11/22/13 The Dismal Creek to Elizabeth City

Got up a bit early to go for a walk through historic Portsmouth and have a breakfast burrito at the local coffee shop before departing on our next leg with our friends Janaki and Graham. None of us had traveled together with another boat so this is exciting territory to explore.

Off to the Dismal Creek we go through bascule, lift and swing bridges in addition to two locks with Diane at the helm. 

Compared to the huge commercial/industrial waterfront of Norfolk/Portsmouth, the meandering Deep 

Creek was incredibly peaceful as we led the way to the first lock which would raise Kuivato up 8 feet to the water level in the Dismal Swamp and the straight cut path of the canal. While we are getting a bit fed up with the abnormally cold weather this fall, we felt fortunate to be doing this trip in November and not at the height of insect season which must be horrible.

Kuivato and Leela in the lock which will raise us 8 ft.

Being the first boat in the lock, we took it for the team as the water rushes into the lock and we adjust the docking lines to hold the bow in place.

We arrived at the Dismal Swamp Visitors Center free dock around 1400hrs where two delightful chatty women welcomed us and invited us to warm up in the sitting area as we were quite cold traveling all day in the 40 degree temps. Leela tried to snug up behind us on the bulkhead but her mast got caught in the trees overhanging the canal which left quite a bit if tree debris On deck. Rafting up next to Kuivato turned out to be the better option.

We left early in the morning to catch the 0830 lock opening at South Mills and traveled a somewhat short day to Lambs Marina just north of Elizabeth City to stay out of the stormy weather predicted with a low front followed by a strong cold front. Tim Kelly and the NECN crew still provide eone of the best weather forecasts we rely on, predicting 45 knot winds and lots of rain all along the east coast. We decided to hunker down for the storm and celebrate Thanksgiving on Wednesday as Thursday the forecast was again for clear and cold with north winds, a direction we like because it blows us south.

Thanksgiving in our calm but wet marina was delightfully memorable for us all as you can see!

An interesting thing about the mid-Atlantic region is that there are hardly any mooring fields and marinas and free town docks everywhere. This is partially due to very little tide (typically less than a foot or two at most) compared to New Englands 10-12 foot tides, making it easy to build marinas, little dredging is required, and when it is the bottom is sand, clay or mud. The end result is that marinas are everywhere and often charging as little as $35/night compared to $200/night in New England. Many liveaboard marinas only charge 200-400/ month! For those of us who like to anchor out most of the time, you can almost always find a nice secluded anchorage in 10 feet of water with good holding for the anchor.

Solomon Island to Piantatank River at Jackson Creek and on to Hampton, Va.

Sailed all day with strong NW winds to the Piantatank River. Since we arrived after sunset, we decided not to thread our way through the narrow dredged Jackson Creek entrance and instead anchored outside the entrance near near a duck blind shown on the chart. The duck blind turned out to be a quite substantial structure on pilings which was accessed by boat; a little clubhouse for hunters. We settled in for another stunning full moon at anchor.

Not sure why, but we have been waking up just before sunrise at 0600, so I don't know what it is that is making our departures mid morning, Oh well, we have no schedule to keep so no one on the sailing vessel Kuivato is keeping track of our departures or arrivals.

We had a rip-roaring N wind all day which whisked us south to Hampton, VA.  We arrived before sunset, what a novelty! We chose to stay in the creek in front of Hampton University where we enjoyed the hourly chimes of a clock tower. It reminded me of my childhood and the family grandfather clock, such fond memories.

Our good friends Janaki and Graham, sailing Leela from Portsmouth, N.H., arrived in Norfolk at 0100 after traveling overnight for 36 hours offshore from Sandy Hook, NJ. The next morning they joined us at the Hampton Yacht Club. Exhausted but basking in their accomplishment we spent a couple of lovely days in the warm sun with them completing some of the many chores on our respective boats.

Here Janaki and I are going off to do laundry and grocery shopping. What fun, lady's time! 

Tim at the masthead doing work.

On Kuivato, one of the many chores was to replace the ancient dim anchor light on the masthead with a nifty LED light that was both an all-around white light for when we anchor out, and a tri-color light for sailing at night. The new light would also draw about 1/5th of the power of the old light. After organizing himself with all the possible tools he could need, I winched Tim up the mast in the bosuns chair and he went to work. There was additional work needing to be checked along the way up, all of which took over an hour. At one point I noticed some urgency in Tim's voice when he said he needed to come down immediately. Slowly, I guided him down to the deck where he laid down as pale as a ghost. Between being restricted in the bosuns chair and wrapping his legs around the mast cutting off his circulation, along with being in the sun and the wind for over an hour, his body had had enough. He recovered quickly but unfortunately, the job was not completed and he had to go back up an hour later to finish everything. We now have a blazing bright LED mast light and have crossed off another task from the list. 

We went to the HYC homemade pizza night which was fabulous and provided days of leftovers. The club has a full bar and restaurant; quite different than our hometown Kittery Point YC.

The next day we moved Kuivato over from Hampton to Portsmouth, VA passing by the Portsmouth, Va. Naval Shipyard, BAE systems and NAASCO, the company that Jackson works with in San Diego.  What a crazy a busy working port. The first night we spent in Hospital Cove across from downtown Norfolk with a great view of the Norfolk skyline across the harbor.  

Coincidentally, Portsmouth, NH sailors Molly and Jeff Bolster arrived at the Tidewater Marina in Norfolk to meet up with their Valient 40 which had been sailed offshore to here a few weeks as the first leg of their trip south. We motored across to Norfolk and joined the Bolster's on their boat with Graham and Janaki for a wonderful potluck feast listening to Jeff share his fabulously entertaining and colorful stories. After being on the boat for 5 weeks we had our own laughable stories that rivaled them all!

The next night we moved to North Basin free dock in Portmouth near the passenger ferry to Norfolk and across the River from an aircraft carrier BAE Systems had in a dry dock, quite a sight! It was lovely being able to walk to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum half a block away and to tour a dry docked lightship museum which the the city renamed PORTSMOUTH since lightships take on the name do the location where they are stationed. This light ship was built in 1923 and had been both off of the Carolina coast and Nantucket in its heyday. The tour guide got a bit upset with me when I tried to climb the unique hollow tower which was apparently was off limits since it arrived here in the early 1980's. As you can see, I am still a rebel!

Janaki and I took the ferry which was across the basin from where we were docked and went into Norfolk shopping. She has about as much tolerance for shopping as me so we got out of their without too many hives! 

Lucky for us, the town of Norfolk was celebrating their annual Illumination night so we all went back over to enjoy the biggest parade I have ever seen including helium floats akin to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC. There was a heavy presence of  military, police and firemen participating in the event on their noisey motorcycles and trucks, so it was good that all of the towns people were also at the parade and not wreaking havock elsewhere requiring vital emergency services. As we were finishing up dinner at a nice Japanese restaurant, the city cleanup crew came along and scrubbed those streets immaculate, quite impressive.

For our last night in Portsmouth we moved to High Street Basin just a couple uh dared yards to the west where it was more sheltered and would provide a more quiet night of sleep. These short fall days getting dark so early have been challenging, but tonight at1800hrs we looked out of the cabin and saw that we were surrounded by these  fabulous lights! So much fun!!

We took this photo of Kuivato  from across the basin, our little home surrounded by the warm lights of Portsmouth. What a hoot, Portsmouth, NH to Portsmouth , Va! The next morning it was off to the Dismal Swamp which we have been told is  not that dismal at all.

11/17/13 Chesapeake City to Magothy River, Delaware

We awoke in Chesapeake City on Sunday morning and went for a 4 mile run walk along the Delaware Chesapeake Canal. Tim sprinted the last 2 miles so he decided to enter the biathlon and row across the basin to pick me up, the exercise felt great. We departed mid morning for Deep Creek and the sun and warmth allowed us to take out door showers along the way. I took one for the team and showered first, saving all the hot water for Tim. I think I have done my duty ... for the trip, yes, warm showers for me from now on! 

We saw miles of breath taking farmland along the canal.

We arrived at Deep Creek at 1700 at half tide which was a good thing as the depths were somewhat shallow at 6-7 feet and it was dusk, but hey, we know about shallow water after Barnegat Bay! Before leaving Kittery we decided we were going to try to avoid entering an unknown harbor after dark. It has been quite difficult to stick to it as the days as so short and we are trying to get south before the really cold weather sets in. Also unlike New England with it's big tides, strong currents and hard rock hazards, down here the bottom is typically soft mud,  the tides are less than 2 feet, and the currents are usually minimal. 

We chose to come to Deep Creek Marina and Restaurant as we had read rave reviews in Active Captain about their crab cakes along with overnight dockage with dinner. Of course we went in and ordered the crab cakes and baked oysters and were not disappointed, they were delicious! As a matter of fact, we both commented that they were the best we had ever had! The dock at the marina kept us safe and protected from the cold front winds and rains that passed while we slept.

In the morning we awoke to beautiful sunshine again, what we have come to expect. We spend a few hours cleaning out the water tanks with bleach to eradicate whatever we might have contracted at the C&D Canal "Deliverance" marina.

Departing the Magothy River, we were greeted with strong NW winds which whisked us down the bay to Mill Creek at Salomon Island. Again we arrived after sunset, but the full moon was about to rise so we waited in the channel to welcome her.  What a sight! 

Once again the IPad and IPhone navigation apps (Navionics & Navmatics Charts & Tides) made a safe entry into Mill Creek easy. We had a password glitch on the Marinetraffic.com tracking, but we got that running again.

11/14/13 Cape May

Delaware Chesapeake Bay's 

Arrived in Cape May at 2330 on Wednesday night after a glorious full day of sailing in the sun and cold. No rain and no snow so we were delighted. Took the dinghy in to the sleepy little town to explore, not much going on. Replentished supplies including the correct size back brace for me, Tim has his own.  Thank you Mike DelloRosso for all of you recommendations to cure my aching back, it takes a village to keep a woman healthy! Mike is the BEST Physical Therapist I have come across in the Seacoast area. He runs the Orthopedic and Sports Therapy in Somersworth, NH. And I highly recommend him to anyone who needs his services.

The Active Captain app has been a great guide throughout the trip, we have referred to it often for guidance. Through their recommendation, we found a delicious authentic Mexican restaurant run by a mother and her two daughters, 5 DiMayo. We would highly recommend this place a few blocks from the Utsch's Marina in Cape May.

Two mighty cold sailors !

Cape May home circa 1899.

Departed Cape May in the morning and fought our way around Cape May point with it's many shoals and adverse wind and tide. The predicted SW winds at10-15 knots for what would have been a nice sail up Delaware Bay turned out to be 0-5 kts from the NE so we had to motor all day. At least it was calm, warm and pleasant. Tim did some fishing but trolling at 6 knots is a bit fast so no fish yet. We're hoping someday all that fishing gear will eventually catch something! Motoring along the shipping channel and were continuously surprised at how quickly these big boys show up in the back door.

We arrived at Cohansey Creek after sunset, thank goodness for the navigation apps on the IPhone and  IPad helping to guide us through thin waters as  darkness falls because many of these thin water bays have very few navigation bouy's. The full moon has been helpful.

Sunrise in the creek was magical and we were the only vessel in site.

Saturday we motored up to the Chesapeake Delaware Canal where we stopped to refuel. This trip has been quite a learning experience for us both. For instance, never trust a water hose on a dock. We pulled into what turned out to be a rather run down marina and filled our water tanks while getting fuel. Then the kid on the dock tells us that the same hose we stuck in our water tank is inserted into boat  holding tanks to flush them with water after pumping out sewage, yuk. So now we need to flush our tanks with chlorine bleach to kill whatever we may have introduced into the tanks. Of course the little store on site didn't have any bleach. The review of this place we upload to Active Captain will be most colorful. To top things off the kid then tells us the tide has gone out enough that with our 5 foot draft we can't get out until it rises a couple feet, so now we're stuck here for 4 hours. We made good use of the time doing a long overdue fuel filter change and some organizing and cleaning. 

We escaped around 6pm and heading into the Canal which was well light and had no boat traffic. An hour later we anchored in the Chesapeake City basin on the Canal. This is great little harbor and anchorage with a free town dock and a hopping marina bar scene at the Chesapeake Inn. We had dinner at a nice little bar two blocks from the water and the bartender sold us a gallon of bleach so we didn't have to walk miles to a convenience store that might have bleach. Unfortunately the dockside water has been turned off so our flushing activities might have to wait.

Barnaget bay 11/12/13

I think we are going to be stuck here for a few days until the winds change unless we try to plow Kuivato's keel (it's very clean from all our groundings!) through another channel that Tim went exploring with his nifty handheld depth sounder. Woke up to 30 knot gusts for the NW and snow, messy messy weather, cold and nasty.Turns out a strong NW wind blows water out of the bay so the 4 1/2 ft spot we plowed through on the way in a few days ago is now 4 ft!   Sitting cozy with the Force 10 propane heater and local classical music station while sipping a yummy coffee drink that almost rivals Kelsey's hot toddy during our NY Harbor evening  sail. Note to sailors following this blog, do not take a 5 ft draft sailboat into a bay with 5 ft depths at normal low tides and believe the warning Skipper Bob's publication which says do not go into Barnegat Bay if you have more than 4.5ft draft. Oh well, we have a history of going where few sailors would attempt to take at sailboat go to search out interesting anchorages.....kind of like Star Trek Enterprise.

One of really nice surprises of the trip has been the 25 year old Four Winds wind generator which Tim rebuilt 10 years ago when he bought Kuivato and hasn't been on the boat for 8 years. We almost didn't install it because of the new Renogy 300 watt solar array we just installed but hasn't been hooked up yet ("..hmmmm, do we attach the red wire here or there?"). While the generator doesn't produce anywhere close to what the manufacturer promoted it as producing, it does put out enough power in 20+ knot winds to keep up with the power drawn by the refrigeration system with some extra to charge the batteries. It's a satisfying feeling to be off the grid and making power from the wind. We also replaced most of the lights on Kuivato with LED bulbs which reduced the power consumption of lighting by over 80%! Tim recalls his Dad often having to tell the him and his brothers to turn off the lights to conserve battery power while growing up sailing on his family's sailboat.

11/11/13. Goodbye NY , Hello Barnegut Bay

As you can see, Stanislove, a Russian Jew, did a fabulous job with Tim's unruled curls and they became fast friends as he has been living in the US for the past 15 years and his English was quite good. Norm will be disappointed that Tim couldn't recall any Russian phrases.

Went to dinner at Fort Defiance in Red Hook, for Tiki Night. We are happy to report that this great local corner bar, which Kelsey happens to work at, has come back after Sandy's destructive visit.

 No one can remember the name of the exotic drinks we were served, along with the delicious noodle entrees, but it was great meeting many of the kids friends who soon became our friends too. On the way home we stopped off at Sunny's Bar, a local hangout for Red Hookers since the early 1900's, just imagine! We heard some local Bluegrass music and commented on how even though we were in Brooklyn, NY, it almost felt more intimate than Portsmouth, NH.

Kelsey and Bryan arrived at the Red Hook dock to bid farewell at 0600. Unfortunately our alarm clock never sounded so we awoke at 0630 and hustled to depart. The anchor came up clean without city debris which we were worried about since the charts showed we were above ruins. What enthusiastic hosts they have been for the last few days, thank you thank you, especially for leaving me your warm cozy LL Bean slippers!

We sailed out of NY harbor with a NW wind and an outgoing tide. We were flabbergasted at the number of fishing boats catching perhaps the last fall weekend of being on the water.  Luckily the sun was shining as the wind chill was hovering around 30 degrees. We arrived at Manasquam Inlet about 1300 making good time so we hung out waiting for the tide to get high, trying out all the fishing goodies we bought on the Vineyard.

Traveling through Point Pleasant Canal we went through 2 bascule bridges, bridges that hinge up on one side as you can see in the following picture, and 3 lift bridges. It was nice to breathe a sigh of relief once we cleared the canal..... little did we know what was lurking ahead. We traveled maybe a mile and ran aground at Curtis Point in Barnaget Bay, clearly Sandy has adjusted the bottom in these waters. Tim was able to ease us off in no time at all..

We arrived at Cartagena Lagoon, Brick, NJ at sunset plowing through the mud hoping not to hang up on undiscovered Sandy debris.

We were able to dock across the street from our hosts, Carlota and Lou Vale friends of Tim for the past 25 years. They are both gourmet cooks and we shared fabulous meals and great beer. We met neighbors, Ron and Lucy, Ron is a retired marine policeman, who is a sailor who shared lots of local knowledge and related apps with us.

We attempted to depart at high tide the following morning but the NW winds had blown the water out of the bay. We got stuck in the mud and the muck from the shoaling due to Sandy? We spent a couple of hours trying to pull ourselves loose with the anchor, unsuccessfully. We got lots of chores done waiting for the tide to rise it's 4" and then it started to go down again before expected, so we mobilized quickly  and finally with a huge effort, busted loose just before sunset.

 I am happy to report that my back has recovered, but unfortunately we have exchanged the back brace to Tim, as hauling the anchor repeatedly has taken it's toll. I hope we haven't waited too long to take this adventure!

We motored 4 miles to our current anchorage where we are toasting our challenging getaway!

11/7/13 Big Apple

We spent the night in Port Washington , LI where Tim's paternal grandfather lived in a Unitarian Universalist retirement home in his later years. We picked up a mooring and took the dingy into the darling downtown to explore. Shopping was a few blocks away including the one of the hundreds of West Marines we will probably encounter in our travels. Kelsey joined us on our adventure by taking the train from Brooklyn arriving early in the evening. I made a delicious Portuguese Kale soup, thank you Lou for sharing your family recipe.  We were all anticipating an exciting day traveling to the Big Apple so we retired early.

 Kelsey was at the helm for much of the trip down the East River entertaining us with her fascinating colorful stories. 

We could see the skyline of NY for many miles as we traveled and each bridge we passed under got us closer as the excitement mounte, it really was something I could never have imagined. Tim had had much experience sailing in these waters but it was a first for Kelsey and me. Kelsey has lived in NY for 9 years and was familiar with many of the landmarks and sites but had never experienced them from the water. We caught the outgoing high tide and clipped along at 9 knots passing the long avenues as far as the eye could see.

I would have to say this was the most awesome day of the adventure thus far. Having Kelsey with us for this amazing experience was such a gift, we only wished we could have convinced Bryan to play hookie.

We sailed down New Town Creek to see the pirate dock, the sort of semi-legal dock where it looks like liveaboards access their boats by climbing fences and scaling makeshift ladders.

Tim says, compared to the Piscataqua River, Hell Gate and the waters of NYC are a cakewalk.

We fought the tides up the Hudson River, which took longer than we anticipated, and arrived at the 79th Street Boat Basin as the sun was setting and the moon and Venus became visible.

Below is a picture of our laundry beening held hostage, locked down in a broken machine at Kelsey and Bryan's. Tim gave the machine a good wack which released the lock and set our warm layers free.

I was able to help Kelsey with her feather project along with a couple of friends while Tim took the train to check on Kuivato and get a haircut.

11/ 4/13 Mattituck,LI

Mattiticuk, LI

We awoke on our own at 0300 and prepared to depart Point Judith. It took some time to get all the safety gear in place for the early morning departure. We used marinetraffic.com to locate commercial vessels and tugs in the area. Interestingly enough, many private smaller vessels at dock appeared to have their AIS on continuously, quite annoying for those of us looking for moving vessels in the dark.

Our first experience of the trip traveling in the dark was quite comfortable . We motored to the Race, at the entrance to LI sound, with the flood tide and then we were able to sail to Mattituck as the wind picked up from the south. Tide turned against us 1-2 knots once we got into LI Sound and that made for a long trip in the building winds. Arrived at 1400 and made our way up the Mattituck Creek 1.5 miles  checking the depth sounder constantly. Charts said 3 ft at Mean low water (MLW) but Active Captain said 6-7 ft. And we would have to agree as the thinnest it got 6 ft. we checked into the marina to get local knowledge and they reassured us our 5 ft draft would be safe.

We put both the Danforth and the Bruce, claw anchor out to ride the storm? We expect to have a caking of thick sticky mud at departure.

Sitting in the cabin sipping a second cup of tea after doing our stretching exercises this morning monitoring intermittent rain with gusts of 30 MPH in the creek and 40 in LI Sound. Each time we make a hot beverage we thank Jane for sharing the perfect little tea pot.

While waiting out the coming winds we visited the lovely town of Mattituck and walked  a few stunningly beautiful miles to the Shinn Winery? There are some 35 vineyards on the north shore of LI. It was refreshing to learn that the farms and lands are being preserved despite being so close to NYC. The sunset walk back to the boat was balmy and with breath taking views seeing the foliage at its peak.

The winds from the storm were hardly a bother up the creek at 25 but they were reported 40 in the LI sound. 

We left the next morning at about 9 am, once again donning our various layers of clothing to keep us warm on the water. We have been so fortunate with the warmth from the sun since our departure despite the cold temps. The winds were perfect for a sail the entire way to the Port Jefferson Harbor entrance where we attempted to fish for dinner for the first time. Unfortunately I failed to notify the captain of a passing lobbie and need less to say, the line caught the bouy. I can say It was exciting for a moment as we thought we might have caught the big one...

Once in the harbor we picked up a mooring and went into town. The following picture depicts our travels. 

Growler of birch stout, a mixture of birch beer and oatmeal stout, delicious! , pistachio and raisin rice pudding, also delicious, replacement lures and line, and sampling of smoked blue fish given to us as a gift from the hearty woman at the tack shop in town. A grand visit as you can see.

We motored up to the narrows, the entrance to Conscience Bay, and anchored near were Tim's Mother once lived. We shared lunch with the Canard's and their extended family and they were kind enough to let us use their conveniently located dock to transfer supplies to the boat. Other longtime friends, the Sini's, also welcomed the wayward travelers sharing their car so we could grocery shop and attend the local UU church. they also offered us the most coveted shower of the trip thus far? We enjoyed seeing you all and are so grateful for your hospitality, thank you.

Throughout the entire visit to Setauket the winds were continuous at 25 with gusts of 30  both day and night. Sleep was interrupted at best, between the halyards banging and the wind howling, for two nights.

This mornings sail was again sunny and brisk taking a good 4 hours, with both the jib and mainsail. We arrived in Stamford just before sunset and met up with a high school friend of Tim's, Bill Strong. We were able to dock next to his 36 ft. Benneteau behind a most impressive breakwater and he gave us the royal tour. Once again it is a gift to visit with old friends, we are blessed.