April 27: Arrived in the US at Lake Worth, Florida and began the trek northward.

May 3 - 20: Stayed with Susan's Mom, Pam, in St Augustine .  Susan made a bunch of frames for Pam's artwork. Pam made us some super dinners and we planned a summer rendezvous in Maine. Pam hopes to get some good pictures of schooners and lobster boats that she will use in her paintings.

Then we flew up to Baltimore for Mike's Dad's, Harry's, marriage to Nancy Pryor at the swank Baltimore Country Club. The weather cooperated and the ceremony was able to be held in the garden.  Hank, Mike, & Tom were Best Men, and Connor (Mike's grandson) was ring bearer. Nancy's granddaughters, Stephanie and Alyssa(?), were the too cute flower girls. They distributed the rose petals and liked it so much, that they kept picking them up and doing it over.

Once we got back to St Augustine, we had to quickly make tracks north, since our insurance requires us to be north of Cape Hatteras, NC by June 1.  The race begins...

May 20 - 21: TabbyCat sailed offshore from St. Augustine bound for Beaufort, NC. We left with good wind and following seas giving us the chance to surf down the 2 - 4 foot waves towards our destination. As the world turned towards evening, we rolled up the screacher and put a reef in the main. Winds were building and so were the waves. A look at the forecast showed storms over 100 miles north and west of us, we noted that and continued. Around 1AM on the 21st, we received a VHF hail from the sailing vessel, Golden Pearls. They were close to us and they said,

"TabbyCat, TabbyCat we have just received a Marine Weather Warning from Sirius (we use XM), stating that strong thunderstorms and possible tornadoes are heading just to the north of us we are turning west and heading for St.Simon's inlet."

We replied,

"Golden Pearls, we copy and are continuing towards Beaufort,NC. Will stay in touch with you on VHF 16 as necessary."

We quickly checked our weather on the chartplotter, no significant change was showing up, the weather systems were now over 75 miles away. Mike reasoned that it would take more than 8 hours to intersect the storm path which should lose its ferocity by then.

One hour later, TabbyCat started surfing down waves at close to 13 knots, crashing the bows into the back of the wave in front. This is not only unpleasant, it is potentially dangerous. The crew held a brief, but intense discussion and decided to turn around and head in to St. Simon's inlet. This required us to drop the main and roll up the jib. We got the jib rolled in and the main down, but when Mike went out on the cabin top to secure the main and the main halyard in heavy winds and crashing seas, he lost hold of the main halyard. In those conditions the main halyard, which has a block on the end can become a dangerous device capable of damaging parts on the mast (like the VHF antenna). Unfortunately there was nothing to do since trying to retrieve it in our current conditions was more dangerous than the possible damage it could inflict. Mike ducked and made his way into the safety of the cockpit.

Two hours later and Mike was battling seasickness and TabbyCat was making slow progress towards our destination. When we turned around the inlet was some 33 nm away. At 4 AM it was 30 nm away. We were running both engines and Mike was getting concerned about how much fuel was left.

At 7AM, Mike was somewhat better and at the helm. He finally asked Susan to check the fuel gauges. She reported there is about 4.5 gallons on each side. Hmmm...with nearly 27 nm to go and only making 3 knots towards our destination TabbyCat was going to run out of fuel before we could get to shore. Mike picked up the VHF microphone and hailed the US Coast Guard - after some delay, Golden Pearls responded.

"TabbyCat, we can hear you and we can hear the Coast Guard. Tell us your position and problem and we will relay to the Coast Guard." (Aren't fellow cruisers great?)

We did so and while this was going on, I asked Susan to visually check the tanks since the conditions were so rough, our gauges might be wrong. She then told me the tanks were half full, meaning we had 14 gallons in each tank, plus a little reserve - plenty to get us into shore and safe harbor. Another crisis averted , but another lesson learned!

We continued toward shore, being tossed off course by a wave, correcting course, being tossed again. Finally at 4PM we were within sight of shore. All we had to do was traverse the inlet and get to a safe anchorage. Suddenly the VHF blared,

"Securite, Securite, this is the US Coast Guard with a safety Marine Warning! A line of thunderstorms with winds over 30 miles an hour is heading towards the following areas....St. Simon's inlet...Mariners should seek safe harbor immediately"

Great - no problem! We are trying to get "to safe harbor" - when the inlet suddenly starts looking like beaten egg whites, frothy and white caps everywhere! The wind grabs hold of TabbyCat's bow and starts to point us toward shallow water. Mike fights the helm for a few moments and gives more throttle to the engines - we are now back in control, but the wind is howling. Suddenly, we get one last moan from the rigging and it is all calm. The storm has passed over us in less than 5 minutes. We check our wind instrument and it has recorded the maximum wind speed at 66.6 knots (nearly 75 MPH)!!

One hour later we were resting safely at anchor with the main halyard secured. TabbyCat emerged with a few "scratches", but they can be fixed. We were tired and have learned some lessons.

May 22:  Picked up fuel at Golden Isles Marina ($4.96/gal) and bicycled to the West Marine store near Brunswick, GA (approx. 4 miles one way) to pick up a few parts to repair one of TabbyCat's "scratches". We bought fuel here last year for something like $2.59/gal :(. I guess we cannot really complain since we aren't commuting to work every day, right? Afterwards, we motored 15.2 nm and anchored near Broughton Island, GA. Nice anchorage, with some current but overall a quiet night.

May 23: Motored 68.5 nm to Herb Creek near Thunderbolt, GA, which is not far from Savannah. Mike asked Susan to head farther up the creek than other cruising boats and we were rewarded. When we dropped anchor, there was a wedding reception being held at a house on the water. They had a super 3-piece jazz band playing. So we had our adult beverages, cheese and crackers on the foredeck trampolines and enjoyed the unexpected!

May 25: Motored 58 nm to Charleston, SC - one of our very favorite stops on the ICW. We forgot that this was Memorial Day weekend and everyone who owns a boat (especially a power boat) was out on the water.

We paid the price as little boats would power up and get in front of us and then stop(!) or dramatically slow down. When we went through the last drawbridge leading into Charleston, Susan used the horn to warn several powerboats to get out of the way while we were trying to make sure the mast was in the open area between the lifted but potentially mast-eating span.

We spent an extra day in Charleston, SC because the annual Spoleto and Piccolo Spoleto Festivals were taking place.  This is a two week series of events (theater, music, multimedia, art, dancing, comedy) that is the sister event to one that takes place in Spoleto, Italy (hence the name).  There are event venues all over the city some are free and others you must buy tickets for. We attended two performances - one by "Quintango" and one called "Monkey, Journey to the West".  The "Monkey" Theatre was interesting (feats of strength, balance and flexibility like spinning plates, one handed handstands and convoluted contortionists, etc), but we preferred the torrid, suggestive dancing and music of the tango artists. Also, the storyline didn't seem to translate too well into Western values - it seemed very war-like and unaccepting of differing viewpoints. We met Orca (Richard & Debbie Packard), who attended the Monkey Theatre with us.

May 31:  Yay!  - we've made it north of Cape Hatteras and are anchored in Bear Creek, NC. The cruising guide for Bear Creek says there may be...Bugs!!! aka - blood sucking mosquitoes! On our way here we passed quickly through Wrightsville Beach and also sailed "outside" the ICW where we picked up a passenger we named "Gail".  

June 4: Our fastest trip through North Carolina ever (in a boat!) 

We arrived in Portsmouth, VA after traveling over 145 nautical miles in the 4 days since we left Bear Creek. The trip through the Dismal Swamp was a long day with lots of drawbridges, locks, lift bridges, and boat traffic.  Once again we were awed by the Dismal's natural beauty.  We saw turtles blending in with the logs (they both "dive" into the water - think about it!) - a small bright green snake elected to swim across the canal right between our hulls.

We had stops along the way on the Pungo River, South Lake and Elizabeth City, NC. At the Pungo River, we saw and escaped the huge forest fire that engulfed huge areas of North Carolina this spring. Elizabeth City with its free slip in the heart of a struggling southern town and South Lake with its absolute quiet amid the pines and birds showed two other types of beauty

June 14: A fab sail up the Bay into Maryland waters was interrupted when the proverbial calm before the storm had us racing both engines to get to the anchorage at Solomon's MD before massive thunderstorms hit. We ended a 67.5nm day cowering below amidst stroboscopic flashes of lightning and surround-sound crashes of thunder.

June 15 - 29: Arrived at Al Golden's place on the Wye River. Al is the owner of IMIS, where Susan works, and his dock is also a SSCA cruising station.  

Al and his wife Eileen were great hosts, taking us to dinner at their club, loaning us a car, and treating us to some competitive games of tennis. The Wye is arguably the quintessential location for Chesapeake Bay cruising. Quiet anchorages, good holding, nature preserves along with the early morning wakes from the crabbers running trot lines and the pre-historic squawks from blue herons; whistling warnings from the osprey abound.

June 30: Began the serious work of getting out of the Chesapeake and up to Maine for beautiful days and cool nights! During our stay we also had the usual group of doctors appointments and restocking the boat with supplies. 

July 1: Motorsailed 45.3nm to Chesapeake City in the C&D Canal and found ourselves in a tight anchorage.  We got in early enough to find a good spot, but watched as several boats arrived late and struggled to get their anchors to hold. In the middle of the night, a book fell off the shelf and loudly crashed on the the floor.  It made such a noise that we both jumped up, dashing on deck in the altogether certain that another boat had hit us, but there wasn't a single boat near us.  We made our way back to bed puzzling over the bang. When we found the culprit we laughed hysterically.

July 2 - 6:  Had the current with us until Reedy Point at the east end of the C&D Canal. Fought the current for a short while, and then it was with us from noon on, so were able to make it to Cape May, 78.7 nm away. While in Cape May we biked around the "Painted Ladies", walked on the beach and played tennis on Har-Tru courts. Mike had been eager to play on a surface that was more forgiving to the knees, but our balls were dead so Susan wasn't impressed with the advantages of the clay-like surface).  The fireworks were not much to see, since it was raining. 

We also replaced the bilge pump in the starboard engine compartment - out of 4 bilge pumps we have now replaced 3 and one of them has lost its float switch, so it is no longer "automatic". Fortunately the boat is relatively dry so we have not "needed" the bilge pumps yet.

July 7 - 8: Reached a top speed of 11.1 knots surfing in the inlet to Barnegat Light at the north end of Long Beach Island (LBI).  The trip from Cape May = 66.7nm. Entering the anchorage area at Barnegat Light is a bit confusing, so it was nice having the waypoints we entered from last year available.  We rode our bikes on LBI to Harvey Cedars, NJ and played tennis on hard courts with a new set of balls (a much better experience than Cape May!). In contrast to the Victorian "Painted Ladies" found in Cape May, Harvey Cedars boasts cool modern architecture.

July 9 - 11: Sailed, motorsailed with wind astern 71.9 nm to the 79th Street Boat Basin on the west side of Manhattan Island, NYC. No this is not going to be "West Side Story"! We picked up a mooring buoy in a boiling, boisterous current and dinghied into the dock to explore the world's greatest city. The 79th St. Boat Basin is a city-owned marina and it is an ideal spot to explore NYC from since it is only a couple of blocks away from a subway station and very close to Central Park. The subway stations all have mosaic tile signs that let you know which station it is as the subway train rolls in. We really liked the one for Broadway.  

Went to Broadway and saw the play, "Mama Mia" at the Winter Garden Theater.  This well-known show is based on the music of the Swedish rock group Abba, and was awesome, I am not sure it will translate into a movie (we heard there is a movie that premiered on the same day we saw the play!). 

We also "fell into" a cool concert at Radio City Music Hall (The Steve Miller Band with Joe Cocker as the opening act). We were on our way to visit the MoMA and paused when we reached Radio City Music Hall due to a mass of humanity waiting for the light to change, when we saw a poster advertising the concert "Tonight! One night only!" We grabbed tickets and had a super evening - great music in a really cool venue. 

The MoMA? I guess the third time is the charm - since we tried to see the MoMA on our last 2 trips but didn't. Liquid Clock artist Salvador Dali was featured - he had some weird ideas and we learned he did a movie with Walt Disney that was erotically bizarre to say the least. 

Perhaps the coolest thing we did was riding our bikes in Central Park. Of course, we received the usual stares and thumbs up signals from people as we rode around on our folding recumbent bikes. On Saturday morning we went for a quick ride along the waterfront, then we untied from the mooring buoy and headed for the East River.

July 12: Traveled 27.4 nm to Port Washington, NY. We left the 79th St. Boat Basin and motored around the bottom of Manhattan Island, leaving the Statue of Liberty to starboard (on our right). We really timed this right since it was a Saturday and the current was just about slack. The result was we spent less time dodging the ferries and water taxis that carry commuters to and fro at high speeds from every direction. The slack current also allowed us to enjoy seeing the "Waterfalls" art installations along the East River. 

The mis-named East River must be one of the most traveled bodies of water in the world. Why is it mis-named? Because both it and the Harlem River have no beginning (source) and no end (mouth). The cruising guide says they are the only two such "rivers" in the world, but we are reserving judgment (the world is a big place!).

July 13 - 14: Had a lovely 21.6nm sail to Oyster Bay, NY (Long Island).  Blue sky, puffy decorative clouds, sailing along at 8+ knots, with a max speed of 9.4 knots.  Mike sailed us near a race with J-105 sail boats (we used to race on a J-105 when we lived near Annapolis) and Susan lounged forward on the nets.

We really like Oyster Bay with its protected anchorage and easy access to Long Island Sound, not to mention the Long Island Railroad into NYC and some funky little shops in town, along with a nice park along the water with tennis courts.

July 15: Motored the whole way across Long Island Sound to Norwalk, CT (can you believe it?). The route into Norwalk is interesting - it winds around and about. There is not much anchoring room, but we found a spot just east of the marina.  Other boats are tied bow to stern in lines alongside the channel.  Mike earned husband points by doing laundry with the the wonder wash machine.  For you husbands out there, have you ever noticed that positive husband points don't last? For you wives out there, you might consider revising the point system!!

Ate dinner at the Sunset Grille, where we also had lunch with Corky of Surprise the next day. We left our anchorage and spent the night anchored by Cockenoe Island a little V-shaped island that had incredible stone beaches and lots of egrets nesting for the night in the trees near the point of the V.

July 17: Another day of motoring found us traveling up the Connecticut River and picking up a mooring at EYC - Essex Yacht Club for $40. The EYC staff made some unhelpful suggestions on how we should tie up - we don't think they see many catamarans there - we ended up okay when we tied onto the mooring in our "normal" fashion.  We enjoyed meeting with a nice couple, Russ & Lori Rackliffe who are hoping to be catamaran owners soon.  We have been sending a lot of e-mails back & forth, so it was great to put the faces with the names. They treated us to dinner at at the fabulous and historic Griswold Inn. Thanks Russ & Lori!

July 18: Motorsailed and sailed to Point Judith Pond, RI west of Narragansett Bay and Newport, RI.  This is a good location that has several protected spots to anchor and we have used this location almost every time we have sailed through Rhode Island Sound. While traveling, we heard a VHF distress call about a powerboat collision with a sailboat on Buzzards Bay, well west of us.  Later heard on the news that the helmsperson on the sailboat was knocked overboard and died :( .

July 19: Sailed to Newport, RI. Saw a megayacht sailboat race in the lifting fog as we entered into the harbor and came close to being herded into the starting box by a large schooner. The bow person was alternately signaling to us and to the helmsperson and neither the schooner helmsperson or us could figure out what the bow person wanted TabbyCat to do, with the result of the schooner's bow sprit kept heading closer and closer to us. They were really moving along at close to 10 knots. Finally we saw an opening and with both engines going we dove out of the way! Welcome to Newport! Once into the harbor proper, we anchored near the Ida Lewis Yacht Club in 20' of water. Other boats were close by, so it's not a great place if bad weather is on the way. It was entertaining (not really!) to see other boats trying to drop anchor, put out enough scope and not be right on top of another boat. Went into town and got books at Blue Water Books (aka - The Armchair Sailor), including the "bible" of Maine cruising guides by Taft, Taft and Rindlaub, called "A Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast"; everyone calls it the "Taft Guide" since they were the original authors, but the Curtis & Carol Rindlaub have been updating the cruising guide since 1994 (Kleenex anyone?). Rode our bikes to the Cliff walk the next morning and walked 6 miles round trip.  The view of the mansions and the cliffs is quite wonderful, even when it's foggy. We discovered the International Tennis Hall of Fame while bicycling downtown, so stopped and had lunch off the center court.  It was quite lovely, with the closely cropped green lawn and old buildings. The ITHoF was originally a casino that tried a number of different "acts" in the open area behind the casino to entertain the summer visitors to Newport. Prior to tennis, they had a rodeo. Tennis proved to be more popular.

July 21: Left late to avoid heavy rain & fog (have you noticed a theme yet?) that we saw on the weather radar.  Motored out of Newport to get though swells, then sailed the rest of the way (50.8 nm) to Onset, MA. Onset is a funky little town that we seem to stop in a lot, but we always seem to be there at the wrong time for fun activities. This time was no exception since we were there on a Monday night.

July 23: Anchored in Gloucester, MA. This was not as easy as it sounds, because the designated anchorage area is small, it was about to storm with dark clouds and lightning bearing down on the harbor, and the Harbormaster was buzzing about suggesting where we could and could not anchor.  We dropped the hook temporarily while the storm raged. We were almost rafted in a stern to bow fashion (yikes!) with North Star, a blue 32' Nordic Tug Trawler, who we had met in Annapolis and the Bahamas. To make us all more comfortable we found a new spot that left us away from other boats but hanging a bit into the channel. Mike got up at 3 am to watch & make sure the fishing boats would not hit us on their way out.   

July 24: We finally arrived in Maine! With a week to spare we will finally have a chance to see Maine in all its summer glory - sunny days and cool nights with favorable winds to carry us "Down East"! Our port of arrival is Kittery, ME hard by Portsmouth, NH.

Portsmouth, NH and Kittery, ME are on either side of the Piscataqua River.  The cruisers joke that as the tide swings you leave one state and enter another. Sean Sullivan from the Cruiser's Forum was anchored next to us - this will be his home base for a while.  Fred & Donna from Northstar arrived later in the afternoon, so we had them over for appetizers. We purchased groceries at Frisbees, which claims to be the oldest family grocery store in the USA.  We walked to the fort and had a look around.

July 26: We were going to head for Jewell Island, but when we left, it was so calm (where is that favorable wind?) that we decided to visit the Isles of Shoals, which are just 8 nm away from Kittery.  Isles of Shoals are just that islands that also just happen to be shoals. They are among the original settlements in Maine, revered by Captain John Smith in 1614. In the 1700's these seemingly insignificant islands were one of England's gems because of the quantities of cod "caught, dried and shipped home" (Rindlaub).

We saw our first whales on the way. They looked to be finback whales and they are like icebergs, 90% underwater - don't they know we want to look at them? 

We picked up one of the complementary moorings, then inflated the kayak. The distances between the islands are not great, and when it's calm they are fun to explore. We went for a short hike on Smuttynose Island, where we saw sheep and were attacked by mother seagulls protecting their young. The mother seagull has a red spot on the side of her beak. When the babies peck at the spot, the mother dutifully regurgitates the fish she has caught. We observed some of the mothers trying to wean the baby gulls from their free lunches by trying to hide the red spot from the youngsters. As we were coming back into the Harbor, we saw Madcap entering the harbor, so we visited Beth & Jim on their boat, and then later they came over for Dominoes & appetizers.  Beth was quite pleased to have won her first game of Mexican Train Dominoes by employing the Morning Glory "100" rule.

July 27 - 28: After a pleasant night in Isles of Shoals we sailed 54.7nm to Jewell Island. For those of you following along from last year, you will remember Jewell as a beautiful anchorage with trails all over the island along with WWII observation towers hidden among the pines. 

North Star joined us in the anchorage on the 28th and while we were hiking along the beach at low tide we discovered there were lots of mussels under the seaweed and rocks. After a brief discussion, we zipped back to TabbyCat, picked up a bucket and had a mussel feast with the crew of North Star. Of course, with TabbyCat no simple meal occurs without some adventure; mussels were no exception since many beds are closed due to red tide (aka - Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning or PSP). A call to the Maine Dept. of Marine Resources left us less than 100% certain, so Mike was the chosen guinea pig - he ate a sample 30 minutes before everyone else.

July 29: The day of towing to a pretty small pretty place.

We made a short 23.6nm hop to Five Islands Harbor on the west side of the Sheepscot River. Madcap told us about it and since we had time for exploration, we thought it would be fun to see this harbor that is essentially made up of a ring of five islands. On the way, we heard a powerboat asking for assistance on the VHF. Their engine was kaput and they were slowly drifting down the Sheepscot to the ocean. A lobsterman responded by saying, "You're a bit far from me, but I'll come get ya afta I'm done lobsterin' for the day!" 

Since it was about noon, the drifting boat was going to be out there a long time, so we offered to give them a tow into Five Islands Harbor. We got them into the entrance to Five Islands and then discovered just how small and crowded the harbor was. Just as I was trying to figure out how to make some tight maneuvers in order to deposit them at a dock, they finally got their engine re-started. With a wave and a shout of "Thanks!" they left us - we never found out their names or their boat name; we hope they will "pay it forward" and help someone else out in the future.

On the way to picking up a free mooring compliments of the Five Islands Yacht Club we also picked up a "free" lobster pot float :( Fortunately, we also found Jim and Beth from Madcap also moored there - a yell for help brought them and two other dinghies to our rescue and they acted like tug boats to push our bow up to the mooring. We had to launch the dinghy to get totally free once secured to the free mooring. Now on to lobster dinner ashore. 

Jim & Beth performed an earlier reconnaissance and determined the best place to go was a short dinghy ride to the north (Sarah's Dockside). With them in the lead, we were set to end the day in good company with good food, when we realized their dinghy had stopped running, could they have run into sea weed and gotten some tangled in the prop? We ended up towing them to dinner and back to their boat afterwards.

July 30: Last year we spent a beautiful day in a spot called Pulpit Harbor, so we thought another trip would be just as delightful but we learned that each day has its own uniqueness if not always its own unique beauty. 

We entered Pulpit Harbor after sailing most of the 53.5nm from Five Islands (from the Sheepscot River to the Penobscot River). We anchored and were surprised by seeing Donna & Fred on North Star arriving after us, the fog rolled in. The cruising guide says Pulpit boasts some of the most beautiful sunsets in Maine, but we could barely see our bow, much less the sun. We did ride our bikes over to North Haven Harbor and took a few shots of fog-bound dinghies there.We invited Donna & Fred to join us on TabbyCat and presented them with "Mussels" for dessert.

July 31 - Aug 2: We groped 14.3nm to Islesboro, Maine in thick fog and found a spot to anchor among a small armada of cruising sailboats, plus a few trawlers. Islesboro represented one of our key goals for being in Maine this year: attending the SSCA GAM and talking with cruisers who have been to the exotic locations we hope to find. We also had a chance to meet with one of our newer sister ships in the Maine Cat family, Navigator, owned by Bob & Nancy Gause.

The short but long version is we succeeded famously with Navigator, but found the fog, cold & rain limited some of the other conversations. Bob and Nancy are really great and we shared a lot of good ideas, stories, etc. We are looking forward to seeing them in the future. To fight the fog and in keeping with a fine cruiser tradition, we had a huge dinghy raft-up for the Friday Happy Hour. 

Aug 3 - 7: We left the cold, foggy SSCA GAM hoping to return to Islesboro since it looks like a cool place to explore, motoring behind Navigator to Stockton Harbor. Bob invited us to use his second mooring ball and loan us a car for some needed grocery shopping. We have discovered that whether the islands are in Down East Maine or the Bahamas, the selection can sometimes be limited. You could say we re-stocked in Stockton, but that would be you...

Then we went off to Castine with just enough wind for Mike to sail while Susan took a well-deserved nap (she's been working too hard!). Castine is the home to the Maine Maritime Academy and the site of one of America's greatest naval defeats. The MMA turns out graduates equipped to do everything from running ships to running the logistics operations for some of the world's biggest companies. The naval defeat occurred during the Revolutionary War when the American forces mistakenly thought they were about to face a far superior British one. To prevent the American ships from being captured, the ships were burned. Castine is also a town that frequently changed hands between the French, Dutch, English and Americans until 1814 when the Canadians took over - oops! - the Brits finally left after the War of 1812 and the US flag was raised.

We anchored just to the south and east of Castine in Smith Cove very close to a wreck that slowly and ominously reveals at low tide. Regardless, Castine is also another one of those towns it is nice to walk around and we were able to find a break in the rain, but not the COLD and FOG (have we mentioned COLD and FOG in Maine, yet?).

Aug 8 - 10: Motorsailed and sailed 32.3nm to Isle Au Haut (Eel O Ho!) and Duck Harbor, where the cruising guide says we can expect to see...seals!

Duck Harbor is part of the fabulous Acadia National Park and we really feel like we are in Maine now! We have it all - remote craggy rocks shooting straight out of the water, rain, cold and fog! The trip to Duck Harbor is no exception and we even turned on the diesel heater for a short period - is there really summer in Maine or did summer elect to skip Maine this year? We found the harbor to be narrow and required a stern anchor to prevent swinging onto rocks or into other boats.

Aug 11 -13: Motored and briefly motorsailed 39.3 nm in light rain, light winds, cool temps and fog (really heavy at times). We ended up on a Hinckley Yacht Yard mooring in SW Harbor, Mt. Desert Island. Our modern-looking multihull really stood out among all the classic lines of the Hinckley Yachts moored all around us.

Aug 12 - On our 13th wedding anniversary we spent most of the day doing laundry in the Hinckley machines! (romance in the laundry room?). As is apparently normal it was another gray, grey, rainy and foggy day; we have taken to calling them "grainy and foggy".

We also walked around the town of SW Harbor, did some shopping for fresh veggies, fruit, etc. the market there had good looking selections.

Aug 14 - 24: How did we spend our summer vacation? We might say that the highlight of our trip to this point was the 10 days we spent anchored in Somes Harbor on Mt. Desert Island. 

Somes Harbor is just 6 miles up the only fjord in the Northeast US and was also the first place on Mt. Desert that was settled. The harbor is well-protected from just about every wind angle and the locals have made it a very welcoming place. They have a nice dinghy dock for visitors along with a short, secluded walk down a gravel path to the main road. Once on the main road, you can flag down a free bus equipped with a bike rack to run you to Bar Harbor and other key points of interest on the island. Of course, on our first night there we were chased by the #!($^$)!@# FOG, but the fog never made it into Somes Harbor - that was an omen of good things to come.

We were fortunate to join the two boats we met in Barnegat Inlet, NJ, Aurochs and Wanderer II. We had several happy hours with them and discussed our plans for each day without feeling pressured to accommodate everyone's wishes (we had different goals!). 

As a result, we either rode our bikes or hiked in Acadia National Park nearly every day. We also inflated the kayak one day and explored a few watery nooks and brooks with too many crooks for TabbyCat; our legs got a great workout. The birds were here too - saw a bald eagle or two, plus some ospreys, cormorants, scoters and loons - there are 273 bird species that can be found in Acadia National Park, we now only have to see another 261 and we will be done! Scoters are smaller loon-like birds.

Acadia is without question a true national treasure with stunningly beautiful vistas from mountain tops like Cadillac Mountain and a network of broken stone roads and granite bridges built by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Many of the trails have granite boulders lining the edge of the road in an irregular pattern - they are called "Rockefeller's Teeth"! Cadillac Mountain is named after the same Cadillac that eventually had a luxury car named for him. He first set foot in America on Mount Desert Island, but he decided to move on and ended up near Detroit, MI.

On our next to last day here we went on a hike that we promised would be an easy hike - HA! After going from one mountain to the next, we finally said let's get back via the shortest route possible...it turned out that was nearly straight down! Fortunately someone had blazed the trail years ahead of us and placed hand and foot holds along the way. There was even some Park Ranger humor...

    A few other cool images...   

Aug 25 - 26: We finally left the idyllic anchorage of Somes Harbor, sailing and motorsailing 25.2nm to the Wooden Boat School near Brooklin, ME. The Wooden Boat School is exactly what its name says plus it is the home of Wooden Boat Magazine. Since we are fascinated with wood boats, but wouldn't own one ourselves (?), we had to stop here and see what was going on.

It turns out there were classes in session teaching how to build wood dinghies and decorative wood inlay. The two dinghy building classes were divided into a stitch and glue class and a steam bending class. After sticking our heads into each of the classes we walked around the pretty farm-like campus. 

After a bouncy night in the anchorage that was exposed to NW winds, we headed off to Rockland, ME for our rendezvous with Susan's sister, Fae, and mom, Pam. In order to get there we had to sail northwest up the "Egg McMuffin Reach" (OK! it's really Eggemoggin Reach). This wide boulevard of water runs from the SE to the NW. With the winds normally prevailing out of the SW, sailing is normally a reach and the schooners plying these waters just love it. During our first time on the Reach, the NW winds were gusting up to 25 knots and with Susan on the helm, TabbyCat's fur was flying as we tacked back and forth and BEAT our way to the top of the "Egg McMuffin". 

Accompanying us on this sail was a daysailing ketch, Light Winds. As we neared the bridge that crosses from the mainland to Deer Isle a little wind shift kept us tacking, but this pretty boat was able to point up into the wind and keep sailing on starboard tack. We had a great time ducking them each time our paths crossed since they had right of way.

The day ended with TabbyCat comfortably anchored in Rockland Harbor after sailing 37.7nm and hitting a top speed of 12.1 knots. 

Aug 27 - 29: Pam & Fae joined us on the 27th and we all went out on Rendezvous, a WWII "Liberty Launch" that has been converted into a tour boat. The Rendezvous took us out to see the schooners converging on Camden Harbor, ME for the annual "Schooner Festival" bash. There were schooners everywhere and we were digitally recording pictures them faster than you could count to 0 and 1. Here are just a few of the hundreds...

Aug 30 - Sept 1: After the Schooner Festival we headed out of Rockland to show our guests more of Maine before Maine shuts down (that would be on or after Labor Day). Our first stop was a short 15.3nm sail to the east side of Penobscot Bay to Holbrook Harbor which is south of Castine. The sailing was superb with a reef and the jib up we hit a top speed of 9.2 knots. We hiked the following day and had a quick lunch on a rock overlooking Holbrook Harbor. We ended this day with the stereo on and wild dancing in the cockpit.

We left Holbrook and sailed over to Pulpit Harbor 11.7nm; top speed 8.75 knots - our favorite harbor did not disappoint this time around and we had a nice walk over to North Haven Harbor on Labor Day, where everything was closed. The grocery near Pulpit Harbor was open though, so we rewarded our hiking efforts with some ice cream!

Monday, we sailed back to Rockland since Fae had to leave early Tuesday. As usual, we were sad to see her go and look forward to seeing her again.

Sept 2 - 4: Off for Bath! No, not off to take a bath, but sailing to Bath, ME home to the Bath Iron Works (part of General Dynamics) and also home to the Maine Maritime Museum (MMM). Bath is way up the Kennebec River and has some strong currents to either help you or delay you as you travel. The museum is built on the grounds of three shipyards that launched huge schooners after the Civil War and up until the early decades of the 20th century. They were the predecessors to the Bath Iron Works and employed large numbers of carpenters, millers, caulkers, sailmakers, blacksmiths, etc. It is amazing to think of all these people working outdoors, often in the winter to build these behemoths with as many as 6 masts. The last 6 masted schooner, The Dakota was launched in January 1906(?) and the launch was delayed for one day because of a gale. 

The shipbuilders had to be careful launching the vessels down the ways for any number of reasons, but the one that sticks in my mind is the possibility of running into the opposite shore at least a half mile away. Another interesting factoid is that ships were not only launched but also built on the inclined ways until something like 1997, when they started building and launching from a dry dock that could be flooded (OK, it may not be interesting but it remains a factoid!).

We stopped by the Seguin Island Lighthouse at the mouth of the Kennebec River along the way to Bath and hiked to the top of the island - stunning views. It is one of the tallest lights in Maine. To get there we picked up a mooring in a cove on the NE side of the island, maintained by "friends of the lighthouse". When we landed on the rocky granite beach we found a bulletin board that talked about the island and the caretakers that were living on the island for the summer. They seemed like nice folks, but we won't know since summer is over and the caretakers were gone. They left behind a nice garden with the freshest peas.

Sept 5 - 7: Arrived in The Basin a full day ahead of Hannah's anticipated arrival. The forecast showed her track to be less than 50 miles from where we were anchored and gusts to 45 knots were also predicted. We were surprised to only find a handful of boats here. The cove has a number of fingers and Susan has us anchored near the mouth of one of them to provide protection when the winds come from the NE and then the N overnight. In the meantime, we found our friends Wanderer II and Aurochs already anchored in this lake-like setting.  

A brief conversation with Aurochs tells us to zip off in the dinghy and buy lobsters on the west side of the New Meadows River in a little town called Cundy's Harbor. We arrived at just the right time since many of the lobstermen and fishermen had just dropped off their catch. We asked if their were any hard shell lobsters available and the head of the co-op tosses this huge lobster on the dock. We ask for two more and he finds us two that are a bit smaller. We zip the dinghy back to the boat and get ready to boil lobster when we realize it will take both of our large pots to cook these monsters. We fit the largest and the smallest into the big pot and then the medium one in our stock pot - barely!

Hannah passed us uneventfully on Saturday night into Sunday morning and she either had lost some of her punch or we picked a great spot to anchor or a combination of both. We hosted Wanderer II  and Aurochs for a Sunday curry chicken dinner made by Susan's mom and celebrated another day with good company.

Sept 8 - 9: Now that we survived the big winds (?) from Hannah, we sailed (max speed = 12.2 kts) and motorsailed 69.6nm and left all of Maine behind. We arrived in Portsmouth, NH. We normally anchor in Kittery, ME but since the season is over and there is a forecast for a windy stormy day on Sept. 9th, we opted for a mooring ball in a more protected spot called Little Harbor. We arrived just after sunset and the twilight was definitely moving towards dark; Susan driving and Mom & Mike were the lobster pot spotters. 

Mike took Mom on an exciting dinghy ride the next day, crashing through waves at the entrance to Little Harbor, and surfing down 4 - 5 foot waves (they were only making a short run to the Frisbee's Grocery in Kittery). After thinking about the trip back Mom & Mike decided there had to be a better way and called Susan on the VHF for routing advice. She found the perfect dinghy route that wound through some creeks and avoided the main river. For those who are planning to make the trip to Kittery, Frisbee's claims to be the oldest family run grocery store in the US of A. Check out the glass showcase in the front of the store where they have pictures from the store's past - Miss America stopped by in 1967.

Sept 10: Now that we survived the big winds (?) that were not from Hannah, we sailed, motorsailed and motored in that order 78.1nm to Provincetown, MA (P-Town). The wind was initially from the NW @ 15 - 25 kts and we rolled along in lumpy seas with the main and the screacher. At one point we had covered 20nm in just 2 hours.  As we got closer to P-Town the winds died, so we turned on an engine and motored into the harbor and found a mooring for the night. We arrived just before sunset and had a quick walk around the town that has gained some notoriety for the alternative lifestyles found here. The town is colorful and has some fun and wildly decorated stores. We ate dinner at a place called Bubbula's.

P-Town is also the first place the Pilgrims landed and there is a Pilgrims Monument that dominates the skyline here. The harbor itself still has a large fishing fleet when you think how packed it must be with pleasure craft during the summer season (did we mention that the "season" is over?) P-Town at the tip of Cape Cod, so there are these neat four-sided lighthouses along the cape.

Sept 11: On the anniversary of a day that changed the world, we motored through normally windy Buzzard's Bay and found a tranquil anchorage in Cuttyhunk Island's harbor (a 55.8nm day). A good day to reflect and take a walk along a beautiful island. The trip also took us through the Cape Cod Canal and we were able to time our transit to coincide with a favorable current. We saw a few nice looking tugs on the canal.

Sept 12: This day dawned similar to the day before, but with a bit more wind. As a result, we used the sails for our entire trip of 38.7nm and arrived in Bristol, RI. We hit 9.9 knots just as we entered Narragansett Bay near Newport. As we headed up the bay and passed by Newport, a 12 meter came out and sailed by us - just what you want (?) when you are passing the long-time home of the America's Cup. 

In Bristol, we were able to score a space on the dock of the Herreshoff Maritime Museum (HMM). We were docked so that our canvas maker, Kinder Industries, could take a look at the boat and discuss some minor but significant changes to our cockpit enclosure. Ed and Josh came aboard, listened to our ideas and made some good suggestions. Since it will take a while to make the changes, we will be sailing around the area for a while. The HMM has an amazing collection of Herreshoff designed and built boats. Nathanael Herreshoff is synonymous with designing successful defenders of the Americas Cup including helming during the dramatic win by the J-class Columbia.

Sept 13: Mom left us this morning and flew back to St. Augustine. It was a wonderful time having her with us; we look forward to seeing her when we get to the islands (can you say Antigua Classic Yacht Races?). A reminder here to family and friends - we would love to have you join us on TabbyCat, drop us an email or call so we can set something up - we don't see enough of you!! 

We left the HMM dock and motored to Dutch Harbor on the west side of Conanicut Island - if your head is spinning with trying to keep up with the geography, this is a big island west of Newport (you could also look it up on Google Maps). 

While anchored there we took the ferry over to Newport and went to the Newport International Boat Show. This show is Newport's answer to the Annapolis Boat Shows (sail and power), and in Newport they put it all on at once - power and sail in one show. While it doesn't really compare to Annapolis, we did find some things we couldn't do without. It was also raining when we arrived, so sorry, no photos!

Sept 14 - 18: The wind has us on the move while we wait for Kinder Industries to work on our cockpit enclosure improvements. We spent one night in another cove on Conanicut Island to avoid the wind, then the next day we sailed and motorsailed to Lake Tashmoo on Martha's Vineyard. Here we found some public tennis courts, so we hit for about an hour and then back to the boat. 

On the morning of the 18th, we saved a sailing sloop, Esprit from Mattapoisett, MA, from going aground after noticing they were dragging anchor. She was anchored in front of us in the morning and when the wind picked up, Mike noticed she was suddenly behind us and sideways to the wind (always a bad sign). A quick launch of our dinghy and then we were off to the rescue. Fortunately there was a large mooring ball nearby and we were able to tow the sloop with our 8HP outboard and secure her to the ball. Later we met the owner who thanked us profusely.

Sept 19 - 23: We arrived in Block Island, RI after a 50.9nm sail under main alone with a reef in it (top speed = 12.3 kts). The wind (initially over 25 kts), waves and current were all in our favor when we left Lake Tashmoo at low tide. One reason we came to BI is to rendezvous with other Maine Cats. We initially thought there might be as many as 4 here, but I guess the weather deteriorated too much - we arrived and found Panorama there but no others. Panorama is the most recent Maine Cat 41 (isn't that a great name?), owned by Scott and Lara Bursor. We were able to spend some enjoyable time with them and their two children, Bella (4 yrs old) and Layla (10 months old). 

While we were on their boat with TabbyCat anchored nearby, an inquisitive man sailing a dinghy stopped by and said "Hi!". As it often works out in the nice cruising world, we started talking and he came aboard for a while. Then he invited us over to his house. He also offered the use of the washing machine and dryer to Scott and Lara (with two young kids, they needed a washer/dryer). 

So here is a bit of this guy's story (or as Jimmy Buffet would say, a bit of his songline). He was the former owner of a Maine Cat 30. He and his family (John, Kerri, and kids Dave, Sam and Sally) are now world cruisers on the "installment plan". They sail their 45' Outremer catamaran, Aldora, for approx. 8 months, find a safe place to keep it, and fly home to Block Island for 4 months. While in Block Island, they re-connect with family and friends plus do a little work to keep the cruising funds up. Their house is awesome - not because of its size, but because of how it fits in with its environment. It is a passive solar house - designed to take advantage of the sun and the small footprint of the lot. We could go on, but it was a cool trip to meet some cool people - even more so because it was so thoughtful and unexpected. 

Another reason we came to Block Island was to explore a bit. We have anchored in the Great Salt Pond (aka, the New Harbor) twice before, but we have not spent much time here. We were able to go for a nice bike ride over much of the island on Sunday the 21st. We planned to continue biking on Monday, but the weather was poor, so we spent the day on TabbyCat trying to check items off the "to do" list. Unfortunately, I think we added another project. Here is a trivia item for those of you who are following along - TabbyCat was in Block Island almost exactly 3 years ago on Sept. 19 & 20, 2005. Block Island in 2008 was way more fun than in 2005!

Sept 23 - Sept 27: The winds have been favorable out of the NE for sailing back to the Chesapeake, so we picked up the anchor just after noon and sailed 38.8nm to 3 Mile Harbor on the East end of Long Island. We arrived just after sunset and wished we had arrived just a bit earlier since the fish were practically jumping onto the back of the boat.

We got up with the sun on the 24th and sailed 94.6nm to Oyster Bay, NY. We were able to get here and get anchored before a bad storm arrived on the 25th (aka - unfavorably high wind & waves out of the NE). We hope to sail through New York on Saturday, Sept 27. (Sorry, no pix!)

While in Oyster Bay, we had ringside seats for 2 of 3 days of the US Match Racing Championship, sailed in boats called Sonars. It was too windy and rough to hold the races out on LI Sound, so they held them in the protected waters of Oyster Bay. This allowed the racers to have the wind without the waves. There were some pretty exciting races as several races had lead changes, but most were decided at the start. On day two, the wind was so high that the boats did not use spinnakers.

Sept 27 - 28: Made it through NY Harbor uneventfully this year (the UN closes on Saturday and the East River opens for recreational boats!). We spent two days in Great Kills Harbor located on the south side of Staten Island while waiting for another bad storm (this one named Hurricane Kyle) to pass.

Sept 29 - Oct 1: Sailed 117nm overnight to Cape May, NJ. We normally stop midway down the NJ coast, but the conditions after the hurricane were favorable for continuing. After arriving around 2:30AM, we grabbed about 4 hours sleep and then scooted out of Cape May so we could catch the favorable current running up the Delaware Bay. Not much wind, so we motored and motorsailed most of the way until we got to our anchorage in Cabin John Creek on the Chesapeake 67.1 nm later. Up at well past first light, we motored in flat water to our home port, Annapolis, MD, where we will spend time at the boat shows getting all those last minute items every Caribbean bound cruiser must have.

Oct 21: Serendipity strikes again! No, we were not hit by a boat named "Serendipity",...

...we were just in the right place at the right time with the right people. We have been fortunate to have wonderful folks donate the use of cars, trucks and vans to us while in Annapolis and this time was no exception. One of the challenges this year was to get to the Eastern Shore of Maryland to pick up our car/van while the boat was in Annapolis. The reciprocal challenge was to return the vehicle. Friends John & Dianne White really helped us out. On our last night in Annapolis, we stopped by to thank them and return a jump start device that saved us multiple times. As we entered their house, Dianne says:

"Hey guys! I am so excited, John & I are going to a concert tonight!!"

Mike replies, "Cool, who is playing?"

Dianne, "Chris Botti (a popular Smooth Jazz trumpeter)! We have an extra set of tickets, do you want to join us?"

A mad dash ensued as we raced back to the boat for a quick clothes change and then met with John & Di at a cool West Street restaurant before the concert at the intimate Ram's Head "On Stage" venue. Awesome! We even got a picture of Dianne there - the blond guy just jumped into the picture at the last moment!

Oct 2 - Oct 22: If the economy is in trouble don't blame us! We did more than our share while in Annapolis. In addition to all the restaurants and bars where we did drunken sailor imitations, we found all sorts of things we couldn't live without. A partial list includes a spinnaker, Single Side Band (SSB) radio, plus SSB automatic tuner, antenna, cables, new boat shoes, etc. Then there was the haul out for maintenance and painting of the bottom. We hauled out @ Pleasure Cove Marina on the Bodkin River. They are one of the few marinas left that are able to lift a 23' wide cat AND allow you to do your own work. We also hauled out in Solomons Island, MD @ Zahnisers Marina due to some human error when replacing the prop during our first haulout. To sum up the spending side, when we received our credit card statement, we realized that our drunken sailor "imitation" is too realistic - OUCH!

Just a side comment on Pleasure Cove Marina. The primary reason (perhaps the only reason) the marina exists is to service the huge go fast power yacht, Purely Pleasure, that belongs to the owner of the marina. Why do we say this? Because everything at that marina revolves around his boat. While there are some nice folks at the marina, their efforts are focused on the owner's boat and everything else is just "busy work". In other words hauling out catamarans is akin to getting rid of (cough, cough...) "hairballs".

One other point of interest, our good friends, Doug & Helen from Morning Glory sold their boat and have become wandering dirt dwellers. When we pulled into Pleasure Cove, Morning Glory was tied up in a slip awaiting her new owners. It was a bit weird seeing the boat knowing that it was stripped of the warmth and friendship they provided.

While in Annapolis, we took time to meet up with friends and also got a little kayaking in with John, Dianne, Sid & Judy. As we were departing Spriggs Cove on our first kayaking trip, Susan said, "Since we have been cruising it seems like we run into people we know in every cove". Sure enough, as we went into the next cove we ran into Bob & Gail on Star whom we met in the Bahamas.

Oct 27 - 28: Our plan for sailing to the Caribbean via Bermuda was weighing on us as we looked at the weather. The weather this day was forecast to be very windy and cold, part of a low pressure system crossing the Chesapeake Bay. NOAA had issued a small craft advisory and the general tone of the day was best described in one word - GRAY. Of course, we decided to head south in these conditions.

WOW, what a ride! We reached out of the Patuxent River under jib and a single reefed main @ 8 -12 knots, bashing into waves and thankful we had closed all the hatches before leaving. As we turned south into the Chesapeake, we quickly realized that we needed to reduce sail. With the wind squarely behind us, we rolled up the jib and later reduced the main by going to the second reef point. Here are the facts:

MAX SPEED: 18.27 knots (new record!)    DISTANCE: 55 nm    AVG SPEED: 8.4 knots

Just before dark, we found a nice anchorage in Henry's Creek, just off of Fleets Bay. We tucked into a branch of the creek that offered the greatest protection from the wind, but still found ourselves facing gusts over 20 knots. As we prepared for bed, we were glad to have finished this day, still confident that we might be able to depart the US on November 2. We spent the next day in Henry's Creek as well, with gale force winds on the bay.

Before leaving the US, we needed to spend time with friends in Hardyville, VA and finish provisioning and outfitting of the boat for the trip - YES!, more opportunities to boost the economy! We also planned to have a crew member, Carl Pugh, join us for the leg from the Chesapeake to Bermuda, so we had to coordinate his arrival. 

Oct 29: Arrived in Healy Creek, Hardyville, VA (near Deltaville). We sailed 27.2 nm in gusty winds up to 35 kts apparent with the jib and double reefed main. We had discussions about how to put in a 3rd reef, but they remained discussions. After bashing through some very choppy conditions going across the mouth of the Rappahannock and Piankatank Rivers, we took some time to wash the salty residue in the calm, protected waters of Healy Creek. While concentrating on our clean-up, Leon arrived in his dinghy, climbed aboard and shouted, 

"I HAVE CAPTURED YOU!!" 

We literally jumped and had an adrenaline rush as he totally surprised us.

Each day brought us closer to being ready, but each day also brought disappointing weather news. The cold fronts were zipping through to the east coast and out to the ocean too quickly. Our hopes of having a third crew member were becoming slimmer by the day. Fortunately, each day ended with time spent with good friends Ellen & Leon.

    Oct 31 - Nov 1: Friends Patrick and Jane (Rohde) Hogan celebrated their 5th wedding anniversary in fine style with a party aboard a cruise ship in Baltimore's fabulous harbor. The day before the anniversary date they hosted a small pumpkin carving party (actually it was a small party and we carved pumpkins). Some of the pumpkins were grown from the leftover seeds during last year's party. We did not think we could make it, but since the weather was not cooperating, we asked to be included at the last minute. The requested theme was to dress as a pirate (one attendee came as a Pittsburgh Pirate). We reflected that in this age of government bailouts where we, the taxpayers, ultimately foot the bill, that politicians are the ultimate pirates. From that premise, we combined PIRATE with POLITICIAN and developed a new word, PIRATICIAN! We then asked who was getting the most political press days before the election and the answers to our costumes were obvious - Susan as the the irrepressible but dumb vice-maverick, Sarah Palin and Mike dressed as the glib, smiling, and over-promising Barack Hussein Obama (including the politically incorrect black face make-up). We were accompanied by Leon and Ellen dressed as a pirate and his wench. As you can see the costumes were great.

Nov 7 - Nov 12:  We left the safety and security of Wilton Creek off of the Piankatank and bid farewell to Ellen & Leon. Our destination for the 7th was somewhere in the Norfolk/Portsmouth/Hampton, VA area so we could leave the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay at a moments notice. On the way out of the Piankatank, we raised the main and immediately noticed a problem - the top batten was broken. It probably broke in the high winds on October 29. We just hadn't noticed during our final preparations (RIGHT!). A call to a Deltaville based sailmaker (Ullman-Skelly Sails) cured that problem. They sent someone to a nearby dock while we dropped the sail, anchored and dinghied ashore with the broken batten. We met up and got the new batten cut to the right size, then we continued south.

As the day wore on, we realized we would arrive after dark, so we selected Hampton as our destination since it is well marked and the large contingent of boats heading south with the Caribbean 1500 left that same day. Why didn't we follow them especially since they were going to the same ultimate destination? Two reasons - first, we still had hopes of sailing to Bermuda with a third crew member. Also, the large contingent of boats left while a late season Hurricane/Tropical Storm named Paloma was hanging around Cuba and the forecasters where unsure of where it was heading next. Silly us! We just couldn't leave unless we had perfect conditions! 

We anchored near Hampton University for a few days before moving closer to the Hampton Town Dock (a 53.75 nm trip from Wilton Creek). The cruising guide describes the anchorage here as much bigger than it really is, but Hampton is a pretty neat place that is decidedly boater friendly. Much of the city closes up over the weekend and after "normal" business hours, but there are a number of nice pubs with micro-brewed beers and good burgers. 

We began waiting for a weather window that became more and more elusive. Cold fronts packing gale force winds that normally took 3 - 4 days to cross the US and head into the Atlantic were forming up in a queue with only a day or two between them. We became obsessed with running computer models and receiving all sort of weather faxes, gridded binary files (GRIBs) showing graphical wave and wind data, and e-mails from weather guru Chris Parker. Chris would say things like, "you should have great conditions if you leave right after this next cold front passes". The next day he would effectively nix that advice. We also were running the heater and digging out warm clothes as the calendar flipped towards Thanksgiving.

BAD BAG! We discovered that our waterproof dinghy bag (used to protect things we carry in the dinghy from getting wet) does not breathe. As a result, condensation forms inside the bag and the water doesn't have anywhere to go except inside the battery compartment for our "waterproof" dinghy lights (stored in the bag to stay... dry...). Susan produced a plastic grommet from our screw and fastener box and created a drain whole in the bottom of the bag. Fortunately, we were able to "save" our hand-held VHF radio (it's now a bit crusty though).

Nov 13: We threw in the towel today (that's a sports analogy, sorry ladies!) and revamped our plans for heading to the Caribbean via the Chesapeake Bay and Bermuda. We moved a short 13.6 nm to the ICW's Mile Marker 0 (MM0) in Portsmouth, VA. From here we will leave early in the AM to make our way to Beaufort, NC via the ICW and the Dismal Swamp. The new plan is to get to Beaufort (that's BO-fort) and wait for a weather window to head directly to the BVIs.

Nov 14 - 21: Sailed, motorsailed and motored 195.6 nm from Portsmouth, VA to Beaufort, NC. As usual, we had a fun, but rainy passage through the Dismal Swamp. Robert Peek @ Deep Creek Lock is still the #1 lock tender in the US if not the world! We spent a day at anchor on the Elizabeth River near Goat Island to avoid another storm with near gale force winds. Along the way, we met other cruisers along the Alligator River who were heading for the Bahamas for the first time - that brought back some good memories for us that are only two years old. We also flew the spinnaker for the first time while on the Alligator River (still no alligators though!). 

On the 17th, we celebrated Susan's birthday in the serene, calm and cold anchorage of Pungo Creek (near Bel Haven, NC). Mike made curry chicken and chocolate brownies (yum!)

Once in Beaufort, we topped off the fuel tanks, made water and did one last grocery trip. We also treated ourselves to a nice dinner in a restaurant called "Aqua", a tapas (small plate) restaurant with a modern decor. On the morning of the 22nd, we awoke to 22F weather and raised anchor headed for...(CLICK HERE for MORE)