The Adventure Continues

Shrimper

 

Believe me, the adventures sure do continue! As I sit here in Florida, it’s hard for me to believe we got through South Carolina and Georgia without a scratch.  We had a few low water spots coming out of Wrightsville Beach, but not where we expected. The Cape Fear River was nothing to fear this time.  The winds and waters were calm, maybe too calm as we left a little too early to get the benefit of the outgoing tide to push us along. (Again, sailors are never content!) We got some advice from our marina (local knowledge is the way to go!) on how to navigate Lockwood’s Foley and Shallotte Inlet and as a result we had no problems. It was tense going through the Rock Pile before Myrtle Beach but worth it as we opened up to the beautiful Myrtle Beach area.  It is suppose to have over 100 golf courses. They also have gambling ships now that go in and out of one inlet and don’t go too far down the ICW.

As we sat in an anchorage in Prince Creek, SC we reviewed our course for the next day.  We really had to be creative as to how we were going to get through the low water around McClellanville as we had to approach at low tide.  After all of our planning and heartburn, we got up the next day to calm waters and the warmest day we had for a while and a full moon. Mat suggested we go outside into the ocean instead of going down the ICW.  Great idea, but we had to travel overnight to get to an inlet we would enter in the daylight.  That meant going from our anchorage in SC to Savannah, through the night, in the dark, just us and all the warm clothes I could find. My layers included wind pants, fleece pants, corduroy pants, long underwear and …you know as well as my winter coat, hoodie sweatshirt, long underwear shirt and …you know. Not to forget winter hat and gloves and hand warmers.  Those who know me well know sailing at night is not on the top of my list unless the list is of things I never want to do. So 200 miles and 30 hours later we arrived at the marina in Savannah.  Not a moment too soon for me!  All in all it was okay for most of the time.  The moon kept us in some light for most of the night, however not all. It was more than just a little bit spooky.  We also tried to see if we had radio contact and it appeared that we didn’t.  This was the scariest for me so we moved closer to shore to maintain radio contact. Yoga breath, yoga breath…

We had a great stay with Kathy and Mike Kahn in Skidaway, GA.  They were great hosts and taught us a new card game, 5 crowns.  Mike was sorry to see Mat win the first game but the Kahns got the trophy back on the next game! Thanks again for your hospitality and wonderful bed.  Here is where we sat out hurricane Sandy but Savannah didn’t get anything.  As you all know, the brunt of the storm hit NY and NJ.  Our hearts and prayers still go out to all, some still without power and other without homes. You can donate $10.00 to the Red Cross at 90999 on your cell.

It seems the farther south we get, the cooler it is.  Being on the water early means we leave when it is sometimes still in the 40’s.  Burr!  It is so unexpected since we did the last trip almost every day in shorts.   Our next big stop was St Simons Island, GA where my best friend Cynnie and her sister Ursie live and opened their home up to us.  We all grew up together and always have a great time when we can get together. Sue at Brewers Marina in Mystic has a cousin on the island so we stopped in to say hi.  He has a great little restaurant there.  Daylight savings time ends and we now can leave earlier but have to be settled at night by 5 or so.  So many details to keep track of…

We went out into the ocean again from St Simons Sound to the St Mary’s River but this time did it all in daylight.  We saw tons of dolphin and lots of shrimp boats. We entered Florida as we came in through St. Mary’s River. We spent a few days in St Augustine, one of our favorite ports.  The city is so steeped in history and is beautiful as well.  A trip out to San Sebastian winery for wine and port was in order.  Then we stopped at the Whetstone chocolate factory.  Sipping port wine and eating dark chocolate; that’s relaxation!

Florida waters are much less shallow than Georgia and the Carolinas.  What Florida considers shallow, the Carolinas and Georgia would consider deep.  So someone please tell me why I waited to get to Florida to go aground?? I saw I was losing water under the boat so I slowed down, then bumped, and then stopped.  Not a great feeling.  Mat was able to quickly maneuver the boat away from the shoal and we were free.  He is definitely my hero!

We are now in Titusville, FL.  It seems we had no mishaps at sea, but put us into port and we are a disaster.  As we docked here, Mat tripped on a line on deck and took a flying leap, gratefully not off the bow.  But he did have to nurse a swollen knee for a while.  Today I was cleaning and fell into an open storage hatch in the floor. Miss grace all the way!  And it’s probably okay to call me stupid. So the ice pack is now mine for the day as I either broke or badly bruised 2 toes. We will leave the boat here as we fly home for the holidays.  We’ll be home on 11/16 and will return to Florida on 12/30.  Our adventures will continue shortly after that.

Hopefully we’ll get to see a lot of you while we are home. We wish you all a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year!

Morning Fog Prince Creek

Ooops!

Sunrise on the Atlantic Ocean

Pam's first overnight sail

Wahoo River Turtle

The New Hat

Crane Cottage Jekyll Isl, GA

Tabby Ruins Darien GA

Pulp plant Fernandina Beach at

Daybreak

St Augustine, FL

Bridge of Lions

The Crew in St Augustine

The Dismal Swamp and More

Pam at the Dismal Swamp

Visitor Center

 

Where to start? The past few weeks have been quite an adventure, both good and bad.  But I guess I’ll start where I left off – The Dismal Swamp. This is the beginning of the 22 bridges and 2 locks we have to pass through on a schedule or request their opening. So we passed through the Gilmerton Bridge to coincide with the lock opening to enter the Dismal Swamp. We passed through with some boats that we had met on the Chesapeake and a sailboat called Ozymandias, name of a poem by Shelley and an Egyptian king. The first part of the swamp was narrow and shallow, we bumped bottom about 5 times (sounds like I’m going to confession!). Anyway, it was a bit tedious, but we got to the visitors center and rafted next to Ozymandias   then resumed our travel the next day, timed right for the next lock. This part was wider, deeper and prettier. We headed for Elizabeth City with expectation that there would be the ever famous welcoming committee followed by free wine and appetizers for the boaters.  We did get a group waiting for us to help with the tie-up, but that’s where the “Elizabeth City Experience” ended. Everyone says you have to do the Dismal Swamp. Now we can say, been there, done that forgot to buy the tee shirt.

We did make good friends with Maureen & Tom on Ozymandias (easy for you to say!).  We sailed together, had dinner together from the Dismal Swamp to Beaufort, NC where they continued their travels and we sat and waited for a new depth gauge to be installed.  This is the bad part I mentioned earlier.  Somewhere along the way, our depth gauge started blinking, indicating that it no longer was reading the bottom.  Not a good thing down here where depths are often around 5-7-ft.  Our boat is 5 feet deep.  Tom and Maureen acted as our seeing-eye dog as we followed them in an out of shallow anchorages, for which we are very grateful.

In Beaufort, NC we found an honest and conscientious and capable electronics tech, Fernando, who assessed the problem, took many calls from his 2 daughters assuring them he’d be home as soon as possible, got and installed the new depth gauge and set us on our way!  However, it was 6 days later.  It’s a good thing we are not driven by a schedule.

One of the captains on a mega yacht in Beaufort had a heart attack and died while we were there. It brought home that we have to be grateful for every day we have, even if you are stuck at the dock waiting for repairs.

We have seen an increase in the number of dolphin and have seen our first palm trees. We even saw an alligator.  Guess where? Alligator Bay. The krill have attached themselves to the bottom of the boat and we can hear the snap, crackle, pop as they munch away. To me, this all means you are in the South. The weather has warmed up and the layers of clothing are diminishing too.  I was beginning to wonder if I brought enough fleece with me.

We are now in Wrightsville Beach and hoped to see our friend Mark, but our delay made that not possible.  We hope to see him on the return trip. We also were looking forward to seeing Larry and Mary in Little River, but our delay nixed that too.  We’ll see them in Marathon, FL though.

We are off for the Cape “FEAR” River tomorrow and should be in South Carolina in a couple of day.  We are contemplating going out into the ocean for a little bit if the weather is good.  We don’t save time, but we do lessen the amount of gray hairs or loosing hair we get from trying to avoid shoaling waters.  Oh wait, I think we have the gray hairs covered (mine by L’Oreal).

We think of you often and hope you are all well.  We apologize for the spam many of you received.  We were hacked, but our computer scan has come up clean. Here’s hoping it doesn’t happen again.

Mat & William Crawfor

founder of Portsmith, VA

Fading into the mist at the

Dismal Swamp

Dismal Swamp

Lock at Dismal Swamp

Boat rafted at the Visitor Center

Sunrise Mile Hammock Bay

Camp Lejeune

Dismal Swamp Visitor Center

Henry the heron in Beaufort, NC

Wild Horses in Beaufort, NC

Daubreak Beaufort, NC

Bridge opening in Wrightsville Beach

 

Tow BoatUS, just waiting

for someone to go aground. 

Great business down here

Chilly start for the next leg

The crew in Annapolis Harbor

 

After a chilly wake-up temperature of 49 degrees, we set out to tackle the Delaware River. Feeling confident, we decided to follow the same course we followed in 2005 by following close to shore around Cape May Point.  As we proceeded, we noticed waves breaking from out of nowhere just ahead of us.  That usually means shallow water (rocks maybe?), so we quickly did a 180.  If you were following us on SPOT, you probably thought we were already starting our “5 o’clock somewhere celebrations”.  It was a wise move even though it took a bit longer.  Going aground was still very fresh in our minds.

The Delaware River is wide and since we caught the incoming tide it was a pleasant trip.  We made it o Chesapeake City to anchor for the night. It is right on the Delaware-Chesapeake Canal and you can watch the large cargo ships going by. We also saw our first bald eagle.

Having noticed a water leak in the engine area, Mat investigated and it seemed to be coming from the seawater pump.  This gismo keeps the engine from overheating- necessary function.  So we called a marine supply in Annapolis to see if they had the part and we were pleasantly surprised that they did. First major outlay, but we could change the part ourselves. (Remember when I said what “we” meant?) So, off to Annapolis!  Arriving on a Saturday morning was a challenge since there were about 5-6 different sailing races going on as well as harbor tours and a pirate ship to maneuver around. We had a wonderful mooring right in front of the Naval Academy.  We also had our first crab dinner. In Maryland, crab is what it’s all about!

Although a bit off the beaten path, we set out for St Michael’s on the eastern shore of Maryland.  It is a beautiful spot and the marina was practically empty.  Other boats there were locals doing the Chesapeake, not snow birds like us.  We got our bikes out and rode around and went for a tasting tour of their local microbrewery and to the Maritime Museum. Another crab dinner under our belts and we were on our way!

The afternoon weather is getting warmer and I even went for a dip when we arrived at Fishing Creek off the Little Choptank River to anchor.  But the mornings are still nippy and I can fondly yearn for those hot flashes of yore. One thing that is consistent is how beautiful the sunrises and sunset are. I know some of the splendor is from air pollution but I still marvel at the wonders that God has created for us.

Solomons Island was our next stop.  We had memories of their long floating dock for transients but were sorely disappointed when we were put on a dock by ourselves and all of the poopy birds you can think of. I now know what a poop deck is! We got changed to another slip where there were actually people not poopy birds and we met up with a boat we met in Cape May.  There was a short finger pier to exit the boat but it was wobbly and did not look at all interesting to me.  So over the bow I went instead.  See, there’s a solution to everything!

 I wish I had a “Life is Good” t-shirt as we entered Mill Creek off Great Wicomico River.  So far it’s the best anchorage. The water was deep, the banks lined with trees and beautiful homes.  The menhaden fish are all around here and were jumping all around the boat.  These fish are processed for fish oil and fertilizer.  So next time you take your Omega 3, you now know where it comes from.  The book says the estimated population of these fish in the Bay is in the countless billions. As my mom used to say, they couldn’t print it if it wasn’t true.  End of geography lesson. As we left the harbor we saw our first dolphin.

We have noticed that except for Cape May, we have not met others going south.  No sure if it’s the economy or not, but we expected to meet more by now. The crab traps are not as numerous either – probably no connection, but an observation.

We sat out a predicted storm in Deltaville, VA which turned out to be a non-event. Having passed mile marker 0 for the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) we are now officially out of the Chesapeake Bay in Portsmouth, VA. And we officially found the hot weather. This is our last stop before we enter what is commonly referred to as “The Ditch”.  We are taking a different route this time called the Dismal Swamp. It is suppose to be a beautiful cut through to the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina.  It doesn’t sound too dismal to me! We look forward to places called the Alligator River, Lockwood’s Folly and Cape Fear with some anxiety, but also look forward to places like Beaufort, Charleston, Savannah, St Simons and St. Augustine with much anticipation.

That’s all for now. I just want you all to know how happy I am that no one knows where in Jersey Snooky is from.

Sunrise on Fishing Creek off

the Choptank River

Mat, having a chat with Alex Haley.

Annapolis is where Kunte Kinte was sold into slavery

Are we there yet?

Swimming in Fishing Creek

Sunset Annapolis Harbor

Mile Marker Zero the start of

The ICW

OK! So it;s a bit chilly

The Journey Begins

Throgs Neck Bridge

 

Our saga begins with just about the best weather possible. We had beautiful, if chilly, weather until we got to Cape May.  Can’t complain about that! Before I get started, just so you know, when I say “we” it usually means Mat doing the heavy lifting and me standing by for orders.  Most of the time I am sooo glad we don’t have equal responsibilities.

Just Ducky took us up the Long Island Sound to Westbrook and then To Branford CT, sailing most of the way. (We LOVE September sailing!) In Branford we called cousins Lee and Marty as  well as Laurie (Brian is in Poland getting a hug from his new granddaughter) to see if they were free for a visit.  Lee & Marty came down to the boat to give us a family sendoff.  We always enjoy their company.

Although we are underway, it doesn’t feel like we are since we are still in local waters.  We decided to spend the next night in Glen Cove, NY, another free Brewers marina.  We seem to be on the monarch butterfly migration path and what we want to believe was a single monarch following us all day.  Our good luck charm.  Since this part of the sound was new to us we felt like we were truly on our way.

Every day has been cool on the water to start, so fleece and long pants give way to shorts and tee shirts as the day progresses, at least for Mat.  I still had a hard time giving up my sweatshirt.

The most exciting part of the trip for me is coming through Hell Gate in Manhattan.  Of course Mat is at the helm fighting the currents and traffic and I get to sit back and enjoy, so he may have a different opinion!  Rushing down the East River, coming around to see the Statute of Liberty in the distance is awesome.  The 911 memorial building is a sight to see.  When we were about 15-20 miles away, it was still visible.  We went through on the 13^th so 911 was on the top of my mind.

When a boater asks you if you have gone aground and you say, no, their stock answer is “you will”.  Well we did not have to waste too much time getting stuck in the sand in Sandy Hook, NJ.  Our son Rick said, “Okay, you got that out of the way early!” With the assistance of a fellow sailor, we set the anchor on the starboard (right) side of the boat and turned the bow around and it worked.  We quickly left that proposed anchorage in search of deeper water.

We left at 6am the next day for our long trip down the Jersey coast. The beautiful sunrise with the moon and the planet Uranus visible was worth getting up for.  As exciting as Manhattan is, the Jersey shore is boring.  Mile after mile of flat beach doesn’t inspire any photos.  All I could think of is what part of the Jersey Shore is Snooky from? 13 hours later we arrived in Atlantic City at dusk, after the harbormaster had gone home.  Tricky finding our slip at the marina, but flashlight and binoculars in hand, we found it. The next day we finally got some good exercise walking the 4.5 mile Boardwalk, won $22.50 at the casino, had a great dinner and left for Cape May the next morning.

Cape May is a quaint Victorian town and we love being here. We also were welcomed by our friends Dani and Roger who have a beautiful home here.  They graciously had us stay with them for a couple of days.  We got to meet Dani’s daughter Hillary, son in law Contrano and grandson Nevio.  They truly made us part of the family as we celebrated Hillary’s birthday. We had a great dinner at their restaurant the Good Earth. A trip out to Cape May Point to the lighthouse and bird/butterfly migration area was great.

This is where the weather breaks down as the cold front moved in.  Our plans of going up the Delaware River today quickly changed to tomorrow as the winds were predicted at 25-30 and the seas 6-8 feet!  Not our kind of traveling. Tomorrow looks promising as we travel into the Chesapeake Bay on our son Tom’s birthday.  Happy Birthday, Tom!

 

UN Building

 

 

Pam at the helm

Sunset entering Atlantic City

Dani & Rodger's home

Cape May

Cape May Lighthouse

Pam & Mat Cape May

Trip South on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway

2012/2013 Trip South

on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (ICW)