Wow I really need to catch up. We made it to Florida. Kathi had to help Gen with Tommy because day care was closed. I single handed it from Daytona to Fort Pierce w/o incident. Spent TG in MD. Drove back down to FL after TG. Went back up to MD for Xmas. Came back down in January. Hung around Fort Pierce Area till the end of March. Worked on the boat. The end of March we headed south to Hobe Sound then to North Palm Beach. Got a weather window, then sailed from Lake Worth to West End. Spent a couple of days there. Had a great sail to Great Sale Cay. Night weather was treacherous with squeals and heavy winds and lots of lightening. We survived. Next day to Crab Key, the entry to the Abaco’s. Again bad weather at night. Not much to see at Crab Cay. Then to Green Turtle. Topped off fuel and water spent 2 nights there, then down to Hope Town. Hope Town was rebuilding from Dorian but well on its way to recovery. Spent 2 days there and topped of with water and got our laundry done. From Hope town we went to Great Iguana Cay. We made to Nippers then had a nice cracked conch dinner at Grabbers. Next day we had a nice sail down to Little Harbor where we waited for a weather window to leave the Abaco’s and go to Eleuthera IS . Had a rock and roll sail from Little Harbor to Eleuthera. Lots of wind and big waves, I was glad we had the wind in the right direction, it was a Nantucket Sleigh ride as they say. We. Spent a night at Spanish Wells at Johnny Underwood docks. Washed the boat down and topped of with water. Next day a fast sale to Governors Cove. Finally for this blog enters we sailed to Cape Eleuthera. Winds 25K . We made good time with a double reefed main. Finisterre has done amazing well during all this tie. Cheers.

We departed Maryland a week later than usual. The boat repairs held us up. We left directly from Solomons and sailed to Deltaville. We held up there while a large rain/ wind storm passed.it was great to be back on the boat. The next day we sailed done to Norfolk and stayed at the Waterside Marina again. Our friends there already departed on their boat to FL. The next day we hit Coinjock. The following day we made Belhaven and stayed at Dowery’s Marina. It was super nice. The next day we made it to Gerry Crowley’s Oriental resort. We had a great time with Gerry. He is my life coach BTW. The next day we sailed down to Hammock Bay and anchored. It is right in the middle of the fort Pedelton Marine base. On the way we say my work colleague James Carter on the beach just south of Moorhead City and waved to him as we went by. Osprey aircraft were all around us for a while. The next day we made it to SouthPort Harbor Marina and had a great Italian dinner. Before dinner I had to replace the belts on the port engine, which was a real pain. We sailed down to Georgetown, SC but couldn’t make it so we stopped at Wacka Wache Marina just south of Myrtle Beach. There was more around the Marina then I thought. We met up with our cruising friends Mike and Taylor at Georgetown and watched the Purdue game, they won….We left the boat at Wacka Wache for a week while we went back to MD for our family Oyster roast. The marina was very reasonable but susceptible to boat wakes. The Myrtle Beach airport was very nice. When we returned we sailed to Isle of Palms just north of Charleston. During time we left the Chesapeake the weather was very cold and miserable.

After the collision we continued to sail north and tried to stretch it to get to Maryland. About 3-4P a really bad storm hit us with hail and high winds and lightening all around. The wind rotated around the compass rose. I think we were in a water spout. The wind clocked over 40K. Finisterre did well and the storm passed. As it turned out we could only make it to Point Lookout where we anchored at dusk. The next day we sailed to Ridge where I dropped off Kathi via the dinky and I headed to Washburns at Solomons to get the boat pulled and repaired. After review of the shipyard and the surveyors they recommend some fiberglass work and replacement of the cross beam and bow sprit. It took 3 months to get everything fixed. Getting parts as driving the schedule. But I was able to replace the refrigerator with a new Isotherm 2000 while on the hard and get the bottom painted and hulls waxed. Insurance paid s for all the damages. Thank God.

We departed Oriental and made it to the Alligator River where we anchored. The next day it was Coinjock and our Prime Rib feast. The next day we made it to. Norfolk and stayed at the Waterside Marina. We visited with our friends Mike and Taylor. We departed Norfolk and were headed north to Reedville. The wind was from the south west at 10K. We had all our sails up (main and genoa). We observed Ocean Eagle several times. He passed behind us about 200 Yards and passed to our port about 200 yards and headed north about 10 K. We were on a fixed course 30NNE and the auto pilot engaged. Myself and my wife Kathleen were on watch. The autopilot can be easily disengaged or used to maneuver both port and starboard. I also have a remote that I use in the cabin or on the foredeck to steer the boat. After Ocean edge passed on our stern and overtook us on port I thought he continued on his course. About 4-5 minutes later our bowsprit contacted the aft end of Ocean Eagle -must have passed us, turned to starboard and stopped closely in front of us to fish. I was startled. Ocean Eagle must have passed us then turned to starboard and stopped in our path. Our Genoa can limit visibility ahead. He must have been blanked out by our Genoa visually. We maintained a steady course all the time till we contacted Ocean Eagle. I had one engine running not engaged charging our batteries, we were under full sail on a port tack. After contact I gave the coast guard our coordinates Ocean Eagle made the first contact with the coast guard reporting the collision. We first checked that no one was injured and the boats were not taking on water. We were able to separate the boats. However our boat still had its mainsail up and the wind powered us close to Ocean Eagle again. The Captain of Ocean Eagle stated several times to get away. I started both engines and was able to maneuver Finisterre away. The captain of Ocean Eagle said he was heading back to Fort Monroe and stated "They'd be in touch". I said I would continue north . About 15 min later the marine police hailed us. I gave him my boat documentation information, my drivers license, my coast guard license and a State of Maryland Safety boating card. They asked us what happened and I told them as stated above. They asked why I left the area and I told them I told the other captain we will contact the insurance companies and I'll continue north he said he would return to Hampton. In summary, Ocean Eagle had a clear view of Finisterre under sail. Ocean Eagle Passed us to port. Ocean Eagle then turned to port in front of us and stopped. Since we were on a port tack under sail and Ocean Eagle was under power, not anchored and drifting we were the less maneuverable boat. We did not see Ocean Eagle until impact most likely because he was observed by our jib.

We spent an/June/July in Fl at Fort Pierce while Kathi recovered from her operation. We did a little traveling around. We did a short trip to Houston for Ale's birthday. The last week in Mat we headed north. We stopped at Cape Canaveral inlet for the first time. It was easy to get into and there were open marinas right after the inlet. The next day we sailed thru the Canaveral lock and into the ICW. We made it to Daytona Beach, Halifax Harbor. We noticed our refrigerator and ice box died. We lost all our fresh and frozen food. It hurt to lose our fish from the Keys. We decided to get a small refrigerator to support us till we got back to the Chesapeake. We also recharged our A/C units. It was really hot and humid outside. We made it up to St Augustine and stayed at the City Marina and enjoyed the local cuisine. We then braved the St Augustine Inlet and went on the outside up to Charleston. We stayed at the City Marina there. I got my fill of Shrimp and Grits. When the exited to the Ocean and buddy boated with another. At called Escape Plan and sailed up to Beaufort NC. It was a nice overnight and we exchanged discussions with Escape Plan on the way. In Beaufort we stayed at Homer Smiths marina an visited with our Cruising friends Dave and Beverley. Homer Smiths was very nice. The next day we sailed to Oriental and stayed with our great friend Gerry Crowley. We had a great time.

A lot has happened the last couple of months. We departed Marathon the end of February to take a slow cruise north to Fort Pierce. Had a nice stay at Plantation Key. They had a really cool pool play ground there and a fantastic pool. Marina was kind of old though. Next day made our way up to the northern keys. About 2P we anchored off of Boca Chita key to visit the national park. Kathi got very sick and was sick all night. The next day we pulled anchor at zero dark thirty. Made our way up to Lauderdale inlet. Wind was favorable until about a hour out of Lauderdale. A front came in from the west at 30 knots. Kathi was out of commission and having a hard time. Finisterre did great in the heavy wind and we made it thru the inlet amongst heavy boat traffic. We continued up the ICW till we anchored at Boca Raton Lake. We called 911 and the paramedics met us at the local ICW park. They wised her off to the hospital. At 11P I got a call that they needed to perform emergency surgery to fix a restricted small bowel. The operation was a success and Kathi was resting comfortably. The next day I was able to visit her in the hospital and it was good to see her healing up. I decided to single hand the boat up the ICW to Fort Pierce. I made it in 2 day’s. Got settled in at Harbortown Marina and then drove our car back to Boca Raton. We stayed there for about a week and a half at a old VBRO, till Kathi could travel.