Home at last.. Maine to Baddeck

As I write this I"m sitting in the comfort of my kitchen, nice & warm, Pizza in the oven , & reflecting on the last whirlwind stage of our trip home.
From Maine to Baddeck in less than 2 weeks is very speedy for us. We usually like to do about 200 miles in one week, this was way more than that, so we are well pleased as we managed to be ahead of the strong winds & crappy weather  that was on the menu for the beginning of June.
Our run was from North East Harbour on Mount Desert Island ,Maine to Shelburne via Cape Sable (  a nasty place with huge tital rips & notoriously bad seas) So, weather is all important here. I was hoping for more time in Mount Desert to hike & hang out, but if the weather gods say "go" then go we must!
 We left at 7 am to catch a fair tide around the Cape & had a very good 30 hours crossing. We hit a bad patch of fog shortly after leaving , & did a lot of dodging around the lobster pots. There are so many I'm sure you could walk across them!
 I don't think there is a lobster "season" in Maine & the pots seem to be there all the time. I'm trying to figure out why there are pots in water that is 300 feet deep!! Imagine how much line they have to use. Must cost a fortune.. Fortunately its "sinking" line so it does not float on the surface. Still. getting  a pile of fishing line twined around the prop is not something I want to experience.  
We emerged from the fog into a day with bright blue skies, a calm glassy sea & whales blowing around the boat. A magical moment . We turned around to see the fog bank hanging over the water like a layer of cotton & dolphins jumping around.

Next morning we were closing on the Nova Scotia coast, picking up the Canadian weather service & hearing Fundy coast guard on the radio. Almost home.

In Shelburne , we did all the passport stuff & had a visit from the customs people. Usually we mange to do all the formalities by phone, but there were 2 boats in from the US so the authorities were in a very official state of mind. They didn't see my basil plants so I got lucky I guess.
After a good sleep & a visit to the supermarket we watched the Shelburne yacht club weekly race night, complete with burgers, cheap beer, friendly faces & dense fog. Hard to see the course from the upper deck, I don't know if they ever managed to figure out where the course was or who won.
After 2 days in Shelburne it looks as if we are going to get a very nice 2 day spell of weather to move north. If we don't take advantage of this break it looks like we will be in Shelburne for the next 2 weeks. So an executive decision was made to make a big push for St Peters even though the crew is still a little sleepy & 2 weeks in Shelburne doesn't sound too bad.......... Sometimes it doesn't pay to have a nap, because when you wake up the decision has been made...........
Anyway... it was a great sail up the coast, light winds, no fog, warm, great visiblilty.... must be some kind of record for the eastern shore. We got into St Peters 40 hours later ,just before dark, a big spaghetti dinner & boat drinks to celebrate .

All we have to do now is get across the lake & we are really home. Of course, this is our hardest sail for a long time.. wind on the nose, waves over the bow, & COLD, but we don't really care. Through the Barra Strait bridge, past Maskells Harbour , round the headland, watch out for Toothpick, lighthouse to port & tie up at the government wharf. Glad to be home.
Warm Rain has done us proud. Never let us down once. The motor just kept on running for hours & hours & never missed a beat.  I don't think we had any situation that she couldn't handle & she liked nothing better than a good sail to windward . All the TLC certainly paid off, 9000 miles since we first took her to the Bahamas in 2001 & she's still going strong. It will be great to have some day sails out this summer, & just enjoy some lazy sailing days with a picnic & some friends.
Now its time to get to work & clean her up, scrub the deck , take off all our gear from the last 6 years & make her a day-sailer again for a while.

Here is my apple tree after Mr Beaver had a chew!!

Time also to plant my garden ,mow the grass, see some friends, play a little golf & enjoy being home  But first its time to head to Toronto for a little visit with Evan.& Liz & Adam. Can't wait.

Thats all for now.

Warm Rain out.

Newport to Maine

Good morning from beautiful North East Harbour, Maine. The sun is shining, & we are happy to be here where we will spend a couple of days resting & hiking the trails of Acadia Park before pushing off for Nova Scotia.
Its pretty chilly. We went out & bought another comforter . So at night the bed looks like a mountain, with 2 bodies, 2 comforters plus miscellaneous blankets tucked around the spots where the cold air creeps in. The anchor well is a big culprit here especially if the wind is from the north.

We spent a very hilarious hour watching this poor girl freeze her buns off for a photo shoot. We offered tea, coffee, hot chocolate, rum, but to the skippers disappointment.. no luck!


This is a lovely place. All the very rich people have magnificent summer homes here, Rockefeller, Martha Stewart, Ford, etc. I hope our little boat with its scummy water line doesn’t spoil their view. We have a town mooring for a few days, comes with hot showers, internet access, & a dinghy dock, it’s a short walk from the village centre which has French pastry shops, lovely clothing stores, art shops, & lobsters!!
I’m hoping we can be free of the fog for a few days. We had some very foggy days in Long Island Sound & coming through the Cape Cod canal. One morning in Onset, waiting to go through the canal we could barely see the front of the boat, & this was in the middle of the harbour. By the time the current was fair at 11am it had lifted enough so we were OK. Its quite a trip through the canal, the current rips through there at about 4 knots, so you had better time it right!!
The radar is great in the fog, shows you where all the other boats are, although there are always some you seem to miss “seeing”, . When the fog lifts I am always amazed at just how many other boats are out there, mostly small fishing boats & sport fishers.
We managed to cover the Massachusetts, & New Hampshire piece of coastline in 3 days. Good weather so we kept moving. The only eventful thing was a miserable night we spent in Portsmouth, NH. There is a small harbour with a great mooring field with courtesy moorings from the State of NH , which is a wonderful thing when you need a quick overnight stop. The wind was light ,there was no fog & we stopped for the night. Unfortunately we had forgotten about the southerly swell & the 10’ tide which comes right into the harbour. We rock & rolled ALL night.. It was the most miserable night I’ve had in a long time. 2am saw me up & trying to get some sleep in the main cabin, no luck, 4 am saw me with blanket in the cockpit, no luck , 5 am saw me making coffee & ready to cast off to get us out of there. I was never so glad in my life to leave a place. & very happy to tie up in Portland Maine the next day.

This place reminds me of Baddeck . Its close to Stonington Maine. Getting homesick now!

We had 3 days in Portland which is a lovely little city. Much like Halifax, very friendly & easy to stroll the streets & browse through the shops.

We had the best seafood here, great restaurants & a fabulous seafood market. We drank lots of that good Maine beer watched the hockey game & I got a haircut.(Yippee)

And that really is all the news.

However, the skipper still has catamaran fever , I’m really quite worried about him, so watch this space for further developments!!
Warm Rain out.

Stuck in Long Island

Well, it just goes to show that you shouldn't be too pleased with yourself, because sometimes things just turn around & bite you.
Almost 2 weeks ago we were so very impressed that we had made such good progress & were sitting pretty in Oyster Bay at the west end of Long Island Sound. Well,guess what, we are still there!!!!!!! Well almost.. we did move 25 miles to the next harbour east but I think thats because otherwise they were going to start charging us residency taxes.



The rain didn't stop these guys from their daily rowing practice. 

We have had 2 days of the most torrential rain...deluge, downpour,torrents,monsoon cats & dogs, slanting stair-rods,,just like someone had a hosepipe dowsing the boat. We were boat bound. Couldn't get off the boat for 2 days. The only good thing is that we now know that all the time we spent last year replacing leaking ports & caulking every nook & cranny we could find, has paid off. Not one dribble or drop of water down below. We are VERY happy with that as anyone who has had a drip on their face in the middle of the night will attest to!
After 2 days of rain, we had 2 days of howling winds, then just when things started to look better in came the fog. Just like a good old Nova Scotia pea souper. Even though we have radar it didn't feel safe to go out as the commercial shipping up & down the sound is very busy. These ships are huge & we did not want to tangle with them.

So... there was a break in all this nonsense of weather & we crept along the coast to Port Jefferson for a change of scene . However, the weather is no better here. We have poked our nose out of the harbour 3 times & turned around to come right back in. 20 knots on the nose with a counter current just isn't fun any more,
So, what do you do on a boat when you get stuck for 2 weeks. Well, one thing is to perform a little surgery. One day I  jumped off the boat on to a dock ( very gracefully) line in hand to tie us off, & got a huge splinter in my finger, wedged in deep, from the splintery dock. We dug around but it was in deep & hurt like hell. So, doc to the rescue with his bag of tricks. Ring block , big needle & out came the splinter. Finger good as new.!!

After that, we read a few books, did a little knitting, baked some bread,did some laundry, drank a beer or two, slept a lot & cursed the weather.. didn't make any difference. so we resorted to a game of Pass The Pigs...

We did a little hiking to Theodore Roosevelts home on Long Island ( Sagamore Hill) which was very nice. Looks a bit like Bells house on Beinn Breagh. Oh, & we ate some oysters of course being in Oyster Bay.
The weather forecast for tomorrow looks promising.. patchy fog in the morning so it looks like we can go across the sound to the Connetticutt river.

Connecticut River Light we made it!!!!!
Then we took the tide next day and escaped from Long Island sound through the Race where the current runs at 2 to 3 knots. Here is the chartplotter showing Warm Rain at Warp speed

We are now sitting in Newport Rhode Island in the fog of course amongst all the fancy yachts hoping to be able to make Cape Cod this afternoon. We are getting close to home  but in no hurry all is well.

Warm Rain out 

Norfolk to Oyster Bay Long Island Sound

We left Norfolk almost 2 weeks ago with good weather intending to cruise slowly up the Chesapeake River however like all well made plans..... We moved up to Solomons Island one of our favorite stops on the western shore and as we were anchoring we got a call on the radio from old friends Frank and Patti on Dream Weaver who are on their way back to Connecticut from the Bahamas. We tried to anchor close to them and put on a demonstration of how not to anchor. We put the hook down at least 4 times and dragged half way across the harbour until we eventually moved to another spot and found good holding. We poured the evening cocktails and hid in the cockpit embarassed while the whole anchorage had enjoyed our problems for their evenings entertainment. The travelling weather was so good that we moved with Dream Weaver the next day to Galesville and enjoyed dinner with them at a waterside restaurant for our first taste this year of Maryland crab cakes and a chance to catch up on all the cruising news from the Bahamas. From Galesville we moved a few miles up the western shore to Annapolis.

Annapolis is full of expensive sailboats and is the sailing capital of the Chesapeake. The Town docks along the waterfront is nicknamed ego alley because of the chance tie up your boat by the waterfront bars and be seen! The building in the background is the Maryland State house  and home of the Governor of Maryland.
For those of you who are fans of " The Wire" here is a picture of Rob as Carcetti on the steps of the Statehouse waiting to see the Governor. We didn't get in.... one crew member did not have  her ID , so we were out on our ear!

On our second night in Annapolis the wind shifted east & we rock & rolled alnight as the swell from the wind & a huge storm offshore made this "protected anchorage" not so pleasant. At 7 am we were up anchor & out of there headed up the bay. Well.. we caught a good tide & before we knew it we were barelling through the C & D canal at 9knots & no turning back. At that point we realised that we were not dawdling anymore but hell bent on a mission for  Cape May!! 

Next day we were barelling down the Delaware River, close to the nuclear power plan & dodging the big ships.  

Now comes the exciting part. Cape May has a back door entry to the harbour via a canal (the cape may canal) which saves a long detour around the cape. However, there are two bridges to pass under which have only 55 foot clearance... no problem, our mast is 52 feet plus one extra foot for antenna, light wind vane etc. 2 feet to play with, should be a snap, never a problem before. Unfortunately we neglected to take into account the 18 inches of flood water blown into the canal from the storm offshore, plus its high tide.  
We were dead lucky that all we left behind at the bridge was the wind vane & mast head light. The skipper needed a stiff drink when we got the hook down. The smile on his face is hysteria & relief. The jeans went to the laundry next day...

Dumbest thing we ever did.
So.. lets push on, as we have one day only of a very marginal weather window.. the offshore storm has left a good swell running  but winds will be fairly easy for the next day so its go time. 20 hours up the Jersey  shore to Atlantic Highlands just south of New York. I hate this stretch of shore line.. no good harbours to go in if the weather cuts up & its dead ugly. We dodged the bullet.. seas were rolly, a gravol day, but got better as day went along, & we both knew the alternative was 7 days in Cape May.. no thanks.
So .. 20 hours later we dropped the hook at 2am ,had a large celebratory drink or two & slept like babies until the fishing fleet woke us up at 6am .
We took off next morning for New York harbor across the bay and under the magnificent Verrazano Narrows bridge into New York harbour.

 Its always a thrill to sail past the Statue of Liberty and all the skyscrapers of Manhattan. We caught the tide up the East River and flew trough to Oyster bay in placid Long Island Sound. Where as you will see we are trapped by wet cold Baddeck type weather

Here we are dodging the Staten Island ferry which runs fast from Manhattan to the Jersey shore

 After a great sail through NYC harbour taking in all the sights we are holed up in Oyster Bay in Long Island sound with our first real taste of the stinky spring you have all been having. Cold, wet, foggy & the east wind blowing 25 knots. Ugly.

Good thing.. bread in the oven baking & all boat chores done. This boat looked like a refugee boat when we got here , dirty & messy & then the engine needed a bit of TLC. So scrub, scrub & we're looking a lot better. The crew needs a hair cut but we have loads of hot water for showers so at least we are sweet smelling even if we don't look so hot.

Thats all for now

Warm Rain.. out

   

Beaufort to Norfolk mile 0

Here we are in Norfolk Virginia at mile zero on the Intracoastal Waterway to Florida 992 miles from Stuart where we started our journey and not yet half way home. Our last rest stop was Beaufort NC over 200 miles away and since then we have crossed Pamlico and Albermarle sound and travelled along the rivers and canals of Carolinas outer banks. The whole area is breathtakingly beautiful with birds and wildlife,marshes and creeks but very few good places to stop and we have been anchoring out overnight in some of our favorite creeks and also in some places we have not previously visited.

For the last week our days have started early at sunrise, we raise the anchor and get underway before breakfast, some of our days have been long which means 50 or 60 miles so we need the early start to be sure we will get to our anchorage for the night, Here is a picture of the early start last week with the early morning fog rising off the water.

Some evening we do not reach our anchorage until sunset, Here is Barbara looking quite pensive in a rather marginal anchorage in a creek beside the waterway,fortunately the weather has been good and the biggest problem we have faced in these creeks is the bugs after sunset. We have good old fashioned Canadian screens on all the hatches so only occasionally does a single mosquito get into the boat to torment us all night.

One of the delays on the waterway in North Carolina is the bridges. Many of them are opening swing bridges which are on major highways and of course the cars get priority . Some bridges only open on the hour and do not open at all during rush hour so there always seems to be some urgency to get to the next bridge in time for the opening.

Here are a bunch of boats anxiously waiting for the bridge tender to open the bridge for his 10 o'clock opening.

Approaching Norfolk Virginia from the Sounds is quite a dramatic change of scenery. Norfolk is the base for the US naval fleet on the east coast, the port is a bustling place of barges, ships and naval vessels. Security is very tight as we found when we were escorted past some naval vessels under repair by an armed escort.



                                                                                                                                                                                    

We are currently tied up in Norfolk at the town waterfront marina, its cold and raining. On our previous journey north with the boat we also noticed the temperature change on reaching the Chesapeake. We have moved from 75 degrees every day to 60's and its time to break open the bag of winter clothes and foul weather gear which will be the rule for the remainder of this trip. Next resting place will likely be Annapolis then on to Cape May and New York City.

The crew is still smiling even as the weather gets cool.

We have had a wonderful visit from Henk Vandergiessen who came over to the boat for supper, he now lives in Virginia beach and works in Norfolk. We have not seen him since Katies wedding so it was great to catch up with him.He is an avid fisherman so he brought a gift of fresh caught mahi and fresh Yellowfin tuna steaks...Ahhh sushi for supper tonight, this cruise is turning into a gourmet cruise of the US East coast. The blue crab season has just opened in the Chesapeake so we are looking forward to a crab boil once we can start to move up the river towards Annapolis, we are now definitely in no rush to get home.

My turn now...........

Thursday evening & the winds are laying down a bit so looks like a good day for a sail tomorrow. So, what did I do in Norfolk? First of all its a great place to sit on a boat & watch the river traffic.. huge cargo ships, navy vessels big & small & the ones that fascinate me the most, the tugs & barges. Its amazing to me how the skippers manouever such huge unwieldy vessels. The tugs have incredible power, they send up a huge wake, & how they manage to keep the barges that they push, on line, is beyond me. They are unfailingly polite to a rag tag flotilla of recreational boats who ask the most insane questions. My favourite thing is to listen in to their radio chatter. I have learned a new vocabulary.. two on the head & one on the hip. lovely!! tug boat what are you doing? ..I'm just treading water!! All in a lovely southern drawl. Keeps me amused all day.

Norfolk also has some culture. Yesterday we spent at the Chrysler museum which has a fabulous art collection & a travelling display of Tiffany lamps which were quite amazing. ( the small ones retaled for $400 in 1920 .  I'll have two please ) Today we went to the naval museum & toured the US Wisconsin, a very large battleship. Quite a few years ago, whilst on sea trials it collided with a companion ship & ripped off its whole bow. Now ,if professional sailors can do this it makes me want to really stay out of their way!!

The waterside park has a band playing live music tonight so maybe we will be dancing on the deck!!!!!!

More news next week
Warm Rain.. out

Charleston to Beaufort

I could stay in Charleston for a month. What a lovely city... old buildings to see, pretty streets to walk along, great restaurants , lots of history & a great place to tie up the boat

Here are some interesting things we saw............

Here are some interesting facts we learned... it is legal in Charleston to beat your wife , as long as you do it after church on Sunday & with a stick no bigger than your thumb.

Also, if you are a university student & live in a sorority house, make sure that there are no more than 7 females living there, otherwise it's classed as a brothel.

Time to move on after 4 days, so we decided to putter up the waterway to Georgetown, about 50 miles away. A nice little town with a renovated down town core full of bars & cafes, a good place to anchor ,even if it is right under the chimneys at the pulp mill.. sweet!!

On again, up the waterway through our favourite spot, the wacamaw river. Wide & deep & bordered by cedar swamps, hanging with Spanish moss, & lots of things that go splash.. alligators, turtles & birds fishing everywhere. All the waterway markers have an osprey nest on top with a mamma bird casting a very watchful eye over your boat. This is such a lovely ,unspoiled area of South Carolina, & in the past we have spent the night in creeks just off the river.. very spooky indeed. But this year ,our day ends in Myrtle beach, & what a contrast.. one minute cedar trees overhanging the waterway, next minute condo developments that are half finished, trees all gone, waterway banks eroding, .bad stuff.

We tied up for the night beside a shopping mall, & no sooner had we secured the lines than we had surprise visitors. Bruce & Peggy Anderson had heard we may be passing through so dropped by the dock "just in case" & there we were.

We had a great time with them, playing golf, waiting out a rainy day in the golf shop, eating burgers & putting our feet up in their very swish new RV. ooh-la-la. I'm jealous.

On again, up the waterway, clicking off the miles & enjoying the very bizarre sights .

Here is one encounter which came a little too close for comfort. We passed each other at a very shallow spot, with lots of sideways current & we both wanted to stay within the markers. We assured the tug skipper that we wouldn't hit him! I don't think he was worried!

We spent a very quiet night at an anchorage on the army base at Camp LeJeune. Its a popular spot, we all feel very safe especially when the fighter jets go over. The next day was interspersed with cannon fire ( the boys playing) ,rain squalls ,lightening & 3 bumps on the bottom ( 6 foot draft meets 4 foot shoal) . No harm done, just like getting stuck in a snow drift, a few wiggles & waggles & you're off.

Now we are in Beaufort, North Carolina & its blowing like stink. No tornadoes, thank goodness , we hear its been bad in Alabama.

Here is a picture of my new friend. His name is Keegan & he is travelling with his mum & dad in a 30 foot sailboat. They arrived after a 4 day passage from the Bahamas & are headed for Nova Scotia. I tell Liz to send Evan down ,but she won't bite.

Thats all for now

Chesapeake next stop,

Warm rain out

Saturday 16th April 2011

Charleston South Carolina

Well, that was an interesting night, to say the least. Our first 24 hour passage this season & a real doozy . Things never work out as you expect.

The plan ( ah, the plan!!) was to leave Jekyll Island (Georgia ) on the high tide at first light, then take the forecast E/SE wind up to Charleston. This is a nice 24 hour run & eliminates all the twists, turns, bugs & unexpected shoaling on the ICW in Georgia. This is absolutely gorgeous country , but hard to enjoy when the waterway is so poorly maintained. So, out the inlet at 8.5knots .. flying.. & set sail for South Carolina.

By evening the wind is set in from the east at 15 knots & we are on a beat, Warm Rain doing what she does best, tracking along & cutting through the waves (small ones ), but for this crew member this is a miserable way to spend the night!! It was a bumpy, bouncy, noisy ride which would have been lovely on a sunny afternoon on the Bras d'Or but not so good when you need to have a snooze at 2 am & its hard to find a spot to lay your head. A blanket & pillow in the cockpit worked best. The other crew member was happy as can be.. go figure.

However.... not all bad ,as we had a most marvellous full moon all night which made it as bright as day, and it didn't set until 1 hour before sunrise . We also had visitors along the way, a huge turtle as we were coming out the Inlet, a big shark cruising along at the side of the boat (waiting for pickings) & a little yellow bird who perched on the lifelines for a few minutes to catch his breath . Plus, we are now in Charleston!

Rob is doing some engine maintenance this morning. She deserves all the care & attention we can give her. Had a little problem on our way from St Augustine to Jekyll Island when he found water in the transmission fluid.. not good.

Rob with head in head & engine!!

Technical stuff now but it seems that there must have been a pin hole leak in the cooling unit which sits on top of the tramsmission. After digging around in the box of spare parts we found a replacement cooler. Thank you Gerry, who gave us his old Westerbeke engine & allowed us to

strip off as many parts as we possibly could. I think we have enough bits & pieces to build a new motor. The spare went on, the fluid drained & replaced 4 or 5 times to get rid of all water & all looks fine. Sigh of relief.

We had a wonderful stop after leaving St Augustine. A long day sail got us to Cumberland Island (just north of fernandina Beach). This is a coastal barrier island protected from development & accessible only by boat. The only people there are boaters like us who anchor in the little harbour & spend a few days exploring or park wardens or hardy souls who camp. There are interpretive programs & hiking trails & basic campsites so its popular with scouts & such.

Day sail to Fernandina

The island was once the home of the Carnegie family with a huge mansion & smaller mansions for the 13 children. (Think the Bell estate ). Also 300 servants (slaves) to maintain gardens & lifestyle which was totally self sufficient. They really did live like royalty. The mansion is gone (destroyed by fire ) but you can stll see the remains & get a taste of what life must have been like in the glittering gilded age of the early 1900's.

Cumberland Island

There is an incredible long beach with dunes & seabirds galore, lovely wooded areas with live oaks & spanish moss, plus a herd of wild horses. In the background is the smell from the pulp mill at Fernandina !!!

The next stop for us was Jekyll Island which was home to JP Morgan at one time. More developed than its neighbour but still a state park with the old mansions restored & converted to hotels (think Keltic lodge ), also golf courses & incredible long beaches.

Today we are off to the farmers market for fresh produce & also to visit the huge market where the ladies make the lovely baskets. A slice of old southern life, the old slave market. We will try to find the best pralines in town & some good old southern comfort food ... shrimps,hush puppies & grits with pecan pie to follow, oh & maybe some sticky barbecue ribs!! (reeeebs). Warm Rain is sinking lower in the water with the added ballast.

Then we will see what the next week or so brings as we move slowly north towards North Carolina. It getting cooler but we're still in shorts & t shirts.

Will post again in a week or so.

Market in Charleston

Warm Rain out.