Traveling Transvesselites
| Vessel Name: | She's On Board |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Mainship 390 |
| Hailing Port: | Annapolis |
| Crew: | Phil Burgess, Mary Sue Burgess |
| About: | Phil and Mary Sue reside on Lake Ogleton on the Chesapeake Bay in Annapolis, Maryland. They are life-long sailors (Hunter 33 and Tartan 37), including one trans-Atlantic passage and itineraries all over the US -- from the San Juans in the Pacific Northwest to the Florida Keys and the Chesapeake. |
| Extra: |
29 May 2013 | South Mills Lock, Dismal Swamp
The peaceful beauty of meandering streams and quiet waters
We were up at 0700, had some coffee on the aft deck and enjoyed the rising sun, the lapping of the water against the boat and the rustling sea grasses that were close by. Our sailboat friends had already left.
28 May 2013 | Peletier Creek
Big John, strong winds and the spirit of the ICW
We woke up this morning with every intention of departing by 0700. But that was not to be. We spent the evening in a old-fashioned marina…called Taylor Boat Works on Peletier Creek. It was pretty primitive… no fuel, no pump out, questionable bathroom facilities, a rail instead of a boat lift, [...]
28 May 2013 | Morehead City, NC
She's on Board? Where did that come from?
Several readers have sent emails asking about origin of the name of our boat. Here's the answer:
27 May 2013 | Morehead City
Bridges, cuts and Cape Fear, but no DeNiro
We cast off from the Southport Marina on the Cape Fear River at 0830 and headed on to Morehead City, NC, 98 miles away. And we made it! Arriving at 1930. A new distance record for SOB on the ICW.
26 May 2013 | 33 92.14'N:078 02.06'W
It's like cruising through a bathtub
After a peaceful evening on the hook in Bull Creek…including a spectacular sunset…we awakened to a bright and beautiful sunrise in a cloudless sky. The morning weather was nippy, so our dress included a light jacket. We took some coffee on the aft deck, close to the water, and enjoyed the coming [...]
25 May 2013 | Bull Creek, South Carolina
Hasta luego, auf wiedersehen…and thanks for coming along.
We departed Charleston at 0930, but not before saying "see you later" to Denny and Dorothy, our shipmates from Annapolis who joined us at the beginning in Stuart, Florida.
First Night on the ICW
After a slow start, it was a great day on the ICW. We spent our time learning about the boat and exploring how the boat behaves at different RPMs. When I tested the boat last month, it would do 16 knots WOT (wide open throttle)...about 3200 RPMs. But for some reason, we couldn't get it above 11.5 kts. Hmmm. The two sweet spots seem to be 1900 RPMs, which give us 7.5-8.0 kts. and 2800, which gives us 9.0-10.0 kts. So that was surprise #1. Surprise #2: Our autopilot doesn't work. Can't figure out why, but somewhere along the way we will get it looked at. It is a slight PITA right now, but as time goes on, it will be a real PITA not having it. Otherwise, everything worked great. We were very satisfied with the comfort, ease of handling, noise levels, etc. We decided to call it a day around 1830 as we were passing Ft. Pierce. So we pulled into Harbor Town Marina...a great place with a jumping restaurant, good food, live music (60s, country). Tied up to the bulkhead and spent our second night on the boat, following surprise #3: We filled the fuel tanks -- 176 gallons (two tanks, max 300) for almost as much money as my first car cost. After 40 years of sailing when we refueled maybe 2-3 times each summer, it was quite a shock to shell out greenbacks for the power we used to get for free from the wind. Still, we knew the consequences of becoming a transvesselite, so the fuel bill was more of a shock than a surprise.
