Crossing our wake and completing the loop, June 26, 2010 @ 5:45 AM
After our celebration dinner at Liberty Landing on June 25th
How about that shirt?

Miss America

Our NYC fireboat welcome

Barnegat Light New Jersey

June 28, 2010

We had a great trip from Atlantic City to New York City, with a stop in Manasquan. The waters off the Jersey Shore were quiet as we sailed into New York Harbor. We spent Saturday night at Liberty Landing Marina both of us glad and at the same time a bit melancholy that the next morning we would cross our wake and have completed the American Great Loop. We left early Saturday, and with great restraint, I did not turn left up the Hudson to do the Loop a second time, but went straight to close the circle at the confluence of the East and Hudson Rivers at 5:45 am on Saturday, June 26, 2010.

1 year (365 days), 1 month, (31 days) & 9 days-total 405 days.
6475 Nautical Miles (~7446 Statute Miles)

Saturday night we spent in Branford, CT with Mark Salley and his son, Jason, and watched a great fireworks show. We were very impressed that they put on such a great show for Judi and me in recognition of our trip completion. In truth, Branford has their fireworks a week before the 4th. I am told it is a lot cheaper.

Yesterday (Sunday) we traveled to Jamestown, RI arriving at 5:00 PM after spending a large amount of the trip from Watchhill, RI in pea soup fog. As an aside, I have never understood why they call it "Pea Soup Fog". Fog is white, pea soup is green. I think they should call it "New England Clam Chowder Fog"; at least it is the right color.

Today we are resting up here as the weather gurus predict high winds and thunderstorms. Tomorrow weather permitting; we are off to Hadley's Harbor and on Wednesday, returning to Plymouth. That is unless when we get to the Gurnet, we decide not to turn left but go straight and spends the rest of the summer cruising the Coast of Maine.

Alas, that probably will not happen and we will return to Plymouth and reality.

It truly has been, the "Trip of a lifetime".

Mr. Monkey @ Trump Marina in Atlantic City.

He lost $15.00

Little D, Big D and Abigail on the weekend boat trip

Victorian hotel in Cape May

Jejuda at Tilghman Island on the Eastern Shore

View from the lighthouse at the Maritime Museum in St. Michaels

Screwpile lighthouse at the Museum in Solomons Island

The ducks in Solomons Island

The Methodist Church on Tangier's Island

June 23, 2010

We have traveled not too many miles since our last post but we have been many places. We decided to spend some time exploring the Chesapeake and have found some very fine anchorages and great places. The Chesapeake is much like Maine, the North Channel, and Georgian Bay, in the sense that one could spend a lifetime exploring and never ever see all the secluded private anchorages, interesting places, and fantastic people.

We spent from the end of May until the 22nd of June on the Bay. We had a great last weekend when we had our two oldest grandchildren, David and Abigail, for three days on the boat. We had a wonderful time and their parents had 3 days by themselves. We spoiled and sugared them up and sent them home.

Some of the more interesting spots on the Bay were Tangiers Island, Solomons Island, and St. Michaels, MD.

Tangiers is a remote island that is solidly ensconced in the 1950’s. There are some 500 residents that derive their living from crabbing and a small amount of tourists. We stayed at Park’s Marina for $35.00/night and all the local knowledge that could be purveyed from the owner, Milton a salty 79 year old man. The main form of transportation is the golf cart, followed by bicycles, and walking. We went to Sunday services at the Methodist Church (the only church) and it was from “Leave it to Beaver”. Since land is in short supply they bury their parents, grandparents, etc. in their front yards.

Solomons Island is a tourist spot but still very nice. We stayed three days at Zahniser’s Marina on a mooring ball for $30.00/night and had the run of their facility, including a nice pool and immaculate laundry. Solomons has a great maritime museum with a restored “Screw Pile Lighthouse”, unique to the Bay. Oysters were king here during the late 19th and early 20th century.

From Solomons we went over to the Eastern Shore on the Choptank River. We had a great anchorage in La Trappe Creek and went the next day to Oxford. Another sleepy Maryland town stuck in the mid 20th century. Moving west on the Choptank we ended up in San Domingo Creek which is the “back door” way into St. Michaels. St. Michaels is a very popular tourist destination and was quite interesting. There are many shops but luckily, for me most were closed on Wednesday.

We left there in ended up in Knapp’s Narrows on Tilghman Island waiting for a good weather day to cross to Annapolis, which we had the next day.

After the weekend with the grandchildren we made tracks up the Bay through the C&D canal and down the Delaware River. We spent Monday evening 1/3 of the way down the river in Greenwich, NJ which is the greenhead capital of the world. The next morning we rode the outgoing tide into Cape May.

We explored Cape May, an old Victorian resort beachside area, very nice, pretty and we are glad we took the time to explore. We had two great coffee milkshakes (for those of you from New England, frappes) at an old fashioned five and dime store with soda fountain counter.

This morning we left early, 5:30 and arrived in Atlantic City at about 10:30. We are at a funky little marina across from Trump Marina. We went over in the dinghy and proceeded to lose $15.00 at the slots.

Depending on the weather we should be in New York City on Friday or Saturday. With some luck, no rushing though, perhaps back in Plymouth by the 4th.

Very rare Virginia Flatsnake

Welcome to Urbanna VA

MM with Old Ben in Smithfield

Civil War Infantry reannactment in Yorktown

Those are wool uniforms

Waterman crabbing in Mobjack Bay

The Battleship Wisconson, 888 Feet

Fort Monroe Courtyard



Dismal Swamp, Waiting for the lock

Rose Buddies in Elizabeth City

MM and Honey in Oriental, NC

June 3, 2010

As noted in the last post we were headed to Beaufort, NC. We arrived there and had a pleasant walk around of the City and the various shops etc. That evening, we met up with another couple that had done the loop in 2005, Capt. Bob & NanRae Hanold on “Bonas IV” as well as Ross & Nancy Hiner on “Oddysea” whom we had met last fall on the Tennessee River.

The next day took us to Oriental, NC. Oriental advertises itself as the “Sailing Capital of NC”. It is a sleepy little town of some 500 people and 5000 boats. It must get really crazy on the weekends or when they have sailing regattas. They had a nice little Tiki bar at the marina.

After Oriental it was on to Belhaven, NC. We anchored out, had a quiet dinner and went to bed early. The next morning we had a very early start on a very nice day and were planning to stay on the southern shore on Albemarle Sound just beyond the Alligator River swing bridge. We arrived at the bridge earlier that anticipated and, because it was such a nice day, we decided to cross the Albemarle and go to Elizabeth City, NC. Elizabeth City is the southern tip of the “Great Dismal Swamp” that starts in Norfolk, VA and goes south to Elizabeth City.

We arrived around 4:30 and were greeted by “Potest Fieri”, “Karen Ann”, and “Monks Vineyard”. They had all arrived on Friday, we arrived on Saturday and they were moving north on Sunday. We elected to stay another day and left on Tuesday.

Elizabeth City has to be the most boater friendly place on the entire east coast. Every evening, weather permitting, they host a free wine and cheese party for the boaters that are tied up to the city provided, free docks. The mayor comes out and thanks everyone for coming, the chamber of commerce gives a pitch for the local merchants, and an old duffer named “Dave” (NOT ME) gives everybody the hot skinny on the Dismal Swamp Canal, its two locks, history etc. They also give each of the ladies a single rose, the group that hosts this is called the “Rose Buddies”. It really was a lot of fun and interesting. Joe and Joyce invited us aboard Takitez II for cocktails

Tuesday we headed into the swamp with a man we met named Merritt Walker and his friend “Fritz” Melsheimer. Merritt’s boat, “Bonny IV Rover” is a custom built steel 40 footer that was of his design. Come to find out Merritt is a boat designer and had designed several steel schooners that sail off the Maine coast in the summer. But of even more interest, he designed the “Pilgrim Belle” paddle wheeler that sails out on Plymouth Harbor and was the boat that our daughter Jessica, and then, her fiancé Sam Chun had their wedding rehearsal dinner and party on the night before they got married. A REALLY SMALL WORLD!

We spent Tuesday night at the Dismal Swamp Visitors Center after a very shallow trip in the Canal. The boat behind us was a 46 Bavaria Sailboat from Oslo, Norway that drew 6 ½ feet. The canal is now a bit deeper in spots as there were places that were less than 6 feet.

On Wednesday we continued to Norfolk and anchored out and had the obligatory cocktails with two other couples we met in Elizabeth City. Richard and Tiki aboard Tadpole was just starting the loop from Tampa. Jack and Linda from New Attitude, a sailboat was returning to Maryland after wintering in the Bahamas.

The remainder of the week called for high winds so we elected to stay at the Norfolk Waterside Marina for three days. We rented a car and explored Fort Monroe in Hampton Roads, went to the Museums in Portsmouth, and drove to Smithfield and bought overpriced Virginia ham and some slab bacon and green tomato pickles. It is a very pretty town.

From Norfolk we proceeded up the York River to Yorktown. We did the usual tour of the battlefield, had some Ben & Jerry’s at the stand and lazed around at anchor for two days on the Memorial Day weekend.

We left Norfolk and went into Mobjack Bay up to the East River pass an anchorage called “Put In Creek” to a very secluded spot further upstream. We did some dinghy exploring, which is always fun and after supper, we sat on the flybridge in a quiet steady rain and watched as thunder storms went by on both sides of us. Nice.

On June 2nd we went up the Piankatank River to Jackson Creek in Deltaville, VA. They had a courtesy car and we went and picked up our forwarded mail, went to grocery store, and the obligatory trip to West Marine. It has been “very, very hot” and the afternoon lying around the pool was appreciated by all. Today we are in Urbanna, VA a pretty little river town on the south shore of the Rappahannock River. Again it is hot and humid. I can only imagine what it must be like on the Chesapeake in July and August.

We will be taking our time exploring this great sailing area looking for neat places to anchor and explore. According to our trusty cruising guide there are “300+ Secluded Anchorages, 400+ Marinas and 200+ Waterfront Restaurants”. I think we will not get to see them all in the next two weeks but we shall give it a valiant try.

Marines on excersise at the anchorage in the Camp Lejeune, NC anchorage

Dinner with the Brysons in Wilmington, NC

Mermaid in Beaufort, SC

1750 House on King Street in Charleston, NC

Magnolias in Blossum

The Smallest House in Savannah, For sale $300,000

Alligator in Georgia

May 17, 2010

It is hard to believe that today is the one year anniversary of the start of our trip. On May 17, 2009, a rainy Sunday morning, we left Plymouth to begin this adventure. In some ways it seems we have been doing this for a very long time and at other times we wonder how the time seems to have past so fast.

Since the last post we have visited and traveled with many old and new friends. As mentioned in the last post we have been traveling with “Potest Fieri” since Cumberland Island, GA. We are now in Wilmington, NC with Frank and Bridget Bryson, Susan & Danny Godin, on “Potest Fieri” traveled on towards Beaufort, NC with Roger & Karen Montembeault on “Karen Ann”, whom we had met up with in Georgetown, NC.

The weather has been a mix of late spring and early summer with some days getting into the 90’s but mostly in the low 80’s. Today we have rain but this has not been common lately.

Since the last post we have visited:

Savannah, GA.
Beaufort, SC
Charleston, SC
Georgetown, SC
Myrtle Beach, SC
Southport, NC
Wilmington, NC.

Savannah is an old historic southern city that is now a major shipping center on the east coast. We were docked right downtown in the historic district as the large ocean freighters plied their way up and down the Savannah River. We took the obligatory carriage tour to see the very large, (allegedly the largest in the US) historic district. The waterfront is very active with shops and many restaurants nestled along the cobblestone streets. Very interesting and we had a lot of fun.

Beaufort, SC is a small quaint southern city with many interesting homes and gardens. You can see and walk the entire downtown area in a long afternoon. It was a hot day but we still had a good time. We celebrated Danny & Susan’s anniversary at a rib shack on Lady Island. Thank goodness we only ordered a ½ rack each as we still had enough leftovers for dinner the next night. They were great ribs.

The next night we anchored in a quiet stream in Steam Boat Creek on our way to Charleston.

We visited the Charleston Yacht Club and were treated in a very friendly manner. Charleston is a very active sailing center and, where we were anchored, the high school team was racing 420’s.

Charleston is a wonderful city and, as of now, our favorite city since we have left the Florida Keys. The downtown is very old with a mix of colonial and Victorian homes with lovely gardens lining narrow tree shaded streets. There is an area called the “Market” that is now kiosks and small shops but was originally where the slaves were bought and sold. King Street is narrow and lined with shops on both sides until it morphs into a very upscale neighborhood of colonial and federalist homes where various “General Beauregards” watched the Confederate shelling of Fort Sumter from the roof. So started the Civil War.

We meandered into an antique shop along King Street which had some very nice pieces. I looked at one lovely desk for $25,000, a second for $27,000, which had a sold sign on it, and finally a small Chippendale desk for a mere $115,000. I decide it was time to leave.


We stayed there for three days and could have stayed longer and still not seen everything.

We moved onto Georgetown where we spent two nights with Bob and Dee McLemore at their lovely home on Pawley’s Island. Frank and Bridget Bryson came down from Wilmington, NC to join in the party. We had great camaraderie, food, and libations.

We had been having a slowly worsening problem with the generator not starting as it should. I had tried everything from new fuel filters, battery, etc. with not very satisfactory results. Frank and I finally decided that it had to be the starter. Since Frank was going back to Wilmington, and we would be seeing them in a few days, he was going to make some inquiries as to where a starter shop might be that could look at the unit. For information, a new starter from Westerbeke is $800.00 plus shipping.

After an overnight stop in Myrtle Beach¸ where they were having “Bike Fest Week” we stopped at Southport. As a cultural observation, Harley owners average over 60 years old, weigh over 275 lbs, and have girlfriends that should not wear cutoff jeans and tank tops.

Frank met us in Southport and it was off to the starter shop while Judi went off shopping. The technician quickly determined that the starter was junk and a new one was in order. Westerbeke engines are built by Mitsubishi as are the starters. Believe it or not the shop had a Mitsubishi replacement starter in stock for $181.00. Needless to say that purchase was made quickly and it was off to the boat. To make a short story shorter the starting problem has been solved and all is well. The only downside is that my new starter is not painted red like the old one was, but for a $619.00 difference I think I can buy a spray can of red paint if it really bothers me.

From Southport we had a short trip to the anchorage at Carolina Beach, where we are right now. This is a very nice anchorage and we can dinghy to Frank and Bridget’s home in about ten minutes from the boat. As always, we have had a nice stay with them and we will be off to our next southern city, Beaufort, NC.

More Pictures

May 2, 2010

Cumberland Island is a great spot to visit. We met up with our friends Susan and Danny Godin from “Potest Fieri”, whom we toured the island with. The island was owned by Thomas Carnegie who built several “cottages” for himself and his children. As you can see the main house was destroyed by a fire in the 1960’s however the sense of the mansion is still visible.

The island is best known for the wild horses that run freely and the fact that JFK junior was married in the small chapel on the island.

The family eventually donated it to the National Park Service who operates it as a camping and walking only island. It is a very unique and beautiful place.

Our next stop was Jekyll Island, another playground for the rich and famous in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. We took a guided tour of the historic district which included several of the houses. This island is operated by the State of Georgia and again is a very interesting and beautiful. After all these historic tours we really felt like tourists, which I suppose we are.

We were then committed to the trip through the marshes and savannahs of Georgia on the ICW. While this is an interesting trip it requires considerable planning to coordinate for the tides as there are several spots that have “skinny” water. The trip takes two days on our boats as they travel at 8 knots so we anchored in Kilkenney Creek. This was a very quiet anchorage in the middle of nowhere.

It was then on to Savannah, with another anchoring spot in Turners Creek on Wilmington Island. We arrived in downtown Savannah yesterday with “Potest Fieri” and spent a very hot and humid afternoon walking around the riverfront historic district. We had a nice dinner in an old warehouse restaurant called “The Cotton Exchange”.

Today we are off on another “touristy” guided tour of the historic district to learn more about and find spots to explore in this busy, historic, and interesting southern port city.

May 1, 2010

We have been moving on to many interesting places since my last post. We moved north from Stuart with stops in Vero Beach, Coco Beach and New Smyrna. We had a very nice visit with my Aunt Janice who lives in Orange City, FL. She is 91 years old and looks and acts about 75. It was great to see her.

From there we traveled to Daytona Beach then to the HRYC (Halifax River Yacht Club) which has a beautiful facility with a great restaurant, bars (they have two), pool and friendly people who treated very nicely.

Our next stop was in St. Augustine where we spent a couple of days exploring the city and the various historic spots. Let’s put is this way, Henry Flagler could have not have built anything, much less kept any of the money he made, if he had been trying to do it in today’s political environment.

After our escape from Florida our first stop was St. Mary’s in Georgia, a sleepy little village up the river from Cumberland Island.

More on Cumberland Island in the next posting.

April 19, 2010

I thought you all might be interested in some pictures I got of the dolphins swimming in the bow wave of the boat. Yesterday we had about 30 dolphins playing in the bow wave at various times. A typical group was 4-6 dolphins at a time.

April 16, 2010

Well we finally left Key Largo on last Saturday after our return from Judi’s family in Nashville, TN. The 1st night we made it to a nice little place called Sunset Harbor in Miami. Unfortunately the residents of the multi million dollar houses did not like people anchoring in their “backyard”. The fist guy told us the holding was terrible and that we would drag. We were already anchored and were going nowhere. The second guy actually launched his 30 foot Contender and came out and asked us to move as it was “upsetting his wife” to look at our boat. Suffice to say we did not move, he went away with his tail between his legs and we stayed 3 nights on the hook. I have heard the term “Trailer Trash” used in the Keys but Miami has “Mansion Trash”.

Tuesday and Wednesday we spent with Ann and Phil McKay in Deerfield Beach. We went out to dinner one night and had a delicious dinner and lots of laughs at their lovely home right on the ICW.

Last night we anchored in Lake Worth at a nice spot however the holding was not very good. The bottom was extremely soft and even with 120 feet of chain we dragged about 50 feet overnight in a 20-30 knot east wind.

Today we are in Stuart, FL. We walked around the restored town and went into a few shops and had lunch at a place called “Mulligan’s Beach House”. DO NOT GET THE LOBSTER ROLL! This concoction had no resemblance to anything that I have previously have had that had the word lobster associated with it. I have had better Spam sandwiches.

Tonight we are having dinner with Scott and Mary Ann Loomis, old friends of ours from the Jubilee Yacht Club in Beverly. It will be nice to spend some time with them and get caught up.

Tomorrow we continue our trek north; we will keep you up to date.