Arrived at Palm Circle

Sat- Sunny and cool, strong N winds. Great sail to Jensen Beach where we left the ICW and headed 5 miles up the St. Lucie River(Okeechobee Waterway).

We are currently docked in the old Lobster Shanty marina which is a short walk to our winter home at 32 Palm Circle. Not sure if we can keep the boat here as this marina isn't really in operation and is currently in bankruptcy. The Restaurant and surrounding area were mostly destroyed a few years ago by hurricanes Francis and Jean and have never been rebuilt. This brings to an end the first stage of our journey.

We had a great time even though the weather was cooler than expected and we didn't spend nearly enough time exploring and sightseeing. We traveled 2006 statute miles over almost a 2 month period. Plan to spend some time here in Jensen Beach planning the next leg of our trip. Chris is flying home after Thanksgiving to visit the girls and drive down with our car. We have been busy since our arrival cleaning and doing yard work. Enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with 37 of our neighbors in the clubhouse where we were jokingly given the "slow boat to China" award.

Ft. Pierce

Tues- Had a nice day playing tourist and filling the larder. Shopping has been the only problem on the trip. Seems all the good stores are away from the old downtown areas where we are usually anchored. The bikes have worked out great but hard carrying beer/wine/soda along with groceries. Another sunny but cool morning lo 40's. motored/sailed to Daytona. Strong winds all night, noisy but not rough.

Wed- Sunny and still cool, Still strong N winds, Sail to Titusville, dolphins all around us all day, even saw a big flock of Pink Flamingoes. We may have seen the heads of a couple of manatees, but water was murkey and couldn't be sure. Tides have become nearly non existent here, about a foot of change. Sure makes it easier to anchor for the night.

Thurs- Sounding like a broken record? Sunny and cold, 40 in morning, but sun warmed things quickly. Still strong N wind. Sail to Melborne, Walk to beach at Indiatlantic. Beautiful spot but anchored in lee of causeway for protection and was noisy from traffic.

Fri- Sunny, not as cold, great sail to Ft Pierce, will be in Jensen Beach tomorrow. covered 200 mi the past few days. Water temps in ICW here are still only 58. Ocean temps at Stuart should be much warmer as the gulf stream is quite close to shore there.

St. Augustine

Fri - Motored all day into headwinds, strong currents, and big waves. Arrived in FL and were greeted by warm weather. 1st time we could wear bathing suits. Temps near 80 degrees.

Sat - Another warm day. Motored much of the day. Anchored north of St. Augustine. Wind all night.

Sun - Sunny and chilly. Sailed to St. Augustine. Anchored at downtown but large anchorage and a long dingy ride to shore. We biked around the historical center a bit and grocery shopped.

Mon - We plan on touring more of the historical section of St. Augustine today when it gets a little warmer. It is sunny but cold. St. Augustine is a beautiful city with a lot to see.

Jekyll Is Georgia

Thurs thru Sat - We have been traveling low country SC. Very remote and pretty area, miles of marshes interspersed with wooded areas. Very little civilization thus no wi-fi. Thurs and Fri we anchored in small creeks. Today we are at the anchorage in Beaufort SC (not to be confused with Beaufort NC). Very old southern style town. Walked about in afternoon. Tides here run about 8 ft so the currents are very fast. Have to be careful in the dingy, would never be able to row against the current, never mind swim (life jackets are a must here). Weather has been warm and sunny, but breeze is still cool. Winds have been from the south so we haven't gotten in much sailing. 140 miles over the past 3 days, traveled 1500 miles so far on the trip with about 450 miles until Jensen Beach(our initial destination).

Sun - Sunny and warm. We biked around Beaufort and did some re-provisioning.

Mon - Chilly morning 41 degrees but warmed up quickly with the sun. Anchored in Vernon River. 62 miles today.

Tues - Strong northeast winds, sailed all day. Anchored in Crescent River. 53 miles today.

Wed - Cloudy but mild. Strong north winds sailed most of the day. Anchored at Jekyll Is Georgia. There is a 9 foot tidal range here and Thurs is a full moon. Hiked around wildlife sanctuary and ocean beach. We are disappointed at the lack of wildlife. The only things we have seen are dolphins and birds. We keep expecting to see alligators, turtles and other wildlife along the banks.

Thurs- Decided to spend a day exploring Jekyll Is. Great bike paths all over. Much warmer but cloudy. Tied up at town dock(boat launch closed for repairs).

Georgetown, SC

Mon - Rainy but mild. We motored to Calabash Creek. Too rainy to go to shore. 34 miles - short day.

Tues - Grey and mild. Went through Myrtle Beach and "the ditch". We entered the Waccamaw, which was wild and desolate. Anchored in Jericho Creek. Very narrow and deep. We had to search for depths less than 20 feet. Both banks were lined with Cypress swamps and trees full of Spanish moss. 56 miles today.

Wed - Arrived early in Georgetown, SC. Anchored in front of town center. Spent the day grocery shopping and at the laundromat. Biking around, you could appreciate the old beautiful southern homes. We had neighbors over for shrimp which we bought from a local boat.

Cape Fear

Sun- Another sunny morning, warmer today, we actually ended up in shorts. Headed out early expecting a long day. Delayed by 2 bridges with restricted openings. Hard to time our arrival as current switches as we pass each inlet. Motor into fast current in Snows Cut, thankfully a short 2 mi stretch. Current switched in Fear River where we picked up about 3 kts for the next 15 miles. favorable wind allowed us to keep jib out most of the day and motorsail. Tied up at Provision Rest. free dock in Southport for dinner and overnight. 47 mile day.

Fri-Happy Halloween, woke to heavy frost covering boat, Left dock early to get out into sun. Day warmed quickly to mid 50's with no wind. After motoring across Neuse River we entered Adams Creek. Miles of densly forested shoreline with very little developement. It seems creeks here are more like our large rivers and lakes. Almost like being on Tupper without the hills. Another canal to Newport River, then thru Beaufort. Motored 20 miles of Bogue Sound which in contrast was more like Florida. Barrier Islands seperated us from the Atlantic while the mainland was lined with huge homes. Had 3 dolfins swim with us for a short time but wasn't quick enough to get pics. They surface to fast for me. Anchor at Swansboro, we are back to swift tidal currents after almost no tides for the past few days. Nice long walk about pretty town. 52 miles today.

Oriental, NC

Mon- Another bright sunny morning but still cool, around 45. Highs expected in the mid 60's. Decided to move on as a cold front is coming thru tonite bringing big winds. Today we cross Ablemarle Sound and down the Alligator River. The sound is only a max of 17 ft deep but about 50miles long by 15 wide, apparently the waves can be very choppy at times. This area is inside the outer banks west of Kitty Hawk. I can't believe that any Gators live in the Alligator river as the water is only 58 today. For The first 20 miles it is more like a big bay as it is 5 miles wide, but about 10 ft deep. The shoreline is lowlands with no developed areas. We anchored up a creek that was more like Piercefield Flow( will try to post pics, havn't had much luck with that). Motored thru dead standing trees to get to creek. Much of the water was only charted at 5 ft but we never touched. Anchored just before front rolled thru with big winds (25 knts) and heavy rain. Filled fuel with 17 gal. first time since the 14th. diesel was $2.92/gal, lowest we've seen yet. Traveled 34 miles today, all motoring into headwinds.





Tues- Dawned breezy, cold and clear, 38 degrees and another beautiful sunrise. Winds predicted west 20-30kt. Motor into headwinds until we turned south at Belhaven, Great sailing then down Pungo river, across Pamlico Sound thru canal and Bay river and back into Sound. Anchor up Broad Creek, very protected and scenic. Even though it was cool, when we heard there was 15 in of snow at home we toasted that with a gin-tonic. I guess I better quit complaining about the cold. Has been sunny almost every day so our greenhouse(enclosure) has stayed warm. If it wasn't for that I'm sure Chris would have mutinied by now. traveled 50 miles today, about half sailing.





Wed - Sunny and still chilly -high of 55. We sailed down Pungo River, across pamlico Sound,down Goose Creek thru canal to Bay river and back into the sound. Great sailing much of the timewith just the jib. Winds were 15-22. Anchored in Broad Creek. 49 miles today.





Thurs - 38 degres, Arrived in Oriental, NC at the town dock(free for 2 nights) around 11:30. It is still cool but sunny. We took a walk to pick up our mail. Then it was a bike ride for groceries and dinner at a real locals place. There is a marine consignment shop where Kevin found a prop for the dingy motor. There are a few restaraunts and a great maine supply store.

Pictures

Top left is in the South Mills Lock where 10 boats were going thru.

Bottom left is early morning after leaving the NC Dismal Swamp Welcome Center to head for the South Mills Lock.

Top right is just one of the anchorages up a creek at sunset.

Elizabeth City, NC

Wed Oct 22-Sunny and cold, motor to town to pick up mail and some supplies. Head out at 11 am, winds north at 18 to 22 knt, run south jib only in big waves, steering was a lot of work. Anchor at 5pm in the Great Wicomico River, Cockerel Creek, Reedville Va. Shore Was lined with abandoned fish cannerys, still home to a fleet of huge fishing trawlers (See attached picture). Saw our first Pellicans today, a good sign that we must be getting to warmer water(water temp still only 58)

Thurs- Another Sunny cold morning. Head out at 9am, Winds NE then east at 15 to 18 knots, Jib only for 3rd day, made great time and waves were more forgiving today. Long day but protected anchorages were few and far between. Anchor for evening at 5:30 in Poquoson River, Chisman Creek. Covered 107 miles under sail in the past 2 days.

Fri- Cool and sunny, mid 40's, wind east at 17. Were escorted out of the anchorage by a huge dolfin, first we've seen. Motor 12 miles east into big waves before we could turn south. Made great time then sailing with full Jib to nofolk. The harbor is huge covering many miles with all kinds of ships. Aircraft carriers and cargo ships lined the docks. will try to post a few pics. Tied up at a town park south of main city, biked around in late afternoon. 40 miles today.

Sat- showery but warm. First rain since we left Albany. Hard to believe that we have been out for a month. Head south at 10 am, delayed at one of the many lift bridges but still made lock opening for the dismal swamp canal at 11:30. Very narrow canal thru woods for 22 miles strait as an arrow. Tied up at North Carolina welcome center with 12 other sailboats. We were rafted 3 boats abrest but it was a great spot. Showers much of the day. Quiet nite.

Sun - We awoke early at sunrise in order to get thru the canal with the other boats who were rafted up at the welcome center. The first lock was 8:30 and there were 10 boats in the lock together. We continued down the canal to Elizabeth City, NC. This was the 1st time we have tied piers with no docks. It was a good thing that it was not windy. The harbor master was a little perplexed to have 10 boats try to dock all at once. It is great that the town provides this service for free. We then took a bike ride to see what was around. I did some laundry, then a boat community proceeded to have a wine and cheese party.

Sorry about no picures I am having trouble uploading them.

Heading for warmer climate, where the weather suits our clothes

Monday- Sunny and frosty, Decided to skip on touring Annapolis and head south. It seems we miscalculated on following the warm weather. Need to get moving, maybe we can spend more time exploring in the spring. Winds were calm and after 3 hours motoring had engine problems. Water pump (anti freeze) bearings noisy. Phone calls found marina 7 miles away had part. No wind so we made our way slowly to Deale. Md. Huge marina, Harrington Harbor, easily more boats than all of Lake Champlain, literally thousands. Turned out they had wrong pump, but were able to get correct one this morning. We spent a quiet nite up Creek at a town Dock.
Tues.- Back sailing by 11 am. Have to expect some mechanical problems with a 24 year old boat. Thankfully this was an easy fix. Big wind, ran with just genny, average speed about 8 kts, surfing down waves at 10 kts(on gps) all day. Wind n@20 gusts higher. Anchored in a pretty secluded creek(river) in Solomons Island in time for cocktail hour and another beautiful sunset. Even though it's been cool the skies have been clear since leaving Albany. Tomorrow we pick up our mail here(hopefully)then continue south, still predicting strong north winds. Covered 69 miles past 2 days. Still a long ways to Fl.

from Annapolis, sailing capitol of the east

Have had a great past few days. on Thurs. we headed out at noon to catch the outgoing tide. beautiful sunny warm day. motored and sailed to Harve de Grace MD about 34 nm.
Friday- wandering around historic town, had dinner with my sister Ellen in the evening, she lives about 18 miles south. Very pretty area but touristy. Cool but sunny.
Sat- ran south with a strong north wind and big waves, Anchored north of Baltimore in quiet narrow creek off middle river, had planned on a stop in Baltimore but with the cool weather we decided to get moving quicker than planned.
Sunday- dawned cold and sunny but a great north wind again, arrived in Annapolis early afternoon, Sailboats evreywhere. Anchored in Back Creek which we thought would be a little quieter than in the main harbor. Crowded here also, boats anchored in middle of narrow channel with docks lining both sides. Not what we're used to but seems fine. Plan to explore town tomorrow. Frost predicted tonite. Am told that the place is much more crowded during the boat show, can't imagine what it must be like.

C&D Canal

Monday and Tuesday were beautiful sunny days. Kevin did a little fishing on Tuesday with an old friend. I got a chance to visit also and do laundry.
Wed. Left Greenwich, NJ early. Sailed partway up Deleware Bay almost to the entrance of the C&D Canal. Today has been the warmest day yet. We are tied up to the Chesapeake City Dock. It is free for 1 night. Today was a short day only 34 miles. So far we have traveled 560 miles.

From Alloway, NJ

The trip from Barnegat Lighthouse to Atlantic City went very smoothly. We had a north wind all the way. It was warm and sunny with the wind behind us. We never did go to shore at Atlantic City, the current was very swift so we anchored up the creek and quite a dingy ride away. The next day left @7:45 and was sunny but cold. Lite NE winds, built to 14kts. We had a great run with full sails to Cape May arriving @3pm.
Sunday - Sunny, clear and not as cold. Went through the Cape May Canal.
Winds from E at 10, then switched to W at 10. Had an escort of dear old friends in their power boat 6 miles south of Cohancy River and then into the river to Greenwich. We are staying here for a few days to visit.

Oct 10

My trip to FL was unexpected and quick. Thank you everyone for your condolences.

We are back on our adventure! The picture at top right is of Manhattan when we went by on day 7 and the Statue of Liberty, still an awesome site. It was cloudy and a little rough going through the harbor. Kevin did not take any pictures at Atlantic Highlands. It was a very beautiful anchorage and protected. We continued on the trip on day 14 from Atlantic Highlands to Toms River, NJ. I met up with a friend from grade school who I hadn't seen in 35 years. From there we sailed to Barnegat Bay Lighthouse (Picture taken early morn leaving the inlet). Today we arrived at Atlantic City. The evening picture is of Trump Casino. The current was sift so we anchored in a creek opposite the casinos and never did dingy in to try our luck. Today was warm and sunny, winds from the north so we sailed all the way.

Notes from Kevin-left Sandy Hook with a beautiful sunrise, Motor sailed to Manasquan Inlet. I have wanted to explore Barnegat Bay since spending time there in the 80's. Pt. Pleasant Canal brought us there but timing the canal was critical. tides at Manasquan run 4 ft but only 4 inches in the upper bay. Current in canal can run 5 knots but we timed our passage for slack current. Barnegat Bay is a huge body of water but very shallow, compares to Champain in size but average depth of 6-7 ft. We touched bottom in the channel a few times but bottom is soft mud. We could have continued down the bay to Atlantic City but opted for deeper water in the ocean. Exited back to the ocean at Barnegat Light which was a very confusing channel, the charts for most inlets don't show buoys since they move them often. Each ocean entrance to the Bay has very swift currents during tide differences.

Day 7- Left at dawn to catch tide, Anchor at Yonkers for lunch, wifi, and to wait out tide. Continue thru NYC. Very busy south of manhattan, Lots of traffic from Ships, Ferries and tugs. Caught 3 knot current at Statue of Liberty , thru Varrazano Narrows and most of the way to Sandy Hook. Anchor behind breakwater at Atlantic Highlands just as passing storm hit. Long day, over 50 kt miles.

Day 8- Planned rest day, wind howling all day. We didn't even venture ashore( i was worried if dingy motor quit we wouldn't be able to row in wind. Sunny but cool, lo 60's.

Day 9-Friday, to town for walk and shopping. Neat village with huge marina area. Call from Carol(Chris' sister) Dave passed away, but they don't have plans yet for service. Chris making plans for trip to Rochester with both Kate and Alli.

Day 10- Sat. Bike around area, very hilly but great views of bay and ocean. Daves burial to be in Florida, Chris made new travel plans.

Day 11- Chris to Ft. Lauderdale via taxi, train then plane. She will return Tuesday night. I biked around area. Sunny and warmer, mid 60's.

Day 5 - 6

Lighthouse on left is Hudson-Athens, right is Rondout Lighthouse at Kingston.

top is Andros anchored off Bannermans Castle

Day 5 - Sailed and motored-sailed to Kingston. 50 miles today. rain in the morning cleared later, late start-10 am. Anchor at one of our old favorite spots up Rondout Creek below falls.

Day 6 - Early start to catch tide, left at daybreak. Outgoing tide running almost 2 knots. incoming tide flows upstream at about 1 knot. We didn't time our trip to match the tides so we are traveling early morning then again midafternoon. Stopped at castle for a couple of hours to wait out tide and have lunch. Beautiful warm day. We forget how beautiful most of the Hudson is. I was disappointed by the dirty water around Albany but apparently the flooding rains were a cause of much of this. The water is much cleaner now but still a lot of floating debris to watch out for. Anchor at Croton Point, Walk to town. 57 miles today.

Day 4 - As you can see from the pictures Kevin had to go up the mast to fix a problem in the jib roller furling. Kate was here again to help. Tuned rig and bent on sails, we are a sailboat again. Dinner at Katies. The weather held up again until dark.

Day 4

Day1 - Day 3

Day 1- Left Plattsburgh @ 7:30am. It was a beautiful warm sunny day. Waves in the broad lake were 3ft but subsided by noon. Anchored at Fort Ti around 5:30. Quiet night.
Day 2- Headed South again @ 7am. Cold, showery day, but we stayed dry inside except when in the locks. Entered locks 12-6 with no waiting. Tied up to wall at lock 5, Schuylerville. Quiet night.
Day 3- Weather predicted to be rainy all day. We went through the next 6 locks with no waiting. Ran with the tide thru Albany picking up about a knot of extra speed. The tides at Albany run about 4 feet and the current switches direction every 6 hours. Timing the tides can effect our speed greatly since we motor at about 7 mph. Ended up at Castleton Boat Club. The rain held off all day and the sun even peeked through with temps @ 70. Katie drove down from Albany to join us. We stepped the mast with little trouble using Castleton's hand operated crane and Kate's help. Spent the nite on a guest mooring. This portion of the trip has been rather rushed but bad weather was predected from hurricane Kyle and we were trying to make as many dry miles as possible. Total distance for this portion of the trip was 163 statute miles.