Farewell, Annapolis




Annapolis is beautiful in the fall, too.  View from the slip.

We motored out of our slip and under the Spa Creek Bridge for the last time at 6:55am on Saturday morning. Jeff kindly arose in the wee hours and saw us off. (Will add his videos when I can figure out how to open them.)


Preparing to leave at sunrise

Annapolis Naval Academy

Adieu, Annapolis

Had a good motor into a 5-knot S wind to Solomon's Island arriving at 3:00 for a grand total of 45 miles.  Admittedly this doesn't seem far for eight hours, but when you consider that we are moving our home on water, it makes more sense.  Fueled up, filled up the water tank and pumped out the hold.  Had a good night's sleep and left at daybreak bound for Deltaville. 

Early calm.  Sunny but cold

Though we knew that SE 10-15 knot winds with gusts up to 25 were expected, it started out fairly calm.  We set the throttle for just over 6 knots and chugged along nicely.  The wind, as NOAA predicted, picked up and although we did not touch the throttle, we slowed to 5, 4, then 3.8 knots with the wind right on the nose in a 3-foot steep chop.  When the waves began to splash over the bow, it was time to don our foulies.  Wayward Wind handled it all like a champ.  Though we'd stowed most things, a few items in the cabin slid off shelves and rolled around on the floor.  Also I discovered that we must have left the little hatch in the forward head closed but unlatched.  An unruly wave had snuck underneath and opened it up allowing more unruly waves to dump right into the head and splash the forward bunk.  As WW pitched, I closed the hatch between waves and sloshed around some towels to temporarily clean up.  I did not want to stay below for long.  (Seasickness note - I'd taken some meds beforehand so did not feel queasy at all although after going below several times and then to deal with the water, I did toss my cookies, but felt fine, honest.  Note to self - do not go below when it's rocky.)  Fortunately Reedville was our Plan B.  Jeff had told us of a bight (a curve in the shore, not quite a bay) around Sandy Point just across from Reedville on the Great Wicomico River that would be a protected anchorage from a SE wind.  My god, what a relief it was to arrive in the calm after being tossed around so.  The contrast of the churning bay to flat water in such a short distance was astounding and welcoming.  Sandy Point is a hook of land with a few homes and many large trees.  As I write this now, I know that the Bay is rough as I can see white caps on the Wicomico and the trees onshore bending, but here in anchorage the we are just gently rocking. 

Sandy Point, with the Great Wicomico, Ingram Bay and the Chesapeake Bay just beyond the trees

Sandy Point homes

Fall is here

Looking across the Great Wicomico River toward Reedville

We knew that the south wind would pick up last night and today so decided to hole up here till it calms a bit.  Also a north wind is predicted on Thursday and we want to SAIL rather than burn diesel, so we'll wait. 

It's been quiet and idyllic.  We slept for ten hours the first night.  Guess those pre-dawn risings caught up with us.  Yesterday was mostly sunny and warm enough to open the ports and hatches to air out the boat and dry out wet items.  We spent the afternoon figuring out the new chartplotter.  Garmin sure makes a user-friendly product.  I had one glitch so called tech support and the youthful Travis (have you also noticed that these techies always have a 70s or 80s name such as Ryan and Sean - never a 40s or 50s name such as Bill or Jim) kindly walked me through the process.  Geez, between cell phones, wi-fi, and GPS, we are such a spoiled lot.  I bought a program called Home Port that allows me to insert the Garmin SD chart card into my computer so that we can do all our route planning with the ease of the full computer keyboard and screen in the comfort of the cabin rather than on the little chartplotter screen in the cockpit.  I can then download the data onto our handheld Garmin GPS for a back-up device.  So cool.  Though we appreciate our electronic gadgets, we acknowledge the need to always plot our route on our good ol' paper charts and confirm our position every so often as we go along, just in case those screens go dark.  (Yes, Jeff, we are listening!)  It's good to practice here in the Bay and on the ICW in preparation for our jaunt in the Atlantic. 

Another new cool device is AIS (Automatic Identification System).  All commercial ships are required to register with this system.  We have just a receiver (the transponder is eight-times as expensive) which means we can identify them but they can't identify us although we will show up as a blip on their radar.  Anyway, ships within three nautical miles not only show up as little green boats on our chartplotter screen, but we also get detailed data:  name, country and type of vessel, radio call sign, length, speed, direction, destination, and more.  We can turn on an alarm to go off when the ship is within a set distance.  Also the little green boat turns red if our paths will cross and tells us how many minutes till collision.  (Time to change our heading!)  One of the best features is that since we know the name of the vessel, we can call them on the radio and they, by law, must respond.  We can confirm that they see us and chat with them about how best to pass each other.  This will be especially useful at night. 

For now we are cozy inside waiting out this little storm and happy to organize, cook up some food for the next few days, read, learn and relax.  Hope to leave either tomorrow afternoon for Deltaville, if the wind is good, or perhaps on Thursday.  We are so very happy to be on the move again. 

Almost Ready

11/25/11

I haven't written much lately for two reasons.  One, I was feeling kind of down because as it gets later in the season, we are becoming more anxious about getting out of here before it snows.  And two, we reanchored in a new spot closer to town but without an internet connection.  Now that we're at the dock, I'm catching up.  Also, we both are feeling much better now that the major tasks are done.  We were, in fact, going to leave today, but since we paused to catch our breath and enjoy a nice Thanksgiving meal last night aboard WW, we thought it best to take advantage of being at the dock for one more day to finish loose ends and stow things without being so rushed. 

One thing that we recently did was reinstall the hatch.  After the first install, it leaked, so we had to pull it out.  Jeff came by to do this.  Fortunately the caulk takes weeks to fully harden, so it was fairly easy to take it out, clean off the old caulk, recaulk (this time generously) and reinstall.  We had a good rain the other night and no leak, so all is good.

Here he comes to save the haaaaatch (sung to Mighty Mouse cartoon theme song)

Cleaning up the old caulk

Jeff, our friend and mentor

We feel so fortunate to have gotten to know Jeff who has become a good friend.  And what an interesting life he has led.  He started sailing when he was five and racing sailboats when he was ten in Deltaville, Virginia.  As a teenager, one of his mentors was a man in his eighties who taught him boatbuilding.  But Jeff left the water to pursue his 30-year career as a cameraman working for several TV stations as well as free-lancing.  He has amazing stories of meeting famous figures from the King of Jordan to Charlie Sheen.  One night at an MTV party, he chatted with a pretty, friendly woman; then he introduced himself.  Just as she said her name was Cheryl, he realized he was chatting with Cheryl Crow.  Besides his television work, (as mentioned in a previous post) he has chartered boats in the BVIs and beyond as well as delivered boats up and down the East Coast and to the Caribbean.  Many years ago he bought his sweet Camper Nicholson 35 sailboat, La Boheme, and refurbished it beautifully.  Sadly a couple of weeks ago, Jeff lost his little boating companion of 17 years, Oz, his Cairn terrier.  But he has someone else who brings joy to his life, his lovely girlfriend, Michelle, who is, as we say, land-based (meaning she lives in an apartment and not on a boat) though she does sail.  Michelle has two bright boys.  The four are a good team.  Dave and I thought it would be great if Michelle could join us on the trip, too, but she is busy managing a start-up company for a new medical device and cannot take the time off of work.  Yesterday Jeff, Dave and I enjoyed sharing more of our stories in our cozy salon over Thanksgiving dinner and are excited to have Jeff join us in Beaufort and head south.

Pre-Departure Bottom Job

11/23/11

Still in Annapolis but departure is imminent.  All major projects are done.  Today we’ll change the oil and fuel filters.  Since last writing we’ve hauled out the boat to clean the bottom, thru-hulls and change zincs.  Went to Petrini’s where we met with John Petrini who has obviously had a hard life and will tell you all the details if you stand before him long enough.  We’d heard that he was “nuts” – we’ll leave it at “eccentric.”  We had a dickens of a time tying him down to what it would cost.  Wouldn’t put anything in writing (until after the job where every item and hour was detailed).  The two workers, DJ and Daniel, were great so the job was well done.  Also had some touch up bottom paint done and the barnacles wire brushed off of the prop.  Happy with the job, just not the cost.  Such is life on a boat.

Did the last of the provisioning of food and parts which we are inventorying and stowing.  It’s tricky because you have to remember where you put those cans of chicken as well as silicone, wire ties and so on.  We’ve done pretty well with that. 

Dave and I have been debating which route to take to the Bahamas.  He wants to go all the way back down the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW); whereas, I want to do something different.  Jeff has offered to meet us in Beaufort, North Carolina, and sail with us out in the ocean east then south to Marsh Harbor on the island of Abacos in the Bahamas taking about four days.  I like this idea.  Dave is concerned, and rightly so, that I will get seasick and have a miserable time especially if the seas get rough, and that may very well happen.  If we go down the ICW, it will take a month or more to get far enough south in Florida where we would cross the Gulf Stream to Bimini in the Bahamas taking about ten hours from the Fort Lauderdale area.

I prefer the Beaufort to Marsh Harbor route, because although I may get sick, from what I’ve read, it lessens after the first day.  I have been seasick in the past and I still can function.  Dave and I can do night watches together if need be and Jeff is good with that.  He used to charter boats in the Bahamas and Caribbean and delivers boats up and down the East Coast and to the Caribbean as well.  He’s experienced in piloting a boat as well as maintenance.  It would be such a great learning experience for us. 

Well, Dave and I debated for about a month, and I was about to go along with Dave’s idea but asked that Dave meet with Jeff once more to discuss it.  Jeff invited us for dinner on La Boheme, his sweet 35’ Camper Nicholson.  We dinghied over in the chill wind with a green salad in hand.  Jeff invited us aboard to a warm glowing candlelight-lit salon.  La Boheme has had the privilege of Jeff’s loving restoration.  He has used bead board painted white to give the interior a light feeling.  (It reminded me of my little house in Sebastopol which had bead board walls and ceiling.)  He treated us to salmon cakes.  Tasty and hearty on a cold night. 

We talked about the weather and predictions one, two, three, and four days out.  Of course, the farther out in days, the less predictable the weather.  However, the next day, Dave agreed to the Beaufort to Bahamas route, but he says that the next time, he gets to choose.  Fair enough. 

Centering WW in the slings

Up she goes

Barnacles on the prop would slow us down

De-sliming

Much better