December 29, 2008 – Getting Ready for New Year’s

Pics of "Fear Factor Live" and Rachel and Paige in front of the Amityville "Jaws" exhibit!

Paige arrived on Christmas late afternoon. Rachel, Chris and I explored the Caribbean Village at Disney World and got checked into the hotel. Since we didn’t get to celebrate Paige’s 16th birthday with her, we decided to take her to Al Capone’s Dinner Theatre. This was a cabaret type show with singing, dancing, comedy and lots of Italian food to eat. We even embarrassed Paige by telling the dinner theatre that it was her birthday and she received an “honorable mention” before the show.

On Dec. 26, we got up early and after a hearty breakfast of MacDonald’s (ok, not hearty but good!) we went onto Universal Studios. It was a blast! We shot lasers at Aliens on the “Men In Black” Ride, took a wild ride through the “The Mummy”, saw how a disaster movie was filmed, survived a Twister, saw Shrek in 4-D and had a great experience at “The Terminator”. We even saw a live version of Fear Factor, including the part where 4 unlucky contestants drank a puree of roaches, worms and other assorted bugs - Y-U-C-K!!!! Universal was really crowded so we missed a couple of rides since the day was winding down and we (meaning Chris and me) were tired. We drove back the 3 hours to the boat and got settled in after picking up a couple of pizzas.

The last few days have been spent by the pool and the girls have enjoyed working out in the gym on the third flood of the yacht club. Paige has even been practicing her driving with her Dad since her Christmas present will be a car – yet to be purchased. That will have to wait until we are back home and can devote some time to finding just the right one.

The girls leave tomorrow and the boat will get a good scrub, all tanks filled, provisioning done and laundry caught up before we give up the car. After that, we’ll look for a good 3 days weather window to depart here, head to W. Palm and then over to West End Bahamas!
Our communications will be limited to Skype and email since our cellular phones don’t work there. We miss all of you and wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

December 17, 2008 - Just Coasting

Rachel arrived on Saturday so we drove to Orlando to pick her up. We took the FL Turnpike since it was the most direct route, but wow...the tolls on that road were unbelievable - over $10! Needless to say, we took an alternative road back.

We took the car over to Hutchinson Island (across the Indian River) to visit the Beach there. Quite a bit of erosion has occurred for those folks and million dollar homes are perched precariously at the ocean's edge. Almost all of them had "for sale" signs on them but I can't imagine that there would be many takers.

The days just seem to fly by with pool, walks, etc. We are consuming books like crazy so it's time to do a flea market run to replenish our library.

Our Christmas will be "light" this year and I'm sure we'll be in good company. With the stock market and economic situation, gifts will be few, I'm afraid. But we're so lucky to have this time to fulfill this dream and that's the best gift we could ever receive.

Paige arrives on Christmas day so it will be another trip to Orlando. We're hoping to stay for a couple of days there to take in some sights before returning to the boat.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Sunday, Dec. 07, 2008

It's been a great couple of weeks.

We've really been enjoying the pool and the hot tub here at the Harborage. Thank goodness for Linda and Bill of "Bohemia" since they have provided our transportation to grocery store, etc. They took us to a nautical flea market on Saturday morning but no deals to be had, then it was onto the big flea market on US 1 where Chris and I picked up several books for $.50 each. Linda is a big thrift store shopper and is teaching me how to find deals. I've gotten quite a wardrobe for very little money and it's fun! She and I walk at least 3 miles each day!

Today was the Jazz Fest in downtown Stuart so Chris and I walked across the bridge to see the entertainers. It was chilly today so we stopped and sat for one set, then onto the Dockside Bar for a live band, then downtown for the events there. We walked back to the Marina and stopped at Wahoos, the restaurant at the top of F dock to listen to the Sunday guitar player there. We enjoyed fresh blackened Mahi sandwiches, a couple glasses of wine and then trekked back to the boat to get warm. It was the coolest day all week and we were anxious to get back aboard and enoy the heat.

Rachel is coming next week and will arrive in Orlando so we'll have a car for a day or two. It will be a treat to check out the surrounding area - something we haven't really done.

November 26, 2008 - HAPPY THANKSGIVING

We left Jim & Sharon's house in Vero Beach and sailed down the Indian River to the St. Lucie River. The Harborage Marina & Yacht Club is 7 miles up the St. Lucie River and across the river from downtown Stuart. Amenities are plentiful here - 2 pools, hot tub, on site restaurant and tiki bar (WITH frequent live guitar player). We learned of this marina from some folks we met in Baltimore at the Anchorage Marina whom we reconnected with in Morehead City. Photos are of one of the heated pools and a view of the "Captain's Lounge" in the Yacht Club.

Sailing up the Indian River was a bit sad as we sailed right by Chris' dad's old residence in Hutchinson Island. We had always promised him that we would anchor right outside his home, but unfortunately, he passed away 3 years ago.

We hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We'll be cooking aboard (honey baked ham - yummy).

Nov. 22/23 - Vero Beach

We had SUCH a great time in Vero Beach visiting Sharon and Jim in their beautiful Intracoastal home (with a dock for Long Gone). Sharon's mom was also visiting them from California and I hadn't seen her in 20 years--she hadn't changed a bit and is 90 years young! Chris got to meet Jim & Sharon for the first time and Jim & Chris became fast competitors at Jim's pool table! We all went to the Vero Beach boat show and then out to lunch at a cute waterfront restaurant in Ft. Pierce. We were sad to say goodbye but they've promised to visit us here in Stuart where we can hopefully get in a day sail on the St. Lucie River before jumping over to the Bahamas.

Nov. 21, 2008 - We're in Cocoa Beach, FL

Yesterday we traveled from Palm Coast to New Symrna Beach, FL. We arrived fairly early and had a chance to explore. We went into the New Symrna Beach Museum and walked around downtown. It was definitely like walking into the past.

Today was uneventful unless you count the Sheriff's Department boarding the boat. They were checking MSD's (Marine Sanitation Devices) on the ICW. Thank goodness that Chris had wire-tied ours shut so we were cleared in record time and were on our way. We had quite a few opening bridges to navigate today but the bridge tenders were on the ball and no waits for Long Gone. A 1954 Trumpy Motor Yacht passed us by today and she was so beautiful. Dolphins also were just everywhere, but nary a Manatee was spotted (and I was looking!).

Cocoa Beach Village Marina is quite beautiful and within walking distance of everything. Chris & I found an old hardware/marine store in town which was like a Mitchell's Hardware on steroids.

The last 2 days have been lonely on the waterway - we were by ourselves pretty much all day yesterday and only in the company of motor yachts today. We suspect that our going offshore has put us in front of the "pack" that we were accustomed to traveling with.

Tomorrow we're hoping to be able to dock behind my friend's house in Vero Beach. We're a bit worried about depth, but we'll keep you posted.

Nov. 18, 2008 - We are in Palm Coast, FL

Here's a photo of St. Augustine from the water as we were waiting to go through the Bridge of Lions

We took an "easy" day today to Palm Coast, FL, only 37 miles from St. Augustine. We were so wiped out after that 14 hr. offshore sail that we provisioned in St. Augustine, but never got to the laundry, boat cleaning chores, etc. We had planned on making Daytona Beach, but would have arrived at sunset or after so we thought we'd stop here early and get the rest of the chores done. When we went through the Bridge of Lions this morning, it was a parade of boats - there were 12 of us.

Palm Coast is one of those "weird" places that was hit hard by the housing recession. It has a wonderful marina, a huge parking garage with a big condo complex beside it. Plans originally called for a big hotel on the waterway, but then the recession hit and plans just halted. Now it's a half built planned community and houses here are ridiculously low priced. I don't see how the builders even covered their costs.

We walked about a mile or so to a shopping center of sorts called "European Village". It was very cute, but over half the shops had gone out of business and there wasn't very much activity that we saw. We walked around a few of the shops, came back, made dinner of quesadillas and we'll go to sleep early so we can get an early start.

We have reservations tomorrow at Symrna Beach Yacht Club - a private yacht club, but it has reciprocity with the "River Rat Yacht Club on the Pungo River" which we joined earlier this year when we passed through there.

We had "separation anxiety" today from "Enchantment" since they went on yesterday to Daytona and we stopped in St. Augustine.

November 17 - we're in St. Augustine, FL

We left Walberg Creek yesterday when the tide was favorable and also the winds were "supposed" to diminish later in the day. As usual, winds were higher than predicted (15-20 kts with gusts even higher). I loved sailing during the day, but as the sun set, it became cold very fast and by 7 am after 14 hrs. of sailing offshore, I felt like a popsicle. The good news is that winds were WNW and the 3 boats were able to sail. We got some gorgeous sunset pictures of "Enchantment" and "Second Wind". Our autopilot went on the fritz last night so we hand-steered all the way to St. Augustine. THAT was painful! Chris unscrewed the control panel when we arrived at Comanche Cove Marina and it appeared that it was probably a condensation problem because it works just fine now! Sheesh! The marina here has a courtesy car which we have reserved from 2-4 pm so that we can go downtown to St. Augustine and also go by a grocery store for fresh fruit, veggies and bread!

We said goodbye today to "Enchantment" and "Second Wind". After spending the last 3 days with Lew and Joe from "Enchantment", it was hard to say goodbye. But....we will hopefully meet again in Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas where "Enchantment" is headed.

We also heard a familiar hail from Ray and Susan Cope from "Copeing" this morning as we came through the Inlet. They cruise on a beautiful 65 ft. Outer Reef - a boat that all of us fell in love with when Long Gone and Enchantment rafted up next to them when fog on the ICW made it impossible to continue. Ray has lots of knowledge about the best anchorages and inlets and is willing to share and we are grateful for his knowledge. He is the one who turned us on to Walberg Creek which was one of the most beautiful anchorages that we have ever visited.

We're pooped today but Chris is washing salt off the boat and I'm headed off to do laundry. Already he's fixed the auto pilot and the transmission cap (there's always a list). After a visit to downtown St. Augustine (a city that we really love) and a provisioning run, we're looking forward to a HOT dinner and a WARM bed tonight!

We had planned to stay here a few days, but the weather is really cold so we changed our minds and hope to make Daytona Beach tomorrow. Maybe another 55 miles south will make a difference in these miserably cold temps!

November 15, 2008 – We are in Walburg Creek Anchorage, Saint Catherine’s Sound, GA

Here's a photo of Bonaventure Cemetery - made famous by the movie "In the Midnight Garden of Good and Evil".

Our position: N31º40’.737, W081º09’504
Last night was “challenging” only in that I got up 6X to double check our anchor. We traveled through “Hell’s Gate” today, one of the 4 problem areas of Georgia. We saw 6.5’ of depth at mid-tide – yikes! Tonight we are anchored in a gorgeous anchorage off St. Catherine’s Sound. “Enchantment” is still with us and “Second Wind” is also anchored here. We are all planning to go offshore tomorrow for a long run down to St. Augustine, about 130 miles – our longest offshore passage to date. Winds appear to finally be favorable and we are looking forward to raising a sail. Our plan is to leave about noon tomorrow on a falling tide and then sail through the night to arrive in St. Augustine about daybreak. Tonight’s dinner was chicken quesadillas, black beans and rice just so you know that we aren’t starving! We traveled through Skidaway Narrows today in GA and the homes along the ICW were incredible – I would name a favorite only to recant and rename another favorite 10 minutes later. Wish us luck tomorrow – I don’t want you all to read about us in the Sun Journal!!!! You’ll have to wait for pictures as I’m using my cell phone as a modem and it is S-L-O-W!!!!

November 14, 2008 – We are in New River Anchorage, South Carolina

Last night we took a slip at Beaufort Downtown Marina and treated ourselves to a night on the town. The Captain and Crew from “Enchantment” joined us at Luther’s in downtown Beaufort for burgers, etc. We were a bit apprehensive coming down Brickyard Creek as that is where the keel met the bottom on the last trip, but the tidal Gods were with us and we came through with no problems.

Tonight we are at position: N32º06’.898, W080º54’772 in an anchorage off the New River. Originally we had planned on anchoring in the Wright River but the weather report predicted strong thunderstorms for tonight with high winds and Claiborne Young’s Cruising Guide informed us that this was a more protected anchorage.

We hit dense fog today coming by Hilton Head but fortunately it cleared and here we are. Tomorrow’s plans call for anchoring in Walberg Creek so that we can get out St. Catherine’s Inlet and take advantage of the NW breezes on Sunday.

Steamboat Creek Anchorage

We departed Charleston Harbor Marina this morning and made the 9 am bridge opening in Elliott Cut (along with 12 other vessels). We arrived at the anchorage about 1:15 pm and it is BLOWING like crazy at the moment and I'm glad to be safely anchored (at least we HOPE it's safely anchored). "Enchantment" the 40 ft. Cabo Rico Motor Sailor is also anchored back here. We had hoped to go offshore tomorrow morning with them through the N. Edisto River Inlet and onto Fernandina Beach, FL. The winds are scheduled to blow SSW 15-17 kts so my vote is "no" because I'm tired of beating. We already had 2 offshore days this week where we were beating into the wind for hours on end. I'm going to check the new site that Dave Hawley gave us http://www.windmapper.com/ before we make a final decision. If we don't go offshore, we'll just motor on to Beaufort which is not a bad place to get stuck in the rain (which is forecasted for the next 3 days). My hope is to find a period of 24-48 hrs. with NE or NW winds to push us to FL. I don't mind surfing!

Photo added 11/24/08 - Here's a photo of the 3 boats (Copeing, Enchantment and Long Gone) all tied up to Copeing, a 63 ft. Ocean Reef. It was so foggy that you couldn't see to navigate!

We're in Charleston

We spent last night in Georgetown, SC and visited an old haunt for dinner - Buzz's Roost. We looked for a boat from New Bern's Bridgepointe Marina as he had indicated he would be the chef for that restaurant, but we never located them and quizzing the bartender at Buzz's Roost didn't reveal any clues.

We made lots of progress today because the tidal Gods were with us - we went through the Minim Canal where we saw EAGLES - yes, Bald Eagles. It was wonderful. Dolphins were with us most of the way down the ditch. Originally we had planned to stop in Isle of Palms, but since we got a favorable push from the tides, we pushed onto Charleston. We made "friends" with another boat, "Enchantment" because he led the way and called out depths. In the 8 months since we've been this way, the waterway has shoaled even more - 8 ft. depths and less were a common theme. Last year, it freaked us out, now we're alot more relaxed about it.

In the "small world" department, we had a boat hail us that had "Ernie the Pharmacist" aboard. He owned an Island Packet 2 slips from us at the Sheraton in New Bern. He was helping a friend deliver a sailboat to Beaufort, SC. He and Kathy are still in Wilmington, NC now.

The sunset was beautiful - see Chris' pic enclosed. The full moon is rising and I can't wait to anchor out tomorrow! The current plan is to anchor out tomorrow at Steamboat Creek off the N. Edisto and then head offshore to FL, but then again, nothing is for certain when you're cruising!

We miss all of you!!!!

Barefoot Landing, Myrtle Beach, SC

We did another "ocean day" - departed Southport and went out Cape Fear Inlet. The inlet was much calmer than last time but still no "piece of cake". We had one wave break over the boat drenching EVERYTHING and unfortunately, I had the hatch boards out - live and learn.

We motored down the coast and came in at Little River Inlet. We were a bit worried about taking a lesser known inlet but it all worked out just fine. We had discussed going outside again tomorrow to Georgetown but decided to do the ICW and take a break from the bobbing and beating. We love the Waccamaw River as it's just so scenic and intend to anchor at Bull Creek tomorrow night - a secure anchorage that we found the last time heading south.

Tonight we met two other boats from New Bern (Flash II, a Niagara Sailboat which we met the last time we headed south) and Margareta, a center cockpit Island Packet. Flash II is a cruising veteran and Margareta is a first-timer and we are all headed to the Bahamas. We are at Barefoot Landing and tonight all 3 couples decided to treat ourselves to wine, $3 Long Island Iced Teas, and lots of affordable appetizers. Each couple ordered 2 appetizers and then we just shared. A great time was had with many stories swapped. We'll learn a lot from the veterans aboard Flash II (Sonja and Brian).

We made a month long reservation at a marina in Stuart, FL that is very reasonable. Chris' oldest daughter, Rachel will be coming down around Dec. 12 through Dec. 30 and Paige, his youngest, will come down on Christmas day through Dec. 30. The marina we chose is downtown and close to shops and restaurants so should be fun!

We're looking forward to an "easy" waterway day tomorrow.

We're in Southport, NC

Wow....what a ride. We left Morehead City about 1 pm yesterday afternoon and had a wonderful sail out the Beaufort Inlet. We were having such a good time that we decided to change our plans and head straight for Cape Fear Inlet at Southport, rather than coming in at Masonboro Inlet in Wrightsville Beach (a 24 hr. trip rather than 12 hrs.).

As they say, best laid plans and all that. When we left Beaufort Inlet, the weather forecast was favorable - 10-15 kt. winds with 2-3 ft. seas. But when we got out in the ocean about 27 miles, the winds shifted and picked up. We had steady 20 with 25 kt. gusts and 4-5 ft. seas. It was like riding a bucking bronco. Dinner was a hastily thrown together turkey sandwich and for the next 12 hrs. we felt like we were living in a washing machine. At 5 pm, we were so happy, by 7 pm, not so happy and by 10:30 pm I would have traded the sailboat for a nice fast power vessel! We arrived at the Masonboro Inlet around 3 am, but because of the waves, waited until daylight to go through. We ran the inlet at first light, came down the Cape Fear River going about 7 kts. and arrived in Southport. We had company, a 40 ft. Lord Nelson sailboat also came in with us from Morehead City. We hailed each other on the radio and bemoaned our predicaments - it was a really "challenging" night.

WE ARE TIRED!!! After 32 hrs. of being awake, we just finished dinner and are probably not long for this world. We'll check the weather (not something that we have great faith in) to decide what our plans will be for tomorrow. We took a short walk around Southport but mostly just had boat chores to complete since there was not a square inch without salt! Enclosed is a photo of the waterfront in Southport - we love it here. It's charming and has a real small town feel.

Morehead City, NC

Pat King picked us up this morning at 6 AM on the dot (she's so good) and took us to the boat. We pulled out of the slip about 7:15 am and arrived in Morehead City about 2:30 pm. We had 20+ kts. of wind going down the river so sailed most of the way down the Neuse and about halfway down the ICW until it just got to be a chore. It was really very chilly so thank goodness for the wonderful blanket that Tim & Chris gave us during our last cruise because I was wrapped up tight! We actually met up with a boat (M/V Bohemia) that was in the slip across from us at Anchorage Marina in Baltimore (small world) so that was really great seeing them again. We docked in steady 20 kts. beam wind (eek) but managed not to hit anyone.

Here's a photo of downtown Morehead City for those of you who have never been. It's a quaint town with lots of seafood restaurants and small gift shops, not to mention charter fishing boats. Dinner tonight will be done on the grill aboard (hopefully the wind will die down) with LOTS of wine, congratulating ourselves for a good docking job! We miss all of you and hopefully you'll come visit!

Our task tonight is to get on buoyweather.com to see what tomorrow's forecast will bring and then determine whether we will come in at Masonboro Inlet (my vote) or to just go all the way to Wynah Bay, Georgetown, SC or Charleston, SC.

Stay tuned!!!!

Tracy & Chris

November 1, 2008 - Delayed Departure

Well folks, we're still here. Chris went to Cincinnati last week to see Paige run in an important race and her team won! So...this weekend they were in the State Championship. Chris drove back up to OH to see the race so our November 1 departure date has been postponed. Unfortunately, weather this week is not favorable for offshore travel (5-7 ft. waves) so we'll either have to go down the ICW or wait and hope that next week's weather will be better. Stay tuned.

We're HOME again!

We had a great run from Great Bridge, VA, getting into Coinjock early enough to get the boat cleaned up a bit and then enjoyed another great dinner at the marina restaurant.

The next day (7/15) we left Coinjock even though the NWS was predicting thunderstorms. By 8:30 am, we had DRIVING rain in white out conditions. I turned on the radar to try to avoid hitting anyone else on this stretch, but because the rain was so heavy, it just destroyed the image altogether. We had met a big barge shortly before the heaviest rain started at a critical turn at marker 118 (read, shallow). Had we met him there 20 minutes later, it would have spelled disaster for us. We went all the way down the Alligator River at 8.3 kts. surfing down the waves and 80 miles later arrived at Dowry Creek Marina and ducked in there for the night. We were beat, wet, tired and cranky.

While speaking to Dowry Creek via VHF, Sean from Arwenstar hailed us and as it turned out, he and his dad were anchored in Pantego Creek just off the coast of Belhaven. We met up with them the next day for a few hours and got caught up on all the news.

We then went on to the River Rat Yacht Club on the Pungo to visit my friend Melinda (Celerity) and her little dog Molly. We had such a great time and the weather was wonderful so stayed for 2 days and even became "Rats". We joined the Yacht Club. The reciprocal privileges from other yacht clubs should help us when we cruise south again.

We left the Rats Nest on 7/18 and made it into Oriental where we spent the night visiting friends and saw the progress on their new "green" house.

Yesterday, we left Oriental early to avoid the tropical storm which had formed off the coast and for the most part, we beat the rain home. We managed to get a little wet, but behind us, Oriental was getting drenched.

We're back at Bridgepointe Marina and we'll decide what our next plan will be. Stay tuned!

We're in Great Bridge at the free docks

Yesterday was a L-O-N-G day since we traveled from Deltaville, VA to Great Bridge, going through most of the bridges in Norfolk and through the Great Bridge Lock (over 70 miles). We wanted to make it through the majority of the bridges on a Sunday to avoid the weekday restrictions so we left early (6.45 am) and went through the lock at 6 pm. Shortly after the lock are some free docks so we ducked in there for the evening. It was so hot and windless last night and we'll be happy to get going this morning. We'll go through the Great Bridge Bascule bridge at 8 am, then the Turnpike Bridge at 8:30 (after restrictions), then North Landing Bridge. Our plan is to stop in Coinjock for tonight which makes for a less than 40 mile day (easy!) The weather doesn't look at that promising but at least the clouds make for cooler temps. Yesterday going through the lock, it was so hot that it wiped me out. Dinner last night was ham sandwiches on a bagel and some chips since the thought of anything hot for dinner was unappealing.

Now that we're close to Carolina, we're anxious to get home and settled. What we'll do after that is still a mystery. After Chris moves Rachel to University of Charleston in W. Virginia, we'll either do a bit more traveling (west to the Rockies this time via car) or look for jobs (horror of horrors) or perhaps even a bit of international travel (Costa Rica comes to mind).

See all of you soon!

We're BACK in Deltaville, VA - July 12

We left Baltimore on July 7th and that made us kind of sad. We had been there for a little over 3 weeks and really enjoyed it. Our friends Jan & Henry aboard Gypsy II (a Hunter 420 also) made us the BEST crabcakes when we were there (Chris ate 3) and it was nice to dinghy over to their boat for my "cat fix" -- they have 3 aboard --"Buster"(the Siamese) is just beautiful and my personal favorite but Jake and Casey are cute too of course! Jan was kind enough to take me to get the propane tanks filled and was a great source of Baltimore info! We're going to miss all of them!

The Miles River into St. Michaels (the last 10 miles of the trip) seemed like it went on forever and we were happy to finally turn into our slip at St. Michael's Marina (at $2.50/ft. yikes). We met Stan & Marianne Stallsmith (she used to work at Hatteras) for dinner during the 2 nights we were there. Marianne owns the Candleberry Shoppe in St. Michaels and was kind enough to accompany us to the Maritime Museum in St. Michaels which we thoroughly enjoyed. They also were kind enough to provide the "tour" of several historic homes in the area as well as a beautiful spot called the "Black Walnut Pointe" where we saw a doe and her 2 speckled fawns while driving out the the Pointe.

We left St. Michaels's on Thursday bound for Solomon's Island. We called Les & Sarah aboard "Wilde Mathilde" (a boat that we met at the very beginning of the trip in Ocracoke in May) and discovered that they too were bound for Solomon's so we had a reunion of sorts last night at the Tiki Bar. They are bound for Baltimore and points north but plan to be back in Annapolis for the October boat show. We're hoping that we talked them into at least stopping in New Bern for a long visit.

Tonight we are back in Dozier's Regatta Bay Marina in Deltaville. There was a Bristol 47.7 center cockpit advertised in Yachtworld that was from Deltaville and we wanted to take a look and "dream" a bit. We called the broker when we arrived and just our luck, the boat has been sold. It was only on the market for a very short while and had EVERYTHING...and after all, it was a BRISTOL.

We'll leave tomorow to try and make Norfolk so we can rest up and leave on Monday morning to tackle all the bridges. If we make Norfolk (it's 50 miles) in record time, we'll try to get through the bridges on a Sunday to avoid the limitations of the week day. I'm not looking forward to all the "dancing" we do while waiting for these highway and railway bridges to open. There's lots of container ships and other assorted boat traffic so we stay on pins and needles until we're well past this area.

We should be back in New Bern in a little over a week - weather permitting.

Happy 4th of July!

Baltimore really knows how to celebrate Independence Day! There was music all day in the Inner Harbor, steel bands at the ESPN sports center and then fireworks last night. There were 3 barges of fireworks - one in the Inner Harbor (downtown), one in Fells Point in front of the Dominoes Sugar factory and one at Ft. McHenry, a little further down the Patapsco River. Unfortunately it started to rain early in the evening and that put a damper on some of the events, but they still shot off the fireworks which lasted for about 30 minutes and were spectacular. There were lots of boats anchored in the river and dock parties everywhere! Earlier in the evening we had dinghied over to visit Captain Tug and Ruth on the McClintik, the 1932 tugboat from New Bern. Great ribs and brats (plus wine of course) were shared by all.

In the "small world" department, we ran into Jacob Pinkham and his wife last night here on the docks. Jacob used to be the dockmaster at the Sheraton in New Bern and moved to Baltimore 7 years ago. We talked to him for a full 3-4 minutes before we realized that it was actually him!

On the evening of July 3rd, we dinghied over to Pier 6 and had a great time listening to Lyle Lovett and his Big Band. The wind was even blowing in our direction so it sounded as if we were sitting right there. It was made even better by the fact that there were gorgeous sailboats (one black Irwin 65 ketch) sitting all around us.

This morning we awoke to rain and the skies are threatening now. We're going to investigate how close a movie theatre is as it's just that kind of day. We're starting to look at weather patterns now as it's almost time to head for home. We're going to miss Baltimore and all the folks we've met here...our dock neighbors in particular. They're a young couple raising 2 small children on a 50 ft. Silverton. Phil is a french horn player for the Baltimore Symphony and also works part time at West Marine so has been kind enough to get us employee discounts on stuff like boat soap and wax! Amy homeschools their 2 children - Hannah and Ian. There are a lot of liveaboards here and it's like a small neighborhood. We'll also miss all the small pubs and family owned restaurants--and all the smells of Little Italy.

Interestingly, a 50 ft. slip here costs about $1,000 per ft. A far cry from the Sheraton prices of $3,000 per ft.

We hope all of you had a great 4th!!!!

In Baltimore until after July 4th!

It's been awhile since I've updated the blog since we're in the slip now. We've enjoyed having family and friends visit - my cousin from Pennsylvania and my friend Melinda from the River Rat Yacht Club. We've also enjoyed being able to visit our friends from "Gypsy Too", another Hunter 420 whom we met in New Bern years ago.

Canton and Fells Point (both part of Baltimore) literally have pubs and little restaurants on every street corner. We've tried quite a few :-) and have had some wonderful fare. Our favorite so far has been "Speakeasy" where my cousin had a shrimp with pasta dish that I couldn't pronounce yet alone spell, I had stuffed shrimp with lump crab and Chris had some sort of chicken dish with a wonderful sauce.

Kathy & Roger aboard Talisman (out of New Bern) came in last Thursday as well as my friend Melinda from the River Rat Yacht Club up on the Pungo River. We all walked around the downtown area of Canton and decided upon "Claddah", the Irish Pub around the corner. A wonderful meal with lots of wine was enjoyed by all.

Chris & I also enjoy walking down to the next marina where they have a tiki bar with live entertainment every weekend and best of all, where wine is $3 for a full glass!

We were walking the docks last night when we realized that the sky was a "funny" purple color and the clouds were starting to really roll. This marina has 560 slips and we were sitting at the end of C dock by the pool. Our slip is fairly far away from there so we decided that we'd better get the move on by to our boat. By the time we approached our pier, the wind had picked up to about 35 kts. and the last 25 yards, we RAN! We got aboard just on time before the skies opened up - we were rocking and rolling in the slip for sure!

My plan is to rent a car tomorrow and travel to Pennsylvania to see my "Aunt Bunnie" who turns 90 this year. It's only about a 2 hour drive and Enterprise has deals on cars. While I'm this close, it would be a shame not to capitalize on this opportunity.

For the 4th of July, we will be on the McClintik, a tug built in 1932 owned by "Captain Tug and Ruth" whom we have befriended. The McClintik was the last quarantine boat ever built and he has restored her to a beautiful floating home complete with a fireplace with mermaid andirons and mermaid stained glass art (so I'm in love with that). They were in New Bern for a few months at the same marina with Long Gone.

We wish you all a wonderful 4th of July!!! Donnie and Vick - stop procrastinating and throw off those dock lines!!!!! We'll meet you in Norfolk!!!!!

Sightseeing in Baltimore - June 20 2008

The day before yesterday, Chris and I walked to downtown Baltimore (about a 45 minute walk) to see the Baltimore Aquarium. It was WONDERFUL. We started out with a 3-D movie (complete with silly glasses), then onto the dolphin show and then walked through all the exhibits. We were there at 10 am and stayed until about 3:00 pm until our feet started to protest and then began the walk back to Canton (where the Anchorage Marina is located). There are so many little bars and restaurants to choose from. We stopped at "The Greene Turtle" and had a couple of burgers while sitting outside on their cafe' sidewalk.

Yesterday our friends (Henry and Jan) that live aboard their Hunter 420 here in Baltimore (Gypsy Too) were kind enough to take us in their new Prius (gotta love 40-60 miles per gallon) to a big Target store and a GREAT wine store (they had anything and everything you ever wanted or needed). Next was onto Home Depot and Lowes as Chris wants to install an anchor washdown. It would have been great to have one on the way up. Henry has already installed one so volunteered to "supervise" :-)

Today was boat cleaning and filter cleaning day as my cousin and boyfriend are visiting from Pennsylvania tomorrow and we wanted the boat to be as clean as can be! Hopefully the weather will hold for us and we can go out on the river for a sail tomorrow. Tonight we're going to meet Henry and Jan to try the restaurant located across the street called "Austin Grille" - it comes highly recommended.

We miss all of you! Keep the emails coming!!!!

We're in Baltimore, MD - June 16, 2008

We arrived in Baltimore about noon today after a great sail up from Annapolis. And we got to turn OFF the motor and actually SAIL up the Bay and into the Patapsco River! WOW! We clipped right along at a little over 6 kts.

We were at the Annapolis City docks for the past 2 nights, right across from Pusser's Bar so got to enjoy all the live steel drum music and great musicians playing on their dock every night. Also the nightly "boat parade", a steady stream of every type of boat imaginable cruised past our transom--Fountains, SeaRays, trawlers, and of course, sailboats.

My old catamaran sailing buddy, Steve, met us and introduced us to the bars in the "Maritime Republic of Eastport" - across the bascule bridge from Annapolis. I loved Eastport even more than I love Annapolis - so quaint with many restored houses and the bars and restaurants were ALL ABOUT sailboats. We took the water taxi over to a local restaurant called "Davis's" for blackened fresh grouper and crabcakes, then onto the Boat House Bar and then finally to another bar that I can't even remember the name! We all walked back to boat in the rain but by then we just didn't care! :-)

We're at the Anchorage Marina outside of Fells Point with a grocery store across the street and a POOL which is located at the end of "C" dock overlooking the river - kind of neat actually. There are gas grills out there along with a little "party cottage". We're here until after the 4th of July as the fireworks display here is supposed to be one of the best in the country. Ft. McHenry is across the river where the Star Spangled Banner was penned so they take Independence Day seriously around here! We can take the Water Taxi for $5/day anywhere we want to go - to the Baltimore Inner Harbor or further up the river. Fells Point is no shrinking violet either though with many shops and restaurants.

Right now it's raining cats and dogs so instead of grilling tonight, it may have to be stir fry. Cruising is all about not having any plans at all, we've discovered. It's a "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of living.

Friday 6/13/08 - South River, Selby Marina, Maryland

Well, it was indeed Friday the 13th. As Chris pulled up the anchor, he attempted to shower it with bay water from the bucket (man, we really need an anchor washdown). The line to the bucket broke and it promptly sunk. We were “true cruisers” today. We left the anchorage at 6:30 am to pull into a dock and use their water to hose down the boat and anchor before the dockmaster got to work at 8:00 am. We then filled up with fuel ($4.40/gallon) further down the “alley” and were on our way. We “intended” to anchor in South River tonight in Selby Bay. It was a glorious downwind sail today with cooler temps and Long Gone surfed her heart out at nearly 7 kts. up the Bay. “Aurora” went to the antique boat show in St. Michaels but we couldn’t get a slip and we figured the anchorages were so small that it would be packed, so we continued further north. We arrived here about 4:30, tried putting down the hook in Selby Bay, but the anchor kept dragging. This is a really shallow area and there was already a sailboat anchored and not much room for another. The “marina” near the anchorage was very old and the dockmaster saw our dilemma gestured us over and offered us the fuel dock for the night for $30! Cool! He’s Dutch, had sailed across the ocean in his steel sailboat, met a woman from the US in the Virgin Islands and stayed in the US (see, another story). Anyway, we are in for the night with AIR CONDITIONING (I’m in heaven). Tomorrow is a short hop to Annapolis and we have a slip reserved for 2 nights in Petrini’s Shipyard (beyond the bascule bridge across from downtown proper). It’s $2/ft. – very reasonable for Annapolis. Can’t wait to find a nice restaurant and perhaps a friendly guitar player who will indulge our quest for live music (where are you Dave?????)

Thursday, 6/12/08 - Solomons Island Anchorage off Mill Creek

Position: N 38 º019.942 W 076º26.645’
We had heard wonderful things about Solomons Island and were anxious to see it. It was indeed beautiful and our boat buddy from Ocracoke, “Aurora” had a slip there. We had intended originally to stay 2 days since we thought that with all the boats and all the marinas, there had to be bars, restaurants, entertainment and the like. There were a few restaurants but no entertainment was scheduled anywhere. We took an after dinner dinghy ride down Mill Creek to gaze at all the lovely waterfront houses. There was a couple fishing from their own pier. They invited us over for margaritas but we had our own wine so we sat and talked a while. They were on their way over to the tiki bar and we agreed to meet them there later. We dinghied over and spent about an hour with them hearing their story. To me, this has been the best part of the trip – meeting folks with “stories”. After a Bahama Mama, this tired crew wanted to get back to the boat to turn on the anchor light before it was totally dark.

Wednesday, 6/11/08 - Sandy Point Anchorage - Great Wicomico River

Position: N 37 º49.381 W 076º18.727’
We left Dozier’s Regatta Marina and it was WINDY and of course, right on the nose. It was not predicted to be a steady 22 kt. but it certainly was. Our destination was the St. Mary’s River off the Potomac but after fighting wind and rolling waves for 5 hrs. and getting nowhere near our destination, we pulled out the trusty Chesapeake Guide and the chart and found an anchorage off the Great Wicomico River. The Sandy Point Anchorage was peaceful and tranquil. After dinner of Pesto pasta with blackened chicken and listening to a classic rock station on the FM satellite, it was time for bed.

Reggatta Bay Marina - Deltaville, VA - 6/9/08

We cruised north today and had intended to anchor in Fishing Bay along with “Northern Reach” but about 20 miles from York, the autopilot “bit the dust”. The 1” diameter bolt sheared off on the pivot arm. We had this problem years ago when the boat was new so we ducked into the Rappahannock River where there is a Hunter dealer. We are at Doziers Regatta Marina in Deltaville, VA. These are the folks that publish the Waterway Guides and tonight they hosted a wine and cheese party for the transients where we all met one another. Such a nice idea! They also have a pool so the first order of business tonight after getting securely tied was jumping in to get cool. Chris repacked the stuffing box while I did laundry. It’s amazing how many dirty clothes we had acquired in these temperature.

Sunday, 6/8/08 - Touring Yorktown

Sunday 6/8/08 – Today we came out from the Sarah Creek Anchorage and checked into the River Landing Marina on the south side of the York River. We wanted to fill up the tanks with water since the 100 degree weather has forced us into taking about 2 showers per day! And…we especially wanted A/C for tonight. We took the Yorktown Historical Shuttle to the Visitor’s Center and then jumped on a complimentary bus to Historic Williamsburg. It was really wonderful, but the 100 degree heat and humidity put a bit of a crimp on things. We were with the crew from Northern Reach, the boat from Toronto that we met in Coinjock. The crew from Wilde Matilda stayed behind in Norfolk. We were all hot and thirsty after walking around the “town” for over 2 hours so we found a small bar and shared a sandwich and a couple of very cold Coronas. Tomorrow is a travel day hopefully to the Jackson Creek anchorage on the Piankatank River. We’re having problems locating hot spots for Wi-Fi so the blog gets updated only occasionally. When we reach “civilization” we need to locate a Wi-Fi extender as many boats have while they are cruising.

Saturday, 6/7/08 - Sarah Creek Anchorage

Saturday 6/7/08 – Anchorage: Position: N 37 degrees 15.41’ W 076 degrees 28.468’
We finally left Norfolk. We had the BEST time. Seeing the boat “parade” with over 700 participants (yup, seven HUNDRED) with 6 tall ships was well worth the wait. We spent the first 3 days at the Waterside Marina and then moved out to the Hospital Point Anchorage across the river. For 2 nights we swung on the hook and partied with Wilde Matilda and Northern Reach and it was so much fun. The Harbor Fest in Norfolk is quite a show and we actually liked Norfolk a LOT. Seeing all the naval vessels parked in Norfolk was quite impressive as well as all the container ship terminals.

We traveled 30 miles north on the Chesapeake and then 15 miles up the York River.
We had heard that there was a “free” dock in Yorktown, but it turned out that while you may park there for a small fee during the day, staying overnight is absolutely NOT free at $1.75 per foot. Because we arrived here fairly late, we didn’t think it was worth paying the money so both boats anchored in Sarah Creek. We took a dinghy ride before riding over to the York Yacht Harbor for dinner. It was simply too hot to cook. We cranked up the genset just before retiring and cooled the boat down since it was so uncomfortable.

We're still in Norfolk - June 3, 2008

The Harbor Fest is this weekend with the tall ships and we've decided to stay. We have to be out of the marina by the weekend as it's full so will drop the hook at Hospital Point across the way. The Norfolk police have been diving all day checking out the undersides of all the boats in the marina plus the ones anchored out. This is a big deal for Norfolk and security is tight. Chris wanted them to take a brush with them and give Long Gone a quick scrub as long as they were down there. Not!!!

Today we toured the USS Wisconsin, a battleship parked at the Nauticus Museum. It was really a great experience. Their exhibit is quite extensive and the ship is HUGE. We ate breakfast out at D'Egg - a local diner here within walking distance. The crew of "Northern Reach" went with us and then Chris, Jim and Les (from "Wilde Matilda") went and did chores. The fitting from our propane hose blew so that was Chris' chore for the day. It's repaired now and the cost was incredible...it was free. Now THAT's unusual in this day and time.

The wind is reported to be 20 mph in the AM with thunderstorms and rain so we'll stay in the marina again tomorrow and then leave Thursday morning to anchor out. We have a couple of options when we leave here. I want to go up the York River to see the battlefields of Yorktown and possibly even West Point. There's another anchorage possibility at Kitopeke on the other side of the bay. It's a protected anchorage formed by the sinking of 9 WW II battleships. Sounds kind of cool too. We'll take a poll to see what the rest of the boats have in mind and then make a decision. We've enjoyed being part of "gang" of 3...it's fun having stories swapped every night.

Norfolk's symbol is the mermaid so needless to say, I'm in heaven. I've taken a photo of just about every mermaid in the city - there are 150 of them! They're AWESOME!!!! I even found some mermaid plates to buy! Chris said that we must leave before I go broke buying mermaid stuff. Sheesh......

We're in Great Bridge, VA

After a wonderful meal in Coinjock last night, we sat around with our boat neighbors from Toronto who are heading home after their 5 year journey and drank wine (hard to believe, I know). Today was a "parade" of boats heading north and we are tied up at the FREE docks just south of the Great Bridge Lock. It's a great place since there's a grocery store within walking distance. We stocked up on some fresh fruit today as we were low and treated ourselves to a big Subway sandwich which will serve us well through dinner.

Our plan is to catch the first opening of the bridge and lock in the morning and head for Norfolk. We've reserved a slip at a marina called Waterside Marina which is supposedly a "mini Inner Baltimore Harbour". The Harbourside Festival is this weekend in Norfolk complete with tall ships and we'd love to stay for that but word has it that slips are $5.00 per ft. so while we're there tomorrow, we'll scout for an anchorage. We just missed the Pirate Festival there as it ended today which would have been a fun time too. Here's a photo of the "parade" going through one of the 3 bridges heading north. The boat in the lead is "Northern Reach", the boat that we've been traveling with today. "Wilde Matilde" docked here tonight also so after they finish their grocery store run and we all take much needed showers, it's cocktail hour.

May 31st Update - We're in Coinjock

After departing Ocracoke on Thursday, a day later than planned due to AWFUL weather (it rained all day), we headed across the Pamlico Sound to the Pamlico River, to the Pungo River and up to Jordan Creek and the River Rat Yacht Club. It was a rolling and pitching ride until we reached Pamlico Point and then the pitching stopped and we finally got to roll out a sail for the 2nd half of the trip. We held our breath in 5'4" Jordan Creek but never bumped and tied up at the River Rat's visitors dock. Lots of wine was consumed, a nice dinner aboard Long Gone and best of all, I got to catch up with my girlfriend Melinda whom I don't see as often as I'd like.

May 30, 2008 - Little Alligator River Anchorage
Position: Position: N 35º 56’.497, W 076º 03’.398
Yesterday we departed early and headed up the Pungo to the Alligator Pungo Canal. It's a desolate place but pretty in its own way. Chris finished his book while I steered the 24 miles through the Canal. When we came out the Alligator River, we were treated to an air exercise by a couple of fighter jets. Man, they were loud! The Alligator River was rocking and rolling and we had to stop at Alligator River Marina for fuel as the Dowry Creek Marina on the Pungo blew a fuel hose trying to fill us up. We thought about stopping for the evening as it was already 6 pm, but they wouldn't allow us to stay on the face dock and we didn't want to risk docking as it was just honking by then. By the way, our experience in the Alligator River Marina was not favorable AT ALL. A surly dockmistress made us want to depart as quickly as possible (it was so awful that there will NOT be another next time for us at Alligator River Marina). Five miles up river was the anchorage that we had picked out for the night and we ducked into the Little Alligator River about 6:30 pm and set the hook. Fortunately it set right away and we were in for the night - almost a 60 mile day--a lot for the Long Gone crew. The wine was poured, the soup made hot and the crew was Long Gone in bed for the evening.

We left the anchorage this morning (May 31) at 6 am since we heard that weather was coming this afternoon. We threaded our way through BUNCHES of crab pots and made it into Coinjock by 11:30am. We were able to hail Wilde Matilde (a boat we met in Ocracoke) and she had planned to anchor off Buck Island tonight - about 10 miles south of here. We plan to meet tomorrow in Great Bridge at the City's FREE dock (yippee)! From there a grocery store is within walking distance and it's time to provision the important stuff like fresh veggies, fruit and WINE . Since we are at the marina known mostly for its excellent steaks, we're going to treat ourselves to dinner out tonight. We deserve it!!!! We miss all of you!!!!!

Cruising – Part II continues (Saturday May 24, 2008)

We left New Bern in pouring rain and it was CHILLY—so much so that we were able to see our breath in the cockpit on the way to Oriental (hard to believe we’re at the end of May!). Once we tied up at Oriental Harbour Marina, the sun broke through and the weather was gorgeous. Oriental is a town with more sailboats than people (my kind of town) and the whole town gathered on Saturday night for a block party, complete with southern style barbecue and all the fixings (box wine included!). There was a great band and the street became a dance floor. We traveled with S/V Charisma and M/V Vat 19 and their crew. A great time was had by all. We also met up with some friends (S/V Shu Shu Ga) and saw their new house being built so that was a treat too! It’s a craftsman style cottage right on the river with such great views...just wonderful!! About 1:30 am on Sunday morning, a loud explosion woke me up. I went up in the cockpit and saw flames shooting everywhere from the direction of Oriental Marina so naturally I freaked! Chris & I hurried up the dock and through the town to investigate. A large shrimp boat sitting in Oriental’s harbor was on fire and Oriental’s all volunteer fire department was having a very tough time extinguishing the flames. They finally got it under control and Chris and I were in bed by 2 am.

Sunday, May 25, 2008 – We arrived in Ocracoke
We were sailing by 7 am this morning. Yikes! It’s Donnie and Vicky’s (S/V Charisma) 1st wedding anniversary so we’re tagged along to help them celebrate. It was a wonderful sail over with a great dolphin show as we approached Ocracoke. Tonight is for “pillaging and plundering” pirate-style so this afternoon is nap-time for this tired crew. We’re at the National Park dock until we leave on Wednesday morning. Right now we’re planning to go across the Sound and up the Pungo River to the River Rat Yacht Club to visit my friend Melinda (S/V Celerity). Can’t wait to catch up on some girl talk!

We're HOME!

We got out of the ICW yesterday and Donnie & Vickie aboard "Charisma" met us up river and we raced towards New Bern in about 17 kts. of wind. Both boats hit speeds of 7.2 to 7.3! It was awesome and we had such a WONDERFUL time. Charisma even had her mizzen sail up and she was GORGEOUS! It was the first time in over a month and a half that Long Gone did any real sailing and it was such a thrill. We're at the T-Head at the Bridgepointe awaiting a slip where we'll be for the next month and then head up to Baltimore/Annapolis and points north.

We're in Surfside Beach, NC

It's been an "interesting" couple of days. The forecast again has been incorrect and we've fought winds and cold temps for the past 2 days. We left Southport yesterday morning at 7 am and battled current and wind up the Cape Fear River. Our goal yesterday was Hampstead, but after we missed the Wrightsville Beach Bridge by only 5 minutes and would have had to keep idling and turning around for almost an hour in 30 knots of wind, we decided to just stop and dock at the Bridgetender Marina. We had hoped for better weather today but it just was not to be. We wanted to get north of the 3 opening bridges and at least we made that goal. Swansboro would have been nice but going through the New River area at low tide and in this wind would have been nuts.

We are at the Beachhouse Marina in Surfside Beach, NC (close to a grocery store and ABC store). Our docking in 30 knots of wind coming in here was NOT pretty and we've vowed not to leave unless the winds are calm tomorrow. We've been traveling with a buddy boat that we met in Myrtle Beach named "Blue Moon" and they are from NY. They created "an adventure" today. Chris & Walt (the owner of Blue Moon) went to check into the marina. Shortly thereafter, Kristen (the female off Blue Moon) came frantically knocking on our boat saying "our boat is sinking". Man...those are words that chill a boater to the bone. I came flying off our boat, ran up to the office to get Walt and he and Chris came running back full tilt. The water was gushing from between their floor boards at this point. Walt quickly located the problem fortunately (stuffing box) while Chris pumped frantically. All is well now, but needless to say, we will be drinking rum tonight! I'm making stir fry for the crowd as it's just too windy to grill a darned thing. Now that we're so close to home, we are anxious to get there and see everyone and just settle in a bit and relax.

Arrived back in Myrtle Beach, SC (April 13)

We left the anchorage quite early as it was NOT a peaceful night. Since the wind was blowing so hard, we felt compelled to check the anchor frequently so a good night sleep was not had by all. We danced at anchor all night long and with the wind and current, it made for some worry. We are now at Barefoot Landing Resort. WHAT a place. The 3 condo buildings are huge – about 15 stories high and the swimming pool is reported to be the largest in South Carolina. The onsite restaurant and bar had live music last night so we went and listened and drank some wine (hard to believe, I know). We had intended to stay here for a bit since it’s so convenient to everything, but pricing just isn’t competitive so we’ll move further north. We provisioned the boat as there is a Bi-Lo just down the street and did some laundry. We’ll take the dinghy over to Barefoot Landing later today and explore all the quaint shops. We’ll try to make Southport tomorrow and then hopefully they’ll be a weather window to head outside as we want to avoid the Figure 8 Island Swing Bridge which only opens twice per day.

Anchorage at Bull Creek (Waccamaw River, SC) - April 11

Position: N 33º 36’.318, W 079º 05’.924
Tonight we anchored in Bull Creek – the widest creek off the Waccamaw River. We launched the dinghy and went exploring. The creek went on for miles – we stopped at the fork and returned since it was becoming quite shallow and it would have been a LONG row back to the boat if we had ruined the dinghy motor. When it turned nightfall, there were several owls that were “calling” – very cool. About 7 pm another sailboat (named if you can believe this, Charisma) also anchored in the creek but they were much further toward the mouth of the creek. After exploring we determined that an even better anchorage was just around the bend where we had set our anchor – we’ll know next time that it was a bit more sheltered there, as the wind was really whipping.

We FINALLY anchored out!!!

Position: N32 degrees 36.943, W80 degrees 16.462 -Steamboat Creek
We anchored in a WONDERFUL place last night off the North Edisto River called Steamboat Creek. It had a small brick structure called the "octagonal house" and was described in the Cruising Guide as having been used by the wealthy plantation owners as a steamboat stop to take them to Charleston (I apologize for the picture - it was late afternoon when we arrived and early morning when we left so the picture isn't the best). The William Seabrook House, a very historic plantation house was directly behind it. Unfortunately, we got to the anchorage late in the afternoon so couldn't get the dinghy ashore before nightfall to explore. We were surprised that we were the only boat back there but we were in a "parade" of power boaters and I'm sure they were far ahead of us by late afternoon. This creek was probably a mile from the ICW but well worth the extra time. Depths remained at 18 ft. even at low tide for about 1/2 mile into the mouth of the creek. We made it to Isle of Palms today since we needed fuel and we enjoyed it so much the last time we were here.

We turned around!!!

Well....we made it to Thunderbolt, GA. We enjoyed a day of dining and shopping in Harbour Town in Hilton Head on Saturday (despite the awful storms), went through Fields Cut with no problem at all, despite warnings to the contrary. We have so many "no-see-um" bites that we don't know where to scratch first! We had contemplated going further south on the outside and had a favorable wind (NE) - just too darned much of it (a story of this trip). After debating back and forth, and with Myrtle Beach Bike Week looming in front of Chris, we decided to turn around. We're in Port Royal today (just 2 miles south of Beaufort, SC) and the marina staff here is absolutely one of the best we've encountered (Thunderbolt was also very good). We're going to meander back to Myrtle Beach and possibly stay there until Bike Week in May - of course, our plans are in sand so we'll decide on the fly. It was kind of disappointing to not make the goal of FL, but there's always next year. We had not met any buddy boats going south - everyone was headed north and we just didn't feel comfortable going on a long ocean run all by ourselves. Hope to see all of you soon before we head north to the Chesapeake!!!!

We're at Harbour Town Yacht Basin, SC

Well, "best laid plans" and all that. We had intended to go "north" as the weather report said NORTH winds on Sunday and we thought "cool - time to have Mother Nature give us a push" from Port Royald Sound. TODAY, weather report on Sunday says SOUTH winds so.....we punted and changed our plans. We were told NOT to use Calibogue Sound to go outside but have sought local knowledge and have the plot to go outside to catch the intersection of Calibogue Sound and Tybee Roads (Savannah River - about 9 miles). Today was a day for lots of RAIN and thunder/lightning. We decided to treat ourselves and went out to dinner at Europa Cafe on the waterfront here at Harbour Town and saw a dolphin show while enjoying a steak for Chris and a "seafood potpie" for me. This trip has taught us lots about changing plans on the fly. We still haven't finalized tomorrow's plans yet - sunrise and the weather report will determine where we go and IF we go. Thanks everyone to responding to the blog - we enjoy your comments!

Tales from the Crypt in Beaufort, SC

We walked around Beaufort yesterday and found this old church and graveyard. The spanish moss on the trees was really beautiful. We couldn't leave Beaufort until about 10:30 this morning due to DENSE fog so got to Hilton Head after SAILING (yippee) down the Port Royal Sound . We are at Hilton Head Harbour "Resort". Actually it's an RV Park with a marina (hmmm...). It has a nice pool and a cute little restaurant called the "Sunset Grille". Tomorrow we intend to move North (yes, north) up to Skull Creek Marina. We had planned to go outside at Calibogue Sound but everyone advised us against that due to shoaling so we are doubling back up Skull Creek closer to Port Royal Sound so that we can go on the outside (ocean) on Sunday with north winds. We will probably only go up to Tybee Roads and then possibly up to Savannah (or close to). We're still a bit leary of an overnighter in the ocean without a buddy boat.

We're in Beaufort, SC

We FINALLY left Bohicket Creek this morning at 7 am on the falling tide. The fog was so thick that we navigated by GPS and radar only - we couldn't see our hand in front of our face. The day was HOT and long with the wind on our nose the entire way so no sailing AGAIN--we're beginning to think that Long Gone is really just a trawler. We ran aground HARD at Marker 219 in Brickyard Creek outside of Beaufort (4 ft. 9 in. of water at low tide) - took a bit of wiggling to get out. We were exactly where we should have been but had seen depths under 6 ft. all day throughout the land cuts - very taxing on the nerves. When we arrived in Beaufort, we tried to anchor outside the Downtown Marina but our anchor kept dragging in this current and wind, so we finally gave up and took a slip (Donnie - we actually DID get mud on the anchor)!!! Thank goodness because at the moment it's blowing 22+ sustained with gusts to 30 and very very choppy. We saw 3 boats previously anchored drag and saw them head up river in this wind and rain. Just to prove that it's a small world after all, there are 3 boats from New Bern right in a row here in Beaufort on the transient dock. One, a Niagara Sailboat from Northwest Creek and another motor vessel from Tidewater. It was blowing and raining too hard to go explore the town this evening so we made dinner aboard and will hopefully get a weather break tomorrow.

A view of Bohicket Creek in the Fog

When I woke up this morning, Bohicket Creek was shrouded in fog and so peaceful and pretty. Chris fixed the alternator so we're ready to go at any time. We thought we'd enjoy the weekend here with our dock neighbors and leave on Monday for Beaufort, SC - a beautiful city that we didn't want to miss. We're hosting the dock dinner tonight with spaghetti (with Faye's famous sauce that she packed up for us before we left).

Happy Easter!

We're still in Kiawah and now intend to stay at least until next Friday. Chris has computer problems and Dell is shipping software to him here so we must stay put. It's a great place and we really love it. We'll see about renting a car so we can explore the surrounding areas that we've seen by water via dinghy. We especially loved the Wadlamaw Island area - the scenery was just beautiful and it wasn't as densely populated as the other islands. Hope all of you have a wonderful Easter!

We're in Kiawah Island, SC

We left Charleston this morning at 8:00 am after being beaten up by 40+ mph winds on the dock for 2 days. We befriended an Australian couple that had the misfortune of having their 47 ft. Catalina put on the outside of the face dock. Every boat out there was being beat against the pier. They had circumnavigated and I could only be envious of their adventures. We arrived in Bohicket this afternoon - it's 7 miles up the North Edisto River (which is also a nice inlet). It is absolutely gorgeous here and everything is within walking distance - 4 restaurants, a spa, a gourmet grocery store, etc. Slips here are for sale but reasonable in comparison to New Bern - a 45 ft. slip with all amenities is $158K. Tomorrow we hope to launch the dinghy and explore the upper parts of the creek. Tonight there was a dolphin and her baby that were swimming around our boat right in the slip. Awesome!

We're in Charleston, SC

We didn't travel far today as we wanted to play tourist in Charleston and we did just that. We are staying at the City Marina and their courtesy van dropped us off downtown so that we could wander the streets and ooh and aah at the houses. We walked the 5 miles back to the marina, relaxed for a bit and had the van take us back downtown about 5:00 pm since I had a pizza craving. After indulging in an excellent pizza at The Mellow Mushroom, we hiked BACK to the marina. We're in for the night and gale warnings are predicted for tomorrow so we decided to stay here another day. We're going to stay in Bohicket Marina through the weekend (about 34 miles away) since we are using a friend's slip there (THANK YOU RUSS!!!!).

We're in Isle of Palms, SC

We left this morning at 8:30 am and had winds behind us the whole way so we finally tugged out that white thingie (the sail) and sailed downwind for most of the afternoon. We hit Isle of Palms around 3:30 and pulled into a slip here. The temps have been cool all day - thank goodness for the canvas enclosure. Dolphins were everywhere - especially in a narrow ditch called the Minim Canal. Charleston is only 23 miles away so we'll go there tomorrow, get there early and play.

Stuck in Georgetown, SC

Last night there were tornado warnings here. We had a few folks over for wine and munchies while the the winds howled and lightning was all around. There were 5 pairs of eyes checking for funnel clouds - a little daunting. 20 miles south of here, tornadoes destroyed quite a few places. The wind is still howling today and I can't think of a more beautiful area to be stuck. The waterfront is here is wonderful complete with a boardwalk and little bars and restaurants everywhere. It's very cool today so I'm making my famous chili and inviting the boat neighbors over to sample the fare. Hopefully we'll be on our way towards Charleston tomorow which is 65 miles from here.

We're in Murrell's Inlet

Yesterday was the day for missing bridges. We waited for the Little River Swing Bridge, the Barefoot Landing Swing Bridge and lastly the Socastee Swing Bridge. It was also a day for hitting under 10 ft depths, closing our eyes and holding our breath, but fortunately we never ran aground. We were relieved to finally enter the Waccamaw River into deeper waters and beautiful scenery. We had planned to anchor in Prince Creek but with the wind howling 30 kn, we didn't have enough swing room. Bull Creek was the next anchorage that we had in mind, but with the wind, we just weren't sure about holding so we came into Waca Wache Marina. We only plan to travel 20 miles down river to Georgetown today since there are severe thunderstorms predicted with high winds and large hail. It's time to replenish some food stores and also do some laundry!

We're in Little River, SC

We're tucked into Lightkeeper's Marina in Little River, SC, slightly north of Myrtle Beach. It's a nice place with a restaurant within walking distance and clean showers. One cannot ask for more! Tomorrow is another waterway day most likely since there is weather coming. We're hoping to get to Murrell's Inlet and tuck in there to ride out the rain. Stay tuned. The highlight of the day was the dolphin show we got while waiting for the Sunset Beach Bridge to open. Awesome! One was particularly frisky, jumping completely out of the water right in front of us - our own Sea World!

Tried It and Came Back!

Well....we left at 3:15 pm yesterday to catch the ebb tide in the inlet. The winds were "predicted" at 10 (they were 22-25), seas were "predicted" to be 2-3 (they were 5-7 ft.). After fighting offshore 3 miles for almost 2 hrs., we made the decision to turn around. Neither one of us could have taken the abuse for 12 hours. I thought one wave was going to tear the anchors right off the front of the boat. We're leaving today and going down the waterway to Little River. One of the boats that came in here last night experienced exactly what we did from the Little River Inlet and they too, turned around and came down the waterway. Another captain told us that he has tried 3 times this week to get out and came back in. The winds have just been honking and the tides have been lower and higher than normal. More later...we're about to leave!

Leaving Southport Today

We decided to stay an extra day in Southport to plan and rest up for our overnight trip to Georgetown. We'll leave this afternoon about 3 pm to take advantage of the falling tide. Winds are predicted about 10 kn this afternoon with 2-3 ft. seas. Once we arrive in Georgetown tomorrow morning, we'll head south to Minim Creek along the ICW and throw out the hook and get some rest. Weather looks like it will deteriorate on Saturday so we want to be tucked in somewhere safe by then - probably Isle of Palms in Charleston or if we're really ambitious, Charleston Harbor.

Southport is Great!

We left Harbor Village Marina about 8:15 am to try and make the Figure 8 Island Bridge Opening. We lucked out because we would have missed the 9:30 opening, but there was a piece of equipment that broke down on the bridge so it was delayed by 1 hr and 45 minutes. When it finally opened 4 sailboats went through--2 northbound and 2 of us southbound. For the rest of the day we followed Rennaisance through Snows Cut and onto Southport. We stopped at Southport Marina because the City Anchorage was low tide and everybody was aground and in the mud. The "excitement" of the day was when a container ship was gaining on us - boy he was big!!! I called an old sailboat racing friend of mine from Wilmington and he met us tonight. I haven't seen him in at least 10+ years so it was fun to catch up although he didn't stay very long. Here's a photo of the Figure 8 Bridge - where we hung out today for well over an hour waiting for them to open and another photo of the container ship that passed us by today.

We're in Hampstead

The Figure 8 Island Bridge is only opening 3 times daily now and we missed the 1:30 pm opening so we are in Harbor Village Marina. It's beautiful and quiet. Hopefully we'll make the 1:30 pm opening tomorrow in Figure 8 Island. Stay tuned!

Stuck in Swansboro, NC

The weather guys were right on track with this storm. We headed out of Morehead City this morning at 8 am and by 9 am it was lightly raining. We pulled into Casper's Marina in Swansboro by noon to wait out the storm which is supposed to worsen tonight and all day tomorrow. We just "explored" Swansboro, but the heavy rains drove us back to the boat pretty fast and we are using the dryer aboard for the 1st time to dry our soaked blue jeans. Hope to be moving again and heading south on Sunday.

Day 1 - Morehead City Yacht Basin

We made it through day #1! We left New Bern at 9am, arrived Morehead City at 4pm. We had great winds, unfortunately all on the nose (go figure). We filled up the fuel tank, the water tank and the wine glasses. We waved and blew kisses to Donnie going past the bridge. Wish you guys would reconsider the cruising thing. Pack the boat with beer and come catch us! Here's the view of the bridge on our fantail.

Tomorrow we leave!

Wow...our last night in New Bern! Tomorrow morning we head south on the ICW and plan to stop in Cedar Creek (not far I know). The food is loaded (and it seems like A LOT!), clothes are aboard and I think I packed triple the amount that Chris did. We have enough wine thanks to our friends to last at least until the South Carolina border and perhaps even beyond (well maybe not that far)! I looked at the charts today and the ICW cruising guide and made a tentative itinerary for us for the first 5 days. Of course, the weather report isn't looking great at the moment for Friday and Saturday as rain is forecast so we may just duck into Beaufort and spend 2 days playing pool at the Royal James and listening to music at the Back Street Pub. For all of you keeping up with this blog, if rain truly does materialize, give us a call and we'd love to meet you in Beaufort! Here's a photo of the wonderful table that Lee Gerl made for us - we have an original work of art in our salon and touches like this make the boat feel so homey!

The solar panels have been installed, the heat/AC has been checked out, the refrigeration inspected, maps and charts updated and now we are just counting down. Stay tuned!!!

Chris & I will try to keep all our friends up to date on our cruising adventures. This is a trip that we've been dreaming of for such a long time. We bought "Long Gone" 5 years ago and have been sailing her up and down the Neuse River. We've been to Oriental, Cape Lookout but nowhere further than that, so this adventure is definitely a big leap for us. Long Gone was berthed at the Sheraton Marina in New Bern, but in December 2007 we were informed that the Sheraton would be doubling their rates so it was time to move. We moved her to the Bridgepointe Marina across the river which is a nice facility, but we miss our "family" and D dock at the Sheraton. Hopefully when we are gone, our friends at New Bern AWARE will win their fight to reduce the ridiculously high dockage rates that the Sheraton has imposed and things will return to normal in New Bern once more.

The charts and guides have been purchased, the solar panels ordered, new batteries installed and the planning is now beginning in ernest.

Our plan is to not have a plan - to head south for warmer waters and we hope to sail around FL waters and possibly even over to the Bahamas, but we plan to take our time, wait for weather windows and visit coastal towns along the way to see if anywhere could be "home".

We'll try to update the site with photos whenever we have a fast internet connection. Stay tuned!