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There and back again...
Saquatucket Harbor, Harwich Port, MA bound for Key West, FL
irst and foremost, let me apologize for the very short entries in this log... this was such a big step, that I think we were simply overwhelmed by it’s enormity and I just didn’t take the time to write like I had during the other substantially shorter trips. In essence, this trip was not about a trip, but rather a change in lifestyle. Those of you that have been following Rocinante’s Voyages remember that we left her in East Dennis Massachusetts last winter after our “Maine Trip”.
In preparation for our “big trip”, Maria and I went up in August to bring her back home and get her ready… I’ll post a detailed account at a later date, but suffice it to say that Rocinante was in no condition to make the trip home… we (with some help from a friend) spent the next two weeks in Saquatucket Harbor getting her somewhat back to normal and in the end, came back home without her.
Today is Monday, September 18th and we are still not where we should be… aboard Rocinante. It’s been a pretty intense couple of weeks as we try to prepare for our extended cruise… 1 year: the Chesapeake; Florida Keys; Bahamas and finally Maine… we will make it to Maine!
 We have our charts (paper and electronic); we have our cruising guides; spare parts; pots and pans; non-perishable provisions; books; CDs; DVDs; cameras (still and video); propane heater; generator; laptop; 3 cases of wine; 5 bottles of champagne (1 good one); and our clothes… and amazing feat, packing several seasons worth of clothes and hoping to find room for it all on our 30ft boat! Maria is convinced that we would need a moving truck to haul all of this to MA. I rented a minivan… we’ll see.
Time with friends and family cut into our prep time… or did our prep time cut into time with friends and family… don’t know, but in either case we fell a bit behind (1 day, not bad actually) then we started running into the problems… but even those, have, in the end, been fortuitous. As we prepared to shut down the house, I found a bit of a problem down in the garage… a leaking hot water heater. A quick call to an emergency repair service and way too many hundreds of dollars later, we have a new non-leaking hot water heater… just think how bad it could have been if it had started leaking after we had left!
Any way, we should be on our way tomorrow and aboard Rocinante by nightfall. A few days stowing our “stuff” and picking up our perishables and we should be on our way. First stop, Vineyard Haven, Martha’s Vineyard.
Saquatucket Harbor - Friday, September 22, 2006
t’s another glorious day here in Cape Cod… day three to be exact! 
Yep, time is no longer measured using a normal work calendar - it is no longer Friday, September 22, 2006 it is day 3 of our new life aboard Rocinante! We got here Tuesday evening around 9:30 PM and crashed for the night. At some point that night, I was awakened by flashes of lightning… it was one heck of a storm! The following morning, day 1, it was a bit overcast, but not too cold and you could see it was going to clear up… we got dressed and headed out for breakfast at Dino’s..
We had a lot of unpacking and stowing to do, time to get to it… long story short, it took us the better part of day 1 to move all of our stuff onto Rocinante and another day and ½ to properly stow it!
This morning we started bringing the clothes on board… that process has not been as arduous, we should be done before today is out. That means we should be able to finish off our remaining tasks including shopping for perishables, doing laundry, haircuts, etc. and be on our way to our first layover, Martha’s Vineyard by Sunday or Monday.
Northport, NY - Friday, September 29th, 2006
ow 134 miles on the same tack… what a ride!
We finally left Saquatucket Harbor on Tuesday around 9:00 AM for our trip across to Vineyard Haven Harbor. The trip started out OK; 10-15 knot winds out of the west, with gusts to 20 kts. and 2 - 3 ft. seas. For a few hours, we where heading Southwest towards the main channel in Nantucket Sound and had a nice enough ride… unfortunately, we then had to head West and got beat to hell and back! Wind dead on the nose, heavy swells bringing us nearly to a standstill motor-sailing with our speed hovering somewhere around 3kts… we didn’t reach Vineyard Haven until almost 7:00 PM!
To top it all off, we had so much water coming over the bow it got in through the mushroom vent and found new leaks we never knew we had; Just about everything was wet, but worst of all was our v-berth and bedding... soaked!
With a break in the weather forecast for Wednesday and nasty weather predicted for subsequent days, we decided to make a run for Northport the following morning. We got up, fueled and headed out… not bad, 10-15 knots, but this time, from the south… and must importantly it held all the way to Northport! 
What a night, a bit rolly with the swell coming in from the Atlantic until we got past Montauk point, but not bad at all… the tides were in our favor and we shot through The Race clocking 8.2 SOG (speed over ground) and just kept going!
Sliver of an orange moon, clear starry skies and that lovely constant wind from the south... it just doesn’t get any better! To top it all off, my wife, Maria saw her very first shooting star across that moon on her very first night watch!
We got into Northport Bay and anchored just outside Centerport Harbor almost exactly 24 hours from when we left… around 10:30 AM and we’re now sitting here tied at the Northport town dock trying to figure our next run… it’s gotten pretty cold and nasty weather is forecast through Tuesday… we’ll probably make a run for Sandy Hook tonight … we’ll see.
Sandy Hook, NJ - Monday, October 9th, 2006
n the Move again after almost two weeks in Northport!
One thing we know for sure, Mother Nature and Father Murphy are the ones truly in charge on this trip!
We were all set to go, everything in it’s place, course set, let loose the lines and push off from the dock... about 2 boat lengths away, smoke coming up into the cockpit from down below... what!? Yep, turn around, back to the dock tie up, and duck below to investigate (not exactly that calmly) - Engine troubles; a leak in the exhaust system - Great!
These little setbacks are never fun, but on the other hand, we had a great time in Northport while we waited out the repairs. We met some great folks and went for a nice sail yesterday afternoon on their boat. When we got back, we all went back to Rocinante and had a great time hanging in the cockpit with pizza and some wine! 
Our friend Joe came out to see us on Saturday and we had a great time showing him around one of our favorite towns!
With the exhaust finally fixed, we got ready to leave, but Gales of the NJ coast kept us pinned down. On one occasion, we left the town dock and anchored out in Centerport Harbor for the night to await the morning tide for our run to Sandy Hook and were awoken at 2:00 AM with Rocinante bucking like crazy... yet another storm coming through!
Seeing a small weather window opening up, yesterday afternoon we took off for Litttle Neck Bay and spent an amazing evening anchored just inside the bay with stunning views of the Throgs Neck Bridge! The following morning, we headed out down the east river just in time to make Hell gate at slack and catch the ride on the ebb tide... we got a close up view of Lady Liberty (check out the Photo Album) and headed out under the Verrazano Bridge and SW towards Sandy Hook.
We had Tom and Kathy stop by for dinner... our first time rafting up!
Had a great time and then enjoyed a cup of coffee and a couple of chocolate chip cookies while we watched the moon rise... this doesn't suck!
Tomorrow, we make a run down the NJ coast and should be in Cape May by noon on Wednesday.
Cape May, NJ - Wednesday, October 11th, 2006
ight now Rocinante is anchored in Cape May harbor along with eight of her brethren… we were the fourth to arrive, somewhere around 9:30 this morning… I’m sure more will join our little flotilla as this dreary day progresses. I’ve just put a very well worn copy of the Region 3 chart kit away… sliding it underneath the Bahamas chart kit… As my good friend George would say at this point - “heh heh” and pulled out a brand spanking new copy of region 4!
Maria and I are absolutely exhausted, elated, ecstatic, etc., etc., etc. 
We left Sandy Hook Bay yesterday morning at 10:30 AM, shooting for an 11:42 AM arrival in Cape May. We worked our way out the channel, past false hook out into the Atlantic until we rounded the last marker at 12:51, Green Can “#1” of course!
We steered a compass course of 188 magnetic and headed out… Oh, did I forget to mention that the autopilot is shot? Yep, Father Murphy again!
With no wind whatsoever for the first few hours, we motored… by 2:04 PM, we had logged a grand total of 6.7 miles made good… whoopee!
The wind finally started to fill in from the West and off we went under full canvas… OK, we picked up half a knot… still, better than just motoring.
By 5:00 PM, the wind had picked up a bit more and we were having a grand time…
Close hauled, 6.4 kts, clear blue skies, mid 70s, Maria at the helm and John Cougar MellenCamp on the stereo!
We had a hell of a ride well into the night, but...
there is always a but, isn’t there?
The night sky got cloudy, the seas and wind picked up and the direction was no longer so pleasant or helpful for that matter… we spent the last 40+ nautical miles fighting our way towards Cape May… while beautiful, the lights of Atlantic City lingered far too long on the horizon and the “pon pons” on the radio always make us feel uneasy... (notice from the USCG of a boat with trouble, or a person in the water. It's a notice to all boaters to help if they can)
Dawn, didn’t bring much relief… gray skies and lumpy seas kept us on edge, but we were almost there… we continue to work our way towards the entrance to Cape May… compass needle swinging wildly; 240 degrees, 270 degrees, 230 degrees once or twice 330 degrees… what a mess!
Finally in the distance loomed our destination… yes, loomed!
Out from the gray coastline jutted two arms of deadly stone and in between a maelstrom… not exactly the loving arms of comfort and safety we were longing for, but it was what we had to do and so we did… we plunged head long into the confused seas working our way towards the promise of calm waters… since I’m writing this, you already know we managed to make our way in not only past the mess Mother Nature had prepared for us, but past two “yahoos” that decided that the center of the entrance was the best place to drop anchor and fish! In the last few yards we got struck broadside by an errant wave and were instantly soaked to the bone!
In the end, a small price to pay!
And so as I mentioned earlier, Rocinante is anchored in Cape May harbor… Maria and I safely in her care.
We were so exhausted from the last 24hrs, that once I was certain the anchor was secure, we just crashed and slept until almost 1:30 in the afternoon. At that point, things got a little funky, as the US Coast Guard practiced maneuvers not more than 20 yards off our bow - wow those choppers really kick up the seas!
Anyway, we decided that this wasn’t exactly how we wanted to spend our time and opted to pay for a marina slip... it was great!
We were walking distance to a great seafood shop
Honest, not our newly defined walking distance of 1-2 miles each way, this place was actually the equivalent of perhaps 2-3 city blocks and was amazing... fleet of fishing boats right next door kept them well supplied with some of the freshest seafood we’ve ever tasted!
Well, that did it, we decided to spend a few days exploring this great little town and as you can plainly see in the accompanying picture, enjoyed every bit of time we spent here!
We really can’t recommend it strongly enough, stop by and visit, you won’t regret it!
Reedy Island, DE - Monday, October 16th, 2006
ote to self, avoid heading NW with a Northerly tide when the weather calls for a NW wind!
Fortunately, it was only a 5-10 knot wind, so while a bit uncomfortable, it wasn’t bad. 
Well folks, we made our way up the Delaware Bay yesterday and anchored behind Reedy Island for the night… Gorgeous!
It was incredible calm, with two other sailboats anchored near by… we were starving after a reasonably long day on the water, so after yet another flawless anchoring process we settled in and had some nice shrimp as an appetizer (picked up in Cape May before we left) a nice bowl of beef stew (Maria cooked up a couple of batches before we left Cape May) and a good hunk of warm bread with butter and of course a glass of wine.
We sat in the cockpit as we usually do in complete awe of the scene that unfolds around us each evening…
We are definitely two very fortunate individuals!
Almshouse Creek, MD - Tuesday, October 17th, 2006
orning all!
We had a long run yesterday from Reedy Island on Delaware Bay to Almshouse Creek (about 7 nm up the South River – just South of Annapolis) now known as George’s Creek.
 We awoke to another beautiful sunrise and a fog cloaked anchorage… we could barely see the shore and couldn’t see the other two sailboats a few hundred feet off our bow… gorgeous!
Anxious to get underway, we had a quick breakfast and prepped Rocinante for her trip through the C&D Canal and down the Chesapeake… by 8:30, the fog had burned off enough to see the beautiful church on the banks and to wind our way through the markers, so we headed out… we had a great trip through the canal, met one large tanker coming out as we went in, but not a one while in transit!
The trip down the Elk River into the Chesapeake was quite nice, not much wind and dead on the nose as usual, so we simply motored… beautiful coastline!
Somewhere around Swan Creek, we realized we were not going to make Almshouse before sunset and put in a call to George… we couldn’t find a convenient anchorage along the way (other than simply “pulling over”) and the weather for tomorrow called for lots of rain and 15-20 knot winds… we were going for it!
No problem really, at this point, Maria and I have plenty of night sailing experience… especially in areas like this where the navigation aids are plentiful and lit… the creak on the other hand seemed like a challenge and George offered to come out to the entrance and guide us in.
Well, as anticipated, it was a pretty straight forward run the rest of the way and we almost made Thomas Point Shoals before dark, but not quite. As we sailed down the Chesapeake, I picked it up as a 6 second buoy… hey, I figured it out before we hit it!
We rounded green can “SR” into the South River and headed for R”4” and then turned onto a course of 320m looking for the channel markers… a few minutes later we found the first one, unlit G ”5” about 10 feet off our port side… where the #$@&! did that come from!?
We decided to follow the lit red markers… R6…R8…R10…R12 and then a light flashing in the water to port… George just ahead of G”15”… hard to port repeating to myself: “mustn’t hit the George, mustn’t hit the George”
Our pilot boarded Rocinante, tied off his kayak and led us up the creek to the marina basin where we anchored for the night. Sitting in the cockpit with George, watching him enjoy his glass of iced tea and a bit of chocolate, we knew this was a special place.
Annapolis, MD - Tuesday, November 11th, 2006
ell folks, here we are... sorry for the delay in updates, it's been a bit crazy around here... still is!
We'll be sitting in Annapolis until sometime in early December...
That’s what I posted for everyone to see... what was going on was another story all together!
Life caught up with us while in Annapolis, Maria had to head south to Florida to be with her dad - pacemaker (everything turn out fine) and I shot out to Texas to speak at a conference (prior commitments), but the real secret, was that we had decided that we were ready for a bigger boat!
The plan had been to spend the year aboard our faithful Rocinante, a Catalina 30 TRB and at the end of the year decide if we liked the whole concept of cruising full time. If we did, we would sell the house, buy a larger boat and sail off into the sunset... well, here we were in Annapolis, our Catalina has served us well, but... we decide to boat shop... BIG Mistake!
We looked at a lot of boats and finally decided that a Hanse 400e was the boat for us... German, supposedly solidly built, fast and most importantly of all, it had tons of space for us to be comfortable living aboard... we bought it!
The next month or so was spent with George fitting her out... we installed all the electronics, replaced the stove, added a second house bank (batteries), a bigger, “smart” alternator, a wind generator, an inverter, a flat screen TV (hey come on, we’re not barbarians!), auto pilot, radar, etc., etc., etc. We had a custom mattress made up for the main stateroom (OK, it’s a v-berth) custom upholstery and window treatments... after all, this was our home!
It’s December 10th and Baby It’s Cold Outside! The 38° feels like 30° with the wind blowing in across the harbor... but we’re nice and cozy aboard Rocinante... gotta love these little electric heaters!
The plan is to head out on or about the 11th... weather permitting of course, so we'll keep you posted as we move south in the coming weeks... not sure what we'll do at this point... probably head down the ICW as far as Beufort and then head outside; we might head down making a bunch of outside jumps or we might simply go nonstop outside (about 5-7 days)... we'll see.
Portsmouth, VA - Friday, December 22nd, 2006
erry Christmas to all!
Needless to say, Maria and I are doing fine. As usual, nothing is going according to plan, but then again, that is part of the package... We didn’t leave Annapolis until December, 22nd, but during that time, we met a ton of great people, made a few good friends and had front row seats to the most spectacular Christmas Boat parade you’ve ever seen (check out the Photo Album)
We left Annapolis on Wednesday... did an overnighter down the Chesapeake and are currently in Portsmouth Virginia... Yippee!
It's actually 10 degrees warmer... which at this time of year makes a big difference!
Anyway, everything is good, Rocinante is all decked out for the holidays!
We spent the better part of the day resting up from the overnight. And then decided to hit the town. Had a great time, hit a bunch of the “must do” tourist attractions and then simply hung out!
When all was said and done, we decided to drive up to NJ to spend Christmas Eve with my folks... the fun ensued as I tried to rustle up a rental car on December 24th!
As usual, where there is a will, there is a way... ended up taking a cab to the airport in order to rent a car, but we did it and were soon on our way. No one knew we were heading up, and they were all quite surprised when we showed up at the door... I think my Blue Crocs and bare feet had something to do with it - LOL!
Anyway, we had a good time and then headed back home!
Time to go up the mast to take off the instruments (need all the clearance I can get to go under the fixed bridges) 64ft mast 65ft bridges!
Here I am on top of the world... picture taken while up the mast removing said instruments!
Oriental, NC - Friday, January 4th, 2007
appy New Year folks!
Hope this post finds you all well and enjoying the New Year.
Well, we made it through all the bridges, including the 64' one just fine... except of course for the unnerving approaches and sound of the VHF antenna scrapping along the bottom of the structure - remember curb feelers?! 
It was a beautiful trip down the Dismal Swamp canal, ending in a glorious night in Elizabeth City with the most amazing Sunrise.
On the 29th, we spent a great night anchored just off green marker 39 on the Alligator River just around the bend from the Pungo River Canal... yep, the middle of nowhere!
We spent New Year's Eve near Belhaven, NC... no internet, no cell phone (Verizon or Cingular)... closest place to pick up a couple of lobsters for our traditional New Year's Eve dinner was over 30 miles away at...
wait for it,
wait for it...
yep, Walmart!
Anyway, I managed to pull it off thanks to a ride from the marina owner who said he had to go there anyway... I think he just felt sorry for me!
We had a great New Year's Eve Dinner and spent New Year's Day watching "The Return of the King"... windy and raining all day... January 2nd turned out to be a good day for an unplanned departure... a bit windy, but clear blue skies and rising temperatures, so we decided to head out... a bit choppy, 2-3 foot seas with the occasional 4 footer, but not bad. By the time we reached the Neuse River, the winds had died just enough for a comfortable ride into Oriental Harbor, NC... finally cell phone coverage and internet access... yippee!
Dewey Creek, SC - Saturday, January 13th, 2007
e’ve hit South Carolina!
Just a few pictures for your viewing pleasure!
Sunrise in our cypress swamp anchorage this morning;
Sunset over Dewey Creek this evening
The two of us happier than two pigs in...
Charleston, SC - Saturday, February 3rd, 2007
ife... what happens while you're making other plans!
Well, it's been a while since we posted...
Right now, Rocinante is sitting in Charleston, awaiting our return.
To make a long story short, a couple of family "emergencies" popped up... the first, some fairly serious surgery had us down in Florida and the second, a death in the family here in NJ.
In both cases, all is as expected, a part of life and both reaffirmed our decision to cruise. We'll be returning to Charleston soon and continuing our journey through life...
And so, I dedicate this post to Maria Contijoch, a true free spirit, living life as it came, enjoying each and every day until the end... she'll be missed and more importantly remembered... especially every time we have ice cream!
Charleston, SC - Wednesday, February 14th, 2007
ocinante's Travels - take two!
Well, we made it, we're back in Charleston - Happy Valentines Day!
It was cutting it close al the way... we left at 6:00 AM yesterday morning and hit major snow down the NJ coast through Washington and a bit beyond... fortunately, it wasn't sticking and traffic was practically non-existent!
We started getting rain once we hit the Carolinas, heavy intermittent downpours in SC and torrential rains about 15 minutes from the marina... traffic came to almost a complete standstill! Ended almost as soon as it started and got to the marina around 5:30 PM... not bad for 800 miles stopping for lunch, fuel and a couple of "pit-stops"
I've got to tell you, as nice as it was being "home", It was great being back on he boat... guess it's really "home" now!
We slept great... wicked winds last night, nice for a brief period this morning, picking up again for the rest of today... should be down in the 10-15 knot range tomorrow and we'll be heading for Beaufort on Friday. The weather is not the best - another cruising couple we’ve met here in Charleston mention that the “Lowcountry Blues Festival” is in town for the week and suggested since the weather was supposed to be nicer in a bunch of days, we might as well just hangout and enjoy the festival... what a concept!
Not only was it great blues, but when we finally did leave, it was 10-degrees warmer!
Savannah GA - Wednesday, February 21st, 2007
ipee... another state bites the dust!
Yep, we've finally left SC and entered Georgia!
Last night we were anchored in Beaufort, SC... fairly windy, so we fired up the wind generator for the first time... amazingly enough it worked ;-)
We watched a few hours of TV and ran the Webasto (diesel heater, but electric hot air distribution) all night long... in the morning the batteries were at 12.72 (normally after similar use they end up in the low 11s)
Tonight we are staying at the Isle of Hope Marina... head out tomorrow morning... anchor in Darien River... should be in Fernandina Beach, FL on Saturday late morning / early afternoon!
Darien, GA - Friday, February 23rd, 2007
olphins, Dolphins everywhere!
We had another great day yesterday... so glad we took John D's advice to stay put and wait for warmer weather!
It was quite breezy 25 steady with gusts, but it was around 75 degrees, so it was not bad at all... while some of the large rivers and St. Catherine's Sound were a bit choppy, we timed (got lucky) our arrival where wind and current were one... so again, not bad... we hit all the low water areas at or near high tide... etc., etc., etc.
We traversed some of the most beautiful areas we've seen to date... seas of marsh grass with so many shades of gold it left you speechless... we had planned on anchoring for the night in the mouth of the Darien River and arrived sometime around 4:30... talk about an easy day!
We sailed up the Darien looking for a nice spot to anchor... turned into the wind (around 15-20) dropped anchor and it grabbed right away... let out a total of 80 feet of chain... set the snubber (hate this thing... another topic) and backed down hard... we were set for the night.
Flipped the switch on the wind generator... pulled out the old rod and reel... had 45 minutes before starting dinner, perhaps fresh fish... nope... oh well, didn't want to have to clean up all that blood off our nice teak anyway ;-)
Linguine with red clam sauce it is!
It was now just before sunset, the winds had died down completely, the river awash with the colors of the sky... it just couldn't get any better than this... and then it did... a small pod of dolphins (about 5 or 6) swam up the river giving us quite a show... no, not the full body out of water jumps you see on TV, but rather very graceful arches just breaking the surface of the water... again, we thought “couldn't get better than this”... and then it did... the night sky put on it's show as one small twinkling light after another appeared until you could no longer count them... we just laid there and enjoyed!
This morning we're just hanging out waiting for a few extra feet of water before transiting the "Little Mud River"... not sure where the next stop will be... we're shooting for Fernandina Beach, but that might be a stretch with such a late start... unless of course we once again get lucky!
Jekyll Island, GA - Sunday, February 25th, 2007
or what it’s worth...
Maria and I are so glad we decided to stick to heading down the ICW as opposed to jumping outside. We are currently on Jekyll Island and it is fabulous... an absolute most see!
We left our anchorage on the Darien River late Friday morning allowing for a bit of flood for help through the Little Mud River... as we rounded a bend in the river, we were hailed by Caroline, a really nice green Ketch that we had been seeing for the last couple of days... they were on their way as well and suggested we head through first... very nice of them ;-)
So off we went... never saw anything below 9.5 on our depth sounder... mind you, that would have been 6.5 earlier and a little nerve racking, but certainly doable... we were making good time, but not good enough... by the time we got to the Highway Bridge, the tide board was showing 64 (our mast height!) and we had a good 2 foot swell, so we dropped the hook and waited for several hours before we could get going again... about 1 1/2 hours in, Caroline came chugging along, easily cleared the bridge and went on her way... talk about hurry up and wait... they must have been grinning ear-to-ear!
We made the best of it had lunch, read a bit, etc... all-in-all, I can think of lots worse ways to spend a few hours ;-)
Realizing that there was no way in hell we could make Fernandina Beach before dark, I started looking for a place to stay... based on distance, we decided on Jekyll Island and just to avoid the same issue, we decided to be south of the Jekyll Island Bridge... after all, it was low tide and we would have plenty of room!
That made the decision for us and we settled on Jekyll Harbor Marina... negotiating Jekyll Creek and the Mud Flats were a cinch... I've got to say, we've found that Georgia's use of range markers has made the navigation incredibly straight forward!
I've got to tell you it's a great little marina, good people, courtesy bikes, courtesy car (must stay on the island) clean facilities, decent pub, etc.
We settled in and had front row seats to a fabulous sunset...
The following morning we borrowed a couple of bikes and headed out to explore a small section (~5 miles round trip) of the islands bike trails leading through maritime forests, marshes, and beaches... absolutely beautiful!
We ended the day back on Rocinante... Maria decided to hang in the cockpit with a good book and I, after conversations and some quick lessons from Randy (SV Strider), went about putting eye-splices on our dock lines and whipping the ends...
OK, so I'm a complete newbie and this sort of stuff really floats my boat... what can I tell you... I had a blast!
We enjoyed one more sunset... and hit the hay!
Today, we mostly hung out and did maintenance type stuff... laundry, topped off coolant, picked up new heavy-duty hose to replace the one that bust on Saturday while scrubbing down Rocinante (stay away from those flat roll up hoses, this is the third for me), did some more planning (next stop Ft. George River, FL) and wrote this update... we've decided to stay one more day to visit the historic district here and will get underway first thing Tuesday morning!
No Name Harbor - Key Biscayne, FL - Thursday, March 29th, 2007
know, I know... I've been negligent and I've been lazy... I promise, I’ll come back and fill in the missing days...
We are anchored just outside "No Name" harbor (Key Biscayne)!
Left Ft. Lauderdale this morning... caught 10:00 AM opening of the 17th St. Bridge and headed out... 10-15 kts with a short period in the 18-23 range... a bit overcast, but sun peeked out every now-and-again... water was violet blue in areas and then opal green in others... 4-6ft swells, schools of flying fish... spotted lighthouse and worked our way in...
circled inside "No Name" harbor at 3:03 a bit tight, so anchored out instead... windgen cranking away producing lots of free amps... well, not exactly cranking and not exactly free but you get the idea ;-)
Might seem silly, but thanks to all that have made this possible!
Rodriguez Key, FL - Thursday, April 5th, 2007
odriguez Key!
Well; I’ve got to tell you, today was a glorious day!
We got up around 7ish, had breakfast, pulled up anchor, pumped out and headed out from No Name Harbor in Key Biscayne around 9:30 or so… forecast was for SE winds 5-10kts… we had about 2-4ft heading out into Hawk’s Channel… much better than heading out from Ft. Lauderdale!
We were motoring along at about 5.7 kts or so for a while (so about a knot of current against us) and the wind ranging from 10-15 kts around 75 degrees off our port bow… up went the main sail (didn’t forget the tie-downs this time!) out went the jib and off went the engine… ahh!
We had an amazing day winds stayed in the 10-15kt range for most of the trip and we averaged around 6 kts… for about an hour or so, the winds picked up and stayed in the 18-20 range, so we put in a reef (I know, whimps!) but, we where cruising along at 6.5 with that configuration and enjoying every minute of it… as a matter of fact, we even hit 7.1 in a couple of the 20+ gusts!
Once the winds dropped back into the 14-17 range, we shook out the reef and continued cruising along somewhere in the 6.3 range all the way to Rodriguez Key!
We worked our way back into the anchorage and dropped anchor sometime around 5:30 in about 7ft… took a quick dip, Maria prepared dinner (some leftover meat sauce I made last weekend) with some penne and a loaf of fresh baked bread - yep, fresh baked, Maria made a fresh loaf late Monday evening, let it rise over night and baked is first thing yesterday morning… yummy!
We’re now enjoying a lovely Sunset while I’m sipping on my G&T
Not sure when (could be as early as tomorrow), but our next stop is Marathon.
Marathon Key, FL - Sunday, April 8th, 2007
aster - Tequila Sunrise Party in Marathon!
This past Sunday, we took part in our very first ever, honest to goodness, cruiser party... what a Bunch of wackos!
We had a blast!
A couple of pictures of the wackos in question... Maria is the wacko wearing the sun hat with the orange ribbon:
One more of said group... the fellow in the cap keeping his distance is Eric Stone
They insisted on a pagan ritual known locally as "The roasting of the Peeps"... accompanied by a rendition of pretty woman!
I can’t even begin to tell you what a great bunch of folks these were. We already realize that cruisers were a bread unto themselves, but these folks were great. They welcomed us into their group with upon arms and made us feel like we had known them since forever!
We look forward to hooking up with them again in the not too distant future.
Key West, FL - Friday, April 13th, 2007
ey West!
After a couple of false starts out of marathon (fronts kept coming through), we finally made it to Key West.
With another front scheduled to come through, we decided to take a mooring behind Fleming Key rather than risk dragging in the crowded anchorage
Planning on heading out as soon as the front passed, we decided to pay by the day - mistake, we ended up staying here for over three weeks!
Every time we though we were going to head to the Dry Tortugas, another front was forecast!
But we made the best of it... in between the passing fronts, we enjoyed walking about Key West, tried a bunch of restaurants and I finally got my scuba certification... Woo Hoo!
 All in all, we had a great time and in the end, decided to just start working our way North again.
The Dry Tortugas would have to wait.
St. Simons Island, GA - Friday, May 18th, 2007
ell, we just finished our latest northbound leg... an overnight off-shore trip of ~27 hours... left Cape Canaveral, FL the day before yesterday at 11:30 and pulled into St. Simons Island, GA yesterday afternoon at around 3:00... good trip, 4-6 ft seas, but 8-10 second period so basically, big swells... wind shifted and died around 6:00AM this morning about 30 miles off St. Marys Inlet and we ended up motoring the rest of the way... put up sails a couple of times, but with the rolly seas and light winds, the boom simply banged back and forth a lot, so down they came.
We checked out St. Simon's Island today, and decide to stay the weekend... next stop Charlestown!
A few pics...
Shrimp Boat coming out St. Simons Sound
St. Simons Lighthouse
Charleston, SC - Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007
ell, another beautiful night was spent sailing from St. Simons Island, GA to Charleston, SC... 
winds out of the SE at 10+ all night long until around 6:00AM (seems to be the magic hour) when it shifted to the East and just about died... caught the flood tide just around 9:00AM outside Charleston and rode it all the way to the Charleston City Marina (hit 8.3 at one point!) tied up and currently enjoying a serving of eggs over easy with link sausage and creamy grits!
Oh yea, we experienced our first dolphin escort last night... not a great picture, but we sure as heck enjoyed it... 3 or 4 of them stayed with us for close to 30 minutes... it was pretty dark, but we actually caught a glimpse of the gray speckled light undersides as they turned sideways to Rocinante... very, very cool!
New Bern, NC - Saturday, June 9th, 2007
ew Bern to Portsmouth...
Well, we spent quite a bit more time than we thought in New Bern, but it was worth it... first of all, we had breakfast every morning at the "Baker's Square" (227 Middle Street) , a nice little restaurant owned and operated by a Mennonite family, featuring home cooking... I've got to say, I didn't care for their version of grits... Charleston spoiled me, but absolutely loved the french toast with homemade butter syrup... as a matter of fact, I loved it so much, I had the same thing every day we where there!
We also found a great fresh seafood place,Tyron Palace Seafood Market at 520 South Front Street, super fresh fish and reasonably priced... picked up a couple of porgies the first day, then a dozen Maryland Blue grabs and on another occasion a couple of nice flounder... they'll even cook them up right there for you... they've got several options; fried, fried or if you prefer, fried ;-)
Naturally, I took them back to the boat au' natural and cooked them up myself... actually Maria / Adita cooked up the porgies (blackened) I pre-cooked the crabs in beer, cleaned them and then made up a pretty nice Creole sauce to finish cooking them... flounder were filleted and lightly dusted with a seasoned flour mix then sautéed in a bit of olive oil... yummy!
Oh yes, we also ate at Captain Ratty's a local seafood restaurant, cruiser hangout where we are now local legends! Actually, they have thousands of these burgees all over the restaurant... but hey, now we too hang here... besides, how many others have a lovely picture of Don Quixote fighting with a windmill?
Yes, that’s me - Amazing what a bunch of months on a sailboat will do for your complexion ;-)
 Last but not least, we also purchased a piece of "swampland" as a future home site... technically not waterfront, but nothing in front of us other than unbuildable CAMA marshlands, so we have great views of the Neuse river from a second level... (you can actually catch a glimpse from the ground, but not much) and it's walking distance to a great marina... we're on the waiting list!
We eventually left New Bern and continued our trek north, this time on the inside... the ICW (atlantic Intra-Coastal Waterway)... it was a long but pleasant trip down the Neuse across the Pamlico and up into the Pungo River where we stopped and anchored for the night, just North of G15 in a great little cove. As has become more or less the norm, we had a beautiful sunset..
.
Someday, I'll learn to take night shots with my digital camera, but for now, you'll simply have to take my word for it... the night sky was GORGEOUS! Not sure if it was the clear night, the location (no light pollution) or the phase of the moon... probably all of them combined, but even when we were 30 miles out, we didn't have such a beautiful show of stars.
We pulled up anchor the next morning and continued north towards Elizabeth City... a great trip with a nice breeze... at some point along the way, as we were catching up to the boat in front of us, they put out their jib... I of course, took this as a challenge and ordered the first mate to unfurl our head sail... they wouldn't get away from us that easy!
Sure enough, as the winds shifted, back and forth, our superior ability to change tack quickly paid off and we passed them by... then again, it might have been our self tacking jib that got the better of them ;-)
They wasted time turning head-to-wind in order to raise their main, but to no avail... the victory was ours!
As an acknowledgment of our superior sailing skills, an A-10 Thunderbolt (Wart Hog) gave us a victory pass
We finally made it to Elizabeth City where the real challenge began... sliding into one of the town slips with, of course, a lovely side breeze! Several aborted attempts at backing into the slip later, I reluctantly, but successfully got Rocinante in to her stall nose first... of course, we had great line handling from always helpful cruisers that were already there watching our failed attempts!
 We were greeted by Fred Fearing, the Senior Rose Buddy I wrote about earlier who presented Maria with her rose.. we spent some time talking with a couple of the other cruisers and found that we would be heading south with company... the folks on "No Doubt", a 50ft. beneteau, were also on their way south and would be heading out around 6:00 AM (same time we planned on heading out) in order to make the 8:30 lock opening at South Mills... later that evening we headed across the street for a surprisingly good dinner... Maria had some very good blah-blah-blah encrusted snapper and I had, of course, rib eye steak and a nice bottle of a California red... we headed back to the docks and spent some time chatting with folks that were heading south... once again, I was able to pay back just a little bit of the help we've gotten along the way by answering some of their questions for heading south... a couple of good anchorages, a couple of good marinas, some areas to watch for shoaling, etc.
Well morning came and off we went... about fifteen minutes behind "No Doubt"... soon we caught up to them and settled in at a comfortable distance behind them making our way North.
Why didn't I pass them up you ask? Ahh, they had a 6 ft. draft and we have a 5.5 ft. draft...
A strategy that would pay off in spades!
We finally made it to the South Mills lock and went through... four sailboats in all, one of them rafted alongside us... we had ourselves a flotilla!
We made our way through the dismal swamp... actually "the ditch", it's more common name, is a very pretty area... especially with "No Doubt" leading the way through this rather shallow area! ...picture yourself walking across a mine field with some other guy walking ahead of you holding his ears while he pokes the ground with a stick... life was good, we had nothing to worry about and were able to sit back and simply enjoy the view!
BTW, heading south, I was the guy with the stick!
It was slow going, there was no way we could make the Deep Creek lock by 11:30, so we were shooting for the 1:30 opening... several hours later, we crossed over into virginia!
When the lock opened at Deep Creek, it was an all out race... we had two bridges ahead of us that we could just make before they went on restricted schedule at 3:30 PM!
We just made it.. finally Portsmouth... Next Stop Annapolis!
Annapolis, MD - Wednesday, July 4th, 2007
erfect timing!
Until next time,
Carlos & Maria
SV Rocinante
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