Archive | November, 2014

For those of you who think we are wiling away the hours in a tropical paradise, let me describe my day. The alarm went off at 5am. Fortunately, this was a fake 5am since we just finished Daylight Savings Time, but my brain still doesn’t like to see the numeral 5 as the starting point. The temperature was in the 30s and it was still dark outside. I quickly put on my 5 layers of clothing, made breakfast and went outside. We unplugged from shore power, removed most of the lines holding us to the dock, turned on the chartplotters and started the engines.

My job was to stand at the bow with our powerful flashlight, and to tell Jason how we looked on port as he pulled as away from the dock. Since the helm is on starboard, it is sometimes hard for him to gauge distance from objects. Lines released and we pivoted away. My next job was to stay at the bow and be his eyes as we steered out of the marina and towards the river. We now communicate using Bluetooth headsets. Sorry sailing purists (you know who you are) but the headsets are more efficient than handsignals. This is especially true when weighing the anchor; I generally have the chain counter in my right hand, the seawater hose to clean the chain in my left hand and am running back to the chain locker to clear the beehiving chain. Despite drinking New Jersey water, I just haven’t managed to grow that third arm which could be used to indicate the angle of the chain.

Back to our exit. All I could think of was how frozen my toes were. I tried moving my toes and fingers a bit to encourage blood flow. I wondered if I had just cursed aloud and whether Jason had heard me through the headset. We got through the channel markers and I stowed all of our fenders, despite the difficulty of removing lines when your fingers can’t move. Relieved from duty, I ran inside to warm up while Jason remained at the helm in his winter best. When will we reach warm weather?  [Jason comment:  I feel bad reading this as inside the enclosure it was not too cold for me.  I was wearing more fleece than you find at a Patagonia store plus the “bubble” is effective in keeping you warm.]

 

Later that day, the sunshine warmed us up and we enjoyed a leisurely ride through the ICW. We were serenaded by US Navy boats (who politely waited for us to go under the bridge), porpoises, and more Navy boats. The porpoises tend to like shallow water and at one point, unaided by markers, I think they tried to help me stay in the channel – keep me to starboard was the message I took away.

As we passed through the Camp Lejeune firing range, I heard a bit of a rat-a-tat-tat, even

though the green lights indicated they were not firing at that point. I guess it was a neighboring range because we passed  unscathed. Towards the end of the day 5 or 6 boats sped by.

They had Netherland flags so were either on a joint exercise or were US troops in some war game simulation. They did not stop to chat, so I will never know.

That night’s crowded anchorage was calm, with the occasional noise from one of our Navy friends entering or exiting the harbor. We were a bit concerned about drifting into another boat so Jason tied a fender ball to our stern.  If we touched a neighboring boat, at least it would be a soft impact.   The wind shifted 180 degrees during the night causing Two Fish and the other boats to spin but without incident.  The Captain often prepares for things that fortunately do not occur.

It was back to the peaceful Intercoastal and a transit of Cape Fear River.  I need to re-watch that movie. Some of the bridges are opened on request while others are opened once an hour.  The hourly bridges tend to accumulate a backlog as the boats wait for the next opening.  Boats may look calm waiting for the bridge openings but they are doing a ballet to hold their position.   Frequently currents near bridges can be strong and there can be shoaling (sand creating shallow spots).   The captains must hover the boat without running aground, hitting another boat or getting swept into the closed bridge.   With twin engines Two Fish is good at holding station with either her bows or sterns into the current.  It is a more difficult maneuver on monohulls.  We often witness them charging up river into the existing group of boats since monos prefer to have their bow into the current.  As the bridge opens, the confusing mess of boats gains some order as the monos spin around and head towards the bridge.    Some bridge operators are very focused on minimizing the time the bridge is open.   They encourage the boats to pull up close to the bridge.   I doubt they have ever steered a boat in a current in front of an unforgiving iron bridge.  As the parade passes through the now open span, boats try to follow as close as possible.  Not unlike a highway, some boats are tailgating and others are slow pokes and then a few insane boats will stop for no reason at all.   A quick thank you on the VHF radio to the bridge operator and you have passed another hurdle south.

The queue of boats passes the bridge according to arrival time rather than their cruising speed.  Over the following 20 minutes the boats sort themselves out by passing.   The airwaves are filled by radio calls from the motor boat. “Two Fish. Two Fish. This is the xyz boat. We will give you a slow pass on port.”  I often wonder what the Long Island Expressway would be like if that were the custom on highways as well.

We decided to tie up at Southport Marina for the night and were pleasantly surprised by the surroundings and their nightly weather chat. Hank (http://www.carolinayachtcare.com) gave us weather and ICW transit tips which guided us later on in our travels.  The biggest problem with the ICW is shoaling and the general opinion is that South Carolina and Georgia don’t have budgets to dredge their portions. I suppose at some point they will lose tourism dollars and do something about it. For now it is just a nail-biting timing exercise. We try to check comments on Active Captain and ask other boaters for additional information. The ICW is also not so well charted – the chart has often thought we were on land. This

adds to the experience? As we got closer to Myrtle Beach, we saw more houses and restaurants. We also passed by a golf course whose parking lot was on one side of the ICW and the course on the other. Golfers had to take a gondola from the parking lot across the ICW with their clubs. Another interesting moment was when we had to wait for a monohull stopped right near a bridge. They were a bit too tall for the bridge and had attached a bucket of water to the mast so as to heel the boat while transiting. In case you are wondering – they made it.  Two Fish also made it a bit farther south.

 

 

 

The InterCoastal Waterway (ICW) was Jason’s gift to me.  He did not procure a shovel and dig the waterway, but he reluctantly agreed to travel this route, rather than going out into the open ocean.   The Atlantic Coast portion, from Virginia to Florida, measures about 1,100 miles. It is a slow trip with no open ocean passages and no overnight trips. Perfect Gail travel. Before entering the ICW, we transited past the navy base in Norfolk, Virginia.  To starboard we saw a Littoral (close to shore)

ship, a fairly recent addition to the Navy. Littorals come in monohull and catamaran versions but have been a bit of a flop.

At the start of the ICW, one can decide to either traverse the “Virginia Cut” (1 lock, good depth)  or the “Dismal” (2 locks, questionable depth). We chose the Dismal as it is the more scenic route. The name most likely originates from the common term for swamp in the 1600s being a “dismal.” No one seems to mind the redundancy.

The Dismal Swamp Company, formed in 1763, had George Washington as its most famous shareholder.  Washington might have been the first President involved in a real estate deal with odd government connections, but certainly not the last.  While they began the process of clearing the swamp for transit, it wasn’t until 1793 that serious clearing began, as authorized by Virginia and North Carolina. Many boaters have unwittingly helped dredge the canal since then. We found that the best way to navigate was to use our time-tested method of following a boat with a

deeper draft than Two Fish. However, there were two challenges: 1) being a catamaran, we have “two boats” to keep off the bottom and, 2) the lead boat’s sudden turn could be to avoid a hazard or a malfunctioning autopilot. In fact, later in our trip I radioed a lead boat to ask what they were avoiding by swerving.  Their response: “No. My wife just hit a button by mistake.” It didn’t take him too long to give up his spouse.

This was the first time Two Fish and her crew had transited a lock.   We had a bit of newbie nerves but it turned out to be easy. The lock operator asked that catamarans not take the first or last spot in the lock. One person holds the bow line and the other the stern line.   As the water level changes the crew adjust the two dock lines.  Single-handers seem to have no problem doing this alone. Our skills keep expanding, but we are not ready for the Panama Canal just yet. The lock-keeper, Robert, is well known for his wonderful lecture about the swamp. There is a swing bridge right after the lock and Robert is also the bridge operator.  When everyone is through the lock he gets in his car and drives a mile to open the bridge. So did we run aground in the shallow dismal swamp?  No, but we had 4 touches.   We skidded over a mud bar.  We skirted by a bush.  And we struck a sunken log, which a diver would later report removed a bit of bottom paint. I said four touches but I only listed 3.  That last threat would come from another direction.

I was so focused on looking forward that I forgot to look above and our wind indicator was violently ripped off by an overhanging tree branch. Fortunately, our expensive electronic wind indicator remained in place but  the cheap mechanical windex is now sleeping with the dismal fishes.  After exiting the swamp via the next lock, we chatted with one of our neighboring boats. He was very happy to have had no incidents in the swamp. I didn’t point out to him that the tree branch in his mast might be an indication that he had a few incidents too.  The Dismal Swamp is gorgeous but the hidden logs make the trip a bit stressful.  One visit for us was enough.  I hope the Dismal devotees that can spend a week in the swamp do not take our feedback personally.

We anchored in Elizabeth City at sundown and were on our way to our next

anchorage the following day. On our way out, we sailed past the airship factory, where most blimps are manufactured. Our friends on Steadfast captured our early morning departure.

Before starting down the Inter-Coastal Waterway (ICW), we had one more stop to make. Encouraged by another Northwesterly on its way towards us, we reversed into a tough spot at

the Hampton Public Piers – crosswinds, currents and dolphin pilings aren’t our favorite companions.  We did learn a new docking trick.   We had to back into this spot but the side dock was short, so the bow is tied up to a piling.  Our initial idea was to loop a line on the piling while we passed it and then back into the slip.  This is a silly idea in the cross-current as the boat is forced to slow down at the wrong time.   The best way to enter this type of slip is to reverse in all the way at a decent speed to fight the cross-current.   Next, attach the stern on the up-current side.   Then motor forward to attach the boat to the piling.   We are living and learning.  Our clumsy arrival was rewarded with  shelter of the Hampton Parking Garage which kept the 25+ knot winds away from Two Fish. Hampton also has some good restaurants and it is a fun meeting point for fellow boaters heading south.

Yorktown was just a half hour away and the bonus was that Calypso was docked there. We enjoyed Ranger Rick’s walk – meant for the folks in the Financial Department at Langley but he let us tag along. I tuned out a bit to wonder when I would get lunch, but Ed, Maite and Jason seemed to be absorbing all of the data. I did learn how much we owed the French for leading us against the British on the battlefield.  In the decisive battle of Yorktown the French brought more troops, lost more lives and brought the only Navy.   Why?  Because they hated the English.   Not much has changed.

Our other revolutionary stop was Williamsburg. My last visit was in the  70’s and my vague memories were of a more laid-back town than the current Disneyesque area. Despite that, we enjoyed our tours of the Governour’s Palace and Capital, given by the enthusiastic tour guides. I enjoyed seeing Chowning’s Tavern, where we had eaten Brunswick Stew and Welsh Rarebit aka Grilled Cheese Olden Style on my last visit.

Don’t miss the Newport Mariner’s Museum; it is definitely joining our top ten list of Maritime Museums. Their major project is recovering the USS Monitor, a civil war battleship recovered off Cape Hatteras and undergoing conservation efforts. It was exciting to see an example of a Jangada, a Brazilian fishing boat, in the International Small Boat exhibition.  We  saw them frequently on the beaches and waters of Northern Brazil.  Also interesting was the April Fool, a small boat that was sailed from Casablanca to Florida in 1968. That is not a boat for me. The miniature fleet of model ships created by August Crabtree was more my style.

The lines were short at the historic sights because the tourist season is over.  We keep feeling like party guests that have stayed long past desert or after the keg has gone dry.   The cold weather reminds us to head south as Two Fish wants to swim in warmer waters.  Going to museums is territory for school children, retirees on tour buses, and curious cruisers. I enjoy learning more of our history without having to take a test on it next week.

We recently celebrated our first year of living aboard.  We have learned so much.  We continue to perfect the types of activities that make cruising enjoyable for us.   We rent cars at times, visit any museum that will have us,  eat out too much, watch movies, take hot showers on board, use the heaters, and bake brownies.   It has taken us a year to convert from delivery skippers to cruisers.   The transition still has a long way to go.

 

After a pleasant trip across the bay, we grabbed a mooring ball at Solomons, and got some rest, especially well-deserved for Jason. I had a  cold, and he took the bulk of the helming for the day. The only exception was when I managed to shred the self-tailer on the winch, while raising the mainsail. The good news was that we had broken it once before and knew what parts to order.

We enjoyed the hospitality of our mooring ball at Zanhiser’s and marveled at the number of Canadian boats. Each evening 4 or 5 would arrive and each morning they were gone. Was the whole country emptying? Clearly, some Snowbirds were moving South with a bit more purpose than we were. We saw numerous Catamarans, including sister ship Blue Dawn. Two Fish could finally feel that she wasn’t the beamiest boat in the basin. We visited the local Calvert Marine Museum; the highlight was watching the otter eat his lunch, including a boiled egg for dessert. Solomons’ current name derives from a businessman who bought up most of the town in the early 1800’s and established a cannery; be sure not to call it “The Solomons”. The town used to be connected to Solomons Island by a bridge, but the water has been filled in over the years, leaving just a bit of the original wooden structure.

 

We waited for some good weather for our sail to Deltaville – there is always some debate on Two Fish as to what that means. Based on the forecast, I thought I could be okay with a couple of hours of gusts to 25 with the wind dying down as the day went on. We rarely saw 25 as most of the day was in the low 30s with a gust to 39. I visited my traditional windy spot – the master cabin – as Jason steered us downwind through the waves. At one point, I heard “Do you want to know how fast we are going?”.  I responded that the less I knew about speed the better.   The master cabin can become the denial zone.  Jason ignored my request for silence, claiming he could not help himself.  “15.7 knots. I stowed some canvas as the water was stacking up by the bow in the big puffs.”

Needless to say, I was happy to anchor in Deltaville. After navigating through the tricky channel, we found a great spot in the Western arm of Jackson Creek. If you visit via boat, take care to follow all channel markers and check their numbers to make sure you find all of them, especially the first two.  They must have bought the markers on sale, since they do not match.   Looks like a bachelor’s sock drawer full of mismatched reds and greens.

Anchoring was easy for us in the Chesapeake.  There are many places to drop hook. In most cases, the 33kg Rocna set very well on the first time.  We had to thoroughly wash the chain with our sea water pump during weighing to remove profuse quantities of mud.  At the bow, I would do an odd dance of pressing the up button on the windlass, operating the hose, removing the beehiving chain and directing Jason at the helm.  He would be doing very little at these times. Oh, to be Captain.   Frequently my sailing gloves and my jacket would acquire mud stains after weighing anchor.   Jason offers a deluxe service and washes them at our next sighting of a hose. We like a lot of space and were able to choose creeks with enough space for Two Fish.

We took the dinghy ashore, passing two Antares on the way: Blue Summit and Echo.  Echo (nee Barefeet) was owned by our former crew, Chris and Erin. While there was not much within walking distance, the people were very friendly – we were even offered a ride by a passing motorist, after she confirmed that we were sailors.

Two Fish was eager to move along after our long stops in the Upper Chesapeake.  Our pace is slowed by weather, visitors and  cool places to explore.  The cooling weather is a constant reminder that we need to keep heading South, even if we are having a fun time.   Jason’s need to be at sea is also a force that causes the anchor to be weighed or the dock lines cast.

Being Maritime Museum addicts, our next stop was the dock at the St. Michael’s Maritime Museum. St Michael’s is a great little town for cruising – nice harbor, walking distance to restaurants and grocery and friendly people. As a bonus, since we were docked on the museum grounds, we were able to wander in and out of the exhibits over several days. As much as we enjoyed the walk-on/walk-off aspect of the pier, we always have to be a bit more careful tying up to a pier, since the boat’s contact points will change with the tide and we would like to keep her gelcoat on.

Here are a couple of tips we have learned about tying up.   The bow line should be a bit loose to allow boarding via the stern of the boat.   A tight bow line pulls the bow towards the dock and forces the stern away.   Try to find a cleat for the bow line and stern line that is directly abreast of the boat’s cleat.   These lines will pull the boat closer to the dock.   At midships use two spring lines.   One leading forward from midships prevents the boat from going backwards and the one leading backwards prevents the boat from moving forward.   The dock cleats should be chosen so they are 15 or more feet from the midship cleat.   If you are on a dock with pilings that stick out, then make the springs very tight and the boat will not move forward or aft.   If you are on a pier (fixed dock) then find out what the tidal range is.   All four lines should be 3 times longer than the tide.   This means that on a pier, the bow and stern lines will not be lined up with the nearest cleat.   They need wider angles to survive a tide cycle.   In these cases, adding lines from the outside cleats to the dock will hold the boat close for boarding while still allowing for the tidal changes.  Fenders can be attached vertically or horizontally depending on the situation.  We have also discovered the power of the ball fender and have two on board for docking. Maybe a full post on this topic later.

Some visitors thought that we were part of the Marine Museum, but we told them they would have to pay extra for the traveling exhibit. My only disappointment at the museum was the Waterfowl exhibit. Jason had promised the exhibit would be full of Retriever facts and photos, but instead it was filled with guns and bird decoys. He had been fooled by the statue of a Chesapeake Bay Retriever outside the exhibit building.  I learned that the Chesapeake Bay Retriever was descended from two Newfoundlands, rescued from a ship and subsequently bred with local hounds and spaniels.

We did not visit the local crab house because it wasn’t supposed to be great.  Also I was maintaining my crab ban in order to hasten the removal of the annoying crab pots from the bay.

From the time we started researching boats, until we boarded Two Fish, we were boat show groupies. (See posts Miami 2011, Miami 2012, Miami 2013, and Annapolis 2011. No post but we did visit Annapolis again in 2012). This would be our first time as boat owners so it was also my first time realizing I had no more space for most of the cool stuff on offer.

We enjoyed meeting Rod Johnstone, the designer and originator of J Boats and the Uncle of Gunboats. He patiently explained to me the reason for the flicker at the top of the J70 mast; it keeps the backstay away from the large roached main. We don’t need that, since Two Fish doesn’t have a backstay.

We also took advantage of the time by grilling the reps for Furuno, Max-Prop and other dealers. Furuno told us how to turn off our fishfinder via the TZ Touch screens and Max-Prop confirmed our need to grease the props a few times a year.

I think the Vesper rep was glad that we were finally able to stop bugging him about when the Vision would be out. He was excited to see how much we liked the product but was surprised to hear that we don’t take advantage of the filter feature.  We also finally got to meet in person our Facebook friends Holli and John on Shiloh. Thanks to Eric for keeping us up past our bedtime and drinking with the local cadets. Breakfast at Chick and Ruth’s Deli helped us get going the next day.

 

In an attempt to bolster the image of Baltimore, city officials branded it “Charm City” in 1974. The news reports the next day were filled with garbage strikes, police walkouts, and general looting. Town fathers would have to wait to earn their new name. The label did not catch on with the locals, but the Baltimore we encountered was charming. As much as I try to pretend I am now a cruiser with no home port, I am still a New Yorker. Those of you who hold some disdain for stuck-up New Yorkers can extend that feeling to me. I think that the biggest complement I can offer a city is “I could live here.”, when I am really just admitting that I have a hard time imagining residing anywhere other than New York.

We arrived in Baltimore while some large cargo ships were jockeying for position. Most of them responded to hails or announced their intentions on the VHF radio. The 800 foot roll-on/roll-off ship “Genius Highway” was trying to be stealthy, or as stealthy as a floating skyscraper can be.   Her AIS was indicating that she was turning to starboard, but we saw her turning to port.  We hailed her to find out her intentions.  No answer.  She then made some more unexpected moves, so we hailed again.  Her reply was hard to understand-the captain said he was going to a place not labeled on our chart.  So we slowed down and watched her do the unexpected.  She maneuvered closer to Two Fish, but Jason was able to keep us a safe distance away.   Reminds me of some cars on Long Island.   We tucked Two Fish away at Lighthouse Point and, with the help of Uber and the water ferries,  visited Fort McHenry, City Museums and Fell’s Point. Cruisers are waiting for the invention of the fold-able car, but, until that day we have used Uber.   Uber is a taxi hailing app for the iPhone which works wonderfully.  The best part was that our first few rides were in luxurious vehicles.  We realized we had the deluxe car option selected and changed back to normal.  In other towns, we have rented cars from Enterprise whose pick-up and drop-off service is valuable for cruisers.

Now back to my list of great city requirements.  My first requirement for a liveable city is great restaurants, preferably with fish tacos on the menu.

Second is water access. Third is walk-ability. Fourth – sports teams. Fifth – arts. Baltimore hits all of these points. For sports teams, I found myself rooting for the Orioles in the playoffs, but I could never support the Ravens. Yes, I could live in Baltimore. Now for some tourism.

For those of you who haven’t visited Fort McHenry, it was an important defense point against the British in the War of 1812.  The British had invaded the Chesapeake by land and sea and were on their way to Baltimore.  Francis Scott Key was aboard a schooner that was behind the British enemy lines.   I always had the image that he wrote the US national anthem while imprisoned in a dark dungeon, but the truth is much more comfortable.  He had a formal supper with the British aboard his boat.  After retiring for sleep, with a bit of sherry racing through his veins, he wrote  “In Defense of Fort McHenry”. Set to the tune of an old pub drinking song, it was later renamed “The Star-Spangled Banner”.

Best meal of the stay was lunch at Milk & Honey Market. Who can pass up Kohlrabi Soup and a Spicy Tofu Sandwich? The nearby Washington Monument was scaffolded but we enjoyed the nearby Walters Art Museum. We were helped in our exploration by locals Eric & Carla, who introduced us to Fell’s Point and the Ginger(color not flavor) Beer at Max’s. We also tried the local beer, Natty Boh, mostly because of the omnipresent logo.

Our neighbor for most of our stay was the Pride of Baltimore II. She is a large clipper ship, modeled after Chasseur, an 1800s clipper, part of the privateers that preceded our Navy.  In fact, her dinghy was named Chasseur. Unfortunately, Charm City’s waters are a bit polluted and debris-filled, despite the efforts of the local trash sweeper boat, so Two Fish urged us to move on.  The trash sweeper boat, like a DJ, does take requests and did a special clean up near Two Fish to remove our growing soda-pop bottle collection.   The freshly washed topsides became covered in a stubborn brown slime that Jason would hose multiple times a day with no success.   Oddly, the subsequent waters of the Dismal Swamp seem to remove Baltimore slime.   The fenders required some hand cleaning. Not a ton of volunteers for that job.

We took Margy and Monty for a test sail after being asked to bring them on a test sail by the Antares Factory.  They were great crew and helped us sail Two Fish to Rock Creek.  The winds were predicted to get up to 40 knots during the night so we wanted a good anchor set.   After a day with no issues it took us four tries before our anchor would set properly.  As we picked up for the third time, Margy asked “How many times does it usually take you?”.   This would be the first time that we need 4 tries.   The creek bed was finally conquered.  We invited a bunch of friends over for movie night, and enjoyed the comfy seats and home theater set up on the boat. The movie was “10 Items or Less,” starring Morgan Freeman.  Definitely 2 thumbs-up for the movie and for the lighter than predicted breeze.