Day 368 - Crossing our wake!
We woke up this morning to what sounded like a ship's horn right near us. I looked out the window and fog had blanketed the area. The ship must have been going through the channel and continued to sound its horn as it went along its way. I went back to sleep and woke up about an hour later to the su...
Day 367
After a smooth ride through the Cape May Canal, we had a rough patch of travel. The winds picked up to be consistently in the 20's with gusts up to 39mph. Waves were in the 2-4 range but we saw a few in the 5-6 ft. range. We were consistently showered with sea spray as we plowed through the waves an...
Day 366
Today wasn't as pleasant a voyage, because the winds were 12-18 mph with gusts up to 34. The boat got a lot of sea spray (oh how we miss the lakes!) It really wasn't too unpleasant though and we had about 4 hour trip to Cape May. Once we were settled in the marina, we took the bikes out for a couple...
Day 365!!!!
ONE YEAR!!! After a rockin' and rollin' night (winds up to 25 mph that were hitting us broadside against the dock) we waited until 11am for the winds to die down and were off to Atlantic City. We had an unexpected great day with the winds around 5-10 knots and following seas. We traveled 6 hours to...
Day 363 & 364
Although the day was overcast, the seas were calm and the winds were minimal for our trip to Belmar. Our 4 hour trip was uneventful except for occasional dolphin sightings and seeing the wide variety of fishing boats out on the water. We arrived in Belmar NJ and our good friends Virginia and Dan hos...
Day 362
It was a wise decision to wait to travel today. We waited for the rain to end in the AM and headed out. The seas were calm and although the skies were gray to start out the sun peaked out and finally shone full. It was great to pass the Palisades on the Jersey shore and go under the Tappan Zee (whic...
Day 361
The weather today kept us off the water. Although there were clear skies, there were gale force warnings of winds up to 40mph. The winds were strong and the waves were up to 3 feet in our marina. Kevin and I were both getting seasick as the boat bobbed and swayed in our slip. We took the commuter tr...
Day 359 and 360
We had fine weather today as we cruised 4 hours to Croton-on-Hudson. The Hudson was the prettiest we'd seen it yet. We passed the Bannerman Island with its Arsenal and Castle, which are now pretty weathered and unkept looking. We also passed West Point, which is pretty impressive from the water. We...
Days 358
We were joined by our friends today and went to the Vanderbilt Mansion. The Mansion is a "modest" 54 room house and it remains furnished as it was when it was when it was first built. The National Park Service owns it and provides a nice tour. After the tour and a brief walk around the grounds we we...
Day 357
It was a short 2 hour trip today in drizzle and light rain. We had a late start as we considered how the latest hurricane was going to affect our travel to NYC and then down the east coast. We didn't really decide anything yet but the worst that could happen is that we stay on the Hudson and maybe g...
Day 356
Today started of cloudy and cool but by the time we got to Kingston, we needed to change into shorts because of the sun. We passed by a few small towns and had a view of the Catskills along the way. When we got to Kingston, they were having an Italian festival. Our marina was across the river from K...
Day 355
It was a cloudy, breezy and cool day today as we traveled down the Hudson. We stayed in a small marina that was fairly close to Albany.
Day 353 & 354
The start of the day was very foggy and we were concerned that the locks might not open again today but not to worry...they opened up and by 9am we were off. We traveled with the other sailboats for a few locks and then they pulled off for the day. We decided to power through and see if we could get...
Day 352
A bit of a gloomy and cool day. We traveled through 3 locks but at lock 13 we were told we would not be able to go through any other locks that day because they had closed the locks. There had been a lot of rain over the past few days and the level of the water was too high and there was too much de...
Day 351
A short day today. Lots of rain and cool temps made it uncomfortable for traveling through locks. We only had to go through 3 locks and the rain settled down when we got to St. Johnsville. The village is pretty small and looks like it has seen better days. We spent the rest of the day planning trave...
Day 350
A six hour trip today. It was rather cold, wet and dreary throughout the day but the early autumn beauty shone through. We traversed 4 locks without any drama. Being in the canal we are well protected except for the canaligators (logs that are floating on and below the surface of the canal) that we...
Day 349
It was a short trip (2 hours) on the water today. We just needed to cut across Lake Oneida, which is the only large body of water on the Erie Canal route. The lake is rather shallow and can get up to 6 foot waves but it was smooth as glass at the start of our trip and got a tiny bit choppy at the en...
Day 348
Today was a rather long day as we traveled through 8 locks and completed the journey through the Oswego Canal and entered into the Erie Canal. It was a bit blustery and cool but sunny. The locking experience went really well except for 2 locks we went through with a couple from Toronto, in a sail bo...
Day 347
It was a bright calm morning to go to NY! Once we got out of the protection of being in the Quinte Bay, the winds picked - up and the seas were quite choppy - mostly at 3-4 feet. So much for the forecast of seas at 1-2 feet. After about 2 hours, the winds died down and the seas subsided. The rest of...
Day 346
The crew worked from 9am-4pm on the boat today realigning the strut, shaft and propellers. We then went out on a sea trial and things were much smoother but there was still a little vibration and we weren't sure if it was from the water currents and/or that we weren't used to the new propellers and...
Days 345
We waited this morning for the wind and rain to calm down and headed back to Belleville. We encountered strong winds and waves 2-4 feet throughout the trip. Once we got to Belleville a few of the technicians boarded the boat and we went out for them to try to figure out what was wrong. Both engines...
Day 343 & 344
We put the boat in the water this morning and had a few hiccups before we were able to leave. (taking on water when the boat was dropped into the water (stuffing around the shaft was leaking), our bow thruster wasn't working, and one engine died during the sea trial (both related to a battery cable...
Day 309-342
A 10 mile trip this morning to bring Huckster to Crate Marine in Belleville Ontario to get lifted out of the water, have her damage assessed and get her all fixed up. We got to the marina and had her lifted. It appears that one or both of the propeller shafts/struts are damaged and there is a bit of...
Day 308
Our last day on the Trent Severn Waterway today. We fueled up for the 12 lock day by going to the bakery and getting donuts and oatmeal cookies (which were recommended by one of the lock attendants). The day was a little breezy but warm and sunny. We enjoyed the last 12 locks and as we left the last...
Day 307
A pretty easy day today. We got a "latish" start because we "needed" to go to the antique car show that was at the foot of the marina. It really was fun to see all the well maintained cars and talk to their owners. Then we took off to Campbellford. It was a 6 lock day today. We encountered our first...
Day 306
A nice relaxed day today. We traveled through river towns and then through Lake Anne to Hastings, ON. The fishermen, in all kinds of boats and kayaks were out in full force. We also were followed by a few jet skiers doing lots of acrobatic tricks in our wakes.
Day 305
A very, very, wet day today. Ontario got some much needed rain. Although it was very heavy at times, the temperature was warm so being in soaking wet clothes all day wasn't too bad. It rained so hard that water leaked through the seams in our canvas. We ended up traveling from 9am-4:30pm. We travele...
Day 304
Our new props arrived today at about 11am. The diver arrived and had no problem putting them on and we went out for a spin to test them. There is a slight vibration for the shaft that is damaged but otherwise things were good. We can't say enough good things about the service we received at Buckhorn...
Days 299-303
Day 299 Today was a one lock day. We passed the lock and travelled to an anchorage behind Big Boyd Island. It was an anchorage recommended by one of the boaters the night before. He did warn Kevin to avoid the rocks as you entered the anchorage. Kevin passed what he thought was the rocks he was to a...
Day 298
A busy trip today, as we went through 7 different locks. One brought us down so we could pass under a bridge. We were traveling at the same pace as another boat and they were our "lock buddies" along the way. We went through a few lakes and canals along the way today. The water level seems low. At o...
Day 297
Another easy trip today. We arrived at Orilla, which has a nice new marina. It was a little shallow but we just kicked up some mud. We met some friends of my sister, Betsy, from Fl. They are also traveling the Great Loop but in the opposite direction as us. They are in a great 26' boat and seem to b...
Day 296
A rather short day today but exciting. We continued going through more islands in the Gloucester Pool. There was a very narrow, hairpin turn where we had to call on the radio to warn other boaters we were coming through because there was no way to have 2 boats go through the turn at the same time. O...
Day 295
After cleaning the boat, getting fuel and a pumpout, we headed for the Trent Severn. Since it is the Canadian Civic holiday today things were pretty busy. We only had 10 miles to go and then we hit our first lock along the Trent Severn waterway. We got to the lock and had a two hour wait to go throu...
Day 292-294
We continued through the Small Craft Channel to Midland Ontario. It is a civic holiday in Canada on Monday and there is lots of boat traffic. As we got closer to Midland the islands were more populated and busy. We arrived in Midland to the Bay Port Yacht Harbor around 2pm. I noticed that a nearby b...
Day 290
We had a beautiful run along the Small Craft Channel today, seeing lots and lots of all kinds of cottages on all sizes of islands. We traveled through a narrow channel and ended up in a nice, enclosed basin up the 12 mile inlet. We took our kayak out for an evening outing and saw loons and some type...
Day 289 & 290
Another short run today to Snug Harbor (Carling on the map because there is no Snug Harbor). We got to our anchorage, which was another beautiful spot. We took the kayak out to explore and then I went for a nice long swim. It was a beautiful evening. We decided to stay an extra day and just chill. I...
Day 288
Our original plan was to anchor in the Bustard Islands. We had a nice trip there but were a little concerned about seeing a lot of forest fires in the distance on the mainland. There was no smoke where we were so we found a beautiful spot to dropped anchor. Right after we go settled the Natural Reso...
Day 287
A beautiful 13 mile trip through many, many little islands and narrow passages. We ended up in another nicely protected anchorage with shallow pools of water filled with water lilies.
Day 285 & 286
This morning we moved the boat closer to the protected anchorage, and took the dingy to shore. We had a nice hike to Topaz lake and enjoyed the beauty of the rose granite lined lake. Back on Huckster we traveled 15 miles to Kilarney. When we got to the marina, the winds were gusting to 15 knots and...
Day 284
We traveled to Baie FIne today in moderate wind and waves. Baie Fine is supposed to be the only Fiord (or area like a fiord) in the western hemisphere. It is a beautiful area. There are not many charted anchorages and we went to a few of them but they were not very well protected. Our Canadian frien...
Day 283
A 3.5 hour trip today in moderate, bumpy seas. We arrived at a little harbour in Croaker islands and the anchorage was almost full. All the boats were tied off at the stern to the bank and bow out with anchors in the water. We had some very nice Canadian anchorage mates that offered to take our ster...
Day 282
A short day (12 miles) to Long Point Cove today. It is a beautiful cove and very secluded. We took the kayak out to explore the nearby islands. In the evening we saw a beaver dragging a stick to his dam and Kevin thinks he saw a black bear splash into the water and swim across the cove. There was a...
Day 281
Crossed the line into Canada today! We made it through customs easily and settled into our marina. We took a bike ride into town. It was small and not a touristy destination. We got some provisions and wine.
Day 280
A overcast but nice 4 hour trip to DeTour Village. This is our last stop in US waters for awhile. We'll be in Canada for about 6 weeks. Our internet access will be limited for posting to the blog. So sorry if the postings are periodic. I'll continue to take pictures and update when I can.
Days 277 -279
Day 277 - A nice bright day with low winds and waves to start our day. As we got closer to our final destination--Macinaw City --the winds picked up and so did the seas. We had a little trouble finding the entrance of the marina, while we were dodging the ferries on their way to and from Macinaw Isl...
Day 276
Our voyage today was quite different from yesterday. Winds were high (20-27 knots) and seas were rough (2-5feet) We had a 4.5 hour trip and it was quite wibbley/wobbley! The captain was really feeling it and was quite pale at times:( We got to the channel into the harbor at Charlevoix and were just...
Day 275
We were back to nice calm seas today - yea! Before we left for our trip to Harbor Springs, Kevin did some cleaning of the hull to remove some troubling wax streaks. Our trip was uneventful except for when we got to the marina, Kevin had to squeeze through 2 yachts (one is a yacht owned by the owner...
Day 274
We had a clear and calm day to cross Lake Michigan to the Michigan side of the lake. We anchored off of South Manitou Island. We took a rather short walk on the beach (a fair number of flies to fend off) and I had a little swim. The water was cool but refreshing.
Days 272 &273
After 2 slightly rainy days, we lucked out with a beautiful, clear day to travel the extensive trip (13 miles) to Washington Island. The Island really reminded us of Maine and the vibe of the island is very much like Vinalhaven, ME, where we have spent many summers. We took a 2 hour tram ride on the...
Days 270 and 271
The weather has gotten overcast and rainy today. We stayed in Nicolet Bay until a storm front went by. I used the downtime to finish-up applying for the various Medicare supplemental policies I needed to get before October and to file quarterly tax returns! Once the storm went through we pulled up a...
Day 269
We had a late start to the day, since we had only 4 miles to go till our next destination. We traveled to Nicolet Bay, just off of the Peninsula State Park. We had biked through the park yesterday. The bay was fairly crowded when we got there at 1pm. Our anchorage is right outside of the beach and c...
Days 267 & 268
We had a big breakfast and sent out our friend Kathleen into the wilderness for her 30+ mile bike ride. We then headed up to Fish Creek. Fish Creek is a beautiful little vacation town with great parks nearby. We spent out first day in Fish Creek, exploring the town and then took a nice long bike rid...
Day 266
We had a beautiful day to travel to Sturgeon Bay. It was about a 2 hour trip. We got into town with plenty of time to explore the town. We biked to the Maritime Museum and learned lots about the local ship building industry and how it exploded during WWII. We also found out a lot about the local shi...
Day 265
Had a nice easy trip to Kewaunee. It is a very small town. We took our bikes out to explore the town and found a great cheese shop and fresh fish market. The woman at the fish market and I had an extended talk about fish tacos and she gave great advice about how to cook white fish for fish tacos. Ou...
Day 264
Our 4 hour trip to Sheboygan was bouncier than the day before. The winds weren't very high but the waves were 1-4 feet. It was nice and cool and the skies were clear. Sheboygan is a good size coastal city. It has a nice bike path that goes around the lake shore, a revitalized river walk area, and a...
Day 263
We had a short trip to Port Washington and the skies and water were calm. Port Washington is a small and beautiful little town. We took a nice long walk around the town and got some of the best ice cream we had on our trip. Kevin had root beer float and I had sage salty pecan. Yum! We also went to t...
Days 260-262
Another short, calm, pretty day today as we traveled to Racine. We got in around 1pm and had plenty of time for a 12 mile bike ride and we saw a little of the city and a nearby light house. We were unable to get into a marina in Milwaukee for the 4th of July because there was a big Summerfest Concer...
Day 291
We had a 12 mile voyage today through the Small Craft Channel, and saw lots, and lots of little, medium. and large cottages on every various sizes of islands. We made our way through another narrow passage and anchored in an enclosed little bay. Took an evening kayak ride through various channels an...
Day 259
We were sorry to leave Chicago but are looking forward to exploring the west coast of Lake Michigan. We've met a lot of friendly people from Wisconsin. They have been very free with advice on where to go along the west coast, offering itineraries, their cars and even slips in marinas. Those nice mid...
Days 252-258
After a 1.5 hour trip, we arrived in Dusable Harbor, near the Navy Pier in Chicago. It's a perfect location. We took advantage of the beautiful day and took a bike ride along the shoreline. We are staying a week here. Kevin is going to the University of Chicago's Medical Center to have a Melanoma ex...
Days 250 &251
We stayed a total of 3 days in Hammond to do some general boat cleaning and because the marina fees are 1/3 the cost of Chicago. We went to the nearby Horseshoe Casino and that was a bust...except for the small Noodle Bar in the casino, that was very flavorful. Unfortunately, this marina is infested...
Day 249
We tried to get an early start to the day because we had lots of bridges, locks and boat traffic to contend with today. We couldn't really start until after 8:15 AM because the bridges wouldn't open until then. It was a rainy day and we were concerned about the water level and how that would affect...
Day 248
A much cooler day to continue our trip up north along the Illinois river. The day started out overcast but then the sun came out. it was a 3 lock day and we had to wait two hours at the second lock, for a big tow to come through. Towards the end of the day the river banks were lined with more indust...
Days 246 &247
Another super hot and humid day as we made our way to Ottawa IL. More beautiful green islands and river banks, tows, and some small boaters. We had to go through a lock at Starved Rock Canyon and we were supervised by a few families overseeing the locking process. We settled into the Heritage Harbor...
Day 245
We had a leisurely start to the day. We didn't leave Peoria until 11:30. Although I would have liked to have given Kevin a special breakfast, we had limited breakfast treats on the boat and we didn't want to head to Peoria again to look for brunch. Kevin had to make due with a breakfast in bed with...
Day 244
It was a five hour trip today to Peoria. Another hot day and a lot of weekend boaters out on the river, as well as tows. The scenery is pretty much the same as the past few days but more industrial areas as we go closer to Peoria. The river remains high and we floated past the lock that we were supp...
Day 243
A 6 hour voyage today that started with a challenge. Our anchor line had caught an eight foot timber and the challenge was how to move it after breaking both of our telescoping line hooks trying to get off the ship's line we brought up with the anchor the day before. Kevin initially tried straighten...
Day 242
Today started out warm and overcast. We encountered lots of tow traffic. There were many little communities along the river banks. About 2/3 of our way into the day trip the skies got dark and a look at the radar wasn't promising. We heard a tug Captain report that he got a wether warning to expect...
Day 241
A two hour cruise today to Grafton, a small town in Illinois. Again it was hot and humid so we got into our slip and turned the air conditioning on and planned out the rest of our trip to Chicago. We've made all our reservations and are good to go till July 1. At about 4:30 we took the opportunity t...
Day 240
We stayed an extra day in Alton and rented a car to go see St. Louis. We initially were going to the City Museum in St. Louis because it sounded funky. When we got there there were about 200 kids going through for their year end day trips. It is a more child focused museum, We decided to skip the mu...
Day 239
What a great day! Going through the St. Louis harbor was fascinating and fun. Lots of tow traffic and to see the St. Louis Arch from the water was fantastic. It was also challenging and fun to go through two locks that were different from any other we had been through before. The first lock was a ne...
Day 238
Another 93+ day today and humid. It was interesting to see the difference in homes along the river banks as we got closer to our marina. Lots of big houses. We are assuming that the proximity to St. Louis accounts for this. Our marina is a famous one for the Loopers. Hoppies is a 3rd generation fami...
Day 237
A warm and humid day. Lots more of the same scenery. Tows, treelined banks but lots of pretty cloud formations.
Day 236
I started off the day going into town to the local farmers market and to see a series of paintings on the walls of the levees that surrounded the town.The farmers market had one farmer, but hey, that''s all I needed. The murals on the levee walls were very beautiful and they had plaques that told th...
Day 235
A very slow start to the day. We were very close to the lock we needed to go through, so we called them to find out the activity going through the lock. We were told it would be a 5-6 hour delay. There was another alternate way that would take longer for us to get back on course and there was a lock...
Day 234
We stayed another day in Green Turtle Bay, to get the boat lifted out of the water so we could repair a line-cutter on the propeller shaft. I got to see the famous green turtles while they were doing repairs. They are very shy creatures. We added to the day's excitement by taking the courtesy car to...
Day 233
A sunny day... free of humidity. We travelled through Kentucky Lake and passed over from TN to Kentucky today. Our day was similar to yesterday, as to scenery and the boats we encountered. Lots of tree lined banks along the lake and the occasional bass fishing boat. We arrived at our marina, which i...
Day 232
We had a quiet voyage through Kentucky Lake today ending up at another State Park Marina "Paris Landing Marina." We saw a few fisherman and a big power plant and a Dupont plant complex but otherwise the shores of the lake were either tree-covered or had pockets of residential/summer home communities...
Day 231
Today started off cloudy and windy. We went through the Pickwick Lock right off of the bat. This time the water level went down about 40 feet. The water current was pretty turbulent exiting the lock. The water level is high in the TN river right now. The winds were about 20-30 knots for awhile but t...
Day 230
Our journey today took us through Bay Spring Lake, a canal section of the Tenn-Tom and into Pickwick lake (in TN). This was the first day during our trip that we saw a lot of activity on the Tenn-Tom. We needed to travel slowly because there were so many recreational boaters on the water. It was fun...
Days 228 &229
We left Smithsville and continued traveling up the Tenn-Tom Waterway with some stow away May flies, who were making a slow journey to their death. About mid-day most of the flies had met their makers and I gave them a fresh water burial. The weather was nice but humid as we made our way to Cotton Sp...
Day 227
We are back and on the move again. After a nice trip back to DC for various doctor appointments and visiting with friends and family, we headed back to Columbus, MS on May 23rd. We stayed in Columbus for a week, doing repairs, varnishing and cleaning the boat. Today we began our trip heading up rive...
Days 201-226
Aren't you sick of hearing me say...another beautiful day? It was though! As we traveled through this part of the Tenn-Tom (Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway) we encountered more people and development. The houses went from rustic fishing camps/cabins to a fair amount of largish houses on stilts. Since i...
Days 199 & 200
It was another quiet day on the water today. We saw one barge and a few small fishing boats along the way. The water gets calmer and with little debris, now that it's below flood stage for a few days. We went through another lock by ourselves. This one took us up 50 feet. I don't know if this is a p...
Day 198
Another pretty day. The waters are less turbulent and debris is minimal. We passed white cliffs of rock and areas where the rock where it looked like it was dripping blood. We traversed another lock and there was a huge flock of birds gathered near the dam. Maybe it was an easy place to catch fish,...
Day 197
Today was a long trip - 85 miles. It was a beautiful day on the meandering river. On the shores were occasional fish camps and power plants, paper mills, and gravel operations. As we came to our first lock on the river, we met up with 3 other boats from Alabama/MS who were traveling north to home. T...
Day 196
Last night I thought we had an intruder at the stern of the boat. It was a big blue heron (I think a heron). It had landed in our stern and made quite a clatter Then there was a lot of bumping/flapping on the sides of the boat, near our cabin. I looked out to see the heron standing quietly near our...
Day 194 &195
Today we moved across the bay to Dog River. Dog river is close to Mobile, Al and the marina has fuel, which we needed to fill-up on for our journey up the rivers. We'll stay in Dog River for 2 days to see if the rivers subside (they are at flood stage right now but our supposed to go below flood sta...
Days 190-193
We had a fairly short trip to Fairhope, AL. The winds continue to be in the mid/upper 20 knots and the day started out rather gloomy but cleared up as the day progressed. For the last few hours of the trip we had quite the following of birds. It seemed like they thought we were a fishing ship. Lots...
Day 189
Today was a fun filled day. We left Pensacola about 11:30 and headed out to Alabama! As we headed to the GIWW I noticed an airplane heading directly down to earth. It disappeared in the horizon and I was worried:( Ha! I was fooled because it was the Blue Angels doing training! We were headed in the...
Day 188
Today was a 35 mile trip to Pensicola. The day started out the same as yesterday with clear skies, puffy clouds, and rather calm waters. Initially our trip took us through "The Narrows" a stretch of the GIWW that was in between barrier islands and the mainland. Ass the day progressed and we got into...
Day 187
The wind and rain had subsided by early morning and we headed out into what appeared to be a nice day. About an hour into our trip the winds picked up and gusted at around 36 knots, waves 3-4 feet , but the sky remained sunny. It must have been to much for the birds and dolphins and other wildlife b...
Days 185 & 186
Our voyage was a half an hour today. We are staying in Panama City Marina for two days because it is supposed to be rainy. We arrived early at the marina and biked to St. Andrews, which is a couple miles away. The ride was very pleasant along a beach drive and through very nice residential areas. Th...
Day 184
A short one hour trip today. The weather is beautiful and we've anchored off of Shell Beach near Panama City. Shell Island is an uninhabited island, which has a history of being inhabited by Indians and pirates. It did have a wealth of shells at one time. We took our dingy to the island and had a ni...
Day 183
Today our trip took us back to the channel to the GIWW. The scenery continued to be pretty along the way and the GIWW widened and got more marshy. We had a few dolphin visitors, who enjoyed bow riding rather than wake surfing. I'm sure you are sad that I didn't get any more dolphin shots but winds w...
Day 182
Today the weather remained beautiful but the wind picked up some. We were traveling through the GIWW (Gulf Intracoastal Water Way) and the scenery was very beautiful. Lots of pines, cypress and swampy areas. We saw a fair amount of birds (eagles, osprey, pelicans, etc.) There isn't much in the way o...
Day 181
A nice calm trip to Apalachicola today. Arrived early afternoon and had a nice time exploring this cute little fishing/oyster harvesting town. The Apalachicola oysters are supposed to be wonderful but unfortunately the oyster population has decreased significantly. We did have a great dinner of raw...
Day 177 -180
It was a short 3 mile trip up the Carrabelle River to Carrabelle. The wind had picked up last evening and that made pulling into our slip one of the most challenging landings ever. After 3 aborted tries, we were able to get into the slip by pulling up to a dock that was perpendicular to our slip and...
Day 176
We pulled up anchor at 4:30AM and headed out to the Gulf of Mexico - in the dark. It was a bit challenging finding the red and green markers that showed the channel, which led through a bridge to the Gulf. Thank God there is GPS and electronic charts. Once out in the Gulf, we had to keep the search...
Day 175
It was a 4 hour trip to Clearwater today, our staging point for crossing the Gulf of Mexico. I was na uneventful trip and we anchored in a cove that was fairly well protected but still a little windy. We went to bed fairly early as we have a 4:30AM start tomorrow for our 15-17 hour trip. The weather...
171-174
Today was a trip to St. Petersburg to spend about 4 days. We are going to wait for the wind and sea conditions to be good to make the trip across the Gulf of Mexico. We need to cut across the Gulf because we can't really go up north along the coast and around the bend of the coast because the water...
Day 164 -170
The day started off with me taking the kayak to Don Pedro Island and having a great walk and finding lots of shells:0 Then we hoisted the anchor and headed to Sarasota for a week at Marina Jack. We are taking our time on the west coast for a few weeks before we head across the Gulf of Mexico to star...
Day 163
It was an easy trip from Punta Gorda to Don Pedro Island today. It was about 3.5 hours but the ICW was very congested. It must have been everyone taking a long Easter weekend. We tried to take a dingy ride to the State Park on the island but the dingy's motor kept stalling out:( I was disappointed b...
Days 161 &162
No let up on the winds today but we only had about a 2.5 hour trip to Boca Grande. We are in a nice protected marina this time. The town here is very small and has a nice historic residential area with old houses and brick-lined streets. We biked around the town our first day and today went in the o...
Day 160
The wind continued to stay strong on our travels to Gasparilla Island. The marina we were staying in is not very protected and our slip (actually the fuel dock- because they messed up on our reservation and didn't have a slip for us) was right at the entrance of the channel into the marina. It was e...
Day 159
The wind picked up again today. We had a rather choppy but short trip (1 hour) to Cape Coral. We anchored in the same protected cove that we stayed in earlier in the winter. It was a good thing it was protected the winds were up to 24 knots but the boat was holding anchor firmly. We had a relaxing a...
Days 156-158
Another rather calm day to travel. Traveling the ICW is back to being slow because of locks, bridges and manatee slow speed zones. We got into Fort Myers in the early afternoon and took a walk around the town. It appears that the town is in the process of being revitalized. There are 4-6 blocks of s...
Day 155
Our trip today was much calmer than the day before. We are back in the canals and the weather is sunny and the winds are calm. We made it into the marina by early afternoon and enjoyed relaxing and doing a little more clean-up from our flood.
Day 154
Today was an eventful day. The NOAA forecast for Lake Okeechobee was for winds around 15-20 and choppy seas. As we made our way from Stuart to the Lake, conditions were windy but it wasn't bad going down the St. Lucie Canal. When we went through the last lock into the lake, things definitely picked...
Day 152 & 153
We are headed back across FL today. We got back on the ICW and went as far as Stuart FL. We anchored near Stuart in a cove but wind made it difficult to get the anchor to hold. We needed to reset the anchor 3 times during the day/evening. We decided to stay another day though before we headed across...
Day 151
We stayed in Riviera Beach for another day because we had to go to the airport to clear customs and we needed to provision for the week ahead. We also met our friends Marsha and Art, for a great lunch in West Palm.
Day 150
We had a fairly early start to the day to head back to the states. As we left 5 dolphins jumped around our boat and I took that as a good sign for the trip. The weather was great and the winds were around the 10-15 knot range. There were some rolling swells but nothing to make the 6 hour trip a bad...
Day 149
It was a beautiful trip to West End and we were already feeling nostalgic about leaving the Bahamas. As we got closer to West End, we again got spooked about the clarity of the water and the feeling that we'd run aground. We did touch bottom at one time, as it was low tide, but made it to the marina...
Day 148
The winds were calmer as we headed to Great Sale Cay. We anchored in a nice protected cove and I took the kayak out to visit the coral reef and beach.
Days 146 -147
We went back to Allen's Pensacola Cay for a couple of days. The winds have calmed some but are still in the 15-20 knot range. We decided to stay anchored here for 2 days. We explored more of the island that we didn't see last time. We took the kayak to an entrance to a second path across the island...
Days 143-145
Back to Green Turtle Cay for a few days. There were lots of other boaters there who were making their way back to the states. Everyone was waiting for the wind to die down and then make their way to West End. We used our time to bike, provision, and go to the library and exchange some books. I also...
Day 142
A one hour trip took us to an anchorage off of Man-O-War Cay. We dinghied in town and walked around. It is a cute, well kept, little town. There is a small boat building manufacturing company there and a few other shops with hand made goods. We wandered the streets and admired the colorful houses an...
Days 139-141
The winds have died down and we had a short and uneventful trip to Elbow Cay. We stayed in a Marina at the opposite end of the cay from the town, Hope Town. The Marina is nicely situated and we met up with another couple that we met before, who have the same boat as ours. There were only about 35 of...
Day 133-138
Today we boated to Marsh Harbour, which is on Abaco Island. This is the third largest city in the Abacos. To get to Marsh Harbour we had to go out into the Atlantic Ocean for a short period because the more protected waters of the Sea of Abaco, were too shallow for a stretch of miles. To get to the...
Days 124-132
Today we arrived to the Green Turtle Cay Marina, our home for the next 10 days. My sister Elaine and her husband Ron, will join us for a week. The island is more inhabited than any other we’ve been to. It has about 400 full-time residents and many are descendants of the British Loyalists that depart...
Day 123
Very windy day today (winds up to 30 knots). The seas were very choppy. Manjack Cay is a pretty island. We anchored with about 15 other boats in a small cove and the boat did some rocking in the waves. The island has a few houses and the residents are fine with you exploring the island as long as yo...
Day 122
Sorry for the delays in posting to the blog. The internet access is really unreliable and I've tried posting this day 122 at least 5 times. It looks like I'll be posting the Bahamas trip very infrequently, until we get good access, but that might not be until we are stateside. Look for lots of posti...
Days 120 &121
Today was a short trip to Allan's Pensacola Cay. This is another uninhabited island that once was the home of a missile tracking site. The weather continues to be beautiful and the waters are clear and varying shades of aqua/blue. I get a kick out of seeing the shallow waters around the keys from a...
Day 119
Another beautiful day for the 45 mile trip to Great Sale Cay. This is an uninhabited island with small pretty beaches. We blew up our inflatable kyak and took it for a spin around the cove we anchored in. We enjoyed a quiet and star-filled night sky.
Days 117&118
We headed out early today to go to the Bahamas before the weather changed and it got too rough. The winds were between 13-24 knots and the seas were between 2-4 feet but the skies were clear. It made for a choppy 7.5 hour ride but the boat and the crew handled it well. Yea for us! We arrived early a...
Days 114-116
Another slow day through the ICW. Sunday boaters clogged the ICW for our trip today. Ski-dos, pontoon boats, go fasts, sail boats and fishing boats made the ICW a little bit of a maze. We also had 18 bridges to pass through today. Lots of waiting for bridges to open but it was a good time for people...
Day 113
Today was a long day and we didn't go very far. We continued to travel along the ICW up north to Boca Raton. Traveling was slow because we had to go through 15 bridges and had to wait for quite a few to open, so we could resume our trip. Also, it was a no wake zone through most of the ICW. All in al...
Day 111&112
Beautiful day to go through the Miami Harbor and make our way up to North Miami for a few days. We spent 3 hours cleaning the boat after we got in our slip. The exterior was crusted in salt. Dinner out was going to the local park that had 9 food trucks to choose from, including a Coldstone Creamer....
Day 110
Longer trip today. 5 hours of rather choppy seas, especially over the final few hours. Once we changed course to get into Biscayne Bay, the wind was at our stern and we were happier boaters. We've anchored behind the Bill Baggs State Park. From our anchorage we can see the few remaining (about 7) st...
Day 109
Another short voyage along the Hawk Channel on the Atlantic side of the Keys. Seas were rather calm and we anchored in a sheltered area behind Rodriguez Key, which is across from Key Largo. The winds picked up in the evening and it was a rather bouncy evening but we had the "drag queen" app on the i...
Day 108
Short cruise today. Although the winds were down to 9-10 knots, the winds were coming from the east and we were in the troughs of the waves for most of the 2.5 hours we were underway. Although it was a bit rocky, it was a beautiful day. We saw a few sea tortoises swimming as we were under way. They...
Days 106 & 107
Another pretty easy passage, winds 20-22 knots, seas 2-3 feet. We got to Vaca Key mid-day and Kevin gave the boat a little wash down while I checked in. We then got on our bikes to go to Sombero Beach, which the tour books said was one of the most beautiful beaches in the Keys. Irma did a number on...
Day 104 Dry Tortugas
Today was a perfect day to visit the Dry Tortugas. We booked the trip on the Yankee Freedom Ferry to the island. It was a day long adventure and the weather was the best it had been for quite a few days. Calm winds and water. The trip takes 2.5 hours and then you have 4.5 hours on the island to visi...
Days 100-103
We have been having nice easy days sightseeing in the Key West. Leisurely mornings doing some planning to go up the FL east coast and heading to the Bahamas mid-Feb. Our afternoons are filled with bike rides/walks exploring the island. We've delayed our departure from the keys due to strong winds an...
Day 99
We are staying for a week in Key West. We had a nice long walk around the city. I've been able to catch-up with the blog and now need to catch-up on our trip expense accounting. I also have to get our W2s off to the IRS. It's not much fun being the company accountant. I have a deep appreciation of B...
Day 98
We got an early start today and left just after the sunrise. Today was our longest trip and we were out of sight of land and radio and cell transmission for a few hours. We made Kathleen a little anxious, providing her with our trip course and telling her if we didn't get in contact with her by 8pm...
Day 97
An nice and uneventful trip to Marco Island today. We anchored in a small inlet that was narrow and rather shallow to get into but was very protected. We took our dingy to the Winn Dixie (which actually has a dock for boaters) and got some provisions. The Captain is concerned about upcoming weather...
Days 95 &96
Great trip to Sanibel Island today. Dolphins, dolphins and more dolphins! Sanibel is a pretty Island and the J.N. 'Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge is a big part of the Island. We were afraid that the government shutdown would prevent us from entering but only the administrative and visitors c...
Day 94
We traveled to Cabbage Key today. Anchored across from the Key and took our dingy over to explore the Key and visit the resort that is there. It's a cute spot and it is said that Jimmy Buffet wrote a song about being there. "Cheeseburger in Paradise"
Day 93
We are off again! After a great breakfast with friends Mary Beth and Kathleen, we left our home for the month and headed to Don Pedro Island to anchor out for the night.
Catching up! Days 62-92
HI all. It's been awhile. We had a busy month of activities in Sarasota. Over the holidays, our family joined us for a week on Anna Maria Island. We rented a house near the beach and enjoyed the sun and water. We also took a few day trips to the Mote Aquarium, the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, and...
Days 62 to 92
We traveled today though bays and narrow canals. We had more dolphins playing with us and enjoyed seeing the small island towns and cities that lined the ICW. We are now at Marina Jack, in Sarasota,for a month. The past few days have been fun exploring the city, having dinner with my sister Betsy an...
Day 61
It was a beautiful Sunday and evidently a lot of boaters thought it was too because they were out in force! We continued to the west coast of FL through a series of bays and were flanked by islands and keys. We really felt like we were in FL today...warm sun, lots of mangrove forests, palm trees and...
Days 59 and 60
Day 59 was a 6 hour journey. The trip took us through 2 locks and multiple bridges as we continued to cross through the middle of Florida. This wasn't much of a trip for bird, fish, dolphin or manatee sightings. We did have a manatee go through our 1st lock with us. The highlight of the day was the...
Day 58
Beautiful day today for traveling through the middle of Florida. We left Clewiston and travelled through the Caloosahatchee Canal, transited through to locks, and seeing lots of openings in the levees lining the canal to help if the levee banks were going to overflow. There were lots of beautiful bi...
Day 57
A rather long day today. We started our cut through the middle of FL and it took 6.5 hours. We began by entering the St. Lucie Canal and then after going through 23 miles and 2 locks entered the Okeechobee lake. The Okeechobee is the the 2nd largest enclosed fresh lake in the US (Michigan is the lar...
Day 56
Today was a short, 3 hour, trip along the Indian River to the St. Lucie River. There was some dolphin activity and lots of spoil islands (made from dredging the ICW to keep it deep enough to travel through). We are anchored near the historic part of Stuart and took the dingy into town for a nice lon...
Day 55
An easy day today. 1.5 hours of Fort Pierce, FL. More dolphins and some manatees but both were camera shy:( The birds were receptive to the camera though. We got to the city marina fairly early in the day and explored on bikes. There is a cute lighting display in a nearby park that is synched to Chr...
Days 53 & 54
We've had a nice time in Vero beach. Yesterday started off with some pretty loud thunderstorms but then settled down to intermittent rain throughout the day. Today was sunny and cold. We took advantage of our free time and did lots of biking and visited the Art Museum of Vero Beach and went to a cou...
Day 52
What a day! It started off looking at the weather and it looked like T-storms in the late afternoon. We had been planning to anchor out but changed our minds and extended our slip in Vero Beach. The day was overcast to start but quickly got warm and sunny. That must have been a sign for the dolphins...
Day 51
A calm and grey day today. Just a couple hours travel to CoCo beach. We toured around the little town and then Kevin fixed our water pump! He's amazing. A captain and mechanic!
Day 50
We spent the entire day at the Kennedy Space Center. Both Kevin and I got a real appreciation for space travel and those who make it possible. We are hoping we are still alive when the first man/woman walks on Mars!
Day 49
A nice cruise for us today through waters filled with islets and wild life. We saw our first Manatee (or portion of one today) as we waited for a bridge to open in a canal. Our travels went fairly slowly because there were many areas with slow speed limits because of the manatees. The aftermath of t...
Day 48
A short voyage today. Quiet on the ICW, now that it's Monday. The scenery is getting more and more tropical looking and we saw an alligator today. The damage from the hurricanes is still apparent here. Docks and boats damaged and marinas partially closed. We are settled into Halifax Harbor Marina, a...
Day 47
Another short trip today and we stopped in Palm Coast FL. Our water pump stopped working last night and Kevin spent a good part of the afternoon rebuilding the pump (almost done) and jury rigging a solution for us to have water on the boat this evening. Palm coast has a lot of retirement communities...
Day 46
A beautiful sunrise started our day. We had a short two hour trip to St. Augustine. We did a lot of walking around St. Augustine and visited the fort and a few of the interesting building. We definitely feel we are in FL... nice sunshine, warm and humid weather.
Day 45
We left Fernandina Beach today, witnessing more sad boats that had either sunk or were up on land from the hurricanes. Having left a little later than we intended,it was getting close to low tide. There were areas along the way that were really shallow and we passed a sailboat being helped by some f...
Day 43 &44
Traveled to Fernandia Beach. It is a cute town on Amelia Island. The marina here has been severely damaged by the recent hurricanes. We are at a mooring.
Day 42
Today was a short hop to the nearby Jekyll Island. We were settled by 11:30 and off on our bikes to be tourists. The historic part of the island, was established in the late 1800s by 35 industrialists. Many built "cottages" and together they built a club house with apartments, a dining room, etc. Th...
Day 41
A short day of travel today - about 2.5 hours of travel. It was easy going with beautiful weather and calm seas. We encountered our first run in with the aftermath of the fall hurricanes that hit the south. We tried to book a marina in Fernandina FL that was huge (12 acres), only to find out that th...
Day 40
We waited again to start our day to make sure we were going out on a rising tide. Early in the trip we were going through "Hell's Gate" one of the most challenging areas because of shoaling. We timed it right and went right through. The rest of the day was smooth traveling through very scenic areas...
Day 39
We had a late morning start today as we waited for high tide to make our way through SC and into GA. Because we waited for the water levels to rise, we didn't have any trouble in areas that are known for shallow water. After leaving Hilton Head, we played a little game of chicken with the Daufuskie...
Day 36, 37 & 38
Our Wednesday started off with a nice long bike ride, going to a couple of hardware stores to find a wrench for the installation of a new cable for the engine synchronizers. We had success at the 2nd store and were on our way back to the boat when I decided to fly off of my bicycle and make a hard l...
Day 35
After a calm night at anchor, we set off at 7:30am. A beautiful sunrise set the tone of the day. We encountered many, many, dolphins and birds and had a unique experience. Early on in our travels Kevin and I spotted a couple of dark shadows in the distance.We thought...dolphins?.... birds...some kin...
Day 34
What a day! Pushed off the dock and started hearing clackety, clack noises from the starboard engine. We came back to the dock and started the process of trying to find a mechanic. Initial reports were it would take at least a week to get service. But luck was with us and we found a mechanic, who di...
Day 33
Great day exploring Charleston with my sister Amy and niece Rosemary and nephew Ross. We walked close to 20k steps, had great food and visited some lovely art galleries.
Day 32
The weather continues to be kind to us. Clear skies and calm waters on our way to Charleston. The ICW was very narrow and shallow at points because of a rather low tide and lots of shoaling. The sailboats were on the radio quite a bit trying to navigate the troublesome spots. Our depth finder showed...
Day 30 and 31
Again nice weather as we traveled to Georgetown SC. The ICW was, at times, somewhat difficult to navigate because it narrowed significantly due to rocky shoaling. Once we entered the Waccamaw River it was much wider and there was little development to contribute to shoaling. The river was very sceni...
Day 29
A 4.5 hour cruise today. We had a little delay because we came across a grounded sailor whose dingy had come loose from his boat. With a bit of maneuvering, a long boat hook, and a floating life preserver attached to a line and we rescued the dingy and returned it to the sailor. Unfortunately for hi...
Day 28
A cool and rainy start to the day but things cleared up for us to take advantage of Bald Head Island NC. This is a small island community. The island really didn't become populated until the 70's and now has quite a few home/condo developments and a very nice marina. Year-round population is around...
Day 27
We had a lazy morning planning this coming week's adventures and have booked marinas through our stay at Charleston Our afternoon was filled with walking around the city exploring the historic town and homes and taking a tour of the USGGC Diligence. We felt as if Wilmington was a little Charleston o...
Day 26
Today started cold and blustery. Winds up 20 knots. We had a 4.5 hour trip to Wilmington, NC. The currents were a bit challenging at time sbut nothing that Cap'n Kevin couldn't handle with ease. We arrived in Wilmington with time to walk the river walk before sunset.
Day 25
The skies cleared for us today. We continued along the ICW with barrier islands at our starboard side. In honor of Veterans day we went through US Marine Camp Lejeune Military Reservation. It would have been interesting to see some of the training happening but all was quiet today. We did have a few...
Day 24
A calm and continually raining day for our 24th day. We traveled along the ICW surrounded on one side by barrier islands and on the other side the mainland. We had about 4 dolphin sightings but they didn't come around to bow surf today:( We've arrived at the little town of Swansboro, which is alread...
Day 23
Again today was a grey and gloomy. We headed down the Neuse River to Adams Creek and into Beaufort. A big highlight of the day was having about 5 dolphins appear near our boat in the Adams Creek. Two of the dolphins swam about 3 feet from our starboard side playing in the the wake, created by our bo...
Day 22
Weather started of rather gloomy but cleared up as we went along. Pretty uneventful as we traveled through the Pamlico Sound and the Neuse River. Oriental is a small town named after a grounded Steam Ship. The Postmaster's wife thought the town needed a rememberable name and suggested naming it Orie...
Day 21
Today the fog was pretty heavy until around noon. We went and explored the beaches and a nature preserve. We also visited the Ocracoke ponies. Biked about 15+ miles and walked another 3. We'll sleep well tonight.
Day 20
Today started off kind of foggy but the fog burned off as we were on our way. We saw our first dolphin today in the Pamlico Sound. We tried to play etherial music to draw more dolphins and possibly mermaids to visit us but to no avail. The trip was pretty calm overall and we squeezed right past the...
Day 19
The wind picked up last night while we were at anchor. It was a little rocky but not bad. Today was a pretty smooth trip going through the Alligator River/Pungo River canal. We were hoping to see an alligator or black bear because some have been seen before but we just saw lots of tree stumps:( Ther...
Day 18
A cruising day. Manteo to the mouth of the Alligator River/Pungo Canal. Couldn't have asked for a better day.
Days 16 & 17
Day 16 Another beautiful day at sea. Traveled just 2.5 hours to the pretty town of Manteo in the outer banks. We visited The Roanoke Island Festival Park. They have a replica of the Ship "Elizabeth" that traveled here from England in 1585 with 55 men on board. The park also has historical exhibition...
Day 15
We left the great little town of Edenton late this morning. Our trip to the mouth of the Little Alligator River was unenventful, since we stayed out of the "Danger, Bombing Area". There were 2 areas like that. Locals told us that there was a special op training facility nearby and that at times thei...
Day 12-14
We had a very leisurely day today. Had another bike ride around the plantation and then set off to Edenton, NC. Edenton is a really cute, well kept town with lots of history. (which we''ll learn more about in the next few days). We arrived at the marina and spent some time talking with the our fello...
Day 11
After anchoring in the North River, near the mouth of Broad Creek last night, we woke to a dense fog. The fog quickly lifted when the sun rose. Our trip to Hertford was uneventful. Lots of flat water, mild winds, and beautiful sunshine. We pulled into a nice marina, Albermarle Plantation Marina, one...
Day 10
Today was a lot of traveling in groups because many boats had to wait for bridges with low clearance to open. Things would get pretty crowded waiting in front of the bridges and boats jockeyed for space. All of the mariners were very polite and once through the bridges, the slower moving boats readi...
Day 9
We started the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway today. Once we got to mile marker one, we made our way through many bridges and waitied for many bridges to open up for us. It took us 3.5 hours to go 12 miles. At mile 12, we encountered our first lock. We were the first in the lock and the lockmaster s...
Day 7 & 8
Monday was an exploring day on the bikes. Most all the museums were closed for the day. We had fun following the Elizabeth River Trail and visiting the different areas of the city. Norfolk is really an interesting mix of neighborhoods. Monday evening we think the Navy was testing sonar and it was de...
Day 6
After a wonderful time in Yorktown, we continue our history lesson in Norfolk. We stay here for a few days before going on the Intercoastal waterway.
DAY 4 & 5
Yorktown has been a great stop. So much American Revolutionary War history that we didn't know. The city has done a terrific job with the visitor center and museum. Well worth the trip. And... we old folks got the hang of using Uber!
Day 3
Another beautiful cruising day. Anchored in Indian Creek for the night. Had a 4 mile walk into Kilmarnock. It's a cute little town with a great burger place called NN Burger. Yummy burgers and curly, swirly, homemade potato chips.
Day 2
We spent the night in Solomons and woke up to beautiful mist on the water. The day was bright and the seas calm as we headed to KInsale, VA. Kinsale is a historic little town a little up from the mouth of the Potomac River. Anchoring out tonight.
Day 1
Galesville to Solomons Island MD. We worked hard not to jinx our trip this time. Day 1 went off without a hitch. Lovely weather, calm seas and time for celebration!