On into the Chesapeake

October 6, 2007 Saturday
Since you last heard from us, we motored up the Delaware River, through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, and into the Bohemia River at the top of the Chesapeake. We did all that in one long day. I knew good things were in store because Andrea spent the day in the cockpit, alternately on watch and going through her Spanish cookbooks. The C & D Canal was only 12 miles long - a brain child of, among others, Benjamin Franklin. In the 1700's, the world wanted an easy way to get commerce from Baltimore to Philadelphia. The C&D Canal was the result. Once through that, the anchorage in the Bohemia River was the first one deep enough for our boat. Even then, we had to feel our way in with the depth sounder reading 7.4 feet. We draw 6.1 feet and the tide was still falling. Low tide was at 9PM, but after Andrea's Spanish dinner and some Tio Pepe sherry, I fell asleep and missed whatever worry might have been there. It was so calm that, if we touched bottom, we probably wouldn't have even noticed.
The Chesapeake is really the remains of the old Susquehanna River and its many tributaries make a fabulous cruising ground for exploration. Our first night in the Bohemia was magic. There were flights of wild geese visible in the setting sunlight and for hours we could hear them gabbling and fussing along the shorelines. The trees are just barely starting to show their fall colors, especially the maples. The water was perfectly still and the temperatures perfect for outdoor dining. While we are wearing long pants and sleeping under covers, it is still nearly perfect weather - mid 70's during the day and mid 60's at night.
After a day of exploring the shallow side creeks in the dinghy, we moved on to Georgetown, MD. But the side creeks were worthy of mention. In our dinghy, we can go into water a foot deep, so that opens a lot of water that the big boat can't get to. We took a picnic up winding Scotchman's Creek and, after getting to a remote area, let the dinghy drift into shore. We draped ourselves across the bottom and set up a lunch on the seat. Ah, could it get better than that? Time will tell.
The next day, we moved down to Georgetown, just 10 miles or so. Georgetown was founded during colonial times and was named after King George. Across the river is Fredricktown named after his son.
Today is a foggy morning in Georgetown. We needed some civilization to fill the water and fuel tanks. And we needed to get to a grocery store. So we took a mooring at the local marina and got to use their loaner bikes for our shopping. Now we are all stocked up and ready for the rest of the Chesapeake. In an hour, we are going to sail back down the Sassafras River and anchor somewhere - ready for a sail tomorrow down to Rock Hall, MD.
PS - We sailed down to Worton Creek and anchored just off a nice beach. We are going ashore to admire the sunset from the land. Maybe pix - who knows? Stay tuned - film at 11.
Don't forget to write.
Here is Scotchman's Creek where we went for a picnic in the dinghy. Other than a few duck blinds, there were no traces of humanity. Very mellow.
And here is one of us in full picnic mode. This stuff is hard to take. It doesn't look too fancy, but it was.
Here is the home of the family of Augustine Hermann, a native of Bohemia, who was commissioned by Lord Baltimore to map the region and later participated in the planning for the C&D Canal. Just shows, you gotta know politicians to be able to afford a fancy house.
At Worton Creek, we went ashore at the mouth of a little stream and Andi waded in to discover one of the celebrated Maryland Blue Crabs.
And so we bought some and ate our very first Blue Crab. Andi still prefers the Dungeness Crabs from Santa Cruz.

OK, we're leaving already...

Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007
So tomorrow we will be leaving for the Delaware River and then on to the Chesapeake. The winds are favorable, so we should be off. We'll report more as we go along.

In the meanwhile, we were featured in a magazine article in a sailing mag called Carolina Currents. They interviewed us and took photos when we were in Oriental, NC and the article has just been published. You can see it on line, just highlight the following link, press ctrl-C, put the cursor in the browser address line and press ctrl-V to paste the address in, then press Enter - voila!:

www.carolinacurrents.com/detail.php?522

PS: So we had a good sail down to the Delaware River and anchored in a harbor of refuge at Cape Henlopen, just inside the mouth of the river. The winds were blowing from the right direction for a change and we just romped along, doing 7 knots most of the night. It got a little light in the morning and we finally turned on the motor. When we got to the anchorage we found John and Cheryl Mallon, a couple who also own a Sceptre 41 and so I got to go over and visit with them and talk boats. They are going the same way as we are, so we will doubtless meet up later on.

Can't leave NY, but still trying.....

Thursday, Sept. 29, 2007
Yup, we don't seem to be leaving yet. We get stuck in places where we have met a lot of people and made friends. As much as we want to see Cape Cod, it would just be scenery compared to the connections we have made here. We have fallen into comfortable routines here. We could do flamenco just about any night we wanted to, but actually take time off just to rest up. We've learned how to get around and it is easy (with the possible exception of the subways at 3AM - between rats and strange humans, it can be expeditionary).
The other day we took our bikes and did the Central Park Loop, a nice exercise and beautiful. Then the next day, we rode all the way down the waterfront bike path, around the Battery up to the Brooklyn Bridge. Then we headed into the city, through Chinatown, to Essex St. where we found the pickles that are considered the best in NYC. We brought a bunch of them home and they ARE good. However, Nathan's bottled pickles are so close that I won't ever feel the need for exertion when Nathan's can be had.
I'm cutting this short because we are off for lunch to our favorite local joint, Big Nick's. Don't be afraid to write or call.
Here is the view from our back porch, looking up the Hudson to the George Washington Bridge.
And here is the view from our front porch, looking down the Hudson toward downtown.
Here is an "artzy" shot of Steve Kahn and I in flamenco mode on the boat on a hot NY night.
I just couldn't resist the contrast between the modern and the traditional.
As we rode our bikes through Central Park, there were these carriages....

NY is cool!

Monday, September 17, 2007
We have been having so much fun that we couldn't take time to write. We have been meeting the flamenco community in NY and there is some good talent here! We feel very warmly received. I've been singing every night so my voice is all warmed up and furry sounding, just like I always wanted it to be.
In spite of all the fun, we are wondering whether we should move along because it is starting to get cool. It is 11AM and I am wearing levis and a long-sleeved shirt! We have blankets on the bed now. The days are in the low 70's and the nights get down to the high 50's. We haven't been so cool in a very long time. This is the farthest North that we have ever had the boat so far. Actually the climate is perfect, but we are very used to hot and humid. We are either going to run up to Cape Cod for a few days or just head down to the Chesapeake and spend a month exploring it until the cold forces back to our winter home in North Carolina. Stay tuned for further decisions.
Otherwise, we have been learning the bus and subway system. It really works well. It is cheap and easy to get around, so we go all over town every night. It is $2 per ride, but that includes transfers as well so it really means door to door transportation. It's nice to be able to get around without a car. When we get to NC, we will have to beg/borrow/steal a car.
Andi is off taking a yoga class right now, so I guess I'll work on some boat projects - like changing the oil on the genset.
Don't forget to write.
There are Canada Geese here (and in Carolina). I don't know whether they are passing through or full-time residents.
Here is Central Park.
Here is this goofy dog we passed in front of an antique shop. He doesn't bother to reel in his tongue and it look like a dried-up piece of felt.

NEW YORK!!!!!!!!

Sunday, September 9, 2007
Wow, we are beginning to figure out that we sailed 8300 miles in order to be here! We have been too busy to write much because of too much fun. We took the subway over to Brooklyn to jam with Steve Kahn and then a day later bussed down to Greenwich Village for lunch and then a jam with Ian Banks that turned into a bit of fiesta. There aren't many singers here, so it's wide open.
But in addition to the flamenco scene (which is actually much smaller than I had imagined, but still great), we have been enjoying the little restaurants, the walking, Central Park, and the Metropolitan Museum.
Folks here are pretty slim, partly because of all the walking. Cars are virtually impossible here - no parking space mostly. We haven't seen a "single-family-residence" yet - everything is multistory apartments. With 300+ residents on a block and parking spaces for 30 cars - well, you get the picture. Yet it is easy to get around. Busses and subways cost $2 per ride. You can get onto a subway and transfer all over the place. You buy a Metro card and just slide it through the scanner upon boarding. For $20, you can get unlimited riding on everything for a week.
One of the pleasant surprises was the grocery stores. There are no big chains; all the stores look like little local markets and they are very narrow on the street so they seem small, but the buildings can be half-a-block deep, so the store goes way back. The produce is excellent, fresh breads of all kinds, huge cheeses and varieties of every possible type - they even had our favorite exotic smoked paprika from Spain. For Santa Cruz folks, it was like twice Shopper's Corner.
So we will stay at least a week longer. We'll try to post some pix after we get them out of the camera. Don't forget to write....

Here's Andi in front of our boat moored in the Hudson River. Double-click to make it bigger. Can you find the boat?
Time Square is full of interesting characters including the "Naked Cowboy".
Even in daytime, Time Square is pretty vivid.
Here is a shot in "Big Nicks", a little local restaurant next to our market where food is yummy and inexpensive.

We love New York!!!

September 3, 2007 Tuesday
We arrived in New York Harbor with a strong sense of excitement after a 48 hour passage from Little Harbor, VA to Sandy Hook, NJ. Our time at sea was very pleasant although we had to run the engine for about half the time. The other part was some fast sailing as the wind finally came in from the right direction. Our watches passed smoothly and Andi consistently cranked out gourmet food including a killer lasagna. Every time I came on watch, she had the sails trimmed to a fare-thee-well and I couldn't find anything to improve on. I'm going to stop taking her to places where sailors hang out because if they find out what she can do, I'll have no end of trouble.

Anyway, when we passed Sandy Hook at the entrance to NY Harbor, I called the marina and they said that they had a spare mooring waiting for us. Can you imagine staying in Upper West Side Manhattan for $180 a week??? We go ashore in our dinghy - about 3 minutes and there is a secure dock for the dinghy, free laundry machines, free ice. It's not fancy, but we are stoked. Buses and subways a few blocks away.

Our first night in town, we called our old friend, Steve Kahn, and he joined us for dinner and then came back to the boat for an evening of flamenco. We've missed that! Good clean fun. I'm looking forward to a lot more of that and we have contacted some other musicians as well. So at the end of our first day in NY, we finally got some well-earned sleep.

The city at night is beautiful. We've only seen our corner of NYC, but are very impressed. There are lots of nice little details - flowers in planter boxes around the street trees - I mean cared-for flowers! The public landscaping is generally very impressive. As much as we love San Francisco, NY makes it look a little shabby in the public works department. We'll go farther afield tomorrow.

Here is Andi doing her version of the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes while playing Frank Sinatra singing about New York (about 5 times) - yes, we're excited...
And of course, you can't come into this town by water and not swing by to see the lady...
Here is a better picture of her. When my parents got here, they were each about 1 year old so probably didn't appreciate her very much.
Here is Andi checking out the city front where the Twin Towers used to be.
Here is a fancy marina for Megayachts where you can tie up your boat for a paltry $6.75/ft./night. That would be $276 for us and about $500 a night for a modest megayacht. Thanks, but I'd rather spend it on dinners.

Gotham ahoy!

Sept. 3, 2007 On passage to NY.
Sheesh, who writes these titles anyway? Well, in spite of the titling, we found the weather window we wanted and are on our way. It took us about 4 hours under power to get clear of the Chesapeake and its shoals. Then we got a nice breeze with some East in it and were able to sail directly towards NY. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but we've had Northeast winds for quite a while now and were not looking forward to sailing directly into the wind for 260 miles. For much of the afternoon and evening, we were doing only 4.5 knots - less than our target speed of 5 knots, but the conditions were so very pleasant that we just were enjoying the sailing. This is the first time the mainsail has been up since Paul and I sailed into Beaufort.
It is now 3AM and I have relieved Andi on the watch. It's pretty quiet out here. Every once and a while we see a ship or a smaller vessel, but they haven't come too close. About 2:30 the wind got light and we had to turn on the motor. Oh well, the batteries need charging anyway. Now we are going fast and making up for a little lost time. We want to come into the harbor in daylight. The plan is to anchor behind Sandy Hook - a peninsula at the tip of New Jersey. Then the next day we will enter New York Harbor - only 10 more miles. We have to time the tides right so that we have a flood tide coming through the Narrows, a tight spot on our way into the Hudson River. Then we will see if there is an empty mooring at the 79th St. Boat Basin. We'd like to spend some time in NYC if possible. Stay tuned. Write if you find work.

Norfolk news....

September 1, 2007 Saturday
We are now in Norfolk, VA waiting for a good weather window to go up to New York. Unlike the ICW, Norfolk is a BIG city with traffic, lots of Navy ships, jets taking off, and constant noise. Very different from what we have had for the last few months.
New York City is about 265 miles, which with decent winds will take us about 2 and a half days. Right now the wind is blowing directly from NYC, so we'll wait here until it shifts. The wind has been against us all the way up the ICW, but we didn't really care because most of the channels are so narrow that we wouldn't dare to put up the sails. One minutes distraction and we would be stuck in the mud.
The ICW is not exactly relaxing, even though it is well sheltered from storms, etc. There are times when the course is straight and the autopilot can follow it, but the human still needs to be watching the chart and the depth sounder to be sure that we are in the middle of the channel. Us West Coast sailors hardly ever use the depth sounder. I owned quite a few boats before I ever had one. The only time I cared about depth was when we were anchoring. The rest of the time - it was always deep enough. Wow, not here! We live by the depth sounder and it has an alarm that starts beeping when we are in only 9 feet. At 6 feet, we are hitting the bottom with the keel (which we have done a few times now). If we have 12 feet under us, we are quite content. The ICW is supposed to be 12 feet at mid-channel. Yeah, sure!
Anyway, we're in Norfolk and have taken on fuel, water and groceries. We greased the steering cables, one of Andi's favorite activities because she gets to do it, being the smaller of the two of us. So it looks like we will take off tomorrow morning. Stay tuned.


This is a small sample of the kind of pristine country we have been cruising through. Very little development except for rich peoples houses from time to time. We conclude that there are a lot of rich people.
After we got into Virgina, we tied up for the night at the "Great Bridge" in Chesapeake, VA and walked down the street for Mexican food. Here you see a big barge going through the bascule bridge. We had more and more bridges the closer we got to Norfolk.
In the old days of sailing, we used to spend a lot of time wondering where we were or doing calculations to figure our where we were. Now we have the charts right on the computer screen and drive the "little red boat" along the winding channel. You can't believe how much labor and stress this saves.
And here I am, steering from inside as usual. 8000 miles and never got a sunburn! But I like to stay close to the computer and the cruising guides.
Finally, the last two bridges before we got into Norfolk Harbor. Many of these bridges only open on the hour or half-hour and so it is critical to time one's arrival or you spend a lot of time going in circles.

On our way to Norfolk

August 28, 2007 Tuesday
Here we are, anchored in the North River above the Albemarle Sound. There's a full moon and the wind is calm. There are no waves at all. It is perfectly still. For ocean cruisers, no waves at all is exceptional. When anchored in a snug harbor on the ocean, there is always some motion, ranging from serious rolling to gentle swells. But always something. For the last several days we have been anchored on NC's rivers, in little coves where there is no human presence visible in any direction. Just loblolly pines and marsh grass. (Well, maybe there were a few crab pots and floats around, but that was it). Tonight we can see some lighted buoys out on the ICW and some cell phone towers. Yesterday, we were in the most pristine place I've ever been.
After we left Oriental, we spent a night in Belhaven, NC. It was full of ante-bellum homes. The marina let us use a golf cart to go exploring and we went so far that we were afraid the batteries would be dead before we got back. Then we anchored in the most amazingly quiet creek below the Wilkenson Bridge. Today we made a 12 hour run along the Alligator River crossing the Pamlico River and the Albemarle Sound. We are only 60 miles below Norfolk, so with an early start,we should be able to make it tomorrow. There we will take on fuel and water for the offshore trip to NYC. It will be good to be sailing again. On the ICW, we mostly motor, but unroll the jib if the wind is favorable and the channel isn't too narrow.
We have some nice pictures that we will put up when we get an internet connection. Look at some of our older posts because new pictures are already there.

Finally leaving....

Saturday, August 25, 2007
Yup, we're really doing it. It's amazing how much equipment stops working right with just 2 months in port. Sailboats like to be used. When gear sits idle, it corrodes or just gets balky. So we've been getting things working again and are just about ready.

While I was sitting around here, I put a video from one of our previous concerts up on YouTube and will give you the URL in case you want to play it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U9hWl3OKZE
Cut and paste that line into your browser. If you have a slow internet connection, as soon as the video starts playing, hit the pause button and wait a whole minute so that the buffer can get ahead of the playback. Then hit play again.
Hope you enjoy it.

Tonight we will anchor in South Creek, right across the Neuse River from here. That way we can get an early start tomorrow.

Still, still in Oriental

August 23, 2007 Thursday
Yup, we haven't left yet. But we will, real soon now. In a very laid-back way we have been improving things in the mechanical realm - like we upgraded our air conditioner. In this heat, the A/C unit is indispensable. Inside the cabin with the heat and humidity, you can't sleep, cook, and its even too hot to read. So we put a new salt water pump on the A/C so that it would stop its nasty habit of blowing the circuit breaker every few hours. Then we added a new 30 amp circuit just for the air conditioner so that we didn't have to turn it off to use the microwave.
And yesterday, we overhauled our inflatable dinghy which got a bit tired under the strong Mexican sun. We'll be needing it when anchored off NYC. With those and a few more projects out of the way, we feel that we are at the 100% level of readiness, so I guess no more excuses. Stay tuned.

Still in Oriental

August 19, 2007 Sunday
Yes, we are still here. Oriental is a hard place to leave. On the surface, it's a sleepy little town, but underneath it's bubbling with social life. A lot of very hip folks have made this their home after they were done with the other adventures in their lives. So folks here have usually accomplished quite a bit and have the interesting stories to go with it. Many are sailors. We have discovered that it takes about 2 weeks to penetrate a social scene and our previous cruising was too fast paced for us to really get to know the locals. But having been here for a while, our social circle has been expanding geometrically. We could party every night of the week.
We have gotten a super-warm reception for our flamenco and are booked for a theater gig in February. But just playing at parties - we've never gotten such a response! I must admit, it's pleasant after the flamenco politics of the bay area.
I know we've said it before, but we really are planning to leave next week - taking the ICW up to Norfolk and then out into the Atlantic for a 2-3 day trip to NYC. We're going to take a mooring off the 79th St. Boat Basin. A quick dinghy trip ashore and we will be in mid-town Manhattan with buses and subways to everywhere. I'm looking forward to it and then later to sail on up to Cape Cod.
Feel free to write or call.
Here are the local dock residents at one of the BBQ/Potluck dinners that we have every few days. It's tough!!!
Here is the creek that runs by the marina. We rowed our dinghy down to where the rich folks have their waterside homes with docks. When I first heard about Oriental, these homes were going for $149,000. Not anymore!

Fleetwood Mac attack

8-11-07 Saturday,
Sailing gives you the opportunity to meet folks from all walks of life. The other day we were introduced to John McVie, bass player for Fleetwood Mac. I didn't realize that Fleetwood Mac had been a terrific blues band before they moved into mainstream rock. I've been listening to their early works now.

We had a great time talking to John about the old days of rock and roll.
John is the proud owner of a new (to him) Hinkley 53 sailboat. Hinkley is widely considered one of the best built boats in America.
Here we are on our bikes again in Jeff and Ellen's driveway. Who are they, you might ask? If you were here, you would certainly know them.

Still enjoying Oriental, NC

8-11-07 Saturday
We've made ourselves at home here in Oriental. There is an active social life here on the docks. We've been riding our bikes all over town. It is level, so a biker's dream.
Here is the road leading into the marina. Lots of trees and very little traffic. Folks drive very slowly here and always wave to you.
Here is a log cabin that we really liked.
And here is a very typical NC house right across the street from the cabin.
And here is a very elegant house along the street that fronts the Neuse River. Big lawns are very typical. I guess riding mowers are necessary.

We have become very comfortable here. It was very hot this week, but we finally got our air conditioner working with a new water pump. Now the cabin is cool throughout, not just our bedroom. The bug level dropped last week and I haven't been bitten in a while now. Yay!

Back in NC after a vacation in CA.

July 30, 2007 Monday,
We have been back here for a few days now and Andrea is getting her first look at Oriental. I'd say she likes it! We have met a bunch of great folks, both house dwellers and cruisers. Last night, there was a big potluck/BBQ on the docks. It's not hard to put our weight down for a while.
At the moment, we haven't at all decided where we are going to go from here. North is as close as we can get. NC isn't a total paradise - hot, humid, and buggy have something to do with that and air conditioning on the boat becomes critical for comfort. We have borrowed an A/C unit from a dock neighbor that fits over our forward hatch and cools our sleeping area. What a relief!
Our phone doesn't work well here, but our regular email does, so don't be afraid to write.

Oriental, North Carolina

Monday, July 9, 2007 Oriental, NC
While in Florida, I took on the revarnishing of the cabin floor. The old original finish had worn through and was stained with salt water. This is a shot of the original.

And here is the finished job. It took almost 2 weeks, given the heat. I had to strip and scrape back to bare wood and then build up 3 coats of varnish. I'm sure Andi was glad to not be around for this job and I was glad to be able to leave my messes out overnight.
Here is Saeta in her slip in Oriental, NC.

And here is a panoramic shot off our stern showing the incredible green woodlands, the Neuse River to the left and Whittaker Creek to the right. Double-click on it to make it larger.

Paul and I brought the boat from Historic Beaufort, NC after spending a few days checking out the town (sorry, no pix). We enjoyed the town, but found the restaurants pretty pedestrian. We are spoiled by the high level of competition in the San Francisco area. Here, the restaurants serve decent, but uninspiring fare. We do better cooking on the boat.
We took the boat 24 miles up the ICW through Adams Creek into the Neuse River and in short order were off Whittaker Creek headed for our slip. On the way in, I saw a bunch of crab traps off to port and thought they marked the edge of a shoal. So I moved a little farther to starboard. Oops. Big mistake. We went aground...stuck in the mud. There are no lunar tides here and so we couldn't wait for high tide to float us off. Since the mud was soft, the marina advised just "plowing" through it. So I put the boat in forward and gave it some power. The GPS told me that we were moving at 0.1 knots - not very fast, but still moving. It took almost an hour of "plowing" before we got back into the channel. After that it was easy.

I've now been here more than a week and Paul, a great companion, has flown back to Carmel, CA. In a few days, I will also fly to CA to join Andrea at a music camp called Sweets Mill. This is where we first met, so it is very special for us. We will do music for a few weeks and then fly back here.
We can get mail here addressed to us, care of:
Whittaker Creek Yacht Harbor
PO Box 357
Oriental, NC 28571
One of the differences we're finding here is there are thunderstorms most afternoons that produce a bunch of rain for an hour or so. It's starting that right now. That means things are very green. If this state weren't cleared, it would be wall-to-wall trees! But the humidity is high and the next month is going to be hot! I'm glad the marina has a swimming pool.
Don't be afraid to write.

Almost to North Carolina

Thursday, June 28, 2007
We have about 20 miles to go to get to the entrance of Beaufort Inlet. We've have a pretty idyllic sail for the last 320 miles from Florida. The wind was light as we left, but it was upwind which meant that a little wind moved us nicely and we didn't have any waves to speak of. We had two days of that and then this morning it got lighter and I turned on the engine. We could have sailed but there is a cold front coming through this weekend that I would just as soon avoid, so we motored for about 6 hours.

Now as we approach Beaufort, the wind has come behind us and strengthened. So we unrolled the jib only and are doing an easy 6.5 knots.
I made gambas al ajillo for dinner and they came out pretty well - a little too salty maybe.

We are going to have to make a decision about whether or not to enter Beaufort in the dark. If we don't, then we will have to sail around slowly outside the entrance and await daylight. If we go for it, we will have to blunder around in a strange harbor in the dark. Hmmmmm. We shall see. Stay tuned.

Update: I chickened out about entering the harbor in the dark. Decided instead to sail as slowly as possible to avoid getting there before daylight. We unrolled just a tiny bit of the jib and eventually even rolled that up, leaving us with no sails up at all. But with a 20 knot wind behind us, we still made 3 knots towards our destination, arriving just at sunrise. We entered along with a couple of big ships and found our way to the Beaufort cityfront. There is a lot of commercial business in the harbor, especially at Morehead City across the bay, but Beaufort is cute - kind of restored anti-bellum touristy cute. But there are lots of restaurants and shopping is right near the docks.

Paul got converted to the joys of iced drinks on this trip. He doesn't have a freezer on his boat, but quickly got used to really cold sodas, beers, and ice water. It has been hot and they really help. North Carolina seems cooler than Florida (or maybe just less humid). The wind is howling outside now and it's good to be in the harbor.

In a few days, we'll take the 25 mile trip up the ICW to Oriental, NC on the Neuse River. Paul will fly home from there and a few days later I will fly out to join Andrea in California. Stay tuned.

Back at sea again...

June 27,2007 Wednesday
Off the Georgia Coast - 31 degrees 23 minutes North and 79 degrees 51 minutes West. Yesterday, Paul Brocchini and I left St. Augustine at 1:30 PM. We have had steady winds since then and have been moving along nicely under sail. We are trying to get into the main axis of the Gulf Stream to take advantage of the Northgoing current. But, we still aren't there. We are going as close to the wind as we possibly can but can't quite get far enough East to intersect the current. But later today we surely will.
Boy do I miss Andrea's cooking! Paul and I are doing reasonably well but I have a whole new appreciation for what Andi does in the galley. It will be good to have her back in North Carolina.
So for the meanwhile, we are headed for Beaufort, NC where there is a nice deep and safe inlet to get out of the ocean. The whole East Coast has these inlets. Many are shallow and most of them have strong tidal currents, so once you go to sea, you will have to contend with an inlet to get back to land. In bad weather, many are closed. But Beaufort is always open.
Even at sea we have email so don't hesitate to write.

Still in St. Augustine for a few days more

June 22, 2007 Friday
I'm still in St. Augustine. Andrea is still visiting family and friends in California and I will be flying out to join her in July. In the meanwhile, I am going to move the boat up to North Carolina. I will be joined by Paul Brocchini who I met in Puerta Vallarta after the Baja-ha-ha. He is a great guy, which I knew the minute I met him. I'm glad to have the company and a good sailor.
Originally I had thought about visiting Savannah and Charleston - two classic ante-bellum cities. But, we can visit them on the way back South in the fall. I want to get further along. Paul and I will take the outside route - 365 miles to Beaufort, NC. We will go out to the Gulf Stream to pick up a favorable current and we should be there in 2 days. We'll hang around Beaufort for a few days and then take the ICW up to Oriental, NC - a little town of 875 people and 2,700 sailboats. Obviously, lots of people leave their boats there.
I will do the same when I fly back to CA. Andi will really like it when she sees it in July. A lot of cruisers settle there permanently. Here are some pictures:
I told you that I was varnishing the cabin sole. Here is how it came out.
There is lots of wild life here. Here we see a small egret who is sitting on our power cord to do his fishing. There are also large ones about twice his size. Every evening, a pod of dolphins feeds off our stern. There are SOOOO many fish here!
This is one of the streets in classic "old town" St. Augustine (America's oldest city)
I'll write again from North Carolina. Don't you be afraid to write.

Flakey blogging

June 3, 2007 St. Augustine, FL
Hi folks,
I've been told that my lack of blogging has created some concern about whether we have sunk. Not to worry. We're still in St. Augustine, or at least I am. Andrea is off visiting family and I am taking the opportunity to strip and refinish the cabin floors. This is the kind of job that goes much better with less people trying to walk on it. We have greatly enjoyed St. Augustine and are earning enough money with music to pay for our marina bills. There is nothing like traditional flamenco here and so I'm getting a good response. The dance community has just discovered me, so I'm going to soon be in the position of having to turn things down. There aren't any dancers like Andrea, though. She will find teaching opportunities here if she is interested.
So don't worry, we are fine. I'd enjoy hearing from you, of course. Otherwise, it's back to my sandpaper.