open and shut case
other articles by tom:
tadhana blog: tom's magazine articles
Monday, March 7, 2016
Friday, February 12, 2016
cocoa to miami.
we spent two months in cocoa, FL and are now on the move again. tom was gone a couple of times, once to annapolis around christmastime to see about his house which he is putting on the market, and the other time to chicago (brrr) for the chicago boat show. i think it's safe to say he's not doing that one again! i got to spend some quality time with mikey and family and we are now beginning to think of cocoa as "home" just like we did deltaville. it really is a nice little town to call home. my brother is a bad influence - his phone was acting up so we went to best buy to check out iPhones. he got a 6S and i ended up going home with a 6S plus - i love it...!! but man oh man, they are expensive! at the same time, i feel like i'm finally catching up with the smartphone world :)
when tom got back from chicago, it was time to do the boat projects that he had been putting off and boy, did he have his work cut out for him because all of a sudden things started breaking down right and left - it was insane! HOWEVER. things got done eventually to his satisfaction and certain mysteries were solved. our original plan was to do a little cruising from cocoa but that never happened and TADHANA basically just sat for a couple of months - sad... obviously, she did not like that and acted up.
also, aurora finally got spayed. apparently, the whole experience was traumatic for her. although the surgery went well, she was a nervous wreck for a few days afterwards, very needy, and with some serious separation anxiety. we had some sleepless nights as she kept trying to climb up on the bed with us and then howled all night when she got locked out of the forward cabin. no more dogs on the bed - been there done that, not happening, sorry.
just before we left on february 5, 2016, tom and i had an early valentine's celebration and watched the musical "cats" at the cocoa village playhouse. it was a local production but it was surprisingly good! the historic theatre is tiny but very elegant. the singing was excellent and the music was live - no taped music for these folks - and the house was packed. we enjoyed the show very much. tom had actually never seen "cats" before and did not know what to expect. he said his face was starting to hurt from grinning so much :)
when we finally left cocoa village marina the next morning, it was pretty obvious that we hadn't moved in a while - we were out of practice! preparation took a little longer and a few minor things were forgotten, sequence-wise. and the worst thing, our little boat dog had turned into a land lubber :( oh, she shook and quaked with the rumble of the engine and all when tom accelerated to blow out the turbo. the problem was that she was all alone - tom was at the helm and i was up on the bridge putting lines and fenders away. when i finally got to sit with her, she stayed on top of me the whole time until we finally docked at fort pierce municipal marina - it was really pathetic. passage was uneventful and we decided to pass on vero beach, our original destination, and keep going. the weather was not great and we were expecting a front to come through so instead of anchoring, we opted for a marina stay. quite frankly, i wouldn't have minded staying at fort pierce one more day - that place warrants a little more exploration! but we got in before the downpour at least and even managed to get aurora out for a decent walk before it arrived.
from fort pierce, we headed to palm beach and, again, because of the weather, tom opted to make a reservation at riviera beach municipal marina. i do not think we will be back to that place. it will be a very nice marina once they are done with all the construction BUT... $15 a day for electricity??? i don't think so. needless to say, we did not plug in. also, the dock layout was confusing, the staff indifferent, and no internet out on the docks! it was a hike to get to the marina office, too. anyway, tom was pretty upset with that place. we might as well have saved our money and anchored. never got to see palm beach either.
the next day, we went out into the atlantic through the lake worth inlet - it was a +/- decision with the intention of taking a look and possibly heading back and doing the ICW route instead depending on what we saw. it was "okay." the waves were four to five footers coming at the port quarter but they were far apart - big rollers - so it was "okay." again, aurora did not move AT ALL. our original destination was fort lauderdale but when we got close to the inlet, we just decided to keep going for miami. we had made really good time with the waves and wind pushing us from behind. well, the waves got bigger - i am talking some 10-footers here! a little disconcerting, but, again, they were far apart so not a bad ride. BUT... we could see the waves breaking on the shoals and really, it was not pretty. it was a relief when we finally got to government cut, the entrance to miami. those were some BIG waves!
we ended up anchoring next to watson island which has a public boat ramp. it's a huge anchorage with lots of what we call the floating homeless - some of those wrecks haven't moved in years and are unoccupied, judging from the amount of bird poop :( but it was convenient for us for the doggy run to watson island and to bayside marina which was the "strictly sail" venue where tom would be giving his seminars. the main show had been moved from the convention center at miami beach to marine stadium and i think that messed up a lot of people because marine stadium is another good anchorage that cruisers rely on and everyone got kicked out february 1 to make room. we arrived miami on monday and the show started thursday so we had a couple of days to get settled and work out some kind of routine. aurora's morning walk is at watson island. we discovered that we could walk around the outside grounds of "jungle island," one of the miami attractions, before it opened for the day. peeking through the fence, i could see flamingoes! in the afternoons, we headed to the public ramp in miami beach by the police station which is where we go to fill up our water jugs. there is a publix nearby as well so it is very convenient.
on day #1 of the boat show, aurora and i dropped tom off at bayside and went home for the day. he took the water taxi to marine stadium. i, all of a sudden, got reminded of last year when we were anchored at sunset lake and the main show was at the convention center. things were so much easier then with consuelo who knew the routine. aurora has to be tied to a cleat on the dinghy when i am single handing. i just don't trust her yet. of course, at the time, consuelo was 14 - an old hand. aurora isn't even a year yet! i guess she'll get there eventually but for right now, she is just a royal pain in the butt, albeit a very cute one :)
in any case, here we sit in miami until monday and then we will move on. internet is via our data plan and we had a lot left over for this pay period. starting tomorrow, we tighten our belts. no more watching downton abbey :(
when tom got back from chicago, it was time to do the boat projects that he had been putting off and boy, did he have his work cut out for him because all of a sudden things started breaking down right and left - it was insane! HOWEVER. things got done eventually to his satisfaction and certain mysteries were solved. our original plan was to do a little cruising from cocoa but that never happened and TADHANA basically just sat for a couple of months - sad... obviously, she did not like that and acted up.
also, aurora finally got spayed. apparently, the whole experience was traumatic for her. although the surgery went well, she was a nervous wreck for a few days afterwards, very needy, and with some serious separation anxiety. we had some sleepless nights as she kept trying to climb up on the bed with us and then howled all night when she got locked out of the forward cabin. no more dogs on the bed - been there done that, not happening, sorry.
just before we left on february 5, 2016, tom and i had an early valentine's celebration and watched the musical "cats" at the cocoa village playhouse. it was a local production but it was surprisingly good! the historic theatre is tiny but very elegant. the singing was excellent and the music was live - no taped music for these folks - and the house was packed. we enjoyed the show very much. tom had actually never seen "cats" before and did not know what to expect. he said his face was starting to hurt from grinning so much :)
when we finally left cocoa village marina the next morning, it was pretty obvious that we hadn't moved in a while - we were out of practice! preparation took a little longer and a few minor things were forgotten, sequence-wise. and the worst thing, our little boat dog had turned into a land lubber :( oh, she shook and quaked with the rumble of the engine and all when tom accelerated to blow out the turbo. the problem was that she was all alone - tom was at the helm and i was up on the bridge putting lines and fenders away. when i finally got to sit with her, she stayed on top of me the whole time until we finally docked at fort pierce municipal marina - it was really pathetic. passage was uneventful and we decided to pass on vero beach, our original destination, and keep going. the weather was not great and we were expecting a front to come through so instead of anchoring, we opted for a marina stay. quite frankly, i wouldn't have minded staying at fort pierce one more day - that place warrants a little more exploration! but we got in before the downpour at least and even managed to get aurora out for a decent walk before it arrived.
from fort pierce, we headed to palm beach and, again, because of the weather, tom opted to make a reservation at riviera beach municipal marina. i do not think we will be back to that place. it will be a very nice marina once they are done with all the construction BUT... $15 a day for electricity??? i don't think so. needless to say, we did not plug in. also, the dock layout was confusing, the staff indifferent, and no internet out on the docks! it was a hike to get to the marina office, too. anyway, tom was pretty upset with that place. we might as well have saved our money and anchored. never got to see palm beach either.
the next day, we went out into the atlantic through the lake worth inlet - it was a +/- decision with the intention of taking a look and possibly heading back and doing the ICW route instead depending on what we saw. it was "okay." the waves were four to five footers coming at the port quarter but they were far apart - big rollers - so it was "okay." again, aurora did not move AT ALL. our original destination was fort lauderdale but when we got close to the inlet, we just decided to keep going for miami. we had made really good time with the waves and wind pushing us from behind. well, the waves got bigger - i am talking some 10-footers here! a little disconcerting, but, again, they were far apart so not a bad ride. BUT... we could see the waves breaking on the shoals and really, it was not pretty. it was a relief when we finally got to government cut, the entrance to miami. those were some BIG waves!
we ended up anchoring next to watson island which has a public boat ramp. it's a huge anchorage with lots of what we call the floating homeless - some of those wrecks haven't moved in years and are unoccupied, judging from the amount of bird poop :( but it was convenient for us for the doggy run to watson island and to bayside marina which was the "strictly sail" venue where tom would be giving his seminars. the main show had been moved from the convention center at miami beach to marine stadium and i think that messed up a lot of people because marine stadium is another good anchorage that cruisers rely on and everyone got kicked out february 1 to make room. we arrived miami on monday and the show started thursday so we had a couple of days to get settled and work out some kind of routine. aurora's morning walk is at watson island. we discovered that we could walk around the outside grounds of "jungle island," one of the miami attractions, before it opened for the day. peeking through the fence, i could see flamingoes! in the afternoons, we headed to the public ramp in miami beach by the police station which is where we go to fill up our water jugs. there is a publix nearby as well so it is very convenient.
on day #1 of the boat show, aurora and i dropped tom off at bayside and went home for the day. he took the water taxi to marine stadium. i, all of a sudden, got reminded of last year when we were anchored at sunset lake and the main show was at the convention center. things were so much easier then with consuelo who knew the routine. aurora has to be tied to a cleat on the dinghy when i am single handing. i just don't trust her yet. of course, at the time, consuelo was 14 - an old hand. aurora isn't even a year yet! i guess she'll get there eventually but for right now, she is just a royal pain in the butt, albeit a very cute one :)
in any case, here we sit in miami until monday and then we will move on. internet is via our data plan and we had a lot left over for this pay period. starting tomorrow, we tighten our belts. no more watching downton abbey :(
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| the cocoa village playhouse |
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| "bumping out" |
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| ahhhh government cut inlet and the port of miami |
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| sunset at our miami anchorage |
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| one of the many megayachts visiting for the boat show |
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| one of the many cruise ships that are in and out of this port |
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| flamingoes at jungle island |
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
it's over!
this is embarrassing - i have not blogged at all and the SAIL rally is OVER! i seriously need to get caught up....
charleston: from mcclellanville, we stopped for a few days in charleston, staying at the charleston harbor marina at patriot's point, an ENORMOUS facility - you had to do some serious walking just to get to the marina office and bathhouses. although the marina is across the cooper river from downtown charleston, the resort has a trolley that can take you across the ravenel bridge or if you are like us and have a dog (not allowed on the trolley), you can take the water taxi. or you could bike - we did not attempt this although we did break out our bicycles to go out to the sticky fingers restaurant to get our favorite smoked wings. it also so happened that the charleston harbor marina and resort was hosting the "smoke on the harbor" bbq throwdown competition. lucky us - MORE wings! we really enjoyed charleston since we practically missed it last year.
fenwick island north anchorage: we stopped one night here to time a troublespot for the next day's passage to beaufort. there wasn't much in the way of a doggie beach. thankfully, it isn't necessary for aurora but we managed to find an empty lot for sale that had a dock so that she could at least be walked to get a little exercise. unfortunately, i can't trust her off the leash so she didn't get much exercise at all. and the dock was bird-poopy - yuck. but it was a gorgeous night at anchor.
beaufort: like last year, we stayed a few days at the downtown marina at beaufort. because it is a small place and was full up, some of the fleet stayed at lady's island marina across the river and we had to walk over a couple of times for meetings and such, crossing over the river on the lady's island swing bridge. tom got a refill on his bottle of fancy olive oil and i got to eat a lot of gelato.
savannah: there was a shrimp market beside the savannah bend marina but a couple of ladies from the fleet encountered a shrimper and bought 30 pounds of shrimp directly from the boat at $2.00 a pound for our very own SAIL rally shrimpfest. they asked if everyone could help peel. unfortunately, what they didn't realize was that the shrimp was cheap because they were small shrimp! tom and i were not part of the peeling committee because we were both busy doing other things but when we checked on them later, it was plain to see that it was a case of the blind leading the blind. i think the marina staff took pity on these people and lent a big steamer. someone made a phone call to get instructions and then they put the guy from michigan (who had never cooked shrimp in his life) in charge! the shrimp that did get peeled got cooked in several different yummy ways and the rest became peel and eat shrimp that came out just right (beginner's luck) and i think everyone had enough to eat - we all had a good time.
queens island anchorage: we left savannah bend marina in shifts depending on where in the marina you were located, what direction you were facing and the state of the current. timing is everything in the states of SC and GA because of the tides, currents and the trouble spots. we wound up at the queens island anchorage but the fleet was scattered all over the GA ICW that night.
saint simons island: we all wound up at the golden isles marina at saint simons island which has an on-site restaurant and the food is excellent! tom had to go to his bank and instead of breaking out his own bicycle, he borrowed one of the marina's rentals, a single-speed clunky thing with a rusty chain - he was afraid that the bicycle wasn't going to make it back! it's a good thing that saint simons island is mostly flat but the bank closed at 4:00 p.m. and we had 30 minutes to get there - it was a photofinish!
cumberland island: from saint simons island, the fleet scattered again because of the thanksgiving holiday. some stayed at golden isles, some went to the saint mary's river anchorage for the cruisers' thanksgiving potluck and some of us went to cumberland island. we love that place but aurora and i were chased by one of the attack wild horses - unprovoked! we were nowhere near that horse and i was making a wide circle and aurora didn't even bark - i just ran towards a nearby building, dragging her with me. yeah, i was scared. horses are BIG!
fernandina beach: we spent thanksgiving at fernandina beach. most everyone else car pooled from wherever they were to st. mary's for the cruisers' thanksgiving potluck. tom and i were just not up to the crowd so it was a nice, quiet and relaxing time for us. i also think our food was better :) we had breakfast the next morning with mark and diana doyle - that breakfast date was almost a year in the making. we kept planning on it and it just never happened until the day after thanksgiving and then the day after that, diana and i went biking over to fort clinch state park. fernandina beach is really a cute little touristy town. thanksgiving day, it was dead. the next day and into the weekend, it was crazy. the bad thing, though, was the soot from the paper mill - it was all over the boat :(
st. augustine: we arrived a day before everyone else. some opted to stop at a marina in jacksonville and others opted to anchor but they all arrived the next day at more or less slack tide. tides and currents are insane in SC, GA and portions of FL. again, as i have said before, timing is everything. tom calls it a three-dimensional chess game, making plans for the next day.
we had our SAIL rally arrival party this evening and now it is over and everyone is on their own, graduates of the rally academy. i'd say that it was a lot less stressful than last year. the weather was better for one thing - it also helps to leave earlier, before it starts to get really cold.
i am looking forward to settling down in cocoa for a while.
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| the fabulous ravenel bridge at charleston |
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| sunset at the fenwick island north anchorage |
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| sunrise at beaufort, SC and the lady's island swing bridge |
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| shrimp trawler - we sure ate a lot of shrimp! |
queens island anchorage: we left savannah bend marina in shifts depending on where in the marina you were located, what direction you were facing and the state of the current. timing is everything in the states of SC and GA because of the tides, currents and the trouble spots. we wound up at the queens island anchorage but the fleet was scattered all over the GA ICW that night.
saint simons island: we all wound up at the golden isles marina at saint simons island which has an on-site restaurant and the food is excellent! tom had to go to his bank and instead of breaking out his own bicycle, he borrowed one of the marina's rentals, a single-speed clunky thing with a rusty chain - he was afraid that the bicycle wasn't going to make it back! it's a good thing that saint simons island is mostly flat but the bank closed at 4:00 p.m. and we had 30 minutes to get there - it was a photofinish!
cumberland island: from saint simons island, the fleet scattered again because of the thanksgiving holiday. some stayed at golden isles, some went to the saint mary's river anchorage for the cruisers' thanksgiving potluck and some of us went to cumberland island. we love that place but aurora and i were chased by one of the attack wild horses - unprovoked! we were nowhere near that horse and i was making a wide circle and aurora didn't even bark - i just ran towards a nearby building, dragging her with me. yeah, i was scared. horses are BIG!
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| the path to sea camp |
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| gnarly live oaks |
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| the beach at cumberland island |
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| tiny sea urchin |
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| the gate at dungeness mansion |
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| the one on the left was the attack horse |
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| the dungeness mansion ruins |
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| thanksgiving dinner |
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| just about the longest fishing pier ever |
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| at fort clinch state park, fernandina beach |
we had our SAIL rally arrival party this evening and now it is over and everyone is on their own, graduates of the rally academy. i'd say that it was a lot less stressful than last year. the weather was better for one thing - it also helps to leave earlier, before it starts to get really cold.
i am looking forward to settling down in cocoa for a while.
chesapeake bay magazine, december 2015
you needed a technician?
plugging along
other magazine articles by tom:
tadhana blog: tom's magazine articles
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
myrtle beach and mcclellanville
last word on the propeller. it did sustain some damage and lost pitch and one blade was off by 4 inches. it is a high tech prop and though we have a spare, tom prefers this one as it is more fuel efficient and we still have a long way to go. also, it is a five-blade and our spare is a four-blade. the prop shop guy said that if it had been the four-blade, we would have felt the vibration a LOT more. in any case, the prop got reconditioned in no time the next day, was installed, we sea trialed and all the numbers were good. off we went to our slip to enjoy the rest of our stay in southport, certainly a very hospitable town.
there was a reception that evening with the mayor and all, and the next day, a group of us took the ferry to bald head island to spend the day and that really was a lot of fun. we rented a golf cart together with another couple, bill and amy wargo, and drove all around. bill went swimming in the ocean while the rest of us just watched. after lunch, amy and i went to check out the sale rack from the place where we rented the golf cart and we both came away with a new dress that was 75% off. when the other ladies from our group found out, they ran off to check the rack out themselves hahaha.... two of them came back with dresses, too :) that evening was a group dinner at mr. p's bistro where tom, whatever it was he ate, got violently ill so we rushed home and he eventually slept it off.
the next morning, we left for south carolina. our original plan was to go directly to osprey marina for the evening but there was no room as another rally was occupying space. we stopped instead at barefoot landing marina which, i thought, was a bit of a treat. it was a nasty, rainy day, but that marina directly abuts a shopping center and lots of restaurants so we were able to walk around and stretch our legs and do a little window shopping and that evening, we had dinner at the "flying fish" restaurant with tom and mary jeffery. i can remember when there was nothing there but a little landing that could probably hold two boats, a small park, and a strip mall. now, it is this huge complex! something to do on a rainy day. our group was scattered - some had stayed back and anchored at the calabash anchorage, some were with us, some were at the marina across the canal, one was left at southport, and the doyles were at osprey marina making sure that there would be room for our fleet the next day.
the following day was another nasty, cold and rainy day, however, there was no rush to get to osprey as room had been made by departing boats and we were to be sitting there for a couple of days. the water level has been quite high and it was a little nerve wracking for some of the sailboats with taller masts to get under the fixed bridges but they all made it and one by one came in to osprey to get dried off. we pumped out and topped off the fuel tanks and went to our assigned slip which was on V dock, quite a hike from the marina office, however, they had golf carts for us to use to get to and fro. osprey marina is really a nice little place with friendly and helpful staff. aurora was fascinated by the neighboring goats and exercised her vocal cords. tom was busy doing troubleshooting for several members of the fleet and passed one of them off to me who was trying to familiarize himself with open CPN and since i am the family geek... two things though: 1) we now use coastal explorer so it has been a while since i've used open CPN; and 2) he had a mac. that evening, we had a potluck dinner together and everyone had a good time.
today, we all left osprey marina early, some of us for mcclellanville, mostly the shoal draft boats and the ones with the big dogs, and the others for an anchorage past mcclellanville. i think most of us did a little bump as the water ran out from underneath us. anyway, with our party of boats, i think this is the most action mcclellanville has seen in a while. we have had to raft up as there is barely room at the inn here. the credit card machine wasn't working at the leland oil company (the marina) so we all had to walk to the seafood market to pay up. well, we were going to go to the market anyway but the men walked back to the boat carrying a bushel of oysters between them and the women followed behind carrying the shrimp. i guess it's a no-brainer what this group is going to be having for dinner tonight!
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| like new once more |
there was a reception that evening with the mayor and all, and the next day, a group of us took the ferry to bald head island to spend the day and that really was a lot of fun. we rented a golf cart together with another couple, bill and amy wargo, and drove all around. bill went swimming in the ocean while the rest of us just watched. after lunch, amy and i went to check out the sale rack from the place where we rented the golf cart and we both came away with a new dress that was 75% off. when the other ladies from our group found out, they ran off to check the rack out themselves hahaha.... two of them came back with dresses, too :) that evening was a group dinner at mr. p's bistro where tom, whatever it was he ate, got violently ill so we rushed home and he eventually slept it off.
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| the beach at bald head island, NC |
the next morning, we left for south carolina. our original plan was to go directly to osprey marina for the evening but there was no room as another rally was occupying space. we stopped instead at barefoot landing marina which, i thought, was a bit of a treat. it was a nasty, rainy day, but that marina directly abuts a shopping center and lots of restaurants so we were able to walk around and stretch our legs and do a little window shopping and that evening, we had dinner at the "flying fish" restaurant with tom and mary jeffery. i can remember when there was nothing there but a little landing that could probably hold two boats, a small park, and a strip mall. now, it is this huge complex! something to do on a rainy day. our group was scattered - some had stayed back and anchored at the calabash anchorage, some were with us, some were at the marina across the canal, one was left at southport, and the doyles were at osprey marina making sure that there would be room for our fleet the next day.
the following day was another nasty, cold and rainy day, however, there was no rush to get to osprey as room had been made by departing boats and we were to be sitting there for a couple of days. the water level has been quite high and it was a little nerve wracking for some of the sailboats with taller masts to get under the fixed bridges but they all made it and one by one came in to osprey to get dried off. we pumped out and topped off the fuel tanks and went to our assigned slip which was on V dock, quite a hike from the marina office, however, they had golf carts for us to use to get to and fro. osprey marina is really a nice little place with friendly and helpful staff. aurora was fascinated by the neighboring goats and exercised her vocal cords. tom was busy doing troubleshooting for several members of the fleet and passed one of them off to me who was trying to familiarize himself with open CPN and since i am the family geek... two things though: 1) we now use coastal explorer so it has been a while since i've used open CPN; and 2) he had a mac. that evening, we had a potluck dinner together and everyone had a good time.
today, we all left osprey marina early, some of us for mcclellanville, mostly the shoal draft boats and the ones with the big dogs, and the others for an anchorage past mcclellanville. i think most of us did a little bump as the water ran out from underneath us. anyway, with our party of boats, i think this is the most action mcclellanville has seen in a while. we have had to raft up as there is barely room at the inn here. the credit card machine wasn't working at the leland oil company (the marina) so we all had to walk to the seafood market to pay up. well, we were going to go to the market anyway but the men walked back to the boat carrying a bushel of oysters between them and the women followed behind carrying the shrimp. i guess it's a no-brainer what this group is going to be having for dinner tonight!
Friday, November 6, 2015
dowry creek, oriental, spooners creek, topsail sound, and southport.
we left elizabeth city on monday, october 26, 2015. the problem was that the night before, i was told that we were not leaving and then later told "i don't know." well, that's fine - that's cruising. no one woke me up the next morning so i figured we were staying but as most cruisers know, the plans can sometimes change from minute to minute. so i started up a load of laundry and took aurora for a walk and in the midst of that, i was told "we are leaving now."
so we left. down the pasquotank and into the albemarle sound where we proceeded to get beat up. water came in through the cockpit scuppers, the cockpit hawse pipes, and through where the isenglass buttons on to the boat. i was on my hands and knees trying to plug up these holes which, ordinarily, would have been plugged up if we had known we were leaving. it's just something that got overlooked. our shoes were floating in the cockpit. anyway, by the time all of that got done and i got up off the floor, i wasn't feeling too good, what with us going downwind and all that diesel exhaust coming into the cockpit. yuck. so back to the pilothouse - we were rocking and rolling and poor aurora was terrified because i had left her all alone. tom was too busy driving, trying to get us not too beat up and avoiding crabpots, too. i just stepped out the port pilothouse door and let the cold air wash over me. i did not puke and neither did aurora so there was nothing to clean up. just had to pick up all the stuff that had been put down on the floor prior. luckily, tom had made a reservation at the alligator river marina - just in case. last year, we had made it all the way to dowry creek. this year, we were ready to stop, especially since we'd never been to the alligator river marina before. there were many good reasons to stop - fried chicken for lunch for starters. we also had ribeyes for dinner at the diner. the boat got washed down and i had internet. only one other boat from the rally was there with us. a few had gone ahead and actually made it all the way to dowry creek. some stopped at the STM 100 mark and anchored for the night, but most stayed in elizabeth city. two had started down the pasquotank and turned back.
we left for dowry creek the next day and stayed there three nights. the internet speed there was terrible. i was so stressed out trying to work. even the signal on my aircard was bad. but dowry creek marina is a really nice little place with such a great staff. happy hour every night (not really my thing) and on the last evening, milton bullock, the last surviving member of the group, the platters, sang for us after we had a big BBQ around the pool. i think we stayed too long in that place - by the time we left, we were ready to go.
from dowry creek, we headed to oriental. we bumped into a lot of old friends over there and it was good to see them. oriental had a big party on halloween night but i was working and tom was sleeping - we are such party poopers - seriously! however, i stopped working for a few minutes to listen to the band playing talking heads' song, psycho killer. i don't think i've ever really gotten to see oriental the two times that i have been there although it is a cute little town. i've always been so busy working, or people are coming over and i'm stressed because we are docked but not plugged in. my preference, if we're not going to be plugged in is to be anchored. however, we got some really nice shrimp from the seafood market and i finally had coffee at the bean and it was really good.
from oriental, we proceeded to spooners creek - in the rain. not much in spooners aside from the fact that it is an excellent provisioning place. the plan was to bring down the bicycles but it rained and rained. at least we were plugged in so i did gobs of laundry and ran the dehumidifier practically to death. in the end, we ended up sharing a taxi with some people to do our grocery shopping.
when we left spooners creek, our group split up. some had gone to beaufort to stage for bumping out. tom led a group to topsail sound - i call them the broken boats (including us) - as we were to arrive earlier at southport where zimmerman marine is located. all the boats that came with us needed some kind of yard work done. the last group was led by mark to mile hammock - this was the party group, docktails every night!
the passage to topsail sound was uneventful. people had been talking about the missing marker at brown's inlet but it was no longer missing by the time we got there. our people came through the onslow beach bridge in one clump as well and there was room in topsail sound for all of us to anchor. we dropped the dinghy and took aurora to the beach. it's too bad that she can't be trusted off the leash or i would have let her run around. i miss consuelo terribly every time aurora pulls on that leash - it was just one less thing. we had a quiet dinner that night at anchor and it was nice and peaceful.
the next morning, we woke up to fog but we left anyway and everyone in our group lined up behind but not close enough and half of them had the figure-8 bridge close on them so we had to wait for them to catch up and take the wrightsville beach bridge together. passage through cape fear river was also uneventful and we all wound up scattered throughout southport's busy and just about full marina. we went straight to the travelift and were hauled out. a friend of tom's from long ago who lives nearby showed up with his car and he and tom took our propeller to the prop shop to be reconditioned while aurora and i wandered around, homeless, until tadhana was plopped back in to the water propless and we spent the night in the travelift slip. we are supposed to get the prop back sometime this afternoon and they will haul us out again, install the propeller, and then we will go to our assigned slip. we are, again, docked but not plugged in so have to run the generator to top off the batteries. it's not as bad as in oriental though - not as congested. it is kind of embarrassing to run the generator when one is docked - all that noise and exhaust.
so, anyway, here we sit, waiting for our propeller. it is going to be a stinking hot day. last year here at southport, we were all dressed like nanuk of the north! one thing nice about southport - DECENT internet speed!
i have been terrible about updating the blog but i've just been too busy and i haven't taken any photos either. i have to say, though, that this is a really nice group of people that we have for the rally this year. the whole thing, too, is much more organized with just the two leaders instead of three. no one butting heads. and that is all i am going to say about THAT :)
one more thing: here is the link to this year's rally's blog. it is updated daily by diana doyle but i get to edit it and put in missing commas haha.... sail the icw
so we left. down the pasquotank and into the albemarle sound where we proceeded to get beat up. water came in through the cockpit scuppers, the cockpit hawse pipes, and through where the isenglass buttons on to the boat. i was on my hands and knees trying to plug up these holes which, ordinarily, would have been plugged up if we had known we were leaving. it's just something that got overlooked. our shoes were floating in the cockpit. anyway, by the time all of that got done and i got up off the floor, i wasn't feeling too good, what with us going downwind and all that diesel exhaust coming into the cockpit. yuck. so back to the pilothouse - we were rocking and rolling and poor aurora was terrified because i had left her all alone. tom was too busy driving, trying to get us not too beat up and avoiding crabpots, too. i just stepped out the port pilothouse door and let the cold air wash over me. i did not puke and neither did aurora so there was nothing to clean up. just had to pick up all the stuff that had been put down on the floor prior. luckily, tom had made a reservation at the alligator river marina - just in case. last year, we had made it all the way to dowry creek. this year, we were ready to stop, especially since we'd never been to the alligator river marina before. there were many good reasons to stop - fried chicken for lunch for starters. we also had ribeyes for dinner at the diner. the boat got washed down and i had internet. only one other boat from the rally was there with us. a few had gone ahead and actually made it all the way to dowry creek. some stopped at the STM 100 mark and anchored for the night, but most stayed in elizabeth city. two had started down the pasquotank and turned back.
we left for dowry creek the next day and stayed there three nights. the internet speed there was terrible. i was so stressed out trying to work. even the signal on my aircard was bad. but dowry creek marina is a really nice little place with such a great staff. happy hour every night (not really my thing) and on the last evening, milton bullock, the last surviving member of the group, the platters, sang for us after we had a big BBQ around the pool. i think we stayed too long in that place - by the time we left, we were ready to go.
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| dowry creek sunset |
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| shrimp trawler |
from dowry creek, we headed to oriental. we bumped into a lot of old friends over there and it was good to see them. oriental had a big party on halloween night but i was working and tom was sleeping - we are such party poopers - seriously! however, i stopped working for a few minutes to listen to the band playing talking heads' song, psycho killer. i don't think i've ever really gotten to see oriental the two times that i have been there although it is a cute little town. i've always been so busy working, or people are coming over and i'm stressed because we are docked but not plugged in. my preference, if we're not going to be plugged in is to be anchored. however, we got some really nice shrimp from the seafood market and i finally had coffee at the bean and it was really good.
from oriental, we proceeded to spooners creek - in the rain. not much in spooners aside from the fact that it is an excellent provisioning place. the plan was to bring down the bicycles but it rained and rained. at least we were plugged in so i did gobs of laundry and ran the dehumidifier practically to death. in the end, we ended up sharing a taxi with some people to do our grocery shopping.
when we left spooners creek, our group split up. some had gone to beaufort to stage for bumping out. tom led a group to topsail sound - i call them the broken boats (including us) - as we were to arrive earlier at southport where zimmerman marine is located. all the boats that came with us needed some kind of yard work done. the last group was led by mark to mile hammock - this was the party group, docktails every night!
the passage to topsail sound was uneventful. people had been talking about the missing marker at brown's inlet but it was no longer missing by the time we got there. our people came through the onslow beach bridge in one clump as well and there was room in topsail sound for all of us to anchor. we dropped the dinghy and took aurora to the beach. it's too bad that she can't be trusted off the leash or i would have let her run around. i miss consuelo terribly every time aurora pulls on that leash - it was just one less thing. we had a quiet dinner that night at anchor and it was nice and peaceful.
the next morning, we woke up to fog but we left anyway and everyone in our group lined up behind but not close enough and half of them had the figure-8 bridge close on them so we had to wait for them to catch up and take the wrightsville beach bridge together. passage through cape fear river was also uneventful and we all wound up scattered throughout southport's busy and just about full marina. we went straight to the travelift and were hauled out. a friend of tom's from long ago who lives nearby showed up with his car and he and tom took our propeller to the prop shop to be reconditioned while aurora and i wandered around, homeless, until tadhana was plopped back in to the water propless and we spent the night in the travelift slip. we are supposed to get the prop back sometime this afternoon and they will haul us out again, install the propeller, and then we will go to our assigned slip. we are, again, docked but not plugged in so have to run the generator to top off the batteries. it's not as bad as in oriental though - not as congested. it is kind of embarrassing to run the generator when one is docked - all that noise and exhaust.
so, anyway, here we sit, waiting for our propeller. it is going to be a stinking hot day. last year here at southport, we were all dressed like nanuk of the north! one thing nice about southport - DECENT internet speed!
i have been terrible about updating the blog but i've just been too busy and i haven't taken any photos either. i have to say, though, that this is a really nice group of people that we have for the rally this year. the whole thing, too, is much more organized with just the two leaders instead of three. no one butting heads. and that is all i am going to say about THAT :)
one more thing: here is the link to this year's rally's blog. it is updated daily by diana doyle but i get to edit it and put in missing commas haha.... sail the icw
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| temporarily out of commission |
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