Markus
14-Jun-2008, Portsmouth, Virginia

We worked our way up to the end of the ICW (for vessels traveling northbound - I guess officially it's the beginning at mile 0) today and are now moored in Portsmouth, Virginia. Originally, the ICW wasn't very high on our list of things to do but we really enjoyed the little interlude, especially since we got to travel in tandem with Arearea again. We found two very nice anchorages along the way where we could just drop the hook, raft the two boots together, and have the kids traverse freely across - just like the good old days in the Balearics... (see picture above). On our first night out of Belhaven we were also joined by the Australian crew of "Free at Last" who brought 3-year old Jack to the party and made the naval playpen complete. Surprisingly enough we even got to do some nice and relaxed sailing on the open stretches of the ICW where Sven from Arearea took the picture of Namani below.



Now we're getting ready for the last 500 nm up to Maine... currently things look good for a Tuesday or Wednesday departure from the Chesapeake... stay tuned for updates...

04 - Puerto Rico to Maine

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Markus
11-Jun-2008, Off Belhaven, near mile 135 of the ICW

We covered our first stretch of the ICW today, from Beaufort to Belhaven - 70 miles down, 135 to go to Norfolk. This morning we had made radio contact with our friends from Arearea. More than a month after seeing them last in Puerto Rico we now have caught up with them again here in Belhaven and had a very nice re-union tonight - Nicky could hardly contain his excitement about seeing his buddy Dante again (the picture above shows him with Arearea's crew in Belhaven)! We now plan to move in tandem up to Norfolk.

The ICW defintely does have its own appeal. We're not keen to cover the full 1,000 miles of it anytime soon but the stretch we've seen today in North Carolina offers some very nice scenery and provides a somewhat different boating perspective. Stay tuned for further updates...

04 - Puerto Rico to Maine

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Markus
09-Jun-2008, Beaufort Docks, North Carolina

We kept our options open until this morning 0630h (30 nm south of Beaufort) but then the latest weather forecast made us pull into Beaufort rather than continuing around Cape Hatteras (we would likely have encountered 15+ kn NE winds just north of the Cape, blowing against a still fast running Gulf Stream- apparently something you don't sail into for pleasure). So here we are, tied to the Town Dock at beautiful Beaufort - a very worthwhile place to visit with an interesting history.

On the way here we made our fastest passage to date with 500 nm in just 3 days (360 nm in the first 2 days - fast by Namani standards at least) - amazing what the Gulf Stream can do when you can ride it!

Since there likely won't be a weather window to sail around the eastern side of Cape Hatteras until next week we'll continue via the Intracoastal Waterway between here and Norfolk, VA. From there it's a relatively short 450 nm to Newport... we'll get there...

Going via the ICW wasn't in the original plan but may give us a chance to catch up with Arearea who were moored 5 hrs north of here this morning.

We realized today that we overlooked one crucial bit in our planning - the fact the Europameisterschaft (European Soccer Championship) is already on while we're still under way! Oh well... we'll just have to paint some part of the boat black-red-gold for the occasion...

04 - Puerto Rico to Maine

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