Florida, Warm Florida
All we can say is “Ahhhhhhh…” Yes, people, after months of listening to us WHINE about being cold in Maine this summer and being cold going south this fall, it appears as though we may cease and desist with the whining . . . we are warming up!
In our last post, we had made it to Florida. We left Georgia via St. Simon’s inlet and went “outside” into the big old ocean to make our last get out of the state of Georgia. It was a nice day and things were going so well that we skipped the inlet at St. Mary’s, Georgia and kept right on going to the inlet at Jacksonville, Florida instead.
Although this looks like a picture of Eleanor Q at first glance, it is not! It is “Slow Waltz,” our little sister ship – a Gozzard 37′.
A glimpse of a sandy beach on the way in to Jacksonville
We had an interesting occurance in Jacksonville – we briefly ran aground. After receiving some less than accurate information about the water depth at one of the two free city walls in Jacksonville, we ran hard aground on our approach. Frank was at the helm and I was poised at the ready to loop a line around one of the cleats when we just stopped. We couldn’t have been more than 15 feet from the wall! No panic. Frank came up on the bow and spent a few minutes trying to lasso one of the cleats, which he did. So there were two bits of good news: 1) We knew the tide would start coming back up in about 30 minutes, and 2) we had a line on the cleat, so we weren’t going anywhere. So . . . wait we did. With each little inch the tide gave us, we pulled in a little closer. Finally the tide came up enough to lift us just off the bottom and we pulled up to the wall. We did that long enough to assess that we did not want to stay there overnight since we’d just end up hard aground again at the next low tide! We pulled around to the other free wall with deeper water and got the last parking space of the night. Once we got settled in, it was a great place to tie up and we chatted with very nice fellow boaters.
Dawn at the Jacksonville City Wall
Sunrise at the Jacksonville City Wall
After a short night, we were off and running again the next day. After all . . . we were still trying hard to get further south!
Next stop: St. Augustine. We really enjoyed the town and found a terrific marina to stay at within walking distance of town and all it had to offer. We found good restaurants and really good music.
Walking through St. Augustine
First stop on our first evening: a wine bar with Anthony and Annette. And we picked up a friend or two along the way!
Then we found some great live music in St. Augustine – acoustic guitar and vocals . . . outstanding! Annette listening intently.
A reminder that Christmas is coming . . . Christmas trees for sale in a palm tree lined lot.
Frank was able to reconnect with a high school class mate who lives and works in St. Augustine now. John was a delightful host as we visited the restaurant where he works . . . a piano bar and restaurant with great food and music. Now if only I had remembered to take a picture of the two of them together!!! Argh. Nice seeing you, John! Magnolia’s crew, once again, met up with us there and then, after dinner – well the picture says it all!
Of course . . . ICE CREAM!
Frank and I knew that we wanted to fly back up to NJ some time in December to see our families before the holidays. We couldn’t plan it very far in advance because we needed to feel our way through the logistics of leaving the boat parked in Florida for a week. We had to find a place that was reasonably priced and where we felt secure leaving the boat. Hidden Harbor Marina was the perfect place, and so we quickly made some travel arrangements and buzzed up to NJ for a few days. We got there just in time for the first major snow of the season. Ugh. But we were thrilled to see some family!
MaryMarie got to hang with Mama and sister Christine!
I think we both felt a little disoriented dropping in to our “other” life for a week. One of the odd things for me was putting on “real” clothes!
The view at takeoff.
The day we were to fly back to Florida it started snowing again, and our day started with our first flight out of Philly being canceled. Fortunately, we were able to do some finagling and managed to end up back on the boat by the end of the day as planned; we just didn’t take the exact route we had planned!
Back in Florida, we took one more day in St. Augustine to do some much needed boat chores and to start provisioning for our trip to the Bahamas. Certain things are not as accessible in the Bahamas, and when you find them, it’s expensive, so it is advisable to stock up on supplies before going over. After being parked in the same spot for more than a week, it was time for Eleanor Q to move on! Next big stop: Daytona!!
Pelicans watching us make our way through one of the bridges.
The last bridge before our stop in Daytona.
Florida in December
Daytona
Ems has some very dear friends who live in the Daytona area! A part of the gang from Bethlehem, PA were reunited! So fun to see my peeps from Pennsylvania. We had a great day of walking downtown Daytona, having lunch and hanging out on the boat . . . our first REALLY warm day!
Downtown Daytona
Reunited with Anne, Bob and Leigh!
Being silly for the camera in front of Leigh’s old work place! Ironic that Anne and Leigh are both originally from Florida, moved to PA for a period of time, and then ended up back down here about 30 minutes apart from each other.
They introduced me to Angell & Phelps candies. Don’t laugh, the chocolate covered bacon is AMAZING! I had to get some.
Christmas lights on the Halifax River Yacht Club
The further into December we went, the more boats we saw lit up for Christmas!
We enjoyed the first taste of some truly warm days in Daytona . . . and we were craving more! So after a very nice stay in Daytona, it was time for us to continue the trek south. We started peddling hard again, anchoring overnight in Titusville, stopping briefly in Melbourne where we met up with Magnolia again, and then heading on down to our next stop, Vero Beach.
Vero Beach is an extremely popular stop for the cruising community, and many end up staying longer than they anticipated! There’s also a number of cruisers who have ended up moving to Vero, thus earning it the nickname, “Velcro Beach,” since people seem to get stuck there. We enjoyed our two nights and also had to resist the urge to stay a little longer, but resist we did.
I’ll stop for now, but will give you a preview of the next post which will come up shortly: More on Vero Beach, Palm Beach, and the 18 bridge day to Ft. Lauderdale where we are spending Christmas with Magnolia.
On that note we’ll say Merry Christmas to one and all!!
Migrating South Fast: South Carolina and Georgia
This is the most woefully behind I have ever gotten on the blog, so I will tell you a few tales, share a bunch of pictures and try to efficiently bring you up to date. I’ll start at the the end of the story, first. Eleanor Q is currently parked in St. Augustine, Florida. That means we have passed through South Carolina and Georgia since last you heard from us! The headlines:
1) We have spent almost all of that time continuing down the Intracoastal Waterway. I refer to this as the “river boat cruise” portion of the trip – that is very much what it feels like. Through those travels, we’ve seen the different personalities of the waterway come out. South Carolina had golf courses and condos as well as some wilderness areas. Georgia became twisty and winding, but had some spectacularly scenic and quiet anchorages . . . it was generally less inhabited. Florida started showing areas with very expensive homes with docks and lots of palm trees. We have enjoyed it all. However, we have about frozen our tooshies off, too! It has definitely been fall cruising.
2) The two most note-worthy stops along the way were Charleston, South Carolina where we spent time with long-time friends of Frank’s who are now wonderful, new friends of mine as well.
3) The second note-worthy stop was Hilton Head, South Carolina over Thanksgiving. There we met up with our friends on Magnolia and spent a wonderful holiday together. We refer to Annette and Anthony as our water family.
So let’s get a little caught up.
Golf Courses along the ICW in South Carolina.
Ems at the helm on the way to Georgetown, SC.
An iconic image from Georgetown, SC
We stopped in Georgetown, SC for a few days to escape a cold snap . . . two nights in the low 30s. When it’s that cold, we make a point of being in a marina so we can be plugged in to shore power and run our forced air heat through the night (something that the batteries alone would not be able to do). Although we have spent many chilly nights at anchor – the record low temperature in our bunk in the morning was 51 with the outside temperature of about 45 – getting into the low 30s is totally pushing it. We can stay warm throughout a chilly evening at anchor by cooking and lighting the propane stove in our “saloon” – the nautical term for living room – but we do not sleep with propane running overnight. SO – that brings us back to Georgetown! Many cruisers love it. It is a convenient walk into the downtown area from the harbor and there are shops, restaurants and nice neighborhoods. But it is also rather industrial and I can’t say we found it to be the most warm and fuzzy place we’ve been. Wouldn’t rush back, but glad we saw it once. They suffered a rather devastating fire this summer which took out a block of downtown, but there is still LOTS of thriving downtown area and they are most certainly open for business.
The portion of town that burnt down . . .
One of the many thriving restaurants in town.
The day we arrived it was about 70 degrees, so Frank enjoyed an ice cream cone before the cold snap hit! Of course.
The “bones” of the Browns Ferry Vessel, the oldest know colonial vessel, found in the river near Georgetown . . . now preserved in the Rice Musuem.
The next day got very cold as predicted, so we went seeking things to do inside. Some of you know, we are not the world’s best “museum people.” We feel like we should be better at it . . . we want to learn more about the places we’re visiting . . . and so, after hearing many nice things about the Rice Museum, we thought we’d give it a try. Yes, that is a museum about rice. Georgetown area was a huge rice supplier in the 1800s. I found the museum moderately interesting, although it felt a little bit like a training session at work that you didn’t really want to be in. I think Frank felt that the visit was an hour of his life that he’ll never get back. But it was warm inside!
We met lots of nice people in the marina and had dinner with one couple that we had met before in Morehead City, so it was a congenial visit. We also picked up some wonderful fresh shrimp and oysters while there. But then it was time to move on.
Another nice day on the ICW.
We anchored at Awendaw Creek and met up with Magnolia. This was a halfway point to Charleston.
Anthony and Annette aboard Magnolia had us over for burgers on the grill!
Leaving for Charleston at dawn.
So here are a couple of noteworthy points from the pictures above:
1) Sunset happens a LOT earlier! Sunrise happens a LOT later! Duh, Mary Marie, you say! Yes, you have all been noticing that in your respective regions. Here’s what it means on the boat . . . a lot less travel hours in the day. Also, the ICW in the southern states can be very, very shallow in some areas, so we have to do far more strategic planning around what time high and low tides are, lined up with the “problem areas” that have shoaled up. There are some sections you just do not want to pass over at low tide. We find we are spending many more hours coordinating our travel plans with all these factors in mind. That has meant many early, early morning departures.
2) That leads to another noteworthy point in the above picture: Because we were leaving at the crack of dawn, Frank had worked very hard to maintain his night vision when we got up. That means using the red overhead lights instead of the white ones (standard in all boats for that very reason) and turning the brightness level down on all the equipment screens. That means that when we get behind the wheel and it’s still pretty dark, our eyes are still adjusted to the dark and we can see better. And then some knucklehead goes and forgets to turn the flash off on the camera and flashes it in your face. (Knucklehead = Ems). Oooops. It was an accident! Thankfully he had a good sense of humor about it – mostly because the sun was coming up fast.
Then we were off to Charleston. Let me clarify – the “other” Charleston. Understand, I grew up in Charleston, WV which will always be Charleston #1 to me. We had friends expecting us! But not so fast! Just as we got into Charleston Harbor (which is quite big), we saw a rubber skiff (boat) approaching. Then I saw the blue light. Yup, it was the Coast Guard pulling us over. It’s like getting pulled over on the road by the police. We were going to be boarded. Here’s what that means: every boater knows that at some point in life, the coast guard will board you. They randomly stop boats and get on to inspect them to make sure they are in compliance with documentation and safety equipment . You show your ID, they take about 30 – 40 minutes walking through the boat with you and asking for all your papers and ID, making sure you have the proper number of life vests, fire extinguishers and various other equipment that are required for you to be legally operating on the water. We happily passed our inspection. While the young man from the Coast Guard was walking around with Frank, the young woman from Department of Natural Resources who came on board stayed up in the cockpit with me while I idled the boat around the harbor during the inspection. She kept saying, “you can continue on towards your destination – our skiff will follow you.” We were very close to our destination, so I didn’t go very far very fast. When the young man completed our inspection and gave us the all clear, they turned around to signal to the skiff to come pick them back up. Hmmmm . . . no skiff! Where did the skiff go?? They radioed their colleague. The engine on the skiff had died!! Awkward. The Coast Guard dude basically said, ‘This is very embarrassing, but our skiff is dead in the water.” We graciously offered to give them a ride back to the motorless skiff, which they sheepishly accepted. We even offered to tow them back in, but they assured us that, HA, they could call the Coast Guard to come get them! They thanked us profusely and said that many people are pretty resentful about being boarded and would have suggested they swim back to the boat! We don’t look at the boardings like that and are very respectful. And so . . . we rescued the Coast Guard that day. That’s our story and we’re sticking with it! I hope somewhere there is a gold star on our file. Priceless.
At last we arrived at the Charleston Harbor Marina for our visit! We settled in on our first night. It so happened that there was a HUGE Barbecue Festival going on within walking distance of the boat, so that’s where we went for dinner. That night was the chicken wing competition. YUM!! Here are some sights from that night.
This was a serious competition!! And there was live music. How cool is that?
Gotta love this outfit’s name . . .
And this was the most professional looking outfit around. They had the customized RV and everything . . . looked like a traveling rock band. Frank in front right sucking on a wing.
The chicken ‘n waffle wings are just sheer genius!!
Here is the creator of the Chicken ‘n Waffle wings . . . that’s all I’m sayin’.
We then spent several fun days with our friends Tom (aka O.D.) and Linda O’Donnell. Frank and Tom worked together in Atlantic City and have remained friends for years. We can’t thank them enough for their hospitality. They even coaxed us off of the boat to stay at their house for a couple of nights – something hard to do! And they also offered that ever precious resource to us that wins a place in our hearts forever: a laundry room and unlimited hot water. They were the perfect tour guides and ambassadors for the city.
Frank and O.D. reunited and sharing their love of ice cream.
Linda showing us the sights around Charleston!
I never knew Charleston was referred to as “The Holy City” because of the vast number of churches and church steeples throughout.
Beautiful architecture everywhere . . . walking on and around the campus of the College of Charleston.
Being big fans of southern live oaks (which are different than your basic oak trees of the north), they took us to see the Angel Oak . . . thought to be one of the oldest living things east of the Mississippi, estimates have it’s age as being nearly 1,500 years old. You read that right.
You really, really, really want to climb the Angel Oak when you see it . . . just magnificent!
Irishmen and their Irish Whiskey!
Another night they took us to a College of Charleston Basketball game against Miami (Frank’s son-in-law’s alma mater, so a bit of a conflict of interest for us!)
Here we are hanging out before the game. O.D. was a faculty member and Linda and O.D. are supporters of the college, so we got to take part in pre-game food and refreshment at the sports complex. Great fun! Thanks for a great visit, O.D.s!!!
After five fun days in Charleston, it was time to move on. We had cleaned the boat, done some boat work, gotten our fickle starter replaced by a great, fair, wonderful mechanic (Luthers Marine Services = AMAZING). We no longer hold our breath when we turn the key on the engine . . . pretty important.
We headed towards our next town, Beaufort, SC (pronounced like you are saying “beautiful”) with a stop along the way at a peaceful anchorage. Beaufort is a pretty cool town. We would definitely put that on the “to do” list again for next year.
A quiet anchorage except for the jumping fish. They weren’t jumping into our boat, though!
Beaufort’s waterfront
Sights around Beaufort
We were reminded that last season’s American Idol came from Beaufort. Go Candice!
Walking the neighborhoods of Beaufort . . . love the Spanish moss!
Sunset at the anchorage by Beaufort. This was the last nice night (weather-wise) for many nights. Another cold snap set in the next day.
As I posted on Thanksgiving, we were reunited with our friends on Magnolia for the holiday! Here I am eagerly awaiting their arrival on a less than idyllic day on the water. Frank is at the dock ready to assist with the lines. There they are turning into the fairway.
We did our best to enjoy some sightseeing around Hilton Head Island despite the 45 degree temperatures and 25mph winds. Anthony, Annette and Frank in front of the famous lighthouse in Harbortown.
Okay, Anthony busted us flirting with Neptune in his Santa hat. A little windy?
Shelter Cove was an old hangout of mine in earlier days. I was so excited to share it with the group and take a walk around. As soon as we stepped out of the car, we were almost frozen in place, so our visit was a very quick one.
Thanksgiving morning was less windy and brilliantly sunny. After visiting with family by phone, Frank tried some fishing off the marina docks while I prepped some side dishes for our feast with Magnolia. We did not have fish for Thanksgiving.
Annette and Anthony hosted our feast on Magnolia. Annette prepared an amazing turkey breast and she and I split the side dishes. Magnolia made the pumpkin pie and Eleanor Q the apple.
There was no skimping on Thanksgiving dinner just because it was on a boat! We worked our two galleys hard, and here are the results!
Frank enjoyed his meal immensely, although it was another year of not getting his stuffing inside the turkey. (I try not to do inside jokes, but there are plenty of you out there who know that he whines about not getting stuffing made IN the turkey EVERY YEAR!)
I was truly so stuffed after this meal I had to roll back to our boat. It was SO GOOD!
Friday morning our two boats headed off to see Georgia next. We enjoyed our trip through South Carolina, but we were all getting in a hurry to get south fast and get warm!
Magnolia leading the charge to Georgia through the bridge.
Fast forward: Georgia is beautiful and we don’t mean to short change it, but our goal was to get through it as fast as possible. We kept thinking we would try to go “outside” and do some offshore to get south more quickly, but the weather had other plans. Conditions did not allow that, so we kept on going down the ICW which gets even more shallow and winding in Georgia. We muscled through several long days, most of them pretty cold, and made tracks. There were anchorages along the way . . . all beautiful. The scenery was lovely. The dolphins and pelicans were plentiful. Here are a few pictures:
Another great shot of Magnolia at sunset.
We wore all the layers of clothing that we had on the boat. When the sun is out, the enclosure warms the cockpit up nicely, but on cold, cloudy days, it is RAW! Jimmy Buffet does not write songs about this part.
A few days later, our southbound team rafted up close to St. Simons Sound to prepare for an opportunity to go offshore at last!
Annette looking over the preparations. Dinghies are up and on the decks ready to go
- And the next morning, we are out St. Simons inlet and back into the Atlantic Ocean.
And so, we temporarily said goodbye to the ICW, waved goodbye to Georgia until next year, and headed out to sea. Destination: FLORIDA!
North Carolina: The Second Half
The land of hospitality has been good to us and we loved the extended time we spent in the northern part of the state. But now it was time to get moving a little more quickly. After all . . . it’s November and it’s getting cold! So we made tracks continuing down the ICW with fewer multiple night stops in an attempt to get some miles covered. This map shows our path through the state.
Our path through North Carolina
Again, the ICW is pretty far inland in some sections, and then further south in the state it runs more parallel with the coastline. Different parts of the ICW have very different personalities, and we saw those changes as we moved along. So let’s do the tour through North Carolina. We had left Edenton, traveled the Albemarle Sound again and then headed down the Alligator River. The extra excitement for our trip that day (and not the good kind) was right before we got to the Alligator River. We finally had some nice wind and decided to put the sails up for a while. We are always looking to sail vs. motor, but our other motivation for doing this was that we were getting a little close to the end of our fuel. Our gauges are no different than the gas gauge on your car, and if you don’t know EXACTLY how close the needle can get to “E” from years of testing, well . . . you know the feeling. We felt we probably had plenty of fuel left, but we couldn’t swear to it, so conserving diesel was very appealing. Anyway, we put up the sails and turned of the engine. Then, as we approached the inlet to the River, we went to turn the engine back on. Click. Nothing. Zippo. No starting engine. First rule – don’t panic. Frank, being pretty good with a diesel engine, set out to find a fix to the problem. I was at the wheel calmly thinking through next steps in the cockpit. There wasn’t much wind left, but I was plotting a tack and a big loop in the open water to stall for time if it came to that. We couldn’t keep heading for the narrow inlet with limited control of the boat. At the same time, I had found the number for TowBoat US (the boat equivalent to AAA) just in case. After about 5 – 10 minutes of safely drifting about, Frank got the engine started by jumping it with a screw driver. And the screw driver had black singe marks on it from the episode. And I asked him if that was dangerous. And I got the same answer I have gotten at other times I ask such questions: “It’s only 12 volts. It won’t kill you – just hurt a little.” Yeah, I’ll bet that’s not what the screw driver is saying about now!! Our chief mechanic (Frank) has checked and rechecked things many times and we haven’t had the problem since – it appears to be fixed, but we live with a shadow of a doubt and fear a repeat performance. She has been perfect since the, but we’ll have to decide if we’re comfortable living with the doubt. We took on fuel (110 gallons, in case you’re wondering – we can hold 140) at the Alligator River Marina where we considered tying up for the night. They are supposed to have some mighty fine fried chicken there which we’ve both had a hankering for. (Note to my edit-happy, grammarian family members: I know the correct grammar would have been “for which we’d both had a hankering,” but my justification is that if you’re using the word “hankering” in the sentence, correct grammar would seem a little weird – just sayin’. Love you! ) But the place is a truck stop. I’m not kidding – it’s a marina and fuel dock for boats on one side and a gas station and truck stop on the other side. Somehow, spending good money out of the “marina budget” to park at a truck stop all night didn’t seem so smart when you can anchor close by for free. So we skipped the fried chicken (took 20 minutes to cook and we were running out of daylight) and moved on.
Sails up – and we were so excited . . . until the engine wouldn’t start.
Going into the Alligator River through the swing bridge
Seagulls observing our transit
Sunset on the Alligator River
just a few minutes later, a whole different palette of colors.
After a brief overnight stay, we were up and out early the next morning heading for Belhaven, NC. We planned to meet up with our friends on Magnolia. They were stopped there for a repair and were very gracious to offer to cook us dinner since we’d had a travel day. Frank and I took a quick walk around town after arriving. An hour is more than enough time to explore Belhaven.
Magnolia and Eleanor Q parked in a line . . . Annette welcoming us for dinner at sunset.
The next morning we said goodbye to the Bakers and Magnolia and headed to our next stop at River Dunes Marina just outside of Oriental, NC. Cruisers are always looking for a deal and River Dunes was one of three marinas with booths at the Annapolis Boat Show who were offering 2 nights for the price of one certificates, so certificate in hand, that’s where we went. What a beautiful facility! It is a huge housing community currently under development, and part of the thought of luring boaters is to show off the real estate. The place was very “civilized” – it was a little like being at a Golf Country Club except there was no golf course. The “boat house” (essentially the clubhouse) is a stunning building, tastefully decorated, with a restaurant/bar upstairs and front desk/lounge/pool room downstairs. The restaurant was not open as a full service venue, but they had a sign-up sheet for a “cruiser’s dinner” at 6:30 that evening. It was a set menu which sounded tasty and reasonably priced. Sure, why not? Another chance to meet people. There ended being 12 of us. When we went upstairs there were several small tables set up for the group. Then we spotted the “board room” with a large table for 12. Since the food was set up as a buffet, hey why couldn’t we carry our plates in there instead? After all, we all wanted to eat family style – that’s why you sign up for a “cruiser’s dinner.” The staff had no problem with our plan. The help there was limited for this teeny event, so we reset the table ourselves, found a pitcher and poured water around the table and generally treated it like we were in someone’s home. It was pretty funny. We had fun visiting and swapping stories and getting to know each other – all in all a very congenial evening. We enjoyed our two days there, taking advantage of the walking trails, the fitness room, the STEAM SHOWERS(!) and the laundry facility. They even had a courtesy car which we borrowed to go into the town of Oriental to pick up a thing or two. We had heard so much about Oriental, and it definitely has a charming, funky, nautical vibe to it that we’ll have to explore more extensively on another trip.
The boathouse at River Dunes
Going to the chapel . . . the community has a cute, teeny little chaple, a popular place for weddings.
Classy place – the right side is the fitness center; the left is the laundry facility!
And a lovely laundry room it was!
The view on the way back from doing laundry – Eleanor Q watching the sun set.
After two days in the lap of luxury (not really, but it was one of the fancier places we had been), it was time to move along again, so we headed to Morehead City where we tied up at Portside Marina. Now, Denard, the owner of the establishment, is one of the nicest men you will ever hope to come across. The customer service is unprecedented. The rest of the story is that the current is VERY strong at the face dock and the miserable weather didn’t help much. We toughed out the rain in our fowl weather jackets and took a walk around town. We stopped to say hello to, who else, Magnolia. They were staying in a different marina and meeting up with some family. Then we grabbed dinner at the bar at the Ruddy Duck. The place was fun and comfortable and a good respite from the weather. We ended up having a nice chat with a couple next to us from Virginia, also cruisers heading south.
After a bit of a windy, bumpy night, we were ready to head out the next morning. The strong current and wind had other ideas. Both were pushing us flat against the dock. Frank had tried to prep me for the many ways that we would try to get off the dock. We bumped our way forward on the straight pier (no boats ahead of us) but couldn’t get off the dock. Our bumpers were almost torn off of the boat with the forward progress we made since they were firmly wedged between the boat and the dock. They were doing their job, but they were taxed beyond their usual duties. After almost 40 minutes of inching up the dock and my nerves getting pretty frayed, we were loose and underway.
We had an observer watching our antics at the dock.
Our destination for the day was an anchorage called Mile Hammock Bay which is part of the Marine Corps Base, Camp LeJeune. Although we have read reviews about the anchorage saying that it can be extremely noisy with military exercises and helicopters, we were fortunate to be there on a “day off” and it was peaceful and a very nice anchorage. Magnolia joined us there and we served them up some shrimp and pasta (procured in Morehead City at the Seafood Market).
There are lots of dolphin sightings these days! Apparently they like traveling the ICW, too.
Magnolia pulling into Mile Hammock Bay
The next day we were off to Wrightsville Beach, NC. The trip took on a bit of a competitive nature since there are a flock of boats all traveling the same skinny route heading for the same places. On this day, we also had several swing or draw bridges, and we had to time our trip with the bridge openings and the currents. If you get to the bridge too soon before an opening, you have a pileup of boats floating around in a small space waiting to get through. (The term goat rodeo pops into my head for some reason.) Every boat has a different idea of how to manage the wait. This is called “station keeping.” It felt a little like being back on the Garden State Parkway and jockeying for position at the toll booths. We were happy to get this day behind us. We made our way to Wrightsville Beach, NC by afternoon where we anchored up for the next two nights.
Ems doing a teeny, tiny bit of work on the phone. This is the BEST office ever!
Going through one of the bridges.
Evening in Wrightsville Beach anchorage
The Fishing Pier in Wrightsville Beach
And look who we found wandering the beach! Annette and Anthony!
Walking the beach . . .
After a couple of nights in Wrightsville Beach, it was time to hit the road again, so to speak. We headed to our last stop in North Carolina, St. James Marina in Southport, NC, not far from Myrtle Beach. The marina rates through North Carolina were AMAZINGLY cheap as compared to the prices we saw in the Northeast over the summer, and the anchoring opportunities along the ICW are a little limited at some points, so marina it was. Now we started to see different personalites come out in the ICW. On our trip on this day, some parts of the ICW were fairly wide open waterways with one section even accommodating tanker traffic! Other parts were narrower. We have had a couple of canals connecting different rivers on some days. Now we were getting into more of the Myrtle Beach area meaning more condos, more golf courses, and more development in some sections. St. James is part of a golf course community and it was fun to walk around some of the neighborhoods and reflect on the old days of playing golf! (Eleanor Q had a detrimental effect on our golf games. We can live with that. Golf will still be there in a few years.) We landed at St. James that evening with our travel companions (yes, Magnolia). We have fallen into a bit of a leap frog arrangement with them: many days we overlap in a location intentionally, some days one will skip ahead of the other based on interests or (gasp!) schedules, but we will shadow each other south a fair amount of the way. This night we congregated at the Tiki Bar at the resort for dinner and live music. The weather was a little chilly for outside seating, but we bundled up and enjoyed the atmosphere to listen to some good classic acoustic rock.
A tanker passing us . . . Guess how I knew it was a tanker.
Yes, because of the visual aids for the nautically inept.
I liked the name of this place. Now if they just had a place that you went to after dinner called “Fire.” Get it?
St. James Marina – home for the night.
Frank enjoying the live music at sunset.
We found lots of southern hospitality in North Carolina and throughly enjoyed our trip through the state . . . but now it’s time to get farther south. Next stops: Georgetown and Charleston, South Carolina!
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North Carolina Hospitality: Elizabeth City and Edenton
Elizabeth City is a popular cruisers’ stop along the ICW. They call themselves the Harbor of Hospitality – and they are, particularly Monday through Friday. We arrived on a Saturday. The Visitor Center is not open weekends and the late afternoon cruisers reception that we had heard so much about doesn’t take place on weekends, either. Our little pack of floating wanderers (many of us who met at the Dismal Swamp Visitors Center) decided to have our own welcome reception, borrowing the city’s tent. It was another lovely evening of socializing. On Sunday I (Ems) wandered up to the Methodist church . (You know, if I had just let you finish reading that particular sentence, there wouldn’t have been any need for me to specify which one of us walked to church, I suspect.) I was welcomed warmly before I even got in the front door. A lovely couple, Al and Dianna, adopted me for the morning. Turns out they have a son who lives on his boat in Charleston (SC) who has sailed to the Bahamas a number of times. The service and the music were very nice (a church that still has a pipe organ – hooray!) Al and Dianna offered to play tour guides around town that afternoon, telling me about an Arts and Crafts show at the local school. I declined the tour, but did take them up on the ride back to the docks where they came and met Frank and some of the other gang.
Al and Dianna escorting me back from church and visiting the docks..
Three of us couples walked to the art show and enjoyed a well prepared comfort meal in the cafeteria. Then we proceeded to stroll around the city admiring the historic houses. As we were walking back, Frank’s radar went off. His ears perked up and his nose started twitching like a blood hound. “What is it???” we all wondered. His instinct told him there was ice cream close by. Sure enough . . . just a little further up the road we spotted the Dairy Queen he had been detecting. How does he know?
Harbor of Hospitality
Magnolia and Eleanor Q – buddies hanging out.
Hanging out with Annette and Anthony. We did not try to coordinate our outfits, I swear.
Here is a monument telling the story of the “Rose Buddies” beside the transplanted bed of roses.
Eleanor Q leaving Elizabeth City at sunrise. Picture taken by Anthony aboard Magnolia.
Eleanor Q parked in Edenton Harbor.
Sunset our first night in Edenton.
Frank looking out over the water.
Here was our ride for the day . . . the county pickup!
We spent Halloween in Edenton. Fun things that made it apparent that it was Halloween: 1) “Silence of the Lambs” was playing on the TV in the laundromat. 2) They had “safe trick or treating” in the downtown district with local business, police and EMTs handing out the candy. (The police officers couldn’t be in costume, but one female officer had a stuffed black cat attached to her shoulder.) After having dinner in a local restaurant with a perfect view of the Halloween festivities, we walked to the classic, local movie theater to see Capt. Phillips. If you don’t know, that’s the true story about the tanker ship captain who was abducted by Somali pirates and then rescued by the Navy Seals. Tom Hanks is great in it, but somehow it felt a little odd to get to the end of the movie and say, “Okay, let’s go back to the boat now.” No pirates in North Carolina.
Halloween in Edenton! Even the dogs were in costume!
Laundry day in “The Wash House” with Anthony Hopkins on the screen. I offered to make Frank some fava beans for lunch but he declined. (Who knows the movie line???)
The next day we enjoyed exploring town even more. There are many historic structures in the town. One story is about the Edenton Tea Party at the Barker House. Seems that the famous Boston Tea Party sparked outrage in Edenton, and the women’s group that met regularly for tea took a stand and decided to boycott tea in support of Boston’s act of defiance. Britain was used to people protesting, but in the 1700s it was MOST unusual for a women’s group to take a political stand of this sort and word got back to Britain and created quite a stir.
Walking around Edenton
Historic Homes
Didn’t anyone ever teach this man not to stick his head in front of a canon?
Frank is headed to the barber shop – right after he finished his ice cream cone!
The second oldest church in North Carolina – built in the mid 1700s.
Edenton is 300 years old!
Early morning in Edenton
One of our favorite things about Edenton was meeting our new friends Gil and Barbara. They are Edenton locals, sailors and graduates of cruising to the Bahamas. While we were sitting in the harbor, Gil sailed by on his Sunfish. We struck up a conversation as he lithely maneuvered the little sailboat back and forth by Eleanor Q while chatting. By the end of the discussion he had invited us to his home for fresh oysters roasted over an open fire. (‘Tis almost the season – I am definitely changing the word “chestnuts” to “oysters” this year. Luckily that night, Jack Frost was not nipping at our noses.)
Gil on his Sunfish
We met him on Wednesday and the invitation was for Friday. On Friday I decided to attempt to make an apple pie to take with us and Frank worked on some boat projects.
Apple pie decorated with a crust apple . . . with a worm coming out of it. Blame it on my sister Triana. i stole the idea from her!!
Can you ever have too many wrenches?
So on Friday night, Gil picked us up and took us to meet his wife, Barbara, and to visit at their home. Their 31 foot sailboat, Barbara Jean, is in a slip right behind their house. Gil designed and built the boat himself and the two of them sailed it to the Bahamas. Not a detail was overlooked on that boat! After our tour, we sat at a table in front of a fireplace in their home and ate oyster after oyster after oyster! They have a metal grate on a swivel in the fireplace. It just swings right out, oysters go on the grate, it swings back in over the fire and voila! You have wood roasted oysters! Gil just kept bringing pan-fulls of them to the table and we kept on gobbling them up! We seriously went through a half a bucket of them. There was still a half bucket left, but we cried uncle! They shared their cruising stories and experiences with us and we learned more about each other. It was a delightful evening. Again, individuals showing simple acts of kindness to other people = big deal! That evening is what we’ll probably take away from Edenton more than anything else. And we hope to meet up with them again on our way back through.
Gil standing in the companionway of Barbara Jean.
Over the Bay and Through the Canal to Albemarle Sound We Go!
We’re heading south! And a good portion of our route for the next several weeks will be via the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). Frank has had this route in his head for years, but being me, I couldn’t have spit out a good explanation of what it was or WHERE it was until more recently. (I tend to plan in shorter time spans; we’re different that way). So if you’re a little sketchy about it, let me give you a brief orientation to set the scene.
Going “Outside”: Offshore down the Atlantic
#2- Taking the ICW from Norfolk, but taking what is called Route 1 – the Virginia Cut. This route is used by commercial and recreational traffic and is kept at a depth of at least 12 feet.
Going “Inside”: The ICW, Route 1 – Virginia Cut
Going “Inside”: The ICW, Route 2 – The Dismal Swamp Canal – See how far inland that is? The green/red arrow is us sitting at the Dismal Swamp Visitor Center
Ems at the helm from Hampton through Norfolk, VA.
Wonder if the people stationed here ever sing, “We All Live in a Yellow Submarine”? I wonder these things . . .
USNS Comfort – the designation means it is a non-commissioned ship owned by the navy but staffed by civilians. It is a mercy ship and firing on it would be considered a war crime. Among others places, it has been deployed to NYC on 9/11, Katrina, Haiti as well as various war zones.
Mile Marker “10”! The yellow triangle indicates an ICW marker.
Frank holding our “catch” – that’s all I’m sayin’. That was some GOOD eating that night!
Windsong in Deep Creek Basin with us
Driving into the locks. . .
The gates closing behind us.
A heron observing the operation and clearly ignoring the sign.
Frank watching the lock water rise
Going to the draw bridge . . .
Thanks Mr. lock tender/bridge keeper!
Brief history: The canal opened in 1809 and was largely hand dug by slaves in most difficult conditions. Because it was so shallow, only flat boats or log rafts could be manually poled through, typically carrying shipments of logs, shingles and other wood products from the abundant cedars and junipers. The slaves became so familiar with the route that it was widely used as a slave hideaway and became an important part of the Underground Railroad. It has been the inspiration for literature, poetry and songs. The Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for the upkeep of the canal, keeping it at at least 6 feet in depth. There are times when the canal is closed due to drought conditions. Recently, cruising friends of ours were turned away from the canal due to an overabundance of duckweed – a green plant with little teeny leaves. Due to some unusual and extended wind patterns, an excessive amount of duckweed had collected close to the top of the canal. The duckweed gets sucked into your intake for the engine, the strainer gets full of it and chokes the water/air supply to the engine which then overheats and eventually stops working! They had to tow many boats out. So they turned people away from the canal for several days until they could clear the overabundance of duckweed.
Here are some typical sights in the canal –
Crossing the State Line
Here I am steering on my tiptoes so I can see if we’re about to hit any logs or stumps. I will make my millions inventing platform boat shoes for women.
Frank took this beautiful shot from the bow as we traveled down the canal.
This was the view from the pedestrian bridge walking to the State Park. Only a couple of boats parked with Eleanor Q at this point.
A stroll through the state park. Watch out for bears!
In the park . . . a still. Really. Well, maybe a replica.
Also in the park – when was the last time you saw one of these?
Our happy little raft up! Neighbors for the evening.
That night was a record breaker for us: the low was in the upper 30s. We had every blanket on us that we own and were very cozy. We have a propane heater that we kept on until we went to bed – not safe to keep it on all night. In the morning it was 49 degrees in the boat. Good news is that between turning the heater on and lighting the stove for our coffee, it warms up pretty quickly.
Morning mist on the canal at the visitors center looking out the back of the cockpit.
A frosty morning with ice on the dock
Back Where We Started: Annapolis and the Next Leg
Knapps Narrows Bridge
Knapps Narrows
Anchored in the Wye River
Frank doing some fishing.
A blue heron in the bushes.
After a couple of nice days in the Wye, we headed back to our old stomping ground. It was a beautiful October Saturday meaning that the bay was PACKED with boats. We steered our familiar route right back to our old marina. Dean, owner of Stella’s Stern and Keel, had an open slip that we were able to rent for a couple of weeks, and when we pulled in it was just like we had left it . . . there was Dean in the yard ready with a hearty welcome and Buttercup, the yellow dog, with her mom/owner, Suzanne. It was a very welcoming feeling and we were excited to be back in our old stomping ground.
Reunited, and it feels so good . . .
Back at Stella’s Stern & Keel
Stella’s is at the end of Jones Cove in Back Creek. At the very end of the marina is a heron refuge. It is beautiful and peaceful back there!
We spent our time in Annapolis seeing friends, readying the boat for our trek south and visiting the boat show which gives us a chance to catch up with Mike, Liz and Robyn Gozzard, the builders of our boat. We met up with friends which included a “chick day” at the Boat Show with Cheryl! And sister Caroline met up with us at the end of the day, too! (That’s Ems sister Caroline – not like a nun or something.) Caroline brought a delightful dinner with her and then helped with a major grocery run the next day. Our very dear friends, Tom and Cathy, have a Brewer sailboat that they have been lovingly restoring over the last several years. We spent time catching up with them and seeing the fruits of their labor as they get ready to move aboard! They were our neighbors at Stella’s our first two years there and we have watched each others’ projects and preparations as we shared the cruising dreams over a beverage or meal. The offers of rides and help and errands from many was heartwarming, and we are always grateful for them!
Boat maintenance never ends!
Oh – the ever present laundry backpack appears. Guess what today is?
Maryland Ave. laundromat is a dream, and the day we were there, it was a cruiser’s party! It made laundry day fun, if that’s possible!
Boat Show – an annual pilgrimage.
Cheryl and I trolled the boat show. Caroline met up with us for a perch at the Marriott to watch the parade of boats leaving the city docks as the show breaks down – an event!
Okay, we let Frank come, too.
After seeing the pictures from the previous days, I realized how badly in need of a real salon I was. Especially since we were going to my mom’s birthday party! Bleached blonde no more – for a while. I will give up real salons soon , I promise.
We rented a car which we used to do a visit of the Mamas! First stop, a nice visit with Frank’s mom and bonus fly-by with two nephews while there! Always good to “chat with Pat”! Then we drove to attend Mama Rapking’s 90th birthday celebration. (That’s Ems’ mother – and yes, that is really my maiden name . . . ) All six children came in from all over the country to recognize this happy occasion! As I like to say, my mom is 90 going on 70. Not that I am at all biased, but she is spunky, witty, affectionate and independent and we love being around her. Frank and I made use of her spare bedroom . . . and I asked her if we could pretend I was in college again so I could bring my laundry with me!! We loved having the gang together again for a couple of days . . .
Mama blowing out her candles with sister Frances behind her.
Me and my mama!!
We took off from Annapolis this past Sunday morning early to start making our way south. First stop, Solomon’s Island, MD for a quick overnighter. We ended up anchored by a boat that we met in Martha’s Vineyard this summer! After a quick chat with them as we rode the dinghy by, we agreed to meet up the following night in Deltaville, VA, the next night’s scheduled stop. We anchored up side by side in Fishing Creek and enjoyed cocktail hour in their very pretty and spacious cockpit.
Leaving Annapolis . . . again.
We left Solomon’s Island on a misty morning.
Gotta love this trawler who put up a GIANT inflatable pumkin on deck! What an easy way to find your boat at night!
We spotted our first pelicans on the way to Deltaville!
Feathered visitors as we sit in the cockpit of Pendragon.
The minute we left Solomons and took a right on the bay, we were in new territory for Eleanor Q! And so we begin the next leg of our trip – the southeast coast of the U.S. First stop, Hampton, Virginia. Hampton is “right close” to Norfolk, thus major military area. As we were getting close we noticed several helicopters and a couple of fighter jets hovering over the area, and we figured that might be normal for the area. Then we heard a “securite” announcement (French pronunciation sounding like seh-cure-i-tay) commonly used on the VHF radio to alert boaters that a large vessel is underway. It announced that aircraft carrier # 71 was departing the area and going out to sea. It also reminded mariners that it is against the law to be any closer than 500 feet of a naval vessel, enforceable by force including deadly force. That certainly will make you think twice about doing a buzz by one of the navy fleet! And sure enough, there was a Naval entourage leading the way with four heavily armed gunboats coming out first. Then we watched as the USS Theodore Roosevelt come out of the Navy base. It was surrounded by a few skiffs directing it out. The ship had just undergone a complete overhaul in August, and after passing all of its sea trials had returned to Norfolk. Carrier #77 was parked right behind it, the USS Hebert Walker Bush. Both are nuclear powered ships. Frank looked up their specs. He quizzed me, “What do you think their range is?” This means how long can the boat stay out without need of refueling. The answer: 20 – 25 years. That ship wouldn’t have to come back into port for 20 – 25 years. I imagine that there would be a mutiny before they tested that theory, but that’s the deal. It is a self contained small city. Pretty amazing. When you look at the deck of the thing, you wonder what it is like for the young pilot the very first time they ever have to land on its deck.
Navy gun boat
The gun boat entourage…
USS Theodore Roosevelt leaving port.
Back Home on the Chesapeake Bay
Home is where the boat is . . .
And, home is where the heart is. Frank happy to be with his three children: Frank, Andrea and Nicole.
Goodbye Longport and Seaview Harbor Marina!
A beautiful sail down the NJ coastline – the “skylights” are a new addition which allow us to keep our canvas up and see the sails – a BIG improvement in comfort underway.
Anchored up in Cape May with many other boats heading south.
Ems behind the wheel at 8am with an unexpected 18 knots of wind. Clearly looking in need of more of the coffee sitting next to her!
Going through the C&D canal was, once again, a non-event . . . although we had lots more company than in June, but only small boats like ourselves. No tankers!
Frank teaches Ems the term “sun dog.” It’s a mini- rainbow kind of thing. See to the right of the sun . . . that’s a sun dog. Try to find something prettier – I double sun dog dare you!
Red at night was certainly our delight in Still Pond.
The next day we hoofed it right on down to the Rhode River, another long but wonderful day. It was very exciting when we caught our first sight of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge again for the first time in several months!
Looking at the Bay Bridge again! A familiar sight.
We love this view of the bridge!
Frank has found that, while I’m at the helm and conditions are calm, he likes to do boat chores. There were OH so many things I could have done to him at this moment, but I resisted the urge . . .
The opening night dinghy raft up at the SSCA Gam. I borrowed the picture from Michele who borrowed it from a friend . . .
Gam Friends from left to right: We met Anthony and Annette from Magnolia last year. They are in their first two weeks of cruising! We have enjoyed getting to know them very much. They introduced us to Al and Michele on Kindred Spirit (which they are) and last year A&A introduced us to Dudley and Cheryl who came with us on a test drive of our Gozzard since they are in the market. Cheryl is my #1 blog supporter! (after my sister) What a truly wonderful group of compadres.
A cleaned up Ems . . . nice to feel a little girly from time to time. Almost forgot how!
Awwww . . . isn’t he handsome?
Crabbing in the anchorage in Oxford.
Here we are casting our crab line apparatus. Very high tech!
Crab Fest! Michele’s photos . . . and tomatoes and quinoa salad, for that matter! Rob and Karen brought an outstanding tuna dip. Cruisers are experts at the pot luck dinner.
- The next day we took advantage of the bike rentals and had a little picnic lunch at the park beside the Methodist Church in town looking out over the water. By the way, thank you to the United Methodist Church of Oxford for the beautiful chimes that play every day at noon and 6:00pm. I’ll hum along and Frank will say, “Do you know that one?” And I’ll say, “It’s a Methodist Church . . . I’ll know ANYTHING they play!” There was a funny moment during our bike ride . . . it’s not going to SOUND funny, but it really was, so hear it the right way. We rode around the Oxford cemetery which overlooks the anchorage where EQ was parked. Neither one of us has any intention of being buried in an actual plot (not that we discuss it much, mind you, other than Frank saying “Put my ashes in a coffee can and throw me in the dumpster.”) We toured the whole place admiring how well kept it was and looking at the view. As we pedaled down the long road out, Frank looked at me and said, “You know, I don’t want to be buried in a cemetery, but if I did, this wouldn’t be a bad one to be in.” I laughed out loud and said, “I was thinking the EXACT same thing!” Great minds . . . I know, that’s weird humor.
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Picnic at the park . . .
Frank looking over at Eleanor Q in the anchorage
As much as we love Oxford, Frank had a major setback there, however. . . the Highland Creamery (home of the finest ice cream) was closed for mid-week. He is still under treatment for depression from the incident. He had to make do with other ice cream options – and he did. Actually, on Monday we thought the Creamery was going to be open and planned to hit it on our way back to the boat . . . we had walked to the little market in town and while I was grocery shopping, Frank went to the ice cream counter inside the store and got a cone. Here’s the conversation that followed:
This was actually the following day – Frank now brings his own spoon and goes to the freezer section of a store when there are no ice cream stores around – a technique he learned from a fellow cruiser.
Downtown Oxford
By the way – for those who saw June’s picture of Frank’s “catch” – this would be the scene of the crime, otherwise known as where he “caught” the striper. Just sayin’ . . .
From New York to New Jersey
Once again I/we are woefully behind on posting, so as a quick update before sharing the past few weeks . . . we have been back in NJ at our new home base seeing family and friends. We also participated in the ALS walk in Ocean City – an annual event which brings friends and family together from all over. It was a great event and one that is SO important to Frank each year. It also serves as somewhat of a family reunion for Frank – and all three of his children were in town this year which made him (and me) very happy. We are now back in the Chesapeake Bay for a while enjoying our former home turf . . . but before we got to all of that, we still had to make it back from Rhode Island through New York to New Jersey. We left off with our stormy stay in Point Judith. From there we headed south towards NJ. As people ask us what some of our favorite “moments” have been in the last three months, one of the highlights is certainly this last leg that took us down the Long Island Sound into the East River and through New York City. But before we got to THAT moment, we’ll share the very cool re-visit to one of our favorite stops: Shelter Island, NY. After leaving Point Judith, we took a long day to get back to Derring Harbor in Shelter Island, one of our favorite (and unexpected) stops in July on our way up the coast. We visited with our “Gozzard cousins,” once again being treated to their hospitality and graciousness. This time around, our friends conspired ahead of time to get me (Ems) out sailing on their Herreshoff doughdish sailboat. Frank keeps telling me that I need to get on a small sailboat to really feel the wind and understand it at a different level than I can sailing on a larger, more forgiving vessel! Our friends agreed and so had decided to get me out for just such an experience. And so, Frank stayed behind and worked on boat projects and my Herreshoff Captain took me out for a lesson!
Ems’ sailing lesson! What’s a tiller?
So cool!!!!
After enjoying another meal and musical jam session at their house, it was time for us to push on towards our home turf via the Long Island Sound. After an early start and a rough/choppy first hour of wind vs. current (not a good combination), we made it around the corner through Plum Gut (a notoriously tricky cut between pieces of land that has strong currents, traffic and shoaling) before heading down the Long Island Sound with beautiful conditions – perfect wind and lobster pot free!! We enjoyed the best sail we had had in weeks!
The lighthouse at Plum Gut
Sailing at last!
Our destination that day was Port Jefferson. We found a great place in the anchorage there and enjoyed a restful evening. Our welcoming committee was a male swan that Frank promptly named “Bubba.” (By the way – Frank names most any animal “Bubba” if he doesn’t know their actual name.) I will do a whole separate post about Bubba and his antics, but the short story is that Frank had Bubba eating out his hand in short order.
Frank and Bubba
After a restful night, we had another early morning departure . . . and saw the remnants of an event that had taken place after we had come into the harbor the prior evening. You never want this to be your boat . . . but it happens.
Don’t you just hate when this happens?
So off we went down Long Island Sound headed to New York City. Now you have to understand – I had some trepidation about taking this route at all. So true confessions here: New York just makes me uncomfortable. I love the idea of New York. I love what it represents for us as a country. But New York and I have a rocky history. I have been in the Big Apple on a number of occasions over the years. I even interviewed for an HR job at one of the big, fancy hotels back in the mid 90s when my first marriage was going south. I have dealt with a taxi scam, a near robbery in Central Park and a chalk outline on the sidewalk beside my car in the morning after visiting a friend (you know, the kind where the body was laying a couple of hours earlier.) Frank had entertained a number of customers back in his Atlantic City days and always enjoyed his trips to the city pretty episode-free. My “episodes” in the city all happened when I was in my 20s and 30s, so I figured I was past all of that when I accepted a consulting gig there in 2001 in the World Trade Center. I worked on the 54th floor of Tower 2 about 8 days a month for about a 9 month period. The last day of my contract was July 6nd, 2001. You do the math . . . I harbor a lot of mixed feelings about the place. So when I thought about the idea of sailing right through the heart of it all, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Frank had even coached me to have an attitude adjustment about the trip. I almost wanted to bag it and go back out in the Atlantic and do another long passage to get home. But after much discussion, we decided that New York was the way to go – and I managed to embrace the idea and get into the spirit of the trip. What we did not expect was the overwhelming feeling of excitement and pride that we felt as we cruised through the city on a spectacularly clear and sunny day. All the corny lines that you hear in songs about New York kept coming to mind during the trip . . . the city that never sleeps being the one that I kept hearing the most. The place was just throbbing with energy and activity in every direction! Ferries, mega yachts, skyscrapers, airplanes, helicopters, water taxis, sky writing planes . . . it was 90 minutes of constant action . . . it was truly sensory overload!! And from a navgtional standpoint, there’s an awful lot going on! There’s mega boat traffic and currents to contend with and two rivers coming together to create eddies at “Hell Gate.” There isn’t much more to say about it than that: let’s just let the pictures do the talking!
Throgs Neck Bridge, one of many bridges we passed under.
I was taking a picture of the plane flying over when I realized there was a skywriter publicizing a new restaurant! When was the last time you saw a sky writer??
We were watching planes landing at LaGuardia right next to the tennis center where the US Open was being played at that moment which is all right next to Rikers Island!
Look closely – there’s a tram going across the top of the bridge! Really??
The captain is trying to navigate and take it all in!
The United Nations Building with the Chrysler building peeking out from behind.
The Empire State Building appears!
The Brooklyn Bridge
A look at the new 1 World Trade Center nearly completed.
Helicopters fly overhead nonstop!
All we could keep saying was, “Wow!”
Okay, the other thing that we kept saying was, “This is UNBELIEVABLY COOL!”
The water taxi is a popular mode of transportation. We made this trip on a Saturday which meant that, as busy as it was, it would have been far more hectic on a week day!
And then we cruised right by the Statue of Liberty.
The Verrazano Narrows
And a final look over our shoulders at the skyline! Whew!We then cruised past Coney Island, one of the options for anchoring for the night, but decided to push on to Sandy Hook, NJ.
I don’t often use the word “awesome,” but this was truly an AWESOME day in the truest sense of the word and we were awestruck.
A lighthouse on the way to Sandy Hook . . . Frank finally got to take a breather and let Ems take the wheel for a bit.
We anchored in Sandy Hook, totally spent from our overwhelming day!
We settled in at anchor in Sandy Hook. The next day was going to be a long passage, and again, our timing was based on wind forecasts and the time of day we wanted to arrive in Little Egg Harbor Inlet in Longport, NJ – our base of operations when we’re at “home base” in NJ. We we had the next day to relax and rest before leaving at 4pm for our 16 hour trip down the coast. And while we were enjoying time in the cockpit, look who came around the corner! Why, just a lil’ old aircraft carrier, that’s who!! It was carrier #5. We were able to look it up and see that it is one of the “small” carriers that is especially for harriers and helicopters. This ship was also one of the first to respond after Katrina as it can be used as a mobile hospital unit as well.
Look who’s coming around the corner!!
Around 4:00 in the afternoon, we departed for our overnight trip down the coast. Now my second time down the coast overnight, I knew a little more what to expect. As with the first time, there were exceptionally inspiring moments and exceptionally nerve wracking ones as well. Sunrise and sunset are always amazing on the water – those are the great moments. The number of stars you see (since the moon set very early that night) is beyond words. We took approximately 2 hour watches early on which then spread to 3 hour watches overnight. As with the last time, the first hour of real dark threw me (Ems) for a complete loop. What a feeling of disorientation! But after that adjustment is made, it is kind of magical (although I’ll still opt for daylight when given a choice.) The forecast had called for winds to pick up after dark, but we had let the reef out of our sail early on since the strong winds were not there yet. Quick review: reefing your sails means you don’t have the full sail unfurled so you don’t get overpowered with heavy wind. There is an expression that if you’re wondering if you should reef your sail, you’ve already waited too long. We proved that again. Let me say that this was never dangerous – just unnerving for the inexperienced crew member! I was at the helm and Frank was still in the cockpit with me but attempting to get a nap. The wind had been building and I had been hanging in there with the growing wind, the growing seas and our increasing speed. (It WAS nice to be making our destination more quickly!) And then the wind was just a little too much and I experienced the phenomenon of losing the ability to steer the boat. We were heeling like crazy and I couldn’t fall off! (turn away from the wind.) I know when I need help and I yelped a clear, loud yelp which got Frank to leap up out of his light slumber to see what I needed. The sailors reading this are now going, “Well duh, Mary Marie! Just head it up into the wind if you have to to depower the boat!” Yeah – I know that now, thank you! It just makes such an awful racquet when you do that and it just feels wrong. But I get it . . . lesson learned. Frank quickly did just that – enough to get us back under control . . . and then I headed the boat directly into the wind while he reefed the sails. After that, the ride was a lot less harrowing and a lot more comfortable. That got my heart beating! But all of those moments are good learning and provide me with more experience. I’m just going to keep repeating that to myself several more times until I actually believe it.
Here are some of the beautiful moments of dusk and dawn.
A new moon at sunset over the Jersey Coast.
Well I WAS sleeping until the flash went off in my face, thank you very much. A most cruel man he is. (I guess I had it coming to me . . . I’ve taken some pretty mean pictures of him at times.)
Frank looking at the first light of dawn over the ocean.
We sailed all night and cruised past Atlantic City in the early morning, arriving in Longport and back to Seaview Harbor Marina around 10am where we would park Eleanor Q for the next two weeks. And so the first “segment” of our adventure comes to an end. We made it to Maine and back – over 1,000 miles! We have spent time reflecting on our major learnings in our first three months and here are some of our key takeaways: a) you don’t have as much time as you think you do to see and do everything you thought you would, b) it is HARD WORK between boat maintenance, dealing with weather issues and just the physical demands of operating the boat, and c) there’s nowhere else we’d rather be right now. It is every bit as cool and stimulating and challenging and fun as we thought it would be.
After a few weeks back in the Chesapeake, we’ll spend the next few months on “segment 2” – going down the southeast coast of the U.S. before our leap to the Bahamas this winter. We’ll keep you posted!! Thanks for riding along with us.
In and Out of Newport, Rhode Island
After passing through the Cape Cod Canal and anchoring in the harbor at Onset, Mass., we were off to an early start to make our trip to Newport. There is some back and forth about which is the bigger sailing/boating center: Newport or Annapolis. At great risk, that will be commented on later.
Coffee and an early morning start to Newport
We arrived in Newport right at the start of the Labor Day Weekend. We generally try to avoid the popular places on holidays, but we needed to get moving towards NJ and the wind forecast was the major driver in our choice of destination, plus we really wanted to see Newport! So holiday or not, we decided to go for it. It was a fun weekend with lots of boat “eye candy” to observe. It also turned into quite a social weekend with other cruisers.
First of all, Newport Harbor is HUGE! And even before getting completely into the harbor, we started to get a flavor of Newport from the boats in the area and the mansions on the shore. Newport was a big hangout for the Vanderbilts and other families of that ilk and there are a number of historic mansions that are open for public tours. Although we did not do any of the tours, we did pass them as we came in to the harbor.
A gorgeous 12 meter sailing vessel . . . the classic that was raced in the America’s Cup in the past.
A fine example of the mansions of Newport.
Another major landmark at the entrance to the harbor is Fort Adams. The fort is now a state park that hosts the famous Newport Jazz Festival among many other major festivals. But the fort has an interesting history. The first version was built in 1799 and was used during the War of 1812. After that war, it was decided that a newer and larger fort was needed and the “new and improved” Fort Adams was built (completed) in 1857. The fort served in five major wars: Mexican-American, the Civil War, Spanish-American, WWI and WWII – but it never fired an angry shot.
I found it particularly interesting (because of our affiliation to Annapolis) that, during the Civil War, the War Department was concerned about the political sympathies of Marylanders, so the Naval Academy was relocated to Fort Adams from Annapolis for a period of time until after the war. In 1976 the fort was declared a National Historic Landmark and in 2012 the park was the official venue for the America’s Cup World Series. We passed the fort a number of times. But I’ll get to that in a minute.
The historic and stately Fort Adams in Newport
We spent a good part of the weekend just walking all over town and seeing the sights. Here are a few of our stops along the way . . .
Downtown Newport
A classic intersection
We enjoyed visiting the Tennis Hall of Fame
Tennis anyone? There is a club and courts at the Hall of Fame
One of the displays at the Tennis Hall of Fame. By the way – Chris Evert has little teeny feet! We didn’t see her feet; just her shoes.
We made a visit to the International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS). There are all types of old wooden boats throughout the facility that are being worked on, but the MAJOR project housed at the school is the restoration of the old wooden sailing schooner Coronet. The Coronet was originally built in 1885. At 131 feet, it is one of the oldest and largest schooner yachts in the world. She had an auspicious career as a transatlantic racer and global cruiser. In 1905, a religious organization called “The Kingdom” purchased the ship for $10,000 and took it around the world on prayer missions. The Kingdom owned the boat until 1995 when the IYRS acquired her and began a complete restoration of the vessel. Walking around the “bones” and looking at every article that was taken out of the boat, carefully cataloged and hung nearby is breathtaking. I can’t even imagine how many years this project will take, but we’ll be interested to see the final product when it’s finished!
Here is the giant fishbone that is the Coronet right now.
We continued our walk around town hitting one or two shops. Frank was on a mission to get a better wet suit option for colder temperatures (following our trip to Maine!). Here he is trying on a hooded wetsuit vest . . . I felt compelled to snap a shot. I know . . . nice of me.
The Irish Spiderman . . .
Then we walked around the docks and boat yards. Oh my goodness . . . the boats, the size of the boats, the size of the boat lifts!
Compare boat size to me and the Smart Car parked beside it. That’s a whole lotta boat!
And when you have to get a really big boat out of the water, you need a really big lift!
One example of the eye candy . . .
And then as we were driving the dinghy around the docks, Frank spotted this vessel that he recognized – a fishing boat from Cape May!! Frank worked for a Captain whose son owns this boat. We never could find anyone on it to talk to. They were parked for the weekend and the crew had gone ashore. Too bad.
On Sunday there was a Wooden Boat Regatta. The festivities began with a boat parade around the harbor. We had a front row seat for it in our cockpit!
Wooden Boat Regatta Parade
Also on the agenda for Sunday . . . the ever dreaded trip to the laundry. Ugh. But wait! There is a pretty new Mariners Facility in Newport right off of one of the piers . . . it is the lower level of an old church and it has brand new laundry/shower/lounge facilities. It was SPOTLESS. And more amazing than that, it was EMPTY!!!!! Oh yeah, baby – had the whole laundry to myself! I was so excited, I had to take a picture.
Laundry in the Mariners Facility – 5 Stars!
In our travels to the pier, we ran into another couple who we had met twice and had drinks with once in Maine!! Also that morning, we heard a dinghy approach the boat and a voice call out, “Ahoy Eleanor Q!” It was a man from a boat that we hear on the “nets” on the radio every morning. He recognized our boat name from the net and thought he’d stop and say hello! Long story short, a cocktail party was born for that evening and our new friends from Exuberant and Kabria joined us and shared snacks, beverages and good company!
New Friends come aboard
Great camaraderie in the cruising community!
So after a pleasant couple of days in cloudy Newport, we planned our getaway for Monday morning. We arose at one of those hours that I don’t particularly care for and set off for our next port . . . but not so fast. As we pulled out of the harbor and said goodbye to Fort Adams, we noticed light gray smoke mixed in the engine exhaust. That is never a good thing. We slowed down and pondered our next move. Do we keep going? Do we turn around? We let the engine run for a while longer and Frank did some initial trouble shooting. After weighing the options, the smart decision was to return to Newport. There are few places that have more services for boaters in the world . . . so why would we not figure out the problem there. So back we went past Fort Adams (again) and dropped the anchor. I think Fort Adams was smirking. Argh! The captain/chief engineer set to doing some more troubleshooting. We thought we found the problem . . . and thought we had solved it, but by the time that was accomplished, it was too late to catch the favorable current that day. Okay – let’s stay put and enjoy a quiet afternoon on the boat, which we did.
The next morning – again at an obscene time of day – we set off again. We passed the very smug Fort Adams, waved goodbye and went on our way . . . for a minute . . . when the smoke reappeared. NOOOOOO!!!! We turned around, flipped the bird at Fort Adams (which I now think was laughing at us), and came back to anchor again.( Okay, I didn’t really flip it the bird, but I thought about it.) Certain we were going to need a mechanic, we left messages all over the place and waited for the return calls to come. Meanwhile, the trusty captain/chief engineer went at it again. And God bless him, he found the rest of the problem in fairly short order and we were off!! We looked at Fort Adams with mistrust and bid it goodbye a final time. Just for spite, the fog set in right about at that moment. I think the fort had something to do with it.
For those who might be saying, “Yeah, but what was the problem????” … let’s just say that the air filter looked like it came out of a coal mine in West Virginia and I could have made a lovely salad with the stuff that came out of the engine strainer. The engine was being deprived of air and water and it was not very pleased about it. We had checked the strainers not long before, but we must have made a wrong turn and driven through a swamp at some point along the way. Anyway, all was well.
And for those who want to know, and I hate to say it because we love Annapolis and that has been our home port . . . but as far as which city is the sailing capital? Newport is Annapolis on steroids. Don’t hate me, Annapolis.
We had changed our minds about our next stop several times due to conditions. We wanted to end up at Fishers Island, but severe storms were coming through the area. We kept a close check on the radar map as we traveled and opted to stop in Point Judith, RI instead. We beat the storms there and got ourselves anchored and settled. A little while later, who comes on the radio but our new friends from Kabria! They were on their way to Block Island when they diverted due to the same storm system . . . and ended up in Port Judith right next to us! It was nice for each of us to know we had a watchful neighbor in place before the system came through. Although it wasn’t quite as bad as predicted, the storm still packed a bit of a punch and left behind about 4 inches of rain that evening. At one point the lightning was getting pretty intense and the winds were picking up when Frank donned the dreaded yellow foul weather gear. The yellow stuff (as I mentioned in a previous post) means things have the potential to get ugly.
Frank in his foul weather gear.
Although we have great confidence in our anchor, if the wind really starts to howl, there is the potential for needing to go up top to start the engine and take some pressure off of the anchor. He just wanted to be ready. And it was the first time that he said, “Ems, put your rubber sole shoes on and don’t touch anything metal.” Comforting words to say the least. Although boats are designed to be able to handle a lightning strike, you really don’t want to find out. It was then that I really thought about the fact that we’re sitting in the middle of a body of water with a 57′ mast sticking straight up. (Kind of made me think of the time I was sitting in a pedicure chair in the front window of a salon during a thunderstorm with foils in my hair and my feet soaking in a electric jet tub. I only wished I had brought a golf club with me to hold up at that moment. But I digress.) As a precaution, we also unplugged all of our electronics. Happily, the storm came and went with a bunch of noise but without incident otherwise. I did email one of my sisters during this episode while I was feeling a little nervous, saying, “There aren’t enough potato chips for this . . . “
And then we had the calm AFTER the storm . . . an eventful day was over, we were safe, and all was well.
Sunset after the storm. All’s well that ends well.
Family and Friends: Gloucester and Marblehead
Who can dispute that family and friends make life better? Our two most recent stops proved that once again.
Coming in to Gloucester Harbor
Classic looking building in the background while Frank ponders where we’re going to anchor.
The famous fishermen’s memorial in Gloucester. Sobering how many lives have been lost in the fishing industry. This has been used as a visual in many movies including The Perfect Storm which was based in Gloucester.
This is worth clicking on to see the sheer numbers of men lost to understand what this memorial really stands for.
In 2001 a Fishermen’s wives memorial was erected to recognize how much they have lost.
Here is some of the fishing fleet that remains in Gloucester.
Gloucester Harbor at night.
Our hosts, Joe and Kelly, invited many family members over for a visit!
Aunts, uncles and cousins!
Our hosts with the most for Sunday dinner #1!
Frank’s Uncle Phil and Aunt Joyce. True confessions: I stole this right off of their Facebook page today because we forgot to take pictures!!!!
Downtown Marblehead. Great, historic city with very interesting architecture.
Frank looking out over the harbor.
Mary Marie (Ems) with the harbor in the background.
Looking at the harbor before a trip to the museum.
Fog in the harbor.
Voyages of the Eleanor Q 