Today is Thanksgiving Monday and Karen is cooking a turkey and all the trimmings. She was up early this morning as she wanted to cook it before it got too hot. The temperatures have been in the high 80's and we are enjoying every minute of it!

We left Atlantic City for Cape May in fog. Karen and Jim had not travelled in fog before and were a bit aprehensive but we convinced them to go out and have a look as we could always turn around and come back if we didn't like it or they were uncomfortable. It turned out to be not too bad and we continued on to Cape May. We anchored by the coastguard station and decided to stay in Cape May the next day to do laundry and groceries as we were both desperate to get some laundry done. It is a real chore to try to find a place with laundry and if you are at a marina with laundry, they usually only have one washer and one dryer so laundry becomes a whole day affair. Since we both had 3 or 4 loads each, we decided to try to find a laundrymat so we could get it done quick and meet the guys for lunch at the Lobster House. The toughest part was trying to find a place that would let us tie up the dinghy. This is sure not the East Coast of Canada where everyone is willing to give you the shirt off their back! We managed to get it done and then went for lunch and then walked to the grocery store ( which was awful). We were going to plan a night crossing up the Delaware to the C & D Canal but changed our minds and decided to leave really early in the morning and stop short of the canal for the night. We would have a bit of current against us but we found that a lot more enticing than staying up all night! We planned a 06:30 departure but when we woke up it was really foggy so we delayed the trip until the sun came up. We really didn't want to travel in fog and darkness. The fog was supposed to clear by 0900 but it did persist well into the afternoon. The trip was great otherwise with calm seas but it seemed like a long day as we didn't get anchored until after 6 that night, but it was a great anchorage behind Reedy Island and we could wait for an ebb tide the next day to go thru the Canal.

We decided to only go as far as Chesapeake City as we wanted to take a down day and celebrate Thanks giving with Jim and Karen. We had hoped to be with all of the other Canadian boats, but they were stuck in Great Kills Bay due to weather and had only left on Saturday to head down the New Jersey Coast. We did however get a nice surprise as Dave and Judy Burns had called us and said that they were coming back from the Annapolis Boat Show and wanted to meet up with us for a night. When we arrived in Chesapeake City, they were waving to us from the dock. We anchored in the bay in Chesapeake City, dropped the dinghy and went in to pick up Dave and Judy. Karen and Jim stayed bedhind on the boat. We were rafted together and when we got back it looked like a small powerboat was rafted along side of us until we noticed Karen and Jim with the boat hooks in their hands on our bow pushing the boat away. The small powerboat had anchored in the bay and then went for lunch. Their anchor was dragging and thankgoodness Jim and Karen had stayed behind as I am sure that there would have been damage done on our boat! Bruce took the dinghy to shore and went into the restaurant to find the people. He got lucky and the second people he asked belonged to the boat. They had to leave their lunch and come get their boat. I really didn't feel too sorry for them. We had a great time with Dave and Judy. They took us for groceries, propane and out for dinner of steamed shrimp and calamari. We had hoped that they would be able to stay another night to help us celebrate Thanksgiving but Judy had volunteer to work the election so they had to get back.

After Thanksgiving, we left Chesapeake City for a short trip to the Sassafras River. We did not go up the Sassafras as far as the town but anchored just inside the bay. Bruce and I did take the dinghy in to make a few phone calls and it took an hour each way by dinghy, but it was a beautiful day and the scenery was great! That night we got a bad thunderstorm but it still did not cool things off too much.

We left the Sassafras for Baltimore where we are now at a dock for a couple of weeks. Steve and Shirley and Mark and Carol arrived the next day so we are now all together again and all beside each other on the docks. We all plan to do a little sightseeing and get some work done on the boats. We rented a 15 passenger van yesterday to take us to the boatshow in Annapolis as we all needed to get charts etc. before continuing on. It looks like a great city with lots to see and do so it shouldn't be too hard to pass the time. Bruce and I are headed home for a few days, me to the Sault and Bruce to Toronto and then he will come back before me to get things ready again to leave. The winds have picked up and the weather has turned a bit cooler so this reminds us that winter is on it's way and we should get going again before it arrives!










Dave and Judy visit



Transiting the C and D Canal

Allister making himself at home on Con El Viento href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNAJDGyhUPiEC_L7D7m4WkDZx1M_pM-a3EjORccygVl428OUGaHsV47Il-cGHPSPLTMMKQK7DEWcnxfv-MJc_qJkPgng-bfmp119yhJzEQvHrAh-mtGZoI_msoU0LRwCM1SGDgr_TeMRVl/s1600-h/DSC00861.JPG">


Jim and Karen and Northern Reach

We have always known that when you are sailing, you really can't make any firm plans. All plans are subject to change and are often changed due to weather conditions, but we have never changed our plans as often as we have in the last 2 days and for reasons not often encountered in an average sailing day!

We decided to leave for Great Kills Bay on the 25 of September and then due a day of shopping in New York from there. The weather conditions were perfect for going through Hells Gate and a cold front was due in on Wednesday so we figured we would be down a day anyway. We left City Island around 9 a.m. and were really excited about going through New York City on Con El Viento! We passed by LaGuardia Airport with planes zooming right over our mast and as we were approaching the last bridge before Hells Gate, a large freighter radioed us to tell us he would be passing us on our starboard. We acknowledged and then he informed us that East River Traffic had notified him that the East River was closed on both sides of Roosevelt Island was closed due to the fact that the President of Iran was in town for U.N. week. What a bad week to be in New York City as it goes until October 3rd! They were only allowing commercial boats through with a police escort. We had to turn around again and go against the current back again. We decided to go back to City Island and head into New York and go shopping. I won't say much about that as I didn't really have a very successful day. I don't know if it was because I was shopping with Bruce or maybe it was too hot to be walking around downtown, or it could have been the fact that I cut my hand when I was picking up a mooring ball back at City Island and my hand was was sore and swollen in the heat. the temperatures this week have been on average about 14 degrees above the norm for this time of year. It has been in the high 80's and not really cooling down at night as the water temperature is about 23 degrees. We are not complaining as we have finally been getting a stretch of great weather!

When we got back to the boat, we called the coastguard and he assured us that East side of Roosevelt would be open, with the bridge operating on a demand basis. Normally if you wanted to go down this side, you would have to give 6 hours notice. The UN if on the west side, so it would be closed to all traffic. We again planned our departure for favorable tides and left about 0930. As we were coming around the Brother Islands (where we had to turn around the last time) we heard on the radio that the bridge was broken and would not open. At this point we met up with another Canadian boat and decided to circle for a bit to see if they could get the bridge fixed. We could only wail about an hour or so and then there would be too much current at Hells Gate to go around it. We also didn't want to get in an area that we couldn't get turned around in due to currents. We had already head that there were a pile of boats stuck in the West Channel of Roosevelt Island and they were starting to panic that they would not be able to get turned around if the current got much stronger. What a mess and no one was talking to anyone! We finally thought we heard that the bridge was now working so we decided to continue in. When we got to the top of the island a police boat stopped us to ask how high our mast was. We told him 60 feet and he told us he would escort us through the side of the channel that the UN was on but we should stay close to the other side. We passed by in strong currents and our boat was doing 12 and 13 knots. I was afraid to take any pictures in case they mistook my camera for a gun!! Talk about stressful. We were told earlier in the day that there would be another closure further down Manhattan at Battery Park at 12:45. We made it to just under the Brooklyn Bridge when we were again stopped by the police (with guns) and told that this area had been closed earlier than planned! A large barge just in front of us tried to tell them that it would be impossible for them to turn and they told him to turn or else! They were right next to him with both guns manned and pointed at him. He turned! We were now stuck between 2 bridges for over an hour with police boats circling on the water and planes circling in the air. I sure hope nothing does happen or we will be right in the middle of it! Who ever said that retirement was boring. We did manage to finally get past New York and headed to Great Kills Bay on Staten Island where all 4 of the other Canadian boats had already arrived earlier in the day from 79th Street in New York. As you can imagine, we were very very glad to see everyone from home and we all got together on Steve and Shirley's boat for a reunion with everyone, which turned into ordering pizza for dinner. Spirits were high and there was an awful lot of talking to do and stories to tell! We really had a great time together.

We knew that we were going to be in Great Kills for a couple of days before starting down the New Jersey Coast so at 0630 in the morning, I made a decision to leave and fly to Sault Ste. Marie to see my mother before she had a hip replacement which was scheduled for Oct. 2nd. I knew that I would not be able to make it home for the surgery which was the original plan, but like I said earlier, all plans are subject to change on a boat. My sister from Denver was a bit more flexible and she flew in for the surgery to be with my mom and help my other sister Ruth out. I stayed just 2 nights before I had to get back to help Bruce move the boat. I will try to get home for a longer period of time later in the month when my mom gets home.

When I returned all of the boats headed out together on Monday the 1st of October with a destination of Barnegat Inlet. It was quite impressive to see a line of 5 Canadian flags heading out together. The forecast was not the greatest however as they were calling for SE winds and waves of 2 to 3 feet in the Atlantic. We were all doing fine until we got around Sandy Hook where the wind was more like 15 to 20 and the waves were very short. Steve and Shirley were ahead of the pack and decided that they would only go as far as Shark River, but after taking a few more large waves, they decided to head to Sandy Hook and wait there. Rick and Eidy's dinghy davit snapped so they decided to turn back also as when they were trying to fix the dinghy, they ran into a buoy and damaged the boat. In the end everyone tuned back except for Karen and Jim and us. It was fine for the sailboats as we could put our sails up and stabilize the boat. They could not find an anchorage in Sandy Hook so returned to Great Kills where they remain waiting for better winds. We will meet up again in the Chesapeake.

We anchored in Barnegat Inlet with Jim and Karen. We were the first to go in and scout out an anchorage or a mooring ball. As we were heading towards a mooring ball, or what we thought was one, we ran aground. We figured this was not too bad as it was the first time in 4 months! We were able to motor forward and get in deeper water without any help and decided to anchor in the first place we looked at that Bruce wanted to go. He didn't say "I told you so." Jim and Karen anchored beside us and we had dinner together and made plans to leave for Atlantic City the next day.

We left Barnegat Inlet about 8 in the morning and had a good day of sailing even though the waves were 3 to 5 feet, they were long and we didn't notice the swells too much. Karen on the other hand suffers from seasickness and was not feeling too well both days. We got a dock in Atlantic City, the first one we have had since Nova Scotia so it is a real treat. We went into Atlantic City for dinner and then took a cab home as about 4 people had told us not to walk home in the dark. No one won big at the casino however so we though we would try again the next day!

My mother had her hip replacement on the 2nd and came through it fine at first. The doctor said her knee was a mess and it wouldn't have been long before she would have been in a wheelchair. Just as we were getting ready to head into town, I received another call from home saying that my mother had suffered a heart attack and we would have to wait until the next day to see how severe it was. Thankfully it appears to have been a mild one but none the less I am really concerned and do wish I could be there but know that she is in good hands at home and in the hospital. I plan to head up once we get to the Chesapeake.

Today, we went into Atlantic City and shopped at the outlets and Bruce gambled a bit. We hope to leave tomorrow, but it may be foggy again there may be a small craft warning so if so we will stay put. We are right beside Jim and Karen on a dock so it is great company and a great city. The temperatures have been in ghe 80's and this should continue right into the long weekend. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We will try to celebrate here with all the Canadians. Don't have time to post my pictures but will try to do so soon.