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.

Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

25 May 2012 | Sapodilla Bay
The last planned stop on our voyage -- Turks & Caicos. We arrived the evening of May 24 and anchored off a small island just north of the island of Providenciales. The next day we moved to a marina on Providenciales. This stop was intended as primarily a provisioning, maintenance and repair stop in advance of the final leg to NYC. But, we did make time to do a little exploring as well.
The Turks and Caicos Islands are a series of limestone islands with not much
elevation. The water is very clear, so the snorkeling and diving are great.
Providenciales isn't a very big island (only about 15 miles long) but it is the island with largest population. The economy depends primarily on tourism. One outgrowth of this was the construction a large number of vacation homes during the housing boom of the 2000-2005 period. The results of the more recent
downturn in real estate are quite evident as well, however, with many "For Sale"
signs and empty new buildings.
We rented a car one day thinking we'd spend the day touring, and after about an hour we'd gone around the whole island. We did find some interesting things during our tour of the island. One of the most interesting was Sapodilla Hill, where 18th and 19th century sailors carved their names, with dates, into the limestone rocks. We found carvings dated as early as 1707, and many from the early 1800's. Each one had been carefully carved in what appeared to be some sort of official looking typeface. From 6-15-12 FL to NYFrom
Getting to Sapodilla Hill was challenging though, as there were no signs. We had a map that noted the location, but the roads didn't all match the map, and we arrived at a gated entry point that said passage was only by permit. Off to the right outside the gate, however, was a small rutted
(unpaved) road and about a hundred yards up the road, there was a path to the right up a small hill. At the top, after some scouting around, we found
the marked stones.
We also visited the only working conch farm. Here, the owners grow conch
through a series of enclosed areas of a shallow bay.
From 6-15-12 FL to NY After harvesting the
conch, the meat and shells are sold. The farm representative reported that
they grow and sell 1.5 million conch per year.
Eric got to roll a cigar at a cigar factory store that we visited. From 6-15-12 FL to NYFrom 6-15-12 FL to NY
In addition to normal maintenance, we needed to replace the back up alternator which gave out in the BVI's. With the expert help of our on-shore expediter, Janellen, we were able to have a new alternator delivered to the island and ready for pick up by the time we checked into the marina. A relatively simple installation followed by Caribbean Marine and Diesel, although there are
always some glitches in these kinds of things. The technician's initial
reaction was "Well, that won't work". We had to work through the process,
swapping some working parts from the old alternator.
We left the marina in the early evening of the day prior to our departure
from the island and anchored in a protected area inside the reef for our last night of in the Caribbean. We wanted to get out on the high tide, wanted one last morning swim and needed clean the bottom of the boat before weighing anchor.
The next morning we awoke, gave ourselves haircuts, took a swim and headed
out.
We are heading off to cross our wake and complete the
circumnavigation.
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Blue Heron's Photos - Main
COP17, TOPtoTOP, and Essenwood Market
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Created 15 December 2011
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Created 7 June 2011

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