10/9/03 - Up at dawn and left the dock at Hull YC at 6:30am (some vacation!). Once again we are heading to the cape cod canal and there is no wind. At least the temperature is warm. Flat seas, partly sunny the entire trip to the canal. Molly the cat is getting used to the engine running and finding out her favorite spots on the boat (she also is suspicious of the gray rubber dinghy that's following us, not knowing that we're towing it!). Arrive at the canal at 2pm (still 2hrs until the tide shifts against us), time for a canal beer!. All going well until we get to the railroad bridge near the end of the canal and of course it's coming down, so we have to turn around and motor away for 10 mins. Making good time, so we decide to continue past Onset harbor and go to Marion. Grabbed a mooring from Burr Brothers and settle in for the night.

10/10/03 - Later start than planned. Heading for Block Island. Bit foggy this morning, visibility is about 1 mile. This improved to 2-3 miles during the morning hours. Wind was NE about 15 kts building to 20 during the day. Motor-sailed with the jib the entire way (avg about 7 kts most of the way). Autopilot having a tough time with the following seas about 5 miles out from Block Island, so Betsy hand steered the rest of the way.
Arrived at great salt pond in Block Island about 4pm and picked up a town mooring (the place is empty!). Took the dinghy into Payne's dock and walked to the Oar restaurant for a couple of beers. Back to the boat and get the dinghy put away and then our friends Wiley & Barbara appear on the fast ferry!! So it's back into the dinghy to meet them ( and Colleen & Gus) for dinner. Tomorrow we try for Shelter Island.

10/11/03 - Made the attempt to get to Shelter Island this morning. Bad idea. Winds were 20-25 from the Northeast and the seas were rough and on the beam. Got 1/4 mi from Block Isl and decided to go back and spend another night. The cat found a hiding spot when the boat started rolling (smart animal). Did some reorganizing of storage (exciting life, huh?). Went onshore to meet Barbara, Wiley, Colleen for a beer and see Barb & Wiley off on the ferry. Went back to the Oar to watch the Sox lose. Meanwhile Betsy's sister Jonna and her friend Jack were making their way from Bristol to B.I. on his sailboat (bit of a rough ride). They finally got to the Oar around 6:30 and joined us for the game. Hopefully we can make Shelter Island tomorrow.

10/12/03 - Took one look at the weather this morning and we aren't even going to try. It's raining and very windy in the harbor. Reports from the Montauk buoy are winds NE at 25 - 35 and 11 ft seas. Back to bed.

10/13/03 - Finally escaped Block Island! The weather has cooperated and allowed us to have a beautiful sail to Long Island. NW winds 15 - 20 kts, seas about 3 - 5ft, sunny and visibility is unlimited. Original plan was to get to Shelter Island but we found a place at Orient Point (Orient Point Marina and Restaurant) that had cheap dockspace and was closer to Plum Gut. This would get us closer to Port Jefferson the following day.
The entrance to Orient Pt marina was a bit hard to find but worth it. For $30 we got a slip for the night with electricity & water. Suzanne the bartender also told us about the Blue Dolphin resort down the road that would send a limo (actually was a limo!) to pick us up and bring us back so we could watch the red sox game. Met Bill & Linda Evans from Scituate. They are also heading south to Florida on their Catalina 38 (Bonnie Christine). Got to the resort way too early and stayed way too long (but still managed to leave before the game ended).

10/14/03 - Got thru the infamous Plum Gut without incident. The current really rips through there! We shot through at 8.5 kts. SE wind was light so we motored with the jib out all the way to Port Jefferson. Grabbed a guest mooring at the Sekaunet YC. The forecast for tonight and tomorrow is for a storm with SW winds from 30-45kts and heavy rain. Looks like we will stay here until at least Thurs am.

10/15/03 - Wow! Is it windy here. The boat has been bouncing at the mooring all day. Seen gusts to almost 40kts on the wind instrument (when we dared look). The rest of the boats in the harbor are rockin' and rollin'. One poor guy is going to need a new jib and spreader on his boat (the furler came undone and the wind shredded the sail and took out a spreader). The skies were nice and clear though so we finally decided to chance leaving the boat and go into town. After walking around a while, we went into a bar to watch the sox game. Wouldn't you know we sat next to another Bostonian (of course we were still out numbered by the Yankees fans). Left the bar as the sox were losing but listened to them come back for a win onboard .
Hopefully the forecast is right and the winds will die down tonight (so we can sleep) and we can get to Manhasset Bay tomorrow.

10/16/03 - Still a bit windy(20-30, waves 4-6') on the sound today (and from the wrong direction). Stayed in Port Jeff one more day. I think we've seen all there is to see here (about a day ago). It was a nice clear day so we went for a walk along the beach before grabbing lunch at BILLIE'S 1890 SALOON. BBQ'd a steak tonight and now listening to the sox game. Tomorrow definitely going to Manhasset Bay.

10/17/03 - Damn Red Sox!! Had to shut the radio off when the score was tied at 5-5. Knew we were doomed.
Finally got out of port jefferson and headed for Manhasset bay. Winds were light and the seas were flat. Motored the whole way. Spotted a piece of dock floating in the sound and reported it to the C.G.. Got to MBYC about 2:30pm. Met our friend Jeff Shane at the Manhasset Bay YC for dinner at 6pm. Manhasset Bay fall series starts tomorrow. (we'll be doing laundry while the racing is going on - how exciting is that?). Think we will be here until Sunday am.

10/18/03 - Chore day. Introduced ourselves to one of the great joys of cruising....laundry. Visited our first laundramat today. It's almost as good as TV, watching the clothes go round and round. Sort of hypnotic. Then it was grocery shopping, fill fuel up and do an oil change. Found a nice fish restaurant in Port Washington (Fish-Kebob) and then back to the boat. Gonna be chilly tonight. Tomorrow is the trip through NY harbor. Should be fun.

10/19/03 - NY Harbor! Wind on the nose so we motored from Manhasset Bay into the East River and down through Hells Gate and into NY Harbor. Passed the UN bldg, Empire State Bldg, Battery Pary, Statue of Liberty & Ellis Isl. Went under the Brooklyn & Verrazano bridges (see pics). Kind of a cool gray day so the pics will not be great. Still it was quite a trip. The harbor is a very busy port, so watching the barges & ferries and listening to the VHF radio was important. Luckily the traffic on Sunday is light so we did get to sightsee. Arrived at Great Kills harbor on Staten Island by 1:30pm. Our friends Ronnie and Gerry met us and took us to their yacht club (Raritan YC, NJ) for dinner. Back to the boat to get ready for the first leg down the coast of NJ. (gonna be cold tonight, frost warning........and here I forgot my ice scraper).

10/20/03 - COLD! It was a 4 blanket night. Got going to NJ coast about 7:30am. Light NW winds to start (good thing cause it was still cold). Rounded Sandy Hook and headed down the coast. Original plan was to go to Manasquan Inlet but we were making good time so we decided to try for Barnegat Inlet or Atlantic City. Unfortunately the wind switched to right on our nose and built so Barnegat Inlet was the choice. Kind of a tricky harbor to enter (you have to line up from the south to see the entrance between 2 breakwaters and then carefully follow the channel markers). Got there about 3:45 (about 54 nm). The only place that had slips for sailboats was High Bar Harbor YC. Molly was having a staring contest with a couple of seagulls on the dock and then decided to get brave and jump onto the dock while we weren't looking. Betsy quickly captured her and put her below. Tomorrow's forecast is crappy so we will probably be here 2 days.

10/21/03 - Blowing 30 from SW, just where we want to go. So it's another day in Barnegat Inlet. Went for a morning walk to look for breakfast. Big mistake. This place is closed down for the season. Finally found a place that served lunch (we got them to start cooking 1/2 hr early by begging). Don't come here after Sept expecting much.

10/22/03 - A cold, wet day on the water. Got going a little after 7am. Wind and waves from behind. Both building during the morning. The forecast kept saying that the winds would build to about 30knots so we decide to stop in at Atlantic City instead of chancing another 5 hrs to Cape May. Dock at the state marina near the Trump Marina Casino. Nice facility but a bit pricey at $3/ft. At least we have shore power so we can put on the electric heater (it's going down to low 40's or upper 30's tonight). Walked the boardwalk and played a few slots. Still up $5. Forecast for tomorrow is more high winds.

10/23/03 - Decided to chance the weather and head down to Cape May from A.C.. Probably not a smart move because it was a terrible ride. 25-30 kts of wind from the West-NW, cold weather, no sun and waves building. Made it to C.M. about 3:30pm and got a slip at Canyon Club resort. We're the only sailboat surrounded by sport fishing boats. It looks like the Ft Lauderdale boat show here. We've got the heater running and the stove on to heat the cabin up some. Bbbbrrrrrrrr.

(Where's Waldo? - Can you pick out the sailboat in this picture??)

10/24/03 - Staying another day in Cape May and see the sights. Beautiful victorian homes all over downtown. Very nicely restored. Many of them are B & B's or summer rentals. Favorable winds scheduled for tomorrow's ride up the Delaware Bay. Should make the C&D canal by late afternoon.

10/25/03 - Early rise in Cape May (up at 6, off the dock at 7). Gotta get under the bridges in the Cape May canal before high tide! Bridge says 55 ft and koko's mast is about 52 but it's a new moon tide. We make it under by a whisker. The VHF antenna just brushes the bottom of the bridge. That's about as close as I want to get! A second bridge just as close. Then it's on to the Delaware Bay & river. Lot's of fishing boats out today. Not much wind and the seas are flat, but it's sunny and warmer than the last few days! We have to weave our way around them. We see alot of big transport planes coming and going from Dover airforce base all day. We pass a big nuclear power plant right on the Delaware river. We finally get to the C & D canal at 2:30pm. Seems like we are back on the Cape Cod canal the first day (only this canal is a bit longer at 14 miles). We get passed by our friends from Scituate (see 10/13). Seems they left Caqpe May last night and sailed to an anchorage somewhere on the bay and then continued this morning. They are heading for the Bohemia River today. We stop at Chesapeake City and anchor (our first of the trip). This is a great little town. Very quaint houses. They are having ghost walks tonight with characters in costume. It would be nice to spend more time here but we must push on. Ate at Chesapeake Inn & Marina complete with Tiki bar..

10/26/03 - Another long day ahead. Trying for Annapolis (about 55nm from here). Up anchor about 6:30am (and yes we remembered to set the clocks back!) and promptly run aground exiting the anchorage! Luckily it's only mud and we power through it and into the canal. It begins as a peaceful ride out the canal and down the Chesapeake. Very picturesque farmland along the water. The smell of horse manure is in the air up this end of the bay. The wind and seas evetually build to gusts of 30kts apparent and 3ft chop as we get further along (of course it's right on our nose so we can't use our sails - need to make best speed to Annapolis before city docks close at 5pm). We finally get in sight of the bridge before Annapolis when we spot Wiley Crockett's old boat "Farr Fetched" out racing. We promptly call Barbara Crockett to tell her (see pics). Quite a coincedence. We finally are able to put out a jib for the final 6 miles into the harbor and arrive about 3:30pm. We were going to take one of the city docks for the night but one look at them and we decided a mooring would be easier for tonight. After we got the boat settled and we cleaned up a bit, we went into town. Isabel did a number on this place. Many of the shops along the water are either closed for repair or have evidence of damage. The Pusser's Bar is being remodeled after being 4ft under water! Fawcetts Marine store had pictures of the harbor during the storm surge. Everything near the waterfront was submerged. We grab a drink and some garlic mussels at McGarveys and chat with the bartender "Steve" from Marblehead. Unfortunately he is a Yankee fan (but also a Patriots fan), but thankfully the Yankees lost the series so he couldn't brag too much.

10/27/03 - This morning we found a great breakfast spot, Chick & Ruths Delly. Good eggs and hash. It's raining buckets today, a wet day for dinghy rides. Gonna be here for a while so we finally have a chance to get mail forwarded. Scouting nearby marinas for fuel & slip prices is on the agenda for today.
Other highlites: McGarvey's Saloon & Oyster Bar, Middleton Tavern, Griffin's, Maria's (italian), City Dock Cafe (coffee and Internet access).

10/30/03 - Time to leave Annapolis. It was fun to have a spot to rest up, sleep late and get our mail but it is time to make some progress south again. Annapolis is a great town with great colonial buildings, great restaurants and interesting shops. It took a hard beating during Isabel. Many of the shops downtown were closed (or are still closed) and have plaques showing the waterline levels of the storm surge. One funny thing is that you can find many places to get parts for your boat but no place close by to get food supplies!
It's off to St. Michael's over on the Delaware side of the bay. It was a beautiful day, cool but sunny. We actually got to sail today (for a while). Again the wind was on the nose so we eventually dropped sails and motored the rest of the way to make it before things shut down. St. Michaels is about 15 miles off the bay up the Miles River. This is a cute little town that looks like it's a fun place to be during the season. At least it has a grocery store within walking distance. Good crab cakes at the "Crab & Steak House" right at the marina.

10/31/03 - NOAA strikes again! Forecast called for winds less than 10 kts and seas less than 1 ft. Well it started out that way but sure didn't end up like that. Decided that the forecast would let us make some ground, so we went for Solomons Island on the Patuxent river. About 20 miles from there the wind piped up to 15+ on the nose and the seas built to 3+ ft in short chop. So we banged our way under motor for about 3 1/2 hrs (a total trip time of 9 hrs today and 50nm). At least this is a beautiful spot to stop at. Very quiet anchorage with more sailboats than I have seen in one place ever. Also got a show from the naval test pilot school - lots of fighter jets buzzing the area. We found a nice quiet spot to anchor and Betsy promptly got attacked by 3 swans looking for handouts. We thought about feeding them Molly for a while (she was being a pain today), but resisted.

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11/2/03 - Spent an extra day in Solomons because it was so peaceful. Took the dinghy exploring and visited the Calvert Maritime Museum: history of maritime Maryland, the restored Drum Pt Lighthouse onsite, small boat restoration and an exhibit of live otters. All for $5. Then we went shopping at the local market and ate onboard (exciting life huh?). We chatted with our neighbors at anchor. They have 2 cats onboard, one of which likes to ride in the front of the dinghy like a dog.
Left Early today and headed towards Virginia. For once NOAA was right and there was no wind and no waves. We originally planned to make it to Mill Creek inside Ingram Bay, just south of the Potomac River but we made such good time that we decided to go another 16 miles (about 48 total) south to Indian Creek inside of Fleet Bay. This is just north of the Rappahannock River. We are about 50 nm north of Norfolk. It's a beautiful little anchorage in a very quiet cove. Nothing else around but about 2 houses and a farm. You could literally hear a pin drop here.

11/3/03 - Left our peaceful little cove for a "short" run down to Chisman Creek, about 20 nm short of Norfolk. We figured that going into that busy channel at the end of a long days run of 50 miles was not a good idea. Tomorrow we can leave early and get to Norfolk by early afternoon. (probaby just as the Navy decides to move their entire fleet around the harbor!). We found another quiet little creek to anchor in tonight. Took 3 tries to get the anchor to dig in the mud here.
A little while after we were settled we saw otters playing nearby at a crab pot, then the occupant of a boat anchored nearby rowed over to say hi. His name was Bob and he lived near Virginia Beach but kept his boat on this creek and was spending the weekend on it. He works for the Navy Dept in Norfolk. After chatting awhile, he went off to say hi to another boat that came in to anchor later on. Time to fire up the BBQ !
Tomorrow it's into Norfolk and the start of the ICW!

11/4/03 - Left another very quiet anchorage at Chisman Creek for the hustle of Norfolk. Another calm day on the water with no wind. Today however, decided to throw fog at us as we approached Norfolk Harbor (oh goody!). Luckily it began to burn off as we entered and just in time to see the large freighter heading out the channel and in our direction. This was shortly followed by the navy submarine under tow (with patrol vessels out to make sure we kept our distance). Seems every time we got past one big ship moving around, another would toot it's horn and start moving in front of us. What fun!. We motored by a very impressive naval pier with at least 3 aircraft carriers and 15 or more other warships at dock. Then into the commercial section with all the tankers and freighters. Finally we got to Norfolk's downtown area and the Waterside Marina which was our destination for a couple of days. Nearby is a naval museum and the old battleship USS Wisconsin. Definitely a stop on our tour. Oh, and by the way, it's hot here today!! (yipee!).
Met our dockside neighbor. His name is Adger and he is on his way back to Wilmington, NC in his 21 yr old Nauticat sailboat. (He's only owned the boat a year). He had spent the last 5 weeks going up to Annapolis to meet friends and go to the boat shows and is now heading home. He had a beer with us at the Hooters nearby and invited us to give him a call when we got to his hometown.
Explored a little of downtown Norfolk this evening. We are right in the middle of what looks like the financial district. Lot's of eateries and bars nearby (but of course no grocery stores). We did find the largest shopping mall that I have ever been in though! Three floors of shops and an 18 theater cinema. Might have to take in a movie while we're here. Had dinner at a funky place called Joe's Crab Shop. Food was just ok but the waitresses were very entertaining.

11/5/03 - Today was cleaning and tourist day. First came clean the boat. Things were getting a bit "messy" so we scrubbed and rinsed inside and out. Then came the "tourist" part. First we went to the Naval museum and toured the battleship USS Wisconson. Then we went to the moviews at he MacArthur Center Mall (HUGE!) and saw the latest "Matrix" movie. Ah, civilization!

11/6/03 - The true ICW trek begins today! Left the dock at Norfolk around 8am and topped off the tanks a short time later at a local marina. Then it was time to tackle our first bridges. The first couple were open railroad bridges but then we came to the first bascule "drawbridge". We were too far behind another pack of boats so the bridge tender closed it before we got there to let traffic pass. This meant that I had to call on the radio and request an opening just for us. Once the cars thinned out a bit, he opened up and we passed through. The next one we came to had a cluster of other boats waiting so we just joined the line and went through together. The next challenge was the Great Bridge lock. Luckily we got there just before it closed up so we didn't have to wait in the lock long before it cycled and we were lifted up a couple of feet and let into the Albermarle & Chesapeake canal. We tied up at the Atlantic Yacht Basin in Chesapeake VA just after the lock and did some grocery shopping (about a mile walk from the boat), then decided to stay here tonight and push on to Coinjock, NC or further tomorrow (weather permitting). It's still very hot today (80's and humid). The weather is supposed to change tonight and get colder and rainy.

11/7/03 - Late start. Waited for the marinas store to open to get some water and oil but they opened late (7:30) and we missed a group that left at 7am. So off we went alone at 8am to battle the bridges ourselves. The 2 bridges we were going to deal with today were on schedules (open each 1/2 hr), so of course the first one we came to didn't open when it was supposed to. We had to wait another 35 minutes for the next scheduled opening (which gave us a lot of time to practice backing the boat up and going forward in a very small space between a marina dock and submerged tree stumps waiting for this bridge to open). The next bridge actually opened when it was supposed to so we figured things were getting better until we got to the more open waters of Currituck Sound. The wind decided to build to 15-20 knots and the chop built to 2-3 feet (even though the guide says it never gets over 1ft). 2 hours of that coupled with a forecast of stronger NE winds tonight and we decided that we would stop in Coinjock.
Not much to look at but Coinjock Marina has a great restaurant that serves a 32 oz prime rib to die for (split between 2 people). I mean this is a small cow on a plate! We ate dinner w ith two other sailing couples sharing the dock with us. One of them a very experienced cruising couple from CA and another couple on their first trip south from Maryland. We are all going to experience the Alberlamarle Sound tomorrow together in 15-20 NE winds. Yahoo! (oh, and it's going down to the 30's tonight here, so hold down the cheering up there).
As I write this, I hear the pitter patter of small paws on the deck as Betsy chases Molly around trying to corral her into the boat for the night. Now that's entertainment........

11/8/03 - Well, the weather is worse than forecast (20-25 NE) so the decision is too wait it out in Coinjock at least for today. Not much to do here but it's better than beating ourselves up in Albemarle sound today.
Oh, forgot to mention that we saw many bald eagles on the way here yesterday. Some pictures posted.

11/9/03 - I feel like Bill Murray in "GroudHog Day". I keep waking up in Coinjock, NC where time sorta stands still. The winds are still blowing 20-25 from NE and the Alligator River Bridge is closed for traffic due to high winds (30+ gusts). This means we can't get through to the Alligator river and on to our next stop. Hopefully tomorrow it will drop some (forecast only 15-20 NE). Guess I'll plug in the cable TV and watch football. This place makes Mayberry look like downtown Boston.

11/10/03 - ESCAPE FROM COINJOCK!! In a daring early morning escape, we slipped past the marina guards in the early morning light and made our way down the canal to freedom. Just kidding.... As nice as the folks at Coinjock Marina were, it was more than time to leave. The weather gods favored us with a better forecast of NE winds only 15-20 in the Albemarle Sound. This was our best shot at getting across and through the Alligator River bridge. We left about 6:50 am and made it to the bridge (about 34 miles ) at about 11:20 am. The Sound wasn't too bad. Just a following sea and a good breeze from the stern quarter (we motor sailed with the jib). The bridge opened for the group of boats we were with and we headed down to Alligator River. Our expected anchorage was at mile 102 but when we got there it was too windy and uncomfortable looking. Unfortunately our next anchorage possibility was another 26 miles away after traveling down a long, narrow canal but this was our best option so we headed down the canal. We motored down this 21 mile canal and came out of it about 5pm, just as it was getting dark. We went up a creek off the Pungo River just at the canal exit and anchored for the night. This was our longest travel day yet (11 hours & 78 miles). Time for dinner and then bed. At least we aren't in Coinjock anymore!
Tomorrow's forecast is light North winds so we are going to try for Oriental, NC, about 50 miles from here (piece of cake). Then it's forecast to turn ugly again 20-25 from SW for a couple of days (here we go again).

11/11/03 - FOG !! Thank God for radar. Got up this morning and couldn't see more than 50 yds. Since we had over 50 miles to cover to Oriental, we had no choice but to fire up the new radar (thanks Dave, it works great) at 7 am and go for it. It worked like a champ. We motored along from buoy to buoy until we got out of the fog about 10:30. Then it was full speed to Oriental. Got into Oriental about 3pm. Great little town. Claim to be the sailing capital of NC. Lots of sailboats. Tied up at the Oriental Marina. Tiki Bar opened at 5pm. Met Wayne from Portsmouth NH who just came in on a 50+ ft Alden. He runs a marina in Portsmouth and is looking at one here in NC. The plan is to head for Beaufort tomorrow before the nasty weather sets in on Thurs. Good breakfast at M & M's Cafe.

11/12/03 - (mile 182) SAILING (without a motor....really). Left Oriental by 8am to get across Neuse River before the wind built too much. Still had a nice 30 minute sail (Betsy & I split the driving 15 minutes each) across in 15 kts of wind. Then had to drop sail to get into Adams creek. Motored against a steadily building current (wind driven) of up to 2 kts down the creek and into a canal that leads to Beaufort (Pronounced ''Bo-furt'' by natives). Made it to Town Creek Marina by noon just as the wind built to 20+. Got settled in and walked to downtown Beaufort. This is a nice town with some very old southern houses along the water and a small barrier island just on the other side of the main harbor. We saw dolphins (about 8) swimming up and down the town docks. Then we got our mail from the post office and did some window shopping. Gonna spend a couple of nights here and then see what the weather is like to head south. Ate at Clawson's Restaurant & Pub.

11/13/03 - (mile 202) Stuck again. We're sitting here at the dock watching boats rock back and forth and sail on their anchors. The wind is 30-35 kts at the moment and the weather service has issued a wind advisory and asked all boats to stay in port (oh, OK) - besides, the boat is rocking so much at the dock we feel as if we are sailing. Of course, since they asked boats to stay put, there are still some brave souls read idiots) that are heading out anyway. The wind isn't forecast to die down before late Friday. So it looks like it'll be 3 days in Beaufort for us. At least there are more things to do here than Coinjock. We also took the chance to do some maintenance (oil change and fuel filter replaced). We borrowed the free courtesy car ( a very beat up Chevy Corsica with a drooping ceiling - but hey, who can be picky when it's free) from the marina for an hour and went food shopping (I told you this cruising life was nothing but one exciting moment to the next). The weather is turning cold here beginning tonight (down into 30's) and for the next few days, so we will have to put away the shorts & t-shirts for a while (sounds of sympathy from the audience.....).

11/15/03 - (mile 244) Finally got some favorable winds and left Beaufort about 7am. It was a cold morning and it didn't get much warmer as the day progressed. The waterway meandered through some beautiful barrier islands with sand dunes and tiny inlets with houses and private docks. Much more scenic than some of the earlier sections. The water has now turned color from the dark brown "tea" color to a lighter shade of green. We had to motor through the Camp Lejune firing range. Luckily they weren't scheduled to have exercises today, this would have closed the ICW for the duration. You could see the old amored vehicles that they use for targets lying along the shore. Then it was on to another swing bridge which we had to wait about 15 mins for. Then we got to the anchorage for tonight about 2pm (the next one was over 3 hrs further on). This anchorage area (Mile Hammock Bay) is on property belonging to the marines, so we can't go ashore. This is a great spot to anchor. Watched an amazing sunset.

11/16/03 - (mile 283) Up anchor at 6:50 and headed for Wrightsville Beach. Saw a pod of dolphins which swam along our boat for a short while. Much of this section of the ICW had large, beautiful houses along the water with private docks. This section also had a couple of bridges with opening schedules which made it difficult for a sailboat to time the passage to catch each opening and still make decent progress. For one of them, we had to slow down to about 3 kts for quite a while and still had to wait for it to open. I also noticed that this section of the N.C. ICW has more than it's fair share of inconsiderate power boaters. Many did not follow the ICW etiquette of slowing down to reduce wakes when approaching a slower boat. Many would pass to the right very close and then weave in front of you. Up until now, most boaters have been very courteous. Hopefully this is a "local" thing. We anchored in the main channel inside the inlet to Wrightsville Beach. The wind is slack but there was about 1kt of current. We took the dinghy to the town docks and went for a beer and then some quick food shopping. Tomorrow we cross the Cape Fear river and head into South Carolina.

11/17/03 - (mile 347) Early rise (5:30) and up anchor at 6:15. Long day ahead to North Myrtle Beach today. It was a beautiful., warm sunny day. Nice scenery along the way today. Many beautiful houses along the water (Marblehead has nothing on this area). A few shallow areas to watch for where ocean inlets joined the ICW. Bridge schedules were once again a problem, but we luckily made the opening by about a minute (otherwise we wait an hour). We crossed the border to South Carolina about 2pm! Got to Dock Holidays marina about 4pm (I told you it was a long day!). There's a Hooters next to the marina - first stop!!

11/19/03 - Still in N. Myrtle Beach. Nice place. T-storms predicted today, so we will wait them out until tomorrow. Severe weather alerts all morning and afternoon. Another milestone in the trip was passed - Betsy tried her hand at cutting my hair! Turned out ok (no pictures, sorry). Made a hell of a mess of the cockpit though. Dinner at the Fishermans Warehouse (new restaurant in the marina). Good food and price was reasonable.

11/20/03 - Short run today so we "slept in" until 7am. Went to the fuel dock at 8am, topped off the tank and headed for Bucksport (about 30 miles). Went thru the infamous "rockpile" area. A narrow cut with rocks on both sides that goes on for about 3-4 miles. Not much traffic on the water today so it wasn't a big deal (though I can see it getting hairy if a barge was coming the other way). Had to wait for 2 bridges to open but they were pretty quick. Passed by a lot of golf courses along the way. After about 25 miles we entered the Wacamaw river area. A beautiful wooded area with creeks coming off the main river, spanish moss in the trees, very quiet. This is the kind of scenery that we will be passing through now for a while.

11/21/03 - Another short day. Just a 30 mile trip to Georgetown (not the one in Wash. DC). The 4 hour trip down the Wacamaw river went through some of the prettiest country yet. The South Carolina low country has deep woods right up to the river edge with trees covered in spanish moss. It gives way to abandoned rice plantations with wild rice plant stretching back into the distance. The river is deep and quite wide on some places and the water is a very dark brown, like root beer.
Georgetown's first impression almost made us turn around and leave (rusted old steel mill and dockside buildings in bad shape). Fortunately the impression got better as we got further into the harbor (waterfront restaurants and shops) and we grabbed a dock at Harborside Marina. The main street is one block from the water and hosts many antique stores, galleries, craft shops and restaurants. I recommend the Dogwood Cafe for lunch.

11/22/03 - 50 more miles on the odometer today. We motored for about 7 hrs and anchored in a quiet creek (Dewees Creek) just off the waterway surrounded by marsh grass. You can see the masts of boats going down the waterway just over the grass about 1/2 mile away.
The trip to here took us through winding creeks and land cuts with marsh grasses on either side, other areas had sand dunes, others had tree-lined shore. Birds of many species can be seen along this stretch. Mainly pelicans & egrets but some herons and eagles were spotted. The weather was sunny and warm. We are now about 3 hours or so from Charleston. Be there by monday at the latest.

11/23/03 - Lazy day at anchor. Not sure yet if we will move along today or just stay here. It's so peaceful and quiet. Last night we could hear the hundreds of tiny shrimp (Krill) eating the growth on the bottom of the boat. It sounds like we're in a bowl of rice krispies (snap, crackle, pop). We also heard some dolphins blowinf air not far from the boat but it was too dark to see them (though Betsy did get a look at them this morning at sunrise). The fishing rod is out but so far no takers on the bacon bait. It's about 70 out at 10am and the sun is shining. Not tough to take. Went for a dinghy ride up the creek. Saw a family of dolphins feeding along the creek (mommy & baby & dad).

11/26/03 - We've been in Charleston, SC for 3 days now. We arrived at Ashley Marina on monday and are here until next monday. What a great city. So much of downtown has the original buildings from the 17 and 1800's beautifully preserved. We took a carriage tour today and learned much of the interesting history of this city. We also took in the new city aquarium. We are planning on taking the tour out to Fort Sumter before we leave. There isn't enough time to try all the great restaurants and bars in this city (but we are trying). Tomorrow we attempt cooking Thanksgiving dinner onboard. Should be good for a laugh. I would recommend some places to eat and dringk but there are just too many to name here.

11/27/03 - Happy Thanksgiving to all! We managed to cook a wonderful turkey dinner in Kokopelli's galley. We brought out the best plastic china and some chilled Michelob Light (Nov '03 vintage). It was a terrific, sunny day in the 70's. Hope y'all had a good holiday too.

11/30/03 - Last day in Charleston. We'll miss this beautiful city. Dave & Barbara have joined us for a week of ICW cruising (and brought some lovely cold weather along with them). It will be fun to have some company for part of our journey. Molly has to adjust to not having the run of the boat for a week, very traumatic. Today we all went on a tour of Fort Sumter out in Charleston Harbor. This is a fascinating tour and a great place to see if you are a history buff. The civil war is very much a part of the history of this city.
Tomorrow we head south.

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12/2/03 - Made it to Bohicket Creek Marina yesterday (mile 496) about 2pm. Had a dolphin follow along with us for about a quarter mile (see video on photo page), this was quite a thrill. Dave cooked a great meal onboard (veal osso bucco) and we settled in early because we had to get going early the next morning for Beaufort (and it was too damn cold to stay on deck after sunset). We left Bohicket about 7am (really cold this morning) and headed to Beaufort. Arrived there about 1:30pm and began a tour of the city. It's a beautiful city. A smaller and quieter version of Charleston with many old southern houses in perfect condition. This is also the city that was used for many famous movies (Big Chill, Forest Gump, Great Santini to name a few). Oh, and I promised Dave not to mention that he ran aground on the way to Beaufort (just some mud, so we powered through it quickly), so forget that you read that here.....

12/3/03 - Lazy start. 10 am departure for Hilton Head Island. Only 25 miles down from Beaufort. We got there about 1:30 after a cold ride. We stopped for the night at HarborTown Marina, right off the 18th hole at Heritage Country Club - a rather exclusive course. Dave did manage to hit some balls on the practice green (yes, he did bring his clubs along). Barbara was coaching his short game. Tomorrow we head off to Savannah.

12/4/03 - Cold and rainy day. Left Hilton Head in a cold, driving rain which lasted a couple of hours. Luckily it cleared up for the last hour to the Savannah area. Went by the cemetary featured in the book/movie "Midnight in the garden of good and evil", it's right on the waterway. Docked at the Thunderbolt Marina about 15 mins outside of Savannah (we read that dockage was unavailable in the city - WRONG!). We all took a cab into Savannah and then took a trolley tour of the city. I think I like this city even more than Charleston. The architecture is much more varied here. A nice mix of colonial, civil war era and victorian homes. The numerous squares in the city make it a nice place to stroll around (though in the summer, it must be unbearably hot). Another city with many good places to eat and drink!

12/6/03 - COLD! This is supposed to be sunny, warm Georgia. This morning's temp was about 32 (no sympathy from the Boston crowd weathering a winter storm). We are gonna miss the boat parade today in Thunderbolt (not to mention that every morning the marina delivers a half dozen Krispy Kreme donuts free - yum) but we need to make distance south toward the rumored WARM WEATHER!. We fueled up and left about 8:15. Wind is blowing about 15 from North/NW. We arrived at Walburg Creek just inside of St. Catherine Island about 1:20 and dropped anchor. Time to warm up and make the chicken soup for tonight.

12/7/03 - I thought that Georgia was supposed to be warm! Damn it's cold here. Needed 3 blankets last night at anchor. It was about 30 degrees. Got up early and headed out about 7:45. At least it was sunny out (but still cold). Had some favorable currents and made it to Jekyll Island (about 60+ miles) and docked Jekyll Harbor Marina about 3:30pm. Looks like we will stay another day here and explore the island by bike (supplied by the marina). Watched the Patriots clinch their division tonight at SeaJays restaurant here at the marina.Yeah!! (saw lots of snow at Gilette stadium!).

12/8/03 - Rode around Jekyll Island on bikes today. Toured the old "cottages" of the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Morgans and other old weathly families from the 20's (when this was a private island club). The Jekyll Island club hotel is a beautiful old building, very elegant inside. The other side of the island has a gourgeous beach. A really nice place to spend some time.

12/9/03 - Early departure today. Want to make as much ground as we could. Crossed the FLORIDA border about 10:45am and celebrated with a beer. Arrived in Jacksonville Beach about 2:30pm. Gonna wait out some thunderstorms and reprovision here tomorrow and head to St. Augustine on Thurs.

12/11/03 - Up early on a very cold (30's) morning and head out for St. Augustine. We arrive about 12:40 after waiting an hour for the bridge of lions to open. Have a dock at the municipal marina for 2 days. We went out to explore this oldest city in the US starting first with the Castillo de San Marcos; a fort built by the spanish to hold off the british. It changed hands a number of times (Spanish, British,Spanish, Americans). We then walkeed through the original city gates and through the restored spanish quarter (mostly gift shops). Then we walked to the Basilica Cathedral of San Augustine and Flagler College (previously the Hotel Ponce DeLeon - the first structure in the US built with poured concrete -a magnificent, ornate building). More touristy things tomorrow. Recommend the Mill Top Tavern in the old town for music and cheap eats.

12/13/03 - Arrived in Daytona Beach about 2:30. Plan on holing up here for thunderstorms tomorrow. The Halifax Harbor Marina had a christmas boat parade. About 18 boats decorated in elaborate light displays and singing crew. Beach was too far to walk to. Settled for a walk to local shops and restaurant.

12/15/03 - Cold morning again. Topped off the fuel tank before leaving the marina and headed down the ICW to Titusville. Had to go through an "interesting" canal (Haulover Canal) whose entrance was a bit on the skinny side with rocks on both banks. We anchored at Titusville about 2pm. You could see the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Cape Canaveral in the distance along with the shuttle launch towers. The coast guard announced that there would be a launch tonight and set up a security zone offshore for falling boosters. I waited up until 11:30pm but no launch happened (turned out there was an equipment problem - surprise - and the launch was scrubbed). The weather doesn't look good for a launch soon. This turned out to be a noisy place to anchor, the trains run along shore all night here.

12/16/03 - Finally a warm day. The sun was out most of the day and it was in the 60's all the way to Melbourne. We have T-Storms and high winds forecast (again) tonight and tomorrow so we are heading into a marina at Melbourne Harbor Marina for a couple of days. Walked to downtown and browsed the local shops.

12/18/03 - Another cold day in southern FLA (do you see a pattern here?). Got into the Ft. Pierce city marina about 2pm (interesting marina, one half is in strong current, the other half sheltered). The marina was right downtown, not that there was a whole lot to do downtown. Had a very good and very cheap dinner at "Max & Meg's" restaurant. Otherwisw te town was quiet in the cold weather.

12/19/03 - Adventures in undocking. Tight quarters and wind on the beam made for interesting boat handling this morning. Finally got out of the marina after about an hour of attempts and finally the help from a dockhand. (note to self: never accept the tie up on the wall all the way in Ft. Pierce marina). Fueled up and made our way to Palm Beach. More bridges to wait for on this section. Arrived in snooty Palm Beach about 3:30 and docked at Soverel Harbor Marina. Found a Barnes & Noble bookstore nearby and restocked the book collection. Then tried to find a "reasonably" priced restaurant nearby - took some doing. Nice italian restaurant (Carmine's) near the marina complete with the manager that dressed like a "wiseguy". Good food and good people watching. I guess that wealth does not always mean good taste. Gotta get out of here.

12/20/03 - BRIDGES! I HATE BRIDGES!!!! The distance from Palm Beach to Ft. Lauderdale is only 50 miles or so but there are 21 damn drawbridges between here and there. Each one on a different schedule or open on request. Usually it would only take us about 6 hours to go this distance. Today it took 8 hours. And then there are the idiots that drive boats down here. The only thing they slow down for here are the damn manatees (or should I say the signs that say slow down for manatees - or get a big fine). We were planning on going offshore for this section but it was just too rough and cold out there today. Remember I mentioned that wealth did not mean good taste? Well the houses along this section proved that. They build them big and ugly and way too close together. We arrived in the land of mega yachts (Ft. Lauderdale) about 4:30 and docked at the city marina just before the dockhands quit for the day. We are the smallest boat at the dock by far. We got cleaned up and went out and found a sportsbar nearby with a great happy hour and good food and decompressed. Oh, and the temperature outside is a balmy 45. (they promise that the warm weather will return by monday).

City of Ft. Lauderdale marina rates (2005-2006)

12/22/03 - A little excitement last night: a 50+ ft powerboat on the dock across from us had a fire onboard. I heard a weird screeching noise late in the night and went on deck to see what it was only to be almost choked on smoke drifting over from the next dock over. I also saw more than 4 fire trucks in the parking lot and many firefighters on the dock in breathing gear breaking into the hatches on the boat to check for people (no one was onboard). The screeching noise may have been a theft alarm going off - who knows.
The money here is not to be believed. We took a water taxi today (worth the trip!) and the captain had some interesting facts to share: This harbor gets an average of about 1400 mega-yachts here each winter season and they each spend about $300-400,000 on boat work here (2nd to tourism in income to the area). They also spend an average of 300-500 per day for dockage. He pointed out some of the "small" houses along the water. More than one of these monster houses had a "smaller" (only $2 million) house just for his yacht crew (which can't live on the 100+ foot yacht docked in front of the mansion because of some city ordanance). Took the water taxi across the ICW and visited Bluewater Books on Cordova Blvd to look for cruising guides for the keys (there aren't many) and maybe update some of our other books.

12/23/03 - Finally got to sail!! Haven't had both sails up and the engine off since North Carolina. Got out the Ft. lauderdale channel and put up the sails and lo and behold the mainsail wasn't a giant triangle of moldy fabric like I thought it might be. We sailed most of the way to Miami in the beautiful light green water until the wind died out and then motored up Government Cut into Miami harbor against a 3.5 kt current. Got into the MiamMarina downtown at about 3pm. The marina is right next to a shopping mall and a Hard Rock Cafe (don't eat there). The mall has many good restaurants..

12/24/03 - Christmas eve day in Miami. Rented a car and went food shopping. Then went over to South Beach and walked along the art deco district, stopping every so often for a drink and a late lunch. The old hotels here are nicely restored to there old style. Almost all have bars or restaurants along the sidewalk and they all try to entice you in with happy hour prices (though here happy hour just means it's expensive, not outrageous). Spent way too much time at a place called Mango's that had a great cuban band playing and then drove back to the boat. Oh, did I mention that we passed by a dead body in the middle of the street? Just a block from the hotels the police had an intersection blocked off and there was a body in the street covered in a sheet. The crime unit was there but we never found out what happened.

12/25/03 - Christmas Day. Returned the rental car. The shopping mall was open for business (most shops anyway). Guess the tourist business never rests. We cooked dinner on board and did laundry. A very exciting holiday.

12/26/03 - Grounded! It had to happen sooner or later. Made it all the way down here without going aground but it finally caught up to us. Tried to take a shortcut into a marina in Key Biscayne (it was marked on the chart as having enough water) and we ran aground in about 4.5 ft of water (twice). The first time we got off right away by backing off the way we came. Then we tried to find the channel again and ran into another low spot and got stuck pretty good. It took us about 30 minutes of kedging with the spare anchor to free us. (of course it happened at high tide). Once we got free, we traced our route back the way we came and went around to the regular channel to the marina for fuel and then headed down to the bottom of Key Biscayne to a small anchorage for the night.

12/28/03 - Oh the joys of cruising. Today we had to leave our somewhat quiet (except for the lunch crowd and the drunk powerboaters partying until early morning) anchorage of the last couple of days in order to pump out the holding tanks. We had to motor up to a marina about 5 miles away and use their self-service pumpout system. Once that wonderful chore was completed, we motored back down to our anchorage again and plunked ourselves back into our previous spot. Along the way back we saw a huge junior regatta going on in Biscayne Bay. There were at least 6 racing lines going on with hundreds of boats - Optis, 420's, lasers and 49'ers. Another exciting day on Koko. Tomorrow am we head down the keys.

12/29/03 - Left our anchorage in Key Biscayne about 7:30 this morning and headed out into Hawks channel and down the keys. The channel out went through "stiltsville", a collection of houses on stilts out on the reef in Biscayne Bay. They are now part of the national park system. The waters in Hawks Channel were very rough to start; waves about 4-5 ft and the wind was on the beam at 20kts. Thankfully this diminished as we went further. The water was a beautiful teal color and the day was warm and sunny, so it could have been worse. We arrived at Rodriguez key (just off Key Largo) about 2:30 and set anchor in 8.5 ft of water. It's a bit open to the east wind but one of the few places we can stop along the way with a draft of 5+ ft (and I thought the Bahamas were shallow).

12/30/03 - Finally a beautiful day for a sail. Winds from the east about 15kts, sun is out, the water is turquoise and warm. What else could you want? Got the anchor up, got the sails up, got the engine off and away we went down the keys at about 6.5 - 7 kts. After about 4 1/2 hours we furled them in and went under the causeway at Matecumbe key and went on the inside of the keys to find an anchorage. I have to keep reminding myself that it is supposed to be shallow here but when your anchoring in 7 feet of water at high tide (even though the tide is less than a foot), it gets a bit odd. Knowing that there is only about 6-8 inches or so under the keel at low tide takes some getting used to.

12/31/03 - Big swells and no wind made for a lumpy motorsail to Marathon (Boot Key Harbor). Grabbed the only available mooring in the harbor and went into town to reprovision (beer). Met some of our neighbors at the mooring. Two couples from New Jersey that have been here a week. Met them again at the new year's eve party at a local place called "Dockside Lounge ". A great blues band played all night and free champagne was handed out for midnight (yes, we actually made it past midnight this year!). A very "interesting" crowd at this party: some hippies, some bikers, some live-aboard cruisers and some preppy looking folks. A good night of people watching.

Note: recently me a bartender in Bar Harbor, ME that also works at Cabot's On The Water in Marathon - check it out.