NINE MONTHS AND A DAY

Well we made it home! We arrived home on Sunday June 14. 2009 dripping wet and really tired. Backing up to the last blog update, we woke up on the morning of our anniversary at Fishers Island and we could see shore so we decided to go. Within a half hour we had less than 300 ft. visibility. We needed our navigating in fog skills fine tuned anyway. We started to get a little more visibility around Point Judith and by the time we got to Newport it was fine. We had a nice dinner at one of the local restaurants. We were there for three days waiting out weather, and finally got a break to do Buzzards Bay and we moved on to Onset. We had a wonderful sail on Buzzards Bay and nothing like the trip south. We spent another four days waiting for the north east winds to change, but they just kept popping up. We are supposed to be in the wonderful south westerlies by now. We did enjoy our visit to Onset and got to explore the town a little more. Our friends Bertha and Roy off the boat Serenade arrived home a few days before we arrived in Onset and they live about 45 minutes away in Attleboro. They drove to Onset picked us up and took us out to dinner which was great fun. We caught up on all the news since they had left for the Bahamas from Marathon in February. We finally had a day where the winds were light NE and changing to the south so after considering the long term forecast we decided to make a run for it. We were going to do an overnight into Portland, but there were thunderstorm warning out so we decided to tuck into Portsmouth, NH. We arrived there about 10pm dodging lobster pots with the spot light. We were up and at em at 6am the next morning and on the water by 7am. Shortly after we left it started to rain with an east wind and the infamous lobster pots were everywhere. John was on one side watching and I was on the other. It was a long eight hours. Finally seeing some of the familiar sites, like Two Lights, Portland Head, Ft. Georges, and finally our mooring field made it a reality that this wonderful journey was now over. But waiting in the mist we know there are new adventures waiting. We took the launch to shore where our son Paul picked us up. Arriving home was a little surreal and was like waking up from a wonderful dream and wishing to go back to sleep. Since being back on dirt we have done mostly catch up things like getting vehicles back on the road, cutting foot and half long grass, cleaning off the boat, and catching up with our friends and family. Well going to close. Not sure when the next blog will be, but maybe we'll catch up over the summer sailing months.

BACK IN NEW ENGLAND

Well it is with great excitement and a little sadness too that we are returning to New England. It seemed when we left last fall that we would never get out and so quickly we're back. Things did go as planned. We spent my Birthday in Chesapeake City on the C & D Canal and had a nice dinner out. It was a cute little town with the little museum like most of the towns seem to have. Most of them are free too! We met up with friends we had met in Marathon and Key Biscayne "The Great Catsby" and traveled with them from Chesapeake City through to Sandy Hook and shared dinners with them also. We had a good trip down the Delaware Bay and into Cape May. When we woke up the next morning it was foggy, (not a sight we've seen much since leaving) but left with several other boats and it cleared up just in time to head into Atlantic City. We just stayed overnight so didn't get to explore, but it was fun to watch all the lights on the buildings at night. We left there first thing in the morning and made it into Atlantic Highlands after a 14 hour day. Up again the next morning and headed to Staten Island to Great Kills Harbor to visit NYC for a couple of days. It was a good mooring field at a yacht club and from there we walked about ¾ mile to catch a train to get the Staten Island Ferry and that drops you off in Manhattan. The first day we visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We walked to South Street Seaport and ate dinner at a local pub recommended by a retired NYC cop from the yacht club and explored the waterfront. The next day it was off to Times Square. What a busy and exciting place. We made it to Rockefeller Plaza and saw all the news stations and of course where the ball dropped. A very busy place to be and after where we've been all winter we kind of felt like a fish out of water. We decided with the timing of the currents on the East River we had better head out so off we went. The East River was busy and fun to travel. I won't bore you with to many pics of that since you saw them all in the fall. Our first stop in Long Island Sound was Port Washington in Manhasset Bay. We spent a day there provisioning and doing laundry. It was a great stop and would have been fun to spend the week-end, but it was time to head off. We only went about 15 miles the next day and made it to Oyster Bay before the rain started. It poured all day yesterday, but today it was up at the crack of dawn and we made it to Fishers Island just north of New London almost 75 miles and we're just about through Long Island Sound. We hope to be in Newport, RI tomorrow to celebrate our 34th Anniversary. We are sitting in pea soup fog right now and thinking Welcome Back to New England. Can't believe this is it. We will have one more blog posting of our trip once we get home to catch up. We're already planning a party with the boys and their girls when we get home. We're excited to see all of them. Till next time "fair winds and calm seas"

THE HORSES ARE BEGINNING TO SMELL THE BARN

We heard that saying from another boater a few days ago and thought we both could relate to it. I guess the closer we get to home the faster we want to be there. Mother Nature always has her say in that. Right now we are sitting in an anchorage in the Sassafras River off the Chesapeake Bay waiting for the winds to die down a bit so we can enter the C & D Canal and travel the Delaware Bay to Cape May. Hoping to do that in the next few days.
Since our last update John was still in Maine. During that time my Mom and Hav were on their way home from Ft. Lauderdale and decided to stop and see me and do a side trip of the Outer Banks. I was so excited as I had heard a lot about them since being in Elizabeth City. They arrived early May and stayed in a local Hotel. We enjoyed two days in the Outer Banks visiting the beach, Cape Hatters, other lighthouses, and sand dunes. Of course the trip to Kitty Hawk to see the Right Brothers museum and memorial was a highlight. Sadly they made their way back to Maine. John arrived back in Elizabeth City in time for Mother's Day. We enjoyed a couple of more days there and broke ourselves away from the City of Hospitality. We left with two other boats which we traveled with for the next couple of weeks, Vertigo I from Canada, and Impetuous from NC. We spent a night at the visitor's center in the Dismal Swamp. We rode bikes, explored the State Park and trails there and had cocktails, snacks, and good company at the closest picnic table. The next morning it was up and on our way to Norfolk and Hampton. The rest of the Dismal Swamp was just beautiful in the spring. We defiantly saw the changes from fall to spring. We entered the busy river into Norfolk and hit rough seas just in time to enter the Hampton River. We spent two nights in this historic town and enjoyed it a lot. We left there and on to Jackson Creek in Deltaville. What a nice anchorage and the local yacht club had reciprocity with ours so we got to use their facilities. They had great showers and they had a kitchen and common area you could use. With our traveling boats we had snacks, pizza, and played dominos there. Because of weather, we were here for four days. We tried to leave one day along with six other boats and we all returned due to high seas and wind. Once we finally were on our way we made it into Solomon's Island. This was a quick stop doing a little shopping, laundry, and showers. We left there and headed for Annapolis for the Memorial Day week-end. We didn't realize it, but the Naval Academy has graduation on this week-end. There was a lot of hustle bustle around and the President flew over the mooring field in his helicopter to participate in the graduation. After a couple of peoples suggestions we decided to tour the Naval Academy which is located right off the mooring field. It was a great tour and made you glad to be an American. So many old traditions and history here. We enjoyed it thoroughly. On Sunday we went to the Chapel to go to Church. It was a lovely service and the Chapel is beautiful. We didn't see it during the tour because it was closed for graduating students to get married. They allow this once a year and I think there were 13 of them one after another. It was very cool though. We left Annapolis on Monday and ended up here. Today has been a rainy windy day so we are staying put. We are hoping tomorrow to be in Chesapeake City to await a weather window to do the Delaware Bay to Cape May and then on to the New Jersey Coast. NY City will be the next planned stop and then as weather permits a quick trip home. Oh that's right; it's never quick in a sail boat. Oh well hope to see you all real soon.