sunday, Nov. 30, 2008

November 24, 2008

Good morning! Monday, Monday, as the Mamas and the Papas used to sing---Can’t trust that day! In this case, it simply slid away with no Monday Message. So here goes on Tuesday, Tuesday. Last Monday began beautifully and ended less so! The ride from Oriental to Beaufort/Morehead City was delightful. While we didn’t stop there (again) we enjoyed the busy harbor with a city on either side of the Newport River. When we entered the Bogue Sound, the current pushed us to a dizzying 8 knots! I’d just commented to Fred that we should be watching for dolphins, when they began to show themselves. For a full two minutes a group of three swam alongside the boat, arcing, huffing and puffing, looking up at me, and generally showing off for my camera! Around two pm we got a message from the Marines at Camp LeJune that boats 3 and 4 miles out in the Ocean would be shooting live ammunition onto Onslow Beach (target practice, and radio use practice, as well). Along with 7 sailboats, we opted to anchor and wait them out, rather than backtrack. Two hours later, a ‘cease fire’ was declared so a tow boat could pass through the firing area to reach a vessel having an emergency. Half an hour after that someone allowed as how they’d not be firing again, and we could all pass through the firing range. YA, the fastest of the ‘fleet’ arrived at the Onslow Bridge (vertical clearance 12 feet) at 5:04pm. It opens on the hour and the half hour, and as no one was waiting at 5:00 the bridge tender told us apologetically, that he must wait till 5:30. And wait we did, and watched evening fall as a total of 12 cars crossed the bridge. By 5:34, when the swing bridge was open enough for us to go through it was dark, and our GPS decided to stop working. Fortunately, we have 3 backup systems, and between them and the ‘always at the ready’ paper chart, we made our way through a maze of markers and docked safely at Swan’s Point Marina just before 7 pm. Tuesday morning we opted to sit tight as the wind was whipping, and it was COLD! It actually snowed for about 10 minutes! YIKES! On Wednesday we were glad we’d waited, as it was a beautiful day--freezing, but sunny and calm. Fred had lowered our antennas a bit so we were able to pass under the Surf City and Figure Eight Bridges. At Wrightsville the book said 20 feet, but the bridge tender said 17, so we opted to wait it out with our 19 foot height. Fred’s laptop, with the maptech charts and GPS failed, also, so I plotted compass courses and we’re verifying them with the GPS unit that D2 gave Fred at the end of his year as Commander. Gerry, the hand held Garmin has now moved to first back up position! We passed through Snow’s Cut and the current coupled with a gentle breeze to carry us nicely down the Cape Fear River. With more than a gentle breeze, it can get ugly. The river was busy! Lots of barge and ferry traffic, dredges and multiple range markers and buoys, as well as the occasional pile of concrete simply standing in the water. We were happy to make the turn into the newly redone SouthPort Marina. Thursday morning we picked up a complimentary copy of USA today at 7 am and were off--heading for South Carolina. This stretch of the ICW is the last to be finished in the 1930’s, and we soon entered the section the Corps of Engineers had to blast open through fossiliferous limestone. The result is called the 19 mile long “Rock Pile“. Woe to the vessel who is pushed too far to the side. A tug captain in Georgetown told us how he’d watched a large power boat be destroyed by not slowing down to pass the tug. The consequence? Tore out the bottom of his boat on the hidden wall of rock. Uffda. The last pontoon bridge on the eastern ICW (one is working in Texas) opens only on the hour so we, along with 5 other boats, had a 40 minute wait. After a long stretch of “No wake” travel due to the many boats docked along the waterway, we passed through a swing bridge and tied up at Barefoot Landing. This 500’ long dock along the waterway is part of an outlet shopping center with lots of botiques (many closed for the season) outlet stores and restaurants. A nice stop; it is a part of North Myrtle Beach, the beginning of the 60 mile ocean front ‘Grand Strand’. This area continues to grow--three bridges are under construction between South Port and Myrtle Beach, to carry the increased traffic. Friday morning we were amazed to see that at 8am the Myrtle Beach golfers were out in the tram, crossing the waterway. Our thermometer said 39 degrees. Bless their hearts. Our Friday nite stop was in Georgetown, where we shopped at “Morsels” (specialty foods) and a book store, where we supplemented our library. (Maybe Wally Lamb’s “The Hour I First Believed” has something to do with the disappearance of Monday….) On Saturday, we twisted and wound our way along the rivers and cuts of the ICW to dock around 4 at Isle of Palms. Phoned my high school friend, Paula, who drove over from Sumter for lunch on Sunday. We then did an auto and walking tour of Charleston--see the photos of a few of the many places we saw! We walked miles and miles! The city is beautiful, historic, filled with flowers and gardens, and way more interesting places than we were able to see. A Must Return To City! So that is our week. Hope yours was great. As Thanksgiving Day approaches, we are mindful of our many, many blessings, and send you all our best wishes for a wonderful holiday. Fred and Linda Aboard YOUNG AMERICA

Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008

Finally, here are last week's photos. Windows Vista and HP Photosmart and I are spending a lot of time together these days. Sometimes I feel like the person my friend Mary once described---Mary said "I finally figured out that her learning curve is a circle!" I do believe, though, that it is NOT me, rather the computer programs that simply behave badly. In any case, the photos are here for all to see, and I hope, enjoy! L

November 17, 2008

Hello all, Ah, the Dismal Swamp! ‘Twas anything but dismal. First off, it was Veteran’s Day, so we flew the big Holiday flag and indeed felt festive! Then Robert, the lock tender (of 3 who work the locks, he has least seniority with 15 years!) offered coffee and passed out danish as we four boats prepared to be raised up 8’ in the lock so we could transit the canal. About 2/3 of the way thru the canal we tied up at the Visitor’s Center, and as soon as we stepped ashore a State Park Employee opened a new type of bridge across the waterway. A handful of hikers crossed, and we hurried to inspect the bridge. Sarah the policeperson, closed it while we watched so Fred could see how the mechanism worked. Then it was time to re-board and head for the South Mill Lock. Once again we were awed by Turner’s Cut, the beautiful section just south of the Dismal Swamp. While the leaves had just passed the peak of color, many fell into and floated on the water, and it was lovely. Our destination for the day was Ellizbaeth City, NC, about 18 miles past the Canal. Tying up at the town dock was a challenge. Thank goodness locals turned out to help. One, Steve, is the mayor of the town. He toured the boat--is in the market--and we rushed him through so we could get to the dinner theater on time. What a fun evening. Order dinner using the telephone at your table, then lean back and watch a movie while you eat. This one was “The Secret Life of Bees”. We recommend it highly. We’d have loved to stay over in Eliz. City, but checked the weather and decided to take advantage of the promise of a beautiful Wednesday. Sure enough, we crossed the Albamarle Sound in quiet, calm weather, and anchored just as dusk fell in a cozy creek off the Pungo River, near Belhaven. End of nice weather. Rain, wind and fog kept us in our cozy creek all day Thursday. We couldn‘t see the pennants on our own mast, and when we did, they were flapping in a strong breeze. Friday the wind was calm and so we moved on despite more fog. Again, we were stopped short of our planned destination, and again anchored in a cozy creek. Saturday morning we headed into Oriental, NC. A self-proclaimed ‘Boating Capitol of the South’, Oriental is indeed, a cute little place where we had lunch with Barb and Randy, of GH37 LAZY DOLPHIN. People are friendly, too. The dockmaster loaned us his car to grocery shop! We spent a quiet evening, and although the weather looked ok, decided to take a day off and do ’boat work’. I dusted the venetian blinds (whew!), and Fred repaired the anchor light, which has been a thorn in his side for days. We took time out to lunch with Gen and Bill from POT LUCK, and by the time the anchor light was fixed dark had fallen and we were ready to have a cup of soup and say goodnight. So we did. This morning, Monday, dawned bright and clear, and we were there to see it! At 6:50 am (a new record for us) we were underway, heading south. With the temp. at 40 degrees, we can’t get to warmer climes soon enough! See you next week! Fred and Linda Aboard YOUNG AMERICA

Monday November 10

We certainly didn’t put very many miles under the keel this week! The weather stayed thick, wet and unmanageable until Thursday! We went for wet walks, read books and generally worked at staying out of the way of Mike and Tom. There were several minor electrical changes Fred has wanted done since YOUNG AMERICA came to live with us last March. All but one are now completed, thanks to M&T (mentioned above and pictured at right). The last one is an elusive little devil that had Mike, the electrician scratching his head, and now that we’ve left Deltaville and Mike is off the job, has Fred shaking his. Head, that is. One day it will sort itself out, I’m sure. When the sun finally broke through on Friday we hightailed it around to the Hampton Roads. ‘Roads’ apparently, is an old English term describing ‘a place near the ocean where large vessels can anchor safely.’ In this case, Hampton Roads is located at the confluence of the Elizabeth and James Rivers, Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, with the cities of Hampton, Newport, Newport News and Virginia Beach all within, well, anchoring distance. Hampton, VA has a delightful town dock. We planned to stay 2 nights, but the third was free, so who could resist? It was in this part of Tidewater VA, near Richmond, where Fred’s parents lived at the end of their lives, so on Saturday we rented a car and drove to the churchyard where they are buried. St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in New Kent, VA is a lovely brick building which dates back to the 1700’s. It was, interestingly, the site of both marriages of our first First Lady, Martha Dandridge-Custis-Washington. She was born nearby, grew up and married in this area, and after the death of her first husband, she returned to St. Peter’s, her home church, for her marriage to George. From St. Peter;s, we rode back to Cumberland Farm, the place where Mangelsdorf family gatherings took place in the late 1960‘s and early ‘70‘s. The property changed hands three years ago, and the new owners were very gracious, and happy to show us the many improvements they have made to the house and the grounds. Fred was very pleased as the place looks wonderful and is clearly loved. We returned to the Church for Sunday services, and there Fred was able to speak with several folks who remembered his mom and dad. All in all, it was a very nice visit. On Sunday afternoon we bopped down to Virginia Beach where I’d read about a labyrinth at the Edgar Cayce Foundation. I walked both the labyrinth and the reflexology walk and browsed in the bookstore while Fred read the paper--a treat we don’t get every day! A wine tasting party was being held on the dock when we returned Sat. evening, and Sun. evening we spent some time with a pair of retired potters who live aboard PotLuck, the boat next door. The best part of this trip/life is the people we meet! Today we motored through Norfolk to the lock at the top of the Great Dismal Swamp. We got off to our typically early start, (NOT) then made stops along the way to take on fuel (mercifully down to $2.64/gal.) and water, and to chat with Michael, a Great Harbor owner from Warwick, NY who was tied up in a marina as we passed. (The boat, of course, is what was tied…) Then there are the many bridges of Norfolk. They open on demand, within a time schedule. We arrived at the last one at 3pm, then waited until the boat behind us was close enough to go through on the same opening. As a result, we arrived at the lock a few minutes after the lockmaster had closed the gates for the last passage of the day. Not a problem. He promised to bring coffee for the first opening in the morning, and we‘ll for sure be first in line to enter the lock. We dropped our anchor and are spending a lovely quiet evening in Deep Creek. Leaving the Chesapeake was sad; we barely scratched the surface of places to see and things to do. That means a return trip is in order! Now, along with many others, we’re definitely ‘heading’ south. See you next week! Fred and Linda Aboard YOUNG AMERICA At the beginning of the Dismal Swamp, VA

November 3, 2008

OK, so it is Tuesday. Election day, at that! We returned to the boat late last Monday, the 27th of Oct., from a busy week in Newburgh. Lynn and Jeffrey motored over from Baltimore to say au revoir, and to have a great Chinese dinner! Tuesday and Wednesday were really ugly weather days--on Wed. afternoon we decided to ‘give it a shot’ and head for Annapolis despite the ‘small craft advisories‘. After all, we are not such a small craft, are we? We are! Rapidly repeating 7-8 foot waves convinced us that we belonged back at the dock, and back we went. Had some work done on the Watermaker, and by Friday the sun was shining and we were underway. Spent Hallowe’en in Knapp’s Narrows, MD, where Jeff, the bridge tender at the busiest bascule bridge in the country, let us watch the bascule bridge’s workings from the operator’s side, and recommended Harrison’s Family Restaurant for dinner. It was a hoot! Not only costumed wait staff, but the folks at the next table shared their freshly caught Sea Bass (prepared by the restaurant’s chef). Nice. We returned to Solomon’s Island Sat. and stayed Sunday as well. Anchored this time in the Back Creek and used the dinghy to explore and to pick up a few things from our two favorite stores-West Marine and a gourmet food store! It doesn’t get much better than that! We also toured the wonderful Calvet Museum. Several neat things there--a 3000 year old fossilized whale skull unearthed by Hurricane Irene in 2003, the sailboat Manitou, which was gifted to John Kennedy for his use while President (it is for sale--a mere $2 million!), and a transplanted light house beautifully restored. I was meandering about the museum when I heard the loudspeaker say “Phone call for Mr. Mangelsdorf”! Don’t you know, Fred found the name of Mel Conant, a member of the Rum, Sail and Chowder Society from Cape Cod (remember the photo of Sophia Loren on the boat?) on a museum exhibit, asked the docent about Mel, and the next thing we knew we had a dinner date with Christa, Mel’s widow. It’s a small, small world! Monday we motored on down to Deltaville, VA. Once more there is boat work, and Mike has been here all day fixing ’stuff’. As I look toward the Bay all I see (through the rain) is a solid wall of fog. So we’re tucked in and snug to check out the election returns. The marina offers a car and bikes to explore the town. Perhaps it’ll be dry tomorrow…. We will ‘see’ you next week! Fred and Linda Aboard YOUNG AMERICA Deltaville, VA