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.

St. Helena Island, Updated with Pictures

17 February 2012
After eight days of sailing out of Luderitz, we saw a small bit of rock and a break from the monotony of the endless ocean--St. Helena. The island is a British Territory (colony) and one of the few stops in the South Atlantic. It offers no enclosed harbor, but there is an anchorage that gives protection from the predominant trade winds. You can see Jamestown, the "big" city on St. Helena, and its harbor in the background of this pic of Eric and me.From 2012-02-14 001 We dropped anchor and headed ashore in the dinghy.

It has no airport, and the lack of a protected harbor made landing a bit of an adventure in it of itself. The ocean swell, which rolls right into the wharf, provides you with the opportunity, no, the necessity, to time your exit from the dinghy. If you exit too early, the water level is too low to be able to climb up to the wharf--too late and the wharf is awash with the wave. Wet feet were a common occurrence.

This very remote island has a population of 4,500. The people of St. Helena are some of the most friendly we've met on the trip and they were more than eager to help with anything we needed. We checked in and visited the tourist information center to get a handle on the area.

St. Helena is currently undergoing a redevelopment project that will result in a new jetty to protect the harbor, an airport, and a very different economic model that focuses heavily on tourism. We decided that we'd better try to see as much of the unspoiled island as we could.

A yacht delivery captain who happened to be stopping for a few days offered to take us for a drive into the interior. Having been to the island several times before, he gave us a great tour that included the governor's mansion and Napoleon's last residence.From 2012-02-14 001 We rented a car the next day to see the rest of St. Helena, which given it's size, didn't take long. Here is the Governor's Mansion, and some giant tortoises (momma and her "little" one) that live on its grounds.From 2012-02-14 001From 2012-02-14 001 Despite its size, however, it varies greatly in vegetation, with a hot and arid coastline to a lush and slightly cooler center.

Jamestown is the main settlement on the island, complete with grocery stores, restaurants, and a distillery. The Saint's, as they are known, produce fantastic liquor called Tungi, which is the product of fermented and distilled fruit of the prickly pear cactus. The cacti grow extensively on the drier parts of the island. From 2012-02-18 001From 2012-02-18 001

Provisioning in Jamestown was reminiscent of the South Pacific, requiring one to go to several stores in order to cross everything off the list.From 2012-02-18 001From 2012-02-18 001 Other characteristics of the small town life were evident, too. There were a couple of times in which we ate out and were the only customers... great service.

St. Helena was not only a convenient stop, but a fascinating one. It will be a very different island in five years, with daily flights to South Africa and a connection to the outside world like none it has yet experienced. We're glad to have been able to see it before the change. It also gave us a welcome rest before our long passage to Brazil.
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Blue Heron's Photos - Main
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