Saturday, November 29, 2014

11/28/14, The Day after Thanksgiving, “We’re so Sorry, Uncle Albert”

Yesterday, the day after Thanksgiving, we moved from St. Marys, GA (STM (Statute Mile) 712), where we spent the holiday, to a small anchorage in Florida at STM 765, just over 50 miles away.

Typical view in GA, along the Intracoastal Waterway
It was very cold, so we spent our first day in FL in ski clothes, complete with ski pants, ski jackets, gloves and hats!

Sandy

Chuck
Crossing the St. Johns River, we passed through a very busy shipping channel, with a ship the size of my former office building, named “Delhi Highway,” heading toward us.

Delhi Highway, approaching, as we crossed the channel toward the canal.

Delhi Highway

Delhi Highway looks like a building, from a distance

We entered the 10 mile “Cabbage Swamp Canal” with elegant mansions, complete with screened in swimming pools. The screen rooms were at least 2 stories high. The beautiful houses more than made up for the inelegant canal name.

We stopped early, at 3PM, because that was when we reached Pine Island Anchorage, the best anchorage for us. By 3PM each afternoon, we usually make a firm decision about where we want to anchor for the night. On these short days, we need to reach the anchorage by 4PM, to allow a little time before dark to make sure we select a good spot – far enough from shore and other boats – and to make sure that we are firmly tied to the ground, with room to swing as needed, when the wind or current push us. So it was an early finish day.

Except for moving the boat south about 50 miles, we did almost nothing yesterday. (Remember the Beatles song? “We’re so sorry, Uncle Albert, we're so sorry, but we haven’t done a thing all day!” On many a day this is our unofficial theme song.) We didn’t call a "Mayday," like another boat did when they unfortunately miscalculated the path away from a big open area, and ran aground. We didn’t cancel the Mayday, as they did, when the incoming tide released them. (This is still close to GA. With a 9 ft tidal range it doesn’t take long for the "rising tide to lift all boats".)  We also didn’t get boarded by the Coast Guard, as the same hapless boat did, for who-knows-what reason. Did you know that the Coast Guard doesn’t even need a reason?

We were very thankful for our uneventful day aboard Summer Wind.

We continued our sloth by doing no cooking whatsoever. Instead we re-heated leftovers for both lunch and dinner, and went to sleep early.  We didn’t even take a picture of the anchorage.

Layers of warm clothes, and “hat hair”
Perhaps most significantly, on the day after Thanksgiving, aka “Black Friday,” we didn’t even think of doing any shopping!  I guess we really are becoming out of touch with “the real world.”



Sandy & Chuck on s/v Summer Wind

Saturday, November 22, 2014

11/19/2014 - 11/22/2014, Georgia

We are in Georgia now.  I think of GA as “so far away” that I am amazed we are here, especially by boat! From childhood drives to FL, I know that GA is a very long state to drive through. To sail through, however, it’s not as long, since its coastal area begins more than halfway down the length of the state. Coastal GA begins at Savannah, and we had a wonderful stop there.

11/19/14

On Wednesday, November 19, we tied up at the Delegal Creek Marina, which is located on Savannah's Skidaway Island, within the community of The Landings. 

Delegal Creek Marina

Delegal Creek Marina

We contacted our Shennecossett friends, Peter and Kay Hering, who took fabulous care of us. Since they live nearby within The Landings, they had easy access to the marina. They brought us to their beautiful home for cocktails and a chance to do our laundry,

Peter and Kay's kitchen

 and then we all went to dinner at a lovely nearby restaurant. 

At Dinner, Chuck, Sandy, Kay, Peter, Sharon

They lent us a car so we could explore Savannah on our own and also get to the grocery store.

11/20/14
On Thursday, we drove into Savannah. We stopped first at the tourist bureau for intel, then hopped on a free tourist bus for a mini-overview, and then started walking.

We stopped at the “Marche de Macarons,” a little bakery that sells only macaroons, in about 20 different amazing flavors. Yum!

Marche de Macarons, Savannah, GA

Chuck and Sandy at Marche de Macarons, Savannah, GA


Chuck and Sharon at Marche de Macarons, Savannah, GA

We then walked around the town and the “squares.”

Chuck walking through one of the "Squares" of Savannah

Squares look like parks (to us) but they are smaller, square shaped, and they each have historical significance. It was fun to wander through Reynolds Square, where a chili cook-off was taking place.  Chuck heard the music and started dancing through the park. Well, that got the local ladies all going and he had a blast dancing with them! 

"Square" Dancing

We went to The Olde Pink House for lunch, and toured that lovely, historic house, and the 9 dining rooms that are filled every night.

At "The Olde Pink House" Restaurant

At "The Olde Pink House" Restaurant

At "The Olde Pink House" Restaurant

At "The Olde Pink House" Restaurant

At "The Olde Pink House" Restaurant

At "The Olde Pink House" Restaurant

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the river area and loading up on pralines from River Street Sweets. 

River Street Sweets Candy Store

We had dinner with Peter and Kay at the Plantation Club within The Landings (wonderful), and decided to spend another day seeing more of Savannah. 

Sharon, Sandy, Kay, Chuck, Peter at the Plantation Club


Kay and Chuck both had the Seared Salmon on Small Plates Night

11/21/14
On Friday, Chuck and I went downtown in the car, and Sharon stayed at the boat to catch up on things. We went to the City Market area, where we couldn’t resist stopping at the “Pie Society,” a British pie shop, for lunch of chicken and thyme pie. Unfortunately the person in front of me in line got the last Cornish pasty, or I would have tried that too!

 Cold offerings at the "Pie Society"

 Hot offerings at the "Pie Society"

We visited a lot of artist galleries within the City Market. The artists and their work are both in the galleries, and we enjoyed talking with them and learning about their work. My favorite was the Gullah artist, Sabree, who paints scenes from Gullah life and culture. The Gullah people were brought from rice producing areas in west and central Africa to the area stretching from NC to FL, where they were enslaved for generations to work the rice plantations. Their artwork is characterized by vibrant colors and paintings that each tell a story.

Gullah Artist, Sabree

Of course we had to also try the homemade coconut ice cream, and we popped into Byrds to get a few bags of delightful little cookies to bring back to the boat. On the way home, we stopped at the biggest Walmart we’ve ever seen for motor oil and a few other things, and then we had one more errand to do, pick up a bottle of gin for someone at the marina. Chuck asked a local man in the Walmart for directions to the packy, which was not far away. To our amazement, it was a building that looked like a house, with a DRIVE THROUGH WINDOW on the side! No kidding, we went inside, and saw the clerk serving people through the window. He said he does about 80% of his business through the drive through! (Container laws are a lot more user-friendly here. They ARE allowed to take drinks out of restaurants, and sip on the street.)

Drive through package store

Drive through window, inside the package store

11/22/14
On Saturday, we finally got up and out early, with the high tide. Did I mention that Georgia has a 9 foot tidal range? That is amazing to us New Englanders, who are accustomed to nothing more than 3 feet of difference in the water depth. We needed to enter and leave the marina at mid stage tide or higher, otherwise it would be too shallow for us to pass.

Luckily, Summer Wind is a not-too-big, not-too-small, just-right “Goldilocks” boat, with only a 60 foot mast (height) and a 5 ft draft (depth). As a result, we don’t have any trouble with the fixed bridges that are almost always 65 ft high, and we don’t have nearly as much trouble as many boats with the shallow or shoaled in waters of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). The ICW in Georgia is beautiful, marsh lined, and it winds back and forth. It is also very shallow in places. We saw some scary numbers on our depth gauge today, but fortunately, we didn’t get stuck. 

Shallow spot just outside the channel, along the ICW in GA

We traveled about 62 miles today, which is very good. And fortunately for us, the weather is a little warmer now, but a large or small amount of rain is predicted for most of the next few days. Our plan is to reach St. Mary’s Georgia, about 50 miles away, near the southern border, by Thanksgiving, this Thursday. 

We hope to participate in the “Cruisers Thanksgiving” that St. Mary’s has been holding for over 15 years now. Townspeople prepare turkeys and hams (difficult to make on a boat!), and cruisers bring the side dishes.  I’ll miss our family get-togethers and my brother-in-law’s stuffing, but I’m looking forward to this adventure! And the weather is supposed to be beautiful on Thanksgiving Day!

Sandy & Chuck
on s/v Summer Wind

Friday, November 14, 2014

11/14/2014, Welcome!

11/14/2014

Hello Family and Friends,

As most of you know, are sailing south this winter on our 42 foot Hunter sailboat, “Summer Wind.” Our destination is the Bahamas, where we plan to spend the winter months, and then return to CT by June. We will sail down the east coast, through all of the coastal states, to Florida, and then cross over to the Bahamas in December or January.

We left Groton, CT on Sept 12, 2014 and headed west to NYC. Since that time, we have had some great adventures and misadventures, we have seen some beautiful places, and met a lot of wonderful people.

We traveled down the East River through New York City to New Jersey, and then Delaware and Maryland, where we spent four glorious weeks exploring the Chesapeake Bay, visited with friends and family, and met many new cruising friends. We then proceeded to VA, for a while still in the Chesapeake Bay (it’s huge!), and beyond to Portsmouth, traveling south as weather allowed. From VA we transited the Dismal Swamp, with our first “lock” experiences, and then crossed over into NC and visited Elizabeth City, the “Harbor of Hospitality.” We crossed Albemarle Sound and traveled the Alligator River, followed by the Alligator River – Pungo River Canal, and the Pungo River to Belhaven, NC, and Pungo Creek, where it was still (just barely) warm enough to swim. We spent a couple days in Aurora, NC, home of the world class Aurora Fossil Museum, and then continued south. We stayed in Wilmington, NC for a week, where we visited with friends and former coworkers who have moved from CT to NC. We continued to SC, where we saw more transplanted CT-ers, and enjoyed their “Southern Hospitality”.  We are currently in SC, and now it’s COLD, so we are working to move south as quickly as possible, in spite of the shorter days.

We have started a blog, “CruisingwithSummerWind.blogspot.com”. Please take a moment to check it out, and feel free to comment and ask questions.

Fondest Regards,

Sandy Gordon & Chuck Gregory
on s/v Summer Wind


Summer Wind at Arbuckle's Landing, in the Dismal Swamp


Thursday, November 13, 2014

11/12/2014, Visiting Boating Friends in South Carolina

On 11/11/14, leaving the Cape Fear River in NC, and the wonderful Cape Fear Marina, we passed dolphins at the mouth of the river and headed south.  Since we left Wilmington late in the day, our first stop was a nice quiet anchorage, Dutchman Creek Park, still in NC. At 5:30, we anchored in the last available spot just before dark. It was a cloudy afternoon, dark came early.  We had a simple dinner and were in bed by 7:30.


In the Cape Fear River

The next day (11/12/14) we crossed the state line to SC and headed for Lightkeepers Marina, in Coquina Harbor, North Myrtle Beach, to visit with our boating friends, Roger and Jane Bonner. We know Roger and Jane from Baldwin Yacht Club. We had spent a great day together at Block Island a few summers ago, when they had Salah, their foreign exchange student, visiting from Yemen. For the rest of us, it was a hot day and we were stripping off whatever clothing we could get away with, but Salah had not yet acclimated to New England summer weather. He was wearing a heavy winter coat and was still freezing.

Jane Bonner, Rob Beaulieu, Brooke Martin, Salah in his winter coat,
Block Island, Sept 201
3
Roger and Jane are fellow sailors, so when we arrived in North Mrytle Beach, they knew exactly what we needed! We checked into the marina early in the afternoon, and soon afterward, they stopped by in their car. First we visited West Marine, where we got a new “Lucy” solar light, and some fishing lures. We wanted to get a hand-held depth finder (for identifying good anchorages from the dingy) but they didn’t have any in stock. We also wanted to get a water filter, but Jane said, “I have one for you, in the garage! We don’t need it in this house because we have one on the refrigerator.”

Roger and Jane

The Bonner's home in N. Mrytle Beach, SC
We drove to their lovely house on a golf course, in a gated community. They made us a wonderful dinner of crab cakes, green veggies, Asian cabbage salad, potatoes and key lime pie. Have I mentioned that crab cakes and key lime pie are among some of my favorite dishes?

Roger and Jane, preparing dinner

Sign in the Bonner’s kitchen
We had a great time chatting and laughing over dinner. They gave us our mail – a package of LED lights that we had ordered for the boat interior and had sent to their address. And they gave us a Britta pitcher-style water filter and some extra filters, enough to last 10 months!

Our new Britta water filter
A water filter is a terrific thing to have on a boat, maybe even an essential thing! We carry 150 gallons of water in our fresh water tanks. Most of it, about 100 gallons, is refreshed about once a week. Tank water is fine for showering and washing dishes. It’s fine for making coffee. It’s fine to include in soups and other cooked or baked dishes. But to drink it plain, it tastes terrible! I thought that once we were living on the boat and refreshing it frequently, it would taste ok, but it really doesn’t. We tried refilling bottles directly from dock hoses, rather than running it through the tanks, but even that didn’t help. So I found myself avoiding it. Now I’m in heaven with the water filter! We just run the tank water, from the faucet, through the water filter before drinking it plain or in ice tea. And we were able to get rid of the clutter of extra water bottles in the boat.

The next morning, (11/13/14), after our brief but much appreciated visit with the Bonners, we were on our way again, off to explore South Carolina.

Little River Swing Bridge, immediately south of N. Mrytle Beach
Sandy & Chuck
on s/v Summer Wind

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

11/5/2014 – 11/11/2014, A Week in Wilmington, NC

Most of the time, we stay overnight in anchorages. A good anchorage is quiet, calm, safe for both us and the boat, and free.

To find good anchorages, we rely on a series of books, “On the Water Chart Guides,” written by Mark and Diana Doyle. The Doyles spend their time exploring up and down the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) and writing about all of the features along the route, both treats and hazards, a job we sincerely covet. But seriously, they are really terrific at what they do, and we are very grateful to have their books. 

We knew that we wanted to stop at or near Wilmington, NC, where we have friends to visit. And I also wanted to visit (insisted on visiting!) my former coworkers and friends in Cary, NC, near Raleigh. I had been watching Cary, which is inland, as we circled it from all coastal spots since Elizabeth City, NC, trying to figure out where we could leave the boat and rent a car for a day-visit. Most towns were fairly far away, and some were not big enough to have car rental facilities.

Eventually it became clear that Wilmington would be the jumping off point for my trip to Cary. So the hunt for a very secure anchorage began. The best anchorages have protection from wind and waves from all directions. Unfortunately, none of the ones listed near Wrightsville Beach (along the ICW) were ideal. Maybe they’d be fine for a night or two, with calm weather, but not good places to leave the boat.

On Tuesday morning, I decided to check online, and to my amazement, I found a marina, up the Cape Fear River, in Wilmington itself, that offered a FREE WEEK of dockage. Why free? Unclear, but after reading the reviews (all good!), we called and made a reservation with Cape Fear Marina (aka Bennett Brothers Yachts). Upon calling, we learned that there is a bridge that we’d need to get through, the Isabelle Holmes Bridge, which opens only twice each day, at 10 AM and 2 PM. 

OK, that’s a little bit inconvenient, but not insurmountable. Most bridges are “on request” or on a regular schedule (hourly or every ½ hour).  We planned to get to the marina on Wednesday (11/5), after the 10:00 opening. The route looked simple enough, but, of course, we were mistaken.

First, we found ourselves near Camp Lejeune while military firing exercises were taking place. This is not entirely unknown, it was listed in the Doyle’s book as a possibility. What it meant for us and the dozen or so boats traveling southbound in that area with us, is that the ICW was closed. We all had to stop for about a half hour, and wait for the path to reopen. Sort of like a traffic jam, but one in which none of the vehicles actually have brakes. So we idled, and made slow circles in the water to stay roughly in the same place, without grounding outside of the channel or hitting one another. 

ICW Traffic Jam
ICW closed, boats circling and waiting
ICW closed, waiting to proceed
Finally the wait was over and we were free to proceed. We passed some of the military training vehicles off to the side of the channel.

Military training vehicles
We passed through an area with severe shoaling, where several of the lead boats either didn’t understand the temporary channel markers or didn’t believe them, since they had us moving sideways across the channel. They became soft-grounded, but were quickly lifted by the rising tide, and we were fortunate to benefit from their experience.

We proceeded south as some of the military kids came racing by northbound, in the marine equivalent of open jeeps, and they also got stuck, temporarily, on the shoal. Oops.

We passed a few more bridges and finally landed for the night in a nice spoil pile anchorage just before sunset. Spoil piles are the heaps of stuff that is picked up when the channel is dredged. The spaces between them are wide and deep enough to anchor, and the piles themselves provide some shelter from wind and waves, making them quiet places to sleep. 

Approaching the spoil pile anchorage at sunset

On Wednesday, we woke up very early, in the dark, and left the anchorage before daylight. We saw two dolphins at the opening, as we rejoined the ICW, and several more throughout the day. The day brought more bridges, including one swing bridge whose operator scolded us for started through his gate before his opening was complete. Usually they swing away, and boats pass through 2 lanes, one northbound and one southbound. He had only one open lane. We had to back up quickly!

Figure 8 Island Bridge, 8:00 AM opening
We passed through Wrightsville Beach and started up the Cape Fear River toward Wilmington, from Snows Cut at 11:11, with the tide running strongly against us.

In Snows Cut

Huge tower cranes at the Port of Wilmington, just south of Wilmington
City of Wilmington, seen under the Wilmington Bridge
We called Cape Fear Marina to let them know we would not be there after the 10 AM opening, instead it would be after the 2 PM opening. At 1:38 we reached the Isabelle Holmes Bridge. Whew! 22 minutes to spare!

Mike, the dock master, helped us tie up at the face dock, where he had us stay until the tide slacked. We checked in and toured the facilities. 

Cape Fear Marina office
Cape Fear Marina office
Mike, the Dock Master, at Cape Fear Marina
Cape Fear River, from the Marina
Egret at Cape Fear Marina
Cape Fear Marina, with Isabelle Holmes Bridge
A few hours later, we moved to our slip, with help from Mike, one or more of the “permanent residents,” and a couple of cops who stopped by at the end of their shift.

At our slip, with the Isabelle Holmes Bridge in the background
We showered and got ready to visit with our friend, June. (Showering is not something we take for granted, living on a boat, with limited water. We don’t shower every day and when we do, it’s a wonderful treat.)

June and Chuck have known each other for many years. At one time, Chuck was one of several boarders in June’s house in CT. She taught him how to cook fresh vegetables (“But they don’t come with instructions!”).  They became friends and have stayed in touch over the years. June comes up to New England each summer and has been out on Summer Wind with us several times.

We had dinner with June, her son, Nick, (no longer a mischievous child, now a school teacher with his own class full of them), and Nick’s new wife, Kate, a wedding planner. They are a sweet and lovely young couple! It was great fun, and we also got new packages, having used June’s address as our own for the past few weeks. Packages included my new hat (see earlier blog post, “Point No Point”), and a new thermos for our coffee.

The next day, Thursday, was CHORES day. We had the boat's holding tanks pumped out, did our laundry, got a rental car, and did grocery shopping. Went out to dinner in Wrightsville Beach (20 minutes away by car, over 3 hours by boat). Read blogs of other boaters. One of our new acquaintances from Maryland started on their southern cruise, only to have problems with their sails, followed shortly after by appendicitis! They have our sympathy.

Friday we did errands and more chores. We refilled one of our two propane tanks. We use propane onboard for our gas stove, and we do a lot of cooking.

Getting propane
Getting propane, marine tanks are smaller than gas-grill tanks
We washed the boat outside and defrosted the freezer, and rearranged everything in the fridge and freezer. Does anyone remember having to defrost a freezer?

I baked brownies, made salad, and cooked “Moroccan Chicken” (one of our favorite pressure cooker dishes) and broccoli. We had June, Nick and Kate for dinner on the boat. It was a little crowded but a lot of fun.

Saturday in Cary

On Saturday we got up very early and drove to Cary, NC, two and a half hours away by car, to visit my friend, Ritu, and her family, and our other friends that have all moved from CT to Cary, NC. Cary is a tech hub, where they found good jobs, nice houses and a wonderful community.

Several of us worked together at ING in the mid 2000’s. At ING, QA code moves were done at lunchtime, so the system was down, forcing us to leave our desks and actually go to the cafeteria for lunch! We had such fun times. Each day, we would each bring some “topics” for discussion, and we shared a lot of info. I learned about Indian holidays and culture, and they learned how to cook a few American dishes. We also had “tea time” in the late afternoon, and to this day I rarely make tea without thinking of Ritu. 

Sandy, Chuck, Ritu, Sanvhi, Ainish
Vishal and Snigdha
Ainish
Vipresh
Ritu and Sandy
We spent the day with Ritu and her husband, Vipresh, and had lunch and dinner with them. To my surprise, Chuck loved the vegetarian dishes. We were treated to a piano and violin concert by their son, Ainesh, including an original composition. I finally got to meet their daughter Sanvhi, who is now 4. (I don’t care what Ritu says, I insist she named “Sanvhi” after “Sandy”!)  

It was also a treat to see Snigdha and Vishal, and their two children, who also stopped by and had lunch with us. And special thanks to Snigdha who answered my technical questions about Blogspot, allowing me to finally get started with this blog!

Back in Wilmington

On Sunday we toured Wilmington with Bill, who lives on his boat at Cape Fear Marina, and met up with June again. We visited the shops of the “Cotton Exchange” and toured the Coast Guard cutter “Diligence,” and once again had a lovely and much appreciated dinner at June’s.

Bill, June and Chuck
Diligence, the Coast Guard Cutter
June and Chuck
Monday brought more chores and errands. We washed the anchor, anchor chain and rode (rope), and cleaned pounds and pounds of Chesapeake mud out of the anchor locker!

100 feet of clean anchor chain
200 feet of clean anchor rode
We did a little more laundry, then we picked up a few more groceries and returned the rental car. We thought one of our marine heads (toilets) was broken, and Mike was able to order spare parts to arrive the next morning at the marina. Turns out we didn’t need them yet, but we will, so they are great to have. And I was happy to be able to patronize the marina.

On Tuesday we picked up our parts, and paid our bill for electricity only. I still don’t know how CFM can offer a week of dockage for free.  I think a lot of people come to Cape Fear Marina to get work done on their boats, and from all accounts they are very happy with the work. It is a little out of the way and not easy to get to, between the river current and the bridge, so offering the free week of dockage gets people to visit, and gets the word out. And quite a few people end up staying much longer. 

It’s a wonderful place. I asked if we’d be eligible to take advantage of the free week offer again, and the finance person said to just check online to see if the special is being offered.

Mike, one terrific dock master
Bill, temporarily homeless, while having work done on his boat
Leaving our slip
Through the Isabelle Holmes Bridge, with the Marina in the background
We left in time for the 2 PM bridge opening, and with the river current running in our direction. I hope we’ll be able to come to Cape Fear Marina (Bennett Brothers Yachts) again in the spring. We’d love to see more of Wilmington, and see our old and new friends again!

Sandy & Chuck
on s/v Summer Wind