Always $umthing

Vessel Name: Always $umthing
Vessel Make/Model: Tartan 37
Hailing Port: Worton Creek, Maryland
Crew: Al and Diane Dashevsky
About:
Our current "water home" is a Tartan 37 sailboat, whose summer home is at Green Point Marina on Worton Creek, MD. Our local cruising grounds is the upper Chesapeake Bay. We've only been sailing for about 6 years, but now that we're retired, we will become "snowbirds". [...]
Extra: When clicking on the "Where are we now?" link, PLEASE DO NOT call rescue authorities if the boat hasn't moved in a while.
11 May 2013 | Green Point Marina, Worton, MD
09 May 2013 | Solomons, MD
05 May 2013 | Norfolk, VA
01 May 2013 | Dismal Swamp, North Carolina
29 April 2013 | Elizabeth City, NC
21 April 2013 | Southport, NC
20 April 2013 | Isle of Palms to N. Myrtle Beach
15 April 2013 | Beaufort, SC
08 April 2013 | Beaufort, SC
01 April 2013 | Beaufort, SC
31 March 2013 | On the way to Beaufort, SC
26 March 2013 | Daytona Beach Shores/Port Orange
20 March 2013 | Manatee Pocket, FL (St. Lucie Inlet)
04 March 2013 | Marathon, FL
21 February 2013 | Marathon, FL
21 January 2013 | Marathon, FL
01 January 2013 | Marathon, FL
25 December 2012 | Marathon, FL
12 December 2012 | Key West, FL
11 December 2012 | Blackfin Resort & Marina, Marathon, FL
Recent Blog Posts
11 May 2013 | Green Point Marina, Worton, MD

Chesapeake Bay or Lake??? Ans: HOME!

We spent Thursday night at Calvert Marina in Solomons Island. Was nice to have a courtesy car again to get food for Daisy and a couple of needed groceries since I will be on the boat for a few days while Al goes home to get one of our cars.

09 May 2013 | Solomons, MD

Almost Home!

We hauled anchor at Little Bay this morning at 6:15 and headed north. Was able to get sails up for a while, but of course the wind died, then picked up again - right on the nose. Ah, the sailing life! LOL! Today's pic is a scene I never get tired of...sunrise on the Chesapeake :)

05 May 2013 | Norfolk, VA

Patience, Patience, Patience...

As the sun is beginning to set on our adventure, we are learning how to be patient. It is a bit frustrating to be so close to home and not be able to get there.

01 May 2013 | Dismal Swamp, North Carolina

Dismal Weather in the Swamp

Early Tuesday morning we left Elizabeth City in light fog. After a fuel stop, we headed for the Dismal Swamp South Mills Lock. Traffic on the canal is light and there were only 4 boats, all sail, in the lock.

29 April 2013 | Elizabeth City, NC

Yes, it IS Always $umthing!

Oh my! What a crazy (and chilly) eight days!

21 April 2013 | Southport, NC

Sitting in Southport...

Spent last night at the free dock at the Provision Company and had a good dinner there. Left the dock this morning and headed out to the Cape Fear River...and promptly turned back. It was BRUTAL! Winds have been in the upper 20's gusting into the 30's ALL DAY! Forecast is for more of the same through [...]

20 April 2013 | Isle of Palms to N. Myrtle Beach

Score: Di 107 - Flies 0 !!!

As much as we like the Low Country, we DO NOT like the bugs. We have had our fill of gnats, no-see-ums, and mosquitos...and now flies!

15 April 2013 | Beaufort, SC

Painting done!

The painting of the hull and bottom is complete! It looks like a new boat! Can't believe how shiny it is...you can see your reflection!

08 April 2013 | Beaufort, SC

Biding our time in Beaufort

We have been in Beaufort, SC now for a week. The original plan was to be here for 2 weeks for the boat to be painted. However, we've had a bit of bad weather (quite a bit of rain) during the beginning of the week. So now it looks like we might be here a bit longer than 2 weeks. But as of yesterday, [...]

01 April 2013 | Beaufort, SC

OMG!!!

I'm still shaking! On the way over to Marsh Harbor Marina where the boat is going to be painted, Al walked up on deck to pull up a fender we forgot to pull in...and he FELL OVERBOARD!!!! Good thing we've practiced Man Overboard drills! He's OK...shaken and cold, but OK :)

31 March 2013 | On the way to Beaufort, SC

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!

26 March 2013 | Daytona Beach Shores/Port Orange

Sitting and waiting...and waiting...

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

20 March 2013 | Manatee Pocket, FL (St. Lucie Inlet)

Homeward Bound

Oh my! Where does the time go??? Before leaving Marathon we were so busy with last minute social activities as well as getting "ready" to leave...not to mention also nursing a cold...and the blog suffered. Apologies to all.

04 March 2013 | Marathon, FL

Old Man Winter. . .

. . . has found us. The past few days have been quite chilly, windy, and a bit of rain (as evidenced by the pic above of our friends bundled up and wearing long pants in Key West). Temps are in the 50's during the day with the nights requiring the heat on for a while in the boat. But we aren't complaining! [...]

21 February 2013 | Marathon, FL

Laid Back and Not Too Wasted...

(Apologies to Jim Morris for the blog title today...)

21 January 2013 | Marathon, FL

Time to Catch-Up!

So the question seems to be, "What have we been doing with ourselves for the past couple of weeks?" The short answer is, of course, immensely enjoying being in Paradise!

01 January 2013 | Marathon, FL

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!

25 December 2012 | Marathon, FL

Merry Christmas from Marathon!!

Christmas greetings to all!

12 December 2012 | Key West, FL

Reached the end of the road!

Today we joined Flint & Leslie Firestone and their friends George and Jan and hopped on the bus to Key West. Since the bus only cost $1.50 each way (Sr. Rate), it didn't make sense to drive down with the gas rate approaching $4/gal!

11 December 2012 | Blackfin Resort & Marina, Marathon, FL

Christmas at Blackfin

'Tis the Season...

11 December 2012 | Marathon, FL

Our "Home" - for now

Decided to share some pics of our "home away from home" with y'all. While it's true that "home is where the boat is", the boat is here at Blackfin. Enjoy the "tour".

09 December 2012 | Marathon, Florida

It's Beginning to Look like Christmas

We are enjoying being on "island time" :) Fairly lazy days, warm weather, and on the water...what more could you ask for??

06 December 2012 | Marathon, Florida

We're in Marathon!

We left Jewfish Creek on Tuesday morning around 7:45 and headed south, assuming we would stop in Islamorada or Tavernier on the way. We had the wind at our stern and even had tide with us (dumb luck!) and we were making such good time that when we got to Islamorada it was way too early to stop so we [...]

03 December 2012 | Jewfish Creek - Key Largo

Officially in the Keys!

We stayed in Fort Lauderdale a few extra days waiting for the winds and clouds to blow out. The pic above is the resident iguana at Las Olas Municipal Marina. When he kept coming by our boat, I decided he needed a name and started calling him Iggy. Saturday afternoon he even climbed on the foredeck! Saturday [...]

29 November 2012 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Vero Beach to Ft. Lauderdale

Well this will be another "catch-up" post since, again, our wifi connections have been poor or non-existent :(

22 November 2012 | Vero Beach, FL

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble...

...And that we did! Had a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner with approx. 200 other cruisers here in Vero Beach. Had turkey, ham, all the traditional go-withs and lots of other unique dishes. The desserts were incredible! And everything but the turkeys and hams came from boat galleys! After dinner there [...]

17 November 2012 | Titusville, FL

Wind, wind, and more wind!

Whew! Lot of "catching up" to do! Our internet access has been sketchy at best. So what's been happening with us?? Since I last posted, we stopped in St. Augustine. Hung out on a mooring ball there for 3 nights since the weather was so lousy...blowing stink and rainy. While it was lousy for sailing/traveling, [...]

12 November 2012 | Jacksonville Beach, FL

There IS justice!

Anyone who sails will understand the "title" today that refers to the attached picture - whether you've traveled The Ditch or not. It is especially frustrating in The Ditch when the PBs blow by you, rock the snot out of you and sometimes force you over into the low water! Hence, today's caption.

11 November 2012 | Fernandina Beach, FL

Whoo Hoo!!! We're in Florida!!

Hooray! We're in Florida!

10 November 2012 | St. Simons Island, GA

Just Peachy in Georgia

Yes the weather the past 2 days HAS been peachy! Upper 70's - low 80's in the afternoons, but still need the fleece in the mornings and at night - brrr!

08 November 2012 | Savannah, GA

Savannah

Al found a Quest Diag. to have his labwork done. Since it wasn't within walking distance, a taxi was hired to get him there and back. While he was gone, Daisy and I strolled along the Savannah waterfront, enjoying the park and window shopping. Al came along and joined us for the second half of our [...]

07 November 2012 | Savannah, GA

Georgia on my mind :)

As anticipated, we hung out in Marsh Harbor Creek on Tuesday to wait out the rain. Between showers, we managed to get some boatkeeping chores accomplished. Daisy wasn't too thrilled to have to take her "shore breaks" in the rain as you can see from the picture. She actually likes wearing the raincoat, [...]

05 November 2012 | Beaufort, SC

OK, so we didn't make Hilton Head...

Left Mosquito Creek on the ebb tide and FLEW down to Beaufort, SC (that's "bewfort" in SC rather than "bowfort" as in NC) in 3 hrs. Original plan was to go all the way to Hilton Head, but decided to stop here and see a gentleman (Peter Gamble, at Marsh Harbor Marina) about getting the boat painted. [...]

04 November 2012 | Mosquito Creek, Green Pond, SC

On the way to Beaufort, SC

Left Charleston approx. 7:30 this morning and traveled 46.5 miles. FLEW through Elliot Cut and down the Stono River until the current changed. Saw beautiful scenery the whole day as well as lots of aquatic birds and a few dolphins. I kept thinking that I should have taken a Native American linquistics [...]

03 November 2012 | Charleston, SC

Tourist Days

Left McClellanville around 7:45 on Thursday, Nov. 1 and got into Charleston at 1:45 - better than we thought. Rather than go to the City Marina (megadock) which was very expensive, we opted to try the Maritime Center Marina on the Cooper River side of Charleston. The Marina staff were exceptionally [...]

01 November 2012 | South Carolina

Myrtle Beach to McClellanville

Sunday afternoon (10/28) we were so pleased to be able to get together with two of Al's friends from his days in the Jaycees - Sue and Mike. They live not far from Myrtle Beach and drove up to spend some time visiting. We hope to connect with them again on the way back.

27 October 2012 | Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Heeeerres SANDY!

Spent yesterday (Friday) doing laundry (long walk), boatkeeping chores, dog bathing/grooming and then I borrowed a neighbor's bike and rode to the grocery store for a few things for us and others on the dock. Last evening we had a "Storm Watch Dock Party" on a neighboring trawler. Hmmmm....our next [...]

26 October 2012 | Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Goodbye NC, Hello South Carolina!

We got an early start on Thursday, leaving Southport at 7 am. Even had to use our nav lights. The 45 mile trip to Myrtle Beach was a fairly slow ride as the tide and current changed on us along the way, shoaling to watch out for, bridge openings to wait for, no wind to speak of (what we had was right [...]

24 October 2012 | North Carolina

Swansboro to Southport

Spent Monday night in Wrightsville Beach watching the anchor...sleepless night (just didn't seem to have a good set - turns out we were set, just had more rode out than neighboring boats). Moved the boat in the morning to a better location - farther into the basin where there was less current. Then [...]

21 October 2012 | Swansboro, NC

Oriental to Swansboro, NC

Arrived in Oriental Thursday afternoon and pulled into Sailcraft Services on Whittaker Creek. We had noticed an unusual amount of white smoke coming from the exhaust. Since it could be a sign of a serious problem, Al contacted Beta Marine to find out who to contact in Oriental - thus the stop [...]

17 October 2012 | Belhaven, NC

Elizabeth City to Belhaven

We said farewell to Elizabeth City around 8:45 am. Sailing down the Pasquotank, we passed the blimp hangar pictured above. All blimps (except Goodyear blimps) are manufactured here. Elizabeth City is also home to the largest Coast Guard base in the country.

15 October 2012 | Elizabeth City, NC

Another Pleasant Day :)

Short day on the water Monday. We left the Dismal Swamp Visitor's Center approx. 7:45 and made the first locking at South Mills.

14 October 2012 | Rappahannock River to Dismal Swamp Canal

Saying Goodbye to Virginia

We said "goodbye" to Joanne and her brother Friday afternoon and left Carter's Creek at 7:30 Saturday morning. We had tide, current, and WIND against us all the way down the Rappahannock and out on the bay. About a mile past Stingray Point (Deltaville), Al decided that he wasn't having much fun - to [...]

11 October 2012 | Carter's Creek, Rappahannock River, VA

Peeee Uuuuu!

Talk about a "stinky" day! :P Al removed the old head and some of the hoses today, then capped off the tank and the rest of the hoses - which we will remove later. It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it. We probably should have contacted Mike Rowe from "Dirty Jobs" to do it for us! So while we [...]

10 October 2012 | Carter's Creek, Rappahannock River, VA

We're in Virginia :)

Internet access has not been great so haven't been able to update for a couple of days.

06 October 2012 | Annapolis, MD

Boat Show Day

Headed over to the Boat Show after installing our reprogrammed AIS transceiver (another item off the checklist - Yay!). Naturally we spent more than we had planned on, but our purchases will make our life aboard MUCH more comfortable. We pick up our new Spade anchor tomorrow afternoon since we made [...]

05 October 2012 | Chesapeake Bay

Here We Go!!!!

Left Green Point Marina around 10 am and arrived in Annapolis at 2 pm. Had both sails up briefly, but motorsailed most of the way. Wind was extremely light and when it did pick up enough to sail, it was right on the nose.

30 September 2012 | Green Point Marina

Moving In!

This is Move In weekend! We stuffed the car to the roof and headed for Green Point. Got down Friday later than we originally had hoped, so we put the refrigerator on to chill down and started moving "the stuff" onto the boat. Got our clothes for the first part of the trip put away then loaded the refrigerator. [...]

23 September 2012 | Green Point Marina, Worton, MD

SURPRISE!

WOW! We are soooo overwhelmed! Our wonderful friends at Green Point gave us a wonderful surprise Bon Voyage Party last night! Great friends, great food, clever and useful gifts! One of our "newer dockmates" even wrote and performed a song for us :) "Thank You" just doesn't seem adequate. An extra big [...]

14 September 2012 | Annapolis, MD

Finally got out for a short cruise!

Left Green Point this morning at 9:45 for a short cruise to Annapolis. Of course something had to happen. This time it was our chartplotter. Turns out we have 1 broken pin and a bent pin where the power cord attaches. At least we were going to Annapolis! If there is anywhere it can be fixed [...]

17 August 2012 | Worton Creek

Another item off the punchlist!!

Finally got the Wind Generator installed and wired!! Hooray!! Wasn't the easiest task we needed to accomplish, but we did it :) That's the good news. Bad news is we need to replace the 20 yr old refrigerator before we leave. While it is still working - most of the time, it is on it's last legs. If [...]

08 July 2012 | Worton Creek, MD

Our Boat Has the Right Name!

Yes, it's "Always $umthing"!! Two weeks ago we had not one, but TWO washdown pumps go belly-up as well as the refrigeration motor. Neither of these repairs/replacements are a particularly difficult job. But for our non-boating friends, I've attached these pics to demonstrate how even a "simple" job is [...]

28 May 2012 | Worton Creek, MD

Memorial Day Weekend

Just back from spending Memorial Day Weekend at the Marina. Great Dock Party to kick-off the season Sat. evening...great food, great friends, great fun! Sat. morning we took the boat out and got to fly the spinnaker! Whoo Hoo!! First time it's been out of the bag...she's a pretty one. A friend sailing along took the attached pic of Al & I in front of the sail. Very hot, humid weekend - but very relaxing and enjoyable.

20 May 2012 | Green Point Marina, Maryland

At our "Summer Home"!

Always $umthing was put in the water last week and I got the majority of the "spring cleaning" done by Thursday. Friday morning we left Greenwich Boat Works at 9 am and had an uneventful motorsail to Worton Creek ("uneventful" is a good thing! LOL). Pulled into our slip at 5 pm.

03 May 2012 | Vineland, NJ

Welcome!

This is the year! As we are working through the Spring Commissioning tasks, thoughts of moving aboard in October for our journey south for the winter are never far away. Our general plans are to finish preparing the boat for the winter trip throughout the summer as well as doing a couple of "shakedown [...]

Patience, Patience, Patience...

05 May 2013 | Norfolk, VA
WINDY!!!! and cold - rain a-comin' :(
As the sun is beginning to set on our adventure, we are learning how to be patient. It is a bit frustrating to be so close to home and not be able to get there.

We left the Dismal Swamp Visitor's Center Thursday morning (5/2). After a delightful early morning motor through the swamp, we locked through at Deep Creek then headed for Rebel Marina in Norfolk on Willoughby Spit.


We "chased" this poor pair of geese all the way up the Swamp!


This was the Superintendent's house when the Swamp was being constructed.


"Mileage" sign at the Deep Creek Lock - we hit all the southern points but one!


The Little Tug That Could! How often do you see a small tug towing a larger one???

We considered anchoring in Willoughby Bay, but we both really wanted a hot shower. We had stayed at Rebel on the way south, so decided to go back there. Not only were we looking forward to longer hot showers, but it appeared that our alternator might be about to go belly-up. Our batteries had not charged after nearly a full day of motoring. Long story short, we got someone out to look at it and all is well.

We have been here just over 3 days, and it looks like we won't be able to safely head up the Bay until Thursday. The winds are wicked - and non-stop, the Bay is treacherous, and rain is coming for the next couple of days to keep the wind company. At least we are safe, comfortable, and in a nice location with the ability to get to any services we might need. Hopefully we will connect with one of my former business associates that lives down here and go to dinner with them - maybe tomorrow.

In the meantime, this is our temporary port:


The docks


The lounge - with full kitchen, large screen TV, new showers, and coffee always on :) and "Bay Queen" - the tugantine that the owner, Dave, lives on.


The decks - the back deck has a tiki bar, propane grill, and hot tub for anyone's use.

Thanks again to those that checked up on us! We are so blessed to have such caring friends :) As of now, it looks like we could be back at Green Point on Sunday. We'll see if Mother Nature decides to play nice...or not.
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