Time For The Adventure To End

We began cruising six years ago in 2007. The dream began well before that. We don't really remember exactly when we decided to go for it. We identified the Island Packet 380 as our ideal cruising boat when it was introduced in 1998. We bought Ariel in 2001 and immediately began outfitting for cruising. When we set out in 2007, we didn't have any predetermined timeline. We did come up with a potential target of six years only because we put the money from the sale of our condominium into certificates of deposit and adopted the concept of laddering. We had two-year and three-year certificates, and with rollovers, they would all mature at the same time in six years. Nice concept, but we bailed out of certificates of deposit without rollovers with the interest rate decline.

When we decided to go to Panama, we expected to stay two years, and that would make at least seven.  Before returning to Panama last autumn, we had reached the decision that we were ready to move on, and so we changed our plans. Rather than spend an extended period in the San Blas islands in Panama and then sail on to Cartagena, Colombia, we shortened our time in the San Blas and began the long trip back. We feel fortunate that we both were ready to give it up at the same time. We have spent two previous summers living and working on a property we bought three years ago as the site for our post-cruising life. We have really enjoyed these summers, and it was becoming harder and harder to leave.

We are so fortunate to have been able to see and experience so much over the past six years. We cruised the East Coast from Maine to Florida and spent one summer season exploring New England and, more specifically, Maine. When we lived in Massachusetts and kept our boats in Rhode Island, we never had the extended time required to take a boat to Maine. We spent another summer on the Chesapeake Bay and have returned there at the end of our cruising years. We made three round-trips on the Intracoastal Waterway, which, when we started out, traveling the ICW was probably our number one goal. We especially like South Carolina's Lowcountry and Eastern North Carolina. These areas are mostly undeveloped where the ICW passes through, mostly because they are such wetlands, and if you haven't figured it out by now, we really like nature.

Before we began our journey, we really expected to visit the eastern Caribbean. Much of our reading and research was about these island countries. We spent two seasons in the Bahamas, which would be a natural jumping-off point to the eastern Caribbean, but we started hearing about the western Caribbean, and the more we looked at it, we realized it was a much better match to our interests.

The biggest leap for us during the entire six years was setting off from Key West for the three-day and three-night trip to Mexico. Our buddy boat had to cancel due to medical issues just days before our departure, so we set off alone.  That trip really built our confidence and set the stage for exploring Central America.

Guatemala became our home port of sorts as we left Ariel there during two hurricane seasons.  We came to love Guatemala and toured inland in Guatemala more so than any other country we visited.  The cruising community on the Rio Dulce is large and active, so it was never boring. 

After we arrived in Rock Hall, Maryland, we immediately started unloading our stuff.  It took three trips, once with a rental car and twice with our SUV, to cart off everything, and each time we were packed to capacity.  Ariel has been put on the market, and we are back working on our gardens and landscaping.  We plan to meet with a builder later this year to replace the small, beyond-salvage house that came with the property.

We feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to cruise.  We are often asked if we are going to miss it.  We don't feel that way.  We enjoyed it immensely and have so many fond memories, but we have turned to the next chapter and are too engaged in that to spend time thinking about alternatives.

This, needless to say, is the last posting for this blog.

"Fair Winds And Following Seas" ~ /) ~

Traveling The ICW And Back On The Chesapeake

We began our trip north from Florida by positioning ourselves on the down river side of Jacksonville, closer to the mouth of the river, so we could get an early morning departure, both to take advantage of the favorable current and to assure a daylight arrival in Charleston harbor. As luck would have it, we had wind on the bow or near so the whole way, so it was a motor sailing trip from start to finish. Our speed was slower than planned, so we arrived too late to catch a bridge opening we needed to get to our intended anchorage just north of Charleston. We passed Fort Sumter on our way to an anchorage in Charleston harbor across from City Marina. In the past, we have always avoided this anchorage because it is usually crowded, not well protected, and subject to strong currents. We didn't expect it to be crowded at this time of year, and so we did find a spot with adequate swinging room. To our amazement, we had a very pleasant night. Taking the outside route was about 65 miles shorter, even backtracking a little to our anchorage, but it also saved at least three days of travel time. We had a rough plan for stops on the ICW, mostly to revisit our favorite anchorages and maybe even stop at a couple of marinas, something we seldom do. With our unexpected stop in Charleston, our plan was thrown into disarray. We made it to Georgetown, SC, the next day, again short of our plan, but enjoyed another nice, peaceful evening. With an early start, we felt we could get back on plan, but plans went awry again when we reached North Myrtle Beach for a fuel stop. It was only 3:30, but Barefoot Resort had just filled up their fuel dock with overnight transient boats, so they were no longer pumping fuel for the day. Not wanting to proceed without topping off the fuel, we took a slip across the waterway at Barefoot Landing Marina for the night. A very strong storm system was sweeping across the country and was due in our area late the next evening. We decided to make a short travel day and, after getting our fuel, proceeded to Ocean Isle Marina in Ocean Isle, North Carolina. Ocean Isle Marina is a dry stack storage facility for smaller power boats, but they have room for one transient boat at the end of their dock furthest out into the waterway. This was our planned stop the previous day. Norm's cousin Bob and his wife Hattie live just a few streets from the marina. Unfortunately, Bob was working that day, but after Bob got off from work, we all went out for a couple of drinks. While our visit was short, we were happy to see each other. The next day, after the front passed through, we had a good travel day and arrived at Wrightsville Beach, our intended stop. The next day, Sunday, April 21, was the harshest we have ever spent on the waterway. The skies were clear and blue, but the air was cold, and the wind was blowing around 30, and gusting higher mostly on our bow, and to make things even worse, the current was against us all day. We came very close to having our way blocked. Some of the bridges cannot operate in high winds. When we arrived at the Surf City bridge, it could not be opened because the wind was in excess of 25 knots. After a brief wait and thoughts of dropping the hook, there was a momentary lull in the wind, and the bridge tender decided to give it a try. It opened oh so slowly, but it did open, and we got through. Later, the Coast Guard announced that the Figure Eight Island Bridge had suspended operations due to the wind. We had cleared that bridge earlier in the day. We arrived at our anchorage at Camp Lajeune (Mile Hammock). This is one of the most popular anchorages on the waterway, and we found it empty. Later, just one other boat joined us. Of course, we are well ahead of the spring northern migration. We found one anchor would not hold, so we put a second in a V shape off the bow, and that did the trick. We were solidly in place, and we both slept peacefully even as the winds howled all night. The next morning, the winds had not subsided, so we decided to stay put and travel the following day, which was predicted to be better. After our lay day at Mile Hammock, the weather was much improved, and we were once again underway. A couple of days later, we found ourselves in Belhaven, North Carolina. We have always stopped in Belhaven, and it is one of our favorites. The many empty storefronts are a witness to a town struggling, but we have found the people to be the friendliest you will find anywhere. For our first time, while stopping at Belhaven, we decided to go into a marina. We stopped at the Belhaven Waterway Marina, which is right in town, actually next door to the dinghy dock, which in the past was our access point to town. Since our last visit three years ago, Belhaven was flooded during a hurricane, so a couple more stores were closed, and the laundromat moved to higher ground, luckily still within reasonable walking distance. We went out to dinner at the Fish Hooks Cafe as a walk down memory lane. Before beginning our first trip down the ICW in 2007, we met Iain and Jan on Jocks Lodge. They were experienced with the ICW, so we asked them to tag along for a couple of days. This was all arranged, sitting in our dinghy next to their boat, so we really didn't know them as we started out. Likewise, Ted and Alice on Windsong asked to tag along with us. After clearing the idea with Jan and Iain, the three boats started out together. After three days of travel together, we arrived in Belhaven and stayed a couple of days.  It was in Belhaven that we finally started to get to know one another. Iain and Jan treated the four of us to dinner at the Fish Hooks Cafe as an appreciation for assisting them when their engine quit with a clogged fuel line, and after that was fixed, they got a line wrapped around their prop. Assistance was in the form of towing them across Albemarle Sound in rough seas and helping untangle the prop. The food at that time at the Fish Hooks was not recommended, but we had a wonderful time together. This time around, the food was excellent. The six of us on our three boats spent the next few months cruising together. Iain, Jan, Ted, and Alice became close friends, and we have continued to stay in touch.

This trip, we decided to take the Virginia Cut. Crossing Albemarle Sound, there is a choice to be made between the Dismal Swamp route and the Virginia Cut route. This is our sixth trip on the ICW (three round-trips), and with the decision to take the Virginia Cut, we split evenly between the two routes.

On April 27, just two weeks after leaving the marina on the St Johns in Florida, we arrived in Hampton on the lower end of the Chesapeake and were happy to be back in open waters. The weather has been either very nice or very miserable. Our first day on the Chesapeake was cold with misting rain, and that night the rain increased in intensity and continued non-stop through the following day. After lying over for a day at anchor, we had a fantastic day with good sailing. Our next stop was the Solomons, which was our summer home in 2009. Again, rain was forecast for the following day, so we took a slip at the Solomons Harbor Marina (Holiday Inn). It was good to get off the boat and to see places so familiar to us. Our highlight was dinner at Boomerangs, a place we like, and when we had visitors, we invariably took them to Boomerangs, which specializes in ribs.

After two days in the Solomons, we again had another great travel day; the wind was a little close, so we motor-sailed, but we caught a favorable current from the incoming tide all the way. We arrived in Rock Hall at Gratitude Marina, our new home for Ariel, on May 2, five months after leaving Panama. 

Our laptop keyboard finally gave out, so until we were able to order a new keyboard and install it, updating the blog just wasn't going to happen.  This laptop has spent six years at sea, so, understandably, it has developed this problem.  Now it seems good as new, but just a little slower by today's standards.  Anyway, that is why this post is long-winded.