Monday, September 28, 2009
Homeward Bound
The easterly wind continued to blow strong on Sunday and it rained much of the day. We enjoyed a noon meal with our nephew and his wife. The forecast for Monday indicated a period before 11:00 where the wind would be moderate from the WSW, but after 11:00 it was suppose to pick up to 25-30 from the south. If we were going to be able to use the day, we would have to run outside to get to Manasquan before 11:00 and then run down the New Jersey ICW in the shelter of the barrier islands. Looked like a plan!
We were up early, recheck the forecast on the computer, look at the conditions outside, and make a final decision. Things looked like our plan of yesterday would work. We cast off from the dock at 6:40 and headed across Lower Bay and around Sandy Hook. The sea conditions were delightful, a lazy swell with just a small ripple on top. At 10:30 we turned into Manasquan Inlet, stopped for some fuel, and started down the inside route. By 11:30 the wind was blowing 25-30 from the south, and the waters of the inside route were choppy, especially Barnagat Bay. The 3' chop was not any challenge for the boat, but as soon as the bow kicked up the water, the wind made sure we gave the boat a good salt water bath. One more time we were glad to be under a hard top and behind a windshield, nice and dry. We finished the day in Beach haven, NJ, logging on 83 miles for the day. We got in about an hour before the next cold front came through, bringing some showers and a blast of wing from the NNW. So we even got the boat rinsed off. Now I call that planning!
The wind forecast was WSW, 20-25 for Tuesday. Our plan was to run inside down to Cape May. The wind was SW, 20-25 when we woke up. We got underway at 8:55. The run was 71 miles, winding through the back side of several beach front communities, Atlantic City, Ocean City, Stone Harbor, and Wildwood, under several draw bridges, some we could just squeeze under and others we had to have open for us. We arrived at Miss Chris Marina at 5:45 and were put in a slip next to another looper boat from Beaufort, SC. Small world. At the end of the day the wind did back around to the West.
Wind was forecast to be lighter on Wednesday from the WNW, but we were starting up Delaware Bay and any NW wind has a long fetch down the bay, generally resulting in some serious waves. The Bay is also tidal with a normal current of 1.5 each way. I figured if we waited until after the max ebb, we would still have enough tidal flow to reduce the wave, and by the time we got up the bay about 30 miles into the narrower section, the waves would be smaller and if we timed it right the tidal flow would change and we would get a push for the last part of the run up to the C & D Canal. Well, I maybe over engineered the run, I didn't consider all the rain they have had which resulted in a much stronger ebb flow than normal, in fact twice as strong as normal and I expect there may not be any flood up higher in the river. Consequently we ran against a 2.5-3 MPH current all the way to the C & D Canal, and some 3-4 foot waves on the nose for the first 25 miles or so. We put ODYSSEE up onto a plane, going through the water at 16 MPH but only making 13.2 MPH or so over the ground. We spent a lot of energy to put 72 miles under our keel getting to Chesapeake City for the night.
On Thursday we left Chesapeake City at 8:30. Back on the C&D Canal at slack water. Within 30 minutes, we started getting a push, and we got a push all the way to Kent Narrows on our way to visit with my sister and brother-in-law in St. Michael's, MD. The wind in the upper Chesapeake were quite strong, on the side, much more than forecast. To smooth out the ride we put ODYSSEE up on a plane for two hours until the wind died and we turned to the SE into Kent Narrows. The rest of the ride was very pleasant and we arrived at my sister's dock at 4:20.
After a delightful weekend in St. Micheal's, we pushed off again south bound on Monday, October 5. We arrived in the Solomons to have dinner with our "Looper" friends on their boat LAGRACE. Spent Tuesday at the Spring Cove Marina and were joined by other "Looper" friends. After sundowners on ODYSSEE we all went to the marina restaurant for their Tuesday special, two dinners for $21.00. It was blowing gale force winds on Wednesday, so we laid low in the harbor, but did move to an anchorage so we could make an early departure on Thursday.
The wind died all day Thursday. We had the wind and waves on our stern so the remaining wind and sea during the morning were tolerable. By mid afternoon the wind was light and variable. We were able to get all the way to Yorktown where we will spend a couple of days visiting Willamsburg and other historic sits in the area. We are on a mooring ball at Riverwalk Marina right in the new village at Yorktown.
The National Park system operates buses throughout the "Historic Triangle". Yorktown, Williamsburg, and Jamestown operate shuttle buses around the three individual sites. All buses are free. So we could pick up the 9:30 bus from Yorktown to Williamsburg, and spend all day in Williamsburg, or we could transfer and go to Jamestown. The only hitch, we had to be on the last bus from Williamsburg back to Yorktown at 3:30. In three days we were able to see all we wanted to see at all three sites. Jamestown is by far the most interesting from an historical point of view, it is the birthplace of our country, and as they continue to dig on the archaeological site continue to discover and confirm the history of 1607.
We left Yorktown at 4:15 PM on Sunday, October 11 and spent the night at the downtown marina in Hampton. Monday morning we met looper friends for breakfast, did some provisioning, and left for Portsmouth at 11:15. We fueled up and pumped out the holding tanks before tieing up to the free docks at Portsmouth.
Tuesday morning we left at 8:30 to head south down the Dismal Swamp canal. The bridges across the ICW have restricked openings before 8:30 and the second lock opening at the begining of the canal is at 11:00, so no reason to start out too early. Tuesday was a delightful day and it was very relaxing gliding through the canal at 6 MPH. We made it to Elizabeth City by 6:30 that evening and tied up to the free docks.
The weather was predicted to get rainy and windy from the north for the next few days. We are 150 miles from Morehead City where we plan on meeting our son and his family for the weekend. Two 75 mile days would get us there Thursday evening. On Wednesday we ran 77 miles to an anchorage on the Pungo River east of Bellhaven and on Thursday we ran 75 miles to the Morehead City Town Docks where we are tied up.
Will, Nancy, and our two grand kids arrived at the boat at 8:15 Friday night. We all settled into the boat for the night with a plan to go to Cape Lookout bite on Saturday for the afternoon and anchor for the night. Saturday morning the wind was blowing hard from the NW, it was drizzling, and it was chilly. It was about 11:00 when we left the dock in Morehead City for the 15 mile cruise to the bite. The channels in the bite and Core Sound are affected by every storm so there are no good charts. The Channel buoys are constantly moved to reflect the changing water levels. We poked our way east of the channel to a spot near the light house and dropped the anchor. We launched the dingy with the intention of rowing everyone ashore. On the second trip back to the boat both oar locks broke and we had to fashion oar locks from rope. By now the wind had increased and getting back to ODYSSEE was difficult. With everybody ashore, we walked across Cape Lookout to the Atlantic beach, did some shelling, flew a kite we had brought with us, and walked to the lighthouse. The wind was still blowing as the late afternoon came upon us. It was going to be difficult to get everybody back to ODYSSEE with our makeshift oar locks. There is a ferry dock at the lighthouse, so I went to talk with the ranger to see if we could have permission to bring ODYSSEE into their dock to pick up our passengers, and if so how much water was at the end of the dock. Permission was granted, and with the high tide we would have, we should find at least 6' of water. Will and I went back to take the dingy out to ODYSSEE while the others waited at the lighthouse dock. The rangers guesstimate of 6' was confirmed and we slowly brought ODYSSEE into their dock which is designed to handle 18' outboard ferry boats. Mission accomplished, we moved over to the SW corner of the bite to anchor for the night. We set two anchors at high tide with a flood tide and the wind both from the west. The anchors set well in the sand bottom, but with the high wind we left a 1/10 scope in the anchor lines. At about 11:30PM the wind died some and the ebb tide current became the strongest force on the boat. With the angle of the boat to the wind, the reverse current took the boat south towards shore. At 12:25 AM we were awakened by the bump of the boat hitting bottom. Will and I went to the drive station and turned on the depth sounder and chart plotter. The depth read 3.3 ft and the chartplotter showed we had moved about 200 ft. from our original anchoring position. We checked the tide table, low was forecast to be 12:28 AM at -0.1 ft. So in just a few minutes we would go through low, the current would turn to flood, and by 1:15 or so we would have an addition 4-6" of water which, with the current change, we should float and end up at our original position. At 1:20 AM the boat floated free and within about two minutes the boat was back in 29 ft. of water. The tide would be high at 7:33 AM and the current would reverse again shortly thereafter. So we were up at 6:30 AM, and had the anchosr up by 7:00 AM and on our way back to Morehead City. The wind was still blowing and it was chilly so we went back to our dock at Morehead City Docks, plugged in the boat, turned on the heat, and had a nice breakfast. We played Monopoly the rest of the morning, went to Atlantic Beach for a late lunch, and said goodbye to the Gorgen's at 3:30.
We left Monday morning for home, pretty much in delivery mode. We had two bridges that opened on a schedule that dictated our schedule. We timed the bridges perfectly, having only to slow down for the second bridge. We traveled 93 miles and anchored behind Carolina Beach near Wilmington, NC. If we can keep up this pace we can be home next Thursday afternoon. It will be nice to get home, it's been a long, grueling trip.
Tuesday we were unable to do as well as Monday. The pontoon bridge at sunset Beach only opens on the hour and we timed our morning to be at the bridge for the 1:00 PM opening. A little further down the waterway we went through Myrtle Beach, with a 1-1 1/2 current against us. Between all the "no wake" zones and the current, we only logged in 88 miles today. On Wednesday we will get to the Charleston area, and with luck, get home late Thursday afternoon.
We anchored Wednesday night in the Stono river just south of Elliot Cut. The weather was very nice today, sunny with a high temperature of 76, light SW wind. We travelled 92 miles today, averaging 9.1 MPH speed over ground while going through the water at 9.7 MPH most of the time. Again we pushed water more than we got a push.
We have 76 miles left to our dock. We pulled up the anchors, yes we used two because of the reversing tidal current in the Stono River, at 8:00 for the last leg of our journey. As we approached Beaufort, the tide was high so we were asble to take two short cuts, taking 5 miles off the day. As we had done when we finished the Great Loop, we strung all the courtesy flags from the states, countries, and provinces we had passed through in the order of our trip, from the bow rail to the cross arm on the signal mast, and flew these flags as we approached the end of our day. In all her glory, we tied ODYSSEE up at our dock at 3:55, a journey complete and safely at home. We logged 6096 miles under our keel since ODYSSEE was last tied up in front of our house. WOW, what an odyssey.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
On to NYC
We left Ports
mouth, NH on Sunday, September 13, after a wonderful visit with our friends from GOLD WATCH, and went south along the New H
ampshire coast to Ipswich, MA to visit with our friends from MASCOT. Mary and Scott were in their boat at the harbor entrance to guide us in to their Yacht club and a mooring ball for the night. We spent the afternoon driving around Ipswich and a walk on the beach, then back to their house for a wonderful dinner.
Up Monday morning, and a check on the computer for e-mail messages and the weather report. An e-mail was there from HAPPY CLAMZ informing us that they would be in Sandwich tonight with JUST RELAX and VOYAGER II. S0 why don't we go to Sandwich as well, so we did. We took the Cape Ann Canel to Gloucester, down through 
Massachusetts Bay to Cape Cod Bay and into Sandwich Harbor at the northern entrance to Cape Cod Canel. Had a nice dinner with the other three boat crews and another looper couple who live in Sandwich.
Tuesday we all went our seperate ways. We went east along Cap Cod to Dennis to meet dear friends and former boss from my days working in Boston. Art and Mary Ann came to the marina to pick us up, have lunch together, and spend the afternoon at their Cap home.
Wednesda
y found us heading back west, through the Cape Cod Canal, through Woods Hole, and back east to Hyannis. As the day wore on, the wind kept building from the NE, and the waves got bigger. They were a good 4-5' as we entered the harbor at Hyannis, glad to be in out of rocking and rolling.
We were up early Thursday and on our way to th
e ferry dock, on our fold up bikes, by 7:35. The first high speed ferry left at 8:00. We arrived at the ferry dock, baught our 
tickets, folded up the bikes and carried them on as baggage, and we were off for Nantucket. On the way out of the harbor we passed ODYSSEE docked between the 60 foot plus sport fishing boats. The one to the left is a new Hatteras. This boat cruises just under 40 Kts, so the trip, dock to dock is just an hour. Out in Nantucket sound the wind was blowing a good 25 and the waves were 5-6', a good day not to be on our own boat. Upon arrival, put the bikes back together, and spend the day touring the island. We were back at the ferry landing at 5:00 to take the last slow ferry back to Hyannis, getting back to the mainland at 8:30.
The weather forcast for Friday was moderate winds from the SW in the morning with 1-2' seas, building to 3' in the afternoon. We decided to head out and see how far west we could get before the waves got uncomfortable. We pocked our nose out of the harbor at 8:30 and it was already blowing 20. The waves weren't too bad yet because the tideal current and the wind were the same direction, but every wave we hit put a load of spray in our face. We put ODYSSEE up onto a plane and headed west. By 9:00 the wind was up to 25 and the waves were approaching 3', still manageable b
ut very wet. Sure is nice to have a windshield and wipers. It was obvious that things would get progressively worse as the wind continued to blow and the tideal current turned against the wind. So we bailed at Falmouth at about 10:30, tied up at the city marina, and washed the boat down. A cold front came through Friday night, the wind switched to the NW and continued to blow 20-25 Saturday morning, slowely dieing as the day went on. We decided to wait until Sunday before we move. We spend the day biking to Woods Hole.
It's Sunday, September 20, and the weather is as forcast, light winds, calm seas, and sunny. Our plan is to move to the Newport, RI area with a stop at Cuttyhunk. The current situation was against us early in the day, so we elected to leave about 10:30 so we would get as much push as possible. We got to Cuttyhunk at about 1:00, went into the harbor, turned around, and left again. Stopping was going to be a bit of an ordeal and take at least an hour to just get in and out again, before we even started walking around. So back on our heading towards Newport. They have had their annual boat show going on this weekend and on Tuesday the 12-Meter World Championships start with at least 25 12's here, so we weren't sure we could even find a place to stop. We had an anchorage in the Sakonnet River if nothing else worked. We did f
ind a spot on a floating anchored dock in Brenton Cove, and that is where we are spending the night.
On Monday we were up early, bikes in the dingy, and off to town at 8:15. The annual boat show was packing up and the 12-meter boats were moving in. Saw the historic sites, walked part of the "cliff walk", and saw a few 12-Meter boats tunning up. Back to the boat at 4:00, bikes back to the boat in the dingy, and on our way to Point Judith for a night on the hook.
We pulled up the anchor and were underway by 8:00, headed for Block Island. We went into The Great Salt Pond New Harbor, picked up a town mooring ball, lowered the dingy, loaded in the bikes, and went into the dingy dock. Bikes were assembled and we were off to see the island by 11:15. Before lunch we biked out to the South East Light House, the highest light on the east coast. 16 years ago the lighthouse and lighthouse keepers quarters were moved back from the cliff for fear the structure was going to colapse with the cliff into the sea, preserving the structure as a National Landmark. Back to town for lunch and ice cream, some more looking around, and then back to the marina about 4:30, ready to go back to the boat.
Wednesday we planned on meeting one of Claria's college classmates and her husband who live in East Haddam, CT. The original plan was to meet Kari in Mystic, but the only reasonable priced marina was full with boats being pulled for winter storage. We also had an oportunity to use another boating friends mooring ball in the Niantic River, but we weren't sure how we would get to shore from that mooring ball. We called Brian and Jan to ask where to take our dingy in and found they were only about 4 hours behind us and would be getting into the Niantic Bay Yacht Club later in the afternoon, and why don't we go into the Yacht Club, pick up a mooring ball there, and have Kari meet us at the YC. So that is what we did. Plans can sure change in a hurry! We had a nice visit and dinner at Kari and Phil's home.
Finding out that Brian and Jan would be at the Niantic Bay YC on Thursday, we delayed our departure so we could have lunch together, which we did. We had a nice lunch after toasting their succesful completion of the Down East Circle Loop. They will only be home for about three weeks and then will head south in their boat to the Bahamas for the winter. We will see them in November as they pass through Beaufort on their way south. After lunch we traveled west about 30 miles to the Thimble Islands where we anchored for the night.
On Friday morning the wind was blowing strong from the NNE, creating a 3-4' wave on Long Island Sound. We were headed to Port Jefferson. As we left our anchorage we hugged the north shore for several miles until our course to Port Jefferson was SW, putting the waves on our starboard stern corner, and a manageable ride across the sound. We enjoyed an evening with our looper friend from TIME OUT.
By Saturday the wind had rotated to the east, so as we headed out to New York City the waves were again to our stern. At 3:15 PM we crossed our "crumb line" under the Varrazano Narrows Bridge at the entrance to the New York Harbor, completing the Down East Circle Loop trip. We traveled 4123 miles since leaving New York City heading north up the Hudson River in June of 2008.
mouth, NH on Sunday, September 13, after a wonderful visit with our friends from GOLD WATCH, and went south along the New H
ampshire coast to Ipswich, MA to visit with our friends from MASCOT. Mary and Scott were in their boat at the harbor entrance to guide us in to their Yacht club and a mooring ball for the night. We spent the afternoon driving around Ipswich and a walk on the beach, then back to their house for a wonderful dinner.
Up Monday morning, and a check on the computer for e-mail messages and the weather report. An e-mail was there from HAPPY CLAMZ informing us that they would be in Sandwich tonight with JUST RELAX and VOYAGER II. S0 why don't we go to Sandwich as well, so we did. We took the Cape Ann Canel to Gloucester, down through 
Massachusetts Bay to Cape Cod Bay and into Sandwich Harbor at the northern entrance to Cape Cod Canel. Had a nice dinner with the other three boat crews and another looper couple who live in Sandwich.
Tuesday we all went our seperate ways. We went east along Cap Cod to Dennis to meet dear friends and former boss from my days working in Boston. Art and Mary Ann came to the marina to pick us up, have lunch together, and spend the afternoon at their Cap home.
Wednesda
y found us heading back west, through the Cape Cod Canal, through Woods Hole, and back east to Hyannis. As the day wore on, the wind kept building from the NE, and the waves got bigger. They were a good 4-5' as we entered the harbor at Hyannis, glad to be in out of rocking and rolling.
We were up early Thursday and on our way to th
e ferry dock, on our fold up bikes, by 7:35. The first high speed ferry left at 8:00. We arrived at the ferry dock, baught our 
tickets, folded up the bikes and carried them on as baggage, and we were off for Nantucket. On the way out of the harbor we passed ODYSSEE docked between the 60 foot plus sport fishing boats. The one to the left is a new Hatteras. This boat cruises just under 40 Kts, so the trip, dock to dock is just an hour. Out in Nantucket sound the wind was blowing a good 25 and the waves were 5-6', a good day not to be on our own boat. Upon arrival, put the bikes back together, and spend the day touring the island. We were back at the ferry landing at 5:00 to take the last slow ferry back to Hyannis, getting back to the mainland at 8:30.
The weather forcast for Friday was moderate winds from the SW in the morning with 1-2' seas, building to 3' in the afternoon. We decided to head out and see how far west we could get before the waves got uncomfortable. We pocked our nose out of the harbor at 8:30 and it was already blowing 20. The waves weren't too bad yet because the tideal current and the wind were the same direction, but every wave we hit put a load of spray in our face. We put ODYSSEE up onto a plane and headed west. By 9:00 the wind was up to 25 and the waves were approaching 3', still manageable b
ut very wet. Sure is nice to have a windshield and wipers. It was obvious that things would get progressively worse as the wind continued to blow and the tideal current turned against the wind. So we bailed at Falmouth at about 10:30, tied up at the city marina, and washed the boat down. A cold front came through Friday night, the wind switched to the NW and continued to blow 20-25 Saturday morning, slowely dieing as the day went on. We decided to wait until Sunday before we move. We spend the day biking to Woods Hole.
It's Sunday, September 20, and the weather is as forcast, light winds, calm seas, and sunny. Our plan is to move to the Newport, RI area with a stop at Cuttyhunk. The current situation was against us early in the day, so we elected to leave about 10:30 so we would get as much push as possible. We got to Cuttyhunk at about 1:00, went into the harbor, turned around, and left again. Stopping was going to be a bit of an ordeal and take at least an hour to just get in and out again, before we even started walking around. So back on our heading towards Newport. They have had their annual boat show going on this weekend and on Tuesday the 12-Meter World Championships start with at least 25 12's here, so we weren't sure we could even find a place to stop. We had an anchorage in the Sakonnet River if nothing else worked. We did f
ind a spot on a floating anchored dock in Brenton Cove, and that is where we are spending the night.
On Monday we were up early, bikes in the dingy, and off to town at 8:15. The annual boat show was packing up and the 12-meter boats were moving in. Saw the historic sites, walked part of the "cliff walk", and saw a few 12-Meter boats tunning up. Back to the boat at 4:00, bikes back to the boat in the dingy, and on our way to Point Judith for a night on the hook.
We pulled up the anchor and were underway by 8:00, headed for Block Island. We went into The Great Salt Pond New Harbor, picked up a town mooring ball, lowered the dingy, loaded in the bikes, and went into the dingy dock. Bikes were assembled and we were off to see the island by 11:15. Before lunch we biked out to the South East Light House, the highest light on the east coast. 16 years ago the lighthouse and lighthouse keepers quarters were moved back from the cliff for fear the structure was going to colapse with the cliff into the sea, preserving the structure as a National Landmark. Back to town for lunch and ice cream, some more looking around, and then back to the marina about 4:30, ready to go back to the boat.
Wednesday we planned on meeting one of Claria's college classmates and her husband who live in East Haddam, CT. The original plan was to meet Kari in Mystic, but the only reasonable priced marina was full with boats being pulled for winter storage. We also had an oportunity to use another boating friends mooring ball in the Niantic River, but we weren't sure how we would get to shore from that mooring ball. We called Brian and Jan to ask where to take our dingy in and found they were only about 4 hours behind us and would be getting into the Niantic Bay Yacht Club later in the afternoon, and why don't we go into the Yacht Club, pick up a mooring ball there, and have Kari meet us at the YC. So that is what we did. Plans can sure change in a hurry! We had a nice visit and dinner at Kari and Phil's home.
Finding out that Brian and Jan would be at the Niantic Bay YC on Thursday, we delayed our departure so we could have lunch together, which we did. We had a nice lunch after toasting their succesful completion of the Down East Circle Loop. They will only be home for about three weeks and then will head south in their boat to the Bahamas for the winter. We will see them in November as they pass through Beaufort on their way south. After lunch we traveled west about 30 miles to the Thimble Islands where we anchored for the night.
On Friday morning the wind was blowing strong from the NNE, creating a 3-4' wave on Long Island Sound. We were headed to Port Jefferson. As we left our anchorage we hugged the north shore for several miles until our course to Port Jefferson was SW, putting the waves on our starboard stern corner, and a manageable ride across the sound. We enjoyed an evening with our looper friend from TIME OUT.
By Saturday the wind had rotated to the east, so as we headed out to New York City the waves were again to our stern. At 3:15 PM we crossed our "crumb line" under the Varrazano Narrows Bridge at the entrance to the New York Harbor, completing the Down East Circle Loop trip. We traveled 4123 miles since leaving New York City heading north up the Hudson River in June of 2008.
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