Friday, September 28th
Location: House in Sandwich
We planned to leave for the boat today, but realized we are still not ready. There are so many details to finalize before we go. The decision to stay another night is made, allowing us to tie up all the loose ends. This now becomes our last night in our home on land before we board the boat. Deb had cleaned the bed linens this morning and we packed up the air mattress that the girls had been sleeping on, so we all slept in the living room on floor and couches. The kids go to sleep looking forward to the adventure which Deb and I have been dreaming about for the last seven years when this idea of cruising began. We will be living aboard for the next 12 months while cruising to interesting if not exotic places. I certainly had a restless sleep thinking about the items I would learn later that we needed and had left home and thousand other things that have been popping into my head as the day to leave draws near.


Saturday, September 29th
Location: House in Sandwich
My brother Pete and his son Jack have made a special trip to the Cape to see us before we take off. Pete took a few pictures of the kids before we leave and we said our good-byes. It was great to see you guys!

Deb has cleaned the house and it has not looked so good for years. The clutter has been removed. All of our personal items are either on the boat or packed up and stored in Mom & Dad Gregg's cellar. We don't know what we would do without all the help and favors these wonderful parents have done for us, thanks Mom & Dad.

We take one more walk through the house making sure it is ready for our renters. Fortunate for us, our neighbors Greg, Jen and their 1-year-old daughter Grace have decided to rent our home. We hope they enjoy our home and make it their own while we're away.

The Volvo is packed to the ceiling and the roof has 4 large duffel bags full of clothing tied to the roof. There isn't enough room for everything we planned to pack on this final load, so we have to carry additional items on our laps. We roll out of the driveway slowly taking in the last look at our home as we take off towards the boat.

I can't believe it, as if we don't already have enough stuff in the car, I have to stop and buy another fishing rod and reel. I needed to replace a spin casting rod that was stolen from the boat years ago when we were docked at The Back Eddy, a restaurant on the Westport River in Westport, MA. I'm not really up on all the fishing gear like my brother Rick, so the guys at Red Top in Bourne right off the rotary are pros and they helped me decide on a nice combination. Next it was Deb's turn to add to the load. We stopped in Mattapoisette to pick up some cruising guides from Jonathan, a friend and fellow cruiser. Thanks Jonathan, the guides will come in handy.

Now it's about lunchtime so we made a quick pit stop at McDonalds to fuel up so we can unload the car and pack up the boat.

Friday, September 28th
Location: 41 36' 087" N 70 50' 654" W Our mooring at Earl's Marina
We brought the boat into the dock from its mooring to make the loading easier. The tide was going out and we had just enough time to bring it in. We could get stuck on the bottom approaching the dock if we don't get there before the tide goes out. The boat draws 5 feet normally, but with all the gear, stores, fuel and water we have loaded over the past weeks we now draw about 5'6". A half an hour latter we were hard aground at the dock. Another hour passed and the boat was listing to port about 10 degrees due to the falling water level. We packed until 6:00pm when I needed to stop so I could talk to John & Cindy on the SSB (single side band radio). We had prearranged radio frequencies and times when we would speak to stay in touch. John & Cindy are cruising on their boat named Tashmoo, a Bristol 41.1. You can follow their adventures from their sailblog: www.sailblogs.com/member/tashmoo

Mom Jolda, Deb's sister MJ and nephew Kyle arrived at the marina at 5:30pm to see the boat and to take us out to dinner. Danielle and Kristen gave them a guided tour of the boat while Deb and I packed away a few more items. After we received our call from Tashmoo, we headed out for a dinner. We had a great meal with family and thoroughly enjoyed the company. Deb and her mom and sister said their tearful good-byes again. The girls and Kyle showed us some of their dancing moves in the parking lot as we bid farewell. We will miss you all and thanks again for dinner!

After dinner we continued to pack until midnight. You can't believe how much stuff we have packed away in this boat!

Sunday, September 30th
Location: 41 35' 859" The courtesy dock at Earl's Marina
This morning our friend Jim from the boat Will of the Wisp stopped to wish us well and to give us one of his chart books of the Bahamas. Thanks Jim, it will come in handy.

We packed until mid-morning when our friends George & Julie showed up with their newborn son, Benjamin. Benjamin is perfect, with full head of hair that I'm envious of! We enjoyed their visit and our girls were thrilled to get to hold Benjamin. Thanks guys for your gifts and visit.

We need to get more provisions and gear. I have been working with lists, crossing off items as we go and adding more all the time. Again we fill the car with stuff, when will this provisioning end? I made a wire bridle for the radar reflector that we hang in the rigging of the mizzen mast (our boat is a ketch rig) at the Boat US store in Fairhaven and we picked up a few more items there. Next, we went to Kohl's Dept. store for bags for our vacuum packer; Walmart for oil, filters and a full shopping cart of stuff; Lowes for fuel line fittings; Home Depot for more fuel line fittings to make a fuel polishing system. I still need a couple more items that I'll need to source from a hydraulic supply store to complete the items needed. We head back to the boat to load it up again.

We are on the way back to the marina and we make one more stop at Jim & Deb Dalton's house to collect a part that Jim picked up for us at Beckman's Marine Supply in New Bedford, my favorite marine supply store. We stay for a short visit then made our good-byes. Thanks for the gifts and champagne. We'll pick a special place to enjoy the champagne and the trail mix has been sampled and enjoyed daily.

It's now the evening, so we stay on the dock another night and pack until the wee hours before going off to sleep.

Monday, October 1st
Location: 41 35' 859" The courtesy dock at Earl's Marina
We realize that we still need more items that were not on anyone's list. Deb makes a solo trip early this morning with her car to source the items. One item was for me, a small ShopVac which could be stored on a wall mount when not in use. I hung it up in the engine room. She also obtained a few more boat items and food provisions to begin our trip. This was her last outing with her car. We plan to sell it with my parents' help as the salesmen. If you are interested in a 2006 Volvo XC70 loaded with all the goodies, email us and we'll forward the info.

Mom & Dad Gregg arrived at the marina around 11:00am to see the boat, pick up the car, and to say good-bye. There wasn't a dry eye between us. We lined up in the parking lot to wave as they left. Thanks again guys for everything, we love you.

Now it is official, we are at the marina with no way to leave except by boat. The journey has begun. We still won't leave the dock today because more packing is needed.

Our friend Jim Dalton comes to check on his boat Shearwater nearly every evening and tonight is no exception. Jim motors up to our boat in his dinghy and states "are you guys still here"! We had to give him the story again that we would leave tomorrow. I'm not sure anyone thinks were ever gonna leave at this point, we just need to be as prepared as we can be and we're just about there. Again, we pack until the wee hours before going to bed.

Tuesday October 2nd
Location: Location: 41 35' 859" The courtesy dock at Earl's Marina
This is the day we cast off the lines and leave our marina. Earls Marina has been our summer home since 1992. It is a third generation family owned marina that has a great location. The grandfather whom I never met was named Earl and he started the marina. Later his son Bill bought it. Bill later sold it to his son David, the current owner. Each new owner has taken over and expanded the business. David has recently added a small outdoor bar and restaurant called "Down the Hatch" which has both marina customers and local residents dropping in for a meal or drink. The marina is situated on a tiny island called Long Island. A causeway leading to West Island passes right through Long Island. All the land north of the causeway is either Earl's Marina or marshland. This causeway makes a nice break from the prevailing southwest winds and swell leaving the marina and mooring field calm in most weather conditions.

10:45 AM - At this very moment we started a life long dream of ours. We kissed on the dock, we untied the lines and off we went! We had sunny skies and warm temperatures. Mr. Weatherman is good to us that way, but there are no winds to sail by. We said good-bye to Earl's, then West Island, and now we are on our way. We know that we will be sad from time to time missing our family and friends, but it is nice to know we have all of their support in our adventure. We can not believe that we are finally going. It has been such a long time from buying Kwitcherbitchen to actually sailing away on it.

So far it seems like a typical cruising weekend, the kids are playing on the boom and snoozing in the cockpit, while yes Kelly still works on the boat. We are very excited for what the next year will bring.

Tuesday October 2nd
Location: 41 11' 245"N 71 34' 576"W Block Island, Rhode Island - Great Salt Pond at anchor
At 5:45 PM we pulled into New Harbor on Block Island otherwise known as Great Salt Pond. We decided we would get a good night rest and do an overnighter tomorrow. We would leave in the morning and head to Atlantic City, NJ. Upon entering the very quiet harbor, there were only a few boats around and a very large old schooner tied up at one of the marinas. It is very different here compared to the summer time. We figured it has been about 7 years since the last time we were here. We looked for a good place to anchor, and in doing so a gentleman came over in a dinghy and told us to pick up a private mooring. So we did and we know you can relax a little more when you are on a mooring!

We had a little adventure when we were coming around the north side of the island. It shoals from around 16 feet of water and then it goes to 60 feet of water. As we approached the shoaling area, there were a little bit of waves and rough water in the shallows, and then as we passed over the shallows into the 60 feet of water, the water became flat as glass. It was pretty neat to see. I was at the helm at this point, and heading to our waypoint north of the island while Kelly was at the main mast fixing the main sail batten pockets. A screw had landed on the deck while we were sailing a few minutes earlier and the screw was identified to be from the batten slides. Kelly lowered the main sail to reinstall all the screws with Loctite to make sure they would not loosen again Upon reaching our waypoint, I was trying to figure the next way point and did a 360 with the boat. We all got a pretty good laugh out of it. Also, when going to the mooring I made a few mistakes, but we did it!
Once settled on the mooring, the girls and Kelly headed for the computers. I made supper. We had a visit from a family of swans that the girls named Stretch, Giggles the baby, and Peace. We fed them some bread and then they headed on their way. After supper we relaxed and watched Dancing with the Stars. I read a Scooby Doo book to the girls. They really enjoy Scooby stories. By 10:15 PM I was in bed, Kelly was still up fixing a fishing line.


Wednesday, October 3rd
Location: Enroute to Atlantic City, NJ

We awoke to a very foggy start to the day. Danielle was up at around 7:00 AM, and we started to get back into some home schooling. We took a break from it before we left because we had too much left to do to get ready. Around 9:00 AM we had breakfast and decided we better get underway for our overnight trek to Atlantic City. At first we were having lots of fun and Kelly taught us some more about our gps/plotter navigation system. At one point we had the radar on and it was actually picking up birds flying over head. Our journey today consisted of about 170 miles. Most of time we were relaxing and trying to see through the fog. As night approached, Kelly and I decided we would do 2 hour shifts at the helm. During my shift I would check the radar, the fuel level, and the engine instruments. To amuse myself I would exercise and stretch out. I also had conversations with my Dad. He passed away almost four years ago, but I still really miss him. I know he is watching over us on our journey.

At around 12:30 AM when we were changing shifts, I spotted lights in the fog off our port side. I called to Kelly because he was inside the cabin putting on another jacket. He came up to the helm and we were trying to figure out this boat's course. On our plotter system we can identify objects around us and it will tell us the course and speed of the object. As the boat approached closer to us, we saw that it was a fishing boat. The captain must of seen us and steered off to our stern. He was around an eighth of mile from us at this point. Wow! We were both awake now. Our concerns were high with this boat approaching since we were passing through three major shipping lanes. Some of the larger vessels transiting these areas need around five miles to stop and over a mile to make a ninety degree turn.

Well between the rest of our shifts no other boats came closer. We had many boats passed by us, but none on our course. The fishing boat coming so close definitely made for a long night for the both of us. Now our eyes were glued to the radar!!!