Saturday, January 5, 2013
New Year--New Blog Page
I have been told that this page has become rather cumbersome--pictures will do that and I do like to photo more than I like to write. So I have created a new blog for our second year of cruising. There is a link right above this post (Sailing off into the Sunrise 2013). I have copied the post below and have posted some new pictures of our passage to Miami. Of course, you can revisit the old blog any time. It will remain.
Friday, January 4, 2013
A New Year--A New Cruise
ONE MORE THING!! It
seems that however many lists we make there is always something we have
missed. Having learned a lesson from
last year, we stocked up heavily on staples.
Everything is at least twice as expensive (a bag of tortilla chips is
$6) in the Bahamas . The back bunk is stuffed and the pantry is
full—still we have forgotten paper towels and holding tank treatment. How does that happen??? Finally, we are determined to leave Wednesday
and the final task is to find someone to help us drop off the car. Harvey
to the rescue!! But, one more thing—can
we stop by the gas station and fill our jerry cans up with diesel? OK, we are going NOW! We cast off the lines a little after noon and
headed down the Indian River —Finally!!
Of course there is no wind but we are glad to be on our way
and enjoy watching osprey, herons, egrets and both brown and white pelicans as
we drift down the Indian River . We are a little slow since we were too lazy
to clean the bottom before leaving (that was one more thing too much). Cleaning the bottom in the Keys or Bimini
will be much more pleasant anyway. As
the sun is setting we decide to take it easy and pull over to spend the night
along the intracoastal waterway.
On Thursday morning we set out for Ft. Pierce
and caught 2 mackerel right away. I
cleaned them and put them in the fridge then we ate breakfast. Since we had fish I made some of our friend
John’s hot fruit salsa. Now his recipe
says to put 3-12 habenero peppers in it-- “be bold” it says. I made ½ recipe and I had 2 nice habs and
some ghost peppers my brother gave me in the freezer. The 2 habs and one small ghost gave it what I
would call “some zing”. Unfortunately,
after Bill cut something on the cutting board he touched his face with his hand
and felt a burn. This was after I had
washed the cutting board. This was not a
good sign for him. I also found that we
were running low on onions, vanilla, green peppers and limes—all had been
forgotten in the buying frenzy.
We bought fuel in Ft.
Pierce and headed out the
inlet. A little too hopeful for some
wind, we set the sails and got a slight boost for a while. The wind soon turned on the nose but it was
calm and the seas were small so we decided to go for it and overnight it to Miami . We saw dolphins, a turtle, and a large fish
(probably a marlin) jumped out of the water.
Around 4pm, the wind picked up a bit right on the nose and the sails
were doing more harm than good so we took them down. The boat does well in 10 foot seas but 1-2
foot chop is highly uncomfortable. At a
short wave period one hull is up and the other down over and over again-rocking
and rolling. We were plowing into it and
often slammed. So we hoped for it to
calm down during the night and carried on.
The much anticipated fish dinner was difficult to prepare,
to say the least, in these conditions. I
already knew that Bill was not going to like the fruit salsa so I made a cool
batch and just put a small amount of the “good stuff” in for flavor hoping that
would dilute it (he’s not a complete pepper wimp—just has a bit more sensitive
palate than I do). I baked it in foil
with the salsa but it turned out hard to eat in the dark with the boat rocking
and the cool salsa I made for Bill was still too hot—He is NOT happy. Oh well, there will be other fish and the
salsa usually cools down with age. I’ll
eat it!
As is the routine with overnighters, I went right to bed but
the slamming made it impossible to sleep in the forward bunk. I tried the back bunk but by 12:30am I told
Bill I was done trying to sleep—he was ready to give it a try and the waves
calmed down a little. We were hugging
the shore in order to avoid the Gulf Stream
which comes in very close in some places.
Usually we watch the radar to help us look out for boats and markers but
it was no use this close to shore and I had to eyeball it. Soon after I took watch I saw a large marker
ball pass very close to the boat. These
were probably mooring balls for fishermen and divers and I had some close calls
with more during the night. Thank
goodness for the moon and the city lights.
I waited for a large freighter to pass out of Ft. Lauderdale
about 3am, dodged some small fishing boats and was very glad to see the sun
rise.
We were both really tired and were glad to see Governors Cut
in Miami . But—one more thing—we had to get those onions
and several other things that we had forgotten.
There is a Publix in Miami
Beach that is near a ramp where we can dock the dingy. I was not prepared for this grocery store—Miami Beach is “swanky” I
know but this was really too much. I
took a picture with my phone and will try to get it posted. Now whatever we have forgotten we can do
without or pay through the nose for and we finally got a nap this afternoon at
our anchorage in Biscayne Bay . The boat partiers are leaving so I hope this
means the boat wakes will stop at some point—the Miami skyline is lighting up.
It is truly warm here-in the 80s, Beautiful!!!
OH Darn—we forgot green peppers.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Fleeing the Cold
Tuesday afternoon we arrived at Morehead
City , after a leisurely trip across
the Neuse River and down Adams Creek, to find the
waterfront anchorage populated by private mooring balls. The moorings appeared
last year and were rumored to be placed by the town—we tied up to one
then. A check on Active Captain (a web
site with good information for cruisers) informed us they were private. We considered tying up to an unused one, but
could not find one with a good attachment pendant and; there is always a
question of how well a private mooring is constructed and maintained. Rather than looking for another anchorage,
we figured that we could anchor between the moorings. Holding is good here but the tides and wind
switch causing the boat to swing around.
Once the sun went down it got freezing cold and I was ready to get into
bed and pile on the covers by 8pm. I
slept well until 2am when I heard the anchor chain crunching so I got up to
check it out. Everything was ok but the
boat had changed position due to the tide and wind and one of the moorings was
near the bow of the boat. By 4:30 or so
Bill was up too and it was obvious that we were both done sleeping for the
night. The mooring ball now was between
our hulls and banging on the hull. In
spite of being rather grumpy I knew there was nothing else to do but pull up
anchor and go. This area is familiar to
us and well marked with lighted buoys so we had no problem navigating Beaufort
Inlet in the dark. It was still cloudy
so morning arrived gradually all around us with no sunrise as we turned
southwest to begin our passage to warmer weather.
So we got a very early start this morning—the cold front passed and we are out at sea with good sailing. One motor is on at idle to charge
the computers but we will soon be able to shut it down. The seas are choppy but are following us which
makes for a comfortable ride. Samantha
was a little disoriented by the early routine but now in her travelling place
in the back bunk. Now at 8:30 the clouds
are now white puffies in a clear blue sky.
A pod of dolphins are jumping at the bow. I just went out to take pictures—not
many-it’s cold! Now I’m going to cook
some oatmeal. What a life!
Thursday was dolphin day.
I was on watch from 2am and saw the first batch come in just after
daybreak. These are spotted dolphins, a
bit smaller than the bottlenose dolphin seen closer to shore. They play and jump at the bow. I see them through the clear water surfing
down the face of the larger waves. Throughout
the day pods of dolphins came and went or maybe they were the same ones fleeing
the cold like us.
The wind continued out of the NE at about 10-15 kts and waves
were running 3-6 ft. with some chop. The
boat rocked and rolled but it was smooth enough for Bill to cook breakfast. We used
an engine in neutral to recharge the batteries because the autopilot does
overtime constantly correcting for the wave action pushing the stern
around. The weather has not done exactly
as was forecast (surprise, surprise) but this is a good thing because the wind
has kept up where we thought it would die down today.
By early Friday morning the wind did die down and become more
variable. Our course was such that the
mainsail was being flopped back and forth and we finally had to take it down
and motor. By 10am we sighted Cumberland Island and anchored around noon. Both Bill and I were exhausted and slept for
a few hours after lunch.
Samantha has become quite a boat cat. She knows when the engine starts its time for her to grab some food and then hole up in her travelling place in the back bunk. Last year I was concerned that she was not eating or drinking but now she appears at the bottom of the stairs and ask us "why we haven't stopped this boat yet" then goes off to eat. When she hears the anchor windlass now she knows the trip is over and comes out on the deck to supervise the anchoring.
It is not what I would call warm here but much warmer than North Carolina
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Going Somewhere Warm
We're off again--heading south. There have not been many warm days since leaving Maine. I think there was a week right after we arrived in North Carolina but after that the weather turned very cold. The plan is to head south now as quickly as we can. The best way to do that is to wait for a cold front to pass which should happen today. After the front, the wind switches to the north and conditions are great for sailing in the ocean. So we are now heading down Adams Creek to Morehead City to spend the night; then we'll go out Beaufort Inlet early tomorrow morning. We should arrive at Cumberland Island, GA sometime Friday.
Friday, September 28, 2012
A Maine Experience
We had stayed a bit longer in Maine than we had originally planned. There
was a distinct end to the summer weather about 2 days before the end of
August. Despite the cooler weather I
braved the cold because we had an opportunity to share this vacationland (as Maine advertises quite
accurately) with 2 sets of friends. It was well worth it. In fact, there is nothing bad I can really say
about the weather we had in Maine . Most days were balmy and the nights were
cool. We had some fog (a Maine experience) and
some rain but not much. The wind was
calm, most of the time we woke up to mirror-calm waters, and we were able to do
little sailing (actually sailing was kind of stressful because of all the
lobster pots) until the end of our stay; but that made for very leisurely
passages—the whole trip was very relaxing and I feel finally now that I am
getting in the groove of retirement and cruising.
Our plan in Maine
was to travel to Somes Sound and also to eat lobster and blueberries to
excess. We achieved all goals. On our way to Somes Sound, the only true
fjord in the US (and I am
still not sure why), we stopped at several anchorages at Vinalhaven
Island , and Deer Island, stopped at Booth Bay Harbor, and Rockland .
Coastal Maine
is very fishing oriented, as it has been for 300+ years, and it was usually a
short dingy ride to the local lobster dock.
Blueberries were a little bit harder to find. We discovered that we had arrived at the end
of blueberry season so we were not able to collect them on the islands as we
had hoped. Bill was very
disappointed. We were desperate near the
end of our stay and paid $4.50 for a quart at an expensive market. On our return trip to Rockland , though, we knew that a farmers
market was there on Thursdays—we had just missed it the previous time because
we had to walk 4 miles to pick up a part for the propeller (we had lost the zinc and its bolt when a lobster pot line got tangled up in it.
I was praying to find a blueberry stand there and found one that sold 5
pound boxes. I bagged them up and froze
some of them—we had blueberry pandowdy, pancakes, muffins, and pie. They had 10 lb boxes too but I was afraid
that much would not fit in my small freezer--maybe. In Seal Bay
we noticed fishermen collecting steamer clams in the mornings on the
shore. Steamers are a different kind
from the cherrystone/quahogs that we usually get. I got in my Kayak one day and paddled over
to them to ask if they would sell me some.
Of course they did—we kept them in a net in the water all day to let
them flush then cooked and ate them that night---this was a meal that rivals
lobster.
Somes Sound splits Mt. Desert Island right down the middle. Much of Mt. Desert Island is in Acadia National Park but there is a village at the end of the sound and a bus service that will take you all around the island. We rode the bus to Bar Harbor to get some groceries and look around. Bar Harbor is a tourist town, and during the summer season, is pretty busy and crowded.
Another favorite place is Jewel Island . It was the first place we landed in Maine and, because it was close to Portland , we took our friends, Dennis and
Debbie, there. This is a state park,
with a beautiful anchorage, many hiking trails and, as I have talked about
before, a great tidal pool. We spent a
whole day hiking and, when we came upon a goldenrod flower field, found it
populated with hundreds of butterflies.
Most of them were Monarch butterflies that were feeding up for their
migration but there were Admirals and a Question Mark butterfly too. I took a zillion pictures but none of them do
justice to the sight. We also saw many
different caterpillars—some quite colorful.
After we delivered Debbie and Dennis to an airport-bound
taxi in Portland , Maine then set our sights south. There was so much more to see in Maine but the days were
getting shorter and the temperature colder (and you know I don’t like cold)—we will
be back.
Monday, August 13, 2012
It's Cool in This Pool
The “Punch Bowl” is a perfect place to look for
critters. At low tide the water is
shallow and fairly clear. Small rocks
are all over waiting to be turned over so, of course, I could not resist. The rain had cleared up by yesterday
afternoon and I was tired of processing photos and updating the blog so I got
in the kayak and paddled around the north end of Jewel Island
despite the fog. There was a good
landing on the sandbar and all I had to do was walk over the bar and there I
was. My strategy was to keep my right
hand dry on the camera and use my left hand in the water. This worked fairly well and I got some fair
pictures, however I wanted some good lobster pictures and I could not catch
them with one hand.
This morning was foggy but cleared up nicely and we decided
to try snorkeling. The water was clear
and only about 3 ft deep at the most. I
had my shorty wetsuit and hood on and it was not too bad as long as you stayed
in the upper 6 inches. Hundreds of Green Crabs scooted around, some eating scale
worms. The sea grass gave the place an
aquarium-like atmosphere but there were very few fish. Snails (mostly periwinkles) were
everywhere. Lobsters of all sizes could
be found under the rocks. Bill found one
that was approaching dinner size but most of them were around 6 inches
long. When my fingers were numb we went
back to the boat for lunch. Still
determined to get a good lobster picture, I unpacked my camera case and
returned in the afternoon to do it right.
The tide was lower and water was considerably warmer (but still wetsuit
and hood temperature). I noticed
condensation appearing inside the case so it was time to take the camera back. It was good to get my gills wet!
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Onward To Maine
We gained another learning experience about the mail. It seems like general delivery in a big city like Norfolk is a bit different than in Oriental or Georgetown. In our ignorance we picked the wrong post office to sent it to then went on a wild goose chase. We were scolded by a postal official who claimed that general delivery was being abused by homeless people who really had an address. Finally we found out that the package had been returned to sender. On to plan B--maybe we can have it sent to our next destination. So we headed out Chesapeake Bay into open ocean again for the 2 day trip to Rhode Island to visit our friends Andy and Judy. We met them while waiting for mail in Georgetown, Bahamas. The wind was calm for the most part and right behind us but we used the sails to boost our motoring speed and use less fuel. We crossed the shipping lanes for New York harbor during a Saturday night so there was blessedly little traffic.
We arrived at Block Island, RI in the morning. There was some fog blanketing the Island but we could still make out cliffs and trees. Block Island is a popular weekend summer vacation spot and many boats were just leaving since it was Sunday. Our original plan was to stop and rest at Block Island but we decided to suck it up and go the 6 more hours to Andy and Judy's house. I'm glad we did because we were treated to a great RI clam dinner and now we could really relax. The islands and shores of Narragansett Bay were beautiful and green. I really expected it to be more urban. Palatial mansions line the banks and we anchored right across from one (thank goodness Andy and Judy's house was more modest). Many clam fishermen work these waters. They appeared very early in the morning raking clams with a basket on a very long pole. This has got to be hard work and there must be a bunch of clams there to support so many fishermen.
Judy had bikes and kayaks and we spent a day touring the peninsula of Warwick neck. There was even a blueberry farm down the road where we picked blueberries. The next day we took a tour of Newport and hiked the Cliff Walk where we gawked at the mansions. We didn't see any reason to pay to go in them but there was one (being used as a university) that we could look inside the first floor for free. When we got back to the house Bill found that the GPS chip had been delivered--hurray!
We said goodbye to Andy and Judy that night and left early Wednesday morning. We motorsailed down the Sakonnet River passing more mansions and small towns on the way then made way across Buzzards Bay Massachusetts. We anchored near the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal for Wednesday night. The canal passage must be done with the proper tide and we had it Thursday morning. Thursday we crossed Cape Cod Bight and anchored that evening at Rockport, MA. The lobster pots were thick as we approached the coast and we tangled the propeller in one on the way to the anchorage.
Friday morning was foggy and the first thing we had to do was get the propeller untangled. Thank goodness for radar because the whole day was foggy and it took both Bill and I to watch for boats on the radar and watch for lobster pots. The fog finally lifted a little at the end of the day and we got our first sight of Maine as we approached the twin lighthouses at Cape Elizabeth. The lobster pots were thick--they are not set out in orderly lines like the crab pots in NC. They are scattered all over with barely enough room to fit our boat. But we made it this time without snagging one and arrived at Jewel Island exhausted. Jewel Island is a state-owned island and a popular boating and camping spot. We are lucky that the weather forecast has not been good so there are not dozens of boats in this tiny harbor. We made it to Maine!!!
Yesterday cleared up and after a very cool morning we had a good day of hiking the island.
We met the island caretaker, Vinny, (what a great summer job) who gave us a trail map and told us that we could find baby lobsters in the "Punch Bowl", at low tide. So we hike across the island to a nice tidal pool filled with seagrass and rocks. I immediately started looking under rocks and soon found baby lobsters. I could have stayed there all day--maybe a week but Bill wanted to press on. The trails led through fir and spruce forests, swamps, and fields of ferns and goldenrod in bloom. We climbed the abandoned WWII spotting towers and were treated to a breathtaking vista of forested islands around us.
When we got back to the boat we were ready for lunch then Bill was ready for a nap. I got in the kayak and checked out the dead seal on Little Jewel Island and attempted some seagull pictures. Rocks and seaweed were more cooperative subjects. Then it was time to take care of what we really came here for. We got in the dingy and went across the bay to a small fishing port. A guy was on one of the docks was taking lobsters from a pen and was happy to sell us 4. He also had this very unusual half albino lobster that he had found last week. So it was lobster dinner last night!
This morning is very foggy and we can hear the fog horns. I am not sure if this will last all day or not. We are planning to stay here a couple of days then will be off to discover more.
We arrived at Block Island, RI in the morning. There was some fog blanketing the Island but we could still make out cliffs and trees. Block Island is a popular weekend summer vacation spot and many boats were just leaving since it was Sunday. Our original plan was to stop and rest at Block Island but we decided to suck it up and go the 6 more hours to Andy and Judy's house. I'm glad we did because we were treated to a great RI clam dinner and now we could really relax. The islands and shores of Narragansett Bay were beautiful and green. I really expected it to be more urban. Palatial mansions line the banks and we anchored right across from one (thank goodness Andy and Judy's house was more modest). Many clam fishermen work these waters. They appeared very early in the morning raking clams with a basket on a very long pole. This has got to be hard work and there must be a bunch of clams there to support so many fishermen.
Judy had bikes and kayaks and we spent a day touring the peninsula of Warwick neck. There was even a blueberry farm down the road where we picked blueberries. The next day we took a tour of Newport and hiked the Cliff Walk where we gawked at the mansions. We didn't see any reason to pay to go in them but there was one (being used as a university) that we could look inside the first floor for free. When we got back to the house Bill found that the GPS chip had been delivered--hurray!
We said goodbye to Andy and Judy that night and left early Wednesday morning. We motorsailed down the Sakonnet River passing more mansions and small towns on the way then made way across Buzzards Bay Massachusetts. We anchored near the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal for Wednesday night. The canal passage must be done with the proper tide and we had it Thursday morning. Thursday we crossed Cape Cod Bight and anchored that evening at Rockport, MA. The lobster pots were thick as we approached the coast and we tangled the propeller in one on the way to the anchorage.
Friday morning was foggy and the first thing we had to do was get the propeller untangled. Thank goodness for radar because the whole day was foggy and it took both Bill and I to watch for boats on the radar and watch for lobster pots. The fog finally lifted a little at the end of the day and we got our first sight of Maine as we approached the twin lighthouses at Cape Elizabeth. The lobster pots were thick--they are not set out in orderly lines like the crab pots in NC. They are scattered all over with barely enough room to fit our boat. But we made it this time without snagging one and arrived at Jewel Island exhausted. Jewel Island is a state-owned island and a popular boating and camping spot. We are lucky that the weather forecast has not been good so there are not dozens of boats in this tiny harbor. We made it to Maine!!!
Yesterday cleared up and after a very cool morning we had a good day of hiking the island.
We met the island caretaker, Vinny, (what a great summer job) who gave us a trail map and told us that we could find baby lobsters in the "Punch Bowl", at low tide. So we hike across the island to a nice tidal pool filled with seagrass and rocks. I immediately started looking under rocks and soon found baby lobsters. I could have stayed there all day--maybe a week but Bill wanted to press on. The trails led through fir and spruce forests, swamps, and fields of ferns and goldenrod in bloom. We climbed the abandoned WWII spotting towers and were treated to a breathtaking vista of forested islands around us.
When we got back to the boat we were ready for lunch then Bill was ready for a nap. I got in the kayak and checked out the dead seal on Little Jewel Island and attempted some seagull pictures. Rocks and seaweed were more cooperative subjects. Then it was time to take care of what we really came here for. We got in the dingy and went across the bay to a small fishing port. A guy was on one of the docks was taking lobsters from a pen and was happy to sell us 4. He also had this very unusual half albino lobster that he had found last week. So it was lobster dinner last night!
This morning is very foggy and we can hear the fog horns. I am not sure if this will last all day or not. We are planning to stay here a couple of days then will be off to discover more.
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