that happens then we should be back in the water on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately they don’t work here on Saturdays so the rest of the reassembly won’t begin until Monday.

On the bright side tho is the fact that this yard is part of a network of yards so our transmission and V-drive have been sent over to another yard that has a full time guy that just deals with transmissions. So we're still hanging in the travel lift slings until we get the new shaft.




Well that was last night. First thing this morning Dave comes walking over with our brand new prop shaft. The old shaft was dropped off at the machine shop Wednesday morning before lunch and we had the new shaft installed in the boat by 1000 on Thursday. Great service, super quick turnaround.

The prop is back on and we are put back in the water and towed over to our previous berth. The transmission should be back in the morning and the generator is already to go. So there is an outside chance that we could be ready to go by the end of the day tomorrow. We have to remember that even tho the glass is half full it’s not a magical chalice. It all depends on what time the transmission gets here, there’s still a lot of work to do. The transmission and V-drive have to be reinstalled before the generator can be put back into place.

At night after the workmen have left for the day we’ve been using the opportunity to do some work on the boat. First thing we did after the generator and drive train were removed was to clean the bilge. Our bilge is 3 feet deep and was truly a dark scary place. You couldn’t even see the bottom let alone touch it. It’s spotless now…..alright, alright, it is pretty clean though. No, really.

Tonight I moved the generators small fuel filter and electric fuel pump. In its original position you couldn’t change the filter without unbolting the generator from the deck and sliding it aside to provide only marginal access. I had never even seen the tiny electric fuel pump before all this disassembly so I moved that as well since I had the opportunity.

Tomorrow should be interesting……..

July 31

July 31. Alrighty, a little recap. We’re broken down in Westbrook Connecticut at the Pilots Point Marina.

Saturday night Christy wanted to go out for dinner and we’re fairly well out in the sticks. We take the dinghy and head on up the river looking for a place recommended by another boater here at the marina. After a short ride we arrive at Bill’s Seafood Restaurant. We tie up to their floating dock and head on in. The place was borderline diveish but the food was good and served on a riverfront deck. Adjacent to the restaurant is a bridge with a deck made of a metal grid, you know, a singing bridge. It was a little weird eating and having your conversation interrupted continuously by vehicular traffic crossing the bridge.


On Monday morning we meet our mechanic, Dave. I guess he drew the short straw as this job is going to be no party. I had already removed the cabinet so Dave got right to work. He was able to remove the generator and take it up to the shop for service. It was in the way and had to come out anyway.

A quick word about our generator. It’s a Fischer Panda 4.5 KW model that the previous owner had installed... It’s pretty much a piece of shit. I’ve had to do 2 major repairs in the last 9 months. 600 dollars in parts for a 5 year old generator with less than 300 hours on it is a little ridiculous. Trying to get one serviced is a joke. We called all six authorized service centers in the Annapolis area when we were there and not one was interested in doing the job. When we got to the Sound we called 3 different service centers on the north shore of Long Island and were told by all 3 that they could look at it in 2 or 3 weeks. Yeah, let me just hang around here for 3 weeks. So hopefully they will be able to fix it while we’re here anyway. So the bottom line is that if somebody puts a gun to your head, take the bullet, don’t buy a Fischer Panda, if you do you’ll wish you were dead anyway.

But there is good news from the bilge. Once the generator was cleared out of the way the shaft coupling came into view. All 4 bolts that hold the shaft coupling together were sheared off. This means that there’s probably no damage to the transmission. The grumbling noise we all heard was the 2 coupling plates rubbing against each other as the apparently healthy transmission tried to turn the propeller shaft.

This is excellent news as this means internal moving parts of the transmission are probably not damaged. However since Dave is so far into the disassembly we’ve decided to have him continue to remove the transmission so we can replace the 22 year old clutch plates. While we’re at it we’re also going to replace the 22 year old shaft log which is pretty much just a rubber hose that keeps the ocean on the outside of the boat. So the bottom line is that we’re still spending money but with the improvements we’re making we shouldn’t have to get this deep into the boat again for10 years. Half full, half full.

Tonight we had dinner with Pat & Eddie. They were the couple that we had met in Snead’s Ferry, N.C. when we broke our damper plate on our way south. Since then we’ve also run into them in Marathon, Miami and Saint Augustine. The odd part is that they’ve been on the road in their van and have been in our vicinity by chance…….or they could be stalkers, hmmm. Actually, they’re just awesome folks who make the effort to include running into us as part of their road trips. We hope to hook up with them on our way south this fall as they should have vanquished all of their boat gremlins by then and will be headed south themselves.

So tonight we hang suspended above the ground in the travel lift and should have our new shaft log installed in the morning. After that we’ll be back in the water and as soon as the transmission is ready it will be reinstalled as well.

July 28. Yesterday the towboat came as promised and took us into the Pilot’s Point Marina in Westbrook Connecticut. The marina has over 850 slips and the largest travel lift will handle up to 80 tons. This place is huge with over 70 employees running this way and that.

I had spoken to the service manager, Jeremy, by phone when we broke down to let him know we’d be coming. When we got here we went up to the office and signed in and then went back to the boat to wait.

In the afternoon Jeremy and his head mechanic came by to diagnose and plan our repair. They confirmed our suspicion that it was indeed the transmission. Jeremy said they had a scheduling meeting the next morning and he’d stop by and tell us where we fit into their plans.

I’m a little freaked out because staying here costs over a hundred dollars a night. If they can’t get to us for several days we could be spending money like crazy without getting any work done. Now I’m second guessing myself, should we have stayed out on the hook until they were sure there would be a mechanic available to us? What if it’s a week? Ommm Ommmm, half full, half full.

Good to his word Jeremy showed up after the planning session and told us we’d have a man first thing Monday morning. He was very sensitive to the fact that we are liveaboards and they were doing a little juggling to get us done before some less time sensitive projects that they had going. He also suggested I have the interior disassembled as much as possible to save time and some money. I was already planning to do that but it was nice to hear he was thinking about us saving some money.

So in the big scheme of things, we’re safe and we’re in what seems to be the best place to take care of our needs. It could have been way worse, we might have had to go into an unfamiliar anchorage under sail, search for the spot and then drop the hook with other boats all around. As it was, the transmission held out just long enough to deliver us safely with the least amount of stress. Yep, still half full.

Oh yeah, while I think of it. Since I’ve had the time and an internet connection I’ve worked on our Blog a bit and have added the option for anyone reading our Blog to add a comment there for us to read. So if you’ve got something to say…….lets hear it.

July 26

July 26. Last night was great sleeping weather, a little chill and virtually no wind.

At the head of Cold Springs Harbor is a yacht club that performs the ritual of firing a canon at sunset. When the gun went off it startled all of us and almost gave Molly a stroke. After awhile she was able to calm down and I told Christy that clubs like that usually fire their cannon again at 0800, and then I completely forgot about it.

So the next morning we’re hauling the anchor at 0800 when that damn gun goes off again. I was in the bow pulpit tending the anchor and almost shit myself. Molly spazed and all around the boat a thousand tiny fish jumped from the water in perfect unison at the big guns retort.

So we’re east bound for a fifty mile day to Duck Island which isn’t much of an island at all. There’s a tiny island tucked up against the Connecticut shore with 2 long stone jetties running out from the island to form a 90 degree breakwater. A half mile to the east the land juts out to afford some protection from the east. To the west, almost a mile away is another very long jetty. So we’ve got pretty good protection from every direction.

On the way here the bay was as flat as any water we’ve seen. We had the main up to grab whatever small zephyrs of wind there might be as we motored east. The wind did build for us to about 8 knots so we were able to get all sail up and make decent time. We also had the ebb tide for most of the trip so for a good part of the day we were making over 7 knots SOG.

There’s an unusual phenomena here on Long Island Sound, Mylar balloons. When we were here a few years ago we were constantly coming across Mylar balloons that had lost their oomph but were still inflated enough to float. We saw dozens of them, one here, and 2 there. In the last 3000 miles I don’t remember seeing any at all. Today we saw at least 15, again, one here, one or 2 there. It’s probably housewives on Long Island (pronounced Long Guyland) releasing them to live in the wild. Ditzes.

When we finally arrived we dropped sail just outside the breakwater and motored inside. After a quick tour around the anchorage we picked a nice spot and dropped the hook. When I signaled Christy for reverse we found that we didn’t have any. Damn. We were still moving forward very slowly when I dropped the hook so I was fairly sure the anchor had set. I then paid out 60 feet of chain in the 9 feet of water.

Troubleshooting the problem determined that our transmission had given up the ghost, as they say. I was hoping that it was something simple (read that as cheap) like the Morse cable that controls the linkage but noooo.

We called Towboat US and since we were safely anchored we arranged to be towed in the morning. We got out the guide books for the area and were pleased to find out that we’d broken down less than a mile from the biggest full service marina in Connecticut and arguably on the Sound. So if there’s a bright side……..(remember, my glass is always half full)

July 25

July 25. Yesterday while underway the bilge pump kicked on a few times. I figured it was the new packing that I had put in the propeller shaft stuffing box.

So last night after writing yesterdays trip report I opened up the bilge to adjust the stuffing box and was confronted with the sight of water dripping down off the starter. Damn. It looks as if the starter was touching the heat exchanger on the engine and over time has worn a hole clean through. Christy was already asleep so I closed up the bilge and set the alarm for 0600 so I could tackle the job in the morning.

I slept like crap and woke up at 0500. I let Christy sleep, alright she laid there while I made as little noise as possible and went to work on the leak. I had to remove my old friend the starter (yet again) to get at the heat exchanger. When I did I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was a hose clamp that I had put on back in Sneads Ferry that had failed. The heat exchanger was still good although it did have a rather deep depression worn into the case. A little JB Weld to fill the depression, a scrap of leather as chaff protection and we were good to go. I even adjusted the stuffing box just for the hell of it while I was waiting for the JB Weld to dry.

So we still made our planned 0930 departure but first there was the pooping of the dogs. Here in Atlantic Highlands this involves a short dinghy ride to a dirty little beach. This morning’s trip was at near low tide so I grounded the dinghy 50 feet from shore and had to carry the dogs to the beach. Both dogs wear life jackets with handles on their backs to make it easy for me to handle them. I was wading through shin deep water with a doggie “suitcase’ in each hand. When I glanced down at Tucker he’s very slowly swimming the dog paddle 12 inches above the water. I guess he just wanted to be ready in case I dropped him too soon.

We were able to sail most of the way to the Verrazano Bridge before motoring through the city on our way to Long Island Sound. A quick rant about New York, Down south I made sport of a lot of the local expressions such as twern’t and thems. Truth be told they were fun but a lot of it was because there was no malice, no lack of civility, just people being generally pleasant. It was funny, but it was nice. Here in New York its F…this F….that. It’s all this mondo negativity; I’ve never heard so many grown ass men complaining about everything under the sun. They’re out on the water on a weekday and their still complaining about every little f…ing thing. I have no idea how they handle Parkway traffic.

We’ve stopped for the night in Cold Springs Harbor. The sunset was incredible tonight and showed a thousand shades of orange and red for hours after the sun went down. Today was a 53 mile day and even with the 0930 start we were able to anchor by 1730 hours. Tomorrow looks to be about a 50 mile day as we head to Duck Island to set ourselves up with a 40 mile run to Block Island the following day. We’ll be underway by 0830 and ride the ebb tide out Long Island Sound.

July 24

July 24. We are finally on our way north. We would like to be in the inlet at 0830 to take advantage of the ebb flow. It’s a nice change of pace to be able to get up at a reasonable hour, walk the dogs and head out across the bay at a relaxed pace.

The tide has just started falling as we negotiate the Oyster Creek Channel and we’re getting sucked along at 8 knots. We just came in the inlet a month ago but the channel has changed so much that we managed to bump bottom twice. Thanks to the extra speed of the falling tide we were able to barrel through the “skinny” spots. Calling it a channel is being way to generous.

By the time we were in the inlet we were doing close to 9 knots. When we turned north we threw up the sails only to discover that there wasn’t enough wind to sail with. The wind was from the northeast and was light and fluky until we approached Sandy Hook.

The wind backed around and built to about 16 knots so we were able to sail for the last couple of hours. We also caught the tidal flow into Sandy Hook so we were sailing along quite nicely at over 9 knots SOG.

On our way north we did see several pods of dolphins. We even saw a flock of pelicans and we realized that neither one of us could remember seeing pelicans this far north before.

I also tried my luck at trolling again. I drag a 100 foot hand line behind the boat which ties to a diving plane. The diving plane presents the lure at a controlled depth a few feet below the surface. Attached to the diving plane is ten feet of heavy monofilament which is clipped to an 8 foot wire leader. The monofilament acts as a shock absorber and the wire keeps the fish from biting your lure off. Or so they tell you………whatever monster of the deep hit our lure bit clean through the wire leader. When I reeled in the line we discovered that the steel leader had been lopped off. At least I know the lure worked.

We dropped sail at the end of the breakwater in Atlantic Highlands. When we came around the end of the wall we found ourselves virtually alone as there were no other boats anchored there. The moorings were full of unoccupied boats but no one was anchored here at all.

After dinner 2 more boats did come in so we had some others to share the sunset with. Tomorrow we’re off for Long Island Sound but we don’t want to reach The Battery in Manhattan before 1300 hours because of the ripping currents in the East River. So we don’t have to leave here before 0930, oh look, another late start. Yes!!!!!

July 16

July 16. We had dinner with Capt Bill H. last night. During conversation he wanted to know if the good times outweighed the bad.

It seems that most of the times that I’ve recounted are when things aren’t going just right. Dragging boats, inconsiderate boaters, unsettled weather, breakdowns, jet skis and the like.

I need to make it clear that the difficult times were pretty much what we had expected while the good times were better and more numerous than we ever could have hoped for. They say that “attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure”. Christy and I try to see life like that; the glass is half full. So even when things aren’t going as smoothly as we’d like; ultimately we’re in charge of our own destiny.

We do our best to limit our exposure to the predictable pitfalls and we actively react to the unexpected. For every unexpected squall there’s dozen’s of breathtaking sunsets. For every “captain” that can’t anchor there’s the satisfaction of being master of your own situation and handling the unexpected.

I can’t say enough about the beauty of our country. The wildlife is incredible and the sunsets are absolutely amazing. The sunrises would be wonderful if they just weren’t so damned early so that’s a toss up. We can’t wait to see more of the world.

Stress is a relative term, admit it, you’ve probably wanted to murder that guy who slows to a crawl in the E Z Pass lane on the highway, I always wanted to. Now the stress of transiting a rough inlet is something we deal with and get to come out of with a feeling of accomplishment. We get plenty of chances to doubt ourselves but we try our best to turn them into opportunities to prove ourselves. It like hey look; the boat can handle it and so can we.

The biggest plus is the people that we’ve met along the way. Most of the people in the towns and marinas along the way have been extraordinary. Even when we meet someone we don’t care for we just keep moving, no biggie, or I introduce Rumboy and they usually leave at first opportunity, lol.

We’ve been given the opportunity to help strangers when they’ve needed it most. I can’t begin to explain the deep feeling of satisfaction it’s given me to help someone when they needed it. I know it sounds corny but a heartfelt “thank you” can be an extremely gratifying thing. Besides, I’m filling my Karma box with bonus coupons.

A lot of the cruiser’s that we’ve met have become friends that we keep in touch with and look forward to crossing wakes with again. The amount of people willing to help you when you need it is staggering. Whenever we walk a strange town we can always spot the other cruising couples. They’re either lugging 50 pounds of laundry or they’re holding hands.

There are negatives. We don’t see family as often as we did but I’ve noticed that its become quality time when we were reunited rather than taking anyone’s presence for granted. So even that can be a good thing, remember, the glass is half full. But saying “good bye” does suck.

July 13

July 13. It’s been a while so lets get started with Something Bill Doesn’t Understand.

When did they do away with that old library standard, “SHhhhhh!” Since we’ve been out and about sometimes we’re at the mercy of the local library for our internet connection. Lately we’ve been going to the Lacey Township branch of the Ocean County Library for a Wifi connection.

Holy Christ this place is noisy. I’m mean holy shit the library was always a bastion of quiet and concentration. Not here though, it’s more like a social center where the thought of quiet never entered anyone’s mind. The loudest people here are the hen circle behind the library counter. It’s ridiculous as they all blabber back and forth like they’re at a basketball game. I feel like Michael Douglas in that movie, “Falling Down”, I just want to start smacking people with the leg of a chair to remind them that they’re in the freaking library. For God’s sake shut up, nobody thirty yards across the room cares what kind of conditioner you use.

Okay; end of rant.

We sent our lifelines out to be duplicated as ours were pretty much at the end of their service life. The company we used advertised 2 day turn around once the samples were received. Not for us though, we called after several days without getting a telephone quote and were told that they didn’t receive our old lines. Christy supplied them with a tracking number and after a while they called and said “oh yeah, they’re here, we had them all along, oops, sorry”.

We should be back underway and headed north by this weekend. The time we’ve spent here has been well spent. We’ve seen family and done plenty of boat chores.

The day we leave will be bitter sweet as we leave family and friends but it will be good to get going again.

July 4th

July 4th. Happy Birthday America. We woke to a grey day with the constant threat of rain. The wind is blowing pretty good and the forecast is now calling for 15 to 20 tonight with gusts of 30 possible.

The fireworks displays in most of the neighboring communities were canceled because of the high winds. The winds were between 10 and 15 in our area so our show went on as scheduled. It was a spectacular display as usual and 10 minutes after it was over it started to rain. The crappy forecast kept a lot of the pleasure boats home but there were still over a thousand boats present. Shortly after the show ended most of the boats headed for home and we turned in for the night content to sleep through the stormy night.

The next morning Nick & Edie on Cirrus headed home while we opted to wait for the tide to come in after lunch so we could get out of the Toms River. The settings on our Max Prop still are not right so we were not able to motor anywhere near cruising speed so we motor sailed south into steady 20 knot southerlies at about 4 knots.

We’re not under any real schedule pressure so we decided to spend the night at Berkley Island which was on our way home. The night in Berkley was beautiful as usual and was over quickly.

Friday morning we crabbed for a while before getting underway around 1000 hours. The winds were from the west at 5 to 12 knots and made for a very pleasant sail. So pleasant in fact that once we arrived at the mouth of the Forked River we turned around and headed back north. We ended up putting 25 miles on the boat running back and forth from Berkley to Forked River. It was a very special day as Veranda was fast as hell with her clean bottom in the variable winds.

I’ve been waiting to go to a party that we’ve been invited too and Saturday nights finally here. The party was “off the hook” as the expression goes. Combine a huge ocean front home with outstanding decks, wonderful hosts, catered food, endless liquor and a kickass 8 piece band and what do you expect.

The band, Shorty Long and the Jersey Horns were set up on the lower deck. They had a stage that was probably 10 by 30 in front of a dance floor that easily held a hundred people which were surrounded by tables and chairs, so what I’m getting at is the deck is huge. Oh yeah and there’s a large wet bar off to the side. They were serving food on the second deck which looks down on the larger lower “dancing” deck. It was an incredible night. The band was so good that dozens of neighbors brought lawn chairs and sat out near the dunes to enjoy the show.

After the band knocked off at 2200 hours (local noise ordinance) Ashlee, Christy and I went up to the rooftop observation/ sun deck. You are literally on top of the highest building in sight except for the casinos of Atlantic City which you can plainly see more than 15 miles away. Laying back and star watching was awesome. We left for home as the band cleaned up just before the homes impressive stereo system was brought into play for round two of the evening. I have to say though that this was the first party that I was ever at that the police were there before we even got there. Lol. What a good time.

July 3rd

July 3rd. A little recap of the past week or so. We’ve done a lot of work on the boat during the last week. I disassembled and cleaned a dozen sea cocks and replaced one faulty seacock. We stripped, sanded and put 3 coats of Cetol on our rub rail and toe rail. We also added a swim platform to Veranda’s transom and polished all the stainless.

Then we compounded and waxed the hull. We repaired the scratch below the waterline then painted the bottom, removed, serviced and reassembled the Max Prop. Put on new zincs, repacked both stuffing boxes and installed a new cutlass bearing. We’ve been busy while the boats been on the hard.

Earlier in the week I had a problem with a tooth. So for a couple of days I couldn’t really eat then I had to have the tooth removed. The dentist had to cut the tooth in half after working hard to try to remove it whole. Let’s just say that it was no party.

The day after the surgery it was 90 degrees, I’m still unable to eat anything substantial and I’m on Percocets. So of course delirium was the next reasonable step. I don’t even remember what I was doing when I decided that the 10 foot ladder wasn’t the place to be so I went and laid down for a couple of hours in the shade of the cockpit. The fog of my delirium soon lifted but not before I had a very vivid dream about 37 children all named Landon running around the boat. I must be getting old because small children scare me almost as much as Pelligators. First Rumboy then Delirium Lad, good grief who’s next………

Flash was good enough to come down to the boat on Monday afternoon (his day off) and put the boat into the water. I wanted to get it in on Monday because I had so many potential leaks to check after servicing so much of the underwater gear. It all went well with no leakers so we had the evening to put the interior of the boat back together.

Tuesday morning we pumped out the holding tank and filled the water tank then headed off for Toms River. There’s a very impressive fireworks display there every year and we wanted to get there on the third to insure a great viewing spot.

Our friends, Nick & Edie on Cirrus were waiting for us as we came out the Forked River. The two of us had a very pleasant 14 mile sail even though we had a five minute encounter with the bottom as we approached the Toms River. There’s only about a dozen boats scattered about but tomorrow will bring at least another thousand. The wind is supposed to build to 15 to 20 knots tomorrow evening so it should be interesting. A stiff breeze, alcohol, explosives and tiny anchors……….could it get any better?

June 22

June 22. We’ve been here in Forked River for several days now. It was wonderful to get back to friends and family.

After arriving early on Saturday morning we took quick naps and set out. Our first stop was to the office of the marina where I formerly worked. It was lunch time so we spent a bit of time sitting with all the guys from the marina and catching up on each others recent history.

The next afternoon we were able to have dinner with Charlie and Nell who left later that evening on a 3 month cruise of their own to Nova Scotia. It was good to get back in time to see them before they left. Charlie has been a very positive influence in my sailing career and it was wonderful for me to get to watch them cast off the dock lines for their dream trip. If anyone see’s S/V Nelly Ruth, make sure to say hi.

Since then we’ve spent time with several friends at various dinners, visited with family and attended a yacht club function. We’ve been busy every evening after putting in full days of working on the boat.

The marina published our Blog address in their monthly newsletter and evidently it’s really taken off. We’ve been stopped by dozen’s of people who have been following our adventure’s, I had no idea so many people were reading our Blog. It was a little overwhelming to think that the crap I write is being so widely read.

June 15

June 15. The weather forecast has us a little alarmed. The wind is from the northeast, the direction we need to travel, at 15 to 20 knots. So this means no sailing but even worse is the thought of bashing into wind driven seas for 60 miles. We decide to play it safe and wait until tomorrow.

Okay, its tomorrow. The wind is supposed to die tonight and turn around from the south for a bit before going west. It won’t be enough wind to sail in but at least the waves won’t be against us. We listen to the weather all day and I talk to a few boats that have entered the harbor after coming south to Cape May.

At around 1600 hours I decide that the wind has already started to abate and so in a few hours the sea swell should be mellowing as well. The weather for tomorrow is now for very high winds from the west in the afternoon. I’m picturing high winds opposing the mellowing swell creating some pretty nasty choppy conditions, so I make a command decision. I ask Christy if we can leave tonight, travel all night and be in Barnegat Bay before 0900 tomorrow. She starts to cry, no not really but she wasn’t all over the idea like I thought she would be. I explained my position and was able to sway her to my point of view. Okay, okay, I had to make concessions; among other things Rumboy has been banished.

If we leave at 2000 hours we’ll be able to leave Cape May at just about slack tide and if we arrive before 0900 tomorrow we will be able to ride the flood tide into Barnegat Inlet tomorrow. This will also be an advantage to us if we run aground in the meandering channel that leads from the inlet to the bay.

So I lay down for a couple of hours to try and get some sleep since we’re now leaving this evening. After my nap we go about the business of raising the anchor and getting underway.

The trip out the inlet was very pleasant in the waning light of day. After clearing the inlet we turned northeast towards Barnegat Inlet. It got dark quickly but it didn’t seem too bad as we were abreast of the boardwalk at Wildwood. The rides and town were so brightly lit that everything on our port side was bathed in the reflected glow of the shore. On our port side we could see as if it was daylight yet on our starboard side it was so dark it seemed as if the world just stopped there. It was more than a little eerie, just blackness with no edge to sea or sky.

As the evening wore on we began using an egg timer to assist us in keeping a proper watch. We’d set it for 15 minutes and when it went off the first order of business was to reset it for another 15. Next was to take the radar off standby so it could start to look around. Third was the actual physical act of standing up and doing a slow 360 degree look outside. Next was a good minute or 2 of staring at the radar screen to see what if anything had changed. Then a quick look at the GPS to check our course and it was back to sitting for another 11 minutes or so.

Once this routine was established Christy went below to try and get a few hours of rest. If there was any chance of me dozing off she was sure the egg timer would wake me. It was interesting just how important the egg timer became. I wasn’t really tired but as we moved north of Wildwood we moved further offshore and away from the lights of society. It was very dark as it was overcast, so no stars and no moon. So I’d be sitting starring straight ahead at the blackness and all of a sudden the egg timer would go off.

To me it felt as if I had just set it yet another quarter of an hour had passed. Without the timer in these conditions it would have been very easy to daydream my way into trouble. In 20 or 30 minutes a boat doing 20 knots can come over the horizon and really change the mood of the evening for the worse.

There was a lot of barge traffic on the ocean. We were mostly between 5 and 7 miles offshore and it seemed that all of the barges were about 7 to 10 miles off the beach. It was completely disorienting looking at the lights on the water at night. A tug and barge would look like they were a mile away but the radar showed them to be 3 and a half miles from our position.

After seeing a few it became easier to eyeball their distance from us. I was badly fooled by a sport fisherman that was only a half mile from us even though judging by his lights he looked to be much further away. He appeared to be the same height as the large ocean going tugs because his smaller boat was just much closer to us. The radar wasn’t fooled though so it all worked out okay.

The lights of Atlantic City were clearly visible from almost 20 miles away. The downside was that it really seemed to make the trip drag as we could see the city for so long: approaching and pulling away. Hours would pass and we’d still be near Atlantic City.

The black of night gave way to the dull grayness of the predawn. The sky behind us was dark and foreboding while the morning sky in front of us seemed to hold the promise of a beautiful day.

The sun broke through the gray and gave us a wonderful show. We turned into the Barnegat Inlet approach at 0715. The Inlet had been given a bad rap as a dangerous inlet and for the most part it was. Then in 1995 the Army Corp of Engineers changed the layout of the jetties and in general the inlet conditions improved greatly. Today was a lot like 1994 however.

We got our ass kicked. We had been heading north through a large slow easterly swell and made great time. It was okay for the trip up here but with a slight wind out of the west and with last of the ebb tide the easterly swells created large breaking seas in the inlet. The word “broach” crossed my mind on more than one occasion as I was forced to take a very active roll at the helm as we transited the outer part of the inlet.

To make matters more interesting there was a large Bluefish tournament starting today so the inlet was crowded with fishermen headed out. There was a lot of discussion about the inlet and dozens of boats elected to turn back and stay inside. One minute our speed was slowed by the ebbing tide and the next second we were flying along in breaking surf. Veranda handled it well and made me look like I know what I’m doing.

After a quick trip across the bay we were back in Forked River and on our way to the Silver Cloud Marina complex. We were tied up in a slip before 0900 and did our best to nap for a few hours before venturing out to see our people.

The afternoon winds did build to almost 20 knots from the west. With the easterly swell the inlet would have been much more dangerous than it was for us this morning. Hindsight being 20 / 20, we did the right thing by traveling in the lightest winds possible even though it was on a moonless night. Sometimes you find “safety first“ where you least expect it.

June 14

June 14. Today was one of our longest scheduled days. It looks to be about 85 miles.

For optimal tidal flow assistance we need to be adjacent to Chesapeake City by 1020. Since we’re about 20 miles away that means that we are going to need to get underway by 0700. We manage to get it together and get underway by 0645.

We get a knot push until we get to the C&D Canal and then it becomes a 2 knot advantage for us. The wind is blowing directly in our face so as we turn south at the far end of the canal we are able to put up all sail. The wind almost immediately dies but after an hour it builds to 10 to 15 knots so we are able to shut down the engine and sail for the better part of the day.

We’re on a beam reach with an assist from the current up until we have 9 miles to go. Then we have to start the engine and motor sail until we reach the Cape May Canal. When we reach the end of the canal we drop sail but are asked to wait outside for a few minutes until the Cape May ferry clears the channel. We’re always happy to cooperate with someone 20 times bigger and 40 times heavier than we are.

Once inside the channel we make good time down the river headed for the anchorage. There are 2 fixed bridges with a height of 55 feet. We only need 52 feet and have passed through these bridges before. We can see that the bridge height boards are currently showing 53 and a half feet. The current is against us and the spans are very narrow and then WHAM! Christy and I look at each other and simultaneously realize that we just hit the small light that hangs below the bridge to mark the center of the span.

There’s a light at either edge of the bridge to mark the center of the span. At night if you line the 2 lights up then you will pass through the center of the highest part of the bridge. The light was hanging down a couple of feet below the bridge and we smacked it perfectly. The light pivots so it swung out of the way after we hit it and it does not appear to have damaged anything on our masthead.

After changing my underwear we proceeded into the harbor to look for someplace to drop the hook. The first space that looked even semi appealing was already crowded so we continued on. The second anchorage was also very crowded and the only other choice involves us opening the Route 9 lift bridge and anchoring up the river behind it.

After looking at the crowded second anchorage we chose it anyway because I didn’t want to add any more time to our long day tomorrow dealing with the bridge in the morning.

We wedged our way in between 2 boats and both Captains were a bit concerned but we used the “Bitch Wing Counter” and then did a nice job of dropping the hook and coming to rest with perfect spacing.

It turned out to be an 83 mile day and it was good to finally get the hook set and sit back for a bit before turning in for the night.

June 13

June 13. We said goodbye to Jim and Deb and headed out for tonight’s anchorage. We’d like to get as close as possible to the western end of the C&D Canal as we can.

We plan to try the Bohemia River but the charts are calling it fairly shallow and the guides all talk of extensive shoaling. On our way down in the fall we had stopped in the Sassafras River which was very protected.

The winds are light and just off the nose so we’re motor sailing against the tidal flow. As the early afternoon wears on the skies are becoming more and more ominus in front of us. We’re listening to NOAA weather radio and their talking about severe thunderstorms and big rain in front of us. Right after that the Coast Guard gets on the VHF and broadcasts a Notice to Mariners about a thunderstorm with 40 to 50 knot winds just to the north of us.

So in our continuing tradition of “safety first” we decide to head up into the Sassafras River. I would have rather continued on to the Bohemia River but I was planning to poke around slowly while looking for a good spot to anchor there. If the weather is going to fall apart I don’t want to be “exploring” when it happens.

We head up the Sassafras, dropping the sail as we go as the winds are steadily building and the sky is becoming quite dark. We pick out a spot that offers the most protection and drop the anchor and 120 feet of chain. Christy feeds the dogs while I lower the dinghy to take the dogs ashore before the storm hits.

Once back on the boat the “storm” hit. All we got was some gusts to 30 knots and a smattering of rain. We’ll have to add the 8 miles that we didn’t cover today to tomorrow’s already long day. I feel a little foolish for dropping the hook so quickly but who knows how it would have turned out in the Bohemia so “safety first”.

June 11

June 11. We were only traveling 15 miles to Annapolis so we hauled anchor at 1000.

Winds were light so it was a 2 hour motor sail. The trip was uneventful through dead calm waters. Once into Annapolis we decided to grab a mooring ball. These moorings are closer together than any we’ve encountered as of yet. All went well but it was weird to be so tightly spaced with everyone else.

Since we were there by noon the mooring field was pretty empty so we had our pick of the field. We took a mooring down near the end of Ego Alley. It made for good boat and people watching as we watched the Ego’s pass by on their way to try and impress the masses.

Ego Alley is a long narrow dead end that runs into the heart of Annapolis. It’s the place for people who want to be seen. Sometimes there’s something special there but mostly it’s the “look what I got crowd”. We were treated to a couple of special examples of boat handling by guys that were in way over their heads. They come to show off and end up looking like the biggest horse’s ass this side of the planet. It’s really special, bring the family.

Jim & Deb on Freedom took a ball a little further from the excitement of Ego Alley. There choice had a really nice view of the United States Naval Academy. Come to find out that for incoming freshmen at the Naval Academy have to spend the summer at the academy being whipped into some kind of shape before the fall semester starts.

We found this out at 0600 the next morning when we were assaulted by the sound of a Drill Instructor putting his young charges through their morning workout. The guy was at least 200 hundred yards from us and I could hear every word he said…..clearly. The Freedom’s were only 60 yards away. 

After the workouts the males plebes were sent out sailing. The Academy has a fleet of 44 foot sailboats called “Navy 44’s”. They’re beautiful to watch, every sailor has a navy polo shirt and tan slacks on these big navy blue boats with spotless, crisp white sails.

The girls seemed to get the short end of the stick, at least today. They were out in 8 man skulls rowing there brains out. Every boat was followed by a small skiff with a couple of instructors bellowing instructions

June 10

June 10. With Freedom behind us we head up to Herring Bay to see our friends the Bedazzles and our buddy Phil who lives on his sailboat at the same marina.

There’s absolutely no room to anchor inside the seawall in north Herring Bay. The wind was very light and was supposed to die completely so we both anchored just outside the seawall. We were both protected from the northeast if anything unpredicted kicked up.

The Bedazzles, Rick & Linda hosted all of us for a barbeque on their boat. Linda even drove Christy and Deb to the supermarket to buy provisions while Jim and I swapped lies with Rick and Phil.

The dinner was perfect, the conversation was all over the map and very funny. Rumboy even made a rare appearance.

June 7

June 7. Today we have the wind behind us for the 40 mile sail to Solomon’s Island, Maryland. The winds were light at about 8 knots straight over the stern.

We sailed out of the Indian Creek and started running across the wind as we started towards the far shore. Once we got to the center of the Chesapeake I decided to give “wing and wing” a try. This involves pulling the mainsail and boom out one side of the boat and tying it there so it can’t swing back unexpectedly. The genoa is then flown out on the other side of the boat allowing you to catch as much wind as possible rather than having the mainsail blanketing the genoa.

With Rover steering, we swing the main out to starboard and tie it off and then fly the genoa out to port. With 8 knots of wind behind us we were doing a little better than 4 knots. For a brief period the wind built to 12 knots and we were pulling along at 6 and a half knots. It wasn’t a record setter as far as speed goes but we were able to sail like this for over 20 miles without touching anything. It was pretty special.

The anchorage in Solomon’s Island is split between 2 small rivers, Back Creek and Mill Creek. As we approached Solomon’s we heard people ahead of us bitching on the VHF that there was no room left in Back Creek. We skipped Back Creek and went directly up Mill Creek and snagged one of the last remaining prime spots. Mill Creek doesn’t really have anything of interest although we did grab some Wifi. Christy and I spent a quiet night on the boat.

The next morning we allowed a little time for people to get it together and start getting underway and then we hauled anchor and moved over to Back Creek. Most of the others had gotten underway and since we were there by 10:00 we had our pick of the best spots. The attraction of Back Creek is that for a dollar you can leave your dinghy tied up at the local Holiday Inn while you go into town. There’s a West Marine, a place to get your propane tanks filled, a small grocery store and loads of places to eat.

So after a night in Mill Creek we stayed in Back Creek for 2 nights which allowed our friends Jim and Deb from the vessel Freedom to catch up with us.

June 6

June 6. At about 0200 this morning a violent nasty squall came through the anchorage. When we had turned in it was dead calm without a hint of breeze. Christy woke up when the wind generator came alive in the 30 knot gusts. We were anchored in between 4 trawlers and one had already dragged in the dead calm of the evening so we were a little nervous.

The storm had all the thunder and lightening you could ever ask for. Molly is completely terrified by thunder so Christy decided it was time to try a new cure. When I sat up in the cockpit to keep an eye on the neighbors I was joined by my little petrified friend Molly.

The lightening flashes lasted for several seconds each time and the thunder claps were lasting 20 or 30 seconds at a time. It was raining huge drops and the squall passed in about a half an hour. All the boats I could see stayed where they were. The only boat I couldn’t see was the trawler that had dragged earlier in the evening but I knew he was downwind so I wasn’t really too concerned.

In the morning Christy turned on the VHF to a conversation between the missing trawler and the Boat US tow boat. It turned out that they had dragged again during the night and were now aground. The problem was that they were insisting to the towboat driver that they were in Fisher’s Bay when they were actually in Jackson Creek, a difference of at least 6 miles. The poor towboat driver is insisting that he’s in the middle of the bay and there’s not a trawler anywhere to be seen. After a while the driver had a hunch and asked the trawler guys to describe the entrance to their anchorage. After they described the winding entrance to the driver he said “You’re in Jackson Creek, I’ll be right there.”

Christy and I had the anchor up and were underway as the towboat driver arrived from his wild goose chase. About an hour later we heard another radio exchange between the 2 boats. It seems that the trawler had been pulled form his grounding and had run aground again 10 minutes later as he tried to follow the towboat out of the anchorage.

Speaking of us being underway, what a difference a day makes. We were supposed to have 10 knots of wind from the north. That means that we’ll be tacking back and forth across the Chesapeake as we make our way north. It won’t be so bad as the tacks will be more than 15 miles long and we should be close reaching at 5 knots or so.

In reality what we got was 15 to 20 knots from the north. With the tide running in and the wind coming down the bay the seas were close set steep waves. On port tack every wave was an explosion of spray as Veranda pounded through the surf. Starboard tack was a little mellower but still no party. After an hour of ridiculous pounding we picked an alternative stopping point for the night. The day ended with us traveling 19 miles in 4 hours just to travel 10 miles north up the bay.

We pulled in to Fleets Bay and turned into Indian Creek. There are several good places to anchor up the Indian Creek. The first few spots we had hoped to get were full of boats hiding from the north wind. We finally wound our way up the river and found an excellent protected spot that has about 10 feet of water.

It ended up being a much shorter day than we had hoped for but tomorrow the wind is supposed to come back around to the southwest which would be excellent.

June 5

June 5. We set off from Old Point Comfort and headed to Deltaville, Va. Low tide was just before 0700 so by leaving then we were able to motor out the 4 miles to the Chesapeake at slack tide and then turn north as the tide started to fill in behind us.

The wind was predicted to be 15 to 20 knots from the west. We got both sails up and killed the engine and as we started our journey north the wind was barely 10 knots but we were content with our 5 knots of boat speed. After only an hour the winds started to build to 17 knots and we were humming along at better than 7 knots. It was to be short lived though.

The wind continued to build and we were now barreling along at close to 8 knots. Woo Hoo. During the day we saw wind speeds of 25 knots and our best boat speed was 9.2 knots. There was a pair of trawlers and a couple of sailboats including a big catamaran trailing us but they were never able to overtake us.

The wind was very gusty and Rover was working very hard so I decided we should hand steer the 40 miles to Deltaville. It was either a very exhilarating, exciting ride or a white knuckle, hold on for dear life sprayfest depending on where you were sitting. Perspective is everything.

We finally had to reduce sail when we were only about 6 miles from our destination. The wind really had us healed over even with the sails eased. 15 to 18 degrees of heal is about optimum for our boat so far as speed and comfort are concerned. Today 15 degrees was our minimum and 20 was the norm and when we started seeing consistent 30 degree heal angles we had to take in half the genoa. We were still doing over 7 knots.  It may have been the best day of sailing for anybody…………..ever.

We’re in Jackson Creek in Deltaville and anchored in the south branch of the river. It’s absolutely beautiful here and very protected. 2 trawlers have come in and anchored upstream from us and 2 more are downstream. Christy and I went in to the town dinghy dock to walk into town to see if some food shopping can be done.

When Christy gets up on the dock she’s looking at the boats in the anchorage and says “isn’t that boat dragging?” I look up and see one of the trawlers cart wheeling and spinning down stream as the tide is ebbing. One of the guys on the trawler is sitting in the cockpit on the phone and completely unaware that he’s dragging down the river. Christy runs out to the end of the dock and yells to him as he passes “excuse me, I think you might be dragging”. He looks up, looks around and says into the phone “I gotta go!” He gets his buddy to start the engine while he hauls in the paperweight, err, anchor and then they head back up to give it another go. They were literally 30 seconds from shore, thank God for them that she noticed.

After that we set out for town. If a stroll to the mailbox is a 1 and the Bataan Death March was a 10 then I gotta call this “walk” at least a 7. Over a mile to a Post Office and after taking care of business there we asked the clerk for directions to the nearest grocery store. She said it’s just down the road, we say “we’re on foot” and she says “Ohhh”. It turns out to be a more than a few miles to the local Food Lion but there’s a convenience store only another mile or so down the road. It ended up being a 5 mile round trip for 24 cans of Diet Coke and a loaf of bread.

I’m not really sure of the mathematical formula but it’s something like number of cans of soda, times distance traveled, times degrees of temperature, plus cube root of the number of Post Anchoring Cocktails Bill consumed before this trek began. All I know is that those 24 colas weighed about 80 pounds by the time we got back to the boat. Oh. and did I mention that it’s hot as hell.



Anyway we’re back at the boat and the anchorage is just beautiful. Things are good. We’re off for Solomon Island tomorrow; we hear there’s a full sized grocery store there and it’s within a mile, do the math. Woo Hoo 

June 3

June 3. Now there was a day. We’ve been hearing about a tropical storm off the west coast of Florida that’s headed this way to drop some rain and blow things about.

We’re heading back down the James River to the well protected anchorage we stayed in on our way up the river. The weather is supposed to be raining with the winds getting progressively worse as the day wears on. If we leave at 0700 we will get the tidal push for at least an hour and can be anchored in about 5 hours. Or we could just sit here for another day and head out tomorrow. There’s nothing else here besides the Jamestown settlement and we could use a day to provision so I’d like to head out.

I wake up at 0615 and it’s raining pretty good so I figure that if we leave now we can get almost an extra hour’s tidal push and be anchored well before noon and the expected horrible weather. The dogs hate going out in the rain so I decide they’d rather wait for the extra few hours than go now.

I wake Christy, tell her plans have changed and to get it together, we’re pulling the anchor. We’re underway before 0630 and motoring at close to 8 knots for the first 2 hours. The wind is dead on the nose and already blowing 15 knots.

As the tide goes slack and turns against us the wind is building to 27 knots, we’re down to 4 and a half knots of boat speed. Oh and its now pouring, I’m mean really pouring. Oh and lets not forget the fog and the barges.

Rover is doing all the steering so we’re free to watch the radar, the chartplotter and keep an eye outside. It’s absolutely miserable as we plod along retracing our path back down the river. We have 2 barges to contend with but we were able to avoid them long before we could actually see them.

When we were a half mile above the James River Bridge I hailed the bridge keeper to advise him that we would not need a lift. The bridge is 60 feet tall while it’s still closed so we can slip through with no problem. Then I asked him if there was any inbound traffic as we were unable to see past the bridge at this time. He replied that he didn’t think so but he really couldn’t see anything either.

As soon as we were done talking a wall of fog reduced visibility to near zero. We could see on the chart plotter where the opening was, we could see the bridge on the radar but we couldn’t see anything at all outside the boat. I considered pulling off to the side above the bridge, anchoring and waiting for conditions to improve. Then I decided that we were doing fine so we would be safe if we continued on. Christy’s view of my decision was a little different though. From her perspective my decision looked more like “F#%k it, lets go, its not like the world is flat or anything”. I don’t think she’s really grasping the complexity of the factors involved in making command decisions.

It ended up taking us until 2 o’clock to drop the hook in the anchorage. The rain immediately stopped, the sun almost came out and the dogs were taken to shore post haste. Christy made dinner and then she took advantage of a special that was running at Mr. William’s House of Hair and Fabulosity. In the evening we took the dogs to shore again and made it back to the boat just before a new round of thunderstorms hit.

The Coast Guard is broadcasting all kinds of Notice to Mariners about the impending bad weather and high winds due to pass through tonight. We’re happily anchored in a well protected anchorage so even though today wasn’t very much fun I still think moving to get here was the right thing to do. Oh and now we get to sleep in tomorrow as we’ll stay here and do some shopping.

Christy still wonders if traveling today was the right thing to do. I’ve reminded her that if we had stayed we’d have sat all day in the rain and probably had a much more miserable time with the winds tonight as the anchorage was not as well protected.

June 2

June 2. Well we’re here in Jamestown, Va. We decided to go over and spend the day touring the Jamestown settlement.

From our boat we could see the replicas of the 3 wooden ships that brought the colonists here to the new world. So we dinghied over to them to see if we could tie up there and enter the settlement. We pulled up along side the Susan Constant and hailed one of the tour guides on board to see about where to tie up. He was very nice but told us we would have to dinghy a couple of miles to a nearby marina and tie up there.



The ride took us through a winding creek that probably looked as it did 300 years ago. The marina can only accommodate small power boats as there is no water and the creek is spanned by a 12 foot fixed bridge. We find the dinghy dock and tie up and then set out on foot for the settlement.

The “settlement” was a thing to behold. It was just a short walk and we were at the beautiful, modern museum that is the gateway to the park. Inside there was room after room of artifacts that had been unearthed at the site of the original settlement. First there was an excellent 20 minute film to brush up on the history of the place.

You could easily spend hours inside the building. Outside the building there is an Indian village as it would have appeared at the time. Not many people realize that the Native Americans actually invented the baby stroller.



While we were walking through the Indian village we came upon a six foot snake just going about his business.



Then there also replicas of the 3 ships that first brought the people here and finally the wooden walled fort itself. Those people were either desperate or crazy as those ships weren’t as big as I though they would be.



Everything outside is a reproduction as everything was made of wood and has long ago rotted away. The fort, Indian village and boats were all staffed by people in period dress. The staffers did demonstrations from carpentry techniques used to black powder weapons being fired.



The place had a lot more to offer than I had expected and was a day well spent.

June 1

June 1. Today was to be a short 35 mile day up the James River to Jamestown. We had a relaxed morning and got underway at 1000 hours. We were supposed to have 10 to 15 knots of breeze off the beam and a knot and a half push all the way up the river.

The warship traffic here is amazing. There’s always something big headed somewhere at all times and its difficult to imagine that they can move so fast. They’re on top of you before you know it.



We got the tidal push but the wind had other ideas. We raised the sails as we left the anchorage and were moving along nicely, for an hour. Then the wind got flukey and finally just died. I lived with it a lot longer than I thought I could, 4 minutes, then we had to furl the genoa and start the engine. That’s pretty much the way the day went, great wind for a great sail and then just nothing.

The United States Navy keeps the reserve fleet anchored in the James River and there had to be 40 or 50 large supply ship stored there. Some were pretty run down but others looked as if they were new. All of them were side tied together and anchored in one big wad.



We were under full sail when we got to Jamestown and a mile from the anchorage the wind disappeared and we were forced to motor again. It was still a great day and we have a very special anchorage with its own beach all to ourselves.

We took the dogs for a little workout on the beach and after dinner back on the boat we had visitors. Mr. & Mrs. Velcomvagon stopped by in their skiff to say hello. The were local sailors and were excited to see a sailboat this far up the river as its so far off the beaten path. They were out for a little after dinner cruise and were very nice and even asked if we wanted a ride to a grocery store or something. They were just another example of the nice people that we’ve met.

May 31

May 31. We were up and underway by 0730. The day would turn out to be a long tedious affair with 9 bridges to open and 1 lock to go through. It ended up taking all day to go 35 miles.

The first few bridges only opened on the hour or the half hour so you had to calculate what speed you needed to maintain in order to make it to the next bridge in time for its scheduled opening. Things were going pretty well for us as we hit the first few bridges just right but we caught up to some boats in front of us at the only lock we had to transit.



There was a tug pushing a barge with us and he was asked by the lock keeper to pull into the empty lock before anyone else. After he was secured to the starboard bulkhead in the lock there was only a 14 foot opening down the port side of the entire lock. That only meant about 6 of the 8 remaining boats would be able to fit in this lock opportunity. Some dipshit in a 60 foot Sea Ray barged into the line of boats to make sure he got in but butchered his approach so badly that that the lock master sent him back out and locked the barge through alone. This meant that we all had to wait for the next lock cycle, so our half hour lock experience lasted for an hour and a half.



The rest of the trip north was pretty uneventful although at one bridge we did end up with 16 boats waiting for the opening. The drivers on the bridge were stuck there for quite a while as we all had to get through.

For the night we anchored in a place called Mill Creek. It’s on the north side of Hampton Roads and was an excellent anchorage. Almost complete protection in every direction from wind and waves; it also had 10 feet of water under you at low tide.

On the way into was part of the Navy’s collection of experimental vessels. There were at least a dozen exotic looking different craft.



After anchoring Christy made dinner for the Bedazzles and ourselves as tonight we are saying goodbye. They are heading north to the Annapolis area and we are heading up the James River to visit Jamestown.

May 30

May 30. We were underway at 0700. We decided to leave a little earlier than usual as we had to cross the Abelmarle Sound first thing this morning. It is only about a 14 mile trip across open fairly shallow water but the wind was predicted to be 15 knots from the direction we wished to travel.

When we went south we went through the Dismal Swamp. On our return trip we’ve decided to take the alternate route through the Virginia Cut. The day went fairly quickly as we made our way north.

We were forced to stop earlier than we would have liked as there are not any places to anchor. We actually had to backtrack about 4 miles because when we got to our chosen anchorage for the evening the water depths were not even close to the charted depths.

We had to retrace our steps until we reached a barely acceptable spot. The spot is good for one boat, okay for 2 but here we sit with 5. We‘re all in the same boat as there’s not another spot to stop for better than 20 miles in spite of what the charts say.



We were treated to some entertainment in the anchorage this evening. Actually another air show, this time by some screwball flying his parawing down low between the boats. First he buzzed the cars on the nearby bridge then he methodically gave every boat a flyby.

May 29

May 29. We entered the Pungo Canal at 0800 for a 20 miles straight morning of motoring. We were only making about 5.8 knots as there was a small current against us. There was a little wind just off our bow so when we got to a wide spot in the canal I decided that we would turn, face the wind and throw up the main.

Christy steered the boat to the extreme starboard side of the channel and then turned hard to port to allow me to pull up the main as we headed up on the wind. Things aren’t always as they seem and it turned out the channel was a lot more narrow than it looked. Even with the transmission in neutral we were across the channel before the main was up so Christy got to show off her boat handling skills as she kept the boat on the wind while I threw up the sail. This maneuver was worth it though as we were now flying along at 6 knots. 

The Pungo (from the Arapahoe word for Godforsaken) Canal is alive with wildlife. These are 2 of the ever so rare North Carolina Jesus deer.


Last night we were warned by some local fishermen to be careful about walking the dogs as this area is the bear capitol of North Carolina. As it turned out this morning when I was walking the dogs we came across the remains of a bear. It seems the “sportsman” who harvested this animal only wanted the head and all 4 paws and left the rest to rot, what a waste.

After we got to the end of the canal we were now in the Alligator River. We were able to throw up all sail and kill the engine. The Alligator River is narrow at the southern end and gets wider as you travel north. The wind was blowing a steady 15 knots right on our nose so we tacked back and forth for close to 4 hours to cover the 15 miles to the Alligator River Bridge. It was wonderful.

During our sail up the river we were treated to a private airshow as we buzzed by some military fighter planes. They would come across the tops of the trees and scream past at about 500 feet. The noise was ridiculous and they went by so quickly you couldn’t move the camera fast enough to keep up with them. I’m pretty sure we were the focal point of the airshow as they passed over the top of our mast from every direction several times.



Once through the bridge it was only a quick 5 mile motor to our chosen anchorage. Once we got there it took about 40 minutes before we could drop the hook as we looked for someplace that would be good for the dogs. Things are good……..

May 28

May 28. Last night we pulled away from Ken and Carol’s dock as the low tide scheduled for this morning might have caused us issues when it was time for us to leave. So we went out into the Neuse River and anchored just off the town wharf.

We got underway at 0800 and were shortly rewarded with one of the best sailing days we’ve had so far. After a couple of hours we were turning into the Bay River and our friends on Bedazzle hailed us and to say that they were going to stay in Pamlico Sound since the wind was so good and cross Brant Shoal and they’ll meet us at tonight’s anchorage.

I had considered going around Brant Shoal but it would add at least 15 miles to our day. The Bedazzles are going to cut across the shoal and only add a few miles to their trip while we play it more conservative and head up the Bay River. Our route will take us back to the Pamlico Sound just above the Pungo River while the Bedazzles approach from the south. I figure it will be close as to who gets there first.

As we reenter the Pamlico I can see a catamaran 4 miles away just making his turn into the Pungo River. We’ve been flirting with 7 knots the entire time and I can’t believe that they’re that far ahead of us. We turn up the Pungo and after 2 miles Bedazzle hails us and tells us that they’re only 4 miles from the Pungo. Turns out I was chasing down the wrong boat and they were over 6 miles behind us. Yesss.

We anchor at the southern end of the Pungo Canal in a small creek. Just as we’re looking for that perfect spot we are stopped for a safety inspection by 2 of North Carolina’s finest. They asked to see the registration and safety equipment such as lifejackets, condoms, fire extinguishers and flares. Evidently we’re very safe as the whole inspection was over in 10 minutes and they were gone.

May 25

May 25. We left the anchorage in Carolina Beach at 0800. After we pulled the anchor we had to head upstream and get a picture of the biggest set of ornamental lawn Flamingos we’ve ever seen. Spectacular.



The trip north was a particularly slow as we are heading north between the mainland and the barrier islands. The problem is that whenever an ambulance heads out onto the barrier island on a call the bridges have to remain closed until the ambulance gets back to the mainland.

It’s never happened to us before but it happened at 2 bridges in a row today. It added at least an hour to our trip today but I guess in the big scheme of things, I’d rather sit and wait for the bridge than be in the back of the ambulance going for the ride.

Our destination for the evening was Swan Point Marina in Sneads Ferry, NC. This is the place we sat for a week while I repaired the broken damper plate on our trip south.

The place is really a no frills kind of place but we stopped in to see our friends, Pat & Eddie who we met there in the fall as they had a mechanical breakdown of their own. They ended up leaving the boat there and driving to their home in Florida for the winter. They were now back putting the finishing touches on the boat so they could resume their trip as well.

After we tied up the boat Christy and the Bedazzles took the courtesy car into town to hit a grocery store while I washed the boat, filled the water tank and did a load of wash in the laundry room/ internet café.

Then the Bedazzles and Pat & Eddie and Christy and I had sundowners on the Veranda. It was a very nice night.

May 26. This morning on the other hand was pretty miserable. There’s some local fishing tournament today so every fisherman in the holler was out to “catch em’ up” as they say. The problem was that the marina has silted in since we were here last, so we were on the outside wall adjacent to the ICW in the deeper water.

At 0430 (4:30am) the first fishing boat went by throwing a huge wake that got us both out of bed. Our fender boards and fenders were holdings us off the wall but getting any more rest was out of the question. It was like a parade as one boat after another came flying past. Finally after I walked the dogs Christy went over to tell the Bedazzles we had to get off the wall so we were going to get underway. We were moving north by 0615.

Our early departure turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We had a long straight run up the Bogue Sound. The Sound is very wide with only a narrow channel up one side of it. Our early start enabled us to ride the tidal push for over 25 miles and with wind on the beam we ran at more than seven knots for over 4 straight hours with no change in course.

Fathers here in North Carolina have found an interesting way of dealing with having their little girls mature into young ladies. You know the time, their bodies start to mature and boys start showing up at the house. Here in NC they drop their daughters off on a sand shallow in the middle of the sound and come back for them after a few years.



We were hoping to get to Beaufort for the night but we got there way to early to stop. So we continued on to Ken and Carol’s house which was only another 20 miles. We were safely tied up behind their house by 1600 hours and were immediately whisked away to a “Pig Pull”. A large portion of the community all brings a dish to share and one of the locals barbecues an entire pig. We just happened by at the right time, holy crap, talk about good eating.

Ken and Carol are leaving soon for a month of cruising with about 30 boats from their local yacht club. It was good to get here in time to see them before they were gone. As usual their hospitality was boundless inspite of their last minute preparations for the big trip.

May 24

May 24. Greetings from North Carolina. We awoke to a beautiful morning with very little apparent wind. We didn’t have any internet connection here so we had to rely on a 2 day old forecast along with NOAA Weather Radio. NOAA tells us that there are small craft warnings until this evening with winds building to 20 knots with 8 foot seas by late afternoon. This coincides with our old internet forecast so up the ICW we go.

Time for a quick rant. On our way north we were traveling a couple of miles behind 2 other sailboats, Starshine and Windfall. They were the most obnoxious, ignorant people we’ve encountered in a long time. They were on the radio all day long critiquing every home on the ICW. “Did you see the mustard colored house with the teal shutters?” “All day long and not a handful of houses I’d even consider owning” Everybody for miles is listening.

At Folly’s Inlet there is usually bad shoaling across the ICW. A guy headed south hailed them on the VHF and forewarned them about a shallow patch he had seen near marker #39. After transiting the area safely the 2 of them discussed the fact that since the good samaritan was a powerboater he probably was out of the channel when he came upon the shallow spot. They were just pompous assholes.

I even listened to them tear apart the “friends” they had just spent the entire winter with in the Bahamas. Everybody for 25 miles heard these 2 boatloads of idiots all day long; they didn’t even have the brains to use low power or their cell phones. End of Rant.

Anyhow, we transited the Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge again. It’s bizarre to just watch the entire center span of the roadway just float away.


When we got into the Cape Fear River we were riding a strong tide up into the river. Unfortunately though we were heading dead into the wind. So what we got was kind of a high speed ass kicking. We were traveling between 7 and 8 knots straight into 20 to 24 knots of wind.



This is our friends on Bedazzle burying both bows. The discomfort only lasted for an hour or so until we were protected by the opposite shore. It was pretty intense while it lasted though.

Friends of ours, Jim & Deb tell the story of going offshore with one of their relatives as crew. During the cousin’s night watch he was confronted by a large bulk carrier and in his panic he woke them with the cry of “Dumpster!”. He was kind of tongue tied in his panic and threw out the name of the biggest all metal thing that came to mind. So now whenever a very large ship becomes an issue we all use the warning “Dumpster”.



Dumpster!!! On our way up the Cape Fear River we managed to squeek past this dumpster as we crossed the channel in front of him. Our buddy boat was 200 yards behind us and had to turn up and go around his stern as he was bearing down on us so quickly. I had opportunity to snap a picture as we were directly in front of him but decided to wait until I was sure we would survive before taking pictures.

We stopped for the night in Carolina Beach, N.C. There is a really nice anchorage behind a barrier island that offers plenty of protection but still allows you to hear the roar of the ocean at night.

May 23

May 23. The anchorage we stayed in last night was as secluded as we’ve ever stayed in. When we left the ICW we turned up a very narrow stream and headed for an area that the charts showed had a paved boat ramp. I wanted to stay near the ramp as this would have meant an easy dog walking for me.

After we motored into this tiny stream for the better part of 3 miles it turned out that the ramp was a figment of some cartographer’s imagination. We were so far out in the sticks that I swore I heard banjo music. So along with Bedazzle we had to backtrack until we found a good spot in the narrow stream to drop the hook. The stream is so narrow that we only have less than a boat length to either shore.

The Bedazzles were a little freaked out because their catamaran is 22 feet wide so to them it looked a little too tight. It was also hot as hell as there was no breeze at all coming down the stream between the towering trees. They opted to move and reanchor 300 yards back upstream in a small pond off to the side of the stream. We followed suit and were rewarded with a small breeze and an anchorage that probably hasn’t changed at all in 200 years.

As night fell we were surrounded with the sounds of nature as our roaring backdrop. The bugs, frogs, animals and even the plants were so noisy it was bizarre. I’m sure there even some Howler Monkeys running around out there at night. Talk about a good nights sleep though, it was really perfect. The crew really needed it as just the other day Molly fell asleep with her head in her water bowl.



We pulled the hook and left at 0830 for our 30 mile day which will take us through the infamous Rockpile. The Rockpile is a stretch of ICW that was blasted out of bedrock. Quality control didn’t strike anyone as being all that important at the time and numerous rock ledges were left jutting out to the very edge of the narrow channel. It makes for an intense trip and passing or being passed is no party. All went well though and we anchored for the night just opposite the Little River Inlet on the South Carolina, North Carolina border.

We’re technically anchored in South Carolina and we dinghied into Calabash, N.C. for dinner. There are 4 seafood restaurants within a half mile stretch of waterfront and they all seemed busy with people who had to drive miles to get here but the food was only so-so. The seafood just doesn’t get any fresher but here in the south they seem to just want to fry the hell out of everything. Hell, I even had a side order of fried dill pickles. I couldn’t even begin to picture them so I just had to order some. They were actually really good.



The place we chose is a nice little spot with a stand of large trees protecting us from winds from the north and east. There was 1 boat already here and then 2 more showed up after we arrived so now there are 5. The inlet is only a mile or so away so we’ll wait and see what the weather brings to decide if we move up the coast on the inside on the ICW or if we head out into the Atlantic. As of now the wind is supposed to blow from the east northeast, exactly where we’d like to go

MAy 22

May 22. Okay, Georgetown. When you pull into the anchorage the first thing to strike you is the huge rusty steel mill at the head of the river. The waterfront is divided between the steel mill and the bustling fishing fleet.



My first impression of the waterfront was that it was a little seedy. I was pleasantly surprised shortly after we tied our dinghy to the town’s free dock. The town itself was picturesque with brick lined sidewalks, a waterfront boardwalk along all the bars and eateries and small green parks every 100 yards.



We stopped in Georgetown to see Christy’s cousin Cindy and her husband Allan. We saw them briefly on our way south so it was nice to spend the better part of the day with them this time. After the nickel tour of the area we went to the beach, played some Bocce Ball and generally enjoyed a beautiful beach day. Cindy and Allan’s house is of new construction but built like one of the old traditional homes of Charleston. It feels as if it were built sideways on its lot with a privacy door that invites or discourages visitors from stepping up onto the porch. Oh and there’s a guest house, I think we’ll be back. Afterwards Cindy put together a great meal while Allan grilled up a perfect steak. After dinner we opened one of the most well traveled boxes in the history of the US Postal Service and argued about who had the best parents. 

After spending Sunday with Cindy and Allan, Christy and I spent the day walking around town on Monday. We found a salon in our travels and Christy decided to get a massage while in town. While Christy was getting her massage I greeted the Bedazzles, Rick & Linda who were pulling into the anchorage. We’ve traveled with the Bedazzles before and we’ll be departing tomorrow together as we both head north.

Bedazzle and Veranda only have a short 30 mile day scheduled tomorrow so we can afford to wait and play the tides. We haul anchor at 1130 and are rewarded with over a knot of push for pretty much the entire day. We were making such good time we decided to take a side trip up Prince Creek. It’s a small creek that leaves the ICW and rejoins it a few miles later. It was a tiny meandering stream with plenty of depth so it was an enjoyable sidetrack. It’s really amazing to me coming from New Jersey that so much of this country is undeveloped and untouched by man.



Just after 1500 hours we drop the hook in a small tributary to the Waccamaw River. We’ve gone as far north as we dare as there is literally no place to stop for the next 35 miles. Tomorrow will be another short day but the stress quotient will be high as we have to negotiate the Rockpile.

Boat Name Of The Day………..Powerboat named……..Water We Thinkin’