November 25/2007
Hello to all our dear friends and family,
We are in a beautiful anchorage in north Lake
Worth. Hopefully on Tuesday we will cross to
the Bahamas, weather predicts 10-15 k winds from
the south/east and seas less than 2 feet.
Our learning curve is steep and seems to go on
forever, but we are having lots of fun and
adventures.
Crossing Lake Ontario was the first leg of our
adventure. We went from APSC to Oswego, took
about 23 hours. It was important for us to
experience an overnight crossing to prepare us
for the outside run from New York to Cape May
later on.
Night sailing was fabulous, the stars amazing,
the sound of the bow breaking through the waves
with the darkness all around was incredible.
We had quite a bit more wind and wave height
than was forecast but still managed ok. We
vowed next time we planned for a night voyage we
would start with a reefed main regardless of
light wind forecasts.
Second leg of journey was the Locks!
For the first couple locks I’m sure we
entertained the lock master with our outstanding
abilities. We learned to pull on the bow lines
to keep the boat off the lock walls, but not too
hard lest you drive the other end in toward the
wall….we learned to put our rubber gloves on
before we had to fend off that squzzy wall
face…we learned to yell quietly for fear of
being forbidden to continue to the next
lock…just kidding…sort of.
By the time we locked through our last lock at
Troy on the Hudson River we were competent,
efficient and quiet “lockers”! Oh yah I just
remembered my reaction when we came into the
Troy lock…Big sign says “
"TEST YOUR REVERSE
BEFORE ENTERING LOCK"”
,- poor Ernie, I think
those two tiny words “slow down” have lost their
importance simply from overuse.
The mast came down at the Oswego Marina and back
up on Wed Sept. 26th at the Riverview Marina on
the Hudson. It was wonderful to have the boat
back together but the cat was disappointed
because she lost her sun shade on the deck
We continued down the Hudson to New York City. 
As we were admiring the city buildings the GPS
went down, we had paper charts so we were ok,
but lesson learned, always have paper charts of
some sort available. Actually the GPS went down
in Norfolk, Virginia and Cumberland Sound,
Georgia which are both military bases.
Submarines were also a highlight. In Norfolk a
military boat complete with machine guns sped up
to us and told us to leave the channel and stay
500 yards from the submarine which was coming up
fast from behind. In Georgia the submarine was
absolutely huge. There were several men
standing on the submarine as it was going by us,
very cool!
Next leg was the outside run. We went out on
the ocean at New York and had 5 to 15 k wind and
seas about 2 to 3 feet. Lovely overnight sail to
Cape May took about 22 hours.
Next leg of journey was up the Delaware Bay,
through the C & D canal and down the Chesapeake
Bay into Norfolk Virginia which is the beginning
of the ICW.
Weather was warm and sunny for most of the trip
and we met many friendly boaters and local
peoples. Unfortunately we rushed through most
of these places because we wanted to get to
Florida and across the Gulf Stream before the
winter weather systems.
We did enjoy a couple days sightseeing, checking
out the markets and visiting in Cape May, Great
Bridge, Beaufort NC, Georgetown and Kilkenny.
Another leg of our trip was a lay up of almost 2
weeks at the Seven Seas Marina in Daytona Beach.
Ernie cut a hole in the rudder in order to
replace the bent prop shaft and worn cutlass
bearing. He also installed a DYNA plate to
improve SSB radio and replaced a gasket on the
engine to fix an oil leak He also knocked off
a few other jobs on the “list” as he was waiting
for parts. Again we met many wonderful and
generous people which made our time there
special.
We left the boat in a Marina at West Palm rented
a car and visited our family in Fort Myers for
US thanksgiving. We had a short but wonderful
visit.
And here we are sitting at anchor waiting for
weather to cross. We are having an adventurous,
exciting time together. We are getting to know
one another better and enjoy each new experience
together, always together…
Our Motto:
"THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN ORDEAL AND AN
ADVENTURE IS
ATTITUDE"
Take care everyone!
November 25/2007
Hello to all our dear friends and family,
We are in a beautiful anchorage in north Lake
Worth. Hopefully on Tuesday we will cross to
the Bahamas, weather predicts 10-15 k winds from
the south/east and seas less than 2 feet.
Our learning curve is steep and seems to go on
forever, but we are having lots of fun and
adventures.