8 October 2015

Wrightsville Beach, NC

We did stay in Oriental a sixth day. The piers had flooded a foot over and they did turn off power for a day. Monday we tried to use the courtesy car to go to town but the roads were flooded. On Tuesday the water did recede and was just at the tops of the decking. We left Wednesday morning with bright, warm sunny skies and wisps of high clouds. 

It was beautiful crossing the Neuse River and on into Adams Creek and then a canal. The currents in many places on the ICW can be significant for a slow boat. You can be making turns (rpm) for 6 knots and be moving 8 or making turns for 6 knots and moving 4. You can be running against the current, pass an inlet and all of the sudden the current is behind you and you gained 2 knots.

We traveled all day arriving in Swansboro around 1600. We walked the town and visited antique shops. A nice thing about living on a boat is that you can go shopping knowing you won’t spend any money, no place to put things. Swansboro is pretty little town proud of its past, almost all of the houses have a placard stating the date it was built and who built it. A local told us of a restaurant that was good and had live music so, after a shower, off to dinner and music. 

We left Swansboro at 0800 enjoying lovely weather and scenery and arrived in Wrightsville Beach at 1700. This is mile marker 283 on the ICW, that’s from mile marker 0 in Portsmouth, VA. If you add in the 140 miles down the Chesapeake we’ve traveled 423 miles. That’s 423 miles warmer than most of our friends! Fort Lauderdale, FL is about Mile Marker 1080.

Bella is being clingy, she must have sprained her hind left leg jumping from the boat in Oriental, she is favoring it and whimpers sometimes if she lays on it wrong. We hope she is better soon.

We have heard that there had been reports of debris from the flooding, we have not seen any yet.

A 2/3 replica of a brigantine, home built with 6 real 3" cannons

Rubber boat training at Camp LeJuene

Anyone interested in a large Sportfish?

Anchorage at Wrightsville Beach

5 October 2015

Oriental, NC (still) 

Happy Birthday to my son Nicholas!!!! (tomorrow).

Well, we are still in Oriental at Whitaker Pointe Marina, day 5. Rain and wind with 35 mph gusts. The piers are under water a foot, they turned off shore power yesterday.

This marina is only 1/3 occupied. Their are about 50 slips. A 40 foot slip sells for $80,000 and op fees are $1800 per year. There is a small pool, a nice clubhouse (no bar) and beautiful grounds.

We are reading, watching movies and walking Bella. The mosquitoes are having a field day with all this water and relatively warm weather. The sun has poked out from time to time. Bella is enjoying running through the puddles.

We did engine fluid checks, cleaned the bilges, repaired the toilet, and other minor repairs and house cleaning. Bella got a haircut. BORED!

We did go to dinner the other night and had gone grocery shopping the day before. We may go to a nautical consignment shop to get a step stool, the boat gunnel is about a 5 foot jump to the pier.

We are still hoping to move tomorrow as the winds move more northwest and the rain in predicted to stop for the next few days.

A leap of faith

2 October 2015

Oriental, NC

We left Portsmouth on Sunday and into the Dismal Swamp. The Dismal didn’t disappoint, we had some sun and a pleasant cruise. We met our old friend Locktender Robert at the Deep Creek Lock. He is the best known person on the ICW. Robert was ready to retire last spring but apparently was talked into delaying by an “significant bonus” to stay on. We are most pleased and hope to see him again on our return trip. We stayed the night at a lay along just past the lock and met Mark and Scott who are traveling south on a Canadian built Gossard sailboat.

We made a bump and run at the VA/NC Visitors Center and continued on to the South Mills lock and spent the night. We met a very pleasant lady whose house was near and she offered any assistance we might need. 

Bella became uncharacteristically nervous, perhaps it was the deadheads that hit the bottom occasionally, Robin thinks she smelled bear, she wanted to hide down below. 

We locked through in the morning, the locktender here is not nearly as personable or helpful as Robert. We motored south through Turner’s cut to Elizabeth City, NC. duckweed here was the most we’ve seen, it potentially clogs engine seawater strainers. We stopped for fuel at Lamb’s Marine and met Bill the Dockmaster, very friendly, originally from Dundalk whose wife is a retired Respiratory Therapist at Hopkins. On to Elizabeth City free docks for the night in a drizzle. Gus is probably the second most well known person on the ICW. He is always at the parking lot waiting for boaters to help tie up and share many unbelievable stories. He was a Merchant Marine, Multimillionaire, and FBI agent with Hoover. I don’t know if any is true but he is fun to talk to. After securing the boat I tried to jump from a small finger pier to the boat and missed finding myself deep under water between the stern and the bulkhead. Nothing hurt but my pride and my iPhone. Well, I have really been wanting to replace my iPhone 4 anyway. We dried it, put it in rice for 24 hours then “DampRid” for another 24, the damn thing works!

We left Elizabeth City Wednesday and had a long day trying to get as far south as possible looking for safe harbor if Joaquin hits us. We anchored at the end of the Alligator Pungo canal for the night and moved on to Oriental early. 

We are in Oriental for a couple of days, it looks like Joaquin won’t be an issue  but lots of rain and coastal flooding are expected. We are staying at Whitaker Pointte Marina, ice and laundry machines are on an honor system, you leave your money in a Tupperware container. They also have a courtesy car we will use to go to town. We did watch the Ravens Steelers game last night. We will try to move on to Beaufort, NC tomorrow, weather permitting.

We are now at ICW Mile Marker 181. Fort Lauderdale is 1088. Mile Marker "0" is at Norfolk which is about 145 miles from Middle River.

Kinda cool seeing an aircraft carrier in drydock

Gilmerton lift bridge

Deep Creek Lock lifts you 8 feet

Robert, Deep Creek Lockmaster

A no longer used railroad bridge. Note rollers to push it across the canal

South Mills Lock with duckweed. Lowers us 8 feet 

The duckweed is kind of pretty

Dirigible (blimp) hanger at Coast Guard Station Elizabeth City

We want to belive Randy Robinson Jr. sent this to watch over us

ICW 100 mile marker

26 September 2015

Portsmouth, VA

We left Middle River on Monday and arrived in Norfolk on Thursday. With wind from the northeast and following seas we made good time averaging over 6 knots, a little rolling sometimes but good overall. We had overnight anchorages in the Rhode River, Soloman’s Island, and in the Piankatank River in Deltaville.

With this high pressure system north and a low south funneling rain and wind to the east coast we decided to lay up in Portsmouth for a few days at the Tidewater Marina. Thursday night we had a fabulous French dinner at Cafe Europa. We walked the town yesterday and had cocktails at the marina pub. 

Portsmouth and Norfolk are interesting cities with much history, good food and drink and ship building everywhere. The number of warships and their size and might makes you feel proud and protected.

Today we will catch a movie at the Commodore Theater, a art deco movie house, where you can sit at a table in leather chairs, have dinner and cocktails while watching the movie. 

We hope to start moving tomorrow, passing under Gilmerton Bridge, the first of many, and on to the Dismal Swamp. The Dismal is one of my favorite areas, it begins at Mile Marker 11, taking us through 2 locks, through Turner’s Cut to Elizabeth City at Mile Maker 51. It may seem a bit more “dismal” if the sun doesn’t shine.

Robin is happy that we are on our way again!

Sailing into Hampton Roads

22 September 2015

Solomons Island, Maryland

“Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say goodnight till it be morrow.”

Yesterday we began our second adventure to the Bahamas. This past weekend was a perfect culmination to the summer. Thursday we went to dinner in Little Italy with our good friends Randy and Leslie, Friday to Redeye Yacht Club for Robin’s favorite meal, sour beef and dumplings, with Marty, Marisol, Mary, Rich and Jan, and their grandson Brett. On Saturday Bill and Denise Mineo allowed us to share the reaffirmation of their love in a ceremony in recognition of their 30th anniversary. John and Nancy Platts came and stayed with us. Sunday was spent with well wishes from our many friends at Bowleys, beginning with Patron Cafe shooters brought to the boat by Marty. Robin’s Mom, brother Kevin and his wife Ruth Ann, came to watch the Ravens at the Chandlery.

“Together forever, never apart. Sometimes in distance, but never in heart.”

Monday morning we left Bowleys at 1030 and after a 10 minute motor out of the marina, sailed to the Rhode River for the night. We left the Rhode at 0830 and after sailing 7 hours dropped anchor in Mill Creek, Solomons Island. Monday and today were cloudy and cool with favorable northeast winds, tomorrow promises to be warmer and sunny. Northeast winds flatten the bay and allow us to sail with the wind on our quarter, the quartering seas were not excessive so it was fairly comfortable.

Robin reminds me we never completed the blog for the last trip.

We left Bimini and arrived in Fort Lauderdale after a 9 hour sail. We were surprised the water in Florida was not as clear as we remembered, perhaps we are spoiled by the “gin clear” waters of the Bahamas. While in Lauderdale, the engine overheated, our bank card was turned off by the bank (even though we called to tell them we were back in the States), we walked 4 miles to check in at Immigration. We traveled north quickly stopping only in St. Augustine to visit with Bob and Wendy at their lovely Florida home. The trip from the southern Exumas to Baltimore took 4 1/2 weeks. We averaged 60 to 80 miles per day. 

Other highlights of the trip were a neat little marina in Georgia and dinner at a “Cop Shop” restaurant for my birthday, (no need for restrained  political correct conversation there), woke up aground and leaning at 0100 at one anchorage due to an 8 foot tide, had to wait for the tide to get through Isle of Palms, another beautiful cruise through the Dismal Swamp, and Memorial Day in Portsmouth. Arriving back in Baltimore harbor on May 27th brought happy tears to Robin.

Coming back home was something of a shock, the drama in Baltimore City was disappointing, and the stress of “Bowleys World”……oh well……. You have to understand the previous nine months was stress free.

We returned to Bowleys on the 28th to learn the sun and salt water grew our boat so that the Board could not allow us back to our C-pier slip. So off to B-pier to acquire new friends until Robin got creeped out when we learned a camera was pointed into our cockpit and salon. The Board President’s best solution was to move those offended (us) to A-pier. A great view, privacy and more new friends. An interesting summer in “Bowleys World”. 

We did some long trips enjoying Fells Point, Shaw Bay, St. Michaels, Kent Island, Annapolis, and Rock Hall. In Annapolis the Naval Academy tour was impressive, how proud the parents of the cadets must be. Pirates and Wenches weekend was our first such experience, arrrrrrr. A wonderful long weekend with John and Nancy.

Robin was able to spend quality time with her Mom and her Great niece, Summer. Only Robin would encourage a 20 month old to jump and swim in the deep end of the pool.

We’re both happy to be traveling south again!!!

Skip and Robin at Regi's

John having fun

A Wench at "Pirates and Wenches"

Robin thinks this is fun

Good friends having fun

A Beautiful loving couple

Farewell to Bowleys till next year

29 April 2015

Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas

We arrived yesterday just before the thunderstorms.

We spent 4 days in Nassau waiting for weather that would allow us to sail to Bimini, a jumping off point to Florida. 

We did enjoy a fine Mediterranean late lunch at the Athena Cafe with a balcony overlooking the shopping district. We went up the stairs to take a quick look at the menu and were ushered in by the proprietor, an elderly Greek man who assured us we would enjoy the food or not pay. We enjoyed the food, a leisurely served meal with a martini and a relatively good wine.

We had drinks each evening at the Poopdeck and had great conversation with some locals. A particularly interesting man was Errington Watkins a 80 some year old who had once been the Bahamian Minister of Police and a political activist.

We left Nassau in the afternoon in iffy weather and were headed to Chub Cay in the Berry Islands. The weather turned favorable and we continued through the night to Bimini, a beautiful full moon, good night, calm seas, and good sailing.

Bimini is famous for offshore fishing, it is still much like the other out islands and not overly developed. We spent three days again waiting for weather that would allow a comfortable crossing of the Gulf Stream to Florida.

6 May 2015

Bimini, Bahamas

My Mom, Minnie Pauline Bayer, passed away last night. I am comfortable she is at peace and is reunited with my Dad. In my sorrow I am exceptionally happy for them, I know they missed each other terribly.

Thank you Tammy and Ron for taking such good care of her.