Blue Heron

Vessel Name: Blue Heron
Vessel Make/Model: Hallberg Rassy 43
Hailing Port: Delaware City, DE
Crew: Bob & Eric Frantz
About: Bob retired in January, 2011 from a career as an environmental attorney and manager, and Eric earned his Bachelor's Degree from The George Washington University in Washington, DC in December, 2010. They began their circumnavigation February 6, 2011.
Extra: In the words of that great American author, Mark Twain, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
19 June 2012
13 June 2012 | Fishing Bay Harbor Marina, Deltaville, VA
12 June 2012
09 June 2012
05 June 2012 | Cannonsport Marina, Palm Beach Shores, Florida
01 June 2012 | in passage to Bahamas
25 May 2012 | Sapodilla Bay
21 May 2012 | Jost van Dyke
18 May 2012
17 May 2012 | BVI
14 May 2012
07 May 2012 | Simpson Bay
03 May 2012 | Charlestown Harbour
01 May 2012
15 April 2012 | St. Lucia
13 April 2012
11 April 2012
06 April 2012
Recent Blog Posts
19 June 2012

The Blue Heron did it!

Today is the 500th day since we began our adventure around the world. We did it! We've completed our circumnavigation! We have not only crossed our wake but have passed the point from which we originally set sail on February 6, 2011. All that remains is to get us and the Blue Heron home. She has [...]

13 June 2012 | Fishing Bay Harbor Marina, Deltaville, VA

Waiting to get back on our way

We passed Little Creek Marina in Norfolk, VA during the middle of the night last night -- that's where our dream voyage began 16 months ago. We then made our way to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay where we were greeted with a howling hello in the form of 30+ knot winds on the nose. Making any headway was almost impossible so, we have diverted for safe harbor once more to wait for this weather system to pass. If anything, the North Atlantic lives up to it's reputation as being predictably unpredictable. Now, we wait (impatiently) for another weather window so that we can make our way home.

12 June 2012

Big Fish - take a look

Our steady progress and, generally, uneventful passage thusfar was punctuated with excitement yesterday afternoon when Eric called out, "I've got one!" He caught a White Marlin in the late afternoon. The fish fought hard and we had quite a time getting the fish on board. The fish measured 6'4" and [...]

09 June 2012

on our way north

This morning we left West Palm Beach at 8:15AM and are making our way north. We're hopeful that weather will be in our favor the entire final passage home -- we'll see. We've started with the benefit of both the gulf stream and favorable winds and are moving along at about 9 knots.

05 June 2012 | Cannonsport Marina, Palm Beach Shores, Florida

weather detour

We're stopping in Palm Beach for a day or so to wait out some weather due to come offshore from the Carolinas. Then we'll continue our northbound journey for home.

Colon, Panama

05 March 2011
We left Great Inagua mid-afternoon on the Wednesday, 23 February, sailing toward Cuba through the Windward Passage. It was hazy so the view of the Cuban coast was not clear despite the fact that we were only about 8 miles from it at one point. Over the next few days, strong winds drove the boat well, and we made great time (for a sailboat) covering nearly 200 miles on some days. The strong winds made for a bumpy ride and occasional waves over the deck. At one point, Eric went below to rest -- the hatch above the aft cabin open for fresh air. We hadn't been taking waves over the aft part of the boat when he went down, so we felt relatively safe. As the wind shifted around behind us, Eric's sleep was interrupted by a wave dropping through the hatch onto him.
From Bahamas to Panama
The water was a shock, despite being around 80 degrees. We closed the rear hatch for the rest of the trip - lesson learned: best to keep the hatches closed in passage.
We sailed into Panamanian waters Sunday morning, 27 February. Sunrise brought a beautiful coastline into view, with mountains in a misty backdrop, clear coastal waters and lush rainforest.
From Bahamas to Panama
We were coming in one day earlier than expected due to strong trade winds that provided a fast sail from Great Inagua Island in the Bahamas.
We pulled in to Shelter Bay Marina on Monday, 28 February.
Shelter Bay Marina is a full service marina making it easy to take care of housekeeping and provisioning. Our first task: laundry. Successfully completed but we should have asked how much the bill would be before agreeing to let someone do it for us. Next time.
On Monday Jerry joined us -- he was with us on the southbound leg of our Annapolis-Bermuda trip this past summer and flew to Panama from California. Jerry will be joining us for the next several legs of the trip. Jerry is the former owner of Blue Heron, and sailed her for 6 ½ years through the Mediterranean, across the Atlantic, the Caribbean, and along the coast of Maine.
It is great to have Jerry on board, with his broad base of knowledge about Blue Heron and much sailing experience.
Our intoduction to the City of Colon was a drive in to town for dinner. The city is very poor, and not very attractive. (It looks like -----.) We went into dinner at the Washington Hotel, which at one time was a very grand hotel - that grandeur has now faded. We met a Russian television camera crew filming tv show in the lobby of the hotel. It seemed a bit odd that a Russian TV show had come to Panama for filming. When we asked, we didn't get a clear answer as to why. Apparently, grandeur is in the eye of the beholder. Oh, and another lesson: when one hires a cab in Colon to take one to dinner, the driver is included in the dinner party.
We did some touring and will share some of that information in our next entry. In the meantime here is a link for San Lorenzo, a fort we visited today, Saturday. We are ready for passage tomorrow, Sunday, 6 March.
In case you are interested, there are some you tube videos of Colon, Panama and the upcoming transit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XINHx9oarIE (Shelter Bay Marina)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8044GXf9a8o&feature=related (Colon, Panama)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTE3iBiA7fs&feature=related (a market in Colon, Panama)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71SR0nqsxz0 (this is from January; time lapse film of the canal transit)
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Blue Heron's Photos - Main
COP17, TOPtoTOP, and Essenwood Market
9 Photos
Created 15 December 2011
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Created 7 June 2011

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