May 25-30, 2009 Portsmouth, VA - St. Michaels, MD

We had always heard that the Chesapeake was an amazing cruising ground... but during our trip south in 2007 the weather and our schedule didn't allow us to explore some of the prime areas. This trip we reserved time to do some cruising and the weather cooperated!

The route from Portsmouth leads past the Norfolk Naval Base where the ships were flying their United States flags at half-mast in honor of Memorial Day.

We quickly crossed to the Hampton side of the harbor when we heard the Coast Guard announcing that a large cargo ship was entering the harbor and all boats needed to clear the channel for security reasons. I cranked up my laptop and connected the AIS receiver to display all large ships near us-- a great device since the cargo ship had not yet appeared on my radar. We were glad we were close enough to see the pretty lighthouse and old fort on the Hampton side of the harbor.

Several people had told us not to miss Yorktown-- about a four hour cruise from Portsmouth. The National Park Service had recently worked on the restoration of this colonial town where the British surrendered to George Washington ending the Revolutionary War. As we got close to the town we could see the monument to the victory. ... and the statue commemorating the surrender ceremony...

There is a marina on the riverfront that is very close to the town and on the route of the free shuttle that runs from the river to the battleground. Yorktown was a major port prior to the revolution partly because the river is so deep near the shore that large ships could easily unload on the wharf. In the picture below of Pathfinder at the marina, the water is 55 feet deep!

We spent two relaxing days in Yorktown and had the time to explore the battlegrounds and visitor centers. However, the wind shifted the second day and the boats in the marina were rocking and rolling with the waves. We decided to get an early start after the second night and left in foggy weather to head up the Chesapeake.
As we moved down the York river, the fog began to burn off but the waves picked up. The weather forecast was for one foot waves but we found ourselves heading into 3-4 foot seas with spray almost up to the bridge. We slowed down a bit so we wouldn't pound into the waves. Luckily, the seas settled down after about an hour and we turned into Reedville about noontime. We had planned to anchor for the night but found that there was no cellphone coverage for the conference call I had the next morning. By this time the weather was beautiful-- sunny with gentle winds -- so we decided to push on to Solomons Island. We knew this would end up being an eleven hour cruising day... but it would be nice to settle into a great marina for a few days. We arrived at the Spring Cove marina at 6pm and settled into the same slip we had occupied in 2007.

We decided to stay in Solomons Island for three days... a chance to get caught up on laundry, restock supplies at the nearby supermarket, enjoy some great meals at the local restaurants, and relax in the olympic-size pool. On Saturday we left for the 50 mile trip to St. Michaels-- one of the prime cruising spots in the Chesapeake. The cliffs behind the Cove Point lighthouse were beautiful in the morning light.

Our plan is to spend several days in St. Michaels then move on to Annapolis... we'll have a lot to tell you on the next entry!

May 19-24, 2009 Southport, NC to Portsmouth, VA

After spending 3 days in Southport, NC and enjoying this lovely town and waiting for the weather to improve, on Wednesday May 20th we began moving north again through North Carolina towards Mile Zero of the Intracoastal Waterway in Norfolk, VA. The stormy weather did bring some wonderful sunsets.

Southport is at mile 309 at the edge of the Cape Fear river so we were pleased that the wind and waves had diminished and decided to cruise about 65 miles to a quiet anchorage near the Camp Lejeune Marine base at mile 244. The Mile Hammock anchorage is within a small basin dredged by the Marines for their drills and, while boats are allowed to anchor, no boater is allowed to go ashore. We were the second boat into the anchorage and began to watch the Marines practicing assaulting a derelict ship moored in the far corner of the basin and helicopter drills circling over the anchorage. Fortunately they stopped their activity by dinner time and we had a quiet evening with about ten other boats.

As we left the anchorage the next morning we passed through the area of the ICW sometimes used for live-fire exercises by the Marines. The warning sign flashes when the ICW is closed-- and you really want to obey that sign!

As you look across the canal and over the tanks used for target practice, one can see the ocean just a short distance away

As the ICW wound its way through North Carolina we moved through narrow canals cut to link large sounds.

These large bodies of water can get quite rough so we were happy the weather was still with us.

With the good cruising weather we decided to push on to the Campbell Creek anchorage at mile 154 (a 90 mile day!) where had spent Halloween 2007 on the way down to Florida. Below is the photo Andy Allen of SeaDee snapped of Pathfinder that night.

We got another early start with plans to stop at an anchorage just short of the Albemarle Sound in the Alligator River. As we moved through the narrow canals we would occasionally see a huge barge coming around the corner. In the photo below note the size of the trawler compared to the barge! We'd make a quick call to the barge on channel 13 and ask which side of the canal we should move to get out of their way!

Along most of the daymarks at the sides of the channel we saw hawks had built large nests

And we passed many watermen checking their crab traps

We arrived at the night's anchorage to a beautiful sunset

The next morning, May 23rd, we only had a short 30 mile trip to Coinjock, kind of a rest area on the ICW! Boats just pull over to the side of the narrow ICW and tie to a long dock. The attraction at Coinjock is a good restaurant famous for its 32 oz prime rib dinner. Chris ordered it and had plenty left over for another dinner the next day!

On May 24th we set out for the last 50 miles of the ICW to Portsmouth, VA. We knew we were back in civilization by the many bridges with restricted opening schedules. Several times we had to wait for a drawbridge to open on the hour, even though it was only 30 minutes from the prior bridge that opened on the hour. We also had to pass through the Great Bridge Lock to raise us 3 feet to the level of the Elizabeth river into Portsmouth/Norfolk. These locks are always a challenge because the wind can whip through them and shove the boat against the steel wall. After all the lock of the Okeechobee Waterway were we old hands and knew exactly what to do

After the lock we moved into the Portsmouth/Norfolk's large port area. The bridge in this picture is big!-- notice the boat of our size under the open span!

As we reached Mile Zero of the ICW we saw the familiar lightship on display... we traveled 965 from Fort Pierce in three weeks after our return from the Bahamas. Now on to the Chesapeake!

May 11-18, 2009 Jekyll Island, GA to Southport, NC

We're writing this in North Carolina close to Cape Fear waiting for a "nor'easter" with 40 knot gale winds to pass through tonight.

Week #7 took us from the Florida border through Georgia and South Carolina into North Carolina traveling 364 miles (even with a two night stop in Charleston).

We started in sunny weather with temperatures in the 80s and ended the week with 50 degrees and gale force winds.

We battled with the biting green head horse flies through the salt marshes of Georgia and South Carolina.

We walked to Our Lady Star of the Sea church in North Myrtle Beach for Mass.

We had some wonderful dinners "home-cooked" on the boat as we watched the birds and dolphins near us.

We went out to eat at great restaurants in Charleston, Georgetown, Myrtle Beach and Southport.

One night we sat under the stars as the only boat in an isolated anchorage and the next night watched the moon rise over the only other boat within miles. Some of our favorite nights are when we drop anchor in a quiet spot away from other boats, sit on our "back porch" watching the birds swoop and the fish jump and the sunset... it gets so quiet and the stars shine so brightly... we feel like we're the only two people in the world.

We refueled at the picturesque harbor on Hilton Head Island with its striped lighthouse. We had visited this harbor two years ago when we drove the coastal route to scout for our boat trip... of course a 60 mile day on the boat is only one hour in the car so the stops seems much further apart!

We tied up at the Megadock in downtown Charleston. This city marina has 19,000 linear feet of dock space covering 40 acres... it is good exercise walking from one end of the dock to the other! We enjoyed our dinners at Hymans Seafood restaurant-- Chris went "southern" and ordered the grilled salmon over grits with brown gravy and bacon and cheese-- it was good! We had a great pizza that reminded us of our trip to Capri and Naples-- don't miss Monza Pizza if you're in Charleston!

At times seagulls followed closely at our stern diving for small fish kicked up by our wake.

We tied up at a marina right on the boardwalk in quaint Georgetown, SC and wandered hand-in-hand along the one main street looking in shop windows and examining the restaurant menus to choose the right spot for dinner. We had enjoyed the Goat Island Grill when we stopped here on our anniversary in 2007 so we decided to try Riverwalk for a change-- it was great!

After several weeks of great cruising weather, the forecast changed as a strong cold front moved into North Carolina. We carefully picked a secure marina just a short walk from a great little town with good stores and restaurants. Just like Newport after the Revolutionary War, Southport NC was so poor after the Civil War that they fixed up the old houses rather than tear them down so the streets are lined with interesting old homes. The only restaurant open on Sunday was The Pharmacy-- Marianne loved her crabcakes and Chris's duck was some of the best ever!

Now we're looking forward to week #8... depending on when this gale ends... we expect to travel the last 300 miles to Norfolk, VA. We're looking forward to exploring the Chesapeake before continuing on to Newport... as usual, we'll keep you posted!

May 4-10, 2009 - Fort Pierce to Jekyll Island

Cruising is boat repair in exotic locations!

We were so happy to be back in the USA after a delightful crossing from the Bahamas on May 2nd (boats that crossed May 3rd had a rough passage!) and we were looking forward to week #6 of this cruise.

After Mass on Sunday May 3rd, we returned to the boat to find that the inverter had failed! A boat is like a car with plenty of 12 volt power to run the boat electronics and refrigerator. But if a boat has an inverter it creates regular house current from the batteries to run lights, stereos, TVs, water heater, ice maker, air conditioner, etc. While we have a generator to recharge the batteries and provide house current, the inverter is nice because we don't have the "hum" of the diesel engine of the generator. Unfortunately, the failed inverter meant we would have to run the main engine to charge our batteries and the generator to give house current.

The great news was that I called Mastervolt, the manufacturer of the inverter, and they had a really good mechanic, Louis Graham, at the boat Monday morning. It turned out that the boat had been wired wrong for the inverter... Louis knew exactly what was wrong (great to have a real professional working on the problem!) and corrected the wiring and Mastervolt covered the cost of the new inverter ($2,600) under warranty-- if you need an inverter for your boat you should get a Mastervolt-- they're good people!

We were lucky that the Fort Pierce Marina had a nice restaurant (with a great happy hour and excellent fish dinners) and a grocery store just a short walk away. We replenished our drinking water and cold cuts, worked out on the treadmill, and enjoyed sitting still for a few days! We liked walking past the sign for the "Smokin' Em" fishing boat (Marianne's childhood nickname was Em)!

So, after a delay of two days waiting for the replacement inverter, we restarted our cruise north on Wednesday May 6th and decided to do some long days to get through Florida and Georgia as fast as possible so we could spend more time in places like Charleston and the Chesapeake. The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is measured in miles from Mile Zero at Norfolk VA, so it is easy to track your progress. Fort Pierce is at mile marker 965 and we made it to a pleasant anchorage near the Melbourne bridge at mile marker 918 on the first day-- we had stayed at the same anchorage on November 23, 2007 on our way to Sarasota!

After working out the next morning it was especially fun to hear our friend Andy Allen from SeaDee calling us on the marine radio as we passed his house on Merritt Island. At the northern tip of Merritt Island we were within 5 miles of the Kennedy Space Center and we could see the shuttle waiting to launch on May 11th-- too bad we were a week early. We're still hoping to have a great view from Georgia! We could easily see the NASA Vehicle Assembly Building, the largest one story building in the world!

We anchored in Rockhouse Creek at mile marker 842 near the Ponce de Leon Lighthouse-- the tallest lighthouse in Florida. We had a pretty view from our bridge of the lighthouse in the distance.

The next day, May 8th, we stopped after a couple of hours to add diesel fuel. Our tanks hold 300 gallons-- enough for about 50 hours when we run at 8.5 knots burning 6 gallons/hour. We run about 6 hours per day but like to fill up when the tanks are half full so we stop for fuel about every four days. That timing works well because we need to pump out our waste storage tank about every 5-6 days.

On Friday May 8th we cruised to mile marker 792 and anchored off Fort Matzanis National Monument-- one of the oldest forts in the United States dating back to colonial days. The moon rising over the fort was quite something!

While anchored in these salt marshes we had a surprise! On the trip to Florida in 2007 we never had a bug problem-- but we were traveling in November and needed the heat on some nights. This trip, it seems the biting horse flies found our boat and even seemed to find their way through some our screens... we decided to close the windows, turn on the generator, and sleep with the air conditioning running.

The next morning we passed through St. Augustine and saw the huge cross at the La Leche mission and the lovely striped lighthouse...

... and we stopped for the night at the Beach Marina in Jacksonville Beach at mile marker 742 where we could top up our fuel tanks, pump out, and walk 1.4 miles to Mass at St. Paul's. We had dinner at the local Carrabbas Grill just a few blocks from the church-- great meal but we've really been eating well onboard with the meals Marianne planned for our cruise.

We awoke on Mother's Day May 10th and decided to make a long run to Jekyll Island mile marker 673... not the greatest Mother's Day for Marianne but at least the marina delivered the Sunday newspaper before we left at 7am!

We wound through a continuing chain of salt marshes and unfortunately had to swat horse flies the whole way except when we were in the large expanses of the Cumberland River. The cruising guide noted that the passage near the Kings Bay nuclear sub base is closed whenever a nuclear sub is passing through the area. We were able to proceed but got a close view of the USS Florida, a Trident class nuclear submarine that has launched cruise missiles in combat. Note the security boat in the lower right of the photo-- if we had approached any closer they would have immediately told us to shut down our engines and blocked out passage.

As we left Florida and approached the Sea Island St. Simons Jekyll Island area ,we decided to pass up the ritzier spots and stay at a serene Georgia anchorage on the Frederika river. We were anchored by 3:30pm and settled in for a great home cooked meal and watched the finales of Amazing Race and Celebrity Apprentice.

During the coming week we should be able to make it through Georgia and much of South Carolina... we'll keep you posted!

Arpil 28 - May 3, 2009 Treasure Cay to Fort Pierce FL

When we last wrote, we were in Marsh Harbour enjoying the "hub of the Abacos". Now, a week later, we're relaxing at a marina in Fort Pierce safely back in the USA.

As we were getting ready to leave Marsh Harbour, we were excited to notice a painting of Wanderer on the wall of the bar. We had met Jim and Fay of Wanderer in the Chesapeake in 2007 while they were on their way to the Abacos and enjoyed a pleasant cocktail hour with them on Wanderer in Norfolk listening to their experiences of 20 years of cruising the Intracoastal Waterway from Long Island to Hopetown. What fun to see a painting of their lovely boat in a peaceful anchorage!

On April 27th we decided to cruise the 2 hours to Treasure Cay-- known for one of the top five beaches in the world. It was also fun for us to know that Marianne's sister and her husband had spent a week at Treasure Cay almost 35 years ago! We anchored in a protected anchorage ("KI4SMH" in the picture below is my ham call sign) just off the resort docks where we could tie our dinghy, have a drink at the Tipsy Seagull bar with the "Go Cole Go" sign (Marianne's maiden name), swim in the pool, and walk a few minutes to the wonderful beach...

As we relaxed in Treasure Cay for two nights we kept an eye on the weather for crossing the Whale northbound-- once again "respecting the Whale".

On Thursday April 30th the forecast was good for the Whale so we raised anchor and began heading north. The forecasts were accurate and we continued about five hours to Alans-Pensacola anchorage where there were only four other boats and a perfect sunset...

As we watched the sunset we got a text message (yes, my GSM cellphone had a signal even here!) from that our daughter, Katie, was in labor-- we called and were able to speak to her at the hospital! As we watched some of the most amazing stars we had ever seen I thought this would be the perfect time to smoke the Graycliff Bahamian cigar I had purchased at Nippers in honor of our fourth grandchild-- Edward Rene Desjardins (Teddy)! The cigar was perfect for this special occasion-- on a trip to Nassau Marianne and I had met the Graycliff owner, Enrico Garzaroli, and, after an amazing wine tasting in his winecellar, he walked us through his cigar factory-- a small room where four women were handrolling cigars under the watchful eye of the head cigar roller who had worked for Fidel Castro before Enrico hired him away!

We awoke on Friday May 1st expecting to have a short day cruising to Great Sale Cay... but we talked with our weather guru, Chris Parker, over the SSB radio and he said Saturday would be the best day to cross from West End to Florida. So we quickly raised the anchor and cruised nine hours to West End. Fortunately, the seas were calm and we had a pleasant day watching the course, saying the Rosary, and playing Scrabble (Marianne won!). We arrived at the Old Bahama Bay marina at 5pm and were able to top up our fuel tanks before a short squall washed the salt off our boat. We had no trouble backing into our slip and picked up take out Cracked Conch dinners from the resort restaurant... Pathfinder looks pretty at night in the marina!

We set the alarm to wake up on May 2nd at 6am and found the winds and seas calm so we set out for Lake Worth 54 miles away. After one hour, as we entered the Gulf Stream, we saw the water temperature go from 82 degrees to 89 degrees and the seas settled down to almost flat. We changed our course for Stuart (66 miles away) saving a half day's travel on the ICW. As we left Bahama waters, I removed the Bahamas flag from our starboard halyard (below) and put up the "Q" flag for quarantine once we entered the USA...

About 25 miles from Stuart we were hailed by the Coast Guard. They were stopping all boats heading the Florida and asked if we were a US Flag vessel (which gives them the right to board us anywhere in the world), our documentation number, the owner's name and birthdate, and if we had any guns on board (Yes!)

Fortunately the seas were calm as we needed to wait 45 minutes at idle until two officers boarded us for a "safety inspection"-- their excuse to keep an eye out for terrorists and drug runners. With this delay and the calm seas we decided to change our course for Fort Pierce (80 miles from West End) as the Gulf Stream would give us a better push than if we headed for Stuart. As we motored we suddenly saw a large black fin sticking out of the water slowly moving towards us-- a ten foot shark!

We were glad we hadn't decided to stop for a quick swim! Shortly afterwards we saw eight dolphin swimming towards us and they turned and "escorted" us for a few minutes...

The seas remained calm and we arrived in Fort Pierce about 4pm, tied up at the Harbortown Marina, and called the Border Patrol to clear customs-- we had prepared by signing up for the Local Boaters Option program when we were in Sarasota so we didn't have to visit the Customs office at the airport.

Now that we're back in the USA with free cellphone minutes we'll be more in touch. We now turn north towards our summer home of Newport RI-- we'll keep you posted!

April 25-27, 2009 - Hopetown to Marsh Harbour

We've spent a delightful four days relaxing in Hopetown. After tying up our dinghy at the public dock we would walk up Queens Highway...




... past the breadfruit tree brought from Tahiti by Captain Bligh on HMS Bounty after the mutiny...

... and we would stop in an internet cafe or bar (depending on the time of day!) to check email and work on the blog...

As much as we loved Hopetown we wanted to be in Marsh Harbour for the weekend as we knew there was a nice Catholic church close to the harbor. The days continued to be quite windy (20-25 knot easterlies) but the short 8 mile trip was downwind so we left Hopetown at 10:30am and we were tied up at the Marsh Harbour Marina at noon.

We decided to walk the two miles into town and were excited to see Johnny Cake Lane since Marianne's real Rhode Island johnnycakes are our grandchildren's favorite breakfast!

On Sunday morning we took a taxi to church... You use the marine radio on channel 06 to call a taxi and they respond immediately. The church was about 10 minutes from the marina, a pretty building completely open-air, with a plaque to Our Lady of Charity Queen of Cuba...

... three crosses set on the rocky hillside...

... and Jesus on a crucifix made of driftwood...

... and the usual rousing choir! We loved the service! After taking the taxi back to the marina we settled in for another couple of relaxing days. This is as far south as we'll go so over the next week we'll gradually work our way back up the Sea of Abaco, through the Whale, across the Little Bahama Bank and position ourselves for the crossing back to Florida. The timing will be right because we will have almost finished our supply of books: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Outliers, Gilead, Team of Rivals, Mary's Voyage, The First Daughter, and Shadow Command

April 20-24, 2009 Sea of Abacos

We’re now in Marsh Harbour, the hub of the Abacos, as we look back on week #4 of this trip.

On Monday April 20th we were “respecting the Whale”— waiting in Green Turtle Cay for the seas to settle down so we could go south through the Whale Cay passage – the most dangerous passage in the north Bahamas. We listened to the marine radio for the 8:15 am Cruisers Net and heard a 50 foot motor yacht in the Whale saying it “wasn’t too bad” so we decided to “stick our nose out” and see for ourselves. As we left our calm mooring in Black Sound we found it more windy than we expected but the seas weren’t too rough. We motored the 20 minutes towards the Whale and passed two other boats that had completed the passage northbound—they also told us it wasn’t too rough. We continued towards the narrow passage where the seas should be the worst… and found them quite manageable. We kept going and within 30 minutes were safely into the Sea of Abaco heading for Great Guana Cay.

This island is one of the most popular destinations in the Abacos for two reasons—the long, deserted beach facing the Atlantic Ocean and Nippers, the famous bar on the bluff overlooking the ocean. We got a slip at Orchid marina—the only one on the island but it wasn’t as protected as it looked on the charts and we were rocking quite a bit so we ended up spending more time at Nippers—not a bad thing as we took a walk past the painted tractor to the bluff overlooking the ocean, talked to family on the Skype phone, had a dinner of cracked conch and conch fritters and took a long walk on the beautiful beach. We settled down after sunset and were rocked to sleep.

On Tuesday April 21st, with the boat still rocking in the slip, we decided to cruise the ten miles to Hopetown—the favorite harbor of most cruisers. Just as we saw the famous striped Hopetown lighthouse in the distance we used our radar to watch some of the squalls leading the cold front sweeping east from Florida—a couple of large squalls passed north and south of us but a small squall hit just as we entered Hopetown harbor and washed all the salt off the boat! We picked up a mooring in the west end of one of the most beautiful harbors in the Abacos.

The next four days we really felt we were living our dream—relaxing on the boat with a simple breakfast of coffee and homemade raisin bread we bought at a local bakery, working out on the treadmill, dinghy to the public docks and walking to the beach for a swim, exploring the charming streets and stopping in a coffee shop or bar for a drink then back to the boat to relax and read and, at sunset as the conch horns were blown, watched the incredible light show as the stars came out brighter than we'd ever seen them.

Here are some pictures of the lovely spots we saw in Hopetown: