s/v Glory Days

Fun at Oriental

2011-10-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

We've had a nice long weekend in Oriental....Friday night the Oriental Old Theater showed the movie "Psycho" - 5 bucks got you into the movie and all the popcorn you cared to eat! What a deal....plus there was some local entertainment and "introduction" to the movie....many wore shower caps....

There was even a shower cap "hawker"....we just relaxed and watched the festivities. Good fun and the theater was packed! I didn't know there were that many people in Oriental!!

Remember, our foresail was destroyed in Hurricane Irene.....we finally received the replacement.

Here is the barren bow of the boat....

The sail laid out ready to be hoisted...

Easy, peasy! All set for sailing again!

So, we had to take her out an make sure all is well. Wonderful fall sailing with fairly warm temps and 20 knot breezes.

We sailed for a few hours - approaching Oriental we sailed through a race course.....pretty little spinnaker...

Fun, fun!!

Hurricane Irene "After" Photos from Pecan Grove

2011-09-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

Our original plans for this weekend were to sail with Sharon and Buddy to Ocracoke for Labor Day....but Hurricane Irene put a stop to that! The boat is a bit "under the weather" (pardon the pun!!)

So, we changed course and made plans to fly to Myrtle Beach instead.

On our way, we flew to the boat to take the tattered foresail down...

Duane getting the sail down - not an easy process when it's wrapped tightly in several different directions during the hurricane!!

We also wanted to look at our little building lot across from the marina to see what it looked like after a hurricane....there is a house on the lot next door - it's for sale and vacant. There is a couple of small trees that were toppled and resting on the house. Doesn't look like there is any damage to the house.

Our lot is just wooded - but there are several very healthy looking pines that are just snapped off. Shows the incredible power of the wind! And this was just category 1!!!

There is alot of debris around the town, but doesn't look like too much other damage. Lots of piles of debris like this one outside the marina. Lots of folks will be getting new ductwork and sheetrock in the coming weeks!!

Slow sailing

2011-08-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

Quick trip to the boat this weekend for a little relaxation. Here we are at New Bern - first trip out with our new "numbers".

Leaving the marina for a "sail"....notice the relatively smooth water.....

This was about as fast as I could manage...Duane was letting me "find the wind" myself (in other words, he was taking a nap!!)

I wandered around on the deck....pleasant and slow. It was off to the "Bean" the next morning for wonderful coffee, then home for some chores.

2011-07-04T17:09:00.000-07:00

July 4th - long weekend!! Up in the morning for a leisurely sail up to River Dunes for lunch....always some interesting traffic out on the Pamlico Sound!

Captain Sharon!

Always helpful! Sharon and Buddy helping with the lines....

At the dock - River Dunes....we had a wonderful lunch (as usual!)

On the sail back to Oriental.....Aren't they sweet??

Nice, calm sail.....

Coming back into the marina after the nice sail back.

The next morning, woke up to this scene in the marina....I don't think I've ever seen it so still....the image is so mirror-like that it looks like a boat is sitting on top of another boat!

And "Now for something completely different" ....our friends, Tom and Janet, brought their nice power boat down to stay at the marina with us!

We took this opportunity to cruise at a "much higher rate of speed"!!!

Here we are motoring out of the marina, Capt'n Tom at the wheel.....Glory Days in the background.

Off to Ocracoke for a day-trip. In the sailboat, it takes about 7 hours to reach Ocracoke....so it's never a day-trip!! It took less than 2 hours in the power boat - a nice change!

The sound was fairly calm - Sharon spent a good part of the trip enjoying the breeze on the bow.

This is certainly a different view aft - our sailboat leaves almost no wake!

The mighty crew!

First Mate Janet!

We always see a ferry on the trip to Ocracoke.....this trip was no different!!

The smoke from the coastal fires are very evident - normally, we could easily make out Ocracoke from this point. You can faintly see the water tower in this photo.

Closer in you can see the smokiness - it's about 2pm in this photo.

At the dock in Ocracoke...

We rented bikes for a few hours just to explore.

Captn Tom - peeking thru the door at the Ocracoke Lighthouse.....I guess that makes him "Peeping Tom"....sorry, I just had to say that!!

Back to Oriental for the evening. They close the Highway 55 bridge off for the fireworks viewing. So, we all put on ample bug-spray and headed for the bridge (it's about 500 yds from the marina). Very nice fireworks display!

Another leisurely morning - and then we hopped back on Tom and Janet's boat for a trip down to Beaufort. Again, very smokey - this time down the Intercoastal Waterway.

Approaching Beaufort - the bridge opened - but we didn't need it this time (since we had no mast to worry with!!)

We lucked out with a nice little along-side tie at Beaufort Docks on the busy 4th of July weekend.

A nice group!! Bill and Kay have a second home nearby and came to visit with us at Clawsons Restaurant.

Bill and Kay giving us a send-off at the Beaufort Docks.

Just a short little hop over into the Beaufort Inlet - but it was time to go back to Oriental.....we'll have to go to Cape Lookout some other day!! Capt'n Tom took us safely back to Oriental.....What a nice little vacation!

2011-05-29T17:49:00.000-07:00

We had meant to leave home Friday, but stormy weather prevented that....and then more stormy weather prevented us leaving Saturday morning, as well. The runway was soggy and the ceilings were very low with fog. So, we just relaxed and waited it out! We took off about 7pm for Oriental, finally!!

Beautiful skies met us Sunday morning - we decided to head to Beaufort for the evening. I wanted to sail at least to the edge of Adam's Creek (the entrance to the intercoastal waterway) - so we tacked and tacked and tacked.....in very light winds for about an hour. And then we decided that we were NOT a sailboat today - and decided to be a very slow motorboat. HAHA.

The usual phosphate barge sighting! Never ceases to amaze me how big these things are!

Always scary going under these bridges since our mast is 64+ feet tall and the generic clearance for the intercoastal waterway is 65 feet....plus or minus.....so you understand my hesitation.....

We arrived safely a few hours later at the Town Creek Anchorage in Beaufort. We had not anchored her before - it's a nice little place to stay. Calm and very close to the waterfront.

Mom and Frank will remember this bridge shown opening here....we had a engine control issue when we came thru it with them a few years ago on a trip to Cape Lookout.

This is the view of the bridge from the anchorage.

A very nice day!

Cool boat anchored behind us...

I was taking a nap....and I kept hearing whistles. I stuck my head topsides and saw a little sailing school in progress.

We decided to take the dinghy to the waterfront for dinner. Glory Days - pretty, as ever.

Tied the dinghy up the the public dock.

Wandered down the boardwalk.

Ended up having drinks and dinner at Finz. Bartender gave me the "leftovers" from a neat drink she mixed in the blender. It involved pouring Bacardi 151 down the straw after the drink was made. Let's just say I'm glad I didn't have the whole drink!!!

Back at sundown to Glory Days. Nice cool breeze so it should be a great night to be at anchor!!

Oriental Boat Show!

2011-04-18T17:49:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the annual Oriental Boat Show, held at Pecan Grove Marina, home of Glory Days. We had promised to fly over the marina and take some photos for the sponsor (The Oriental Rotary Club). But, the plane was in for it's annual maintenance for the past few weeks....and we just got to fly it away at about 4pm on Friday. This is a problem because the show ends every day at 5pm and Saturday was not an option because of the horrible weather forecast! So, we decided to fly over and make the best of it - it was about 6pm by the time we flew over. The sun wasn't at a great angle, but it's better than nothing!

Always nice to see the pretty town of Oriental! We actually don't fly out here too much - we usually land 25 miles short of here in New Bern where we park our car.

When we did make it to the boat show (Saturday morning) they had these cute "special badges" for us. I had been doing all the communicating with the organizer...so I was deemed the "Official Boat Show Photographer".....Duane is a mere assistant (even though he was flying the plane!)

The horrible weather was already headed our way Saturday morning. The boat show tents were already starting to strain in the wind.

We decided to scoot back the 1/2 hour drive to New Bern airport and move our plane from the tiedown on the ramp into a tee-hangar. (At that point, they were forecasting 50+ knots of wind and hail, so we were afraid the airplane might be damaged worse if we left it on the ramp).

At the marina, about mid-day, they started taking all the flags off the boats and started disassembling all the tents (the ones that were still standing, that is!)

It doesn't show up too well here, but the sky was just "mean" looking and the wind was just a big roar.

At about 8pm, we decided to vacate the boat. It was straining hard against it's very strong docklines, heeling over in the slip due to the extremely strong wind hitting it broadside.

We just ran (in the rain) for the nice, new, cement and stucco club house. We still had power and internet - so we sat for about an hour and listened as the wind-driven rain pelted the windows and watched the radar on the internet. Soon it was over and nothing was harmed (at the marina, at least). Of course, we now know that there was much damage around the eastern half of the state and much loss of life. Sad.

Sunday dawned bright and beautiful!! We needed to go sailing!!

Off we went to our new favorite day-trip - River Dunes for lunch. Had a great sail - turned the engine off as soon as we left the channel in Oriental - didn't turn it on again until we were approaching the channel at River Dunes.

I always have to post about passing ferries.....we were sailing along, no other boats in sight.....I looked back behind the boat and spied a large vessel approaching. As it got closer, I realized it was a ferry. The strange thing is that no scheduled ferries run the area we were sailing. As it got closer, we could see that it's the one named "Roanoke". I don't recall riding that one. There was only one car on it - possibly they were just moving it between locations for the coming vacation season. So, even on this short trip, I got to see a ferry!

On the dock at River Dunes. Had a wonderful salad - the restaurant there has never failed to please us!

Back on the boat for a equally great sail back - two tacks - no motor! Read my "book club book" for this month - aptly titled "The Book Club". (Not a great one, by the way, but you can't read winners every time!)

Such a nice day! Duane is enjoying himself too, I think!

Just another of my little sailing videos.....

Almost home, dropping the sails.....like the birdies are waiting on us!!! 'Til next time!!

A Little Gel Coat Work, Not Finished Yet!!

2011-02-21T09:46:00.000-08:00

We've been putting off doing some repair work around the salon windows for some time now.....but the pretty weather enticed us to go ahead and try it.

Here are a couple of "before" shots. There were "voids" under the original gel-coat that allowed all the cracking to get started.

Sorry for all the shadows....but the daylight was waning!

We used a Dremel to route out the voids and cracks down thru the gel coat down to good, hard fiberglass.

Then we filled the routed out areas with an waterproof epoxy filler. After an overnight cure, much sanding was then accomplished!!

Closeup of the filled cracks. Next step was to paint on the new gel coat.

The idea was to paint a nice thick coat of gel coat and "feather" the edges so that it would not be very noticeable.

We were all ready to do the gel coat, with a brand new can of West Marine finish gel coat. When we mixed the catalyst - just 1 drop congealed the entire mixture!! We tried two different cans - free of charge thanks, West Marine....same result. So, this is as far as we got. West Marine is investigating the cans to figure out what is wrong......

We'll bring a different brand down with us next time. We cleaned up the window and it's fine for now.

We also did a similar larger repair near one of the jib sheet blocks. I forgot to snap a photo before, but the this is a photo of the similar, opposite side ....(we only did the port side repairs this time - starboard side next time!)

The big "star" crack in the gel coat peeled away a large area. We peeled it back until the remaining gel coat was firmly attached to the fiberglass. Here we're starting to trowel on the epoxy filler.

Smoothed a bit and left overnight to cure.

Again, much sanding so that you couldn't hardly feel the repair.

Again, taped and ready for the gel coat that didn't happen. More later when we get some good-formula gel coat!!

Trip with Mom and Frank

2010-11-22T08:37:00.000-08:00

We had a nice long weekend with Mom and Frank - since the airplane is in the shop, we had to drive to Oriental ..... :-(

Even though we fly or drive thru New Bern every time we come to the boat, we've never stopped in to visit. We weren't in a rush, so we decided to do a little sightseeing.

It is a neat area - a little history, interesting quaint little shops.

I had read that you could visit the "Birthplace of Pepsi" - which we did happen upon while walking down the street. Wow, I expected more. It's just a plaque on the building and a tiny little store. Oh well....shouldn't put too much stock in the "things to do" Google search!

It was a very pretty walk - beautiful trees, wonderful weather.

All around, they have bears....bears....and more bears. Nice "public art". Yummy Port City Java coffee too.

On to the boat - much rummy was played. Mom cheated, I think.....

The next morning was gorgeous! Love this shot of the marina. I can just stare at the reflections of the boats on the still water.

I know we're in a rut....we set off to River Dunes for lunch. Pleasant day, not really enough wind (or rather, enough wind in the right direction!).

Lots of reading was accomplished.

Off the boat!

We had a good lunch -- then back to the boat for a pleasant trip back to Oriental. Just a little more chilly on the way back, but still lovely for the weekend before Thanksgiving!

No Wind to Speak Of...Trip to River Dunes

2010-10-09T15:39:00.000-07:00

OK, so the forecast was for 5 knots of wind, all weekend.....this is not good for sailing. But, we made the best of it. A short trip north to River Dunes was about the best we could hope for.

Nice, as always. Had a terrific lunch - I had the most scrumptious crab cakes I've had since the Chesapeake....neat area. The development will be wonderful some day - but the housing "bust" has slowed things down there. First class clubhouse, etc. Nice to have it such a short sail away.

Picked up fuel just because it was easy and they parked us alongside the fuel dock!

There was very light wind on the way home also - as a result we came very close to another sailboat going the opposite direction (neither of us wanted to lose our wind to avoid the other!)

Most of the way back, we ended up motoring....I read while steering (with the autopilot) - Eat-Pray-Love.

No wind means you get to wander easily around the boat while motoring. I spend some lazy time in the bow seat just watching the water go by.

Almost "home" to Pecan Grove. Nice little trip.

Nice trip to Ocracoke

2010-09-18T18:06:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a long time since I posted here. Just been too busy with other mini-vacations, I suppose!

The original plan for the weekend was to head out to Cape Lookout since we hadn't gone there yet this year. Earlier in the week, I started looking at the weather - and quickly determined that the hurricanes out in the Atlantic were kicking up some wicked surf on the NC coast! 12 foot seas are not what we are really looking for!

So, we headed out to Oriental late on Thursday - saw the pretty sunset from the air. Never stops being beautiful, even though I've seen it hundreds of times from the air.

Boy, it's getting dark early already! Funny how that sneaks up on me every year!

New Bern city lights approaching the airport. Nice and peaceful from up here!

I have a few errands to run Friday morning - and we've decided to head over to Ocracoke instead of Cape Lookout. The winds were forecast to be great for a Friday trip over - and amazingly, were forecast to do a complete 180 degree change to be perfect for returning to Oriental on Saturday! With nothing else stopping us, we threw off the docklines and headed to Ocracoke.

Had a beautiful wing-on-wing sail for the first few hours - I know it's hard to see, but the sails are in a little bit of an unusual configuration the foresail and the mailsail are each pulled out to opposite sides of the boat. It is a beautiful thing to look at (from a lover of sailboat's perspective, that is...) It's also a hard point of sail to maintain if the winds/waves are fickle.

I usually post a ferry photo for these trips....this one is no different - except this time I managed to capture TWO ferries at the same time....don't think I've done that before!

The wind picked up as we got further north/east. We made 8 knots towards the approach to the channel (that's pretty fast for us!)

Uneventful docking at the NPS docks - a great fish taco dinner at the Jolly Roger and a hefeweizen beer which was terrific, but I don't remember the name!

Up early for a coffee and bagel at the Ocracoke Coffee Company then a walk to the airport and up the beach. The surf was pretty large by Ocracoke standards.

The wind had picked up during the morning. After a little bit of maneuvering docklines, we motored free of the dock and said goodbye to the island and thanks for the quick little visit!

Then the fun started!

Going out the channel into the Pamlico Sound the winds were 25 knots - so we knew we were in for some fun. The winds were from the NE - which is good because it gives us a wind behind us...but it is also the direction that causes a lot of wave action....no sails out here because we were in the channel.

Miraculously, I didn't get seasick.....never can figure out why sometimes I do, sometimes I don't!

And just for fun, I went up to the foredeck (holding on to the lifelines, of course!) and placed the camera on the deck to get a view of the motion. Here the winds were about 28 knots and we just had the mainsail out. Enjoy!

Nice Sailing Weekend

2010-08-09T09:04:00.000-07:00

Spotted this small sailboat with a couple of cute teenagers enjoying the day.

We ended up at River Dunes again for a very nice lunch. I ordered the "Crusted Salmon" - but they were out....the chef offered fresh Snapper....yum!

View of River Dunes marina - very nice!

Just a quiet downwind sail!

On the way back to Oriental, I noticed the bird following us and grabbed the camera.

July 4th Weekend on Ocracoke

2010-07-04T14:26:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful weekend! The temperature couldn't be nicer! 80's during the day and 60's at night. Amazing considering the recent 100's!

We set out early for the long sail over to Ocracoke from Oriental.

Beautiful!

I was at the helm for the first few hours - Sharon made me this wonderful fruit salad for breakfast.

After a while, I went below for a long nap! The winds were fairly strong - the boat was heeled over quite a bit as I kept sliding "down" the bed.

Soon after my nap, Ocracoke came into view. Oddly, we didn't pass a ferry close by this time.

Off to some of our favorite spots after getting the boat in order. Daijo - for some ring toss and peel-n-eat shrimp. We were a little disappointed to find the shrimp a little small and 25 cents each instead of the usual 15 cents.

A lady named Diane challenged the guys to a game of pool. Somehow, she won! I think they might have purposely missed a shot or two! Nice lady though.

The next day we hit the Jolly Roger - nice view from our table.

Paul and Gail, island friends of Buddy and Sharon told us the scoop on cheap shrimp. So, we followed their advice and went to the "Jimmy's Buffet" - there we found heaven - huge wonderful shrimp and at our expected 15 cents each!! Hot butter and cocktail sauce. Yum.

A game of pool or two was played there also. Interrupted by shrimp, that is.

Yeah, so far, so good!

St Martin / Leeward Island Sailing!!

2010-05-28T08:32:00.000-07:00

I know, this trip was not on Glory Days....but here is our report for the 10 day trip on our Moorings 4300 Catamaran Charter - "Retirement Fun"

This may seem alittle disjointed because I posted it as daily installments on my regular blog...

Enjoy!

Finished packing for our St. Martin trip!!! As usual, I've packed the kitchen sink.

Believe it or not - this morning there were 4 bags!! I whittled it down to the "bare essentials"!

I don't know where we'll have internet coverage on the different islands, so I may have to catch up with you on May 26th when we return. We will leave at about 4:30AM in the morning for the airport with Dick and Lindy. Robert and Richard will hold down the fort around here as usual.

Pat and Diane are already on "Island Time", having left this morning. Sharon and Buddy will fly down Friday morning. We'll board the boat on Friday afternoon and be off sailing in the Leeward Islands!!!! Wish us Fair Winds and Following Seas!

Finally found internet that I could use to start uploading some photos.

We all had good flights from RDU to St. Martin. Rental cars and first night rooms were a breeze.

Island traffic is always interesting - the drivers all seem to zig and zag around each other but it seems to work for them.

Our room for the first night was at the Coralita Apts. Lindy found it on the internet - it was just a mile away from the marina and was actually part of the owner's house. Her name was Maryse - a very nice French lady. We'll be staying there the last night also.

This was our first view of our Moorings charter boat. Her name is Retirement Fun. And fun she is!!

The first night there, Buddy and Sharon had not arrived - dinner at the Dinghy Dock restaurant. Very good and lots of fun.

Here's a view of our little French room. The next morning we went to a little French restaurant that advertised breakfast. We sat down and asked what was on the menu? The reply in very nice French accented English - was bread and jam or bread and butter. So we had a very buttery crossant.

This is the view from our little apt. A bit stormy - beautiful grounds.

Checked out of our room and parked our rental car in the parking lot with the keys in it (that's how they told us to leave it!)

Now down to serious boat business! Capt Duane had to go thru all the boat inventory to make sure we had all the items necessary for our voyage. Here Lindy is helping him count our life jackets - definitely want to have one for each of us!!

Then it was a mad rush of grocery shopping (just $600 worth!! - hey it's 11 days of food for 8 people). Then Sharon and Buddy arrived at the airport - everything all settled for the next morning departure for St. Barts!

Once everything was "ship-shape" we started to relax a bit. A little double-solitare...

And some more relaxing.....

And more relaxing....

And more relaxing....now we're starting to get the idea!!

The time has come to leave St. Martin! Moorings requires that one of their Captains pilot the boat out of the very tight marina.

Once out of the marina, the Moorings Captain leaves the boat - while another pilot boat "leads the way" out a very tricky channel. This photo does not do it justice! It was a narrow, rock channel. I'm glad they do this service!! It would be bad to start your vacation with a damaged boat!!

After a lively little sail, be stopped at small island that is part of St. Barts - Ile Fourche. It has a lovely secluded bay that was calm compared to the rough seas we had on the short passage.

We anchored and had a nice lunch - then several of us went for a little snorkle onto shore.

Not much on shore except some cool vegitation - and alot of sea glass!! I could have spent hours looking, but I forgot to put sun screen on and felt that I couldn't stay out long.

On the way back, Duane saw something on the bottom (about 15 ft) that he wanted to see up close - so he dives down to look -- I can't do this - it hurts my ears - plus I can't hold my breath very long.

Back on the boat and a short sail on over to St. Barthelemy.

A beautiful little French town - Gustavia is the capital. Duane had to clear customs for all of us before we could go on shore. He had a little "commedy of errors" - first he took all the documents, passports, etc. and cash to pay for the entrance fees. Turns out they only take Euros or credit cards....so he got in the dinghy to come back to the boat - and the motor dies halfway thru the anchorage! He does everything he can to get it started, but it won't. Luckily, he drifted near someone else's boat and they started up their dinghy and towed him back to our boat. So, Pat and Duane worked on the motor a bit - and they both went back to shore to customs....that task accomplished - on their way back - the dinghy motor died again! Nothing they could find would re-start it. And we all know they're pretty good mechanics....Again - they got a tow back to our boat. We called Moorings and they sent someone who repaired it. So far, so good!

A really lovely little town.

There was a trans-atlantic race that had sailed in recently. Cool boats.

Crowded little streets, but neat and tidy.

Had drinks at a little French "cheeseburger in paradise" place (that sounds a little contradictory doesn't it??)

Off to the Federation of Nevis tomorrow!!
I won't talk about the sail over from St. Barts to Nevis other than to say that it was a little wild! Ten foot seas, 25 knot+ winds, up and down the rolling seas!

In the midst of that - Pat hooked a fish!!

It was exactly the fish we had told him we wanted!!! A beautiful Mahi Mahi!! It was a truely beautiful fish! Interesting to see the colors change as he perished....

Duane and Pat made quick work of the fileting in some pretty rough seas. Wow, the filets were huge!!

Approaching Nevis the seas leveled out a bit and everyone was a little happier!
Yep, relaxed!!!

Approaching Nevis....near Charlestown - we had to raise the"Q" (quarantine) flag and stay on board until the following morning when customs opened.

More relaxing getting ready to cook our fish!

See what I mean about relaxing?

Fun in the galley.

I believe this is the biggest fillet I've ever handled. A bit of butter and seasoning - the grill is hot!

Pat the master griller!

Yum!

Sharon made some yummy rice pilaf - we had the fixings for a nice salad and homemade dressing, grilled a fresh pineapple. Wow. Wonderful. Never tasted better!

Coffee set up for the morning!!

Approaching Nevis we went thru a little rain - and saw a beautiful full rainbow!

Duane and I went into the capitol city - Charlestown - to clear customs. A very frustrating 2.5 hours Customs - then Immigration (blocks away) - then back to the Port Authority - then back to Customs....but all is well and we'll move away from Charlestown to a beautiful bay - Oualie Beach.

Had a great meal at the Oualie Beach Resort. I had a great Chicken Roti - a Indian spiced tortilla wrapping a mixture of veggies and chicken. Served with chutney and hot sauce.

Pat chatted up the locals, as usual....
Neat, almost deserted beach bar.

We were going to go on a hike, but the local divemaster told us that there really weren't any places that we could actually go (even though the guide map said there was)....while we were debating, a taxi van pulled into the parking lot. Pat investigated and found that we could get an island tour for just $10 each! So, we all hopped in the van and away we went!!

Our driver was nicknamed "Teach" - I had actually read about him on the internet before we came down - lucky to find him out of all the taxis! He was a TERRIFIC tour guide! (A former teacher - and it showed in his knowledge of the island.)

He took us to several old sugar plantations that have now been turned into extremely expensive resorts.
I'll just let you page thru and take the tour with me!!

One of the last stops was a hot spring that the locals use to bathe. It apparently is warmed from the volcanic activity still in the island. It was actually TOO hot - just a short hop in left your feet tingley and red.

The best $10 each spent in a long time!!

Back to the boat for more relaxing of course. Time for hamburgers on the charcoal grill. (Turkey for me, of course). Very yummy!

Pat had lost his only lure after he caught the mahi-mahi (a really big one got away!!!) While he was at the Oualie Beach Resort, he was chatting with a fellow at the bar. The fellow volunteered to make him a new lure. Ture to his word, Pat went back later and picked it up. Neat - we hope to fish on our next big sail!

In for the night and a big game of Rummy - no Karen didn't win!

I have seen some beautiful sunrises! Pink sails didn't really mean "Sailors take warning" today. It was a lovely day!

We set sail for St. Kitts - the boys all pitch in to raise the sails. A good day - just right - winds/waves were perfect.

See? a relaxing sail - couldn't have done this on the sail from St. Barts to Nevis!!

Approaching St. Kitts - we don't have to clear in to customs here because St. Kitts and Nevis are in the same Federation. Thank goodness - a little sour on that process right now!!

We decided to spring for a couple of days in a marina to do some land-based exploring without having to use the dinghy. "Truckie" is the dockmaster - he and his assistants got us situated and plugged into air conditioning!!

Then we were off to explore Basseterre. It's English - and it shows in some of the buildings.

We had lunch at Ballyhoo's - I had fish cakes - yum!

Sharon had the Roti - we shared both and they were delish!!

We wandered around just to see the town. Lovely and the people are so nice!

Back to the boat....

For relaxing before dinner

The girls listening to the same thing on the Ipod

Out to dinner - the Hayes in there matching shirts

We are happy at the St. Kitts dock with air conditioning and easy access to the boat. So another day was spent touring St. Kitts.

We hired "Junie" with his minivan to drive us around the much larger St. Kitts island. So, 9AM sharp we set out for our adventure. We drove thru lots of little neighborhoods - true to the image I've always had of the Caribbean.

Beautiful plants all around. I'm sure it takes lots of effort - but it looks like it just grows this way unattended.

Junie drove us to the top of "Brimstone Hill" - a fort from long ago.

We toured the interesting ruins - Sharon caught me being a bit silly....

All the school children wear uniforms - a neat custom...

Gorgeous "black rocks" - the photo doesn't do it justice - the water was sooooo blue.

Lunch was at a beach bar - I spied Pat getting a message from a local character. Some sort of con - to start with....but Pat turned it into a fun episode, of course!

Silly shot of Dick and Lindy - doesn't Dick look lovely with Lindy's purse?? Nice legs, Dick.

Getting ready for dinner out.

Couple photos - everybody groans when I pick up the camera now!

Except Buddy when he can get a girl on each side, of course!

We had a nice meal out - Sharon received a special gift from her beau....she'll have to post about that herself!! On to St. Eustatia next....

Also known as "Statia"....it's the next island north of St. Kitts.

A nice sail....we deserved it after the rough sails earlier!

Strangely, Statia is a major "oil transshipment depot" for crude oil. It didn't bother us -

All the activity is at one end of the island, leaving the rest untouched.

After a super-easy customs/immigration experience with the Dutch officers we went for a nice snorkel.

We were all a little tired - went to the closest restaurant on shore - The Blue Bead Restaurant. Apparently, in the time of slavery, the locals used pretty blue beads as "money". When they were emancipated, the legend goes that they threw all the beads off the cliffs into the bay. So now, they do scuba dives to search for the beads in the sand - and actually find them quite often!

We enjoyed the meal - lots of pasta and some really good pizza! Mine had yummy cheese - sundried tomatos, red peppers, regular tomatoes, and black olives.

Back to the boat - up early the next morning, as usual.

The agenda today was to climb to the top of the volcano! We paid for our park passes and headed up, up up!!

Rooster on the way....

We walked thru the town, to the outskirts, then up the "Quill Path" (Quill is the name of the dormant volcano).

Strangely, we saw large hermit crabs all over the pathway - so many that we had to be careful where we stepped. We were a good couple of miles from the water at this point.

One of them got tired of waiting on us hidden in his shell - and scampered away...

Interesting to have "automatic lawnmowers!"

Hot and sweaty on the trail to the top!

Orchids hung all over the place in crooks and crannies. Too bad none were in bloom.

We were cautioned to look out for snakes. Dick spotted this one. We actually saw two more.

Almost to the top. Here you can actually see the ancient crater of the volcano.

It was extremely steep in places - they had provided some ropes to help in some of the steepest areas.

Ahh the view from the top. Overlooking the harbor where our boat is anchored.

An hour or so later, we were back to the quaint little town of Oranjestad. Very friendly people.

View of the harbor from the top of the cliffs.

Back on the boat - snack of French sausage, a French cheese and some Finish caviar.

Here's a nice view of Quill - the volcano we hiked to the top point on the left, I think!

Relaxing on the boat.....

Dinner was some spaghetti and salad - a nice change that we all enjoyed.

Relaxing after the meal on the deck....lots of star gazing and a little singing (and you know mine was quite off-key!!!)

Anguilla is beautiful!!! Almost no tourists to be seen. A couple of boys playing with wooden sailboats in the crystal clear water at Road Bay.

Diane and Pat wanted to go to Blanchard's - a fancy restaurant that we all had read a book about. (OK, mostly Diane wanted to go, but Pat was a sport...)

The rest of us went to Elvis's Beach bar. No, not the King - but Elvis from Anguilla!

Amazingly, we spied the same lady that we had seen days earlier in Nevis! She's just island hopping on her own.

Elvis posed with all of us behind his bar. Had wonderful fresh snapper sandwiches on the beach by moonlight.

The next morning, Dick made something that sounds a little weird - pickled herring, eggs and rum. Fabulous!!

Wandered around Anguilla - mostly looking for a grocery to restock some supplies. We were finally successful. Back to the boat to head back to St. Martin. The trip seemed to accelerate at this point! Running out of time!

Anchored in the bay at Marigot - the French side capital. A little more "touristy" than where we have been so far. Got ushered in to a couple of little restaurants on the main drag for lunch.

Great meals - again surprisingly inexpensive - about $10 per plate!

More fun in the dinghy....

Next we took a short motor up to Grand Case - another more touristy place....but fun. Went to Calmos Cafe - a little beach bar. Nice sign - a different take on the No Shirt No Shoes No Service....

Dinner that night was at a little street restaurant that they call LoLos. This plate was $8 US and one dollar beers. Amazing. I don't mean for it to sound like we're cheap'o's ....but the food was fantastic, the setting fabulous - I'm still amazed!

Here is the "kitchen"....these ladies worked hard!! And were so cheerful and helpful!

See how all this vacationing is hard work???

See, what did I tell you - hard work!!

Oh,,,,almost over....here is the entrance channel back into Moorings. Uneventful flights home! Now to the next adventure!!!!

Easter Trip to Ocracoke

2010-04-06T19:20:00.001-07:00

Sit back with a cold drink - this one's a long one.....

We had a WONDERFUL trip over to Ocracoke this weekend!!

Amazing we can return time after time and still enjoy.

Wednesday afternoon, we flew down to New Bern in two different planes - we packed ours full of "stuff" and Dick and Lindy did the same. Luckily, it all fit (barely) into our Escape that sits at the New Bern Airport.

We were all settled and ready to leave Thursday morning early - beautiful weather - unfortunately, no wind to speak of leaving the marina.

Motoring along....lots of reading. Just alittle chilly.

Our longtime flying friend, Bobby Cox, had told us he was going to fly over to Ocracoke for lunch - so I told him to look for us out on the Pamlico as he flew over. True to his word, he found us!!! I know this photo doesn't look like he was close - but he swooped down very close to the water as he went by.

And off he went to the Ocracoke Airport.

Everything is so much the same, trip after trip....at some point along the route - we see a ferry - either the Swan Quarter or Cedar Island, depending on our timing.

Always nice to have to water tower in view - you know you're close then!

Got the boat all tied up and tidied - it was off to rent bikes. There was a group of buses leaving the ferry dock - and we noticed their advertisements - from Swannanoa! Mom will think that's cute (her hometown back near Asheville). Just a little odd to see them so far from home in such a hard-to-get-to place.

After we got the bikes, we made it up to Howard's Pub. We didn't expect to see Bobby Cox because it was several hours since his "fly-by". But, sure enough, as we were walking in, he and his grand (or great-grand) son were walking out! The grandson saw our bikes and wanted to go for a spin - so - Bobby and he borrowed two of them and toured for a while when we were eating our lunch. Not bad for 80 yrs old!! Many more to ya, Bobby!

After Howard's - we needed to work off some calories. It was off to the beach - we rode our bikes for a couple of miles. Good workout on the sand, for sure!!!

Back at the boat - Dick and Lindy preparing to go for another bike ride.

Pat and Diane arrived late Thursday and came over to the boat for a little snack. The were back Friday morning for a cup of coffee/chat.

Breakfast al fresco!

Our "Quartet of Couples" was complete when Sharon and Buddy arrived on the ferry Friday morning.

More reading. We are one relaxed bunch!

A group of Girl Scouts from the island came peddling cookies. We are such suckers. Yum. Thin Mints!

Off to Dajio's (formerly the Pelican) for the 20 cent shrimp and a few games. Ring toss and darts. Lindy and I had a close game.

Sharon and Duane had a sibling match!

Walking on the beach - chilly but who could complain?

Pat and Diane camped about 5 miles from the dock - at the NPS campground right on the beach. They ran into some fishermen with extra Red Drum - who gave them a huge fish....so, we were all invited to the campground for fresh fish.

Pat and Diane's home-away-from-home....

Master-chef Pat slicing the fish ....

House of Autry fish breading -

Heated up the oil....

Fried it up on the campstove. They served it with fresh coleslaw that Pat shredded with a knife! (remember, this was not a planned dinner so they didn't come prepared to shred cabbage). It was FABULOUS - nothing like fresh caught fish!

Afterwards, the mosquitoes were a bit hugry - so all 8 of us piled into the "burrow" (as they refer to their camper). Remember, this camper only sleeps two people!

Many silly jokes were told - we were in tears from laughter at times.

I just wonder what some of the other campsites thought we were doing in there! When it came time to leave, I bet it looked silly as all 8 of us came out the door in succession - kindof like "let's see how many people we can fit in a VW Beetle.

Some duckies hang out around the marina. Pretty, but I'm not fond of what they leave on the concrete dock!!

The next morning was surprisingly foggy - hadn't expected that. Kinda cool, though. It burned off very quickly though.

Sharon and Buddy ready for another outing.

This time, we decided we could manage the 5 mile bike ride up to Pat and Diane's campground. UGH....it was straight into the wind. We made it though. Went on a neat little nature trail out to the sound side.

A neat little lookout over the marshy wetlands.

The "gangs all here" - another great mini-vacation! The sail back to Oriental and the flights back home were uneventful. Now the countdown to St. Martin really seems to be ticking fast!!

Oh - forgot this one - turn up the speakers - went to the little Creekside Restaurant to sip a beer and hear the steel drums. Neat!

Yep, she's still in the slip where we left her!

2010-01-26T15:08:00.000-08:00

Long time, no see, Glory Days! Amazing how life gets in the way this time of the year....we made it back to the boat and found her where we left her! A bit messy, though. What we originally thought was bird mess....ended up being OTTER mess! The marina apparently is home to at least one otter. He likes to find a boat with a "swim platform" on the back - and bring his dinner on board to devour. He doesn't like fish-heads, though. So he leaves those on the boat. Along with scales and uggh. We put moth-balls on the stern - hoping to make him/her decide not to come back. We'll see.....

Sailboat racing a motor yacht near Vandemere

2009-11-10T15:19:00.000-08:00

I know, we're a bit silly.....a fine motor vessel - Solitude - was approaching at a leisurely pace from our port side.

We had just caught some good wind with only the main up. So, of course, we had to race. Pulled out the jib and gave it all we had ... I don't know if they know they were racing or not....but I suspect they did because they seemed to "pour the coals" to it....

I'll call it a draw!

Quick Trip to Cape Lookout

2009-09-27T20:57:00.001-07:00

We had planned a long weekend on the boat...but the weather looked a little "iffy"...so we made a last-minute decision to fly down late Thursday evening to avoid rain/fog on Friday morning.

We don't fly much at night - just not as many safe spots to land in case of trouble....but Thursday was a beautiful, smooth night...the instrument panel is cool at night.

It's only an hour flight - but I kept busy trying to get my camera to take photos of the pretty illuminated cities flying along below us. I never could get the settings to take a good, focused shot - the shutter stayed open too long. Since we're obviously not standing still, this is all I could manage. Kindof cool in an "artsy" sort of way...

We looked at the weather and decided it wasn't too bad for a trip down to Cape Lookout. We hadn't gone this year and I wanted to go look for seashells before the temps get too cool for comfortable beach walking and dinghy riding!

So off we were Friday morning. Forecast was 10-15knots, seas 3-5 feet and building to 15-20 knots later in the day. Shouldn't be too bad.

To get to Cape Lookout from Oriental, you have to motor a good bit down the Intercoastal Waterway. It's a nice little jig, one we've taken many times.

Good to see a little bit of house construction along the way - maybe it's a sign that the housing industry is on it's way back!!

We kept seeing a plane circling in the distance - he kept swooping down towards the water. One time- someone is just having fun. Over and over - he obviously was doing something else. As we got closer, it became clear that he was a aerial spraying operation. The trees along the shore kept us from seeing what he was spraying.

As we approached the Core Creek bridge - we were a little concerned because our mast height is 64'4"...we pay very close attention to the bridge clearance signs!

No problem on this one - we had a few INCHES to spare!

To get out into the ocean at Beaufort, there are two routes available. One has a "fixed" bridge that we've had problems getting under before - so we opted for the safer lift bridge. It's a little bit of a problem because it only opens on the 1/2 hour - so you have to hover until it opens. No problem - we throttled back and timed it perfectly. Note the dreary sky - this is 1:30 in the afternoon!

The winds and rain picked up after we got out into the ocean....note that it's just 2PM...fun sailing!!

We got out to Cape Lookout and anchored in a stiff breeze. We were a little tired from the sail over and decided to make it an early night. I got up several times during the night to make sure we weren't dragging anchor. We had the GPS set to alarm us if we moved too much - but the good ole' Fortress anchor was stuck good in the mud! The boat lurched and swayed in the winds and waves all night. We opted not to go ashore - bummer! It really wasn't pleasant - 35 knot winds and rough waves even inside the protected bight.

So, about 8AM on Saturday, we decided to head back north - this was the only shot I made of the lighthouse....again - note that it's 8AM and the sun should be shining!! The forecast was for 20-25 knots and seas 4-6 feet. We were not relishing the thought of the sail back, but were resigned to it. I made sure everything was secure below before we left so that we didn't throw everything around in rough seas.

But, strangely, when we got out of the Cape Lookout Bight, the winds actually calmed a bit - the sail back to Beaufort was actually pretty nice - we saw 7 knots with just the jib and the seas were really not that bad most of the way.

As we approached the Beaufort Inlet - we passed a tugboat and barge going out to sea. We still had our sails up going down the channel, so I'm sure we made this tugboat captain nervous. It was strange to see a small barge like this going out to sea - mostly the barges are going on the inland waterways to deliver phosphate or other minerals mined nearby.

We determined that we should have no problem with the fixed bridge this time, because we were several hours from high tide.....but it was not to be - the clearance when we got there was only 64' - too low for us!! So, we had to turn around and go back to the lift bridge we used when we came down.

We passed a dredge and barge operation on the way - this explains the tugboat / barge going out to sea - neat to see them pull up sand and load it onto the barge.

That's about it for the trip - no terror, but no sunny walks on the beach either!

As we approached Oriental - we saw the Ladies Regatta - the winds were pretty strong - 20knots or so. These ladies were doing a fine job....

We spent Sunday just reading/relaxing - flew home in smooth, clear air....nice..

.

Sail back from Ocracoke

2009-09-08T17:02:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to share this photo - it pretty much sums up the sail back from Ocracoke to Oriental. 7 hours of this. Mist, rain, mist, more rain....pruney fingers and toes. Not a dry spot outside the boat. Inside was nice, dry and warm....but the roll-y seas made it just a bit yucky down there.

Oh, and we lost the dinghy (for just a few minutes!) It "sub-marined" in big following seas and broke it's line. We quickly dropped sail and went back to retrieve it though! Just glad it was fairly warm.....

Sailing to Ocracoke

2009-09-07T18:34:00.000-07:00

Back in Oriental now and have the bandwidth to upload this short video clip....40+ knot winds. I couldn't hold the camera up too long because it would get wet from the spray. Note to self - bring my underwater enclosure that I use for the camera when SCUBA diving....

We had taken in the jib and were sailing under a double-reefed main. We're making about 7.5 knots - with just that sliver of a sail!!

Live from Ocracoke

2009-09-04T15:55:00.000-07:00

I've got a little bit of an internet connection as long as I'm up on deck on the boat - so I'll try to post a little entry about our trip over to Ocracoke yesterday....

Flew down to New Bern over a really pretty overcast layer. Our wheel just were touching the tops of the cotton-y clouds for most of the flight. Just had to dive down thru them for the approach into New Bern.

HaHa - here's all the "stuff" I brought along for the long weekend.....lucky we've got a six seat airplane for two people!!!

Sharon and Buddy met us Wednesday night - we left early Thursday morning for the 45 mile sail over to Ocracoke....the weather forecast was not too good....not our usual pretty sunrise start!

The winds kicked up early... here they're 31.4 knots...36 mph...

Now they're 35.7 knots - 41.1 mph!! 39 mph is a Tropical storm!!

Waves were splashing us over the bow...Capt'n Duane in rain gear!

We had to "reef" - or take some of the sails down. The winds just got too strong. Duane saw 42 knots or 48.3 mph . This is the highest we snapped a photo of. We were busy holding on!!

As we approached the channel leading into Ocracoke, we ended up behind a nice catamaran named Kentris.....nice folks - Tom and Pat from Chapel Hill.

Safe and sound, though, in Ocracoke!

Out for the evening - at the new Dajio restaurant (which replaces the old Pelican, one of our favs...)

Pat and Diane drove down with their camper and A.D. (Airport Dog). Visiting this morning at the marina.

Pretty dog and pretty Diane!!!

Went over to Jolly Roger, another fav, after Howard and Peggy arrived on the noon ferry.

Met some nice folks who sail up in Maryland -Gene and Ann...got their names and email's on a napkin for further communication! Always nice to have sailing buddies!!

Went back to the Dajio today for their $0.15 shrimp - met some folks that we had seen there on previous trips.

One of the kids was showing HIS fingernail art....

A cool cowboy!!!

We always rent bikes for the weekend (since we don't have any other way to get around....) Pat volunteered to "ride back to the boat" with me on my bike.....this was the result...just a few minor bruises.....

May/June 2009 Chesapeake Sailing Trip - LOONNGG

2009-07-30T10:09:00.000-07:00

Day 1

Early departure - really just a little after six AM.....beautiful calm morning at Pecan Grove Marina in Oriental!

Unfortunately, calm is not terribly good for sailing! So, we motored a good bit - pulling the foresail out when conditions/direction allowed...

The obligatory shot of the phosphate barge....seems like we run across one on every trip. This tug was actually pushing two barges. Never ceases to amaze me how much bulk on little tug can push/pull.

Motoring up the intercoastal waterway past Bellhaven. We had 76 miles to cover - so a very long day at 6 knots!

We anchored near Gum Neck....look it up on the map.....just like this photo looks - in the middle of nowhere. Very nice! More as I get an internet connection!

Day 2

We started the day with coffee at anchor near Gum Neck....peaceful morning. Here's the coffee set up when we don't have "shore power" - the neat little coffee press. Just mix boiling water with coffee - then press a filter thru the mixture. Easy way to make a couple of cups of coffee, but some sediment gets thru. I kindof like my coffee that way!

Today, we wanted to travel to Elizabeth City "just 54 miles". First order of business was going thru the Alligator River Bridge. This one "pivots" to allow boaters to pass thru. (Most bridges "lift" sections.)

Cool roadway - this is how it looks actually going thru the channel. Of course, they immediately close the bridge back to allow the stopped cars to continue on their way!

About half-way there, a storm blew in. We donned raingear - but the storm mostly missed us. A good thing - never want a lightening storm to come your way when you're the tallest thing out there!!

A few hours later, the skies brightened up - this is the "blimp" factory near Elizabeth City. Very neat, huge, structure there.

We pulled into a "complimentary" slip at the Elizabeth City docks. Nice and basic - plus, the price was right!!

Several people helped us there. Two guys come over and handled our docklines - and this nice lady talked to us about the town. Her dog is a mix of Schipperke and something else, she wasn't sure!! We immediately recognised her dog because she resembles Sharon and Buddy's dog - which is a Schipperke.

Yes, I will agree that Elizabeth City is a very hospitable place!

Neat older - re-vitalized downtown section. Just 2 or 3 blocks from the marina.

On a side street we noticed the "Carolina Theatre". Reminded both of us of the old Carolina Theatre on Main Street in Hendersonville. It was about 4 pm....the sign on the door said Dinner at 5, Movie at 6...so we decided we needed to go there.

Unfortunately, they were showing "Terminator" - definitely not one of my favorite movie series!! What the heck - seemed like a good idea. We'd never been to one of these type movie places - served dinner and a show! Interesting - just pick up the phone on your table and a waitress brings you whatever you want while you watch the movie. It was a neat thing to do - unfortunately, the movie was not really our style. Back to the boat for a early start for the Dismal Swamp Traverse tomorrow!!

Day 3
Due to a slightly complicated time-schedule of bridge/lock openings along our intended route, we had to push off at 5:30AM this morning! No problems - set the handy alarm on my cell phone. We were off the dock in minutes and headed towards the Great Dismal Swamp!

This is the first bridge - just yards from the dock at Elizabeth City. The bridge-master is probably used to the 5:30AM calls on the radio requesting opening due to the "up river" schedule.

Hard to see in this light, but we were not alone on our cruise up the Dismal Swamp - several large power boats were ahead of us. Somehow, I had expected this part of our journey to be more isolated.....

The swamp canal was quite beautiful, although, again, I thought it would be more rural - there was a roadway right beside the eastern "shoreline" of the canal. The canal was built in the late 1700's - and at the time - was heavily used for commercial traffic.

Seventeen miles up the canal is the first lock - we had to be raised 8' to be able to proceed on the next portion of the canal. This portion is the drainage for Lake Drummond in Virginia.

Here the boats are just "hovering" waiting for the 8:30AM scheduled opening.

While we were drifting waiting for the lock we spied a field thru the trees on the bank - and caught a glimpse of what appeared to be 2 ground-hogs. I'm sure some farmer is thrilled.....

Hard to see - click on the photo if you're interested. Here the lock gates are opening and allowing the boats to proceed into the lock.

The lock-master helped everyone tie up loosely to pilings on the sides of the lock. Then he closed the gate behind us. Note the water level on the lock sides. This will rise over the next few minutes.

Here you see the water slowly bubbling up under the gates and raising us up. We tightened our lines as we went up to keep us snug to the lock walls.

All the way up! Now we're at the same level as the canal in front of us - 8' higher than we started.

Here, he has opened the gate and allowed us thru.

I wanted to comment about the water - it's really dark, coffee colored. Not polluted - it's said to be due to the acidic nature of the surrounding bogs.

Yaay! We're in Virginia!

I spent a good bit of time trying to get a photo of a turtle - they were cool looking- had a yellow band around their neck...here on is on a log - never did get a good photo though....didn't really see a lot of wildlife, although we could hear birds calling even over the engine noise, never saw a single one!

The sign says Superintendent's House.....hope that's part of a historical site and not really where they house the Superintendent!!

This was our view much of the way....pretty and peaceful - but always of the boats in front of us. I would have enjoyed it more if we were alone out there! Picky, picky.....

Finally going thru the last bridge before going into the last lock - I won't post photos - but it was the same drill - enter lock - this time being lowered the same 8'.

Full steam ahead to Norfolk! Started at 5:30AM - arrived Norfolk at about 4PM....pretty long day and not a single bit of sailing!

Lot's and lot's of marine commerce going on around Norfolk!! Even passed a Police boat on the channel.

We decided to treat ourselves to a slip at the Waterside Marina. It's right on the waterfront (hence the name) near the USS Wisconsin. I want to tour that tomorrow.

Next to us was "Bird on a Wire". I had read their blog earlier in my surfing of "sailing blogs"....cool to have met them - http://birdonawireboat.blogspot.com/

View from our boat - actually turned out to be a little irritating....the lights from the building were very bright after dark and we're used to it being pretty dark both at home and on the boat. Makes it a little difficult to sleep!!

And there we are - Glory Days all snug in the slip for the night! Tour Norfolk a bit tomorrow!

Day 4

OK, so this is not much of a sailing story today. We stayed put in Norfolk to do a little sight-seeing. First up was the USS Wisconsin battleship. It is berthed just a few minutes from our marina. It is certainly huge! This is the view of the bow.

I didn't realize how newly "decommissioned" this boat was - it served in Desert Shield until 1991.
Yours truly, the tourist - guidebook in hand, sunscreen on face...walking shoes on instead of my boat shoes!

To tell you the truth, I was a little disappointed in the Wisconsin tour - you only got to walk around the outside. No inside tour at all - I was really more interested in the berths, the galley, the heads, the "war room" etc. Oh well.....can't beat the price (free!)

We also toured the Naval Museum - and among all the stuff on the walls Duane spotted the following display - it mentions the USS Phillippine Sea - which was the aircraft carrier that my dad was assigned to in the late 1950's. Cool!

They were mentioned because the ship was based out of Norfolk.

Leaving the museum, I spied this display. I had walked a step or two past it when I handed the camera to Duane....he rolled his eyes and said "dang, I thought you hadn't seen that!". I, of course, took the camera back after my shot and tried (in vain) to coax him into a photo! As you can probably tell, this was actually for little kids....but I was one for a few minutes there.....

We walked around Norfolk - a beautiful city if there is such a thing! Neat as a pin and so beautifully landscaped.

Even the side streets have trees and bushes in the medians.

An amazing amount of what appears to be prime real estate is devoted to greenery.

Just another boat shot from the second floor of the building overlooking the marina.

Also visited the MacArthur Museum - notice a pattern? Very nicely done also. I'm assuming it is in Norfolk because his mother's family was a prominent Norfolk family.

Since we are being absolutely worthless today, we decided to take advantage of our city location an catch another movie. Wow - two movies in three days. Best I can remember, the last movie we saw in a theater before these was "The Bucket List" - I looked it up - we saw that movie when it was fairly new - and that was over a year and a half ago! Hey, don't look at me like that! We're usually just not interested enough to drive the half hour to see a movie.....but we enjoyed this one - Angels and Demons. We've both read the book so it made the movie very easy to follow. It was well done.

We're off tomorrow for Smithfield up the James River. It just a short 20 miles and the winds should be favorable for a lively sail. I doubt we'll have internet so stay tuned in a couple of days!!

Day 5

We left Norfolk this morning after a leisurely shower, water tank fillup, trash disposal, etc...neat to see all the activity on the Elizabeth River thru Norfolk. Lots of tugs, commercial traffic.

Huge numbers of Navy ships at dock....many apparently under renovation.

Cool shipping activity - reminds me of Hong Kong without all the nasty pollution in the air. From this distance in Hong Kong, you would have barely been able to see the ships due to the ridiculously polluted air!!

We passed this Navy ship being towed into the channel. He warned several boats (not us) to stay clear!!

More Naval shipyards....

We left Norfolk headed up the James River - this is the James River tunnel - click on the photo and you can see that the highway just ends.....we sailed right over the tunnel!

Next up was the James River lift bridge. Duane's kindof tired of bridges....and this is one of the last ones we'll have to cross under on this trip....you have to call them on the radio and request that they open for you. Then you have to wait for them to signal all the traffic to stop....so it's not as simple as sailing along in a channel.

This one lifts to 145 ft!!! We're only 65' tall....so the bridge-master didn't have to lift all the way. We actually feel sorry for all the folks that have to wait on us to cross under on the highway...but we really don't have a choice.

Our destination today was Smithfield, Va - yes - home of the Smithfield Ham....you know I'm not having any of that....but reported to be a wonderful historic town.

I couldn't help but include this - we were zig-zagging into the channel from the James River over to Smithfield and I spied two birds - appears to be a white and black swan.....I'll have to investigate this....neat anyway.

This area is definitely "high-class" - beautiful homes lining the James River....

We anchored at the end of the Pagan River (or rather - near the bridge that was too low for us to go any further).

We took the (new!) dinghy into town (maybe 1/2 mile)....Smithfield has a nice little historic downtown....pretty landscapes....old houses. Good for a one time visit. Mark it off the "bucket list". Friendly people, for sure.

Ha - captured my Captain for once!!

Back to the boat....pretty sunset tonight. Back to Hampton tomorrow - looking forward to Sharon and Buddy meeting up with us in a couple of days!

Day 6

Short post today! We had to wait at the Smithfield anchorage for the tide to come in. One area would be too shallow for us on the route out at low tide. While waiting, we did some boat chores - and I spied this little duck family. So cute going from here to there....

Destination today is Hampton, Virginia - home of the Cousteau Society and the Virginia Air and Space Museum. On the way, a warship kept calling warning boats to stay away. We must have looked harmless because he didn't bother us. Cool to see up close. There were actually men at the guns.....

Very nice anchorage at the Hampton Public docks. Right across from the Air & Space museum (we'll do that tour tomorrow).

OK, this is definitely vacation material - we had a little oops while doing some of those boat chores. A port window was left in the open position whilst someone washed off the deck. This is easy to do because the screens make it difficult to see whether the window is open or not.....so, some soapy river water got splashed onto our berth immediately below the window.... needless to say, the sheets needed to be washed. I asked at the dock and was told that there was a laundry "about a 1/4 mile" from the marina. So, we stuffed the sheets and some other laundry into a bag and set out on foot armed with directions (just two turns, sounded simple enough).

Well, I have now google-mapped the location and it is 1.4 miles from the marina!! We walked thru what appeared to be the Hampton, Va housing project - then thru a strip of junky auto repair/tire places. Even stopped to ask a mechanic if we were going in the correct direction. He said, yes, just beyond the next red-light. About 6 city blocks later we found: Spin Queen!!

Actually one of the nicest laundrymats I've ever been in. Haven't actually been in one in years. Most marinas have a washer and dryer. The Hampton Public docks apparently do not... so, laundry was accomplished in a speedy fashion. Back to the boat - it was almost dark and threatening to rain. Wouldn't that have been ironic if we'd gotten our clean laundry wet carrying it "home"??

And rain it did!! Getting ready to dinghy back to the marina.

This is cool - "it's a small world" - we needed 80' of a particular line to replace one of the lines on the boat. I had called the local West Marine store in Hampton and sure enough, they had the line we needed. I inquired how far away the store was - and the fellow said that it was several miles away - but that he would be glad to drop the line by after work at the marina for us! How cool is that? Plus, it turns out - he's from Siler City!!! Bill Northington - if I caught his name correctly. What a country!

After a dinner of Grilled Mahi Mahi fish tacos with Chipolte sauce (double yum, by the way) we went over to the Air and Space museum for an IMAX showing of the new Star Trek movie. Nice movie - and really neat on that huge screen. OK- when I started writing this, I didn't think we'd done much to write about. Tour Air and Space and Cousteau tomorrow - then on to Yorktown to pick up Sharon and Buddy!!!!

Day 7

We spent the morning in Hampton touring the Va. Air and Space Museum....nicely done museum - geared for school groups.

I know, silly person!
We had met several folks last night that were in town for the Regatta...they take this stuff serious!!

Beautiful sail up to Yorktown....all the commercial traffic vanished.

The entrance to Sarah Creek - where we'll meet up with Sharon and Buddy.

Day 8

Today was a nice long sail up to Deltaville, Va - home of a huge boating population. Apparently, there are 4 boats here for every person that actually lives in the small town.

Very pretty and rural.

Capt. Buddy at the helm!

Not alot going on here - we were a couple of miles from the town itself - so we called a local restaurant to come pick us up....here's Vinny - our favorite bus-boy of the evening. Very friendly to transient boaters in this town. We had a nice seafood meal and in for a early evening.

Day 9

We're back online for now! I nabbed Sharon's camera - and I have her permission to use these photos!

Buddy relaxing in the evening....

We're relaxing too! Notice you may see a few more photos of me for a little while now that someone else besides me is taking some of the photos!

Discussing something about the sails, no doubt.

Navigating!

Isn't this a great photo of Sharon and Buddy?

On to Urbanna - there was a really tall bridge spanning the Rappahanock River - 110' clearance...since our mast height is only 65', we clear this one easily. So, we were having a nice sail and we decided that we could sail thru it instead of dropping the sails. Never have been able to do that before!

I know this is a strange photo - it's me lying on the deck, looking straight up as we sailed underneath the bridge. A very neat angle!

We had been sailing for hours - and we noticed this butterfly following us. We were sailing along at about 6 or 7 knots - and this little fellow flew all around us for several minutes. I had no idea they could fly that fast for so long. OK, we're easily amused!

We arrived to the very nice town of Urbanna - we knew where we were, but they were kind enough to label the entrance channel for us.

Some nice folks that were on the dock helped us settle into a slip for the evening.

We had a really yummy dinner at the marina restaurant - I shared soft-shell crabs with Sharon - the best I've ever had (no surprise, this is supposed to be the crab-capital!)

Just thought this was a pretty shot of the kayak-er's shot from the back of our boat.

Walked into town for a quick provisioning trip. Pretty, old houses. Everyone we met has been really friendly. (And this time, the lady gave us directions - said it was about a 1/2 mile - and she was correct, thank goodness!)

Just wandering around at the Town dock....

Day 10

From Urbanna, we spied a neat anchorage across the Rappahannock - in a little creek.

After a VERY lively sail - tacking back and forth across the wide river to eventually get to the other side. The wind was strong and we only had our foresail out - still going about as fast as the boat is able. Nice, but you have to pay attention.

We anchored out in a little bay - all to ourselves.

There were several crab-pot floats in our little bay. Before long, the owner (we assume) of the pots came for a harvest. Neat to watch - he pulls the pot up - and throws another in it's place.
Then he drives to the next pot - all-the-while busy emptying and baiting the pot that he just plucked.

And he had two watch dogs on board if you look closely!

I wanted to dinghy over to the marina - it looked close on the chart.

Well, it was a llloooonnnng dinghy ride - thru some choppy water. But, our new dinghy kept us high and dry (well, almost)...

The marina was set back in a pretty cove (lot's of those around here!) We all had to swing, of course....

Pretty marina photo.

I stole this shot from Sharon's camera - very pretty.

Das boot - approaching from our long dinghy ride back from the marina.

Ahhh a pretty sunset - Sharon's camera has a nice sunset "setting".

Day 11

Today's trip was to head north to Reedville, Va. It was a pleasant sail...interesting marine markers as we approached the channel.

The town was once the home of a large Menhaden fishing industry, including a processing plant.

There is still a active fishing fleet.

Here we are safely at the dock. One word about this little town....it's SMELLY! We had actually been warned by some folks at Urbanna....I'm sure the residents love their beautiful city....but when the wind is blowing just right from the fish processing plant....well, let's just say it's not the most pleasant fragrance!!

Luckily, the Crazy Crab restaurant was adjacent to the dock....very nice to just walk off your boat into the restaurant!

Took a nice stroll down Main Street. Beautiful old homes - and every single one of them was nicely kept.

Fun dinner at the Crazy Crab!

Had an early night (after the game of rummy, of course!). Glad we were at the dock instead of anchored out - a huge group of thunderstorms blew thru around midnight. I went outside and saw 38 knots on the anemometer (over 40 mph). We were safe and sound in our sailing ship!

Day 12

Our original "plan" included a trip across the Chesapeake Bay to the Eastern Shore. Weather, unfortunately, has turned a little less than spectacular. It's going to be a couple of rainy/stormy days - so we decided to take the safer route and just head one more day north - to the tip of Maryland. We had a nice sail, then motored most of the way because the wind was too light.

Here is the Smith Point lighthouse - it's in the middle of the bay just south of the Virginia / Maryland state line. Rather pretty in a solitary, lonely sort of way!

Not much going on in the town of Ridge, Maryland! The marina was nice enough - kept us safe and sound during the storms that blew in throughout the night. They have a very nice restaurant right on the marina - just the kind we like - just walk off the boat for dinner.

The marina dog.....

Day 13

We've had great weather so far....today was overcast and threatening rain....

Leaving Point Lookout - lovely homes bordering the Potomac River....

Marina at Point Lookout

We had 6 hours to our next stop. First time we've had to dress for wind and cooler temps.

Cooler temps begged for chili! I had the following ingredients on board - so that's the recipe:

Can black beans
Can blackeye peas
1 onion, chopped
handful of red/green/yellow peppers leftover from burritos
celery
Can diced tomatos
TVP (textured veg. protein)
Cumin
Chili Powder
Onion Powder

Served with optional sour cream, cheese and tortilla chips. Hit the spot!

Arrived in Deltaville, this time off the Rappahannock River (last time we were near Deltaville, it was off the other side of the city on the Piankatank River.)

Pretty duck and her duckies.

Turns out she was trolling for crackers....I obliged.

We went out to eat at one of the local establishments.....it poured rain while we were there. Sharon stole Buddy's dreaded CAROLINA jacket.....really, Sharon, you could do better!!!

Back to the boat at the marina....a little soggy - and 100 percent chance of sogginess tomorrow....we may just stay put and enjoy the break.

Day 14

OK, so today is not really a sailing trip report....it's been constantly raining - so we decided to stay put on the dock at Deltaville. A very nice marina (Dozier's).

Last night for dinner, we called a local restaurant to come pick us up - they sent a bus-boy that only had room for us in the back seat of a Jeep Cherokee.....this was quite comical - Duane is buried back there somewhere....

This morning we borrowed the marina courtesy car to go into town (about 3 miles away). The white Mercedes is the courtesy car! I guess my courtesy cars at the airport need a little upgrade (one is a 1990 Taurus wagon and the other is our old 1991 Chevy Blazer!!)

Later in the day we decided we were all in the mood for pizza - I ordered a veggie pizza, of course - isn't this yummy?

Back Home Now

Boo, hoo - all good vacations must come to an end!!

We're back at home now....easing back into work.

I think this "last dinner" photo is one of the best!