While, we are now in Conway, SC, mile 377.3 on the ICW, at the Bucksport Plantation Marina (definitely not as nice as it sounds, but it is cheap) and getting ready to leave the boat for a week while we go home for the wedding. We have rented a car and will leave on Sunday bright and early to drive for over 3 1/2 hours to Raleigh, NC to fly home, so this will be the last blog before we return again at the end of November.
We have been travelling everyday as we wanted to get as far South as possible before leaving again. Travelling down the ICW has probably been the most interesting (for lack of a better word) part of this trip. For my none boating friends, the ICW is basically a dredged channel that runs down the eastern coast of the United States that gives boaters the option of staying in calmer waters, or going out into the Atlantic Ocean. This part of the ICW runs from Norfolk, Virginia (mile one) to Key West Florida (mile 1243. ) We are planning on going to Marathon, mile 1195, so we still have a way to go! It is very shallow in parts, especially where there are inlets from the Atlantic, due to shoaling. It also has a ton of bridges to go under, some that we can pass under, and some that have to be opened in order for us to pass. Everyday we must plan our trip around the opening schedules of the bridges that need to be opened. Some only open once an hour, some twice an hour, and some will not open in strong winds. There can also be current in the ICW and we never really know how fast we will be going as sometimes we will have a current with us and be doing 8 knots and sometimes it will be against us and we will only be doing 5 to 6 knots. There are also buoys that have to be spotted, keeping the greens to port and the reds to starboard and then there are the buoys that are subject to shoaling that you must read about in our Skipper Bob book and follow his advice as to how to get safely around them in the deepest water. Everyday, we spot boats that have gone aground and must call a tow service to get them off the bottom. So far we have been lucky enough not to have used their services, yet! We have been on bottom twice but have managed to get off on our own and have touched bottom a couple of times too. We have met one couple that have a deeper draft boat who seem to be grounded at least once a day. It is getting to be quite comical. The scenery has also been a lot different. The houses along the ICW are beautiful with amazing landscaping and huge docks. There are always large power boats calling you on the radio asking you if they can give you a slow pass to you port or starboard. With all of this activity, each day passes quite quickly. We have been trying to start out each day between 0630 and 0700 so that we can get to an anchorage by about 1500 as they become quite crowded if you wait too long and you don't want to be having to find another anchorage too late in the day as it gets dark not long after 5 p.m. Bruce and I have been going to bed earlier and earlier each night. We can now hardly make it to 9 p.m. (are we getting old or what!)
To keep things short and sweet (for my brother-in-law John), we left Beauford, NC and our friends on the Mary T, and went and anchored in Hammock Bay, Wrightsville Beach, then onto Little River and once again anchored, in what was probably one of our tightest anchorages since we left home, and then onto Bucksport, SC. Looking forward to a few days off at home in Mississauga. We just received a call from the Mary T and they will be here tomorrow and also from Northern Reach, At Last and Steve and Shirley and all three Canadian boats will also be here by tomorrow. Looks like our car will be busy taking people to the grocery store!!
Friday, November 16, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Baltimore waterfront
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Sitting in a huge lineup of boats heading South in the ICW waiting for the bridge to open
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U.S. Aircraft carrier with helicopter escort
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The White House, this is as close as we could get!
Hurricane Noel held us up a couple of days in Deltaville as winds were stronger than the predicted 40 knots and lasted right into Saturday night. We made the best of things and borrowed a car and went to the Oyster Festival in Urbanna. If wasn't as great as we thought and it looked more like a food festival with tons of vendors selling everything from funnel cakes, turkey legs, shrimp, beef, pork, ice cream to seafood and of course, lots of oysters. I don't really know what we expected and although we did enjoy all the food stuff, I don't think we would go back a second time!
We finally left early Sunday morning and headed to Norfolk. Westie and Northern Reach took a dock right downtown Norfolk to do a bit of sightseeing and get a few boat repairs done but Bruce and I anchored in Willoughby Bay. The guidebooks said it was a good anchorage but it could get noisy as it is right in front of the huge navel base. It turned out to be a great anchorage and maybe because it was a Sunday, there were not very many planes in the air. Our friends Amy and Ken from the Mary T decided to join us in the anchorage so we had them over for dinner and made plans for our trip further south the next morning. The other 2 Canadian boats were staying in Norfolk but we didn't want to pass up any good travelling days in case we got stuck again. We really have to keep moving as we have to try to get as far south as possible before we come home for Bruce's daughter, Leanne's wedding.
The next leg of our trip required a lot more planning as we had numerous bridges to cross and one set of locks to go through, all with different operating hours and times when they would not open due to rush hour traffic. We had hoped to be at the first bridge in time for a 0830 opening but it was a lot further than we thought and we were also held up by a military aircraft carrier pulling out just as we were about to sail by. Regulations prohibited us from coming within 100 yards of the carrier. With helicopters and gun boats circling around us, we decided to give them lots of room and cross to the other side of the channel! It was really cool to see the aircraft carrier up close and as we passed the navel base to see many other warships and carriers at the docks. We really didn't have to wait long for the 3 bridges to open as we went along but the further we went, the more boats it seemed we picked up that were going the same way as us. When we finally got to the locks, we had to wait for 2 1/2 hours to get through as by this time there were lots of boats ahead of us and the lock only operated once every hour. Once you got through the lock, there was a swing bridge to go under that again only operated once an hour. There were some spots between the lock and the bridge where you could tie up to some posts on one side and stay for free or go to the other side and tie up to some trees! Of course the post side was full so we pulled up to the other side and tied the boat to 3 trees. It was now after 2 o'clock and with the time change we knew that we would only have 3 more hours of daylight. We had hoped to make it 50 miles to Coinjock, NC but by this time we had only made it to mile 12 and we had 2 more bridges to get under. We were never going to make it and as there were really no other anchorages that we knew about to go to along the way and we figured even if there were any, they would probably be full, we decided to stay tied to a tree for the night. It didn't turn out too badly as there was a great grocery store close by as well as restaurants, laundromat and propane.
We had planned to leave our tree the next morning but another front passed through earlier than expected and it was windy and rainy. We decided to spend another day with the trees and leave for Coinjock on Wednesday. Hopefully after this we will get a few more good days as we really have to get moving. Tonight due to the Canadian cold front, the temperatures are suppose to fall into the 30's and we are not looking forward to that.
While we finally left Great Bridge in time for the 0800 opening and headed to Coinjock, NC, thus leaving Virginia behind. We decided to stay in the Coinjock Marina as there really wasn't a suitable anchorage around. We have been travelling with the Mary T as the other Canadian boats are about a day behind us. From Coinjock we went to the Alligator River where we anchored for the night as we had to go through the Alligator River- Pungo Canal and didn't want to start going though as it would be dark before we finished. The nights have been really cold and the daytime temperatures have only been in the low 50's. From the Alligator River, we went to Belhaven and anchored again in front of the town. We have been starting our days really early in order to take advantage of the daylight hours as it is dark by shortly after 5 o'clock, but light by 0630 so we left Belhaven before 0700 and as they were forecasting yet another cold front moving through with strong winds, we didn't know how far we would make it. We had hoped to make Beaufort, NC but the winds by the mid afternoon were up to 30 knots and even though we were having a great sail, it was going to be too late in the day to make it into Beaufort so we stopped in Oriental, NC and decided once again to get a dock instead of anchoring. Oriental is supposedly the sailing capitol of America, but after taking a walk through town, we really aren't sure why! It is only 20 miles to Beaufort, so will try to make it tomorrow and spend the day there. We are expecting warmer weather in the next few days and hope to make some headway again over the next few days. We are both looking forward to getting home for a week or so for the wedding and once again seeing family and friends.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
I am sure most of you are wondering where the heck we are as it has been ages since I had a chance to post a new blog! We didn't have any Internet in Baltimore so when I checked the e-mail today, we had 131 new messages to read!
Bruce and I went home for a few days, me to Sault Ste. Marie to see my mom, who is doing much better and in now in a convalescent home and receiving physiotherapy for her hip and getting 3 square meals a day, and Bruce to Mississauga for a couple of days. He returned to Baltimore a few days ahead of me to do some work on the boat and I went back on the 22nd of October just in time to help him celebrate his birthday. Only Jim and Karen were left at the dock so we all went out for great Indian food! We had hoped to leave on the 24th but as I have said a million times, everything is subject to change. This time the forecast was for 3 or 4 days of solid rain and we decided that we would rather spend it on a dock than on an anchor. Bruce's sister Bettyanne and her husband Ray were also planning to visit us on their way to Florida for the month so we thought it better for them also to be on a dock. It turned out to be a good decision as the weather was horrible! The last day of their visit did turn out to be in fact sunny by the late morning and this was the day we went into Washington for the entire day of sightseeing. We also managed a visit to the aquarium, dinner again at the great Indian restaurant in Baltimore and just had a great visit with them.
We finally left Baltimore on the 27th of October and went to Annapolis where we met up with Steve and Shirley and Mark and Carol. We also got a chance to see our friends that we met in Nova Scotia, Amy and Ken from the Mary T. We only stayed in Annapolis one night as the forecast was good and we wanted to keep moving while the weather was good. It had turned cold, but sunny and we needed to keep heading South as this was a reminder that winter was not far enough behind us. We went 50 miles or so to the Solomon Islands and anchored in the river. Heading into the anchorage we were treated to a mini airshow with military fighters and helicopters landing and taking off at a nearby airport. All 5 of the Canadian boats made it to the Solomon's but only 3 left for Jackson's Creek early the next day. Steve and Shirley and Mark and Carol needed a few days on a dock to get some work done. We are now in Jackson's Creek at the beautiful Jackson's Creek Yacht Club where the first night is free. We had planned to leave again this morning for Norfolk but changed our minds after listening to the forecast for the area for the next couple of days as they are calling for gale force winds as high as 40 knots and waves up to 8 feet. We will probably be stuck here for a couple of days and are now planning on leaving on Saturday. We had hoped to be stuck in Norfolk as it is a much larger city to explore but it is very beautiful and peaceful here. We finally got out the bikes for the first time today and rode around the town of Deltaville. Tomorrow we are hoping to get a car and go to the oyster festival in another nearby town. Hope it works out. Tonight we are all getting together for a potluck dinner in the clubhouse here. It has a kitchen and barbecue area and it seems that we have the whole place to ourselves. We can sleep well knowing that we are tied to a dock if the forecast is right. Hopefully we can get moving again soon. The nights have warmed up a bit and daytime temperatures are in the mid to high 60's.
Bruce and I went home for a few days, me to Sault Ste. Marie to see my mom, who is doing much better and in now in a convalescent home and receiving physiotherapy for her hip and getting 3 square meals a day, and Bruce to Mississauga for a couple of days. He returned to Baltimore a few days ahead of me to do some work on the boat and I went back on the 22nd of October just in time to help him celebrate his birthday. Only Jim and Karen were left at the dock so we all went out for great Indian food! We had hoped to leave on the 24th but as I have said a million times, everything is subject to change. This time the forecast was for 3 or 4 days of solid rain and we decided that we would rather spend it on a dock than on an anchor. Bruce's sister Bettyanne and her husband Ray were also planning to visit us on their way to Florida for the month so we thought it better for them also to be on a dock. It turned out to be a good decision as the weather was horrible! The last day of their visit did turn out to be in fact sunny by the late morning and this was the day we went into Washington for the entire day of sightseeing. We also managed a visit to the aquarium, dinner again at the great Indian restaurant in Baltimore and just had a great visit with them.
We finally left Baltimore on the 27th of October and went to Annapolis where we met up with Steve and Shirley and Mark and Carol. We also got a chance to see our friends that we met in Nova Scotia, Amy and Ken from the Mary T. We only stayed in Annapolis one night as the forecast was good and we wanted to keep moving while the weather was good. It had turned cold, but sunny and we needed to keep heading South as this was a reminder that winter was not far enough behind us. We went 50 miles or so to the Solomon Islands and anchored in the river. Heading into the anchorage we were treated to a mini airshow with military fighters and helicopters landing and taking off at a nearby airport. All 5 of the Canadian boats made it to the Solomon's but only 3 left for Jackson's Creek early the next day. Steve and Shirley and Mark and Carol needed a few days on a dock to get some work done. We are now in Jackson's Creek at the beautiful Jackson's Creek Yacht Club where the first night is free. We had planned to leave again this morning for Norfolk but changed our minds after listening to the forecast for the area for the next couple of days as they are calling for gale force winds as high as 40 knots and waves up to 8 feet. We will probably be stuck here for a couple of days and are now planning on leaving on Saturday. We had hoped to be stuck in Norfolk as it is a much larger city to explore but it is very beautiful and peaceful here. We finally got out the bikes for the first time today and rode around the town of Deltaville. Tomorrow we are hoping to get a car and go to the oyster festival in another nearby town. Hope it works out. Tonight we are all getting together for a potluck dinner in the clubhouse here. It has a kitchen and barbecue area and it seems that we have the whole place to ourselves. We can sleep well knowing that we are tied to a dock if the forecast is right. Hopefully we can get moving again soon. The nights have warmed up a bit and daytime temperatures are in the mid to high 60's.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
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 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
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Bridges going through the Cape Cod Canal
We are back on the boat after a great visit in Toronto and I hate to say it, but things have turned around and our luck has changed. We have been travelling everyday for the last 5 days and nothing has gone wrong, we are finally getting the summer that we never had and instead of seeing about 1000 lobster traps a day, we are only seeing about 10 or so. Bruce is even getting his naps in and that makes for a happy skipper.
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Drew, Vicky, Bruce and I at Cape Elizabeth for lunch
We left the boat in Gloucester after leaving Rockport and seeing Mike and Lilianne for the last time this trip as they are on their way back to Toronto. We had considered a few places to leave the boat but many were either too expensive or did not want us to leave the boat unattended for 7 days. The harbormaster in Gloucester gave us a good deal and didn't mind us leaving. Gloucester also had train service right into Boston and then it was just a short cab ride to the airport so all in all it worked out fine. The only problem was that there was no launch service to take us to shore and the harbor master would not take us either so we had to leave the dingy on a dock for 7 days. Bruce was worried that it would get stolen or damaged but the harbor master assured us that it was safe parked at the coastguard station as there was always someone there as well as cameras. As we were getting ready to leave the boat another boat that was anchored in front of us started to drag his anchor and come very close to our boat. At one time he touched us and we had to push him off. We called that harbormaster and he assigned us another ball that was not behind the anchored boats. Thank goodness we were on the boat when it happened! The dinghy was also fine when we got back and it mustn't have rained much as it was dry too.
We arrived back in Boston on the 18th of September and spent the rest of the day getting the boat ready for an early morning departure. We needed fuel, water and groceries so it was a busy day and since we were up at 4 a.m. it wastn't hard to get to bed early. We left for Plymouth the next morning and anchored in a bay outside of Plymouth as it was a long motor into the town and we wanted to leave again the next day. We had been to Plymouth once before so we didn't mind missing it this time. We again had to get up very early as we were planning on going thru the Cape Cod Canal and because of the currents, you must go thru the canal on an ebb tide or wait outside the canal for the next ebb. We made it through with not much time to spare as we did get a bit of current against us as we left the canal. We were now out of Cape Cod Bay and in Buzzards Bay. This was like heaven as the wind was perfect for sailing and there were virtually NO lobster pots! We sailed as far as Mattapoisett and as if the day couldn't;t get any better, we were given a FREE transient mooring ball from Brownell Boatyard!
From Mattapoisett we left Massachusetts behind and went on to Newport, Rhode Island. We managed to get a town mooring in Newport and there was a launch service that would pick you up on your boat and take you into town. We spent the afternoon wandering around town and went to a great restaurant where I had the best pizza ever. It was a calamari pizza and was so big it could have fed 3 of us. Which it did as I took most of it back to the boat for Bruce and I to have for lunch the next day. We keep forgetting that we are now in the States and every meal is supersized! We considered staying in Newport for an extra day but the weather has been so great for travelling and we would still like to make it to New York in time to meet up with the 3 other boats from PCYC so we decided to travel while the weather was good and wait for a bad weather day to stay put.
Our next stop was Stonington, Connecticut and from there we could head into the Long Island Sound. We again fueled the boat, topped up the water and got some great fresh shrimp for our dinner. This was probably the nicest evening of this entire trip. We anchored in front of the town on a beautiful warm sunny afternoon and just enjoyed the rest of the day. The sunset was amazing and so was the shrimp. We watched boats sail by with people in shorts and t'shirts or no shirts at all. Hard to believe that this is the end of September not the end of July. I am sure it won't last but it is very nice to have. The water temperature is between 20 and 22 degrees insteat of 9 to 12 degrees so the evenings and days on the water are much warmer.
We are now in the Long Island Sound on our way to New Haven where we will stay for the night. This is where Yale University is and they claim to have invented the hamburger and the pizza here. There is a cold front approaching tonight but it is supposed to be a weak one so the weather should not get too bad. We just heard from the Yacht Club in New Haven and they are giving us a free mooring for the night. The wind has started to pick up as the cold front approaches so it will be nice to be on a ball for the night. From here we will plan our trip into New York City. We will probably get close tomorrow if the weather stays good and then wait for good weather to go through Hell Gate. I am not looking forward to this as everything I read makes it sound quite hellish! We are looking forward to seeing our friends from PCYC and I am looking forward to shopping in N.Y.
We were saddened to hear of the passing of our friend Brad Taylor's mother and the brother of our other friends Don and Arlene who spent some time with us at the beginning of this trip. It is always hard to be away from family and friends but it is especially hard at times like these. Our thoughts and prayers are with you guys and we wish we could be there with you.
Happy Birthday to me! Today is the last birthday that I plan on celebrating and it really just feels like another day on the water. Not quite the same when you have to get up and make your own breakfast and then make lunch for the skipper because he is busy sailing the boat! We have now arrived in City Island, New York and it is a great place to spend your birthday. There is one main drag with about 1000 restaurants on it. We are moored at the City Island Yacht Club and they have a 24 hour a day launch service so we didn't even have to be back by 8 p.m. We asked a few people where they would suggest we get dinner and everyone told us Arties, so that's where we went and we had a great dinner, so all in all it wasn't my worst birthday ever. Today, we finally got to do some laundry and get a few groceries. Bruce met a new friend here and he drove us to the laundromat and picked us up again. While I was doing the laundry, there was a salon next door that had a special on a manicure and pedicure for $23.00, so I said what the heck so between the washing and the drying, I got both sets of nails done too! You got to love New York! Tomorrow, we go shopping!!!!!
Friday, September 7, 2007
Well we have now logged over 2000 nautical miles and have had quite the adventure, sometimes more of an adventure than we want! When we left Toronto in June we were pretty naive and thought this would be an easy trip. We have found that it is a lot harder than we imaged and even though there has been great days, there have been more bad days than we want!
Bruce raising the American Courtesy flag
We are now in the United States, having left Yarmouth in the evening for a night crossing into Bar Harbor, Maine. Mike and Liliane(Zero Gravity) had left early in the morning to go to Gran Manan. We decided to skip Gran Manan and meet up with them in Bar Harbor. The night started out with great clear weather and a beautiful full moon. About 7 hours into the trip, the fog began to appear again. We were hoping once we left Nova Scotia we would also leave the fog behind. We arrived close to Bar Harbor in the early morning. Bruce was asleep in the cockpit and I was at the wheel when I saw a lobster trap floating in the water. The next thing I knew they were everywhere! I quickly woke Bruce up and he drove while I directed him around all the lobster traps. This was not an easy job as it was still very foggy and I had to open up the enclosure to see all the traps. This meant that not only was I tired, but I was cold and wet! We managed to get into the harbor around all the traps and tied up at the town dock to wait for customs to clear the boat. It was at first frustrating trying to get ahold of them but once we did it took about 2 hours for them to get to the boat. The customs officer was great and issued us a cruising permit on the spot and was gone in now time. We went out to a mooring ball and decide to go for a walk around Bar Harbor and have a rest in the afternoon. The city of Bar Harbor is on Great Desert Island and most of the island is a park that has all sorts of biking and hiking trails. J.J. Bean (sporting goods store) provides a free bus called the Island Explorer all over the island and it is a great way to get around and see everything. We returned to the boat after our walk and thought we would sleep and then have a nice quiet dinner. The next thing we knew it was 8:30 at night and we had slept right thru dinner! Mike and Liliane arrived that same evening a day earlier than we thought. They were on a ball when we got up having arrived at about 8 p.m.
We spent the next day exploring Mount Desert Island by bus. We took the bus to Northeast Harbour. Mike and Liliane had to wait out most of the day on their boat waiting for customs to clear them as there was a cruise ship in and customs was busy with them so they were unable to come with us. We were all staying another day so we took the bus into Southwest Harbor. We had lunch together and went to a couple of Marine stores as there always seems to be something we need.
We left with Mike and Liliane the next day and went to a beautiful anchorage on Marshall Island. We had hoped to visit Isle Au Haut but the anchorages there were not good for the winds that were forecast. Marshall Island in uninhabited but had a nice beach to dinghy over to and take a short walk.
Zero Gravity at anchor in Marshall Harbor
We left Marshall Harbor early the next morning for Rockland, Maine and this was by far the worst day we have had since leaving Toronto! Rather than head out to open water, we took a couple of thorofares thru some beautiful islands but also thousands of lobster pots. A book I am reading "Sailing Away from Winter" calls this coast the confetti coast. The lobster pots are so plentiful that it looks like someone thru a bunch of confetti into the water. Sailing around these pots makes for a very stressful passage. We both have to be on the lookout constantly for pots as well as other boats and buoys as well as navigate to our destination! Bruce is definitely not getting his morning and afternoon naps in anymore and that makes him a bit testy! We finally got the perfect wind to sail and we were afraid to put our sails up as that would give us one more thing to think about and we were already on overload. Many boats were passing us under full sail and plowing thru the pots. We couldn't believe how they didn't pick up the pots.
This did however build up our confidence and we decided when we passed through all the thorofare that we would put the sails up and sail the rest of the way to Rockland! It was a great sail the rest of the way until we took the sails down and realized that we must have a pot wrapped around our rudder as we had no steerage. When we put the boat in gear, it also made a horrible noise so we also figured that we had a pot around our prop! So much for the $200.00 blade we installed before leaving to cut any ropes that got caught on the prop. Luckily we were in open water and not in any danger of grounding. We called Boat U.S. which we joined before leaving home as they over free towing to members, but there was not a Boat U.S. operating out of Rockport. We got ahold of Zero Gravity and they sail that they would come back and tow us into the Rockport Harbor. Just inside the harbor was a safe place to drop the anchor and take a look at the problem. As they were swing around to put us into the wind to drop the anchor, their engine quite and they had picked up a pot also. They quickly dropped the anchor beside us and now we both had big problems. We felt terrible as they were helping us when it happened. Liliane and Mike are experienced divers and Liliane offered to suit up and go have a look at both boats. Bruce was very happy about this as the other option was for him to go into the water. Once in the water, she realized that she would also need tanks as the ropes were wrapped tightly around and she would have to spend some time under water to cut them. She manages to free Zero Gravity in about 15 minutes, which seemed a lot longer, and then swam over to our boat. It took much longer for her to free our boat and by this time she had been in the water for about 45 minutes. Even with a wet suit on it is a lot of time to be in water that was only 18 degrees. By the time she surfaced she was freezing and a bit hypodermic! We quickly brought her onto our boat and she got into a hot shower and then we wrapped her up in blankets and made some hot coffee! She was shivering so much, she could hardly talk.
Liliane in the water off Zero Gravity!
Our friends from the Mary T, Amy and Ken, were also in Rockland so we moved the boats over closer to them after we were free and we all went out for dinner together. This was the day that I was ready to come home and feeling quite homesick as I was missing a family get together for Bruce's mom's 85th birthday as well as, another friend's mother's 80th and Lindsay's first day back at school! Everything that could go wrong, was going wrong and we were both getting fed up about this time and feeling exhausted from it all! However, once we thought about it, we realized how much worse it must of been for Liliane as she was the one that had to do all the work freeing us! If she was still willing to keep going after all she had been through, we certainly could too! After a nice meal with friends and a good nights sleep we felt better. We stayed in Rockland for an extra day and took some time to get groceries, fuel and clean up the boat a bit.
From Rockland we motored over to Boothbay Harbor and anchored off the town. It was a really cute touristy town with lots of shops etc. We travelled with Mike and Liliane again and we all went out to dinner.
We left early the next day for Falmouth Foreside, which is just 5 miles outside of Portland. Our friends Brad and Anita have a good friend here that set us up at the Portland Yacht Club for the night. We had a drink with Drew on the boat and then went out to dinner with Drew and his wife Vicky. Drew and Vicky lent us their car for the next day and we went into Portland's Old Port to browse and go to another Marine Store! It was Drew's birthday during the week and Vicky was planning a surprise birthday dinner at the yacht club for him on Friday night. I sort of blew it by asking them to join us for dinner on Friday night and Vicky was forced to tell him about the surprise in order to explain why they were busy and not able to have dinner with us! They invited us to join in the birthday celebration at the club for dinner. What we didn't realize is that they also invited about 20 other members of their family also. We had a great time and enjoyed meeting so many new people. We then went over to Drew and Vicky's for cake. I must say, I have never seen a bigger carrot cake in my life! All I can say is Drew better get ready for next year's celebration if this year is any indication of the party's Vicky puts on for a non milestone birthday!
We will probably leave tomorrow with the Mary T, as Zero Gravity went a bit further than us the last couple of days. We will likely catch up with them again hopefully. We are working our way to Marblehead where we will leave the boat and fly home from Boston. Drew thinks that this would be our best bet and we agree. He has also given us tons of other advise and contacts which will come in handy as we continue our trip South. Will probably be home next Wednesday or Thursday if the weather forecast is right.
Bruce raising the American Courtesy flag
We are now in the United States, having left Yarmouth in the evening for a night crossing into Bar Harbor, Maine. Mike and Liliane(Zero Gravity) had left early in the morning to go to Gran Manan. We decided to skip Gran Manan and meet up with them in Bar Harbor. The night started out with great clear weather and a beautiful full moon. About 7 hours into the trip, the fog began to appear again. We were hoping once we left Nova Scotia we would also leave the fog behind. We arrived close to Bar Harbor in the early morning. Bruce was asleep in the cockpit and I was at the wheel when I saw a lobster trap floating in the water. The next thing I knew they were everywhere! I quickly woke Bruce up and he drove while I directed him around all the lobster traps. This was not an easy job as it was still very foggy and I had to open up the enclosure to see all the traps. This meant that not only was I tired, but I was cold and wet! We managed to get into the harbor around all the traps and tied up at the town dock to wait for customs to clear the boat. It was at first frustrating trying to get ahold of them but once we did it took about 2 hours for them to get to the boat. The customs officer was great and issued us a cruising permit on the spot and was gone in now time. We went out to a mooring ball and decide to go for a walk around Bar Harbor and have a rest in the afternoon. The city of Bar Harbor is on Great Desert Island and most of the island is a park that has all sorts of biking and hiking trails. J.J. Bean (sporting goods store) provides a free bus called the Island Explorer all over the island and it is a great way to get around and see everything. We returned to the boat after our walk and thought we would sleep and then have a nice quiet dinner. The next thing we knew it was 8:30 at night and we had slept right thru dinner! Mike and Liliane arrived that same evening a day earlier than we thought. They were on a ball when we got up having arrived at about 8 p.m.
We spent the next day exploring Mount Desert Island by bus. We took the bus to Northeast Harbour. Mike and Liliane had to wait out most of the day on their boat waiting for customs to clear them as there was a cruise ship in and customs was busy with them so they were unable to come with us. We were all staying another day so we took the bus into Southwest Harbor. We had lunch together and went to a couple of Marine stores as there always seems to be something we need.
We left with Mike and Liliane the next day and went to a beautiful anchorage on Marshall Island. We had hoped to visit Isle Au Haut but the anchorages there were not good for the winds that were forecast. Marshall Island in uninhabited but had a nice beach to dinghy over to and take a short walk.
Zero Gravity at anchor in Marshall Harbor
We left Marshall Harbor early the next morning for Rockland, Maine and this was by far the worst day we have had since leaving Toronto! Rather than head out to open water, we took a couple of thorofares thru some beautiful islands but also thousands of lobster pots. A book I am reading "Sailing Away from Winter" calls this coast the confetti coast. The lobster pots are so plentiful that it looks like someone thru a bunch of confetti into the water. Sailing around these pots makes for a very stressful passage. We both have to be on the lookout constantly for pots as well as other boats and buoys as well as navigate to our destination! Bruce is definitely not getting his morning and afternoon naps in anymore and that makes him a bit testy! We finally got the perfect wind to sail and we were afraid to put our sails up as that would give us one more thing to think about and we were already on overload. Many boats were passing us under full sail and plowing thru the pots. We couldn't believe how they didn't pick up the pots.
This did however build up our confidence and we decided when we passed through all the thorofare that we would put the sails up and sail the rest of the way to Rockland! It was a great sail the rest of the way until we took the sails down and realized that we must have a pot wrapped around our rudder as we had no steerage. When we put the boat in gear, it also made a horrible noise so we also figured that we had a pot around our prop! So much for the $200.00 blade we installed before leaving to cut any ropes that got caught on the prop. Luckily we were in open water and not in any danger of grounding. We called Boat U.S. which we joined before leaving home as they over free towing to members, but there was not a Boat U.S. operating out of Rockport. We got ahold of Zero Gravity and they sail that they would come back and tow us into the Rockport Harbor. Just inside the harbor was a safe place to drop the anchor and take a look at the problem. As they were swing around to put us into the wind to drop the anchor, their engine quite and they had picked up a pot also. They quickly dropped the anchor beside us and now we both had big problems. We felt terrible as they were helping us when it happened. Liliane and Mike are experienced divers and Liliane offered to suit up and go have a look at both boats. Bruce was very happy about this as the other option was for him to go into the water. Once in the water, she realized that she would also need tanks as the ropes were wrapped tightly around and she would have to spend some time under water to cut them. She manages to free Zero Gravity in about 15 minutes, which seemed a lot longer, and then swam over to our boat. It took much longer for her to free our boat and by this time she had been in the water for about 45 minutes. Even with a wet suit on it is a lot of time to be in water that was only 18 degrees. By the time she surfaced she was freezing and a bit hypodermic! We quickly brought her onto our boat and she got into a hot shower and then we wrapped her up in blankets and made some hot coffee! She was shivering so much, she could hardly talk.
Liliane in the water off Zero Gravity!
Our friends from the Mary T, Amy and Ken, were also in Rockland so we moved the boats over closer to them after we were free and we all went out for dinner together. This was the day that I was ready to come home and feeling quite homesick as I was missing a family get together for Bruce's mom's 85th birthday as well as, another friend's mother's 80th and Lindsay's first day back at school! Everything that could go wrong, was going wrong and we were both getting fed up about this time and feeling exhausted from it all! However, once we thought about it, we realized how much worse it must of been for Liliane as she was the one that had to do all the work freeing us! If she was still willing to keep going after all she had been through, we certainly could too! After a nice meal with friends and a good nights sleep we felt better. We stayed in Rockland for an extra day and took some time to get groceries, fuel and clean up the boat a bit.
From Rockland we motored over to Boothbay Harbor and anchored off the town. It was a really cute touristy town with lots of shops etc. We travelled with Mike and Liliane again and we all went out to dinner.
We left early the next day for Falmouth Foreside, which is just 5 miles outside of Portland. Our friends Brad and Anita have a good friend here that set us up at the Portland Yacht Club for the night. We had a drink with Drew on the boat and then went out to dinner with Drew and his wife Vicky. Drew and Vicky lent us their car for the next day and we went into Portland's Old Port to browse and go to another Marine Store! It was Drew's birthday during the week and Vicky was planning a surprise birthday dinner at the yacht club for him on Friday night. I sort of blew it by asking them to join us for dinner on Friday night and Vicky was forced to tell him about the surprise in order to explain why they were busy and not able to have dinner with us! They invited us to join in the birthday celebration at the club for dinner. What we didn't realize is that they also invited about 20 other members of their family also. We had a great time and enjoyed meeting so many new people. We then went over to Drew and Vicky's for cake. I must say, I have never seen a bigger carrot cake in my life! All I can say is Drew better get ready for next year's celebration if this year is any indication of the party's Vicky puts on for a non milestone birthday!
We will probably leave tomorrow with the Mary T, as Zero Gravity went a bit further than us the last couple of days. We will likely catch up with them again hopefully. We are working our way to Marblehead where we will leave the boat and fly home from Boston. Drew thinks that this would be our best bet and we agree. He has also given us tons of other advise and contacts which will come in handy as we continue our trip South. Will probably be home next Wednesday or Thursday if the weather forecast is right.
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