S/ V TIDES INN Sailing Adventures

Arrival Miami - Last Leg of First Phase

2012-01-18T15:18:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Miami just after noon today, 14 days after departing Dare Marina, Yorktown., with a couple days to spare before we depart on Saturday to drive back home in just over 14 hours.

We left Fort Pierce last evening just before sunset to make the 16 hour "drive" down to Miami. Since there was little wind (and little waves) it was a comfortable motor trip down the coastline about 125 miles.

Sunrise on Wednesday found us making good time towards Miami. Initially we had a strong headcurrent, the edge of the Gulf Stream, holding us up but we continued to close in closer to shore, eventually transiting about half a mile off the beach in 45ft of water and actually picked up a counter current that helped push us along. A few sprinkles from showers in the morning but no problem with our enclosure.

Miami Vice may be off the air but, muscle boats continue to thrive in Miami. Everyone seems to go full speed in the Miami waters. First time I had to check my rear view mirrors before making a maneuver in our sailboat.

Sue spotted this guy as we made our turn to the south of Miami along the channel to Biscayne Bay.
We have never blown on one of these shells before, just the conch shells. Will have to pick up a couple of these in the Bahamas and check them out for horns.

   By two o'clock we were on our mooring ball at Dinner Key in Biscayne Bay looking back at Miami in the distance.
   We will stay here at Dinner Key near Coral Gables for couple days. Some friends are already here and we will get to spend time with them tomorrow. They have a great dog friendly shuttle here so Sue and Genny have already made arrangements to be on the first shuttle in the AM to get out and stretch their legs. We will move the boat over to Crandon Park Marina to leave for next week.
   Back to work in DC for a week, then back to the boat and off to the Bahamas.
   Was a very successful first leg to the trip. No boat problems and an on-time arrival.

Charleston to Fort Pierce, FL

2012-01-17T10:22:00.000-08:00

After a quick night and shower at Isle of Palms marina near Charleston it was time to head offshore for Florida.

We motored the last few miles down the Intracoastal Waterway, through the last bridge (Ben Sawyer) who held us up 10 minutes so they didn't have to open twice in a short time, then into Charleston Harbor and heading out to sea.
The harbor and inlet were a bit rough as the wind was against the tide, but once we cleared the breakwater it smoothed down some. It wasn't to last....

   Genny looks calm but, check out the left front paw claws clenched - and this was after things settled down.
   The forecast was for winds 20-25 with gusts to 30 from northwest and shifting to west during the night. Hopefully we could sail with winds on beam heading south.
   The reality was the winds were just slightly too far forward for us to sail on course and we slowly got pushed out to sea where winds and waves kept growing. Check our track on "where's Tides Inn" and you can see how we were pushed out to sea from Charleston - that wasn't intentional, we would have liked to follow the coast closer where winds were supposed to be lighter.
   By midnight the winds were steady at 30 gusting to 35 and higher. The waves were 5-8ft and steep and rolling us 45deg every few wave trains. I had to admit to Sue "this is not fun anymore". The boat was doing ok with 3-4 reefs in the sails, but we were slowly being pushed towards the Gulf Stream where the conditions would be worse and the current would start taking us to the north away from Florida. Then we started hearing an ominous grinding noise from under the helm seat near the shaft and rudder. We decided to "hove-to", basically stopping in the ocean and sitting with sails backed away from wind, to check out the noise. That meant clearing the aft cabin of all our stores to get to the hatches. That done, the shaft was fine, a great relief, for now we at least had a reliable engine if needed. We then figured out the noise was coming from the wind generator transmitted through the hull. Turned it off and the noise went away. We decided to stay hove-to for a couple hours while we got a bit of sleep (at least I laid down, Sue sat on watch).. We drifted/were pushed back 5 miles in two hours by the wind, but that was better than going forward towards Gulf Stream.
   The forecast was for the wind to ease and veer to northwest at dawn and that's exactly what happened at 6am. As the wind shifted we were able to start sailing on course again. Over the next two days the wind eased to 15-20kts and slowly clocked all the way around to east, but always behind us and always pushing us towards the warmer, Florida waters.

   We arrived at Fort Pierce an hour before sunset, pushing all the way. We had one more challenge to surmount though before we could anchor and crack a brew, entering the inlet with a brisk 15kt wind opposing the strong 3kt outgoing current. With our trusty Island Packet and Yanmar diesel we pushed through, but it was a challenging task. Probably would have been more prudent to sail/loiter offshore for 3hrs waiting for the current to shift but that would have meant entering in the dark with its own challenges.
   When Sue took Genny up to the bow once we anchored she found a hitchhiker, a small flying fish signifying we were finally in the warm tropical waters.
   Tonight we will head back out to sea when the southerly winds ease off and motor the final 100 miles to Miami. 100 miles offshore (16hrs) is far better than 3 days down the ICW with the numerous restricted bridges between here and Miami.

Georgetown, SC

2012-01-13T17:30:00.000-08:00

We spent a full day sitting (rocking in wind) at anchor in Georgetown, SC. Except for the 3 factories (in far background), this is a very scenic and enjoyable town. The wind was calm at dawn when I snapped this picture but quite strong (30kts offshore) that night.

Another plug for the great enclosure - sitting in short sleeves in the cockpit while it is 50deg and breezy outside, sweatshirt and fleece weather.
Tomorrow will be the final test as we head offshore in 25kts of wind and 40degs. We'll only be able to use the upwind side when sailing because of the headsail control lines. But that's the critical side to block the wind and spray.

Heading south of Georgetown you enter the South Carolina marsh lands. Sea grass to the horizon. Georgia is much more of the same.

Another stressful day as the water levels are exceptionally low because the strong west winds are blowing the water out of the ICW and not letting the incoming tide bring it back. We finally ran out of water north of Charleston and stopped for the day ( we stopped before our water level got this low).
Tomorrow we will finally exit the ICW at Charleston and finally get to the safety of sailing offshore.

Genny has had a chance to get in some good reading also. Now if she could just learn to stand the watch alone.

Myrtle Beach to Georgetown, SC

2012-01-11T15:56:00.000-08:00

One of the ironic (dumb) aspects of insuring your yacht is that there are stringent requirements for offshore sailing including: number of crewmembers, experience level, safety equipment, area of operations, etc... but, there are no special requirements for operating within coastal US waters and the ICW. There is no body of water more dangerous to incurring damage to your boat than the ICW.
Today's journey was a good example. First we had to finish transiting the "Rockpile" around Myrtle Beach where the ICW is very narrow and bounded on each side with sharp, jagged rocks. Fortunately we didn't have to pass anyone there. Then we had to wait for the Socastee Bridge tender to get around to opening the bridge with current and wind behind us threatening to push us into the bridge. On the other side of the bridge we met two large tug/barges. The first forced us to stop and move to the edge of the ICW just feet from the cypress trees and a no-wake bouy. The problem is that on a boat, when you stop and have no motion, you have no steering and the boat will drift where it desires, like right into the path of the oncoming barge. So we had to keep minimum way on without running into the trees and bouy. Just made it.

Next up was a USCG buoy tender that was stationary in the channel replacing a lateral marker. Fortunately there was room to pass behind him.

   Then came the rain and the fog. Several times we had to slow and wait for the fog to clear making minimum forward progress.
   But the great thing about fog is I get to use my automatic foghorn function on the VHF radio and loudspeaker. It automatically sounds the foghorn every 2 minutes as required by regulations.
   I also got to use the rain filter on my Raymarine radar which worked very effectively. It cuts out the rain returns when you want to look for contacts and channel markers. Then you can switch back to normal mode and scan out to see when the next rainshower is coming and how severe it will be. Fancy tools for the modern sailor.

The highlight of the day, though, was the great enclosure Sue made. Throughout this rainy day transit we were able to sit in shirtsleeves and leave the rain gear hanging to dry. The visibility was restrictive, but the comfort level was outstanding.

   By 4pm we were anchored in the Georgetown anchorage area, after another trying, but successful transit. The wind has picked up and forecasted to blow at 30-35kts for next couple days so we will plan to stay here tomorrow as well.
   The great thing about the ICW is the interesting sights along the way (compared to water, water everywhere offshore). Look at this unique home made craft in Georgetown!
   You also meet interesting people along the way on the ICW. We had dinner last night with "Pancho" (aka James) from SV Muchacha at Barefoot Landing, a fellow transitor along the ICW heading to Florida. This is not his boat though, he has a nice Tartan 40.

Wrightsville Beach to Myrtle Beach, SC

2012-01-10T19:36:00.000-08:00

It was a cool and grey day all day long today with temps in the low 50s. Cold work for the clamers working in the 50deg water near Holden Beach.

   This is another section of the ICW you would love to avoid if at all possible because of the shallow and shoaling inlets of Lockwoods Folly and Shallotte. Unfortunately for us the wind was from the south so it made more sense to stay in the ICW than head offshore into the wind/waves.
   Lockwoods Folly was a winding path with strong currents left and right, but the channel was deep and exactly as annotated on the chart plotter. We passed through with only white knuckles to show.
   Shallotte Inlet was another story. It started out ok, then we rounded the bend and spotted a dredge and work crews directly in the center of the channel ahead. From the dredge, pipes and lines and tugs went all the way to shore to the left. On the right side there were two temporary red bouys well outside the normal channel. A quick call on VHF channel 13 and the dredge captain told me to pass down his western side between him and a temporary yellow bouy (sending us outside the normal channel). The waters went to 6ft deep (we draw 5), then quickly dropped to 12ft as soon as we passed the dredge. The rest of the Inlet passage has apparently been dredged as it was 12ft.

Of course, to our disadvantage, it was low tide during the afternoon as we passed through the shallowest sections of the ICW in this area. Several times we had to nearly stop and relocate the channel, almost always over to the left of the charted position.

We eventually arrived safely at Barefoot Landing, North Myrtle Beach just after 5pm and as darkness was descending. Our day was more successful than this sailor's day. Not sure how he ended up here (probably broke free from a mooring), but always a sad sight.
We will be off early tomorrow for Georgetown SC and down the Waccama River, the prettiest section of the entire ICW. Looking forward to that leg.

Swansboro to Wrightsville Beach, NC

2012-01-09T15:17:00.000-08:00

Today's trek along the ICW is a section one likes to avoid, but the offshore weather wasn't accommodating. Between Swansboro and Wrightsville you first have to pass through the Camp Lejeune Firing Range. Normally it is not active and no problem but this morning the yellow lights were flashing. Fortunately the firing hadn't started yet and the Navy patrol boat told us to pass through "transit only - no stopping." Fine with us.

The next challenge is 4 bridges to pass through which are on restricted schedules, meaning they only open on the hour (or hour and half hour for two of them) which forces you to set your speed to arrive at opening times and basically slows you down one hour along the day's transit. That means you can't get to Carolina Beach Park where we would like to stop.

Since we couldn't reach Carolina Beach Park, we are anchored in the anchorage area around the corner in Wrightsville Beach area. Its a nice protected anchorage area. Normally a very busy anchorage during transit times (April and October) but pretty empty in Jan. There was one boat already anchored and one more sailboat followed us in, so there are 3 of us for the night. Tomorrow we'll head out early and should make it to Myrtle Beach area. Still looks like Friday before we can get out to sea.
Overcast and a few showers throughout the day today, and forecasted for tonight/tomorrow, but the temperature is in mid 50s so not too bad. Better than the snow showers in Wash DC!

River Dunes to Swansboro, NC

2012-01-08T15:21:00.000-08:00

Here's a view of the luxurious clubhouse at the River Dunes Marina. Office, library/reading rooms and game room downstairs, restaurant upstairs. Pool to the left and exercise/showers to farther left. Their winter rates made staying here for the night a nice treat, especially the hot showers.

Tides Inn looks a little small tied up in the 80ft slip at River Dunes, next to the 65ft Viking. Good thing I have 2 50ft power cords as it was that far to the power outlet.

We ended the day at Dudley's Marina in Swansboro. Not quite the same amenities as River Dunes, but I like this place ever since I arrived here in 2004 on a broken delivery boat and the folks here bent over backwards to help us out. The only problem at Dudley's is the barnacles/shells attached to the poles. You have to be careful to keep fendered well off the poles and away from the sharp shells.

Passed the mile 200 point today after only four and a half days. Boat travel is not the fastest mode of transpo! We will be confined to the ICW until Friday, it appears from weather forecast, so should be able to log another 200 miles by then. Looks like we may be able to get out on the ocean Friday at Georgetown, SC.
Meanwhile all is going well. Temperature is up to mid 60s. Genny is back in the swing of potty trips to the bow. All is well on Tides Inn.

Crossing the North Carolina Sounds

2012-01-07T15:20:00.000-08:00

Had a great day today for crossing the Pamlico River and Sound. Temp in the 60s and a 5-10kt breeze just off the bow enough to let us motor sail at a good clip. We arrived at River Dunes Marina just before sunset and navigated the winding channel full of crab pot floats/lines successfully. Not a place to come into at night. Entrance channel was 6ft, not 8ft as advertised. Very fancy place - will post pictures tomorrow.

This is where we spent last night, anchored just before entrance to Alligator-Pungo Canal at MP103. This is a popular anchorage for ICW transitors but, funny, we were the only ones there on 6-7 Jan. Not an unpleasant night. Temp was 49 this morning. Decided not to dig out the generator to run a heater, just jumped under 4 blankets.

Once the anchor's down and dinner's over its time for dominos. Sue loves her new chair (her Sailrite sewing machine with pad and cover). Just right for our small table the sits under the main salon table (folded up).

We got in several games before the temperature began dropping and it was time to jump in bed - 0730pm. Got in a good nights sleep before rising at 0600 for today's long run to River Dunes.

Tomorrow is supposed to be same weather as today, but chance of rain after midnight. We hope to get past Camp Lejeune to Swansboro tomorrow. Hopefully another warm day we can open the dodger center window like this which greatly improves visibility.
All going smoothly so far.

On to Coinjock, NC

2012-01-05T13:23:00.000-08:00

It was a short leg today from Great Bridge to Coinjock, only about 40 miles. But, the next marina along the Intracoastal Waterway is another 35 miles and we couldn't make it before dark - and its always difficult getting into an unfamiliar marina in the dark (and cold), so best to stop early and relax.
This is Midway Marina in Coinjock, on west side of ICW. Not much to do in Coinjock, just tie up and turn on heater. Weather is in mid 50s, so we'll go for a walk later.

For those new folks following our blog (Greg's friends), this is Tides Inn, our Island Packet 380 cutter rig sailboat. Island Packet makes, IMHO, the best cruising sailboats with lots of storage space, a shallow keel for getting into out-of-the-way places, and a full keel and staysail rig for comfortable and safe ride in a blow. Ask Gregory about 55kts and 18ft seas in the Delaware Bay.

We have a lot of cruising gear hanging off the stern which unfortunately lowers the stern and slows us down some, but makes cruising for months in the islands very enjoyable. We have two solar panels for charging the batteries and a wind generator for when the sun doesn't shine (rare). We have dinghy davits for carrying the dinghy in the islands (we roll and store it on deck for ocean transits so big waves don't rip it off). Our Yamaha dinghy engine sits on the stern rail and barbeque grill is hanging on stbd quarter.

This is a typical view of the ICW through northern sections of NC as you head down North Landing River through Coinjock, to Albemarle Sound, Alligator River, Pungo River and Pamlico Sound/Neuse River until you finally arrive at the Atlantic Ocean at Beaufort. A lot of this area is outside of any cellphone coverage, so there won't be a blog update tomorrow.

Milepost 45, just before Coinjock. The ICW starts at Norfolk at MP 0 and ends around the Texas/Mexico border, with a few gaps in the Gulf area. We'll try to head offshore off NC if weather allows and come back into ICW at Miami to cruise around Biscayne Bay (MP 1095) for couple weeks. Only 1050 miles to go! (at 7.5 mph)

   Here's a "real sailor" we passed along the way with no dodger, bimini or enclosure - just his foul weather gear to keep warm.

   Tomorrow night we'll be roughing it, anchoring out at entrance to Alligator River Canal. Supposed to be in mid 40s Fri night so not that cold. Sat we'll be at River Dunes Marina and will have wifi and can update the blog.

Underway for Bahamas - Finally

2012-01-04T15:29:00.000-08:00

We are finally underway and heading south, departing 7am on 4 Jan, sailing into the rising sun on a crisp 20deg morning.
Our plan was to leave yesterday, but waking to 28-34kt winds and 4-6ft seas in Chesapeake Bay convinced us to wait another day.

   Good decision. This morning we gathered all dock lines in zero wind and heading out into 1ft waves and following tide. Fast trip down the bay to Norfolk with 10kt winds on the aft quarter.
   The cockpit enclosure is a great success, and essential for winter sailing. We had a very comfortable ride with no wind chill factor.

That's ice on the outside of the enclosure from sea water kicked up from exhaust. Its about 52 inside the cockpit and 32 outside. That's about about 30 degrees (including wind chill factor) more comfortable. Very nice in the sun. Got to put my heavy foul weather jacket back in the closet.

There was alot of commercial traffic in Hampton Roads harbor. We stayed over on the "red" side just outside the deep water channel bouys. Was especially important as we passed by an outbound submarine "Event A" escorted by the USCG maintaining a 500yd security zone with "deadly force" authorized.

Even after clearing the merchant anchorage area and naval base we still had to watch out for lots of tug traffic. These containers are probably heading for Baltimore after being unloaded from a ship in Norfolk.

By noon we were passing by Norfolk Waterside and heading down the Elizabeth River. Not as much traffic anymore, but still some barges and security boats off the Naval repair yards.

Genny is enjoying her trip and very appreciative of the enclosure where she can sit in the sun and enjoy the warm rays on her brown hair.

Mid-afternoon and we're tied up at Atlantic Yacht Basin. Time for some reading in the cockpit. Sue's a little overdressed for the conditions, but she just came in from outside where it is still in 30s.

   Yep, still cold out there. Those are icicles hanging down from the fender.
   Supposed to be 40s tomorrow, then into the 50s and we'll keep making further progress south. Come on warm weather.
   On to Coinjock tomrrow - assuming we can get through the Centerville Bridge which was closed all day today for mechanical malfunction.

Last week of preparations

2011-12-29T18:17:00.000-08:00

Its the last week of preparations for our departure south and we have two major jobs to complete before the final provisioning and departure.
Sue is working hard making us a full enclosure for the cockpit which will keep the cold winter winds off us as we head down the Intra-Coastal Waterway - at least to North Carolina - in January.

With all the curves and obstacles in the cockpit dodger and bimini and backstays and davit supports, the enclosure is a very complicated task. Here's a photo of two side pieces in the process of fitting. First the tops are attached, then the side zippers added and, finally the bottoms attached to the cockpit coaming. Looks like we will be finished on Friday.

My job is to repair the wind generator - it needs new bearings installed. Seems that when I removed my brand new expensive wind blades for the couple months the boat was in the boatyard (so they wouldnt be damaged by hurricanes or the boatlift), removing the blades and hub exposes the bearings to the rain. The cheap bearings rusted and were ruined. I bought stainless steel bearings to replace them. Now just have to get the machine apart to replace them.

I was able to get the wind generator off the pole and work on it in cockpit. Old bearings out, new bearings pressed in later in day. Now just need to reassemble it on Friday morning. Still looking good for departure this weekend.

Solar Panel Installation

2011-11-24T06:17:00.000-08:00

My last big addition to the boat - 2 Kyocera 135 solar panels. Greg and I start assembling the panels on the dock.

The panels will be mounted on two aluminum support bars. If you look closely at the center of the bar you can see the Kato pivot support I am attaching to the bar (its in the slot between dock decking) which will mount on our Kato solar mounts.

The panels, attached to the support bars with pivot hardware, will attach to the supports mounted on the Kato dinghy davits. We just have to thread the panels through the backstays/wind gen mount etc, and hold them out at arms length over the stern and line up the screw holes.

It was a challenge, but we got them installed without dropping anything in water. Amazing. Could have used a third person. Now its time to secure the wiring.
This is a good view of the Kato solar panel pivot mounts that allow you to orient the panels towards the sun.

Mission accomplished, at least for the external mounting. Now I need to finish up the below decks wiring. The Bluesky regulator is mounted in the starboard lazerette, a circuit breaker cut off switch at the engine control panel. The wiring connects to the 110v battery charger posts in lazerette.
The Bluesky regulator has an external display monitor to be mounted at the nav table. It connects via a standard telephone cable (50ft) that I have to install next.
This is a neat installation with panels out of any shadow zone. The only downside is 60lbs mounted behind the boat which lowers the stern another 1/2in or so. Not good for my boat which is already stern heavy. But then we are cruisers, not racers. With 270watts of solar plus the AirX windgenerator with new high tech blades, we should be all set for generating electricity.

On The Hard

2011-11-19T09:55:00.000-08:00

   Tides Inn on the hard ready for bottom painting. I also plan to redo the cetol on the gunnel rubstrips.
   Upgrades this fall include new high-tech, quiet blades for the wind generator waiting to be installed and, solar panels to go on the dinghy davits. Note the KATO pivot mounts on the davits where the solar panels will be installed.
   Bottom was in good shape after two years since last haulout, with couple spots where paint is peeling from original bottom paint application where dealer did not do good job of removing all the gel coat wax.

Hurricane Irene Preparations

2011-08-29T18:32:00.000-07:00

Tides Inn is looking pretty lonely, the last boat in the marina as Hurricane Irene approaches. I stripped all the canvas and sails on Thursday, then Sue and I came down on Friday to anchor her out in the creek.

Finally anchored and ready for the big winds. I put a tandem anchor setup with Fortress 37 connected to a Delta 35 anchor via 40ft of chain, then connected to my nylon hurricane rode. Then put my standard Bruce 44 on 200ft of chain out at 45deg angle.

Hurricane Irene passed by on Sat with winds of only 45-55kts and gusts to 65kts at our location. Tides Inn did just fine. On Sun we returned to boat and retrieved all the hurricane anchors and repositioned to middle of creek. On Mon morning it was back to the slip and safely tucked in back home. Lot of work for just 65kts of wind, but better safe than sorry.

We'll be pulling the boat in Oct to paint bottom and get all shipshare for wintering in Bahamas again. Planning to head south shortly after Christmas...Brrr.... Fortunately, no hurricane damage to worry about repairing.

No Genny - We are not in the Bahamas Anymore

2011-03-25T18:10:00.000-07:00

Goodbye to the warm, sunny Bahamas, we're back in the chilly, overcast mid-Atlantic East Coast. 46deg this morning as we work our way up the IntraCoastal Waterway (ICW) back to Yorktown.
We arrived in Beaufort, NC, on Wed after a fast 400nm, 48hr run via the rough and tumble Gulf Stream from Daytona, FL area. Thursday we started our transit up the ICW and arrived in Belhaven, NC on Fri afternoon. Had pot luck dinner and appetizers with the marina folks this evening. Several folks from Virginia, Maryland, DC, New York, Toledo Beach (where we bought our boat) etc, all the places we have been, were here. Funny what a small world it is. Saturday we motored up in the increasing cold to the Alligator River Marina, NC and stayed there for two days as Sunday brought even colder temps, strong winds and a bit of rain. Monday it was on to Coinjock, NC. Tuesday off for Hampton VA, then Wednesday finally the run for home with warmer, south winds forecasted for the Chesapeake.

Back in the ICW with cold water and mud bottom versus sand, here is the new morning attire: sea boots to keep the feet and legs dry as we wash the mud off the chain each morning with our saltwater washdown system (Bahama sand never sticks to chain); double lined polyester pants and Columbia fleece over poly long underwear top with fleece watch cap with ear covers. Add waterproof gloves and windbreaker and you're ready for the morning anchor raising.

The ICW has its own set of dangers. A very narrow channel you have to stay within; lots of boat traffic to avoid, and confusing channel markers that switch each time you transition between the true ICW and channels to/from the ocean. Just north of Beaufort we had to navigate through several fishing trawlers working the waterway. Seems like it was the opening day of oyster season??

Genny, however, with her built-in fur coat, is very happy to be back in the cool and smooth ICW. With a nice cushion, comfy pillow, on-time meals and two ear scratchers at your beck and call. And, the potty is just a short walk up forward with no 6ft seas to contend with. What could be nicer.

Nassau - Outbound

2011-03-17T19:15:00.000-07:00

After leaving Shroud Cay we rendezvoused with Mirabelle and went to Norman's Cay just outside the Exuma Land and Sea Park - so we could get in one last day of hunting.
We got 1 good size and one small lobster. Almost had a good size Grouper but he was just a little too quick. Then it was time to head for Nassau and start the transit back to good ole USA.

We made the short 4hr transit from Norman's Cay to Nassau and anchored off Paradise Island (in front yard of the rich and famous). Had a quick dinner with Mirabelle crew, then a good night's sleep for the upcoming 36hr transit to Florida.

Early Monday morning and our departing views of Nassau harbor and the Bahamas. We had a uneventful (almost) transit to Fort Pierce, FL, arriving at sunset on Tuesday. We had 18hrs of great sailing on beam reach, then with spinnaker flying downwind. Around midnight Monday, the spinnaker wrapped itself around the forestay in the flukey winds of a passing thick cumulus cloud with a few raindrops. Took awhile to get it unraveled, then we doused the spinnaker and motored the next 18hrs to Fort Pierce in very light winds and 1-2ft waves across the Gulf Stream. Saw 5.0kts of current for short period in the Gulf Stream, but most was 3-4kts. Too bad we couldn't ride it straight north, but the winds had died and are forecasted to be from north through next Tuesday, so we are now in the ICW heading north up towards St Augustine. On mooring ball at Vero Beach right now for couple days to restock on fresh fruits and vegetables, plus snorkeling and hunting gear (more spear options)for next year's trip to Bahamas. So we'll have spare gear onboard for all you visitors.

Shroud Cay

2011-03-17T18:45:00.000-07:00

From Cambridge Cay we next went to Shroud Cay, still in the Exuma Park. The neat experience at Shroud is the salt water creek that goes nearly across the island, about 2 miles, which you can dinghy up (at all but low tide we found out). The creek is lined on both sides by mangroves. We saw lots of fish, two nurse sharks and many conch in the small tributaries.

Initially, we were able to motor up the creek. Then we hit sections where we had to resort to poling as it was only a couple hours after low tide.

Finally it was no go poling and it was time to resort to dragging. Genny got to ride but Sue had to walk along with me. Fortunately, that's the end of the creek just up ahead. There is a strip of sand about 100yds wide between the end of the creek and the ocean on the other side. The ocean waters pass through the sand and come up into the creek which flows to the western shore.

The reward for trekking up the creek (other than all the pretty fish in the creek) is the beautiful beach on the ocean shore side. Noone lives on Shroud Cay so this is your private beach for the day.

Genny had a good time walking the beach and cooling her feet in the surf. No interesting shells on this beach as it was all deep, fine sand. The brown debris is Sargasso seaweed that washes up on all the beaches facing the Atlantic Ocean.

Cambridge Cay

2011-03-17T18:03:00.000-07:00

We finally had to depart Sampson Cay and start our trek home. First stop was Cambridge Cay just a few miles north. This Cay is just inside the Exuma Sea and Land Park, so no fishing/hunting allowed, just sightseeing the beautiful sites.

Each morning at Cambridge we made the quick walk to the eastern shore and had a sunrise yoga session on the beach. Pretty spectacular scenery. Only problem was the constant breeze which blows your mat over. Of course "corpse pose" keeps the mat in place exceptionally well.

Not being able to hunt or fish leaves plenty of time for walking the beach and enjoying the views. We also went snorkeling to the impressive ocean shore caves on Rocky Dundas off Cambridge. We have a long underwater video of the caves that is too long to load on the blog. You'll have to stop by our place after 1 April to see it. Very impressive.

Sampson Cay

2011-03-09T05:55:00.000-08:00

We are homesteading (7 days now) at Sampson Cay which is one of the best little spots in the Exumas with lots of things to do including lobster and fish hunting, snorkeling on reefs, beach walking, refueling and a nice restaurant.

There are lobsters here, but hard to find for us novices. I got one on Monday and missed one yesterday. The commercial fishers have no problem. This is only half of their catch, along with some good size groupers. They clean the fish, throwing scraps to the Nurse Sharks and rays, then sell the seafood to the Sampson Cay restaurant.

Yesterday we anchored the boat just off a small island off Sampson and dinghied into the beaches, first the sandy island in the background, where we saw this little protected beach across the channel. We explored the islands, did some fishing, snorkeling and hunting for lobsters (missed one), and enjoyed the perfect day.

Genny enjoyed her day off the big boat. She raced around the beach burning off some stored energy. Getting ready to head back to boat, Sue found a starfish near the shoreline. Genny wasn't too impressed with the motionless thing that smelled like seawater.

This is one of the prettiest and nicest places to hangout in the Exumas with lots to do nearby. We'll spend more time here next year.
We'll spend the next week at the Exuma Sealife Park just a couple hours away, then its time to start heading back to the real world - and grandchildren - with lots of great photos and videos. We have a great underwater video to load up when we get to better wifi bandwidth.

Georgetown

2011-03-01T06:22:00.000-08:00

We arrived at Georgetown and restocked on food, fuel and water for the arrival of Carol and Tara. We had a fabulous time showing them the views and activities of the Bahamas.

First on the agenda was a welcoming cold and frosty Kalik Bahamian beer at the Two Turtles bar. Carol first went for the Guiness, then switched to Kalik.

After picking the ladies up in Georgetown at Kidd Cove, we then moved over to the Monument anchorage area off Stocking Island with better protection from the winds and better vistas.

Next on the agenda was a seafood dinner on Tides Inn, but first we had to clean the conch. Carol and Tara got a lesson in conch cleaning and the various techniques to get them out of the shell. We had partial success with the freezing method.

Dinner consisted of conch appetizers, lobster, several types of fish and beans and rice. All the seafood caught and prepared by Sue and Mark.

Other than eating and drinking, we also did several hikes across the island and walks along the beaches. We went snorkeling twice and saw lots of aquarium tropical fishes and corals. No hunting allowed in the Georgetown area though.

   The time went much to fast and soon Carol and Tara were winging their way back to Yorktown through Nassau, and Sue and I were back alone with Genny on the Bahamian beaches.
   We are heading north now to meet back up with friends further up the Exuma chain.
   More to follow.

Jumentos

2011-02-23T12:46:00.000-08:00

We have been cruising the Jumento Island chain (with no Internet or cell phone coverage) for the past 3 weeks. Only the southernmost island in this chain, Ragged Island, is inhabited, so it is self-sufficient cruising and lots of empty beaches. This photo is from Flamingo Cay, our first stop on the way south. We traveled south in company with Mirabelle and met up with First Tango and It’s About Time farther on down the chain.

The attraction of the Jumentos is the lobster hunting and fishing along the coral heads just off the islands as not that many cruising boats travel to this area. Here's my first lobster catch (obtained under tutelage of Kevin on Mirabelle).

A week later and Conrad (Its About Time) and I had a great day off Raccoon Cay. (I should mention that he shot 6 of these, but I was quite pleased with my 3 which I found myself. Still a novice, I missed 4 others - which I blame on substandard borrowed equipment. I now have my own spear and speartips and expect to stop missing so many!)

Sue has turned into quite the fisherwoman. Here is the Ocean Triggerfish (a big one) she caught on her first day fishing. Becky from Mirabelle was an excellent teacher and Mark's birthday present pole is excellent. The girls fish as often as the men go hunting, fair is fair. The girls even clean their own fish!! The guys clean the lobsters, how hard is that (cut the trail off and throw the rest to the sharks)!

Sue and Sally caught 15 fish the same day Conrad and I got 9 lobsters. The real trick the fishers need to learn is how to get the fish onboard before the sharks and/or barracudas get them. If you are lucky they just eat your fish. Sue was getting a little cocky, landing 3 fish successfully before she and Sally went for a short ride in the dinghy when a shark grabbed Sue's next fish and started heading to Cuba with it, dragging the dinghy and girls behind. Sue was nearly pulled out of the dinghy before the line snapped. She was not about to let the new saltwater fishing rod get pulled out of her hands.

Sally taught Sue the secret "fishing chant" that ensures a great day. Sorry it can't be distro'd on this forum. Can only be shared if you go fishing with Sue.

The sad event on Raccoon Cay was the loss of Mirabelle's dog, Danny. He went off the second night and never returned nor was found. He was old and in failing health, so we hope he chose Raccoon Cay as his final resting place. The response of the cruisers was incredible. Fifteen boats arrived from neighboring islands to help us do an extensive search of the island.

Valentines Day is a big event in the Bahamas. Each of the communities hosts a party, "Junkeno", sort of a smaller version of New Year's Day of Mardi Gras. The Ragged Island community brought food, drink and costumes up to Hog Island for all the cruisers to join in a big celebration. That's Sue, second from left talked into dancing with the ladies. A good time was had by all.

Genny is having a good time and really enjoys exploring the islands and going for dinghy rides. Of course, she never strays far from Sue's side. 4pm is still her favorite time of the day (dinner time).

Long Island, Bahamas

2011-01-26T12:03:00.000-08:00

We are anchored off Long Island, Bahamas, on our way towards even further south, the Ragged Islands, about 60nm north of Cuba.

This is a sparsely inhabited island about 60nm long (big by Bahama standards). There are no significantly large towns, only a scattering of homes and stores/resorts/bars. It's a perfect place to "get away from it all".

That's Tides Inn anchored off the Long Island Breeze resort. This site would be idealic if not for the construction on the new government pier. Next year for picture perfect. The resort provides great support to cruisers allowing free wifi, access to laundry, access to pool, as long as you spend a little money here. Easy to do as the Bahama beer and fresh seafood are great. There is gas/diesel/water at the Exxon station next door. Great reprovision site before heading further south to the Ragged Islands. We rented a car for a day and toured the island, checking out "Chez Pierre" which is a terrific, competely isolated, spartan resort definitely "away from the maddening crowds."

This is a view of the "ocean side" of the island taken from the balcony of a house being built by a couple that I met working at West Marine in Hampton. That's their boat anchored off the shore. After cruising here for 10yrs they decided to move to Long Island.

We left Pipe Creek, Exumas, on Sunday and sailed overnight to Long Island. We motored through this cut into the Exuma Sound, then down the deep Sound (where the Mahi Mahi live) to Long Island. It was a pretty bumpy, windy trip. A bit more than forecasted.

While a rough trip, the Sound passage was a fishing success. Here's our first mahi-mahi landed onboard Tides Inn. We've caught several on deliveries before, but this is the first one on our boat. Big enough for two dinners for four. Quite tasty. We may get another chance to catch another one in couple days when we transit down to the Ragged Islands. We're looking forward to the overabundance of lobsters we've been told about further south.

Pipe Creek, Mid-Exumas

2011-01-21T08:06:00.000-08:00

We are still here anchored in Pipe Creek, which has protection from all sides and, is a beautiful place without too many folks, except for our new friends on Mirabelle (with their new transmission) and Just Ducky who we snorkle and picnic with. We are planning on departing on Sunday for further on south to meet up with other friends, but will see what the weather does.

Weather has been great since Tuesday (I think thats the right day?) with the light south winds bringing in warm temperatures. Water is about 75deg here. Not bad, but need a wet suit for lengthy snorkling. Will be warmer further south. Sue only got dunked once by passing power boat.

Gennie is enjoying the trip and likes to explore the beachs and water. She always wants to wade in the water, I guess to cool her feet down some, and we have to keep her nearby so she doesnt get fully saturated with salt water. I suspect she would go swimming if we let her. This is over at "conch beach" where there are over a thousand small conchs at low tide (and a few big ones we are having for dinner tonight.)

This is the Pipe Creek "yacht club" where we had a bonfire and snacks Wed evening. The "clubhouse" is a collection of ocean debries that wash up on the Sound side of the island (called "East Marine" by the yachties since it is on the east side of the island and brings in new things each day). There are 4 sailboats anchored by us who get together for "events".
There is a great restaurant at the Sampson Cay marina just south of us. Thursday was 2 for 1 pizza day (large pizza is $25 so you dont want to go any other day than Thurs). These nurse sharks loll around the marina waiting for handouts from the conch cleaners. Yesterday on the way back from Staniel Cay we passed a good size Hammerhead Shark who went right under our dinghy. Not all the fish in the sea are as gentle as these nurse sharks.

Breezy Nassau Bahamas

2011-01-13T15:12:00.000-08:00

We departed No Name Harbor south of Miami about 2300 and transited across the Gulf Stream arriving at the Bahamas Bank at dawn. The conditions in Gulf Stream were fairly calm with 10kts of southerly wind and 2-3ft seas.
It was a clear, crisp night which started with a terrific bright shooting star.

Checking for traffic as we pass by St Issac Light, entering onto the Great Bahamas Bank. This area is a mesa top about 15-25ft under the ocean surface. We transited down a route free of coral heads towards the Northwest Passage Light chokepoint.

Here's a little hitchhiker who jumped onboard during the Gulf Stream passage. Fairly common occurrance in the Gulf Stream.

SeaDog Gennie has the potty routine down pat. She really likes the calm water conditions though. We are motor sailing across the Bahama Bank here in light winds nearly on the nose.

Approaching Nassau Harbor. We followed "Majesty of the Sea" into the harbor and waiting for her to turn around and back into the cruise ship docks. Five cruise ships in port.

We'll stay in Nassau for two nights waiting for the strong northerly winds to abate, then head on south down the Exumas. More photos to follow.
All are well aboard Tides Inn

Waiting for Weather Window in Miami

2011-01-09T17:41:00.000-08:00

Mooring Field Crandon Park Key Biscayne

We are sitting in the mooring field in Crandon Park, Key Biscayne. Here's the view from the boat with the Miami skyline in the distance. 55 deg this morning but shorts and short sleeves this afternoon.

With the thoughts of heading over to the Bahamas on Monday night we did some important things today. A few loads of wash in the machines at the marina, from now on it will be done in the bucket with the plunger. Had to make that one last trip to West Marine. It was a 6 mile walk over to the store in Miami. After our two bags full of last minute items, we decided to take the light rail and bus back. Genny was glad to hear us pull up in the dinghy, it was her first time alone on the boat this trip. We enjoyed dinner, some wine and classical music in the cockpit. Tomorrow will be the last grocery run; produce and perishables. I have my folding cart and totebags ready for the 2 mile walk to the Winn Dixie. We will move the boat down to No Name Harbor tomorrow, staging for our midnight departure for Nassau.

Enroute Miami

2011-01-05T17:25:00.000-08:00

Underway from Charleston - 39degrees

Underway from Charleston on a clear, crisp Jan morning with 15kts of north winds. Three layers of polyester on Under the foul weather gear. Bahamas, here we come!

Heading south with a brisk northerly wind, we pole out the headsails and try to catch all the wind horsepower we can. We were able to ride these winds for nearly 24hrs before they peetered out and it was over to the trusty Yanmar diesel. We sailed and motored for the next two days, then pulled into Fort Pierce to wait out 12hrs of 25kts on the nose. Heading back out to sea on Thurs am.

The "Off-Watch" of Port-Stbd team

Sue and I stand port and starboard watches, so when one is at the helm the other is in the seaberth catching some zzz's. We probably average about 4-6hrs of sleep per day (none of it deep sleep) in 4 intervals.
We stand set watches at night: 9-12, 12-3, and 3-6am. During the day we are usually both up and about, catching a catnap before and after lunch.

Gennie is doing fine and relatively quickly got back into the routine of potty breaks at the bow while underway. She does like for us to slow down so its not too scary up there on the bow. This is her favorite spot during the day. At night we need the blanket for us both to cover with.

Tried to get a video of the dolphins playing around the boat but they were camera shy. We have had dolphins around frequently since passing Hilton Head. No whales seen (fortunately). The adventure continues tomorrow am.

Provisioning in Charleston

2011-01-01T19:25:00.000-08:00

Tides Inn at Tolers Cove, Charleston

We have been provisioning and preparing the boat for the upcoming 3 months in the Bahamas. Finally got out of the snowy Yorktown area down to 60deg weather in Charleston. The weather looks good for a departure on Monday morning and we should have everything stowed and ready to shove off by Sunday. We'll head towards Miami area and watch the weather to pick our day to cross the Gulf Stream towards Bahamas. Right now end of next week is looking good.

Heading for the Bahamas - Driving to Charleston

2010-12-28T13:10:00.000-08:00

Yes, it was a pretty White Christmas 2010, but this is ridiculous. We have got to get moving south. We depart on 29th by rental car to Charleston, SC, and will provision and make final preps in hopes of departing by 1 Jan 2011. Looking more like 2 or 3 Jan though from weather forecasts today. We'll head down to Miami and wait there for a weather window to make the crossing to the Bahamas.

We'll be able to update the webblog whenever we get wifi coverage in Bahamas. We'll keep our track data updated each day so you can click on "Where's Tides Inn" and get an update. Warm beaches here we come!

Heading to Charleston Oct 2010

2010-10-06T15:52:00.000-07:00

   We are on our way to Charleston to stage the boat further south for our Bahamas trip this winter. We'll leave the boat in Charleston while we enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas with the family at home. Then, after Xmas its back to the boat and on to the Bahamas. Hopefully we can get a couple days of warm weather in early Jan to get south out of Charleston.
   It has been a crisp motor sail so far with a large High pressure system to the west and Low storm offshore giving us 15-25kt winds from the NW. We are heading for Beaufort tomorrow and will go offshore at least to Masonboro, then check the sea conditions and probably skip rounding Frying Pan Shoals, heading back into ICW. Then back out to sea at Cape Fear River and on to Charleston. Forecast is for NW winds all week, so should be some good sailing.
   Will confirm the good sailing in couple days after we arrive.

Here's the confirmation: the weather forecast did not hold up. Rather than NW winds all week, we had a wide variety. First, after leaving Beaufort the winds were from the west (on the nose) all evening hours, finally shifting to north after 0200. We were then able to sail to Masonboro, arriving at 0700. Unfortunately, the winds were now NE at 25-30 making entry into the narrow Masonboro Inlet a hazardous option. We hove to for 2hrs hoping the wind would die down to the 15kts being announced on the weather radio. It did drop to 20-25, so after checking with TowBoatUS for any last minute local knowledge on shoaling, we went for the opening. It was "relatively" uneventful - a straight shot in with plenty of deep water. Lots of cross currernt and 2-3ft waves but no breakers. We got into the inlet and promptly anchored for some welcome rest.
    The following afternoon we proceeded down the ICW to Cape Fear River for the next leg of the journey. Following a short pause while we sat aground at low tide near Carolina Beach, we were soon off and again on our way as soon as the tide came in a couple inches. We anchored off Southport in the middle of the Cape Fear River. Holding was very tenuous with a bottom full of shells and 2-4kt reversing currents, but winds were only 5kts and no big waves, so no problems. The next morning when we left we found out our anchor chain had been held in place fouled on a block of asphalt (about 100lbs worth) which I knocked off the chain with a hammer. We were then on our way to Charleston with a forecast of 5kt North winds.
Again, not close on the wind forecast. After 6hrs of nice slow sailing in the 8-10kt NW winds, the winds came around to the Southwest for the rest of the day (on the nose). The forecast was now for a shift to the north after midnight, but we saw only a shift to WNW about 0300 just as we needed to make our turn to the west to approach Charleston Channel, so again, winds on the nose. We motored from 1500, Sat until arrival at 0800 Sun. But, the winds were light (under 10kts) and waves under 1ft, so it was a comfortable, if long and noisy, transit. At least no repeat of the 30kt winds as we tried to enter the harbor.
   We rode (motored) into Charleston Harbor on a 2kt flooding current and proceeded to Tollers Marina. We are now securely tied up and starting the cleaning and preping to depart duties. Overall a successful transit.

To Long Island Sound - Aug 2010

2010-08-12T13:17:00.000-07:00

We departed Yorktown on Sunday, 8 Aug, with the intent to head straight for Martha's Vinyard to meet up with our friends Sally and Conrad, already up in those waters. But, as the winds' gods would dictate, it was a no go to head offshore from Norfolk into brisk easterly winds. So, instead we headed north and rode the east winds up the Chesapeake. We anchored off Tangier Island the first night, and near Rock Hall for a short stop the second night. It was an early 0500 departure to catch the tide north in the Upper Chesapeake, through the C&D Canal and down the Delaware. We finally reached the ocean at 2100 that night and rounded Cape May and off for New York City.

There was a bit of motoring during the light/no wind periods and some great sailing "wing-on-wing up the bay and coast. While the winds were quite variable, the weather was great with lots of sun during the day and no rain. Sue and Genny had a good trip. Genny has mastered the potty breaks on the bow in all but the most boisterous conditions.

After the long (relatively speaking for us bay bound sailors) 38hr run from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to Sandy Hook, NJ, we enjoyed anchoring off the US Coast Guard base for a comfortable dinner and glass of wine. The evening sunset provided a great backdrop to the abbreviated ocean voyage.

We had a great sail across/up New York Harbor on Thursday, sailing past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, then we hauled in the sails for motoring up the East River and out into Long Island Sound. Lots of traffic on the water as we crossed from Ellis Island to East River and we dodged the boats and ships just like Frogger (remember that video game). We are now moored in Port Washington, a great boaters town on Long Island north shore. A shower is moving in, so looks like it will be tomorrow to launch the dinghy and check out downtown.

Meanwhile, we are still in contact with Sally and Conrad who are working their way down the Sound from the East. We hope to meet up with them in couple days mid-Sound. The life of a cruiser, adjust your plans to the winds. But, any day on the water, is better than a day at the office, right?

Tides Inn back home to Dare Marina, 5 July

2010-07-05T13:02:00.000-07:00

We are back to our home marina after six long months to Northern Virgina working in DC. Pulled into Dare Marina this morning after a great trip from the Potomac and some great fireworks last night. We anchored at the mouth of Chisman Creek (take a look at our track data: Track) passing on the idea of watching the fireworks off Yorktown Beach. Good move as we were able to see the Yorktown fireworks from our anchor spot on the Chisman, as well as loads of private shows around the Creek and Poquoson River. Some of the best were right in front of us. The economy may be hurting, but a lot of people have money for great fireworks this summer.
Now its clean up and boat maintenance time. Waiting for the temp to drop back below 90 this evening before we hit the washup routine.
Now that we are safely home we can happily say it was an uneventful 5 day trip without any equip failures enroute. Weather was fantastic for the whole trip. Wind wasn't all that strong, but no wind is always better than wind on the nose. A great trip.
We are waiting now on news whether we will be working from home for next few months, or going to Brussels for a few months. Should find out by end of the week. Will keep the blog posted.

Return to Yorktown from Wash DC 1 July 2010

2010-07-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

Yea, we are finally underway from Belmont Bay, Occoquan, and heading back to home base in Yorktown. Six months of work done in DC and back to sailing (I hope). Weather is just perfect. 3 days of northerly winds and blue skies. Highs in 80s and nights in 50s. Amazing for July in Chesapeake. And, a 1kt favorable current took us down the river today. Now its wine and dinner in the cockpit and a beautiful sunset. Happiness is a sailor at sea (or at least on the water in the Potomac). Check the "where's Tides Inn" as we will update our positions each day. And check out the video... Genny's eager to get going.

Submarines and Bald Eagles in Yorktown

2009-10-09T12:27:00.000-07:00

Anchored off Yorktown landing, we woke up to watch a USN submarine parade pass by. The submarine is heading down the York River after loading torpedos and Tomahawk missiles at the Yorktown Weapons depot. Security boats flank the sub, which is followed by a tug to assist in case of propulsion casualty and finally a USCG cutter for security. Click on the photo for a full screen view.

We sailed down the river and back to Chisman Creek near our marina and anchored for lunch. You can't see in the photos, but across the Creek over the marina on the far shore, two bald eagles are soaring, scanning the coastline for their own lunch.

He's a photo looking up Chisman Creek at our marina, Dare. We'll head up there near sunset once the wind dies down. Gusting 20-25kts today. Very nice fall sailing.

French Jets over Yorktown

2009-10-08T16:51:00.000-07:00

Its a beautiful Fall day in Yorktown and we are sitting off the waterfront watching the French precision flying team flyover commemorating the Victory at Yorktown in 1781 which was supported by the French fleet blockading the British troops, preventing their escape or replenishment.

The jets trail red, white and blue smoke representing the US and French national colors as they pass over the Yorktown Battlefield monument.

Off they head over the York River bridge.

The schooner Alliance and Tides Inn sit off Yorktown watching the festivities. A gorgeous day to be on the water.

Back in Intra-Coastal - Waccama River

2009-04-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

We are back in ICW after a couple days/nights running up the coast. After departing the St Johns River at Mayport we headed northeast for South Carolina. It was a fast and bumpy ride with south winds at 20-25kts and seas growing to 4-7ft. We passed by Charleston and ultimately made landfall at Georgetown, Wynah Bay. A line of thunderstorms passed through at 0400, getting us a little wet and raising the winds to gusts to 30-40, but by landfall the skies were clear and winds back down to 25kts. We hove-to outside the sea buoy for an hour waiting for daylight before making the passage in through the two breakwaters. Turned out there were 3 of us sailboats bobbing around off the seabouy for an hour or so. Bobbing is a "nice term" for lying hove-to perpendicular to the 4-6ft seas.
The advantage of entering the ICW at Georgetown is this section of the ICW up the Waccama River to Myrtle Beach is the most scenic segment of the whole ICW. You run up the river where there is little to no development, lots of eagle and osprey nests, alligators and turtles, etc. We are anchored in a oxbow arm off the ICW without another soul in sight. A refreshing nap and quiet night's sleep and we will be ready to move on north.
The weather is forecasted to be "unsettled" the next 4 days with winds from the north and showers, so we will be sticking to the ICW. May be able to jump out to ocean north of Frying Pan shoals.

Underway from Jacksonville

2009-04-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

We are finally bringing our boat back from its winter home at NAS Jacksonville. Heading out to sea this afternoon on Apr 09. Weather looks good for a few days offshore so we will head to Gulf Stream and shoot on north towards South/North Carolina.
We will be sending position reports each day so you can track our position by clicking on the "Where's Tides Inn" link above.
Mark & Sue

Rounding Hatteras on the Schooner Virginia

2009-03-29T16:17:00.000-07:00

I was able to sail on the 125ft schooner Virginia from Charleston to Norfolk this week, rounding Cape Hatteras. What a great experience seeing what sailing was like in the days of yesteryear before in-mast mainsail furling, headsail furling, and all lines led back to the cockpit, and the wonderous "autopilot". It was a great time, but I'm ready to return to my Island Packet and its fantastic features that not only make sailing easier but safer.
We had a good weather window for March, a mild low pressure system that provided clocking winds at 20-25kts first from the east as we left Charleston, then to SE and S pushing us up the coast, then to SW for rounding the Cape. Once we were safely around the Cape, a secondary low pressure system overran us with winds rapidly clocking to NE then to S, but by then we were in the Chesapeake and heading to Virginia's berth near Nauticus. The bad news - it drizzled the entire 3 day transit, not so bad in the warm Gulf Stream waters, but bone chilling cold north of the stream off the Chesapeake.

Here's a photo of the main salon onboard the Virginia. Its a classic, pilot schooner, and a true "19th century" sailing adventure. No fancy first class cabins or casino/entertainment shows. Just pure sailing with a great crew.

Here's a photo of my bunk onboard the schooner. The guest crew get the choice bunks amidships. With the bow rising/falling about 20-30ft in the 10ft seas around the Cape, the amidships berths were in high demand over the foc'sle.

All "guests" get assigned to a watch and stand 4hr watches just like any other deckhand, including two 1hr stints at the wheel and two 1hr lookout/ship check duties. Generally the ship is easy to steer except in the quartering seas and winds off Hatteras where a bit of muscle was required and the goal was to keep the heading plus/minus 1pt (11deg) on the compass. First you have to learn what EastNorEast by East means though. There's no numbers on the compass, only points.

If you are interested in a ride on the Virginia, and all sailors should be, you have a couple options. Go to the website (click on this blog entry title) and sign up for a cruise trip, or volunteer your services to maintain the ship as I do and ride on a space available basis. But be warned, all that brightwork has to be sanded and oiled each season and that's what we volunteers do. Its a labor of love, with the only reward being to get to "mess around with boats". What could be more fun?

No Sailing in Afghanistan!

2009-02-06T14:01:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately our great plans to cruise the Bahamas this winter have been overcome by the call of our nation and the need to maintain a positive cash flow during these difficult economic times.
I have been asked by the Dept of Defense to travel to Afghanistan to help improve intelligence information flow to NATO forces trying to improve stability in this region. Hopefully will have some good pictures to share upon my return this Spring.
Meanwhile, here's a great video to remind all what its about on the high seas.

Winter staging in Jacksonville

2008-12-17T13:57:00.000-08:00

Tides Inn is currently on a mooring ball at NAS Jacksonville, awaiting our return after the holidays to continue on to the Keys and/or Bahamas. We had a nice trip down mainly on the ICW, but offshore via a great sail from Hilton Head to St Johns River. We had a great rendezvous with Sally and Conrad on "Its About Time" off Hilton Head and hope to meet up with them in the Bahamas.

Heading South via Dismal Swamp

2008-11-11T15:13:00.000-08:00

Sue, Genny and I are off for Florida. The journey begins with a passage down the Dismal Swamp Canal connecting the Chesapeake Bay south of Norfolk to the Albamarle Sound, NC, near Elizabeth City. The weather and scenery were superb with blue skies and fall colors. We had an uneventful canal and lock passage (the best kind - uneventful that is) except for 3-4 log bumps that are routine for the canal. No problems encountered.
Our destination for this leg of our winter journey is Jacksonville, FL, where we will leave the boat at the Naval Air Station until after Christmas. Then we'll return and sail over to the Bahamas. At least thats the plan now. Leg one is well underway and we should be in Jacksonville by the 18th.
I'll link more pictures as we have time and wifi coverage along the way.

New York City to Norfolk via Cape May

2008-09-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

Originally, I had planned to depart New York at 0200, as soon as the winds shifted to the northwest. According to the forecast, this would give us nearly 24hrs of northwest winds and allow us to sail to Cape May. However, we were exhausted by the stress and efforts to get through TS Hannah, so I decided it would be better to get a couple more hours of sleep before departing. We awoke at 0600 and were underway by 0630, heading south with 20kts of westerly winds pushing us along. It was not to last though.
By 1100 the wind was down to 10kts and by 1400 it had come around to the southwest preventing us from sailing on course. We resorted to the motor. It was a rough ride with a southeast swell and southwest waves of 2-3ft and steep enough to smack the bow and slow us down. I decided to move us in closer to shore in hopes of finding water with smaller waves. I think it worked somewhat. By 1730, the wind was back to the west so we secured the engine and were sailing again. We watched a pretty sunset and were able to keep sailing along, on course, until 0130 that night when the wind came back around to the southwest and slowly died. It was back to the motor but we were only 30nm from Cape May and not in any hurry to arrive before daylight so we just puttered along. As the sun came up, the wind backed around to the northeast at 6-8kts and gave us a slight push as we motored the last few miles into Cape May. We were anchored and ready for a nap by 1000.

We remained at anchor at Cape May that day and all the next as the wind blew from the south and a frontal system with thunderstorms moved through the next afternoon. This was our first afternoon of rain since departing Yorktown a month ago. It rained until about 1600, then was completely still with no wind at all. Good time to be sitting at anchor and not trying to sail someplace.
Cape May is a convenient place to anchor in that it is just about midway between Norfolk and NYC so it breaks the trip into two 24hr trips. Additionally, it is right along the trackline, not more than an hour into and out of the anchorage and back on course. However, it is a small anchorage, often crowded, and not the best anchor holding ground. Arriving at 1000 in the morning, we had the anchorage to ourselves for the day, until boats started arriving off the ocean later in the afternoon. We had put out nearly 100ft of chain in the 14ft depths and taken two attempts to get it to set properly and in the right location. Retrieving the anchor after the first failed attempt, I could see the bottom was a very soft mud. The weight of 100ft of chain would hold us in place in the sticky mud as long as the winds didn’t go much above 20kts. Also, we had to place the anchor exactly at the right location to give us swinging room between the shallow water near shore and the busy channel to the west. Our second attempt was successful. Over the next two days we watched each boat come in, drop an anchor and less than 50ft of chain and immediately secure below. I’m sure none of them knew how iffy their anchoring security was. The next day when the thunderstorms rolled through we had winds in the 20s with gusts to 29kts. Everyone was in their cockpit, but no one dragged.
Initially it looked like another early am departure, around 0200, to take maximum advantage of the northerly winds which were forecasted, but when the latest forecast arrived it reported two full days of northeast winds expected. That would provide us plenty of time to get to the Chesapeake and up to Yorktown with a respectable 0600 departure time. We were able to nap, read and play some dominos during the day taking advantage of the day spent at the anchorage with no commitments. We also were able to get a good night’s rest and were ready to go the next morning for the last leg of our month long trip.

Wednesday morning at 0600 we found blue skies and a brisk northeast wind, perfect for our southwesterly sail down the coast to the mouth of the Chesapeake. We were underway in short order and zipping down the coast, across the mouth of the Delaware Bay and heading for the Chesapeake. The mouth of the Delaware is one of the rough areas along the coast where strong tidal currents running into and out of the bay can be opposed to the winds, causing steep wave faces. The waters are also quite shallow and full of shoals that push waves up higher in places. It is not a place to be in a storm as we had found out in an earlier trip in 2004. Today, however, the northeast winds were perpendicular to the current and the waves were benign. The 15-20kt NE winds had created a 1kt surface current running southerly that helped speed us along. We poled out the genoa to windward and sailed wing-on-wing down the coast, making about 6kts STW and 7kts SOG with double reefs in both sails.
I started with double reefs, knowing we could let more sail out if required. As the wind built to 20kts plus, we were doing fine with 2 reefs. Later in the day the winds moderated to 15 and veered more to the ENE. I let out the staysail and we kept our speed up with 3 sails pulling us along. Towards evening the wind backed to the NNE and the staysail stopped drawing, so we furled it in and let a reef out of each sail, still keeping our SOG up in the 7kts. It was a fast trip and our ETA to the Chesapeake moved up from 0600 to 0200. While it was a rolly ride downwind, it was a great finish to our voyage with a fast, easy transit down the coast. It was not to last.
At 0100, we found ourselves approaching Cape Charles. Both Sue and I had thoughts of an easy, enjoyable sail across the Chesapeake to our berth in Yorktown, tidying up the boat and getting all our gear prepared for unloading when we arrived at the marina just after dawn. Then, the dark clouds ahead turned out to be heavy, tropical rain. It started pouring and blowing, shades of TS Hannah although winds were only in the 20s. We rounded the Cape and headed for the Bay Bridge/Tunnel in blowing rain from the beam and quartering seas. It was fitting we got rained on returning to the Chesapeake as, if you recall, we got drenched from thunderstorms on our departure from Cape Charles on the way north. We motored through the Bay Bridge with limited visibility, then once we were clear of the bridge and shallow water, we got out on the foredeck and retrieved the whisker pole, then set the sails with 3 reefs in each and sailed across the Bay at 5kts and sharp, breaking waves on the beam. Fortunately the rain let up but there was commercial and tug traffic to contend with as we crossed the shipping channels in the bay. Having now been up for 24hrs with only a couple short naps, we were a couple of tired, wet sailors making our way down the Poquoson River for the final leg home. We made the turn into Chisman Creek with the wind still blowing at 15-20 and skys misting, made an easy decision that we were not pulling into our slip in present conditions and dropped the anchor and went to bed.

Six hours later the sun was out, the wind was down and we motored the final mile to our slip and were home, secured to a dock for the first time in 31 days.
We now have 30 days to get ready for departing southbound for the Bahamas this winter. Where does the time go?

Newport to New York City

2008-09-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

Sailing from Newport to Norfolk in Sept turned out to be a challenge. Between the tropical storms, hurricanes, frontal systems and persistent southwesterly winds it is difficult to make your way south in September. We ended up breaking the trip into 3 legs waiting out the storm and frontal passages for periods of favorable winds.
Our first leg was from Newport to the NYC area through Long Island Sound. We had a 12 hour window of 10-15kt winds from the south which would enable us to sail westerly through the Sound. We would have preferred to have headed straight for Cape May but the southerly winds would not quite support the SW transit, the waves would have made the trip more difficult, and most important, TS Hannah was rapidly approaching and it would have been a race, into the wind/waves, to get to Cape May in time. And, who wants to be anchored at Cape May when a TS blows through? The anchorage is small, narrow and not the best holding. Instead, we went for the Long Island Sound option. It turned out to be wise.
We departed Newport at 0230 to take advantage of the outgoing tide and to be at the Race, the entrance to the Sound, at slack water (0900) and be able to ride the tide down the Sound. We had to motor into a slight headwind for the first 6hrs until the southerly breeze kicked in right about the time we arrived at the Race. It was solid fog for these six hours, but the fog cleared just as we arrived at the Race, which was great as there were about 20 fishing boats of various sizes (many too small to show up well on radar) fishing there. We had carefully passed Pt Judith harbor as a few fishing boats exited… all were talking on the radio and we coordinated passages in the fog without problem. We then enjoyed 10 hours of fine sailing down the sound with 15kts of southerly breeze on the beam and a 1-2kt current astern. The sky was blue with scattered puffy cumulus and the seas were 1-2ft, near perfect conditions. We were very happy to not be offshore motoring into the 3-5ft waves there. At sunset the wind died and we motored the final 3hrs to Manhasset Bay by Port Washington and dropped the anchor at the first shallow water on the right. We were asleep by 2400 for a couple hours of sleep before heading for the East River to catch the tide at 0400.
The next question was where to ride out TS Hannah? It was forecasted to come up the coast to the Delaware Bay area, then move out to the east towards Nantucket. NYC would catch the northwestern quadrant of the storm with winds from the east to north at 20-30kts. Following the storm there would be northwesterly winds at 15-25kts for 12-18hrs which would be perfect for taking us south to Cape May. We wanted to pick a spot to ride out the modest storm conditions, then quickly exit NY harbor and take advantage of the winds to get us as close to Cape May as possible before the winds died. My idea was to get through NYC ahead of the storm and anchor somewhere near Sandy Hook, NJ, where we would be positioned to exit quickly after the storm passed. So, at 0430 we slipped our anchor and headed for the East River.

We had a fast transit through NYC riding the 4kt tidal current down the East River and 2kts through NY harbor. Making 8-10kts over the ground, we were quickly down to the Raritan Bay. By now TS Hannah was making its way up the coast over Virginia and was clearly tracking further west than forecasted. That meant the winds would be even less than forecasted and the direction would be from the east to southeast to southwest as it passed over NY. I would need a anchorage with good protection from the south. The NJ coastline around the Atlantic Highlands looked like an excellent choice with high bluffs and trees along the southern coastline. Assuming the Atlantic Highlands port behind the protective seawall would be full, we chose to anchor off the Keyport mooring field which still provided good protection from the south.

All went fine, according to plan for the first half of the storm. The winds arrived from the east to southeast at 20-25kts for the first half of the storm from 1400 to 1800. We rode the conditions very comfortably hanging on our anchor chain, never even straightening the chain out to the 150ft of chain I had set out in 8ft of water. We read books, had lunch and dinner and watched the storm progress on the laptop via our wifi link to the internet. Then, as often seems to happen, the storm decided to change course dramatically. While it had come up the coast further west than forecasted, directly over NYC it decided to head east towards Cape Cod as it had originally been forecasted to pass over. That was not good news for us at our anchorage position as it placed us in the western hemisphere of the storm with strong winds from the north, and we had no protection from the north, in fact we had a long fetch across the entire Raritan Bay for the seas to build.
The elongated eye of the storm passed directly over us between about 1800 to 2100 providing a respite from the winds, only about 20kts. Then, the backside of the storm struck. At 2115, the winds shifted abruptly to the north and went to 30kts with higher gusts. Within 30 minutes the waves had built to 4-5ft and the winds to 35kts with gusts to 45kts. We were now on a bucking bronco as the boat pitched up and down the waves, tugging hard and sailing back and forth on the anchor chain. Suddenly, the dinghy which we had secured on the stern of our boat sitting on the scoop stern and lashed securely out of the wind began flailing about wildly. One of the lines that attached to the transom of the dinghy had broken and the dinghy was now hanging askew and being pounded by the 5ft waves as the stern of our boat rose and fell. Hanging on dearly as the stern pitched up and down, I was able to get another safety line on the dinghy front handle, then let it go astern attached to the boat by its bridle line and the safety line. It rode out the rest of the storm tethered behind us, pitching dramatically and tugging hard at its bridle, but doing ok. In hindsight, we should have deflated and stored it below. I had not done this as we were not expecting 40kt winds and large waves, but the lesson learned is to be prepared for the worst case scenario, then happy when it doesn’t occur.
With the wind shift to the north, we were now hanging on the anchor straight towards the mooring field, a direction I had not planned on. I knew after setting the anchor that we had 50ft of clearance between us and the closest boat in the mooring field, and that’s exactly where we were sitting, 50ft away from that boat – which looks real close in the dark with 40kts of wind blowing. Afraid that we might be dragging on the anchor, I started the engine and sat at the helm with that engine in gear and just above idle speed keeping the strain on the anchor line reduced and ready to maneuver should we start dragging. One of the good things about tropical storms is that the winds and rain are quite warm, in the 70s. That means you can sit in the storm for extended periods without getting chilled. Fortunately, the strong winds only blew for a little over an hour and by 2230 things were calming down. As the wind shifted more to the northwest, we were pushed by the wind farther away from the nearest boat and could relax some. It was also clear that we had not dragged the anchor at all so I shut down the engine and retired below. Within another half hour the winds were down to the low 20s, waves were subsiding and the storm was basically over. We went to bed to get some sleep before our early morning departure for Cape May.

Cape Cod to Newport

2008-09-14T19:25:00.001-07:00

We departed Provincetown on 1 Sep enroute Newport, RI, anchoring enroute off Cuttyhunk Island. We had a brisk sail across Cape Cod Bay in blustery winds, then a nice transit through the Cape Cod Canal, and beautiful sail down Buzzards Bay until the wind finally died about supper time. We motored the last couple hours into the Cuttyhunk anchorage.

The wind came up during the night at Cuttyhunk making our anchorage site uncomfortable so we pulled the anchor at 2am and set sail for Newport, arriving at first light. Entering Narragansett Bay, one gets to observe the dramatic shoreline scenery of rocks, mansions, the bay bridge and eventually the megayachts and hundreds of other sailboats in the Newport mooring fields. We were able to moor at the Naval War College for a night and visit with some fellow Island Packet owners, then we moved across the bay and anchored off Dutch Harbor and toured the quaint town of Jamestown. Click on the title above the photos for more photos of Newport.

Provincetown, Cape Cod, Mass

2008-09-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

Provincetown was described in the cruising guide as a "unique experience" and true to form, as we walked around town on Saturday night of Labor Day weekend, we saw numerous "unique" sights. Sunday afternoon we toured around town again and climbed the Pilgrim's Monument seeing more of this Cape Cod tourist town. If you have never been to Provincetown (as we had not), it is definitely worth a visit but, I don't think we will be returning during another holiday period. Just too many people about. The harbor and the Cape, however, are quite picturesque. I see why so many folks love the Cape in summertime. Click on the blog entry title above the photo for some more photos of Provincetown.

Heading home from Nova Scotia - Leg One to Provincetown

2008-09-14T18:49:00.000-07:00

We got underway from Shelburne heading south on Fri morning, 29 Aug, as the forecast was for a couple days of rain in Nova Scotia followed by several days of SW winds – we figured we better take advantage of the two days of northerly winds to get south.
We departed at 0800 on the outgoing tide and headed south with a 15kt NE wind on the port qtr. We poled out the genie to windward on the port side and sailed wing-on-wing down the coast, but about 30deg off course to the east to keep the wind at a good angle on the quarter. A 49ft schooner had left with us and they were sailing with jib, foresail and main all out to stbd side. We slowly pulled ahead from them and 6hrs later they were out of sight. By noon we were off Cape Sable, ready to make the turn to the west so we jibed the main and kept the genoa poled out to the port side. The wind had built to 20kts and the tide around Cape Sable had not turned yet so it was on our nose against the wind creating some steep wave faces and a rocking and rolling ride. The waves had built to 5-7ft and fairly steep. Within an hour, however, the tide changed as anticipated and the waves smoothed out. We now had 20kts astern and a 1.5kt current carrying us along.
Cape Sable is a great place to observe sealife as the tides take the deep waters (600ft) against the 150ft ledges stirring things up. We saw several whale spouts, a couple broaches, and several seals that came close to the boat. No close encounters with whales which was fine with us.
By afternoon the wind continued to veer to the ENE and we had to transfer the whisker pole over to the stbd side and go wing-on-wing again. The wind had eased to 10kts and our speed through water to 3.5 but we had a 2.5kt current with the tide and wind blown current behind us. At 1800 the wind backed to the north so it was time to tack the genoa over to the port side. We left the whisker pole up for awhile but eventually took it down and secured it before dark as the wind was forecasted to stay in the north. The wind was down to 4-6kts and we motored for a few hours. It was forecasted to be 10-15 with higher gusts so we left 1 reef in the main as darkness fell. By 0200 the wind was up to 20 with gusts to 25 and we were glad to have the reef in. The wind blew steady all night long and continued to blow at 15kts until finally quitting at 1800 the following day. We made great progress and were only 60nm from Cape Cod when we had to resort to the engine. All was fine for a few hours until the forecasted 5-10kts from the SW became 15-20kts and opposite the tidal current. The wind kicked up 2-3ft waves with vertical faces and we were faced with bashing our way forward the last 20 miles. There was no need to go fast as it was 7hrs to dawn when we could make port at Provincetown so we bashed along at 3kts. I thought of just stopping and waiting for the wind to die to the forecasted levels, but it was supposed to be even stronger the next day, so figured we better get into port before morning. I put up the staysail, which actually provided us about .3 to .4kts of extra speed, and had the main with 2 reefs mainly up for stability. As we finally made the turn to the south seven hours later rounding the cape at 0600, the wind eased to 10kts (I suspect it was still 15+ off shore). It had been a long, tough night for the crew and we were glad to kill the engine and sail the last 2 hours into Provincetown at 3kts. I’m sure the departing sailboats, with their sails up full in the 10kts of wind were wondering why we were coming in under staysail and deep reefed main. We were just too tired to change the sails and besides, 3kts in a gentle breeze was fantastic sailing. By 0830 we were anchored off the eastern end of the breakwater, almost exactly 48hrs after departing Shelburne. I had a cup of tea, and hit the forward berth for a well deserved rest.

Nova Scotia - Shelburne

2008-08-26T07:17:00.001-07:00

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Shelburne and highly recommend it as your first arrival port in Nova Scotia. Shelburne has a lot going for it as a great cruising destination.
The first order of business upon arriving in Shelburne is to check into Canadian Immigration/Customs. Yachts arriving from the US should dock or moor at the Shelburne Yacht Club (this is where Canadian Immigration wants you to be should they decide to inspect your vessel) then call Immigration using the public phone at the Club. A large sign gives you the phone number and procedures. Be sure to read the customs regulations (available on the internet) before arriving in Canada, as the amount of alcohol and tobacco that you can bring with you is very limited. Basically it is 1 bottle of alcohol OR 1.5liters of wine OR 24 12oz beer bottles. Above these limits you must pay an importation fee. Assuming you do not have to pay any importation fees, you will probably be allowed to complete the check-in over the phone. You will be given a check-in number that you post in a port window for the duration of your visit to Canada. Customs will ask you exactly where you are berthed for the first day/night in case they decide to send an inspector to check you out. Be prepared to be boarded by Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) boats that patrol the Nova Scotia coast inlets and bays. The RCMP try to intercept and check every foreign boat arriving and, given the small number of foreign cruisers in Nova Scotia, they are fairly successful . As we sailed up the bay towards Shelburne, flying our yellow Q flag, we were quickly surrounded by 3 RCMP boats and boarded. They were quite friendly and professional, but you would not want to have been trying to bring anything illegal into the country.
We also had our dog onboard. We had checked the requirements before departing and knew we had to have official documentation proving rabies vaccination for our specifically described dog, which we had. Customs asked us (over the phone) if we had the documentation and I said, yes. That was all that was required.
Customs/Immigration returning to the US was also relatively easy although you should try to arrive at an official port of entry to minimize any problems. Immigration is trying to inspect every vessel returning, unlike former times when only a phone call was normally required, so they want you to come into an entry port. We reentered the US at Provincetown which is not an entry port. We checked into Immigration via the 800 number and were directed to report ASAP to an entry port where we would be inspected. We eventually got around to doing that. The inspector was friendly and professional and, as we had nothing to declare, it was a quick check, just fill out and sign the paperwork. We had not previously acquired the customs decal and thus were directed to get on the internet and fill out the form and purchase the decal (the inspectors do not process the decals).
The Shelburne Yacht Club provides all the services a cruiser would need, which is good since they are basically the only transient yacht facility in town. They have gas and diesel plus water at the fueling dock. There is a small face dock where 3 to 4, 40 ft boats can tie up for $1/ft. They have approximately a dozen moorings for transients at $15 per night. If you anchor off the town you can still use the town dock or Yacht Club dock for landing your dinghy at $2.50 per night. (The Yacht Club collects the fee for use of the town dock). You can also purchase showers at the Club for $2. You do not have to be a member of a yacht Club to use the SYC facilities. They have limited laundry facilities but there is a good laundromat within easy walking distance from the Club. There is a bar and snackbar at the Club and a nice restaurant one block away. There is a very nice full-service grocery store with reasonable prices about a mile away, close enough to walk with a few bags of provisions.
There is a commercial port facility 1000 yards from the yacht club where you can dock for about 15 cents per foot and $6/day for 30 amp power but you will be berthed up on a fixed dock, with the fishing fleet. In cases of strong storms, the Yacht Club moves some of its boats over to the port facility in order to get berthed behind the breakwater. Given how friendly and interesting the local residents are, it might be neat to tie up to the commercial port for a few days.
There is also a boatyard with travel lift about a mile down the bay which can handle boat/engine repairs if required. The boatyard is not convenient to the town however without some means of transportation.
We chose to anchor right off the town pier and dinghy in/out to that pier. The town pier is actually a boat launching ramp with a floating dock for temporary mooring to support launch/recovery. There is room for two dinghies to tie up at the ends of the dock out of the way of boats being launched. Of course, during the 4 days we were anchored we never saw any boats launched or recovered.
One of aspects we really liked about Shelburne was the absence of crowds of tourists. Having arrived from Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket (and returning via Provincetown and Newport) we were accustomed (but didn’t like it) to having hundreds to a thousand boats at the town marinas, mooring and anchoring fields. The dinghy docks in most of these ports reminded us of the sea lions piled on top of the piers in San Francisco. The dinghies were normally 3 deep and you had to step from dinghy to dinghy to get to the pier. The towns were packed with tourists and restaurants and stores full. At Shelburne, there were never more than 4 boats anchored off the town. There were 3 boats at the Yacht Club pier and a couple in the mooring field. There were several (10-15) tourists in town, most touring Nova Scotia via car and/or staying at the national park across the bay from town. With the small number of visitors in town, it was quite common to start up a conversation with each person you met on the street, restaurant or museum. It was also common to bump into them repeatedly as you wandered around town.
The Shelburne waterfront museum complex is worth the $8 ticket to see the 4 museums that include: wooden ship building facility, dinghy building facility, town history, and a typical 18th century store/home.
When we visited the exchange rate was basically 1 to 1. Prices in stores/restaurants were slightly more than US (Virginia) prices, but lower than New England tourist towns. Gas/Diesel was about $6 per gallon, slightly more than the US (but the same as Nantucket).
We had excellent weather for the 5 days we were in Shelburne with day temperatures in the 70s and nights in the 60s. We had fog one morning until about 10 AM. We had rain two nights, but none during the day. We were surprised how warm it was ashore during the day given that we were freezing in 3 layers of thermals while sailing offshore the night before arriving, but there is a substantial temperature difference between the offshore waters and the land temperatures of Nova Scotia.
Unfortunately we quickly ran out of time to spend in Nova Scotia and could not proceed further north as we had a commitment to be back in Virginia by mid-September. It took us nearly two weeks to travel from Shelburne back to Norfolk as we dodged tropical storms and sat out frontal passages, jumping on the backside of each passing cold front to work our way south. Traveling south in September, 10-14 days is probably the best one can expect to reach the Chesapeake. Traveling north, it was 3 days from Norfolk to Martha’s Vineyard and 3 days from Nantucket to Shelburne.
In many ways, visiting Shelburne was like going back in time 25yrs to a simpler, safer, slower and less expensive time. We will definitely be making plans to return to Nova Scotia next summer.
More photos.

Nantucket Island

2008-08-18T18:39:00.001-07:00

Sue and I sailed from Martha’s Vineyard to Nantucket today. We topped off with fuel and water at Vineyard Haven (quite reasonable fuel prices at Tisbury Wharf) and headed out east in zero wind conditions. That was not to last long. By the time we made the turn around East Chop, a SW breeze began to come up. We motor sailed for another hour as we had to charge batteries anyways. Once the batteries were at 80% we secured the engine and sailed at 5kts STW in 10-12kts of wind on the beam. Good news was the 2kt current carrying us due east towards our destination for SOG of 7kts. It was a fantastic sail. Sky was blue without even a puffy cumulus the entire day. Temp 75deg.
We watched a “parade” of classic boats heading back towards the mainland from Nantucket including several older America’s Cup racers, classic schooners and many others. Upon arrival, we learned this weekend was the “Classic Boat Race Challenge Weekend in Nantucket. There are still many beautiful classic boats here visiting in addition to the great ones that live here (not to mention all the sailing megayachts).
With the wind and tide in our favor, our trip over took 4 hours, covering about 22nm. The wind slowly increased along the way over and was about 15kts as we made the turn to the SE heading towards the harbor entrance. Seas were only 1-2ft the whole way. When we made the turn, the apparent wind came up to 17-19kts so we put 1 reef in the main and plunged ahead at 10deg heel and 6.5kts. It was fortunate we arrived in the early afternoon, about 1400, as the wind continued to build. Its been 20-25kts all afternoon. Great for our wind generator, we’ve been banking amps while charging the computer and phones. Too choppy for a dry dinghy ride to shore, so we are napping and emailing this afternoon. Will head ashore tomorrow am when, hopefully, the wind lets up some. We plan to sightsee a bit here, then head for Nova Scotia sometime later in the week. Weather looks good for several days.

Martha's Vineyard

2008-08-16T18:04:00.001-07:00

We are currently anchored in Vineyard Haven, Martha's Vineyard. Today was laundry day, so we loaded the dinghy and rode into the town dock, boarded the bus for Oaks's Bluff, did the laundry, bus back to the dinghy and drop the laundry off in plastic bags in case it rains, then set off for sightseeing - all before noon. We toured several towns and the beaches along the eastern shore. Interestingly, each town has its own unique atmosphere/culture. Vineyard Haven is home to the "Black Dog" store, restaurant, bakery, and 3 tall sailing ships as shown in the photo. We had to take Gennie for a tour of the Black Dog establishment. She wasn't too impressed, but Sue found some great things to buy. The weather has been terrific, cool and clear, a welcome contrast to Virginia and the reason we headed up here in August. We watched thunderheads build over the island today and dump rain on the mainland. Too bad for them. Weather was great here. The sky colors are so "different" here than Virginia. Hard to explain in words, but definitely different. I see why the artists love to come to the Mass Cape/Islands areas. Tonight its full moon with a clear sky. Lovely. Monday we head for Nantucket, so our next update will be from there. Cheers from all the crew of Tides Inn.

Sailing Nirvana

2008-08-15T16:57:00.000-07:00

We are experiencing sailing bliss. Since yesterday morning the sky has been blue, the winds steady at 10-15kts from NW or W, and seas 1-2ft. Yesterday morning we sailed with all 3 sails drawing on a beam reach across from NJ to offshore Long Island, then as the wind backed to the west we poled out the genoa and sailed downwind all afternoon AND all night long making about 4.5-5kts. We even had a 1kt current in our favor pushing us along. How great can it get.
Well, even better. Last night we both laid in the cockpit during the early morning hours 0100-0300 and watched the spectacular Perseid meteor showers. We saw over 20 meteors during that period, probably more than I've seen in my life before. One lit up the sky like lightening and left a glowing ion trail that lasted for many seconds. Finally I couldnt keep my eyes open any longer and headed below to our luxurious seaberth. What a fantastic day and night.
Today, its more of the same. The sky is blue, wind 10kts from west, seas 2ft. We have temporarily lost the tail current but it will be back when the tide changes. We're south of Block Island now and will arrive in Vineyard Sound at the change of the tide at 1500. Should be anchored in Tarpaulin Cove by supper time enjoying the sunset.
All is well with the world on Tides Inn. Even the dog is sleeping contentedly in Sue's lap.

The voyage to Martha's Vinyard

2008-08-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

Sue and I finally departed on Sunday, following a surprise visit from our son and grandchildren on Sat. It turned out to our advantage as Sat winds were light and northerly and Sunday's forecast was southwesterlies and good SW and NW winds for the rest of the trip. We left Yorktown at 8am and sailed in 10-12kt SW winds across and out the Chesapeake with the tide crossing the bay bridge tunnel at about 1300, then turning north up the coast. We set the whisker pole and sailed NE up the coast wing-on-wing in 14-16kts of SW winds and building seas of 2-3ft. At 1700 we had our first thunderstorm roll through with winds to 30kts and light rain. We rolled in the gennie and put 2 reefs in the main in preparing for the storm. Other than a couple close lightning strikes and getting a little wet in our warm weather rain gear, it was no problem. Following the storm the wind kicked up and soon was 25kts gusting to 30, still from the SW. We still ran with the gennie poled out to windward with 2reefs in main and gennie. Making about 7-7.5kts. The ride was pretty wild sailing downwind in these conditions. The seas were up to 4-5ft with occasional higher trains. We were rolling 15-30deg either side of neutral or up 60deg at a time. All internals in the boat and the crew getting a good shaking up. Neither of us had taken any seasickness medicine as you never know which makes your feel worse, the medicine or the sea. The medicine bothers Sue more than me. Note to myself: take the medicine.
As night fell, things began to get interesting, as always. Around 2200 the new VHF DSC let out an ear piercing warning tone, automatically switching to the weather channel and announcing a severe thunderstorm warning: a squall line 30miles long, with nickle size hail and winds to 60kts! heading our way. I turned on the radar and could see the squall line coming over the bay and over the Eastern shore. It looked like most of it would pass in front of us. As we got closer I could see that most of it would pass in front, especially if we slowed down. We pulled in all sails and started motoring slowly on course, then I decided it would be an even better idea to turn 180deg and motor slowly away from the squall line. Nearly all the storms passed in front of us, until the last cell decided not to follow all the rest to the east but to head SE directly over our position. We were soon in a torrential downpour with lightning all around. I turned us back on course and we motored northerly as it was now shorter to exit this storm to the north. Two hours later we finally came out the northerly side, wet, cold, exhausted, miserable and definitely seasick. After the storm the forecast was for northwesterlies, but instead we still had very light SW winds and waves from all directions. We were a bobbing cork with no wind to stabilize the ride. Just what a seasick sailor hates. Sue and my appearance matched our dog Gennie who was making her first sea passage with us, and kept looking at us with her big lab eyes as if to say, "You guys have got to be crazy - you think this is fun?" We were now really wet, cold, tired and totally nauseas, three cold, wet puppies. I sent Sue below to get some sleep, adjusted the reefed sails as best I could (anticipating the strong NW winds forecasted) and we spent the next 4 hours rocking and rolling barely making 2-3kts to the north.
At 0500, the wind died completely and I started the motor waking Sue up. That was ok as it was her turn to come on watch and she could motor the boat northerly while I got some necessary sleep having not had any extended rest in 24hrs. We have the stbd settee set up with a lee cloth and it was the most luxurious bed I have ever gotten into. Pure heaven.
At 0800, I awoke feeling a different boat motion. The northwest winds had arrived. We set all 3 sails in 12kts of NW winds as sailed on course at 5-6kts. The sun was out, the cockpit was drying out and things were looking up - but we were still both a bit seasick. The sun really makes a difference though. At 1200, the wind died, so we cranked up the engine again. At 1400, the engine started losing rpms. I checked the Racor which was fine, but we were still dropping rpms. I changed the secondary filter on the engine, and problem solved. We were off and running again.
The forecast was for NW winds at 20. We had West winds at 4-6. At 1900, the NW winds finally arrived, quickly gusting to 20kts. We put two reefs in the main, 1 reef in genoa and zipped along on course. As darkness set in, the wind slowly eased to 12-14kts and our speed dropped to 3-4kts. We were severely undercanvased, and I kept thinking about letting some sail out, but reminded myself that I did not want to be reefing by myself in the middle of the night when the stronger forecasted winds arrived... so we carried on at 4kts. At 2200, the strong winds arrived going to 22-24 with gusts to 30. We were in good shape with 2 deep reefs in the main. I put out the staysail and put 3 reefs in the genny and we had a good balanced sailplan, sailing at about 6kts during the night. The winds stayed at 20+ all night long and we made good progress to the northeast, but the ride was rough as the waves built to 4-5ft. Our dog, Gennie, was not having a good time of it...scared on her first passage of the noise, the rocking, the banging, and besides, she had not gone to the bathroom in over 36hrs. She laid on the cockpit seat with her harness and tether on, just like her crewmates, and was ok as long as her companions were with her.
Tues morning brought bright sunshine again, winds down to 13-15 from the NW, and we zipped along on a beam reach with all 3 sails out fully deployed, making 6.5kts. The nausea was nearly gone, the sailing was perfect (other than 4-5ft bouncy conditions) and we were making good progress on course. These near perfect conditions lasted till noon, then the wind started backing around to the west (as correctly forecasted for the first time). By 1400, we were back to downwind sailing, so we redeployed the whisker pole. We sailed all afternoon and all night with light westerly winds off port quarter. The best news is Gennie finally let her bladder go this afternoon with our urging and is now resting peacefully with a smile on her face. She'll make a good seadog yet.
Yes, sailing has its scary and uncomfortable times, but its amazing how great it feels when the sun comes out and starts raising spirits. And when the beam reach kicks in with easy seas.... just great.

Departure

2008-08-10T04:13:00.000-07:00

Finally leaving the pier on Sunday morning after a great visit from Christopher, Heather and grandkids. We're riding the tide out the Chesapeake in light winds this morning. Good news is that the winds will pick up later today and be out of the Southwest for most of the trip. Should be a speedy voyage. We'll try to send position updates a couple times a day - as long as the HF comms and weather allow. Should take a little under 3 days to get to Block Island area. Planning an arrival by Wed.
Off we go.

Heading for New England

2008-08-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

Sue and I are heading north to New England, looks like tomorrow morning looking at the weather forecast. This has been a week of fairly unsettled weather along the mid-atlantic states, with a series of sinusoidal frontal systems moving west to east through the region, resulting in winds shifting from north to south back to north to south with some westerlies thrown in from time to time. I was hoping/looking for 48hrs of steady southwesterlies, very common for these August days, to take us from the Chesapeake to Martha’s Vinyard, but it never happened. (Looks like it might next week). Instead the winds have been shifting almost daily between north and south.
I had hoped to pick our departure day last Monday, looking for the best 48hr window. Each time I checked, however, the forecast model had changed. Now here it is Fri morning, and it still doesn’t look ideal for a nice downwind run, but at least there are no storms forecasted (looks very reliable) so I think we’ll head out tomorrow morning and just accept the 12-18hrs of light headwinds we will encounter until we can catch the SW winds forecasted further north on Sunday. Hopefully, the models wont change dramatically between now and Sunday – however, the track record is not promising.
So, with an increased understanding of the difficulty the weathermen have in making any accurate prediction over 24hrs, and the comfort of knowing none of the forecasts/models since Monday have predicted any winds over 20kts enroute and no major storms/gales, we’ll set out early tomorrow morning. The boat is all packed… we’re taking the cold foods down today… and we’ll spend the night on the boat, perhaps at anchor down the creek, and get a good night’s sleep before heading out at first light. Its about 5-6hrs to the ocean from our marina ( to southeast – taking advantage of the forecast northerlies tomorrow), then we’ll slowly try to work our way to the north into 5-10kts of northerlies until the southerlies kick in sometime tomorrow evening.
We’ll have HF email onboard so will be able to update our blog and the list with position reports and short emails describing the ocean sailing. Since we’re not on a schedule and there’s no bad weather forecasted, we’ll try to minimize motoring and sail where the wind blows us. Hopefully arriving somewhere near Martha’s Vinyard on Sun or Mon. We’ll be monitoring HF Maritime Net, 14300mhz most of the trip. Check our position each day using the link at the top of the blog.

Chesapeake Bay Cruise June 08

2008-06-17T17:20:00.001-07:00

We are back home after cruising up the Chesapeake western shore as far as Reedville. We had a very enjoyable trip with lots of great sailing. That's the advantage of not being on a schedule - you get to sail where the wind takes you.
Thursday through Sunday we worked our way slowly to the north, with excellent sailing each afternoon in the sea breezes. One day we sailed all day with the spinnaker up. The other days we were able to use the whisker pole to pole out the genoa and sail wing-on-wing.

Each day we arrived in our selected anchorage spot in the later afternoon. Here we are relaxing on Cockrell Creek just north of Reedville. We toured around town, checking out "Millionaires Row" from the heydays of the Menhaden Fleet fishing. This is a very picturesque town.

Monday evening brought some severe thunderstorms with winds gusting 40-50kts. We had just enough time to securely anchor and prepare the boat for the approaching storms. An hour later the storms moved on ending with a gorgeous double rainbow and brightly silver lined clouds.

Monday and Tuesday we worked our way back to Yorktown with two great days of downwind sailing. By Tuesday we had the whisker pole handling procedures down pat.
A very successful trip with nothing breaking and no emergencies. A good tune up for our planned trip to Nova Scotia later in the summer.

Here's a link to more pictures of the trip. More photos.

Up the Chesapeake

2008-06-14T05:38:00.000-07:00

We finally set sail on Tides Inn on Thursday after a month of electronics installations and other commitments. Here’s a photo of Sue up the mast replacing our VHF antenna which was damaged during a strong wind storm during the winter. The new antenna provides much better reception (we can now hear signals from Atlantic City to the NC Outer Banks) which makes us wonder if the previous antenna was perhaps defective to begin with and that’s why the wind bent it?
We were supposed to be heading for NY City to meet up with Greg and Beth at their weekend independent artist show, but the wind gods did not cooperate and we preferred not to motor for 48hrs into the wind. So, like true cruisers, we checked the wind direction and determined where we could go. We’ve been making our way up the western shore of the Chesapeake.

Thursday we were treated with the unique pleasure of seeing the schooner Virginia come sailing down the York River just as we were coming out of the Poquoson River. We zipped up in formation with them and exchanged captain to captain pleasantries, then continued on our way up to Mobjack Bay. I took some great photos of the Virginia under full sail.
Thursday night we anchored along the north shore of Mobjack Bay, just inside the New Point Comfort lighthouse. Normally this would not be a good anchorage site due to its exposure, but the winds were very light.
Tonight we are up a protected creek from Milford Haven. When we arrived the winds were blustery from the south, but they died completely right at sunset so it is now cool and quiet.
The new electronics have been working great. We now have HF radio to get offshore weather and send position reports from anywhere at sea, plus a WiFi antenna that lets us pick up wifi signals from about 1 mile or so. I updated our position via HF earlier, and am now waiting to see if we can get a wifi signal to download photos and these words to the blog.
Hi to all… having a great time…. Too bad you’re not with us!
Mark & Sue

Sailing on Schooner Virginia

2008-06-03T19:09:00.001-07:00

One of these days we'll get to sail on our own boat, but meanwhile I spent the past weekend working and sailing on the schooner Virginia.
On Thursday, we sailed from her berth by Nauticus in Norfolk up through Hampton Roads to the city of Hampton where the Virginia would participate in Blackbeard Pirate Days. Friday was a work day and 3 of us sanded and oiled a good portion of the brightwork - pilot house, wheel house and instruments station.
Saturday and Sunday were public visitation days during the Blackbeard festival.

Monday we sailed back to Norfolk by way of 8hrs of crew training in the southern Chesapeake Bay. After many tacks, jibes, sail adjustments, man overboard drills, abandon ship drills, etc... we finally returned to home berth in Norfolk. I now know why Popeye has such huge arms. A cruise on a traditional sailing vessel with no winches onboard will develop some big biceps and triceps. Next weekend its Harborfest at Norfolk. No long sailing days for that festival though.

Meanwhile, my latest and last project for Tides Inn is finished - an external WiFi antenna to improve our laptop wifi range. We are set to sail to NYC next week for the June 14th weekend where we will meet up with Greg and Beth who will be in Brooklyn at a craft fair for the weekend.
Our first chance to try out the HF radio and daily position reports. Stay tuned to the blog to see how it works out.

HF Radio Install

2008-05-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

I finally finished installing my new ICOM 802 HF radio with Pactor III email capability. It was quite a job running all the cabling and copper foil that connects the transceiver, antenna tuner and underwater ground plane (2 dynaplates on our boat). Everything seems to be working as advertised. We can now send and receive emails (short with NO attachments) and send position reports to our blog site here.
And, we can now receive weather reports and wind Grib files which will let us know what the weather is doing out there in the open ocean away from VHF local wx broadcasts.

So, we're officially ready for some ocean passages now. We're planning on heading to NYC in June to meet with Greg and Beth, then to Nova Scotia in August to escape the Chesapeake summer heat. Working up for the big trip to the Mediterranean in the future.

Delivery Trip to NYC

2008-05-14T05:44:00.000-07:00

Sue and I just returned from delivering a Hunter 280 from Deltaville, VA, on the Chesapeake, to Rye, NY, on Long Island Sound. The trip had a little of everything with some motoring, some nice sailing, some bad weather and a great sunrise as we entered New York harbor.
We motored up the Chesapeake, through the C&D canal and down the Delaware Bay in very light winds. That was a 38hr leg, leaving Deltaville just before noon on the 14th and arriving at Cape May at 0200 on the 16th.
We then spent a full day + anchored at Cape May awaiting the passage of a frontal storm. After a full day of rain, the front finally passed through, of course, at 2300 that night, bringing a 180degree wind change which required us to reposition our anchor in the middle of the night in 20-30kt winds. But once the anchor was reset we (I?) were finally able to relax and get some sleep. The next morning the winds were dying and by 0900 we and the 10-12 other sailboats in the anchorage were ready to get underway to continue the voyage.
We had some great sailing conditions for most of the day with 10-15kts of SW winds pushing us northward. By late afternoon the wind was down to under 10kts, but was forecast to freshen from the west after dark. We reefed the sails down to 2 reefs and motorsailed along. About 2300 (seems the time things always happen) a couple short squalls went through with gusts to 30kts. Good thing we had those reefs in as we were heeled pretty good even with that short of sail. The wind then went back to 10kts or so, which was OK as we didn't need to arrive at NYC until the tide changed at 0600.
We arrived at Sandy Hook, NJ, the entrance to NY outer harbor at exactly 0600 as the sun rose from the east and the winds rose from the west to 20kts. It was a blustery and bumpy ride across the outer harbor close hauled into the westerly winds which were opposing the incoming tidal current. Its good we had the 2kt current on our side as our speed through the water was down to 3.5kts.
Once we finally bashed our way to the Narrows, the NJ shore sheltered us from the worst of the wind and waves and it was good sailing again up the inner harbor. It was early Sunday morning but we still had a bit of traffic with tugs on one side, a cruise ship coming up the other side, the Staten Island ferry zipping across the channel and several pleasure boats out.
We cruised up along Liberty Island and Ellis Island, then crossed over to the North Cove marina on Manhattan to pick up the boat's owner who would ride with us up the East River to the Long Island Sound and Rye, NY.
We then motored the final 5 hour transit to Rye in very light winds and eventually some light showers as we arrived at Toujour Pret's new home in Rye, NY. Overall, a very successful delivery with no untoward incidents enroute. The best kind.
Here are some good photos of the trip. Photos

2008-04-02T19:06:00.001-07:00

Tides Inn is back at Dare Marina in the Chisman Creek off the Poquoson River as of 1 April. We had a brisk sail up from Hampton with 15-20kts of southerly winds. Now for a few days of spring cleaning/polishing/waxing and its time to get sailing.
The Inn is open, so come on by.

Riding Caledonia to Guadalupe (click for link to Canadian Sailing Expeditions)

2008-03-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

The SV Caledonia finally set sail for the Caribbean on 23 Feb, arriving in Guadalupe on 2 Mar. I ended up sailing (working) onboard for the trip trying to get her ready for her first cruise - which departed on 8 Mar. Sue stayed home minding Gennie and working with Tara.
It was an uneventful passage, with winds on the nose most of the way but, no significant storms/seas as we hurried down always in front of an advancing cold front.
Many of the crew were seasick pitching in the 6-8ft swells and waves, but I with my patch did fine.

I am now finally home and back to retired life - ready to get working on Tides Inn. Here is a link to some select photos. Photo Link

Caledonia to Sail

2008-02-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

Here’s a photo of Caledonia still moored at Nauticus. Chris, Heather, Jackson and Ella visited this weekend and we took them for a tour of the ship then a ferry ride. Cool but sunny day. The Caledonia is scheduled to depart on Tuesday so Sue and I will get one last day of work this Monday. Then back to retired life :-).

Winter work on SV Caledonia, from Halifax

2008-02-09T17:33:00.000-08:00

No sailing on Tides Inn during these winter months, so Sue and I have been working on the Canadian Sailing Expedition's barquentine SV Caledonia. The boat is here in Norfolk for yardwork. They were refloated on 7 Feb and doing final fitting out at Nauticus wharf at Waterside.
We've mostly been doing odd carpenter jobs like securing galley/pantry shelves, building fire-fighting gear storage locker, building chart drawer, etc... For awhile I was "Mr firedoor closure mechanism" man, but that job is mostly finished.
The Caledonia is being fitted out as a luxury cruise boat that will cruise Nova Scotia in the summer and Guadalupe in the winter. Passengers can pitch in with hoisting the sails if they desire.

Dry Tortugas Visit

2007-12-18T18:30:00.000-08:00

What a fantastic place the Dry Tortugas is and few Americans get to experience it. Waters are crystal blue. The fort is extremely interesting; the snorkling fantastic. And, we actually saw the "green flash" two sunsets in a row! A must visit spot. Click for more photos .

Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River Cruise

2007-12-18T18:25:00.000-08:00

It was a clear and breezy day upon departure from Chisman Creek. Too breezy it turned out and we decided to head for shelter in nearby Goose Creek. Lots of wind for the wind generator :-).

The next day was a sunny and windless day and we motored easterly across the bay into a inlet on the Eastern Shore. Water levels were pretty skinny here, about 5ft. Treated to a fantastic sunset looking west out into the Bay.

Next Stop - Tangier Island. Water level buildings begin to line both sides of the channel as you approach the town from the east.

Parks Marina is the place to stay at Tangier Island. Or you can anchor outside the channel on either side of the island depending on wind/seas.

From Tangier Island, we sailed up the Potomac to Washington DC, then returned home to Chisman Creek, Yorktown. The Potomac River has some of the best anchorages and side creeks we have explored on the Chesapeake. One of the best is St Mary's River just inside the mouth of the Potomac on the Md side. Dont miss this great cruising location.
Also, while its a long motor up the river to Wash DC, its a great destination with plenty of anchoring room right downtown off Maine Ave. The new I-95 bridge is plenty high enough for sailboats to pass under without the midnight lift restriction of the past.
Here is a link to some select photos... they really dont do justice to what a great scenic trip this was.