South Santee River, SC

Well we had an interesting time today. After staying several days at Thoroughfare creek we decided to get a move on and head 30 miles south to Minim Creek. The wind was blowing a bit today, gusting up to 20 knots, but we motored down the ICW without incident. But once we started getting ready to anchor it was a different story.

We have anchored in Minim Creek before and we know that the current runs pretty strong in that area. Last time we anchored in the creek there was no wind. But this time we had the wind pushing us from the north and the current pushing us from sort of a southerly direction. Our normal routine (without current) is to point the boat into the wind, drop the anchor, fall back as the wind pushes us back, and then back down on the anchor with our engines in reverse to get a good set. But with wind and current opposing, we did a little trial and error. We first did our normal routine but after dropping the anchor, the current pushed us forward and past the anchor, so that didn't work. We hauled it up and tried again, this time pointing into the current. After dropping the anchor the wind gusted and we started looping around in drunken circles. It was impossible to get the anchor directly out in front of us to back down on in and after several minutes of trying, Kevin just gave up and said "well it's probably set enough for us to stay here one night, go ahead and shut down the engines". We were in the middle of the creek and the anchor seemed to be holding so I shut the engines down and went inside to grab the cruising log and the instrument covers. I walk through the door a couple minutes later and hear the depth alarm going off (it is set to go off if we are in 2 feet of water). Kevin is at the helm and we are up against the bank of the creek. What? In just a few minutes we had gone from anchored to aground. Guess the anchor wasn't set after all.

So we start the engines and go about the process of getting ourselves floating again and hauling the anchor up. No easy task since the wind is now steady at 17 knots and the current has increased as well. Easing ourselves off the bank is no problem, only the tip of our bow was just barely aground. But trying to get the anchor up is another story since it is behind us between the hulls and we have to be careful about putting the engines in reverse so the propellers don't get fouled on the anchor chain. We finally have the anchor partway up but as I put the starboard engine in reverse it starts making this horrible sound. We realize that our prop must've gotten fouled on one of the several crab trap floats in the creek. We were fortunate because I put the engine in neutral right away and used only the port engine and I think somehow the trap worked itself loose because sure enough when I looked over, there the float was, floating about 100 feet away from where it originally had been (we had picked it up and moved it). We were really lucky because usually if something like that happens someone would have to get in the water and unwrap the line from the prop (in the conditions we were in it would've been next to impossible).

In the end, we gave up on Minim Creek and motored another 10 miles south to the South Santee River, where the current was still strong, but the river was wider and aligned better with the wind. Everything that could go wrong had gone wrong in Minim Creek, but the anchoring gods gave us a break and we were able to set the anchor on the first try in the Santee.

Where we are:
Location=South Santee River, SC
Lat=33 09.018 N
Lon=79 19.312 W

Thoroughfare Creek, SC

[Kevin's Post]Yesterday, we left Southport and crossed the border into South Carolina. There's really only one anchorage on this 70 mile stretch of the ICW, and when we anchored there last year, another boat hit us at 2am because of the reversing current. So, we decided not to even try it this year, and instead went on to Myrtle Beach and tied up at a marina called Dock Holiday's. We had cable TV for the first time in months. For some reason, the cable at the marinas never work, even when they advertise that they have cable. So of course we wasted a lot of time watching tv, did a few loads of laundry, and had burgers and beers at the marina bar. A cold snap is going through the area right now, so we were glad to be able to run the heat too. This morning we got up and the temperature was in the low 40s with a 15kt wind putting the wind chill in the 30's. As we were motoring south we heard the coast guard repeatedly try to hail a vessel named Moonbow. A while later the coast guard issued a 'Pan Pan', which is an announcement typically regarding a vessel which is missing or otherwise in distress. A sailboat named Moonbow had turned on their EPIRB (emergency satellite beacon) somewhere between Cape Fear and Charleston. Conditions were supposed to be pretty bad out on the ocean today with winds 20-25 knots, which is why we are motoring down the ICW instead of going outside like we did on the way north. The Coast Guard never said exactly what happened to the boat, but about an hour later they issued another Pan Pan stating that the boat was adrift and the location. Presumably the crew had been rescued by the coast guard and forced to abandon their boat. We also heard a Securite saying that a bridge between us and Charleston is not working and so we are stuck north of Charleston until it is fixed or conditions are good enough to go outside the rest of the way to Charleston.

Where we are:
Location=Thoroughfare Creek, SC
Lat=33 30.862 N
Lon=79 08.662 W

Southport, NC - The Eagle Has Landed

Cruise Ship Aground

Another day on the ICW. We left Wrightsville Beach around 8am; most of the boats in the anchorage had already left and were well ahead of us. On the VHF radio we started hearing chatter about a boat aground about 10 miles further, near Carolina Beach. One by one, we heard all the other boats hail this boat ("American Eagle"), asking "are you aground?" and "which side should we pass you on?". As we approached the area, we realized why so many boats had been worried about the grounded vessel -- it wasn't just a boat, it was a 160-foot cruise ship! The ICW channel at Carolina Beach is only about 120 feet wide and here is this behemoth turned sideways and stretching nearly across the entire channel. If you look closely at the photo, you can see that the waterline at the bow of the ship is at least a couple feet higher than it should be. As we got closer we could see that one other poor sailboat had misjudged where to pass, and tried to slip by the American Eagle's bow. Yep, they ran aground too. We heard the boat ahead of us radio the ship and they were told to pass behind it, so that's what we did, although the water got pretty shallow. We passed close enough to talk to one of the passengers on deck, an elderly lady who seemed to find the whole situation pretty hilarious. Strangely, the cruise ship was keeping kind of a low profile about the whole thing -- they didn't radio the coast guard, they didn't respond when TowBoat US hailed them on the radio. Normally, a vessel that big would periodically announce a "Security Call" on the VHF, to inform other boaters of what had happened and to use caution. But maybe the captain thought that nobody would notice, and they'd be able to get going again as the tide came in. I'm sure it was embarassing, but he's lucky a tug and barge wasn't trying to transit that section of the ICW this morning, or there could've been real trouble. I'm sure the Coast Guard was pretty irked when they finally found out what was going on. Some other boater must have called them because about two hours later, as we were heading south on the Cape Fun And Games River (Cape Fear River), we finally heard the Coast Guard issue a Security Call warning on the VHF, and they didn't sound too pleased about it.

Where we are:
Location=Southport, SC
Lat=33 55.238 N
Lon=78 02.666 W

Wrightsville Beach, NC

Happy Halloween

[Kevin's Post]Happy Halloween! Today we got up at 4am in order to make the 83 mile passage outside from Beaufort to Wrightsville Beach. There's only a few places we can go out on the ocean and still get back inside before sunset with the days being so short and this was one of them. There was virtually no wind so we ran one engine the whole way. In the afternoon the wind piped up out of the south to 10 knots so we could at least raise the main and get another half knot on top of the engine. We trolled a line most of the afternoon. I tried a few different lures, starting with my smaller lures and working my way up to my biggest lure changing it out every two hours. I finally caught a fish on my largest lure. Briefly. It escaped before I could reel it in. It was so small that I'm not even sure when I caught it. Usually the reel make noise when there is a fish on it, but this one just bent the rod slightly. It somehow managed to wiggle off the hook as I was reeling it in, but it is just as well, I don't think the fish was much bigger than the lure. I think I need to get a 3' lure so I can catch a 3' fish. Anyway, we made it to Wrightsville Beach about an hour before sunset and are anchored with about 50 other boats just below the bridge.

The picture was taken at the Norfolk maritime museum and I have been saving it for Halloween. Don't ask me why the maritime museum had an exhibit on bones.

Where we are:
Location=Wrightsville Beach, NC
Lat=34 12.380 N
Lon=77 48.043 W

Cape Lookout, NC

Cape Lookout Lighthouse

Boy, am I annoyed. I am annoyed for two reasons; one reason being that today is the first day that we have been underway since daylight savings time started. DST is the stupidest concept I can think of. I can understand that it made sense back in the days before electricity, and supposedly it cuts down energy costs and has many benefits that I'm sure make it worthwhile for millions of people to have to remember to simultaneously reset their clocks. But for cruisers like us it means that on Saturday we had until 6:30pm to get to our anchorage safely, but on Sunday we now have to be done by 5:30 (or earlier as the days get shorter). And what's worse is that in order to make the most of the daylight, we now have to get up an hour earlier. Damn you, Benjamin Franklin!

Solstice at Cape Lookout

The second cause of my annoyance is the railroad bridge in New Bern. Yes, the same one we were stuck waiting for on our way in! This morning we wake up and have the anchor up well before sunrise (remember, we are Saving Daylight!) We know that the US 70 highway bridge (the one after the RR bridge) is restricted due to rush hour and only opens once between 6:30am and 8:30am. So we want to get to the US 70 bridge at 6am and get on our way. We motor up to the railroad bridge and, sure enough, it's closed. No VHF response, no response to horn signals. We can see the lights on in the little bridgetender house but can't tell if there's anyone inside. So we wait in front of the bridge for half an hour, maneuvering the engines to keep ourselves in place. Finally at 6:30 we turn to the side and re-anchor, since no train has come and the guy is clearly ignoring us. Kevin put it this way: "he has the easiest job in the world -- keep the bridge open unless a train is coming. But obviously he figured out that his job is even easier if he just leaves the bridge closed ALL THE TIME." I am royally ticked off, so I actually plug in the PC, get on the internet, and look up the phone number for the Norfolk and Southern railroad to register a complaint. By 7am, just as I am speaking to the right person on the telephone, we finally hear the telltale whistle of a train and the bridgetender walks down the train tracks to the bridgetender's house. So all this time he wasn't even there! Where was he? Who knows? Maybe in his car with the heater turned on, or getting a latte at Starbucks. But he sure knew the train schedule well enough to know exactly when to walk out across the bridge on the tracks. You'd think if he knew the schedule so well he could've left the bridge open and just came out ten minutes earlier to close it for the train. Details, details.

So it's the longest train ever, and we are on the VHF to the next bridge asking if they'll hold the 7:30 opening for us because otherwise we will have to wait an hour til 8:30 when rush hour traffic clears. Luckily the train passes and the railroad bridge slowly opens and we race through it just in time to catch the next bridge and we are on our way. Phew! That's the last time we anchor in New Bern!

So it's been a long day but now we are at Cape Lookout. It is a fairly protected spot with pretty sand dunes and a lighthouse. The anchorage is actually outside the Beaufort Inlet. Since we are planning to "go outside" tomorrow to Wrightsville Beach, this means we can get up before dawn and within a few short minutes be out on the open ocean and on our way. The best part of going outside? No bridges!

Where we are:
Location=Cape Lookout, NC
Lat=34 37.298 N
Lon=76 33.048 W

New Bern, NC - Southbound Cruisers Rendezvous

As I mentioned in a previous post, we are in New Bern to attend the Southbound Cruisers Rendezvous. We wanted to see what a gathering like this was all about, and so far we have really enjoyed ourselves. There have been discussions on weather, safety, internet/wi-fi antennas, etc. Some seminars have been more useful than others but it is always interesting to hear other people's experiences and opinions. Cruisers are an opinionated bunch and even on the rare occasions where there's a general consensus there always seems to be a few dissenters. So you can ask a simple question, such as "Will I find wi-fi access in the out islands?" and you will invariably get answers ranging from "it's not reliable, and you have to have an expensive high-powered antenna to pick up a signal" to "great -- I have never had a problem finding a free connection with just my internal PC antenna". So while it is nice to hear someone else share their information, no two cruising experiences are the same so you just gather the info and make your own decision. We are planning to head south in January and work our way through the Caribbean islands down to Grenada, so we wanted to hear other people's experiences, good and bad. We still plan to hit each island (within reason) and form our own opinion, but sometimes it is so useful to hear firsthand information. For example, we met a wonderful couple (John and Jenny from Al Shaheen) who have been that far south already and are heading back down this season. We had previously read that it wasn't worth spending too much time in Puerto Rico so we had just planned it as a provisioning stop, but they offered a different opinion and recommended renting a car to see all of the island. So now we are planning to spend a little more time there and rent the car for more than just provisioning. We have met many other couples who have also given us sound advice based on their experience. So the side trip up the Neuse River to New Bern has been well worth it.

The town of New Bern has been a nice stopover as well. Did you know that New Bern, NC is the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola? No? Well, now you do. Some of the local cruisers have volunteered to shuttle people back and forth to Wal-mart, and a few trusting souls are willing to just give you the keys to their car. So this morning we and several other cruisers piled into a van driven by a soccer dad who lives here now but has sailed with his family (including three boys all under the age of 14 and a dog they added while in Puerto Rico) throughout the Caribbean. After hearing how they all lived pretty cozily for several seasons on a 42-foot (I think) monohull, I vowed never to feel cramped on our boat again!

This evening we headed to a restaurant run by a local Mennonite family. The food was simple but inexpensive and, after being welcomed personally by the owner, as a bonus he and one of the traditionally-dressed waitresses serenaded the dining guests with an a capella spiritual hymn. It was very moving and an interesting change from the waterfront pubs that we usually head to. Of course a drawback is that Kevin now wants to grow a Mennonite-style beard (no mustache). I told him to go for it, but I'm not going to wear a lace hat.

New Bern, NC - Train in Vain

Another long day on the ICW. We woke up well before dawn and had the anchor up by the time the sun rose. Our plan was to make it from Belhaven to New Bern, NC. This week the Sheraton in New Bern is hosting the Southbound Cruisers Rendezvous, which is a three-day get-together with information sessions for cruisers who plan to go south for the winter. It starts on Wednesday but the weather on Monday and Tuesday is supposed to be kind of iffy so we wanted to try to make it all the way there today - 70 miles. Luckily today's route included lots of rivers with deep water so we could use the autopilot and just set it and forget it. (It's much less stressful when you don't have to worry about staying inside a narrow channel.)

So at the end of the day, around 5pm we are approaching New Bern. To get to the anchorage, you have to pass through a highway swing bridge and then a railroad swing bridge a couple hundred feet apart. We hail the first bridge and the operator opens right up for us. The next bridge is a railroad bridge. Typically the RR bridges are left open all the time except when a train is coming. However most of them are not manned and they operate automatically. Just our luck the railroad bridge is closed. We try hailing the bridgetender (in case there is one) and the other bridgetender answers and says he doesn't know what the train schedule is for the railroad bridge but it always opens up after the train comes through. So we wait. It is fifty minutes til sunset, but the bridge was already closed when we got there so surely the train will come soon, right? We can see the anchorage which is literally a few hundred feet away on the other side of the bridge. Ten minutes pass. No train. Another ten. For a brief instant I see someone at the door of the bridgetender's shack on the bridge. I yell to Kevin to get the binoculars but it is too late, whoever it was went back inside. Nothing on the radio. A guy dinghies by and we wave him over and he says, sure, the bridge was open a couple of hours ago. So now we think the train must be just around the corner. We are a little nervous because if the bridge doesn't open it means we have to go back through the other bridge and find some other, less ideal, place to anchor. In the dark. We have now been waiting for thirty minutes and sunset is twenty minutes away so Kevin goes below to look up the correct sound signal for bridge openings (the plan being to blast the guy with the air horn), when the train guy peeks out the door of the shack again. We frantically wave at him and he waves back. Kevin shouts to him to find out when the bridge will open. He shouts back something unintelligible. I maneuver the boat closer to the bridge so we can hear what he's saying but he ducks back inside. We hear a loud mechanical clank that might be the bridge. Nothing moves. Five more minutes pass. The guy walks out onto the bridge with some tools. He goes back in the shed. Slowly the bridge begins to swing aside. And when I say slowly I mean it takes a full ten minutes for it to open. The guy peeks out the door and waves for us to hurry on through. We look at each other and wonder if he is supposed to even be opening the bridge for us, what if a train really is coming? Regardless, we want to get anchored so we go through and hope that a train doesn't come barrelling down just as we cross. We get to the anchorage and spend another twenty minutes trying to find a decent spot (there are already several boats parked in there). It is fifteen minutes after sunset when we finally shut down the engines and then, only then, does the train appear. If the guy hadn't opened the bridge for us we would've waited for almost an hour! But at least we got through and are anchored and looking forward to spending the next five days in one spot.

Where we are:
Location=New Bern, NC
Lat=35 05.849
Lon=77 02.552

Belhaven, NC

[Kevin's Post] 75 miles! Today we crossed Albemarle Sound motorsailing with light winds out of the north. Last fall when we went south we motored the whole ICW with both engines cranked because we were worried about how long it would take to get to FL. This time around we are trying a bit harder to conserve fuel and use the engines less. Running both engines burns twice as much fuel, but you only go about 10% faster. Of course that 10% made us faster than everybody last year, this year we are slower than everybody. But we don't care too much, running on only one engine means fewer fuel stops and fewer oil changes, etc. So today we ran on one engine, sails up as long as we could use them and were pretty pleased with the miles. We literally motored through the Belhaven breakwater at 2 minutes past sunset and got anchored just as it was getting dark.

Where we are:
Location=Belhaven, NC
Lat=35 31.741 N
Lon=76 37.219 W

Broad Creek, NC

Motor Yachts on the ICW

[Kevin's Post]We only made another 30 miles today since the wind was a bit too strong to cross Albemarle Sound (for us anyway). The forecast was for 15-20 knots, but we saw winds 25-30 with a few gusts to 32. So we are anchored at the last anchorage north of Albemarle Sound and plan to cross it tomorrow. From Norfolk south, there are two routes you can take: the Dismal Swamp route and the Virginia Cut route. We've always gone the Dismal Swamp route before so decided to try the other one this time. The Dismal Swamp is too slow for all the big motor yachts, so they all come this way. Every hour a parade of massive motor yachts would blow past us all bunched together due to the bridge timings. You would think that in 20 miles they would spread out, but they don't. I guess one of them decides to go 25 and the rest want to go 26 and they tailgate just like they were in cars. Most of them slow down when they get close to us, but even going slow they throw up huge wakes. And when a bunch go by in succession the wakes seem to build on each other and today we got hit by some big ones. We're in North Carolina now.

Where we are:
Location=anywhere
Lat=36 12.050 N
Lon=75 57.227 W

Blackwater Creek, Va

Downtown Norfolk

[Kevin's Post]We actually set an alarm to get up early this morning since we wanted to be waiting for the first drawbridge south at 8:30. One look out the cockpit door and we knew we weren't going anywhere anytime soon. The fog was so thick we could only see about 150 feet. We haven't seen fog like that since New England last summer. So, we went back to bed. The fog finally broke around 11:00 and we got moving. Today was a slow day, we went through 1 lock and 7 drawbridges having to wait for each, and only covered about 30 miles. Some of the bridges open on request, and some of them only open on the half hour or hour. So if you don't time your arrival at the bridge, you have to maneuver around and try to hold your position against the wind and current. Tonight we're anchored in some marshes just north of the VA / NC border.


Where we are:
Location=Blackwater Creek, VA
Lat=36 35.888 N
Lon=76 04.011 W
#end

Norfolk, VA

USS Wisconsin

[Kevin's Post]When we originally got to Hampton they said we had to leave by this morning as lots of boats were scheduled to arrive for the Caribbean 1500. The Caribbean 1500 is a race of cruising boats from Norfolk to the British Virgin Islands, a 1500 mile trip taking 8-14 days. It starts in early November, but boats are starting to arrive to provision and get their boats ready. We left Hampton this morning and traveled 12 miles down the Elizabeth river to downtown Norfolk, VA and anchored off Hospital Point. The Norfolk piers are packed full of Navy vessels, including a couple of aircraft carriers. In fact if you look on Google Earth and follow the Elizabeth River north looking to the east side you'll probably see a bunch of big Navy warships. The last two times we went through Norfolk we didn't stop so this time we were determined to go ashore. We dinghied across the river and tied up at Waterside marina. There is a pretty cool naval museum (I know we said we weren't going to go to anymore, but we did anyway) which is worth going to. The museum has an actual battleship, the USS Wisconsin, that you can walk around. This particular battleship was used in WWII through Desert Storm. They said it is still in reserve and can be redeployed if necessary. The Wisconsin had retired navy volunteers aboard, some of which had served aboard it as far back as the 1950's. After the museum we went to see the movie 'Departed', and then to Outback for some beers and a bloomin' Onion.

We're anchored at mile 0 of the intracoastal waterway, which as we've probably already explained, is an inland waterway of rivers, bays, and dredged canals stretching from Norfolk to Florida allowing you to travel the entire distance without ever going out to open ocean. This time we hope to go outside some of the distance from Beaufort to FL, weather permitting. 987 miles to go to Stuart, FL.


Where we are:
Location=Norfolk, VA
Lat= 36 50.729 N
Lon=76 18.068 W

Hampton, VA - Man At Work

So this past week we have been at a marina in Hampton Virginia. We usually try not to spend so much time at marinas but this week was an exception for two reasons: 1. we wanted to have our rigging inspected, and 2. Kevin did some remote computer programming work for Starwood (our previous employer).

The rigging inspection was set for Wednesday. Basically since the boat (and its rigging) is ten years old, we wanted to have it inspected before we leave the country in January. When we first bought the boat over a year ago we had the rigging inspected and the inspector recommended having it replaced within 1-3 years. So we figured we'd have it re-inspected by a different company and if they recommended to replace it we would have time to do that before we left the US. So the guy goes up the mast and looks at all the standing rigging (which are the wires that support the mast) as well as the running rigging (which are the lines that raise and trim the sails, etc). They also inspected other stuff like our lifelines (which run around the boat and -- hopefully -- stop a person from falling overboard) as well as our dinghy lift/tackle system (which helps someone as wimpy as me lift our couple-hundred-pound dinghy). We were pleasantly surprised when they said there were no problems and that they couldn't see any reason to replace the standing rigging. They did say we should replace a few of the lines (ropes in the running rigging), but that is going to cost much less than replacing the standing rigging would've been. So we are happy.

The other reason we wanted to stay at a marina was to use the wi-fi access so that Kevin could do a little programming work for Starwood. Of course the minute he agreed to start on the work, the wi-fi access stopped functioning, so he ended up having to use our cell phone to dial in. Since our cell phone charges 45 cents a minute if we go over our minutes, Kevin was working nights (between 9pm and 9am) and all weekend (when our calls are free). He worked like a fiend and finished everything, but I think he got a total of eight hours of sleep over the past five days. Two words: grumpy bear. But now he is well-rested and back to the normal, non-grumpy, Kevin I married.

Where we are:
Location=Hampton VA
Lat=37 00.443
Lon=76 18.982

Hayes, VA - Severn River Marina

Storm Surge

[Kevin's Post]After leaving Fishing Bay we made our way south to Mobjack Bay where Severn River Marina is located. Our plan was to get dockage for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night, crank out some boat projects on Wednesday and Thursday, do some provisioning, then rent a car and go to Busch Gardens on Friday. That was the plan at least. On Wednesday, we pulled all our anchor chain out on the dock so that we could rotate the chain end to end and put some more zinc galvanizing on it. It's kind of like rotating the tires on your car, the galvanizing on the chain doesn't wear evenly, so you are supposed to rotate it periodically. On Thursday we dropped off some parts we needed modified at a local machine shop and went to Sam's Club and Walmart in our rental car. Back at the boat, we re-marked the chain, hauled it back onto the boat and reattached the anchor. Then, Thursday night we go to check the weather for our day of Busch Gardens fun and see that it is probably going to rain. We decide to wait and see, sometimes they are wrong, you never know. Then Friday morning we check the forecast and see this:

GALE WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE TONIGHT

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH LATE SATURDAY NIGHT

TODAY
NE WINDS 20 TO 25 KT EARLY THIS MORNING...INCREASING TO 30 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 45 KT THIS AFTERNOON. WAVES 3 TO 4 FT EARLY THIS MORNING...BUILDING TO 4 TO 6 FT. RAIN WITH VSBY 1 TO 3 NM.

TONIGHT
NE WINDS 25 TO 30 KT. GUSTS UP TO 45 KT...DECREASING TO 35 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WAVES 4 TO 6 FT. RAIN WITH VSBY 1 TO 3 NM.


(BTW, for you non-nautical types 45 KT is 52 mph)

It hasn't rained in about 10 days, and now we get a full blown Nor'easter. No Busch Gardens for us. The weather deteriorated throughout the day. We were able to make a run to the video store at low tide. Shortly after we got back, the finger pier next to the boat disappeared under the water. The strong winds are causing a storm surge and tides which are several feet above normal. The main dock here is typically 4-6 feet above the water and then there are finger piers which stick out from the main dock and go between the boats. The finger piers are supposed to be 2-3 feet above the water. High tide came at about 9:20 PM and at this point 2-3 foot waves were coming over the dock and through the marina. The boats in the slips on either side of us were bucking wildly against their dock lines. The water level was so high that the pilings were only sticking 3 feet out of the water and didn't even go up to our rub rail. We listened to the wind howl all night and wished we were at anchor instead. At least then we would be laying with the wind. This morning high tide came again at 9:40. The main docks were underwater, the parking lot was underwater, the marina office and ship's store were flooded, the power was out, and the only way to shore was by dinghy. And of course, the rental car was due back by noon. I dinghyed to shore thinking that maybe the roads would be ok. Before I even got to the car, I ran into the marina manager who said the roads were 2-3 feet underwater and he barely made it through in his full size truck. My Hyundai wasn't going anywhere. He also said that this was the worst storm surge they have seen since Hurricane Isabel. We called the rental car company and told them what the situation was and they said to try to return it after the water went down. So we waited for low tide at which point the water level was low enough to return the car and hurry back before the finger pier disappeared again. The wind has started to subside and we think it will be ok to leave tomorrow.

The picture shows the marina floating docks 2 feet above the fixed docks which can be seen just above the waterline. They are typically 3-4 feet below the fixed docks and are used by smaller boats and skiffs that would be too far below the fixed dock to climb off. Our rental car is the blue one in the background.


Where we are:
Location=Hayes, VA
Lat=37 18.238 N
Lon=76 27.249 W

Fishing Bay, VA

[Kevin's Post] After spending 3 nights tied up at Jack and Jo's dock we left this morning to continue south. Not much wind today so we didn't bother to even take off the sail covers, we knew we were going to be motoring. Recently the boat hasn't been motoring as fast as it used to, so I swam down to check the propellers while were at Jack and Jo's and found that the propellers had a pretty good growth of barnacles on them. The antifouling paint that is on the rest of the boat underwater doesn't stick to the props, so stuff can grow on them, especially if you sit for a long time like we did at Solomons. I scraped them all off, and it seemed to make a difference. We were going about 1/2 knot faster today at the same engine speeds.

We motored south out the Rappahannock and into Fishing Bay. As we entered Fishing Bay, we noticed a very large sailboat that appeared to be anchored off the channel. As we got closer, we could tell there was no anchor rode, they were aground. I looked at them through the binoculars and they were waving at us trying to get our attention, apparently they didn't have a radio. We motored over as close as we could get without going aground ourselves, the charted depth was 4 feet, and it was exactly low tide. They said their draft was 9 feet, so they were just on the edge of the shoal. We said we would anchor and try to haul them off with our massive dinghy which probably has more horsepower than their primary engine. We were in the process of anchoring, and fortunately they managed to get off the shoal under their own power without our help. So everything worked out.

Where we are:
Location=Fishing Bay, VA
Lat=37 30.486 N
Lon=76 20.807 W

Lancaster, VA - Fugawee Wharf

Jo & Jack

Earlier this week, we emailed our friends Jack and Jo on Maggie Rose (we met them last November in Myrtle Beach, SC). They live on Myer Creek, which is a tranquil spot off of the Rappahannock River. They invited us to tie up to their dock behind their house, and we took them up on the invitation. Their home (which they designed themselves) is on a beautiful spot, surrounded by shady trees, with lots of windows and a view of the creek out back. The first night they had us over for dinner and drinks and we had a great time catching up on each other's respective trips south (us to the Bahamas, them to Florida). Over the next couple of days we hung out and ate lots of good food (including Jack's awesome fried chicken and Jo's delicious sweet potato pancakes -- not at the same meal, of course!). Both Jo and Jack are such personable people we had a great weekend with them and by the end of it we felt like family. It was such a pleasant visit and so nice to see some friendly, familiar faces.

Where we are:
Location=Myer Creek, VA
Lat=37 41.703 N
Lon=76 29.469 W

Sandy Point, VA

[Kevin's Post]A front came through last night with torrential rain and northerly winds behind it. We like northerly winds because now that we are heading south it gives us better odds that we'll be able to use the wind to get some decent sailing speeds. Today did not disappoint, the forecast was for 15-20 out of the NW and we went faster than we have in a long time. We sailed about 20 miles down to the mouth of the Potomac with the wind directly behind us, then turned south after Smith Point Light for another 10 miles, then west up the Great Wicomico river. With one reef in the main, we were doing 8-9 a lot of the way and occasionally saw the speed in the double digits. We outran several monohulls. We passed about 5 miles east of Reedville, and even as far away as we were, the stench of the fish processing plant was unmistakable.

Where we are:
Location=Sandy Point, VA
Lat=37 49.345
Lon=76 18.896

Kinsale, VA

[Kevin's Post]We crossed the Potomac to the south side which means we have left MD and are in Virginia now. There was no wind so we just motored the 15 or so miles. We anchored off the Port Kinsale Marina because we had read they had a good restaurant and we were ready for a meal off the boat. They did not disappoint, we had beers, crab dip as an appetizer, I had a big cheeseburger, Amanda had a prime rib sandwich. We were stuffed.

At 3AM this morning we woke up to a loud noise which sounded like somebody climbing over the lifelines onto our boat. I jumped out of bed and flicked on the deck light which is a big flood light half way up the mast that illuminates the entire exterior of the boat. I figure if anybody was out there, that would give them a scare. I took a walk around the deck of the boat in my flannel pajamas, pepper spray in hand, just to make sure there wasn't a anybody on a skiff or anything. Nobody was there though, it must have been a big bird or something.


Where we are:
Location=Kinsale, VA
Lat=38 01.678 N
Lon=76 33.557 W

St. Mary's City, MD

St. Mary's City

[Kevin's Post]We left Solomons after topping off our water tanks and headed south for the Potomac. Another good day of downwind motorsailing. Just across the Patuxent from Solomons is a naval air base and there are constantly military aircraft flying around the area some of them low enough that you can practically see the crew. There is a target range in the water that they use for bombing practice and the navy range boats hail every boat going by on the VHF warning them to stay 1/4 mile from the range. Well, I figure that if they need practice, I'm going to stay more than 1/4 mile away. We overheard the navy say to one boat "They're fairly accurate most of the time". We turned up the Potomac to go to St. Mary's City which was the original capitol of Maryland. The Governor's cup race goes from Annapolis to here so we figured there must be stuff to see/do. Other than the college, it was pretty much a ghost town. In order to preserve the historic nature of the town, they have banned all commerce within a mile radius.


Where we are:
Location=St Marys City, MD
Lat=38 11.556
Lon=76 25.909

Solomons, MD

Anchored at Solomons

[Kevin's Post]Yes, we are embarrassed to admit it, but we are back in Solomons. We needed to hit a marina to refill our water tank, and Solomons was just the most convenient place to stop without going farther north. We had a nice sail over from St. Michaels, it was about 40 miles and we had a good wind most of the way. It's always nice when the wind allows you to go faster than the engines. At Solomons, we went up back creek towards the Spring Cove fuel dock because we got a good wifi signal last time we anchored there. We had just dropped the anchor and started to let out the chain when a trawler pulls up about 50 feet off our beam and drops his anchor. Now this would have been way too close even if we were done anchoring, but we hadn't even let out all our chain yet! So, I stand on the bow, giving them the stink eye, he's on his bow looking at us like he's waiting for something. This goes on for a few minutes. I go back to the cockpit, we back down on our anchor to set it, they do the same. I neutral out the starboard engine, leaving the port in reverse just for fun. Our boat starts to swing over toward the trawler. Amanda says, 'Oh, don't do that'. She never lets me have any fun. We've only asked people to move a few times, and most of the time that we do, they pick up, re-anchor, and end up in the exact same spot anyway. So, this time we just picked up and moved to a different spot giving them a second stink eye in the process. The proximity of the grocery, west marine, etc, makes this a pretty popular anchorage and it gets pretty crowded. Even after moving, by the end of the day we had a small flotilla of boats directly upwind of us. It's always nervewracking to have boats so close upwind because if they drag, they're going to hit you and you probably won't have time to do anything about it. And the forecast for the weekend is 25 knots gusting to 30.

Saturday was my birthday and Amanda made me delicious apple cinnamon pancakes for breakfast. As forecasted, the wind pipes up in the afternoon. I look out the window and see a boat about 10 feet off our bow. We run outside in a panic thinking that we are about to get smacked. It's the green boat in the picture (in the picture it is about 40 feet away). And of course there is no one on board. We stand there and watch it for a while, a few people from other boats are enjoying the show. After watching it for a while it appears to not be getting any closer. We decide they aren't dragging, they probably just have more anchor chain out and are swinging a larger circle than we are. With them directly in front of us, there is no way for us to haul up the anchor and move. So all we could do is let out more chain and hope that they aren't in fact dragging. It all turned out ok this time, the wind shifted after a few hours and they floated away from us. By the time they returned they were several boat lengths away and they had no idea how close they came to hitting us.



Where we are:
Location=Solomons, MD
Lat=38 20.232
Lon=76 27.592

St. Michaels, MD

Technically, we are still in San Domingo Creek, so the boat hasn't moved. But for the past three days we have gone ashore and wandered around St. Michaels which is a popular tourist spot on the East Bay. Saturday it rained all day but then right around dinnertime it looked like it was going to clear up so we got in the dinghy and headed to shore. Of course the skies opened up just as we were landing the boat, so we got soaked but the sun came out a few minutes later and we were able to explore and grab a bite at the local saloon. The town is the epitome of small-town America -- one main street with shops, restaurants, etc. Most of the shops sell knick-knacks, bric-a-brac, and various other hyphenated-type craftwork. We window-shopped until it started to get dark, then headed back to the boat to discover a minor flood. We had left one of the ports open in the bathroom to keep airflow going through the boat (kind of a stupid thing to do when it's RAINING OUTSIDE) and the water just trickled in to the bathroom filling it with about an inch of water. Of course that is one of the few compartments in the boat that doesn't drain directly into the bilge, so I waded in there and started sopping things up with a towel. It was dry in no time, so it wasn't too big of a mishap. Lesson learned.

Sunday was a sunny day so we hit the local Maritime museum (pretty much every small town on the Bay has one) and oohed and ahhed over the (now very familiar) exhibits on crabbing, oystering, and fishing that seem to be the staple of all of these museums. We have promised each other that this was the last, the absolute last, maritime museum we will visit for a while. You can only look at so many pairs of antique oyster tongs before enough is enough. On our way back to the boat we also hit the local grocery store, "Acme", a name that for me conjures up images of Wile E. Coyote strapping on Acme brand rocket roller skates in a vain quest to catch the Roadrunner. Meep-meep!

Today was more of the same, looking in at some of the shops, picking up a few more groceries, and having dinner at one of the waterfront restaurants. It's been a pleasant couple of days but we are in for more rain this week. This time we'll remember to keep the ports closed during the downpours.

San Domingo Creek, MD

Lunch in the Park

Tuesday was a pretty nice day, weather-wise. We decided to load the bikes up into the dinghy and go for a ride. Kevin had programmed the local streets into the handheld GPS so we wouldn't get lost, I packed a lunch and off we went. This part of Maryland is really pretty. It's mostly farmland and tiny towns. Our eleven mile trek took us past tobacco (or at least a green leafy substance that we thought was tobacco) and corn fields as well as a few picturesque farmhouses. At the end of the ride we stopped at a park and ate lunch while watching sailboats on the Tred Avon river.

Yesterday (Wednesday) was mostly rainy and the wind shifted from north to south, which usually isn't a big deal but because of where we set our anchor we ended up aground. We didn't drag of course, but when the tide went out we discovered we were in only 3.5 feet of water (we need at least four for the boat to float). No problem. We decided to just wait until the tide came back in and then move the boat to a better spot. But in the meantime Kevin scrubbed the transom steps which are usually awash in dingy brown water. So in a way being aground was a good thing.

Today we decided to move the boat up the peninsula a ways to San Domingo creek. It's close to a town called St. Michaels which is supposed to be kind of a tourist destination on this side of the bay. It rained most of the day today so we haven't been able to go ashore yet, but hopefully this weekend it will clear up a bit.

Where we are:
Location=San Domingo Creek
Lat=38 46.333
Lon=76 13.869

Oxford, MD

We are now on the eastern side of the Chesapeake Bay, on what is called the Delmarva Penninsula. "Delmarva" sounds like it could've been the name used by Native Americans, but it's not -- it's something people around here made up because the peninsula has parts of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. Clever people, these chesapeakans. As we were heading into Oxford yesterday, a lady on another catamaran ran up to the front of her boat and started waving frantically at us. We weren't sure what was going on but we turned our boat toward them to see if they needed help. Turns out that the couple also owns a Manta catamaran down in Florida. Yesterday they were sailing their other boat, a 34 foot Gemini catamaran. They were waving just to say hi and introduce themselves. We ended up anchoring in the same creek and they invited us over for drinks. Leo and Betty have owned two Manta catamarans -- the first one got gored by a tanker while they were at anchor in the Bahamas; it put a hole right in the side of their boat a few feet from where they were sleeping. Luckily, when the tanker backed off the hole kind of closed itself up and they were able to save the boat -- no one was hurt. Mantas are tough little boats.

It was interesting to hear them talk about their sailing adventures. They have been all over the place -- Belize, Mexico, Bahamas. They are planning to sail their Gemini up the Hudson River and through Canada over to the Great Lakes area. Whenever we meet older retired couples on boats, it never ceases to amaze us how much more adventurous they are than us. This couple was in their sixties and we felt like old fogeys in comparison.

Today we walked around Oxford a bit. There's not much going on in these sleepy little towns, but it's nice to get ashore and stretch your legs. They did have some nice bike paths though so we are going to try a bike ride tomorrow if the weather is nice.

Where we are:
Location=Oxford, MD
Lat=38 41.488
Lon=76 09.907

Hudson Creek, MD

Hudson Creek

[Kevin's Post] Well, the rain finally let up on Wednesday, so we left St. Leonard's creek and went back to Solomons to take care of a few errands. I had ordered some metric box wrenches which hadn't arrived before we left, but they came while we were gone. Also we wanted to pick up a few things from West Marine and the grocery store before heading across the bay. As we motored through Solomons past our old slip at Beacon marina, we were shocked to see that a boat had sunk at the marina just a few slips from where we were. We had walked past this boat 5 times a day for the last month and immediately recognized it from its mast and rigging (which was all you could see above the water). The marina had put a ring of floats around the sunken boat to try to soak up any oil and fuel leaking from the it. It was an older boat, and we figure it must have had some leaks that allowed rain in, or a clogged cockpit scupper that wouldn't allow the rain out, and Ernesto was just too much for it to take. We felt bad that we had left just a few days earlier, if we had been there, we may have noticed it going down and could have done something. As we left Solomons this morning, we saw that they had managed to refloat the boat. This is not a simple thing to do, requiring divers, a couple barges and a lot of people. Getting the boat out of there no doubt cost more than the boat was worth in the first place. They had tied it to a barge and were pushing it out to the Patuxent. I'm not sure what they were going to do with it, but if we ever see Jerry the dockmaster again we'll have to get the rest of the story. They say that most recreational boats that sink, sink at their docks.

Today we cruised about 25 miles across to the East side of the Chesapeake to a place called Hudson Creek. We're anchored in a cove with a half dozen other boats. Pretty busy for a Friday afternoon, but I guess it is a popular spot. The weather has really cooled off, getting down to the low 60s at night and high 70s during the day. I've started wearing socks again for the first time in about 6 months.

Where we are:
Location=Hudson Creek, MD
Lat=38 32.464 N
Lon=76 14.702 W

St. Leonards Creek, MD - Ernesto & Vera

Vera's Tiki Bar

Well Ernesto came and went on Friday. We were deluged with rain all day and saw wind gusts as high as 35 miles an hour. As the Black Night in Monty Python's Holy Grail said: "I've had worse." So it wasn't too bad, and definitely less severe than predicted. The storm surge raised the water level so that some of the private docks in the creek were underwater, but since we were at anchor it didn't affect us.

On Saturday, the sun actually came out a little in the afternoon, so we headed up the creek to a restaurant called Vera's White Sands Beach Club. We had read an article online (http://www.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=6635) describing it as a tacky, tiki getaway run by an eccentric old lady (Vera). Apparently, in her heyday she was a "hollywood starlet" (or so she claims) and built this tiki resort back in the 60's. So we had low expectations for a kitschy establishment with (hopefully) decent food. But it appears that Vera's health has been in decline, so the new management has revamped and remodeled. We were a little disappointed and yet at the same time relieved. It still has the tiki theme, but it now has chic-tacky decor, complete with leopard print chairs and barstools and beaded-curtained alcoves instead of booths. All tables had a fantastic view of the water and sunset, and the food was excellent. While the inside of the restaurant seemed somewhat upscale, at least on the exterior some of the tackiness has survived, since they have fake palm trees on all the grounds and the outside patio is still shaped like the bow of a ship. Did I mention they had an Elvis impersonator? Classy.

St. Leonard's Creek, MD - On the move again!

Amanda at the helm

[Kevin's Post] Yes, it's true we have finally departed Solomons. After almost 6 weeks of going nowhere, we still remembered how to drive the boat. We really liked it there, it was great being so close to a west marine (and grocery store, and post office) which allowed us to really knock out a bunch of boat projects. But we're definitely ready for a change of scenery. The forecast is for temps in the 70's and low 80's for the next week or so, exactly what we've been waiting for. Unfortunately, the forecast also is for rain and strong winds due to Ernesto. We can take the wind and the rain, but the heat is the real issue, so hopefully it will stay cool. We cruised up the Patuxent about 9 miles to a lovely place called St. Leonard's Creek. The creek has high banks with tall trees so should provide very good wind protection in the event Ernesto is worse than forecasted. Right now, they are forecasting only 20-25 knot winds, which is nothing extraordinary. But things can change. We'll probably stick around here for a few days until the rain lets up.

Boat Projects completed at Solomons
Genset: replaced raw water pump, cleaned heat exchanger, replaced coolant, changed oil, improved ventilation ducting, repaired hatch scupper leak
Port Engine: fixed steamy exhaust problem by replacing exhaust elbow, cleaned heat exchanger, swapped tachometers
Stbd Head: replaced joker valve
Port Head: replaced shower sump float switch
Galley: replaced leaky drinking water faucet, repaired main sink faucet, defrosted freezer
Outboard: replaced impeller, replaced gear oil, replaced trim tab zinc, rehubbed prob and reinstalled.
General: rearranged locker storage to stow bikes, reorganized fwd stateroom storage (junk room)

After completing all that work we thought we were good to go for at least a week as far as things breaking, but as soon as we left the dock we noticed the onboard GPS is completely dead. Not a big deal since we only use the chartplotter GPS anyway, but another thing that we need to fix eventually. But not today.

Where we are:
Location=St Leonards Creek
Lat=38 24.302 N
Lon=76 29.009 W

Solomons, MD - Lost Verizon

Kevin with new bike

"We never stop working for you". At least that's what they claim -- until they do, in fact, decide to stop working for you. The other day Kevin noticed that our Verizon broadband card (that gives us fast internet access anywhere we get a cell phone signal) had stopped working. He called customer service to see if they could fix it and was transferred to the fraud department where a very angry, very rude woman informed him that the service had been discontinued because he had "violated the terms of service". Kevin politely asked how the terms had been violated, and approximately when, and what specifically he had done. Rude lady then snapped back that Verizon did not have to tell him any specifics, only that he had violated the terms and that he'd been cut off and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. Kevin was appalled at her attitude, and told her so, but she still would not give out any details. So if anyone was considering using Verizon broadband cards: buyer beware! Apparently they have an unadvertised usage limit on their 'Unlimited' broadband service that we exceeded. We do still have the cell phone service, and whenever we are near wi-fi we will have internet access, but the days of surfing the internet from remote anchorages are gone. Sigh.

Bike Folded

Today UPS delivered two huge packages for us -- our new folding bikes. They are pretty neat -- they fold right in half and the handlebars fold down as well to make a neat little package. They don't look like your average ten-speed, but they get the job done. We took them out of the boxes, made a few adjustments, and took off for the grocery store. It's nice to have a new way of getting around. Kevin found the perfect place to store them, they both fit right in front of the genset with room to spare.

Solomons Island, MD - Amanda in DC

Me, Sam, and Carrie
at "Carrie's House"

You can tell things have been quiet around here by the lack of posts. However, last weekend I did go into DC to visit Carrie, Dan, and four-month-old Sammy which was great. My day started at 5am on Friday, taking a cab to the next town to catch the commuter bus, which put me in DC at around 7am, way too early to see any sights. So I hung out at the Old Post Office (which is now a cafeteria) and at 9 am I wandered over to the Ford Theater, the site of Lincoln's assassination. Then I meandered around some of the Smithsonian galleries until it was time to catch the metro to visit Carrie.

Their house is adorable, and it is located near just about every possible shopping outlet and chain restaurant you could dream up. The house is huge -- especially to me after living on this boat for so long -- and they have a nice back porch where they've got Dan's latest purchase -- a massive bbq grill. So for dinner on Friday he grilled up some delicious steaks and portabella mushrooms. Then Saturday, Carrie and I got to work on covering the bright orange wall in the kitchen with a more sedate white. For some reason, the previous person had settled on a color scheme of sky blue and tangerine (!?) so Carrie has been slowly working to bring that color scheme to a more neutral tone. The orange had to go. With two people working, we had it done in no time and it was a big difference. It makes me wonder what my renters think of my "high noon" (desert brown) accent walls in my house. Oh well, too bad.

Dan kindly volunteered to babysit Sam while Carrie and I indulged in a chick flick -- "The Devil Wears Prada". I had low expectations, it is a fashion movie after all, but Meryl Streep never fails to deliver so it was actually pretty good. Of course the quality of the film was only secondary to the real reason for being at the movies: an excuse to indulge in movie popcorn with extra butter. The next evening, Carrie and Dan hosted a dinner party with another couple, Sean and John. Sean is an adventure traveler and has been all over, including a trip where she followed the route of the Tour de France while Lance Armstrong was riding in it. So hearing her

Which is Bigger?

stories was really interesting.

I had a jam-packed weekend, got to catch up with Carrie, was able to hold, feed, and play with little Sam to my heart's content. He is so smart and such a good baby; it didn't even phase him to have this strange person making ga-ga eyes at him all the time -- he just went with the flow. You can tell he will be a real people-person, just like his parents. On the way back I realized that neither Carrie nor I took ONE SINGLE picture, even though we talked about it many times, and even left the camera out at one point to be sure to take photos. So I have manufactured one of Carrie, me, and Sam in front of the tangerine orange wall. That's the beauty of photoshop.

On the way back from Carrie's I stopped in at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History to have a look at the Hope Diamond (enormous 45 carat blue diamond). I wandered around the rest of the jewel exhibit, checking out how my engagement ring stacks up against the worlds biggest gems. I think it looks okay, especially when I "jedi-mind-trick" the photo so that it looks about the same size.

Solomons Island, MD

[Kevin's Post]Over the past few weeks I have been overhauling the genset cooling system. I replaced the raw water pump with a new one with a higher capacity. I took apart the heat exchanger and discovered that the coolant side of the heat exchanger had so much scale built up that it was actually restricting the coolant flow through the heat exchanger. Also, a coating of mineral deposits doesn't do much for your heat transfer either. So, I soaked that in acid for a few minutes and it is good as new (see the before and after pictures). I probably could have stopped right there, but after reading about antifreeze, I learned that antifreeze is actually a pretty bad coolant. It's primary job is to not freeze (hence the name anti-freeze). It is actually a much worse coolant than plain old distilled water. By a lot. In fact, if you can guarantee you'll never see freezing temperatures (which I can) you don't even need antifreeze. But you do need the corrosion inhibitors that the antifreeze provides. So I am now running straight distilled water plus a product called 'water wetter' which provides the corrosion inhibitors (and reduces the surface tension of the water to make it an even better coolant). After all this, the engine on the genset is running about 35 degrees cooler. I don't even think the thermostat is opening up completely at this point.

I have discovered the physical law of 'Conservation of Brokenness'. This law states that upon fixing one thing, something else will either break, or reveal its true state of brokenness. It's uncanny. Every time I declare victory over one problem, within a few hours a new one of equal significance appears. For example, I replaced the water pump on the genset, and the SAME DAY the float switch on the shower sump dies. I replaced the genset coolant, and within a few hours I go to change the oil and oil change pump impeller has stripped all it's vanes and won't pump. Now that the diesel on the genset is working great and can handle a 30 amp load without any effort, the generator (the part of the genset that is attached to the engine and converts rotation to electricity) is overheating and shutting down. So, now that goes to the top of my list of major boat issues. Stay tuned.

Anybody tried out the Google Earth stuff? We haven't heard from anybody who has actually tried it yet.

Editorial Note - Google Earth

We've added a cool new feature to the blog. If you look to the left, you'll see a map which contains a link to our current position using Google Earth. Google Earth, for those of you who haven't heard of it, is basically an electronic globe which uses satellite imagery covering every inch of the planet. The amount of detail is incredible. By clicking the map on the left, you'll be able to see a birdseye view of our exact location. You can zoom in, zoom out, and look to see what else is nearby. Before you try it for the first time, you'll need to download and install the Google Earth Client which you can get by following the link below the map on the left. It is free. After it is installed, click on the map to the left, it will launch Google Earth.

Solomons Island, MD

[Kevin's Post]When we were in the Bahamas, our outboard propeller hub got damaged rendering it unusable. There is this rubber part in the hub of the propeller which is designed to fail if you hit something (or several somethings) and protects the engine and the transmission from damage. In our case, ours failed just from throttling up too fast (we were in 20 feet of water). But most likely it was already damaged and just finally gave out. It is supposed to be easy and cheap to fix, but nobody in the Exumas could do it so we broke down and bought a new one. We waited 2 weeks and paid $265 for an $85 propeller that wasn't even the right pitch. That's boat maintenance in the Bahamas. The reason I am bringing all this up is because last week I shipped the old prop to get it rehubbed (to Kansas of all places). They rehubbed it and shipped it back to me the same day they received it. They charged us $33 and it is good as new. I could have fedexed it from the Bahamas, had it repaired and shipped back cheaper and faster than what we did. Another expensive boat maintenance lesson. Anyway, the silver lining is that at least now we have a spare prop for the outboard which is a very good thing to have. We met lots of other boaters that also damaged their prop hubs, one of them even resorted to buying a whole new outboard (faster than getting a new prop). If you ever need a propeller repaired, I highly recommend Midwest Propeller Service in Olathe, Kansas. http://www.midwestpropeller.com/

Amanda abandoned ship this morning to go spend the weekend at Carrie's new house and help paint their kitchen. I am staying with the boat babysitting the air conditioning strainer. There is a commuter bus that runs from nearby to DC and she will take the Metro from there. It only runs Monday-Friday so she won't be back till Monday.


We finally got our professional wedding photos recently (also on Bahamas time) and uploaded them to snapfish. So, if you wanted any prints but didn't want to pay 6 bucks, you can get them now for 12 cents. Or, if you want a pillowcase with my picture on it those are $19.99. The wedding album link on the left is updated to go to the new snapfish album.

Solomons Island, MD - Sammy the Sailor

This morning my friend Darlene said, "Write a post already." I know, I know -- the posts are few and far between, but honestly some days nothing exciting happens. So if you want to see entries like, "Hot outside. Watched TV." then that's what you'll get. CBS comes in really well on our rabbit ears and we are hooked on the American Idol rip-off "Rock Star: Supernova". Exciting, huh? See, Dar, I told you -- be careful what you wish for.

However, this was a pretty eventful week for us. First we ran into our old friends on Paragon (who we met down in the Bahamas and seem to run into fairly often). During the two weeks we've been here at the dock, they passed through Solomons, raced up to New York City, toured around there for a week, and got back again. Meanwhile, what did we do? (See the above paragraph...) Anyway, we had a nice dinner with them before they had to take off and continue down to Virginia.

The highlight of the week was seeing our friends Carrie and Dan and their new baby, little four-month-old Sammy. It was the first chance I'd had to see little Sam and he is adorable! Of course, we had to take the requisite "sailor hat" photo. The five of us went down to the boardwalk area to have lunch and walk around a little bit. I loved getting the chance to hold the little guy and seeing him smile his little toothless grin. I think Kevin was a little worried there that I might start campaigning for a munchkin of our own but rest assured I can't imagine having a baby on board a boat. It was great to have a chance to see them and the baby, thanks so much to Carrie and Dan for making the four hour round-trip.

Solomons Island, MD

[Kevin's Post]Not much to report here. We're still at the marina in Solomons Island enjoying the facilities. It is brutally hot here this week, it is supposed to get to 100 today and tomorrow. The water is so thick with jellyfish that the air conditioning through-hull is getting clogged on a regular basis. At night the water looks like something out of a horror movie there are so many of them. Luckily the through-hull is on the outside and not between the hulls, otherwise it would be impossible to clean without getting in the water. As it is I can reach it with a brush on a pole since it is only a couple feet below the waterline. There is a grill over the through-hull which keeps big stuff out and a strainer inside the boat that catches the smaller stuff. THe jellyfish are getting sucked against the grill and blocking the water flow. I'm having to clean it several times a day, but it is a small price to pay to keep the air conditioning running.

When we're not battling the jellyfish, we read, watch movies/tv, surf the internet, balance things on the cat's head, and occasionally do some work on the boat. I've dismantled the entire cooling system on the genset and have finally tracked down the correct parts manual for the genset diesel. So now I can actually order replacement parts. Its tough to get up the energy to do any projects outside with it being so hot, and we don't have too many inside projects.

Solomons Island, MD - Antennas and Tentacles

Well we have network TV again (kind of). Kevin tried to re-mount the glomex TV antenna on the bimini (instead of at the top of the mast, where it used to be). That didn't work so well, all we got was snow. Then Kevin got the idea that we could cobble together our own TV antenna. After looking on the internet on how to build your own, we were pretty discouraged. Look it up sometime. Almost every website started with "so you are crazy enough to try to build your own antenna..." It appears to be a highly involved technical feat. So we ended up just buying a $20 pair of rabbit ears. We get most major channels, but only between the hours of 8pm-9pm. At all other times, we can get maybe one channel with picture and sound, and the rest of them come in either sound only or picture only. But hey - now we can watch some of the reruns from the past TV season! By the way, is anyone else sick of the "Head On. Apply directly to the forehead...Head On. Apply directly to the forehead." commercials? One day of TV and already we hate that commercial with a passion.

We've been enjoying the air conditioning, but today we ran into a minor snag. For some reason the compressor shut off and wouldn't click back on again. Kevin checked the through-hull for the heat transfer system (the a/c sucks in raw water from the bay to keep the unit from overheating). What he found was shocking -- literally. Sea nettles (jellyfish) had gotten sucked up into the strainer and were clogging up the system. So he put on the rubber gloves and cleaned out the tentacles from the inside, then scrubbed the outside of the through-hull with a scrub brush. Problem solved, at least until we suck up some more. It's inevitable, since they are everywhere, floating like silent stinging ghosts all around the boat. Well, we are off to try out the "Naughty Gull" restaurant's shrimp & crab cake dinner. Don't you just love boating puns?

Solomons Island, MD - Outboard Fixed

We had a productive weekend. Well, one out of three days was productive anyway. On Friday, with the new parts obtained from the shack down the street, we were able to fix the overheating problem with the outboard engine. Unfortunately it required taking the outboard off the dinghy and hoisting it (150 lbs) into the cockpit. We have a 4:1 block and tackle that made it easy to lift the thing (even I was able to do it). Once it was in the cockpit, Kevin had to work at taking the thing apart since some of the bolts had corroded and were stuck. But eventually he got to the actual problem -- the impeller. It's a kind of flimsy rubber gear that is round and has six arms sticking out of it. The arms are what keep the cooling water flowing through the engine. Two of the arms were shorn clean off while the remaining four were cracked. So we were pretty sure we had found the problem. We put in the new impeller and put everything back together, then lowered the outboard back onto the dinghy. We went for a test drive around the creek and, yay, no steam! So we've crossed one item off the maintenance list.

Meanwhile, it was rainy most of Saturday and Sunday so we were able to catch up on a bunch of movies from the video store. Some were good (16 Blocks) and others were lame (Firewall) but at least it was something to pass the time. We are trying to figure out the public transportation here. So far everything we need is within walking distance, but "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" opens in a couple weeks so we want to figure out how to get to the movie theater. Will Ferrell in a racecar movie? That is a must-see.

Solomons Island, MD - Service With A Smile

Well we are getting the most out of our time here at the marina. First things first, we went and got some free breakfast from the hotel. Then Kevin started working on the genset while I walked to the grocery store before it got too hot. When I got back, I saw two unfamiliar pairs of shoes outside the boat and discovered that a couple passing by had struck up a conversation with Kevin, peppering him with questions about the boat. So he invited them in for a tour. When I got there they were just explaining how they hope to buy their own boat someday and go cruising. We chatted for a bit and they thanked us for inviting them aboard and were on their way.

Kevin's got two projects going at the moment, both of which require us to order some parts: fixing the overheating generator, and fixing the overheating outboard. We decided to start with the generator. We went over to another marina which claims to be a "Beta Marine Dealer" (beta marine sells marinized Kubota generators which is what we have). This was a huge complex, with a machine shop and a service department proclaiming in huge lettering on the wall "Beta Marine". However, once Kevin asked to take a look at the parts manual so he could tell them which part to order, they told us that they didn't have one and that if we wanted to order our own copy it would be $40. Forty dollars, just to be able to tell them what we really wanted to order! Crazy. So we postponed that chore, since Kevin has found a company on the internet who can get us a manual for $15.

Next up was finding a water pump service kit for the outboard. After our strikeout with Beta Marine we weren't hopeful, but we walked down the street to Solomon's Boat Rentals which turned out to be a tiny shack on a dock full of runabouts. A sign with tiny font said, among other things, "Tohatsu" (that's our outboard brand name). We looked at each other and shook our heads, we were sure we wouldn't be able to get the outboard parts we needed. But we decided to knock on the door anyway. We entered the building (a 10 x 10 room) and explained to the guy what we needed and asked if he could order it for us. He smiled and said, "You know what, I actually have a service kit right here. Got it in a shipment today." And he literally reached out from where he sat and produced exactly what we needed! This NEVER happens. It is ALWAYS a rigamarole to obtain the part you need. I gaped in astonishment as Kevin paid the man and then the guy actually printed out a diagram and explained what needed to be done. We walked home with huge stupid grins on our faces. It doesn't take much to make our day.

Solomon's Island, MD - Cooling Off

So we have bit (bitten? bited?) the bullet and after much soul-searching decided to just break down and pay for a marina slip for the hottest part of the summer. This way, we will have shore power all the time and can run both air conditioners at once, we'll also get a lot of boat projects done, and we won't feel bad leaving the cat alone on the boat (since we can leave the a/c on). We found a great rate at Beacon Marina in Solomon's Island, plus we are within walking distance of everything - grocery store, marine store, post office, liquor store, video rental, etc. Plus the marina is part of the Comfort Inn, so they've got a pool and continental breakfast. We are actually both kind of excited to have a temporary "home" -- Kevin is already mentally working his way through a list of boat projects, and I am thinking we can maybe do some sightseeing and rent bikes and stuff. Boris is ecstatic -- after only a few hours he already looks and acts about 5 years younger (I was getting worried about him there with the heat).

The dockmaster, Jerry, was really great about checking us in and getting us settled. They have a few other cruisers staying here who are on their boats during the week, but the majority of the boats are just weekender-type boats. We met one of our neighbors, a guy with an accent (German? Austrian? South African? We couldn't tell for sure) who was unabashedly curious when he found out we were on a boat, and a catamaran no less. "So you are on a catamaran? Those are expensive boats. How are two people so young living on such a boat -- are you rock stars or something?" To which Kevin replied, "Kind of; we're computer programmers." Rock on.


Where we are:
Location=Solomons Island, MD
Lat=38 19.991
Lon=76 27.651

Whitehall Bay, MD

[Kevin's Post] It's 5pm here and 100 degrees in the cockpit of the boat according to our indoor/outdoor thermometer. We've been trying to hold off running the genset/air conditioning until we can't stand it anymore. Today we made it until 3 pm when it was 93 inside the boat and about 96 outside. We still don't really trust the genset, so we are very careful about running it. We try to keep the load and runtime to a minimum. But, we've still been running it 6-8 hours a day for about the past week just to keep conditions on the boat tolerable. If we didn't have a cat onboard, it wouldn't really be a problem, we could just leave the boat and forget about it. But with the cat, we need to keep the boat reasonably cool at all times. The genset seems to be fairly stable as long as we keep the load under 20 amps, or about half the rated capacity. Higher than that one of three things will happen: A) the diesel engine part of the genset will overheat and shut down the genset, B) the generator will overheat and shut down the genset, C) the vacuum of the fuel pump will suck enough air in through a leak in the fuel filter assembly to shut the genset down. We've run about 50 hours without B or C happening, but A has happened a couple of times because we pushed the load up to 25 amps. The 20 amp limit means we can run either one of our two air conditioning units, but not both. Fortunately, the boat is pretty comfortable with just one running. Boris sleeps right on top of the AC vent.

Today I spent most of the day looking through all the marinas in the northern Chesapeake trying to find one where we might be able to escape the heat for a few days without breaking the bank. Surprisingly, there are some pretty good deals to be had once you get outside of the major tourist spots. We've been waffling back and forth about whether to continue north to get out of the heat or just wait it out here. The Chesapeake is a bit hotter than we expected it be. The boat is pretty comfortable until the outside temp gets above around 85, above that you either have to run the AC or sweat. New England last summer was great, so we hadn't really figured out what our temperature limits were. We thought about going up to New England for the rest of the summer, but it is about 600 miles round trip from here. Going there would mean about a week of travel time each way, plus waiting for a weather window each way, and we are thinking that it is too late in the year to justify it. Plus, 600 miles on the boat means fuel expenses, maintenance expenses (something breaks every day, but less often when you are laying in the bunk reading), and various other wear and tear expenses.

It's too hot to go outside and take a picture, so here is one from last summer that we never posted. It was taken by a helicopter. God only knows why we had a reef in the main.

Whitehall Bay, MD - One Year Older

So today I am officially "in my thirties" instead of just "thirty". You know, I would have thought I'd feel panicky at getting a year older but I don't feel any different. I guess that means I get to postpone my midlife crisis at least another year. Today was wonderful though. Kevin made pancakes for breakfast (apple cinnamon, even) and they were fantastic. And he grilled up a fabulous steak birthday dinner. I basically didn't lift a finger today except to eat and read. And open my present, which was completely unexpected.

Earlier this week, while Jess and I were busy shopping, Kevin had secretly bought a necklace. And not just any necklace. It was called a "wish pearl" and it was actually a kind of necklace "kit". In one part of the box it had a necklace with a cage where you would put a pearl. In the other part, there was a small see-through can (like a tuna can, only transparent plastic) that contained an oyster immersed in isopropyl alcohol. So you actually opened up the oyster to find the pearl that had been cultured, then you washed it off and could put it in the cage-type locket. It's a surprise because you have no idea beforehand what shape, size, or color the pearl will be. The pearl inside my oyster turned out to be a very pretty cream/peach color. Surprisingly, the oyster did not smell fishy, instead it smelled like alcohol. Not surprisingly the instructions in the box said very explicitly in several places: "Do not eat the mollusk. If ingested, contact a physician immediately." I can't imagine someone thinking, "Hey -- jewelry plus a little snack!" but I guess they had to cover their bases, right?

Thanks to everyone for the phone calls, letters, gifts, and emails. And of course thanks to Kevin for being the wonderful husband that he is and making my birthday such a special occasion.

Annapolis, MD - Still in Annapolis

[Kevin's Post]
We've had a nice visit with Jessica over the past few days, she left this morning at 4 AM to get to the airport for a 6:50 flight to Chicago. On Tuesday we went on a pub crawl hitting some of the local bars and taverns. Wednesday and Thursday we did as much sightseeing as we could handle between the the intolerable heat and the downpours. Yeah, we know, it's hot in Phoenix too, so no sympathy from you. We are kind of kicking ourselves for not going farther north earlier. Every time we check the weather, we see the temps in Newport are about 10 degrees cooler. But July is supposed to be the hottest month and at least its half over. Anyway, enough complaining about the heat. We still really like Annapolis. While Jess was here we hit some of our favorite eateries (Middleton tavern and Mangia) and tried a few new ones (Chick & Ruth's Deli, Acme, and Ram's Head tavern), and even grilled on the boat one night. We especially liked Chick & Ruth's Deli which has a huge menu, cheap eats, and unbelievably cheap beer. I'm sure we'll be going back there. The weather was not great, so we didn't get any sailing in on this trip. We just stayed on a mooring in Annapolis harbor the whole time. But that's ok, Jess promised to visit us again next spring sometime when we are in the Caribbean. There will be plenty of sailing next time.

After Jess left we did 5 loads of laundry in town, then left Annapolis harbor to anchor out across the Severn river in Whitehall Bay. Annapolis is insane on the weekends with tons of boat traffic and it is much quieter here. We had to order some parts for the outboard which won't come until early next week so we didn't want to go far. The outboard has been overheating recently if we run it for more than a few minutes, so I ordered a water pump service kit which will hopefully solve the problem. Another great thing about Annapolis is that you can get any boat part or boat service you could possibly need from somebody within walking distance. It's a great place to get stuff fixed. After we get the outboard taken care of we plan to head over to the eastern shore of the Chesapeake and then up to Baltimore.

Annapolis, MD - Week in Review

Kept forgetting to take time out to write a post all week while my parents were visiting. So I'll sum up the week:
July 4 - We all went ashore together and had a nice lunch at Middleton Tavern and then showed my parents around town and the Naval Academy. At 3:30, about an hour before the parade was going to get started, the skies started to darken and big thunderheads rolled in. We had just enough time to pick up a frozen pizza and some beer and head back to the boat to get the hatches closed just in time before it started pouring. The rain only lasted an hour and we were actually grateful since it cooled things off a lot. We later found out that Main Street was so flooded they had to reroute the parade. We decided to just hang out on the boat and we had a great view of the fireworks from the bow.

July 5 - We headed into Washington DC to do a little sightseeing. We hit the Museum of American History first, which was almost information overload. There's just so much in there - they had exhibits on the American Presidency, the History of American Wars, History of Transportation...by the time we were done our brains were swimming. Of course just as we were ready to move on to the next museum it started raining, but we figured what the heck and walked down to the Air and Space museum anyway even though we all got soaked. We did check out the Wright Brothers plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, and Chuck Yeager's plane (first plane to break the sound barrier). By this time the rain let up a bit and we hailed a taxi to take us down the mall to the Lincoln Memorial and Vietnam Memorial. Itwas the first time my dad, a Vietnam veteran, had seen the wall and unfortunately because of the rain the names didn't stand out like they would if it were dry so it was a little hard to read, but even still it makes an impact to see the more than 58,000 names. Afterwards we walked down to take a peek at the White House from the south lawn side and then headed back to Annapolis and had a fantastic dinner at Buddy's seafood buffet. When we got back to the boat we played a round of Scrabble which my dad won (only because on the first turn he used all his letters to spell "LOITERS". It was a lucky break.)

July 6 - My parents decided that they'd seen the main things they wanted to see in DC, so instead of going back we went to the movie theater to see Superman Returns, which ended up being very good. My parents did a little souvenir shopping in downtown Annapolis after the movie. Then since it was Donna's birthday we went out to a nice dinner at Mangia's which is a great little Italian restaurant.

July 7 - Turned out to be a perfect day for sailing, so we headed out of Annapolis and south to Galesville which is a small town with three restaurants and several marinas. An unfortunate mishap occurred as we were pulling into the fuel dock -- I was cleating off a line but the boat was still moving and I got a pretty bad rope burn on both hands -- tore through several layers of skin on some of my fingers. It was our first serious injury in the year we have lived aboard. Luckily our well-stocked first aid kit had everything we needed to bandage me up and we were able to pick up a mooring in the harbor and go check out the town. Dinner was at a seafood place called Thursday's where we had a nice view of the water.

July 8 - We met up with my Aunt Judy (Dad's sister) and her husband Jim who live about an hour away in Frederick, MD. They drove down to Galesville in time to join us for lunch and drinks at one of the other restaurants - Pirates Cove. Arrrgh! Afterwards we all piled into the car and drove into Annapolis so that we could do a little more souvenir shopping and check out the town a bit more. Then it was back to Galesville for a few beers on the boat and then we all had a fantastic meal at Thursday's again. It was nice that Judy and Jim could come out and spend the day with us while my parents were here.

July 9 - After breakfast we headed into town to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It was a fun film and it was cool to watch for some of the actors and stuntmen that we'd met while we were on Grand Bahama where they were filming. Afterward it was back to the boat and by early afternoon it was time to say goodbye to my parents. We had such a nice visit this week and hopefully they had a fun and relaxing vacation. We know we had a great time: we have never eaten so much or so well since we've lived on the boat -- every day they took us to lunch and/or dinner (thanks, guys!) and we just had a wonderful time with them both. So now we have one day to rest and clean up before we get to do it all over again when my sister Jess gets here on Tuesday...

Annapolis, MD - Couch Potatoes

So last Friday night we decided to finally see some new movies. Well, new to us anyway. So we looked up the nearest Blockbuster which was only a mile and a half away. Well worth the walk. We ended up renting like nine videos and basically spent all weekend hibernating on the boat working our way through them. Some were overrated (King Kong, for example. Okay, we GET it...everything on the island is big...) but others were really good (Walk the Line, A History of Violence). It was nice to take a break and just veg out in front of the TV.

Of course, that's not all we did. Since my parents are coming to visit we had a long to-do list to get ready. So we spent at least a part of each day working through that: finish cleaning up the oil in the bilge, fill up water tanks, clean the boat, and most importantly -- find a place for them to park the rental car. Annapolis is crazy with respect to parking spaces. There are no free parking spaces in the town - everything is metered or decal. So we went over to the Eastport side and hopefully found a nice place for them to meet us after their flight and park the car. They arrive at 2am tonight, so I am looking forward to seeing them and watching the fireworks in Annapolis from the boat. (We originally planned on going to DC for fireworks but decided it would be too crazy). Happy Fourth of July everyone!