2002

Prior to departing Barrington, RI	The weeks prior to our departure we had a number of guests visit, these are some of the photos from their visit.
29 Sep 02 Barrington , RI to Atlantic City , NJ	Today is the first day of a new life, an adventure I have been dreaming about since I was a child. We are headed south on Odelia, bound for the warm, clear blue waters of the Bahamas . The pictures show some of our preparations for departure, including the storing the balls and adding our name to stern rail for better visibility. We left Cove Haven Marina at 1200, after a heart-warming send off from some of our many friends. Many thanks to Steve and Sue, Al and Jean, Mary, and all the rest, we really enjoyed our time in RI. Bob Paynton came along with us on the first leg of our trip, we really appreciated his help, it made us more confident and our trip easier. We planned to go out to Block Island , and if the weather was good, continue overnight to Atlantic City . Luckily, the weather was perfect, clear skies, no wind, and only a light swell. The night trip was great, the stars so clear that the Milky Way looked almost like fog or mist. We arrived in Atlantic City and stayed at the Trump Harbor and Etty, Jan, Yarden, and Nissam visited us.
1 Oct 02 Atlantic City to C&D Canal	Departed around 0900 and made our way down the coast to Cape May inlet as a shortcut to the Delaware Bay. We made a wrong turn while watching the salvage of a burned fishing vessel and ended up in a very narrow channel, had to back up and turn around with a significant current. Tsipy helped by putting out a fender for us to use as a fulcrum around a piling. We arrived at Shaeffer’s Marina on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal around 1830.
2 Oct 02 C&D Canal to Baltimore	Departed at 1000 for Baltimore Inner Harbor , we plan to spend a few days there to see the sights and relax. I got free meals and t-shirts for all three of us at the Capitol City Brewery when my chair broke. Beautiful location in the renovated harbor area, lots to see and do. The weather forced us to stay a few extra days. We went to the Fell Point Festival with a couple we met at the docks, John and Lynn Schmidt on Party for Two. The pictures show our boat from across the harbor and us in front of the USS Constellation.
7 Oct 02 Baltimore to Sillery Bay	Spent the night on the hook at Sillery Bay on the west side of the bay, just below Baltimore . Met a nice family from Australia on Vamp that are sailing around the world. Lost the anchor light sometime during the night.
8 Oct 02 Sillery Bay to Chestertown , MD	Made the trip to Chestertown, MD for a few days to visit Nick and Virginia on Red Star. Met Virginia for dinner on the first night. The weather turned rainy and windy so we decided to stay for a few more days and she invited us out to their farm for a nice dinner. Tide was very high and the docks flooded almost every night. There was a replica sailing vessel and lots of old restored houses.
11 Oct 02 Chestertown to St Michaels, MD	St Michaels is another quant fishing village, we stayed at the Miles River Yacht Club. Rented a car from Enterprise , visited the St Michaels, Oxford , and Easton . Repaired the anchor light, had to replace the fixture.
15 Oct 02 St Michaels, MD to Solomons Island, VA	Another cute little fishing town with lots of history, we planned to stay only one night but 25 knot winds from the north convinced us to stay another day. Had a great meal at the CD Café, the best red beans and rice since New Orleans and a great cinnamon crème brulee. The picture is the view from our stern.
17 Oct 02 Solomons Island , to Deltaville , VA	Stayed at the Regatta Point Yacht Club and had some visitors. Bob and Gail from Passages are also going south. They left Massachusetts a week after us and we saw them at St Michaels and Solomons. They intend to take the Dismal Swamp route so we won’t catch up with them until Florida .
18 Oct 02 Deltaville to Norfolk, VA	Spent Shabbat at the Tidewater Marina in Portsmouth, just across the river from the Norfolk Navy Yard, Waterside Marina, and Mall. Beautiful old city and the night lights were great.
20 Oct 02 Norfolk , VA to Coinjock , NC	Stayed at the famous Coinjock Marina , filled up with fuel and had a great prime rib dinner. Met a nice couple from NJ on Dreamer headed to Palm Beach . Howard Stone from Marine Electronics came by to do the initial assessment for the installation of the INMARSAT F77 terminal. The pictures are of the only lock on this route.
21 Oct 02 Coinjock to Manteo , NC	Manteo is on Roanoke Island , just inside the outer banks. We were escorted by a pod of dolphins into the Manteo channel. Stayed at the Manteo Waterfront Marina, just in the heart of the old city. We plan to stay here for a week or so to get the satellite terminal installed. Rented a car and are seeing the sights. Only Tony and John from the NC gang could make it on the weekend. Ate at a great German restaurant and Bauhaus, the Weizenbier was delicious. Met a great family, Scott, Melissa, and their three kids on board Rantum Scoot headed for the Bahamas . The pictures are of the outer banks and the Hatteras lighthouse.
8 Nov 02 Manteo to Oriental, NC	We finally left Manteo. The satellite installation was a limited success, it worked great for a day, then when I turned it off and then back on, it wouldn’t come back up. Bill and Howard worked on it, but it appears to be something in the antenna. We received a new below decks unit from Norway but that didn’t fix the problem. We plan to have it worked on in Charleston , so off we go. We have a long day today (83 nm) across Pamlico and Core Sounds to Oriental to rejoin the ICW. The weather cooperated, it was clear and nice although a little cool. We stayed in Whittaker Creek Yacht Marina , nice place but a little unprotected from the south. We spent Friday and Saturday here.
10 Nov 02 Oriental to New River Marina , NC	Back on the ICW through Beaufort/ Morehead City. Bogue Sound is terrible, shallow and narrow channels, although we did see some dolphins along the way. Stayed at the New River Marina right on the ICW, no power and not much of a place.
11 Nov 02 New River to Wrightsville, NC	We had planned to go to Southport but cut the day short due to severe weather forecasts for storms and high winds, stayed at the Seapath Yacht Club/Marina. Great facility. We made it just before the storm hit. We plan to stay two nights because of the weather.
13 Nov 02 Wrightsville, NC to Little River, SC	We made it through Snows Cut and Cape Fear River without any problems, we lucked out with favorable tide conditions. We stayed a Cricket Cove Marina just north of Myrtle Beach . Nice facility but the current was wicked, I made two unsuccessful docking attempts before getting it tied up.
14 Nov 02 Little River to Myrtle Beach , SC	We planned to make it to Georgetown today but didn’t have very good luck. We ran aground along the infamous Rock Pile that resulted in a vibration so we pulled into Hague Marina for repair work. They were just barely able to haul the boat, it was so wide that they couldn’t get it all the way out of the water, just enough to pull the starboard prop. They put us back in the water and plan to have a diver reinstall the prop. The work will take a few days so we will be here through the weekend. We called Bill and he arranged to have the Mackay technician who was planning to go to Charleston to come here with the antenna. They arrived on Friday and were able to get the satellite operational, it turned out to be the antenna control unit. They had dinner with us and Bill stayed with us overnight before heading off to his family in Florida . We hope to see him in Jupiter. Prop was repaired and returned late on Saturday and the diver installed in the dark, although the water was so murky it wouldn’t have made much of a difference if it was high noon.
17 Nov 02 Hague Marina to Georgetown , SC	Made the trip to Georgetown but still have a vibration. I called the Palmer Johnson yard in Thunderbolt for reservations after Charleston and plan to have the boat hauled and fixed. Stayed at Georgetown Landing, nice marina and staff.
18 Nov 02 Georgetown to Charleston , SC	Stayed at the Charleston Harbor Marina, it is a beautiful place with a great view of the city. Called Corky Smartt and had him over for a boat tour and drinks. He looked great and we had a nice evening with him.
19 Nov 02 Charleston to Beaufort , SC	Weather was sunny and warm and we saw lots of dolphins along the way. This part of the ICW is challenging, very narrow cuts and pretty shallow. We still have the vibration, so are limping along at 1000 rpm (8-9 knots). Stayed at the Downtown Marina, it is really nice and the old town is within a short walk.
20 Nov 02 Beaufort, SC to Thunderbolt, GA	Another nice day with lots of dolphins took us to the Palmer Johnson yard. We plan to stay here until the boat is fixed. They hauled us on Thursday and checked the shafts, both were out of spec, .009 on the starboard and .007 on the port side. I had both removed for straightening and had the props scanned. They also found a problem with the starboard rudder and I am having that fixed too. We will spend Thanksgiving here on P-Dock (the parking lot). Steve, the bottom looks great, no barnacles or fouling. We rented a car, ended up with a Cadillac Deville at compact price, so now I really feel like a retiree. We upgraded the satellite TV receiver to high definition and added a DVD so now our TV system is up to date. We took a tour of Savannah on Sunday, walked along the river walk, it is beautiful. We heard Israeli folk music on a sailing boat that was being refurbished and went aboard. It belongs to the Twelfth Tribe, a fundamentalist group. We spent three wonderful hours aboard. Tsipy was able to get a folk dancing fix, two months withdrawal was all she could take. The old boat in the pictures was the Atlantide, built in the 1930s in England. She is beautiful with cut crystal glass on the windows and a $500,000 dinghy. The boat participated in the Dunkirk evacuation and still looks great. She is now used as a home base for a sailboat racer. We started our Chanukah celebration tonight. Hag Semeah to all our friends and family.
8 Dec 02 Thunderbolt to Brunswick , GA	We departed Palmer Johnson after the repairs to our shafts and props. After the first sea trail we still had a vibration so they aligned the engines. The second sea trial and today's run was smooth. Palmer Johnson is a great yard, the work was efficient, high quality, and friendly. Thanks, Ed for a great recommendation. We went outside for a ~74 nm jaunt to the St Simons - Brunswick area. Weather was good, only 2-3 ft seas and clear skies, it was great to be on the ocean again. We will spend a few days here, visiting our friends on Avany, the sailing vessel we discovered in Savannah and dodging another cold front. We plan to depart here on the 12th for St Augustine, again outside, we have had enough of the "ditch" for a while.
12 Dec 02 Brunswick to St Augustine , FL	We departed Brunswick today for St Augustine , we had a wonderful time here, walking through the old city and visiting our friends from the Twelfth Tribe. We had a wonderful dinner at their home and Tsipy taught them some new dances and learned some, too. The weather for the trip was sunny and warm and conditions were perfect. We saw dolphins and were advised to watch out for Right Whales but instead we saw a Trident submarine leaving its home port at Mayport ,FL. We also saw a huge turtle; its shell was almost scalloped. We rented a car here to visit Green Cove Springs (our mail service point), we had several packages there. We visited the old city of St Augustine and spent Shabbat here. We plan to leave on Monday.
16 Dec 02 St Augustine to Ponce de Leon Inlet, FL	We made another outside run today. We saw dolphins and another turtle today. We were advised that this inlet was tricky so we called Sea Tow and they escorted us the inlet and right to the Lighthouse Marina. The marina channel was very shallow and tricky but the inlet was painless since we timed it to arrive on the flood tide.
17 Dec 02 Ponce de Leon to Cape Canaveral , FL	Another beautiful outside run, weather was sunny with 2-3 foot seas. We could see the space port, vertical assembly building, and launch pads but had to stay outside the three mile restricted area. We saw two huge manta rays feeding along the surface. Two sets of dolphins played in our bow waves, we have come to view seeing them as good luck for the trip. The inlet here was huge to accommodate the cruise boats and freighters.
18 Dec 02 Cape Canaveral to Ft Pierce, FL	Another sea voyage, the waves were predicted as 2-3 feet but turned out to be 3-4 by the end of the day. We saw dolphins again and Tsipy spotted another manta on the surface. The inlet was very rough since we had an ebb tide but we were able to make it in without any real problems, just a shake test for all our tie downs. We are staying in the City Marina. WOW, what a docking test, we are on a face dock perpendicular to the fairway with boats on both sides, my bow sprint extends beyond the piling on the front and the dinghy is about three feet from the boat behind. We were able to walk our stern into the dock but was it ever tight. See the pictures for an idea how close it was. Our neighbors, Valt and Sandy, in the boat behind us (Amber Isle) lent us their Mercedes SLK for a shopping trip. They are headed to the Exumas and we hope to see them there. The weather turned bad again so we stayed until Sunday or Monday.
22 Dec 02 Ft Pierce to West Palm Beach, FL	We took a short trip outside today from Ft Pierce to West Palm Beach . The trip down was uneventful; the Ft Pierce inlet was calm on the way out. Although the seas were predicted at 1-2 ft, they were more like 3 by the time we came in Lake Worth Inlet. We had to try three different docks until we could find one just right, the first two were too tight! We are staying at the Rybovich Spencer yard to get the compressor and an engine synchronizer installed. We picked up the car from Ft Lauderdale and are making the rounds of all the boat stores. We had dinner Christmas evening with our friends Richard and Linda from RI, visited my parents while the boat work is ongoing, and connected with Frank Lazarra during his visit from Belgium . The pictures are of our reunion with Frank and his family.
30 Jan 03 West Palm Beach to Ft Lauderdale, FL	A short trip outside to Ft Lauderdale. We stayed at the Harbourtowne Marina in Dania Beach and had dinner with Jim and Sue. We start our Bahamas trip tomorrow or the next day.