The Sailing Adventure 2001 !
Wednesday -- North Carolina --
Over the last several days we have gone through some
beautiful country. I would
never have guessed the Carolina's were so nice.
Lot's of wildlife of all sorts despite the massive
development going on along the riverbanks.
The Wakama river we went along today
was just magnificient. At times only about
30 feet wide most of it did not have a sole around.
I did take two pictures that you might like.
The first is what happens when you anchor
in the wrong place. I have been very careful
so this hasn't happened to me yet:
oops !!!!
The second picture is where we anchored the other night in Georgetown
South Carolina.
A kind of neat fact is that there is a Bucksport SC which is named
after the same person
as Bucksport Maine.
Anchorage
Sunday at Hilton Head --
115 mile sail from Fernandia Florida to Hilton Head
South Carolina was a bit more
than I should have done. It probably would
have been ok except for the really nasty Squall that we
ran into about half way. It managed to rip
one of the legs off my radar posts and one of
the air scoops of the fore deck. When things
calmed down a bit I looked
at the wind gage to see we were still blowing about
30 knots. It then managed to blow
us far enough off course that we cam into the
Savanah river late at night. Yes, this was
my first night time navigation which I could not
have done without Todd's constant help.
( No I'm not kidding Andrew , and yes you win your
$10 bucks ! )
In all it was a very long day and may have taken
some of the wind out of my sails so
to speak. I may call it quits around Virginia
and pick up the last leg from Boston to
Portland if it cn be arrainged. We shall see.
Hurray !!! -Friday -- You guessed it ! We
finally made it out of Florida.
The new water pump arrived and we made it out of JAX today.
The marina
was really nice and didn't charge me any lobor for the pump.
Todd in
return replaced a bathroom vanity for them. Worked a lot
faster than
he ever did when I hired him. Tomorrow we are going to try
and make it to Hilton Head. It;s about a 110 mile sail which
is means
getting up at 6 and hoping for good wind all day. Otherwise
I may get
to do my first nightime sailing !!!
Thursday -- Almost out of Fla !
Well, the raw water pump came off
without too much problem but the new one is ridiculously
expensive and
will not be here til Friday noon at best. Oh
well. Not much exciting to
report for a day in port other than a 7 mile walk
because people
down here have not a clue as to distance on foot
!
Wednesday , Out of FLA !!! ( Almost
)
After a great day out in the open ocean, I have found
that I have a
sea water leak in my engine. Optamisticly They
will reseat the impeller ( sp ?)
adn all will be well. Worst case I think they
will have to remove the motor mount and replace a number of parts.
Tune in tomorrow for the results !
Oh yes, I am in Jacksonville which is on the
Georgia border !
Sorry no pictures today !
Tuesday May ?? , Another
day on the inland waterway
yeilded some neat vistas. This next picture
is the sunset as I wished
Carol a happy Birthday. I was sorry she was
not here to join me.
We have anchored in a vacant marina looking out at
the marshes.
Nothing special to report other than reading about
the 38,000 ( yes, 38,000 )
acre development they are starting down here.
Someone needs
to get these people in tune with thier environment.
No idea of conservation
or recycleing whatsoever. ( sp ? ) Enjoy
the picture.
Sunset for Carol !
Monday May 28 , Hi !
The first day on the Intracostal waterway
was a success. It isso much less stressful
than the open ocean but
not quite as much fun either. We saw lots of
dolphin which was
kind of neat and went under a number of bridges which
were pretty wild.
It is hard to look up at your mast and feel like
it is going to fit when there is
only an 8 foot error margin. Most of the fixed
bridges are 65 ft. My mast
is at about 58 feet. Come sailing and we will
try it sometime.
Aside from the dolphin we did get to see a huge (
12 foot ) aligator.
I relly thought it was a giant log until it moved.
Pretty neat stuff.
Sorry your not here. More pictures soon.
Sunday ( May 26 ) ??? - - Yahoo..
another day and no death or destruction !
I promised a boat picture and so you shall have it
click on the link below.
Interesting day today. I am in Cape Canaveral.
We got to share the sea with three huge ships today.
One of which was the disney boat. Kind of neat
but a bit scary. Other than that
Going through the lock was a bit tricky thanks to
my lack of boat handling skills.
I'll get better someday right ???
The Boat Picture
May 26, Saturday -- I
took a first day of rest. Instead of heading
out this morning we took the day to play with the
boat. I changed my fuel
filter ( no I had never done that before ) and scrubbed
the bathroom.
Ok not so much fun. We did meet a bunch of
really nice people though and
I am guessing that I will see one of them several
more times before I get
back to New England. It turns out I'm not the
only one sailing up the coast.
I know I prommised pictures. Maybe tomorrow.
p.s. Don't you know someone who would like
flowers ???
May 25 ??? -- Ft Pierce Florida
The news today is I went through my first real rainstorm.
Only a little
thunder and lightning but a little is plenty.
I'm shooting for Cape Canaveral
tomorrwo but may wait a day or so for better weather.
We shall see what tomorrow brings.
Right now I'm listening to the boat captain next
door swear at his wife while he
is bringing the boat in. ( I thiink it's his
fault not hers... )
Picture of the boat tomorrow I hope !
May 24, Thursday -- What
a day. Todd and I left
Miami at about 10. and Had mostly a great day sailing.
Have you ever seen
Flying Fish ? They really fly.
It was fantastic to watch whole
schools of them flying off the starboard side.
Between that and the most
incredible color blue water you have ever seen.
Made for an awsome beginging.
We even managed to skirt most of the storms.
I say most because at the end of the day
about 15 miles outside of Palm Beach ( where we now
are ) a squall came out of
nowhere and got us. In less than 30 seconds
it went from beautiful sunshine
to driving rain and 35 mph guests of wind.
WE didn't even have time
ti take the main down. Actually kind of scary.
Hopefully that is the worst weather
I will get caught in for awhile. Sorry, no
pictures today.
May 2?: Miami: 160 miles in two days.
Not bad. Espically
when the first 90 was into a 15 knott wind dead on.
I did get to see Key largo which was pretty neat.
If the picture uploads
this is one of the houses along the entrence way.
A bit tight and I'm glad there was noboddy comming
the other way.
Overall things are pretty good. I am a bit
worried about
how long this will take as sailing is exhausting.
It's
kind of like being on a really long camping trip.
And I just
started ! :-)
Key Largo's Finest (click here for
picture) -- a bit out of the way !
May 20: I survived at
least a couple hours at sea. Thanks to the help of Scott, I
even feel I may have a chance. ( The wind howling
at about 30 mph is something else though.)
Long day but we head out tomorrow at 6. See
you soon :-0
Key West: The good news: I got to see
the boat. The bad news: It needs
a good cleaning even by my standards. It is
not quite what I expected
but close. The interior with some polish will
be beautiful. Lots of
teak but not a floating palace. There is a
V-berth up front which
is it's own separate cabin and a double berth aft.
There is only one head
and the shower is rather dubious. I should
be able to go through it
tomorrow. oh...why no pictures yet ?
The broker would
not let me stay abord so I am paying $200+ for a
night in a
room without A/C which is about the size of my walk-in
closet.
Wish you were here.
Smiles !!!!
May 19 : You think sailing
is dangerous ? The first question from the Cape Air
representitive was how much do you weigh ?
And I'm suupose to feel
comfortable with that. I will guess htat the
last leg of the journey is not abord
a 747. I'm hoping for at least two engines.
The plane capacity is
9 people. I guess this will get me ready for
Alaska ? I would post
pictures today but don't have any good ones
yet. Maybe a picture of
the airplaine ???
p.s. There is a cockroach crwling across the table beside
me ... I couldn't live here ...
May 18 : Ok , so I haven't actually seen the
boat. Tomorrow I
should be in Key West by 5 or so and have
pictures for you here by 8 or 9. I have had
good
luck today in that getting a cell phone modem working
wasn't as bad as I had feared. Not that the
instalation software
worked , but adding it manually seems to do the trick
:-) !
I have found out that Jeff Vermillion is in the keys
fishing
this week so I hope to catch up with him at some
point.
I know so what else is new, I head to another corner
of the
country just to find yet another cousin.
Enjoy the adventure !
The actual sail hasn't started but we have a vessel
!
The Boat: 1986 38' Sabre
sloop
The Starting Point: Key West
, Florida
The Date: May 21, 2001
Now,go back a page and buy a book from Barnes and
Noble
or Flowers from the flower link !
Thanks