June 27 - 28th 2009 Port Jefferson NY to Newport RI

June 27-28th, 2009 -- Port Jefferson NY to Newport RI

When I went to sleep in Port Jefferson after the exciting day passing through New York harbor I was hoping to make it all the way to Newport the next day. However, as often happens on a cruise, the weather controls the day and I awoke socked in with heavy fog-- I couldn't even see the beach or the breakwater that I had anchored near the night before.

I checked the weather forecast and they claimed the fog would burn off early in the morning so I relaxed on the upper deck and caught up on this blog and chatted with Marianne on the cell phone-- much easier to single-hand when I know my love is a quick phone call away!

By 8 am it looked like the fog was lifting so I raised anchor and left the harbor-- only to find that the fog closed in again and I was surprised how easy it was to became disoriented. My GPS seemed to be misbehaving and at one point I saw my depth sounder ticking down and I realized I was headed towards the beach! A quick 180 turn to deeper water and I decided to slowly pick my way back into the harbor and drop anchor again for a couple of hours.

Looking ahead in heavy fog

Finally at 9 am I headed out of the harbor and plotted a course to Block Island about 70 nautical miles away. Although the fog had lifted slightly the visibility was still only about 200 yards but I felt safe to proceed at slightly slower than normal speed. After about 2 hours the fog suddenly closed in again and my visibility dropped to less than 50 yards!  I dropped my speed down to about 5 knots-- barely above idle for the engine. But even at that low speed I still travel 170 yards per minute so I would have about 20 seconds from the time an object came out of the fog to steer clear-- half that time if it was another boat coming at me also at 5 knots! Not much time if one glances down at the instruments or turns to take a sip of coffee! But I have a good radar unit on board and was able to watch other boats moving slowly in the fog up to 5 miles away. I also have a Fogmate (www.fogmate.com) that automatically blasts my boat horn about every two minutes (this is an easy to connect $100 product that every boater should have!)

Traveling in the fog is tense-- you hear a fog horn in the distance but you're not sure from where it comes because the fog distorts the direction. You see blips moving on the radar but you're worried a sailboat without a radar reflector might be right in front of you. You watch the AIS screen for larger ships but many boats don't broadcast an AIS location. You watch the GPS chart plotter to make sure you are on track in safe waters. You watch your depth sounder to make sure your depth matches the chartplotter. You stare ahead at the white cloud of fog with your hand on the throttle to throw the engine into reverse and say a prayer. At one point I saw a blip on the radar coming directly towards me about a mile away. I turned 60 degrees starboard to pass safely and watched at the blip also changed course still aiming for me about now about 600 yards away! I called a warning on the VHF channel 16 and turned starboard another 45 degrees and incredibly, watch the blip still coming towards me.  I blasted my horn 5 times in the international danger signal and finally saw the blip turn away from me. The radar showed it passing about 75 yards from me-- I heard a loud engine but never saw the boat through the fog!

The entrance buoy appears in the fog

The fog stayed with me all day so I was close to sunset as I approached Block Island. I kept watching for the red entrance buoy to the Great Salt Pond. The GPS chart plotter showed that the buoy was less than 100 yards away and I could hear it but couldn't see it. I crept closer and finally saw the buoy appear out of the fog. As I entered the channel the fog lifted completely and it was a perfect sunny evening!

I dropped anchor in New Harbor at Block Island-- one of our favorite trips from our home port of Newport. We love Newport-- the constant parade of huge yachts, the America's Cup 12 metre yachts racing each other, the cruise ship tenders dropping passengers off to tour the mansions-- there isn't another harbor like it!

Aldos Bakery boat delivering to the anchorage

But in only about three hours from home we can be in Block Island and enter a different world with quiet walks through fields lined with wild blueberries, simple restaurants and ice cream parlors. The Great Salt Pond is a very protected harbor with plenty of room to drop anchor and a launch service run by Oldport to take you into town. And, of course, there is the boat from Aldos Bakery that circles the harbor each morning and evening bringing fresh bakery items. Nothing like having fresh blueberry pie delivered to your boat!

The next morning I woke early for the short trip to Newport. I crossed our wake about 10 am off Point Judith-- 18 months and 5,000 miles!

As I came around Goat Island and headed for our mooring I could see Marianne waiting for me with several of our children and grandchildren. Home at last!

June 25 - 26 2009 Cape May NJ to Port Jefferson NY

June 25-26th --  Cape May NJ to Port Jefferson NY

June 25th was the longest run of our entire trip-- 13 hours from Cape May harbor past the entire New Jersey coast, around Sandy Hook and down to anchor behind the breakwater at Atlantic Highlands. I left Cape May just before dawn and was a bit concerned about the weather-- the swells were 4-6 feet as I left the harbor and I was steering from the lower helm and taking water over the bow. However, as I turned up the New Jersey coast the seas settled down and I was able to move to the upper helm, set the autopilot, say the Rosary, and watch the lovely coast pass by. Even though the autopilot steers the boat, the helmsman needs to watch out for small boats, lobster pots, and debris. When both of us are on board we take turns at the helm every couple of hours... but when single-handing one must keep their full attention on the water for the whole day. I have to admit, I was so happy to finally drop anchor... I wolfed down some cold cuts for supper and immediately fell asleep!

Verrazano Narrows Bridge

The next morning I got up early, pulled up the anchor, and set the course to pass under the Verrazano Narrows bridge and into New York harbor. My AIS display was going crazy with hundreds of boats showing on the screen-- I really needed to focus on the fast moving ferries and large container ships moving around the harbor in all directions. How exciting to see the Statue of Liberty once again from the water and the skyline of Manhattan!

After circling close to the Statue of Liberty for 30 minutes and snapping some pictures I turned to head under the Brooklyn Bridge and up the East River towards Long Island Sound.

Strong tide in Hell's Gate

When we were heading south in 2007 we were quite nervous to pass through the infamous Hell's Gate in the East River where the tide rages through a narrow portion of the river. We waited in Long Island Sound to time our passage to slack water.

This time, after experiencing the Whale in the Bahamas, Hell's Gate didn't seem as scary and I didn't bother to wait until slack tide to pass through.

Port Jefferson Harbor

The next step was to enter Long Island Sound heading for the large, protected harbor at Port Jefferson. While there are several good marinas in the harbor, I decided to just pull into the harbor, turn to port, and drop anchor just inside the breakwater.

June 22 - 24 2009 Rock Creek to Cape May

June 22-24, 2009 -- Glen Burnie, MD to Cape May, NJ

After leaving Pathfinder tied up at the Maryland Yacht Club for 12 days while we conducted some business and drove a car from Sarasota, we prepared for the final week of our journey. Given the timing with the end of the school year for our grandchildren, it made sense for Marianne to drive the 7 hours to Newport with the car loaded for the summer, open up our place in Newport, and have fun taking care of our granddaughters for several days before the July 4th weekend while Chris would take 6 days to travel the same distance single-handed. We prefer to be together but with timing and family needs we thought this would make sense and Chris was looking forward to trying an extended single-hand experience.

The Maryland Yacht Club has a very reasonable rate for cruisers to leave their boat for a week or longer in a protected slip. We were very pleased with the location and the staff. We drove up from Sarasota with a loaded car and stayed overnight aboard before Marianne jumped in the car for the 7 hour drive to Newport.

Chris left the slip and headed to the top of the Chesapeake where the C+D Canal begins. This canal cuts across the upper edge of the eastern shore of the Chesapeake connecting to the Delaware River.

There is a small anchorage just off the canal after this bridge at Chesapeake City that is very protected from the sometimes rough water on the Delaware River or the Chesapeake Bay.



Chris dropped anchor right at the #2 in the picture on the right (this comes from the ActiveCaptain website) and worked out on the treadmill then cooked up a "bachelor" dinner of grilled Spam (we had many cans left over from the backup supplies we loaded on board before the Bahamas)

The next morning Chris got an early started out of the anchorage for the eight hour run through the canal and down the Delaware River to the southern tip of New Jersey and Cape May.

Leaving the anchorage I was immediately reminded that this canal is a commercial shipping lane by the huge tanker coming towards Pathfinder-- size does matter! I moved over to the side and gave plenty of room!

The Delaware river was calm and the eight hours passed quickly. I only saw a few boats on the river including the pretty schooner in this picture. There were some large ships further up river and I watched them   on the AIS link on my computer to make sure I stayed out of their way!





One of the most interesting sights was the steam rising from the nuclear power plant along the shoreline.


At the beginning of the Delaware River sits Cape May NJ. This picture shows the entrance to the canal from the river leading to a protected harbor where I tied up once again at Utches Marina, filled the fuel tank for the long trip to New York harbor, worked out on the treadmill, cooked another grilled Spam dinner (actually pretty good!) and settled in early in anticipation of a long day tomorrow.

June 9 - June 10 2009 Annapolis to Rock Creek

June 9 - 10, 2009 -- Annapolis to Rock Creek

On the morning of June 9th we made the short run from Annapolis to pleasant anchorage off Gibson Island. After anchoring in front of a lovely farm with horses grazing on the grass a fierce storm rolled through the anchorage with a total white-out. 








After the storm passed we had a beautiful red sunset and watched a small boat running a trot line to catch crabs.

The next day we had a short two hour run to leave Pathfinder secure in a slip for 12 days at Maryland Yacht Club while we got some business done and bring a car up from Florida.

June 3 - 8, 2009 Annapolis, MD

Wednesday June 3, 2009 -- St. Michaels to Annapolis

After a relaxing four days in St. Michaels we left about 9:30 am (after breakfast and a treadmill workout) and we made the 3 hour trip from St. Michaels in calm weather and found a mooring in Spa Creek in Acton Cove by 1pm... the same mooring we had in October 2007! So convenient to downtown with many public dinghy docks to choose from.

We're waiting for our son, Jim and his wife Julie to arrive this weekend-- fun! We enjoy Annapolis so much that we decided to stay here until June 8th. What a great town!

May 30 - June 2, 2009 - St. Michaels, MD

Saturday May 30, 2009 -- Solomons Islands to St. Michaels

We started the engine at 6:40am for the 6 hour cruise up the Chesapeake to the lovely port of St. Michaels, MD. The bay was calm and it was an easy cruise through familiar territory.
As we approached St. Michaels we were talking to a passing boat on our VHF marine radio when we heard a someone calling "Pathfinder this is Rosetta". We realized it was Pepper and Geoff whom we had met and cruised with in 2007 as we headed down the ICW. It turned out they were on their boat heading back to their home and had recognized us talking on the radio. We quickly made plans to meet up with them in St. Michaels.

Early on the morning of August 10, 1813, a number of British barges sailed up the Miles River intending to shell the town and its harbor fort. The citizens of St. Michaels, having been warned in advance of the planned attack, had evacuated most of the women, children, livestock and valuable possessions to an area outside of town known as 'Onion Hill'. Brigadier General Perry Benson, commanding officer of the Talbot County militia, ordered lanterns placed in treetops just outside of the town and all other lights in the town extinguished, thereby creating the first military blackout on record. When the British marines aimed their cannon fire to the lights, they overshot the town. Only one dwelling was hit, a brick house near the harbor now known as "The Cannonball House." This successful defense caused St. Michaels to be thereafter known as "The Town That Fooled The British." 

As we entered St. Michaels harbor we saw Pepper & Geoff waving from the distinctive lighthouse at the harbor entrance.

These traditional light houses have been preserved and open for historic tours.

We had a nice slip in the marina making it easy to get off Pathfinder to explore the town but still giving us a great view of the harbor from our "back porch"

Add caption

We really enjoyed spending time with our friends Pepper and Geoff Holmes from MV Rossetta. 


We had a quick lunch and agreed to get together after Mass for a tour of the area in their car and dinner together.

We explored the town a bit and got pizza at Ava Pizza-- what a great spot sitting at the large picture window and watching the people walk by. 

Then we went back to sit on our upper deck and watch the boats enter and leave the harbor.


After Sunday Mass we returned the Pathfinder with the Sunday newspapers for a light lunch and sat on our upper deck enjoying the boat traffic.

St. Michaels is a beautiful little town and we spent several relaxing days wandering around the town admiring the home like these...

But we were due in Annapolis as our son Jim and his wife Julie were going to drive down and meet us there for a few days... so time to get ready to depart knowing we'll be back on a future cruise to explore more of this part of the Chesapeake.

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!