Fa la la la la

by with 3 Comments FloridaFriendsOn the hardSt. Augustine

Wednesday December 19, 2012

Sitting inside the cabin in the early afternoon, just like we’ve been spending most of our days lately, there was a knock on the side of the hull and I sprung up to the cockpit. Peeking over the side a loud yell of “Friends!!” escaped by mouth, because standing on the ground were Brian, Stephanie, Scott, and Kim. This was not unexpected as we had been planning on their visit for some time now, but it didn’t make seeing them any less exciting. Not even bothering to put on shoes I bound down the ladder landing on the rocks in my bare feet and attacking my friends with bear hugs, one by one. After nearly four weeks we were reunited with our boat buddies, although just for the day since they were visiting in a rental car before Brian and Stephanie drove it up to Pennsylvania for the holidays. By the time I was done squeezing the air out of everyone Matt had made his way down the ladder as well and began showing off the damage while Stephanie and I, both worn out on boat issues, sat back and caught up on every day life and how we were dealing with sitting in one place. While everyone was checking out the hull they must have thought everything was being held on by a piece of thread because seeing it in person they kept commenting “Oh, that doesn’t look as bad as I thought it would be”.

 Inviting them on the boat we showed some of the damage to the woodwork and where the tabbing had cracked. Then it was time to hear what was holding them back as well, and each couple told the horror stories they were having with their engines and all the work that was going into getting them fixed. All the trials, errors, and lessons learned from taking on the projects themselves. Sitting in the salon with a drink in our hands and enjoying some incredible mint and chocolate chip cookies Kim had made we went through every detail of what we had been up to for the past few weeks until it was like we had never left each other’s sides. Everyone was also able to fawn over Georgie (or Peaches as Brain likes to call her), and Kim, who was very jealous of Tasha’s photo op with Georgie sprawled on her lap, was able to get her own. While the night was still young though and our stomachs were starting to growl we packed all six of us into the compact car in search of a good yet reasonably priced meal. Since Kim and Scott had been here before they recommended a Bohemian type cafe offering things from pizza to gyros to tacos. I tried my hardest to talk the guy behind the counter into giving me the Thursday night happy hour special of a taco plate and a beer but was unfortunately turned down, although very politely, since it was neither Thursday nor happy hour.

When we finished eating we decided to leave the car in the parking lot and walk into town since there is rarely a place to park unless you’re visiting a certain establishment, and only while you’re there. It was weird being swept back to a life where you even had to think of such things as parking since now we tend to forget that things like that are even necessary. Having been just outside of the ‘Nights of Lights’ I waited for Stephanie’s face to light up as soon as she saw them coming up to the Lightner Museum, and boy did they. The way the lights are set up here really is like something out of a fairy tale. There’s not too many to make it gaudy or overdone, but just placed perfectly on every arch or wrapped around each palm tree. It’s easy to see why they’ve made National Geographic’s Top 10 Places to See Holiday Lights, in the world!

Wanting to share the beauty of the courtyard inside the Lightner Museum I began to lead the pack up the pathway where we became blocked by one of the trolley tours that had stopped right in front of us, blocking our path forward. Everyone on the trolley was in good spirits, yelling out ‘Merry Christmas!’ to anyone passing by, and they were also wearing what looked to be 3-D glasses. Stephanie, being a pro on anything fun, explained they enhance things like Christmas lights, changing the bulbs into shapes of things like stars and snowflakes. Overhearing us, a guy on the trolley pulled of his pair to hand around to the group of us as we each held them up to our eyes and went ‘ooh and aah’ as all the lights turned to snowflakes. Why weren’t we going on this tour?! It looked amazing, plus everyone riding was in such good spirits that it didn’t take us long to start yelling ‘Merry Christmas!’ back to anyone that smiled at us. Once the trolley left and we had given the glasses back I was really excited to go show the courtyard now, only to find the gates locked. Peering behind the cast iron bars, Kim and I did our best to describe the beauty to Stephanie, the coy pond in the center with the stone bridge that crossed. Luckily this will not be their only visit down though and the next time they come we might find the gates open, or at least a way to scale them.

Continuing down the street we were shown a statue down an alley way by Kim that has an interesting back story from the last time they were here, and pressed our faces up against the shop windows on cobblestone roads. Carrying on we did more window shopping, looking at stain glassed masterpieces and popped into an art gallery with some beautiful pieces of work that could regrettably not be photographed. (And regrettably they got that message to me too late) Next door at A1A Aleworks I pointed out the microbrews to Brian and we agreed that we’d have to stop in for a round the next time around. Across the street, Stephanie and I lost everyone else as we wandered around a soap shop, picking up scented candles and soaps while admiring all the displays.  Back on the street we ambled down historic St. George Street while moving about aimlessly through other shops including a chocolate shop and a magic store where we were treated to a ten minute magic show demonstrating all the tricks available for purchase.  There were a few that we were almost tempted to buy, the flaming wallet at the top of the list.  I mean, who wouldn’t love to be standing at the Starbucks counter and when you open your wallet to pay the bill it bursts into flames?  With a candid camera type show the wallet would pay for itself…and keep itself stuffed.

Progressing on we stopped for a quick disco party under some strobing green and red lights on an open patio.  We found French Fry Heaven and perused happy hours and daily specials at restaurants.  Showing them the $4.99 beer and hand rolled cigar combo that was popular at a few shops we were unable to convince them of it at this point, but maybe ‘next time’.  At one point Stephanie exclaimed, “This town is amazing!! I’m having the best time ever, and I haven’t even been drinking!!”. So we’re pretty sure it won’t be hard to lure them back for maybe even a full week once Rode Trip is up and running again.

By the time we were ready to head back to Serendipity we were so high on the presence of each other, the beauty of the town, and the cheer of everyone around us that we could not contain our own excitement or Christmas spirit. There were not as many trolleys running now, but each time one did we would yell out at the top of our lungs, a chorus of mismatched “Merry Christmas’” between the six of us. By the time we got back to the side street that housed the rental car I think a few of the drivers began to recognize us and probably thought we were drunk or just harassing customers. As one trolly pulled on to King Street we belted our normal chorus, but no one on board responded or even looked at us. It’s like their conductor got on the speaker just as he spotted us and told everyone to ignore the group of crazies off to their left. Treating us like a group of Tyrannosaurus Rex’s he must have advised, “If you don’t move…they won’t see you”. We weren’t going to let the tourists dropping energy levels ruin the rest of our night though as we hung out in the parking lot testing out Brian’s new pole spear before climbing back up Serendipity for a night cap.

Being the amazing friends that they are, Kim brought rum for us to drink, and Brain and Stephanie had made their own ginger beer. With Dark & Stormies in hand we spent the next few hours relishing in each other’s company for as long as it could last. For a short period we weren’t three boats that weren’t stalled from traveling, we were our old gang, laughing and socializing, and looking up more crazy videos on Youtube. (Really Scott and Kim, you hadn’t heard about Double Rainbow?) When it was time for everyone to leave I had the instinct to stow away in the trunk, following them along and letting the good times continue. But all good things must come to and end and the high we’d all been feeling through the day suddenly plummeted as we realized the fun was over. But in the morning that low will be replaced by the excitement and anticipation that we’ll get to do it all over again someday soon.

 

 

 

Georgiana On My Mind

by with 2 Comments Boat catFriends

Sunday November 25, 2012

Both Matt and I are totally animal people and when we lost our greyhound Mazzii (short for Maserati) back in April of 2011 due to cancer it was very hard for us to deal with. She was always on the boat with us every weekend and when she was gone it just felt so empty without her. There’s no way that she could ever be replaced in our hearts, but the need and want for a furry little companion was still there. We’ve heard and read from many other cruisers that cats make great boat pets because they are comfortable living in smaller spaces and since there’s no need for them to get off the boat they’re much easier to care for while traveling. Not that there aren’t just as many people out there with dogs, but a cat just seemed like a responsibility we could handle. Before leaving I bugged Matt incesently about getting one. When he asked what I wanted for my 30th birthday my response was always “A boat cat”. He’d confirm that yes, an animal companion would be nice to have and yes, a cat would require less work than a dog, but the fact that he grew up with dogs and had always been a dog person kept him hesitating, maybe later. Luckily for me, two boats in our buddy armada have cats and after hearing stories of how great they are to travel with and having these cuddly critters forced on him on multiple occassions he finally broke down and said we could look at getting one.

 Hearing from Anthyllide that there was an adoption center right in St. Mary’s where we were staying we walked out to the offices on Friday to inquire about looking at the cats. Finding the actual office was closed we had been told the husband of the shelter had his office right night door and after talking to him and giving our information he said his wife would be in contact with us. We stressed the fact that we were only in town visiting and wanted the cat before the next workweek began so it was a pleasant surprise when we heard from his wife, Terra, first thing the next morning. The shelter that housed the cats was a few miles from the waterfront and she scheduled an appointment for us to come out that afternoon. After being very surprised about hearing that we lived on a boat and this would be the cat’s home as well. I figured with this being such a big cruising community it would be common for her to hear this but maybe adopters fear this question and get their kitties while they still have a land based address. Either way she still agreed to let us come.

Neither of us had an idea of what to expect since back when we adopted Mazzii there was a whole process where they brought the dog to the house for a visit, and after certifying that we were capable pet owners there was a background check and a slew of paperwork. If you ‘passed’ the dog was brought back at a later date. Matt was thinking this would be similar and wanted to make the trip out to the shelter on foot. I kept thinking ‘What if they give us the cat today? How are we going to get her back on foot? (it was always going to be a girl) We don’t have any supplies back on the boat’. Teaming up with Kim we got a hold of a SUV for the afternoon and with six of us stuffed into it we drove off to hopefully be returning with a seventh member. Locating the place based solely on verbal directions from that morning we entered the gates and were greeted by a few dogs wandering the property. Sitting off to the side of the main house was another building and on the front railing an orange tabby was poking it’s head out of a cardboard box. We all swarmed to it and while the girls cuddled and cooed Matt was standing back probably thinking ‘Ahhh crap, we’re going to be leaving here with a cat’.

Shortly after, an assistant came by to lead us into the building and began asking questions on what we were looking for. We knew we wanted a female and a kitten young enough that it could easily adapt to life on a boat. Walking through the hallway there were stacks of beds and scratch pads all full of full grown cats looking for a little attention and love. We had found out from the husband the day before that this is a no kill shelter so they were currently housing 209 cats!! That is a lot of cats looking for love! We also had heard from him that there is a full time staff of three people that regularly take the cats out and play with them so it was nice to hear they weren’t shut away and ignored. Being led into the room of young cats it was so hard not to pick up every one and say “I’ll take this one, and this one, and this one”. Some were roaming free and others were in cages but the woman started opening all the doors to let them jump out and play. Matt had the idea that he wanted a white cat or one with white in it since he thought they were pretty, and sitting in a cage were two mixed color cats with white in them. Of the two one was male so he was out, but opening the door I scooped up the female to find her quickly jumping out of my arms and onto the counter. Picking her up a second time she did the same thing.

While I was trying a third time to grab her a few other kitties tried to come in and fill the space this one was leaving open by cuddling and purring and trying to get their faces, bodies, and tails anywhere our hands were moving. These super social cats were a little older than we were looking for but Kim was there to scoop one up give it a little love while we kept looking. In the smaller range (5-7 mo) was a litter of domestic black striped/tiger cats (?). One of the females (I can’t remember her name so I’ll call her Dylan) was also very interested in being pet. After playing with her for a few minutes on the counter I tried scooping her up as well to see how she liked being handled. I couldn’t keep her in my arms very long as at first chance she’d crawl up my shoulder and on my back. I was very fond of her though and as we paraded around to all the other cats in the complex she stayed attached to me the whole time. The other cats were cute but they were all either too big or too old, or even too young. 90% sure that I wanted Dylan I kept putting her on the table and picking her up to try and keep her in my arms, and each time she’d crawl up my shoulder. As we were getting to the point to make the decision, Dylan jumped off and scampered to another table. We went to search after her but she seems to have a twin in her litter and it made picking the right one difficult. With the help of the staff who know the cats much better, we found which one was Dylan and that her twin was Roxie. Thinking I had been carrying Roxie around the whole time though, the assistant raved about her personality, what a great cat she was….and while doing so was holding this cute little kitty in her arms without it trying to climb or run away. Split second decision between Dylan and Roxie I chose Roxie. The paperwork was filled out and even though they desperately tried to get us to adopt a second one as well (for no cost even) we had Roxie in a carrying case and ready to go.

Back in the car I looked at Matt and presumed “We’re not going to keep her name Roxie, are we?”. “Hmmmm,” he thought, “Probably not”. Not that Roxie was a bad name. We just have this thing where we like to name our pets. “What do you want to call her?” I probed, curious to see what he had in mind. “It’s your cat”, he retorted, “You pick a name”. So I went with a name that I had been saving for a child that he’d probably never agree to (Name or child? You’ll never know.) It’s something that’s fit for the Southern Belle of a kitty she is and specific to where we got her. Georgiana. Maserati, Georgiana…what kinds of yuppy names do we give our pets? But we’ll be calling her Georgie for short so any new cruisers that meet her along the way won’t know how stuck up we really are. Georgie took the car ride back very well and even accompanied us in to a quick trip into the pet store where we picked up food, bowls, a collar, toys, and treats. When we got her back to the boat she was eager to explore and even more eager to cuddle. She does this thing that we’ve started to call dive-bomb cuddling where she’ll lunge her head really hard at your hand or neck or face to cuddle with you. She constantly wants to be on your lap and will purr like crazy any time you’re touching her. She wants to be around you so much that if you pick her off your lap and set her to your side she’ll come back again and again and again. I had to do work on the computer with her on me because she just wouldn’t go anywhere else.

So far we are loving the new addition to our crew although Matt did have a small breakdown when he tried to fit all her new belongings (litter box, litter, food) into our already cramped living space. It all worked out though and the love we’ve already received back from Georgie totally outweighs any negatives of space. She always wants to spend time with us, gets excited for guests, and has the cutest little meeew while looking up at you with big saucepan eyes. If you’re ever in southern Georgia or northern Florida I highly recommend going to For The Love of Pets and adopting one of their animals. We’re already trying to talk Rode Trip into going back and getting one as they’re now the only boat in our little armada without a cuddly little feline that brings so much joy. You hear me Brian? Go back and get one. Now!!

Entering the grounds for the shelter.

Cats everywhere!!!

Sorry kitty, you’re just a little too old.

Georgie making herself right at home.

Couldn’t get rid of her if I tried.

 

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Cruiser’s Thanksgiving

by with 2 Comments Friends

Thursday November 22, 2012

(Photo courtesy of Hideaway)

Let me set the stage for you on how our Thanksgiving morning began.  The sun was out once again and we had let ourselves sleep in until 8:00 where we allowed ourselves to lounge under the warm covers while checking messages on the phone.  Suddenly there was a rap on the hull to take us out of our early morning daydreaming.  Stumbling (literally) out of the v-berth I tried to find pants and jacket to put on while I wondered who on earth could be visiting us this early.  Was it the master of ceremonies for the night trying to get a head count or find out what dish we were bringing to pass?  Just as I was about falling on the floor trying to pull on my skinny jeans from the night before, the only thing accessible to me at the time since we had actually put away all of our laundry right away for once, I just got to the companionway as there was another rap.  Popping my head out there were two cruisers in a powerboat hanging on to our rail.  “How many people you have aboard” one of them asked, confirming the thought in my head that it must be about dinner.  “Two” I replied and as I said that he opened a cooler and pulled out two Dixie cups and set them on our gunnel.  “Two Bloody Mary’s.  Happy Thanksgiving” he nodded and drove off to the next boat.  Alcohol delivered to our boat for us?  Free oysters for dinner one night, and a Thanksgiving turkey the next night?  I could see why this town was so popular for cruisers around the holiday, they really know how to take care of their own.

Here’s a little history of Cruiser’s Thanksgiving and how it came to be, taken from All At Sea.  The tradition began 12 years ago when a small group of cruisers tucked into St. Marys to wait out a nor’easter over Thanksgiving. Local resident and avid sailor Charlie Jacobs knew how difficult it was to prepare even a small turkey breast aboard a boat, and he didn’t want the sailors to miss out on the holiday meal. He asked Riverview Hotel owners Jerry and Gailia Brandon if they would open their lounge for a cruisers’ potluck. With Jacobs cooking a turkey, other townspeople providing food and supplies, and the cruisers bringing the side dishes, a tradition was born. As word spread about the warm hospitality, the event began to grow to numbers no one ever imagined.  We ended up here after hearing about it from Anthyllide although we had originally planned to be much further south at the time.  Since it happened we were not in Florida yet (although St. Mary’s is right on the border and our boat may have been anchored in Florida water) we thought that good friends and a turkey dinner would not be a bad way to spend the day.

With clothes on and Bloody Mary in hand I went to work making my contribution for the day, cornbread muffins.  Not fancy, I know, but we were low on groceries and they go with the season.  In the next few hours I managed to get all my cooking done plus take a nice sink shower and get myself into a dress.  30 minutes before the early afternoon dinner was to begin all of us piled into our dinghies and made our way to shore.  On our way in we saw Hideaway pulling into the anchorage, making it just in time.  As the six of us (Serendipity, Rode Trip, Anthyllide) made our way into the restaurant we could see that most of the tables had been staked out, plastic plates, glasses, and bottles of wine already set out on all but one table in the main part of the restaurant.  Quickly throwing our own plates and glasses at that last table we tried to figure out how we’d sit the six of us at this little round table meant for a max of four people.  When we saw the one next to ours had only two place settings we pulled it together with ours now forcing these strangers to have dinner with us.  Although etiquette among cruisers is usually very relaxed we seemed to be seated near one uppity lady who seemed to be very disgusted by our rearranging of tables.  We didn’t pay any mind though and although I was at the other end of table surrounded by only people I knew, our forced joiners didn’t seem to mind either once they came back and found their new dinner companions.

Once the ok was given the group of 150 cruisers that gathered for dinner made a line around the buffet table.  With this many people trying to grab food at once we thought we’d be smart by waiting for ten minutes before getting in line but even that plan still put us in the line outside and wrapping around the block.  Maybe a dress was a little optimistic for this time of year in Georgia, it was still pretty cold out as I stood there with plate in hand waiting to get back inside.  While waiting though, Hideaway caught up with us and the four of them were able to jump in line right behind us.  Plates full of ham, turkey and a bunch of other delectable sides we went back to our crowded table and somehow managed to squeeze Tasha, Ryan, Grace, and Bill in with us as well.  Plates were on laps and the table was saved for glasses of Black Box wine and the Leinenkugel I had saved in our fridge for a special occasion.  Shutting down the dinner at four o’clock we stayed well past clean-up.  There were too many stories to be told and too much to catch up on that we could have stayed there all night.  When we finally got the hint to leave (Aka, they told us they were going to charge rent for us to stay any longer) we realized we were not ready to end the night and the party must go on.  What does this entail for a group of young cruisers on a major holiday when everything is shut down?  A boat crawl!

Starting out at Rode Trip we piled eight of us (we lost Scott & Kim) into the cabin for the first cocktail of the crawl and a tour for anyone that hadn’t been on it before.  Stories were recounted of good times we had on there and then it was time to move on to Serendipity.  Here a tour didn’t need to be given because the only people that hadn’t been on it yet were Bill and Grace, but with them having a Sabre 36 back in Port Washington there weren’t many differences to show.  What we did show was our defense system against any possible break-ins (we can lock ourselves down in there pretty well) and out came the arm knife where everyone took turns doing their best bad-ass impression of how they would take down a pirate with it.  (Don’t worry mom, it will never need to be used.  It was a gag gift from Matt’s old boss)  Lastly we ended at Hideaway where Kim & Scott joined us once again and I kept forcing the cats on Matt so he could see what great pets they are and how we should get one.  I think I may have talked him into going to a shelter this weekend to look at getting one.  There may have also been a bit of drinking as well but who wants to hear about that, right?

All in all it was an AMAZING Thanksgiving and I’m so glad we made the stop here to enjoy it.  We were surrounded by great friends and in a town that could not have nicer people in it.  We never did the tradition of going around the table to say what we were thankful for, but I think Tasha put it best when she said that because we’re living the lives we do, we’re nothing but thankful everyday and because we all so deeply feel it sometimes it just doesn’t need to be said out loud.

Early morning Bloody Marys.

Ready to feast.

The arm knife is out!

Kitty yearning is going around.

Awwww, Shucks!

by with No Comment Friends

Wednesday November 21, 2012

Having made a last minute decision on Monday night,we planned to, instead of waiting for the swing bridge on the ICW to open at 9:00 and take that route down to Port Royal where we’d jump out into the Atlantic, we’d instead leave with the tides at 5 am the next morning and just jump out from Charleston. Our next destination was St. Mary’s, GA which was 145 miles from channel to channel. There we’d be able to enjoy cruisers Thanksgiving and meet back up with Rode Trip. And if anyone was wondering where they are or why we haven’t mentioned them in any of our Charleston posts, they were supposed to meet us in Charleston and as we pulled in just after Anthyllide Friday morning neither of us had any clue what happened to Brian and Stephanie who were supposedly making a straight shot there from Beaufort, NC where they had left just a few hours before Anthyllide. Not hearing a word from them since Wednesday afternoon both of us boats that did make it there were worried that they were not in the anchorage and not responding to any text, e-mails or calls. Finally we heard from them Friday night that they had arrived to Charleston Harbor Thursday night but the fog in the area was so thick they could not tell where they were going and instead of chancing that they’d hit something they kept going on to Georgia and went in at Sapelo Sound. Although I thought it would never happen to me I was like a panicked mother all Friday thinking the worst had happened to them. Once we knew they were safe we had Anthyllide and Hideaway to fill in as buddy boats and still had a great time in town.

 Getting back to the present. Staying on schedule as we always do on travel days, the anchor was out of the water at 5 am and through the dark we rode out the currents and dodged large tankers until we were in the ocean. When the sun had come up behind the clouds and we traveled the necessary five miles out the channel until we were free of the jetty we turned the bow south where I successfully marked the St. Mary’s inlet. Overall the trip was less eventful than the past few ones which was a relief to me. Since batteries were low and we wanted to try our hand at working the water maker (which worked out great) we turned the engines on just after noon and ended up leaving them on the whole time since winds were dying to under ten knots and we were slowing to a crawl. Knowing that we’d make it to the inlet at sunrise if we were going six knots it wasn’t an issue to slow down, we’d still make it in during daylight, but the fact that we skipped laundry in Charleston for one last day of sightseeing put us in a little hurry since we did not want to show up to Thanksgiving dinner Thursday in clothes that had been worn for days on end and smelled like it too.

Keeping in touch with Anthyllide through the VHF because of our close proximity to each other we still ended up in sight of each other when the sun rose and went through the channel just in front of them with their aluminum hull and red sails making it look like we were being chased by something out of Pirates of the Caribbean. Dropping anchor as quick as possible I was thrown on the dink with our dirty laundry where all the cruisers that gather here had put together a shuttle to bring people in to town for such necessities as the laundromat or grocery store. Arriving back a few hours later with clothing that was now acceptable to wear around other people I found that Matt had fully cleaned the boat and we even had sheets now set back on the v-berth to sleep on. It had finally become warm enough that the condensation wasn’t as big of an issue and we could go back to sleeping in there instead of the settee like we’ve been doing for the past month. Did I also mention we found the sun in Georgia? Things are really starting to look up.

Not having time to enjoy the newly cleaned boat though I was quickly whisked off to shore again with Anthyllide and Rode Trip in tow. As part of the holiday festivities the hotel/restaurant that is putting on the dinner tomorrow was holding an oyster bar tonight. If you brought a side dish to pass you could participate in the festivities and even though we unfortunately did not have anything to bring we could take advantage of the drink specials at the bar. It was after all the biggest bar night of the year and who could pass up such an occasion with a legendary bartender ‘Cindy Deen The Porno Queen‘ (no, she was never actually in porn, still trying to figure out how she got that name) or now that she’s married, ‘Cindy Chubb, Queen of This Pub‘ serving up your drinks? Pulling together a few tables to seat the six of us we started taking advantage of the ‘buy one drink get a free refill’ special. We caught up with Rode Trip and listened to their stories of storms on the high seas with waves as high as their spreaders and how they managed to catch and clean a tuna along the way.

We hadn’t even been talking an hour when one of the gentleman putting on the event saw that we were sitting at an empty table with no food in front of us. Asking the guys if they’d like to learn how to steam oysters we all followed them out back to the patio where the action was going on. Sitting all the way in the back were bags and bags of raw oysters. Pulling them out they had to be set on a table to be hosed off and cleaned before going into a giant steamer and finally transferred to the oyster bar to be shucked and enjoyed. Matt and Brian got working with the hose while us ladies stood around with beers in hand watching. Having cleaned a full batch they went in the steamer and more oysters were placed on the table to be cleaned. A few more rounds of that and we figured we (they) had worked enough oysters to enjoy a few. Standing at the end of the table we waited for the next batch to be shoveled from the steamer into wire baskets attached to a plywood table. Only having one knife available since it was still a crowded area with oysters being picked up as soon as they were set down, we set Brain to work shucking and when he opened one he’d pass it around for the rest of us to eat.

I was able to eat one from the first batch and had it without and kind of lemon juice or cocktail sauce. It was a little chewy but overall not bad. Waiting for the next batch we were each able to get one more and this time I topped it with cocktail sauce. Waiting ten minutes for each of us to get an oyster though was becoming old so having a stroke of genius, Brian walked over to the table for us to start shucking them raw. Adding cocktail sauce again I thought these were even better and now we were able to enjoy an unending feast. Eating until our stomachs were full (surprisingly didn’t take that many) we started talking to other cruisers about their journeys and even met back up with Groovin who we enjoyed the roast with back on the Erie Canal. Ending the night we used Anthyllide as our tour guides for a late night walk through a cemetery with graves dating back to the past two centuries and then landing at a gazebo in a quaint little park on the riverfront. Talking until the low temperatures for the night started forcing us back to our dinghies it was exactly how the day before Thanksgiving is back home. Spend the day traveling so you can make it to Thanksgiving dinner but not before catching up with some of your best friends out at the bar. Some things never change.

Matt’s earning his dinner.

Giant steamer housing the oysters.

Thanks for letting me enjoy all your hard work Brian!

Shucking away.

(All photos courtesy of Rode Trip.  How could I forget my camera on a night like this?)

Honey Bear Don’t Care

by with No Comment FriendsICW

Monday November 19, 2012

Quick post about the rest of our time in Charleston. It’s almost perfect that the weather was too bad for us to leave our bed yesterday because after the good time we were shown on Saturday night, I don’t think we would have been able to. Our plans had originally been to leave Charleston this morning but after realizing we’d only spent one day actually exploring the town we had to fit another one in before we could force ourselves to go. Wanting to see a few of the parks along the water, I tried to memorize directions from the miniature map on our Waterway guide. Going past some of our favorite houses on Montague, we hooked a right on Ashley were all I knew is that we had to follow it until it dead-ended in the water. Getting there, we could tell it was a big money area although the houses looked much newer, mostly made of brick with large staircases and porches. If we were here three weeks ago, this is definitely the area I would have hit up for trick-or-treating. Meanwhile, for those who are highly interested to acquire such properties, contacting professionals like the conveyancing solicitors in London may help ease the process.

We came up to the park where tours on horse driven carriages were being given and the area was surrounded by cannons, gazebos and statues. If it was a sunny warm day, it would have been the perfect place to have a picnic and lounge around just reading a book or listening to music.

 Since it wasn’t a day for that though (remember, just let me rant) we kept walking along the waterfront back into the antebellum area and stopped at every house with a plaque to see how long it had been there and who originally built it. Following the Cooper River now we were dropped out in another park filled with benches off to the path on the side with tables ready for games of free solitaire or chess or board games or just a place to set your cup of coffee. The sun was beginning to poke out and throw it’s light on a large fountain in the center where wading was allowed and children were running around. Picking up the pace on our walking tour of the city we ducked in back towards town and wandered through an enclosed market/bazaar where things like knit hats, cloth purses and reed baskets were being sold. Walking through without actually stopping at any of the stands Matt joked that it was the perfect pace to view the shops. Souvenirs are never very high on his list. We’re not giving gifts this year and there is absolutely no space on the boat for such things.

Doing some more gazing through the town we ended up at a Moe’s which we always seek out on Mondays for the great burrito specials they offer then. With access to the internet in the warmth I was content to sit for the next hour and a half and get as much work done as possible. It’s surprising but with being thrown around the boat and touring cities and visiting with friends there isn’t room to do much else. (You can tell I’m joking, right? I love this life) With lunch done we felt we had actually seen most of Chuck Town and headed to the grocery store to get ourselves prepared for the next few days of traveling. It seems like every town we go to has a different chain of grocery stores and each chain has it’s own club savings card. This town was no different and as we entered the Harris Teeter we signed up once more and added to the collection of plastic cards growing in our wallet. You may ask why we even bother but it only takes us five minutes and we usually end up saving $5-$10 so for us it’s worth the time. We were told that Harris Teeter was more of a high class grocery store and it did not disappoint. Rode Trip would have gone crazy here as they seemed to have every exotic kind of food or sauce or spice you could ever need. I actually turned a little foodie myself and bought hoisin sauce from the Asian aisle to try my hand at sesame chicken sometime.

When we were out in the parking lot taking everything out of it’s cardboard box and stuffing it in the backpack it was starting to get dark out and we made our way back to the dinghy. Attach to one of our handles was a plastic bag and I tore it open to see what kind of present was left for us. As I opened it up I saw a jar of honey, a ginger root and a postcard. Quickly flipping it over I saw it was from Scott and Kim on Anthyllide. On it they had written a recipe for ginger tea that settles upset stomachs. After our journey in from Winyah Bay they found out that the confused waves had made me sick a few times and wanted to give me something to make me feel better the next time. Amazingly nice people and we’re so glad we’ve met them as they’ve always been there before so they know just what we’re going through. The best part of the gift was on they bottle of honey shaped like a cute little teddy bear they had written Honey Bear Don’t Care, a reference going back to the Honey Badger clip online that we just introduced them to a few weeks ago. I think even just seeing that bottle now will be enough to make me feel better.

Just after we had started the motor we joked about how low the fuel was in the tank and hopefully it would last us long enough to get back to Serendipity. We rounded the 2,000 feet of dock separating us from the dinghy dock and the Ashley River we got 200 feet out and the motor started sputtering and died. The current was so strong that it took less than five seconds for us to stop moving forward and actually start floating backward. Very quickly the paddles were unattached and Matt was starting to row us in. Looking at the boat next to us it took him a good two or three hard minutes of rowing just to get past it. From where we were we could barley see Serendipity. It didn’t take very long to figure out there was no way we’d make it to Serendip. Sitting much closer to us though was Anthyllide and we thought if we could just get there they’d have fuel for us or could tow us or at least let Matt rest until he gained enough strength back to make it the rest of the way. Continuously encouraging him we made it inch by inch closer to the aluminum boat that would give us safely. When we were just a few hundred feet off I saw Scott out on the deck and started yelling and waving our dinghy light in the air. Matt turned around to look as well and we could see they had just lifted their dinghy out of the water and deflated it on their deck to prepare for jumping out in the ocean the next day. What we didn’t expect is that there was another dinghy about to pass by on their other side and they were able to flag him down and send him our way. As the guy pulled up next to us he tied our rope to the back of his tender and with the 25 horses on the back had no problem bringing us the rest of the way home. We were so thankful and grateful and all that he asked is that we return the favor sometime to anyone in need. I don’t see a problem of that being arranged.

When The Sun Goes Down On Chuck Town

by with 8 Comments FriendsICW

Saturday November 17, 2012

Finally dragging ourselves out of bed and off the boat for the first time in five days we were ready to tour The Holy City (named so because of the number of steepled churches around) with no real destination or plans in mind other than we’d stop at a hardware store at some point to finally break down and buy cans of propane to attach to our Coleman heater and warm the cabin at night.  Not even sure where to go we only knew there was a dinghy dock at the marina we had anchored in front of with a charge of five dollars a day just for dinghy access alone.  Following another dinghy in as we always do when we’re not sure where to go we got talking to the couple and found they were also anchored in the harbor on a sailboat named Serendipity.  Very nice people and quickly got the approval to carry the same boat name as us.  Locking up the dink we wandered out into the main road and found out the direction we were planning on heading had a flooded road.  Taking a side street and then trying to get back on course again that road was also flooded and we were forced back to our side street.  As luck would have it we were lucky to have to travel on the little side road we did as this is where all the antebellum homes from the 1800’s were lined.  This is exactly what we wanted to see while we were in town and we gawk and peek through gates and snap photos (ok, that was just me) like a couple of crazy tourist.  When I came across the big while home that was used in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button I almost lost it.  I could not imagine what the upkeep to own one of these homes would be, but the history is immeasurable.  If I can get this excited over something two hundred years old, imagine how geeked I’d be in Europe.

Having found our way to the hardware store we stuffed our backpack with more propane than it could hold and made our way back to a part of town that looked really interesting.  Landing ourselves on King St. we were surrounded by upscale boutiques and designer labels that are usually only found in Manhattan.  We didn’t go in any of the shops but consumer part of me still let my mouth water as we passed Kate Spade and Anthropology.  What consumer part of me also realized was we were severely underdressed in this area with our cruising uniform of sneakers, jeans and sweatshirts.  Everyone else was wearing the designers being sold on this street and dressed down meant you were in designer athletic wear.  Peeking in some of the windows we circled around the other side and kept walking until the shops went back down to our social class and were starting to find bars and restaurants lining the road.  Stumbling upon a park we found there was a farmers market going on and went in to check it out.  Although there were a few goods actually being sold we were more interested in the foods and wandered from booth to booth where there was Nutella Crepes, homemade ravioli, and gyros.  Landing on the Mediterranean cuisine we sat down at a plastic table in the park and listened to a live performance of someone playing on a stage with their guitar.  Even better was the park offered free wifi and I was able to get some work done before my fingers went numb from keeping them exposed for so long.

Back on the road we were just walking up and down random streets when we got a message from Tasha and Ryan.  Their friends Bill and Grace whom we had met in Manhattan were in town visiting and everyone was going out that night to celebrate Ryan’s 40th birthday.  Jumping at the chance to get out and explore the town at night while at the same time hanging out with friends sounded like a good idea to us.  Back at the boat Matt napped to prepare for the night while I tried to get myself a little more fancy by actually styling my hair and trying to find the classiest outfit I could wear while still keeping warm.  These bars deserved more than my U of M sweatshirt.

We started out at  Hideaway for a pre-bar cocktail that evening and before I knew it cabs were being ordered to take us into town.  Assuming it was just going to be a bar hop the two of us had already eaten but it turns out dinner was in the plans for the evening as well.  Trying to make last minute reservations in Charleston on a Saturday night does leave you with a 9:15 reservation though so when the cab dropped us off on East Bay St. at eight o’clock we had a little time on our hands to kill.  Trying to find a wine bar to pass the time at, Tasha and Ryan starting asking a girl at a local shop what places we could visit and she made it abundantly clear that our jeans and foul weather jackets would not get us in the door to the wine bar here and our choices because of our attire would severely limit our options.  Not even realizing that jeans might be an issue in the area Ryan quickly ran over to where we were having dinner next door at Magnolias to see if they would let us in.  Coming back he stated that there might be somewhere in the back they could stick us in as not to offend the other classy diners but our reservation still stood.  Still having that hour to kill we found a microbrewery just down the street that would accept us and threw back a pint while waiting for our reservation.

When it did come time for dinner we were in fact lead to to a back room of the restaurant and were sat down with white tablecloths and lots of silverware that I was once taught what to do with but now can’t really remember.  I had only been planning on drinking a beer while the rest of the group ate but before I knew it there was a wine and a champagne glass set in front of me where the champagne glass was filled up and a bottle set on the table with instructions to bring another as soon as it was empty.  The four members of Hideaway ordered steak and seafood meals while Matt and I  were forced to get something so I went with a blue crab soup while he put in an order for dessert.  The food was absolutely delicious and the company was even better.  Who would have ever thought that the six of us would wind up together at some swanky restaurant in Charleston?  Raising a glass to toast Ryan I commented on what a bit of serendipity it was which started each member to go around the table and add to the toast with their own boat name.

As the glasses emptied our voices grew and you could tell the people around us trying to have quiet dinners or enjoy a special occasion (hey, we were too) were surprised that such despicable company was allowed through the door.  It unfortunately did not help us to become quiet and we closed down the restaurant with the staff glad to get rid of us I’m sure.  They were very persistent on trying to order a cab to take us out of there as soon as possible.  Instead of going back to the microbrewery or any other bars in the area we made our way back to Hideaway where the party continued until 4 am.  Cats were cuddled too hard, drunken hugs were abundant and we even picked up a stray college kid to come aboard and have a few drinks. If this is how you ring in 40 I have no problem getting there. Even though it was someone else’s birthday we were wined and dined in one of the most beautiful places, had the best time ever, and it will surely be a night to reflect back on for years.  The time the sun went down on Chuck Town…..

Birthday boy Ryan and his beautiful wife Tasha.

And the silly-ness begins.

Tasha, Grace, Ryan, Jessica, Bill & Matt

Things That Go Bump In The Night

by with 2 Comments FriendsICW

Thursday November 8, 2012

Our destination today wasn’t a very long one, only about twenty miles, going down from Oriental to Beaufort. This was originally where we were going to sever ties with Rode Trip as they headed into the Atlantic and make a six or seven day trip to the Bahamas while Serendipity continued down the ICW. Not ready to get rid of each other just yet we both changed our plans that we’ll still go to Beaufort together and then make the jump out in the Atlantic and come back in at Charleston, about 200 miles down the coast. Originally thinking they’d be leaving from Beaufort though, they had their last immunizations scheduled at the Health Department here and needed to be to Moorehead City right next door this evening. Letting ourselves sleep in just a little bit because of the short ride we upped anchor at eight-thirty and pointed our bows directly across Neuse River to Adams Creek which would take us directly into Beaufort. The sun was semi-visible but it was better than clouds and rain. Since we on Serendipity had no idea where we’d be anchoring that night we let Rode Trip lead into the channel and followed not to far behind. Behind the wheel as usual (Matt came too close to hitting a few markers in the water, no attention span I tell you) I was called up by Brian on the VHF. Switching to 71 as we usually do I was expecting to hear a course update or some kind of detour when Brian exclaimed “Dolphin sighting off our port bow, keep your eyes open”. Almost dropping the handheld I put on the autopilot and started scanning the waters ahead of us. We had not seen dolphins yet on this trip and I was determined to do it before we reached South Carolina. It seems like everyone besides us has seen them so far on their trip and are always surprised when we mention we haven’t come across any yet. Just like the bald eagles that seemed to be everywhere except where we were, the dolphins that had been eluding us were a daily occurrence for most people. I was not going to let this day finish without seeing one now.

 Excited himself but knowing how bad I wanted to see one, Matt took control of the wheel while I ran up on the bow with camera on hand. It felt like I was waiting forever and thought I had missed my chance once again when I saw the water begin to form ripples in front of me. This was it, I was about to have our first dolphin sighting. Two fins sliced through the water a few hundred feet ahead of us and then went back under. Waiting for them to come back up I kept my eyes peeled, not sure where they would move on to next. While looking far ahead one of them momentarily surfaced just off our starboard bow and went under our keel. It was very quick and if I had looked away for a moment I would have missed it. Having our two boats almost slowed to a stop while a few others behind us were quickly catching up we kept waiting for the fins to surface again. Now we could tell there were two pairs although they would just come up for a brief second and then go back below leaving us guessing to where they’d come up next. They must have been feeding because it looked as if they were on a mission and not interested in us or our boats at all. I really can’t wait for when we’re traveling on the ocean and a playful group follows us and jumps off our bow, but these four dolphins were enough to satisfy me for now and finally make us part of the club.

Getting out to Beaufort I still had no idea where we were anchoring and kept blindly following behind Rode Trip. After passing under one large bridge I could tell the ICW cut to the right while going toward Moorehead City, but we kept on going straight, closer and closer to The Beaufort Inlet which led right out into the Atlantic. Thinking maybe we were taking a trip out for another dolphin sighting I kept following behind until they made a sharp cut to the left, getting into a nasty current that was almost shoving their boat through sideways. Serendipity made it through without much problem at all and within a few minutes we made our way into Taylor creek where hundreds of boats were anchored or moored. Some of them looked like they had been abandoned or at least sitting there unattended for a very long time. When I saw that Rode Trip was swinging around in a semi-clear spot to drop anchor I followed suit in the next open spot behind them. The current in this area was also very strong, probably going against us at close to two knots, and we were barely making headway. When it looked like Matt was ready to drop our anchor I put it in neutral and waited for the signal to back down. Standing behind the wheel I noticed us moving backward and getting closer to the boats behind us. Having this be a normal thing while we let out however much chain we need I didn’t give it much thought until they started getting nervously close and then I looked up at the bow to see the anchor still sitting on deck.

Apparently Matt had been chatting with Rode Trip on if this was a good spot but never actually put the anchor down. Now we were floating backward at two knots in a field of hundreds of boats. The currents were starting to push the boat sideways and I was waiting for our bow to turn more before putting it in gear and moving us out of there. This process of turning was taking way too long and by the time the bow would have made it’s full turn we would have already crashed into the boat behind us, or a large channel marker that was also coming up. Getting into a full panic now I forced Matt to take over the wheel and stood by nervously watching as we came within just a foot or two of one of the boats before he punched the engine and we shot in front of the next one, narrowly missing it as well. Too scared to take the wheel back we followed Rode Trip further back into the creek where it cleared out and while they anchored we rafted up to them to discuss where we wanted to go. The big problem to the situation was they were going to Richmond for the weekend and we were going to keep an eye on their boat. With the strong currents and sardine-like anchorage they didn’t feel it was fair to us to have to watch our boat and theirs and they decided to move on to a marina. Thinking our original spot was just fine we went back to it although I made Matt promise to drop the anchor as soon as we were out of gear this time.

Later in the night a thirty-five foot catamaran dropped next to us and we weren’t sure if they would be too close but made sure to keep an eye on them. After it got dark and we were fixing dinner Matt went above deck to check on us and found the catamaran basically on top of us. This was not going to work as it looked imminent we would hit during the night. Getting a little too worked up over the situation he grabbed a flashlight and started shining it in the window of the cat until the owner came out and which point he started arguing that they were too close and needed to move….now. They guy came back that they had been there for hours and if we had an issue with them we should have said something earlier. That part I do agree with, although I told Matt from the beginning that since I have to do all the talking on the VHF (I do mean all, he’ll call me up if I’m below deck just so I can answer it while he’s steering) that he would handle all anchor disputes and I would have nothing to do with them. So it was still in his hands and he was not going to give up the fact that we were here first and we’d be staying put. The owner of the cat felt that if we were uncomfortable we should be the ones to move, and both men went back in their boats with no resolution to the problem.

An hour later I went on deck to make a call out to my parents and keep an eye on both boats. The cockpit of the cat was completely black and it looked as if they had made the decision to stay exactly where they were for the night. While most of the boats in the anchorage were all pointing the same direction, Serendipity likes to swing all over the place and I watched in horror as there were multiple times we came within a foot or two of the cat just to be pulled away at the last second. Continually going up to check we seemed to be settling into a spot that kept us far enough away from each other that there may not be a midnight collision.  After awhile I got tired of looking and put Matt on watch although I think he went the ignorance is bliss route because he never got up once to look.  First thing in the morning we looked outside to see the cat was gone and our boat was still intact with no new scratches we could see.  Now we just have to survive three more nights here.

(Above photos courtesy of Rode Trip)

This wasn’t even nearly as close as we were at one point.

Frankenstorm

by with One Comment FriendsICW

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Since Matt had stayed up late last night keeping an eye on the anchor and making sure we didn’t swing into anything we shouldn’t he slept in until late afternoon. That left me to do a tradition I used to have back at home on Saturday mornings and that’s catch up on The Amazing Race online. I used to spend every Saturday morning in bed with a cup of coffee watching all they places they traveled to and get myself excited to start a journey of my own to some of those places. Although I didn’t get my coffee because I was afraid all the banging of pots and pans would wake him I was able to catch a few episodes and it was nice to have a little tradition back in my life. Once he got up it was straight to business and we went about removing the dodger and bimini and stowing them in our garage (aft cabin) which is now actually overflowing. While he finished up other last minute things I excused myself below to start a few loaves of bread since we invited Brian and Stephanie over for dinner and I wanted to make garlic bread to go with the spaghetti. I remember when I used to think that making it from scratch meant buying a loaf of french bread from the store and slathering it with butter and garlic, but making the bread from scratch as well gives it a whole new meaning. As I was in the middle of kneading out my dough Brian and Stephanie showed up to get use of internet again and update us on information passed on by two other boaters in the creek now and one more homeowner that came out for a visit. Apparently if you sleep in too late and aren’t out on deck before noon you miss these kinds of visits. They told us what I had been hearing on the radio all morning and that was the storm was looking worse and worse. Winds were expected to rise even more and now it was predicted to collide with a winter storm moving south and a cold front moving west. Everyone has begun calling it Frankenstorm and telling horror stories about how bad it’s supposed to be. Now instead of looking at getting high winds and heavy rain on Monday we could possibly get snow and have the storm last until Thursday.

 All four of us have been spending the past twenty-four hours trying to calm down family members who are hearing the same reports on TV and radio and are sure that we’re all going to die in our boats. We just have to keep assuring them that we’re in a very protected spot (which we are) and we’re not going to see the bad parts which will all be closer to shore. And this is made even more fun for Matt and I since our phone doesn’t get service in the area and everyone is probably wondering why we’re not answering or returning their calls. We were able to make an outbound call on Stephanie’s phone though and got in contact with Matt’s mom who will then notify my parents (out of the country and on a completely different time schedule) that we’re all ok and there’s no need to worry. With all of that taken care of, for today at least because I’m sure it will have to be done daily, we piled into Rode Trip’s dinghy for one last chance off the boats before we’d be trapped on them for days. Using the dock of the guy who stopped by yesterday we walked through the development to stretch our legs and then got back in the dinghy to follow it all the way up the creek and see how far it actually went. Turns out it was pretty far but would have been way to narrow to try and anchor in. Oh, and we did move the anchor once more this morning, hopefully for the last time. When we were getting back to the boats the winds had started gusting up to fifteen or twenty and making it very chilly outside. I raced below to get my bread in the oven while the other three worked to get a second anchor off our bow.

An hour later after we were able to clean up the mess we had made during our preparations of the hurricane and dinner Brian and Stephanie came back over for Hurricane Party 2012. It may be two days before the storm itself but unlike landlubbers we don’t have the luxury to do it the day of the storm. As dinner was cooking I unloaded all the alcohol and mixers Stephanie brought over and went about making a Frankenstorm. While walking around that day we decided this storm needed it’s own drink and we were going to make one for it. A ‘Sandy’ sounded too dainty and that’s not what was being called for. When we realized it would have to be a Frankenstorm we thought about any liquors and mixers we had between us but everything always came up as fruity and that didn’t seem fitting either. Telling her that our Kraken, a dark rum, kind of reminded me of Kaluah we thought we’d try mixing it with milk to see if it came out to be anything like a White Russian. Out came the stemmed glasses and in went the Kraken and milk. After stirring it up I handed and glass to everyone except Matt who was not intrigued by the combination and we had a toast. Taking a sip of our new concoction I think it perfectly embodied the Frankenstorm. An unusual combination that could have been a little better but wasn’t as bad as you were expecting it to be. If that’s how actual Frankenstorm turns out for us I will be perfectly happy.

After that trial we quickly moved onto Hurricanes which were much sweeter and easier to go down. The spaghetti and garlic bread turned out great and got lots of compliments from the foodies who seem to be able to cook everything and anything. When the plates were cleared we pulled out Settlers of Catan and even though I was doing much better this time and thought I might actually have a strategy we ended up having too many Hurricanes and became too distracted to finish. Somehow we managed to stay up until close to four in the morning just enjoying ourselves and getting in all the fun we could before hunkering down for Frankenstorm.

(photos to come)

9.22.12 (3)

The Roughest Passage You’ll Ever Make

by with 2 Comments ChesapeakeFriends

Saturday September 22, 2012

Today we took the Cape May Channel to Delaware Bay and up the whole length to the C&D Canal, which connects Delaware Bay to Chesapeake Bay. Yesterday morning Matt threw the Waterway Guide in my lap and told me to read up a little on the area. This was the first sentence of the chapter, “The waters of Delaware Bay are considered by many boaters to be rough, tedious and inhospitable…..notorious for building up short, choppy seas quickly…..the skills of the navigator are likely to be tested here”. After reading that calming description of the area I started searching for every little inlet possible for anchorage along the way should we need to pull off. Just as scared as us to make the trip were our new friends Brian and Stephanie on Rode Trip as we decided to buddy boat together. Before we could get out on the water though we all got up bright and early to make our way to the yard sale at Utch’s marina, something all of us had seen advertiesed the previous day. No one had any kind of idea what would actually be sold there but it sounded interesting enough to make the trip to shore. Tying up under the docks at the marina once again we walked out to see tables set up everywhere with everything you could think of. There were boat parts, fishing gear, and even a little pink acoustic guitar. It must be a pretty popular even every year because even a local radio station was there covering it. We didn’t have a ton of time to browse since we still wanted to up anchor by 9:30, but we all seemed to find something we wanted or needed. Matt and I picked up a couple of fishing lures, a gaff hook, and a flotation cushion since the storm in NYC had ripped our Lifesling right off the back of our boat. We didn’t even notice it was gone until we were on our way to Sandy Hook. Spending $125 to replace it didn’t sound too tempting at the moment, but a $3 cushion would at least keep us Coast Guard legal. Brian and Stephanie also did well at the sale, picking up lots of fishing supplies themselves and even an only used once 5 hp outboard for their dinghy.

 Dropping them back off at their boat we pulled up the anchor and got ready for what we thought would be the roughest passage we’d ever make. Getting out of the Cape May Channel and into Delaware Bay it was a sunny morning, winds were around 15 knots, and waves were 1-2 feet. It didn’t look bad, but I was waiting for something to come up on us any second. We both raised our mainsails while in the channel and once we were in the open bay Matt and I set a course for a straight shot up the bay while Rode Trip was quickly disappearing off to our port side. So much for buddy boats. While cruising by ourselves now we were tuned into channel 16 on the VHF when we heard our name called although I couldn’t make out the name of who was hailing us. Answering anyway I found out it was Scott that we had met the previous night and he was just calling to see how our trip was going so far and where we were staying for the night. He mentioned how they were planning on going all the way up the bay and through the canal to end at a river just on the other side. Our buddy boat plans for the night had consisted of anchoring at Reedy Island just before the canal, but after listening to Scott it sounded like winds would be shifting to where the island would no longer have a good holding for us overnight. Then finding out the C&D was only 12 miles long we told Scott that him and Kim could probably expect to see us next to them that night.

Going back to our awesome cruising (more on that in a minute) we heard Scott hailing Rode Trip, probably to relay the same message. There seemed to be some problems in communication though where Rode Trip could hear Scott but he could not hear them. Since we could hear both parties just fine I thought I’d hail Rode Trip (who was still barely in our sight) and just relay the message myself. Only problem was not only could I not remember his boat’s name but I couldn’t make it out each time he had repeated it on the radio. Matt cocked his head to the side and offered “I think it’s Angel Eyes” although both of us still didn’t think that sounded 100% right. So while talking to Rode Trip I’d say “I was just talking to Angeleyes” and smash it together really quick so no one would be able to tell I was saying it wrong, especially if Kim and Scott were still listening, “and they said they were going all the way through the canal tonight, so we were thinking of following Angeleyes, what do you think?”. They agreed as well and didn’t correct my mispronunciation.

Back to our awesome cruising. I know a lot of it has to do with the current and we’re not rock stars like this on our own, but we were once again sailing at 6.5 knots with only 10-15 knots of wind. The ride was smooth and easy. I was able to move around below and even give Matt a haircut in the cockpit (bad idea, could not contain the hair, it was everywhere). When we were 2/3rds of the way through the bay we began messing with the sheets and the course a little. The speed went up to 7, then 7.5, and then 8. For a good 45 minutes we were steadily cruising at 8.4 knots. With only 14 knots of wind off our back quarter. This was seriously the best day of sailing we’ve ever had. I felt like flipping the finger to my guide book and then dancing a little jig on it just to show it how wrong it was. To be fair though we have heard these waters can get very rough, but they’re usually only that way when making a southerly passage. One of the reasons I was also so happy with our new speed was that we were finally catching back up to Rode Trip. We found out on the VHF conversation that they had caught a good current and followed it into the marked channel in the center of the bay, going out and then cutting back in. We were going in a straight line and somehow they were beating us. In a 32 ft West Sail. It logistically shouldn’t be possible. So as we were getting closer to the end an they had to cut back in I would try to calculate the distance between us to see if we’d come out on top. We did not. Our buddy boat beat us to the C&D, but not by much.

Putting down our sails and throwing on the engines we continued to ride nice currents through the canal as the sun was setting. Off in the distance I could see dark stormy clouds and had heard on a weather report there would be a chance of rain that night. If there would be a storm or high winds we didn’t want to be in an exposed area and radioed Rode Trip about a little cove we found just passed the river that Anthyllide was planning to anchor in. They declined and said they still planned on going to the river. Getting out of the C&D it was now dark and we still followed behind Rode Trip, following the red and green buoys in the river to our chosen area on the chartplotter. With winds having picked up to 25 knots now they also realized the river may not be a good place to stay and radioed to say they’d be tucking into a cove just before the one we were planning on. Less than two miles before either of us could get to our destination the rain came, and it came in force. It went from not a single drop to pounding down, sting you in the eyes kind of rain within seconds. Even though it was dark you could see it coming across the water like a curtain. I didn’t mind traveling in it since the motor was on and with the river mostly keeping a straight course the rest of the way it was possible to keep the autopilot on and take shelter under the dodger. The only thing that did worry me was anchoring in this mess. It was hard enough for us to anchor in the dark and try to read Matt’s and signals from the bow, but this was blinding and deafening. And then I remembered the only thing good about these kinds of punishing storms is they’re usually gone as quick as they come. Just as we were pulling into our cove the rain had stopped and we set down the anchor with ease. Maybe I had spoken about this being our best day of sailing a little too quickly. Although if we want to get into technicalities, the sails were down when the storm came. Still the best day of sailing ever.

Found our boat buddy across the bay!

Storm coming in over the C&D.

Our back end looks like it has a little too much weight on it, and not just because Matt’s been eating half my meals.

(photo courtesy of Rode Trip)

9.21.12 (3)

Motel Sixteen

by with 3 Comments Friends

Friday September 21, 2012

Even while we were sleeping this morning we could hear anchors dropping next to us. I thought maybe one or two more boats had come in while we were napping, but after going out on deck there were five new mast surrounding us. Was this the same armada that came in just after us that we thought were going another direction? None of them seemed too close to make us nervous and there was even still a sense of privacy while we took our cockpit showers to get ready to go into town. We had originally debated if it was even worth visiting land here, but our guide book said it was the oldest resort town in America and the streets were lined with old Victorian houses. It was after noon by this point but we still jumped in the dinghy thinking we could spend a few hours walking around. There was one specific marina that allowed dinghies to tie up for the day and after getting barely audible instructions from an employee of where we were actually supposed to tie up we were on the main road trying to find our way to the painted houses.

There was supposed to be one specific road that had the best houses in the area, but taking a walk down a completely different street to get there we’d stop every few minutes and say ‘Ohhh, look at that one‘.  By the time we got to the supposed highlight of the area according to our guide book the houses there were not nearly as nice and the only charm they seemed to hold was that they may have been the oldest and run down in the area.  We did happen to dead end into the water though and it was as picturesque and pretty as I considered an east cost resort town would be. We walked along a paved path just outside the fence and sand surrounding the water. There were still people out on towels tanning and kids playing in the sand. As we got a little further there was a stand at one of the entrances to the beach and on the front of it was a sign with pricing. $5 for the day, $20 for the week, $100 for the season. Really? They’re charging people to go to the beach? Is this their way of keeping this part of the Jersey Shore from getting clogged up with over-tan, iron-pumping youths, or is it just another way to make money in a resort town? We hadn’t planned on going to the beach anyway so it didn’t bother us, but I can’t imagine that kind of pricing going over well on Lake Michigan.

 Our two hour morning nap didn’t seem to have done much for us and after just a few hours of wandering around we were hot and tired and ready to go back. Taking the dinghy back to the Serendip we could see that a few more boats had anchored in the area while we were gone. The area was getting to be a little crowded, but luckily no one looked like they were getting too close to us. Passing by a aluminum oragimi boat in the anchorage the young couple on board waved to us, and while we waved back they motioned for us to come over. They noticed the MC decal on our dinghy (for Michigan, I can’t remember who stole MI from us) and said they were from Michigan also. They had also seen us at the 79th St Basin, they left a day after we came in. We talked for just a few minutes and they invited us to come over that night for drinks with another couple our age in the anchorage, just to have a ‘young’ cruisers get together. They told us to come back over around sunset and we went back to Serendip to do a little work on her.

With being in NYC for five days and then traveling for two she had gotten a little messy and needed some cleaning up. The 16 bottles of wine we had bought at Trader Joe’s were still sitting in their bag on the floor. I found a handy ‘wine cellar’ for them under one of the settees while generally cleaning up. Then another big project for me was to get the cushions clean so they could be Scotch Guarded. It’s crazy what kind of wear and tear we’re starting to do to them after just a month. But they’re original to the boat and still in great shape so we’re trying really hard to keep them that way. As we worked more and more boats kept coming into the tiny area to anchor. And they kept getting bigger. What had been mostly sailboats between 30-40 feet were now turning into 50 foot monohulls or 45 foot cats. While eating dinner in the cockpit I counted sixteen masts in the area, plus three power boats. I have a feeling it may be a restless night of sleep while just waiting to be swung into by another boat.

When the afternoon projects were completed and the sun had just set we hopped in the dinghy to go next door to s/v Anthyllide. The owners were Kim and Scott who we had talked to for a few minutes earlier that day. They were in their mid to late 30’s and had already been out cruising for 7 years. We thought that we were passing them on their way back home, but they’re not even close to being finished cruising. The other couple they had been telling us about were Brian and Stephanie from s/v Rode Trip. This couple is exactly our age and just left cruising a few weeks before we did from Portsmouth, NH. We were all on our way south and all planning to go through Delaware Bay the next day. While enjoying wine and beer we shared cruising stories, us with not a lot to offer since we’d just left and spent more than half that time in rivers. Rode Trip had some better stories since they had been on the ocean the whole time and had even gone up to Maine for a few weeks before making their way south again. Anthyllide of course had the most and more interesting stories since they had been gone for so long and had seen so many places. So far they’ve done a circumnavigation of the Caribbean and even spent a year living in Venezuela. Their hopes this round (they don’t make concrete plans) are to head back south and then jump across the Atlantic to the Med.

It was a great group of people that we had so much in common with yet all of the stories were new and different. Most of the people we’d met so far had taken the same path as us so we’d talk about our experiences getting through there, but each couple here had stories to offer on places that none of the others had been. When we had moved down below because it was getting chilly, Kim gave a tour and they explained that since oragimi boats are all homemade that none of the interiors are the same. Theirs was nice and spacious with a large galley and salon, but they said it looked completely different when they had bought it. Those boats are so easy to change around (as far as boats go) with no supporting bulkheads that when they bought it they had different plans on how they wanted it to look so they gutted it and started from scratch. They even took welding courses so they could do all the welding of the aluminum on their own. How cool is that? While the boys went outside to talk, Stephanie and I got a ton of helpful hints from Kim on what it’s like to check into other countries and what’s needed. She also said that in many parts of the Caribbean they were in it was easier for her to go while leaving Scott at the boat because the men working the offices there wanted nothing to do with women (they should be at home baking after all) and would get them in and out as soon as possible. Good to know, because with Matt’s incapability for learning another language I was getting a little worried about sending him off on his own.

The night went by incredibly fast and before we knew it we had downed about a liter of wine between three people and gone through countless beers. It had been so long since we’d met up with other cruisers (almost a week!) that it felt so good to relax and laugh and share stories. It was 12:30 when Matt kept pointing at his watch that we needed to leave, but I’m sure if none of us had plans for an early departure we could have talked until the sun came up.

Stocking our wine cabinet.