Adventures of ACT III

Portsmouth NH to Oxford MD

2011-12-22T08:40:00.000-05:00

Chesapeake Bay, Oxford, MD.

We left Little Harbor on Dec. 10, dressed in 5 layers, and made a couple of day trips, stopping at night in Gloucester, Onset (Cape Cod), and Newport RI. Because of the cold, we expected we would have to continue day-tripping through Long Island Sound and New York before coming to the part I had nightmares about: the overnight winter passage down the open NJ coast to Cape May. As it turned out, we had a good weather window so went directly from Newport to Cape May--32 hours. Cold but calm enough with easy NW winds--a most excellent sail and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when we dropped the anchor in Cape May at 1900 hrs, affter making our way into the harbor after dark past giant, halogen-lit tugs, tows and construction vessels that hid the normal aids to navigation.

When we left Cape May the next morning to go up Delaware Bay, it was blowing hard in our faces and the water was very lumpy. We smiled, however, as a sweet little whale surfaced right beside Act III. We anchored at the top of the bay before heading through the C&D Canal into the Chesapeake the next morning. Weather continued cold, but sunny and calm enough to make it easy going.

Three more nights at anchor (in the beautiful Sassafras River, outside not-as-deep-as-charted-oops Rock Harbor, and in Eastern Bay, then we pulled into a marina in Oxford MD for some respite. Power allowed us to run our electric space heater at will and catch up on internet, and let some wind and rain go by.

When we came down the Intracoastal two years ago, we met Dave and Bicki Howell on Nellie D, a head-turning Lord Nelson Victory Tug. They live nearby in Cambridge, MD, in a spectacular home on the Little Choptank River they've been building for 11 years. The best part of this stop was visiting with them and they spoiled us rotten with dinners at their home (fresh oysters from their stash in the river!), lending us their car for 2 days and many other kindnesses. We can't thank them enough for their graciousness and excellent conversation (not to mention washer and DRYER).

Today, freshly provisioned, we'll make our way across the bay to Solomon's Island, We expect to be in the Norfolk/Portsmouth area in 3 days, then the dull grind down the Intracoastal to Sailcraft Services in Oriental, NC, where we'll haul and unstep the mast for some maintenance.

We think it's holiday season, and our hearts are with you all.

Season 3

2011-12-08T10:17:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends,

We're provisioning to leave NH again, so will rightly wonder how we got back here. I had to refer to the blog to remember where we left off...

We left St. Marten after 2 months of work and play, and sailed for Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands where, for the first time we felt we were in familiar territory--before that every port was new.

When in St. Marten, our Swedish friend Nils introduced us to Rob and Natalie on s/v Wilhelm because both vessels were ultimately planning to sail to New England, but we hadn't been in touch with them for a couple of months. We were now delighted to learn they were just a half-day sail away, and our schedules for heading north were in synch. We met in Christmas Cove, St. John, waited for appropriate weather to avoid the problem we were hearing on the SSB that current cruisers were having to stand off several hundred miles for a week or so before approaching Bemuda because of high wind and seas. For the first time we used our SSB radio to chat with another boat--not just listen to weather broadcasts--and arranged a daily radio schedule with Wilhelm. They departed a day ahead of us on May 14, and reported little or no wind.

We left in light wind, but the second day began a lovely sailing breeze. Then Bill celebrated the night of his birthday with thunderstorms -- the most horrific lightning he'd ever seen -- continuous many fingered bolts surrounding us making it like four hours of daylight, and thunder that never stopped. Fortunately, I slept through most of it--hey, it wasn't my watch! Bill tried to sail around the worst of the squalls, visible and clear on radar, but it was impossible to get away from it. In the morning, Wilhem reported they had turned south for the night hoping to avoid the weather, but still got slammed. Fortunately, neither boat was struck. The fine weather returned in the morning and the rest of the 6-day passage was lovely and uneventful. Half-way to Bermuda we passed Wilhelm and took the opportunity to take photos of each other under full sail and spinnakers at daybreak. We arrived in St. George's Harbor a day ahead of Wilhelm, thanking Act III once again for her swiftness.

Bermuda has the most outstanding navigation and radio system we've ever seen; Bermuda Radio contacted us when we were still 100 nm out. We previously had notified them online that we were expecting to arrive, and check-in was a breeze. The Port official even helped us with dock lines. The island is gorgeous, the people most welcoming, and the eponymous onions and shorts were a treat to see. It's not an island where cruisers happen upon by chance, so the harbor was full of serious boaters with wonderful stories--many waiting for weather to head for the Azores and Europe. Natalie and Rob had a time obligation so left ahead of us when conditions were less than ideal; we had no constaints so stayed to enjoy the last snorkeling and swimming we expected for awhile. (The water was a freezing cold 76 degrees! We are so spoiled!)

We buddy-boated to Newport, RI with a wonderful Dutch couple, Caspar and Gjerte, on s/v Abel, and maintained the same 2/daily radio sched we had with Wilhelm. It's a great comfort to hear a friendly voice when you're spending so many days alone on the water, with no other vessels in sight. It's also valuable to share information about what is/was happening with weather and seas.

Our foreign friends have to jump through hoops to get cruising permits, including face-to-face visits to the American embassy. The one thing we were were sure of was that we'd have no problems coming into the States. We are Americans, after all. We picked up a mooring in Newport, RI at 2 a.m., fell fast asleep and called the harbormaster and customs first thing in the morning to arrange our check-in. The customs officer immediately gave us an official warning for not contacting customs by telephone when were were 100 nm. offshore. But we checked all the websites and there was no mention of that, we protested. And we have no working telephone. Yeah, well, you just have to know these things and now that you're in the system as "officially warned" the next time you make a mistake you'll be fined. We were embarrassed about the great USA when Abel arrived late that next night and Caspar and Gjerte stood in a deserted parking lot at 3 a.m. holding a flashlight, filling out their entry papers on the hood of the official's car.

Newport has an unrivaled sailing reputation and we were impressed. Bill also noted that in most of the Caribbean we've seen charter boats who raise their sails just for show while they motor their customers around. The Newport captains deftly sail their large classic boats right through the anchorage.

We dawdled a bit in Newport to allow time for our granddaughter, Fionna (7), to meet us in Onset (near the Cape Cod Canal), for the last leg home. She was a trouper for the 4 days aboard, and absolutely ate up Provincetown, literally and figuratively. You should have seen her put away a plate of mussels in butter and garlic, then steer our dinghy around the mooring field without help.

We arrived at our mooring in Little Harbor at dawn, in the fog, surrounded by the rich scent of the North Atlantic, and happy to be home. It felt strange to return to living on land after nearly 2 years, but Josh has done a great job taking care of the house and we settled in quickly to lots of company. Granddaughters Fionna and Sare (1) spent 3 weeks; Lorenzo (3) was here for a couple of weeks, on and off from NJ (yes, their mom's were around, but they already know us: we needed to connect with the kids who barely remember us.)

In August we flew to Montana for 3 weeks to see our sons: Ben with his new awesome lady Rachel, and Jake and Allie (4). (Allie confided to her Aunt Polly that "I'm the cutest girl in the world but I can only tell my family." We agree, but are clearly prejudiced. Allie is also the reigning Mutton Busting Champion among the 4-7 year olds at the Missoula State Fair and has a belt-buckle as big as her head to show for it.) We floated, fly-fished, sailed, harvested wheat, and played and played and played. Polly and MIles came from NC to overlap our last week, so we achieved our goal of seeing all our kids and grandkids. It was divine.
Bill played a little tennis and drums; I sang some warmups with Sounds of the Seacoast. We sorely miss our friends as well. It was terrific to play with you this summer as well.

In between playing and entertaining the kids, Bill built a hard dodger for Act III this summer/fall. It's a big, complicated project and looking fabulous, but took longer than expected. Then he took a couple of weeks to upgrade the engine. We're now facing a slow trip south in the colder weather, but we're much safer and more protected.

We'll stop in Oriental, NC to haul out for a short time, unstep the mast and install some electronics, then proceed to Key West, the Western Caribbean, and, ultimately, Panama. The current plan is to leave the boat in Panama next hurricane season (summer) and come home to play with the kids again.
Come back here later for pictures from the summer!

St. Marten Vortex

2011-04-30T18:02:00.003-04:00

We have no idea of time, except that it's not hurricane season, so I guess we're officially cruisers. I have a sense that it's been too long since we've posted to this blog, and I don't recall what or from where we posted. We've missed holidays and birthdays--Allie, our granddaugter, and Ben, our son--and hope they know we think, thank and talk of them on their special days.

We've been in St. Marten for something like 6 weeks. We've passed the official date of our papers, but won't bother to correct them. The French islands are very relaxed about paperwork--a good thing since we arrived without checking out of Antigua; it was too difficult to get to the office in Barbuda.

We ran out of beer in Barbuda, so finally had to sail to St. Marten, where every kind of boat product and service is available at duty-free prices. We had a long list of wants and needs. We hauled Act III for bottom cleaning and repainting. We bought a new gasoline generator, a 2,000 watt Honda, that fully satisfies our power needs--for the moment. Bill made several trips up the mast to repair wiring and replace anchor lights, and to begin troubleshooting the windicator that had stopped working over 6 months ago. It's not essential, but nice to have the wind speed and angle working together electronically with our autopilot so we can automatically steer by wind angle. He brought the unit down to start testing with his various meters, including his beloved multi-meter/oscilloscope that he keeps safely beside him when he sleeps. The Nexus windicator is an unusual make and model, and Bill expected he would have to send the unit to the Canadian manufacturer for rebuilding--the electronics were whacked.

We awoke insanely early on a Saturday morning to sell our old 1,000 watt generator at the monthly boat jumble. It was gone within an hour, but not before I had recognized our very same windicator offered for $12 at the table across from us. Aha! Someone had torn it off th their mast mount, but perhaps the circuit board could be installed in our old mount. After more days of testing and mast climbing and soldering, the new one went into place. It seemed to work, but showed the wind from the opposite side...more mast climbing to turn the circuit board around. Point is, it's easy to spend a lot of time on one island when you're insanely busy. (yeah, right.) Windicator now seems almost perfect: maybe one or two bizarre gremlins still at work in its microprossessing circuits.

We made a long weekend trip to Saba, a Dutch island about 20 miles east of St. Marten, with spectacular scuba diving. Saba is the tip of a mountain coming straight out of the ocean...no harbors or beaches, only some sketchy moorings off the concrete pier on the leeward coast. We left Act III safely in the St. Marten lagoon and took the fast ferry to Saba, because NE swells can make mooring "untenable"--a word we shudder to hear. Sea Saba dive center greeted us and stowed our gear aboard one of their boats, and we taxied to our lodge at the top of the island. The road, entirely built by hand, is a feat of engineering designed by a local who took a correspondence course in civil engineering, after a Dutch engineer came for a look and deemed a road impossible. It winds about 2000' up to the EcoLodge. (One may hike another 1,000' to the summit--the tallest point in the kingdom of the Netherlands.) The lodge consists of 10-12 uniquely painted cabins, separate and hidden from each other, and is largely self-sufficient. They collect rainwater, shower water is solar-heated, and the hottub of rainwater on our small porch took only 20 minutes to heat with an efficient propane heater. The dining room at the reception cabin is lit by candles only, and the owner/chef is a world-class chef. He grows many of the vegetables and all of the herbs they use. He and his friends took five years to build it, primarily because all the cisterns had to be dug with pick and shovel (not possible to get a back-hoe in without destroying the ecology). Each morning we hiked 5 minutes to the main road, took a taxi back down to the waterfront, and were pampered by the divemasters. In thirty minutes we went from 2000 feet above sea level to 100 feet below. The diving was indeed fabulous; we swam with sharks, barracuda and endangered hawksbill turtles. We made 5 dives over the course of 3 days and thoroughly enjoyed our vacation from ACT III. (We know friends, some of you might think that a "vacation" from a lovely boat anchored in paradise is not quite fair. Sorry.)

We finally provisioned and left St. Marten. First we backtracked a bit to Tintamarre, a small island off the NE coast of St. Martin, where we picked up a mooring and found ourselves at a small clothing optional beach where day-charters bring boatloads of naked folks to enjoy swimming and snorkeling for the day. Pretty funny. We planned to stay a day or two before heading to the BVI's, but we so enjoyed the beautiful island and having turtles and dolphins swimming around our boat that we lingered a few more days. Then the wind died completely and we lingered a few more days. After 10 days, winds picked up a bit and we pulled back into Marigot Bay and the lagoon--we had good friends to see again.

We're still here in St Martin, anchored in the lagoon right next to our good friend Nils, waiting for fair weather, so we can try to leave again. Hearing Nils' tale of international romance involving several countries, the internet, an Italian actress, story-book villas, and high adventure makes our stay here fun. See "Swedish Meatballs" post for details. (follows this post.) Pictures

Swedish Meatballs

2011-04-30T18:00:00.000-04:00

We first met Nils (s/v Kairos) at the quiet anchorage in Barbuda , and quickly became fast friends. Nils was one of the first Scandinavian base jumpers and a renowned filmer of base jumping, making IMAX films, which meant he had to jump with a heavy camera on his helmet. That ultimately led to shoulder injuries and he had to quit jumping about 10 years ago. He is divorced with 2 grown children, and has been sailing alone for 3 years. We spent many hours visiting and when it came time to leave Barbuda, we bid our farewells and sailed off to different harbors in St. Marten.

A few days later Nils sailed in an anchored beside us in Marigot Bay, and a couple of days after that, Curt (s/v Bellis) sailed in from St. Bart's. He is another solo sailor from Sweden, who Nils first met in the Canary Islands. Curt was a dairy farmer; and has 3 grown children. His first wife and love of his life, died very young, and his second marriage became intolerable. He divorced, was offered a good sum for his farm and he decided to buy a boat and go sailing. He also has been cruising for about 3 years.

The four of us became a team, sharing stories, and projects. We fondly introduce them to our friends as the Swedish Meatballs, but they are far from that description. They are bright, interesting, funny, sensitive people who have made our time here pass quickly. Nils is waiting here for a friend to join him to sail back to the Azores; Curt was waiting for his passport to be mailed here from the American Embassy in Sweden, as he plans to cruise the east coast of the states and needed a visa. We were appalled at the hoops he had to jump through to get a cruising permit for our fair country, including a face-to-face meeting at the embassy. Show up at 8:00 a.m., no sooner, no later. He finally got his meeting 6 hours later.

When we first arrived here last month, Nils began to contact a woman in Italy that a friend from Australia had insisted he should meet. He had tried to connect with her, Cristiana, months ago, but she never responded to his overtures and he had dropped it. But, he said, seeing Bill and me together encouraged him to try again. This time, she answered his phone call, intending to tell him she was-not-interested-in-a-relationship-thank-you-very-much. But something clicked between them and they began a fast and furious long-distance relationship. Nils spent hours with his computer in the local bars talking on Skype, reported to us every day on how wonderful she seemed to be. She was an actress in Germany before building her ecologically-efficient villa in Italy, so we were not surprised when her picture arrived: she's drop dead gorgeous! Next thing we knew, Nils was thinking of flying to Italy, and then he had a ticket. He would leave his boat in St. Martin to fly to Italy for two weeks--he had to know if they were suited. Bill and I felt like parents (with a fifty year old hopelessly romantic son) and loved watching the birth of this romance. We hugged sad good-byes (again), and Curt dinghied Nils to the airport in early April. Bellis and Act III would surely be gone to the British Virgin Islands by the time Nils returned.

We waited nearly a week for good weather to leave, then had no problem spending longer than expected at Tintamarre. We can't swim off the boat in the lagoon where we anchor comfortably in St. Marten, so we spent many hours in the water at Tintamarre. By then, we realized it would be only a few more days before Nils returned from Italy and if we went back to the lagoon, we could hear how the trip went. Were they well-suited after all?

Nils was surprised to see us dinghy up to Kairos, and the huge grin on his face told us all we needed to know. The trip went better than he even imagined, her villa has a nearby marina, she'll meet him in the Azores in 7 weeks, and then .... ahhh the stuff of fairytales.

Curt was also still here when we returned, but left within hours to head through the Bahamas on his way to the States. I have a hunch we'll see him again in the northeast. We'll provision again this week and expect to really arrive in the BVI's' soon. We only have to be in position to head for Bermuda sometime in late May.

Still Northing the Leeward Islands

2011-03-02T15:59:00.004-05:00

We feel lost in time as we wander from island to island northward. We stay in one place until something prods us to leave, sometimes weather, sometimes officialdom which defines our cruising time. We thought we had a year to stay in Martinique, but it was a trick of the different method of writing dates (month first) and we suddenly had to scurry to check out.

We provisioned well in Fort de France, Martinique (wasabi!), I got a chic, short haircut and, with some difficulty, kept myself out of the millinery boutique crowded with feathers, fancy ribbons and leopard trims (where would I put the hats I fashioned?)

Next stop was Portsmouth Harbor, Dominica, where the local boat boys are organized and professional. We hired a taxi for a day to tour the island, especially impressed with the Caribe village with descendents of the eponymous tribe of Indians who originally settled these islands, killing off indigenous peaceful Arawak Indians as well as proving fierce opposition to the European colonizers. The present day Caribes call themselves Kalinago, partly to avoid their reputation for being canibals. Tthe local manner of baking cassava bread was impressive , using a foot-operated grater to prepare the taro root that has fed tropical natives for millenia. The short, oriental-looking Kalinago baker mixed the grated cassava with coconut and sugar cane, then baked round flat patties on a section of old iron cannon he heated over an open wood fire. it was delicious.

Dominica is unspoiled and spectacularly beautiful with 7 volcanoes and 365 rivers. We were advised to arrive early for the weekly market on Saturday morning. Partying begins on Friday night, the farmers arrive from the countryside about 3:00 a.m. to start setting out their fresh produce on the closed-off streets, and the revelers routinely buy up the best greens before they head home for bed.

It was an easy day-sail north to The Saints, a group of small islands off the south coast and part of Guadeloupe, and we were back into the routine of French baguettes, croissants and a local specialty cake called tourmants d'amour--a 4" cake/tart with guava or passion fruit filling, delivered to our boat at 0700 hrs. daily. We rented motor scooters to tour the island, which we easily could have circled twice even stopping to swim at every beach. It was my first time driving a scooter and I felt like a tough Harley biker babe, until the iguana I stopped to admire by the side of the road reared up and hissed at my tire, only inches from my ankle making me squeek and careen away.

A week passed and we headed to Antigua (An-tee-Gah), breaking up the trip to sleep in Deshaies (Day-hay), on the NW coast of Guadeloupe. As we came into to the anchorage we admired a superyacht clipper-bow ketch about 100 yds off our port bow. It wasn't until we had covered our sails and jumped into the water that Bill noticed the name Islandia on her boom-- my (favorite) (only) Uncle Harvey's boat. She didn't answer our radio hail and we didn't want to bother inflating our dinghy--which Bill is adamant about not towing, but let's not get started on that topic-- so I donned bathing suit, snorkle and fins to swim over. I bobbed and yelled (you can't just knock on the hull of a 130' yacht and expect anyone to hear) until my uncle came out into the cockpit. He's deaf (85 yrs.) and it took several minutes to figure out who this crazy lady in the water was. It was a great surprise for us all and we enjoyed quality time together in a way we've rarely had.

The superyachts in Falmouth Harbor, Antigua left our jaws hanging. You can google Maltese Falcon and Elena to get some idea of our neighbors.

We enjoyed two very touristy things on Antigua: a "Rainforest Canopy Zipline Tour" and snorkeling with stingrays. Although Antigua has no rainforest and it wasn't really canopy, it was lovely woods and we had a grand time riding 9 ziplines back and forth across creeks and rocky stream beds. The tour finished with a ropes challenge course; Bill had no problem and I was pleased my body still has some grace and balance. The toughest part of the tour was having to wear real shoes (sneakers, but still...).

We moved north to Barbuda and are now ending a 2-week stay at Spanish Point on the isolated southern coast, surrounded by reefs, dolphins and wild donkeys. Fast, free Internet is courtesy of the all-inclusive Cocoa Point resort about 4 miles away, where you can relax on the pink sand beach in front of our boat for a mere $1,000 per night per person. We figure we've saved $24,000 during this anchorage, enjoying all the same benefits of snorkeling and swimming, although I had to do the cooking.

We're out of beer so we'll leave tonight for the French side of St. Martin. We have no plan for how long we'll stay--we want to scuba dive at nearby Saba, and pick up some boat parts. We want to get to the British Virgin Islands soon to haul-out for painting Act III's bottom. A few days at anchor and we have a veritable forest growing underneath, home to god-knows-what critters. Even though Bill scraped 80 percent of it off, Act III still provides enough food and shelter for lots of little creatures. We hear them chomping at night.

We think about everyone a lot, and sometimes we wish you were here; but this time of the year, we never wish we were there.

Day To Day

2011-01-14T11:36:00.000-05:00

We've written about our more memorable explorations and experiences, but not so much about our routine days at port. Like everyone else, we need to find groceries, do laundry, run errands, exercise, maintain our "home," find entertainment and relax, but while cruising these mundane chores can be a challenge and delight.

We don't rise with the sun like many cruisers. We enjoy sleeping in and relish the frequent early morning showers when rain softly pitters against the plexiglass hatch above our heads, the boat gently rocks and and we snuggle contentedly in our king-size master berth. We don't have a king-size bed at home, nor do we have 2 bathrooms (heads), so Act III is quite luxurious by comparision. (and remember: 2 heads are better than... ) At home we started the day with one or more cups of fancy cappucino from our espresso machine, but now we're satisfied with a single cup of French press coffee, and we highly recommend the Friehling stainless-steel French press, which Miles told us about. It's one of the few things that doesn't show a single bit of rust after a year of daily use. Sometimes I make home-made pancakes, but more often we pick at fruit or breads and read for a bit while mustering energy to start the day's projects, which often begin with a swim.

In some islands, St. Vincent most frequently, you might not have to leave the boat to do your shopping. "Boat boys" come to you throughout the day in brightly colored skiffs with outboard engines, proudly named "Alexis the Great", "Dragon Mon" or "God is Truth and Wonder," selling vegetables, fruits, fresh fish or lobster (spiny), t-shirts, breads, or they will deliver anything else you may need, like cases of beer or water. For the most part they are friendly and cooperative, and their prices reflect the personal service, but some "boys" become aggressive and insulting if you don't need/want their services, which bums you out and puts you off the anchorage. This pushiness is also found ashore in the open-air markets, resulting in the officially printed sign in the Bequia marketplace that tells shoppers they have some rights, including "not to be pulled in different directions and having food shoved in their mouths for tasting." St. Vincent officials are aware that hassling of cruisers can keep money away from the island, so has begun educating and training the locals, who are now officially "Beach Front Sevice Providers."

Martinique, a much wealthier island, does not not have that sort of "service" but when we hear a conch shell being blown, we know there's fresh fish in town. To go shopping we first must bail the u sual accumulation of water out of our transportation, pack our own shopping bags, and make sure we have the right currency for the island: euros or EC (East Caribbean Dollars = $.37). We expect to get a little wet on our way to shore, thus we roam around town with damp, salty dinghy-butts--only one of many ways the locals peg us a cruisers (skin color and back packs are others). We lock our dinghy to the docks, which vary from sturdy concrete with ladders to ramshackle floats of old tires with splintering boards balanced across.

Nothing we've seen compares to the grocery stores we have in the States. Bahamas and Dominican Republic were the least well-stocked, while Grenada had a bright, modern IGA that actually stocked fresh milk once a week--we mostly drink UHT box milk. The milk was just down the aisle from the attractively displayed pre-packaged chicken feet--the only product in the poultry section. We've noticed that most islanders have no aversion to bones in their meat, so the wonderful curried roti (a kind of spicy meat and vegetable wrap) will likely have randomly whacked chicken legs with pieces of bone in--not my personal favorite. New foods we've enjoyed include dasheen (taro), callaloo (green and leafy, like spinach), various fish we cannot identify or understand the local names of, plantains, and goat. I did not find the advertised wild, fresh local iguana in Foodland, and I'm not sure how I would have cooked it. Most of the stores sell clear 1 qt. plastic buckets of what I believe is an animal product: large chunks of smooth, shiny, red-pink somethings in a purplish bloody liquid. I don't even want to ask. (Fact is, we've probably already eaten whatever it is in a local stew, but still...) The small local store here in Trois Islet, Martinique--like our ubiquitous convenience stores--carries your basic necessities: fresh baguettes, rum, wine, beer, brie and camembert cheese, soap, candy, pate de foie gras, and clear vacuum-sealed packages of something slippery pink labeled "groins de porc". Looks like just what it says, and I'm not tempted. We eat lots of vegetables and I can often find good local chicken.

It took us about 5 months to find a battery for Bill's watch (yeah, he still wears one, as he needs to time some of his on-board chores, like water-making.) The Spectra water maker Bill installed in North Carolina last year is a great luxury. We never have to ration and nothing beats diving off the boat several times a day for a swim in warm Caribbean water, followed by a fresh water rinse on deck, then air-drying in the hammock rigged on the foredeck--no suits or towels involved. One of our early projects back in the states was to find the correct (non-universal, French) fittings to extend the shower hose in our forward head so it reaches out the portlight to the deck. At the time it was something like 30 degrees during the day, and we could scarcely imagine how fine it might be someday. Ahhhhh. It was worth the many trips to plumbing departments down the east coast.

Sometimes we find a laundry that will fold and dry for a reasonable fee, but normally I do that aboard using a bucket and the sink. Towels and king-size sheets are the only hassle. Dishes are washed mostly with the salt-water foot pump, with a fresh water rinse.

Entertainment is easy, because we don't need much. One can spend hours just watching the water or other boats in the area, and we read prodigiously, finding many unusual books at free cruiser book-swaps located at cruiser hang-outs, and our Kindle allows us to get anything as long as we have computer or telephone signals available. When we have internet access we download favorite podcasts like Car Talk or Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me (our major news source), Fresh Air or RadioLab and listen during supper at sundown. Then we go to bed and...read.

I need to end now so I can post on this trip to town. We don't have internet access from the boat here, and the local shop with "wee-fee" has uncertain hours. Qnd I need extrq ti,e to figure out the French keyboqrd:

We love and miss you all.

From Ste. Anne, Martinique

2010-12-31T16:12:00.001-05:00

Act III is happily anchored at Ste. Anne, Martinique. on the south coast. Martinique has by far the highest standard of living of its neighbors, with half the annual income provided by France. We drove to volcano Pelee, in the north, and encountered real traffic on real highways and passed real super-stores, with not a single goat on any road. Cheese, wine, bread--all the food, actually--and clothing are exquisite, and French is slowly returning to the top of the language heap in my brain.

Paul Shumway and Mary Beth Lambert, crew-par-excellence and our mules for electronics and drugs (Rx), flew to meet us in St. Lucia in late November. We cruised south to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, particularly enjoying Tobago Cays, where we swam with turtles. Thanksgiving dinner was dorado sushi that Paul caught--manfully landing it aboard while Bill tried to slow the boat, which spiked up to 10.5 kts. while flying our spinnaker--and frothy fruit daiquiris decorated with umbrella straws that Mary Beth brought with them. Special homemade brownies sent us off on a holiday parade around the deck singing "Iko, Iko". Paul brought his travel guitar and serenaded us many evenings.

St. Vincent is a poor island whose largest agricultural export is ganja--you can see the plants alternating with bananas trees as you sail along the coast. Many cruisers and our guide book recommend caution when stopping in St. Vincent harbors, explaining how to avoid hassles from the local boat boys who approach your boat several miles out and want to sell you stuff, or pay them to use shabby moorings, or pay them to protect your boat from other locals. Chateaubelaire was singled out a place to lock everything up and think twice about leaving your boat untended. Since Hurricane Tomas recently wreaked havoc on the crops of northern St. Vincent--making locals even more desperate, we were wary when we put our anchor down in the stunningly beautiful anchorage, even more alert for trouble since we were the only boat present. Immediately a small kayak left shore and headed toward us. Uh oh.

Well, we can personally report on the current situation in Chateaubelaire, St. Vincent: George, 15 and small for his age, greets your vessel, floats around and chats you up for 1/2 hour, does not ask for anything but accepts a coke, leaves you alone then returns the next morning to bring you bananas and asks you to sign his journal, in which he's collecting the names of all the boats that visit. That's it. Pretty scary.

We unwittingly created an official incident in St. Lucia when we dropped Paul and Mary Beth off in a town near the airport at the south of the island, to save them a long expensive taxi ride from our intended destination of Rodney Bay in the north. P & MB had no problem checking in and out with Customs and Immigration (C&I) at the airport, but when Bill and I came to C&I at Rodney Bay, with our papers from St. Vincent showing we had left with 4 persons, they immediately seized Act III and our passports, because a vessel is not supposed to discharge any crew until all have cleared in together. The Customs boat very publicly escorted us in from the anchorage to the marina, where we were famous while we stayed for 5 days (at their expense), waiting to hear our fate...the offense is punishable up to $5,000. Each day we were told by the local Rodney Bay Customs man that we would have information the next day (we're quite sure the local office was scheming to secretly get us to pay money to them directly). Eventually we were instructed to taxi to the main office 10 miles away and meet with a superior official, who was extremely fair and reasonable. It was clear to him that we had intended no harm so he gave us a short lecture on the regulations, and sent us on our way with no fine. When we returned to our local office to get our passports back, the female Immigration officer, who knew the entire story and who had seen us come to the office every day, slammed our passports onto her desk and growled that she was refusing us entry. Huh? She cut off our explanations with "You must leave immediately!" and yelled again at Bill when he finally said, OK, if you'll give us our passports we'll go. "YOU don't tell ME what to do. I'LL tell YOU when I'm finished. YOU sit down over there." The other officers in the room only looked at the wall or the backs of their hands as she ranted away. She (Agent 601) was the most rude public official we have ever come across--ever. So we left (not immediately...it was late in the day and somewhat unsafe to arrive at a new harbor after dark. Agent 601 didn't care when we expressed this concern, but also didn't look for us in the anchorage that night, maybe because Immigration's boat was owned by the marina and the marina manager was firmly, angrily on our side.)

When we spent some time at the anchorage in Rodney Bay, St Lucia, awaiting Paul and Mary Beth, we found it a charming place. Two weeks later, Agent 601 made it much less charming: she needs to be transferred to a non-public position. One thing we ate in St. Lucia that we've not seen anywhere else is stuffed boxfish, from a woman selling roasted goodies from her grill on the street. The boxfish is split on the belly side, filled with a fish and bread stuffing, and a few morsels of tender white boxfish near the spine were a delicious surprise. Another great experience we had at Pigeon Island State Park, Rodney Bay--before we became undesirable aliens--was finding an outstanding jazz group, InXS, who play a regular Sunday night gig at Jambe de Bois (Wooden Leg) Restaurant. When the band leader, Ricardo, disscovered Bill was a drummer, Ricardo insisted that Bill "bless his drums" by sitting in. Ricardo called for the tune, Stella by Starlight, which Ricardo renamed "Heidi By Starlight," and when Bill did not embarass himself or Ricardo on that number, a second tune was insisted on. Ricardo claimed Bill as his soul brother, and we were disappointed that Agent 601 required us to leave on a Saturday before we could share another night with InXS.

The holidays here in Martinique (where we easily handled the self-check-in by computer and no fees) are celebrated with lots of fireworks and music; the sounds travel well across the water and keep us entertained aboard (sometimes with great groaning on karaoke night)s. And when our neighbors dinghy home in the evening, our whole house rocks and rolls. Hope that doesn't happen in your neighborhood.

We wish all our famiy and friends a new year full of health, laughter and love.
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/heidiberger2/StLuciaToTobagoCaysWithPabloAndMacbeth#

Grenada Hurricane Season

2010-11-09T19:58:00.008-05:00

My good friend Wendy Berkeley recently asked how cruising has changed me and what I've learned about myself. I'm stronger,healthier and more patient than ever, but one thing is clear: I'm not a writer. If I were, well, I'd be writing. I wouldn't wait 2 months between blog posts when I had a perfect internet connection. Perhaps I'm simply lazy.

We successfully rode out hurricane season here in Grenada for 3 months. Only Tomas posed any threat at all 2 weeks ago, and the island prepared to be hit with 60+ mph winds. All day Friday, boats in the anchorages moved to more secure spots, put out extra anchors, laid in extra cases of beer and made plans to monitor the radio network all night. Boats at marinas, like us, put out so many extra lines the docks look like a spaghetti dinner, secured our dinghies, unrigged extraneous canvas and tarps and stowed all loose items. Locals emptied the grocery stores of everything fresh and canned. Then we waited, watched the weather sites on the internet and talked of nothing but updates of Tomas' predicted course, which early models showed going right over Grenada. The weather was slightly overcast, calm and, surprisingly, not at all buggy--one of the most pleasant spells of weather we've had here.

Then Tomas veered north and we got nothing but a few short rain squalls on Sunday. Unfortunately St. Lucia and St Vincents did not fare so well. We have plans to pick up Paul and Mary Beth in St. Lucia on November 20 and hope the island is recovered enough to allow movement and provisioning.

We left Clarks Court Bay Marina last week after nearly 3 months. Staying in one place for so long was productive as we used lots of power tools to completely strip and refinish all the brightwork (which already needs more coats of varnish in this brutal sun) and use our new Sailrite sewing machine. We got to know other cruisers and locals--better than we know our neighbors in Newmarket--as we all live in the open, sharing daily afternoon swims and a weekly shopping bus to the "mall" which has an excellent IGA supermarket. It's easy to hop on a local island bus for trips to the capital city of St. George's, and it's easy to spend hours reading books from the book swap or downloaded onto our Kindle, trying to stay cool.

We're now in Calvigny Harbour, 2 bays to the northeast, making our own water and power, swimming naked off the boat. We're anchored near John and Patti on Anhinga, who we met waaay back in Puerto Rico and who have also been here for the summer. We all enjoyed a divine meal of fresh Caribbean cuisine -- goat curry, barracuda, crabback (stuffed crab appetizer), at BB's Crabback Restaurant in St. George's on Saturday night, whose proprietor is a world class London-trained chef. It was a sort of farewell to Grenada dinner as we prepare to start leisurely cruising north in the next day or so. We'll check out of Grenada at the island of Carriacou to the northwest, then explore Bequia before getting to St. Lucia.

Highlights of our season on this lush, modern island full of spices, fruits, flowers, goats and warm people include, in no particular order:

---Lucky the African Gray parrot, who provided us with hours of amusement with her huge vocabulary. We taught her some whistles, but mostly she has us parroting her funny phrases.

---Playing a form of cricket. Who'd a thought? Average fluid consumption per match was 15 cases of beer and less than one case of bottled water. Bill took to the sport as easily as he takes to any game with a stick and a ball. I just stood there covered in Deet to deter bites from mosquitoes carrying dengue fever, and tried to stay in the crease. Final cricket match segued into a Halloween party.

--Live music and dancing at various venues. There's a steel pan school in St. George's--nice for a limited time but it soon becomes repetitive. One night I hula-hoop/danced with "Hula Mary", my new heroine, and can't wait to order my own hoop which comes apart for easy boat storage. Check out Hula Mary.

--Fresh sushi tuna for less than $2 per pound at the fish market downtown. Breadfruit ice cream. Baked Bakes. Fried Bakes! Never tried the fresh local wild iguana.

--The heavy-duty Sailrite machine paid for itself when I repaired our genoa and mainsail in the marina bar. I also fabricated effective and simple boat sunshade from a roll of "patio shield" material I bought at Walmart a long time ago for about $50. Ben was right to impress upon us the importance of shade capability on a boat.

--A leisurely Sunday afternoon dinghy raft, 14 boats strung together, as we floated across Clarks Court Bay to Roger's Beach Bar BBQ and live music (hot musicians from Switzerland-Pink and Lea Lu!) We swam off our dinghy island and passed appetizers and drinks, including a fine batch of herbal brownies.

We might have already reported this, but we are missing family and friends more than we expected and while this hot season in Grenada has been interesting, we want to spend the summer months in our home waters and visiting our children and grandchildren. Staying in touch with Skype and email is amazing, but it's not the same as being together. We'll chart a course home in May or so, although don't know from where.

Dear Readers: we love and miss you more than you know. And Bill and I still love being together as much as when we started. It's quite remarkable, really, and wonderful!

GMT (Grenada Maybe Time)

2010-08-24T17:19:00.000-04:00

Heidi writes:
We're feeling some guilty that we haven't posted in so long. No excuse, really, except cruising makes you lazy.
We've been in Grenada since the first of July, after swiftly sailing from the British Virgin Islands to St. Martin, St. Barts, Antigua, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, and finally the south coast of Grenada. When Bill was due to travel home to NH for Shellen and Adam's wedding party, we moved Act III into a marina in Clarks Court Bay, where I would have help and company if any harsh weather came through.
The harsh weather came in the form of two family deaths in one day, within an hour of each other, while Bill was still in NH. Heidi's father succumbed to prostate cancer, and Bill's son, Matt, got a sudden infection his body could not resist. I flew home to join the family as we celebrated Matt's life and mourned his death. Matt chose a time to die when his family was already gathered, so we were able to support each other.
We intend to stay in the Grenada vicinity (below 12 degrees latitude) through hurricane season...until October or early November. We have plenty of boat work while we're stationary: varnishing, canvas and sail repair especially. I'm excited to have a new Sailrite heavy duty sewing machine.
Some highlights of the recent months:
We awoke at 3 am. to leave St. Barts for Antigua. I got up early to make coffee, and stumbled into our cabin to wake Bill. His first words: Do you smell fish? Well, I replied, we're on the ocean and surrounded by fish. Bill said that didn't make sense. I allowed that it smelled a little fishy, but not in the cockpit. Bill crawled out of our bed and my headlamp spotted something long and white on the sheet. A squid had leaped high enough to come through the hatch over our head. Bill remembered he felt "rain drops" and automatically closed the hatch in the night, then slept on a warm wet spot. Yuck. At least it didn't ink our sheets.
In St. Martin and Martinique we gorged ourselves on French cheese and pastries. We don't find good bread on most islands. I should bake our own, but the oven heats unevenly and I'm loathe to use so much propane to bake.
We spent several days in a sweet anchorage in Antigua, no other boats and fast, free internet. We deserved a rest after a rough sail from St. Barts, going through several heavy squalls and rough seas. Act III behaved perfectly, but I get seasick when conditions are rough, so I'm not much help to Bill. He is amazing when the going gets tough, scrambling forward to untangle sheets or re-secure an anchor that bounced loose. We diligently wear out lifevests and clip into jackklines at night or when the weather is sketchy.
This marina is friendly and convenient. We have excellent internet connection, making it easy to call on Skype, and I take a shopping bus once a week to the local IGA (with shopper discount cards, even), hardware or marine supply store. Cruisers are social people and there's weekly movie night, dominoes, language lessons, beach bar, burger night, and this week, a Drag Queen contest for the fellas. (shhh: Bill doesn't yet know I'm planning to wrap him in my sarong.) Unfortunately, the biggest celebration on the island, Carnival, took place during the time we were in the states.
Thank you, dear readers, for you patience. It's always great to hear from you, even if it's to scold us. We'll try for more frequent, shorter posts.
Bill writes:
Thank goodness for Heidi's good memory. As I read the above account, I know that it is accurate, but if I had had to remember each passage, it would have been a jumbled tale.
The family deaths were hard, but the feelings of sadness and loss were balanced by amazing warmth and love. Family and friends cried, laughed, hugged, swore, planned, ate, drank, and enjoyed each other and the world. It was especially wonderful to see how our granddaughter Fionna and grandson Lorenzo had matured so beautifully. Fionna just ran her first one-mile race, and finished ahead of many of the adults: not bad for a six-year-old. Lorenzo, two-and-a-half, is about to start pre-school. His mom and dad have been talking about how he seems to be ready for all kinds of "big boy" activities. Lorenzo agreed enthusiastically, announcing that he thinks he is ready to drive. Our newest granddaughter Sare, amazed us all with her sweet, alert personality. Is there anything more comforting than holding a seven-week-old baby? http://picasaweb.google.com/bilral/FamilyAndFriendsTheBest#
Heidi did an amazing job preparing the boat to be unattended: pickled the watermaker, closed all through-hulls, emptied the fridge, cleaned, removed the sunshade, prepared extra lines in case of storm, etc. How did I get such a great woman? Guess I hit the sailors' jackpot. When we returned, ACT III didn't have a hair out of place. Even more impressive, no foul odors. She feels like home.
These past weeks have made us realize how much we miss our family and friends. We're seriously considering sailing back to our home-port next summer before hurricane season. Meanwhile we are happy and healthy. Heidi will have to catch me if she expects to get me wrapped in her sarong. I'm looking forward to the cricket match this Saturday. Last time I was high scorer, ensuring a free beer for me and a victory for our team, "The Rest of the World" against "The Brits". As our son Ben says, "The Brits have been trying that "Brits against the rest of the world" thing for a long time; haven't they learned it doesn't work?" Of course in our cricket game, we used a tennis ball, and the Brits were friendly, funny, helpful coaches to the team they opposed. http://picasaweb.google.com/heidiberger2/GrenadaCricketMatchBritsVsTheRestOfTheWorld#
Fair winds everyone.
http://picasaweb.google.com/heidiberger2

BVIs with Soterion

2010-06-13T18:27:00.005-04:00

Act III will leave the British Virgin Islands tomorrow, Monday, 6/14/10, on an overnight passage to either the French (north) side of St. Martin, or to Saba, a remarkable small island, just the tiptop of a mountain, actually, 24 nm. to the southwest of St. Martin. If we don't need provisions--and I hope to buy fresh foods when we take a taxi to check out at Spanish Town before departure--we'll skip St. Martin so we can spend extra time at Saba. We hate to rush, but we've must get out of the hurricane belt soon. Grenada is our destination for this season, and we console ourselves with the plan to sail back up the chain of eastern Caribbean islands next "winter." We are stragglers this year, with most other cruisers well on their way to New England or the southern Caribbean, but we are rewarded with uncrowded anchorages and off-season prices. Here in the Virgin Islands, we are usually the only private boat, with the waters dominated by thousands of crew-or-bareboat-charter catamarans marching from island to island carrying happy but often clueless vacationing sailors. Ben and Nikki say it's great entertainment to watch these boats ignore nautical marks and try to pick up moorings in unorthodox ways.

Earlier this week Soterion sailed back to Tortola for work, and we sailed from Virgin Gorda to Anegada, an atoll with elevation 30' and surrounded by miles of beach and reef, perfect for clothing-optional swimming and snorkeleing, and colorful beach bars (not C/O, and the cowboy hat fabricated from a cardboard Budweiser case was in poorer taste than nudity, no matter what your opinion.). At Cow Wreck beach you go behind the bar and mix your own drinks or help yourself from the coolers of beer and soda, and keep your tab on a small yellow-lined legal pad. I wonder how well that works after a few hours of pouring your own drinks, or doing shots of absinthe, the drink of choice for Jean Lafitte and Doc Holliday, illegal in the US, which supposedly induces hallucinations. A boozy gang at Cow Wreck was daring each other to go for the hallucinations when we left with our bellies full of spicy conch cerviche. Me, I feel I'm hallucinating every day, as I dive off Act III into warm, crystal-clear water after my morning coffee, although yesterday I scrabbled back up the ladder when I was face-to-face with a smiling barracuda using the boat for shade. I know, I know, they won't bother me, especially since I wear no jewelry, but I just couldn't relax when he kept turning to face me...grinning widely. Bill, however, said "Cool" and jumped in with his very shiny camera to play with Barri.

It's not all fun and games and there's work to be done daily, even though the tropical heat makes us lazy. Power-management is critical to keep our 6 golf cart batteries and one dedicated starter battery full to run our lights, water pump, watermaker, computer, refrigerator/freezer, radio, special-occasional margarita blender, and start the engine. The freezer is finally empty of the meat I stocked in Fort Lauderdale, so that will reduce our power needs. The watermaker sips energy and is a great luxury where hauling water to the boat is labor-intensive and expensive, if available at all. If we're motor-sailing, the engine charges the batteries; when we're at anchor Bill runs a 1,000 watt portable gas generator. This "project" involves keeping gas in our gerry jug, getting the generator from the deck box where it fits neatly, starting it up, plugging in the power adapter cord, then lying in the hammock reading or thinking (or not) for a few hours.

We read a lot, often going through a book a day, which we pick from the eclectic assortment at free book swaps found at every marina or laundry. I just read an unproofed edition of Black Hats, that has Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and Al Capone in a fictional confrontation in NYC. The history of the OK Corral and description of prohibition was interesting, but mostly I enjoyed remembering Val Kilmer as the definitive Doc Holliday ("You're a daisy if you do.") Fortunately, Bill's Kindle allows us to download most anything, and he just finished Obama's Dreams From My Father.

Yesterday we realized we have no idea what's happening in the Gulf of Mexico. Last we heard, oil had been spewing for 50 days and BP was planning yet another dubioius solution. Whatever happened to "If it's too deep to cap, it's too deep to drill in the first place?" We'll check when we take the computer ashore today. Then we'll check the USA/Britain World Cup Soccer score. But only after downloading weather information and looking closely at the National Hurricane Watch site.

[photos]

PS/ Just read the latest on the BP oil spill. Damn!

Virgin Islands

2010-06-04T12:19:00.002-04:00

Four weeks ago we left Luperon, Dominican Republic, sensing that many cruisers had become stuck there. To be sure, it's difficult to make one's way east against the tradewinds on the relatively unwelcoming northern coast of the DR. We sailed at night when the wind and seas calm down, and stayed close to shore to make use of the counteracting cool Katabatic winds that come off the mountains. We stopped and slept during the day, informing the skeptic officials at each anchorage who came out to Act III via local fishing boats to inquire why we were stopping there and not going on to Samana as our despacho indicated, that, "Bientot no es bueno. Vayamos esta noche." (Wind is not good. We go tonight." They were satisfied with the answer; more satisfied with the cold Coca Colas and gifts of small bottles of rum. We arrived and cleared out of Samana, on the NE coast of DR, in a few hours, although that process involved 2 visits to the boat by officials (more cokes and rum), and a trip to town by Bill, where the commandante's office would not give him a copy of paperwork we needed to officially exit. We were a little concerned that we were being held hostage until it became evident that the office simply had no blank paper to make a copy.

We hurried across the Mona Passage between DR and PR within a good weather window, then checked in and stayed a couple of days on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico in Boqueron, a lovely town mostly used for holidays by locals. From there we made easy short hops along the southern coast of, stopping at Salinas and Puerto Patillas before a good weather forecast allowed a longer passage to St. Thomas, USVI. For the first time, Bill was off our projected arrival time by more than an hour: we were 12 hours early! We had expected to motorsail into wind and waves at about 4 kts, but a fortunate wind shift gave us a boost and Bill couldn't keep Act III sailing under 8 kts. He wanted to go slowly so we wouldn't arrive at a foreign port in the dark, but as we continued to make excellent time, we realized we could make it just at sundown, and dropped anchor at St. Thomas with enough ambient light from the busy town and cruise ships of Charlotte Amalie, US Virgin Islands.

We had not been in touch with Ben and Nikki for a couple of weeks, so when we called them that night to report our location, we were thrilled to learn they were merely 5 miles away from us in Christmas Cove, Little St. John. We easily got to Soterion the next morning in time to share hugs and wave goodbye before they left with guests for a week. Bill and I spent that week near Red Hook, St. Thomas, seriously depleting the cruising kitty at Lotus, the local sushi restaurant, riding the $1 Safari bus around the island, and keeping track of the spotted eagle ray that lived in our anchorage. After many months of Bahamian rice and peas (beans), our mouths welcomed the fine food.

When Soterion returned her satisfied guests to St. John the next week (they already booked a repeat trip for next year), Ben and Nikki hosted us in grand style aboard their beautiful yacht and led us around their stomping grounds in the British Virgin Islands: Hawksnest Cay, Maho Bay, Marina Cay, Trellis Bay, until we stopped at Nanny Cay, Tortola, where we currently sit on the hard putting a new propeller on Act III. We took a hotel room for the night, our first time sleeping on land since leaving New Hampshire.

Some random memories of this month:

* Many small pongas fishing off the coasts at night showi no lights, making them dangerous hazards. Bill fortunately caught a glimpse of light and steered away barely in time to avoid hitting one off the north coast of DR.
* Heidi baked quite a nice spice cake in the uneven-heating galley oven for Bill's birthday. Julia and Jurgen from Norway joined us for his birthday dinner and treated Bill to the traditional Norwegian birthday song, which includes a little dance with hops and spins.
* Sounds of the Seacoast, the chorus which Heidi left to go cruising, took first place at the regional competition in April, proving that Heidi was holding them back :)
* Bill got a perfect shave-and-a-haircut, $11, with a straight razor (!) at Puerto Patillas, where we were driven both ways by a generous young man who didn't think these 2 old farts could walk 45 minutes to the town center. We walked to a restaurant later that night and a passing driver hollered from his truck, "SIR! HOW'S THE HAIRCUT? Small town and we stick out like, well, like cruisers.
* Nikki's amazing gourmet dinners and treats aboard Soterion. No wonder guests come back year after year.
* Nikki and Ben took us to most spectacular snorkling at Waterlemon Cay, near Maho Bay, St. John. {Photos} In Trellis Bay, Ben led us on two fabulous scuba dives on healthy live coral reefs.
* We can't believe this is our life. Here we finally wake, drink coffee and fall over the side into clear turquoise water to play with the fish.

Luperon, DR

2010-05-04T15:59:00.002-04:00

We expect to be here in Luperon, Dominican Republic for a few days. We are loving it. Great harbor, wonderful people, good prices. Even if the wind dies down or changes direction, we can't leave NOW! Baseball tomorrow: Dominicans against cruisers. Word is the cruisers have no chance; I'm not surprised, DR is a small country from which the US major leagues recruit numerous stars. However, now the cruisers have a secret weapon: me. Yea, right, that should make a difference. What does make a difference is the rule about who buys the drinks. If the winners buy, the gringos usually win by one run. If the losers buy, the gringos usually lose by about 50 runs.

Jam session Sunday afternoon: someone may even be able to produce a drum kit.

This place has that rare combination: lots of soul, but one still feels safe.

"Big Benjamin" (yes, big, tough looking, gun toting) represents the navy and drug enforcement. After we had completed all of our check in stuff at the local government offices, Big Benjamin sternly accosted me, explaining that we should not have left the boat before the navy inspected us. I pointed out that we flew our "Q" flag and waited to be boarded, but no one showed. Then, at his request, we took Big Benjamin and his young uniformed assistant back to ACTIII aboard OUR dinghy. The "inspection" consisted of sitting in the cockpit, sipping cold drinks, asking if we had firearms aboard, and discussing this and that. BB again mentioned that we should not have gone ashore without being boarded first, but it was "no problemo". Then I got the lecture about how the navy was keeping us safe out there, and all for free. I suspected that he was blowing smoke and angeling for a big tip, so I innocently asked how he could have boarded us if he didn't have a boat. He admitted that was a problem, and, besides, he had heard that we had arrived, but he had fallen asleep when he might have been arranging for a boat, and then it was too late. I gave a VERY small donation to the navy, and I took them back to shore. By then we were best buddies. You have to love a port where everybody, rich or poor has some kind of boat, except the navy.

One can get anything done here with the help of "Handy Andy". He and his partner Papo ( my soul mate, as all old Latins seem to be) delivered high quality diesel to our boat at a reasonable price. Papo arranged for a taxi to take us to Santiago to buy a portable generator to replace the unreliable one that we gave to a very grateful Hatian captain of a homemade sailboat that we saw in Matthew Town. ( Sailing these crude engine-less craft across 90 nautical miles of the Windward Passage, and then docking them in an impossible basin that none of the cruisers dare enter, using nothing but poles for the last few yards, is a feat of seamanship I truly admire. The Captain was a smart, genuine guy. No pretensions and no deference. We liked him immediately. I hope he has that generator purring. ) Anyway, Handy Andy is a former New York male stripper. He proudly carries a picture on his cell phone. If a woman cruiser hires him to clean the bottom of her boat, he changes his clothes in the cockpit. One old broad said she asked Handy to come out to her boat to scrub the bottom, and after he changed, she changed her mind, just so he had to change back out of his speedo. We heard the same story from her and from Andy.

Most of the cruisers we have met here arrived some summer years ago to hole up for hurricane season, and they never left. It is that kind of place.

From Heidi:

Backtracking a bit, we stayed 4 days off Matthew Town, Great Inagua, Bahamas, the southernmost island before one heads southwest to Cuba or southeast to Haiti and Dominican Republic. Matthew Town is a "company" town, with Morton salt evaporating and exporting a million tons of crude salt. We joined another cruising family who arrived aboard their 62' aluminum catamaran, Elcie, for a tour of the salt ponds and Great Inagua National Park, home to the world's largest breeding colony of West Indian flamingos: about 50,000 birds that have made a 40 year journey back from the edge of extinction. They love to dine on the brine shrimp that flourish in the salt ponds.

We neared Luperon DR as dawn broke the second morning after we left Inagua, and we first sighted the mountains of Dominican Republic, far different from the low-lying cays and islands in Bahamas. Next we got an intense aroma of rich soil and vegetation from many miles offshore. The harbor is well-protected and calm, a welcome relief from the several weeks we'd just spent exposed to winds and surge at anchor.

The drive to Santiago was worth the taxi fare, whether we succeeded in finding a generator or not (we did). As we drove up and down hills away from the coast at breakneck speeds, we passed a zillion motorcycles, tractor-trailer trucks, cows, bicycles, goats, and men riding along the road on donkeys while talking on their cell phones. Laundry dried in the sun everywhere, without benefit of clothespins; clothing hung on barbed wire tends to stay put although perhaps harsh on the fabric. In a whirlwind deal at a traffic light in the busy city I bought 6 pinas (pineapple) for $2.75 from a fruit peddler who just started tossing them beside me through the back window; I'm sure I overpaid as he walked away high-fiving his amigos, but that's what gringoes are for.

The ball game? Bill pitched and fielded respectably, and wisely took himself out of the game after a few innings. The mid-day sun and heat were brutal and there were plenty of williing substitutes--the Dominicans love to play and are happy on either team.

Big Benjamin came aboard today for our check out "inspection". Once again we drank cold sodas in the cockpit while he filled out the paper work, and once again he didn't need to go below to complete his inspection for weapons and drugs. He allowed that the idea that we might be smuggling drugs was pretty funny. "At your age? In this nice boat from NH, USA..ha ha ha." Of course he is right, but should we be insulted that we fit his stereotype so closely?

Departing for our next anchorage along the DR north coast this evening. Then another day or two or three or... depending on weather to our final DR port, Samana. We'll wait there for a weather window to go through the Mona Passage between the DR and Puerto Rico so we can have an easy trip on the south (Caribbean) side of PR. It could be a couple of weeks before we have internet again. Until then, smooth sailing, literally and figuratively, friends. And don't forget, we love it when you post comments on our blog.

[PHOTOS]

George Town Exumas & Paula

2010-04-18T19:56:00.002-04:00

We've been busy for the past 6 weeks with wonderful guests and spotty internet connections, so haven't posted. The priorities when we DO have an internet connection are to first download weather info, then research whatever we need to repair or replace aboard; there's always something.

Bill wrote about Paul and Mary Beth's visit, where we cruised the Exuma Cays, Bahamas, from north to south, looking for bonefish, and exploring the exceptional beaches we find every mile. On the last day of their visit, coming into George Town, the supposedly-repaired-in-Fort Lauderdale roller-furler for our genoa jib fell apart. This large sail provides the main power to move the boat and is a beast to manipulate even in calm conditions, so the roller-furler is a huge safety feature, not just a nice gadget. The good news is Hood agreed to replace the furler at no cost, and we happily emailed the address of the George Town Exuma Market to the Hood guy in Tampa Florida. Locals said four business days from Miami for FedEx packages to arrive. Since my great friend Paula Hudson traveled two days from Montana to spend two weeks with us, we didn't want to delay her cruise, so we headed north from George Town with the genny lashed down on deck, and the staysail rigged. With occasional assist from the engine, we made good time on all our sails.

We first visited Little Famer's Cay, a quiet cay with 55 residents and few services, and were pleased to hear the All-age school fair, listed in our cruising guide as the next-to-last Saturday in March, was delayed a week, so we happily dinghied ashore to find the school, which currently has 10 boys enrolled. (Photos) Paula spent about $10 at the hoop toss trying to win some shampoo, and I became the Woman's Musical Chair Champ We were hot and dusty when we returned aboard, so rewarded ourselves with fancy strawberry margaritas, made in the blender Paula carried with her across the country.. (You may recall my dismay at a previous school fair where I did NOT win a blender.) The drinks were complete with little umbrellas that Paul and Mary Beth had brought on their visit. (Here I'll say "thanks" again to our guests for bringing us the supplies and parts we requested. We know it's tough enough to pack for a cruise without having to find space for an outboard propeller or airport-security-no-no spear tips.)

There were maybe 10 boats in the Farmer's Cay harbor, including the nice family we had met earlier on Sea Fever, their home-built 32' yawl, with 11" draft. Garth and Lilly, with daughters Rose and Isabelle led us on a hike to an underground cave with a salt-water pool, where we swam before picnicking on a nearby beach, (photos) then they then joined us that evening for my birthday party dinner with specially-made carrot cake that Paula and Bill arranged for us at the "Yacht Club". The girls made me a beautiful card and read me a lovely poem about friendship, and they gifted me a wonderful book of short stories about small boats. I'll always rememer that fine celebration.

We moved on to Staniel Cay expecting to amaze Paula with the wild swimming pig experience. You recall the pigs made me squeal and leap away (to the middle of the dinghy) when they aggressively tried to climb into our dinghy, while snorting and showing their long canine teeth. This time many cruisers in dinghies were dumping food on the beach for the pigs, and the pigs could barely walk, let alone swim out to get our lousy lettuce. Staniel Cay is one of the more developed areas, and we whined about the extra noise and bustle. It takes very little time to get spoiled by peace and quiet.

We sailed back south to Black Point Settlement, Exuma's second largest community, for what we heard through the cruising grapevine would be a big Easter celebration. Ever'ting's relative, but it was a busy day in town for sure. Paula and I offered to lend a hand on Saturday, and were assigned the task of tearing the raffle tickets out of their books of 20, and putting them in the Wash-Wizz (hand laundry bucket that spun with a handle) for the drawing later that night. Small town, small festival, so we figured we'd kill a half-hour on the job and meet some locals. Three hours later, we were still folding tickets into small packets (don't know why, they just insisted the tickets had to be folded small.) Turns out they'd sold nearly 4,000 tickets, not the couple of hundred that made us pity the small festival, and feel certain we'd win the roaster oven. Jeesh.

When the sun went down, and the basketball game between Black Point and Nassau finished (the first to reach 21 points wins the half. If they had a clock, the game would be timed. Black Point lost.) the Junkanoo began, led by The Valley Boys from Nassau. Bill, Paula and I boogied down the street with a spirited mix of locals and cruisers, with Bill playing our dinghy whistle along with the band. Paula and I were hugely impressed with the local girls' high fashion and colorful, elaborate hairstyles. We can't figure where they're getting the clothes...there are no shops in sight. The guy with the sound system picked up and left for no clear reason sometime after the basketball game, so the raffle drawing was postponed until the next day, we think. Paula arranged if we won anything it would go to Tiny, our co-folder from Black Point, who would love the roaster oven.

We had a rip-roaring sail back to George Town on Easter Day, then said farewell to Paula on Monday. leaving her somewhat soggy at the dock since the wind had picked up to nearly 20 kts, and hasn't abated until yesterday.

That's the outline of major events, but the best parts are really the smaller adventures: walking deserted roads to find the local dumps, where we can leave our trash for free, instead of paying $5 per bag at the marinas or casually shampooing your hair in the ladies room of the bar to conserve our onboard water. (We have the luxury of a watermaker, but that takes energy, which we'd rather use to make ice for the blender drinks) At Black Point Paula and I visited the "famous" Garden of Eden driftwood scupture garden, lovingly built over many years by Mr. Rolle, whose wife and daugters were happy to chat with us when we self-consciously began roaming in their yard to admire the plants and scuptures. We offered a small donation, and then received a handful of home-grown peppers and tomatoes, so then we returned later to gift some Scrubbies that Paula had made (she left with 15 or so...sailing is made for crocheting. Remember Mary Beth and I crocheted string tote bags with the 6 brand new balls of twine we found in a vacated, decaying drug-runner's home on Norman's Cay.) I'll never forget Paula trying to give me a much-needed haircut in the George Town basketball park, only to march me across the street to Hot Steps salon, with the towel still around my shoulders when she determined I had too much hair. Another great moment was spying a whole basil plant floating on our way into the George Town dinghy dock, rescuing it with a fresh water rinse and having a local fella in the liquor store offer to find us some dirt. Honest, only dirt.

Now remember the roller-furler was supposed to be waiting for us at the supermarket when we returned to George Town but, alas, it had only been shipped the day before, not 2 weeks before, and should arrive in 4 days (Friday.). Our major entertainment over the next week--better than TV--was watching the Fed-Ex tracking page come up on the computer each day showing our package traveling from Tampa to Miami to Memphis to Delaware (huh? for 3 days!) to Memphis to Miami to Nassau, then receiving a post that it was waiting for us to pick it up at the counter in Nassau. Adding to the suspense, midway through the adventure, the address listed on the tracking page changed to Georgetown, Kentucky. The story has a happy ending as a local man named Latroy retrieved it in Nassau, got it to the market, and the jenny is smartly furled as we speak.

Our guests have been terrific about learning to sail, as well as putting up with the somewhat fussy habits we have aboard a sailboat: put your toilet paper in a can; no daily showers, and then you might shower on deck; wash dishes with salt water (with fresh water rinse...don't worry); keep your dork light handy, especially for reading in bed, save your paper towels if they're pretty clean (paper products are expensive and sometimes hard to find); try to sleep through the various clinks and clanks through the night, hoist and launch the dinghy at every anchorage; shoe-etiquette (wear on deck to avoid toe-stubs and remove below to limit dirt and sand); wet dinghy rides; brush your hair on deck (you have NO idea how much hair and skin accumulates inside a boat); and I'm sure many more that we don't think about any more. I trust the reward of powder-sugar beaches with warm, crystal clear turquoise water, gentle rocking to sleep, no bugs (!), and remarkably friendly Bahamians makes up for the hardships.

Tomorrrow, 4/19/2010, we head east from George Town, bound for the British Virgin Islands to visit Ben and Nikki. We'll stop in Puerto Rico, but not tarry, as we must be ready to leave the hurricane belt by the beginning of June.

Highbourne Cay to Staniel Cay: March 07 through March 10, 2010

2010-03-11T22:35:00.003-05:00

Today: March 10, 2010: Staniel Cay Yacht Club, Staniel Cay, Exhumas, Bahamas: N 24 deg, 10.345' W 076 deg, 26.750'

This log covers March 04 - March 10, 2010 (Nothing particularly interesting happened on March 5 or 6, we were just hanging out waiting for the bad weather to pass.)

Fionna, we know you are following our blog, so this one is especially for you.

If you read our last blog, you know that getting out of our slip on Highbornd Cay was tricky. Your Uncle Matt was betting that there would be at least one minor disaster before we managed to pick up our friends Paul and Mary-Beth who were arriving at Island World Adventures on Saddle Cay from Nassau by speedboat after taking a big plane from NH to Fort Lauderdale Florida, and then a small plane from Fort Lauderdale to Nassau. There were plenty of opportunities for things to go wrong, so Matt thought he had a pretty sure bet. Here's how it all went.

First, leaving the slip on Friday, March 5:

Since we were in the biggest boat in our group of slips, and we were in the tightest spot, and we were the first to leave on Friday morning, the other skippers helped with lines and stood by to learn from our mistakes. We were extra careful, controlling our bow with a warp led around a piling and back to our port bow cleat, tended by Nana; and controlling our stern by a line around another piling and back to our port sheet winch, tended by me. Nana says the anchor just kissed the starboard outer piling. No harm at all.

A few miles later we were safely anchored off Long Cay, where Nana and I launched the dinghy and I motored the mile to Island World Adventures on Saddle Cay, met Paul and Mary-Beth who had arrived on a speed boat from Nassau exactly on schedule. I thought about my bet with Matt when I limited myself to one 151-proof rum punch before we motored the dinghy back to ACT III. With Mary-Beth, Paul, their gear, and the dinghy motor safely aboard, I announced that Matt had officially lost his bet. Just to be sure, we sailed to Norman's Cay, anchored, snorkeled, beachcombed, and found some very interesting critters, including an octopus in a hole in 6 inches of low tide water who seemed to be intent on attacking Paul. Back on ACT III, we grilled steaks and watched the sun set. Another perfect day in paradise.

The next day, Saturday, we sailed to Warderick Wells Cay, Exhumas Land and Sea Park. You can check our previous blog about this wonderful place. Since we were members, we got a choice mooring. Saturday night is the weekly cruisers party so we swapped food, drinks, and tales with fellow cruisers, many of whom we had met on other cays. There were a few children there, Fionna, just a little older than you, cruising with their families. One family had sailed from Holland three years ago and are just now getting ready to end their adventure. When you are a little older we want you to join us for a few weeks, or maybe a whole summer. I'm pretty sure you will love it. We gave Paul and Mary-Beth the use of the dinghy for all of Sunday, and they had a great time snorkling our favorite spots and hiking the trails.

The next day, Monday, we sailed twenty miles or so to Compass Cay and anchored in a beautiful lagoon protected from the weather. Paul wanted to fish for bonefish, and this looked like just the right spot: shallow Mangrove swamps with lots of rays and Nurse sharks around. No luck catching bonefish, but we discovered that the near by marina (we went there by dinghy) had a resident population of lazy, friendly Nurse sharks and about 100 of the biggest bonefish Paul had ever seen. Alas, fishing was not allowed, so all Paul could do was look and wish. Looking from the dock into the twenty feet of crystal clear water was like looking into a giant aquarium. Back aboard ACT III we grilled burgers and spent the night. We spent all of Tuesday exploring beautiful Compass Cay. It is privately owned and maintained by a local Bahamian who inherited it from his parents. He is doing a wonderful job of preserving it and protecting the wildlife. We gladly paid the eight dollar fee for the privilege of landing our dinghy and exploring the island. Paul tried his luck at bonefishing again (no luck) while Heidi, Mary Beth and I hiked the island, seeing lots of birds, lizards, and endless beautiful beaches and ocean. Paul picked us up with the dinghy and we rode back to the main dock seeing lots of big sting rays in about four feet of water. The Nurse sharks at the dock are so friendly and lazy that people can swim with them and feed them hot dogs. Just don't put your finger right in front of their mouths!

On Wednesday we decided to sail the Exhuma Sound to Staniel Cay. We were the only boat out because we had twenty knots of wind on the nose and 5 to 6 foot seas. It was fun to see the depth suddenly drop from 90 feet to over 3000 feet. We had a rip roaring close hauled sail: just the way you like it, Fionna. I remember how you went up on the bow with your Mom and Adam and sat in a bean bag chair yelling "woopee!" every time a cold wave came aboard and hit you in the face. None of our crew were that brave, even though the water was warm: they all stayed comfortably in the cockpit. Paul and Mary-Beth treated us to a delicious dinner at the Yacht Club reataurant and we all went to bed happy.

Today started out cloudy, but we took the dinghy to the famous Grotto for some snorkeling anyway. This is the cave where the underwater scene in the James Bond movie "Thunderball" was filmed. The sun came out just as we entered the water, and the cave, which very easy to enter, had a spectacular variety of fish. We had brought along a bag of peas because we had heard that the fish liked them. Did they ever! When we opened the bag under water, dozens of fish swarmed around us, bumping into us and each other in their eagerness to get to the peas. One fish accidentally nipped Mary-Beth's finger, but it didn't really hurt. It was the first time she had ever been snorkeling with lots of fish, and she was very excited.

On the way back from exploring the area by dinghy, we found the famous giant swimming pigs on Big Majors Spot Cay. There were some other dinghies there and the pigs swam out to greet all of us. The biggest one got kind of mad at Nana because we didn't have any food for him, and he tried to climb into the dingy right into Nana's lap! As you know, Nana doesn't scare easily, but that pig made her scream and jump out of the way. It was pretty funny.

Towards evening we took the dinghy around the corner to admire a very well thought out home-built boat named "Sea Fever". Garth, Lilly, Isabelle, and Rose are a wonderful family on an amazing adventure.

Be sure to click on the links to the photo albums because Mary-Beth is a good photographer, and she took some great pictures.

We love you and we miss you lots. Your mom tells us about how you love skiing and that your philosophy of life is to do everything and really live. We are very, very proud of you.

Lots of Love and big hugs,

Papa

Highbourne Cay: March 1 - March 4, 2010

2010-03-04T17:35:00.008-05:00

March 4, 2010

Highbourne Cay, Exhumas, Bahamas: N 24 deg, 42.6' W 076 deg, 49.3'

Knowing it was going to blow hard from the W and NW Tuesday March 1 through Thurs. March 4, we left the Land and Sea park on Monday. We had an easy sail through the sound north to Highbourne. Although we had made reservations several days in advance, we got the last available slip: the smallest and most difficult to get in and out of. Wind and tidal current were gentle when we arrived, so docking was easy. Matt, I know you are betting that we won't manage to pick up our guests at Saddle Cay tomorrow without incident, so you'll want to check the photo of our tight spot on the dock on our web album.

We've had a great time with our friends Norman and Barbara aboard Blown Away. We first met them in Bimini. They have explored both the civilized and remote areas of the Bahamas many times before so they have a wealth of information, and they are good company.

Highborne is a private island, but they welcome a small number of cruisers. The fees are a little steep, but the slips are well protected, the staff is great, and the bathrooms are clean. Water is scarce so showers are four dollars for four minutes. Thank goodness for our watermaker.

The best parts of Highborne are the beaches and the ocean. Stromatolites are the oldest fossil remains yet discovered, 3.5 Billion years old, and Highborne has them. There is a large population of resident sharks (I think they are Nurse sharks) near the fish-cleaning station. We counted thirteen. Most of them have names and are tagged. We were assured they don't care about swimmers, so we had a nice swim at the beach about 100 yards from the sharks' hang-out.

Highborne was once, like Norman's Cay, a haven for drug lords. When they were eventually killed with help from US troops, somebody started a plantation for growing Aloe plants. The plants thrived, but the growers neglected to check on the cost of shipping to Miami, so the business went under after the first harvest. Heidi scored a survivor, and now has a plant aboard to take care of. Does she really need one more project? Maybe yes, when we eventually run out of her eight cubic feet or so of nylon net for scrubbies; which, by the way, are rapidly becoming world-famous among cruisers. Heidi sends "thanks" to Polly for supplying her with turquoise net so she can make Bahamian flag colored Scrubbies.

Check our web album for a photo account of our quest for the famous Highborne Spring, and a picture of the Highborne Bus Stop.

We have a good internet connection here, although it isn't free, of course. It was great to be able to have Skype conversations with friends, and especially great to see Matt and Josh and Jim on a video call. Thanks for getting the camera and making that happen, guys. Matt, you look great.

We had an informal skippers' meeting on the dock today trying to figure out how to get out of here tomorrow without having the wind blow us crashing into other boats. All skippers agreed on one thing: ACT III is in the toughest spot. We'll have lots of other cruisers helping with line-handling, so I don't expect any real difficulty, in spite of Matt's dire predictions.

Well, time for a beer and a look around. We may not have another internet connection for a week or so; we'll update you then, friends. (You'll have to wait until then, Matt, to find out who won your wager.)

Happy sailing everyone.

Bill

Paradise: aka Warderick Wells

2010-02-28T20:14:00.000-05:00

02/28/2010
Warderick Wells Exhuma Cays Land and Sea Park: N 24 deg, 23.622' ; W 076 deg, 38.100'

176 square miles, no houses or resorts, only the park headquarters. No fuel, fresh water or bathrooms. Just unspoiled nature, well-kept but unobtrusive trails, a few bouys to secure dinghies while snorkleling in the crystal clear water, and excellent, well-protected moorings. Everyone respects the rule: Take only photographs, leave only footprints. We have been here a week. Every time we think about leaving, another front comes through, it blows 35 kts and we say, "Maybe tomorrow." Ben, this is one of those times that we are greatful for our watermaker. Our fast dinghy (motor finally humming like a sewing machine and pushing us along at 20 kts --not bad for 9.8 hp--) is perfect for exploring all the little cays and beaches. Heidi and I have of course discovered a beach just big enough for a picnic for two naked people. (Don't worry friends and family, no pictures.)

Many of our old friends who left Miami a week after we did because they were waiting for calm conditions to cross the stream have caught up with us here. Since we will be going north again to pick up Paul and Mary Beth on Friday, March 5, we expect we'll meet a whole new batch of south-bound cruisers. It seems that many people are content to just cruise the Exhumas and then go back to Florida, and why not, the Exhumas are paradise. I think we'll have to follow the rule that our friend Dirk who single-handed from Germany (See Heidi's previous posts) adopted: anchor off, dinghy ashore; if you see a footprint, leave. Even with that rule, we are going to have to impose some limits on ourselves. Fortunately we have to meet Paula in Georgetown March 23. Eighty nautical miles in three weeks: we should be able to pick up our pace enough for that!

Tomorrow we really will shove off for Highborn Cay, 25 NM north so we can prepare to meet Paul and Mary Beth.

We miss you all.

Bill

Click here for more pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/heidiberger2/WarderickWells#

Norman's Cay

2010-02-22T13:11:00.002-05:00

This post begins at Norman’s Cay, Exumas, Bahamas (25 deg. 35.40' N; 076 deg. 48.08’ W)and continues to Warderick Wells, Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, (24 deg.23.06’ N; 076 deg. 38.01’ W )

I am thriving in the cruising lifestyle. My body aches are minimum and my clothing feels looser although I eat all the chocolate I can find. A cruiser in Bimini recently told Bill, "You can tell this suits Heidi...see the look on her face."

A few things I didn't plan on:

1. Sweeping my entire floor by hand with a dustpan and broom on a regular basis because the 1-gallon shop-vac hogs battery power, so is saved for...

2. "StoreBags,” that you suck the air out with aforementioned vacuum, are excellent for saving space and keeping linens and (only recently necessary) unneeded winter clothing dry, and are greatly amusing to use. Downside is they turn a soft bundle into a hard packet, making it more difficult to stuff into a locker. ZipLoc vacuum bags are also good for an evening’s entertainment.

3. Our freezer, never used before this journey, can chill to minus 20 degrees! If we had a blender, we could make fancy blended drinks with umbrellas (if we had umbrellas). I tried to win a blender at the school fair (see last post from Bimini) but, alas.

4. I’m learning to barber and Bill looks remarkably respectable when we go to customs. I’ve only cut my bangs when they interfere with spotting markers on the water, so I’m getting pretty shaggy, and one of these days must work up the nerve to self-style or find a groomer in an anchorage or town.

5. We have a baby monitor aboard. This is not sweet surprise news to our families that we’re “expecting”, but Bill’s clever solution to hear the high-pitched anchor alarm from the cockpit while he sleeps. I hear it just fine without amplification, but the monitor is extra precaution.

6. I am terrifically busy and waaay behind on making Scrubbies. Today was typical: Wake early enough at Norman's Cay to hear Chris Parker's SSB weather report at 0630 hrs., keep VHF radio on to hear mooring ball assignments for Exuma Park at 0900 hrs, so we know if we'll be moving today (yes, we will.). Stow our snorkling equipment and other items which leak out of lockers and bins at each stop, lift the dinghy engine back aboard to the stern (don't tell anyone, but Bill towed engineless dinghy 20 miles today in light winds instead of deflating and lashing back on deck). Leave the anchorage slowly, sitting on deck watching water carefully for shallow coral heads. Once in deep water, I had time to get naked for the first time this year, mend a couple of things, sew ties on hand towels for the galley and take in the waistline of some pants...again...before I had to get un-naked and go back on deck to watch for shallows as we enter Warderick Wells Harbor. As we approached the cay, we saw the most amazing line of deep blue turning to turquoise where the water depth went from 900’.to 30’ in less than 5 seconds. On the way to our mooring we got a dinner invitation from a boat we knew previously, then when we dinghied ashore to check in and hike about 30 minutes to the top of Boo Boo Hill to see the panorama of cays, we met some folksaboard Tamure (they did a four year circumnavigation in the 80's with their two children) who invited us to drinks before dinner, and who already knew we were having dinner with Sparrow. (Note: we’ve lived in Newmarket over 12 years and haven’t been into a neighbor’s house yet.) So after “showering” I made some salad and put together a bag of ginger beers and rum for Dark & Stormy drinks. Then we fell into bed at 2100 hrs. after delightful times aboard both vessels.

Life is sweet and I love you all!

Heidi

Bimini Valentine

2010-02-13T16:47:00.002-05:00

We were among the lucky people who stayed in Miami for free over SuperBowl weekend, as we happily anchored in Biscayne Bay. We left Fort Lauderdale last Saturday, alongside Felix the Cat. Bill and Chris (11) sailed aboard Act III, while Heidi crewed for Lorie on Felix. Lorie's husband, John, was in Boston on business and we wanted to move the boats to Miami to position ourselves better for crossing to the Bahamas.

The speedy sail down from Fort Lauderdale was most excellent in west winds to 20 kts.and without serious incident (Lorie learned Felix was more maneuverable leaving a slip with both keel boards down). We spent almost as much time seeking a mooring or anchorage (or even marina) in Miami as we did on the passage. Bill poked into the popular Miami anchorage of No Name Harbor at the southern tip of Key Biscayne, and came out reporting it looked like a WalMart parking lot the day after Thanksgiving, with lots of bad seamanship. Both boats finally anchored west of Virginia Key near the Causeway bridge in a fairly stiff wind that bounced Felix quite a bit. Heidi slept aboard Felix that night in case any problems occurred, but we had an uneventful sleep.

On Sunday Felix moved to nearby Crandon Park Marina, with Bill coaching Lorie from the dinghy. Lorie made 2 excellent landings at the marina, at the fuel dock and into a slip. Chris also had "driving" lessons from Bill, on both Act III and Felix, and he's a natural at the helm.

Monday Act III moved to No Name Harbor, for easier access to our route across the Gulf Stream. For the first time, we awoke early enough to listen to weather on our SSB radio (0630 hrs!), and discovered that Chris Parker is indeed a Bahama weather god. We later signed up to be a "sponsoring" vessel, which means we can call in to ask questions about weather in our specific location. It's a bit like sponsoring public radio: he provides an excellent service to cruisers who can listen in anytime. The wind had no north in it--critical for crossing the north-running Gulf Stream--and was predicted to be under 25 kts, so we left at 0800. We motor-sailed southeast for a few hours to compensate for being carried north when we hit the stream, then had a very fast sail into Bimini Harbor. The ride was a little bumpy, but nothing we haven't seen before, and Act III showed off her ability to crush through chop and waves while sailing close-hauled.

Bimini waters are clear and insanely turquoise blue. We cleared customs and immigration neatly, receiving an 8-month stay, which can be extended if necessary, and a fishing license, all for $300 cash. We unlocked our cell phones and bought a Bahama SIM card, got our Skype program active again, and can easily contact all you friends and family as long as we have internet access.

We're charmed by Bimini. Blue Water Marina is across the street from where Hemingway hung out at the Compleat Angler Hotel which, sadly, burned down in January 2006. The local museum is mostly pictures of Hemingway with his friends and family catching big fish. Last night we went to a local church school fundraiser supper and ate our fill of delicious conch fritters and lobster tail. I was disappointed and Bill was thrilled that I didn't win a large (gaudy) clock or a blender (hey, margaritas!) by picking the right numbered slip of paper from a heart-shaped board. Bill also failed to win his gal a prize at hoop throw, but I strongly suspect he wasn't really trying.

The local shop windows are full of random items, including a 2002 Bimini calendar and children's games and toys from the 1950's, alongside new cell phones. I'm still thinking about picking up some Valentine lingerie from the shop pictured above.

Bill's plumbing the watermaker to our second water tank and I'm prepping something to take to a marina BBQ tonight, where a delightful group is waiting for the current front to pass and wind return to manageable. We're planning to leave late tomorrow afternoon (2-14-2010) and sail through the night to Frazers Hog Cay. (Do you know the difference between an island and a cay?) We'll move on to Nassau the next day, where we'll meet several of the boats we left behind in Miami.

Miami-Bound 2/6/10

2010-02-06T06:42:00.000-05:00

We leave Fort Lauderdale in an hour after a 2-week stay, the longest stop so far. But we got much accomplished:

9.8 Outboard motor fixed after 4 trips to the shop. This is the first time Bill has ever had anyone else work on a motor...or anything else for that matter...but the carburetor needed proper cleaning with a compressor, one of the few tools we did not have aboard. The initial problem with the carburetor came from ethanol in the gasoline, and we now understand more about "phase separation" in gas than anyone should have to know.

Rollerfurler bearing fixed after 1.5 weeks and 5 trips to the rigger. A comedy of errors where the little balls that had leaked out of the furler—we’d been finding them on deck for weeks—were not delivered as promised 2 times, then the balls we got were the wrong size, so our attempt to repair the furler was thwarted. Finally the rigger reassembled it and, again, Bill fretted over someone else doing the work.

Our new wifi antenna/booster leaked and burned out in the torrential rain we had the other day. This is the only unit to fail in that way, and is now repaired after only one visit from the installer/seller/manufacturer/inventer, Al Francone.

We bought a new dingy light at West Marine (aka Worst Marine or Wasteful Marine) after being cautioned by the Marine police that we need red/green navigation lights on our dinghy. NO ONE runs a dinghy with those nav lights, but we're legal now, after only one trip back to WM after the light clamp broke the second time we attached it to the transom.

After much calculation and testing of our batteries, Bill remembered they were at least 5 years old and were due for replacement. Fortunately, the internet source for best battery prices is right here in Fort Lauderdale, so swapping them out was an easy matter.

Boatcards, mosquito net, small compressor, new credit card that Bank of America insists on replacing,

New SCUBA tanks are neatly lashed to the new boards installed on deck and our equipment has been inspected and repaired.

Social bonuses include several visits with Bill's sister Edie and Frank, who even dared a dinghy ride and big ladder climb to the famous sailor's hangout Southport Raw Bar. My Aunt Jacqui and Uncle Bill live around the corner from our marina, and they invited us for lovely dinners, where we got to meet my handsome young first-cousin-once-removed, Tristan. Dave and Bicki from Nellie D, who we passed many moons ago, caught up with us here and we enjoyed another fine dinner at the Raw Bar. The fish feeding frenzy at the 15^th Street Fisheries, where a beefy jack fish bit Chris on the finger, was anther high point.

Today’s destination is an anchorage in Miami, where we’ll wait for favorable weather to cross the Gulf Stream to Gun Cay or Nassau. We’ll travel with Felix and Tamrick. John from Felix had to go home for work for a few days, so Lorie and Heidi will sail Felix to Miami, while Chris (11) will crew for Bill aboard Act III. You know we’ll be racing!

Fort Lauderdale

2010-01-21T22:08:00.005-05:00

We’re at a mooring 2 blocks from Fort Lauderdale Beach and the swimming is fabulous. It was well worth suffering all those cold days to get here.

We’ll wait here for the rest of this week until our friends John, Lorie and their son, Christopher from catamaran “Felix” arrive, then we’ll move to No Name Harbor in Key Biscayne, Miami, before “buddy-boating” with them across to the Bahamas.

Act III and Felix had been crossing paths down the ICW until we met again in Cocoa, FL last week. Since we’re both crossing for the first time, we’ll watch out for each other as we cross the Gulf Stream. I hope it’s more of a psychological crossing than a physical adventure; we’ll make sure to have a good weather window before departing.

While in Cocoa, Christopher climbed our 62.5’ mast, wearing a harness and supported by 2 halyards. He can be our mast boy any day: you’ll see in the video how easy it is!

Dophins became frequent and bold over the past week of cruising down the Intracoastal; they love to play in the bow wake as we motor. We stopped in North Palm Beach for our first visit with Bill’s sister Edie, and her husband Frank, then had a glorious sail outside, from Port of Palm Beach into Port Everglade, the entrance to Fort Lauderdale. It was a warm, sunny day, the wind started at 5-10 kts, then increased to 15 kts, and we flew down the coast at 7.5 kts. along the beautiful Florida beaches.

Here in Fort Lauderdale we visited Heidi’s aunt Jacqui and her husband Bill, and some cruising friends of theirs, and they’ve all traveled to the Bahamas many times. I’m advised to provision heavily here as it’s expensive to get staples in the Islands, so we’ll fire up the freezer and lay in a good stock of meats. We used the freezer to store gallons of drinking water, but now the water-maker makes that unnecessary. And the wind generator will help keep the freezer running. Life is good.

We’re learning more than I even knew possible about gasoline “phase separation” which has clogged our outboard motor. The carburetor is currently being sonic cleaned and the motor will soon be purring. We also discovered that the little steel balls we were finding on deck were coming out of the jib roller-furler, but fortunately Fort Lauderdale has a rigger shop that can help (and every other imaginable boat service.) Bill is eager for his new balls to arrive tomorrow (heehee) so he can repair our old but trusty Hood Pro-Furl 5 system. The last(?) big project is to get a booster that will amplify wi-fi signals so we can better keep in touch.

In between, we’re swimming in the warm ocean and loving life. Dear friends: it’s time to start packing your bathing suits to come visit in de Islands!

Palm Coast

2010-01-10T17:22:00.003-05:00

St. Augustine deserved a longer stay, but we're eager to move to warmth so we moved on this morning, just 25 miles south to Palm Coast FL, where tonight's forecast is still for low 20's. You'd better stock up on citrus juice before the prices skyrocket.

We'll try local Southern restaurant Barbara Jeans tonight for crab cakes and she-crab soup, but it will be tough to beat last night's Cuban food with live Cuban jazz. Have we mentioned that we hope to visit that island before it becomes overrun with cruisers?

Dave from Nellie D took this nice photo of us in Fernandina Beach. Someday when we're sweltering around the equator, we'll look at this fondly and remind ourselves we once needed so many clothes.

Sunshine State?

2010-01-09T15:49:00.001-05:00

St. Augustine, FL still has no warmth. It’s not heartening that NPR reports the world has never had this experience of frigid weather everywhere in the world: North America, Europe, Asia are all freezing.

I woke pre-dawn at Golden Isles Marina in St. Simons, packed my bag to go up to shower, and poked my head out the hatch in the dark. You can imagine my heart-pounding start when I met a man in a ski mask stepping on Act III and reaching into the cockpit. “Uh…good morning,” I stuttered. “Good morning,” he replied, calmly, “I’m just going to leave this here,” and he started to put a plain bag down on the cockpit cushion. “What is it?” I worried. “Muffins.” Who would expect?

We met Dave and Bicki from Nellie D again in Fernandina Beach. We sailed outside from St. Simons to Fernandina, while they came down the ICW, and we arrived at the same place within an hour or so of each other. We enjoyed a fine meal out at The Crab Trap, and wondered over “Trailer Park Treasures” across the street. Bill and I enjoyed a little jazz saxaphone at Smithwick’s, a classy all white (the decor, that is) after-dinner bar, with some fine wine tasting to boot.

The cold weather and long passages are keeping us on the ICW. We stopped overnight at Jacksonville Beach, where we admired someone's winter boat building project (see photo), then here to St. Augustine, a great funky town with lots of live music. We love the Sailor’s Exchange and kept our purchases reasonable, and Bill scored a great new toy at the local music pawn shop: a laptop snare drum. He had stowed sticks and brushes, so now we can join any jam.

We’ll likely stay an extra day here before heading toward Daytona Beach, as it’s extremely pleasant and expected to warm up day after tomorrow.

Georgia Sounds

2010-01-06T06:58:00.003-05:00

Tuesday, January 05, 2010: ACT III, Golden Isles Marina, 31 10 N 081 24.5 W (St Simon’s Sound, GA)

If all goes well, this will be our last stop before Florida. Since Hilton Head, we have awoken to temperatures in the lower twenties. Afternoons have felt almost balmy when they sometimes reach the lower forties. However, we know not to expect any sympathy from our friends in the north.

When we hoisted the mains’l in Hilton Head on Sunday morning, chunks of ice fell to the deck. After a fast sail down the coast, Sunday afternoon found us in a beautiful anchorage in Ossabaw Sound, GA. Dolphins accompanied us down the coast and in the sound. Heidi found this unmarked and unmentioned anchorage on the chart. Our only company was a shrimp boat that appeared to have gone aground on an uncharted bar that almost caught us, and a very bold pelican. Heidi was startled when she looked up in our cabin and saw a large oval shape on our hatch. She knew she had stowed the fenders, so it was a mystery until we noticed the webbed feet and butt crack.
The pelican must have been enjoying the warm hatch on her feet and butt because she didn’t even fly when Heidi went on deck to take her picture. The crabber stayed anchored for the night and left by sunrise. We followed about 0800.

After reluctantly leaving our cozy cabin Monday morning--we start the engine early for heat--we set sail for Sapelo Sound. It was very satisfying to sail along the beautiful GA coast, listening to the waves, an occasional blow from a playful dolphin, and the hum of our water maker filling our port tank with delicious pure water (Salinity<300ppm). It was another easy downwind sail, and we entered the sound about 1330. Having gained confidence in our ability to select deserted anchorages not mentioned in the cruising guides, we picked a perfect one with protection from the NW. With warm sun and frolicking dolphins everywhere, we completed a couple of easy projects. I admit we felt rather superior to the sailboats we saw chugging along the ICW: offshore is so much nicer.

Damn it was cold this morning! To add to the chill we had steady 20 to 25 kt NW winds instead of the predicted 15 to 20. We had no trouble averaging over 7 kts. Sitting in the lee of our dodger, we kept a sharp eye out for right whales, which had been reported in the area. No luck, just lots of white caps and a couple of dolphins. It was a long slug up the ship channel against 25 kts of apparent wind and an opposing current of well over 2 kts. Nevertheless, we arrived at the dock by our projected ETA of 1600. The route in here is a little tricky, and we passed a sailboat hard aground the wrong side of a can. We couldn’t see any way to offer assistance, but we hope that if the towboat we saw going to help her is not able to free her she is shallow draft so she won’t heel too much at low tide. Tonight we’ll treat ourselves to hot showers, clean laundry, and our electric cabin heater.

Happy sailing, literally and metaphorically, friends.

Bill and Heidi aboard ACT III

New Year 2010

2010-01-01T20:01:00.003-05:00

Have been frustrated with iffy wireless connections, and I’m tired of lurking outside marina offices in the cold and dark, so haven’t posted lately. After Murrell’s Inlet, we anchored in beautiful Price Creek, right off the Intracoastal and figured we’d be alone there until Nellie D. came in right behind us. They launched their dinghy and Bill, Bicki and Dave took a 1.5 mile jaunt down the creek to the ocean. We then went aboard Nellie D for cocktails, supper and great conversation.

Next day we tied up at the Megadock of the Charleston City Marina. Yeah, we could have anchored and saved a few bucks, but we had several free marina nights due to the holiday, we needed provisions (free shuttle to Harris Teeter) and we appreciated electricity to run the heater at night. Act III was at the end of the 1,000’ floating concrete dock and it took 7 minutes to walk to the restrooms. Planning ahead was necessary. Bicki and Dave anchored out on Nellie D, but brought their dinghy over to our spot and we spent more quality time together.

We were all set to leave on Tuesday morning, excited to finally go outside the Intracoastal, when Bill discovered the problem with the generator was not simply a faulty wire connection. Fortunately Carolina Auto Electric shop was a short taxi ride away; they did a fast, high-quality rebuild for a fair price while Bill waited, so we were back in business by Tuesday evening, with the generator working better than ever.

We left Charleston at 0430 hrs, in order to arrive at Hilton Head in daylight. 20-25 kt wind from the NE at our back, we averaged close to 8 kts over 6-8’ seas. (A far cry from the predicted 10-15 kt, 2-3’ seas they continued to predict while we were sailing.) Act III loved stretching her canvas and rolled with the water beautifully. We came in Port Royal Sound, hooked up with the Intracoastal again and stopped at Skull Creek Marina, the first we came to. It was getting dark and our planned destination of Harbour Town Marina was still 9 miles away.

Thursday morning we motored the short hop to Harbour Town, a cutesy tourist destination, but the main attraction was visiting Heidi’s long-time family friend, Elizabeth Lewis. Elizabeth took us to lunch at Yummy Chinese buffet (yes, it was!), and gave us a short tour of this famous island. It is indeed gorgeous here.

New Year’s Day, Elizabeth arranged for Bill to play tennis with her neighbor Glenn. As she pulled into the driveway to drop Bill off, she casually mentioned that Glenn’s son was here on Hilton Head to attend the Van der Meer Tennis Academy. The 13-year-old son is one of the top 20 players in the country of his age group. Needless to say, Bill was whupped (6-1, 6-1, 6-1), although most of the games went to deuce. Glenn is also active military and has daily physical paces he must go through to stay fit. While Bill played, Elizabeth ferried me to some shopping for a whistling tea-kettle so I won’t put water on the stove and forget about it, wasting propane (just thinking ahead, of course. I would NEVER actually do that.)

We just returned from a divine dinner with Elizabeth and will hop into bed to be ready to leave early tomorrow for another outside run, planning to anchor in Bradley River, at Ossabaw Sound, about a 50-mile day. Weather is still unseasonably cool, but the wind should be in our favor (we'll give NOAA another chance to get it right.)

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T09:38:00.002-05:00

Murrell’s Inlet, SC at Wacca Wache Marina.

We loved this stretch of the Intracoastal on the Waccamaw River through the National Wildlife Refuge, with Cyprus trees coming straight out of the water. Lots of beautiful anchorages, but we decide on the Wacca Wache marina, where we tie up and enjoy an early Christmas Eve supper at Hannah Bananas, here on the dock.

Our heads are turned by Nellie D, a 37’ Lord Nelson Victory Tug (see photo) , a splendid trawler we could live with if we weren’t hardcore sailors. We enjoyed spending time aboard Act III with her owners, Dave and Bicki Howell, who shared their vast and varied cruising adventures with us. It was a most pleasant way to spend a holiday eve.

Today it’s raining and blowing, but temperatures are mild, so we’ll continue 20 miles to Georgetown. After this weather front passes, we’ll decide if we'll go outside to Charleston, or continuing down the Intracoastal.

I’ll copy Nellie D’s good example and include a lat/long with our blogposts.

33 33.75N, 079 05.19W

Happy & Merry

2009-12-23T16:26:00.003-05:00

Happy and Merry from Act III in Southport NC, at the Cape Fear River. Movie buffs who recall Robert DeNiro in that film will understand why I kept looking under the keel.

It’s not quite swimsuit weather as we travel south relatively late in the season. (Note that our compass cover serves dual purpose as a yarmulke…I’m all set for the holidays!) We often wake to frost on the decks, but nothing like the northeast this week…sorry friends.

Our current plan is to stay in the Intracoastal until Georgetown, then go outside for some short runs down the coast when weather allows. We expect to stop in Hilton Head SC to visit a family friend; then will continue outside the Georgia coast.

While in Morehead City the other day, we passed up a visit to this restaurant listed in Skipper Bob’s guide:

“Tie up overnight at the Sanitary Restaurant for $10. No electric. Restaurant has reddish roof and is located on land on north bank where chart says “Submerged Pile.” Bill says he just wants a napkin from this place.

The Tiki Bar? Your guess is as good as ours.

Happy holidays to all you great friends and loving family. We’re incredibly lucky to have you all in our lives.

Doin' The Fan(belt)dango

2009-12-18T08:30:00.002-05:00

I have a little time while waiting for the auto parts store in nearby Morehead City to call back telling me they're ready to deliver a couple of belts we need. We left Oriental yesterday morning and were cruising along nicely about 30 miles into our projected 50 mile day, when the alternator belt snapped. No problem because we threw out the anchor in the river, put out a "securitee" call on the radio for passing boats to know we were temporarily disabled, and reached for the pile of 10 belts we have stowed under our berth. Wouldn't you know NONE of them were the right size...Bill reasonably assumed that the previous owner's stash would be the correct belts, but NO.

After a bit, a passing sailboat offered one they had aboard and we did a neat passing of a belt using boat hooks...looked like a jousting contest, but that belt wasn't right either (nor was it a good time to take a perfect photo). Bill finally installed a belt that was a little too big but allowed us to at least make a little headway as long as we didn't accelerate at all...the current and wind were also favorable. We only had to go 8 miles to a marina, which we made easily before dark. Then a quest for a car and a store. A local shopgirl offered Bill her car, which he filled with gas and took to Morehead city to get a selection of sizes. Today we know the right sizes and I refused to leave until we at least had one spare of each belt we need (2).

Oh yeah, we eventually realized we had one correct belt all along...it just seemed too small until Bill moved some screw or such. Ahhhh, cruising life. We'll make a relatively short run to Swansboro today, then wait out the predicted snow/rain storm. We clearly left a little late in the season, but all is good and we have plenty of warm clothes and heater.

When we get to warmer climes, we'll have a yard (deck) sale featuring fuses, belts and bulbs. Probably will pay for our season.

Frost on the Pumkin AND Act III

2009-12-17T08:20:00.003-05:00

We've been at Sailcraft Marine for 10 days, but there is frost on the decks this morning and it’s clearly time to head further south. We leave for Beaufort or Morehead City in an hour or so.

Bill was brilliant this week and (among other things) installed a new (Spectra) watermaker, an Air-X wind generator, and thru-bolted down the deck boxes he built at home. I waxed and caulked and stood by as first assistant. Act III is really ready for cruising now. We feel god-like after making our own water last night for the first time, and a blind taste test showed we preferred it over our bottled water.

We plan to continue down the Intra-coastal for awhile, unless we’re forced outside to avoid shoal water. Florida is looking better every day I put on my long-johns.

No pictures from here…we put in long 10-12 hour work-days and fell into bed at night. No time for frivolity :)

Frost on the Pumkin ABND

2009-12-17T08:20:00.000-05:00

We’ve been at Sailcraft Marine for 10 days, but there is frost on the decks this morning and it’s time to head further south, for sure! We leave for Beaufort or Morehead City in an hour or so.

Bill was brilliant this week and (among other things) installed a new (Spectra) watermaker, an Air-X wind generator, and bolted down the deck boxes he built at home. I waxed and caulked and stood by as first assistant. Act III is really ready for cruising now. We feel god-like after making our own water last night for the first time.

We plan to continue down the Intra-coastal for awhile, unless we’re forced outside to avoid shoal water. Florida is looking better every day I put my long-johns on.

No pictures from here…we put in long 10-12 hour work-days and fell into bed at night.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-04T18:44:00.004-05:00

I made slip reservations for Hampton Public Pier about 3 weeks before I left to meet Bill because I didn’t want to take any chances that we’d not have a place to meet Polly & Miles, Miles’ parents, Tammy Hitchcock and Robin Dreyer, and Miles’ grandmother, Donna Jean Dreyer. Then I called the day before our reservation date to say we’d be coming in early, was that OK. “Let me check,” said the girl who answered for the Public Pier. Yes, it was OK. So I felt a little silly when we pulled into the harbor to find we were the only vessel at the pier.

We can’t gush enough over how wonderful the holiday was with our 5 guests aboard. They were funny, competent, daring, interested and interesting, and instinctively knew how to manage the small quarters we shared.

Thanksgiving Day was predicted to be the mildest and warmest of our days together so we went out in the morning for about 5 hours of light winds and sunshine. Then had a Thanksgiving Dinner (buffet) that couldn’t be beat at the Crowne Plaza Hotel next door to the marina.

Friday morning weather report was for SW 35-40 kt winds, with gusts to 45. Bill described what we could expect if we went out and the team quickly voted “nay.” Later, though, the forecast was downgraded to 25-35 kt, winds, gusting 40, and the unanimous decision was to go for the adventure. Bill promised the seas wouldn’t be too bad; we’d be in the lee of land.

The forecast was accurate and we had a thrilling time going across from Hampton to Norfolk to view the navy vessels. Act III roared along under full genoa, then reefed jenny, at 8 to 9.5 kts. Through the rain squall with hail we sailed under deeply reefed jenny alone, and by this time we were a well-oiled performance team and daringly rescued a brightly colored beach ball floating all alone in the choppy sea.

Donna Jean particularly loved the fast ride and being heeled over 20 degrees, but nothing interrupted her teatime. (See photo.).

We were sad to say good-bye, but expect to see everyone in warmer climates before too long. Act III departed Hampton on Sunday, 11/29/09, and made a short day on the water, tying up at Great Bridge for the night. Next day we went on to Coinjock, where we met Captain Peter MacIntosh, who has been sailing virtually non-stop since he was 11 years old, and his crew Frieda. They are bound for Beaufort, NC, close to Oriental, where we’ll stop for a final haul before taking off for Southern waters.

Tangier Island

2009-12-04T18:43:00.000-05:00

Milton Parks has been landing and launching boats from his marina on Tangier Island for 60 years; he tells you frequently, so you’d best listen to his instructions.

When we call ahead to inquire about space at Tangier, Milton thinks aloud about the large boats he already has tied up, then says come on in, he’ll find us a spot. He’s seems barely equipped to handle the 60’ length he lists for the cruising guide, but he’s game to try, and he’s fit us in both times, however messy the process.

This time, like last summer when we visited with Susan & Russell, Milton has 2 men who happen to be around on hand to take our lines. “Bring the bow in here,” he hollers over the wind as we approach. “No! I said HERE,” he says with gestures which are just as unclear. Bill brings Act III in as he sees fit and I toss a spring line, suggesting that Milton take a turn around a piling, but he seems to prefer muscling the boats into place.

So, with some adventure but no real problems, we tie up, hug Milton, greet our neighbors and the million cats hanging around. One sailing neighbor was towed in the previous night after losing halyard and engine; the other is on a big trawler, and his wife doesn’t like wind or waves, so they can’t go to the Bahamas. We change out of full foul weather gear and prepare to go out to eat. Milton wants to drive (golf cart) us the ¼ mile to Lorraine’s restaurant, after questioning why a nice lady like me is out on a raw, drizzly day like this, why I’m not home knitting and having babies, but we decline the kind offer and enjoy stretching our legs.

The next morning we’re up early to start a rather long day to Hampton VA, and Milton is already on the dock. He insists we cannot leave today. He gestures to the distance and says the island is completely fogged in, and the wind and tidal currents will keep us on the dock. We note at least ¼ mile visibility and Bill is confident he can move out safely, so despite his disagreement, Milton begins to take lines from our starboard side docking and plan our getaway. Naturally, Capt. Bill and Milton have different ideas about the best way to get off the dock. Milton: “I’ve been docking and undocking boats for some 40 years, so…”

Bill: “Have you ever sailed a long skinny sailboat?”

Well, no, Milton reluctantly allows he has not, so we agree that we’ll try Bill’s plan first, then Milton’s if it doesn’t work. Captain Rescued-man stands by with intense interest…he’s heard the whole morning debate and doesn’t have enough experience yet to know which man is right. Besides, he’s depending on Milton for his own rescue from Tangier.

As we done many a time, Bill springs off a fender positioned at the starboard bow, with me tending the line. On his word, I haul my line aboard, and Bill slides away neatly in reverse, clearing the trawler’s bow and lining Act III up nicely in the channel.

“He DID it,” squealed Capt. Rescued-Man, as I coiled my line.

“Of course he did,” I answered.

Now Milton could have gone either way, but I was pleased to hear him marvel, “He’s GOOOOD!”

And on we went to Hampton VA, to meet the family for the holiday.

Heidi is aboard!

2009-11-24T19:34:00.000-05:00

Boat projects and oyster shooters kept me occupied until Heidi arrive on Thursday, 11/19, about 2 PM. Thanks, Susan, for delivering my Babe. Friday was a beautiful day; we slept in, stowed gear, got fuel and water, did laundry, ate at McCormick and Schmidt’s for $18, including two shooters for me.

Saturday we hauled the dinghy and fitted the bag that Heidi made for it. Perfect fit; way to go Heidi! Got under way about 1000; motored to Annapolis; on a mooring by 1430. No one appeared to collect mooring fee. We love these off season freebees.

Sunday was an easy down wind sail to the Solomons. Not our favorite port, but it is in the right place, and, once again, no charge for the mooring.

Monday, 11/21: Fast sail to Tangier Island. 15 to 20 kts with higher gusts gave us 0ver 8 kts on a broad to beam reach. Milton Parks, dock master, once again had a tight berth available for us. Local dinner and nice people.

Paul, Mary Beth, the Worm Famer, Oyster shooters

2009-11-24T17:56:00.004-05:00

Paul and Mary Beth earned their stripes. As soon as we rounded Sandy Hook on Sat, 11/07, we started pounding into wind and seas right on the nose: NW 10 to 15 kts. Seas were only three feet or so, but steep and with a short period, so the ride was a little bumpy as we took long tacks during the day, bound for Sandy Hook on Sunday during the day. By sunset the wind was still on the nose at 15-20 kts, gusts over 25 kts, but the forecast predicted lower winds after midnight. In order to make for a more gentle ride and somewhat shorter trip, I elected to motor sail through the night under reefed main alone, taking the wind about 30 degrees apparent. The 10 PM forecast said no decrease in wind until sometime Sunday during the day. By the wee hours of Sunday, seas were making the ride pretty uncomfortable, so we put into Atlantic City a little before dawn. Atlantic City Harbor aids to navigation must have been planned by the folks who designed Vegas and its aids to navigation: toy buoys that are not lighted. The harbor is easy if you plan to sail under the 50 foot bridge to anchor: not an option for ACT III and her 62.5 foot mast. The channel to the marina has no lighted buoys, and runs close to jetties that have no lights. Lots of traffic lights and hotels on shore make it hard to see anything. Fortunately I had been there once before and had some memory of the situation. Another very experienced skipper who also came in before dawn asked the Coast Guard for an escort, and they gave him one. It is a disgraceful situation for a major harbor, and now that Paul S. has broken the bank, Atlantic City will never be able to improve its aids to navigation. (See Paul's comment to previous blog.)

After a day and a night of recuperation, we had a nice sail to Cape May, NJ. Stayed overnight and had an easy motor to Delaware City (around the cape because we are too tall for the short cut). Unfortunately Crabby Dick’s was closed on Tuesday so we couldn’t have crab balls with seaman sauce. I made reservations for four at Delaware City’s second best restaurant. It turned out to be a takeout pizza joint with three booths.

On Wed. Nov 11, we decided to go through the C and D Canal, into the Chesapeake, and to a very well protected anchorage in the Sassafras River. We didn’t feel the 35 kt overnight winds.

Thursday we decided to try the run down the bay to and maybe to cross to the Patapsco River and Baltimore even though the winds were predicted to 30 to 35 kts or more. We found three harbors along the route that we could duck into if the going got too rough. The NE breeze gave us a rip roaring run under jenny alone, averaging 8 to 9 kts over the ground. Paul steered most of the way; he did an excellent job. Since everyone was having fun and ACT III was very happy, we decided to commit to the hard turn to starboard in order to cross the bay to the Patapsco River. This put the seas and frequent gusts over 40 kts right on the beam, so we motor sailed under shortened jenny. By now Paul and Mary Beth were old hands, so they enjoyed the rockin and rollin. ACT III, of course, was a perfect lady.

We anchored in the lee of the World Center and the amazing Baltimore Aquarium where the top of our mast felt 5 kts of breeze.

Baltimore is a gas. The aquarium has to be one of the best; the anchorage and rest rooms are free. Paul introduced me to Oyster Shooters and my infamous worm famer alter ego appeared, possibly because of the ribbing capn Bill took about the reservation in Delaware City. If I ever feel left out because I was never in a 12 step program, Oyster Shooters could be my route to alcoholism. Thanks Lazette and the staff at McCormick and Schmidt. Paul’s lovely daughter, Lindsey joined us for Saturday night. Somehow the worm famer managed to stay up past his usual 8 PM curfew. Sunday morning was sad; everyone left.

Capn Bill

Let The Games Begin

2009-11-19T05:22:00.002-05:00

I'm outta here! My friend, and former quartet lead, and deck babe extraordinaire, is driving me to Baltimore today, where Bill is happily anchored in the Inner Harbor.

There was never a question, but I'm ecstatic that I stayed for my chorus and quartet International (Canada) competition. Sounds of the Seacoast took 3rd place medals, and is officially among the "big girls" in Harmony, Inc. All thanks to "BOL".

It seems unreal to be leaving, but there's frost on the ground and I'm looking forward to sunshine.

Come visit soon! I'm already lonely for my girlfriends...

Heidi

Atlantic City and Chesapeake

2009-11-10T22:47:00.005-05:00

Bill, Mary Beth Lambert and Paul Shumway, who Bill knows from tennis, ducked into Atlantic City after a long, cold night sailing into near gale winds. They stayed fairly cozy with the detachable cockpit sides installed, but it was an uncomfortable night. Several other sailboats also came into port that night because of the weather, and some were damaged. Act III didn't blink a spreader...it was the crew who wimped out. (I'm not there, so I can throw down the challenges.)

After a day's rest and just a little gambling for Paul--I heard he was only down $2.50--they had a nice sail to Cape May for a night, then onto Delaware City. Paul slowed the ride up Delaware Bay by catching a couple of nice bluefish, which he filleted live and grilled on the barbie when they got to port. The crew found the bottle of Meyers rum and the bottle of wine I had secreted aboard, and had a fine meal in mild-ish weather.

The plan is to leave Delaware City tomorrow (Weds. 11/11) and anchor in the Sassafras River near the top of Chesapeake Bay. Then an easy sail puts them in Baltimore the next day, where Paul and Mary Beth will head back to their car in NYC, and Bill will wait for me to arrive next week. (11/19). I'm grateful for my friend Susan (also the fabulous lead in our quartet, Sound Investment) whose sister lives in the Baltimore area, as she'll drive me there and visit her sib. It takes pressure off me to meet a plane deadline, and I can haul even more stuff aboard, like the nifty patchwork dinghy bag I'm making to protect the inflatable from UV.

After I hop aboard, we'll hustle to Hampton VA (across from Norfolk) where we'll meet Polly, Miles, Miles' parents Tammy and Robin, and his grandmother Donna Jean for Thanksgiving and a little cruising. No, I'm not going to do a turkey in the galley stove.

Long Island Sound

2009-11-01T18:25:00.003-05:00

Bill and Act III are cozily anchored by Little Calf Island in Long Island Sound. Bill calculates the tides and daylight will be right for transiting the East River on Tuesday, so we hope the weather stays nice.

Ira Colby left Act III last Monday and made his way home by bus from New Bedford, leaving Bill to happily single-hand to Mystic CT, where he picked up a mooring and Russell Prescott on Thursday 10/29. They ate at the famous Mystic Pizza, visited Mystic Seaport, and on Friday they had a somewhat choppy sail to Bradford and Westbrook CT. Russell departed on Saturday afternoon, taking Amtrak back to his truck in Mystic.

Since I'm not aboard, I can't relate adventures of Act III. Bill is terrifically excited about the boat and pleased with his ability to handle her alone. I'm not surprised, but it's a big confidence boost to actually do it. He's had small issues...maybe the engine's running a little hot and the autopilot fuse blew one day, but he hove to and managed to fix it and make a snack. He'll delve into the engine tomorrow while he waits to do the East River. I recall from our cruise north last summer that Little Calf Island is a lovely spot off Greenwich CT, where Bill and Cousin Jim played on the water and invented the famous "off the roof" ball game.

She's Outta Here!

2009-10-25T14:07:00.003-04:00

Bill and Ira left Friday afternoon, 10/23/09, and made it to Gloucester before deciding to wait out the frigid rain and gale winds. Today, Sunday (25) they are merrily flying along at 7.5 kts. to Provincetown, and they'll make the Cape Cod Canal transit tomorrow. Ira will de-board from New Bedford and bus home; Bill can continue through Long Island Sound with day hops (at least that's the current plan.) Bill promised me to not do any overnight passages alone. He's fully capable, but I can't afford the nail-biting with chorus and quartet contests coming up...I have to have long nails to paint brightly for the stage in 3 weeks.

So far the water pump pressure sensor has failed.

Back at the ranch, I'm organizing and finishing the leftover errands like banking and cell phone plans. It's still hard to imagine leaving. Scary and exciting!

Weather Delay

2009-10-16T12:31:00.003-04:00

Act III was due to head south on 10/17, with Captain Bill and Crew-extraordinare Ira Colby, but a nasty Nor'easter with snow and gale winds keeps her at the mooring in Little Harbor for now. New date is likely next Thursday, 10/22, and the route is through the Cape Cod Canal into Long Island Sound, where Ira will step off and Chief Engineer Russell Prescott will come on to enjoy the trip toward NYC. After that...? I'll meet the boat and Captain in Oriental, NC on November 18, in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with Polly and Miles, and Miles' parents and grandmother, Tammy, Robin and Donna Jean coming aboard. It'll be grand!

Bill's nearly finished making deck boxes, there's plenty of food, tools and nylon net for scrubbies aboard, all the canvas is new or repaired and we're itchin' to leave. Keep your fingers crossed for some Indian summer weather to follow this weather front. (is it PC to say "Indian" summer? What does that mean, anyway?)

So, while you're waiting for news, feed the fish on the right!

Gloucester with Dane & Co.

2009-10-16T11:26:00.008-04:00

Brother Dan and his mates, Steve and Rick, visited from California just after Labor Day and we enjoyed a picture-perfect sail to Gloucester on Tuesday. No sooner had we left Little Harbor than the USCG stopped us for a "courtesy inspection", which we learned we could not refuse. ("No thanks," tried our Captain) The good part was...well just look at how cute he was! Act III passed with flying colors, for those of you who worry about those sorts of things.

In sunshine and light breeze we made the sail around Cape Ann into Gloucester Harbor in a little over 5 hours. We picked up a public mooring for $25, launched (dinghy) Intermission, and roamed Main Street before an exquisite meal at Passports Restaurant. We tucked into our berths and slept soundly until the wind woke us in the morning. After a fine feast at Zeke's fisherman's breakfast place, we returned home through the Annisquam River for a change of scenery, where the houseboats made us smile. Bill slickly slipped us through the narrow RR bridge that didn't open 90 degrees, requiring us to stay close to the starboard side, then make a sharp left turn to stay in the shallow channel.

It had been blowing 25 kts out the the Northeast for 12 hours, creating 5-10' chop. Exiting the river with opposing tidal current and wind was a thrill. We crested one wave, then slammed the bottom just at the mouth of the river, but sturdy Act III is showed no sign of interior shifts upon later inspection. With a reef in the main, we made 7-7 1/2 kts. on a close reach home. The biggest surprise was even Bill got seasick, for the first time in 50 years. Steve was hit hardest, even wearing a scopolomine patch, but he reports that he'd do the trip again in a heartbeat, because the ride was such a thrill. Rick and Dane were only slightly uncomfortable, but the experience prompted Dane to kindly supply us with more potent seasickness meds for our boat medical kit.

After a day of recovery, the team enjoyed a lobsters, steamers and shrimp at Chauncey Creek. We took a little tour of Portsmouth, including the commercial fishing pier, where we learned not even the fishermen had gone out on the day we sailed home. Our crew deserves medals!

Unlabor Day (Title courtesy of Leif)

2009-09-13T20:12:00.003-04:00

Sunday afternoon was sunny and breezy. We thought about sailing to Gloucester, MA; but, feeling lazy, the crew voted to overnight at Gosport Harbor (Isles of Shoals) instead. It was a good decision because we were able to enjoy a beautiful sunset and moonrise while eating Heidi's excellent pasta dinner, enjoying the wine that Leif and Brandy brought, and laughng a lot.

Labor Day morning was beautiful and warm. Leif and brandy took the dinghy to Star Island for some exploration and couple time, while Heidi, Bayley and I stayed aboard. Although Bayley is only eleven, she is excellent company and a great crewmember. She asks what she can do to help, and she is rapidly becoming an accomplished helmsperson.

When Leif and Brandy returned, we sailed around a little looking for whales, but no success; then we broad reached back to Little Harbor.

These excellent photos are courtesy of Leif. He prints and sells photos as well.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=leifperc&target=ALBUM&id=5379603726643659873&authkey=Gv1sRgCMLIsL3vwoPerAE&invite=CO3H3OwL&feat=email>

Leif, Paul and Mary Beth

2009-09-04T18:53:00.006-04:00

A beautiful day, a great crew, and lots of laughs. Paul is one of my favorite tennis partners and Mary Beth is his S.O.
We purchased our previous boat, Dragonfly, from Leif. They all love sailing. Mary Beth and Paul may have some free time, so look for them in future posts as we cruise south.

How did we not get pictues of Mary Beth and Heidi, our hot deck babes? I guess it is because Mary Beth took the pictures.l

The Winning Bid

2009-08-26T18:23:00.006-04:00

When we donated a day sail and lunch aboard ACT III to the "Breast Cancer Stories" silent auction, we had no idea who might win. Lucky for us it was Audrey and family. We could tell from her emails that they were a cool group, so we changed our maximum number of guests from four to seven. Audry, her partner, her parents (visiting from Isreal), and her three kids (high school to college age) were great shipmates.

Sunday, August 16 was a beautiful day: very hot ashore, but perfect on the water. The group agreed that anchoring in Gossport harbor and taking the fast dinhghy to Appledore Island for some hiking and swimming would make for a nice afternoon. After a gourmet Kosher lunch courtesy of amazing Heidi, that's what we did.

Maybe people who bid on sailboat rides at fund raisers are all fun people, or maybe we just got lucky. It was a great day.

Family and Friends (and Pirates)

2009-08-26T17:29:00.002-04:00

We had a great time on August 20 with family and friends. Our daughter Shellen and Granddaughter Fionna are experienced hands, and they were a big help. Fionna not only demonstrated safe use of the companionway ladders, but she pitched in and helped Heidi and me get ACT III ready, and cleaned up at the end of the day. As you can see, Shellen was confident enough with Fionna at the helm to enjoy a brew.

Shellen's old friend Michan and her wonderful family joined us. Race and his dad, Alan, kept a sharp lookout for pirates and treasure. They took their hand at the helm too. Maz was assistant pirate and Mommy Cuddler.

We all had a ball.

Jill, Damian, and Theo at the Challenger's Cup

2009-07-06T19:04:00.001-04:00

18th annual Challenger's Cup Regatta

2009-06-29T15:36:00.001-04:00

We had been unwinding at home for a week when I discovered that the 18th Annual Challenger's Cup Regatta, hosted by the Portsmouth Yacht Club and organized by "One Sky Community Services, Inc." was going to be held on Saturday June 27, instead of the traditional September date.

We had been disappointed last year when the regatta was rained out and we couldn't show off ACT III. Previous years, we had participated in our Columbia 22, "Dragonfly", almost always the smallest boat in the fleet. We were looking forward to taking out more sailors with disabilities, and their helpers in our much bigger boat. Unfortunately, I had removed the raw water pump from ACT III's engine for replacement. After calling the pump supplier on the west coast and requesting rush delivery, I knew it would be close. But UPS kept their promised delivery date of Fri., June 26. I met the truck en route to take delivery in the early afternoon instead of evening so I had time to install the pump. After discovering and correcting a mounting plate reversal that must have occurred at the pump factory, she was good to go.

With my friend Leif Guerjoy and his daughter, Bailey Irish as able crew, we motored over to the Portsmouth Yacht Club in a dense fog early on Saturday morning. Thank goodness for chart plotter and radar! By the time we enjoyed coffee, doughnuts, introductions, and the Skippers Meeting, the fog had cleared and a perfect sailing breeze had sprung up. Besides Leif and Bailey, our crew were Theo, Jill, and Damien. They had great questions, big smiles, and a cooperative attitude: we all had a ball. After the sail, there was an excellent BBQ for everyone at the PYC. As always, Jesse Gage and his staff and volunteers made the 18th Annual Challenger's Cup Regatta a smashing success.

Mate Heidi had chorus rehearsal all day so could not join the regatta. She was proud to find that Act III had won a number of regatta prizes and she quickly filled the new sailfislh cookie jar, donated by West Marine.

2009-06-23T18:46:00.000-04:00

Wyatt and Bill at Birdland circa 1962

Home

2009-06-19T19:59:00.000-04:00

We set sail from P Town at sunset on Wednesday evening in a 5 to 8 kt. westerly breeze. It was a beautiful starry moonless night with the dramatically lit PTown monument behind us. Our speed was a leisurely four to four and a half knots; we were in no hurry. Around midnight Heidi was dozing on the starboard cockpit seat and I was steering and enjoying the always satisfying soft gurgling sound that ACT III makes as she glides gracefully through small seas when my 50 bpm resting heart rate suddenly doubled. I had heard what sounded like a large gas explosion behind us. I turned around expecting to see a huge propane carrier in flames. Then there was a smaller "explosion" a few yards off our port side. Then more, some very loud, some fairly loud, all of them louder than any Humpback we had ever heard (and we have been practically on top of Humpbacks when they spouted). By now Heidi was wide awake and sitting at attention on the port seat. We looked at each other and whispered, "Whales, and REALLY big ones!" In the dim light we could see spouts and brief glimpses of backs, but that was all. The explosive spouts were close by our port side and coming at an an avarage frequency of one every two seconds or so. Heidi suggested maybe we should get the spotlight. I whispered that I thought it would be disrespectful, but really I was mainly afraid we might piss them off: by now I was sure our visitors were Northen Right whales, which can reach ninety feet in length, and they sounded bigger than locomotives. After ten minutes or so, we could only hear an occasionl "explosion" way astern of us. I marked the spot on the chart plotter and saw that it was right under the "W" in "Right Whale Protected Habitat". The night returned to normal, but we will never be the same.

Josh kindly met us at Pepperrell Cove on Thursday morning with the truck so we could unload gear and take our going ashore dinghy in tow. Then Josh Nute met us with the truck at Wich Creek by our home mooring field in Little Harbor. We arrived home in early afternoon to a very well cared for house, again thanks to our good friend Josh.

We are eager to set sail on extended adventures in the Fall; the cruising life seems so natural. But first we'll enjoy a summer filled with family, friends, singing, tennis, Polly's wedding, and endless preparations, nautical and land based, for extended cruising.

Johnny Greshner Orchestra--50 years later.

2009-06-17T12:35:00.000-04:00

Here's the drummer (Berkeley) and bassist (Julliard) from the one-time hottest band in Greenwich CT: The Johnny Greshner Orchestra. Imagine them in their matching plaid tuxes driving to gigs in Bill's 1948 Buick Super Convertible, with Bill carrying his waiver of curfew for young men being out after midnight, and his $12 share of the band's earning.

(Wyatt Bennett and Bill Raley)

Home Waters

2009-06-17T11:56:00.000-04:00

We're happily sipping cappuchinos at our favorite caffeine dealer's outdoor patio, hooked up to wifi, in one of our favorite ports: Provincetown. Came in yesterday afternoon from Padanaram MA (where's that?), through the Cape Cod Canal. The weather's been a bit gray and wet the past week, but today is sunny and warm. We're well fed, as usual...al fresco dining at The Patio on Main Street is still the best for eats and sights.

After transiting the East River on a gray, wet day (UN Building and Rikers Island), we first anchored off Great Calf Island, then had friends of the Wittys offer us a guest mooring at the hoity, toity Riverside Yacht Club. We had a delightful dinner with Lynn, Sean, Jacob, Luke and Ethan Henry, then came back aboard for a short harbor cruise before sundown.

Next morning Wyatt Bennett took the RYC launch out to Act III to reminisce with Bill about their high school days. We were 3 hours late for our intended departure time, but the chat (and the amazing warm handmade doughnuts Wyatt brought) was well worth the delay.

We left in the rain and cold, and were delighted to anchor protected among the Thimble Islands, off Guilford CT at sundown. We stayed there an extra day to avoid a foggy slog onward, and it was wonderful to relax among this little bit of paradise, which reminded us of the Maine coast.

Next we anchored outside Fishers Island harbor, off Mystic, CT for a quick sleep, then moved on to famous Block Island for an evening on a mooring. Took the launch ashore, ate, and ate up the funky ambiance at the Mahogany Shoals Bar.

We moved on to Padanaram MA (near New Bedford) the next day, took a mooring among the beautiful classic Conchordia wooden yawls that were once built there.

And now here we are, soaking up the love in P-town. Feeling like we're home. We're dragging our feet a bit, not eager to end this cruise. We learned how easily we fall into the cruising lifestyle. There are many exciting things to do before we take off again for any length of time--Sounds of the Seacoast annual show, Heidi's trip to Ireland next month, Polly and Miles' wedding on July 25, a visit from Bill's sister Edie and Frank in August--but we are excited about next fall/winter/spring aboard Act III.

We welcome your phone calls, comments and messages. It's great to be untethered to land knowing so many people we love are around.

Heidi, Bill and Act III

Lorenzo, Mando & Act III

2009-06-09T15:08:00.000-04:00

Where's Waldo?

2009-06-09T14:50:00.000-04:00

heehee

Bright Lights, Big City

2009-06-09T14:28:00.001-04:00

We felt like Scuffy the Tugboat, coming into New York Harbor at daybreak on Snday morning, after sailing and motorsailing 24 hours from Cape May, under a beautiful full moon. It was especially sweet after we'd spent 2 days holed up in Cape May, waiting out heavy wind and rain.

Act III is merrily riding on a mooring in the Hudson River at the W. 79th Street Boat Basin, directly across the river from Wendra, Armando & Lorenzo's apartment in NJ., and only 2 blocks from Broadway. $30 a night gets us the mooring, protected dinghy dock, showers and free laundry.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was closed on Monday, so I tried Bloomingdales for a mother-of-the-bride dress. I found only one interesting enough to think about trying on, until I noted the price of $1600 marked down to only $1200!

We spent Sunday afternoon with Lorenzo (and parents), enjoying a gorgeous sunny time at the playground by the boat in Riverside Park, with wading stream for us all to cool our feet in. We ended the day with a cruise up the Hudson to Yonkers (where Bill lived until 3rd grade). Fantastic.

We'll leave NYC tomorrow (Weds. 6/9), bound for Greenwich CT. We're eager to sail the East River past the U.N. (if Homeland Security permits) , Gracie Manson, and other NY landmarks. Also eager to leave the crowds. We country mice nearly got run down trying to cross the jogging path. We smiled to see avid photgraphers in Riverside park aiming their telephoto lenses at a hawk nest by the river. We passed such nests on nearly every Intracoastal and Chesapeake marker on our way north.

Chesapeake With Friends

2009-05-31T19:49:00.000-04:00

Our week on the Chesapeake in brief:

SUNDAY: Hampton (VA) Public Docks were NOISY over Memorial Day weekend, but we didn't complain about paying $1/ft. The Air and Space Museum was worth the visit; the actual Apollo 12 capsule amazed Bill and Russell.

MONDAY: Anchored off lovely, quiet Kiptopeake State Beach Park, behind breakwater made from WWII Liberty ships.

TUESDAY: Left Cape Charles in still water and sunshine, then finished the journey to Tangier Island in rain, 6' chop and 30 knot wind on the nose. Yuck, but Act III motored into it at 7 kts. She and Skipper were the only ones thrilled with the ride. Arrival at Tangier was exciting as the dockmaster Milton Parks, 78, didn't know exactly where or how to dock us. He and 2 volunteers tried to haul Act III against the wind, not thinking to ever take a turn around a piling. Softshell crabs were amazing; Heidi and Bill managed to sneak in a skinny dip before we left on Weds. This island was the highlight of the week.

WEDNESDAY: Sunshine returned and we crossed to the Western shore to anchor in Mill Creek. Pastoral setting, warm water for swimming, good holding. Russell coaxed the recalcitrant outboard to take him a couple of miles to Reedville, where he reminisced about a childhood trip with his dad. Reedville turned out to have little to offer, so we fueled up and continued to Solomons Island.

THURSDAY: Solomons Island, recommended by the waterway guides and other cruisers, seemed overrated to us. We picked up a mooring ($25), dined ashore, and left early the next morning.

FRIDAY: Fabulous weather for a motor boat ride to Annapolis. We have set some sails most days, but no wind for this leg. We arrived Annapolis, picked up a city mooring (again $25) and celebrated Susan and Russell's 27th anniversary ashore with a progressive dinner and bar hopping.

SATURDAY: We bid sad farewell to our crew in the afternoon. It was a terrific week with only the one day of inclement weather. We find the Chesapeake a splendid place to cruise, although we've only touched the surface (except for Act III's keel a couple of times.)

SUNDAY: Boat projects kept us in Annapolis one more day. We leave in the morning for one more port (TBD). Weather permitting, we'll pass through the C&D Canal to Delaware Bay, hoping to get through the bay on Wednesday. Then we start up the New Jersey coast and go into the Hudson River.

Wireless access has been sporadic, our computer(s) even more fussy. We'll keep up as best we can. Over all, we're happy, healthy and thrilled with our vessel.

Beginning Chesapeake Bay

2009-05-24T22:38:00.000-04:00

The original Chief Engineer Russell and First Deck Babe Susan (Prescott) joined Act III this evening for a week of exploring Chesapeake Bay. It took some clever planning, with them coming from NH and us not knowing exactly where we'd be, but we successfully met at Hampton Public Pier ($1/ft special deal) and were happy to find one of the last slips in the area during a marvelously sunny and mild Memorial Day weekend.

The next best news is that the depth sounder is working again! There are many places to hide a little amplifier on a boat this size, but we finally found it and Bill repaired the loose wire. Phew!

Pleasant, uneventful motor through the last of the ICW, until we reached the final bridge this morning and hailed on the radio for the next lift, please. The bridge operator came back with a terse, "I'm having problems with the bridge," and no further info. Another sailboat said he had a similar situation a few years ago and was stuck for 3 days. Ouch. We hung around so Heidi could practice her figure 8 turns a bit, and the bridge was open about 45 minutes later. That could have been a show stopper.

TTFN, Friends. The next post will have soft shell crab ratings.

HJB

Water water everywhere

2009-05-18T13:27:00.000-04:00

Yard gave her two coats of bottom paint by Fri. afternoon. Hung in slings On Sat. afternoon so I could fill and fair scratches in bottom of keel.

Lots of sailing tales and laughs at birthday dinner with Heidi and yard friends Jean and Derrik.

Sunday morning clear enough to paint over epoxied keel bottom. Then down came the rain. Heavy rain all night and today. Launched this morning at 0800. Neuse river staying outside the boat where it belongs. Engine started right up. Shaft alingnment excellent. Reefer working fine. Rafted up to similar sized boat while we struggled to get foller furling and forestay reinstalled. Heidi had the brain storm that ended what was shaping up to be and endless loop of "that should do it... oh shit how are we going to get x on or off now."

If all goes well we will depart tomorrow AM for what should be a week of rainy sailing. Oh well, just so long as we are under way.

Happy sailing everyone, sailors and lubbers alike.

Bill and Heidi

Work, Work, Work

2009-05-09T10:05:00.002-04:00

Bill and I arrived at Sailcraft Marina in Oriental NC on 5/7, and have about 10 days of boat projects before launching and taking Act III north through Chesapeake Bay.

We've nearly completed re-installing the propeller shaft and reconditioned MaxProp, and I cleaned the heavy coat of yellow pollen off the decks and cockpit.

Oriental is hopping now that the weather is fine, This "sailing capital of the world" has 3 boats for every resident.

Short and sweet post today...no one wants to hear about work. We want to be sailing!

November, 2008

2009-05-06T18:08:00.000-04:00

Jim and Ira on the ICW Skipper working hard

2009-05-05T16:32:00.000-04:00

S/V ACT III is a Kelly/Peterson 44 we purchased in the summer of 2008 in Oriental, NC. We enjoyed a great shakedown cruise to our home port of Rye, NH. We went to Norlolk, Va. via the less conventional route through the sounds, then a few miles of ICW . We sailed outside from Norfolk to Cape Cod (with an unscheduled stop in Atlantic City for engine oil hoses). Russel and Susan Prescott were a terrific crew, but they had to jump ship in Norfolk because of business and family obligations. Heidi and I continued alone to Cape Cod and on to Rye, NH. We fell in love with our Peterson 44.

Several great sails in the summer included a nice week or so in Mystic Conn. with my Cousin Jim and Kylea as crew. Klyea had never been out of sight of land or offshore at night in a sailboat so she was a little concerned at first, but by the end of the voyage she was an old hand. We were thrilled by the sight of two humpbacks cavorting off our starbord bow on the last leg home.

Great day sails with kids, grandkids, and friends rounded out the summer and fall.

In November my intrepid mate, Ira Colby and I sailed for Oriental via the the route outside of Long Island. Ira is the perfect mate: an enthusiastic and competent sailor no matter what the conditions, good company, a great cook in all weather, careful and cheerful about cleaning and maintenance. Cousin Jim joined us for the ICW route to Oriental. We had a ball. There were no mishaps, and I was thrilled with ACT III's performance. Several hours at 7 kts or better were commonplace, even hard on the wind. On one beam reach leg, we never dropped below 8 kts. She has easy motion and is easy on the helm.

On May 7, Heidi and I will fly to Oriental to launch ACT III and sail her back to her home port. This time we'll be taking the inside route, including the Chesapeake, Delaware Bay, and Long Island Sound. Russel and Susan will join us for at least part of the journy.

This fall we plan to depart for the Carribean and beyond. No schedule: one year, two, who knows?

Let the adventures begin.