Downeast

We’ve been hanging out Downeast style on a town mooring in Southwest Harbor for a little over two weeks now -- and will be hanging out here a few more days waiting for a slot in the marine forecast that will allow us to make a safe and comfortable passage up to Shelburne, Nova Scotia. It’s about a 28 hour trip and the current (pun intended) plan is to leave about 1 pm Sunday. We should have reasonable seas then in the Gulf of Maine, through Lurcher Ledge off NS and be in position to take advantage of the strong currents around Cape Sable, or at least not to be hit too hard by adverse currents.

Sunny Morning, Mount Desert

We’ve finally had time to catch up on our lists-- somehow we had planned to do so many things during our month in Salem, but were waylaid by two weeks of rain followed by bad colds. In fact, cleaning the flybridge cushions, covers and then waterproofing them has been on my list since we were in Florida and I’m delighted to say that everything is shipshape above. It seemed only fitting to tackle the table next and scrub and scrub and scrub to remove the dirt accumulated over the last three years. Then a couple of coats of teak oil, more rubbing and voila-- beautiful like new table! I can hardly stop admiring it-- and the muscles in my right arm which seem to have grown.

The 12 KW generator is running like a top and Paul’s rewiring job seems to be robust. The oil has been changed on both generators and cleaning the air filters is on my list for tomorrow. Lots of other scrubby projects complete on my part and lots of other below the decks projects completed by the skipper. I’m looking forward to a little vacation time in Canada with guests and to having fingernails again.

Rocky Shore, Acadia National Park

We’ve also had a good time. We’ve had a string of lovely days, warm but no where near the heat the rest of the country is experiencing. Most mornings we look at each other and say ”Just another beautiful day in Maine”,  a phrase coined by a friend from our sailboat days-- as if that explains it all. 


My usual morning walks take me past spectacular perennial gardens in town, shopping or post office errands if required or rocky shored beaches if I head away from town. Last week I took an easy hike with old friends to the Jordan Pond House for lunch, where Paul met us in their car. Jordan Pond is famous for its popovers and is a must for any visitor to Acadia National Park. We’ve had dinners out, done some entertaining, been entertained and enjoyed being here for Flamingo Days last weekend. 

Popovers Ahead

Bright pink plastic birds popped up all over town with many activities scheduled, all to benefit the community house and children’s center here. We arrived early at the library sponsored paperback book sale (we bought 7 books for $7) last Saturday morning and in the afternoon went to the Coast Guard Open House. We toured all the boats, including one brought in for the day from Portland, from nav (navigation) stations to engine rooms, Paul’s favorite. 

But the highlight was the steel band concert Monday night. We’ve long been fans of the Flash in the Pans Steel Band, a community band based out of Blue Hill and we were delighted to see them again. 

The 30 or so musicians are all amateurs (one told me they all learned to play in Adult Ed) but are pretty amazingly musical and extremely high energy. Before too long, the young people were up and dancing, next the toddlers with mom or dad and by intermission, even the old people were out. Lots of fun!

Showing off my Table

I promised a shorter post this time, but just a little aside on boat names. If we were in South Florida, this could easily become a rant. I am so incredulous that people would name a boat Wet Dreams, Pole Dancer, Liquid Assets, Capital Gains, etc, etc. Not to mention Momma’s Mink or another name I can’t bring myself to write here. I actually think this one is a great name-- or at least I smile every time we go by this handsome lobster boat. Its name-- use your best Maine accent here-- is “Flo-Rida”. Cute, huh.

Well, enough for now. The latest marine forecast is looking good and looks like Sunday will be a good day. You can watch our progress from Southwest Harbor to Shelburne, NS on the “SPOT” link (upper right hand side of every post) hopefully starting early afternoon this Sunday. Next post from Canada!

Fish Tales and Schooners

Our day back to Rockland stretched comfortably into a week. The repaired part was reinstalled in the 12KW generator, but as these things go, or at least this generator goes, another part was required-- and finally reinstalled on Friday. As far as I’m concerned, there’s never a problem staying amused in Rockland-- there are good places for long walks, interesting shops and a couple of bookstores to browse in, good restaurants, not to mention the Farnsworth Museum and its huge collection of Wyeths.

Rockland Breakwater Light

In describing Rockland to one of our guests the week before, I had used the word “gritty” and began rethinking my comment. Rockland is thriving-- a couple of restaurants have turned over, but Main Street has new galleries and jewelry stores since we were there last year. There are lots of tourists, from the coastal cruise ships that dock there twice a week this time of year, ferry passengers and visitors from the smaller towns farther down Rt 1. There is still a working waterfront, with a deep sea fishing fleet, several boatyards and a smelly plant producing carrageenen, a seaweed extract used as a gelling agent in food. Downwind of the plant on a warm or humid day is not a good place to be. I know-- we had a mooring there for a season some years ago.

4th of July in Castine

At the end of our week in Rockland, in preparation for our trip to Nova Scotia, we took on over 1000 gallons of fuel. Needless to say, Paul shopped for the best price, which was lower if we went to the dock to be fueled by truck, rather than serviced by the company’s boat. Approaching the far side of the harbor where the dock was located, we were happy to have GPS data on its location, as it was a 45 ft rickety dock with no one in sight other than a bare-chested young man with multiple tattoos and body piercings with a fishing pole and bucket and a crying toddler running around behind him. 

I asked if he could move his energy drink which was sitting on a strategic cleat and unwittingly started a flow of conversation. Docking requires our full attention, particularly when it’s just the two of us, but the one-sided nature of the conversation didn’t seem to hinder him. When we were safely docked, he offered us mackerel, which he declared he didn’t eat, but often gave to his friends, cleaned and gutted. We declined. 

Schooners' Morning

Speaking of fish, we had quite a surprise recently when Paul found an 8 inch fish, still alive and unscathed, in one of the strainers. (Strainers remove large particulate matter from the water taken in to cool generators, refrigeration, water maker, etc.) The strainer in question has often been clogged with handfuls of sea grass, also intact, and a small crab or two, but never anything so sizable as this fish.So yesterday Paul removed the strainer, packed it up and with the use of a friend’s car sent the it back to Maryland where it was rebuilt in October-- more on this fish tale later!

It’s raining here this morning in Southwest Harbor on Mt Desert, a beautiful spot even in the rain. I’m determined to finally finish this post which I started days ago.

We had such a good time in Belfast on our first visit this year that we decided to go back for a second overnight trip. Again we saw friends, had another breakfast at Chase, a wonderful vegetarian restaurant where you don’t even miss the bacon-- and thoroughly enjoyed the vibrant small town atmosphere with its proactive, environmentally friendly attitudes. We regret that this was our last visit to Belfast this year as we’ll be coming back down from Nova Scotia in one long haul straight to Salem. 

Perry Creek Boathouse

It seems that the last few weeks have involved a lot of backtracking, and indeed we decided to go back to Castine for the Fourth of July holiday. Castine, one of the oldest settlements in the country, is a lovely small town, with a long military history well back before the Revolutionary war. Despite the historical markers around town and a quick look at Wikipedia, I am at a loss to describe its complex history further! More relevant to us was the reputation for a wonderful small town celebration for the Fourth. We took the little boat in to town from the mooring loaned to us by friends, arriving just in time for the afternoon band concert. It was a wonderful scene with people of all ages spread out on the grass on the town common and a particularly funny and charming toddler who amused us all with her dancing and conducting. The band itself occasionally made us wince, but it’s hard to be too critical of an all volunteer band in a mostly summer community playing lively Sousa marches!

We opted out of staying in town for the fireworks display, as the sky was beginning to look threatening and also knowing that our mooring would make a fine vantage point. As we were approaching our mooring, we saw several schooners arriving in our cove to anchor for the night and we could begin to see the masts of many windjammers already at anchor. What a sight-- we counted 15 schooners-- something which we have never seen before in all our time in Maine! 

Schooners in a Row

As happens in Maine, a dense fog dropped down and within an hour visibility was reduced so much that we could see only our own lifelines. At the appointed time, we heard a few isolated pops of firecrackers, but saw nothing. Then silence-- and I’m sure the fireworks were rescheduled for another, clearer evening. We were very happy to be snug aboard Carry On and not facing a long trip back to our boat with no visibility.

Leaving the next morning, we took a photo op detour and I took many, many pictures in an attempt to capture the schooner scene. Without a wide angle, it was clear to me that I couldn’t really convey what my eyes could see, so I’ll ask you to use your imagination when looking at one mass of boats laying at all angles in the still morning air. Several were already beginning to haul their anchors and get underway, and we heard discussions on the radio of a race planned for later that morning.

Stonington Harbor

Our plan was to visit two of our favorite anchorages before heading to Southwest Harbor, with Perry Creek, just off the Fox Island Thoroughfare (the passage between the islands of Northaven and Vinalhaven), our first stopover. We arrived in just a couple of hours of leaving Castine, and amazingly, found room to anchor before any other boats arrived. We have always loved to take the dinghy in a high speed run across the thoroughfare to the small village of Northaven, which never seems to change much.

Next stopover was a group of rocky islands off the Stonington shore of Deer Isle, long a favorite of mine for the beautiful, smooth rocks sloping up to the pine trees which cover the interiors. Guess what we saw as we made our way past the harbor? Yes, the schooners en masse again, this time laying in a neat line. 

We had a mostly quiet afternoon and a lovely evening, once the lobstermen had buzzed by our anchorage and headed home, creating some ferocious wakes. Breakfast in the morning at a small cafe in Stonington, a long walk afterwards for me and then we hauled anchor for Southwest Harbor. 

The sun is shining here now-- it’s afternoon, and as much as I’d hoped to publish this post, now there’s marginal internet. Tomorrow then-- and a much less verbose post next time, I promise.

Maine Bound

Underway again! Thursday, June 16, we cut the umbilical cord to our comfortable dock in Salem and made way for Maine! 

Star Island, Isles of Shoals, NH

We made a short first day out to Isles of Shoals, a group of islands off Portsmouth, NH, on the first really hot day of the season. The day was beautiful, but the seas were in a long, slow swell that didn’t agree with our crew member most susceptible to mal de mer, poor old Bubba, and made doing much other than sitting difficult for the rest of the crew. We picked up a mooring in Gosport Harbor off Star Island, a lovely place which we have never managed to experience on such a beautiful and eventually quiet evening. I found myself wondering about why that harbor and neighboring islands can seem almost eerie, the rambling but modest old white hotel, the out buildings and high stone rip rap around the harbor, the lack of life other than sea birds? Maybe it’s remembering the ax murders that occurred there back in 1873, which Anita Shreve wove into her 1996 novel The Weight of Water. Whatever, we shook that feeling, grilled burgers, watched the sunset begin and went to bed early! 

Lobsterman's Shed, Phippsburg, ME

After turning out of the harbor at 4:30 am the next morning, we set a 58 mile course for the mouth of the Kennebec River, near Seguin Island light and our cruise up river to Bath, Maine to visit my college roommate and her husband who live nearby in Phippsburg. For ten hours underway, we saw no land, only two fishing boats in the distance and birds, notably a large flock of Guillemots, which seemed surprisingly far south. (Guillemots are small, very cute, completely black birds except for one white spot on their back and wonderful red feet-- members of the same Alcid family as puffins.) 

On a calm day a 58 mile course is a gift of time for doing projects, reading, baking or snoozing, but the seas were again rolling enough to keep us alternating watch with napping in our favorite chair. I spent some time thinking about why I felt so excited to be heading north again, as I really enjoyed our time in port in Florida and Salem. It seems to me it’s the difference in living on a boat much like we would in a house and going cruising-- and going cruising is what we’ve always loved about our summers in Maine and Nova Scotia. We move from place to place, mostly anchored at night or occasionally picking up a mooring, making runs to shore in the dinghy, meeting friends here and there and enjoying small town life along the Atlantic coast. 

We can go north or south or east or west, which sounds like a ridiculous thing to get excited about, but when we’re traveling up and down the coast, it’s pretty much north or pretty much south. Actually, those days in the ICW that we wiggle around going more east or west are kind of frustrating, because the whole idea is going north or south! Although we have enjoyable and certainly interesting days on the ICW, cruising in Maine is really about enjoying the whole process-- not so much about getting anywhere very fast!

Lupines at Parker Head, Phippsburg, ME

After a great weekend in Bath and Phippsburg with our friends, we made way for Rockland to have our genset worked on, or at least put back together from the unfinished work done in Salem. It was “just another beautiful day in Maine” --as we often say to each other-- as we headed toward Rockland, treated to a parade of five windjammers heading south with all sails set. It was a quick stopover in Rockland; but while the mechanic removed a part for repair, I gave Carry On a badly needed bath.

Schooners in Penobscot Bay

With Carry On clean and ready for guests, we arrived at the Belfast town docks to meet friends from Marblehead. We spent one of our evenings on an anchor in Smith Cove and took our little boat over to Castine for the afternoon. Then back to Belfast for an excursion arranged by our friends to visit True North Farms, an organic vegetable farm started and worked by old friends of theirs who relocated to the Belfast area a few years ago. It was a special afternoon in a beautiful setting with the Camden hills in the background. We had a tour including all the farm equipment used in sequence to prepare the soil, make mounded beds and plant seed, as well as the fields, all neatly labelled. I was impressed by the incredible amount of planning required and the constancy of work to be done, and the dedication of two people who are only slightly younger than Paul. 

True North Farms, Montville, ME

We’re still hanging out here in Belfast, although our guests are gone. The weather has been gray and rainy, we have tasks that need attending, as well as feeling the need for a bit of down time. We need to go back to Rockland to have our repaired  genset part reinstalled, but after Rockland we’re still up in the air-- Castine for a few days, then up to Southwest Harbor? Back here to Belfast? So-- no schedule for the near term and it feels kind of good! 

The Last Leg

It’s been a month since my last blog and just three days shy of a month since we left the boatyard in Oxford, MD. We’ve been a bit lax, enjoying port life in the center of Salem, MA, seeing friends, working on projects and for the first two weeks here, trying to stay warm.

I always feel the trip between the Chesapeake and Massachusetts is the hardest part of the long distance we cover back and forth to Florida. There are stretches with little protection, as along the New Jersey coastline, and no option but to travel outside, and other stretches with few good places to stop, necessitating long days or days shorter than one might like. Getting underway at 6 am as we did every day for a week and going until sunset several days, it can feel like a slog.

Traffic in the C & D Canal

Our rough itinerary goes as follows and usually doesn’t vary much trip to trip. We left Oxford on April 29 late morning and arrived at Still Pond, a pleasant anchorage up the Eastern Shore of Maryland. We intended a short trip the next day, but the seas were so much calmer than predicted and the current seemed to stay with us, so we travelled through the C & D canal (Chesapeake and Delaware), crossed Delaware Bay and took the back door into Cape May via a short canal. We arrived in Atlantic City the next day, May 1, earlier than planned, but felt we needed to have our battery charging systems and alternators looked at-- there’s a whole other story here which I won’t go into-- as well as having some time to catch our breath. 

Atlantic City at First Light

We stayed in Atlantic City three nights, we got the batteries charged up, hoping all else was well in the engine room, and my college roommate joined us on the third day to make the trip through NY harbor with us. As was true for most of out trip up from Oxford, the weather and marine forecasts were not encouraging-- rain, high winds and our least favorite thing, high seas. So we left Atlantic City for the long trip up the Jersey coast, stopping just outside the harbor to put down our paravane stabilizers, the first time we've dropped the "fish" in almost a year. We travelled in rain with a slight roll all day until just as we approached NY harbor the late afternoon sun began to peek out.

Lights of Lower Manhattan

Reception Hall at Ellis Island

If there’s little else to get excited about on this leg, the trip through New York City via the East River makes up for it all. And unlike our last trips, instead of anchoring further south in Sandy Hook, NJ, Paul found a wonderful spot between Ellis Island and Liberty Island. Never mind that it was one of the roughest anchorages we’ve ever experienced, the views were spectacular.

None of us, even Bubba, minded the evening we spent there, literally on a roll. We ate a late dinner with the lighted Statue of Liberty off to the port and the Reception Hall at Ellis Island and the night skyline of lower Manhattan off to starboard. It’s hard to describe the elation we felt!

The next morning was the actual trip up the East River through the NYC bridges, looking at all the landmark buildings, the Chrysler, the Empire State, the new building going up where the twin towers of the World Trade Center stood, and the prison of Law and Order fame at Riker’s Island. We travelled up Long Island sound and arrived by early afternoon at Port Jefferson-- an uneventful passage other than watching a submarine out of Groton, CT heading up the sound and out to sea.

The next bright spot on our journey homewards was Newport, where we landed late Friday afternoon. Paul’s old college friends who lived in Jamestown whisked us and our guest off to their yacht club for dinner. After a lovely breakfast at their home Saturday morning, my friend left us and Paul and I made plans with our Jamestown friends who would be joining us for the last leg up to Salem.

We planned a civilized Sunday, picking them up at the Jamestown town dock around 10 am and anchoring in the Mattapoisett/ New Bedford, MA area in the early afternoon. Luckily Paul checked weather conditions again and found the window of opportunity was closing to get to Salem without experiencing seas of 5-9 feet-- way more than we want to purposely find ourselves in. With guests onboard, we made a quick decision to go overnight, stopping for a few hours east of the Cape Cod Canal for favorable currents. Our friends are well-seasoned sailors and cruisers and more than willing to stand night watches, so we docked in Salem at 5:30 am Monday morning, May 9.

Brooklyn Bridge

The sun is shining again today, the second full day of sun in the almost three weeks we’ve been here. I do keep reminding myself, that although it’s been chilly and damp here, we really have nothing to complain about as every evening we see new reports of unbelievably destructive tornados ripping through the south and midwest. 

We have two more weeks here, which will go quickly. We’re looking forward to the month we’ll spend in Maine and the rest of the summer cruising along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, visiting some favorite spots and discovering new places along the way. 

Chesapeake!

On the Hard in Oxford, MD

We had a great week with our friends last week and now Carry On is sitting on the gravel at the boatyard in Oxford, MD, a long planned stop to have the boat hauled, the bottom cleaned and painted, as well as some other jobs that can only be done when the boat is out of the water. 

We’ve been living onboard, more or less as usual, minus some of the comforts that we usually take for granted. For instance, a 45 degree, rainy day (like Friday) is not a big deal when we’re in the water, on an anchor or plugged into a dock. But with no generators or cooling pumps to run the A/C/heat, it was a mighty cold day! We scavenged extra fleece blankets from the guest stateroom and spent a reasonably comfortable night under 5 layers of fleece, plus one shared furry beast. Two days later and now the temps are over 80-- it seems Spring in the Chesapeake has much in common with Spring in New England! 

Welcome Aboard!

Some of you have asked questions about life on the hard, like how do we get groceries on board, can we use the bathroom, can we run water for cooking, etc? It’s a long way up to Carry On via a regular ladder to the swim platform and another ladder from there to her deck, so two hands are required. We use a rope and a bucket or canvas bag, lowered down or brought up by someone on deck to get items on and off. Yes, we have a large (55 gallon) holding tank, so with judicious use, we will be fine until we can safely pump out again. Most of the gray water (as opposed to black water in the holding tank) goes into sumps, or tanks in a special part of the bilge, which pump out automatically when they reach a certain volume. We’re showering in shore facilities, using water carefully and needless to say, when crews are painting or working under the boat, the dishes wait!

But back to our “vacation” days in the Chesapeake. Our friends joined us in Great Bridge, VA, and after going through the only locks on the Atlantic ICW, we transited Norfolk Harbor. That passage is always a thrill for Paul and me, as we both have roots in the area and the busy port demands attention with its multitude of commercial and navy vessels and timed drawbridges. We continued a long day up to our anchorage in Deltaville, VA in the lower Chesapeake Bay. We stayed on board that evening and were up again early to make our destination of Solomons, MD.

Chesapeake Bay Crabber

The size of the Bay and the distances between destinations by water still surprises me and makes careful planning necessary for a short cruise with endpoints fixed by dates and geography. We arrived late afternoon in Solomons, launched the dinghy and went out for a walk around town. It was not until after we’d passed the third Budweiser Clydesdale (don’t you see them every day where you live?) that we asked what was going on. Someone was happy to explain what is clearly one of the local rites of Spring-- the opening of the Tiki Bar! Apparently 30,000 people were expected the next day for the event, ready to see the Clydesdales parade, the Tiki Bar King arrive on the Tiki Barge and I’m sure you’ve already guessed this, drink lots and lots of beer! Some locals have been known to flee their homes for the weekend.

Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse

Tiki Bar aside, Solomons is a charming sailing and boating hub, with a well-protected natural harbor with several marinas and anchorages. Our boat guru, Scotty, is based in Solomons in the spring and summer, so we are very familiar with the area. This visit was still early in the tourist season, but it was a nice, warm Spring day and everything seemed to be in bloom.

From Solomons we traveled to St Michael’s, a tourist spot on the Eastern Shore with a large maritime museum dedicated to the watermen’s way of life-- crabbers, scallopers and oystermen. Unfortunately, the weather took a decidedly nasty turn with high seas, high winds and tornado warnings. After our guests and Paul made a brave trek to shore the first evening, with a struggle to get back in the dinghy, we all decided that our lay day would be most wisely and comfortably spent on board. Sadly, there went the sightseeing, the museum visit and the dinner reservations; instead we spent a cozy day inside with tea, hot chocolate and of course, good meals, while the wind howled and the seas raged!   

In the Middle of Things in Annapolis

We woke to a new day, sunny and quiet in our anchorage and we set off across the Bay again for Annapolis, a short run that put us in at mid day. Our dock was literally in the center of town (the dock is nicknamed “Ego Alley”), and as it was Palm Sunday and a beautiful day after a terrible Saturday, town was packed with sightseers and locals out for fresh air. Many Naval Academy midshipmen were also out and about, both male and female, looking fit and attractive in their summer whites.  Other tourists were perched on the wall alongside Carry On eating ice cream cones and tending children, a whole new experience for us! We were happy to join the tourists in a walk around town, then enjoy the hubbub from the sanity of our flybridge and salon!

Our guests left the next day after an all too quick visit, and here we are in Oxford, busy but looking forward to starting the last, long leg homeward to Marblehead.. 

Back to Zero

Cable Ferry South of Georgetown, SC

So here we are back at Statute Mile Marker 12.5 on the ICW, in Great Bridge, VA, just below Norfolk, the official beginning of the waterway, St M 0.0. That may not sound so impressive to you, but to us it represents about 1050 statute (land) miles covered since we left Miami. The first 500 or so miles usually seem to go pretty quickly, but the last week and a half or so can feel like forever. We’ve made good time and have put in long days, leaving at first light and anchoring just before sunset-- we are ready for a little down time!

We had a fine evening out in Charleston-- the weather was beautiful, if rather windy, the city was full of blooming trees, Wisteria and tourists everywhere. We ate at one of our favorite restaurants and made the long walk home, deciding it would be quicker than waiting for a cab. Up early the next day and on to Georgetown, SC with hopes of getting our propane up and running again. What began as a just a leak in the propane grill line escalated into a larger problem with the lines to the cooktop and stove. Sunday night dinner was a microwave success story, after a trek around town looking for an open restaurant. 

Whatzit on the Waterway

The helpful personnel at our little marina did manage to get the cooking propane working again and we managed to get the boat off the dock with more than 20 knots of wind holding us on and little room and depth for backing. Always a tense situation, but onward to Wrightsville Beach via the twisty, turny Waccamaw River. 

Usually I knit when I’m on watch. I can look up every few stitches, check the course, depth, speed and look around for other boats. If it’s a big open body of water and long course legs, I read. But on a day in the Waccamaw, knitting is out of the question. So to keep boredom at bay, I amused myself by counting the turtles sunning themselves on logs--  the four lined up head to tail like circus elephants got me going. I got to 23 with my haphazard methods, still giving the autopilot the attention it demanded! Some days we are reduced to such things.

Duck Blind on the Little Alligator River

We had a fine two nights in the Wrightsville Beach anchorage. I had a lovely walk on the beach and friends from our time at Bennett Brothers in Wilmington were in the area, so we went out for the afternoon with them, and had dinner together aboard Carry On. The next days were a blur of traveling, from breakfast in the pilot house and dinner shortly before falling into bed. 

The waterway went from twisting and turning and areas of shoaling (we bumped at least a half dozen times, but never got stuck) to the wide open, vast rivers and sounds of North Carolina-- the Neuse River, Pungo River,the Albemarle Sound, the Alligator River, Pamlico Sound and finally the Currituck. 

One of the Local Bubbas

It’s hard to imagine the feel of these bodies of water. Often there is no shore visible, and because they are very shallow (yes, more bumps), opposing wind and current can make for a very rough ride, as I can attest from personal experience having  spent my 60th birthday on the Neuse River, seasick myself and nursing a seasick cat. The good news is that on a quiet day, piloting is a piece of cake with long runs of 5 or 8 nautical miles between course changes-- all the benefits of running off the coast-- and you can get a lot of reading done!

   

And very finally and happily, we are in Virginia again. Company from home arrive tonight and we will spend the next week poking around the Chesapeake together, before Carry On goes into the boatyard next Monday to get hauled and the bottom painted!

It’s Spring!

Pink Birds

We spent a bit longer than planned in Ft Pierce, thinking that we had a good weather window to travel outside to Fernandina Beach, with a bailout at St Augustine, if necessary. When the day arrived, we looked at each other, took a deep breath and admitted we really weren’t so inclined to do the 30 plus hour run by ourselves-- meaning with just the two of us to stand watch overnight. So, Plan B, or maybe it was C or D, we headed north up the Indian River on the ICW. One  compensation is the leg through the Merritt Island National Refuge, near Cape Canaveral, with its’ rookeries and manatees-- and a chance to see the Roseate Spoonbills again, although there were not so many as we have seen there before. I always get a kick out of seeing these big pink birds with their distinctive bills, roosting in the trees.

Did Someone Say "Coffee"?

After a quiet overnight in the Banana River anchorage, we were treated to an early morning show by the local rowing club. Kayaks and shells of various lengths, with single and multiple crew, went racing by as we ate our breakfast. Very suddenly, they all turned in the same direction and paddled furiously back to the rowing club base-- it was if someone had yelled “Coffee!”

Another day spent in the Indian River with an anchorage in Halifax, just south of Daytona, and then a day’s run up to St Augustine. We’ve discovered that the $20 moorings, nice dinghy dock and shore facilities makes a nice stopover. And indeed, we walked across The Bridge of LIons, the beloved, recently renovated drawbridge, and had a downscale, but wonderful Saturday night dinner of fried local shrimp.

Bridge of Lions, St. Augustine

On to Fernandina Beach (Amelia Island) on Sunday, with a lay day for a major grocery shopping run, a few errands and a haircut for me on Tuesday morning, before leaving again to resume the northern march. The rain which started on Monday, continued all day Tuesday to our anchorage in Jove Creek-- in GA, Carry On’s first night out of Florida since early December. More rain on Wednesday, a little lightning and a lot of thunder, but the water was flat and we made great time to our anchorage in New River, near Daufuskie Island, SC. We saw lots of dolphins and all the birds seemed more active than usual, including the group of terns who circled Carry On for a couple of hours. We’ve seen this phenomenon a few times before-- we’ve speculated that because of our superstructure, they think we’re a fishing boat! Of course, we’ve had the same problem with the Coast Guard, so who could blame them?

Got Fish?

The run to Hilton Head the next morning was a short one, we had the afternoon free and dinner out with friends who live in the area. We woke up this morning to a very chilly, clear and sunny day--but it did feel a bit like an April Fool’s joke at 46 degrees!  But it’s definitely Spring. The ospreys are nesting in day marks on the waterway, the trees here in South Carolina are leafing out into a beautiful pale green and the azaleas are in bloom. We’re underway today in sunshine and tomorrow morning, we’ll be in Charleston. 

And once again, we’re having the discussion of going outside on Sunday for an overnight run to Wrightsville Beach!

Patiently Waiting