06/23/2009, 79th St Boat Basin

When we decided to bring the boat back up North this year, we figured the season would be just right for smooth sailing and a settled weather pattern. So far, that couldn't be farther from the truth. Even though we pushed through the intracoastal from Beaufort to Norfolk, there was still bad weather on the other side so we couldn't leave the Chesapeake anyway. It gave us an opportunity to discover the city of Great Bridge, VA, just outside of Norfolk. The town provides free dockage to cruisers and everything you need is right there. We got reprovisioned and also did some nice walking and biking. Summer is in full swing and everything is so green and beautiful. Each day, a new batch of sailors tied up and we got to meet new people. Many were headed up the Chesapeake rather than offshore so the weather didn't matter as much. On the last day, we headed the remaining 13 miles to Norfolk and tied up to another free dock. Just as we were getting ready to head out for the day touring, one of our old boat surveyors came up to the boat- he was tied up to the dock too. The funny thing is, he surveyed our boat before the second cruise a few years back in Salem, MA and then when we were in the BVI, he came dinghying up to us there too. So that makes 2 times we've met up by chance in relatively far away places- very odd. That day, we did 2 great historic walking tours- one of Portsmouth, VA, then we took the ferry across to Norfolk and did one there. Both areas are full of naval history.

From The trip North

The passage from Norfolk to NYC was fine except that the weather is so unsettled. We do a fair amount of nail biting as conditions continually change. For that, we miss the Caribbean- trade wind sailing is raved about for good reason! We had lots of rain and fog on the second night and the low temps of Northern sailing really stink! This is the first time we've had to put a blanket on since I don't know when but out came the afghan that Mariette made us years ago so at least we were warm on our off shifts! We saw lots of seabirds and some dolphin and even a few pelicans at first. We're definitely out of pelican range now. On the last evening, this poor young osprey kept trying to land on our boat to eat a fish. He seemed desperate to eat but he just couldn't keep his balance once he landed on the bow pulpit with the boat moving so. He dropped 2 fish up there, so sad, then he got a third one and made several more passes trying to decide what to do before landing on our arch right above my head. Even then, he couldn't get his footing and dropped the fish into the cockpit beside me. I put the fish back in the water and the osprey disappeared. How sad. Every time he made a close pass by the boat he chirped some as if trying to communicate with me. I could see him looking and trying to figure out how to land. Every other bird has made it just fine to have a rest or meal but this osprey just couldn't. I don't know what was going to happen to him.

We arrived at the entrance to NY harbor in the fog & drizzle at 1am. The tide was against us so it took till 6am to get to 79th St Marina to pick up a mooring. But the harbor is well marked of course and even though the visibility wasn't great, it was still neat to come up the harbor at night and see all the lights, smell the city and anticipate exploring it for the next couple of days. The last time we sailed in here was 12 years ago on the Cape Dory; funny how the time goes. We had our coffee and tidied up the boat and then headed ashore. The rain had cleared for the most part and as usual, once you get on land after enduring crummy conditions offshore, it's a beautiful day! This marina is perfectly situated except for a persistent roll in the anchorage. I guess it would be better if we weren't having all this wind but still, there's a lot of current in the Hudson. Anyway, the bike path is right here and 3 blocks up is the edge of Central Park and Zabars. By the end of the day, we had walked about 200 blocks- oh yeah, we can walk with the best of them! We went by the WTC to check on the progress there (they're starting the new buildings and memorial but have a long way to go), had lunch in Chinatown, walked all over Central Park, all around down town and along the Hudson for miles. The new continuous park along the river is incredible. We love it here and would so enjoy living in NYC for a while; it's a great city. Needless to say, we were comatose that night. Like dad says, "I had trouble getting to sleep and then I shut my eyes".... we were totally OUT!

From The trip North

Yesterday, Monday, we did the natural history museum and went to Zabar's for lunch. I had to go back to the boat midway through the day to get more clothes since the museum was like an ice cube. We've both been freezing lately and I guess the continual North wind makes it worse. Anyway, it was another great day.

The forecast is downright humorous these days. The gale is stalled offshore and then there's another low on its way. Ridiculous! It is looking like Wednesday is the day to make the trip to Onset. But that means we can have another day here- we think we'll take out the bikes. There's always a plus side to everything. We will eventually get to Boston this summer... I think.

From The trip North

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06/21/2009, NYC, New York

We pulled in to NYC this morning, before the gale. We'll stay put here for a day or two until the weather settles and then try to get through Long Island Sound before the new work start date of next Monday. Aside from the clouds and rain, and oh, the biting houseflies that arrived 2 days ago from nowhere on a puff of wind, (I forgot about those lovely creatures!), all went well on our trip. Thank goodness for electronic charting and AIS. With all the fog & drizzle, that's how we navigated in here. The statue of liberty looks so nice at night- we passed close to it around 4am. No joke, there was a tour boat hovering around it and camera flashes were going off. I guess this really is the city that never sleeps!

Well, we're going to tour around today and try to stay warm. The low tonight is supposed to be 58. We'll have to come back to the boat early and try to fire up our heating system. Since we haven't had to use it in 2 years, we expect we may have to do some troubleshooting. We're not sure exactly how we feel about all this but....

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06/14/2009, Great Bridge, VA

From The trip North

Well we did make it out of Florida; we're in Virginia now as of tonight, at a free dock- woohoo! We've only got 12 miles left of the ICW and then we'll be in Norfolk. When we usually pass this area in the Fall headed South, these docks are packed with other cruising boats. Now the docks are almost empty and we've got plenty of room to tie up.

We had a good passage from Cape Canaveral to Beaufort inlet except that we had to motor the whole way, dodging a few thunderstorms. After every storm, we'd get a North wind and the Gulf Stream gets so rough so fast in North winds. It really stresses us out. But we did make fantastic time in the current so it wasn't all bad. The weather wasn't right to keep going as we'd planned so we pulled into the Beaufort, NC inlet so that we could keep moving in the waterway. We spotted our friends on Pendragon anchored near the inlet but since it was 630am, there didn't seem to be anyone up yet so we kept pushing onward to the sleepy little NC town of Belhaven. We took a nice walk the next morning since that is about all you can do there and then continued onward. Last night we anchored in the Little Alligator River after an afternoon of powerful thunderstorms. By the time we anchored, everything was calm and quiet and we sat out on deck with our sundowner and watched the sunset in perfect peace and quiet. It was so beautiful. Like Jon says, cruising is full of 1's and 10's. One minute you're scared for your life in heavy seas or a lightening storm and it's a 1; the next minute you're relaxing with great cruising friends or are anchored watching a gorgeous sunset and it's a 10. There aren't many 5's.

Today we continued on to Great Bridge, VA. Took a nice walk, chatted with another cruiser on the dock and went out to dinner. Now we're pretty sure we're going to be stuck waiting for weather to make the last passage to Boston. Heavy North winds are predicted the next few days. Not great timing for my work start date next Monday! But what can you do when you move at 6 mph?! We'll try our best.

We've really enjoyed the intracoastal waterway these past few days. The birds and scenery are wonderful. It's fun to see our tax dollars at work too- the way its all so well laid out and maintained and the way the bridges lift for us to pass- its great! We keep saying that we could easily spend a season just doing our favorite parts of the waterway, working our way South at a leisurely pace instead of rushing through fighting the cold as we usually do in October. The problem with us is that we have too many places we want to go! I think we should do far away ports now though, while we can and save this stuff for later, but we'll see.

We're going through a little bit of diving withdrawals, especially in this brown waterway water. No great underwater pictures to post either. Well, hopefully it won't be long before we can get out our dive gear again. In the meantime, we've got the waterway smile!

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