Hauling for Better Weather .....

Stan Rogers

2011-03-29T21:18:00.000-07:00

Stan Rogers was a Canadian folksinger who died in 1983. His songs are among the best of the folksingers who sang about sailors and the sea. He also sang about ordinary people and his music is both authentic and honest. There is a great documentary about his all-too-short life and his music. You can find it and view it here:

International Space Station

2009-11-12T11:12:00.000-08:00

Thanks to friend and fellow blogger Chuck Stone (http://wheres-chuck.blogspot.com/) watch the parts of the International Space Station (ISS) come together as they are sent up from Earth. This is the ISS Assembly diagram, piece by piece.

As part time dirt dwellers, Sarah and I like to gaze up at the sky whenever the ISS passes overhead and is illuminated by the setting or rising sun...just after sunset or just after sunrise. We can check the sighting schedule by entering our zip code into the NASA web site (http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/SSapplications/Post/JavaSSOP/JavaSSOP.html) and printing out all the sightings for the ISS and other objects in space visible from our Ohio home.

It's really more exciting and interesting than it may sound...give it a try!

Honor Flight

2009-08-07T01:07:00.000-07:00

On July 25th, I was privileged to escort three World War II veterans on a visit to Washington, DC. Honor Flight is a volunteer-staffed organization whose mission is to safely provide an escorted visit for World War II veterans to visit the memorials in our Nation's Capitol. These veterans are the reason the United States continues to be a free country. The memorials were earned by the valor and blood of these men and women and it was a moving experience to be with them on their visit.

Read about Honor Flight at: http://www.honorflight.org/.

After breakfast at the airport, we left Columbus, OH and arrived at Baltimore-Washington airport in Maryland where we were met by soldiers and volunteers who assisted us from the arrival gate to our bus.

Our bus driver, Campbell "Soup" volunteers to drive the chartered bus each time Honor Flight veterans travel to Washington. Campbell does his best to make the trip from BWI to Washington, DC a pleasant experience for veterans and volunteers.

The first stop on each visit is always the World War II National Memorial on the Mall. It was the first time I had visited the Memorial and it's every bit as impressive as I'd heard. We were met by more volunteers who are always there when the Honor Flight veterans arrive. Senator Bob Dole is always there to meet the Honor Flight veterans. However, since he was recovering from surgery and unable to be there, Elizabeth Dole came in his place. It was an unexpected pleasure to meet her and she was gracious and warm to each of the veterans, spending most of the time we were at the memorial with the veterans.

Mlore to follow...........................

Mystic Seaport Sea Music Festival

2009-08-07T00:08:00.000-07:00

Each year we make a pilgrimage to Mystic Seaport, Mystic CT. This year was no exception and we spent a great weekend (June 11-14) at the museum with friends we don't see often enough. The main event that attracts us is "sea music." What's "sea music" you rightly ask? If you Google it, here's where you go: http://www.mysticseaport.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewpage&page_id=C9BE0FCF-D86E-382C-FA65352B6393646D. We don't think that link really gives a complete picture of the event, so here's another link where you can find photos of the performers and much more about the museum: http://www.flickr.com/groups/mysticseaportseamusicfestival2008/. We were going to include some of our own photos here, but there are so many on the last link and so much better than ours, we don't need to add any of our own.

Each day there are scheduled performances and after that day's scheduled events, there is a "Pub Sing" that sometimes goes on into the early hours of the following morning with "open microphones" (figuratively speaking since real sea shantymen (and women) don't need microphones!). The formal events end on Sunday evening and the survivors end up in Groton, CT at the Griswold Inn for a "Survivor's Night" of one last round of shantying before we all depart for the eight points of the compass.

Next year we'll be back for more!

Where Has the Year Gone?

2009-01-14T13:58:00.000-08:00

Our last post was almost ten months ago and we don't blame you for losing interest! So let me try to arouse enough interest in you to read on and come back. I will be posting updates to our web log again as we get ready for another adventure. However, as I am writing this update in Ohio, the snow is falling, the sun has set, and the temperature is heading for the single digits. And once again, we are thinking of "hauling for better weather!"

Since March 2008, we've been pretty much full time "dirt dwellers" with the exception of a few, all-too-brief visits to maintain Windreka. The boatowners rule is...if you're not fixing at least two things a day, you're falling behind! By that standard, we are way behind.

The only nautical activity we've been involved in this past year was to prepare for Tropical Storm/Hurricane Hanna which appeared to be aiming directly at Beaufort, SC. Since the marina implemented a new policy that required all boats to be moved prior to the arrival of a hurricane, Joe spent much of the week before the storm made landfall preparing Windreka and planning to move her. Friends, Frank and Adam had already scouted out some excellent "hurricane holes" nearby and Joe moved Windreka along with Wander (Frank's boat) and Journey (Adam's boat) to Edding Creek located on the right side of the overhead photo on the right. The Creek is a 30 minute ride (at 6 knots) from the marina located on the left side of the photo. We anchored the boats within 15 feet of the west side of the island in about 25' of water and we each put out three anchors...one to the north, west and south with between 100' and 250' of either chain or chain and nylon rode. At this anchorage, we were convinced we could ride any storm surge or tidal current that Hanna could throw at us.

Frank's boat (on the left) is a sturdy 43' Endeavour and Adam's boat (on the right) is a trim 34' Pacific Seacraft. Windreka is on the left below. We were lined up from north to south along the sandy banks of the island and could have deployed more lines to shore if we thought they were needed.

After all our preparatory work, the storm decided to pass us by. Since it was clear Hanna would remain offshore, we decided to remain on board. We did have a rainy, windy morning as the storm moved past us on its way toward the North Carolina-South Carolin state line where it came ashore. After the rain ended, we spent a pleasant weekend at anchor reviewing our preparations and learning from our mistakes. Of course, without refrigeration, our beer supply was getting warm; so we were forced to make it a priority to attend to that problem. With the storm offshore, the sunsets were spectacular and the shrimp fishermen didn't even pause in their work. From our secure anchorage, we watched several boats come and go followed by hundreds of birds...and the shrimp catch was obviously bountiful!

Day 112-116 - 27-31 March

2008-04-01T22:43:00.000-07:00

We left the Herb River Anchorage in time to arrive at the Ladies Island Bridge after the morning rush hour...yes, under certain circumstances, the rush hour still has a negative impact on retired folks. However, we don't mind the impact since the traffic delays that occur when we ask a bridge to open for us probably are worse than the inconvenience of having to wait for the rush hour to be over...after all, we don't have a schedule to keep!

We try to do our part by contacting the bridge tender just before we arrive so he or she knows we are arriving. Normally, the bridge tenders work closely with us to time the opening just as we are about to go into a panic as we approach the bridge. Some bridges are slow to open due to the mechanical design and these are particularly interesting since we have to adjust our speed...sometimes when the current is pushing us toward the bridge...to make certain we have enough clearance for our mast to get past the steel and concrete without causing anything to hit and result in metal fragments dropping onto the deck. So far...so good!

As soon as we are clear, we call the bridge tender to let him/her know just about the same time as the horn sounds announcing the bridge is closing right behind us. The sequence is something like this...

"Ladies Island Bridge...Ladies Island Bridge, this is the northbound sailing vessel Windreka." To which the bridge tender responds, "Vessel calling the Ladies Island Bridge, this is the Ladies Island Bridge." To which we respond, "Ladies Island Bridge, this is Windreka...request an opening at your convenience." To which the bridge tender responds, "Windreka, I will open the bridge as soon as you get close...keep coming." To which we respond, "Roger...we will keep approaching."

The next thing that usually happens is a bell or horn on the bridge will sound and shortly afterwards the traffic control gates will drop, stopping traffic. Shortly after that, the bridge will begin to slowly open for our passage and we will put the boat into high gear to time our arrival and passage when the bridge is fully open. All this sounds very easy, but imagine several boats competing for space in a narrow channel all waiting for the bridge to open. Imagine also a bunch of other boats on the opposite side of the bridge waiting to come through too. The rule is the boats being pushed through with the current have the right of way, but not everyone knows and observes this rule. Imagine also, powerboats trying to get through ahead of the sailboats because they will pass them anyway after they get through the bridge. Imagine also a few small powerboats that can get under the bridge without waiting for it to open and trying to work their way through the flock of boats waiting on either side. Imagine all this and you have some idea of what happens when we have to request a bridge to open for us.

Sometimes interesting things can happen. For example, a bridge tender may reply, "Windreka, there is a little old man in a wheelchair trying to cross the bridge and I can't ask him to hurry. I'll have to wait until he gets to the opposite side before I can open the bridge." To which we can only respond, "Ladies Island Bridge, Windreka is standing by," while we both wait for the senior citizen to make his way safely across the bridge.

Just before we arrived at the bridge this morning, the wind piped up and increased in velocity as we approached Parrot Creek leading into the Morgan River. The wind was really blowing and the waves were crashing over the deck as we approached the turn toward the marina. In addition it was blowing from the south and would be pushing us away from the dock as we approached.

We contacted Dataw Island Marina to let them know we would be arriving about the time they would normally be closing operations for the day. We offered to anchor near the marina and come in the next morning, but they insisted we should come to the dock and they would meet us to take our lines. With the assistance of Ben and Willie, the marina dock crew, and friends Frank and Debbie, we arrived and secured our lines on the marina face dock for the night. We planned to top off our fuel tanks and move into our slip the next morning when the tidal currents were slack and the wind lighter.

After 112 days our first long distance cruising adventure was at an end and all that remained was to square Windreka away for a month or so and return home to face the IRS and our groundwater drainage challenges. The easy part was over and we have a lot of memories and stories to share with friends and neighbors.

In between cleaning and squaring Windreka away, we did take some time to relax with our friends who live at Dataw Island. Joe and Frank and Frank's grandson, Michael took an afternoon to explore a couple of the nearby creeks off the Morgan River. We found a couple of likely locations for Frank to explore on his search for the ultimate shark's tooth and we found the back side of the island where the US Government keeps monkeys that are used in research.

We celebrated Sarah's birthday at the Johnson Creek restaurant with friends Frank and Adam and the next day we celebrated again by doing seven loads of laundry.

On Monday, we had a real treat. The Spirit of South Carolina arrived to spend the next ten days at Dataw Island. The Spirit is a training vessel designed as a replica of a pilot schooner and roughly the same size as the Pride of Baltimore II...although the Pride is designed as a replica of a Baltimore Clipper. Read more about the Spirit at: http://www.scmaritime.org/. And while you're at it, read more about the Pride at: http://www.pride2.org/.

We will leave Windreka in Beaufort in the able hands of the Dataw Island Marina staff and start our trip home on 1 April. Actually, there is a lot more going on than stated in this last sentence and if you check back, you may read more about it!

Day 111 - 26 March

2008-04-01T22:10:00.000-07:00

We awoke to a light breeze from the NNE and decided it was time to move further north. We cast off our lines and left Jekyll Harbor Marina bound for the dreaded Georgia skinny water on the ICW. To our surprise and probably due to leaving with the rising tide, we had absolutely no difficulty finding more than enough water beneath Windreka's keel to keep us afloat with room to spare. We had a pleasant day cruising through the isolated ICW creeks and channels and only met a handful of other boats during the day.

We arrived at the same New Teakettle Creek anchorage we stopped at on our way south. It was a pleasant place then and this time we had the anchorage to ourselves...just the way we like it. It was early in the afternoon and it was pleasantly warm, so we watched the pelicans fishing for their dinner before we went below to prepare our own dinner.

Day 108-110 - 23-25 March

2008-03-30T21:18:00.000-07:00

We were conflicted about how to handle the next leg of our cruise. We had heard lots of recent complaints and reports about the shallow water in Georgia. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Georgia budget for keeping the ICW open and dredged was underfunded this year and little work was done to keep the ICW channel open through some of the "skinniest" water of the ICW. The weather forecast wasn't ideal but wasn't too discouraging, so we decided to take the outside route and headed out for the Atlantic along St. Mary's inlet. The inlet is a long one and we rolled in the 2-4 foot swells for almost five miles before we could head north. When we finally headed north we found we were pitching continually in the rolling waves and facing a counter current that combined to reduce our forward speed to less than 2 nautical miles per hour. After a few minutes we realized we had made a mistake and headed back toward the inlet, back into the channel, and back to the ICW.

We passed the south end of Cumberland Island about three hours after we had departed and continued past the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay under the watchful eyes of the Homeland Security patrol boat. Kings Bay is one of the homeports of the US Navy Trident submarine fleet which are the platforms for the nuclear sea launched ballistic missile and sea launched cruise missile weapon systems.

We arrived at the Jekyll Harbor Marina in the late afternoon and took a berth along the north end of the large face dock where we spent the next two nights. At least the adverse weather each day ended in a spectacular sunset.

The following day Joe walked along the bike paths on the south end of Jekyll Island to enjoy the scenery and look for the "Glory Dock" where the final battle scenes of the movie Glory were shot. It was a cool day and the wind continued blowing from the north so we remained at the Jekyll Harbor Marina for another day to let the wind diminish and shift around to the south. At least we got to sample a little of the scenery of another picturesque Georgia barrier island.

Day 106-107 - 21-22 March

2008-03-28T20:24:00.000-07:00

One of the more interesting areas we visited was Cumberland Island. We anchored off the Sea Camp Dock on the east side both on the way south and again on the way north. The island, one of Georgia's barrier islands, is over 17 miles long, with an area of 36,415 acres, including marsh mudflats and tidal creeks. Most of Cumberland Island is part of the National Seashore. The National Park Service limits how many people can be on the island at any one time. The island has three major ecosystem regions. Along the western edge of the island are large areas of saltwater marshes. Live oak trees covered with Spanish moss and palmetto plants live at the edge of Cumberland's dense maritime forest. Cumberland Island's most famous ecosystem is its beach, which stretches from Long Point on the north to the southern tip. Along this long stretch of white sand, one may see wild horses, birds, and other wildlife. This area is also a nesting area for loggerhead sea turtles.

We anchored on the west side of the island near Sea Camp Dock, one of the two docks where ferry boats tie up twice daily and cruisers can tie up their dinghies while exploring the National Seashore. We joined a guided tour led by Rene a lively and entertaining National Park Service ranger who met the ferry boat and took the group of us on a tour of the southern part of the island. Along the way, we found a number of small fossilized sharks teeth. The little fellow on the left upstaged Rene at one point of her narration and the group got up to get a closer look at him/her. Until today, Sarah who is from Texas and real armadillo country had never seen one of these little armored creatures alive and in its natural habitat. Apparently there are lots of has-been armadillos to be found in Texas along the side of the highways there.

Afterwards we took off on our own to explore the island. From the Sea Camp Dock we walked south to the ruins of an old mansion that once belonged to the wealthy owners of the island. Then over a boardwalk from the live oak forests to the dunes and beach of the east side of the island facing the Atlantic.

We turned north again along the beach to head back for the path through the dunes and live oak forest to Sea Camp Dock where we started. Along the beach we saw birds and a small herd of wild horses. According to the latest census this month there are about 124 wild horses on Cumberland Island and we saw small herds as we came up the river, as we were walking along the beach and south of Sea Camp Dock while we were back on Windreka at anchor. We found the pole marking the boardwalk from the beach to Sea Camp Dock and headed back west past the campgrounds and toward the Sea Camp Dock and our anchorage. We met several interesting people as we walked along the island. We ended up resting on the porch of the Sea Camp cabin with some fellow cruisers, Frank and Terry. After a short rest, we climbed back into our dinghy and returned to our boat to get ready for the next leg of our cruise.

Day 105 - 20 March

2008-03-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

We went to sleep with the wind howling and gusting and Windreka rocking and rolling in our slip at the St. Augustine City Marina. We woke up again at 4:30 AM to a heavy rain. After shutting ports and hatches and side curtains, we went back to sleep and woke up once again at sunrise to overcast skies and cool weather. After a quick breakfast, the sun came out and we put on our jackets and headed "downtown." As we do any place the Old Town Trolley runs, we signed up to take the tour and take advantage of the ability to get on or off the trolley at any of their stops. All the sights we wanted to see were included on the tour and since we allowed ourself only one day to "do the town," we had our plan and we executed.

One of the major stops was the Castillo de San Marcos where we walked around this historic US National Park. The Castillo is a Spanish built fort located in St. Augustine. It was known as Fort Marion from 1821 until 1942, and Fort St. Mark from 1763 until 1784 while under British control. The Castillo is a masonry star fort made of a stone called "coquina", literally "little shells", made of ancient shells that have bonded together to form a type of stone similar to limestone. Workers were brought in from Cuba to construct the fort and the coquina was quarried from Anastasia Island across the bay from the Castillo, and ferried across to the construction site. Construction lasted twenty-three years, being completed in 1695. For a detailed history of the Castillo, look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_de_San_Marcos.

Flagler College and Hotel

St. Augustine Lighthouse and the 219 steos to the top not climbed!

Mission Nombre de Dios is the location where the first Catholic Mass was said in the United States. The mission was one of the first Spanish missions to the Indians of Florida and was established soon after the founding of St. Augustine in 1565. Due to the hostility of the Indians, the Jesuits withdrew from the mission in 1572. In 1573 the Franciscans began missionary work along the Atlantic coast. The mission system collapsed at the beginning of the 18th century after raids by soldiers and their Indian allies.

Lynn Hershfeld and Coyote, Gulfstar 50

Etc.

Day 104 - 19 March

2008-03-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

The bascule bridge just north of the Daytona Beach anchorage has restricted opening hours during the morning and evening rush hours. So we planned on arriving at the bridge just after the morning rush hour restrictions ended. The wind was at our backs though it was a bit lighte most of the day. Nevertheless, it was another rolling, struggling with the helm day...so much for following seas and winds at your back!

We arrived at the St. Augustine City Marina fuel dock to top off and established another personal best...diesel fuel at $4.10 per gallon! It just keeps going higher and higher. The fuel dock attendant told us that the price was $3.74 per gallon a week ago and the cost has gone up each day...just like the gas stations back home! One of our favorite web sites (http://www.cruisersnet.net/index.php) is attempting to track and advise boaters about the price of fuel and the location of fuel docks offering diesel and lower prices, but with the volatility of the fuel prices this will be difficult to do.

The City Marina is a bit pricey, but we are impressed with the courtesy and professionalism of the dock staff and the facilities are excellent. We were met at the fuel dock by Mike and Jim who helped us with our lines as we struggled with the wind, current and unfamiliar facility. After topping off, registering and paying our bill, we were assisted by Mike and Jim with our departure from the fuel dock and our arrival around the corner at our slip. We can't say enough in admiration of the way we were welcomed and with the extra effort that was made to ensure we were securely and properly tied up at the dock, our electrical lines connected, our cable TV connection was made, and a welcome mat laid out...yes, a welcome mat! It may be pricey but we certainly got royal treatment.

We made a run on the marina store to pick up some touring information to plan our time tomorrow. In the morning, we'll take the Trolley Tour (http://www.trolleytours.com/) to scope out the historical sites and in the afternoon, we'll stop at the ones we like best.

St. Augustine...the nation's oldest city...holds the distinction of being one of the nation's most charming. St. Augustine was founded forty-two years before the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, and fifty-five years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts - making it the oldest permanent European settlement on the North American continent. Read more about St. Augustine at: http://www.oldcity.com/.

Day 103 - 18 March

2008-03-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

We planned to anchor in Rock House Creek where we stopped on the way down to the Keys. But we were making such good time and we want to get to St. Augustine tomorrow, so we decided to stop at Daytona Beach at a new anchorage north of the city. The Anchorage was a bit exposed, but the holding was excellent according to Skipper Bob and he was right. The anchor came up in the morning with glue-like mud stuck to it. It took an extra effort to hose all the mud off as Joe was hauling it in...no danger of dragging even with the gusty winds from the south!

The route from Cocoa to Daytona isn't one of our favorites. It consists of long, straight, narrow, shallow channels through wide expanses of water...the Indian River, Mosquito Lagoon and Banana River. Also, the wind and waves were on our stern which made it a rolling trip struggling with the helm all the way.

Other than the opportunity to see a lot of birds, dolphin, manatees, etc., the only interesting part of the trip is passing by the Patrick Air Force Base and the Kennedy Space Center where all of our space history is centered. The Space Shuttle Vehicle Assembly Building can be seen for miles and is an impressive sight not only from a distance but from Joe's recollection of a tour of the Space Center several years ago.

We missed the shuttle launch of STS 123 last week and we hoped to catch a glimpse of the military GPS payload which was launched on Saturday. But Miami was too far south...although Joe thinks he saw the booster rocket separation...for the shuttle launch and it was too cloudy for us to see the military payload launch from Cocoa early Saturday morning. It would surely have been an impressive sight to see either of the night launches.

Just north of the Space Center is the Haulover Canal which is a historic channel between the Indian River to the west and the Mosquito Lagoon to the east and is just north of Merritt Island. The Canal is also part of the Canaveral National Seashore. Read about them at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaveral_National_Seashore and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Haulover_Canal.

Manatees are everywhere in Central Florida. This one was in the water in the Haulover Canal. They still look like floating logs and have to be protected by a set of power boat speed management measures. Sailboats are slow enough that they pose small danger to manatees and most wounding or killing appears to be from strikes from fast moving power boats. In fact we kept a close watch for manatees, but all we saw were dolphin.

Just offshore of Central and Northern Florida and Georgia are the Right Whale feeding, calving and migration habitat between 1 December and 31 March. We are keeping a close lookout when we are on the Atlantic. However, there are only an estimated 350 Right Whales left in the Atlantic. They are a rare sight and it's illegal to approach closer than 500 yards.

Day 102 - 17 March

2008-03-17T18:25:00.000-07:00

We woke up to the sound of someone behind the boat making a lot of noise and obviously not trying to be quiet or respectful of anyone's privacy...then we remembered we were in Florida. There was dredging going on...as previously mentioned, we did touch bottom coming in to the marina. However, it was a bit annoying to find the dredging contractor parking his equipment within inches of Windreka's stern and dinghy without even the courtesy of telling us they would be working next to us. The operator of the work platform in the photos walked by our boat a half dozen times during the day without speaking to us.

The east winds today were still higher...gusts over 25 knots...and the intracoastal waterway chop was choppier than our relaxed cruising comfort factor allows. So we decided to lay over another day and go back to look at the historic Cocoa Village near the marina.

We spent a relaxing morning reading and relaxing on Windreka and a nice afternoon walking around the shops in Cocoa Village (http://www.cocoavillage.com/). The little fellow on the right came out to welcome us and decided to visit for a few minutes. Among other things, we discovered the Village Ice Cream and Sandwich Shop (http://www.cocoavillage.com/directory/listing/index.html?id=893 id=893) and Joe found a real hardware store (Travis Hardware...http://www.cocoavillage.com/directory/hardware/). It's always reassuring to know that there are still real hardware stores in existence and there are alternatives to Home Depot and Lowes! Wonder of wonders...we were welcomed, asked once if we needed any assistance or were looking for anything specific, invited to look around on both floors, and never once treated as if we were shoplifters.

Now here's a historic character!

After our trip "downtown" we returned to Windreka to get ready to depart in the morning. We can probably count on the dredging crew to wake us up and we have to make our way out of the marina before we are blocked in by them. Hopefully, the wind will start to clock around to the southeast a bit to reduce the chop and rolling motion of the waves.

Day 100-101 15-16 March

2008-03-16T21:25:00.000-07:00

We knew it was going to be a long day when we left Fort Pierce at 9:00 AM without coffee! Java Charlies near the Fort Pierce City Marina was our first stop of the day since they open every day at 7:00 AM...that is every day except Saturday and Sunday. So all we got out of the short walk to downtown Fort Pierce was a bit of exercise and a walk back through the crafts flea market set up near the marina.

We didn't stay long and didn't buy anything. We got back to Windreka and promptly cast off the lines and headed out. The wind was pressing us against the dock as we left and that's always exciting with the dinghy hanging off the davits and sticking out on either side just enough to snag any dock pilings that are too close...and they're all too close when the wind is holding you against the dock. Nevertheless, we got off without incident.

On the way out the well-marked channel, we scraped once but the brief encounter didn't slow Windreka down at all and we continued on our way.

The wind was south when we started out and shifted to the west which made it an ideal day for sailing except that the Indian River channel is narrow and the water shallow on either side for all but the last 30 miles. By then the wind was a steady 20-25 knots with gusts to 45...too much for us to handle.

We arrived at the Cocoa Village Marina and found our slip. Despite the assurance of the dockmaster, we touched the bottom a second time as we were rounding the corner of the northern bulkhead...again not slowing us down. Nevertheless, after a day of breath-holding as we fought the cross-winds and the weekend boaters who don't seem to understand how to keep to their own side of the channel in a cross wind, touching bottom always is a bit startling...especially after seeing a few boats like the one in these photos!

After showers and a quick bite to eat, we were really tired after the long day of fighting with too much wind, so we turned in. Also, since Joe's son and grandson were coming to spend the day and visit in the late morning, we allowed ourselves an extra hour of sleep before they arrived.

Joe and Andrew arrived just before lunch time. After a short visit, we walked to the downtown Village of Cocoa to look for a place to eat lunch and for Sarah to pick up a few souvenirs. We decided to eat at the local Outback Restaurant just over the bridge to Merritt Island. Bill, our waiter, was a New England expatriate and he immediately picked up on Joe's dialect. After we exchanged details of their mutual New England backgrounds, we ordered lunch and practiced our one-handed drink coaster edge-of-the-table "flip up and catch" skills.

After lunch Andrew practiced his helmsmanship skills and we spent the afternoon talking about family, friends, and what was going on in our lives.

While we were talking we noticed a brown floating log in the thoroufhfare between the marina slips. It turned out the log was really a manatee floating on the surface of the water and munching on the grass and weeds in the water below.

It's next to impossible to sight these creatures in a slow moving vessel...in our case, we don't think the dock was even moving. It must be completely impossible to look out and see these slow-moving creatures from the bridge of a power boat moving at 25 mph...the standard speed restriction in any area where manatees gather to eat and do whatever manatees do for a living. Whenever we see one of these creatures, we can't help think about a song about "Hugh the Manatee" written and performed by a Washington couple who perform under the stage name of Magpie (http://www.magpiemusic.com/). With thanks to our friend Allan who did the research, you can listen to Magpie sing about Hugh and read the lyrics at: http://www.sirenian.org/HughLyrics.html !

Day 99 - 14 March

2008-03-15T01:09:00.000-07:00

We left Lake Worth at 9:00 AM and headed out the Lake Worth inlet for the ocean. We arrived at Fort Pierce at 3:30 PM recording an average speed of almost 8 knots.

The wind was supposed to be Southwest at 10-15 knots. Instead it was...where else...on our nose and 5-10 knots. So we motored the entire way. The good news of the day is that the autopilot did most of the work and we were able to relax in the cockpit as we kept watch on our way to the Fort Pierce inlet.

Day 96-98 - 11-13 March

2008-03-15T00:37:00.000-07:00

We left Miami Marine Stadium and headed out Government Cut to the North Atlantic. We got to Boca Raton when the engine sputtered. Joe did his usual underway Racor filter changes with little effect except a continually sputtering engine...must be an almost empty fuel tank! Switching fuel tanks only made the matter worse and...uh oh...the water alarm indicating water in the fuel started to sound just before the engine decided its tolerance limits were exceeded and it stopped.

We drifted for a while as Joe poured the 10 gallons of fuel in the on-deck containers into the starboard fuel tank, drained the Racor filter bowls to get rid of the water that was already in the fuel lines and started the engine again. By this time the dive boat we were drifting toward was becoming very nervous...although the safety people on deck didn't recall their divers!

Anyway we made it to the Lake Worth Anchorage where we assessed the problem and made plans to take a slip in the New Port Cove Marina in the morning to figure out how to get the water out of our infected fuel tank.

We decided to do it right and let the professionals handle it. We contacted Marine Environmental Services (http://cleanmytank.com/) and made arrangements with John Cafiero to come to the Marina to assess and remediate the damage. John arrived precisely as promised at 11:00 AM...always a good sign...and went right to work. Within an hour we had clean empty but clean fuel tanks. Since he was already set up to do the work, we had John clean and suck the accumulation of stuff from our bilge and after a short time, we also had a clean bilge.

We had at least two inches of water and the attendant dead bug bodies in each tank and when John was finished we had two empty but clean fuel tanks. So Joe took the aforementioned two 5-gallon diesel containers and trucked them back and forth from the diesel fuel pump to the boat and filled the starboard tank with 65 gallons of fuel at $3.95 per gallon...a new high!

This took most of the afternoon due to the lack of accessibility of the diesel fuel pump. The main reason for the inaccessibility is this marina caters to dry stored boats which are stacked four levels high in two big storage locations. The fuel dock is located at the end of a 200 foot thoroughfare that is only about 75 feet wide...more than enough room the small power boats to fuel up, turn around and leave the fuel dock. On one side of the thoroghfare were some of the small power boats. On the other side were two $4,500,000 yachts...you did read that right and the number of zeros is correct...and there was no room for us to turn around once we got to the fuel pumps. We were really concerned that bumping up against these expensive boats might damage our boat so, Joe trucked the fuel 10 gallons at a time.

We decided to spend a second night at the marina and leave early the next morning to head to Fort Pierce. The wind was favorable for sailing and the wave height was predicted to be less than two feet, so we prepared Windreka for an early departure, showered, watched a movie...Spiderman 2...and turned in.

Day 93-95 - 8-10 March

2008-03-10T15:53:00.000-07:00

There were welcoming signs posted all over the anchorage and we certainly felt like guests...all we were missing was for the mayor to come out to the boat and offer us the key to the city. Seriously, cruising sailboaters are finding Florida less and less a friendly place to visit and the state and local communities are doing their best to force everyone into marinas which are becoming more and more expensive...similar to what the luxury tax did for boat sales a couple of decades back!

We awoke at daybreak to winds gusting to 40 knots and heavy rain that continued for an hour or so. After the front passed, the sun came out and even with a brisk wind from the northwest, the crews were able to get a full day of racing in. We didn't have a program so we don't know who was racing, who won, or who lost. But it was interesting to watch in between reading, relaxing and just taking it easy.

There are some boats and boaters that probably should be kept out of an anchorage and we noticed about one third of the boats in the anchorage appeared to be legitimate cruisers. The other two thirds looked a lot like this boat. Despite the presence of the Miami Marine Police, the only boats they were herding around were the boats with people on them. They were ignoring the abandoned boats and boats with no one on them...strange...and we have to say that Miami is the only location on the ICW where we were made to feel less than welcome.

Despite the noise and commotion of the weekend at the anchorage, we were protected from the wind and weather and our anchor only dragged once...a first for the trip! We recovered easily and no damage was done either to Windreka or any other boat in the anchorage.

The skyline was interesting both during the day and at night. Note the Florida colors on the building to the right of center!

No, it's not your eyes...the Miami skyline at night is difficult to capture with a slow shutter speed on the deck of a sailboat bouncing around at anchor...at least that's our story and we're sticking to it!

Day 91-92 - 6-7 March

2008-03-10T15:34:00.001-07:00

After refueling yesterday afternoon, we reluctantly cast off our dock lines at noon and headed north. We motored all the way to Rodriguez Key and with the late start arrived at the anchorage on the northeast side of the key after sunset. We felt our way between the several boats already at anchor and found a secure and protected place to set our own anchor. We turned our anchor light on and settled in for the night. The wind blew strongly most of the night but our anchor held and we slept peacefully.

The next morning we arose and got started early to make the entrance to Angelfish Creek when the tide was high. We were able to motor sail most of the way and took down the head sail within a mile of the Angelfish Creek entrance. As soon as we got through the passage, we were able to raise the head sail again on a comparatively smooth Biscayne Bay. Within a mile of the Rickenbacker highway bridge, we lowered the sail and motored into the anchorage at the Miami Marine Stadium.

As soon as we lowered our anchor, a Miami Marine Police boat approached and told us we couldn't anchor where we had on the way south...it was clear and reasonable once we asked and were told. There was an intercollegiate crew regatta and crew races scheduled for Saturday and the crews were practicing on Friday. We moved Windreka to an approved location and had a ring-side seat for the practice sessions and the races the next day.

Day 89-90 - 4-5 March

2008-03-10T08:13:00.001-07:00

While we were back at Marathon, planning a cruise into the key area north of Key West and Marathon, we listened to the weather forecast and it looked as if we should remain at Marathon for another several days. We also received a call from Sarah's daughter about the wet and snowy weather at home. Tiffany also sent some photos that gave us serious concern about the continuing lack of ground water drainage around our house. While there was nothing we could do immediately about the accumulated water, it's clear we have to do something more than what has been done so far to alleviate the problem. At least the high water alarm in our sump pump hasn't gone off indicating that the problem appears to be under control. What we don't know is our margin of safety. So we considered our options:

1. Wait several days for the incoming front to pass so we could head into the area of the keys we hadn't visited yet and hope the weather window stayed open long enough for us to get back to Marathon and leave a comfortable amount of time remaining to head back to Beaufort, SC and return home to file our income tax reports and deal with the lack of ground water drainage.

2. Start heading back north and find an anchorage where we could wait comfortably for the incoming front to pass and open a weather window for us to get back into the ICW with a comfortable amount of time to stop at some of the places we missed on the way south before heading home to deal with taxes, water and local government bureaucracy.

Since there were too many uncertainties associated with the first option, we decided on the second and will leave Marathon on Thursday, 6 March. Meanwhile, here are a few photos of the water problem we have to face when we return home to face what keeps us awake at night while we try to enjoy retirement. The photos on the left were taken a few days ago. The photos on the right were taken a year ago.

This photo looks even worse than a year ago when ground water completely filled the south and west side of our property to a depth of more than a foot. The water was prevented from flowing downhill following the natural grade of the land (to the southeast) by the lack of a drainage ditch along the township road on the south side of our house (foreground of the first photo), the lack of a culvert under the township road and the lack of a drainage ditch along the county road to the east of our house (left side of the first photo).

When the problem first appeared, we contacted the township and the county authorities whose first reaction was it's not their problem. After several meetings with the township and county, both agreed to support development of a road project to improve the drainage, but only because ground water had risen to cover the township road. Of course in keeping with a government bureaucracy, the county insisted on a study and we were told that without such a study, the project would be disapproved, but might be approved the following year if adequate justification (e.g., the aforementioned study) was included.
We volunteered to assist with development of the project documentation. However, our offer to assist was ignored, the deadline for submission of the project passed and, to our knowledge, the road project was not developed adn submitted. So, after over a year of discussion, there has been nothing done to solve the problem!

This isn't completely surprising since local governments tend to ignore ground water problems. Years ago, when farmers had a ground water drainage problem, they installed clay pipe...so-called "tiles"...to drain their fields and let them plant crops. Local government were quite happy to let the landowners deal with their problems...especially since they weren't prepared to deal with them.

Fast forward to the present and these same local governments still operate the way they did 50 years ago and are still not prepared to deal with water drainage problems. Instead they rely on the old, broken drainage systems installed by the farmers years ago. There aren't even any records of where these drainage systems may have existed and many farms have been broken up into local government-approved house lots. In our area, one house can be built on two acres.

To exacerbate the growing water drainage problem, local governments issue permits to build houses and permits to occupy houses and levy taxes without addressing the increased water drainage problems resulting from the houses they have approved. On the other hand, they collect real estate taxes without setting aside some portion of these taxes to address the lack of a drainage and sewage infrastructure.

We believe the water drainage problem is the tip of just one of the icebergs facing these local governments. However, with the exception of a few open-minded people, most of the local officials we have met and talked to, are not even willing to consider that there might be a common problem. Meanwhile water is impeded from flowing downhill by the lack of a proper drainage system.

Day 88 - 3 March

2008-03-07T21:01:00.001-08:00

The Dry Tortugas are legally an unincorporated part of Monroe County, Florida and the Lower Keys. The Dry Tortugas National Park consists of seven islands, or keys and the surrounding reef. Located on Garden Key is Fort Jefferson, the largest 19th century American coastal fort. The fort is surrounded by a moat which now serves to protect the walls of the fort from weather by breaking the waves before they reach the walls. The light that was built on Garden Key just visible in the center picture above the walls has now been replaced by a lighthouse on Loggerhead Key, the largest island of the Tortugas which can be seen in the map on the right and in the photo below.

We left Marathon and headed for Key West at 6:00AM to get on one of the two ferryboats to Dry Tortugas National Park at 7:30AM. The ferry we took was the less expensive and was run by Sunny Days (http://www.drytortugas.com/) and advertises itself as the fastest ferry and the name of the boat name is Fast Cat. The cost was $120/adult with a $10 discount for seniors (over 62). The other ferry was Yankee Freedom II (http://yankeefreedom.com/) and cost $149/adult. It advertises itself as the largest, most stable and comfortable way to get to the fort. Both vessels were there today. The tours advertised by the ferry services are actually run by a Park Service Ranger who conducts a guided tour of Fort Jefferson.

We would have preferred to sail Windreka the 70 miles from Key West to the Dry Tortugas and pictured her in the natural harbor in front of Fort Jefferson. However, the weather conditions weren't right and we were concerned about getting stuck for several days while we waited for the weather to clear. So, the second best thing was to take a ferry to the Dry Tortugas. As it was, the trip back was a bit rough and the Fast Cat wasn't as fast as it was advertised to be. In fact it frequently had to slow down to avoid bashing into high waves and deep troughs on the way back to Key West...but that was all right with those of us who value safety and comfort over recklessness and discomfort.

Bush Key is the closest to Garden Key and is not open to the public for several months of the year. It's the habitat for Sooty Terns which nest during the restricted months (September thru April) and we could see many of them flying above the island. The shoal area to the left of Bush Key is part of the channel into the harbor at Garden Key which is just visible at the lower left of the photo on the right.

Frigate birds are another winged inhabitant of the Dry Tortugas. These amazing birds have a wing span of seven feet, yet only weigh about three pounds soaking wet. Hundreds of them can be seen soaring on the thermals above the fort. Except for flapping their wings to climb into the air to find the thermals and to land, they seem to glide effortlessly overhead enjoying themselves and not making any sound that we could hear. What a life!

In addition to the birds and the lovely water, Fort Jefferson is the main attraction at Dry Tortugas. The Fort was built as part of the system of coastal defenses built between 1817 and 1867. Within a half mile of Fort Jefferson is a natural anchorage bowl of approximately 50 feet deep and two miles in diameter...the only anchorage between Chesapeake Bay and the Rio Grande deep enough to host the battleships of 1898. The guns of Fort Jefferson commanded the anchorage and with a fleet of battleships berthed in the anchorage and scouts spread out over the navigable waters nearby, naval control could be exerted over the Gulf of Mexico and the nearby islands of the Caribbean and the Bahamas.

Construction of the fort was never completed and during the Civil War, it remained in Union hands and became a military prison for captured deserters. You can read more about the Dry Tortugas at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_Tortugas and enjoy the photos we took while we were there. The official National Park Service web site for the Dry Tortugas is: http://www.nps.gov/drto/

The big powder magazine is depicted on the first photo. There were several powder magazines planned or built and this was the largest. If it's readable on the weblog, the plans for the powder magazines is outlined on the next photo. The third photo shows the bins where the powder was to be stored inside the magazine.
Inside the fort looking north toward the US Park Service rangers' apartments and the foundations of the officers' barracks. The big magazine would be just behind the fort structure on the right hand side of the photo.

Fort Jefferson was constructed with arches everywhere. The coral limestone foundation for the fort was inadequate to support the heavy weight of the fort walls and the installed weapons and the arches helped reinforce the walls. In addition, well over a hundred cisterns were built into the walls all around the perimeter of the fort to catch and hold rainfall as the only source existing source of fresh water without having to import it.

Arches were also a strategic engineering plan to help deflect cannon shot from an attacking vessel and if the shot hit the fort and did damage, the arches helped ensure the walls would not collapse.

The old lighthouse on top of the fort is another example of the heavy weight the walls of the fort were asked to support.

Looking toward the west with the foundations of the officers' barracks and the Park rangers' apartments in the background.

The casement windows all around the fort were once protected by iron shutters that opened when the cannon was moved into firing position. After the cannon was fired, the recoil pushed the cannon back into the casement and the shutters closed automatically to protect the crew of the cannon until they were ready to fire the next shot. Unfortunately, the shutters were made of iron and didn't last long in the salt air. Neither did the bricks and mortar surrounding the casements. There is currently a three-year project going on to repair and restore the shutters, brick work and mortar around the casement windows.

Still another heavy item located on the top of the fort walls were the huge parrott rifles. The parrot rifles were an innovation that improved the accuracy, range and lethality of artillery. Grooves were cut into the barrel of the cannon to impart a spin on the artillery shells that stabilized them in flight and enabled them to travel further and do more damage (compare the range of a football to a basketball). Interestingly, the development of the parrott rifle also made the series of forts that made up the defenses of the coastal United States obsolete. That's one of the reasons Fort Jefferson was never finished.

The building on the right is a "hot shot" furnace, where cannon shot was heated to cherry red color before it was fired at enemy vessels. The idea was to set the enemy ships on fire. What's not clear is how the hot shot was to be moved to the cannon for firing...or maybe I missed a key part of the concept!

During its role as a Civil War Union prison, probably the most famous of the "residents" at Fort Jefferson was Dr. Samuel Mudd, one of four men convicted of complicity in Abraham Lincoln's assasination. These prisoners were housed in one of the casements and the walls were bricked over except for the narrow "gun slits" at the top of the walls. These slits represented the only ventilation the cell had. In addition, rainwater was collected by the prisoners by digging trenches and catch basins in the floor of the cell to catch the rain that leaked into the cell from the roof of the fort whenever it rained. It doesn't sound like life was pleasant for these prisoners! When the fort surgeon was stricken with malaria and died, Dr. Mudd volunteered to treat the soldiers and prisoners at the fort. For this action, Dr. Mudd was later pardoned.

Spiral staircases were the means of getting from one level to the next of the fort. The steps were large rectangular granite stones set into the walls of the fort around a central vertical axis. This technique of constructing steps was a common way of making strong stairwells. One other example of this construction is the Old Executive Office Building east of the White House. The steps in the OEOB were much larger and wider and just as strong. Neither steps moved when you stepped on them!

After the return trip to Key West, we ended the day at Mallory Square for one last viewing of the sunset and the various street performers. We didn't actually watch the sun set since it probably looked like it did the last time. We did catch a neat shot of the sun as it sank low behind the sailboat on the right. There are many opportunities for such interesting photos and if you don't have a camera, there is no shortage of street vendors who will sell you a photo they have on display. One act we wanted to see this time was the Great Rondini who was a Houdini-like "escape" artist. We never saw Houdini perform, but the Great Rondini was both humorous and successfully "escaped" from a strait jacket and chains that volunteers from the audience wrapped around him. The volunteer in this photo was named Anna and her role was to be embarassed as Rondini cracked his jokes. All in all, not a bad act and we left a tip for him. It was interesting to see his children laying behind the green platform playing with their Ipods and ignoring their dad's performance...probably heard it one too many times.

After leaving Mallory Square, we decided to have one more meal in Key West and stopped at the Turtle Kraals again for a light dinner. On the way we passed another key lime pie factory and couldn't resist taking another pie back to Marathon with us...after all a boat without a key lime pie is like a day without sunshine. This one would last us until we got back to Miami...now that's discipline!

Day 87 - 2 March

2008-03-07T20:42:00.001-08:00

Day 86 - 1 March

2008-03-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

The only thing to report here is that we dropped Phil off at the Marathon airport to catch the Greyhound bus to Fort Lauderdale and his plane back to Virginia. We were saddened by his departure and both of us returned to Windreka wondering where the week had gone. We don't often say this about visitors to our home on the water, but Phil was a worthy shipmate and we had a lot of fun during the week he spent with us. We wish he could have stayed longer!

Later in the day we joined friends and fellow Whitby sailors, Pat, Greg and Judy for lunch at the No Name Pub (You Found It!) on...where else...No Name Key. We ordered our own pizza and had enough for two more meals on the boat.

Day 85 - 29 February

2008-03-02T08:13:00.000-08:00

Question: How does a sailboater celebrate the 29th of February?

Answer: Visit the Turtle Hospital in Marathon (http://www.turtlehospital.org/), the Shipwreck Museum (http://www.shipwreckhistoreum.com/) and Mel Fisher Museum (http://www.melfisher.org/) in Key West...and, of course, the mandatory pilgrimage to Mallory Square!

It was an interesting and full day. We returned to Key West to do some land touring and to act like several of the thousands of tourists who flock to this Margaritaville and madness mecca.

However, before we headed to Key West, we visited the Turtle Hospital in Marathon. The hospital is a unique organization with a mission to rescue, rehabilitate, and release sea turtles that are injured either by the negligence of humans or by one of their natural predators...sharks, for example. Peggy was our guide and gave us a lecture to introduce us to sea turtles and the work of the hospital. Sea turtles are found in all the world's oceans except the Arctic Ocean. There are seven species of sea turtles: flatback, green, hawksbill, Kemp's Ridley, leatherback, loggerhead and olive ridley.
The leatherback is the only sea turtle that does not have a hard shell. Instead, it has a mosaic of bony plates beneath its leathery skin. The loggerhead is the largest of the sea turtles, measuring six or seven feet in length at maturity, three to five feet in width, and weighing up to 1300 pounds. Other species are smaller, for example, two to four feet in length.

A turtle is considered injured when it is found floating on the surface of the ocean and can't dive under. Anyone who spots a turtle in this condition...whether or not there is any other evidence of distress...can call the Turtle Hospital who will arrange to have the injured turtle brought to the hospital. The hospital receives as many as 70 injured sea turtles a year and has released more than 750 sea turtles to date. The hospital uses the services of a volunteer reptile vetrinarian and has the ability to perform surgery. There is even one turtle that is being fitted with a prosthetic device to replace the flipper lost to a shark

After an informative and interesting hour, we headed for Key West. Our first stop was at the Turtle Kraals for lunch. The restaurant is located on the site of a green turtle "corral" which was once used to produce green sea turtle soup before the turtles became an endangered species. In retrospect, this was an interesting contrast…first we visited a place dedicated to the preservation of turtles and then we visited a place where turtles were slaughtered to make soup. Lunch was very good and turtle soup wasn’t on the menu! While we were eating a contingent of “suits” trooped in and sat at a table near us. At the same time, several armed Customs and Border Protection agents took up strategic positions surrounding the restaurant. Of course, Sarah couldn’t resist moving in on one agent and inquiring what was going on, who they were protecting, etc. I’m not certain she learned anything, but she did manage to get her photo taken with one of the agents!

After lunch we visited the Shipwreck Historeum where we learned the story of the Florida Keys wreckers or shipwreck salvagers. The wreckers began their trade on Key West in the 1800s and made Key West one of the most prosperous location in the United States. In the mid-1800s ships were piling up on the reef at the rate of nearly one a week. The museum is a reconstruction of a wreckers warehouse containing items salvaged from the Issac Allerton which sank on the reef in 1856 and was the largest individual award by the federal court in Florida…or wrecking court…in the history of wrecking.

Above the warehouse/museum is a tower the wreckers used to keep a lookout for ships grounding on the reef. When a ship went aground on the reef, the cry from the tower of “Wreck Ashore” alerted the town and the race began to lay hands on the hull to claim salvage rights. The dark side of the humanitarian work of the wreckers is the rumor that some navigation lights were moved to mislead ships approaching the reef…now who would think of doing something like that?

The second stop on our touring itinerary was the Mel Fisher Treasure Museum which contains items salvaged from the wreck of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha (Our Lady of Atocha) which was the most famous of a fleet of Spanish ships that sank in 1622 off the Florida Keys while carrying copper, silver, gold, tobacco, gems, jewels, jewelery and indigo from Spanish ports in the Western Hemisphere. In 1622 the Atocha was driven by a hurricane onto the coral reefs near the Dry Tortugas.

In case you don’t remember the story, American treasure hunter Mel Fisher and a team of sub-contractors, funded by investors and others in a joint venture, searched for the Atocha for 16 and a half years; potential helpers were discouraged by the fact that this dangerous professional diving job was at minimum wage unless the ship was found. The Atocha wreck and its mother lode of silver, gold and emeralds was finally discovered in 1985. After the discovery, the U.S. government claimed title to the wreck, and the State of Florida seized many of the items retrieved by Mel Fisher. After eight years of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court finally ruled in favor of Fisher and the items on display in the museum are owned by the Fisher family.

After we left the museum, we discovered a neat place we wish we had included on our itinerary…the Key West Museum of Art and History. It looks like it would have been an interesting tour, but it was closed when we discovered it and we had other things on our agenda. Actually, we missed a number of interesting things like President Truman’s Little White House, the Custom House Museum, the Key West Lighthouse Museum, the Butterfly and Nature Conservatory, etc. We did manage to snag a photo of a couple standing outside the door of the Art and History Museum and had our pictures taken with one of the more famous Key West celebrities...we think he wrote a story about an old man and a fish...probably true since he had a fishing rod in his hand when we found him!

It was now time for the Sunset Celebration at Mallory Square and we hurried to the bulkhead to take our place with several hundred close friends. Predictably, the sun set at the appointed time and the crowd went wild. Before and afterwards we walked around the square to catch a few of the street performers who work for tips…some of them even were talented. All were entertaining and since we were going to be in Key West to visit Dry Tortugas, we’ll probably drop by to see if we missed anything.

Perhaps we'll even be back to celebrate the next "Leap Year!"

One last item...on our way back to the car to return to Marathon, we stopped at the Key Lime Pie Factory (http://www.blondgiraffe.com/) and bought a whole pie. After we got back to the boat, the three of us ate half of the pie with no apologies for our indulgence. It was wonderful and worth every calorie. It may even live up to its advertisement "Best Key Lime Pie in Key West and Florida...5 years in a row!"

Day 84 - 28 February

2008-02-29T21:18:00.000-08:00

We got serious about land touring today and stopped by the visitors center at Big Pine Key on the way to Key West to learn about what there was to offer us. This was our first excursion into the heart of the Conch Republic and we wanted to be certain we didn't miss anything. So, we picked up a handful of brochures and the first thing we learned was about the $200+ rooms in Key West. We decided Hotel Windreka was the best deal, so we planned to drive the 50 miles back to Marathon from the end of US1 and Mile 0.

The first stop on our trip south was at the Florida Keys National Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key. The refuge is a federally protected habitat for a number of endangered creatures and plant life. Trivia question: The term "hammock" is used frequently to describe some locations. What does "hammock" mean? Answer: tropical hardwood forest...or at least that's what we think.

The Key Deer Refuge is over 84,000 acres located in the Lower Keys on 25 islands. The Key Deer is a sub-species of the Virginia white-tailed deer and the current population is estimated at about 750. Read about the National Refuge at: http://nationalkeydeer.fws.com/. We visited the Blue Hole site visitor center which is an abandoned limestone quarry that is filled by rainfall and salt water that flows in through the surrounding limestone. We didn't see any crocodiles, but we did see an iguanna and watched a sea eagle at work fishing in the blue hole.

After our stop at the Key Deer Refuge, we headed directly for Key West and stopped at the Welcome Center just off US1 on the northeast edge of town to enquire about a place to park, a place to eat lunch, and pick up a map. We found a garage at $10/day on the edge of the historic waterfront, parked and walked around the waterfront to find Alonzo's. After lunch we headed for an Old Town Trolley stop for a guided tour of the town to help us decide what we wanted to see when we returned tomorrow. We've had good experience with Trolley tours (http://www.historictours.com/) at other locations and the cost of the Trolley and the more famous Conch Tour Train was the same. Also, the Trolley tour consisted of one car full of people and the Conch Train tour consisted of several "train" cars full. We felt as if we got more personal treatment.

After the Trolley tour, we headed for Mallory Square to scope out what the "Sunset Celebration" is all about. The Square is located on the northern edge of Duvall Street, facing the Gulf of Mexico where tourists can watch the sun setting each night. The tradition includes arts and crafts exhibitors, street performers, food carts, psychics, etc. beginning two hours before sunset. We don't know how long the celebration goes on since we left right after sunset to drive back to Hotel Windreka in Marathon. Maybe tomorrow when we return for some more touring we'll stay longer.

Day 83 - 27 February

2008-02-27T20:36:00.000-08:00

Damage in the vicinity of Windreka from the squall that went through yesterday included a flooded dinghy and outboard motor belonging to the trawler in the slip next to us. Joe checked Windreka's dock lines a couple of times and this morning tightened them and added a fenderboard between Windreka and the piling on her starboard side. The deck was cleaner than it had been before the rain and everything was drying nicely in the wind.

Due to the weather...windy and rainy...we're touring the Middle and Lower Keys. We rented a car from Avis and picked it up at the airport. We would have preferred Enterprise since they will deliver the car on pickup and deliver you back to your origin on dropoff. However, the only cars they had available were more expensive than Avis. So, we called for a yellow cab that picked us up at the Marina, As a bonus, the driver gave us some advice on places to get lunch and dinner and places to visit.

We ate lunch at the Wreck in Marathon where our cab driver said they had the best key lime pie in the Keys...it was pretty good! We stopped at a visitors' center in Islamorada and picked up a few brochures and a couple of books. Once again, we were dismayed by the lack of knowledge of many of the things we wanted to see. It wasn't the visitors' center fault since there is no single source of visitors' information we have come to expect when we travel for relaxation in other areas.

After the visitors center, we drove north toward Tavernier to visit the "historic" old town and were a bit disappointed in what we saw. All we found was a few run-down buildings and a few new ones, so we moved along quickly. We turned around and drove south again to the History of Diving Museum at mile marker 83. The Museum is a well-organized private collection of diving apparatus and its history. We spent about an hour going through the museum. Preview it at: http://www.divingmuseum.org/.

Down the road in Islamogorda, we passed an eclectic collection of crafts and artwork. We stopped and spent about a half hour looking over the collection of things for sale before moving on.

Our next stop was to feed the Tarpon at Robbie's http://www.robbies.com/. At first we thought the Tarpon were penned up in tight enclosure to be harassed by Florida tourists trying to get close and personal. However, the Tarpon seem to gather around the dock pilings and hang out there during the day. Toward evening, the Tarpon all head out toward the channel to hunt for their dinner. Apparently, during the day, the Tarpon are fed by the tourists. When the tourists go home for the evening, the fish all head out to dine in the ocean. The next day the fish return to start the cycle again.

After our visit to Robbie's, we stopped at Publix grocery store to top off our food reserves. Afterwards, we drove back to marina to settle in, have dinner, and look at how the weather will impact our plans in the morning. High on our accended is to visit the Turtle Hospital here in Marathon before going anywhere else.

If the weather doesn't break by Friday, we'll probably drive to Key West early on Friday and spend the night so we can drop Phil off to catch his bus north to Fort Lauderdale on Saturday. If the weather breaks, we can drive Windreka down to Key West on Friday where we can drop Phil off to catch his bus on Saturday.

As I'm closing the log, we've got 30-35 knots of wind from the north and the skies are clearing. The temperature is 66 degrees.

Day 82 - 26 February

2008-02-26T22:04:00.000-08:00

Our "Better Weather" may be ending today...at least for a couple of days as a fast cold front moves through South Florida today. It's the same weather-maker that left so much cold, snowy weather for you folks back home and for that, we are truly sorry and sympathetic. However, we are enjoying our 75 degree days and mild weather here...we just wish it wasn't so bad for all of you back home.

Today we went out to the reef at Sombrero Key, about 4 miles south southeast of Vaca Key and the town of Marathon. The Sombrero Key Light is an iron-pile skeleton with a platform. The light is 142 feet above the water! The lighthouse is located on a mostly submerged reef. Old charts show a small island at the spot, but by the later 19th Century the island had eroded away, with some parts of the reef exposed at low tide. As a result, the reef and the lighthouse have also been called Dry Banks. The lighthouse was put in service in 1858...before Lincoln became President! The light was automated in 1960, and is still in operation. The foundation is iron pilings with disks, and the tower is a skeletal octagonal pyramid of cast iron. It is 142 feet tall and is painted brown. It has two platforms. The lower one, 15 feet above the water, held water and fuel tanks, the generator (after the light was electrified), boat hoists and a workshop. The upper platform, 40 feet above the water, held the quarters for the staff. The original lens, a first order Fresenel lens, is now on display in the Key West Lighthouse Museum. The Sombrero Key Light is the tallest lighthouse in the Florida Keys, and was the last lighthouse constructed under the supervision of Lieutenant George Meade of the Bureau of Topographical Engineers.

Here's what I found on the internet about the reef: Sombrero Reef is one of the largest and surely the most magnificent coral reefs in the Middle Keys, home to some of the best spur and groove reef formations in all the Keys. The amount of coral is breath-taking. As soon as you descend, gorgonians, brain, finger and lettuce corals can be seen. Schools of colorful tropicals, southern stingrays and nurse sharks make their home on this reef. Large barracuda hang out by the lighthouse structure. The coral limestone has an "Arch" which is large enough to swim through. The reef is a Sanctuary Preservation Area (SPA) and strictly regulated. Fishing as well as lobstering are strictly prohibited. Divers are reminded to look but not touch so that this spectacular reef will be preserved. (http://www.divespots.com/scuba/view.divespot?spotID=36)

The water was choppy and it wasn't a good day for snorkeling, but we enjoyed the experience in short bursts. Phil had the right idea and in between snorkeling runs, he enjoyed the sun on the trampoline of the dive boat.

As the afternoon wore on, the water got more turgid and murky with the chop. We decided to go today since the weather is supposed to deteriorate later today and probably will be more conducive to staying in the harbor.

In fact at about 10PM we were hit with a fast moving squall that dropped torrential rains for about an hour and winds gusting to 50 knots. Joe had to rig a second aft spring line to keep Windreka's bow off the dock. The squall was apparently the harbinger of the front that's expected to pass over after midnight and drop the temperature approximately 15 degrees. That'll make it in the 60s...still warm by northern standards, but a lot cooler than the 80s we have for the past several days!

Even the Pelicans can be grumpy in this weather...

Pelican Food Fight

Day 81 - 25 February

2008-02-25T21:29:00.000-08:00

Today we plugged into the local culture. After some minor preventive maintenance and some free coffee from the Marina office...at $2.50.foot, something should be free! We joined the Marathon Cruisers' net and caught up on the cruising gossip as it happens here in Marathon.

We took our dinghy through the huge, tightly packed mooring field in Boot Key Harbor and ended up back at Docksiders for lunch. On the way back to Windreka, we detoured out the entrance channel and headed for Pigeon Key...or Cayo Paloma in Spanish...about 1.5 miles to the west. We spent a pleasant several hours on a guided tour of the island and its significance.

The island is said to be named for large flocks of White-crowned pigeons which once roosted there. During the building of Henry Flagler's Overseas Railroad Key West Extension, a major construction depot was located there, the jumping off point for construction of the Seven Mile Bridge. A number of buildings from the Flagler era remain on the island. They are now part of the Pigeon Key Historic District. The island was originally only a slab of coral until the construction of the original railroad bridge when some 500 workers were housed and fed on the island until the railroad bridge was finished. You can read the story on the Wikipedia web site at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigeon_Key

Pigeon Key has a fascinating museum operated by Monroe County. The museum tells the story of the construction of the original railroad bridge joining Florida and the Florida Keys to Key West. The story can be read as part of the history of the Seven Mile Bridge...that parallels and replaced the old railroad bridge...at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Mile_Bridge.

The railroad bridge, originally known as the Knights Key-Pigeon Key-Moser Channel-Pacet Channel Bridge, was constructed from 1909-1912 under the direction of Henry Flagler as part of the Florida East Coast Railway's Key West Extension. The bridge was damaged by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, and refurbished by the United States Federal Government as an automobile highway bridge. It had a swing span that opened to allow passage of boat traffic, near where the bridge crosses Pigeon Key, a small island where a work camp for Flagler's railroad was located. Hurricane Donna in 1960 caused further damage. The present road bridge was constructed from 1979 to 1982 but the majority of the original bridge still exists.

It was a smooth trip to Pigeon Key but a choppy return and we got soaked. However, the tour and time on the island was well worth it. We ended the day as we started it...looking out to the west and planning the next leg of our cruise to Key West. Earlier in the day there was a manatee chewing on the sea grass just behind Windreka and coming up for a breath of air before returning to his breakfast. The manatee was gone by sunset, but we didn't need anything more than to watch the sun setting on another pleasant day in the lower Keys.

Day 80 - 24 February

2008-02-25T20:49:00.000-08:00

Today was one of the more relaxing days we've spent on the trip. The sky was blue, the sea was green, the wind was on our nose again, but it was light. The captain even got a chance to take a power nap about halfway between Rodriguez Key and the turn into the channel leading to Boot Key Harbor and the town of Marathon.

We elected to tuck into the Marathon Marina which is just before the bridge. The marina is pricey and a bit "down at the heels" compared to other marinas we've stayed at. However, the people are friendly and almost all the showers, laundry and heads are working, so we aren't complaining too loudly. Also, there doesn't appear to be any other marinas that are any better...less costly, but not better...and we are close to the showers, head and laundry, have fresh running water, cable TV, and power to run our air conditioner.

It's tempting to pick up one of the many mooring balls in the inner harbor at $20/night with dinghy docking privileges, showers, heads and laundry all included. By comparison, Marathon Marina charges $2.50/foot which includes showers, heads and laundry, and cable for a daily transient cost of over a hundred dollars/day, tax included.

About an hour after we arrived and were in the final stages of organizing our lines, etc., our friend Phil arrived. Phil is a former coworker of Sarah's and a sailor..that/s Phil and Sarah on the right. We've been trying to get our cruising non-schedule and Phil's work and travel schedule aligned and we think we may have done so. Phil will be accompanying us aboard our cruising home for the next week and we hope to get the sails raised again soon. After our guest's arrival, we hailed the Marathon water taxi, Smorgasboat One (http://www.smorgasboat.com/), to pick us up at our slip and take us downtown to Docksides, a popular local water hole for some camraderie and dinner. Unfortunately, Docksides also has live entertainment each evening and we were gathered right behind the bandstand. So, we probably missed some interesting conversation. We had cruisers from six different Whitby Boat Works boats and more combined cruising experience we could measure.

After dinner, we caught a local taxi to take us back to our boat which is west of the harbor area by approximately 4 miles.

Day 79 - 23 February

2008-02-23T19:25:00.000-08:00

A nice day on the Atlantic. 75 degree temperatures, a south wind, sunny weather, and 1 foot waves.

We departed Elliott Key at 9:30AM on a rising tide to be able to negotiate Angelfish Creek at high tide (approximately 11:00AM). We motored south on Biscayne Bay and into Card Bay and the entrance to Angelfish Creek on the north end of Key Largo. The Creek exits into the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and we hugged the east coastline of Key Largo until we arrived at Rodriguez Key at 3:30PM.

It was an east run of just six hours, but just enough time for Joe to demonstrate...again...his skill at underway Racor changing. We are averaging about 1-1/2 days per 2 micron Racor and Joe is already planning to install the fuel polishing and management system he has had on the back burner for several years now. Let's see, how many Racors equal a new fuel polishing and management system? Gotta be at least two boat units and $2000/$20 per Racor filter = 100. Changing filters underway over a hot engine with belts spinning, etc. is priceless, so it almost balances out. Let's do it!

We anchored in 5 feet of water again this evening and we can even watch the anchor settling into the sand. Boating is certainly different in Florida. Tomorrow we plan an early departure to let us get into Vaca Key and Marathon by late afternoon.

Did we mention the 75 degree temperatures, the south wind, and sunny weather?

Day 76 - 20 February

2008-02-22T21:26:00.000-08:00

Flowers from Judy and Lucie! While walking along the waterfront in Lake Worth, Judy and Lucie brought back some flowers they found growing wild along the way. the bud was tightly closed when we received them, but opened up into the glorious display on the photograph at right. Sadly, they didn't survive the ocean off Key Biscayne and had to be discarded when we arrived at the Miami Marine Stadium anchorage. Fortunately for us there were two other natural spectacles for us to enjoy after we arrived at anchor.

The first was watching the sun set at Lake Worth South. Each anchorage has at least this one even in common. The sun sets and rises at each one and the natural spectacle is always a wondrous demonstration of a simple event that is always impressive and humbling to witness. The second event was a total lunar eclipse that was observable from the anchorage. The event began promptly at 8:45PM and continued on until after midnight when the moon's disk was finally full and shining again.

Day 78 - 22 February

2008-02-22T20:59:00.000-08:00

What a contrast between yesterday and today. The weather was almost the same, but we kept to the inland ICW route from Miami to Elliott Key. We only had about a 3-1/2 hour leg to complete today so we allowed ourselves the luxury of sleeping late and enjoying the "pleasures of the harbor"...not the same meaning that phrase had a couple of centuries ago! The anchorage was picturesque and the weather was a balmy 75 with the same southerly wind that beat us up yesterday.

We eventually departed in the early afternoon and headed south across Biscayne Bay in a relatively flat expanse of sea-green water that was about 10 feet deep for most of the trip. We followed the proverbial "magenta line" for the afternoon and turned left after passing through a narrow cut identified by two sets of red-green marks.

We arrived at Elliott Key which is the largest of the 25 keys that make up Biscayne National Park. The anchorage...which hosts hundreds of boats in the summer...was almost empty and ours for the enjoyment. The water shoals quickly and we anchored about a half mile from shore in about 5 feet of water...we could even see the bottom and that was exciting!

Day 77 - 21 February

2008-02-20T20:26:00.000-08:00

We anchored at Lake Worth South yesterday afternoon, the same ground we anchored in almost a week ago when we aborted out trip to the Bahamas. Instead of the Bahamas, we are now headed for the Florida Keys. The initial leg...Lake Worth to Miami...is about 65 miles and with a 7:30AM departure and conservative speed of 6 knots, we will be anchored in Miami by the end of the day...piece of cake!

However, the planning was excellent except for the water conditions which were exceedingly unpleasant. The Atlantic Ocean was choppy with 3-4 foot waves on our nose...where else would they be in a sailboat? We were able to motorsail for about half the trip with a close-hauled jib until the wind moved further south and headed us. At least the ocean was a lovely shade of green typical of South Florida waters.

For the first half of the trip, the sail helped stabilize the boat and gave us about a one-knot lift. We kept within a mile of shore to try to find some southward-bound current to further boost us. But by the time we hauled the headsail down, the combination of wind and sea from the southeast made up for a most unpleasant and bouncy ride to Miami. Even Windreka's fuel tanks weren't happy and all the accumulated sludge and dead bugs from more than 20 years decided to rise from the bottom and appear in the fuel pickup. The Racor filters that Joe changed yesterday in Lake Worth clogged and...once again...Joe had to crawl into the engine room, get personal with a hot engine and...this time...change both Racors to keep the engine working.

What made this memorable is that Joe changed both filters while the boat was bouncing and moving and while the engine was running...makes one want to say without the engine skipping a beat, but the reason the filters had to be changed was that the engine was skipping beats! Once the clogged filters were replaced, the engine purred all the way to Miami.

After what seemed like two days of travel, we entered Government Cut as a cruise ship was heading out in a northerly direction. We made our way past the containerships, the harbor tugs crossing back and forth, a good portion of the Miami cigarette boat fleet...or was it just the noise that made it seem like there were a hundred of them? It was not a pleasant way to end the ordeal of being abused by the ocean, but we made our way past the commercial section of the waterfront and back to the ICW and Rickenbacker Bridge. We turned left just in front of the bridge with several emergency vehicles on it and two water rescue vessels in the water near the bridge. After another few minutes we were at anchor near the Miami Marine Stadium which was the setting for water shows until 2005 when it was severely damaged by a hurricane. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about this Miami-style venue:

"The Stadium was host for many world class powerboat events including Unlimited Hydroplane, Inboard, Outboard, Performance Craft, Stock, Modified, Grand National divisions as well as other special event races...The last major race in the Stadium was the 1987 Inboard Hydroplane national Championship.

"The Stadium utilized a floating stage in front of the grandstand for diverse activities such as classical concerts, Rock and Roll shows and the annual Easter Sunrise Service.
Due to restrictions in use, political pressures from within the City of Miami, and the lack of proper promotion the Stadium saw a gradual decline in events...By the early 1990s powerboat racing in the Stadium was in reality only a memory.

"In 1992 Hurricane Andrew struck the Miami/Dade County area. Engineers for the City condemned the structure...Since that time the Stadium has been allowed to sit with no attempt at maintenance..."

Read the full story at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Marine_Stadium

Whatever it's history, the anchorage was a tranquil end to a decidely "untranquil" day with the skyline of Miami in the background. Now if only the airplanes taking off from Miami Internationaly had a different flight path...

Days 71-75 - 15 thru 19 February

2008-02-19T18:11:00.000-08:00

We are still at Lake Worth, having arrived here almost a week ago. Initially, we were waiting for a weather window to open up which it did and we were poised and ready to head out for the Gulf Stream on Friday, the 15th, but as we all know...Murphy Lives! My Destiny developed a leak in her high pressure fuel injector pump that we all decided should be addressed before getting caught in the Gulf Stream with no engine. So we moved from the Lake Worth South anchorage back to the Lake Worth North anchorage while My Destiny pulled in to the Old Port Cove Marina nearby. After a nice day laying quietly at anchor, we also moved to the Marina and have been here for the past several days while the repairs were completed in a Palm Beach injector diesel repair shop nearby.

Greg reinstalled the injector pump and successfully tested the engine. Meanwhile, some problems began showing up with My Destiny's new refrigeration system and house battery bank...did we say, "Murphy Lives?" So here we are at the Marina, watching the weather and getting the mechanical and electrical work accomplished.

Since we've lost almost a week, we've collectively decided not to head for the Bahamas. The $300 cruising permit would be mostly wasted since we only have a limited amount of time to cruise before heading home for a date with the IRS in April...what's wrong with this picture?

However, both Team My Destiny and Team Windreka have complicated income tax returns this year. For our part, we have income and owe taxes to two states...Ohio and Virginia; we retired; we sold a house in Virginia and purchased a retirement home in Ohio; we began drawing social security income; we rolled over our 401K retirement funds to a new financial manager; etc. So, we don't know how to complete our income tax returns without the assistance of a tax accountant.

So, we've decided to defer Bahamas cruising until next winter. Instead we plan to spend the rest of this cruise in the Florida Keys. We haven't been there and all reports say they are the equivalent of the Bahamas without a cruising permit and without the internet access gaps we expected in the Bahamas.

If all goes well...and if Murphy has had his share of fun with us...we'll head south on Thursday morning. The good news is we have almost achieved the conditions described by the title of our weblog...Hauling for Better Weather. The mid-70s temperatures and sunny, warm days make us believe we are nearly there. When we think about the frigid, stormy weather back home, we think we've succeeded...and hopefully, the best is yet to come. Stay with us!

Day 70 - 14 February

2008-02-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

More quotes from the log of Windreka: Thursday, 14 February. Temp @ 6:30 AM is 45 degrees. Barometer 2975 rising. Underway @ 7:30 AM. Wind E <7

Lake Worth North is a large anchorage with a depth of 10 to 15 feet. Convenient to dinghy to nearby dock for shopping and sightseeing. There are many interesting boats anchored here and the one we anchored nearest to was a yellow steel boat named Essential Part from Wilmington, Delaware. We didn't see anyone on her until a day or so ago and she was still in the anchorage today.

Tomorrow, we plan to move to an anchorage near the Lake Worth Inlet and head off shore at approximately 10 PM for an overnight crossing of the Gulf Stream and arrival in vicinity of Memory Rock, Bahama Islands at dawn, then on to Great Sales Cay (pronounced "Key") by midafternoon; anchor for night and then on to Walkers Cay to clear through Bahama customs, purchase cruising permit, and become legal visitors to the Bahamas.Our general plan is to move slowly south toward Marsh Harbour in the Abacos, then work our way slowly back to be back in Florida near the end of March. After tomorrow evening, we will be internet deprived and the weblog will be kept offline and uploaded as may be possible

While we may continue to be "hauling for better weather," this week our weather has been considerably better than the freezing rain and bitter cold and wind chill numbers reported to us by family and friends back home. We wish you could all be here with us and we wish we could share some of our "better weather" with you.

Days 68-69 - 12 thru 13 February

2008-02-14T19:51:00.000-08:00

Quotes from the log of Windreka:

Tuesday, 12 February @ Fort Pierce City Marina - N 27 degrees 27.044 minutes, W 080 degrees 19.348 minutes. Rainy, windy night with gusts to 35 knots from east, Temp 70s, showery all day, wind moderated to <10 knots by evening. Lunch at Java Charlie's nearby. Added 56.9 gallons of diesel fuel @ $3.48/gallon = $177.59. Dockage for 3 nights @ $76/night. Total = $228. Shopping at Publix and West Marine for misc items.

Wednesday, 13 February @ FPCM. Clear, light wind NW <5 knots @0700. Rain at noon. Coffee at Java Charlie's. Install MOB (man overboard) strobe purchased at West Marine yesterday. Purchased new 6 volt lantern battery at local building supply store. Waiting for overnight USPS delivery due yesterday, but not delivered by local post office. Called local post office and promised package would be delivered today. (NOTE: USPS only promises overnight delivery costing $20 to "many" locations...guess Ft. Pierce is one of the "few" locations USPS can't get to in one day!) Alternately rainy and sunny all day. Wind SW 10 - 15 knots. Barometer 2957 rising. Temp 64 degrees in evening.

Day 67 - 11 February

2008-02-13T22:50:00.000-08:00

It was a liesurely start to a long day that took us from the Cocoa Village Marina to the Fort Pierce City Marina. We got a delayed start because we had to fax some financial paperwork to our retirement fund financial manager at Morgan Stanley. We finally departed at 0830 and headed for Fort Pierce. It was another windy, blustery day and we arrived at the Ft. Pierce City Marina with a strong east wind blowing at 25-30 knots.

There was a new, well-marked channel leading from the ICW to the Marina. We passed the Ft. Pierce Manatee Center as we approached the entrance to the City Marina. Once behind the marina breakwater, Joe had to make a U turn to approach the fuel dock on our starboard...or right for all landlubbers who may be reading this. Our friend, Greg and Freddy from the marina were right there to help with our docking lines as we topped off our fuel tanks.

After refueling, we let the wind slide Windreka back as we aimed her across the thoroughfare to tie up behind My Destiny. It turned out to be three rainy and windy days and nights at the Ft. Pierce City Marina to wait for less wind and better weather. The good news is we had "all-you-can-stand" hot showers and great internet access...and if we could have found our misplaced coaxial cable...free cable TV. Of course, there was no place nearby where we could buy a new one. We did take a local cab to the nearest West Marine store to make what Sarah calls, our daily West Marine deposit. We also replenished groceries and perishable food items at the local Publix grocery store.

After our stay at Fort Pierce, we reckon we may be one more day on the ICW before heading off shore!

Day 66 - 10 February

2008-02-13T22:00:00.000-08:00

Today began earlier than usual. We had to get through the New Smyrna Beach Highway Bridge before it closed for the day at 7AM. Like many of the ICW bridges, this one is also going through a reconstruction. In this instance the bridge was being repaved and once the paving crew began work, that was it...the bridge was closed all day until the workday ended at 5PM. So we rose early and got the anchor up by 6:15AM and departed before sunrise to make the 6:40AM opening of the bridge. We made it although Windreka "found the bottom" briefly at a temporary unlighted mark at a bend in the Ponce de Leon Inlet. Once again we were grateful for a large diesel engine and a big 3-bladed screw to back us out of the mud. We were also grateful for our bow thruster to help point the boat back into deeper water and keep us from ending up like our friend on the right!

After we cleared the bridge we experienced increasing wind over the course of the day. It was a windy and blustery day with gusts to 40 knots from the south....right behind us. It reminded us of the true value of "following seas" as in the term "fair winds and following seas" that many folks use to wish someone well. Anyone who has sailed or steered a sailboat in following seas knows how helpful it is when the wind and water come from directly behind. It makes the person at the helm and the crew feel a little like Dante in The Divine Comedy as he goes from one level and terrace to the next. By the time we reached the end of the day, Joe was pretty tired from fighting the rudder and trying to keep Windreka on course through the narrow and shallow channel. We didn't touch any more today, despite the following seas. So, by all means, don't hesitate to wish your friends "fair winds" but please...no "following seas"...unless you really wish them bad luck!

We motored past Cape Kennedy where we could see in the distance the launch complexes and the space shuttle vehicle assembly building. It was the first time Joe had been back in this area since the early 60s. At that time the Mercury Atlas was the launch vehicle of choice and the Mercury Astronauts had yet to begin their space flights. Of course, there were so many changes to the area that the old Cocoa and Cocoa Beach were impossible to identify. Nevertheless it was nostalgic...despite the following seas!

We crossed over from the Mosquito Lagoon and into the Indian River and the wind kept blowing! We eventually got to Cocoa where we parted company with Greg and Judy on My Destiny for the rest of the day. They motored on to Melbourne and we turned into the Cocoa Village Marina where Bill, the Dockmaster responded to our request for a slip and guided us in to the privately marked channel leading from the ICW to the marina. Bill also met us at the assigned slip to help with our lines and get us tied properly up for our short stay. After a short while, Joe's son and his wife met us for dinner and a pleasant visit. Joe and Gretchen live in Orlando which is about an hour from the ICW and Cocoa and they drove over to meet us at the Marina and go to dinner with us at the Cocoa Beach Boardwalk.

After dinner Joe and Gretchen dropped us off at the marina and we got ready to catch up with Greg and Judy at Fort Pierce tomorrow. It looks like we'll be at Fort Pierce for several days while we let the weather pass over us.

Day 65 - 9 February

2008-02-13T21:06:00.000-08:00

Our route today took us past Daytona and NASCAR Heaven! We passed through in the middle of speed week culminating in the Daytona 500 later in the week. The DirectTV blimp was all over the area along with airplanes dragging huge banners beind them advertising a number of different things. We were amazed at the sudden increase in the number of power boaters we encountered today, but then we recalled it was the weekend. Obviously, everyone was enjoying the brief spell of nice weather. We got as far as New Smyrna Beach and stopped at a small anchorage at Rockhouse Creek just north of the New Smyrna Bridge...also under reconstruction. This time the nature of the reconstruction was repaving and the bridge would not open after 7AM and earlier than 5PM! Yes, that's not a typo...the bridge was closed all day and only opened early and late in the day. It's a good thing we knew about the extremely restricted hours...and it was the first time we ran into this situation.

We noticed some fancy artwork decorating the supports of one of the bridges today. We also noted the large number of condos.

We found out that NASCAR events aren't the only competition in town. Or maybe NASCAR also sanctions sailboard races and Optimist races which we passed on the ICW

The anchorage at Rockhouse Creek was small, tight and buggy, but we lowered our anchor at the entrance to the anchorage and it was a quiet and uneventful night. The next day we awoke early and got underway in the dark before sunrise.

Day 64 - 8 February

2008-02-13T04:47:00.000-08:00

Seacamp Dock at Cumberland Island looked like an interesting place to anchor and go ashore. However, we decided to defer a visit to this Park and National Seashore until a return visit since it was late and we were tired. It was a chilly evening...temperature in the mid-40s...and we got the anchor up and got underway by 8AM. The plan for the day was to motor to St. Augustine, FL and anchor near the Bridge of Lions which was undergoing extensive reconstruction. We entered Cumberland Sound behind one of the tugboats pushing a barge from the Kings Bay Submarine Base. Shortly afterwards we turned into the Amelia River, near Fernandina Beach and were in Florida.

Passing the mooring field and anchorage near Fernandina Beach, we noticed a mast sticking up above the water and presumably a sailboat resting on the bottom of the Amelia River beneath it. There is always a story behind each of these sightings and we were left to wonder about what might have happened. Occasionally, there is a boat hard aground on the shoreline or on a sandbar. Some of these boats will be rescued and sadly, others are abandoned and will just fall apart where they came to rest.

There are some BIG houses in Florida along the ICW. Presumably, there are also some BIG mosquitoes since many of the houses have screen enclosures around the swimming pools. Others have private marinas where some BIG power boats are kept and maintained.

Later things got a little more exciting for us as we encountered some strong tidal currents that pushed us along at up to 11.5 miles per hour...considerably faster than the 8.5 miles per hour we are used to on the ICW. As we approached the McCormick Highway Bridge near Jacksonville we observed a barge occupying about half of the channel under the bridge. As with many of the older bridges, there was reconstruction work going on with this one, but a barge in the channel was a new twist. The photo gives you some idea of the excitement as My Destiny passed through ahead of us with about 10 feet of clearance between the barge and the port side and 10 feet of clearance between the bridge abutment and the starboard side. Fortunately we both made it through without incident.

We arrived in St. Augustine and anchored at the Bridge of Lions across from the Castillo de San Marcos after 9-1/2 hours of cruising. We covered nearly 70 miles. The weather was very pleasant with a temperature in the 70s and a light east wind. The Bridge of Lions takes its name from the statues of the lions guarding the bridge.

The Great Cross at the Mission of Nombre de Dios near the site of the first Mass in North America

Day 63 - 7 February

2008-02-07T19:55:00.000-08:00

Today we learned the eleventh commandment..."Honor thy red and green marks!" More on that later. Today was a cool and clear day with the wind from the west as Greg and Judy on My Destiny and Sarah and Joe on Windreka departed our facing slips at Brunswick Island Marina at 9AM. Our first stop was the fuel dock to top off for our trip to Florida.

After topping off our diesel tanks, we got underway at 10AM and headed south and across St Simons Sound. We left on a high tide to have enough water under our keels when we worked our way through the winding creeks and marshes of Georgia. But it wasn't enough. We set a new record for the trip by touching bottom TWICE today! It wasn't easy but we rose to the task. The charts showed the deep water on the wrong side of a pair of navigation buoys and so we ignored the standards...red right returning, green right going, etc...and our instincts. Sure enough the water got really thin and next thing we knew we bumped...not hard and not a major problem...but really annoying since we had to reverse engines and back off the low spot to realize we had done something really stupid. So, the eleventh Commandment is "Honor thy red and green marks." However, we know the Corps of Engineers is inadequately funded to keep the shoaling under control and maintain the so-called 12 foot controlling depth of the ICW properly dredged. Sorry, we don't have any photos of the excitement since we were having too much fun to document the event. There were no witnesses but the birds and fish around us and I don't think they'll be too helpful if anyone wanted to reconstruct the events.

The next-most exciting event today happened as we were sailing past the Kings Bay Submarine Base. We were approached by a fully armed US Coast Guard boat that approached us at high speed as we were motoring slowly by the Naval installation in the shipping channel. The polite and professional "Coasties" went out of their way to make certain they didn't scare us any more than your ordinary sailor and sailboat armed with cannons and other suitable weaponry might do to an unarmed recreational sailor. After they finished inquiring about our welfare and how well we were enjoying our sail, they asked us to keep to the outside of the shipping channel so the nuclear submarine they were escorting home to Kings Bay wouldn't be late! We thanked them for their dedication and service and promply moved out of the channel as the big black submarine slid past us. We sleep sounder knowing our Coast Guard, our Navy, and our military forces are keeping watch.

Toward the end of our days travels, we passed some watermen at work on the river on their boat. As we turned to follow the creek up to our anchorage, we passed some of the wild horses that inhabit Cumberland Island and we resolved to come back to visit the Cumberland Island wildlife preserve when the weather is a bit more pleasant. As this is being written a light rain is falling and the sound on the hull and the sound and motion of the water under the boat is relaxing...enough to remind us that we are very fortunate to be able to spend time on the water. Now if the darned anchor will only hold, everything will be fun and games!

Days 57 thru 62 - 1 thru 6 February

2008-02-07T18:08:00.000-08:00

We spent the last week at Brunswick Landing Marina with friends Greg and Judy whose boat, My Destiny, has been at Brunswick Landing since they returned from the Bahamas last year. We had a lot of minor things to do on both our boats and most of the week was spent working on our boats. As someone said, if we're not fixing two things a day on our boat, we're falling behind!

We did take one day in Savannah, GA which turned out to be the first real "shirt sleeve" weather we've had so far. It was nice to walk around without jackets and soak up the sun. We took a bus tour of the historic center of Savannah led by a knowledgeable and personable tour bus driver and guide. Denise, of Old Town Trolley Tours (http://www.historictours.com/), your knowledge and cheerful disposition made it a delightful experience...thanks again! Here are a few of the photos we took during the tour...

Above...the Pirates House is one of Sarah's recollections of Savannah.

Left...the Candler Oak is a live oak tree that is over 200 years old...we should all be this healthy after living that long! Below left...the Cotton Exchange on the Savannah River...this elevated walkway is where the cotton buyers and sellers would evaluate the bales of cotton as they were loaded on ships. Below right...the Haitian Monument commemorates the African Americans who fought to recapture Savannah from the British in 1779.

Below...a tale of two houses...on your left is the Mercer House, the setting for much of the action in the book and movie, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. On your right is the oldest house in Savannah.

One day is not enough to enjoy Savannah. For example, we saw only a little bit of the city's famous squares, the jewels of the city...Franklin, Ellis, Johnson, Reynolds, Warren, Washington, Telfair, Wright, Oglethorpe, Columbia, Greene, Orleans, Chippewa, Crawford, Pulaski, Madison, Lafayette, Troup, Chatham, Monterey, Calhoun, Whitfield...I think I listed all 22 of them. Each of them commemorates someone notable in the history of Savannah.

Day 56 - Thursday 31 January

2008-01-31T23:00:00.000-08:00

We arrived at Brunswick Landing Marina in Georgia today. By 2PM we were secure at the dock with the able assistance of Sherry and Cindy of Brunswick Landing Marina and friends, Greg and Judy. We are across the dock from Greg's boat, My Destiny where we had dinner with them this evening and made tentative plans for our cruise to Florida and the Bahamas.

The day started out with a slight overcast and got cloudier through the morning with milder temperatures and a little wind...on the nose, of course. We also zigzagged through one of the longest stretches of "skinny" water we've encountered on the ICW. At low tide, we had a few depths of less than 4 feet and a lot of depths of 5 feet...but we made it through without incident thanks to the several ranges we found to guide us through and a careful and constant watch on the depth gauge. Lots of birds and marsh grass along the way and only one ignorant or extremely rude powerboater who decided he had to pass us on one of the confined and shallower stretches as we were following a range and trying to keep from grounding. The normal protocol when passing is to call the boat you are passing to let them know your intention to pass and throttle down as you pass the boat. In this case, due either to ignorance, rudeness or a broken radio, the first indication we had that we were being overtaken was the sound of the other boat's engine as he passed us without slowing down. The result of this is that in a confined channel, the boat being passed gets the full wake of the passing boat and it can be dangerous. Fortunately, we managed to keep our boat under control, off the ground and on course. We also resisted the urge to radio our feelings to the powerboater since it probably would have been useless information to him. Fortunately, such rude or ignorant behavior is the exception on the ICW and most boaters...sail or power...respect each other's right to be on the water enjoying themselves and behaving responsibly. Enough of that!

As we turned off the ICW and into the shipping channel at St. Simons Sound, we could see the St. Simons Light on the point of land to our port side. The lighthouse is "new" and replaced the old lighthouse. Like all lighthouses today, the light is unstaffed and like many, it is still working and providing a welcome service to the safety of mariners and boaters both commercial and recreational.

Coming into Brunswick we passed under the highest bridge we encountered on the ICW to date...the Sidney Lanier Highway Bridge which crosses over the shipping channel. The bridge is 180 feet high...almost three times as high as the standard 65 feet of the modern fixed bridges. After passing under the bridge, we turned into the river leading to the marina. We passed by the abandoned World War II shipyard ways and more shrimp boats than we have seen altogether on the ICW. There was also a blue-hulled three mast square rigged ship we haven't learned about yet. And finally, we arrived at our assigned marina slip.

By the end of the day, we were relaxed and having pleasant conversation with Greg and Judy and making tentative plans to depart as soon as we can, possibly by Monday next week.

Day 55 - Wednesday 30 January

2008-01-30T19:50:00.000-08:00

We hope we pay close attention to the navigation marks and we hope we don't end up hard aground like this poor sailor near the Isle of Hope!

Well, we stretched our legs today and made a run of approximately 65 miles from Thunderbolt to an anchorage at New Teakettle Creek. We left at 0730 in a light rain and gusting winds after a night of strong and gusty winds at anchor. However, the anchor held and we bounced around a little, but didn't move.

We use Skipper Bob's Anchorages Along the Intracoastal Waterway as the definitive guide to places to drop the hook for the night. Skipper Bob's rates the anchorages on a four point scale...4 = Excellent to 1 = Poor...for six conditions...Holding (ability of the anchor to keep the boat from moving); Wind Protection; Current Flow (how fast the current flows...the slower, the better); Wake Protection (how much boat traffic goes by nearby to disturb you); Scenic Beauty; and Ease of Shopping (how far you have to go to get groceries, souvenirs, etc.). Last night the Herb River anchorage was a 431423; tonight the rating for New Teakettle Creek is 421441.

Since we left early, we arrived early at the anchorage and were joined by another sailboat and a motorboat and a pod of dolphins that accompanied each of the boats into the creek. As soon as the boats were at anchor, the dolphins left. If we didn't know better, we'd almost believe the dolphins were either representing the local chamber of commerce or escorting each boat to a safe location. The truth is these animals are both curious and very friendly and seem to enjoy being around boats cruising along the ICW.

It was warm and sunny in the cockpit and Sarah hauled her computer up to the cockpit to make a Skype call to her daughter, Tiffany and her grandchildren, Sara and Nick. We enjoyed talking to them and seeing them on the laptop screen using Skype Voice (and Video) Over IP, an amazing technology that is cost effective and useful to boaters, or anyone who wants to keep in touch with family and friends (http://www.skype.com/). As the sun was setting, we were talking to our family as if they were right in the cockpit with us.

Other than the pleasures of cruising, the most interesting event of the day was having the US Coast Guard Tug Anvil catch up with us again. Anvil was the USCG vessel that overtook and preceeded us through the Causton Bluff Bridge at Thunderbolt yesterday. Today, she was setting new marks on the ICW where shoaling has taken place. Also, after reading our weblog, friend and contributing author to the Waterway Guides, Allan DeWall sent me an email yesterday telling me that Anvil is a 75' Inland Construction Tender (WLIC) and a member of a family of sister vessels named Anvil, Hammer, Sledge, Mallet, Vise, Clamp, Wedge, Hatchet and Axe. If you have nothing better to do, look for the details at the following web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Coast_Guard_cutters

Tomorrow, we should be at Brunswick Landing Marina in Brunswick, GA and making plans with our friends Judy and Greg for the next phase of our cruising to Florida and the Bahamas.

Day 54 - Tuesday 29 January

2008-01-29T19:46:00.000-08:00

Who is this little girl and what does she have to do with our weblog?

Last night we realized we are in the not-so-sunny south and were reminded again that warm weather isn't dependable until we are in southern Florida. We turned to our 4.4 KW Westerbeke generator to work as hard as it could to drive out two small cabin heaters last night. Even then, the outside temperature dropped down to 37 degrees by morning and we were a bit chilly. Today the temperature was in the 70s in the cockpit and at 11PM it's in the 50s outside.

Due to either the cold weather or just plain laziness, we didn't get moving until 9:30 this morning. We still got a good run of 45 miles today and anchored south of Thunderbolt, GA a little after 4PM...in time to relax and take a shower before dinner. We promised ourselves to get up before dawn tomorrow and get moving as soon as the sun comes over the horizon. We'll try to get at least 60 miles behind us tomorrow since we're still about 95 miles from Brunswick, GA.

The most noteworthy event today was just before reaching Thunderbolt, when we passed Bonaventure Cemetery which was made famous in the movie and book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. If you are familiar with the book or movie, you know the statue of the "Bird Girl" was featured on the cover of the book and was located in Bonaventure Cemetery at one time. Anyway, today we motored past the cemetery which abuts the ICW along the west bank of the Wilmington River. We noticed the many U.S. flags and thought it was a veterans cemetery, but didn't realize what we were looking at until we did our research on the web just now. You may want to look at the interesting article at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonaventure_Cemetery. And by the way, if you haven't read it, the book is an excellent read and an interesting perspective on Savannah, GA history.

So, this is a short entry...not much to report...just a pleasant trip today in the sunshine and warm weather...the wind was 10-20 "on the nose" but not a big concern since the day was so nice. The anchorage is snug...the anchor is holding...and the sunset promises "red at night - sailors delight"...so we can rest easy and get up early to do it again tomorrow!

Day 53 - Monday 28 January

2008-01-28T18:03:00.000-08:00

Last night, we enjoyed one last sunset at Dataw Island Marina until we return in a couple of months. We didn't wake up or get up as early as we intended to, but then we didn't intend to depart from the marina until the tide turned at noon. When the current stopped running up the river, we cast off our lines and headed Windreka back toward the ICW for the first time since we arrived at this marina on December 5th, last year.

The weather couldn't have been more cooperative with a light wind from the north and sunny, warm temperatures in the 60s. We were conflicted about leaving since we had such a relaxing time at the dock and exploring the local area for the past 12 days. After our cruise to Florida and the Bahamas, we plan to come back here where we will probably leave Windreka for the summer...especially since Sarah's daughter and family have plans to come back to Hilton Head Island for a week in July. It'll be nice to have a boat here and we can extend our week to several weeks with a base of operations before and after the Hilton Head vacation. Also, we'll be ideally located for next winter's cruising season.

After we left the marina, we headed back down the Morgan River to Parrot Creek which connected us to the Coosaw River. Motoring up the Coosaw River toward Beaufort, we entered the Beaufort River and noticed a tugboat pushing a barge about a mile behind us. We wanted to get through the Ladys Island Bridge before it closed for rush hour traffic at 4PM and get south of the bridge to find an anchorage for the night. As we got closer to the bridge, we realized we wouldn't make the 3:00PM opening so we throttled the engine back to delay our arrival at the bridge to make the 3:30PM opening. As we were motoring through the calm waters, we were entertained by a pod of dolphins that were swimming along beside us. We’ve noticed that these animals seem to sense when we take our cameras out and refuse to surface until we put the cameras away. Nevertheless, Joe managed to take a picture of one dolphin swimming beside us before it realized we had a camera out.

As we approached the bridge, we passed a house on the ICW that we understand was made famous in the movie, Big Chill. About the same time we passed the Big Chill house, we overheard the US Coast Guard tugboat, Anvil requesting on opening by the Ladys Island Bridge. Commercial and official vessels, like Anvil don’t have to wait for the scheduled openings of bridges like pleasure craft do, but pleasure craft can tag along behind their privileged counterparts when bridges open at their request. So we asked the tugboat and bridge for permission to follow the tugboat through and with their approval were able to save some time.

Since it was earlier than we expected, we decided to bypass the Beaufort town docks and head further south on the river to anchor near Port Royal. We anchored behind the 11th Street Dockside restaurant where we had dinner with Frank several days earlier. Instead of enjoying the pleasures of the Port Royal waterfront and dinner at a nice restaurant, we settled for leftovers and a quiet evening at anchor aboard our floating home.

One of the benefits of this area is being able to tie up at a dock next to working shrimp and fishing boats and to buy fresh shrimp and fish from the fishermen right off the boat. You can't get seafood any fresher than that! These shrimp boats are tied up at the 11th Street Dockside restaurant right next to the anchorage.

The temperature is in the low 40s and the water is calm as we are watching and listening to the President’s State of the Union address. The generator is running and the heaters are on to take the chill off the boat. Tomorrow, we’ll get up and underway to head for Brunswick, Georgia to rendezvous with our friends, Greg and Judy on My Destiny. We expect to be at the Brunswick Landing Marina on Wednesday or Thursday before heading further south to Florida and the Bahamas. We don’t have a schedule or a detailed plan and will go boldly where and when the weather permits us to go. Life at 10 miles per hour and retirement is relaxing and stress-free. We wish you could all be with us to enjoy this lifestyle.

Dataw Island Marina - 16 thru 27 January

2008-01-22T20:22:00.001-08:00

NOTE: Internet access at Dataw Island Marina near Beaufort, SC has been sporadic so I'll insert more photos when access allows. Meanwhile, please read about what we've been doing since we got back on our boat, living temporarily in the marina, and enjoying the fact that the weather here is cool and windy, but a lot milder than the subfreezing temperatures and snow we left behind in Ohio.

We've been busy with boat maintenance and outfitting since we arrived more than a week ago. The time has gone quickly and we've been busy, but we've also taken time to enjoy the South Carolina "Low Country" and do some exploring and touring while we're here. We've settled into a "marina routine" that let's us sleep a little later in the morning than we do when we're cruising. It's been cold, rainy and windy some days and sunny, calm and mild other days. The plan for the day becomes what the weather will allow here in the sometimes sunny south.

After a pleasant Christmas holiday, we arrived back in South Carolina via Virginia and Maryland on Tuesday, 15 January. The weather has been cold and rainy for much of the past week with the exception of two days. Today was one of the sunny and mild days and we took advantage of the break in the weather to launch the dinghy and explore the Morgan River guided by Joe's friend, Frank. We looked for sharks' teeth and arrowheads on Morgan Island, aka Monkey Island where we saw about twenty monkeys sunning themselves on the shell bank as we arrived. There is a real triple canopy jungle on the islands near the seashore and the monkeys disappeared into the trees as soon as they saw us. We also stopped at a sandbar, aka the Disappearing Island since it is covered by the river at high tide. We found no arrowheads or sharks' teeth, but we saw lots of dolphins swimming up the river with the incoming tide all around us.

Earlier in the week just after we arrived we drove to Hunting Beach which is a South Carolina park about 15 miles to the east of Dataw Island Marina. The day was cloudy but mild and we were able to walk the almost deserted beach and enjoy the surf. Hunting Beach was the location where the Vietnam scenes in the movie Forrest Gump were filmed in the triple canopy jungle near the beach. The lighthouse once guarding the shoals near Hunting Beach has been moved inland to preserve it like the more famous Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and is located on the parkland. After walking the beach, we had lunch at the Johnson Creek Restaurant where shrimp burgers were on the menu along with authentic Low Country cooking.

The time has gone by quickly since we arrived last Tuesday and it's hard to believe we've been here more than a week. Yesterday we contacted our friends, Greg and Judy who have their boat at the Brunswick Landing Marina in Georgia. They left today from Colorado after waiting for some of the severe winter weather many of you have faced over the past week. They expect to be in Georgia tomorrow or Friday and we'll pick our own "weather window" to head south to rendezvous with them and continue our cruise with them.

One reason we're still here is the fog and cold and wind

Another reason is we're just enjoying the down time and using the weather as an excuse!

Meanwhile we still have a few things to do to get ready and we still want to see more of this interesting and historic area before we leave.

Yesterday we did something we've been intending to do since we met Roger, owner of Victory and Frank, the skipper. Victory is an elegant, if down at the heels, motor yacht that has an interesting history of cruising in the Mediterranean and hosting a variety of movie stars like John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe and a few other personalities like Senator John F. Kennedy. She is being restored by Roger and Frank since she was retrieved from an irresponsible charter company. Roger gave us an informative and interesting tour of the vessel and the work in progress. When she was built and commissioned, Victory was the largest motor yacht that had been built in the United States at that time. While she has been surpassed in size, there is something attractive and elegant about these mature ladies of the sea. Hopefully, Victory will shine once again when Roger and Frank are finished with their refurbishing.

Update on Saturday, 26 January: Things are almost in place and with one more load of laundry to do, topped off fuel and water tanks, and a well-stocked refrigerator/freezer, we're almost ready to go...just need the weather to cooperate and a route to plan. Today we had an early dinner at the Johnson Creek Tavern where the shrimp and oysters are without peer. Legend has it that a sailor (Captain Johnson, of course!) arrived here over 200 years ago, settled down and built a restaurant. His legacy is the restaurant and the creek that bears his name. I don't know the full story about the dollar bills that are stapled to the roof and ceiling of the restaurant and bar, but I understand they eventually end up supporting charitable causes.

Days Ashore II - 22 December thru 15 January

2008-01-12T12:23:00.001-08:00

This entry picks up from the previous Days Ashore news ending on 21 December and hopefully isn't redundant. After our pleasant family time during the Christmas and New Year holidays, some pleasant time with friends and neighbors, and completing some administrative responsibilities associated with our other life ashore, we are again returning to our cruising life. The next picture probably gives you one good reason why we're "hauling for better weather" where we hope there won't be any snow to shovel!

Today is Saturday, 12 January and it's mild outside. However, we've had cold (see the picture above...temperature 15, wind 40 mph, windchill too low to stay outside to measure!) to very mild weather while we've been ashore. We left home to return to Windreka on Wednesday, 9 January and are heading for SC via VA and MD. While we were ashore, we repositioned our retirement assets in anticipation of the market and economic turmoil we are bracing for in 2008 and are comfortable we have done all we can to weather the storm. But enough of that!

After Joe's dental appointment on Monday, the 14th, we expect to be back on the boat on Tuesday, 15 January and ready to depart in less than a week. Joe has a new computer to install on the boat to run our navigation software. Joe likes the Cap'n and has updated our chart database with all the current charts we need. The computer is a neat little shoebox-sized device with lots of storage. It doesn't have a fan and runs on filtered 12vdc power over a wide range of temperatures...if we run into the upper or lower end of the computer temperature tolerance, we'll be ashore, either shivering under an electric blanket or sweating in front of a heavy duty air conditioner. The display is a 19 inch monitor on a swivel mount that doubles as a DVD movie screen so we can relax with a good movie if the weather isn't cooperating. Besides wiring the computer into the boat 12vdc system, Joe has to interface it with our GPS. On paper it's all straightforward, but on a boat...well, you know!

By the way, we don't depend on electronic charts and Windreka will always be a paper chart boat. The electronics are backup and convenience tools of secondary importance and we aren't totally dependent on them...although they are really kewl to use.

Other than the computer, there are a few other necessary tasks...provisioning, engine and generator oil changes, etc...before we're ready to go.

Our friends, Greg and Judy should arrive on their boat, My Destiny, a sister Whitby 42 by 18 January and we'll try to rendezvous with them at Brunswick, GA about then. After that, we have to make some plans and we'll publish them as soon as we know what they are. At the top level, we'll head into FL and find a departure port to cross the Gulf Stream and clear into the Bahamas where we expect to spend most of our cruising time.

So there you have it...we've got all the Explorer Charts http://www.explorercharts.com/, Skipper Bob's best advice http://skipperbob.home.att.net/, and all the other references we think we'll need. We'll leverage Greg and Judy's experience, cruise conservatively, and end up somewhere in http://www.bahamas.com/bahamas/index.aspx. We think we're prepared...we're certainly ready...stay tuned!

Days Ashore - 7 thru 21 December

2007-12-21T19:57:00.000-08:00

We decorated Windreka, said goodbye to our marina friends and departed South Carolina for colder northern weather on Friday afternoon, 6th December as a great fog was rolling in...reminded us of the foc'sle chantey, The Irish Rover. Friday night, we spent our first night in several weeks in a motel with a floor and a bed that didn't move...now that was exciting!

We made it back to Joe's daughter, Jen's home in Maryland on Saturday, the 7th and friend Sunny Fitzgerald's annual Christmas party later that evening. Everyone wanted to know "how it was?" and our stock answers consisted of somewhat-but-not-too-exagerated descriptions of how cold, how windy and how tough it really was...then we told them the truth...we had the time of our lives and it was really a great experience. Much of the time we were met with puzzled expressions and we realized again that what we are doing is a bit unusual to our land friends. At least we hadn't run into snow until we returned to Maryland...making us realize why we left in the first place.

On Sunday, the 8th December, we left snowy Maryland for snowy Ohio and were home by late afternoon in cold, windy weather. We didn't have much time to think about the 80-degree weather in South Carolina as we had a refrigerator to restock, a house to decorate and preparations to make for Christmas visitors. Actually, Frank calls Joe every few days to remind him how nice it is in South Carolina and to listen to Joe tell him how cold it is in Ohio.

Since we returned, time has gone by quicker than we thought it would. We just looked at the calendar and realized we've been back home for almost two weeks and it's Christmas in four days...Holy Smoke...hope we've got all our Christmas shopping done!

Family Dinner at the Refectory

Christmas is a moving experience this year. As mentioned, Sarah's son Cliff and his family were visiting with us last week and we had an early Christmas with both Sarah's children and their families while everyone was together. After Christmas, Joe (and maybe Sarah) will visit with Joe's daughter, Leanne and her family in St. Louis...then a visit with Joe's daughter, Jen and her family before we head for warmer weather in January...then a visit with Joe's son, Joe and his family whenever we get to Florida. We've decided it's impossible to get the entire clan together all at once and so we have to have family time in smaller bites.

We are slowly planning the next phase of our cruising adventure. Today, Joe celebrated after finally getting his new boat computer working. He is loading his navigation software on it and getting it ready to install on the boat. We are beginning to gather the stuff we need...charts, warm-weather clothes, etc...when we return to the boat and although our focus is on Christmas and family...as it should be...we are already making tentative plans to rendezvous with friends and fellow cruisers, Greg and Judy whose boat, My Destiny is in Brunswick, GA...about 100 miles further south than Dataw Island.

We also keep in touch with our friends who are still on their boats and at various places heading south along the ICW. We're looking forward to getting back aboard in January to join them in this adventure that so many, but so few experience.

Now, where did we put that last minute Christmas shopping list?

Days 18 & 19 - Thursday & Friday, 6 & 7 December

2007-12-08T18:21:00.000-08:00

If you go to the Dataw Island Marina web page at http://www.datawmarina.com/, here's what you'll read: Dataw Island Marina is one of the finest marinas located on the ICW. The well-designed and well-maintained facilities are a pleasant and quiet destination for the demanding yachtsman. The marina has state-of-the-art concrete floating docks, constructed with concrete pilings and includes a wave attenuator dock surrounding the basin. Amenities include an on-site waterfront restaurant and bar, modern air-conditioned showers and laundry, cable TV, courtesy bikes, 24-hour security, and competent and accommodating staff. This is a first-class facility where you will be treated royally. The marina is strategically located 50 miles south of Charleston, SC, 14 miles from Beaufort, SC, and 35 miles from Hilton Head Island. This is an accurate description of the Marina and we are pleased to be keeping our boat here. The staff is friendly, courteous and professional and the facilities are first rate.

On Thursday, we got a bit more serious about getting work done...starting about the crack of mid-morning...after all, Joe and Frank need their coffee to get them motivated. We also slept almost an hour longer than we have for the past two weeks. During the day, we met some more of our neighbors and walked around the docks to look at the interesting assortment of sail and power boats that live here. We intended to do more work than what we did, but we preferred to spend some time socializing and getting familiar with the neighborhood. We also had two weeks of laundry to catch up on, so after lunch, Frank generously lent us one of his cars and we went "downtown" to a laundromat. For the next three hours, we did three triple loads and two single loads of laundry...at least that's what the sign on the washing machines said. By the time we finished it was late afternoon and the only thing to do was to return to the boat for some more socializing. Frank and Joe spent a lot of time on important things like catching up on events of the past several years. We were doing so well at it that we talked right through dinner until Joe pulled out some snacks from the refrigerator while we kept talking. When we realized it was almost 1:00 AM, it was time to turn in and not much planned work got done...but no worries, mate...we're retired and that's grand!

Friday morning brought a pleasant surprise. While enjoying his morning coffee, Joe received a call from Woody Sherrod who was about five miles away and heading our way looking for a good, affordable marina for overnight. Woody's wife Annie was with him, having come back on board Marisol at Wilmington. About an hour later Marisol was tied up to the face dock for the night with the help of the welcoming committee of Frank, Sarah, Joe and the same helpful marina crew that assisted us when we arrived. Cruising is a bit like Forrest Gump's proverbial box of chocalates...you never know what's going to happen next!

As it turned out Woody and Frank are also friends, so we had a reunion and swapped some more lies and tall tales of boating and times past for most of the rest of the day. But we had places to go and people to meet, so in the afternoon, Woody and Angie went grocery shopping and made the obligatory stop at West Marine for some needed boat things while Frank and Joe went to Savannah to pick up a rental car from Hertz. Another boat had come into the marina with a delivery skipper from Deltaville, VA who was also heading for the airport to pick up a rental car to return to Deltaville. Keith hooked up with Frank and Joe and to drive to the airport. One of the amazing things about life on the water is that cruisers always come together to help each other out whenever needed. It really is a small world and good turns are always returned. For cruisers...just as for those who have been in Scouting as a youngster or an adult...it's a natural response.

Day 17 - Wednesday, 5 December

2007-12-07T20:41:00.000-08:00

We've arrived! After turning into Parrot Creek at mile marker 521 on the ICW, we worked our way down the creek to the Morgan River and turned right toward Dataw Marina approximately 2 miles away. We worked our way up to the face dock and with the assistance of Pete and the Marina crew and friend Frank, we tied up at approximately 1:30 PM in a west wind and a tidal current of approximately 2 knots at mid-tide...something we don't even think about on Chesapeake Bay...driving the 5 foot tide into the river. The strong tidal currents and five foot tides are one of the situational factors we are learning to cope with. Cruisers routinely experience these factors along the southern part of the ICW and both currents and tide get stronger and higher as we move south. Maneuvering at dockside is a LOT different here and it really tests a skipper's ability to control his boat in close quarters...we're grateful we have a bow thruster. What's a "bow thruster" you ask...

Bow Thruster Inside and Outside Views

Another Useful Maneuvering Device...In-place and After Being Tuned...

After introductions to the very competent and friendly Marina staff who helped with our docking lines...very welcome given the current and wind...we decided to wait until slack tide to move Windreka into her slip. Joe made a trip up to the Marina office to meet Ron the Marina manager and sign a contract for the slip for the next two months...tariff is $9.75 per foot and $55.00 for a 50 amp electrical connection...about the same as we were paying at Herrington Harbour South. One difference, here the slips are rented on a month to month basis and there are no long term contracts.

After Joe returned to the boat to help Sarah square things away and get ready for life in a marina again, we refilled our almost dry fresh water tanks and topped off the port-side fuel tank. Ron came down with his tape measure to measure Windreka's length. Measurements were taken both fore to aft and aft to fore. The result 51 feet including the anchors and ensign!

At that point it was almost 4:30 and we enlisted Pete and the Marina staff again to help us tie up at our new slip. With the help of Frank at the bow and Sarah at the stern, Joe maneuvered Windreka around the face dock and into the Marina proper to a slip opposite Frank's slip where his Endeavour sailboat, Wander is berthed. It was still windy but the tidal current had slackened and we got Windreka retied up where she will live for the next couple of months.

After 16 days at anchor, it was great to connect up Windreka's electrical systems to shore power and not have to manage battery charging. The Link interface and the Heart 2500 inverter charger took over promptly, the reverse cycle air conditioner began pumping out welcome heat and life was indeed good...time for a relaxing libation and movement on a surface that doesn't move around under your feet...on the other hand, the docks are floating concrete and they do move...just not the same as a vessel underway.

About the same time the aroma of a pot of chili began wafting into the cockpit on the west wind from Frank's boat. We joined Frank, Lieutenant Sophie (boat dog) and Pete...of dock line handling fame...for chili, beer and socializing. Earlier this year, Pete and Frank had been hunting fossilized shark's teeth nearby on the Morgan River and had some very large shark teeth...google megalodon...to show us. The fossils were impressive and I'm grateful the megalodon species is apparently extinct...note apparently! You probably don't want to meet this thing the next time you go for a wade in the water!

We retired early, but the next couple of days have been eventful and we'll post the happenings on another post. This post is being written after the fact from a hotel room about 150 miles south of Richmond as we make our way over land on the next phase of our cruising activities.

Stay tuned!

Day 16 - Tuesday, 4 December

2007-12-04T20:10:00.000-08:00

The great question of the day is why are we having the coldest weather of the trip, now that we've arrived in South Carolina? Did the earth turn upside-down on its axis? Are we going north instead of south? Are we just imagining it to be colder? Who knows?

The good news is that we will be arriving at Dataw Island Marina tomorrow by early afternoon. We have a reservation and the marina has a laundry, showers, fuel, relatively affordable costs, concrete floating docks, good security, etc., etc.

We are excited about getting there, visiting with long-time friends Frank and Debbie, getting back to Ohio, visiting with family and friends for the Christmas Holidays. During that time, I'll try to keep the weblog up to date as part of our adventures.

We are currently at an anchorage on Church Creek, at mile marker, 487 in 17' of water and little or no wind. I have 75' of anchor chain out just in case.

The only difficulty we had today and on this trip is getting across Charleston harbor. Here's what happened. We emerged from the ICW into Charleston harbor, leaving 130 on our starboard side on our way across mile marker 465...no problem. We began searching for R"2" on the channel...wait that's R"26"...no it's R"2" on the MAPTECH Chartkit, Norfolk to Florida and the Intracoastal Waterway, Region 6 Ninth Edition, and R"26" on the Intracoastal Waterway Chartbook, Norfolk, VA to Miami, FL. Wait, the Chartbook contains charts that are updated to 2001 and the Maptech Chartkit contains charts that appear to be more accurate. After a few tense moments, we were able to sort out the marks and geography around us and continue down the channel on the South side of Charleston harbor to the Wapoo Creek entrance. I guess the moral to the story...if there is a moral to the story...is sometimes having an alternate source of navigation information can be confusing...especially if the two contradict each other. It's probably better to be aware of the contradiction before you start using the information and that's what I failed to do. The date of the charts in the Chartbook should have been a red flag. Instead I looked at the front cover of the Chartbook each day and looked right past the warning.

And we almost missed Fort Sumter...now that would have been really embarassing!

After crossing Charleston harbor, we made it to the anchorage by 3:15 PM, dropped the anchor and took a nap...life at 6 miles per hour can be both stressful and very relaxing!

Day 15 - Monday, 3 December

2007-12-03T19:25:00.000-08:00

It was a mild but blustery day with strong winds...25-35 knots...from the Southwest...right on our nose of course! Graham Creek was the best of the worst choices for an anchorage at the end of our cruising day today. All anchorages in range were unprotected on all sides except for Graham Creek which offered only a higher bank on the W/SW side between us and the wind. Since the choices were all less than appealing, we decided to motor into the creek to check things out. When we turned left at the red "64", we found what looked like shallow water, but as we moved into the creek, the water was 10 feet deep almost to the banks and the W/SW bank did indeed offer enough protection from the wind.

So we lowered 60 feet of chain, snubbed it in 9 feet of water and backed down to set the anchor. Since it was mid-afternoon, we decided to defrost the refrigerator. We turned on the generator to power Joe's heat gun and pulled everything out of the freezer to melt the accumulation of ice on the holding plates. When the job was done a couple of hours later, we repacked our frozen foods, turned on the refrigerator and watched as the temperature dropped to its operating range.

There was still enough time left over to sit in the cockpit and watch the sunset after another day on the water. By evening, the wind had gotten lighter...or maybe it was because we were protected in the anchorage. Unfortunately, the balmy weather of the past couple of days will turn colder as a couple of weather fronts move into the area for the next few days. However, we shouild be at our destination early on Wednesday at Dataw Island Marina...next to friends Frank and Debbie Ylinen who live on their Endeavor 43, Wander.

Bad Day Version 2

Day 14 - Sunday, 2 December

2007-12-02T19:14:00.000-08:00

We are anchored in Thoroughfare Creek off the Waccamaw River in a secluded cove that might as well be thousands of miles from anywhere. Yet I am logged on to the internet courtesy of my Verizon broadband account posting this weblog entry. Earlier, I spoke into the keyboard of my comuter and talked with a friend in Canada and got a call from my daughter in Saint Louis. Still earlier, we also spoke from our boat with a small Sunday School group we belong to when we're at home. We live in amazing times and have amazing technology at our disposal!

Today, the weather was mild with a slight NE wind and partly cloudy skies. We are three days away from arriving at our immediate destination...the Dataw Island Marina just north of Hilton Head...where we will leave our boat while we return to Ohio to celebrate Christmas with our families.

Sometimes the ICW is a menagerie of sights and scenes. Sometimes it is mile after mile of marshland. Today was one of the former and following...in no particular order...are a series of photos from our travels down the ICW today:

Day 13 - Saturday, 1 December

2007-12-01T19:31:00.000-08:00

Wrightsville Beach to Myrtle Beach...a distance of approximately 80 miles...turned out to be a bit too far, so we settled for arriving in South Carolina at sunset and anchoring in Calabash Creek north of Myrtle Beach. It was a long day, but we kept at it despite slowing down as we passed each inlet to follow the temporary buoys installed to help boats with deep keels around the extensive shoaling that is taking place. The Coast Guard budget used to keep the ICW dredged and open is not adequate to let them keep up with their work on this beautiful waterway due to their increased role in Homeland Security. We appreciate their mission priorities, but we've had about $300 worth of bottom paint scraped from our hull on this trip so far. At the end of the day the guy at the right is exhausted and we still have another 200 miles to go!

We have a routine we observe each day

Up at 6:00 AM...Joe coffee and Sarah juice and breakfast
Anchor up at 7:00 AM and motor into the ICW from our anchorage
Lunch underway
Turn off the ICW into an anchorage before sunset
Anchor down, stow things away until the next day
Shower and cleanup
Dinner and TV or radio or DVD or conversation
Turn-in
Repeat all above the following day.

Actually, there is a lot more going on between the lines than stated. For example, while we are motoring, Sarah, the chief navigator is updating our position on our charts, finding those elusive buoys that hide in the sun or shadow or shoreline, keeping the green and red marks on the proper side of the boat, noting details of our trip, and managing cockpit ventilation by zipping or unzipping the side curtains. Joe, the chief helmsman is keeping the boat in deep water, looking out for other boats approaching or overtaking us, and asking Sarah for all sort of trivial information to keep a sense of where the boat is with respect to her surroundings, etc. The cockpit is our office and the center of all our activities during the passage. We are surrounded by charts; cameras; binoculars; discarded hats, coats and gloves; sunglasses; water bottles; VHF radios; cell phones; etc.

An inlet is basically a break in the shoreline where a river flows into the ocean and the ocean tides flow back into the river. The tidal flow is strong in this part of the country and the currents are swift. For example, we can usually count on moving in the water over the ground at about 8 miles per hour. A tidal current can easily add to or subtract from another 30% to our speed. For example, today we saw speeds as high as 11 miles per hour and as slow as 4.5 miles per hour. in the vicinity of the inlets depending on which way the tide was flowing. We passed four inlets today and had to slow down to idle speed as we crossed each inlet. There was extensive shoaling where the ICW and each inlet met and there were several additional buoys or "marks" placed on the ICW at each inlet to mark where the tidal currents had carried and deposited sand to get in the way of innocent sailors like us. Fortunately, we didn't run aground today, but could have if we hadn't been vigilant as we passed each inlet.

There are a number of sources of continually updated information about the ICW and its many shoal areas where cruisers can update their charts and keep current on new hazards and other obstacles. One of the best sources of current information is the Salty Southeast Cruisers' Net at http://www.cruisersnet.net/index.php. We use this source as often as we can log on to the internet to update our local knowledge. Sometimes, we have something to report and we can also log on to the web site or address an email to one of the Cruisers' Guide authors. Within hours of such a post, the message is uploaded and available for any ICW cruiser to read.

Tomorrow will be the last day on this cruise that we will be accompanied by Woody Sherrod and his trawler Marisol. Woody will be stopping tomorrow at Myrtle Beach to meet his friend Annie who will be flying in on Tuesday. Woody has been a tremendous source of information and "local knowledge" of the ICW and we have appreciated his friendship, advice and help since we first started down the ICW back at Great Bridge. We hope it won't be long before we have another opportunity to cruise with him. Thanks, Woody for more than we can mention in this weblog...we have thoroughly enjoyed sharing cruising, conversation and anchorages with you over the past 200 miles...we owe you a deck of boat cards!

Day Twelve - Friday, 30 November

2007-11-30T20:31:00.000-08:00

Well we were aground again...this time at anchor. We pulled into Mile Hammock last night and anchorage was deserted except for one other boat. We had plenty of room in this large, well-protected anchor basin, the wind was calm and the water was flat. We lowered the anchor into more than 7 feet of water, let out more than 50' of chain, snubbed the anchor rode and went below. Sometime around 3:00 AM, the anchor alarm went off, so we got up checked the anchor and the anchorage. All was well, the wind and water were calm and our boat hadn't moved, so we went back to bed. By 6:00 AM, the wind was 20-25 knots from the NE and we were in 2.5 feet of water. Sometime between 3 and 6:00 AM, the anchor dragged when the wind shifted and grew stronger and we ended up being blown back toward the shallow end of the anchorage, aground at low tide. As if to reinforce our predicament, a small boat came into the anchorage and a fisherman jumped out of the boat and began wading toward us.

Woody Sherrod called and opened the conversation with a question: "You're aground, aren't you?" and "I'll be right over!" Within a few minutes, Woody dinghied up and made a few depth soundings with his portable depth sounder. We were only a few feet from 7 feet of water, so with Woody pushing on Windreka's bow with his dinghy and me at Windreka's throttle working the engine gear shift and throttle and our bow thruster, we managed to get off the shelf and floating again. Within minutes we were on our way again and the rest of the day was without incident.

A short time after we left the Mile Hammock anchorage, the sun came out and Sarah was almost able to get her full daily dose of sunshine. We were relaxing and enjoying the morning sunshine as we were motoring along in the vicinity of the New River Inlet. Suddenly we ran into pods of dolphins that would approach Windreka and swim alongside of her in pairs or singles. It's always a thrill to encounter these wild sea creatures in their natural habitat and have them swimming along beside our boat as if we were old friends

By 2:30 PM we were at anchor in the Wrightsville Beach anchorage and making plans for grocery shopping, a run to West Marine, and dinner with friends Marily and Allan DeWall who own a condominium here between the anchorage and the ocean.

Sunrise at Wrightsville Beach...................................................................................and sunset!

Day Eleven – Thursday, 29 November

2007-11-30T20:27:00.000-08:00

We are at Mile Hammock tonight. Skipper Bob’s Anchorages Along the Intracoastal Waterway describes the anchorage this way:

“Mile 244.5, {3.6}, Mile Hammock Bay, (34421): Basin dredged out by military for use with Camp LeJeune. Popular anchorage between Morehead City and Wrightsville Beach. Eastern half of basin not dredged! Note marker buoys on chart. Entrance channel and basin dredged to >8’ MLW May 01. Anchor in 10-12’. Use anchor light at night due to military maneuvers. Shoreline is restricted military property. (#4, 12, 52)”

Skipper Bob’s information is accurate and detailed and we use this and some of the other references we mentioned in an earlier post extensively. There is a vast amount of information available for the ICW cruiser, and yet…here it comes…not everything can be predicted.

Today…despite the information readily available…we ran aground. Today…despite the experience of many years of sailing…we ran aground. And I don’t mean just aground. We ran firmly aground and it took many years of sailing experience to get us off. Here’s what happened.
There is a notorious section of the ICW we crossed today near Camp LeJeune where there has been much information published about shoaling and how to avoid the problem. We noted the information and yet when our turn came, we ran aground. We had stopped to refuel at Casper’s just before mile marker 230 and Woody had gone ahead in Marisol. About an hour later, he reported passing the notorious area and had indeed seen shallow water under his keel. He passed a temporary buoy, “61A” on the proper side and had made it through without a problem. He also reported watching a sailboat as big as ours passing the same buoy on the improper side and watching it make it through without a problem. The proper way to pass a green buoy is to keep the buoy to your port (left) side, so we decided to do the practical thing…when it was our turn, we would keep the buoy on our starboard (right) side.

As we approached the notorious “61A” buoy, there were two other large sailboats trying unsuccessfully to pass the buoy on the improper side…keeping it on their right or starboard side. As we got closer, the two boats began motoring north, warning us of the low water as we passed. Because these two sailboats had been having difficulty, we decided to go back to basics and pass the buoy on the proper side, keeping to our left (port) side. We were only about 10’ away from the buoy when we suddenly saw 2.5’ beneath us as we ran aground. We need 5’ and we were now firmly stuck in 2.5 feet of mud and it took almost 20 minutes to get us free.

To paraphrase a famous saying, “It happens!” We had ignored lots of good advice and that was the major reason we had a problem. The good news is that it only delayed us about a half hour and the anchorage was only a few miles beyond where we got stuck. Within an hour, we were anchored in this quiet little cove with two other boats…one our sailing buddy and the other a potential new friend!

If Running Aground Wasn't Enough, the Marines Threatened to Shoot At Us!

The rest of the day was uneventful. We left the Sanitary Restaurant dock in Morehead City in overcast skies and light rain. As we entered the ICW, a light fog settled in and visibility dropped to about a mile. We motored with running lights on as we made it our way along a very narrow channel with shallow water on both sides. After a couple of hours, the sun began shining through and the fog lifted…life was good!

We stopped for diesel fuel and took on almost 70 gallons. A quick calculation tells us that Windreka consumes 1.5 gallons of diesel fuel every hour the motor is running. That allows us to motor at a speed of just under 10 miles per hour…not too fast, but just fast enough.

The View From Our "Office"

Day Ten - Wednesday, 28 November

2007-11-28T19:37:00.000-08:00

Tonight we ended the day tied up to the dock at the Sanitary Restaurant in Morehead City, NC...a run of 45 miles. There is room for only three boats and Marisol and Windreka are tied up along with a classic wooden schooner that pulled in after we did. We passed under the US 70 and Beaufort and Morehead City Railroad Bridges and arrived at the dock at 2:30 PM. Woody and Joe got a ride to the Morehead City West Marine store furnished by the manager, Steve. Woody needed Racor filters to keep cleaning the dirty fuel he took on some time ago and Joe needed a new VHF cockpit microphone and a new rechargeable handheld VHF radio to replace the broken and aging ones we've been trying to use, missing calls, etc.

Windreka departed Bear Creek anchorage at 7:15 AM and followed Marisol who had departed the R.E. Mayo dock and passed us as we were raising our anchor. Windreka makes a little better speed than Marisol and so we caught up with her toward the end of the day.

We spent most of the day on the Neuse River with the NE wind either on our port side or behind us. It was a rocking rolling trip down the river but at least we were going south instead of bashing into the waves like the tug and barge at left. We were happy to turn into the Adams Creek Canal and Adams Creek where we had the shelter of the surrounding trees. At the end of Adams Creek we emerged into a strong tidal current at Core Creek. We crossed the shallows surrounding the channels leading to Beaufort, NC to the north and Morehead City, NC to the south. We made almost a U-turn around the Terminals to find the channel on the south side and the Sanitary Restaurant dock on our Starboard side. With the wind trying to push us away from the town dock, we tied up at the restaurant and squared away the boat.

This Boat Discovered A Really Bad Way to End the Day

After our trip to West Marine, we had a fresh seafood meal in the restaurant and returned to the boat to get ready for departure tomorrow. It's a simple life we are leading now and our schedule is driven by the need to move the boat during daylight hours...hence the early rising and early to bed...and the urge to keep warm now that the temperature has shifted to more seasonal cooler weather again...fair but cool.

Our floating "village" today consisted of only Marisol and Windreka and respective crews. We remained in radio contact with most of them, but their destination was Oriental, NC...a popular stop for ICW cruisers. Our schedule is driven by the need to get Windreka to Dataw Island Marina so we can get home for the holidays.

Day Nine – Tuesday, 27 November

2007-11-27T19:03:00.000-08:00

Cruising on the ICW is as much a social activity as it is an adventure. We’ve found ourselves a full-fledged member of a small floating village consisting of up to seven boats. Yesterday evening, there were seven of us at the Tuckahoe Point anchorage at the head of the Alligator River – Pungo River Canal. All of us left at about the same time…she slower boats first and the faster boats a little later. Tonight our “village” consists of three boats…Marisol and Dream Quest tied up to the R.E. Mayo shrimpers dock about two miles back…and Windreka alone at an anchorage on Bear Creek about a mile off ICW mile marker 160.

The itinerary for today was:

Tuckahoe Point anchorage west to the mouth of the Alligator River - Pungo River Canal
Twenty-two miles southwest then south into the Pungo River
Twenty-one miles southwest into the Pamlico River
Two miles south into Goose Creek and the mouth of the Bay River
Bear Creek anchorage to west of "27"

The Good Side of Commercial Traffic

Woody, Don and Nancy are eating fresh shrimp at the R.E. Mayo dock and we are eating tacos. We have too much food aboard to buy any of the local seafood…a lesson we will remember next time through. But, no worries, mates! We’ll have plenty of time to buy and eat inexpensive, fresh shrimp when we return after the Christmas holidays.

We made over 55 miles today starting at 0730 under a sunny sky and light winds. Later in the morning the wind rose to 25-35 knots from the west…on our nose of course as we motored along the Alligator River – Pungo River Canal. By the time we exited the canal, the wind was getting lighter, the sun was still shining brightly and we were in short sleeved shirts in the enclosed cockpit of our boat…altogether a very enjoyable day in phenomenal weather.

Sunrise at Bear Creek Sunset at Bear Creek
After we crawled our way back into the secluded, protected anchorage…thanks to our new Garmin chartplotter…we settled into our routine of sitting for awhile in the cockpit enjoying the scenery and relaxing as the afternoon turns into evening and the sun gets low on the horizon, By sunset, we are down below and planning our next day’s route. Dinner is cooked and eaten by 7:30 PM and we are settled in to bed early most nights. Sarah usually by 9:00 PM and Joe posting our web log and trying to finish up before the evening news. We have satellite radio, CDs, DVDs and television to entertain us. TV reception varies from very good to barely acceptable. Cellular telephone…so far…has been very good with a couple of exceptions. Broadband access is the big surprise. With the exception of last night, we’ve had internet access at every anchorage and marina we’ve stayed at for the past month and a half.

After a pleasant couple of days, it’s starting to get cooler again. Tomorrow is supposed to be fair and mild and it will get cooler toward the end of the week…but then we hope to be at least 200 miles further south, so we’ll see how much warmer weather we can gather to keep ourselves warm. We’re planning on being south of Morehead City, NC tomorrow evening this time. We’re trying to be a bit more aggressive without disrupting the pleasure of this trip since we want to be home for the holidays and not be too rushed either getting to Hilton Head or getting ready for the holidays…no small balancing act, but we're doing our best!

Day Eight - Monday, 26 November

2007-11-27T17:50:00.001-08:00

Despite the weather, we made much southward progress today…approximately 45 miles from Broad Creek at ICW mile marker 61 to Tuckahoe Point near the entrance to the Pungo River – Alligator River Canal near mile marker 105. After a start in overcast skies, variable winds and moderate temperatures, we found ourselves in high south winds…gusting to 45 knots…on the nose of course…about ten miles from the anchorage. Rain and fog rolled in and we motored carefully through the limited visibility with running lights and steaming lights on. Juniper’s Smile, an Island Packet motored along with us and reported a strong signal from our new radar reflectors. They also provided some welcome “eyes” with their radar since our old radar was useless…one more item to add to the list of new things to fix on the boat.

We left Broad Creek at 0730 in the company of Dream Quest and followed Woody Sherrod on Marisol. We caught up with him mid-way across Albemarle Sound and passed him as we approached the Alligator River. At the Alligator River Swing Bridge, Woody on Marisol and Don and his wife on Dream Quest peeled off to refuel and fill up water tanks at the marina just before the bridge. We continued on through the bridge ahead of them.

As we approached land at the entrance to the Pungo River - Alligator River Canal, the wind shifted to the west, the fog lifted and the rain stopped and we were able to find our way along the channel to the anchorage with no difficulty. To protect ourselves from the forecast of windy conditions, we moved well up past Tuckahoe Point, groping our way through a narrow channel and shallow water. We went about a mile up into the channel to find protection against the gusty winds which were predicted to shift to the south before morning.We were first into the anchorage at 2:30 PM and were joined by several other boats about an hour later…including Marisol, Dream Quest, and Watercolors who anchored to the West of us. We have limited cell phone coverage and no broadband access from the anchorage, so this post was posted to our web log one day late.

A Useful ICW Tool

Day Seven - Sunday, 25 November

2007-11-25T18:40:00.001-08:00

Somewhere Along the ICW

We use a variety of sources for information about navigating and cruising on the ICW. There is general consensus about the best resources and they include Skipper Bob's booklets about cruising; Claiborne Young's Cruising Guides; the Waterway Cruising Guides; the Chesapeake Bay Cruising Guide; the Cockpit Cruising Handbook to the IntraCoastal Waterway; the IntraCoastal Waterway Chartbook; etc. However, the best and most reliable source is still the "local knowledge" a cruiser obtains from someone who has been "out there!"

Today was one of those days when local knowledge was invaluable. We are cruising in the company of a friend, Woody Sherrod, who has been up and down the ICW and although he will tell you/us "it's been a long time," his local knowledge is accurate and helpful. We tapped into it this evening as a light fog was settling in on us as we were cruising down the North River in North Carolina after leaving the Coinjock area behind us. We were in the lead boat of four and had made our plans to all head for Broad Creek. However, as the fog rolled in and it began to rain, we conferred on the radio and decided the four boat flotilla would split up. We were close to Broad Creek with "Dream Quest" just behind us. Woody on "Marisol" and "Watercolors." the boat behind him were several miles back and just had time to pull into one of the anchorages at Buck Island, also on the North River. By the time the rain and fog had settled around us, we were all at anchor thanks to Woody's local knowledge.

We pulled in our lines at 7:30 AM this morning from the bulkhead between the Great Bridge Highway Bridge and the Great Bridge Lock where we were all tied up last night. Just before the Great Bridge opening at 8:00 AM, were all lined up to motor under the bridge to head further south. Bridge openings are one of the ICW activities we look forward to. The bridge tenders are always helpful and when bridges are close together, the bridge tenders communicate between themselves to let each other know how many boats and what type...sail or power...are heading toward the next bridge. This contributes to smooth, professional operations and minimizes disruption of bridge openings to local traffic. The bridge opening protocols are published in the cruising resources and boaters and bridge tenders work together to keep the water traffic flowing as smoothly as possible. It's a unique experience to participate in these activities.

Yesterday and today, we motored past one of the largest concentration of bridges on the ICW. Between Norfolk, VA and Coinjock, NC there are the following fourteen bridges and one lock:

Norfolk and Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad Lift Bridge
Jordan Highway Lift Bridge
Norfolk Southern Railroad Lift Bridge
Gilmerton Highway Double Bascule Bridge
Norfolk Southern Railroad Single Bascule Bridge
Interstate Route 64 Double Bascule Highway Bridge
Dominion Boulevard "Steel" Double Bascule Bridge
Great Bridge Lock
Great Bridge Highway Double Bascule Bridge
Great Bridge Highwy Fixed Bridge
Norfolk Southern Railroad Single Bascule Bridge
Centerville Turnpike Single Pivot Swing Bridge
North Landing Route 165 Highway Double Pivot Swing Bridge
Route 726 Highway Fixed Bridge
Coinjock Highway Fixed Bridge

Centerville Turnpike Single Pivot Swing Bridge - Behind Dream Quest

The "fixed" bridges are generally all 65' high and Windreka's 60' boat clearance allows us to motor under the span. So far no strange breaking sounds have been heard. The other bridges and lock have to be "negotiated" as outlined above.

60 Feet of Boat and Mast Under a 65 Foot Bridge

Coinjock is an Indian name for the berries that grow wild in the area. It's also the name of a popular stop for ICW cruisers. We elected to keep going today since it was too early to stop for the day when we passed by. After leaving Coinjock, we were about a mile behind Dream Quest as she was entering the cut through Long Point between Currituck Sound and Coinjock Bay, when we suddenly became aware she wasn't moving. As we approached, it looked as if she had strayed out of the channel and when were abeam, her skipper confirmed it. He didn't think he and his wife could break free without assistance, so we circled and approached them and Sarah threw them a line. With Windreka's eighteen inch, three bladed propeller in reverse, we pulled them loose in the finest tradition of the sea...one boat never ignores another in distress. It felt good to help and they asked us to take the lead as we motored toward the anchorage at Broad Creek.

Other than Dream Quest's grounding, the day was uneventful and we spent another relaxing day together in the cockpit getting accustomed to this cruising life. Tonight we took advantage of the hot water warmed by the engine and took showers, watched some television, cooked dinner, checked email, updated the weblog and turned in for a solid eight hours of sleep. Tomorrow we begin again at first light and...weather permitting...cross Albamarle Sound, run down the Alligator River and turn into the anchorage atTuckahoe Point at the head of the Alligator River - Pungo River Canal.

So far our internet access via our Verizon Broadband card and account has been excellent. However, it probably will not be as good as we head across the Carolinas, so we may not be able to update this weblog each night. We will keep a log and as soon as we regain access, we'll update the weblog.

Day Six - Saturday, 24 November

2007-11-24T17:14:00.001-08:00

Well there we were at the Great Bridge lock...ignore the date since it comes from a previous trip...but we passed it again today and it's clear where we are/were! It was a little warmer the last time, but we are doing well with an enclose cockpit and a generator to run our heaters at night. The bulkhead here at Great Bridge is full...about seven boats of various sizes. Just before the Dominion Bridge where we were held up for a half hour waiting for the bridge to open, we were hailed by the captain of a trawler who was at the lead of our convoy of three boats...the trawler, a sailboat from Newport, RI and us. It turned out to be Woody Sherrod, who installed a new refrigerator on our boat a month ago. Woody is on his way South on his new trawler, Marisol and recognized my voice on the VHF hailing a bridge tender. Marisol and Windreka are tucked up against the Great Bridge bulkhead and we will be on our way tomorrow morning...perhaps on the same general schedule, or perhaps not. That's a big part of the pleasure of being an active member of the cruising community. Today we spoke with Cathy and Pete Geiss who were in Solomons Island. They left just ahead of us...ran into some unanticipated problems...returned to the dock...and are now on their way south just behind us. Our host, Pat Drenning will also leave Annapolis in the morning after an unanticipated delay. Pat will be heading south behind Cathy and Pete and who knows where we will meet along the way. A few minutes ago as I was writing the post, I got a call from David and Hallie Groves who are in Wrightsville Beach, NC. They left about a week ahead of us and are on an extended cruise. Being a member of the cruising community is a unique and special experience.

The US Navy at Norfolk

Today, after refilling water and fuel tanks, we left the Bluewater Yacht Center at Hampton, VA at 1000 and had an enjoyable run across Hampton Shoal over the same water that witnessed the historic Civil War naval battle between the first two ironclads...the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia/Merrimack. This is the battle that ended the era of wooden warships. We motored past the US Navy ships at Norfolk and on down into the Elizabeth River to Mile 0 of the ICW. Todays leg ended just after we were locked through the Great Bridge lock which raised us up 2-3 feet to make up for the difference between Chesapeake Bay and its North Carolina counterparts...Currituck Sound and Albemarle Sound. The photo at the left is the Great Bridge Lock Pumphouse on the North side of the lock. We were tied up on the South side.

If there is a downside to the trip, it's waking up and having to pull ourselves out of a warm bed to wake up a cool boat and get everything running again. But once up and the sun comes shining through, we are energized and ready to see what's around the next bend of the ICW and we enjoy telling you all about it. We don't have a routine yet, but are working on it. For now, it's enough to plan to be 30-50 miles further south each day and we decide on where we'll spend the night some time around noon when we see how much progress we've made in the morning. Tomorrow we'll be in North Carolina...maybe Coinjock or further...tune in to see or maybe Sarah will call to tell you.

Day Six - Friday, 23 November

2007-11-23T17:26:00.000-08:00

Today was a non-travel day. We were up at 0800 to find a 15-20 knot wind from the north and temperature in the mid 40s with no improvement forecast until tomorrow. So we remained at the Bluewater Yachting Center (http://www.bluewateryachtsales.com/main/marina.asp) for the day.

We took advantage of Allan and Marily's offer to take us to the Mariners Museum (http://www.mariner.org/) in Newport News. We specifically went to visit the USS Monitor Center (http://www.monitorcenter.org/) where the recovered remains of the USS Monitor are being restored. The location of this exhibit is particularly suitable since the famous battle between the two ironclad warships, the Monitor and the Merrimack...or CSS Virginia...took place only a few miles away. The Monitor Center has doubled the size of the Mariners Museum and is astonishingly well done. There is a full size model of the Monitor just outside the main building positioned as a mirror image of the restored Monitor. Inside the main building the restoration is a long-term process due to the need to stop the deterioration of 140 years of being in the ocean off Cape Hatteras. Each section of the Monitor will be placed in the main building in its original position as the artifacts are removed from the restoration tanks...a process expected to take many years.

After the trip to the Mariners Museum, we returned to Allan and Marily's for Thanksgiving leftovers...almost always better than the real thing. This time was no exception. Afterwards, we returned to Windreka to get ready for a departure tomorrow...hopefully with better weather and less wind.

Either way, we'll be at mile 0 of the ICW on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk in the morning.

Day Five - Thursday, 22 November - Thanksgiving Day

2007-11-22T21:47:00.000-08:00

First and most important, we hope each of you had a pleasant Thanksgiving Day surrounded by family and friends. We are indeed thankful for the kindness, hospitality and friendship of Allan and Marily DeWall who were our host and hostess for our unique Thanksgiving Day feast. Allan and Marily are cruisers who have traveled many sea miles on the ICW and in the Bahamas.

Yesterday, we were enthralled by the peacefulness of Chesapeake Bay and a warm sunny "Indian Summer" day. By contrast, today we were thrashed by the same Bay in a completely different mood. Nevertheless we were thankful. Although it was another mild day, the wind was as high as 40 knots on our nose piling water up into 3-4 foot waves. We were sliding down into the troughs at 7 or more knots then climbing up the slope of the next wave at less than 3. Water was splashing over the dodger and bimini and we were thankful for a sturdy boat, good canvas and a strong motor which all worked hard to keep us bashing through the weather.

Even though the fuel and fuel tanks were cleaned and polished just before the start of the trip, the turbulence stirred up every bit of junk left in the fuel tanks. Both Racor fuel filters were clogged to the point that the engine stopped and Joe had the pleasure of replacing both filters while Windreka bounced and pitched and yawed in the sea. But we were thankful that our faithful engine turned over and started again after an hours pause.

By 2:45 PM, we reached Thimble Shoal Light and it was clear we were not going to be able to get up the James River to Deep Creek and the Hampton Yacht and Country Club where we had a slip reserved courtesy of Allan DeWall. Instead we opted for the Bluewater Yachting Center near Fort Monroe in Hampton, where Allan picked us up in time for Thanksgiving dinner at his house. We tied up at the dock at 5:00 PM.

It's now after midnight and the wind is still howling outside. Windreka is warm and comfortable inside, but is bouncing at the dock in the wind. We are thankful we are not still out on the Bay and we intend to remain docked at this marina until the wind subsides. On Friday, we'll tend to the boat and perhaps take a side trip to the Maritime Museum. We plan to depart on Saturday and head down the Elizabeth River to the entrance to the ICW. The weather is turning colder again and we need to get further South.

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner...thank you Allan and Marily!

Day Four - Wednesday, 21 November

2007-11-21T17:59:00.001-08:00

Today, the weather was fine...temperature in the 70s...and even with the wind still on our nose, we had an outgoing tide to lift us as we crossed the Potomac...looking at 8+ knots over the ground! We spent a relaxing 8 hours in the cockpit...listening to CDs, satellite radio and conversation.

Racing by Smith Point Light at 8+ knots!

Last night we were on the computer and fellow cruisers, David and Hallie Groves who were at Oriental, NC called us on our new Skype service and we were able to see and talk to them on their boat and they were able to see us and talk to us via VOIP...amazing technology and not expensive to use. David and Hallie use it to keep in touch with their grandchildren and we plan to do the same with ours once everyone gets outfitted with the software and web cameras.

We raised the anchor at 0800 and got underway in the early morning sunshine. Anchorages are always interesting in the early morning...watermen on their way to earn their living...cruisers on their way to who knows where...recreational boaters on their way out to fish or just have fun...most have a friendly wave to other boaters. Not like commuting in the city where the greetings between drivers take on a different symbology and meaning. Actually, one of the endearing things we enjoy about living in the mid-West now is that many people still do wave to each other when they meet on the roads. If they don't and you do, they will usually return a wave. Not so where we use to live.

Once in a while a day in a boat goes so well, it leaves little doubt why we enjoy boating. Today was like that and we ended up in a neat little anchorage south of Deltaville in Fishing Bay on the Piankatank River. We got there just as the sun was setting and anchored in what would be a crowded anchorage in the summer. Today there was just us and one other boat.

During dinner, we observed that we are on a more routine schedule on the boat than what we do at home. Up early...eat a light breakfast...get moving with the plan of the day...eat a light lunch in the cockpit with Chesapeake Bay as our scenery...stop early and relax for an hour or two...eat a healthy dinner...relax and talk a bit after dinner...then early to bed.

Sarah's Rule - Always take a nap on the boat...as long as the helmperson is awake!

Tomorrow we should tie up at the Hampton Yacht and Country Club to meet friends who have invited us for Thanksgiving Dinner. If we keep on schedule, Friday we should leave Chesapeake Bay and be in the InterCoastal Waterway.

We hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving. We'll be thinking of each of you.

Days Two and Three - Monday, 19 November and Tuesday, 20 November

2007-11-20T18:04:00.001-08:00

On Monday, the wooden mantle over the companionway was finished and fitted by Buster Phipps of Phipps Boat Works. Buster is a true craftsman who has completed and installed cabinetry and many other projects for us over the past several years. When you come aboard Windreka, you can see for yourself. Since the day was unpleasant...overcast and cold...we decided to take our time, complete some other last minute things, turn in early and get up and on our way at first light today. That was the plan yesterday, but today things didn't work out as planned.

We intended to depart at 0700, but one of those gremlins...or "Hogans"... that lurks in the bilge of every boat, climbed out to raise our anxiety level. After due consideration, we agreed to cast off the lines anyway and get on our way. Fortunately, we decided to anchor early to enjoy the nice weather and Joe was able to bribe the Hogan with some rum while he (Joe) discovered the problem which, to put it simply, was operator training...enough said.

After a delayed departure from Herrington Harbor North today, we only made it as far as Solomons Island where we are anchored in a small cove on Mill Creek. Lovely scenery, very quiet and peaceful. Even the weather cooperated today with temperature in the high 60s, the wind light and the Bay calm.

Mill Creek at Solomons Island

Later in the day, the Hogan got into some more mischief, but Joe was able to outwit him again with the help of some long-distance advice of Bob Campbell, the very able electrician whose done much to address the legacy wiring systems on our twenty-three-year-old boat and bring them up to code and the demands of 21st Century cruising.

Tomorrow we hopefully fire up the engine earlier than today and stretch our sea legs to put some serious miles under the keel. If we're lucky, our reward will be Thanksfiving dinner ashore in Norfolk before driving into the ICW on Friday. Stay with us...

A smile at the end of the day!

D-Day - Sunday, 18 November

2007-11-18T18:45:00.000-08:00

The weather was clear and sunny, the temperature was mild and wind was at our backs...we couldn't ask for more! We cast off the lines at 1230 EST, turned on the engine, departed our friend Pat's dock on Whitehall Creek and turned south.The sun was shining and the fall foliage lined the banks of the Creek as we motored out and across the mouth of Annapolis Harbor.

Joe working the dock lines

It was a very pleasant trip down the Bay, past Annapolis Harbor, the Naval Academy, Thomas Point Light, and the mouth of the South, West and Rhode Rivers and into Herring Bay.

Sarah near Thomas Point Light...an icon of Chesapeake Bay. Thomas Point is the last remaining screwpile lighthouse on the
Bay that is still in operation in its original location. For the history of Thomas Point Lighthouse, go to http://www.thomaspointlighthouse.org/history.asp

Three hours after we departed we were tied up at the dock at Herrington Harbor North to complete some carpentry work in the cockpit. Depending on when the carpenter is finished, we may move further south...or we may just stay in place and get an early start on Tuesday to make some serious time.

Oddly, our broadband connection was better in Whitehall Creek than it is here in Herrington Harbor North. On that note, this weblog entry is ended before more work is lost.

Departure Delay - 15 - 17 November

2007-11-16T20:23:00.000-08:00

Windy 15 - 20 knots with gusts to 35 - 40 yesterday and today so we decided to stay at the dock. North winds blew most of the water from the creek and when we woke up the dock was level with the deck...it must be low tide NOT! We couldn't believe it was high tide and when low tide came the deck was below the dock and we were aground! In the past month we have seen water over the dock and now water four feet under the dock.

We clocked winds at the dock at up to 35 knots, so we were glad to be in a sheltered cove and not "out there." A few quick calls to arrange our schedule and we spent the rest of the day running some errands. We now have a web cam to go with our Verizon broadband card and Skype account. We are ready to communicate with anyone and anyplace from our laptops. If you want to meet us on Skype, go to the Skype web site (www.skype.com) and download the free software. If you want us to see you, get a $30 dollar web cam and look for us by searching on our email address. Otherwise we may just call you from our computer and talk to you through the keyboard microphone. Actually it works very well and even with the initial investment, it's cheap.

Tomorrow we run our last errands, visit with Joe's daughter, Jenny and her family, do our laundry, leave our car at Jenny's home and come back to the boat. If the water rises, we'll leave on Sunday morning, the 18th for the adventure.

The log should get more interesting now as we finally haul for better weather...and it's about time now that the temperature is in the 30s after the sun goes down!

Pre-departure Activities - Annapolis 8 - 14 November

2007-11-14T19:37:00.000-08:00

We've been in Annapolis since 8 November, having arrived here by way of Woodbridge, VA where we celebrated Joe's xxth birthday with Sarah's son and his family. We raided BJs and provisioned with what we could. However, we couldn't use the 10 pound boxes of cereal and the pack of fifteen peanut butter containers, so we had to raid the local Giant grocery store too. About $750 later (or 3/4 of a "boat unit"), we think we have enough food for the next three weeks.

Sarah packed everything in plastic bags and threw out all the cardboard, packed the freezer, refrigerator and every nook and cranny on the boat that she could find. We stocked up on fleece clothes and tried to decide if it was going to be colder or milder than we planned. Today, 14 November, was in the mid 60s, so we don't know what we'll face on the way South.

Tomorrow, 15 November is expected to bring a weather change and gusty winds to 40 knots, so we've decided to stay at the dock another day and leave for Herrington Harbor North on Friday where we have some carpentry work to be finished...the last item on our pre-departure punchlist.

Windreka is in better shape than she has ever been since she was new in 1984. During the past six months, we've offloaded all the "things" suitable for daysailing on Chesapeake Bay and added miscellaneous "things" to the boat to make cruising life more liveable, scraped, sanded and revarnished most of her teak, added 200' of new anchor chain, overhauled our generator, replaced our refrigerator and windlass, recertified and refilled our two 20# aluminum propane tanks, installed a big new 155 amp alternator and regulator, installed XM satellite radio, set up a broadband access account for our laptops, installed a new Garmin chartplotter, and updated all our navigation software, in addition to finishing a hundred and one other things we've intended to get around to over the past several years. The rest of the things on our list will get done underway, or when we have more "dock time" to fill.

Baltimore to Annapolis - 6 thru 8 November

2007-11-05T20:36:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow we head for Annapolis via Woodbridge, VA to shop and organize provisions on Wednesday, 6 November. We'll load up the refrigerator/freezer on Thursday and start working through our final pre-departure punch list...new stern light, fill fresh water tanks, service engine and generator, etc. We'll keep an eye on the temperature as it drops and the daylight gets shorter. There are still two major items on our punchlist...a big new alternator to be installed just before we cast off the dock lines and some companionway woodwork to be refit on our first stop hauling for better weather...stay tuned!

Pre-departure Plans

2007-10-21T13:47:00.000-07:00

We are currently in the last stages of outfitting Windreka III for our trip South. Joe will be at the boat this coming week while Sarah takes care of getting our new house in order prior to departure. Our new detached garage is almost finished and we have started moving some of the clutter from the attached garage to the detached one to redistribute our stuff. The photo depicts how things look as of today.

By the way, a house is a lot like a boat, but it's usually easier to get to things. For example, here's our house bilge and bilge pumps.

When the main tasks of outfitting Windreka III are finished, Joe will return to Ohio after the first of November. At that point, we will lock up the house and return to Annapolis by the end of the first week of November to cast off the dock lines and get underway.

When we are finally moving, we intend to relax and take it slow and easy on our ICW itinerary. We have friends to meet along the way and no planned schedule except to be home for Christmas...stay tuned!

Hauling for Better Weather - The Cruising Log of Windreka III

2007-10-15T20:41:00.001-07:00