Heading north to go south – Fall, 2023.

Alert: Here comes another long post!

After an active, entertaining summer, it was time to get ready to cut the docklines and head south again for our fifth trip to the Bahamas. But before we went south, we needed to go north. Wait – what?

Our good friends Jeff and Denise W. on SV Infinity had decided to make their first trip south to the Bahamas. Denise was going to retire after the new year, so we had agreed to buddy boat with Jeff who would single-hand down there. But in order to buddy boat, he needed to get his boat from Groton to Cambridge, MD.

That’s how on Labor Day weekend, Jeff B and I found ourselves dropping off our car in Baltimore at a storage lot and taking the Amtrak to New London. We were very much looking forward to traveling with Jeff W and seeing what it was like to sail for a length of time on a larger boat (he has a Catalina 34).

One last look for awhile (for us) at the UConn Avery Point campus next to Shenny.

Although there wasn’t any wind (typical), the weather smiled on us for the first leg of the trip. We went from Groton to Port Jefferson where we anchored for a few days, and actually went into town for the first time.

A beautiful sunset for Jeff W’s first evening of his adventure.

Jeff B and I have anchored in Port Jefferson several times, but we’ve never been into the town. This time we found a marina where we could tie up the dinghy for $10. Jeff W. has some ancestors from Port Jefferson that were involved in the Culper Spy Ring, so we did a self-guided tour checking out some of the related historical buildings.

The Samuel Thompson House. C. 1700, this is one of the best examples of colonial timber frame construction. Samuel Thompson and his son were farmers, Revolutionary War Patriots, and town leaders.

The Setauket Presbyterian Church and Cemetery. The present church was built in 1812 and contains the grave of spy Abraham Woodhull.

It was a VERY hot day, so by the time we were finished walking around it was time to quench our thirst with a beer at the local brewery, followed by an ice cream chaser. While we were getting ice cream, Jeff W was able to see one of the delights of cruising when we unexpectedly ran into cruising friends there!

As far as the brewery goes, you have to understand that I don’t like beer. I’m a hard alcohol or cider gal, and I have yet to find a beer that I like. I figured I’d have a cider while Jeff B and Jeff W had beers. But when I told the bartender that I didn’t like beer, she told me there was a beer for everyone and suggested I try a sour. Damned if she wasn’t right! There IS a beer for everyone! Unfortunately, I discovered later that afternoon that sours have lactose in them, and I am lactose intolerant unless I take two Lactaids (which I took when I had the ice cream, but apparently the damage was already done from the sour). Safe to say, I will be sticking with my stance that I don’t like beer.

I’m happy because I don’t yet realize that there is lactose in this sour that I’m drinking.

The next day we were off to Port Washington, one of Jeff B’s and my favorite stops on Long Island Sound.

It’s almost impossible to go to Port Jefferson without sharing the channel with the ferry either entering or exiting. Fortunately, it’s a wide channel!

We were lucky enough to spend 4 days in Port Washington while we waited for a window to go down the New Jersey coast. It was just enough time for Jeff W to thoroughly enjoy the pleasures of Port Washington (like Carlos Pizza). The two Jeffs even had a chance to go metal detecting where they had an unexpected adventure.

It was supposed to rain later that day, but they figured they could do some finding and get back to the boat before the rain started. I, having no interest in metal detecting, decided it was a good morning to do laundry. We all piled in Jeff W’s dinghy where they dropped me off before heading to the park and tying off their dinghy at the dock. After going through an open gate, the two Jeffs had been metal detecting for only around 1/2 hour when the sky opened and it started pouring rain.

Running for the dinghy, they discovered that the gate was closed and locked. Uh-oh. They tried to find a different way to get around the fence to the dinghy dock with no luck. By now they were soaking wet with no way to get to the dinghy, so they called the Port Washington Water Taxi (who runs the moorings) and the driver was kind of enough to pick them up at another spot, take them to the dinghy, and then tow it back so the two Jeffs could stay dry on the taxi. Now that’s customer service! We do love Port Washington!

A union was having a conflict with management and had set up the traditional rat to let everyone know. When so much has changed over the years, it’s nice to see that some traditions (like the inflatable rat) continue.

After a few days we had a weather window to go down the Jersey Coast, up the Delaware, and over to the Chesapeake. It was going to be a motorfest, but that’s nothing to complain about on that route. In addition, this was our first time doing the trip with more than the two of us, and Jeff W’s first overnight.

We all thoroughly enjoyed the trip down the East River (Jeff W’s first time!):

Jeff W is ready to go through Hell Gate.

Getting ready to head down the East River.

Seeing the Empire State Building is always fun.

Lots of ferry traffic. These guys are completely professionals. No concerns about them whatsoever.

The iconic Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan skyline. This leg of the trip never gets old.

We popped out of New York Harbor and started working our way down the coast. What a difference having three people on board makes! Our watches were 4 hours on, 8 hours off, so we were actually able to get some good sleep overnight. Well, Jeff W was so excited that he didn’t really sleep much, but Jeff B and I definitely slept!

It was a calm overnight and we were making good time, so even though the current would be primarily against us, we continued through the Cape May Canal and halfway up the Delaware, dropping the anchor in Cohansey Creek. Jeff W was glad we had made it so far, but he agreed that fighting the current on the Delaware Bay sucks. It’s a boring enough stretch as it is without having to go slower than necessary!

The next morning Jeff W started to raise the anchor and realized there was an issue. His anchor rode (which consisted of some chain and primarily line) was wrapped around his wing keel. Hmmm. This was a first. We weren’t going anywhere until that was resolved. Working together, Jeff W got into his dinghy and started trying to turn the boat. Initially it wasn’t working, but then he pushed the boat the other way and we started quickly hauling up the line. Success!

We had timed this stretch so we would have the current in our favor, so we zoomed up the Delaware, across the C&D Canal, and dropped the anchor in Worton Creek. Eight days after leaving Groton, we were on the Chesapeake – definitely a record of us!

The obligatory picture of the nuclear power plant on the Delaware Bay.

Next up was Annapolis – as long time readers know, one of our favorite spots on the East Coast. Jeff W had been there by land before and enjoyed it, but being there on a boat is a whole different experience. He was thoroughly charmed!

We had made such good time that we needed to slow down a bit. After all, it was only mid-September and we didn’t want to get too far south when hurricane season was still going strong. So we decided to spend a week in Annapolis on one of the Spa Creek $25 moorings before moving on to Cambridge. There we would pick up Pegu Club and start buddy boating per the definition of the phrase.

While in Annapolis we took Jeff W to Davis’ Pub (a local hangout in Eastport).

Jeff W also had his first official cruisers get-together. Our good friends on Mer du Jour had arrived, so we joyfully got together with them and some of their boating friends at one of Annapolis’ Irish pubs. The owner was good friends with one of the group and kindly sent us all a free shot of Irish whisky.

We took Jeff to Bacon Sails (an excellent marine consignment store), and we made a last-minute decision to go to the Renaissance Faire which was still going on! It was Jeff W’s first Faire, and he had a great time (how can you not?).

Jeff B and Jeff W also spent a day doing some metal detecting at Sandy Point State Park which gave me the unexpected opportunity for some alone time! Wow!

People often express amazement that Jeff and I have been together on our 30′ boat since August of 2018. We are often asked how we do it, and how we it’s possible that we are still together. LOL! Fortunately, we make a great pair! Plus, we each have our side of the boat in the main cabin where we get “alone” time by putting in our AirPods and watching movies/tv shows/YouTube videos/general surfing. But TRULY alone time is rare unless Jeff is metal detecting or I’m out for a walk. But now I was going to have almost half of a day to do whatever I wanted, and I was excited!

So what did I do? I started out by treating myself to a late breakfast at Chick n’ Ruth’s downtown, and then I decided to go to the Naval Academy to see John Paul Jones’ crypt.

Commodore John Paul Jones was a great Naval leader of the American Revolution who died in Paris at the age of 45 during the French Revolution. He was buried on property owned by the French Royal family, and that property was sold four years later by France’s revolutionary government where the cemetery was subsequently forgotten.

Over a century later, a search began to find his body so that it could be brought back to the United States. The cemetery had been built over but was discovered, and basement walls and streets were tunneled through until his casket was found and disinterred.

The casket was ultimately laid to rest in the Naval Academy’s Chapel in 1913. It’s very impressive, with a 21-ton sarcophagus supported by bronze dolphins, and columns of black and white marble. Inscribed around the base of the tomb are the names of the Continental Navy ships that he commanded during the American Revolution.

I wrapped up the day with a self-guided tour of the Maryland State House (I’m such a government nerd.) The two legislative chambers are impressive:

And so are the glass ceilings:

Surprisingly, the State House also had a beautiful silver collection made in 1906 by silversmiths in Baltimore. The set shows scenes from the history of all of Maryland’s counties and Baltimore city, and the economy and culture of the state are symbolized in the borders. I spent quite a bit of time looking at each piece – it was fascinating.

Eventually it was time to meet the two Jeff’s at the dinghy to head back to the boat. We all had a great day in our own ways.

One of the nights in Annapolis, I woke up around 2:00 a.m. because I heard Jeff W get up. I asked him what was going on. It turns out that he woke up because he heard voices coming from the bridge near our boat. It was a group of drunk twenty-somethings encouraging their friend “Dave” to jump off the bridge. Jeff W heard this for a bit, and then he heard a “ploop” which was Dave hitting the water.

At that point I had woken up, and Dave’s friends, newly soberish, were encouraging him to swim over to the bank. “Swim, Dave! Over there, Dave! Swim!” I suggested that we call 911 and Jeff W was thinking about getting his dinghy to rescue drunk Dave when we heard the cavalry coming. Fire trucks, police, ambulance, the whole works. At that point we decided to sit back and watch the show.

It was clear that this was a not-uncommon occurrence, because the rescue service quickly got to work. They were peering over the bridge, looking for Dave, and at one point one of them clapped his hands twice, hard, and said in a deep voice, “Hey! Moron! Over here!” Jeff W and I burst out laughing at that point. Ultimately, Dave was rescued and presumably he was taken off to the drunk tank to sober up. Dave became a running joke for us for the rest of the trip.

After a great week it was off to Cambridge where Jeff W planned to take care of some boat work for a few days and we were going to finalize our preparations to take Pegu Club south for the fifth time. Jeff W had what he declared was the best hamburger ever at RAR Brewing, and then we were off to head south in earnest.

Let’s finish up the trip north in the late spring/early summer of 2023.

Looking back at my blog posts, I realized I’m much farther behind than I thought. I hadn’t even finished our last trip north! I looked back through photos and the old posts to refresh my memory and it all came flooding back. So here we go. Heads up: this is a long post. You’ve been warned.

After our cold, wet, splashy trip through the Alligator-Pungo canal so we could grab a very brief weather window to cross the Albemarle, we found ourselves with several days before we needed to be in Norfolk for the next decent weather window. We typically take the Dismal Swamp north and south, and the length of time we spend along that route is dictated by our next weather window. In this case, we had time to spare so we decided to stop at the Janette Brothers free dock for a night and wander about.

We weren’t that crazy about Elizabeth City the first time we visited, but it’s grown on us somewhat. It’s still not one of our favorite stops, but it does have a top-notch BBQ joint called Currituck BBQ. That alone makes Elizabeth City worth the visit.

Since we started making this trip in 2018, Elizabeth City has added a brewery and several restaurants and coffee shops. A section of restaurants are found along Pailin’s Alley, where you can dine in the alley under the lights.

Elizabeth City also has a lovely historic district with gorgeous houses from the 1800’s along the street that leads to and from Currituck BBQ. I foolishly didn’t take pictures of the houses, but I did take it of the BBQ! Priorities, you know.

Pulled pork for Jeff, burnt ends for me.

We thought “The Kraken” was a cute name for a coffee house:

And this was a great poster to have in the brewery:

We had hoped to scoot along the Dismal Swamp and head up the Chesapeake right away upon arriving in Norfolk, but it was not to be as strong northerly winds had everyone pinned down. Heading straight into a strong wind up the Chesapeake is not our idea of a good time. We did that once heading down the Chesapeake, and it was the closest I’ve ever come to selling the boat. Never again.

Another nice trip up the Dismal Swamp, finally making it into Virginia:

However, making lemonade out of lemons (as we try to do), we discovered that the last day we would be waiting in Norfolk was also the first day of the annual Harborfest. This is the United States’ largest, longest-running, free maritime festival, and we were psyched that we’d have this entertainment right off our cockpit while we were anchored.

Although we were only able to watch the first day (travel conditions were good for the second day of the Harborfest and we were still trying to make it to Connecticut for the summer), we did get to enjoy the tall ships parade and a Coast Guard Search and Rescue demo. There was also supposed to be a drone show that evening, but unfortunately it was cancelled.

When we woke up the morning of Harborfest, we looked out the port and saw that this guy had snuck in during the night:

The Tall Ships parade started with this tug spraying its hoses. It’s always fun to see how high the water can go!

More boats spraying water:

Then the tall ships started coming in:

Then this guy came in to show off:

And after lunch the Coast Guard rescue demonstration began:

It was a fun day, and we certainly wouldn’t mind being in Norfolk for Harborfest again if the timing were to work out.

Finally, finally, the wind settled down so we could make our way up the Chesapeake. We had just enough time to make it to Annapolis where we would have to wait again, but that wasn’t a hardship given how much we love it there.

With no wind, why didn’t we just motor outside from Norfolk to Connecticut or New Jersey? Because, unfortunately, our Pelagic autopilot was on the fritz again. Having hand steered our first year from Norfolk to Groton, Connecticut, we knew there was no way we were going to do that again. Our goal was to get the Pelagic replaced while we were in Annapolis so we could once again have an autopilot when we didn’t have enough wind for Bob the Monitor.

When we arrived in Annapolis, we contacted Scanmar about replacing the Pelagic. This was the second one we had trouble with, and they were happy to replace it with another one as long as we sent the old one back first and paid for the shipping. Looking at the weather, we had a solid window to make it the rest of the way up the Chesapeake, down the Delaware, and up the New Jersey Coast as long as we sent the old Pelagic back via overnight shipping and had the new one sent to us the same way. The shipping costs were almost the same as buying a new Pelagic, but the clock was ticking and we really needed to grab this window to get to Connecticut.

So we shipped off the Pelagic and then spent the rest of that day and the next day enjoying Annapolis, knowing the new one would arrive on the third day. Not so fast. But first, some scenes from the charming city of Annapolis:

Sailing is SUCH an ingrained part of the culture here. Kids sailing camps are ubiquitous during the summer:

Boats under 35′ can take a mooring in the Spa Creek mooring field for only $25/night – buy six nights, get the seventh night free. It’s so much more protected than the front 40, and it has a very nice view of the school and the bridge.

The Maryland State House is the oldest state capitol in continuous legislative use, and is the only state house ever to have serviced as the nation’s capital:

We explored the Old Fox Books and Coffeehouse bookstore for the first time. It’s a great local bookstore right in downtown Annapolis:

So now it’s day three and our Pelagic is scheduled for delivery at the Annapolis Harbormaster’s office by noon. Then, a message popped up saying it had been delayed until the next day. Wait! What? We called FedEx and they said they had tried to deliver the package but the office was closed for the Juneteenth holiday. This was complete B.S. The dockmaster’s office is open every day. We knew they hadn’t tried to deliver it at all. Could we take an Uber to the Fed Ex distribution center to get it? No, they said. It was still on the truck. It would be delivered the next day. Grrrr.

Day four. The Pelagic is scheduled for delivery at the Annapolis Dockmaster’s office by noon. Then, a message popped up saying it had been delayed until the next day. WHAT???? We called FedEx and they said the driver couldn’t get to the Harbormaster’s office because the street was closed for the Juneteenth parade. This, again, was complete B.S. The street was GOING to close, but wasn’t closed when the Fed Ex delivery guy claimed he had tried to deliver it. AAAUUUGHHH!

By now our frustration was through the roof. We had been fighting the weather for six weeks trying to get back to Connecticut. We had paid several hundred dollars for overnight delivery of our Pelagic which had now failed to be delivered for two consecutive days. And after day five (assuming the Pelagic showed up), our weather window was slamming shut again. Fuck. This. Shit. We were angry. We were frustrated. We were done. We were throwing in the towel and going to spend the summer in Cambridge, MD instead (where we spent Covid summer.)

Once the decision was made, we relaxed for the first time in six weeks. We booked a slip for the summer at Cambridge’s Municipal Marina, waited out some weather, and motored across the bay with our new Pelagic (which was working – yay!) to our slip.

As we left Annapolis to head to Cambridge, we were passed by Aphrodite which is well known to boaters in Southern New England. We wouldn’t be seeing her in Connecticut during the summer, so it was nice get a last glimpse of her again. Lucky captain.

The new Pelagic – hopefully the third one will be the charm:

Big Red gave us all he had.

We spent a relaxing, wonderful eight nights in Beaufort before setting sail again for Isle of Hope. We hit all of our favorite spots, took care of a few small boat projects, and soaked up the energy of being in our favorite place.

Our classic charcuterie board to celebrate arriving in Beaufort. SV Infinity has named it a “Peguterie board.”

It’s not a stop in Beaufort without getting tomato pie from Low Country Produce. We were trying to remember how we learned about it and decided it must have been somewhere on the internet. All I know is that we’ve had one every time we’ve stopped here since we started cruising back in 2018.

It just doesn’t get any better than this.

It seems like whenever we’re in Beaufort, we always see a few classic cars parked downtown:

This was our second Thanksgiving in a row in Beaufort. There’s a Publix only a 15 minute walk away from the dinghy dock where we once again were able to buy the fixings for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner:

And proof that Beaufort just keeps getting better and better, there’s a Waffle House just down the street from the Publix! Yes! One chocolate chip waffle and hash browns scattered, smothered, diced, and capped please!

Finally it was time to reluctantly leave and head towards Isle of Hope to get the engine replaced. Once again, the weather gods were smiling on us. All week in Beaufort there either hadn’t been wind or it was in the wrong direction. But on departure day we had good wind for an easy sail to our anchorage at Bull Creek.

I think people must feed this pelican at the Bull Creek anchorage. He flew down, landed right by us, and hung around for awhile. We’ve never had that happen before. The different color gradations in his feathers was very cool to see up close.

All good things must come to an end, however, which it did on our last travel day. It was cold, rainy, and raw, and there was no wind. With the dinghy side-tied, the two-stroke Yamaha did a great job of pushing us along. Of course with only 4 hp, we were occasionally making 2 knots against the current, but at least we were moving. I don’t think the 2.3 Honda four-stroke could have pulled it off.

Ever since Georgetown we have been using the engine for only a few minutes a day. We’ve primarily used it to raise and lower the anchor, and then once to get in and out of the marina at Charleston. As we approached Isle of Hope Marina, where we were thankfully going to be on a face dock, we discussed our strategy.

The dinghy was side-tied on the wrong side of the boat for the face dock, so we were going to start the engine a few minutes away and move the dinghy so we could tow it behind us. We had very light wind and a current against us.

We started the engine and within a minute it started sounding even worse than it had been. Then there was a squeaking sound and it stopped running. We quickly scrambled to move the dinghy from the stern to the port side while I tried to eek out any forward movement with the jib. It was a hectic minute or two, but Jeff leaped into the dinghy, started the outboard, and we limped into the face dock without any trouble.

Big Red had clearly given us all he had. He lasted long enough to get us out of the marina in Charleston without colliding with any boats. He lasted long enough so that Jeff didn’t have to raise the chain and anchor by hand. And once Big Red saw that we were within spitting distance of our final destination, he gave up the ghost. RIP Big Red.

Next up: Son of Big Red gets welcomed into his new home, Pegu Club.

A successful sail down the ICW to Beaufort, SC.

Our trip from Charleston to Beaufort could not have gone better. Well, aside from the one moment when we almost ran aground at high tide while waiting for the Wappoo bridge to open. But no harm, no foul.

We used the engine to raise the anchor from the spot where we were anchored in Charleston and then sailed across the harbor. Trying to time it so that we didn’t have to wait too long for the bridge, we made it with ten minutes to spare.

As we waited we had the sails down and tried to stay in place with the dinghy side-tied to Pegu Club. We noticed a tad too late that the current was pushing us to the side, so we had to turn on Big Red to save us from being stuck in the mud (which at high tide would have been far from ideal), but all was well and we had learned another lesson.

Jeff in position, waiting on the Wappoo Bridge.

Our friends on SV Rosa del Viento had passed us with a hearty wave on their way to the bridge, so we hailed them on the VHF for a report on Elliott Cut. They said there was still some current pushing them along, so we breathed a big sigh of relief and made it through that short stretch with no issues.

The sails went up as we popped out onto the Stono River, and the rest of the day was uneventful. We had anywhere from 5 to 20+ knots of wind, and Pegu easily sailed along. At one point we were doing 9+ knots speed over ground with the current! If we hadn’t been towing the dinghy, we figured we would have hit 10 knots. It was a blast, and we were saying that for future trips we really should try to sail more.

Trying to take full advantage of the current, we anchored at a new-to-us spot that evening, about an hour past Church Creek which is our usual anchorage. It turned out the charts for the new-to-us anchorage were incorrect, and we had much less depth than we anticipated.

When we dropped the anchor the depth was fine, but by the time the chain was out and the boat had settled in position, we knew we were going to end up in the mud at low tide – a difference of 6 feet from what was charted. Normally we would have reanchored, but again, we were trying to use the engine as little as possible. But no worries. It was only mud, and we knew the tide would be rising when we left the next morning.

Sure enough, we settled into the mud overnight, but we had a whopping 1 foot under the keel when we raised the anchor in the morning (with the tide continuing to rise), so all was well. What followed was another uneventful day, sailing until the wind dropped off that afternoon, and motoring with the dinghy the rest of the way to our happy place – Beaufort, SC. Even though we were in the mud the previous night, we were glad we had stopped there because we arrived in Beaufort just after sunset. If we had stopped in Church Creek, it would definitely have been dark.

In hindsight, we are SO glad that we bought the new Yamaha outboard when we were in the Bahamas last winter. As a 4 hp two-stroke, it has much more oomph than our old Honda 2.3 four-stroke. Honestly, we don’t think we would have been able to push Pegu Club against the current with the Honda. Not to mention the Honda’s internal fuel tank is less than 1/2 gallon and there’s no way to accommodate an external tank. We definitely would have had to refill the tank underway which would not have been easy. The Yamaha has a 3 gallon external tank and an almost 1-gallon internal tank, so we had plenty to get us through the afternoon.

So now what? We are spending the week in our regular anchorage in Factory Creek and enjoying our stop in Beaufort. Tomato pie is on the agenda, and we’ll be making a full Thanksgiving dinner courtesy of Publix. Coincidentally, this is where we spent Thanksgiving last year.

On Saturday we’re going to head towards Savannah, and with a bit of luck we’ll be able to sail a chunk of it. Sunday we’ll arrive at Isle of Hope Marina near Thunderbolt, and Monday the engine work begins. So far we have been nothing but extremely impressed with the communication and assistance we’ve received from WW Williams. A very good sign indeed. With a bit of luck, we’ll be heading towards Vero in a few more weeks.

I’ll be sure to post updates as the process continues!

Moving on to Eleuthera.

Our plan for this season is to move to the Exumas via the Abacos and Eleuthera as quickly as the weather and circumstances allow. It’s simply warmer in the Exumas. Later in the spring as we head back north we’ll dawdle in Eleuthera and the Abacos, and we may also explore a bit farther afield in the interim.

Regular readers may remember that our first year in the Bahamas we checked in at Green Turtle and followed the same path, having a great time and sailing most of the way. Last year (our second year) we made the mistake of going to the Bahamas via Bimini, promptly got pinned down for a week due to weather, then had several days of lousy, crappy, constant motoring into headwinds until we finally landed at Staniel Cay in the Exumas.

This year we decided to switch back to year one’s route, and we can definitely say it’s the only way we’ll do it from now on. Since arriving at Green Turtle it has been almost nothing but sailing. The angle is simply better with the prevailing winds, and as an added bonus there are more places to stop along the way.

Continue reading “Moving on to Eleuthera.” →

Maiden Voyage

The forecast was mixed for the weekend, but Saturday looked like it would be a great day. Temps would be in the 60’s with bright sunshine and moderate winds – perfect conditions for our first sail on Pegu Club. As an added bonus, we were going to be joined by Jeff’s good friend Jeff O. Jeff O. was the person who introduced Jeff to sailing when they were growing up, and we were psyched to have him along on our maiden voyage. Continue reading “Maiden Voyage” →