14 - What? There is a Hurricane?

We had to leave Florida for insurance reasons during hurricane season.  What happened and why was a hurricane heading our way?  We had already made plans to dock the boat in a marina up a creek in Deale, MD so that Pedro could fly out for business.  MaryAnn was going to be "stuck" on the boat for a few days by herself, with no baby sitter or chaperone but she wasn't planning on also dealing with a hurricane.  Little did she know!  Turns out it wasn't much of an event for us.  The water level in the creek did get above the docks a couple of times but she was still able to get on and off the boat.  Dock power was turned off a couple of times but with the wind generator and solar system the batteries where able to maintain their charge.



The marina was really nice and it included a pool with free beer Friday, bathroom and laundry facilities, bikes, kayaks, and a fat cat named Bob.

We did get a rental car when we got in town and made a trip to Annapolis and Washington DC before Pedro had to fly away.  On our way to Annapolis, we found a great crab house for lunch.  Great soft shell crab sandwiches and cold beer!! We drove into Annapolis and it started raining so we rode around town and got caught in traffic for the Navel Academy football game that was setting up for tailgating.  We found a local boating surplus/sail loft.  We bought a new quad directional wind scoop to be used next time we find ourselves in an area where the current is pulling us one way and the wind the other  As we are looking to add an asymmetrical spinnaker to the boat , we spent some time talking to the guy about what we need.  We were sent home with homework to do via taking measurements so we can get one made.  It was a good day.

The next day we went to DC where we  visited the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and Science.  Pedro had never been there and MaryAnn's last visit was about 40 years ago.  It's really an impressive collection and we spent a few hours going through it all.  Last time we were in DC, we found a restaurant called Ollie's Trolley but we'd just eaten so we didn't get to stop.  This time, we decided to try it to see how it compared to the only other one we know of that's in Louisville.  It had the same seasoning on the fries but the sauce for the burger was different.  We enjoyed it immensely but it wasn't the same.



While  Pedro was busy working in Topeka, KS,  MaryAnn took one day to explore Baltimore and another checking out the National Zoo in DC.   She also managed to explore Deale via bicycle (that took about 5 minutes) and spent considerable time making sure that Bob (the rather fat cat at the marina) was getting the attention he deserved.  We never even got to use the kayaks because the creek was so high but the pool, bikes and laundry all got considerable use.




(This is not Bob, the cat at the marina)

Oh, yeah, Pedro's business trip to Topeka, KS was success.

We were also excited to meet Dale and Gale who started the Cabo Rico owners Facebook page and are the proud owners of a 56 foot Cabo Rico named "Quetzal" (we even got to meet the owners of his previous boat a 38 foot Cabo Rico).  Their boat is currently on the hard in the boat yard right across from us so we had them over to our boat for happy hour and then the next day, we invited ourselves over to tour their boat.  It's absolutely gorgeous and huge!

Dale gave us a list of places to visit in this area so, after captain and crew were all back on the boat, we headed out the next morning.  We found a great quiet anchorage and sat for a couple of days just decompressing and waiting on the rain to blow through. 



First on his list was St. Michael's, MD.  We moved the boat further up the San Domingo creek  (less than an hour motor from our last spot) and found an anchorage.  We dropped the dinghy in and took it to town.  What an adorable town!  It's very similar to the New England towns we'd gotten used to seeing and will you believe it, they have a brewery.  We decided that that would be a great spot to update the blog so here we are.

From here, we were planning to go to Oriental, NC where we have a boat slip that we bought years ago but have never visited by boat and then on to Charleston, SC.  But Oriental and the outer/inter banks got a pretty direct hit from Hurricane Florence so we decided that wouldn't be our best option at this time.  Dale told about a group that is taking off from Norfolk, VA area and some boats are going to Bermuda and some to Antigua.  We are now thinking that we'll join one of those groups.   

 

 
(Our slip in Oriental is just two more to the right of this boat!)

Until next post!

13 - Zip, Pop and Splash!

Zip, Pop, Splash and We Were Robbed in New York Waters!

Zip is the sound the fishing drag reel makes when a large fish hits your trolling bait.  Pop is the sound of your fishing pole holder falling apart and separating from the boat.  Splash is the sound of your fishing pole and holder hitting the water.  I know I saw a large fin (at least six inches) sticking up out of the water and the fish was smiling.  Of course, I know he/she now has a fishing hook ($15 lure) in his/her mouth along with several yards of 30 lb. test fishing line and a ($200) fishing reel and rod hanging from it all.  Talk about dragging around a ball and chain. 

This is what the fishing pole holder is supposed to look like (this is the other side), but it's missing all of the long cylinder portion (just ripped it off).

This happened during our sail from Nantucket, MA to Cape May, NJ.  A total of 254 miles straight across the Atlantic that we covered in 52 hours.  We left Nantucket early Saturday morning as opposed to our initial planned departure of Friday due to a small craft advisory that was calling for 25 knot winds and 5 to 7 ft. seas.  We don't really mind the wind, but with 5 to 7 ft. seas, it can get uncomfortable.  So, we waited until 6:30am Saturday morning to pull up the anchor and head out.

Sailing was great for the first several hours.  The east wind was only about 10 knots and being inside between the islands provided us with some protection from large waves.  We sailed north out of Nantucket then sailed west towards Martha's Vineyard and then south just off shore of Chappaquiddick.  Once out in the Atlantic we sailed pretty much down wind on a heading of 250 degrees with 10 knots of wind and 2 to 3 ft. seas.  We maintained this heading for the next 52 hours.

The wind, for the most part, maintained speed and direction however, we found that during some of the night and early mornings we needed to motor in order to keep the boat moving above 2.5knts.  The last 10 hours the wind died completely and we had to motor into Cape May.

We pulled into Cape May, NJ around 10:30 Monday morning.  We picked the boat up, put things away, took a shower and headed to town.  We walked from the marina into town (about 2 miles), saw the mall and tourist trap area, stopped for a local beer (Gary just couldn't pass that one up) and headed back to the marina district to a restaurant we found on yelp.  We were just going to grab a table and eat in but once we saw the line for a table and their view we decided to take carry out and head back to the boat where the view was decidedly better .  We had a great dinner of local steamed claims, fried Calamari and Lobster Bisque.  Along with some white wine and a sunset we were in heaven!!!

The following morning we pulled anchor and again, due to the lack of wind, had to motor out and around into Delaware Bay and up the Delaware river.  We followed a few sail boats out of Cape May including Pearl whom we first saw in Newport, RI and Our Latitude whom we'd just met at the dinghy dock in Cape May,  We all motored up the river towards the C&D canal.  From there, we dropped anchor in the river just outside the entrance of the canal.  One boat told us that they'd found a marinas inside the canal for the night and we lost track of the other.

Well, we all ended up in Chesapeake City, MA (this is the last city you'll find on the C&D Canal)  at their city dock.  We had Pearl in front of us and Our Latitude we invited to raft up next to us.  This is such a great little town and everyone was so friendly.  They offer their town docks for free and only ask that you pay for electric or water hook-up if you use it.  Since it was so much hotter there than we'd experienced in New England and there was no wind, we gladly paid the nominal fee and hooked up so we could run the A/C.  It was also fabulous to give the boat a much needed bath inside and out. 

We walked the town and had a great lunch (amazing soft shell crab sandwich) at the local marina bar/restaurant.  We then joined our new friends (Bruce and Gayleen on Pearl are from Boston but winter in Ft. Pierce and Steve and Pat on Our Latitude are from Montreal but are also heading to Florida for the winter) for happy hour at the nearby restaurant.  It was great getting to know them. 

After we left Chesapeake City, MD, we were officially in the Chesapeake Bay.  We decided to head to Rock Hall, MD on recommendations from the cruising guide as well as Bruce and Gayleen who've been cruising the Chesapeake for several years.  It's a quaint little town that also offers a free town dock.  They had electric available, but the boat that arrived before we did, took the only working 30 amp socket so we were out of luck.  Luckily, a storm front rolled in with no rain but fabulous wind to keep us cool all night.

The town of Rock Hall has a great shuttle service that they run.  For $1 each, they'll drive you to a destination or just around town.  We told him we were new to town so we got the grand tour (only took about 15 minutes) and then got dropped off in town.  We walked around and bought a few things at the grocery store (they had a local brew in cans and we were out of white wine).  MaryAnn was excited to see a posting for local free range eggs and we met the lady who sold them while we were walking around.  She agreed to deliver them to the boat so we bought 3 dozen (we were almost out of eggs anyway and these taste so much better than store bought).

The next morning we thought the wind was going to pick up so we took off early, topped off the fuel tanks and headed further south (just past Annapolis) to Deale, MD where we'd made reservations to keep the boat for a week or so while Gary flies out west on business.  We found a reasonably priced marina that had a pool, free bikes and kayaks to use.  We arrived, tied up the boat and immediately headed to the pool for free beer Friday.  After a day of little to no wind and fighting the incredibly vicious biting flies, the pool was amazing.   We're settling in nicely and looking forward to exploring the area here.

Until next post!

12 - Home of amazing yachts and island hoping!

We left Mystic and had a great sail up to Rhode Island.  We pulled into Dutch Island Harbor in Jamestown, RI.  We found a beautiful anchorage and settled in for the night.  The next morning, we took the dinghy into town where we walked to the public library for printing services.  It was a great little library and we were both able to get some “real work” related documents printed and mailed off.  Modern technology is a marvelous thing sometimes.  We then walked from the library to the local market where we bought a piece of fish for dinner and a fabulous looking piece of watermelon. 

The next morning, we pulled up anchor and motored through Narragansett bay towards Newport, RI.  We went past General Dynamics and Electric Boat Company.  These are manufactures of submarines.  We  were bummed that we didn’t see any of them being launched but it was still cool to see the factories. 

We could definitely tell as we got closer to Newport because the boats kept getting bigger and more exotic.  We dropped anchor in a pretty crowded anchorage and got the binoculars out.  Gorgeous boats of all size and shapes were the norm. 

 

 

 After awhile, we closed our sagging jaws and took the dinghy ashore.  We grabbed our backpacks and headed (the round about way so we could explore as it was raining the last time we were here) to the nearest liquor and grocery stores.  We found a great local beer and some additional wine (we weren’t out but it was right there) and stocked up on some fresh groceries.  Gary was excited to get a huge steak so we headed back to the boat to fire up the gill and open the wine.  We had a great night watching the 12 meter boats (these are the ones they used to race in the America’s Cup races before they switched to big catamaran's) sail through the anchorage right by us on their sunset cruises.  The gorgeous sunset and almost full moonrise, made the night even more perfect.  

Alas, it was time to leave and we had an amazing sail over to Cuttyhunk, MA.  This is a small island (says there are 50 permanent residents) in what they refer to as the Elizabeth Islands just off the coast of Massachusetts.  It is the favorite sailing destination of some of our friends so we had to check it out.  Its an adorable little town with super friendly people.  We walked up to an overlook where we had a great unobstructed view of the entire island and could even see the mainland as well as Martha’s Vineyard.  We even got a picture of WSW in the bay down below. 

 On our way back to town, we passed the local grocery store (no we didn’t need anything but….) where we found some yummy homemade muffins we had to get to accompany our coffee drinks and beach walk for the next day.

As we were heading back to WSW, we spotted another 42 Cabo Rico.  We’d seen then in Watch Hill, RI but weren’t able to connect with them.  We took the dinghy over and they were on the boat!  For those of you who don’t know, there were actually only 16 of our boat's model and size made so spotting another is pretty cool! We were so excited to talk to them.  The name of the boat is Mahi Mahi.  They hail from Quebec and the boat is hull #10.  They have also been sailing all around this area and plan to ship their boat to the Mediterranean next year.  Maybe we’ll see them there.

After our coffee drinks, muffins and beach walk, we pulled up the anchor and motor sailed (not much wind) over to Martha’s Vineyard.   We dropped anchor just outside the harbor and took the dinghy into the Edgartown (recommended by our fellow Cabo Rico sailors and our friend Doug).  What an adorable town.  We discovered that they had two breweries on the island and one was within walking distance.  We had to check it out!  The next day we decided to rent bikes so we could see more of the island.  We rode to Oak Bluffs, Vineyard Haven and Tisbury (a total of about 15 miles after we also rode through Edgartown).  Great bikes trails all throughout the island and moderate (for the most part) hills, made it the perfect way to see the island.  We arrived at the second brewery in Oak Bluffs too early so we decided to skip it.  We bought some amazing lobster bisque to take back to the boat so we could relax after our days excursions.

 

 

 

The next morning, we had favorable winds so we decided to head over to Nantucket.  Again, we found an anchorage just outside of town and took the dinghy ashore.  It really is amazing how different (I know we keep saying it but it's true) each of these towns are.  Nantucket seems to be older with it's cobblestone streets and definitely older buildings in town.  There also seem to a lot more locals or at least more returning seasonal visitors.  It's an adorable quaint town.  Our first day here we discovered that they had a courtesy shuttle to the Cisco Brewery (the local brewery) so we had to check it out.  Afterward, we decided to take the dingy over to explore the beaches.  The sand was described as brown sugar and it's a perfect description.   The smooth rocks that are so flat they look like they were sliced from larger ones were also very unique. 

The next day we decided to rent bikes and head over to an area called Siasconset (known as Sconset to all the locals).  This is an even more quaint little area. The houses right inside town and small but absolutely adorable.  Just outside of town are some fabulous and really large houses that sit on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic.  Breathtaking views.   Again,  they have great bike paths throughout the island that makes the ride even more fun.  We were both amused to see the second lemonade stand (the first one was on Martha's Vineyard) and had to stop at this one for some cold lemonade and to visit with her cat.  We even saw one of the two cranberry bogs on the island.

 

We've now decided that it's time to start heading back south (we think it's getting cold but everyone up here thinks it's perfect).  The plan is to leave here and make the 2-3 day run to Delaware Bay and then into the Chesapeake Bay. 

Until next post!

11 - Mystic and roadtrips!!!

We pulled into Mystic about a week ago and took advantage of the cloudy day to get caught up on laundry and explore the town.  Back at the marina, we  met some great people and asked for a restaurant location. We enjoyed talking to Lorna and Frank so much, we asked them to join us for dinner and had an amazing time.  The next morning we rented a car for the week and we took off in the direction of Newport, RI.  We thought going by car would be the most practical way of exploring Newport (or at least economic as the rates for marina slips in the area were triple or more of what we'd been paying).   If you're a sailor and especially an America's Cup fan, Newport is somewhere you have to go to at least pay homage.  On the way, we found a quaint little area with a fishing village near Point Judith and Narragansett, RI where we stopped for lunch of fish sandwich and clams.  Yummy!

We found Newport and were grateful that we'd brought along our rain gear as it went from misting to outright raining.  No problem!  We just donned our jackets and splashed in the puddles.  At least the crowds were slightly diminished.  The downtown area is filled with shops selling everything you can think of, really neat very old houses and boats of all sizes and shapes.  It really is a great town.  We'd been told by several people that the "Cliff Walk" is a not to be missed experience while in Newport, so despite the weather, we thought we'd check it out.  It's gorgeous! 

 

As the name suggests, it is a walkway built on a cliff above the rocky shores where the Newport Mansions of yesteryear were built.  The mansions are amazing (there are a lot of places where the hedges are so high that you can't really see the houses but it's still breathtaking).  We walked about 1/2 of the walk so about a mile and a half one way.  It was raining pretty hard at this point so we turned around and headed back to the car and back to Mystic.

 

The next morning, Gary had to fly out to Topeka, KS for a client so MaryAnn flew in her friend Chris to "babysit" her for the week.

 

With the boy away, the girls took off for a road trip.  First they drove to Boston where they spent about 24 hours sightseeing and eating their way through the city.  Boston is an interesting and very historical city.  The girls were proud of themselves for navigating the subway system without Gary and were able to sample many of the city's sights and the ethnic neighborhoods.  Despite her best efforts, however, MaryAnn was disappointed to find that she still was still too, uh, tall for the downtown Boston carousel.

  

 

 

The girls then started a road trip back towards Mystic by following the coast line and stopping in every small town or beach side village they could find.  What an amazing area filled with beautiful old houses and just really pretty scenery. They found Plymouth MA and the famed Plymouth Rock.  To make sure that Gary wasn't left out, they scoured the beach to find him a Plymouth rock of his own.

 

 

  

In New Bedford, MA they discovered a monument to Joshua Slocum.  Slocum, rebuilt a 36 foot sloop and he was the first man to solo circumnavigate in 1898.  We've read his book and a couple of others about him so it was neat to see waters that he too had sailed in.

 

 

Next, the girls stopped back in Newport, RI to complete the remainder of the cliff walk that we didn't see (the last section is much rougher terrain -literally rock climbing at some points - and I certainly wouldn't recommend it in foul weather).  There is even a tunnel to go under the rock at one point.

 

 

 

 After 2 days on the road, they made their way back to Mystic.  After walking through town and finding a great restaurant in Noank, CT for lunch, the girls decided to put the dinghy in the water and explore Mystic more by water. 

 

 

Chris has relatives in Mystic who own the most adorable children's clothing store called the Blue Rocking Horse in downtown Mystic (right beside the draw bridge).  That evening the girls were invited over for a fabulous kabob dinner that included local caught monk fish (one of MaryAnn's favorites), swordfish and shrimp.  Absolutely delicious!!! 

 

Their son who lives next door has a dog named Eric.  MaryAnn immediately fell in love with him and had to come back the next day to take him on a walk.  Luckily, he was a little too big to fit in her backpack or he might be sailing with us.

 

 

 

 Well, as it always does, time flies when you are having too much fun and it was already time for Chris to head back to Orlando and Gary to come back to the boat.  We had the rental car for one more day so we found the Defender boat supply store  (again with the boat repairs in exotic places) only a few miles away and then stocked up on some more groceries and supplies.  We met Frank and Lorna for one last dinner in Mystic and exchanged promises to keep in touch. 

 

Today, we got all of our laundry done and everything loaded back onto the boat so we can take off in the morning.  Next stop will probably be a Newport, RI area called Dutch Harbor.  

 

Until next post!