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
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.
Cairns to Port Douglas
Cairns is a beautiful city with all the amenities that we've missed since the States. We arrived in time to experience some of the The Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (http://www.ciaf.com.au/) visited Kuranda National Park, went diving on the Great Barrier Reef, and of course, worked on the boat. Unfortunately, we were held up a little longer than expected due to issues with the generator. We did resolve the issue, though, and after some serious provisioning, sailed out to a busy tourist destination on the reef called Green Island. The island is both a preserve and an eco-resort. We met up with the park ranger, who was eager to give us ample information about how to fill our time. Over the next couple days we did a little snorkeling, spied some dolphins, watched for whales (no whales but plenty of blow in the distance), and generally enjoyed the island. From there, it was a short day sail north to Port Douglas.
There was little wind on the way to Port Douglass, so we motored the entire way. It did give us the opportunity to do a little fishing, which resulted in a Spotted Mackerel. We spent the next day exploring the town and the surrounding area. One of the highlights was a river tour on the Lady Douglas, which went upriver in search of crocodiles and other wildlife. We saw several crocs and numerous local birds and fish. That evening, we drove mom and Marc back to Cairns for their flight back home. We had a great time seeing them and wish it had been longer.
We had the rental car for another day, so we decided to head to Daintree National Park, a significant rainforest north of Port Douglas. We spent an interesting day hiking and driving through the area, including crossing the Daintree River on a car ferry pulled back and forth on cables.
Exploring the rainforest showed lots of wildlife and flora
, but one particularly interesting one was this tree lizard, which we were able to capture in a pic. 
We had planned to leave Port Douglass a few days ago, but a faulty alternator held us up. We're back in tip top shape now and will spend the next couple weeks working our way up the east coast of Australia and through the Torres Straight to Darwin.
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