I have forgotten little things that should have been in other posts but I had forgotten to mention them.

The trip from Titusville to Daytona takes you through the Haulover Canal. Perhaps the highest concentration of manatees, on our route, live there. I saw at least a half dozen in the canal and maybe four more further up Mosquito Lagoon. Also there is an island that is always full of exotic birds, this time there where flamingos, roseate spoonbills, scarlet ibis and white pelicans.

While walking to West Marine, Tom and I saw one whopping crane fly over and two more whopping cranes near the roadway in a park. Turns out there is a pretty good population of these cranes in the area.

While at Calvert Marina in Solomons several weeks ago we fell asleep to the sounds of ZZ Top drifting over the water. They were performing at Calvert Marine Musuem across the river.

Just the other night while anchored in Atlantic City we listened to a band that sounded an awfully lot like The Who, doing their music.

And last but not least, our neighbor, anchored not to far away is none other than Eric Clapton’s boat “Blue Guitar”. Pretty cool stuff happening here.

As we rounded Sandy Hook, New Jersey I had to say it, “Well it looks like we dodged the last of them, we were pretty lucky but it looks like we should make it just fine”. Within 10 minutes the wind was blowing 30 knots and we were being pelted by a torrential downpour.

We had made the run up the Atlantic coast from Cape May to Atlantic Highlands with an overnight stop in Atlantic City. Overall about 150 statute miles with almost a hundred the last day. The trip from Cape May to Atlantic City was uneventful. Sea swells were running on average 2 to 4 feet with occasional swells of twice that. Apparent wind was negligible so we motored the whole way. We arrived in time to eat dinner and go to bed early. The next day was to be a long one. Marine warnings would be issued that evening due to incoming weather and those warnings may not be lifted for several days. We wanted to be ahead of the weather.

Up at dawn (5:30ish) we readied for the day ahead. The anchor chain had decided to become a mussel farm. Cleaning it off as we weighed anchor took forever. It was covered in little mussels, 1000’s of them. The ride out Absecon Inlet was exciting. The swells were from the southeast and the tide was ebbing and since the current in this inlet is swift, the waves were steep and large. Had we done the right thing? After reaching deeper water out a mile or so the waves lessened and we continued on. The fog thickened as we headed out four to five miles offshore to keep us out of fish traps and floats and inside of any ship traffic. Visibility was soon a half mile or less, sometimes much less. Our radar became our eyes.

Around 11:00 the fog finally lifted as the wind increased to 20 knots, 10 apparent. Unfurling the headsail added a knot or so and soon we were scooting along at 7-9 knots. We kept the engine at cruising speed to try to beat the weather to Sandy Hook. As the day wore on the skies began to darken. We had read that our radar could track the heavier rain cells and soon we could see those cells on the radar screen as we they crossed our path. One particularly bad cell caused us to slow and wait for it to cross a mile ahead. This is pretty cool! The VHF was beginning to get very busy. As boaters became stranded or whatever, the calls to the Coast Guard, Sea Tow and TowBoatUS became frequent. We listened as a USCG helicopter came to the assistance of a fishing boat that was dead in the water somewhere way offshore from Atlantic City. Marine warnings were made as new storms would approach. Pretty exciting. The winds stayed at 20 knots or so and the seas were still the same (had we been going the other way it sure would have been rough). As we headed into the channel around Sandy Hook we were warned of another severe storm approaching the bay. We watched as lightning flashed and the dark storm traveled just north of our location. Radar showed little additional activity. We had dodged them all and had our anchorage in sight. I should no better than to breathe a sigh of relief until the hook is dropped.

Click on the link to the right to see where we’ve been. There’s still some glitches but I’m working on it.

Having splurged and rented a car we decided to see as much Cape May as we could. It was beautiful although a little hot for us. The public beach looks inviting and borders the entire Atlantic side of Cape May. At $4.00 per person per day to walk on it didn’t seem quite right, so we found a free spot down near the lighthouse.

The architecture is Victorian with many homes built in the 1800’s. The gardens were full of blooms.

We toured the waterfront, the bird sanctuary, West Cape May and finally capped off our day with an exciting trip to the grocery store! We know how to have a good time.

For more pictures visit the gallery.

After being escorted from our anchorage in Havre de Grace by a tug pushing a barge of shale, we rejoined the tip of the Chesapeake and the C & D Canal.

As we rounded the lighthouse at Turkey Point we encountered wind gusts up to 20 knots. We were zooming along in places at 8 to 9 knots. We stopped for fuel along the way ($140 we would have spent in HdG) and then proceeded to Reedy Island to anchor for the night. Reedy never disappoints for spectacular sunsets.

The Delaware Bay is a tedious sail with many ships, strong currents, and little scenery. Managing the currents we made it to Cape May in 8 1/2 hours. Tonight we’ll go for dinner ashore ($50 we would have spent in HdG) and tomorrow reprovision for the rest of the trip to NY ($200 we would have spent in HdG).

The storms never materialized and we woke with excitement as we planned a day ashore in Havre de Grace. Somewhere along the way we got water in the dinghy fuel so our land excursion was delayed as I filtered out the water and got the motor restarted. I should have never bothered.

We ventured towards the spot where Skipper Bob had said there was a dinghy dock. Fences and railings made it very apparent that we were not welcome. We motored down to Tidewater Marina to ask if there was any other place to go ashore. A nice gentleman offered their dock, but before we could get ashore someone else with more “authority” told us in no uncertain terms that we were not welcome and needed to leave immediately. Needless to say we are very depressed over the whole ordeal. It is very hard getting used to the feeling that we are second class citizens, homeless people that no one wants.

If you follow the link to Wikipedia for Havre de Grace you will see under “Local Color” that the towns people don’t think much of their out of town visitors. I guess that means us as well.

We will leave in the morning (without spending a cent), hopefully not only leaving this place behind, but also the feelings we now have.

With the boat in the water and all things checking out, we moved over to our favorite anchorage up Mill Creek near Cheryl’s house. I still needed to organize all the junk I’d spread all over while working on the boat so we spent a couple of days anchored. The weather pattern of evening thunderstorms has been common and we’ve been through a few so far. Thursday night was our farewell dinner at Cheryl’s. Friday morning, 6/20, (not too early) and we were off for Annapolis.

As you round Drum Point and start heading north, the Calvert Cliffs and Calvert Beach are visible to the west. Annapolis is an easy day sail away and with favorable winds we were able to motor sail part of the way. Dropping the hook of the seawall of the Naval Academy is always a pleasure. After several tries we were able to get the Delta to set in the hard clay bottom. It was very rough since we were near the edge of the Severn River so the next day we moved closer to the mooring field in Spa Creek. Much nicer. We spent two nights and never made it to shore.

Early Sunday we headed for Havre de Grace near the tip of the Chesapeake. We’ll wait here until the thunderstorm threat passes. This is an interesting little town with a rich history. Birthplace of Cal Ripken and David Hasselhoff!!! It lost out by one vote to be the nation’s capitol.

A look out into the bay from our boat.

The skipjack, Martha Lewis.

Hopefully more tomorrow as we plan a day in town (if it isn’t raining).

After getting back to Solomons, it was time to tackle the rest of the projects. I quickly finished painting the bottom and got ready for the cutlass bearing. Scott and Joe back in Milwaukee made me a tool to extract the old bearing and with high expectations I went to work. After the first hour I had moved it a 1/16″! In desperation I gave it a good whack with the hammer and lo and behold it came out another 1/8″. As it was getting late and I needed to watch the US Open, I called it a day. The next day proved to go a lot better. The bearing inched its way out little by little. Soon it was coming out just under the pressure of the tool and in minutes it was completely out. Inspection of the old bearing showed that complete failure was imminent but there was no damage to the prop shaft. I inserted the new bearing with little trouble and wrapped things up by installing the prop.

Early Monday morning we dropped off the rental car and went back to the marina to get the boat launched. Shortly before noon we were back in the water. I checked the new “dripless” prop shaft seal I had installed and sure enough, no drips! We docked the boat back at Calvert Marina to reinstall the wind generator (boat didn’t fit in the Travelift with it on) and the headsail. The boat will get a thorough cleaning inside and out before leaving. We’re also removing anything from the boat that hasn’t seen the light of day in the last year. Hopefully we’ll be back on our way north near the end of the week.

We headed up into the Smoky Mountains the next morning headed for Asheville, North Carolina. Following backroads through spectacular scenery we arrived in Asheville for lunch with Larry, who was working at the Ariel Gallery where Akira’s work is on display. After lunch with Larry we headed for the Blue Ridge Parkway. We would travel approximately 325 miles on the Parkway. Rain dampen the first day but the scenery was spectacular anyway. Stopping for the night at Bluff Lodge in Doughton Park, we were treated to a quaint room in this lodge overlooking the mountains.

It seems North Carolina is very dog unfriendly and has passed legislation that bars dogs from any hotel room. Goliath had to stay in the car. Poor puppy, .

The next morning greeted us with clear skies and mild temperatures. We continued the trip north through the mountains. The road is lined with Rhododendron and Mountain Laural which were blooming, perfect timing.

Mountain Laural (Kalmia latifolia)

Catabwa rhododendron

Since our lives revolve around food, our next stop was Mabry Mill, the most photographed spot on the parkway.

We continued our way north after lunch stopping many times along the way.

Finally reaching the end of the parkway, we turned east and headed for Solomons which we reached that evening. For more pictures of this section visit the Blue Ridge Parkway section of the gallery.

After quite a thunderstorm (I slept through it) that night, we left early under an overcast sky. Heading for the backroads of central Arkansas we soon caught up to a steady light rain. Even through the rain we enjoyed the view of the mountains. As we descended out of the mountains to join the Interstate we left the rain behind. Our destination was Memphis and we arrived in time for dinner and then settled in for the evening.

A visit to Memphis means the Blues and BBQ. After getting our bearings from Mapquest, we headed downtown to visit the home of the Blues. We drove past Sun Studios, did a “drive by” of Graceland and then headed to Beale St. for a late lunch and some music. We picked B.B. King’s Club for lunch. Carl Drew Blues Band came on as our plates of BBQ were delivered to our table. Carl Drew is 87 years old and he and his band are awesome. Check out this video on youTube. This is a description from B.B. Kings Club website… “A living legend, Carl Darvin Drew, at 86 years young, is the oldest, active, blues guitarists in the world. Mr. Drew started playing blues in 1937 with “Baby” Colloway and now has over 70 years blues experience. Over the course of his life, Mr. Drew has played with some of the best in the business and he is still going strong. Mr. Drew has traveled all over the world and made his way back to Beale St. The Carl Drew Blues Band features female vocalist, Miss Joyce Henderson. Miss Joyce is from Chicago and has over 15 years blues experience herself. Joyce belts out blues in styles similar to Aretha Franklin and Katie Webster. Bass player, Leroy Hodges, is a Grammy nominee and has been the recording bass player for the legendary superstar, Al Green, for 30 years. Together, along with all of the Carl Drew Blues Band members, they bring dedication and professionalism to their music and performances of traditional and contemporary blues.” Joyce Henderson was fantastic as well.

After eating a delicious lunch of pork BBQ (what else?) and fried dill pickles (oh, yeah the diet has been delayed till tomorrow) we strolled along Beale Street and listened to many other performers, some pretty good and others not so good. Later that evening we stopped again at B.B. King’s and listened to Blind Mississippi Morris, a great performer. Exhausted we headed to the hotel for a little rest before leaving the following morning for a short visit with my sister.

A seven hour trip east on the Interstate brought us to Newport, Tennessee. We headed off the main road, following my sister’s directions. Mary began to wonder where we could be going as the roads began to disappear. Our last turn put us on a paved road slightly wider than a single lane. A mile later we arrived at my sister’s home. We were greeted by Akira, Larry and their six dogs (Meeka, Scooter, Julie, B.B., Dru and Darcy.

Nestled in the “hollers” of eastern Tennessee near North Carolina, it is a beautiful and restful place. We hiked the forests surrounding the house, checked out Larry’s shop where he helped me turn a bowl for Goliath, and toured Akira’s studio. Check out their website to witness the amazing work they do. We had a great time but needed to press on.