On the way to Southport, NC - Thursday

We began our morning with a visit from a porpoise swimming by and a bevy of sea birds sunbathing on the sparkling white sand of Sugarloaf island. That was our view as we ate breakfast. Since the boat seems a little sluggish, Tom arranged for us to have it pulled out this morning – quite a trick to drive the boat into the narrow dock with the cross wind. When we got to inspect the bottom, we were amazed at the barnacle colony that had evolved on our propeller blades. I set up shop with my laptop, wireless card and cell phone and did a little work while waiting. An hour and a half of scraping and washing later, we were on our way to Southport.

We passed by a huge new Marina (owners only) on the way. We passed a Navy crew on barges laying pipe. Our navigation equipment was essential piloting at low tide through the sand bars between Morehead and Swansboro (where we saw a lot of sea gulls STANDING on the water). Swansboro was originally settled by the Algonquin Indians and later named for a North Carolina legislator and Speaker of the House from this area. We passed under the wonderful tall bridge to Emerald Isle.

This is retracing our steps from our 30^th anniversary trip, but the first voyage south for The Next Thirty Years.

Cruise to MidWinter at Myrtle Beach - Wednesday

Myrtle Beach here we come! Tom and I made it to New Bern kind of late but were determined to get to Morehead tonight. We got to see the new construction on the Trent River bridge as we passed, then we experienced Adams Creek as the sun was setting. How incredible. The sky was orange turning to purple and the water was so still that all the sky and water front was reflected like glass. It was a real treat. God is such an artist.

We made it to the Portside Marina on the Bogue Sound just as it was getting really dark. This is immediately next to the State Port terminal so it was well lighted so we docked easily. The dock master was a great guy to offered to give us a ride to a nearby restaurant. We had serious plans to eat dinner at the Sanitary fish market, but they were closed for the Winter season. Denard took us to an old country house built in 1921, now Floyd's restaurant, for a nice quiet dinner -lace curtains, great sweet potatoes and collards... they even had pickle relish!

April 13, 2007 - Home to New Bern

ICW Heading South: Tom and I were up early this morning with a full day of travel planned to reach New Bern by tonight. Our first view on the water was a crew team speeding down the Chesapeake-Albemarle Canal with their caller in the transom. After a quick breakfast of cereal, and feeding the boat a healthy breakfast of 260 gallons of diesel fuel, we headed out. Today Tom and I enjoyed the progression of spring. Along the ICW you can see all the woods that are just turning the lightest shades of spring green. Each tree is really a different color. Atop many of the channel markers, there are marine birds nesting. When we were in Maryland, the birds were just building their nests, but when we reached North Carolina, you could see the tiny birds peeping out as you travel by. The sun is warm and sparking on the channel tide. Spring is coming.

We passed by Currituck on the Currituck sound and Coinjock on our way to the Albemarle sound. What was billed as the roughest leg of the Intracoastal Waterway turned out to be a easy run today. Tom found an oldies station on the radio, and we just cruised along to the music of the 60’s. When we when through Hobucken, we saw a line of shrimp boats with their huge wings that hold the nets. Many were sporting new coats of paint... it was spring for them too.

As we came into New Bern late this afternoon, it was such fun to see the skyline of the city including the four poster steeple of First Baptist Church where I grew up. I have a painting of that distinctive skyline over our piano in our living room at home. The huge new spaghetti bridge laces together all the shores of the intersection of the Neuse and Trent rivers in New Bern. We cruised under it and by Union Point with its happy gazebo and people out for the evening. Then we called to the tender of the old Trent River bridge to ask for him to open it for us. As it swung open, we could see the sun setting over the Trent River and it was beautiful. Bridge Point is our home marina and we have now docked, tied everything up, washed the windows, pulled up shore power, grilled steaks for supper, and discovered the wireless internet. Our Maiden Voyage is now complete, and we have built many new skills and renewed our love of the water and nature, the out-of-doors and each other. This trip is the beginning of the next thirty years... time to reflect on our accomplishments and to continue growing and becoming.

April 12, 2007 - Norfolk

Norfolk:

The weather was wonderful today as we tracked south past Newport News and Norfolk. It was interesting seeing the huge commercial vessels delivering the worlds goods into the harbor. We saw two Maersk ships loaded with containers - which was particularly interesting to me, since IBM is working with Maersk on GPS/ RFID tracking systems for the containers on ships for security purposes and ease of clearing customs. We even saw the huge cranes which pick up the container, the size of the back of a tractor trailer truck, and load it on the ships. They were stacked six deep – pretty amazing. Ironically, I was studying a book on Radio Frequency Identification on board today which is one of the technologies used in the Maersk solution.

We also saw at least five aircraft carriers, a number of large military vessels and a huge ship in dry dock in the naval ship yard. Norfolk is really a working, military nautical area. Police boats cruised the channel where you passed by the gray fleet.

Tom made his first catch off the boat today. We dropped anchor while waiting for the Steel Bridge to open and when we pulled it up, the anchor brought up a gift, an old tire. Tom was on the bow with the boat hook and quickly dislodged the tire. We also went through our first lock late this afternoon, where you come in at one level, and go out into a waterway two feet lower. This was by the new (2005) Great Bridge on the intracoastal waterway where we are docked for the night. Once again, there was a beautiful sunset and glorious sky over the water.

April 11, 2007

Potomac River: Ummm, What can I say about today? We are trying to adjust to the whole dependency on weather concept. We pulled out of the marina around 9:00 AM without checking the weather, other than that we expected it to rain later on. As we pulled out into the Potomac, we encountered 3 foot waves pushed up by 25 knots/hour winds. Since we had plans to meet Tom’s good friend, Russ, for dinner, we went on with a “Can do” attitude. Within the hour, with gushes of water drenching the windshield and the boat literally pounding into the wells between wave crests, we decided that our plans needed to change and started looking for marinas on the south side of the river. We pulled into the leeward edge of each point as we headed east and finally pulled into Olverson’s Lodge and Marina and were amazed at the stillness when sheltered from the wind. Docking the boat went well as we build our skills in the logistics of knots and spring lines. These side thrusters are really the beat-all, end-all.

So we went in to meet the dock master and discovered my highlight of the day. It was under her desk. There she had a little pet pen enclosing a miniature poodle puppy – a red one, a baby Sidney, a small fuzzy ball with shiny black eyes and silky ears. It made me long for my doggie at home and for the thoughts of having another one. Tom even agreed that he was cute!

Outside of the office I was taking a few pictures when I met Red – I think he might have owned the marina. Anyway, I asked he knew of anywhere near by that we could walk to buy a gallon of milk. He answered that he didn’t think there was any place close enough to walk to, but did I see that white Cadillac parked in the parking lot? I am not used to people who just loan strangers their car keys, but that’s what he did. So Tom and I headed into town for milk in the white Cadillac. The car reminded me of my Daddy's car... because it had everything in the front seat (like binoculars, a battery charger, hand tools, a floodlight).

Let me tell you, we were really in the middle of no-where. The country road we were on was not even really two lanes wide, but we did find our way to town, to Callao. Sure enough, Callao had a real supermarket and we got milk, chips, Coke Zero and Tylenol, all the essentials of life. That’s when I got the big surprise. You know that I have spent my entire career working on cash registers. Well this tiny, non-affiliated grocery store had IBM point of sale terminals. They even had one at the front of the store without its cash receipt printer that they were using as a office machine. So really, no one should question that this was a business trip for me. It was a client visit.

Tonight we entertained onboard for the first time. Tom’s friend who we were supposed to meet tonight on the York River, drove out to meet us at Olverson’s. Russ and his son Scott even brought dinner with them so we had a nice visit. We were able to provide clam chowder and dessert though, since we had mint chocolate chip ice cream on board! Tomorrow, if the wind allows us, we plan to head to Norfolk.

April 10, 2007

Washington, DC: Today was our day to visit our nation’s capitol so we set off early. We passed by the marker to the marina and said good morning to the pair of ospreys nesting there. Today was a day for bridges... our first one was the Harry Nice Bridge which carries Highway 301 over the Potomac and a fun one to go under since we had gone over it on our way to Maryland. Coming up the Potomac we passed under the Woodrow Wilson bridge which has just been rebuilt with giant concrete arches, making a grand and beautiful bridge. As we came into Washington, we immediately sighted the Washington Monument and could catch glimpses of the Capitol building as we cruised up the channel. When we came to the George Mason Bridge we realized that we were too tall to go under it.

After lowering our navigation tower to go under the George Mason Bridge, we came to the end of the National Mall. The edge of the park was filled with just blossomed out Japanese cherry trees, a gift from Japan in 1912. We were about two weeks too late for them, but the park was still beautiful, and gave us a great choice of views of the Washington Monument and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. The sun was peeking out and then clouding over, but when the sun was on the marble columns and dome, it was really glowing white and magnificent. We decided to have our picnic lunch in this idyllic location, and actually dropped anchor for our first and second times (we were drifting after our first attempt.) Our left-over lunch included fried shrimp, crab cake, coleslaw and twice baked potato quickly zapped in the microwave. OK... not so quickly since I had to start the generator to run the microwave, but it was still pretty quick. Tom said it was the best picnic he had ever had.

I noticed later that the Pentagon was on the other side of the river, but I never actually looked for it – maybe next time. Leaving the mall front, we swung from the Potomac River into the Anacostia River navigating up to James Creek Marina. This marina is across the street from the US Coast Guard headquarters and the office that handles all environment issues. So the dock attendant suggested that Tom be extra careful as he was pumping the diesel fuel into our boat that we not have a ‘spill’. He also reminded me not to ask for gas, since at some marinas they might give me that instead of diesel. (Of course this was after I had made a comment about needing gas.) On the point next to the marina was the Army War College, a building of amazing and stately architecture built in 1901 and renamed as the National War College in 1943. It is a part of Fort McNair, which has been an active military station since 1791 and is one of the oldest in the US. This is where those accused of the Lincoln assassination were tried and executed. The buildings along the water were identical - crisp, brick and white window trim and appeared to be standing at attention in a line of precision. That was serendipity to see since we had not planned on that.

At this point it was 4:00 pm and we decided to head back towards the Bay since we need to be making time towards York for tomorrow evening. The cruise back down the river was beautiful with the sun shining on our undulating wake. When made it to the Colonial Yacht Club and got tied up, it was late, after 8:00 so we decided to skip our walk and we called for pizza. Domino delivers – even to the dock.

April 9, 2007

Solomon’s Island, MD: Spring Cove is a boater’s haven with lots of docks filled with sailboats and cruisers of all sizes. Directly across from our dock, there is a sandy beach backed by woods studded with blooming dogwoods. It is very peaceful here with almost no motion of the boat. The plan was to head up the Potomac River today, but we have discovered a problem. All boating stories start off with what doesn’t work! So today we discovered that a connection in our water system was pumping our water supply into the bilge. Humm... we don’t sink because we have a bilge pump that pumps the water out into the river. But there is no water where it is supposed to be... like the sink or shower. When we realized that our storage tank was empty, we refilled it from the dock, but the water still didn’t work. After a while we decided to call the Yacht Center. So now, Lance has driven from Grasonville to Solomon Island and has fixed the water system. I love the boat. We will finally get off around 2 PM.

Colonial Beach, Va: Tom and I had reservations at the Nightingale Marina tonight. As we cruised up the Potomac River, we became very concerned about the water depth because our boat draft is documented as 3 ft, 8 inches. As the depth finder approached 3 feet, we began calling other marinas in the bay to change our plans. Since it was after 5:00 pm, we got only answering machines. Finally a boat came by that we decided to follow up the creek, and we finally made it to a slip with the gauge reading 2.2 feet of depth. We were kicking up mud as we came, but we made it. So maybe the depth finder really is off a little, or the measurement is too conservative. Anyway, we now know a little more about where we can go.

As we were docking the boat at around 6:00 pm, a nearby church was chiming out an evening hymn. The clarion music wafted out over the water and was incredibly welcoming and beautiful. I felt like I was in a fairy tale; it was so delightful – I am sure it was just for us. When we took our shore walk, I went by and took a picture of the pretty little church, Colonial Beach Baptist Church. Colonial Beach, Va is on the Potomac River at the junction with Monroe Bay. More national leaders were born in this county than in any other in the nation. Native sons include President George Washington, James Monroe (fifth President) and General Robert E. Lee.

April 8, 2007 - Easter

Easter: April 8, 2007

Christ is risen! Hallelujah. Rejoice. Tom and I joined with the Christians at the Kent Island Methodist Church this morning for a wonderful celebration of Easter. The service was packed with a congregation of all ages and lots of teenagers for their contemporary worship. There were lots of praise songs with a praise band and we read Luke 24:1-12. One of the cool illustrations was the showing of a video clip from ET the movie. In the clip, ET is zipped up in a plastic bag in the scientific lab and assumed dead. Elliot, his human friend is crying over his loss when he sees ET’s heart light up. Elliot then runs to tell his brother in secret that ET is alive. His joy and hushed excitement was like Mary and the other women’s joy when they discovered the empty tomb and ran to tell the disciples that Jesus was alive. The challenge of the service was to Give up Death and Take On Life in response to God’s incredible love for us. Thank you, God.

After the service Tom and I stepped out into the hall where they were serving coffee, home baked cinnamon cake and small handmade molded chocolate pieces. And following all the years of traditionally having chocolate Easter bunnies, I got a bunny! Its funny how that made today seem more connected to my real life. It was a wonderful morning, and we stopped on the way home for me to take a picture of the crabbing boats.

Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here,

He is Risen

Luke 24: 6-7

April 7, 2007

Grasonville, MD: Today is my birthday and I have had happy wishes from my family by phone and electronic greeting cards. What did we ever do before cell phones and internet? Laurie and Brian are headed off to camp for the night with the Begley cousins, and Julie Annie is at the beach with the King cousins.

I can hardly believe it... It snowed on April 7! Just about an inch fell during the night and covered the dock and boats with a thin layer of white powder. Someone from the Yacht Center came out and shoveled the decks off but snow still clung to the edges of ropes embracing the pilings and on tarps where the sun wasn’t reaching. Tom made delicious waffles for breakfast and we had the luxury of real maple syrup for them. Tom also gave me a new MP3 player with an FM tuner for having music on our bike rides. Now I need some time to load my tunes on it.

We had planned to go to St Michaels for lunch today, but our friend Lance from the marina came by and suggested that we not go because of the wind and the narrowness of the channel into St. Michaels. It was only 15 knots or so, but we decided that we are going to be pretty conservative about risks... at least until we have more personal experience with this boat. We do plan to leave tomorrow on our first leg home, waypoint Solomon’s Island. Since we were not going out, our salesman, Ron, loaned us a car so we could run into town. We bought a small flag pole for the bow and an American flag to fly. We got the one with the stars actually embroidered into the flag; seemed like we should have the real thing. We also bought a 9 x 9 baking pan and a box of brownie mix for me to bake for my birthday. I got the kind with chocolate chips and nuts (yum, yum) but I need more experience with my microwave, convection, grilling all-in-on oven. The brownies were baked on the bottom but grilled on the top. The good news is that the air circulation in the boat cleared up the smoke pretty quickly.

We ate dinner at the Fisherman’s Wharf and saw something unique. The lobby was filled with showcases of antique oyster plates – one that was patented in 1847. Who knew that the serving of oysters had such a legacy.

April 6, 2007

Grasonville, MD: When we got up this morning, it was about 65 degrees in our stateroom. We discovered today that the boat is heated with a water cooled heat pump. This means it pulls the heat out of the bay water it pumps through the unit. Apparently the bay water is not very warm right now! We had nice hot oatmeal and brown sugar for breakfast (the second use of the stove). This is an interesting Spring Break... they are predicting 1 to 3 inches of snow tonight.

Captain Ken came back today, so we got our second piloting lesson. There was a good bit of wind so the docking was a bit of a challenge, but a good learning opportunity. The boat, with dual diesel engines with a throttle each, will basically spin in place. We are excited that the next time we go out, we will be on our own.

Tonight we walked to the Harris Crab house for dinner. We got a table covered with brown paper next to a guy who was using a hammer to pick out his crabmeat. Tonight was the last night of their oyster buffet. It included 7 types of oysters, including fried, steamed, and oysters Rockefeller. They also had two shuckers who were splitting oysters open and serving them up raw on the half shell. People were lined up and filling their plates. It was very interesting to watch, but Tom and I had fried shrimp. Momma, I wished you were there to enjoy all those oysters. We walked out afterwards and looked at the crabbing boats – they have a small cabin in the front and a wide flat back working area in the back where they pull the crab pots.

Today is Good Friday, and Tom and I would really like to find a church to celebrate Easter on Sunday with other Christians. Since we don’t have car, we have been looking for a worship place very near The Narrows. Tom went into the Yacht Center this afternoon and asked the receptionist if there was a church near by. She recommended a Methodist church in Chester over the bridge. Another lady in the office who lives near by offered to loan us her car to go, so that is the plan

April 5, 2007

Grasonville, MD: Today was a bright and sunny day and we learned a lot about boating today. Winds predicted with gusts of forty knots... umm, the Captain said this was not a good day to be at sea. So now we know clearly that you have to check the weather forecast every day before deciding to leave the dock. While Captain Ken was here, he discovered a leak in the engine room... ooops. The great mechanic here changed out a part and we didn’t sink – another blessing. The washing machine finally dried a towel.

So we spent the day at rest. Tom installed a grill on the back railing and we got the fire extinguishers mounted. I used the stove for the first time and cooked a pot of fresh green beans. We got the electronic charts for the plotter and had fun learning to map our path to the next destination. The plotting system is terrific and not only allows you to set your waypoints (navigation coordinates for line of travel), but also shows actual photos of marinas on the path. It was exciting to see a picture of Bridge Point, our home marina destination in New Bern.

Since we have turned in our car, we went out walking for dinner. Under my ski jacket, I wore a fleece jacket and a wool sweater. It is cold! We walked under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge along a side road to a marina on the other side of the Kent Narrows. We saw wood ducks sitting in the parking lot; they thought it was too cold to be in water! We found a restaurant named Annie’s and got a table on the (enclosed) porch overlooking the water. This was a great place, tablecloths and live piano music, and the best cream of crab soup in Maryland. I took some neat photos of the sun and clouds over the water that reminded me how much God loves us (He is such an artist.)