We are back!

We are back! After getting successfully through the winds and squalls in Green Turtle Cay, we dropped the mooring on Sat. morning and left to sail to Great Sale Cay and wait to leave for States on Monday.  After arriving we decided to leave along with another boat on Sunday afternoon instead. This was a poor choice. We should have gone with our original plan.

The winds were light  at first so we motor sailed up past Mantinilla Shoal and out into the Atlantic after dark on Sunday night where we had a bumpy ride in large swells with shifting wind direction all night long keeping us from getting much sleep at all. Monday the wind was again light and we finally decided to motor due west to the Gulf Stream in hopes of getting some assistance from the current. Well that worked and we motor sailed at over 8 kts the rest of the day and through the night until on Tuesday about 5 a.m. we exited the Gulf Stream to turn toward Charleston. The winds were pretty much non existent at that point and without the current to help we just slowly motored north. It made for a slow go. 

The good new was that with such a flat and quiet sea we both could catch up on some much needed sleep. The best part was we had 3 different groups of dolphins meet up with us and swim along in Spunky's bow waves for quite some time welcoming us back. The first group had about 4 or 5 large dolphins and the second and third groups were smaller but each had 7. They would gather at the bow and swim along side Spunky just under the surface and then come out of the water and swim off to the side. They are so graceful and keep pace so effortlessly.  We also saw 6 huge sea turtles swimming past.

 The bad news was that without wind it took us til after 11:00 pm to reach the harbor entrance in Charleston and we did not reach our anchorage until midnight. We were both exhausted and it was challenging to find a spot to drop the anchor in the dark. 

This morning we moved into Charleston City Marina and filled fuel and water tanks and washed all the salt off Spunky. We are trying to take it a little easy. We have heard from another boat that the ICW is quite shallow in spots north of Charleston. We had planned to take off Friday and go up the ICW to avoid the 30 kt. winds forecast off shore for Thursday and Friday. Now we are not sure what we will do. We will have to try to get through the shallow areas at mid to high tide and timing that can be iffy. Then we must go outside again at Winyah Bay or Cape Fear to bypass a bridge at Snow's Cut which is being worked on so that we can no longer fit under it. We will sail overnight and come back inside at Beaufort, NC and then stay on the ICW the rest of the way back.

Things are never easy. However the weather today here is beautiful and warm. We are hopeful that Spring has indeed arrived and we shall be back in the Chesapeake soon. 

Look forward to hearing from everyone on your springtime/summer plans.

E and J

Back in the USA

We are now in Charlestown, SC.  We sailed 400 miles from Great Sale in the Bahamas directly here.  Our timing wasn't good and we arrived here in the middle of the night.  We did great riding the Gulf Stream at over 8 knots.  When we left it there was no wind and we motored the last 24 hours.  I have never seen the ocean so flat.  We had lots of dolphins swim along with us and also saw some giant sea turtles.  It was very pleasant but boring and slow.  I finally took down the main sail and never bothered to turn off the auto pilot or turn the boat.  

Hope you have a wonderful week.  Our phones are now working and we get regular internet almost anytime we want.  I think it will be Netflex tonight. 

Monday is the day

Hey gang,

Happy Groundhog day.

It looks like Monday will be the day we leave, we think.  We plan to leave mid day and sail overnight and arrive in Nassau Tuesday afternoon.  We will make a final check of weather Monday morning to be sure but it looks pretty good.  I don't think there will be much wind so we will probably motor most of the way.  

We are hoping to spend enough time in Nassau to do our laundry and get some conch salad from under the bridge.  When we leave the states, we will put our phones on vacation.  I live by my smart phone.  It's hard to believe there was a time when I couldn't call or check email at will. We will activate our Bahamian phone so we can reach the states.  Our wifi will be much more intermittent.  We will check in from Nassau but many of the islands (cays) where we stop do not have wifi.  

Yesterday we commissioned our new water maker.  We were excited to drink our first toast.  We will be much cleaner in both body and boat this year.  It makes 20 gallons an hour.  In the Bahamas you have to pay for water in most places.  Normally we would take our 6 gallon tanks in the dingy to a dock where we would pay as much as 50 cents a gallon.  We would then bring them back to the boat and pour them into the tanks.  A gallon of water weighs 8.34 lbs and lifting a 50 gallon can is an effort. 

Have a wonderful weekend and go San Francisco.

John & Elyse 

Spunky Moving South

John has sent out a couple of short updates but he sends to a somewhat different list than I so I will send mine as well and apologize for any duplication. 

We left Stuart, FL on Thursday morning and had an uneventful motor trip down the ICW to Lake Worth Inlet where we went out onto the Atlantic about 4:30 p.m. and set course for Miami. Shortly before going through the inlet our autohelm started to act up. As we sailed south from the inlet the autohelm stopped steering a course so we turned it off and began to hand steer. We sailed for a few hours but the wind died down and with the waves behind us it became difficult to hand steer so we turned on the engine for the remainder of the trip. It was an easy trip. It was very pretty watching the shore lights as we went by. We shortened our watches as we were hand steering and arrived outside of Government Cut in Miami by 6 a.m. We slowed down and waited for two huge cruise ships to enter the cut and then followed them in. With the ships docking in the channel, the marine police close it to recreation traffic and we took a left and came in by Fisherman's Channel. We had anchor down by 7;30 a.m. in our anchorage just south of Belle Island right off South Beach. It is so pretty here with interestingly designed condos lining Biscayne Bay.  We spent the day napping and trying to decide what to do about the autohelm. We called a contractor to try to get an idea of repair cost and it had the potential to be huge. We would have to go into a marina and have the contractor test the compass. If it was working they would suspect the control computer which would have to be sent back to Ray Marine for repair or totally replaced. After adding up medical bills, boat insurance and potential repairs it was clear our cruising kitty would be gone. 

Saturday our friends whom we met in Stuart, Rick and Chris on One With The Wind, arrived in the anchorage and we took them into South Beach to show them the Publix, Ace Hardware and Lincoln Mall which a wonderful outdoor mall-actually a main street that has been closed to traffic with shops and restaurants. We walked all the way down to the Beach listening to all the voices speaking many languages and watching all the interesting people. At night we watch the lights.

Sunday Rick came over to Spunky to help troubleshoot the autohelm. He spent about 3 hours moving our compass location and cleaning wire attachments. We took Spunky out that afternoon to check the results and still did not have success. John and I then disconnected the compass once again and checked the resistance between the wires and put things back together again. 

Monday we once again took Spunky out to try to calibrate the autohelm which requires going around in circles a full 360 degrees 2 to 3 times until the autohelm senses what it requires to steer our boat. Success !!! we think. It seemed to hold a course so we returned to our anchorage. 

John thinks we are set. I am hopeful. Now we will enjoy South Beach find a laundry and await a weather window that will allow us ample time to cross the Gulf Stream and arrive in Nassau. 

The weather here is lovely. Temps in the high 70's and low 80's. We hope that 2013 is beginning well for all of you.

Elyse and John

sv/Spunky

Sweating in Miami

We are enjoying our stay in Miami waiting for weather.  Thanks to my new best friend Ric, on One with the Wind, our auto pilot is now working. He spent yesterday morning cleaning terminals and relocating the compass.  This morning Elyse and I calibrated the auto pilot and adjusted the deviation.  He saved us a bunch of $'s and time.  We are now just waiting for a good weather window.  We are hopeful it will come next week.  There is a short window tomorrow but we are going to wait for a little longer window.

South Beach is a great place to spend some time anyway.  We may watch the Super Bown there.  We are rooting for Elye's  49ers.  Hope you have a good week.

John & Elyse on Spunky

Miami

Hey gang,

We arrived in Miami at the crack of dawn on Friday after sailing (motoring mostly) overnight from Stuart.  We had some problems with our auto pilot and will see about getting it resolved.  We have a nice breeze this morning and we are told it will be 81 degrees.  We had a couple we met in Stuart over for a drink last night and showed them some of South Beach today.  He is coming over tomorrow to look at our auto pilot.  I am hopeful I will only need a new compass.

It was great walking down the Lincoln Mall today.  It's not your typical mall.  The closed about 7 blocks of Lincoln Ave and put in fountains and restaurants, etc.  While in Publics today we ran into a young man we met last year in St Mary's, GA.  He is single handing his way down to the Florida Keys.

As soon as the auto pilot is fixed and we get a good weather window we will head to Nassau.  It looks like the wind will be out of the North East for the next several days.  We need to wind to be out of the south to cross the Gulf Stream.  

As my friend Ed Kelly says, I hope this is a great week for you.

John & Elyse  

Update from Stuart

Dear Friends

I have included a photo of the mooring field where we have been living for the last month.  It's the Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart.  It is a great place with a nice downtown.  The marina has a lot of services including free bicycles and a bus that takes us to many places like grocery and marine stores.  We have met some great people.  We are having dinner tonight with some Canadians we met last year.

As of the 20th I am cleared to do what ever I want.  Elyse has kept me busy.  Yesterday we changed the fuel filters and today we took the boat in and filled our fuel and water tanks.  Our current plan is to leave here on Thursday and go off shore at Lakeworth, FL and sail overnight to Miami.  It is also a great place.  The grocery and South Beach are a short dingy ride away from where we will anchor.  We will wait there until we get a good weather window.  That means that the waves in the Gulf Stream are under 3 feet and the wind will hopefully enable us to sail.  We will sail from Miami overnight to Nassau.  From there we will work our way down the Exuma islands.  There are a lot of places we want to visit again and couple we missed last year we want to see. Places like Big Major where the wild pigs swim out to greet you when you dingy ashore.

The weather has been great in the 70's.  Today the wind is blowing pretty hard.  We hope it will die down before we dingy in for dinner.  We have settled into some routines.  Meeting people, doing boat chores and relaxing.  It is a nice life.  We hope your life is good as well.  As my friend Ed Kelly says, "I hope this is the greatest week of your life".

John &  Elyse on Spunky

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! It is 2013 and we are here in Stuart, FL. There is supposed to be a great weather window this week, the first week of the year, so many of the southward bound boats will be leaving the mooring field. We, of course, will remain as we are awaiting John's appointment with the surgeon on Jan. 4th.

We are enjoying being in one place for an extended period as it has allowed us to order some needed items on line and have them shipped to the marina. The weather has been lovely excect for a few days of high winds when a front passed through and the morning temps dipped below 50 degrees. The sunsets are beautiful and the dolphins play in the river. We don't think we could have found a better spot to be "stuck"  for 6 weeks.

We are trying to take advantage of some of the opportunities here in Stuart so we went to see Paula Poundstone perform at the Lyric Theater. She was very funny. The theater gets some very good acts and it not anywhere near the cost of the DC area. We are buying our vegetables at a small local market within walking distance of the marina that carries local produce and products and we rented a car to take to Melbourne for John's appt. and used it to go to a movie, Les Miserables. In the evenings we watch shows on Netflix and read a lot.

As for John's appt. with the surgeon, it went well. The doc said everything looked good and John could begin to lift things again slowly just not any major strain til 6 weeks. Once we get to Jan. 20 he can pretty much do what his body tells him is not painful. So we are relieved. We will remain here until then and try to decide if we want to go off shore again and risk another emergency. We will probably head down to Miami before the end of the month going outside the ICW at Lake Worth, FL and see how we do with raising the sails.

Today we will go into shore for a marina potluck and to watch the Redskins play Seattle.Life is good for us and we hope for all of you as well.

Elyse and John

Merry Christman

We spent three days in Vero on a mooring ball rafted up next to a beautiful Island Packet 45, Margarita, with a very nice couple, Bill and Margaret, who we really enjoyed. They were on their boat when we arrived and were able to assist in our rafting . They were waiting for a weather window to cross to the Bahamas. While in Vero we were able to visit with some friends from Annapolis who are heading south and also where able to take the free public bus into town to get a little shopping done. We can't do too much at one time since I am the only one who can currently carry any groceries back to Spunky.

Vero Beach has a mooring field off of the municipal marina in a very protected creek. They pretty much accommodate all boats by rafting (tying together) 2-3 boats on a ball. It is a nice place to stop with easy access to groceries and boat services. We enjoyed our stay but were anxious to get a mooring in Stuart where we planned to stay until John's doc appt. back in Melbourne on Jan 4. We were in touch with our friend Jage who lives on her boat in the Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart and was assisting us in getting an open mooring. They fill up quickly and do not raft boats so we needed to know when one came open so we could get there quickly. Jage suggested we come down and anchor across the river if none were available so we left Vero early Sunday morning and headed down the ICW with plans to arrive between 1 and 2 p.m. in Stuart. On our way we received a call from the marina that our name was next on the list and there was a ball available. On the way down our throttle cable stuck and would not let us accelerate past a certain point so we were a little bit slow in transit but arrived and attempted to pick up the empty ball. Usually John drives up to the mooring ball and I use a boat hook to grab it and attach it by line to Spunky. It is not usually a problem.  We proceeded as usual but as we approached the ball Spunky's momentum kept her going past the ball while I was holding on. I ended up flat on the deck holding on to the pennant as it floated past the bow toward the stern while trying to communicate with John that I needed help. We didn't have a hand signal for Help!! I finally let it go and we circled around for our second try. I was just on edge with all my new responsibilities and didn't handle things as well as I might have. The second time worked fine and we had a chuckle about our first try.

Stuart is a charming town on the St. Lucia River with a small downtown area with restaurants and shops within walking distance of the marina. We have enjoyed the potlucks and 'meet and greets' at the marina. Dec. 21 was a Christmas sing-a-long in the Marina lounge. We have used the marina shuttle to get to West Marine, Publix grocery store, and Walmart.It runs twice a week in the morning. Today we walked into the old downtown area and found the public bus stop which is a free service that goes to the big box stores out on Highway US 1.

It is Christmas Eve and we are back on Spunky fixing dinner and relaxing. Tomorrow will be a potluck dinner with the cruisers and marina inhabitants who are here for the holiday. We are thinking of all our family and friends and hoping everyone has a wonderful day. We are thrilled to have a new granddaughter, born on Dec. 21, Cora Elizabeth Solomon. Know that you all are all in our thoughts and our hearts.

Merry Christmas,
Elyse and John

Heading South

Hello to you.  It has been too long since I sent an update.  So long I have forgotten many of the shortcuts on the Mac.  I will work to do better.  I have added Elyse's updates which are always better written and entertaining.  If you like, you can read mine as the Reader's Digest version.

We are currently located in Stuart, FL.  It is one of our favorite stops along the way.  We are on a mooring and have all of the services of showers and laundry.  We met friends from last year when we were here and Elyse is off shopping with them now. We are back in cruising form.  Only wear shoes to go ashore and the long pants have been stored away.  We are dealing with bugs but that is a small sacrifice.

This past year we made a pledge to renew old friendships and contacts.  We rented a car in Annapolis and drove around and visited kids and grandkids who had not been able to visit us in DC.  We also saw my old VMI roommate, Larry Boese, and his wife.  Larry is a retired 3 star Air Force general.  I wish I had followed his lead in school.  We saw my old boss and close friend Ann Sarles in Memphis and saw friends in Panama City.  On the way back to Annapolis we spent the night with the Larkens in Columbia, SC

The Annapolis Harbor Boatyard again got Spunky ready to head south.  New bottom paint and polish.  Our big purchase this year was a water maker.  We are looking forward to an unlimited supply of fresh water while in the Bahamas.  We worked at the Boat Show again.  More work than money so we are trying to decide if we will return next year.  We spent time with lots of old friends and met some new ones.

We headed south around the first of November.  It was already getting much too cold.  We stopped in Solomon's Island and had trouble with the windlass which pulls the anchor and chain back on board.  They do not make our model any more and parts are getting hard to find.  We decided we would bite the bullet and go replace it and upgrade the size to handle our larger 73 lb anchor.  As we continued south, Hurricane Sandy was coming north.

We had promised to stop and see my old friend Renny Barnes in Fleets bay on the Chesapeake.  Renny and I grew up two blocks from each other from the time we were in 2nd grade.  He and his beautiful wife Lena built and incredible home on a point of land near White Stone, VA.  They had arranged for us to put Spunky at a friends dock because their water was too shallow.  At the same time we research and selected our new Maxwell windlass.  Sandy passed by and we adjusted lines and lived with two feet of water over the dock.  After passing it turned very cold.  We quickly accepted Lena's invitation to move into their warm home.  Through their contacts we selected a yard to help with the deck modifications that were needed.

We have seldom been better cared for.  It was great spending time with Renny and sharing old stories with Lena and Elyse.  Some of them may have even been true.  Because of the hurricane many businesses in the Northeast were closed.  It took longer than expected to get the windlass and I started filling out adoption papers and prepared to change our name to Barnes.  Friends went from it is so great for Renny to spend time with his old friend to, "they're still there?". We went to a neighbor's birthday party and the local Oyster Festival.

We moved to the Weldon Brothers Marina in Deltaville for the installation and they did a fantastic job at a great price.  As you will read, I am very happy we put in the new windlass.  Renny and Lena drove over and took us to dinner.

We had great weather with good wind behind us as we moved south.  We went through the Dismal Swamp that had been built by George Washington and dug by hand.  We stopped in Elizabeth City and spent a couple of nights with Don and Jean Pratt, another childhood friend.  At one point on the Nuess River we hit 9.5 knots of speed, motor sailing with just our genoa out.  For us that was very exciting.  We reached Hilton Head right after Thanksgiving.

We secured the boat in a marina and moved into a time share condo with Ann Sarles and another old friend Marilyn Shane.  While there we saw Michael Griffith and his daughter Ryan.  Like Haley she is still looking for the "right" position.  She spent years over seas in the middle and far east.

We left Hilton Head and sailed overnight to St Augustine, FL.  From their we followed the ICW to Cocoa Village and met up with my Cousin, Mary Solomon.  She is a retired Air Force LTC who at one point had taught Astronautical Physics at the Naval Academy.  She spent most of her career launching missiles and putting up satellites.  She now teaches underwater photography and diving.  She was able to fix Elyse up with all new snorkeling gear for a song.

We left there for the Seven Seas Cruising Association meeting in Melbourne.  It is a great group we listened to some nationally known speakers and saw several people we had met last year in our travels.  On Saturday night we left a little early to return to our boat.  Our dingy was tangled in a group of seven others.  I had to climb around and push and pull lines to get where we could get in and get back to our boat.  At that point things got bad.

I started having increasing pain in my lower abdomen.  It became so severe I told Elyse I needed to get to a hospital.  When we were unable to reach friends at the meeting who had cars I said call an ambulance.  At the hospital it was determined I had an acute hernia.  They had to put me to sleep to stuff my intestines back in the hole.   The next day the operated and repaired it.  Over the years Elyse had learned how to operate the dingy and outboard but as rule I handled it.  She returned to it at 1:30 am alone and started the engine and got back to the boat.  She has had to take over all the chores and lifting on the boat.  I am glad we have the new windlass that enables her to raise the anchor with a foot peddle.

We then went to Vero Beach and now to Stuart.  We will be here through Christmas and maybe New Years.  We will rent a car and drive back to Melbourne for my follow up appointment.  We are still planning to go to Miami and then cross to the Bahamas.

Spunky Fall 2012

After leaving St. Augustine, FL, we had two nice days of motoring down through FL to Cocoa where we anchored out and spent some time with cousin Mary Solomon. Mary was kind to take us to her home where we could shower and do laundry. We were able to use her great expertise to purchase new snorkel equipment. She is a master diver and travels the world diving and exploring.  We wandered through Cocoa Village with lots of small gift shops and art galleries. It is lovely here. We can't believe how many dolphins we saw on the trip down. I dug out my bird book to follow the shore birds. Today the temp is forecast to be in the high 70's. I am finally warm.

We arrived in Eau Gallie Wed. morning and anchored close to the civic center where the SSCA gam will take place over the weekend. We plan to enjoy the speakers and vendor displays and ask a lot of questions of the other cruisers.

Well Friday and Saturday went well and we heard good speakers, saw friends and had a good time. Around 9 p.m. we were tired and headed back to Spunky on the hook out in the anchorage. There were about 6-7 dinghys at the dock and John had to push and pull to get ours out of the group. As he climbed onto Spunky he started having strong pains in his lower abdomen. In a few minutes the pain went from bad to worse. I tried to reach our friend Debbie with a car who had driven down to the gam but the call did not go through so I called 911. They said to get him to shore and there would be an ambulance. We got to shore and rode to the nearest hospital where they determined it was an acute hernia and proceeded to try and push John's intestines back into his abdomen. The pain was intense and the admitting doc called the surgeon who came down and put John under anesthesia so they could push things back together. When that was done it was about 1 a.m. and I left him called a taxi and returned to the dock. Due to my back problems, I don't often start the outboard or run the dinghy but there I was at 1:30 a.m. by myself getting the outboard going and getting myself back to Spunky. I was truly concerned that I would not be able to get the outboard started as it can be temperamental not to mention steering the thing accurately enough to glide up along side Spunky and climb aboard. I did both and arrived totally exhausted but so hyped up that after running the generator to charge the batteries I could not get to sleep.  I managed those trips in to shore and back to Spunky until Monday afternoon when the surgeon released John after preforming repair surgery on Sunday and with a promise not to lift anything or strain for 6 weeks. Our good friend Debbie, with whom we sailed in the Bahamas last winter, was there for us driving me back and forth from the dock to the hospital and back again.

Tuesday we figured out a way for me to raise the dinghy onto the davits since I don't have the strength to pull it up and my back was not up to that task even if I did. Wednesday morning John coached me through raising the anchor and we were off to Vero Beach to catch a mooring and spend a few days trying to do some provisioning. We arrived Wed. afternoon and rafted up with a 45 ft. Island Packet (beautiful boat). Later I will lower the dinghy (not as hard as raising it) and we will head into the marina.

We have pretty much decided we will not attend another gam considering it was last year at the gam in Annapolis when I ended up in the hospital for emergency abdominal surgery late Saturday night. We are not up for a replay of these medical emergencies.

After leaving Barefoot Marina we made good time and arrived at Minim Creek where we dropped anchor. We began to notice there were, would you believe it, mosquitos in the cockpit enclosure. That was our first indication that we were indeed in the south. The next morning at daybreak it was once again COLD so I guess the mosquitos were sorry they made an appearance. I know we where.

We made it through Charleston on the day before T-day. Our timing was right and we were able to get through the Ben Sawyer and Wappo River Bridges on request which was helpful to our schedule. Mon. - Fri. they are both closed from 6-9 in the a.m. and 4-6 in the afternoon. We anchored on the Stono River. It has strong current and often brisk winds but we were fine with our trusty anchor and new windlass. On the way, in the morning after the sun had come up, we passed two eagles. One was sitting on an ICW marker post and the other was standing on the shore. I believe they were soaking up the warm sunshine which I was doing as well.

The past 2 days we have motored as there has been very little wind. By the afternoons we begin shedding all the layers of clothes we pile on every morning. Each day it seems the weather is getting better. We have passed 3 barges in 2 days going down the canal and bumped the bottom twice trying to move over to the side to let the barge,being pushed by a tug, go by. It is nerve wracking when that happens. The barges are huge and really fill up the canal.

We spent the next night, Thanksgiving evening, anchored just south of Beaufort, SC knowing that we would arrive in Hilton Head early the following day giving us time to get up Broad Creek and into our marina for the week we will spend there. We arrived around noon and got checked in. We then washed down the deck and cockpit enclosure which was covered with dirt and salt from our travels. We plan on spending the day organizing and cleaning both ourselves and Spunky.

Our week in Hilton Head was wonderful. It was a very quiet and relaxing time with friends. Hilton Head is a beautiful island that has been comparatively cautious with development as opposed to many resort areas. There are thousands of acres preserved in their natural state with abundant flora and fauna. Our marina was populated with many dolphins that swam between the docked boats throughout the day. We were sorry to leave but Friday at daybreak we motored down Broad Creek and headed out to sea. The day was fair. We had moderate wind and motor sailed throughout the day and into the night taking shifts of about 3 hours each (actually John took longer shifts than I). By nightfall the waves were coming across the beam and tossing us back and forth. Everything not tied down below fell to the floor and what was tied down shifted it's location. Every time that I tried to sleep I was tossed off the settee. At 4 a.m. we reached the point at which we could turn toward St. Augustine and enter the inlet or try for the Canaveral Canal, and although the guides caution on shoaling and the need for local knowledge in St. Augustine we were ready for a rest and we decided to go for it. We slowed down as we approached the entry bouys to try and time our entry for sunrise so we would be able to see the inlet markers and called the City Marina for advice on which areas to watch. We made a successful entry and were safely at the fuel dock by 8:15 a.m.

Tomorrow morning we will once again depart at daybreak heading for the Melbourne area where we will visit friends and family and possibly attend the SSCA gam. Today we took a mooring ball, showered and treated ourselves to a nice lunch at A1A Restaurant. This afternoon John is tracking down small leaks and topping off oil and coolant. The air temp was close to 70 degrees and the water temp over 50!! We are finally getting far enough south to be comfortable.

Elyse and John

Heading South, Fall 2012

Well all is well. The windlass was completed by Monday morning and we left at 10:30 hoping to make Norfolk. We entered Hampton Roads in the dark and made for an anchorage at Hospital Point which is named for the Veterans Hospital there. As we motored past the navy yard with all the ships in port we were shadowed by a patrol boat with flashing lights. The anchorage when we arrived had about 6 boats but we found a spot and dropped anchor for the night. It is always a relief to find an anchorage where there is room for us.

We were up at 5:30 a.m. when it was still dark in order to travel the distance to the Gilmerton Bridge before 6:30 at which time it closes to passing vessels until 9:30 a.m. We needed to get through so we could get through the Deep Creek Lock on the Dismal Swamp by 8:30 so we could make it all the way through the swamp in one day and end up in Elizabeth City at night fall. We are still hopeful that we can make Hilton Head in time to meet our friends. While pulling up the anchor for the first time we discovered that the windlass would not set the anchor. So John used the winch to set it and we were off and running to the bridge.

The dock master at the Deep Creek Lock where vessels are raised to canal level, invited the crews on the 3 boats in to his house for breakfast and a short history lesson on the canal. It was wonderful to be inside as it was raining hard and very cold standing on Spunky's deck with our ropes tied to the lock wall as the water rose to canal height.

We left there and headed for the South Mills lock and made it through in great time but alas were held up for the scheduled opening at the Elizabeth City Bridge resulting in our trying to find our slip at Pelican Marina in the dark and cold. Neither of us see too well after dark. While we were waiting for the bridge, I called the bridge tender and passed along a hello from friends Chris and Sheila on the catamaran Never Bored who we met in St. Mary's, GA last year. They had met and enjoyed a friendship with Jack the bridge tender the previous year on their way south.  He said it made his day to have a message from Chris and Sheila and offered us the use of his truck while we were in town.

We stayed 2 nights at Pelican Marina and our friends Don and Jean came over from Southern Shores, NC to pick us up and take us to their home for a great dinner, a shower and laundry. They drove us down the outer banks to see the damage inflicted by Sandy. What a mess. There were piles of furniture on the roadside awaiting pickup. On Thursday morning we were back on our way south.

Due to the Northeast winds we were able to put our genoa out and make great time. The first night we anchored outside the entrance to the Alligator River-Pungo River canal. The winds were hight but we were fine. We were on the way by 6:30 the next morning but just as we entered the canal the engine overheated and John discovered a leak in a coolant hose. We dropped anchor in the canal and in 20 min. John did a quick repair  with Rescue Tape and we were on our way. We could not believe how many boats were passing us going south. Must be the late start for everyone due to Sandy.

We spent Friday night just north of Oriental, NC  at River Dunes marina and left at the crack Sat. morning heading for Beaufort, NC in the hopes we could go off shore but no such luck the waves outside were 10-14 ft. and the winds were high so we committed to the ICW and put out our genoa. With a good NNE wind we made great time and pulled into Hammock Bay to anchor along with about 10 other vessels. Hammock Bay is at the south end of Camp Lejune and is the only anchorage available in that stretch. The winds were high throughout the night and a small sailboat pulled in over our anchor chain late in the evening. We were concerned about leaving in the a.m. (neither of us got much sleep) as we are usually the first ones out at daybreak and we knew it would be difficult to pull anchor with the other boat sitting over our chain. It was a problem but fortunately the captain heard us start our engine and came up to move his boat.

The weather was pretty crumby during the day. Lots of heavy rain and wind. It was cold as well.  We put out our genoa and made it to Carolina Beach where we anchored in 25-30 mph winds for the night. Our anchor held tight and the next morning on the Cape Fear River the winds continued high but we kept going and made it to Barefoot Marina inside South Caroling for the night. John took a taxi (no curtesy car) to West Marine to get the required hose to repair the leak and then changed the oil. The long days are beginning to catch up to us.

This morning we left at daybreak and  there was no wind so here we are motoring along hoping to pass Georgetown, SC today and get to Charleston on Wed. Nov. 21. The sun is out and the Wacamaw River is beautiful. 

Wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving.

Elyse and John

Sandy

We left Annapolis on Sunday afternoon and stayed the night in the Rhode River which is 2 rivers south. The next morning we set out for Solomon's Is. and had a nice motor sail in light winds and arrived to an almost empty anchorage in Mill Creek. We relaxed and prepared to leave early the next morning to make Fleets Bay just north of Deltaville, VA. We were planning to meet a childhood friend of John's who lives on the water outside of Whitestone, VA. When we pulled anchor that morning there was a problem with the windlass which did not have its usual power. John was able to raise the anchor the last few feet using the mast winch. We arrived in Fleets Bay and John's friend Renny had arranged with a neighbor for us to use his dock on Ashley Cove just off Dymer Creek. We pulled in and secured lines and Renny picked us up and took us to his home on the point with amazing views of the Chesapeake. We met his wife Lena and their Labradoodle, Boson. They had their home built and moved in a year or so ago. This area of the Northern Neck is charming. There are quaint little towns and boating is a big part of the economy. It is beautiful here especially this time of year with all the leaves changing color.

Renny found us two fellows who came and removed the windlass to trouble shoot the problem. Bottom line is that the gears are shot. It is an old windlass. The motor we replaced last spring is fine but the rest of the mechanics are very worn. The particular windlass we have is no longer made and the company has been bought by Lewmar. We spent the next two days trying to research our options. We decided it was not worth trying to repair the old windlass as we would not be sure how long it would last and we were not confident in going out of the country with that uncertainty. We were referred by another friend of Renny's to a local marina and we now await an estimate for a replacement which will require some deck work when it is installed. During all of this Renny and Lena have taken care of us. They, including Boson, have driven us around trying to find info on how to fix or replace our windlass, fed us and provided us a sounding board in our decision making.

In the midst of all of this, Sandy, came on the scene. She started moving up through Cuba and Haiti and the Bahamas. The entire neighborhood was glued to the weather channel. By Friday morning neighbors and friends were assisting each other in trailering boats from the water up the road to a high area that would not flood with the storm surge. We helped our friends move their beautiful little skipjack and their outdoor furniture. We have been trying to decide whether to stay at the dock or move out into the creek. Without having the windlass and with our heavy anchor and chain we are reluctant to move but concerned with the high storm surge and keeping Spunky safely off the dock. Our friends are trying to decide whether to stay in their home as during the last storm, Irene, the road to their home was washed out. Some of their neighbors are packing up and leaving. I think Renny and Lena will stay as they have a generator and will have electricity but the group of homes on the point have a common well and if the power goes out they will have no water. We will, of course, stay on Spunky so we can adjust lines and take care of any problems that arise. I admit that I am quite anxious. So much can happen. We will be stuck aboard Spunky as the water rises above the dock. It looks now like things will start deteriorating on Sat. night and we will get increasingly stronger winds and rain through Tuesday. Much depends on where Sandy come ashore. The Navy in Norfolk are moving their ships out to sea..All the marinas are scrambling to get boats out of the water as the storm approaches so we will not even be able to start the windlass replacement process until mid week. What we thought would be a leisurely trip down to Hilton Head now looks like we will be rushing to get to our Thanksgiving celebration with friends.

I wrote this last night. As of this morning the reports are that Sandy will be turning west a little farther north which is good for us and the storm surge will not be as strong as earlier predicted. This is what we have been hoping for. We won't know until it is over what in fact will actually happen. Thanks for all your notes of concern. We will let you know how we are as the storm moves over us. Hope you are all battened down and those of you effected by Sandy are not without power too long.

Fall is here

Hello all,

Sorry I haven't provided more updates of late.  Today is our day off from working at the Sailboat Show.  It is a great day to be off.  The weather is cold and rainy.  We went into a marina and did our laundry and took hot showers.  I am getting a little old to put in 12 hour days doing physical labor.  For now we are just working the gates collecting tickets.  We went through the show and picked up things on our list.  Elyse decided that after 20 years she needed a new foul weather jacket.  We may go back and order new cockpit cushions.

We are now planning to leave to head south after the show toward the end of the month. A couple of friends will be in the area and we plan to meet them for dinner.  We are hopeful to see kids before we head out and will see if our schedules will match.  We used some of our visa points and rented a car for the month of September.  We drove out to see family and friends and in St Louis, Memphis, Montgomery, Panama City and Columbia, SC.  It was great seeing lots of people to include my VMI roommate Larry Boese that I hadn't seen for 50 years.  We have also loaded up our food for the next 4-5 months.  Cans everywhere and the freezer is full to the top with meat.  Son John got us 6 cases of beer which will cost $45 a case in the Bahamas.  We will add to our supplies as we head south especially in Stuart and Vero Beach, FL.

We have decided to take our time this year when we head south.  We are meeting friends for Thanksgiving in Hilton Head.  I am hoping to connect with a high school friend in White Stone, VA.  Last year we had a great time in South Beach in Miami for New Years.  I think we will head over to Nassau when the weather permits in the new year.

As my friend Ed Kelly who is now in Greece says, thank you for joining us on our adventure.  We feel more ready this year than last and are getting excited to head to the Bahamas.  We enjoying hearing from you as well.

John & Elyse on Spunky

Summer is Ending

We are here in Annapolis on our mooring ball that we rented for the month of September while we took a road trip to visit family and friends. We had a wonderful trip. Very relaxing. Some of the trees in Tenn. and MO were already turning probably due to the dry weather this year. We rented a Ford Focus and it got 35 mpg!!! What a treat. I am looking forward to the manufacturers doing even better in the coming years. Maybe by the time we buy our next car it will be up to 50mpg. We returned a bit earlier than planned as we didn't want to overstay our welcome with our wonderful friends and were concerned about Spunky being left alone. Fellow cruisers on the next door mooring called us to say the winds had reached 40 mph and the rain was so bad they could not see our boat but all was well and we were still attached when the weather passed.

We are now working on a few projects that must be completed before we leave in late Oct. We replaced our shower sump and drain first and now are working on our freezer which is refusing to turn on. Today it is blustery and raining and we are waiting for a call from the manufacturer of our freezer with suggestions on trouble shooting. Once the wind settles down and John finds a ladder to borrow he will put the new blades on our wind generator. I will be applying Restore/Refinish on our interior teak.

We had the Annapolis Harbor Boatyard clean and paint the bottom, replace the steering cables, find and repair the leak in the rudder post, install a new VHF antenna and LED anchor light, service/repair our outboard and install a new water maker which will make our life easier this winter. No more hauling 6 gal. jugs from shore to boat in the dinghy. We also sent our chart plotter off for repair and have met a guy who will take a look at the SSB antenna to see why we do not receive a very loud signal.

We are now making our provisions list which we will begin shopping for once the freezer is back on line.

The summer has been great although a bit on the warm side even for me. We got to see all of our kids and grandkids and many friends. We were able to meet new friends who are also cruisers and planning on heading south after the boat show. We are awaiting our scheduling meeting on Sept. 28 and may start work the 29th or 30th.

John has one last medical procedure to get through and then we will be done with docs until next summer.

We are excited about our winter trip and will keep you all informed about our progress south.

Hope your summer has been a good one.

Elyse and John

Spunky Update

Life has settled in pretty much to a summer pattern. After surviving the storm of June 29, we had a great time in DC for the 4th of July. Kids arrived from Goodland Ks. and came out to Spunky to watch the fireworks which were spectacular from our vantage point but seemed to be a shorter event than we recall from the past. Probably due to cost. It was Hot!! The entire 2 weeks we were here in DC have been record breaking. We went over to the Smithsonian one afternoon to escape the heat. Took our books and read in the cafe under the National Gallery of Art. Stopped in to see the George Bellows exhibit which was wonderful. He is famous for his paintings of boxing events but his works depicting New York City and the working class are really worth seeing. John went to a Nationals game with sons John and Mike and granddaughter Savannah and they won. He was thrilled but I had mixed feelings as they beat my San Francisco Giants.

We bid farewell to DC and motored in heat and humidity down the Potomac "racing" for cover late in the day to avoid another huge (on radar) lightening storm right on our stern. It was traveling right down the river toward us as we motored against the current going about 3 knts. We put on life jackets and I put our computer and handheld gps in the oven where I have read they would be protected in a direct hit (who knows). It was very tense as we slowly made our way up into Breton Bay to our anchorage past Protestant Point. The lightening was sky to water all around us with loud thunder following. What a relief to finally drop anchor in the rain.

The following day the heat broke with the cold front coming through and we had a wonderful sail up to Solomon's Island and again the next day to the Rhode River. Finally got to enjoy our SAILBOAT. We had forgotten that is what she is with all the motoring we have done on these windless days. There is usually either no wind or it is right on our nose.

Now we are back in Annapolis awaiting our haul out date to get work done on Spunky at which time we will empty our frig/freezer, pack our backpacks and get ourselves out to Reston, VA-a long way without a car-where we will stay in our friends house for the work week.

We are still trying to arrange a road trip in Sept. to FL and New Orleans but it is proving to be complicated trying to find a place to park Spunky, arrange a car rental and be back only a few days before we start work at the boat show.

I know everyone is having a hot summer but hope you are enjoying the long lazy days as we are.

Elyse and John

Derecho - we are fine

Well here we are in the midst of a record breaking heat wave anchored out in Washington Channel. We arrived on June 22nd hoping to find a nice spot to anchor before the boats start arriving for the 4th of July. We have a nice spot with a great view of the Washington Monument. The temps had been high as we traveled up the Potomac with the heat index over 100 degrees and continued to rise after we arrived.  On Sat. we had a great dinner with our DC/VA kids all who have June birthdays as does John. By Tuesday we finished applying the final coat of Cetol gloss to our brightwork and began to remove tape and replace the stainless pieces that we removed for the work. It looks so much better.

This past Friday June 29th the heat was intense and registered a record of 104 degrees at National Airport quite close to where we are anchored. We had heard there may be some t-storms during the evening so we made sure we were back on Spunky by early afternoon. Around 8 pm or so Mike, our son who lives in Ashburn, VA west of DC, sent us a text warning that he had heard of a line of storms heading east that were pretty strong. We pulled up radar and started watching the long wide line of reds and yellows move east. While we were waiting we let out more anchor rode (line/chain) so our anchor would have a better chance to hold. We tied down anything loose on deck and closed up all of our hatches and ports. Then we waited. We ask Mike to text us when it hit Ashburn, VA. He sent a text that winds were very high and scary. We had our VHF on and there were consistent warnings of a line of high winds approaching.

Then it hit. We rode out 60 mph winds in Marsh Harbor, Abacos last winter, but this was somewhat different. Spunky laid way over. We put the engine on as a backup if our Rocna 73 lb. anchor did not hold us in place (although a friend said it could hold the Queen Mary). I tried to get our Tacktick wind speed guage up and running but it took a few minutes or more while everything else was going on around us. By the time I got it turned on it only registered 44 mph. National Airport registered 70 mph so we assume we were higher at the beginning of the storm. The rains followed and poured down on us so we could not see too well. It was dark but there was lightening all around us with loud claps of thunder and we watched the 40 ft. sail boat anchored just in front of us start dragging down toward us. John pulled out our horn so we could warn them if they got close. Fortunately their anchor finally held and they stopped short of us. The storm moved through very quickly and we sat up past midnight watching the remaining lightening. The next morning the boat that dragged pulled up their anchor and anchored back in their original spot.

Today we hear that a Derecho is a rare event and we should not see one again for some time. Folks are saying that it hit with no warning but we had Mike watching the weather and had ample warning to prepare. Over 1 million folks in this area are without power and the heat continues to be oppressive. Lots of homes are without a/c. We live without a/c so we are hot but more used to it. Several metro stations were closed over the weekend without power. The power companies are saying it will be Friday before they have 90% of repairs completed. We rode to Pentagon City Mall on Saturday to buy a new US flag as ours was shredded in the storm.

The weather reports are for above average temps for the current week coupled with high humidity it feels like it is in the 100's. We will be here to visit with our Kansas kids who arrived in DC today for their vacation and we plan to depart on Saturday or Sunday to return to Annapolis.

Hope those of you in the area are safe. Check in and let us know how you did in the storm.

Back to Annapolis

Our trip down the Potomac was easy and uneventful but no wind. We anchored the first night in Breton Bay a very quiet and lovely anchorage. The next day we ended at Solomon's Island in the main anchorage area. We were the only boat anchored out. Several boats came in but went into marinas. The next morning we left early rounded Point Lookout, set a waypoint on our MacENC program for Thomas Point Lighthouse and motor sailed up the Chesapeake to Annapolis. We arrived in Back Creek around 4 p.m and found our spot at the end of the creek unoccupied so we dropped anchor, fixed a drink and relaxed.

The next day we took the dinghy into the dock at 4th street and checked in with Annapolis Harbor Boatyard where we had work done last year and were very pleased with the fellow who did the work. His name is Bill and he is now the yard manager and Christy, his wife, is the parts manager. They work during the summer months and cruise during the winters and were very generous with advice before we left last fall. We consider them friends. Our plan is to get several repairs done at their yard as well as Spunky's bottom painted. Bill invited us to have "happy hour" on their dock and we spent a very enjoyable Friday evening.

We picked up the mainsail and took it back to Spunky and put it back onto the mast track(not an easy job as it is very big and heavy). Well, it went about 3/4 of the way up the mast and stopped. We couldn't figure out what was wrong and thought perhaps one of the old slides left a piece behind when it broke as we were leaving Great Sale Cay. So we dug out the bosuns chair and John cranked me up the mast to check things out. I do not tolerate heights very well but given the choice of who would be able to raise whom up the mast,I drew the short straw. I could not see any pieces of broken slide so down I came. Then we decided I had not gone up high enough so back up I went above the 2nd spreaders. Still no sighting of broken slides or bent track and down I came. Then we stupidly decided to try and force the slides up which John was able to do but then we couldn't get the sail down!! Up I went once again to tie a line to the reefing ring so that John would be able to get more force on the slides and pull them down. Success. We got the sail back into the sail pack and fixed ourselves a drink. We will have to go back to the shop on Tuesday and get some advice. Saturday we began to figure out the public transportation system here and walked about 3/4 of a mile to the bus stop to get to the shop where my glasses were being repaired and ready for pick up. That trip went pretty well except for the walk to the stop.

My back had been bothering me since Charleston and by the time we arrived in DC I was having pain down my left leg whenever I walked more than a block. It has become progressively worse as the days go by. That is not a workable situation especially now that we have no car. We spent a pretty quiet Memorial Day weekend and I made an appointment to see a chiropractor on Tuesday. We couldn't figure the bus route out and were concerned about arriving on time so we took a cab to the doc. After the appointment we decided to take the bus back. Between waiting for the hourly run in the 90 degree temps (there are no shelters at the bus stops) and transferring 4 times we were able to stop at a hardware store, Giant and return to the dinghy dock all in 5 hours from the time we left the doc. I have a real empathy with folks who don't drive and must rely on the bus to get to work and child care and grocery shopping. How one ever gets everything done or even gets to their destination on time is a real challenge those of us with cars can't truly appreciate. There are just not enough hours in the day during the long daylight days not to mention what it must be like in winter with shorter daylight and inclement weather.

On Wednesday we took the dinghy into town to check on the sail and to pick up my meds that were waiting at the boatyard. They had graciously allowed us to have them delivered there for pick up. The meds have to remain cold and so are overnighted in a cooler with ice packs and can't sit for a long time outside of a refrigerator. About half way there our trusty outboard engine quit. John rowed us the rest of the way and we had the engine guy at the boatyard come back and assess the problem. He determined it would need to have the carburator rebuilt and so he took the engine back in his truck. We stopped at the sail loft and they suggested we try to file down the brass slides a bit to see if that would help after which poor John had to row us all the way back up the creek to Spunky.

Next week we will take Spunky into a marina where the electronics guy will troubleshoot the chartplotter and VHF radio mic both of which failed to work on our trip south. At that time the sail guys will come by and take a look at the mast slide to try to figure out why the sail will not go all the way up. Today John is sanding down the teak brightwork and I am sitting on ice packs. Tomorrow he will row me in to take the bus back to the doc. I have a 10:30 appointment so we will leave at the crack to make sure we get there on time.

Life on the water can be challenging but it is better than any alternative. Hope you are all enjoying your springtime, Elyse and John s/v Spunky

Memorial Day

Hello Everyone,

We are back in Annapolis in our favorite spot.  It has been great being back.  We are learning to use the public busses to get around. There is a bus that will even take us to one of the DC metro stations. We have started contacting people in the area to take care of some repairs and to add improvements to Spunky.

Today we recognize Memorial Day.  I hope you will take a moment to remember the two million men and women who gave their life in the service of their country.  Some were drafted and some volunteered but all paid the ultimate price for our freedom.  From winning and maintaining independence for our country our when the people of our country sent them to help or punish other nations.  They went with little hesitation.  They are  heros.  If you know someone who lost a loved one in the service I hope you will take a moment to reach out and say thank you.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.