Christmas at Vero Beach

We arrived at Vero Beach early in the afternoon of Dec 2o. We were looking forward to getting our water tanks refilled and having access to shower and laundry facilities closeby. After 2 weeks of showers on the boat, and no nearby laundry, we were definitely ready for some luxury! At Vero Beach we are on a mooring ball as opposed to anchoring the boat. It is managed by the city of Vero Beach and is quite a nice little spot. It has acquired the nickname "Velcro Beach" since many cruisers find it hard to leave once they get here! There is a free bus that goes all over town to lots of great shopping - both grocery and "other".

There were several boats here that we had met along the way - some from the Whitby Rendevous in Sept - so it was good fun to get reaquainted and share drinks and stories. Not surprisingly, some of the cruisers had decided to plan a Christmas pot luck, and it looked like we would have about 70 people for the big day! Shopping excursions were of course required to get the necessary supplies for the dinner, as well as those last minute pressies! Clare asked for a trip home for a week and we were able to book her a flight from Dec 28 - Jan 4. She hasn't stopped smiling yet! So look out Midland! She'll be staying with pal Kelly.

We had an excellent Christmas dinner despite uncooperative weather! It poured rain most of the morning, but started to clear by about noon, and by 2, dinner time, it had stopped raining, and was pretty nice. The no see'ums were out in force however, so we had to dose up with muskol in order to be able to sit outside to eat!

We have revised our plan to leave here Dec 27, and won't leave now until probably Dec 28, after Clare heads out. We have friends from another boat who are going on the same flight, so they are going to take Clare with them and help her through the airport bureaucracy. From here, we will head down closer to Fort Lauderdale (where she is flying out of and into) and then we will prepare for the trip to the Bahamas.

Wow! I'm caught up! It's Boxing Day (which they don't seem to celebrate in the States) and we will probably brave the crowds in a while and see if there are any post Christmas bargains to be had! In the meantime, it's off to the showers and then make sure Clare gets packed!

Cocoa

Dec 5/07 we arrived in Cape Canaveral and proceeded to Cocoa. Our main purpose in arriving that day was to be there in time to see the space shuttle Atlantis launch scheduled for Dec 6. We planned a launch party with Jocks Lodge, Windsong and On Overdraught on Star Shadow, but it was not to be! Technical problems at NASA delayed the launch, and technical problems onboard Star Shadow precluded having a party on our boat. Undaunted, we moved the party over to Windsong (she's another Whitby 42) and celebrated not seeing the launch! Cruisers will use any excuse to get together, if you hadn't aleady noticed! Anyway, the launch was delayed over and over and finally cancelled all together until sometime in January. We did get to see a rocket launch on Dec 9, I think it was taking up a satellite or something. We managed to have another pot luck that day, this time on Star Shadow, as our problems had been cleaned up.

Clare was determined that we should get to a beach, so 8 of us took the local bus to Cocoa Beach (about 10 miles away) on Dec. 11. No sooner had we got off the bus when everyone started to cough, wheeze and get runny nose and eyes!! We were being exposed to "Red Tide" which is a nasty organism in the water that produces a noxious gas which irritates the airways and mucous membranes of people, and can be deadly to fish, dolphins and sea turtles. We walked to the beach, but by then, several of our group were really suffering with breathing problems, and everyone except Graham, Clare and I headed off to the nearest bar! Clare didn't hang around long, and only Graham played briefly in the surf (he wasn't allowed to get his head wet because of his recurring ear problem) until my eyes were streaming and stinging so bad I had to make him come in! He was hurting too, but the lure of the water was powerful! Anyway, showered or rinsed off, we joined the others at the bar for lunch before braving the outdoors again to catch the bus!

Since our beach day had been a bust, we decided to head to the big mall and shop our brains out! It was a good opportunity to do some Christmas shopping, and then Larry and I took took the kids to see "The Golden Compass" a pretty good movie. It was a good day all in all, despite the let down of the red tide.

The old part of Cocoa is a nice small area with lots of little shops (touristy of course) and an excellent restaurant which makes the most awesome homemade icecream! We did partake several times! Since our internet connection was terrible there, we had to go to the library for a decent signal. It was a good opportunity for Graham to get caught up on school work, which he was in desperate need of! There are so many other cool things to do other than school work....

We rented a car for a weekend with Jocks Lodge, and took the opportunity to go to Titusville for showers and laundry (no showers in Cocoa :-( sadly). We also wanted to go to the Kennedy Space Center which we did on Dec 16. Of course it was raining and VERY windy that morning and there was no way I was getting off the boat in weather like that! I'd be soaked to the skin just from the dingy ride to shore! Luckily, it eased off by about 10 am and we headed off to the space center. It is quite an interesting day - there is so much to see that you definitely need at least a day there. We got to see the space shuttle (from a distance), since it was still in the launch bay, as well as all the other parts of the center. They have a simulated launch of a shuttle, which we went on and had a ball! Glad I'm not an astronaut! There was wildlife to see too - several alligators and lots of turkey vultures were spotted along the way.

We ended up staying in Cocoa nearly 2 weeks as we had made reservations to stay in Vero Beach from Dec 20 - Dec 27, and Vero is only 50 miles from Cocoa. It was as good a place as any to hang around until then. The bus system is great going to all sorts of great shopping nearby. Good for groceries as well as all the other necessities (like West Marine and Home Depot!)

We bid adiou to Cocoa on Dec 18 and made a short trip down the ICW to Melbourne/Indiatlantic. There we beached the dingy and walked a short distance to the beach on the Atlantic. Red tide was still in evidence, but nowhere near as bad as it had been in Cocoa. Graham was able to have a great time in the water, trying to body surf without getting totally rolled by the big waves! He was still the only one to go in beyond the knees!

Dec 20 we departed Melbourne and headed for Vero Beach, 32 miles down the ICW. This part of the ICW is on the Indian River (where all that wonderful citrus fruit comes from) and although the river is quite wide, it is very shallow and the channel is rather narrow. Clare and Graham were in charge of driving the boat and navigating that day, and they had to pay attention at all times or risk going aground!

St. Augustine

Nov. 26 we left the foggy shores of Cumberland Island on our way to St. Augustine, a 2 day trip down the IntraCoastal. Our friends on Jocks Lodge, Windsong and Ariel had headed off a day or two ahead of us, but we expected to meet up with them in St. Augustine. We stopped for the night at Fort George Island, which in 1600 started as a Spanish Missionary. The English took over in 1736 (this happens over and over again in American history...Spanish - English - American) and Fort St. George was built. In the 1800's Fort George became a plantation, and in fact is the oldest plantation house in Florida. The plantation house is still standing, and is now another State Park. The plantation consists of the main house, kitchen house, barn and ruins of 25 of the original slave cabins. Cool but creepy.

We had a quiet night there and headed out at first light to get to St. Augustine. While we were having our coffee, Larry watched the lights of a tug boat passing in the channel. Good, we thought, let him get ahead of us. (The ICW can be narrow, and shallow, and tugs take up a lot of room, and have right of way - might is right! We are always glad to be as far away from them as possible!) Suddenly, his lights stopped moving, and then he appeared to be backing up. We were wondering what the heck he was up to. I was listening to the VHF radio and heard a tug boat call the coast guard. He reported that he had "knocked down" a channel marker at the mouth of the Fort George River (that's where we were). The tug apparently had gone aground, and in his attempt to get off, had backed into the marker and pushed it completely underwater! This is no small feat...this was a lighted marker, and these are big poles, buried in the riverbed! This meant that when we left, the marker would not be there to guide us, and whats more, could actually be an underwater obstacle which had to be avoided! Anyway, happily, we were fine, and headed off without incident.

Poor Beau had not been able to go ashore before we left because the park locked the gates at night and didn't open until 9 am. We kept an eye out for a suitable place to stop to let him go, and finally, Graham and I rowed him ashore in the dingy on a little strip of beach called Shell Bluff. It was some sort of research station. The water was deep right up close to the beach, which was great for beaching the dingy. After Beau had a little R&R, we were heading back to the boat when some jerk in a big powerboat zoomed past creating a huge wake. (the whole ICW is supposed to be a low wake zone) Just as I was getting into the dingy, the waves hit the beach and nearly swamped the dingy! We had to drag it back up on the shore and bail her out! Some people!

We arrived in St. Augustine early in the afternoon on Nov 27 and anchored close by Jocks Lodge and Windsong. It was great to see them again. St. Augustine, Florida is just inside the Atlantic, and this sets it up for one of those nasty tide/wind battles we have come to hate! Our first night there proved to be a sleepless one, as I was awakened about 1 am by a flashlight (a VERY powerful one) in the eyes, coming from Windsong. Larry had slept in the cockpit, anticipating problems. Sure enough, boats were swinging around in all different directions as the tide pulled the boats one way and the strong winds pulled them another. You never know how much anchor chain people have out, and this of course affects how big a circle their boat will swing in. Windsong is also a Whitby 42, so they weigh about the same, but Ted had about 25 ft more chain out than us. Our boats were swinging REAL close to one another - at one point, Larry had to push Windsong's bow away from us! Ted took in some anchor chain, and that meant we wouldn't crash into each other, but we were still mighty close! We took turns on watch for the rest of the night, to make sure there would be no more problems. What an awful night! I can still see Ted, standing on his bow as our boats passed...It was worse for Jocks Lodge and Destiny though, as they did bump into each other, and Jocks Lodge ended up hauling anchor and moving in the middle of the night. Not something I would have wished on my worst enemy! They are experienced sailors though, and managed to get settled before long. Fortunately, that was the worst night for all of us, and though the wind/tide battle reared its ugly head again, it was never so bad that we had to have a night watch.

St. Augustine is officially the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the continental US. The tourist district (the oldest part of town) is amazing to walk through, with "the oldest house", "oldest wooden schoolhouse" and of course, the Castillo de San Marcos - a Spanish fort dating back to 1672. The architecture is quite stunning.

Much to Clare's pleasure, "On Overdraught" caught up with us a couple of days after we reached St. Augustine. Heather and Stuart have a 19 year old daughter Elaine who has been travelling with them since Hampton. She and Clare seemed to hit it off pretty well, and at least they had someone close to their age to talk to!

On Dec 1 they have the Nights of Lights Festival, where they officially start the Christmas season with the Parade of Lights - all dressed in period clothes, holding candles and lanterns - which everyone is welcome to join in! - and the re-enactment of the British turning the fort back to the Spanish (rather than to the Americans). This changing of hands occurred several times throughout the history of the fort, I can't keep up with it! The cannons were fired frequently over the course of the weekend, usually scaring me and the dog every time! We were anchored out in front of the fort, so it was particularly loud! We spent a fun evening in a small taverna (the rooster) which is probably just like it was in the 1600's or 1700's. Dirt floor, rough wooden tables and benches etc. We were entertained by a magician and sang sea shanties and all around had a great evening.

A word about showers. When you live on a boat, you have to conserve water, and you want to get as little moisture down below as possible. That means that when you are at a place where you can use shower facilities on shore, you take advantage of it. Now let me tell you, not all shower facilities are created equal! In St. Mary's for example, there were free showers, but they were pretty gross. Just a dirty little stall, with crummy water pressure and nowhere to put your shampoo bottle! But in St. Augustine! They had big lovely clean bathrooms with individual showers and change rooms, tiled floors and fantastic water pressure! It was heaven! We did have to pay there - $10/day to tie up the dingy, use showers and laundromat facilities - but it was money well spent in our opinion! And of course, there were enough of us that if we didn't pay one day, we could use someone else's card for the shower if needed! Anyway, it is amazing what you take for granted in life - having a shower whenever you want to for example! It has become a luxury for us.

We decided to leave St. Augustine Dec 4 with Jocks Lodge, Windsong and On Overdraught and go "outside" from there to Cape Canaveral and Cocoa, Florida. There are so many bridges on the ICW in Florida that it is just miserable to go down. Much nicer to head out on the Atlantic and make the trip quicker. Unless of course you're me and prone to being seasick! As per usual, I was sick, though not until later in the day! We had a great sail at first. We were just rocketing along at about 7 or 8 knots. We left the other boats in the dust (or should I say water?) It was only an overnight trip, and we reached Cape Canaveral just as the sun was coming up the next morning. As we were coming through the locks at Cape Canaveral, we saw our first Manatees. Huge things they are! And totally harmless of course, but they suffer from the ravages of the propellers of power boats etc, and are a protected species here.

Cumberland Island

yo homies!! Its graham for once! ok so we were at Cumberland Island and we went like everywhere homies! (Cumberland Island is on the Florida/Georgia border, close to St. Mary's, and was owned by the Cargagie family in the 1800's where they built a "retirement" home for their family. It has now been turned over to the Federal parks and is managed as a wildlife santuary. There is an amazing amount of wildlife and vegetation. It is a little like taking a step back in time, it is so wild-looking) At the start of our hike around the island we talked to the park ranger, paid our money and started our hike. We asked the ranger if it was ok to bring the doggy and he said sure just keep him on a leash and he warned us that alligators love to eat dogs! We said ok and left cautiously. (Janet interjects: Graham was expecting an alligator to jump out from behind every bush! But in the end, we didn't see any) So when we started it was like walking down a beautiful tunnel of trees. All the huge trees were Live Oaks or something and there were lots of small palm trees. The first awesome thing that we saw was an old teepee (a hut really) made out of palm leaves and woven sticks. There was a spit to roast fish and stuff. So after we passed that we headed in the direction we were going. Next we saw wild horses. (There is a whole herd there, a few hundred apparently, left entirely to themselves. They aren't scared of humans, but they are cautious, and won't let you get too close.) Beau freaked out, barking at them like he wanted them to come play. Does he think they are a big dog? He and a young foal came very close to one another, to check each other out! I nearly got close enough to pat one! We saw armadillos (they really are the funniest looking things!) and a white horse (one of the stallions) called Snowball. There were a few huge pilliated woodpeckers up in a tree. That was by the ruins of the Carnagie mansion. After that we went to the beach on Cumberland Island, and I almost went in. This was my first time on an Atlantic Ocean beach. Beau had a wonderful time racing around on the beach and mom found a sand dollar. woo hoo! Then we went back to the Ranger Station and watched a presentation about the island and its wonderous lightning storms. Florida is famous for insane lightning shows. The next day it was incredibly foggy and humid and we had to wait until it lifted to get under way to St. Augustine.

ICW day 4 and on

After an uneventful night in Belhaven, a lovely little town, we set sail at first light to head to Oriental, North Carolina. We arrived around 2 pm which left us lots of time to wander around the town. We were going to tie up to the free dock, but there were a couple of boats there already, and we weren't sure that the water depth would be good, so we ended up anchoring out. Since it was early, there was a reasonable amount of room, but by nightfall, several more boats had tried to squeeze in this small anchorage! It was fun and games, "anchoring 101" as we watched a couple catamarans try to fit in! The shrimp boats come in at all hours of the night, with their humongous lights beaming and I wouldn't want to be in their way! The wind picked up during the evening and night, which made our decision to head out in the morning an easy one. The anchorage was not well protected from the wind direction, so off to Beaufort we went!

But we had the afternoon to check out the town. Beau was so anxious to get ashore that he jumped out of the dingy prematurely, and fell in! Stupid dog! Larry scooped him up and landed him on the dock (so he wouldn't soak us when he shook!). I think it was Beau's plan to ensure he got a good long walk to dry off! We walked through town and found a small grocery store, to pick up bread etc, and strolled around and found the yacht brokers office that Larry had dealt with last year when we were boat hunting. There is not much else in Oriental, so it was just as well that we didn't stay!

The trip to Beaufort, while not long, was very windy! And of course, right on the nose which means we motored most of the way. By the time we got to Beaufort, North Carolina the wind was howling, a steady 25 knots, gusting to 30 or more. Thats a lot of wind! We managed to get anchored in front of the town docks although it was a crowed anchorage and thought we'd be good, but then the tide changed, the wind continued to howl and the boats started to dance around the anchorage....it was not a pretty sight! Star Shadow was doing circles and coming very close to "Wild Card" who was on a mooring ball. Larry made a quick decision to tie up at the marina (despite the cost of $2.10/ft) to avoid going through this again at every tide change! This was our first experience of the wind/tide problem - one we are now quite familiar with, and somewhat more comfortable with, but it is never fun. We ended up staying tied up for 3 days as we decided that we would make our first offshore passage from Beaufort to Charleston, South Carolina. Well, actually, Larry wore me down and promised to take care of me if I was seasick and out of commission the whole time! Graham had a little problem with his ear which required a visit to the doctor (unfortunately, still not resolved totally), and we needed provisions too, so it was not a bad idea to make use of the marina's courtesy car to get us to some of these places. We had a chance to visit with the folks on "Fawkes" (as in the Harry Potter books, Dumbledore's phoenix), who have kids 16 and 14. We first met them in Annapolis, and it was great to have a chance to spend some time with them again. We hope to see them on down the road.

So, on Nov. 18/07, at first light, we headed out of Beaufort into the great big Atlantic Ocean! Yikes! (You'll recall that I was the one who was most nervous and ambivalent about going offshore...) The weather was not great at first, with confused seas, and within 2 hrs, I was seasick! Big surprise! I'm no good on roller coasters for goodness sake! Suffice it to say, I was not much use for almost the whole first day! Graham wasn't much better, but at least he didn't puke his guts up. On the other hand, Larry and Clare were totally perfect. Clare is the toughest person I've ever met! It was cold and miserable, and she just sat there and took it! I finally went below onto the bed in the salon and curled up with Graham to try to get warm and feel better. I did get warmer. I tried to eat some dinner, and that was a mistake! Canned ravioli tastes the same coming up as going down (is that too much information!!!).

By about midnight, the wind had dropped and the waves had settled out, and we were motorsailing. I was feeling better, and was able to relieve Larry on watch for a few hours. It is actually quite beautiful on the ocean at night (when the weather is good anyway). Graham and I chatted and watched the radar for ships and the night passed uneventfully. It was very peaceful. We headed back to sleep around 4 am, so missed the sunrise, but slept very well and I felt great when I woke up.

The wind was very light and we were motorsailing and if this was ocean sailing, I was all for it! The ocean was so clean and lovely. We were escorted by dolphins so often that it was becoming routine! We got some fantastic video and pics. I'm hoping to figure out how to put the video on the blog...When Beau caught a glimpse of the dolphins he barked at them to beat the band! It was hilarious to watch, though we were glad we had him tethered in case he decided to jump in after them! Speaking of Beau, the stupid dog had still not learned it was ok to "go" on the boat, and despite our taking him to the bow frequently and giving the command, he just held it - for 33 hrs in fact! When he did finally go, I think I was more relieve than him! He only went the one time, and he never pooped...poor animal.

Our second night out was also uneventful, though by then, we had taken down the sails because what wind there was was on the nose anyway, so we were strickly motoring. It really was amazing when the dolphins came up beside the boat in the dark for air - when they blow out, it sounds like someone clearing a snorkle! Scared the heck out of me the first time! Thought it was a scuba diver sneaking up on us!

Somewhere along the line, we decided to keep on going to St. Mary's Georgia, since we knew that there was going to be a huge American Thanksgiving pot luck there, and we had friends who where also going to be there. So we kept on going and had some company from a couple of other sailboats, not in eyesight, but by radio - which made me feel not so alone.

We pushed hard to reach St. Mary's on the slack tide as we had been told that the current is quite strong in the river. We got in around 4 pm on Nov 2o, and got anchored amidst probably 50 other boats, all there for the Thanksgiving pot luck! St. Mary's is another small town with a lovely waterfront. For about the past 6 years the locals have been supplying the turkeys and hams for the cruisers pot luck. It has become a huge event, lasting all week and is a great opportunity to meet cruisers, trade stories, have a swap meet, doggy "gam" (play time for doggies) and of course, have a few beverages! By the time we had the big dinner on Thursday, there were 107 boats in the anchorage!!! Let me tell you, when the wind and the current/tide compete for dominance in such a crowed anchorage, all hell can break loose at any given time! There were boats dragging, boats swinging close to other boats and lots of nervous sailors! We had anchored slightly farther away from the dingy dock, which was a pain, but it more than made up for it in fewer boats to cause us problems! We only had one bad night when the tidal current caused the anchor chain to drag up and down the keel all night long. What a God-awful sound it makes. You'd think the boat is about to break apart, but no worries, all it is is noise, and the only thing it ruined was our night's sleep! Thankfully, we only suffered that for one night!

Beau seemed to be suffering some post "holding it" trauma, and Clare and I took a cab to the vet to have him checked out. It turned out that he had a bladder infection (not a big surprise) and he was prescribed an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory. Interestingly, his bill was more than Grahams was, which tells us...what...about health care in the USA. Hmmm.

Taxi's in Georgia are an interesting experience too. The nice lady who drove us to the vet was in a car with the name of the taxi company on it. She was dispatching as well as driving, and at one point was talking on 2 cell phones and driving with her elbows....comforting. But on the way back to St. Mary's, we were picked up by a van, which had only those stick on letters spelling "TAXI" on the side window. Inside the van were two other people, plus the driver, and when I opened the door, a woman screamed when she saw Beau (he is somewhat ferocious looking, being a shaved poodle and all). She was inconsolable and scurried into the front seat of the van. Clare and Beau were relegated to the very back and I sat in the middle row with the other guy in the vehicle. The driver, a woman, said nothing to us at all, and it was the man beside me who asked where we were going. No one said a word about the extra people, why they were there or anything. No one said anything at all. The driver was playing some (horrible) rap music for our entertainment. This driver was not at all talkative but she did seem to like to text message someone from her cell phone while we were driving....egad! So we're driving along and suddenly, the driver heads off in a totally different direction from our destination, and winds up on some street, God knows where. She pulls up to the side of the road (wrong side, I might add) and gets out of the van without so much as a backward glance at us. I was beginning to be a little alarmed at this point. But, being a sport, (and not like we had much choice...) we carried on. The guy beside me gets into the drivers seat and proceeds to drive the woman who was afraid of dogs to her home (I assume). Again, no explanation was offered for the detour. It was getting dark by now, and I'm thinking, I have no idea where I am, and how long it would take to walk back to the waterfront. Anyway, I wasn't sad to see the scaredy cat leave. So now its just us and the driver. I'm thinking, ok, now it's our turn. Wrong. We start driving around again and wind up at another house, and 2 more people get in. At least these 2 were a bit more friendly...even though the guy had those silver caps all across his front teeth - he looked sort of like that guy in the James Bond movie (don't ask me which one), they acknowledged our existance anyway! Well the driver took these 2 to another house and dropped them off and then it was just us and him again. I wasn't exactly panicking, but man, I was thinking he bloody well better not charge me for all this running around! I was never so glad to see the cruisers gathering place! I was required to fortify myself after such a grueling experience with several glasses of strong wine!

Thursday, American Thanksgiving, was cold and rainy, and we managed to get rather wet while ferrying pots of mashed potatoes and rice from the boat to the shore. However, we made it and there were about 250 people gathered for the biggest pot luck I've ever been to! We found a table for us, JocksLodge, Windsong, and Ariel, and we had a wonderful meal! So much food! As usual, there was far more than anyone could hope to eat, though we all gave it a good try! Our gathering made front page news in the local paper!

I've been writing this particular post for at about a week - we haven't had good internet connection, so I will post this now, and carry on with our travels in the next one!

ICW Days 2 - 3

Mon Nov 12. We were up about 5 am and ready to set sail by shortly after 6, as soon as it was light enough. The river was really quite beautiful that early in the morning - calm and peaceful. We had a few options for travel this day, stop at the opening to the Albemarle Sound, or continue through the sound (about 15 miles), and get a full days travel in. The weather was lovely, if chilly, but the winds were good, so we decided to do the extra miles and go across the sound. A great decision as it turned out, as the wind was perfect for using the new sail (you pretty well always motorsail in the ICW) and we got up to 7 knots/hr at one point (I told you we don't go fast!). We decided to treat ourselves to a marina again that night, as a reward for the push! We stayed at the Alligator River Marina, North Carolina, along with the huge cruiser yacht 007! We think that it is owned by the movie company, but no Sean Connery or Daniel Craig on board (I asked!)LOL. We had an uneventful night and again by 6 am were getting ready to kick off the dock.

Tues Nov 13. Left the Alligator River Marina at 6:20 am to continue down the Alligator River and then through the Alligator River canal...a 20 + mile man made canal which is narrow and full of dead trees, stumps and dead heads. It is not the most beautiful thing to transit thats for sure! There were lots of power boats which zoomed up behind us and then passed us. Some are really polite and slow down before reaching us, and then calling to ask which side we'd like them to pass on. This gives us a chance to prepare and move quickly into their wake to minimize the amount of rolling around we do . Not everyone is polite though, and today we sure had our share of jerks who just push a huge amount of water at us, zoom past without so much as a how do you do and then leave a major wake for us to battle through. Creeps! Anyway, no sailing today, the wind was strong, but on the nose, and as the canal is so narrow, there is no opportunity to tack. While on the lookout for deadheads etc, we noticed something moving across the channel, and thought it might be an alligator! We continued to watch and it turned out to be a white tailed deer swimming across the canal!! It was still in the water, but standing when it caught a look at us, and before we could get a picture, it took off in leaps and bounds for the dense woods at the edge of the water! That was cool! Once we were out of the canal, we had about 10 more miles to go to get to Belhaven. The water opens up and it was quite lovely out - warming up, the wind had dropped and I was down to 1 shirt and no coat! Then we saw it! Dolphins ahead of our bow! Now THAT was awesome! We watched them surface a few times and then they fell back to entertain the trawler behind us! We knew the ocean was close by, but this was the first time it really hit home! Way cool! We anchored out here in Belhaven (much to Graham's dismay, he likes marinas!), and were able to take Beau for a good walk before settling in for the day. An early night for Larry (he didn't sleep well last night) and I'm close behind him. Tomorrow we head for Oriental NC, and may spend and extra day there as a rest day. Time for bed!

The Intra Coastal Waterway, day 1

We kicked off the dock at Hampton about 10 am Sunday Nov 11, after having a terrific pasta dinner with Stuart and Elaine (sorry about the spilled wine...). They will be heading out around Wed (Nov 14), so we will be a few days ahead of them. Hopefully, they will catch up with us, it would be fun to have a travelling companion!

I was kind of jittery about setting out - you get complacent when you are in one spot for too long I find, and we had been in Hampton for about 2 weeks. Anyway, we planned a fairly easy day for our first day, as there are quite a few bridges and a lock to get through, which can make the passage slow. We thought we would stop at Great Bridge, where it is possible to tie up to docks between the bridge and the lock. However, that was not to be....there was no room for us at either of the docks...damn! It would not be a big deal, except that there really no good anchorages between Great Bridge and Pungo Ferry, a distance of about 18 miles. We don't go fast, thats about 3 hours, and it gets dark about 5 pm nowadays. So there we were, all by ourselves, sun going down, night coming on, weather COLD and every spot we tried to anchor - we went aground. The ICW isn't called "the ditch" for nothing! We were navigating with a powerful flashlight on the markers (the ICW is well marked that way!) and keeping close track on the chart. We finally decided to try hailing a marina (Pungo Ferry Marina) but no one answered! We were approaching a bridge when we saw people at the marina and were about to hail, when we were hailed on the vhf. A boat was leaving the dock, and we could come in and take their spot! Thank God! We managed to get on the dock (our stern stuck out, but we didn't care!) and the folks that helped us (and hailed us) weren't from the marina at all, but other boaters who had been in the same prediciment as us! We all agreed that the charts lie as far as good anchorages and depths goes, and then we retreated to the warmth of the cabin for a much deserved dinner! I was never so happy to be in a marina! We vowed that this would not happen to us again, as my nerves were shot by the time we got in!

Thank you Hampton, It's been Real

Since last I wrote...well, we had a great time in Hampton. The museums were interesting, the Imax presentation of Transformers was awesome - if a bit on the long side for me : ), the shopping was plentiful and the friends were wonderful, as always!

We said "see ya on down the road" to Jan and Iain as they headed off down the ICW ahead of us - we hope and expect that we will meet up with them at some point. We wish them fair weather! As the experienced cruisers, they withstood hours of discussion, questions and advice requests from us (and others too!) Luckily for us, they are happy to oblige and share their wisdom, always with the provision that we all have to make our own decision in the end.

After the Caribbean 1500 departed, there was a real decrease in boat traffic, and we were feeling a bit lonely! Luckily for us, "Overdraught" (Stuart and Heather and dtr Elaine, 19) were still in Hampton, as Heather had to head home to Thorold, ON for work (what's that??), so Stuart and Elaine were hanging around, looking for stuff to do and people to do it with! We shared lots of laughs, movies, shopping trips, dinners and drinks, and I really hope that they catch up with us!

We moved Star Shadow closer into the harbour (internet connection was better in there!), but had a nerve wracking experience when at 2:30 am we were woken by someone banging on our hull yelling that we were dragging! YIKES!!! Indeed we had, though fortunately the anchor had caught again by the time we were awake! Anyway, the wind had really picked up through the night, and we had to decide what to. The channel in the harbour is rather narrow and it shoals up quite a bit at the shore, and we weren't sure that we could anchor again there, especially in the strong wind (in the middle of the night!), so we decided to go back to our original spot out in front of Hampton University until the morning. Of course we were all awake and rather wound up by then, so we had a cup of hot chocolate before heading off to bed again. By the morning, the wind had shifted again, and we were in a bad spot for the wind direction, so we had to move again. This time we went back to the harbour, and tied up to some old pilings - nice and close to the dingy dock, and without the worry about wind shifts and going aground!

Our new sail arrived ahead of schedule (!!!) and it is just great. We had also used the time in Hampton to arrange for our dingy to be registered (they are so picky about this in Florida, apparently in ON we don't have to have it registered, so we hadn't done it), and Doug was amazing in his efforts to get it done so fast! Thanks Doug! Also, Graham's first unit of school work was marked and ready to be sent to us via purolator (thanks Leslie, you are wonderful!). He was very relieved to get great marks - 100% in math and 80's and 90's in everything else! I hope this will help him realize that he is doing just fine school-wise. Clare has received several marks back from her grade 10 courses, and is excelling, as always! She totally impresses me with her ability to focus on the work and tune the rest of us out! She is able to submit her work online, so it saves the problem of having to have marks sent by purolator. I'm mighty proud of both of them. Clare's friend Kelly sent her a care package, which arrived on Nov 9, much to her delight! Not that she would tell us what was in it!

We were finally ready to head for the Intra Coastal Waterway!

Deltaville to Hampton VA

We had an uneventful motorsail from Deltaville to Hampton, if you don't count the time we were aground in the channel leaving Deltaville...it was a very low tide, and even in the channel we hit bottom (it's only muck, so it doesn't do any damage except to ego's). We managed to power our way out of it and continued on our way. There were dozens of other boats out doing the same trip as us, heading for Hampton, staging point for the ICW and also for the Caribbean 1500 (a cruising rally which goes from here out past Bermuda (doesn't stop there) and down to the British Virgin Islands. It is a yearly rally, a big deal in these parts!). Needless to say, it was very crowded in this little harbour and we had to fight for a spot to anchor! There is a great Canadian contingent here, and for a couple of nights there were 8 Canadian flagged boats in this one part of the river where we were anchored!

Halloween arrived and the folks on the Quebec boats were into it in a big way! "Coxily" and "Snow Goose" and "Victoria's Secret" and "Migo" all have kids of various ages aboard, so they were all dressed up and ready to party and trick or treat by 5 pm! They had previously met Clare, and so she and Graham were invited to go along with them. There was a flurry of activity while they got themselves costumed - Clare in her wet suit and mask, Graham wrapped in tensor bandages as an accident victim! They had a ball and made friends with the other kids to boot.

Larry, Graham, Jan, Iain and I figured out the bus system in Hampton and made a foray to the West Marine to pick up a few odds and ends for the trip down - with a stop at the ever popular Wal-Mart for jeans, groceries and sundries.

Thursday night, the forcast warned that we would be feeling the effects of Tropical Depression Noel that night, with gusts up to 40 knots, so we prepared the boat (after having drinks with fellow Canadians Heather and Stuart from "Our Overdraught" on Jan and Iain's boat!) lashing down anything that could fly off the deck, and bringing down cockpit cushions etc. We got all snugged up, and let the wind howl! We were fine, but remain on alert today, as the winds are meant to be even stronger tonight. We will probably spend most of the day on the boat, as a precaution.

Graham is looking forward to exploring more of Hampton (there is tons to see here, a very historic city) in particular, he is hoping to see the Imax movie at the nearby Air and Space Museum. There is also the Cousteau Society to visit as well as museums. In the meantime, I must help Graham with school work (that can be a battle!!)

Update after a long break!

So ok, sorry about the long wait for an update! It hasn't always been easy to get internet, access to the computer (fights for use!), access to the pics, interest and energy all together at the same time to do this blog! I will do my best to recount our adventures from the time of my last entry.



The Whitby Rendevous at Whitehall Creek was a great weekend where we met a great bunch of Whitby owners - some who have been cruising on their Whitby 42's for up to 17 years! There was good food, interesting talks about boat issues relevant to all of us and great fun comparing notes, swapping ideas, telling stories of adventures and travels and general merry-making. Much to the dismay of Clare and Graham there was a distinct lack of young people there, so they had to make do with us old folks...Graham however did meet up with a fellow on an Alberg 30 (another Brewer boat, for which there was a gathering the same weekend at the same people's home where we were) who had a really cool marshmallow blow gun, and Graham was determined he would make one for himself at the earliest possible opportunity!


We were rafted up with 6 or 7 other boats and had to climb over our neighbours boats to get to shore. Protocol for this sort of activity is to ask the captain the first time to come aboard, then to go around the bow of the boat so as to least disturb the occupants of the boat. Beau however had different ideas about such formalities and quickly learned that he could jump from boat to boat and go visiting (always in hopes of treats!). He was too chicken to actually jump off the boat that was tied up to the dock, so we thought he would at least be confined to the boats, but in his desperation to be with us when we were on shore, he discovered that he COULD manage to jump off (and back on) the boat. This was a major accomplishment for the dog! It did mean though, that we lost him a couple of times when he decided to go exploring on his own (or when he saw another dog to play with). Little bugger! He's cute though.


We spent an extra night at Whitehall Creek, then headed for Baltimore Oct 1 - the long awaited trip! It was quite cool to sail under the huge bridge near Annapolis (I don't know the name of it) and only a bit freaky! Anyway, we had a good sail to Baltimore, keeping an eye on the freighters (holy crap they're big!) and we anchored in Canton as we were told they have a Safeway (grocery) store and a West Marine store just across the street from the anchorage. There is also a Starbucks! I bought the new James Blunt CD - nice!


What we didn't know was that Canton is a LONG walk from downtown Baltimore, and I just about did myself in walking with the kids in search of a hardware store (for Graham to buy his marshmallow blow gun supplies) and a skateboard shop (God only knows why Clare is determined to have a skateboard on a boat...) It's not the nicest part of town either, and I felt somewhat conspicuous traipsing along the streets...no one walks in the US I think. Anyway, we got about 1/2 way there and it became apparent that a) we were not going to find the stores the kids wanted and b) there was no way we were going to be able to get downtown and then back again without my feet giving out and c) it was getting late in the day, and one shopkeeper did mention that some areas were not safe after dark...soooo, we headed back to the boat! Graham was bitterly disappointed that he hadn't been able to find his blow gun supplies, and so the lesson for the day was....patience!


The next day we left Beau on the boat (to "guard" it, at least thats what we tell him) after warning the couple on "Break Away", one of the other boats in the anchorage that he may create a fuss while we were gone. They reassured us that a whining dog is not unusual in an anchorage and not to worry about it! We headed off in the dingy to go to the Baltimore Aquarium - it was fantastic! It was amazing to see so many species of fish, frog, snake, toad, spider etc! The dolphin show was cool too - such gorgeous animals they are. There is also a whole section of the aquarium devoted to the Australian Rainforest, and it was also amazing! The birds and vegetation were enchanting. The whole downtown area of Baltimore has been restored over the past 10 or more years and it is quite beautiful. We had a quick lunch at the gigantic Hard Rock Cafe right on the water.


The following morning, we decided to move the boat to the downtown inner harbour, just for the experience of it! There were a few other boats there, and there is not a lot of room in the ancorage, so we sort of squeezed ourselves in, so close to shore you could almost step off the boat! Surprisingly, we were not able to get a good internet connection, which of course Clare hated as she spends as much time online as humanly possible staying connected with her buds at home! Anyway, Larry and Graham decided to go tour the submarine "Torsk", the lighthouse Chesapeake and the ship "Constellation" as well as go up the World Trade Centre building (all for a total of $6 apiece!). They had a great afternoon! Clare decided to go shopping for music, and headed off to Best Buy and the absolutely huge Barnes and Noble store - a book lovers paradise! I stayed on the boat with the pooch and fended off the stray paddle boaters out for a fall paddle in the harbour! The weather has been unseasonably hot and sunny and we have been grateful for the good weather. Beats rain all to hell!


Next morning (Oct 4) it was time to head back to Annapolis for the Boat Show. It was really foggy, so we had the new radar on, and tracked all the boat activity out of Baltimore. We had been having trouble with barnacles in the raw water intake, which meant that when the engine was running, all available seawater went to the cooling of it, and there was no seawater for toilet flushing, or the deck wash (which is needed to wash off the anchor from the disgusting Chesapeake Bay mud!) So once we were clear of the shipping lanes, and the fog had burned off, Larry jumped overboard (with the engine off, we were just drifting) to clean the intake as best he could. He spent quite awhile cleaning that and the hull in general and the dingy bottom, all of which were pretty gross with slime and barnacles. The water was not cold, but was Larry gross when he got out! The towel was filthy! ewe!!!! Anyway, the rest of the sail back to Annapolis was pleasant and uneventful.


We knew we would not be able to find a spot back in Spa Creek with our friends, so we anchored in the outer harbour, by the Naval Academy - less protected, but still ok. Graham was still on the hunt for pvc tubing for his marshmallow blowgun, and we made an unsuccessful trip into downtown Annapolis to the hardware store there - poor child! He was definately learning the meaning of delayed gratification!


The Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) is a world wide association of cruisers (duh) and the Annapolis chapter had its annual gathering the weekend of the sailboat show. We headed over for a day long event with speakers, flea market and general networking. Big crowd and lots of nice folks. Not surprisingly, several of the people we met at the Whitby Rendevous were also there, so it was fun to see them again. On the saturday night, Boat Show in full force, the SSCA hosted a huge party with the band "Attitudes and Lattitudes", with free pizza and beer, so you know we were there! We decided to take a water taxi rather than dingy due to the distance to the party and the size of the waves....but the rest of Annapolis was also planning to take the water taxi too! It is a great system of transport - more like a water bus than a taxi, it picks up a pile of people and drops them off either at preset stops or to your boat. Anyway, we had to wait ages before it came, and then the driver told us that we were better off being dropped off at a marina and taking a cab than waiting for the water taxi!


So there we were, at East Port Marina, wandering around like a bunch of dorks, unable to find a cab, hungry, grumpy...when a volunteer driver stopped and picked us up (dog and all) and took us to the East Port Mall, where he thought it would be easier to catch a cab. Since we had our doubts about there being any pizza left at the party, we decided to get some at the mall while we waited for the cab - man! was it good! We still had pizza left when the cab arrived, so we all piled in and off we went to the party! As predicted, there was no pizza left at the party, and some guy actually bought our leftover pizza for $10!!! We had a good time listening to the music and chatting with people - and Clare and Graham actually met kids their age! We were able to get the water taxi back home without too much trouble, though it was a long, roundabout trip! A good night though - and we were happy that the kids had made a new friend.


One of the things cruisers do is swap "boat cards" which is really just a business card with the name of your boat and crew and contact info (and if you're really good, a pic of your boat). So of course, we had to get some card stock and make up a boat card for Star Shadow! We had been collecting quite a few cards from new friends and businesses, so I began to hunt for a business card holder/book so I could keep track of everyone! Took me ages to find one, but I finally did, so now I'm carefully storing everyone's card for easy access (and quick reference for email addresses!)


The day after the Attitudes and Lattitudes party, (Oct 7) we went to the boat show. The weather was HOT and sunny and the show was packed! We had fun checking out all the fancy beautiful boats, and the kids got to go on a catermaran. Of course now they didn't want to get back on Star Shadow!! "Why can't WE have a boat with 3 cabins and 3 bathrooms and tv and a mircowave....." can you say, "who wants to be a millionaire????" Graham had a ball sailing the remote control sailboats and is now considering buying a kit to build one for himself. Larry bought himself some quick dry shorts and Graham got a pair of deck shoes. I got a mop.


The Sail Boat show was over on the Monday, so we figured we would be able to find a spot to anchor back at Spa Creek again. We headed back in, through the draw bridge and were able to squeeze in close to our pals on "Night Hawk" (Barry and Susan) and "Morning Light" (Bob and Rusty) and not too far away from other friends on "Jockslodge" (Iain and Jan). It was Thanksgiving Day and to celebrate we decided to have a proper turkey dinner with Barry, Susan, Bob and Rusty. Bob and Rusty have a car, so we piled in with laundry, shopping lists and kids, and set off for an afternoon of errands!


Larry dropped Rusty and I off at the laundromat and took the kids to find pvc for Graham's marshmallow gun (finally!) and Clare to the local tatoo parlor (!!!!!!!) because she had been angling to get her ears (lobes and cartiledge) pierced for awhile - don't worry, no tatoos! Well, Graham finally got his stuff, and for about $3.50 built himself a state of the art marshmallow blowgun! Now all the seagulls in the Chesapeake are being hunted down and pelted! And so are we - at least the "bullets" don't hurt and they taste good! When Larry got back to us at the laundromat, he reported that Clare had struck out in her bid for pierces! At the tatoo place, you have to be 16, and have BOTH parents present with photo ID! So she was totally bummed about this of course!


We had a great Thanksgiving dinner, albeit a late one, since when we finally got home with the turkey breast which was partially frozen, it didn't get into the oven until about 6 pm!! Ah well, those of you who us, know that we are perpetually late! We had fun nonetheless and celebrated well!


Clare, never one to give up, had gone back online to see where else she might get her ears pierced. There is a great big mall in Annapolis and we figured that "Claire's" jewelery store might do the deed. On Oct 9, Susan and I borrowed Bob and Rusty's car and took Clare and Graham for a shop a thon! We were driving along when we heard a thump, but not seeing anything amiss, continued on our way. First stop was a skateboard shop called Pure, where Clare checked out all the boards.


While we were there, my cell phone rang and it was some fellow asking if I was from Ontario. Turns out that the thump we heard was the ships log book, which Larry had left on the roof of the car when he used it earlier in the day. The log book is like a ships bible, it has all details of the boat's voyages, maintenance, contact information etc. To lose that would be to lose your right arm. Well, this guy, an off duty firefighter or something, had spotted the book on the road at the Church Circle roundabout, and had stopped to pick it up. The one thing missing in the book was the ship's name and Larry's name! But it did have our cell phone number and mailing address, so the guy tried the phone first. He told me he would have mailed it (back to Ontario) if he hadn't been able to reach us! Anyway, wonderful man that he is, he brought it right to me at the store! What a relief (not that anyone realized it was missing until then!) and would I have fun rubbing it in with Larry!


Well, Clare got her skateboard, and now all I have to worry about is her breaking her bones at all times! eghad! Next stop was Bed, Bath and Beyond, in search of a melita coffee maker cone thing. I decided I was sick of perked coffee full of grounds. But no luck, the salesgirl didn't even have a clue what I was talking about! Then we went to Boater's World because they were selling these cool pop makers at the Boat Show, and we decided we wanted one because of the cost of pop(aka Soda in the US) in the Islands. Well, Boaters World had none in the store because they were all at the Boat Show (Power show follows Sail)! Geesh - strike 2 for me. Susan was able to get the syrup for tonic water (gin and tonic's on her boat that night!!) We were running short on time since Graham and Larry were going to the movies that night (a late bday present for Graham) and we had to pick Bob up at work. So we hustled to the big mall and found Claires. Sure enough, they have no problem piercing whatever part of your ear you want, so long as you have parental consent. So, my baby got 5, count 'em 5! holes in her ears! both lobes and 3 in the cartiledge. ugh! She's happy though, and I like that! Larry and Graham went to see Game Plan and had a nice father/son night out. And so ended another lovely day!


Next morning we headed out to the "cruiser's breakfast" at a local restaurant and met up with Susan, Barry, Jan and Iain. We spent an enjoyable morning strolling around Historic Annapolis with our friends (and I found my cone drip coffee thingy!)We decided we would all get together for a chicken curry for dinner that night, since Barry and Susan were going to be heading off soon on their way down the intercoastal waterway. Another great evening! It was hard to say goodbye to them and I can only hope that we come across them again on our journey.


We continued to have problems with the raw water intake, and so we decided to go to Deale (back to Ship Wright Harbor) to get the boat hauled and the intake thru hull completely scraped out, as this problem HAD to get resolved. Jan and Iain also planned to go to Deale to haul out to put in new depth and speed instruments. We had a fun couple of days while they were there, playing dominoes (mexican train!) and walking into town. We discovered some other problems (so what else is new) when we hauled out, so we ended up staying in Deale for a week from Oct 16 to 22 while we got them worked out. On the 23, we headed out for Solomon's Island, about 40 miles away. Part way out, still not getting a great flow of water, Larry hit on the notion that perhaps the hose into the sea chest (full of sea water)might be clogged with all the crud from the bay. So while underway, he took the lid off the sea chest, and lo and behold if it wasn't crammed full of crud! man! what a difference it made when that was cleaned out! Wahoo! we now have excellent water flow to the engine and we can use the deck wash too! So great work, that!


We were having an uneventful motorsail down, when, thanks to Grahams "superior eyesight", he spotted a vessel in distress and we went to offer assistance. It was a small motorboat with a couple of guys who had decided to go fishing (despite small craft warnings)without a VHF or cell phone, and their engine failed. They had dropped an anchor which was saving them from being blown ashore! We were able to come close enough to throw them a line and we towed them the rest of the way into Solomon's Island - our daring "rescue at sea" adventure - or at least our random act of kindness for the day!


At Solomon's Island, we found Jan and Iain, and planned to spend the following day at the Wal-Mart grand opening! What a huge store! They have a complete grocery store as well as all the usual stuff! We were able to pick up a few things like water tanks, DVD's, groceries and cookie sheets there. Fortunately for us, the bus system is pretty good there, and we were able to get to and from the malls without any trouble. Plus, Jan and Iain have done this before, and know the ropes! Thank goodness for experienced cruisers!


Next morning, (Oct 25) we left Jan and Iain behind and headed out for Deltaville, a long trip of almost 50 miles. The winds were forcast to be from the north at 10 -15 knots, which we figured Star Shadow would love, being a heavy boat, she needs a decent wind to get going. However, the forecast was wrong, and it was blowing a lot stronger 20 - 25 with gusts to 30! NOT FUN. It wasn't too bad a first, but the winds continued to build and so did the waves, and they were confused, coming from all over the place. That's a receipe for seasick for me, and sure enough it happened! The good thing about being sick is that you feel better after, so at least I wasn't nauseaous, just cold (did I mention the rain started soon after we left?), uncomfortable and generally miserable! Graham was worried and spent a fair bit of the trip down below on his bunk (but eventually the confused motion forced him up) but Clare and Larry seemed just fine as far as being seasick goes! That girl has nerves of steel!


The trip seemed to be taking forever, with no let up with the wind and waves, and the day was wearing on, and soon it would be dark. I was not happy. Larry decided to furl the geneoa, but that proved to be a problem - and then the action started! A snatch-block let go, and that freed the sheet that controls the geneoa and the sail was shredded and flapping wildly in the wind. It was very scary as we tried to get that sail and sheets under control. Of course we had the engine on, but it was hard work trying to keep the boat under way. Then of course, the engine starts complaining about all the hard work, and the fuel filter demanded to be changed! Another operation at sea! My god what a time. All this happened quite close to the entrance to Deltaville, and I was actually able to keep the boat moving in the right direction, and steer through the markers with no sails up and no engine!! Pretty amazing eh?! Anyway, once the engine was back on, we motored the rest of the way into Deltaville, and got ourselves anchored and our nerves settled. It was not a good day.


That was a turning point for us, and the next morning, Larry and I talked about it, and decided that neither we, nor the boat were ready to make the sail to Bermuda and then the even longer sail to the deep Caribbean. It was time to go back to our original plan of Intercoastal waterway to Bahamas. That decision made, we all felt better, as it took the time pressure we were feeling right off the table. We need a new sail, and that will take time, and the boat still has issues, and now we can look after them.


We moved to another anchorage, at the Fishing Bay Yacht Club to wait for better weather (oh ya, did I mention that it rained for about 3 days straight, like the heavens just opened up and let a summers worth of rain come pouring down!)Everything was damp and we just hunkered down to wait for it to pass. Yesterday (whew, I'm finally at yesterday!) the weather cleared around noon and the sun came out with a nice breeze and we hung everything up to dry! We were able to get the torn sail down, and took it ashore to measure for the new sail. The Yacht Club membership is exceptionally friendly to cruisers, and we have full use of their facilities - showers (thank God!)club house, phone etc. We were invited to join the party for the last race of the season! They were having an oyster bake (not an oyster fan myself, but Larry loves em). It was fun to spend some time with these nice folks!


So here we are, Oct 28, and it is sunny but quite windy. Larry has been spending the morning sewing a curtain for the kids' rooms and I have been doing nothing but this blog! We hope to head for Hampton tomorrow (weather permitting)and we will be there until the new sail is ready, and the other jobs are done.


Whew! if you've read this far - congratulations! I will try to be more brief and more frequent in the future!

In Annapolis still...

Larry had accomplished many of the little (and some not so little) jobs while the rest of us were in Washington, and we began to set our sites on Baltimore....however, Murphy had other ideas for us! If it isn't one thing it's 4 more as one of our "neighbours" commented one morning. The latest problems include radar that has ceased to work for unknown reasons. I'm rather keen on having radar, so that no freighters can sneak up on me at night!

The other problem that kept us in Annapolis longer than planned was Larry's computer...he just got it before we left and it is our main computer for charting/navigation, email (via the ham radio) etc...and it started acting up, and soon enough the stupid thing would not work at all. So we called Dell (after a few trials of making it work again, which involved Larry reloading Vista (boo hiss) and virtually losing everything we had saved on the computer, including my pics and my music! Whaaaa. It is there somewhere, but we don't know how to access it! Here's the part where any computer geniuses can tell us what to do to retreive these files...) Anyway, we had bought a "next day" service package from Dell, but in the end it took over a week for them to come to the boat (a first for the tech) with the right parts and fix the damn thing! So far it is working fine now, but we still don't know how to retreive the old files....no one likes working on Vista, thats for sure, and we wish this computer had xp....sigh!

So the long and the short of it was that we spent 3 weeks in Spa Creek in Annapolis, met some really great folks and made some nice friends. The spot we were anchored was really close to a great park for the dog, and for Graham to fish, close to town for showers and laundry and grocery shopping. Not too shabby!

We also bought a new radar system and a gas generator (so we can use a/c power for things like power tools, my computer, charging stuff and of course, charging the boats batteries). This happened on Larry's birthday, so it was considered his present! Now it only had to be installed!! Poor man, more work to be done! The Boat Show was fast approaching, and with it, the anchorage was filling up with people who were planning to work the show, and those who were going to visit the show. We knew that if or when we left our spot, it would be taken immediately! We had plans to go to the Whitby Rendevous and go to Baltimore, so we knew we were going to have to leave our peaceful spot!

Before we left, we went out to dinner with friends Susan and Barry (Night Hawk) from Nova Scotia, and had a great time. Susan and Barry have a great receipe for fricasse of chart plotter, which we hope never to duplicate! It involves leaving your chart plotter in the oven (where it was placed for safety during a thunderstorm) and then putting the oven on the next morning to make biscuts...oh dear!! On our dingy ride back from dinner, we stopped to see John and BobbyJo on "Don't Look Back" a Lagoon 38 - a catermaran, and quite something to behold! The kids would be in heaven to live on a boat like that - it is big and spacious, but for sea worthiness on ocean crossings, I'll take the Whitby (Star Shadow) anytime! We were also fortunate to have met Bob and Rusty (Morning Light) who have a car which they are kind enough to loan us when we need to do some heavy duty grocery shopping. Bob is teaching us how to be pirates, and accept offerings gracefully! I'm not sure how that makes us pirates, but there you go!

We said our goodbyes to our friends, and on Sept 28 we headed for the Whitby Rendevous at nearby Whitehall Creek, and then onward to Baltimore!

Look out Washington DC, here we come!

We rented a car and prepared to head to DC on sept 10. Everyone was excited about it, and looking forward to another adventure! So it got started early, when hyw 50 west was closed, and that was the only way I knew how to get to DC! We headed up toward Baltimore instead, and I stopped at a gas station and bought a map and got directions. We had booked a hotel in Rockville (north of DC) and so we headed there first. We only had one navigational error on the way (which is pretty good for us!) and we were happily in Rockville by about 1 pm. We found a great Italian restaurant for lunch, and then headed to the hotel. We were all kind of hot and tired, so we just chilled in the room for the rest of the day. I was sent out on a mission for chips and chocolate and pop (and rum), and we relaxed and enjoyed TV (wow!) and air conditioning!

The morning (Sept 11, kind of creepy actually) dawned cool and rainy, and we hustled down to the complimentary breakfast, only to discover that there was no food left! not even coffee!!! Man was I steamed. We ended up going out for breakfast in Rockville before leaving the car at the park and ride at the metro station. The nice man in the booth helped us get day pass tickets and we were off! The DC metro is amazing! there are about 4 or 5 different lines and they go everywhere! And quiet! Nothing like Toronto's subway. Anyway, we headed into DC and prepared to see the sites!

It really is something else! Everything is so BIG! The buildings are amazing, beautiful to look at. We went to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum, took in an Imax film about the space station (3D and very cool), and wandered around some more trying to figure out where we were going! We headed to the International Spy Museum, which was really cool and fun! While we were there, (never a dull moment in our lives), the fire alarm went off and we had to be evacuated! We did see smoke coming out of the top of the building, but it couldn't have been too serious because the fire trucks didn't stay too long.

Anyway, we decided that as we were just about done there, we would go in search of food. We wandered a bit more, and found a Starbucks and stopped in for a snack. While we were there (again, never a dull moment...) there was a rucus and a bloodcurdling scream, and soon one of the servers came to our table saying they had to close because a huge RAT had just run across the floor!! The poor guy was shooing us out from his vantage point on a chair! What an afternoon! We made our way back on the metro to Rockville, and drove around a bit looking for some shopping opportunities. They are few and far between in Rockville - all we could find were restaurants! Clare was disappointed because she was anticipating doing some serious shopping in DC!

Next day was Graham's birthday and it was a gorgeous day! We had a breakfast celebration (waffles all around) and got off to a late start for site seeing. We wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial, so we headed on the Metro to "Foggy Bottom" stop, and had a long walk to get to it from there. At any rate, it was very impressive to see the statue up close, and the reflecting pool with the Washington Monument at it's foot. The Vietnam Memorial was also awesome and really touching for me.

After that we took a cab back downtown to see what shopping experiences might await us there! We did find a few shops, but not what Clare was looking for (back packs, skate boards etc) so we hopped back on the metro and went to a huge shopping centre, not unlike the Eaton Centre in Toronto. Some cool shops, but still no luck for Clare. I was bagged and still had to drive back to Annapolis, so we headed back to the car and got ready to go home. The drive back was uneventful, if slow, and we didn't get back until about 8 pm. I had been trying to call Larry on the cell phone all day without luck and now we had returned the car and had to get back to the boat! (I later found out that I was dialing the wrong number - duh!) Since it was dark and he wouldn't see us from the street access near where we were moored, we ended up taking a water taxi, which was kind of fun! When the driver learned it was Grahams birthday, he let him drive the boat!

Larry had baked a beautiful birthday cake for Graham which we all enjoyed while he opened presents and we told stories of our adventures!

We could have stayed in DC for several more days to see more of the museums, and I'm thinking that we may make one or 2 day trips back there when we get to Baltimore (you can get there by city transit!) It is difficult to see a lot in one day due to the shear size of the place, but I sure wished we had seen more!

Getting out of Dodge (or Deale)

So we finally got away from Shipwright Harbour in Deale (it was great while we were there, but we were ALL eager to get away) and had a fantastic sail up to Annapolis. We did it in about 4 hrs, and got in around 3 pm. We had to go under the draw bridge up Spa Creek, and that turned out to be a small adventure! The wind was quite strong, and we had to sort of circle the boat until the draw bridge opened (every 1/2 hr). We drifted rather close to the bridge, and when it opened we were not in the right position to get through the opening (it isn't all that big!), so we ended up missing our opportunity! Anyway, lesson learned, we were prepared for the next opening, and 3:30 came and went and the bridge master didn't open it! I ended up phoning him to enquire, and he said he would open it in 24 minutes (ie, 4 pm!) The bastard! He must have thought it was good sport to watch us. Anyway, at 4 pm there were several other boats waiting to cross, so we were first in line and got through uneventfully! Sheesh. Anyway, we picked up a mooring ball and got settled in.

It is a lovely harbour, and there was a triathelon going on over the weekend, so there were tons of people, bikes and things to see. Oh ya, and the Navy guys - lots of men (and some women too) in their whites strolling around looking distinctly navel! We figured out the bus system and did some shopping (Graham's birthday was coming!) and I had a chance to get a much needed haircut! So we've been enjoying ourselves here in Annapolis and Larry is taking the opportunity to continue to work on boat projects! (These never end)

We've met some really nice folks here - lots of live-aboards and people who have been cruising for years. They have lots of advice to offer, and stories to tell! Good fun.

The dog still hasnt' learned to pee on the boat (thanks for all the suggestions we've received, we'll keep on trying them!), but he isn't suffering either! There is a great park not far from where we were moored, and Larry got in the routine of taking him there for an early morning romp, to let him really have a good run! The rest of the time, he comes with us whenever we go ashore (he still makes a god awful racket when we leave him alone on the boat) and gets to see what we see! We were talking to a couple on a lovely Bayfield who said it took their dog a long time to learn, but eventually she did. Their daughter, who is a vet, said that they can hold it a long time, but when they can't any longer, they will go - it is the owners who suffer in the interim!! Boy can I relate to that! I lose sleep when I think he has gone too long without a bathroom break!

Ah well, the trials and tribulations!

The plan was to leave Larry on the boat for a couple of days to work on "things" and I would take the kids to Washington DC for a field trip....will DC ever be the same??

First Day of School!

Just like the kids back home, school started the day after labour day. Graham is studying grade 8 math, language, science, arts and social studies. We are trying to figure out the french. So far, things have been going pretty well, though we have run into some snags like not having a microscope for science! We walked in to the library in Deale to see what they had in the way of books and online and got some good resources from the librarian there. I'm sure we'll be fine. Graham sometimes finds it difficult to be away from his pals, but I expect that once we get to the islands, there will be lots of liveaboard kids to make friends with. He is learning a ton about sailing, fixing stuff (constantly), fishing and life in general!

Clare is busy with her school work too - but mostly keeps it to herself - which is lucky for us, since we probably couldn't help her with it anyway! She did a cool experiment with bananas and yeast, which were left to do what they do for about a week - I haven't read the report on that one! We are still trying to figure out how to get her grade 10 french too, for some reason, the independent learning centre doesn't seem to offer it.

We try to do school work in the morning to leave the afternoon open for whatever grabs us, but that doesn't always work out! It's important to be flexible! And field trips are important, so we are planning one to Washington DC soon!

Solomon's Island

Larry and Pete (sadly, Lu couldn't come too - we missed seeing you!!) arrived back on Thursday afternoon, and we headed out on Friday morning for a terrific sail to Solomon's Island. It is about 25 nautical miles from Deale, and it was perfect weather and wind! We arrived there around 5 or 6 pm and motored around to find the perfect anchoring spot. We settled on this little bay with quite a few other boats. The water was quite clean there, and there were lots of fish jumping etc. We didn't even see any jellyfish! There was quite a party going on where several boats had rafted up together, and we wondered if we would be up all night. But things broke up early, never fear! Some of the folks even went swimming, which was the first time we'd seen people swim this summer. (Well, heard, actually, it was about 10 pm).

The morning dawned still and absolutely beautiful. It was the perfect time for Larry to test out his mast climbing skills, to fix a broken line. It was only the mizzen mast he climbed, and only about 1/2 way, but it sure looked high to me! Now that he knows how to work the climber thing, he will be ready to go up the main mast to fix several things (light bulbs, antenas etc)

We had to head back to Deale fairly early as Pete was heading home in the wee hours of Sunday morning. The wind had changed and strenthened from the north east and we were facing an upwind slog all the way back. We had a bit of excitement when our motor died suddenly, as we were on our way up a channel, heading toward a shallows....We put the mainsail up, and struggled along while Larry changed a clogged fuel filter. All was well, though for sure we were all a bit anxious! We ended up motor-sailing most of the way home because of the wind, and the fact that Star Shadow doesn't sail upwind very well...it would have taken forever! We had the rails in the water a few times and Graham had his legs dangling in the water (again, no jellyfish) and he reported that the water was gorgeous!

We had a fun dinner out at Petie Green's (our fav restaurant, yummy crab chowder!) with Pete, and Rick (from "Grins") who had helped fix the electricl problems earlier. Pete put the top of his Sebring convertible down and we could really enjoy the night! We said a sad goodbye to him, and hope that he and Lu will come see us sometime during the winter when we're beach bound.

With Pete gone, we are now totally car-less, and dependent on the kindness of, if not strangers, then fellow live-aboards for a ride into town for milk, mail whatever. It is a weird feeling!

The Labour Day weekend was fabulous weather wise, and although we didn't go out again after Pete left, we did lounge by the pool for the last 2 days it was open. Clare made friends with the lifeguard, Ashley, and we didn't see her till the pool closed at 8 pm! Ashley is a nice girl, who is just starting college in Virginia. She told us she had auditioned for American Idol and spent most of last week going through the preliminaries. She got to the last draft before what you see on tv, and she "choked", she said she was so tired she couldn't continue...there's always next year!

The Shakedown Crusing Continues

By Tuesday Aug 21 we thought we had the electrical problems sorted (we didn't) and we set sail for Little Chop Tank River on wed. We were told that it was nice up there and much less populated and built up, and we were looking forward to "gunkholing" around the bays.

We anchored in Fishing Bay the first night and we were the only people around for the most part! The water is very shallow in the Chesapeake, so we had to creep along to avoid going aground. Not that it is much of a problem if you do go aground, its mostly mud! Next day we moved into another little bay and saw the most massive house I've ever seen! It was on a point of land and had a view all the way down the bay - amazing! Not sure if anyone was home or not, but what a place! We anchored down a ways from the mansion, close to another large and lovely looking home (or cottage?) There was a huge hayfield for the dog to have a run in, so that was nice!

I must say that the Chesapeake is something of a letdown after the beauty of Georgian Bay...it is quite dirty and overfished (apparently the oyster stock was demolished and that is why the bay is so dirty now). Also, there are millions of jellyfish in the water, so that there is no way you can swim without being stung.

However, it was fun crab fishing (Graham and Karina caught a big male, which we later let go since it was the only one they caught, so a crab bake was out of the question!) and Graham caught his first fish with his new rod ( a little rock bass which we also released). All the kids (this includes Karina, even tho she's not really a kid...)went out in the kayak to explore closer to the water. Clare came back with some lovely oyster shells. Graham also got in some practice on the dingy and is becoming quite proficient with the motor.

The bays we stopped in were quite built up in terms of homes - some total mansions - amazing! but there were no stores anywhere near where we were! The crusing guide we have mentioned the little town of Madison for milk and beer (the necessities...)and so we motored to the harbour, only to find out that all Madison has to offer is a restaurant and a fire station! Oh dashed hopes of cereal for breakfast!

After our failed excursion to Madison, we anchored by this little beach (still in the Little Chop Tank River) and Larry and Graham and I went to the beach for a little R & R! We brought the dog, who was so excited to race along the beach and chase sticks, he even went for a swim, till he drank enough salt water to make him decide it wasn't such a great idea! Graham desperately wanted to swim, but the threat of jellyfish was hampering him! He did manage to submerge himself entirely, close to shore, and didn't get stung!

Later that night, were we in for a big storm! The wind shifted 180 degrees and the lightening north of us was awesome!!! We didn't get any of the rain that Annapolis and area got, but we did get a great light show! Apparently the storm was so bad up that way that the internet was out for about 2 days! We were already without internet so we didn't care!

We realized that we still had problems with the electrical, and that even with the motor running for hours, the batteries were not charging up properly. Larry was at his wits' end, and we were all feeling very frustrated. The fans weren't working properly, which means uncomfortable nights and grumpy people! We decided that we would do whatever it took to make sure it was working properly, so that we could head out of Deale for good.

Many games of Lost Cities (which I never won) and Ingenious (which Karina almost never lost) later, we were back at the marina on sunday, aug 26. It was time to say goodbye to Karina, who had to go back to New York for her flight back to Denmark. Graham and I drove her to Baltimore (I'm getting braver with driving!) to catch her bus. By the time we got back to the boat, Larry and Rick (a fellow liveaboard) had solved the electical problem and everyone was feeling better! Thanks Rick!!!

Tuesday morning, Larry headed north to Toronto and Midland to put "the grandpa-mobile" up on blocks. Our friends Pete and Lu are going to drive him back and hopefully will be able to stay for a sail for a few days. In the meantime, I've been doing laundry, and cleaning the boat - some things never change! I'm hoping that Larry is able to bring back some canned beans and some other things which seem so much more expensive here. I've been surprised at the cost of groceries in general, I don't know how people afford it. State tax is less than Ontario and there's no GST, but still....

I'm looking forward to heading north, up to Baltimore to see the sights there, and continuing north while we get used to the boat some more, and decide whether we all jump to Bermuda or whether Graham and I fly there!

More later.

Our First Little Cruise

Karina arrived safe and sound from New York on Monday Aug 13 around dinner time. It was great to see her - she's a terrific gal. She's full of stories from her week in New York, and her life in Denmark and her sweetie Thomas!! We got lost on our way back from Annapolis where I picked her up (it was my first time driving to Annapolis myself), so we had the scenic route on our way back home.

Well, we finally got off the dock and did a little sailing for a few days. We got the mizzen mast up with the wind generator finally and we headed out! Our first stop was the little town of Galesville (we have visited there by car) and it was so nice to anchor the boat and be head to wind for a change. The wind scoop brought a good breeze down the hatch and sleeping was nice and comfy. Next morning we headed out for St. Michaels, which is across the bay. It was a good sail and Clare showed her talents on the helm...she's a natural! St. Michaels is another OLD sailing village, and home to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum...quite a good one too, and we spent the better part of the day exploring there. Friendly people made the day fun, and fortunately St. Michaels is "dog friendly" so we could bring Beau, so he wouldn't be lonely (and howling!) on the boat.

Karina kept us entertained with the new games she brought and there was lots of time for reading! We headed back to Deale (Shipwright Harbor Marina)on Sunday afternoon because we were having some issues with the electrical system and did not feel it was doing its job correctly, and wanted it looked at before we headed out again.

Being back at the marina allowed us time to do the fun stuff, like laundry, cleaning and food shopping (oh, and rum shopping too!) It also offered time to visit with folks, and we spent a very enjoyable evening with Peter MacIntosh, a fellow liveaboard and skipper for hire. A very entertaining Scot at heart, he regaled us with tales of his 40 some odd years at sea, including most recently, skippering a 60 foot power boat up and down the east coast for the past month or so. He also sang and played Clare's guitar, which lead to both Clare and Karina playing for us too! It was a fun night.

We still haven't been able to teach Beau to pee on the boat, which he will eventually have to do if we do an ocean crossing (ie. to Bermuda) This is proving to be more of a challenge than I thought it would be....anyone with suggestions would be welcome!

Sailboat: a hole in the ocean you throw money into!!!

The weather is hot and the spending comes easy!! My oh my, we've been having fun this week! It seems that everytime we think things are under control, we find something else that needs fixing or replacing...sigh!

Our first trip to Annapolis this week garnered wet suits for Larry and Clare and new fins for me. The dive shop was in the old part of Annapolis, and what a beautiful area that is. The old buildings have been around forever, and are absolutely gorgeous and full of history. Some of the streets are cobbled in brick and it is very quaint. It is of course, unsurprisingly, a tourist area, so is very busy at this time of year.

The heat has been just brutal for the past week or so, and it really drags you out and makes tempers VERY short. Someone was telling me she thought there had been more accidents in Annapolis this week, just because of the heat...I can see it. We're talking 110 F!! plus humidity.

All the stores are airconditioned and they were working overtime! It was like walking into a freezer in some places! However, before very long, it didn't feel particularly cool inside....until you stepped outside again! YIKES!!

So our second trip to Annapolis this week cost us a packet! Graham got a good fishing rod and gear and the boat got a deep sea rod, so that we can dine on tuna and mahi-mahi for the next year! Hope so anyway! We also bought a new motor for the dingy, so now we are mobile! We have the little 7' dingy and motor for sale (could never fit the 4 of us and the dog!) and we are hoping to sell it soon. We were lucky enough to buy a great used 10' dingy in Penetang before we left (one of the few bargains we've managed to find!)

Lucky Larry has been up to his #*% in new heads over the past few days, as the old toilets were in poor repair, and the rebuild kits were as expensive as new toilets...thus, new heads for all! What a stinky job that is, and thank goodness he won't have to do it again! We are so fortunate that Larry is a handy guy and is capable of just about anything. We'd be absolutely nowhere without him!

We had the mizzen mast (the little mast at the back of the boat) taken down in order to have a wind generator installed (we're still waiting on that...)as we decided that with the amount of electricity we are drawing - what with 3 computers running all day, fans, refrigeration, music etc, we would have to run the engine 2-3 hrs/day to keep the batteries charged up - and that heats up the below decks hugely, especially in this weather! The wind generator allows us to charge the batteries easily without the heat!

We filled up with fuel the other day, and decided to take a look around the bay while we were out...and discovered that those lousy barnacles had clogged the impeller causing the engine to want to overheat! Geesh, the work and cost never ends! Another haul out to have the bottom washed and barnacles scraped...this was our 1 and only time to have her hauled out - from here on in, Larry and Clare (because she has her scuba equipment too) will be doing the scraping underwater. Here in the harbour, it was too disgusting to contemplate!

Our next trip to Annapolis was just Larry and I, and we stopped for lunch in Galesville, at the Pirates Cove restaurant...a lovely spot. Galesville was established in about 1642 and is a pretty little village. The restaurant is obviously a popular destination - it was packed when we were there! The seniors were out in full force!

After lunch we did the errands that awaited us, and made a very fortuitious visit to Bed, Bath and Beyond (that beyond section has everything!) and I was able to get a memory foam mattress topper for my bed (Wiggy is not happy if she doesn't get a decent sleep...)along with new shower curtains for the heads (marine scene of course!), a bbq scraper and a few other odds n'ends including...yes Mum- HANGERS!!! Haha, I knew I should have insisted on bringing more hangers instead of leaving them at your place!

We are also looking at buying a kayak, as Clare is worried that she will lose her mind without internet, if she has to stay on the boat with Graham 24/7. We've been checking them out at various stores to find the best deal possible. Thats on next weeks spending list!!!

We have met lots of nice folks down here - most people are very friendly and helpful. There are a few other liveaboards in the marina, and we all chat during the day. Last night we had a visit with Ken, who just returned from a month long stint as crew on a 60 foot Sea Ray for a very rich woman! That thing costs about $900 an HOUR to run at full tilt! They went from Maryland up to New York, to the Hamptons, Atlantic City and where ever else her little heart desired! I can't even imagine having that much money! Ken's a great storyteller and we had a lot of laughs as he recounted some of their adventures!

There is a swam that lives in this harbour, and the first night he swam up to the boat, Beau just about lost his mind! He was barking away at it, running up and down the deck, not sure whether to jump in after it or run away! I've been told that the swan is always here - he has an injured wing, and never leaves. He hissed nastily at the dog, and that seemed to settle it for the dog, he figured he would just watch it from then on! Graham got some nice shots of "Gregory" as Clare named him, which I will try to post, but I am having some problems with uploading pictures on this computer (damn you VISTA!) so as soon as possible!

Today is sunday, and I had written much of this blog several days ago, and lost it when the internet disconnected and haven't had the heart to redo until now! So undoubtedly I have forgotten some things, and I know I've added others! The marina puts on a nice free "brunch buffet" on sunday mornings, and we have enjoyed it very much as a place to chat with some of the characters that make this marina a nice place to be. The best part of the past couple of days is that the weather finally broke and it has been just lovely! A good breeze, not so hot, and fair skies! And cooler nights to make sleeping MUCH more comfortable! I tell you, those 110F days nearly killed me, not to mention nearly caused me to kill Larry, the kids and the dog! Temper temper!

We are looking forward to Karina's arrival tomorrow afternoon. She lived with us several years ago as a Rotary Student from Denmark, and she is back visiting some of her pals. She is a great gal, and we are excited to have her on board and intend to make sure we actually get to go sailing while she's here! She is our incentive to get everything put away, replaced, rebuilt, cleaned or labelled! Time to get busy I guess!

Hope all is well "back home" and look forward to hearing from y'all soon!