Where have we been all summer?

Since I last posted in early June, Billy Ruff'n has a newly leathered wheel, some expertly done welds on her mast and boom, colorful new reefing lines & high tech rigging as well as a fancy new electric winch for the main halyard and sheet. These were expensive but important improvements to keep her safe for Andrew and I to operate alone. Check out the results:

Through most of June & July, Andrew stayed in Maryland supervising this work on BR while I hung out in Devon, Pa. getting cars fixed or inspected, making Dr. appts and checking in on my mom and friends. When we weren't doing those things, we were visiting friends & family in Virginia, Massachusetts and Colorado. Some of the highlights were 1) a visit to the farm of our favorite CNN commentator in Va., 2) our eldest son's (Campbell's) surprise 30th birthday party at The Beach House in Natick, Ma., 3) babysitting our newest grand-daughter and her two older sisters in Philadelphia, 4) seeing Wicked and attending our eldest grand-daughter's Christmas in July birthday party, and 5) our youngest son's (Drake's) wedding in Colorado. Here are some of my favorite pictures from those events:

Life on land doesn't get a whole lot better than that! By early August, Billy Ruff'n was back in the water and we were headed to Newport along with our favorite canvas guy (Charlie H.) and our good friend (Michael M.). It was a pretty quick (and thankfully uneventful) off-shore sail. We arrived at Jamestown Boatyard on August 9th.

Andrew and I made trips to Bristol, Cuttyhunk, Dartmouth, Marion and Edgartown and visited with our former boat partners (the McCarron's) and other friends from the Corinthian Yacht Club of Philadelphia (Dick & Cathy, John & Carolyn, Katie & Tyler). 

Our son, Campbell & his family visited with us in Jamestown. The older girls enjoyed exploring the boat; opening every cabinet and pushing every button. They even asked Andrew to see what was underneath the floor boards (in the bilge)! After lunch in town, we drove to Beavertail Lighthouse where the girls enjoyed walking out (too far for my comfort) on the slippery, wind-blown rocks.

Son Drake and his new bride, Ashton visited the following weekend and we had a lovely sail to Cuttyhunk, complete with oysters & clam chowder delivered to the boat once at anchor and lobsters cooked onboard. Ashton appeared to enjoy her first time on a sailboat and proved to be pretty good at steering!

Andrew and I drove home in early September for our dear friend Fran's funeral service and then back to Jamestown for the Cruising Club of America's 100th Anniversary celebration in Newport. We had the incredible pleasure of having dinner with 2 Bluewater medal winners (Bob Shepton and Randall Reeves) and 1 Far Horizons medalist (Steve Brown) on the first evening of the event. In fact, we got to know Bob quite well since someone miss-booked his hotel room and he took us up on the invitation to stay on board Billy Ruff'n his last night. Bob is probably the most famous modern rock climber known for sailing to his climbing venues and being an adventuring Scotsman (at age 86), he was full of amusing tales. Sadly, I neglected to get a good picture of us but I did capture this one of his backside as he and Andrew walked to the Castle Hill lighthouse before having lunch there. I did have to restrain Bob from climbing back up the rocks next to these steep stairs!

Other notable events during and after the CCA celebration included visiting the Sailing Museum in Newport, a great party for Chesapeake Station CCA members sponsored by Jack, Laura, Cathy & Dick and hanging out on the boat with my neice, Kate. 

On 9/19, I drove our car back to Devon and the following day, Andrew and Charlie headed south (to Annapolis) with Billy Ruff'n. They had waited for a weather window that left them with no wind (or opposing winds) so mostly motor sailing at best but they timed the currents up the Delaware, through the canal and down the Bay so well that they made the trip in 46 hours!

Andrew is currently on the boat in Oxford, Md. getting the engines tuned up for our next adventure to the Caribbean. We are looking forward to heading south again on (or after) November 1st, when hurricane season has hopefully concluded!!

On the hard in Annapolis

After 11 days hanging out in Beaufort, NC, punctuated only by a surprise visit to mom on Mother’s Day, on May 14th, we finally got the weather window we needed to head on our last legs ‘home’ to Annapolis, Md. We left the dock the morning before in order to get under the high tension wires at low tide and facilitate a late afternoon departure from the harbor.

We started 3 hour watches almost right away with ~250 miles to go. The first night out we both got to see different phases of a fabulous blood moon. 37 hours later, we arrived in Hampton around 7am on May 16th and anchored off Bluewater Marina, waiting for them to open.

We were greeted at the dock by our Salty Dawg boat buddy friends, Mike & Mary from Dream Weaver and enjoyed a reunion dinner that evening at Fuller’s Raw Bar in Hampton. We spent the next day resting and trying to get our Navionics charts updated, in preparation for a day trip up the Chesapeake to Mobjack Bay.

After an uneventful trip and quiet night in Mobjack Bay, we continued north to Fishing Bay the following day. It’s amazing how many beautiful anchorages can be found up and down the Chesapeake and this was no exception with the lovely homes on it’s wooded shores.

The problem with sailing on the Chesapeake this time of year is the flies and the inconsistent breeze. We spent two days motoring north and killing flies from Mill Creek (where the only fun we had was running into CYC friends Bill & Barbara on Shearwater) to Solomon’s Island (where we had a midnight fire drill to re-anchor in a 40-45 knot blow).

On May 22, we arrived at our friend Neil’s neighbors’ mooring in Aberdeen Creek, where we began provisioning for the Corinthian Yacht Club cruise. Our friend, Christine Faris joined us for the cruise and we thoroughly enjoyed the cocktail party at The Annapolis Yacht Club, hanging out with the crew of Akela, watching the races to Little Choptank and Solomon’s Island and rafting with the fleet.

Days after the cruise, we moved Billy Ruff’n to Bert Jabin’s Yacht Yard, where she was hauled and is currently getting work done on her mast and boom, among other things. We will be hanging out in Devon, visiting friends & relatives and supervising boat work for the next month or two, while Billy gets her facelift!

Cruising the Carolinas

After a few days of polishing winches and playing WORDLE, while waiting for a weather window, on April 23rd we finally had an opening to begin the 200+ mile sail to Charleston, SC. We left at 9am and had some great sailing until the wind dropped out around 3am the next morning. We caught site of the infamous Charleston bridge, that looks like two giant sailboats from far away, and motor-sailed into the Harbor around 3:30 pm that day. 

We thought about anchoring off the Coast Guard Station but there were half a dozen derelict boats there and we weren't sure how well they were tended to so we opted for the anchorage across from Charleston City Marina, despite the reports of strong currents and sunken objects. We felt the anchor drag over something hard and then grab and weren't entirely sure of what was holding us, but we were holding. We made drinks and were entertained that evening by all the private yachts and party boats that traffic the Ashley River.

The next day, we launched the dinghy and took an Uber into town to scope it out. We had our first she-crab soup and a shrimp po-boy at Virginia's on King Street. Definitely, the best crab soup ever but still looking for the best po-boy! We went all out tourist and hired a horse drawn carriage from Old South Carriage Tours to take us through the historic parts of town. We learned about the old homes with side porches that had doors used to indicate whether the family was open (or closed) to visitors, the wrought iron collected during the Revolutionary war to make canon balls and the churches painted black to obscure them from bombs at night.

We discovered that our friends Cary & Martha Thomson's place was close to our anchorage as well as a historic plantation near by, so one day we took the dinghy to their dock and walked to the McLeod Plantation, where we saw the main house and the living & working quarters for the enslaved workers. It was a simple & beautiful home with fantastically large Live Oaks that had moss weeping over them providing a stark reminder of how the slaves lived and tried to raise their families in one room abodes.

Later that day, we had the best South Carolina barbeque ever at Rodney Scott's. We ordered two meats w/ two sides each (chicken & pork w/collard greens & beans for me, ribs & beef w/ macaroni & slaw for Andrew). We ate what we could for lunch, switched plates and took the rest home for dinner. 

On 4/28 we crossed our fingers while pulling up the anchor, which came up uneventfully, and moved to a slip at Charleston City Marina so that we could do laundry, provision and take advantage of their town shuttle. One morning, we had a good southern breakfast at the Marina Variety Store just off the docks and another evening, we took the shuttle to Laurel Restaurant in town for a deliciously decadent meal of octopus w/ smoked paprika & fried sweet potatoes and grilled grouper w/saffron rice & butter beans. It was the best meal we've had in months and the best octopus ever!

That afternoon, Andrew asked me if I would like to get off the boat for a night. Being the financial planner in the family, I saw no need to pay for a slip and a hotel room but when Andrew insisted on paying, I succumbed to one night at The Ansonborough Inn in Charleston. I have to say I am not sorry to have spent one luxurious night in a huge bed with puffy white comforters and starchy clean sheets. It was a pleasant treat and worth every penny (say I who didn't pay)!!

That weekend was Charleston Race Week so we went out in our dinghy to watch. There were over 200 boats participating with 5 race courses in the harbor and 2 or 3 out in the ocean. We got some great pictures and were heading back to shore when Andrew spotted our friend Tom, on Alladin, arriving with his crew, Howie. That evening, we deflated the dinghy and stowed her on board in preparation for departure to Beaufort, NC the next day and had a nice meal out with Tom & Howie. 

At 0800 on May 1st, we were off the dock on another 200+ mile trip north. We arrived in Beaufort at 1430 on May 2, motoring most of the way. The entrance to Beaufort Inlet is wide open but according to the cruising guides, "difficult only when high northerly or southerly winds blow against an unfavorable tide." Unfortunately, we had the unfavorable tide but fortunately, not the strongest southerly winds. After seeing the 6-7 foot waves and white caps for a quarter mile into the entrance, I would strongly advise against approaching it in worse conditions.

After getting through that, we had to take our boat (with 75 foot airdraft) under electrical wires that were reported to be 77 foot "safe passage". Technically, that means there is 77 feet of clearance off the water at the highest reported tide but... we took it slow! We arrived at Holmer Smith's Marina and tossed the lines in relief only to run aground 5 feet from the dock... It was low tide!! We've spent 6 months in The Bahamas managing those shallow waters with our 7 foot draft and it took until now for us to run aground, fortunately in mud. Andrew strapped on one of our fender boards with a cushion to the boat and creating a gangway for us to reach shore.

Beaufort is a quaint town with small, well-kept historic homes, pretty churches, spooky cool graveyards, a busy Front Street on the water with shops and restaurants and lots of flowers this time of year. We've enjoyed walks around town, breakfast at Cru, lunches at The Dock House & Front Street Grill and dinners at Town Dock Marina & Aqua, but in general, we've been waiting for a large low pressure to dissipate off the east coast.

 

Next stop: Little Creek in the Chesapeake. Hoping for a departure this Sunday, May 11th.

Venturing up the Florida coast

On April 12th, we arrived in the high rent district of West Palm Beach and anchored near our friend Tom Saxe, a Salty Dawg that has been hanging out here on his boat, Aladdin, all season. We had lunch at the Safe Harbor Rybovich marina where there were dozens of 150 foot and larger yachts at the dock, a pool, workout room, bar & restaurant. It was quite a playground for the off duty yacht crews.

The next day we had a weather window to head north so we took off for Ft. Pierce, an all day motor sail in lumpy seas. We had the dinghy deflated and onboard so there wasn't much opportunity to do anything in Ft. Pierce other than wait for the thunderstorms to move on so we could continue our journey up the coast to St. Augustine. On 4/15, we waited for the tide to rise high enough for us to get into the 'skinny' water around Pelican Yacht Club to fill up with fuel. The following day, we took off for an overnight sail with the full moon low in the horizon off our starboard quarter.

We arrived in St. Augustine at 0900 and set anchor just before the Bridge of Lions drawbridge right off town, while waiting for our mooring assignment from the St. Augustine Municipal Marina. The mooring gave us access to the marina launch which ran every hour to and from the docks. Once we settled in, we hopped a ride to shore and found the very popular, Henry's, could accommodate us in their second floor bar on the waterfront, where we had a great view of Billy Ruff'n and savored some fabulous fish dishes for lunch, with enough leftover for us to swap at dinner.

Over the next few days, we enjoyed walks around town, shopping on Commerce Row (a touristy but cute street of shops, restaurants and historical buildings in the center of town), more excellent meals and the company of friends, Scott & Katherine on s/v Latitude, that we had met in George Town and showed up shortly after our arrival in St. Augustine. The town has many historic buildings including the Castillo de San Marcos fortress dating back to 1672, Flagler College built in 1888 and Casa Monica Resort, where we had a spectacular meal in their moroccan themed restaurant. My mother told me that her parents used to holiday in St. Augustine and I could just imagine them in this 1940's style building.

On 4/19, we moved to a slip at the Municipal Marina, in order to provision for our next leg to Brunswick, Ga. but mother nature had other plans for us and we were socked in for another couple days. Hoping to get to Annapolis in early May, we decided our next destination would have to get us further up the coast; next stop, Charleston, SC.