Our Lives are Changing!

A view of the new house

After I returned from crewing aboard Celerity, Chris received a call from a recruiter about a position with Rybovich in W. Palm Beach. He went for the interview and returned excited so....

HERE WE ARE!

We packed up some belongings in Chris' car and drove it down to West Palm to leave it at the plant site and flew home a few days later. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Airport and spent most of the next 3 days looking for a house to buy. We found one that "fit the bill" in Tequesta and made an offer. They verbally accepted, but by the time that they received Chris' signed agreement which was sent overnight delivery, they had unethically accepted another buyer's offer for more money. Our realtor asked us if we wanted to outbid the "new" buyer, but Chris declined. He was justifiably upset! Everything happens for a reason is what we told ourselves.

Chris began his new position as Director of HR for Rybovich on August 10 so we left New Bern on August 8 in my car. Rybovich owns the Four Fish Inn and Marina in Jensen Beach and graciously put us up in a "Key West" cottage on their property. It's adorable, painted sky blue with a tin roof. The best part is living directly across the street from the marina so we can obtain our "boat fix" by walking across the street which is what we do nightly. We pour a glass of wine when Chris arrives home and walk the docks. On the first night of this "ritual" we spotted 3 manatees and I was SO excited!!!! I just wish I had our camera with us!

We spent the entire weekend looking at houses in Jupiter and Tequesta and nothing seemed to fit the bill and we were becoming discouraged. The prices were high and none of them felt "right" and like home.

On Saturday, August 8, we decided to ditch our realtor and struck out on our own. We turned on the trusty GPS and headed for water. We ended up in Sewall's Point and found a house across the street from the water with its own dock. We called the realtor who was the listing agent and she agreed to meet us on Sunday, August 9. She showed us the Sewall's Point house first and it was nice but still didn't feel "right" even though the dock was "calling to us". The second house she took us to was in Stuart, FL and near the I95 exchange (a big plus). We walked into the house and it felt PERFECT. Honestly, we just "knew". We looked at a few other houses, went back to the "perfect" house and ended up back in her office making an offer 2 hours later.

Our offer was accepted and the owners (Ji & Dennis) are sailors too. We bonded immediately and Dennis drug out his sailing photos of when he used to crew for Neil Young (yes, THAT Neil Young). Dennis & Ji are rennovating a house so we cannot close until October 29 but it is definitely worth the wait. We are excited!

Now...if I could just find a job, all would really be perfect!!!!

Yeocomico River

June 26, 2009
The "race" was on! "Outrageous", "Polaris" and "Celerity" all vying for anchoring first! All 3 boats took different routes to our destination. We tended to take the route closest to land, but ended up tacking lots to try and keep our sails filled. In the end, all 3 vessels took down the sails and motored into the Yeocomico River. The rudder stuffing box was really giving us fits so Dennis (Polaris) and Thom (Outrageous) kindly offered to take a look. While they couldn't see the rudder stuffing box, they were able to "feel" it and gave it two plus turns. Wa-la...they are brilliant. We now have a dry bilge and no more pumping. Melinda was SOOOO happy! While under way we kept checking, but every time we pumped, we came up empty. One problem solved anyway. Polaris hosted dinner aboard tonight, but unfortunately Melinda was just too wiped out to attend. She had been working all day fixing this and that and needed a night to crawl in bed with Molly and veg. The Polaris taxi graciously picked me up and took me to their boat for a night of wine, food and story swapping.

June 27, 2009
Anchor up at 9 am and all 3 boats motored across the Potomac to the St. Mary's River to anchor in Horseshoe Bend. St. Mary's is a really historical little town with lots of charm. Unfortunately this day brought nearly 100 degree temps and high humidity. We were miserable. We did stop for fuel and water at a marina that had a pool. Their Boat US Discounted rate was $1.50/ft. and we almost bit the bullet and took a slip, but we decided to rough it and go to the anchorage. Melinda put up the forward sunshade and that helped a bit, but it was just so hot and miserable that we didn't even feel like making dinner. We settled on sandwiches and potato chips. We did meet some nice folks aboard a Bristol Channel Cutter, an absolutely gorgeous boat in the anchorage. St. Mary's College had a very nice dock so we used that to take Molly ashore for her morning and evening romp of 15 minutes on dry land.

Fishing Bay (near Deltaville)

We spent an additional night in the Severn River since the weather wasn't cooperating. I did the laundry and babysat for Molly (Melinda's Schnauzer) while Melinda went with Teri and Denise to Walmart. We needed provisions for the rest of the trip.

June 24, 2009 - We left the Severn River and crossed Mobjack Bay (which is HUGE), around Stingray Point to Fishing Bay. I had never anchored there before as Chris and I went up the Rappahanock River instead to the opposite side of Deltaville. We were fortunate enough to have a small marina nearby where we could "land" and take Molly to shore. We also wanted to take on some fuel and water which we did the next morning. We learned a valuable lesson though--fill up the boat in the afternoon when you arrive! The next morning there were 3 sailboats all waiting for nearly an hour as 2 small power boats filled their tanks (not simultaneously). The first was a 16 ft. center console and he parked in the middle of the entire dock (big enough for two 40' vessels), the second boat zipped in right after the first even though it was obvious that three sailboats were circling to get onto the fuel dock. A Catalina 38 named "Almost" was really upset and ended up calling the marina, but it really did no good. We finally did get in, filled up with diesel and water and were on our way. Our destination was Sandy Point on the Great Wicomico River.

June 25, 2009
We motorsailed up to Sandy Point with "Polaris" and "Outrageous" and anchored in a cove that had a small beach. Celerity has a leak and Melinda and I started to count and time our bilge pump outs. Melinda was pretty convinced that it was a rudder stuffing box leak. I didn't even realize that the rudder HAD a stuffing box! In any event, the leak was obviously getting worse and it was on Melinda's mind A LOT! Also...the outboard was a big problem on the trip as it took 10-11 pulls before the motor would cough...and perhaps 11 more before it started. Dennis on Polaris came aboard with a can of STP gas treatment thinking that it may help. Melinda is convinced that the dinghy motor has a personal grudge against her!

Tracy crewing on Celerity

June 17, 2009 -
I drove to Norfolk to meet Melinda at Hospital Point. Her crew, Ed, had to return to Raleigh to meet some previously made commitments. He drove my car back to the River Rat Yacht Club and I will pick it up later. Our cruising "buddy boat" is Polaris with Denise and Dennis aboard. We all had dinner aboard Celerity and a great time ensued with lots of wine drunk, of course.

June 18, 2009 -
We cruised up to Hampton to pick up a whisker pole which Melinda purchased online. After a brief wait, we then cruised across to Willoughby Bay for the night. A HORRIFIC lightning storm hit us about 7 pm and it was the most dangerous lightning that I had ever seen. Melinda and I took turns getting up to peer out of the companionway in hopes that we could see the other 4 boats anchored with us to insure that we (or them) were not dragging. All told, we had over 5" of rain in a few hours and the dinghy looked like a swimming pool the next morning. A sleepless night to say the least with no hatches open. Yuk!

June 19, 2009 -
We left the anchorage and cruised up to the Severn River off Mobjack Bay to meet our 3rd cruising buddy boat with Terri and Tom on "Outrageous" (a Mason 43, beautiful boat). It's a LONG way off the beaten path to the Severn River Marina but the facility is nice with showers and lots of places to sit under an umbrella and enjoy the breeze.

June 20-22, 2009
We are still sitting at anchor in the Severn River and awaiting decent wind/weather. There have been thunderstorms nearly every day and the wind has been from the NW, which of course, is the direction we intend to go. The plan is to leave tomorrow morning and go up to Fishing Bay (near Deltaville) and anchor for the evening. Hopefully the cool breezes will continue and the 100 degree temps are gone until we reach DC.

Memorial Day 2009 - Ocracoke Trip

An impromptu "concert" aboard Long Gone with Lee Bettis & Zeke

Thursday, May 22, 2009 -
We left New Bern about 7:30 am and hoped to make it the whole way to Ocracoke but the winds were on the nose so we couldn't sail and the choppy water didn't allow for lots of headway. We made the decision to anchor out in South River and continue to Ocracoke the next morning. The weather was perfect with a nice cool breeze for sleeping. We were visited by a pod of dolphins with their babies which was just WONDERFUL. Vickie and Donnie from "Charisma" joined us in the anchorage about 6 pm and rafted up to Long Gone. We all turned in early with the hope that we would get a very early start.

Friday, May 23, 2009
We left South River about 6:15 am and arrived in Silver Lake at Ocracoke about noon. Luckily "Charisma" and "Long Gone" procured the last 2 slips at the Government Docks. As we were sailing down the channel, we heard a call to "Tally Ho". We met Andrew and Vanessa in Marsh Harbour and they were just on their way home to Maryland from the Bahamas. They too went into Ocracoke and anchored in Silver Lake. They dinghied over for a visit and we all made plans to go for Pizza the following day. On Friday evening Lee Bettis (an attorney from New Bern) came aboard and brought his guitar and we had an impomptu jam session. SO fun!

Saturday, May 24, 2009
Chris and I took a long morning walk to the hardware store and back stopping at several little shops along the way. Vickie, Donnie, Vanessa, Andrew, Chris and I all met at the Pizza place at 2pm for a late lunch/early dinner and we all ordered one topping (an Ocracoke custom). So....it was a pepperoni, sausage, sun dried tomato, mushroom, artichoke and garlic pizza. YUMMY! We ordered one to make sure it all worked together and quickly ordered another to go with all the Coronas!

On Saturday night we probably had the biggest group of musicians on the boat ever. We had 3 guitarists, a bongo player and about 30 folks showed up to sing along. At 10 pm we were visited by the Hyde County Sheriff's Department to ask when we might be "wrapping it up". That certainly killed the sing-a-long! It could not have been any boaters at the docks who complained since they were all part of the party!

Sunday, May 25, 2009
We left early on Sunday morning bound for River Dunes to meet up with "Alchemy" (Dave and Mia), "Picasso" (Faye & Phil) and "Three Sheets" (Vinnie & Sandy). It was a great sail over with just the right amount of wind. We did have to finally roll in all the sails as we neared Broad Creek as a rain squall hit with some heavy wind. We arrived at Grace Harbor about 1 pm and the guys promptly got into Dave's Dinghy to ride over to a new little bar at Paradise Shores. They claimed that the rays were spawning in the river and were everywhere! The girls stayed behind to enjoy the pool and multiple hot tubs. For dinner that night, we all grilled steaks by the pool, brought some potluck side dishes to share and had a great time. Dave drug out his boat guitar and we went down below on "Three Sheets" as the mosquitoes drove us indoors.

Monday, May 26, 2009
We left about 8:30 am and had a gorgeous sail all the way back to New Bern. The wind was perfect and we had a beam reach all the way up the river. It was glorious! We were back in the slip by 3 pm and waited for Vickie and Donnie to arrive about 5 pm. Back to the real world of job hunting.

Our Crewing Opportunity with "Enchantment"

Tuesday, May 12, 2009
We left Lew & Teresa’s in Virginia Beach this morning at 9:30 am. We stopped at a pancake place called “Pier 23” on the way out and treated ourselves to omelets before making the drive. It took us about 4 hrs. to get home but we piddled in Elizabeth City as we had never been there before and wanted to take in some sights. It’s nice to be home, I suppose, but I’m ready for the next adventure!!! Sorry for forgetting our camera on this trip - I was so upset that I left it at home!!!

Monday, May 11, 2009
We locked through the Deep Canal Lock at 8:30 am, their first opening and continued down the Dismal Canal. So much history! To think that George Washington first started dredging this canal in the 1700’s is pretty darned impressive. We met up with “Catharsis”, the catamaran in Oriental and another beautiful trawler named “Sea Flat”. When we asked if they were musicians, the captain said “no, my wife likes the seas to be flat” henceforth their name. Cindy and Merrill were first in line in the lock and when the spillway opened, it was a darned tidal wave. They had a very rough time trying to fend “Ambition” from the sides of the lock and we christened Cindy, “The human fender”. Seriously, it was pretty awful for them and the lockmaster should have forewarned them of the velocity of the incoming water.

We made it to the 2nd lock on the canal for the 1:30 pm opening and the lockmaster there was full of personality. He entertained us by claiming that he was “the world’s greatest conch horn player” and you know what….he was! His dog also greeted each boat knowing he was going to get some attention.

Merrill and Cindy left us at Portsmouth (sniff) and it was hard waving goodbye across the water. We’ve had such a great time with them but hopefully we’ll go up to Montreal for the jazz festival in July which they claim is absolutely the best anywhere.

Lew, Chris and I pressed onward to Norfolk where Lew was leaving the boat to get hauled on Tuesday morning. The last 2 hours of the trip weren’t pleasant – very rough and pitching seas with rain and chilly temps. We were happy to get tied up and ride over to Lew’s house.

Teresa, Lew’s wife, made mac & cheese, chicken and of course, we all drank lots of wine. Lew hadn’t seen her in 10 days so it was a happy reunion for those 2. Their home in Virginia Beach was lovely and very unique. Their hospitality was certainly appreciated! They even had “Lucy”, their tabby kitty for me to pet and get my kitty fix.

Sunday, May 10, 2009
We left the anchorage on schedule and decided after the Alligator River Bridge to go through the Dismal Swamp Canal. Chris & I had never been through it and it was just beautiful. It was neither dismal or swampy! Unfortunately we didn’t make it to the Deep Lock by the last 3:30 pm opening so both boats tied up together at the entrance to the lock. Cindy made killer chili and I contributed the cornbread and wine. Again, lots of wine, Dark & Stormy’s, laughter and friendship ensued. The weather was brisk and perfect for sleeping with open hatches!

Saturday, May 9, 2009
It was a GREAT day today as we made a record 83 miles. We traveled up the Neuse, through the cut, across the Bay River, up the Pungo River and went through the Alligator-Pungo Canal. We managed to get in a bit of motor sailing and anchored just after the Alligator-Pungo Canal. Unfortunately “Ambition” drug a bit that night and because of the winds gusting to 25, we were unable to raft together. Lew had some fresh Mahi in the freezer which Chris grilled and it was EXCELLENT. Lots of Dark & Stormy’s made with Goslings Rum & Ginger Beer brought back from the Bahamas was consumed and Lew even had COFFEE ice cream (my very favorite). We turned in early in anticipation for a 7 am departure from the anchorage.

Friday, May 8, 2009
We’ve agreed to be crew for “Enchantment”. Back in November as we proceeded south, we met up with Lew and Joe (the crew that cooked!) somewhere south of Wrightsville Beach and both boats stayed together all the way to Florida. We had a great time with them and met up with them again at Boat Harbour in the Bahamas. Lew & Joe again brought the boat back north, but Joe had to get back to Virginia Beach as his baby girl was turning 1 so Lew needed crew. We quickly volunteered to go. Even better was that Cindy & Merrill from “Ambition” had come down to New Bern for a quick visit and were also heading north so the two boats traveled up to Norfolk together. It was GREAT to be back aboard a boat again – even though it wasn’t Long Gone. We all went to dinner at M&M’s on Friday evening and agreed to depart Oriental at 7:30 am on Saturday.

Long Gone is HOME

Well.....it's been a WONDERFUL year indeed. It's bittersweet being home. We missed our friends and our families while we were away, but it's difficult being home too. The first night sleeping at home was strange for both of us without the boat's gentle rocking motion to relax us. We miss feeding our wanderlust, planning our route, the anticipation of seeing something new nearly every day. We also are back into the "real" world of realizing just how awful our economy has become, worrying about getting jobs and with land-based living, coming to grips on how to curb our spending. When we were on the boat in the Islands, there was nothing to spend money on (besides food of course)! No malls, no large supersized grocery stores, no fast food Burger King's around every corner, no fuel for our automobiles, no delivery of Dominoes Pizza! It was an idyllic life indeed and we are going to miss it, but we feel so grateful for this year. Not many folks get to realize their dreams and we did....and it was better than we had hoped! Thanks to all of you that wrote to say that they enjoyed this blog. I had a wonderful time sharing our adventure with you.