Hassel Island, St. Thomas; Tortola, British Virgin Islands

Just a quick post to let everyone know that we are in Fat Hog's Bay in Tortola, BVI. We are power-challenged currently, so we're making the most of the little power we have. Our plan is to leave Sunday as the weather should be better and head for St. Martin. Hopefully, we can rectify the power situation when we get there as there are competent, reasonable repair facilities there.

Just a brief recap of our last few days. Mike got his HAM license while in St. Thomas which means we should be able to get free email more regularly.

We met a couple from Michigan, Karen and Jason from YOLO, a PDQ 42--a BIG catamaran., with whom we hung out for about a week.

We were anchored at Hassel Island, a pretty place with goats roaming the hillsides, a beautiful beach and great scenery. We were constantly watchiing cruise ships coming and going as we were just outside Charlotte Amalie, the capital city of St. Thomas, and seaplanes landing and taking off.

Had a little diversion of a beach party at Honeymoon Bay on Sunday, Dec. 2. Then after a brief stop at Charlotte Amalie, we sailed around the eastern end of St. Thomas to Red Hook Bay for one night; then over to St. John.

Stayed in St. John for a couple of days anchored in extremely rolly, but beautiful Caneel Bay--a bit of a long dinghy ride from Cruz Bay, the center of town. One day we rode the bus to Coral Bay. The ride was a rather exciting one as the streets are narrow and very steep. The bus driver who seemed a little angry would lay on her horn as we rounded blind bends to alert others coming our way. Somehow we got there and back safely.

Coral Bay turned out to be the site of an American ex-pat community with full-time liveaboards enjoying paradis. Everyone seemed to know each other.

Although most things on St. John's were expensive, we did find Woody's with $1 drinks at happy hour as well as some local restaurants with fried chicken and barbecued ribs--mmmm...good.

On Friday we headed over to Jost Van Dyke and Foxy's, a well-known sailors' hangout. Of course, we met some other charterers there from Colorado. We never cease to be amazed how many Coloradans we meet.

With Tropical Storm Olga beginning to materialize, we headed out Saturday with lively sail to Norman Island, the Bight. There we were able to stay out of the weather dangers, although we had plenty of wind and numerous showers. The swimming and snorkeling were wonderful although there wasn't a lot to do. We were anchored right next to the Willie T., a floating bar and restaurant that played a lot of loud music, which was okay. It was also the scene of a lot of partying.

Met another great couple who had sailed from London, Graeme and Gyllian Mulcahy. Their visiting friends, Jock and Jill, were delightful as well. They were true cruisers who were making their way all over the islands and further. We enjoyed our evening with them.

St. Thomas, Virgin Islands - Nov. 16-30

After 11 ½ days of sailing, we arrived in St. Thomas at 1:30 in the morning. It was great to get here especially having had such an exhilarating journey. Lots of wind and waves that our crew, Jeff and Steve, especially enjoyed. We saw only about five other boats the whole time—amazing.

There’s been a bit of rain here on St. Thomas, much to our surprise. Of course, being on foot with numerous trips to town for boating supplies and other provisions calls for rain gear as the skies are sunny one minute and pouring rain the next. Of course, these trips included a trip to have a brand new inverter/charger repaired as well. This is a large, extremely heavy unwieldy box that had to be disconnected removed from underneath the settee and carried by dinghy to a place that would repair it. (They just don’t come to one’s boat!) So Mike and I struggled with it in the pouring rain getting it into the dinghy then from the dinghy up a very steep hill to the shop. Fortunately, it could be and was repaired in a timely fashion but maddening as we had just bought it in Annapolis for lots of boat units, as we call the big bucks.

While in St. Thomas, we rode the open-air jitneys for one or two dollars, depending on how far you go, to shopping areas too far away to walk. It’s a little dangerous walking here. There are few sidewalks, and if there are sidewalks, they’re narrow and end abruptly. Streets are narrow as well and filled with all manner of busy island traffic. The jitneys are fun. They are a safari-type vehicle with four or five benches that seat about 20 people. They come every few minutes, and you flag them down. Of course, if not careful, you can end up in a taxi or a tourist jitney where it costs at least $4 or $5 plus a tip to get where you’re going. K-mart is the big department store here. Imagine! We didn’t spend much time there, but a couple of things such as a bike helmet for Mike –more about that later—were on our shopping list. The bike helmet we determined would be a handy safety item for times when Mike has to go up the mast in windy, inclement weather. This happened on the passage two days into our journey. One section of the radar reflector way up on the mast fell off. With the winds whipping up, Mike felt if not taken down, the sharp edges of the remaining pieces might rip the sails. We were all a bit unnerved when this had to be done just before a stormy nightfall. After raising him ¾ of the way up our 63 foot mast, Mike swung from side to side in the brisk winds barely missing the mast several times as we all held our collective breath. After finally getting hold of the remaining piece of the sharp-edged radar reflector, he was lowered carefully, battered and bruised but luckily no head damage.

Our anchorage at Cas Cay in Benner Bay was a quiet one but more importantly had great internet access, an often difficult thing to find without lugging the computer to shore. There was also a nice grocery store, the Food Center, where we did some provisioning. Had thought about getting a turkey for our Thanksgiving dinner. Even though turkeys were available, there were no deals like we’re used to in the states.

We decided to go to a restaurant Wednesday night called Buddha Sushi. The meal was outstanding—and that’s a real compliment from Mike who does not like sushi.

Passage Norfolk to St. Thomas, Nov. 4-Nov. 16, 2007

Hooray! We made it! After 11 1/2 days of sailing the high seas--and some were mighty high--we got there. It was an exciting voyage. Lots of wind and waves and a few storms, but with a crew of Steve Olson, an old sailing buddy from Denver, and Jeff Strouf, a new friend and fellow sailor, we had a fabulous trip. Steve and Jeff were thrilled to be out in the ocean out of sight of land braving the elements. Sue was not; but hard to stay that way when fellow crew were so positive and enjoying every minute of the joyride. We had a few bets on when we would arrive, but we all were pretty pleased to have made it by 1:30 am on Nov. 16th. More to follow.

Norfolk/Portsmouth, October 30-November 4

We motored the two hours to Portsmouth, where we anchored outside of Tidewater Yacht Marina along with lots of other boats heading south. The weather was beautiful until Thursday, when reports of strong winds were circulating. We decided to move a day ahead of schedule into the marina, Waterside, where we had reservations Friday and Saturday. We were glad we did. Got the last slip available and learned that most of the marinas were full.

Our crew arrives tomorrow-- Steve Olson from Denver and Jeff Strouf from Wausau, Wisconsin.
Steve is an old friend and sailing buddy; Jeff was a guy we met in Oriental, NC who loves to sail and was able to take time off from his job as a firefighter to go with us.

Hampton, VA October 26-30

After Onancock, we sailed in mounting bad weather across the bay to Deltaville. Publicized in our guide books as quite the boaters' town, we quickly learned that the town is a couple of miles away. There was nothing but lots of fellow cruisers waiting out the weather which continued on a downward slide. On Thursday, we decided to head to Hampton as the weather was only predicted to get worse. It was rather chilly, windy and rainy with 3' to 4' waves, however, with following seas, it really turned out to be an enjoyable sail.

We were glad to get into Hampton, where many boats were marinaed (is this a word?) waiting for the Caribbean 1500 Rally sponsored by West Marine. They are leaving Hampton on Nov. 4, weather permitting. However, with the rather steep price, we opted to do our own thing although we'll be following a similar route.

We enjoyed Hampton. We had a lot of running around to do still preparing for our long offshore trek. On Sunday, my cousin, Debbie, and her husband, Dom, who currently live in Richmond joined us for an enjoyable afternoon.

By Tuesday, we decided it was time to head to Norfolk/Portsmouth.

Reedville, Virginia October 21

Forgot to mention that we actually went from Solomons to Reedville, first. Reedville is the home of menhaden fishing, a dying industry. We were warned that it would be a smelly place to stay, but we went anyhow and found it to be very attractive although small and lacking in places to go and things to do. However, we weren't really there to do anything but spend the night. It was a waypoint in our travels south. The fishing boats and dilapidated quonset hut pictured above indicate the state of the menhaden fishing industry here.

Onancock, October 22-24, 2007

After Solomons, we decided to go sailing!!! The weather was right for a change with a good brisk breeze of 15-20 knots. Gorgeous day, great sailing. We ended up on Virginia's eastern shore at the charming town of Onancock. We anchored just off the town dock and enjoyed live music from our boat--but not for long. We dinghied to shore to the music and enjoyed the sunset from Mallard's Restaurant. We decided to stick around for a day since the weather was warm and beautiful and the town delightful. We had a great inexpensive breakfast of a steak and egg wrap at Janet's Cafe. We strolled the town discovering wonderful items for our boat at the Hospice Thrift Store and at the hardware store--an old time shop with everything from nuts & bolts to tricycles to paint--also clams and home-grown vegetables. We bought a dozen clams and steamed them. Delicious. We have lots of experience with all manner of seafood--except clams. We enjoyed them.

Galesville, Solomons--October 18-20

Finally we got away--Hasn't been easy. At the last minute Monday, we discovered we needed yet another part for our autopilot. Had to wait for it to be delivered--only to discover when it arrived, it was not the part that was bad, but a connection! Mike resolved it and we finally were underway at 10 on Wednesday. Arrived 10 miles south at another charming town, Galesville, where hungry swans hung around our boat hoping for a handout. (They seemed to have successful with the boat parked next to us whom we later found were from Grand Junction, CO.)

Left early Thursday for the 41 mile trek to Solomon's. Bad weather's coming but greeted us a tad early with choppy seas, wind and rain. With the wind on our nose, of course, we couldn't take advantage of it and had to motor through pounding waves. Met our friends Vicki and Porter as we motored in together Thursday at 5.

Bye-bye Annapolis, October 17, 2007

South!

St. Michael's--October 13 & 14

Finally left Annapolis for a fun weekend in St. Michael's, a charming sailing town about 20 miles across the bay. Saturday was a beautiful, sunny day as all of the boaters in Annapolis realized as well. We spent a good part of our initial foray weaving between racers--dead serious racers in whose way we did not want to be!

Sunday our return trip was beautiful, but much colder. I actually had to wear several layers of clothing to stay warm enough.

Friends in Annapolis

As mentioned in the last post, we spent many a pleasant time with Vicki and Porter Howard pictured above. We also met Andrew and Denise Applteton from Kingston, Ontario on a beautiful 52 foot custom sailboat, Samaria II, complete with sitting room for TV etc. We learned that Andrew, who emigrated from Glasgow,Scotland many years ago when he was about 5 years old, sailed across on a boat named Samaria, hence his boat name's origin.

September and October - Annapolis

We actually have spent a lot of time here in Annapolis. Annapolis is the capital of Maryland and the home of the Naval Academy. We've been getting our gear together for the passage to the Caribbean as well as having it checked out. In addition, the US Sailboat Show was here October 5-8 so we were able to meet with vendors, some we know, most we don't. In addition, the Seven Seas Cruising Association (SSCA) held a meeting all day Saturday, Oct. 6. There were various talks on topics such as medical needs for cruisers, rope handling, and traveling around South America. All were of great interest as well as the swap meet where we were able to pick up several books, tools and other equipment for a song.

Have spent lots of time with our neighbors on Cinnamon Teal, a 45 foot Trintella. Vicki and Porter Howard are from Seattle and have been sailing for three years. Vicki was a home ec/math teacher; Porter an electrical engineer for Boeing. They've been great sources of companionship for these last couple of weeks. They will be leaving soon, too, to head for St. Augustine and a new hard dodger for their boat, heading to points south.

Above are some scenes from picturesque Annapolis.

September 21--Annapolis/Rock Hall

After a week in Annapolis, we were joined by two other old friends, Debbie and Bob Forrest, from Luray, VA. They were able to sail with us to Rock Hall--and we were actually able to sail with our one and only sail--our new spinnaker.

Tuesday, September 4 -- Rock Hall

Brooke left early on Labor Day to go back to Denver. My brother, Carter, and his wife, Cindy, joined us for a lovely, but hot, afternoon. On Tuesday, September 4, we sailed back to Rock Hall for a few days. Met a couple from Montreal on Manouche, Robert and Danielle, who joined us in a day of site-seeing and shopping in Chestertown and Easton.

In Chestertown, we had lunch at the Imperial Hotel, an old, elegant hotel where Mike had the best oyster and corn chowder he had ever had--Mike, Danielle and Robert are pictured above in front of the hotel. We then drove to Easton, another lovely town where we splurged on ice cream at a place called Rita's. Had dinner the next evening at Bay Wolf, an Austrian/seafood restaurant, in Rock Hall where the food is delicious.

Coming back to Annapolis from Rock Hall, we were thrilled to see the Pride of Baltimore (pictured above), a beautiful old tour boat, as it was sailing near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

Our next visitor was an old schoolmate and dear friend, Joan Higbee, who spent an afternoon with us. A little later, Mike and I visited her in Ellicott City, Maryland. She's been restoring a beautiful old house located on three acres on a hill just up from the town. Joan has hopes of its becoming a B & B with its proximity to the popular town below. She's well on her way.

Thursday, August 30 -- Baltimore

Anchored in the Inner Harbor in the heart of Baltimore City. On one side, the USS Constellation; on the other the USS Torsk, the submarine that sank the last enemy vessel in World War II, and the last lightboat, USS Chesapeake--an in between the dragon paddle boats at the foot of the World Trade Center. Brooke joined us Saturday for an unexpected, brief visit. Celebrated nephew Christopher's 30th birthday with a family party at a restaurant right at our doorstep. Took Brooke throught the National Aquarium on Sunday and visited her grandmother.

On Monday, my brother Carter and his wife, Cindy, spent an afternoon with us. We thoroughly enjoyed their visit.

We really enjoyed the entertainment. Paddle boats in the shape of dragons in green, puple, red , and blue floated by regularly bumping our boat. We were the only boat in the Inner Harbor for most of the time. Brooke was thrilled with all the activity.

Wednesday, August 29 -- Rock Hall

Onto Rock Hall where we had cocktails and dinner with Lionheart. A most enjoyable evening. We didn't stay long in Rock Hall as we were anxious to get settled in Baltimore, across the bay, to meet Brooke who was coming in for a short, but sweet visit over the Labor Day weekend.

Tuesday, August 28--Fairlee

After a short sail with our nephew, we motored to Fairlee Creek on the eastern shore. It's was a lovely anchorage and was the location of my great grandfather's home. Met some friends of an old friend, Estee Edwards, Richard and Sue on Lionheart. Estee, a former coworker and friend from Denver, now lives in Long Beach, CA. When she heard we were going to be sailing in the Bahamas this past winter, she told us of her friends who would be on their trawler there. Well, we never saw them there. Imagine our surprise to find them in tiny Fairlee! Unfortunately, we had just missed seeing Estee and her husband, Rick, who had been traveling in their RV a few days before in the area! We ended up spending an enjoyable evening with Richard and Sue the next night in Rock Hall.

In addition to meeting new friends, Mike practiced his skill at crabbing. He managed to snag about 5 crabs which we ate the following morning in an omelet. The crab pictured above, Fred, unfortunately didn't make it --as far as the omelet, that is. We also were enchanted with the ducks who visited the various boats hoping for food.

Monday, August 27-- Havre de Grace

After spending the weekend, the very hot weekend in Chesapeake City, we motored down the Elk River to Havre de Grace where our nephew, Christopher Seibel, joined us. Chris arrived Monday afternoon. We had dinner aboard after sharing mussels at the Tidewater Inn. In the morning, we motored around for a couple of hours--again, no wind. Chris did a super job of manning the helm. It was a beautiful day and we were sorry Chris couldn't sail away somewhere with us. At least he got a taste of it. Above are some pictures of Chris.

The anchoring in the Havre de Grace area was very unusual. It seemed like there were concrete blocks across which the anchor would drag when we first anchored. So we moved. Then when pulling up the anchor in the new location, it felt that we were caught again on concrete. Not a good experience. Our night was also interesting. The Amtrak railroad runs across the bridge at Havre de Grace. All during the night, long, noisy trains crossed the bridge. Havre de Grace is a charming town to visit, but we were less than entralled with the anchorage.

Friday, August 24 -- Chesapeake City

Motored up the bay stopping in Worton Creek and Georgetown on the eastern shore of Maryland. The weather had warmed to the 80s. Chesapeake City in the C and D Canal was a neat place. Lots of quaint shops and trendy restaurants. We were treated to music from live bands till the wee hours all weekend. Karen and David King, cousins, visited in the then sweltering heat.

Wednesday, August 21 - Middle River, Md

Having been at the marina for some time, we needed to move. As it was getting late, we decided to anchor just off the dock of the marina in Middle River, Md where it was rainy and cold--64 F. What a change! However, in the morning we would be leaving for the eastern shore.

Tuesday, August 7--Baltimore

Motored to Middle River in Baltimore, Maryland tieing up at the River Watch Marina--and air conditioning! Phew! The heat was brutal.

Mike left for Colorado Sunday, Aug. 12, so I stayed with my mom, (first picture), till he returned on the 17th. Spent Mom's birthday visiting cousin Karen (#2) in Pottstown, PA and her daughters and grandchildren: Taylor (#3)and Logan (#4) and Colton (#5).

We spent a few more days at the marina then left for the eastern shore of Maryland.

Monday, August 6 - Annapolis, MD

We briefly stopped in Deltaville, VA for the next night; then Crisfield, MD, Solomon'sIsland, Oxford, then Annapolis. Each night was just a waypoint for us. We went ashore in Crisfield for some crabs and then again in Oxford where we fought some rain to get into the restaurant. Unfortunately, in our haste to get to Baltimore, we really didn't get to see these places except overnight. Needless to say, we didn't see much. By the time we got to Annapolis, it was very, very hot. We anchored in Back Creek, but decided not to stay more than overnight as we needed air conditioning. We had reserved a spot at a marina in Baltimore's Middle River and knew that we could plug in there and enjoy our air conditioning. That turned out to be a good decision as it only got hotter.

We arrived in Baltimore ahead of schedule on the 7th of August. Unfortunately, we were unable to do much sailing because the winds were extremely light.

We did some sightseeing in Baltimore where Mike had spent some time in the Army. We were shocked at some of the areas we went through--very rundown, often boarded up and in general not where we wanted to be. On the other hand, we had some great homemade Italian pizza at a local pizzeria and discovered a crabhouse, Schultzes', with delicious soft crab sandwiches and hard crabs. Schultzes' is a local place that is packed on weekend nights with people knee-deep in hard crabs.

Wednesday, August 1 -- Hampton, VA

Finally got out of Portsmouth around 2 p.m. Decided to make as much headway as we could as we were trying to make Baltimore no later than August 9. We got as far as Hampton, Virginia. From the guidebook, we were expecting some nice bars and restaurants, however, everything was pretty much buttoned up. We did go into a hotel by the anchorage, but it was dead. So much for the guidebook! Needless to say, we were up and at it early, heading up the coast for our next stop, Deltaville, VA.

Going up the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay was a little hairy. There were huge Naval warships, as they call them, being escorted by much smaller tugboats. One called to us on the radio informing us that they were going to pass us, then cut in front of us. We, of course, indicated we would slow down and let them by--what choice did we have. All worked out well however. It is amazing to see those huge ships maneuver into a dock amidst other huge ships. They do it adeptly, however.

Tuesday, July 31--Portsmouth

A small thing of concern resulted in our hauling out the boat on July 8 at Ocean Marine in Portsmouth, VA. That small thing, though not critical, led to other big things and our anticipated two-day stay out of the water turned into the rest of the month of July, as parts were ordered, etc. Above is a picture of Jus' Now as she sits awaiting the work. In the meantime, we visited family in the Baltimore area. A stroke of luck occurred when Mike hooked up with the skipper of Seawalker , Richard Clay, with whom he made an ocean passage in 2005. Note the picture above of the happy reunion. Finally dropped the anchor at Tidewater Yacht Club in Portsmouth signifying the work was successfully completed and we were pursuing our trip.

Portsmouth was a wonderful town though. It is full of history and has beautiful restored homes along the narrow streets. We stayed in a lovely B & B --wish we had a picture. It was run by a Scottish woman with whom we sat on the front porch and in the morning shared a lovely breakfast of yogurt, fruit, scones, eggs, bacon...and the list goes on.

We also explored Norfolk a bit as it was just across the river. We got there by using the ferry, pictured above. The ferry system works well and is inexpensive--50 cents for those over 60--That's us!