Summer, 2016

Aug. 30, 2016 Tuesday

We went 51 miles to Newport, RI in the morning. We were lucky to have some of our run with current help. We walked around New Port in the afternoon and evening, but didn’t go to any of the tourist attractions – they were mostly outside of town. We did find a great grocery store with our bikes so have some fresh food again. We are now watching another Hurricane, Hermine, and making decisions on where we want to be as the weather is again turning nasty.

One of the many big cruisers in Newport, RI

Ft. Adam outside of Newport, RI.

The Breakers - Vanderbilt home on Newport RI coastline

Schooner cruising off shore in Rhode Island Sound

Aug 28-29, 2016 Sunday / Monday

The training ship Kennedy at the MA Maritime Academy

Today was a very early start – as we need to reach the Cape Cod Canal and enter it while currents are flooding. There are a number of boats traveling towards the canal, but as is always the case, we couldn’t enter the channel because a railroad bridge was closed and we couldn’t get under it. So we were delayed 45 minutes along with a number of other boats. Thus, when the canal opened, we made it most of the way through before the currents changed but had ebbing currents when we turned up Buzzard Bay into Onset, MA. We had secured a mooring ball in Onset, but when we arrived we went to the gas dock for a pump out and water, only to find a wonderful dock master who asked if we wanted a slip for the price of a mooring ball. WOW! A $28.00 slip- we stayed two nights for less than $50.00. Barb walked into town to try and find milk, with very little luck. Onset has very little to offer in the way of shopping, but they have a number of restaurants.

The current in the Cape Cod Canal - glad it was with us!

Hallelujah doing 12.8 mph on the Cape Cod Canal - speed is center top.

Aug. 27, 2016 Saturday

Finally a weather window and good timing on currents, so we headed 48 miles south to Plymouth, MA and a city mooring ball. The Atlantic was pretty calm and we had fewer lobster pots to spot so it was a relaxing run. We think we were moored behind an older DeFever pilot house but couldn’t be positive. Barb spent the afternoon working on the upcoming DeFever rendezvous. We had a fair amount of rocking in the afternoon as boats didn’t follow no wake zone area well.

Marblehead, MA Mooring Field

DeFever pilothouse - Itinerant

Aug. 19-26, 2016 Friday / Friday

We did a quick run of 51 miles back into Salem, MA and grabbed a mooring ball. We had some opposing current today but still did fine. The weather is closing in and we selected Salem as a protected harbor from the SE winds that were slated to come in. As you can see, we spent a week waiting out weather. We had some wave action in the harbor, but it wasn’t too bad. We took time while here to do some tourist activities. We toured the House of Seven Gables, walked streets in the historic area multiple days (saw some really old homes), and had lunch on the waterfront. We also toured the national historic waterfront buildings. We found the Brewer water taxi to be great so it was easy to go ashore and spend time off the boat during the day. We lost a weather window on day four so decided to wait out the next front, so stayed extra days here in this protected harbor.

Hamilton Hall built in 1805

Daniel Low home built in 1896

The House of Seven Gables

Home built in 1795.

Aug. 18, 2016 Thursday

Shoreline of Sheepscot River

We did an 80 mile run to Kittery, ME (on the state line with NH). The weather was good for today so we decided to make it a longer day. We were lucky and had a good current most of the day which allowed us to go over 9 mph. There were very few boats out that were heading south so we relaxed, as much as possible with lobster traps all around and started to look at the trip south. We grabbed a mooring ball for the night, which is getting to be easy on and off for us, even with current.

Beautiful Day on the Atlantic

Looking at Atlantic Ocean from mooring ball in Kittery, ME.

Aug. 14 - 17, 2016 Sunday / Wednesday

We packed up everything, did the final grocery run for dairy, produce and frozen foods and then headed to the boat. It took Barb most of the afternoon to stow all that we bought. Dave did maintenance stuff and filled water tanks. A very nice couple came aboard for docktails – they plan to start the loop next year and had lots of questions which we happily answered. Weather is iffy and Dave found the bottom to be skuzzy. We had a diver come on Monday and wash the bottom – it wasn’t too bad considering the boat sat for 2 weeks in the same spot. Barb did Rendezvous stuff and worked on the website along with updating the boat logs. Wednesday the weather was not good – winds up to 30 knots and waves at 6 feet, so we called Jeanette and planned an afternoon outing. She has Sam so we were to go fishing, but Sam got sick so we went to Jeanette’s house and then out to dinner.

The marina from shore. Note the winds are blowing.

Note the red/grey boat moored off shore. This is a rental the marina has - there is no engine. The marina supplies a dinghy and a kayak with the rental.

Aug. 10 - 13, 2016 Wednesday / Saturday

Inside the library - very interesting old building.

We packed supplies, laundry, and stuff for moving ashore for a few days. We are staying with Jeanette in Brunswick which is a 20 minute drive from the boat. Teresa picked us up at 5:30 and we were off for a long visit with family. Thursday through Saturday we did food shopping, other shopping and made a daily trip to the boat to load it aboard. Dave did tons of laundry (lots of bedding and towels and our cloths). Barb did DeFever rendezvous registration stuff, and made meals to freeze for the trip south. Dave has his TV fix while we were ashore – we enjoyed some of the Olympics. Some of the pictures of the marina don’t tell about the history of this site. There has been boating in this bay since the 1700’s. Ship building took place in the late 1800’s and currently the Cape Dory Sailboat is still made here on site when specifically ordered. The buildings on the pictures are from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The current library was a shop and the communication center was an ice cream store and behind it the post office. The general store dates back to 1820 (when built) with a picture of it in 1922. The communication center also houses historical pictures. One note of interest is that this area was first settled by a native American tribe – see the sign I took a picture of.

The communication center is also the Gallery where pictures depict the history of this area.

this sign describes the Native American trip that lived here before the European's arrived.

this was the general store in 1820. Today it is used for other things.

A picture of the general store in 1922.

Aug. 6 - 9, 2016 Saturday / Tuesday

Belinda and Jim Wolfe arrived late afternoon so we ate aboard and had a great visit. On Sunday we explored he nearby area via dinghy and Kayak. Monday we went to the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath and then to Boothbay via car as the winds were up and we didn’t want to move Hallelujah. Tuesday Jim and Belinda left late morning. It was great having them aboard and sharing lots of information about our two DeFever 44’s and how they were the same and different. We spent the afternoon resting and reorganizing the front cabin for travel instead of guests.

The marina / mooring field from the water.

Jim and Belinda Worlfe kayaking.

Aug. 1 - 5, 2016 Monday / Friday

Hallelujah is buried - see the blue canvas to the left - that is us.

The library is the grey building behind the gazebo.

looking at the mooring field beyond the marina

We were going to leave and look for a marina in Boothbay, ME, but this marina is really great and the Boothbay area is very crowded and expensive. Also we are going to have weather problems in the next couple of days so we decided to make this stop our home for the next two weeks. We started doing some boat maintenance, laundry (they only have 1 washer and drier so will do a load a day), and work on boat logs. On Tuesday we started making lists of supplies we will need when heading south – food, marine, other lists). We relaxed and read books also. On Wednesday, Jeanette picked us up and went drove into Portland to the West Marine store for supplies. We also got food supplies for the weekend. We had Mexican dinner at Teresa’s – yummmm. On Wednesday we started interior cleaning, did more laundry and went into Brunswick to take family out to dinner. Thursday was another day of cleaning – the boat isn’t like the house there is both the inside and outside to clean and lots of continual boat work – Barb is really working on the stainless it is showing rust due to the salt air. Friday we washed the decks and Dave washed the windows (Barb doesn’t do windows!). We defrosted the freezer and finished cleaning the inside of the boat.

The communication building to the left front and the library to the right. The back part of the communication center is a meeting room.

Knubble Bay - kayaking in the wind.

July 31, 2016

We traveled 26 miles today to the Sheepscot River and turned off into Knubble Bay and Robinhood Marina. The currents love to be a problem! As we came through the cut between these two bodies of water, the water was boiling (swirling). Dave had to carefully steer the boat so we didn’t turn in circles. This reminded us of the Mississippi River. We were docked by noon – what a nice place! The Gander’s arrived midafternoon to take a dinghy ride but weren’t gone long as it started to sprinkle. Jeanette went home with them so we spent the evening relaxing.

Our new dinghy without the Bimini top

Teresa, Todd, Alva, & Sam (ears covered) with Dave aboard dinghy

July 28 - 30, 2016 Thursday / Saturday

We left the marina about 9:30 to travel 23 miles to an anchorage we read about. On our way out of South Freeport we caught an ebbing current and were doing 9.5 mph. What a ride – again dodging lobster pots. The Basin is a very well protected anchorage and the guide book said it might be crowded – it wasn’t. We relaxed most of the afternoon on Thursday. On Friday the boat traffic did pick up and while we were going to go kayaking, it started to rain so we spent the day watching boats come and go – also the lobster boats picking up pots. Jeanette and Barb went kayaking Friday morning, and we all took the dinghy out in the afternoon to explore the New River. We found we really need a GPS on the dinghy. In the second picture, the entry to the anchorage is behind the sailboats – but you can’t see it. You would miss it if you didn’t know where it was.

Hallelujah anchored in The Basin anchorage

The Basin anchorage

July 27, 2016 Wednesday

Lobster buoys are everywhere and you work your way through them. If you go slow you can push them away from the boat with the wave the boat creates. Scary at first!

We left the anchorage midmorning to travel 10 miles to South Freeport. We had to maneuver among many lobster pots (as the picture shows). Yes we went through this field of pots. We had a slip at South Freeport Brewer Marina. Jeanette and Barb got a ride into Freeport and spent the afternoon wandering in the shops and having ice cream. The Gandlers (Jeanette’s daughter and family) came to the boat again today and we had pizza for dinner. Teresa told us about a marina near Bath Maine that was supposed to be very lovely. We made reservations and that is where Jeanette will leave us. We did learn something new today. While watching lobster boats pick up pots, they only had two pots per marker but further south, the pots were in strings of 10 pots per marker. There are different laws for different states. Maine will only allow two pots per marker (buoy) while MA allows up to 10 pots. And these 10 pots are strong with cable, not rope. We will have to be more careful heading south. We heard from FL friends that they were coming to Maine. They will come aboard for a couple of days next week.

July 26, 2016 Tuesday

We relaxed and had a great breakfast. Jeanette is aboard. We traveled 11 miles to Jewell Island and anchored. We had to calculate anchor rode as the tides are 10 -12 feet here. So while at low tide we had 11 feet, we had to add 10 feet and put out 150 feet of chain). Dave was afraid we might swing into shore, but the currents kept us well off shore. We took the dinghy out in the afternoon to explore the area but we didn’t get far as we found we had a low fuel tank and no spare gas can aboard. We had fun watching boats come in and out of this anchorage. Barb had an evening conference call about the upcoming DeFever Rendezvous of which she is registrar. It was really interesting to be in this beautiful spot and talking about Oct. event.

Looking out of anchorage into channel. The black area in forground is underwater at high tide - directions talk about the importance of the red buoy and not going to the wrong side.

Hallelujah at anchor in Jewell Island - this is high tide

High tide from our boat looking at Jewell Island.

Low tide at Jewell Island - notice the black shoreline - we saw a lot of this between high and low tide.

July 25, 2016 Monday

We were off the dock at 5:45 this morning to make a 53 mile run into Portland, ME. We have arrived! Jeanette (Dave’s sister) and her daughter and family came down to welcome us to Maine. We were not at a very nice dock – we rocked most of the afternoon and evening but we did manage to eat aboard. Jeanette will join us for a few days as we travel further up the coast. We saw more seals today and of course had to have four eyes on the lobster pots. The picture is of the Portland Head lighthouse and the abandoned light house.

Portland Head Light House

Abandoned light house

July 24, 2016 Sunday

We were up early to do a 50 mile run to South Portsmouth, NH. The good weather window was for only a half day. We saw our first seal this morning – actually we saw a couple of more after the first, but they didn’t want to be near us so no pictures. We also dodged a lot of lobster pots today and didn’t get any tangled in the props. We arrived at Wenthworth By the Sea at noon and were safely docked before the winds picked up. We spent the afternoon completing outside boat work – polishing stainless and washing the boat, checking engine room systems and doing some paperwork on computers. We did walk around this marina which is very ritzy. The most expensive night on the trip to date. We were surprised to see there was a strong current that flowed outside the docks and inside the mooring field. We had no current at our dock so docking was very easy.

New Lighthouse at Cape Ann

Old light houses at Cape Ann

July 20 - 23, 2016 Wednesday / Saturday

As we were only going 28 miles to Salem, MA we didn’t leave early. Also, Dave was hoping the winds and waves would recede. They didn’t so we had a rocky ride today – dodging lobster pots. We passed Boston, MA about 10 miles out and didn’t want to stop due to information we read. We were glad to be on a tee head at the Brewer Marina as the winds were pushing us off the dock – also glad that there were two dockhands on deck to grab lines. We were tied up before 12:00 so in the afternoon we took a trolley tour of Salem – had a great time and learned some new history we didn’t know. The weather is again hot and a front is over us so we decide to stay for four days. We moved to a mooring ball the second day as we couldn’t stay at the dock (previous reservation was coming in). We were very secure as the winds continued to build all day. We did boat cleaning on day three as the winds continued to blow over 30 mph. We also had to run the gen as the temperatures were in the 90’s. On day four we went ashore for a while to use internet. We continued to clean in preparations for family coming aboard. The pictures are from Salem.

Boston from the boat it is a long way into the harbor.

The trolley we took to see Salem. It was a very interesting overview. The day was hot so walking wasn't an option for us.

Replica of an old sailing ship but with modern electronics.

The mooring field in Salem inner harbor.

July 19, 2016 Tuesday

Scituate mooring field - lots of boats

We got up early (5:30) and did two loads of laundry. We then left as the winds were starting to build again. We went to Scituate, MA, 21 miles north of Plymouth. As the inside harbor is very shallow, most boats are on mooring balls. We had no difficulty getting a mooring ball and the harbor master was extremely helpful. The winds continued to blow at 15 – 20 mph most of the day. In the afternoon we took the water taxi into town, which turned out to be a very lovely place. They had a great grocery store so we got a few things that we needed and some special treats! We are finding that we like mooring balls – easy on and easy off and we are secure.

July 18, 2016 Monday

Today would take us onto the Atlantic Ocean again and into Cape Cod Bay. We traveled 33 miles to Plymouth, MA. We left Onset at 6:00 a.m. and picked up the ebbing tide as soon as we were out of the Onset Bay. While we were only doing 1600 rpm, ground speed was 12 mph. As we entered the canal, we had speeds of 13 + mph. we were flying! We passed a tow with one barge which made for an interesting trip as the wake reverberated off the canal walls and came back at us for about 4 miles. But we were through the 10 mile canal in less than one hour. Boats cannot anchor, or stop in this canal and it would be very difficult to turn around and head back once committed. The pictures show the current and the MA coast line. This is a light house on the shore. Notice the flag and how the winds had started to pick up. We spent 2.5 hours between the north end of the canal and the Plymouth outer harbor dodging lobster pots. Guess we have to get used to this! The winds picked up all morning. We walked into Plymouth for some supplies after arriving and then in the afternoon did some sightseeing. The weather is hot and the breeze didn’t really help. The winds stayed up but we couldn’t stay here another day as they didn’t have room for us. Barb found a harbor a little north for tomorrow.

Cape Cod Shoreline

Plymouth Rock

Cape Cod Canal Current

Mayflower replica

July 17, 2016 Sunday

The weather didn’t say anything about fog! When we got up it was so dense that we couldn’t see much beyond the boat. We waited for it to clear and tried to leave at 7:45 only to have to turn around before we left the harbor and re-dock. We watched many boats leaving but we didn’t feel comfortable in the fog. We started out again at 9:50 and got out to the outer harbor before the fog closed in again, but we kept going thinking that the fog would lift. We were trying to get 57 miles NE into Buzzard Bay because of a weather window that was coming in. We spent most of the day fighting fog, current, and lobster pots (or fishing nets – we were not sure which). The fog didn’t clear until about 3:00 as we were heading NE up Buzzard Bay. We picked up a mooring ball in Onset, MA. We were at the southern end of the Cape Cod Canal. We again spent time in the late afternoon, verifying current times and when we should leave the dock to start the canal. The information we had was to go through this canal when winds were light or from the stern and go north on an ebbing tide. While the canal is only ten miles, the currents run strong – up to 5 or 6 knots. Of course there are no pictures today as we traveled in fog that at times was so thick we had about 1 boat length of visibility. That heavens we had a good radar and Barb was blowing the fog horn when boats were close!

July 16, 2016 Saturday

Connecticut River lighthouse

We went 56 miles to Point Judith, RI today. We left early to use the ebbing currents on the Connecticut River and in the Bay. While the waves were down the winds were strong from the west so we had stern push all the way. We went through an area called Race Rock which had very disturbing waters. It is a very deep area and the currents did funny things to our steering. And when we arrived at the gas dock in Point Judith we told them we couldn’t get into the slip assigned due to current and winds. They graciously moved us to the inside of a tee head dock. We got fuel and pump out and were happy campers. We spent the afternoon revising our schedule, securing slips and mooring balls based on weather.

July 13 / 15, 2016 Wednesday / Friday

We went 52 miles today to Humburg, CT which is up the Connecticut River just north of Essex, CT. We were heading to a mooring ball and Barb’s first experience with her new docking tool. All went very well on the first try and we were on the ball quickly. This is a great little bay off the river with very little current. We relaxed on the back deck in the afternoon and watched other boaters pick up mooring balls (some with success and others not so much). It rained most of Friday so we read books. We did have cocktails on the aft deck. Saturday we took the dinghy into Essex, CT for lunch and a walk around town. The walk wasn’t good as Dave got overheated, but lunch at “The Gris” was very interesting – the walls and ceiling have pictures of ships that were built in the area. The dinghy again did a fast trip down and back to the boat. We are also getting better at putting the dinghy away – getting it off the boat is no problem, but putting it back on the upper deck is still a challenge. And Dave is religious about hosing down the engine to get the salt water out of it.

Funny story about entering the Connecticut River. There is a railroad bridge that is usually up. As we entered the river we were playing leapfrog with a sailboat – he would speed up and slow down. Just as we were approaching the bridge, it went down for a train. Dave called the bridge tender and he indicated that there was 20 air feet – we took down the antennas and went under the bridge. We never saw the sailboat again. On the way down the river, we again had to go under the closed railroad bridge, but no problem for us.

Stratford Point Light House

Falkner Island Lighthouse

Connecticut River and railroad bridge

Humburg Cove on Connecticut River just north of Essex

July 12, 2016 Tuesday

Due to weather changes, while we were going to travel the Long Island side of the bay, we decided we needed to move to the north coast. We went 37 miles across the bay to Stratford, CT (another Brewer Marina). The trip was uneventful and we were docked by 10:30 a.m. Barb did four loads of laundry while Dave got a ride to a West Marine. We walked to a liquor store for wine. Very hot again today with light winds. Glad for a dock and A/C.

July 9 /11, 2016 Saturday / Monday

Sunset at Oyster Bay

We were only going 22 miles today so started later than our usual 5:30 / 6:00 start and we wanted to catch the ebbing tides so we had some push. The winds were picking up but we didn’t realize what was happening on Long Island Sound until we got out into the Bay. We had 2 to 4 footers on the nose! Afterwards we figured out that the waves were higher because the current and winds were opposing each other. It wasn’t a very nice ride to Oyster Bay where we went into a large anchorage that was recommended by a friend. It is a lovely bay but very busy on the weekend. We spent the day relaxing after our long bash through the waves. We remained here for another two days – while we were staying one extra day to explore, the weather held us up an extra day. On Sunday we contacted a marina in the town of Oyster Bay and they allowed us to dock our dinghy at the marina and walk into town. We used our new dinghy and explored the bay and did a fast hop (dinghy is great at 15 mph) into town. An interesting little place but we were able to find a few groceries and a new pole for our mooring ball tool. Monday we spent aboard working on new schedule, changing marina reservations and relaxing. The bay still has a lot of boats and they all want to go fast near us! We bounce and sway most of the day.

July 8, 2016 Friday

Third time by this great lady!

What an exciting day for us. First news of the day was that the radar/chart plotter was working. What a relief. We will be exploring new territory after about the first 15 miles up to and passing the Statue of Liberty. Dave is anxious because of all we have read about currents on the East River and “Hell’s Gate” difficulties. We went 42 miles into Long Island Sound today. Barb took tons of pictures of various parts of NY City. We couldn’t believe how much of the city is on water. We went under the Verrazano Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, Queensbury Bridge to name a few. We went about 12 mph up the East River which is 10 miles long and while there was some turbulence at Hells Gate – just before the Throgs Neck Bridge, we didn’t find it any worse than the Mississippi River turbulence. We had made a reservation in Port Washington, NY on Long Island as the weather indicated very hot weather. While the Brewer marina was pricy, we joined the Brewer Club for the summer. This will give us a 25% discount at all other Brewer Marinas (which are numerous all the way to Freeport, ME). We had ordered and shipped a mooring ball tender to this marina as we found we might need it to pick up mooring balls further north. We spent the afternoon practicing how to use this new tool. As the pictures show, the morning was hazy, but by afternoon it was very sunny.

NY from Sandy Hook, NJ

The Battery - corner of Hudson and East Rivers

Govenors Island

Empire State Building

United Nations Building

Throgs Neck Bridge and beginning of Long Island Sound

July 7, 2016 Thursday

Sunset at Sandy Hook, NJ

Today was a long day! We traveled 94.7 miles to Sandy Hook, NJ. While we thought we had secured a dock for the night, it turned out we couldn’t get Hallelujah into the fairway let alone back into the dock so we ended up anchoring with about 12 other boats behind the mooring balls. It turned out to be ok. We did run into a heavy rain shower just below the New York Harbor and off course the Raytheon chart plotter/ radar over heated and stopped working. Just when we needed to be able to see boats! Dave played with it off and on all evening but couldn’t get it to work. We started looking at where to get a replacement. Frustration and anxiety were running high as tomorrow we are to do the East River. We spent a lot of time looking at current and charts to estimate when we needed to leave the Atlantic Highlands harbor. One plus for being at anchor, we had a great sunset! Sat on back deck and toasted our arrival in NY.

July 6, 2016 Wednesday

We were off the dock and out of the harbor into the Atlantic Ocean by 7:00 a.m. We only had 45 miles to go but wanted to time entrance into Atlantic City so we had at least half flood tide so we could get into the anchorage easily. We arrived before noon! Great ride with swells from the stern and winds out of the SW. Nothing exciting today – no dolphins or other sea creatures to watch.

July 3 / 5, 2016 Sunday / Tuesday

Today we traveled down the Delaware Bay – the currents are strong on this bay so we had to leave the marina at a specific time to ride the ebb current (also we needed enough water under us to get out of the creek). The marina manager and a dock hand helped us get off the dock and turned around as the current was against us. Dave did a great job of getting the boat heading out without going aground. We went 63.5 miles in 8 hours – a lot of the time we were traveling upwards of 10 mph – flying along. We were a little behind what we were told, but we did make it close to the west channel entrance that would take us to Cape May harbor before the currents changed – so we didn’t have to fight much current. The winds did pick up, but we really didn’t have much trouble docking at Utsch’s Marina. We are only one day behind a schedule we made in April. We spent extra days here waiting for good weather window, mail, and restocking boat. There is a small grocery store in town, two trips and we had enough food for a while. We use our back packs to carry groceries. Dave had a flat so we found a bike shop to get a new inner tube. We changed the oil here as we have traveled about 250 hours on the engines. Also cleaned the engine room and did some boat cleaning. Good time to do some work!

July 1/2, 2016 Friday / Saturday

Red Head new Active Captain Ship

We are on the move again and don’t have good current today. We traveled 67 miles across the C & D Canal (this canal connects the Chesapeake Bay with the Delaware Bay). Had to pass one barge in the canal which is never fun for us. As we were heading towards the Canal, we passed Red Head – Jeff Siegel’s new boat (his former boat was a DeFever). This is quite a ship. Shortly after we talked with Jeff and Karen, we heard Star Gazer on the radio. A short conversation with them indicated we were heading to the same marina. The Delaware Marina is a long pier that runs up a canal. Getting is was tricky and we didn’t have much water under us, but we were safely tied up before the winds started to blow. Star Gazer came is shortly after us. Sue and Barb went for a walk around this small down. We had cocktails aboard Hallelujah and then went out to dinner – food wasn’t all that great! Due to weather we stayed a second day – winds and waves were up. We thought we could ride our bikes to a grocery store (7.5 miles away), but found we are out of shape. After 2 miles, we turned around and went back to the boat. Cocktails aboard Star Gazer on Saturday night with talk about where we were both headed. The Simpson’s were going to Philadelphia and we are heading to Cape May. The dock master gave us a lot of information about current and tides which was really helpful.

Hallelujah at dock in Delaware City.

Star Gazer on dock at Delaware City

June 30, 2016 Thursday

We traveled 58.7 miles up the Eastern shore of the Chesapeake to Rock Hall, MD. This is a very small marina and a very small town. We took a tram (a trailer that is towed on the back of a small truck) into Rock Hall. We were told the ice cream was home made – it was! There was also a small quilt shop, but not much there. We were able to pick up a few groceries and get quarters for laundry. All in all it was a quiet day on the water. We are now north of Annapolis, MD.

June 27 / 29, 2016 Monday / Wednesday

Replica of lighthouse that sat in the Choptank river late 1800's to early 1900's.

We thought we were doing a short day but it turned out to be 45 miles across the bay and up the Choptank River to Cambridge, MD. The winds gradually strengthened so when we arrived we asked for a t head dockage instead of trying to back into a slip. The marina accommodated us. We ended up here three days due to rain and wind. We didn’t do much, but did walk around the neighborhood near the marina and went to a lighthouse museum. The bathrooms were over a block away and so was the laundry – we used both. We sure got some walking in!

June 26, 2016 Sunday

Northward we travel another 65 miles to Solomon, MD. This was an easy travel day – set the autopilot and go. The winds and waves were down. We were off the dock before 6:00 a.m. and arrived at 2:00. We didn’t have good currents all day but did ok for speed. We arrived to find Wild Goose across the pier from us and September Song on the next peer over. Of course our friends on Patriot were at a marina across the channel. We met up with Gail and Jack Cheveney – Rendezvous chair who own Spellbound which was at another marina in the area. We had 6 aboard for cocktails and then we all went out for dinner.

September Song - traveled with Stephanie and Bob to Bahamas in 2011.

Can you see Hallelujah bow - across dock is stern of Wild Goose.

June 24/25, 2016 Friday / Saturday

We moved north 53 miles to Deltaville and a favorite marina – Doziers Regatta Point Marina. This is the home of the Waterway guides that we religiously use. We traveled behind Patriot as they left Hampton before us which was a first. Usually they pass us on the way. They went to east side of the Chesapeake Bay while we stayed on the west side. The travel was fine and we made great time with good currents behind us. On Saturday morning the winds were blowing 20+ mph so we decided to stay another day. We did some boat work and took the courtesy car to see Deltaville – there is really nothing here but a small grocery store. We took time to relax and talk with family and friend via phone. Two large Hatteras’ came in and said the Bay was not fun to travel today. We made a good decision to stay put.

June 22/23, 2016 Wednesday / Thursday

We only traveled 27 miles to Hampton VA today but it took forever! We had to time our leaving to catch a railroad bridge that only opened three times a day. We needed the 11:30 opening. There were about 8 boats with the same thoughts. About half a mile from AYB there is a lock that raised us 2 feet but this lock stops the mixing of currents between the Chesapeake and North River/Coinjock Bay. OK, the fast boats had to go into the lock first – they just moved in front of us as we waited to enter the lock. They didn’t know about the railroad bridge closure for repairs. We slowly made our way towards the Chesapeake and had to wait almost an hour till the 11:30 opening. We saw a new aircraft carrier being built alone with some smaller navy vessels. The winds weren’t too bad till we hit the north end of Portsmouth/ Norfolk, VA. Dave had difficulties backing into a slip as the winds were not kind to him. But we got in and the Avery’s were waiting for us. We went swimming and talked as we won’t be seeing them in Michigan this year. We went out to dinner in the evening.
Thursday the winds were really blowing so we decided to stay another day. We walked 2 miles to a grocery store and were really tired when we got back. We didn’t think it was that far when looking at the map. We did some boat work and Barb did some rendezvous work.

Hallelujah waiting for bridge opening.

Patriot waiting at rail road bridge.

June 21, 2016 Tuesday

Kissing Cousins - Hallelujah and Seahorse III nose to nose.

Today was a short day of 37 miles into Chesapeake, VA. We went to AYB (were there in 2011 to have repairs made). They had the cheapest gas in the area. We filled up and then docked next to Seahorse III (another DF 44). Patriot was just behind us and Wild Goose (DF 43) was at the other end of the long wall dock. The winds were up today so we had a lumpy ride across Coinjock Bay and North River. We had two brigdes that needed to be opened. We got the first one fine but then had to slow down and take an hour to get to the next bridge which was 5 miles north. They open every half hour and we can’t do 5 miles in less than 30 minutes. We saw a boat hard aground by the Centerville Bridge – glad we know how to stay in the channel. It was towed into AYB and pulled with a hole in the keel. Doesn’t sound like fun. While we were at dock we got a text from MI friends – the Avery’s were in Virginia Beach and wondering where we were. We will see them tomorrow. We had cocktails aboard Patriot to say fair well and safe travels.

June 20, 2016 Monday

Today is a long travel day – we did 88 miles to Coinjock, VA. This is in the Virginia Cut and there is nothing here but a marina and restaurant. We traveled up the Alligator River and across the Albermarle Sound. We had to dodge crab pots for about have of the day. We left early and traveled behind Patriot – the Grand Banks we have been with since South Carolina. It is still hot but we were lucky that there weren’t strong winds or rain.

June 15 / 19, 2016 Wednesday / Sunday

We were up very early – couldn’t sleep with all the bouncing and started on another 48 mile stretch to Belhaven, NC. Thankfully this marina is sheltered from the north where the strong winds are to come. Our day was adventuresome. We started early to try and beat the thunderstorms that we could see on radar. Unfortunately, we didn’t miss them completely. Se we got rain and some higher waves, one of which heeled the boat about 25 degrees to starboard (the autopilot didn’t compensate for the waves and wind). Barb spent time below picking things up. We spent time in the afternoon reattaching the table top to the base (oops). Even in the wind, Dave had to back into a slip and did a great job of not hitting anything. We were the second boat here – Patriot got here just before us.

We spent the next four days here in Belhaven, NC. The winds were picking up and we didn’t want to be caught in high winds and not well protected marinas. We had thunderstorms and winds for all four days. We were joined on Thursday by more boats – CashItIn came in on Friday after they dragged anchor about 2:30 in the morning – we clocked the winds at 29mph. September (a gold looper arrived on Friday also along with a couple of other boats. We had looper cocktails on the marina deck two nights. It is always great to get to know people and get information useful for future travel. Our Mode of transportation was via golf cart (the marina has three of them). We did grocery shopping, Barb’s haircut, and laundry while here. Barb, Sue, and Carolyn walked around the downtown area which isn’t much. We did some cleaning and Barb worked on the DF rendezvous. The marina staff was very friendly and helpful.

There are seven boats at the dock, but you can't see the outside two very well.

Hallelujah and CashItIn - we are sideways with the blue canvas top.

Hallelujah and CashItIn from water side - looking at marina office building

One of the three golf carts - we could only get about 12 mph out of them but they were fun to drive.

June 15, 2016 Tuesday

The weather is turning nasty in the next few days so we decide that we need to try and get further north. We did 88 miles to Oriental, NC. While we usually stop in Morehead City, they couldn’t take us due to a fishing tournament. The weather was hot and we left before 6:00 am and had a great sunrise on the ICW (see picture). Today we went through Camp LeJeune. We didn’t see all the old rusty tanks that we have seen in the past, but did find one (see picture). The ICW was open today as there was no target practice going on (they shoot across the ICW). While motoring north through the military base, we didn’t follow markers well and at MM 237.0 we went hard aground (oops!). The shoaling was marked and we had notes on it, but didn’t realize until it was too late that we were not in the temporary channel. We were able to get ourselves off – otherwise we would have been there a while as the tide was going out. That was excitement enough for one day. We were very hot and tired when we got to the marina. We collapsed! But the weather window changed during the day so we bounced all night.

Sunrise on the ICW

Army Tank in Camp LeJeune

June 13, 2016 Monday

We traveled 44 miles north to Surf City, NC and stayed in a lovely marina called Harbour Village. It was off the ICW so we didn’t rock all night. We had to travel up Cape Fear River this a.m. against the current so the day was a little longer. We didn’t have any difficulty with hazard areas that had been reported as shallow today. It was an easy run for us. The pictures for today are interesting. We see all sorts of things along the ICW. First the landscape is becoming more of a shoreline. Then there are the art sculptures – these two are really funny. On first take you think that giraffe is real (for about 2 seconds) and then there is the metal figurine.

Shoreline is getting prettier.

More trees!

A giraffe for our viewing.

Metal lady sculpture

June 12, 2016 Sunday

This is the way to travel - 5 crew members aboard. 150 Feet of lots of living space.

We did a short day today – only 35 miles to Southport, NC. We couldn’t get into the marina we wanted to go to, so ended up on the outside wall of Harbor Village Marina. The excitement of the day was the 150 foot private yacht that came in to the dock. As you can see, we are not one of the larger boats here tonight. There was actually police water patrol here for about 2 hours to keep down the local boaters from throwing a wake in the channel.

June 11, 2016 Saturday

Today we went 60 miles from Georgetown to Myrtle Beach SC. The weather isn’t too bad today. We again met up with Patriot (49 Grand Banks) and ended up at the same marina tonight. We had them over for cocktails. There wasn’t much excitement today except for weekend boaters who insisted on running close to us when passing. We didn’t have any problems passing through the “Rock Pile”. This is a 10 mile stretch just south of Myrtle Beach that is a channel cut out of rock. The sides are very steep jagged rock so you have to make sure to stay in the middle of the channel. We were lucky and went through during rising tide so you can’t see the rocks in the pictures.

The start of the Rock Pile Channel

Narrow Channel in Rock Pile area.

June 10, 2016 Friday

Shoreline of South Carolina

Today was a long day of 71 miles from Charleston, SC to Georgetown, SC. We had difficulty getting off the dock due to currents and scrapped the starboard hull. We spent the rest of the day worried about what we would find when we got to our next port. But found that the rubber railing on the dock was the only thing on the hull. Barb spent an hour on her stomach washing the black rubber off the starboard hull while Dave pulled the boat close to the dock. The trip was rather fast as at different times the currents pulled us along at 12.5 miles per hour. We had a very nice dock right in the center of Georgetown and were there with boats we have been traveling off and on with up the ICW. We went out for dinner after a long day on the water. As you can see by the picture the landscape is very flat with lots of sea grass. The weather was very hot!

June 9, 2016 Thursday

Alligator swimming near the boat.

We headed toward Charleston, SC to day doing 54 miles. We left early hoping to have good tide and currents – but as all plans go, we arrived at another cut at low tide. We had 7 feet under us for about 2 miles through the Ashepoo Coosaw Cut. Tense time for both of us as we navigated this narrow area. Of course we had great current pushing us. The rest of the morning was mostly on good current and not many other places were we below 15 feet under us. WE did see an alligator today – tried to get a picture. We had an interesting time getting to our dock as the winds and current were pushing us at it. Dave put the bow in and then let the elements turn the stern to the dock. Worked well and we didn’t hit anything. We think Cash It In was heading this way today, but haven’t seen them.

June 8, 2016 Wednesday

Hallelujah at Dataw Marina dock at sunrise just before we left on June 9.

We went 42 miles today to a marina we visited in 2011 on our way north. While it is off the ICW, it is a quiet place. We were surprised to see Cash It In here at the dock. Susan came over to say hi while we were settling in. We went over to their boat later in the evening. We were hoping to have dinner ashore tonight, but the restaurant has changed hands. The menu didn’t look that good so we ate aboard, with a promise of dinner out when in Georgetown, SC. The weather was cooler today so the run was a pleasant one with favorable currents about half the time (we make over 10 mph with favorable currents, but only 7 mph with apposing currents.

June 4 / 7, 2016 Saturday/Tuesday

We were seeing weather reports about Tropical Storm Colin. And possible strong winds and high tides, so we decided to return to a Hilton Head marina we went to in 2011. Windmill Marina is inside a lock and well protected by three story condo units. We made the 32 mile run easily and didn’t have to leave the dock till 8:00 a.m. We arrived early and were settled in by 12:30 at Windmill. We spent 4 nights here so that weather would clear after the storm went through. On our trip up we came across a DF 44 Cash It In, who are heading toward the Chesapeake also. We talked via radio for a few minutes and might meet up with them later in the week. We spent time doing boat projects, rented a car for a day hoping to do some short errands and sightseeing, only to have heavy rain storms all day – bummer! We did get errands done but got soaked in the process. We also got laundry done – the most expensive laundry we have ever had! We were also entertained on Saturday as the South Carolina Yacht club directly behind our slip had some sort of dinner with live entertainment.

Cash It In traveling behind us. The Morgan's are nice people.

The lock into the marina with home on the left - pretty fancy!

Hallelujah at dock with South Carolina Yacht Club behind us.

Condo units at Windmill Harbor community

June 3, 2016 Friday

The Georgia swamps - this is what it looked like all day.

Today was a long run of 87 miles to Isle of Hope which is southeast of Savannah, GA. WE had an early start and hoped to catch the tides/current, but didn’t have much luck today. We met up with a cruiser “Angelina” that was traveling about our same speed. We followed them and when arriving at a bad ICW spot, found we were at low tide. We had to drop anchor for 1.5 hours before the incoming tide was high enough to get through a 1 mile stretch. So much for making time today. We didn’t get to a dock until 6:00 so we were on the water for 12 hours, hot, humid and very tired when we reached port. Not much to do in this little marina so we went to bed early.

June 2, 2016 Thursday

We again ran off shore 46 miles north to St. Simon Island. We wanted to miss some shallow places on the ICW. We went more miles by running off shore – long way out and again long way back in to the ICW. But the day was beautiful and we had following seas of less than 2 feet and a great sea breeze. We again ran off shore about the 4 mile mark as there is a lot of shoaling along the coast line. The picture is of the St. Simon Lighthouse which you can’t see if you run up the ICW. We are picking up more tide and stronger currents as we head north.

June 1, 2016 Wednesday

Florida coast line from 4 miles off shore.

Today we went 67 miles running off shore to Fernandina Beach, FL. Last town in FL. We wanted to see what running off shore was like. Waves were less than 2 feet from stern and there was a nice breeze – cooler than if we ran the ICW. Barb was able to relax and read a book. The picture is of the coast line from the Atlantic. Not much to see out here. We ran off shore about 4 miles.