Now it gets different

In the distance lies the south end of Elbow Cay and to the right is the start of Tiloo Cay. We'd gotten as far as the south end of Elbow Cay last year, even if it was only by golf cart, driving from Hope Town. This time, though, we were anchored off of Tiloo Cay, further south than we'd gotten before. We'd heard about Cracker P's on the morning Cruisers Net broadcasts but never been there. Now we were there, having dinghied up north from our anchorage. It was about a mile's ride each way, further than we'd dinghied before, and we felt quite daring making the trip. We returned to Cracker P's later, and the ride, this time, was "eh, only a mile". This is the point where we started seeing places we hadn't seen before, and conditions got a little more challenging. This is where things got different.

Float tree

Many homes decorate their trees with floats harvested from beachcombing, but this tree takes the prize for the most floats. Any many of them are quite imaginatively decorated.

It's about the view

As we toured Orchid Bay, we saw a few platforms or towers like this. They're not there to amuse the tourists. In fact, we had to do a little wrangling to even be allowed to just drive around and look at the place. There aren't a lot of tourists here. The towers are put up to show prospective buyers what the view from their new house will be. We weren't in the market for a house, but we used the towers anyway.

The Crossing

Last year we waited out the weather in Lake Worth Lagoon and finally found a brief weather window to let us cross from Florida to West End, on the western tip of Grand Bahama. We crossed with four other boats. We left at four in the morning so that we'd have all day to see what was going on out in the Gulf Stream (not much, really, although the start of the trip was interesting). This time we thought we might be able to leave but we weren't sure how conditions were in the Gulf Stream. We talked with a boat that left at a civilized hour of the morning and decided that we ought to go for it, too. Our plan had been to move the five miles from the lagoon to near Peanut Island, right at the mouth of the inlet. But after talking with C-Gull Seeker on the radio, we said "time to go!" and dropped the hook at lunch time. By mid-afternoon we were out of the inlet and headed to the Bahamas.

The conditions were rolly although not really difficult, just rolly. So we just kept motoring along, hoping for some sort of breeze that would let us at least use the sails to steady boat a little. We had a little help on that score, but not much.

By the time we left Lake Worth Inlet, C-Gull Seeker was well out in front of us and out of radio range. Nobody else was headed east with us, we were on our own. Last year we had company crossing east, and crossing west, but this time we were on our own. It was a funny feeling to not have anyone to talk with.

We did see some shipping during the night. Freighters and tankers and several cruise ships crossed our path as we made our way to the Bahamas. We talked briefly with most of the ships, conducting the business of safely meeting at sea - literally ships passing in the night.

Unlike last year, we planned to go non-stop all the way to Abaco, rather than stop at West End. And we did just that, as you'll see.

Sam the Man

We've raved on about Stuart, and we've raved on about Sunset Bay Marina. The town itself has charm, there's a lot going on. There are the concerts on the Riverwalk, the crafts, the farmers market, the Lyric Theater, the restaurants, and on and on. The marina is a good place to stop for a few days or a place to stop for a few weeks or even a few months. The facilities are great, it's a quick walk to get to the town, and the marina runs a shuttle bus to places too far to walk to. And the marina has Sam Portolese. Without Sam, things just wouldn't be the same. Sam's the man!

An Unusual Fountain

At first look, this seems to be just another fountain, elaborate but in keeping with what Henry Flagler wanted for his hotel. If you ever visit St. Augustine and take the time to even just look in on Flagler College, take a close look at this fountain. See the frogs around the rim? Each one of them has a different pose; no two frogs are alike. And there twelve frogs. Look at the column in the middle - I'll bet it casts a shadow around the fountain as the sun moves across the sky. In fact, of course it does. Moving shadow... twelve unique frogs... Yes, the fountain isn't only a fountain, it's also a sun dial! How neat is that?

Tsunami and Amos - 11-13 Nov. 2010

We spent three days in Charleston, staying again at Charleston Maritime Center. The weather was warming up, and it was generally "tourist weather", making touring the city quite enjoyable. However, one of the best sights of the city was right in the marina.

When we looked for a replacement for our old Seafarer 26, we were quite taken by Tsunami, a Tashiba 36 owned by dock neighbors Gunther and Barbara Nehrkorn. OWTW is, in fact, a year older than Tsunami, but is otherwise a close sister to the Tashiba. We were quite sad to hear that Tsunami was for sale and sadder to hear she was sold. Her new owners, Dale and Karen, from Canada, planned to take her cruising in the Caribbean. So it was a surprise to arrive in CMC and find a familiar boat with a new name only a couple of slips away from OWTW.

We took a horse-drawn carriage ride through historic Charleston. The horse drawing the carriage was a "retired" horse from an Amish farm. Amos isn't quite like our buddy Amos the cat, who died a couple of years ago, but we liked the name of the horse anyway. And he's almost as nice as Amos the cat.

River Dunes Marina - 5 Nov. 2010

Last year we stopped in Oriental, NC and visited our friends Dennis and Suzi Lawrence in New Bern, NC. This year it's not certain that we'll find space to anchor in Oriental. The nearest alternative marina, River Dunes, is a loooong way from New Bern. So we settle for a night's stay at River Dunes before continuing on to Beaufort, NC, where we'll catch up with Dennis and Suzi.

Despite the rain that settles in just as we arrive, we find the marina very attractive and well set up. And the most amazing thing is the harbor is 20+ acres of ground dug out to a depth of 8'. This was all just flat ground before the marina was built.

Elizabeth City and socks - 3 Nov 2010

Elizabeth City, NC bills itself as the Hospitality Harbor and is noted, among ICW cruisers, as A Good Place To Stop. Unfortunately, by the time we get close to Elizabeth City, we figured out that the public docks would be full. Further, the wind would be out of the east, the direction the docks are least suited for. We chose to anchor just before the drawbridge that crosses the ICW at Elizabeth City.

The more we look at the charts and think about how late it is in the season (this time last year, we were well into South Carolina), the more we consider pushing on hard to reach the bottom of the Alligator River-Pungo River Cut. It'll be another long day, much like the run from Jackson Creek to Deep Creek, but we did it last year and we can do it again.
So while it was hardly bright, it was early when we pull up the anchor and pass under the drawbridge.

It's early November and it's cold out, although not quite the bitter cold of last year's trip south. Nonetheless, we're glad to have warm wool socks, knitted by Chris' mother. Nobody else on the ICW is as lucky to have good socks!

Goodbye Chesapeake, Hello ICW -

With the LectraSan working again, we left Solomons and headed further south, stopping in Jackson Creek, near Deltaville, VA. It was Sunday, 31 October and we hoped to top up our diesel tanks before continuing on to Norfolk, VA. Unfortunately, we arrived just as the only fuel dock available closed up for the night. We borrowed bicycles from the marina to pedal to a gas station that was supposed to be near by, open, and selling diesel. The gas station was there, open, and had diesel fuel. And operators dressed for Halloween. We pedalled back to the marina, collected our two diesel cans (too heavy to carry on the marina bicycles) and hiked back to the gas station. It's amazing how heavy 10 gallons of diesel fuel gets in even a short hike!

The following day, 1 Nov., we tried to leave Jackson Creek, and promptly grounded in the channel leaving the creek. At least we were able to back off and get moving again.

As we motored south, we discussed the possibility of making it from Jackson Creek to the entrance to the Dismal Swamp in one day. Two things had to happen if we were to do this. First, the tidal currents had to go in our favor or, barring that, not slow us too much. Going against the tide would mean running out of daylight or, worse, missing the last possible opening for the Gilmerton Drawbridge.

The current predictions from the computer suggested we could, in fact, reach the Deep Creek entrance to the canal. If we could reach the Gilmerton Bridge by 1530 (3:30PM). After that, the bridge would be closed for rush hour and not re-open until 1730, too late for us to reach the Deep Creek anchorage and still have enough daylight to see where we were going.

We reached the entrance of Newport News and the Norfolk area without the drama and excitement of last year's trip, where we dodged guided missile cruisers and submarines. The current worked with us and by the time we reached Waterside Marina, where we'd stopped before, we decided to "go for it".

The GPS predicted it'd be a very close race to reach the bridge in time, but it looked as though we had perhaps ten minutes in hand when... disaster! A railroad bridge north of Gilmerton Bridge closed. A train slowly crossed the bridge and then stopped. It back up. It went forward. It stopped. It inched forward. And all the while the GPS' estimated time of arrival (ETA) slipped further and further past 1530. The train eventually left the bridge, the bridge lifted, and we raced forward, churning under the railroad bridge literally exactly as it stopped rising.

Our only hopes were a power boat also trapped by the railroad bridge and any possible charity from the Gilmerton Bridge operator. The power boat's arrival at the Gilmerton bridge ensured a bridge opening at 1530. The boat's captain said he'd take his time going through the bridge, in the hope that we'd arrive with the bridge still open. Past that, it was all in how charitable the bridge tender felt as to how late we could be and still make the bridge opening.

We called the bridge tender and heard we had to be at a specific buoy, in sight of the bridge, by 1529, if we were to pass through the bridge before rush hour. The throttle was wide open and all we could do was keep pushing and steering the shortest possible path, cutting corners and using all of the "road" to get to the bridge.

As the photo shows, we made it. Although the bridge tender waited at least five minutes too long for us to arrive, we made it. It's hard to describe how relieved we felt to see the bridge close behind us and not in front of us. Instead of losing a day in waiting to reach Elizabeth City, NC, we could enter the canal first thing in the morning and arrive in Elizabeth City the same day. There would be no delay waiting for the morning rush hour closure at Gilmerton, no delay waiting for the mid-day lock-through at Deep Creek, meaning having to spend the night partway down the canal. Instead, the bridgetender's kindness saved us a day of waiting.

Solomons, MD - 28 Oct. 2010

Shortly after 6 AM on 28 October, we fired up the engine, gathered up our dock lines, and left Deale for points south. We'd been in the water for only a few days, been towed from the launching area to our slip on Herrington Harbour's B dock, and hadn't managed to get in a test sail before leaving. Still, there were good service yards along the way, and TowBOAT/US in between. What could possibly go wrong?

In fact, nothing did go wrong. We had a pleasant trip and arrived in Solomons safe and sound. It was the days after that were so much fun.

I'm obliged to Ken Gross of Alegria for pointing out that it's only among cruisers that one can discuss with total strangers the intricacies of one's toilet facilities.  And here follows just such a discussion.

We use a device called a LectraSan to treat all of our toilet waste so that what's pumped out is at least as clean as municipal waste and often much cleaner.  The LectraSan uses electricity to turn ordinary salt water into sodium hypochlorate, a bleaching agent.  The evening of the day we arrived in Solomons, the LectraSan stopped working.  Midday on Friday, I called Raritan Engineering for help with troubleshooting the problem.  Quite simply, the logic board that controls the LectraSan was toast.  Our only choice was to order the replacement part and have it shipped overnight for Saturday delivery.  The good news... the part actually arrived as promised and it actually worked!  Without it, our trip would have come to a smelly halt. 

The trip begins - mid-Oct. 2010

OK, another trip, another blog. We hope... The trip is well under way at this point, and we've published a host of pictures, but some of them need some explanation. And we might just have some thoughts to share that don't need pictures. Thus another attempt at blog about our travels.

We're hardly experts at cruising, but we do have one trip down the ICW behind us. And that helped us decide what to take and what to leave. Well... somewhat. Here we are packing up for the next-to-last trip to the boat before we leave. Paperwork... the trip down the ICW is basically paperwork-free, but not the crossing into the Bahamas and then back into the US. And, of course, we have all of the usual bill paying, account watching, and tax paying issues to deal with. It all goes into our office on the boat.

Chris sewed up covers for the many bits of canvas to keep the rain off us while we're under way, and to keep the sun off us at anchor. And off these flaps and panels need to be rolled up and stowed away on the boat. So out came the sewing machine!

And then, of course, all of the supplies need to get to boat somehow. It's amazing how much we packed into our X3, and it's still not the last load to go the boat.

One With The Wind spent the summer at Herrington Harbour North marina, in Deale, MD, on Maryland's western shore, south of Annapolis. We arrived there at the end of last year's trip, thought we'd do some cleanup work, put OWTW back in the water and... "life is what happens while you're busy making other plans".

In the end, we hired Phipps Boatworks to refinish much of the teak "brightwork" and we waxed up the hull ourselves. It was a relief to have this work behind us and to have a bright and shiny OWTW waiting for us in the marina's storage yard. After all of that, we finally launched OWTW. After that, it was time to check out the engine and all the repairs done to the engine over the summer.

After a round of packing the boat and working on last minute wiring issues ("Open wide!"), we collected a rental car for the last trip to Deale, and then headed back to Skippack. We were able to get a small SUV from Enterprise, which made "the last load" much easier to deliver. All the stuff that filled the Jeep in a "cheese box" sub-compact? I don't think so!

It was the third week of October by the time we returned to the boat, unloaded the Jeep, and stowed it on the boat. I was feeling nervous about the weather and the general lateness of the season. Last year, we'd been underway for almost two weeks by now, and here we were, still getting ready to leave. Nonetheless, three days later, on 28 October, we untied our dock lines and headed south again.