We had a wonderful summer spending time with family and friends in Annapolis. We got home last spring in time to greet grandchild number 6 and have spent as much time as we could rocking him and playing with the others.
All 6 of the grands! Becca 7, Eliana 4, Zach 2y 5m, Ryan 1week, Noah almost 6 and Ben 2 1/2.
We are underway once again heading south and look forward each day to see how the Lord will bless our day with the places He takes us and the people He brings into our lives.
He quieted the sea with His power
We have been back in Annapolis for a couple weeks now and are enjoying every minute of our time here. We got back just in time for our grandson’s graduation from preschool. It was a fun morning watching him with his classmates and celebrating with him.
One of the great things about cruising is the people you meet along the way. We’ve been blessed to have a couple of them stop by and see us in Annapolis. First, we met up with Ernst from Knot II Busy when he came through Annapolis heading north to the C&D Canal. We wandered around downtown Annapolis together before heading over to the Naval Academy to watch the Blue Angels. Then the next day we met up with Ed and Betsy from Haven and continued our joint search for the best burger on the east coast with them. We went to Davis’ in Eastport – definitely a contender! Then they headed north towards NJ.
When the wind and weather both looked nice, we sailed from Annapolis down to Herrington Harbour where we will keep Paperbird for the summer. It was also the day of the Annapolis – Miles River race so there were dozens of boats heading south. An amazing day on the Chesapeake!
One of the reasons we were hurrying back was to attend our Pastor’s retirement party. He’s retiring after 27 years as the pastor of our church, Broadneck EP Church. We’ll definitely miss him and his wife, but we’re happy for them as they move on to the next chapter in their lives and enjoy a slower pace traveling together.
All in all, it’s been really great catching up with both family and friends. We are blessed!
Noah at Pre-school graduation
Noah at Pre-school graduation
State Circle Annapolis
Wandering down town Annapolis with Ernst from Knot II Busy.
Checking out the pottery in down town Annapolis with Ernst. He used to own a pottery factory.
Fat Albert
The Blue Angels…….
Sailing past the Naval Academy
A race getting ready to start
The race underway
Passing fishermen and lighthouses out on the bay
Our pastors retirement party
He quieted the sea with His power
The last month has been very busy on the cruising front! On the way up the coast, we met up with Phil and Kathy on Unicorn as they were southbound on the ICW. We arrived at the same free dock in Myrtle Beach about an hour apart. Not bad for a rendezvous with 2 boats moving at 7 mph over distances of hundreds of miles. We had a fun day together in Myrtle Beach getting burgers and shakes and shopping for a couple things we each needed.
The next day we continued north to Wrightsville Beach, NC and enjoyed an evening with some very dear friends we haven’t seen for some time, Bill and MaryLou Mahlow. Pressing on northward, we decided to go offshore for the day and had a beautiful sail from Wrightsvile Beach up to Cape Lookout Bight. It’s an interesting little bight or harbor about 7 miles outside of the Beaufort inlet. We anchored for the night and enjoyed the peace and quiet and the beautiful sunset!
The next morning, we left for a short leg up to Oriental NC and tied up at the town dock for a couple of days. Oriental is an interesting spot. It’s a very small town populated mostly by current or former boaters. There is one coffee shop in town right across the street from the town dock that serves as the local hub where everyone gathers to compare notes on the weather and routes either north or south.
This was when Tropical Storm Ana decided to intervene and make her presence known. After much deliberation, we decided it came down to either staying in Oriental until after the storm passed through or making a dash up the coast to get into the Chesapeake Bay ahead of it. Given our timing, we decided to go for it. So we pressed on up the waterway through the Dismal Swamp to Portsmouth VA. After resting there for one night, we headed north on the Chesapeake for a tiring 2 day run back to Annapolis.
Paperbird and Unicorn at a dock together in Myrtle Beach SC
Fun evening with Bill and MaryLou
Sailing alongside Unicorn
Cape Lookout Lighthouse
Fishing boats in Oriental NC
Passing through small towns on the ICW
Waiting to go through a lock on the Dismal Swamp
Inside the lock on the Dismal Swamp
Tied up to the dock in Portsmouth VA
Portsmouth Lightship
Grabbing an ice cream treat in Portsmouth.
Wolf Trap Lighthouse
Point No Point Lighthouse
Smith Point Lighthouse
Watermen out in the wind and rain.
Sharps Island Lighthouse
Cove Point Lighthouse
Bloody Point Bar Lighthouse
Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse
Waterfront downtown Annapolis
Some of the reasons we’ll always come back to Annapolis
Another reason…
Another reason…
More reasons…
Over 2600 miles and 7 months since we left, we’re back! We are back home with the Kids and the Grands!!! We missed them while we were gone and are glad to be home for the summer and are looking forward to spending lots of time with them.
We had the MOST amazing time and are already talking about plans for next fall…
He quieted the sea with His power
Buddy boating through South Carolina
We met up with our friends Tony and Ann off of Stella Maris in Beaufort SC and spent a couple of days walking the scenic neighborhoods there.
Ann made homemade pasta aboard Stella Maris!
Homemade pasta dinner with Tony and Ann
Beautiful streets of Beaufort SC.
Ice Cream treats one afternoon.
After sitting out some thunderstorms we left Beaufort working our way north and anchored in Church Creek for the night. We left at sunrise the next morning to time the tide and a bridge opening on Elliott Cut heading into Charleston SC where we pulled into a slip at the Charleston Maritime Center.
We enjoyed wandering through the historic downtown area of Charleston looking at the beautiful architecture and the City Market.
This tall ship was tied to the end of the dock behind our boat in Charleston. It is from Switzerland and is a teaching ship for kids 16 to 19 years old. It was interesting watching them work up in the rigging.
We had so much fun with Tony and Ann and look forward to meeting them at some fun anchorages on the Chesapeake this summer.
He quieted the sea with His power
Once again we decided to skip the shallow waters of the ICW in Georgia and head “outside” for the next leg of our journey. We left Fernandina FL and headed out the St Mary’s inlet. This time we were going 125 miles and were planning on a 20-24 hour trip. So at 10 AM Tues we pulled up the anchor hoping to arrive around the same time on Wed morning.
We passed Fort Clinch on the way out of the St Mary’s inlet. It was built in 1864 for use during the Civil War and is on Florida’s northernmost barrier island, Amelia Island.
The Coast Guard hard at work in the river as we headed out.
Fort Clinch
Passing shrimp boats on the way out the channel.
Lots of gear hanging on the shrimp boat!
We put out 3 fishing lines….
Just setting the lines, not reeling in a fish
And now you will notice that there are still NO pictures of fish being caught!! That’s right, no fish, again!
Our view for all the day light hours. Beautiful blue water and sky.
These are pictures of some of the wild life we saw. There were lots of turtles, and many, many dolphin!
A huge sea turtle.
JAWS…..yep this was a big shark that swam past our boat. He wasn’t interested in us but was swimming in circles around something!
Jelly fish are out in the deep parts of the ocean too.
This is the Savannah River bridge, a suspension bridge that we could see literally for miles! We watched it for hours! But then we are going at 6 miles per hour!! It is 10 miles away in this picture but still very visible.
We saw a few ships during the day, which is no big deal. We watch them and might have to alter our course to keep a safe distance but pretty easy. At night it’s another ball game! What we learned on this passage is that lots of ships come in and anchor off shore at the Tybee Island Inlet, which we passed at 2:30 to 3:30 in the morning. At 2:30 a boat came out with a pilot to drive one of the ships in the channel to the harbor. A half an hour later the boat came out with another pilot to drive another ship in. While this was going on we are on our radar, yes, Keith and Jenny we have radar now and we can see the ships and we even have AIS (tells the name of the ships and their location and speed). Oh yeah, there was no moon so it was VERY dark out. All we could see were navigation lights out in the distance – LOTS of fun at 3 in the morning!! Finally we just altered course to go further offshore to go out around all of them!
Beautiful sunset.
This shows the moon before it set at about 11PM. Not much light from that!
When we left, the wind forecast was for variable winds about 3-6 kts all night and we were expecting to have to motor all night. But at about 10:00 the wind started to freshen and fill in from the west. By 10:30 it was a steady 15-18 kts. So we hoisted the sails and shut down the engine thinking it would be a brief sail. Not so brief! The wind held steady all night and we had a beautiful sail. We’re sorry to say – almost too good. By 3:0o in the morning, it was apparent that we would arrive at the sea buoy at the Port Royal Inlet way too early, before dawn and before the current started flowing into the inlet. So we shortened sail quite a bit to slow the boat down. It’s a rare and frustrating thing to work to slow down when sailing. At any rate, we arrived at the sea buoy at 6:15, just 15 minutes before the current turned and right as the sky started to lighten up in the east.
Sunrise on the way in the channel with a fishing boat coming out.
We found it interesting that we left an inlet with a Civil War fort at the entrance and came in an inlet with a modern day Marine Corps base at the entrance.
Parris Island Marine Corps base.
Passed more shrimp boats on the way in at Point Royal Sound Inlet.
A cute little tug boat that was working hard.
Just after we were anchored at Beaufort SC this cruise ship came passed us and tied up over at the Town Dock. So there is more that one way to see the Intracoastal Waterway.
Our offshore passage was so beautiful. Because it was so dark the stars were just amazing! It helped that we were sailing in company with an astronomy buff on another sailboat. We passed some of the nighttime hours with him pointing out several constellations. Very cool!
He quieted the sea with His power
We’ve started north but are trying to time our travels to stay out of the cold. We’ve become too acclimated to warm weather! Of course, after experiencing all of the ICW and it’s lovely shallowness on the way down in the fall, we’ve decided to go offshore for at least some of the way back north. Our first leg offshore was from St Augustine to Fernandina. So at first light on Wed, we left St Augustine to head north.
Leaving the St Augustine anchorage in the predawn light.
Waiting to go through the bridge of Lions in St Augustine.
St Augustine lighthouse.
Heading out the inlet at sunrise.
Beautiful sail!
Passing Jacksonville Fl along the coast.
Watching ships and dolphins.
Plenty of dolphins playing around the boat.
Passing ships…..lots of them.
Lots of pelicans floating around….shows how calm our day was.
Watching lots of shrimp boats.
We arrived in Fernandina mid-afternoon and tied up to a mooring just barely ahead of some rain showers passing through the area. Sure beats fighting through all the bridges, shallow water, and boat traffic on the ICW!
We decided to stay in Fernandina for a few days. It’s a great little town with lots of shops and restaurants.
Skyping with our granddaughter, Eliana, on her 4th birthday!
While we were there, Lyn’s sister and her husband came to visit us. It was great to see them and spend some time catching up with them.
My sister and her husband, Ruth and Steve
After Fernandina, we sailed a short way up to Cumberland Island for a few days to prep for the next offshore leg – skipping Georgia and its really skinny water!
He quieted the sea with His power
Happy birthday to our sweet granddaughter, Eliana, who is 4 years old today!! Have a fun day!!
We love you!!
Nana and Gramps
He quieted the sea with His power
Today is Greg’s birthday and he got to spend it sailing from St Augustine to Fernandina Beach!! After we were anchored, we had grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and brownie with icing.
It was a great day!!
I love you Greg!!
Lyn
He quieted the sea with His power
We arrived in St Augustine on our way north and decided to stay here for a couple days to get some mail and work on a couple of chores. We arrived just in time for Race Week, one of several special events being held as part of their 450th birthday celebration!
Race Week made for a fun couple of days. The big boats were outside the inlet in the ocean so we didn’t watch them but the kids were right in front of the down town area. We sat on the sea wall in the sunshine and enjoyed all the competition between two classes of boats. The small ones are Optimists, they are about 8 feet long with one sail and the kids are 8 to 10 years old. The bigger boats with brightly colored sails are 420’s and they are 12 feet long and the kids are 11 to 13 years old. They were fun to watch.
After church on Sun we walked down to the Rhythm & Ribs festival, a fund raiser held in St Augustine every spring. It was really a fun afternoon. Lots of different bands played and several BIG booths were set up representing different BBQ places from all over the south. I’m telling you there was some amazing BBQ in that place!!
One afternoon we walked out to a store called the Sailors Exchange – basically a consignment store full of used sailing gear. There is a store in Annapolis called Bacon’s that it is similar to and so we had to go check it out. Up on a shelf there was this old Mantle Lamp off of Bloody Point Lighthouse from the Chesapeake. We have sailed passed it so many times! A piece of MD lighthouse history all the way down here in Fl. Very cool!!
Now we are waiting out a few days of rain (in the sunshine state) so we can keep moving north.
He quieted the sea with His power
We sailed from Fox town to Great Sale Cay to anchor for the night and stage for our westbound gulf stream crossing. When we arrived, there were 2 other boats anchored. Through the afternoon, another 20 boats showed up and anchored. Three of them had crossed from Florida and were still flying a quarantine flag. They also disappeared down below to get some sleep from the all-nighter they had just completed. Of the rest, about 2/3 were from Canada which about matched the ratio we saw throughout the islands. Unfortunately, neither Modaki or Persuasion were there. They decided to linger another week and wait for the next weather window.
It was interesting talked to a few of the people staging to cross about their timing, their arrival plans, etc. It was pretty clear there are lots of different strategies. That became even more clear on Thurs morning as people started to leave one at a time. We were actually one of the last to leave. But we had calculated the distances and times and decided to stick with our plan. So just after lunch, we pulled the anchor up and headed west. We crossed off the Bahama Bank into deep water at a place called White Sand Pass. Given the wind forecast and the gulf stream current, we thought that would give us the best angle for heading to Ft Pierce.
Great Sale is small but a perfect place to stop.
Sunrise at Great Sale Cay.
Getting ready to go.
Dolphin playing off of our bow….they were saying “don’t go, don’t go!!!” So when they swam off I yelled “we’ll be back!!!”
Talking on the radio to a boat we passed out on the Bahama Banks. They were just coming in to the Bahamas.
Fishing, but still not catching!!
A down wind run all the way across.
Land and fishing boats we must be almost there.
Coming through the Ft Pierce inlet.
The interesting thing about the crossing is that we ended up timing our arrival exactly with 4 other boats that had left before us from Great Sale. All 4 of us crossed in a line through the Ft Pierce inlet at 9:30 Friday morning. As we went through the inlet, a Coast Guard boat and 4 FL law enforcement boats motored out and closed the inlet right behind us to start diving operations on a sunken barge. Everyone else entering had to be escorted one at a time through the inlet. Close call!
We called Customs to check in, then proceeded up the ICW a little ways to Vero Beach to meet up with some friends and rest for a couple days.
He quieted the sea with His power
