Posts from the ‘Mischief Managed’ Category

Getting to the bottom of things…

They say ‘there’s nothing better than messing around with boats’. I agree, but up to a point. Every couple years, if your boat stays in the water, the growth on the bottom has noticeably slowed you down. It’s time to ‘do the bottom’.

Doing the bottom entails having the boat hauled out and blocked at a marina $, sanding down through the old bottom paint (whatever hasn’t worn off) $$, and repainting with a growth inhibiting paint $$$ – usually two coats $$$$. Not only does each step have a price tag, but the cost to your body is not trivial if you choose to do the work yourself. Mostly two days of sanding – upside down – with a sander built for the local weights room.

Then a few more hours, separated by long drying times over two days, to apply the new bottom paint. When all’s done, she looks almost like new again……..now with black over what’s left of the red. Just need to strip off the tape…

..and she looks like new…

Then back in the water!

Home again..

With beginnings come endings…. so it is with my ‘there and back again’ adventure.

Valinor’s name has it’s origin in that J.R.R. Tolkien adventure tale. At the end of the tale, the heros sailed off to Valinor, the undying lands, with the elves. Well, I’m not a hobbit, elf or hero, and I found no elves to take me anywhere along my adventure, at least none that would admit it. But it does feel a bit like leaving for some final place as I approach the end.

I’m in Solomons as I write this, having sailed from Hampton with friend Roger Long. Roger’s boat’s name,  ‘Strider’, also has its origin in the same Tolkien tale. I will meet some SOS cruising friends at Pirates Cove Marina (Galesville) on Saturday/Sunday, then head back to home and hearth on Monday with my wife who generously consented to my extended wanderings.

It has been a long adventure from Last October 28th when I set sail from Annapolis to now. I would not trade the experience for most anything – interesting, challenging, quiet, fun, sometimes exciting, illuminating, sad, and an assortment of other emotions/reactions that may only become apparent with time to reflect.

This is the last of the posts specific to this adventure. The travel feels appropriately complete. It felt that way when I arrived in Hampton – home Chesapeake Bay waters after clearing Mile ‘O’ of the AICW. I’ll spend some time now thinking about the trip and perhaps commenting on aspects from a  cruising and personal perspective.

In unexpected ways, it has been circular – apart from the round trip nature. I docked here at the Chesapeake Biological Lab, a sister lab of CEES to AEL where I served on the faculty 30 years ago. Doesn’t feel that long! Roger, my occasional sailing partner, is the naval architect who designed the Rachael Carson – CBL’s Research vessel I’m docked next to (…adjacent to which I’m docked ? I was an English major once – more than 30 years ago).

It has been fun, occasionally sharing on this blog, hearing from friends and strangers (friends I haven’t met yet) who have followed these travels. I made new friends along the way, and look forward to future adventures of some sort on the water. The sailing community is a fascinating group of folks almost impossible to characterize simply – they each  find some sort of fulfillment in sharing time on the water with others of common interests – or alone.

Thanks to all for being there, sharing your experiences, and I hope to encounter you again in other travels.

Fair winds!

The other Mile ‘0’

Some weeks ago, February 28th, I said goodbye to this Mile ‘0’ marker at the southernmost point of the US in Key West. On April 5th, I passed the other mile ‘0’( a second time) that marked the northern beginning of the AICW in Norfolk,VA. A bit over 4500 miles later it has been an adventure that began October 28 when I headed south.
The southern end of I-95 at Key West
Previous posts have recounted some of the sights and experiences along the path that this round trip to Key West covered. This post almost closes that loop – except for the final run up the Chesapeake to home port in Annapolis.
After a very slow up current passage of the Cape Fear River, we arrived at the Carolina State Park Marina (Mile 300). I stayed here a couple days on the way south. It is a very modern, well managed – and inexpensive marina.

As you can see, I was a bit ahead of the traffic coming north. In fact, mine was the only occupied boat.
Timing the departure from here was important for heading down Snow’s Cut – notorious for very strong tidal currents. We hit is right, and in fact caught favorable current most of the day to arrive at Swan Pt Marina – a 52 mile day.
Swan Pt (mile 248) is owned and operated by a mom and daughter team. It’s hard to exaggerate the great service they provide at this admittedly rustic marina. Both were on the dock to accept lines, took the time to neatly coil the excess in proper nautical fashion, provided transportation to the nearby store for supplies, and made a special trip out to refill my cigar stash that was running low!

At mile 185 we anchored in Cedar Creek, a very quiet anchorage. The good rest was preparation for an unexpected rough trip up the Nuese River. A Stop at R E Mayo (mile 157) was another treat that included stocking up on fresh caught seafood for the next couple dinners.

Like so many other anchorages, the Pungo/Alligator River stop produced beautiful sunsets and sunrises.

… and a surprise with an early AM view of the passing space shuttle (sorry, no pic).
After a night at the Alligator River Marina, we experienced a nasty rough ride across the Albemarle Sound – too busy for pictures. It had been flat, calm on the way down.

A long day took us to the south Mills lock on the Dismal Swamp route.

And an overnight stop at the visitors center.

This was my favorite part of the trip – in both directions… a beautiful flow through flooded timber and marsh lands.

At the north end is Deep Creek Lock – a picture of Valinor as we exit the lock…

From here, it’s just a few short miles back to the AICW Mile ‘0’ post and a slip at Hampton Public Pier beyond.
There follows just some pretty pix of that section of the AICW …’

If you’ve ever thought about doing this trip, stop thinking and start doing!

Weather – paying the price

Just a short report, while on a weather delay after having pretty nice conditions most of the way north from Key West….
As expected some time, the weather worsened so a planned stop at Osprey Marina near Myrtle Beach turned into a three day pause – and a very pleasant interlude. I was surprised there by the arrival of a fellow CCYC sailor on his Catalina 47 – Escapade. They are also headed north for home, but on a more aggressive schedule. They easily outpaced me when we headed out. It was an early departure in some fog, but slowly warming temps.

An easy day’s run brought us to St James Plantation Marina – a fancy name for a lovely resort-marina, but with very reasonable rates, a nice restaurant and store.

Next stop was the Carolina State Park Marina at mile 297. I stopped here on the way down and shared a couple days with Mark & Diana Doyle- authors of the Waterway Cruising guides. It is a simple but clean and inexpensive marina and recently upgraded. Very quiet this time of year…we were the only occupied boat!

The trip here included a long run (about 9 miles) up the Cape Fear River – felt longer. The name should offer a clue. My bad timing put us on the river heading north against about a 4kt current. The first couple hours kept boat speed to less than 2 mph – hardly a fast walk. Regardless, the current eased and we made the Marina mid-afternoon. Once again we had approaching bad weather

I’m writing this waiting out nasty rain all day the first day, then high winds (20-35 mph) that arrived overnight. The marina has a nice boaters lounge – warm, dry and a store next door – so a good place to spend the day. Not wanting to be out in this.

The forecast promises better the next few days, so we’ll be pushing northward as quick as we can …..

Freeze warnings !

It was inevitable. Moving north on the waterway this time of year assures at least some cold, wet days. Almost to North Carolina, at Osprey Marina, and found it – dropping temps below 32f and rain. From Savannah to Georgetown the weather was pleasant, winds were light and current was almost always favorable. Conditions made for good progress at 40-50miles each day.

Beaufort, SC at Ladies Island Marina (mi 535) is a pleasant stop with friendly staff and a handy restaurant….

It also marks roughly the halfway point to home. It was time to rest and do some boat chores….

Pelicans are everywhere and constant companions following along all the way. Here a group looks for a free lunch as watermen tend their pots……

St Johns Yacht Harbor (mi 472) is just south of Charleston, SC. It was a long day and we slipped in just at closing time. Made a quick stop at the fuel dock in the morning and headed on making McClellanville and the Leland Oil Co Marina (mi 430)- a rustic but friendly marina, and a convenient stop. This is tidal country with ranges as much as 4-8ft – came in and out at low water with only a foot or two to spare. As someone once said to me ‘if you have a foot of clearance it may as well be 50’, but 50 causes less worry….

Georgetown, SC and Harborwalk Marina (mi400) was the next stop and convenient to downtown. But, it was a long walk to groceries for some minor provisions – long enough that I opted for a cab ride back. It turned out the cabby was a town councilman, and we had an interesting conversation about the complexities of rebuilding from the waterfront fire last year. It didn’t sound promising that much would happen very soon.

Near Myrtle Beach, SC is Osprey Marina (mi 373) – a real gem. Among the very  best – at a dollar a foot and super helpful staff. The forecast at Georgetown had promised a significant change and was correct …. the run to Osprey Marina was against the current, against a 15-25mph cold wind and distinctly unpleasant. The reward is a beautiful marina, great facilities and very friendly staff. Free coffee, light breakfast … and Krispy Kremes, not to mention the super goodies bag you get when you check in!

Here for a couple days to let the bad weather pass.
All the way, most every evening provides treats like these… never get tired of it.

Goin’ home…..

It seems a short time since heading south last October, but lots of water has passed the keel since then, and lots of good times. With volunteer crew for the trip home, I left Key West February 28^th and arrived in St Augustine March 12. Now in Savannah – March 17 – in time for some St Patrick’s Day cheer at Tubby’s.

Key West to Miami – Following the Hawk Channel to Long Key provided some beautiful sailing and motor/sailing. Clear skies and moderate winds made for a pleasant two days with one night at anchor near Marathon. Coming into Long Key against an adverse current produced the first minor issue. Boat slowed – way too much, and engine temps started to climb. We shut down dropped anchor and sorted out the problem. Weeds on the prop were cleared by crew going overboard. Then clearing the impacted weeds from the raw water intact filter solved the problems, and we were on our way again – now checking the water filter on a regular basis! We made great time up Biscayne Bay to north Miami (Hollywood) and an earned marina night.

Just an aside – pelicans are the starlings of south Florida. They are everywhere – in abundance. As a former researcher of wildlife energetics, I wonder how many tons of fish are consumed by the population each day – must be measured in the thousands. Add to that all the cormorants, gulls, terns and ospreys, it’s a wonder any fish are left. These guys are waiting for the incoming fishing boats and the scraps they discard.

Miami to Stuart (St Lucie River) was a reminder of the trip down. Bridges are frequent along the waterway in this part of Florida. Some are 65ft clearance, many are much lower and require opening to allow for passage. Each has their own opening schedule. For boats that can travel at 7-8mph, timing the openings between bridges works pretty well. For us slow boats it’s a struggle. In two days travel, we cleared 30 bridges, and had minimal waiting time – good luck, helpful currents and pushing the boat pretty hard made it work.

It’s hard not to notice the incredible wealth evident along this part of the waterway with mega mansions one right after the other – many with 60+ft yachts at the dock – mile after mile. Guess this is a good part of the 1%.

Stuart made for an interesting side trip up the St Lucie River. I made that same diversion last Fall so knew my way in. That said, be sure you’re looking at the right buoy. I wasn’t, and found a sand bar – was pulled free by a passing power boat. It was a reminder again of the importance of constant attention. We had a nice visit and dinner on board with sailing friends Chuck and Kathy who are staying there through the winter. We stayed two nights to avoid an arriving storm with imbedded tornado warnings. It was a pretty awesome storm, but left a great sunset..

From Stuart, we made a 63mi day – a record for Valinor. Helpful tides and winds and a few long days got us to Vero Beach marina, Cocao Beach, Palm Coast Marina and Camanchee Cove Marina in St Augustine.

Along the way a hand at the dock with lines introduced me to new friend ‘Frenchie’ also wandering north – and also a scotch fan, so we shared just a bit. Frenchie’s boat had a unique color scheme.

Made St Augustine in time for the Thursday ‘gathering’ of local cruisers, and a chance to catch up with friends Mark & Diana Doyle of Waterway Guide fame.

On to Savannah across St Andrew and St Catherine’s sounds, both of which were calm and easy compare to the difficult time coming south on St Andrew. Instead, Sapelo Sound proved the challenge, with strong winds against in incoming tide making for steep chop and slow speeds. Made enough headway to reach Kilkenny Marina. Well, perhaps better described as a fish camp – it is a bit rustic. But, the folks are friendly and shore power provided heat (starting to get cool).

Left Kilkenny and after a night at anchor, we had a short run, although in the rain, to Savannah. Here now for some engine maintenance and to wait out a couple days of nasty weather.

More later……….

Miami Boat Show

It’s hard to not compare the Miami Show with the great Fall Annapolis Sailboat Show. While not as large with fewer boats and spread out over several locations, it still is an exciting Show. After helping out the Passport Yacht folks in Annapolis for the past few years, I signed on as broker in time for Miami. Passport builds semi-custom, high end sail boats from 47 to 62 feet. Older brokerage boats include 40 foot models from the late ‘80s – all of which are still sailing.

 It’s great to be associated with a company so dedicated to producing the highest possible quality product. These boats, in my opinion, compete favorably against any of the other high end sailing yachts – including Oyster and Hylas that I had the chance to explore at the Show – they were parked right next to us.

The Show was busy with steady traffic, but weather up north apparently limited travel for some.  It was also my first time to see a bit of Miami as well as travel the length of the Keys. It was an interesting, if long, drive from Key West to Ft Lauderdale where I left the car. We car-pooled back to the Show to save on parking and facilitate moving one of the boats back to its home berth. It was also fun to meet so many folks, including other members of sailing networks that I knew only from on-line postings.

At the end of the Show, I got to sail on the 2013 470 center cockpit (my favorite Passport) back to Ft Lauderdale. It was a sunny day with 10-15kts of breeze making for a steady broad reach run of about 5 hours up the Florida coast at 5-7kts. What a great sailing boat!

This was a great way to begin closing out this adventure. Next week crew flies down from Annapolis to help sail/motor back north – reversing last Fall’s trip down the AICW. Given the cold winter back home, we’ll be moving slowly to allow time for Spring to arrive and hopefully warming temps.

Fishing the Gulf

What a great day!  A good friend, Joe K, flew down from New York for a few days and chartered a fishing boat. Hooked Up, captained by Jim Bailey, is a 34ft Hatteras and one of the most successful charterers out of Key West.  Joe generously invited me along for my first ever experience with salt water fishing.

We left the Key West Marina just after sun up and headed out on the Gulf side of the Keys. Once across the shallows, crew rigged and set the lines. We had two outriggers and four other baited lines set at varying distances and depths.

Our general track ran several miles north of and parallel to the keys extending out to the Smith Shoal light not far from the Marquesas.  We had clear skies, plenty of sun, light wind and mostly flat water for a beautiful, comfortable day on the water.

I call it a success … we landed 10 fish – Spanish and King Mackerel – and lost only one. That one put on a spectacular aerial show, but threw the hook in the process.  Here’s what we brought home …. some of which found its way to the dinner plate that evening deliciously prepared by Terri!

More pix from the day…

Winter in Key West

While folks to the north are shoveling out and looking for ways to keep warm, life is a bit more pleasant here to the south. As a first time visitor to Key West, I’m enjoying the climate and getting to know the town. It helps to have local friends as tour guides!

There may be other places with as much live music, but not much better if at all.  Add the history of this place and its unique culture, and every day offers new discoveries.  In no particular order, here’s a sampling of a few images – so far.

We are pretty far south….

Looking west toward the Dry Tortugas.

Really neat pocket parks.

Headquarters of the Conch Republic..

Multiple live music venues – great music!

…and Karaoke competition.

and Chickens everywhere ….

Race week is underway, with about 125 boats. Conditions were marginal on opening day – Monday – with winds barely over 5mph. Tuesday and though the week it looks like 15-30 for some exciting races.  See http://premiere-racing.com/QKWLive/  for pix and results.

January 20, 2014 Quantum Key West 2014 photographs by PhotoBoat.com

Heading to the Miami Boat Show February 12-17 to work for the Passport Yacht folks, then weighing anchor and wandering back north……..just not too fast.