Into the Chesapeake

We reached Mile 0 of the ICW today, that means between last year and this we have travelled the length of the ICW from Norfolk to Fort Lauderdale or 1,066 miles. Wholly Smokes!  We have had three excellent days, only plowing bottom twice ;)  and greatly enjoyed being on the water for Memorial Day Weekend. The weather was stunning.  We are glad to be done with the ICW and I was very tempted to toss the book in the water at Mile Marker 0 but I'm too cheap. What's the chance I will ever use it again? We are now anchored adjacent the US Navy Headquarters and feel that we are in the right place to reflect on our nation's service men and women. We will head up the James River tomorrow for a little side trip and visit with my Aunt and Uncle that live near Jamestown, We are really looking forward to it.

After staring at the water for hours on our way south, we finally saw what we had been looking for in the Alligator River, a big alligator!! We knew we were reaching the northern limits of the range but were looking, thinking we might see a little nose poke up. All of us were surprised to see a 10 to 12 footer, it's full length fully visible, on the surface. We saw lots of other wildlife too, deer, turtles and a few dolphins but the alligator was definitely the high light.

A Visit to Andros and the Fabric Factory

Anna's reflection in the flat calm

After our departure from Green Cay we headed up the Tongue of the Ocean to Fresh Creek in Andros. The sail was beautiful. The Tongue of the Ocean is an eroded limestone trench bordered by the Bahamian banks on three sides making a very unique spot. It was not only unique but absolutely flat calm, calm enough to witness a whale and her calf nursing, sea turtles and to take advantage of some of the best fishing in the world with another prize mahi mahi! Anna was able to catch some great photos and of course Finn took the video for his movie, posted a few days ago.

The marina in Fresh Creek, Andros

We arrived in Andros late afternoon. A quick glance in the direction of our planned anchorage and we were on the radio hailing the one marina on Andros about the possibility of getting a spot.  After several tries we were contacted by another boat, what we presume was a US navy person, with some great advice about how to get into the harbor and letting us know that there would not be anyone at the marina, there would be one boat and to just pick a spot.  We did, right on the largest face dock. We found reception at the local hotel. The receptionist was very nice but couldn’t find the credit card machine so she told us to come back the next day. We went for a nice long walk and found a surprisingly well-stocked grocery store, picking up some milk, eggs, bread, apples and a small package of cookies. The cookies were gone before we reached Midwatch.

The entrance to the factory

We had a nice evening on the dock and the next morning headed over to the Androsian Batik Factory. As some of you may know, Anna has been making these cute bandanas since she was six and to date has sold well over 600. We bought some locally-made Androsian fabric last winter and once we managed the time to get them assembled, they started selling like hotcakes. We have also been experimenting with other items and decided a visit to the factory, not only made educational sense, but would likely make economic sense as well if we could pick up a load of fabric at factory prices. Unfortunately the factory was essentially sold out. Only after calling the manager on her cell

Anna presenting questions at the factory

phone did we get permission to select fabric from the cutting room, where employees cut fabric for their clothing assembly business. Apparently they are not only a bit behind on the manufacturing process but a boat load of German ladies came and bought them out a few days earlier. This was very disappointing to us but we did manage to meet the manager, Casey, the next morning and get her onboard with Anna’s plans. Anna has set up an account and has all the information for ordering yardage, bolts and even specialty prints. Anna and Casey discussed setting up a Facebook account and linking it with the Androsian factory’s page. We have lots of planning going on here including business cards, labels and a Facebook page. Expect some news this summer on this front.  

The Dye Room

The Assembly Room

Finn got a new shirt at the factory!

We made one more trip to the market before heading out and chuckled when a lady stopped to offer a ride as we drudged up the road in the hot sun.  We finally headed out late afternoon for the Berry Islands for one more little adventure in the Bahamas before departure for ‘home’.

Anna sporting her new Androsian wear

 

Felix Felicis

We spent only two and a half weeks in the Bahamas but what an amazing time it was!  Upon our departure we reflected that the period of time reminded us of Harry Potter’s experience with Felix Felicis or ‘Liquid Luck’, a potion that makes everything go your way. Like Harry, our journey just seemed to roll with little effort from one adventure to another, each topping the previous.

We left Long Island, heading for Warderick Wells, the Exuma National Land and Sea Park to rendezvous with Cariad and crew for Easter and even better than that, for a joint expedition to the wild, and seldom visited, Green Cay on the Tongue of the Ocean. We were thrilled they had agreed to join us on the expedition. Warderick Wells was an adventure in itself and we timed our arrival perfectly for a slack tide entrance into the cut and a rendezvous with Cariad within five minutes of our planned arrival time at the Warderick Wells mooring field. We considered ourselves lucky but Cariad was impressed, I guess ‘luck comes to the prepared mind’.  (I’ve heard that a few times in my life, thanks Dad.)

Despite our 24-hour passage we were excited to get moving and explore. We hiked, snorkeled and explored the island. We had a great couple of days eating my big bull mahi mahi in the form of kebabs, fish cakes and fried fish and Anna and Alice (10) were a matched pair with their snorkeling.  They spent hours at it and never flinched including chasing down sharks and sting rays. I can’t imagine two girls better at snorkeling than that pair.

The evening of our arrival at Warderick Wells, Anna spent some time cleaning the stern and swim

platform of all the fish blood. Cariad arrived a few minutes later for dinner to discover a horde of sharks and jacks, sniffing their way towards Midwatch. A few tidbits out of the ‘compost’ bucket (yes, we still call it a compost bucket despite the fact that we have not had a compost pile for more than two years) and we had ourselves a show that would have rivalled a SeaWorld shark tank.  We settled into a nice dinner of fried fish and catch up on the adventures of the past weeks since our St. Maarten meeting.

Cavara's driftwood plaque on Boo Boo Hill,
memorial bench in background

The island setting was beautiful and we managed to get in a little hike, discovering the drift wood signs on Boo Boo Hill. You may remember last year, while passing Warderick Wells, we were audio witnesses to an evacuation of a woman, we had met just a few days earlier at Black Point, after she fell on a hike. They evacuated her with a helicopter from the actor Will Smith’s nearby private island to Nassau. It did not sound too positive on the radio and we finally learned on this recent visit that the outcome was not positive, she died there that day and we witnessed it on the radio. There was a lovely Memorial Bench on the top of Boo Boo Hill that, after a few minutes, I put two and two together and realized what it was. It was a sobering moment but we realized that a fall such as this could have happened anywhere to anyone and once again it only reinforced our decision to take this journey.

Crossing last year's track, closing our Atlantic loop!

After two days and a final check of the ever-improving weather, we all departed Warderick Wells, a day earlier than planned, and headed to Green Cay across the seldom-used Decca Channel. It was at this point that we crossed paths with last year’s track, officially closing our Atlantic loop. Cariad, in the longer boat, was a bit ahead of us and had found a nice anchor spot when we arrived just at dusk. The next two days passed in a whirl wind as we went from one activity to the next, exploring, snorkeling, eating and playing. We had a wonderful campfire on the beach. The girls, Anna, Alice and Hattie (7), were thrilled to be sent over to the beach early to gather fire wood and set up a tent, sans adults. Short of the no-see-ums, that were relentless, it was a picture perfect evening which ended with a long swim off the back of the boat in the glossy, smooth (and very warm) water. Tired, sated and relieved of the insect pests and gobs of repellant on our bodies, we slept like babies.

Our Green Cay camp fire

This was the third time in our voyage that we had the great fortune to meet up with Cariad and we were once again amazed at how easily our two families got along. It was lovely to have them join on our wacky adventures without hesitation and to share in the escapades with smiles.   We are really looking forward to seeing them once again whether in Maine, Cornwall or some other more exotic location.  Thanks Cariad Crew!

We found a sea turtle carcass on the beach, amazing!

Tired kids and hero Daddies.

Cariad in the amazing calm weather at Green Cay

The Cariad crew was departing Green Cay to head to New Providence and a flight to Orlando to visit Harry Potter World. It sounds like their Liquid Luck persisted as well and they made it through the culture shock of Florida with little trouble. We were headed to Andros to visit the Androsia Batik Factory, only about 15 miles from Cariad’s docking destination. We departed together before dawn and despite the similar destinations we quickly pulled away from each other but not before witnessing Cariad under full sail.  Mother Nature gave us ample opportunity for some great photos of Cariad including some with their Mule sail flying in the early dawn light.

 

Before the mule but still amazing

Mother's Day and Approaching Beaufort

May 11 Sat Phone update

Happy Mother's Day!

We are about 40 miles outside of Beaufort, NC just before noon and there isn't much wind and not much fuel so we expect to get in a bit late.  Fortunately we know the area relatively well.

Since leaving Saint Augustine we have seen an amazing amount of sea life.  I suppose sailing on the edge of the Gulf Stream has a lot to do with that.  The weather has been settled with a big high pressure over us, which has meant minimal wind and minimal seas.  We have been sailing as much as possible but have had to run the engine a fair bit as well.  We are still running on the fuel we bought in the Canary Islands on January 1^st, Amazing!

Just outside the inlet to Saint Augustine we saw a large shark on the surface.  We couldn't see his body but the distance from the dorsal to the tail was considerable.  There have been abundant sea turtles the size of your kitchen table.  Fortunately, they seem to know enough to dive when you get close to them.  Lots of Dolphins have visited us with multiple species and lots of acrobatics.

We saw schools of Mahi chasing bait and free jumping as high as 10 or 12 feet.

The fishing has been out of this world.  The first two days we caught four tuna and three Mahi Mahi as well as lost others.  We did the trick of leaving a Mahi attached to a line and then casting with a spinning rod.  That proved very effective but our gear is not beefy enough!  We fought a big bull for nearly an hour before we gaffed him...but we got him.  A third fish broke the line. Not fishing today because I am sick of cleaning fish.

Kim bought a bundle of movies in Saint Augustine and the kids have been busy catching up on those.  Anna has done some school but it is difficult for Kim to facilitate when we are on these overnight passages.  It has also been sunny and hot so we tend to hide down below for a lot of the day just to preserve some skin.

 Lots of ship traffic which is to be expected but no sailboats have passed within site.

The VHF radio is busy with people battling their way up the ICW and we are glad to be on the outside this time.  At least three boats have capsized near various inlets since we left St. Augustine.  We suspect drinking has a lot to do with it but who knows.  Again it's a lot safer away from land.

FYI,  our satellite phone subscriptions are running out this coming week and we don't plan to renew so this may be the last MIDWATCH email.

We aren't sure what our next step will be.  We have decided to sell the boat in Annapolis but we have a lot of work to do to get it cleaned out and fixed up for sale.  We are considering NC for a haul-out and possibly NH.  Kim and I are gearing up for some real work.  In any case, we expect to spend much of Monday on the phone and internet getting organized.  We are also out of milk, coffee and fuel so we must stop.

Bob, Kim, Anna and Finn.

Current Position:

12:30PM Lunch time

34 D 06.226N

76D 53.762W

Speed 5.8 kts

Course 19 D true

 

Departing St. Augustine

May 8 Sat Phone update

Hello everyone,

Just a quick note to update you all on our position.

At 10:15 AM Thursday we passed the big buoy outside the Saint Augustine inlet.

Headed northeast on a course of 39 Degrees True.

We are motoring as there is no wind at all.

We had a great time with Ted and Carolyn.  The kids cried for an hour after we left their house.

Looks like a three day and three night passage to Beaufort where it all started for us.  This is likely to be our last off-shore passage so we are hoping for a smooth one.

Will keep you posted.

Bob, Kim, Anna and Finn

P.S.  Setting the fishing lines now!

Thunderstorms on the Approach to Florida

April 29 Sat Phone Update

We have done well since last night but we are watching some nasty thunder storms develop nearby.  We really don't like thunder storms.

Highlights today were watching a giant sea turtle eating seaweed and having giant bottlenose dolphins swim with us.  A little bird dropped in for a rest and stayed for about 6 hours.  He took over the boat.

We passed Cape Canaveral a little while ago.  We should be in St. Augustine mid morning tomorrow.

 Current Position:

7:21 PM EST

28 D 51.689 N

80 D 29.345 W

Speed 5.8 kts

Course 324 D true

Motor sailing wing and wing to charge batteries.

Yellow Fin in the Gulf Stream

April 28 Sat Phone Update

Thought we out to let everyone know roughly where we are and where we are going.  We have had an amazing couple of weeks in the Bahamas.  We had so much fun that we haven't even tried to keep up with the blog but we will update it soon.  I will just say that the experiences have been nothing short of EPIC!  We truly love the Bahamas!

 The time has come for us to surround ourselves with phones and internet services and airports etc. so that we can better take care of business.  We are now leaving Bahamian waters and just about to enter the Gulf Stream.  We have a decent weather window and our goal is to get to St. Augustine sometime on Wednesday.  After that a nasty system comes into the mid-Atlantic states that will force us to pause for a bit.  We are hoping we can catch up with Ted and Carolyn over the weekend.  Finn started packing a bag this morning and both kids are wondering if the pool is a little warmer than the last time they were in it?

 We left the Berry Islands yesterday afternoon so we are already over 24 hrs into our trip.  Yesterday the sailing was good...today it lightened up so much we have started to motor/sail.  We caught three nice Tuna a little while ago.  We think they are yellow fins but we don't really know our Tuna.  We are only 20 miles from the center of the Gulf Stream but we haven't noticed any help from the current yet.

"If Dad won't put out the fishing lines, I will"

Anna's Yellow Fin

 

Apparently someone jumped, fell or was pushed off a cruise ship yesterday and we are heading over the general area tonight.  The coast guard has been announcing it every 20 minutes on the radio.  We are looking for a black male with white sneakers, white shirt and green shorts. 

 

Current position:

7:35 pm EST

26 D 59.426 N

79 D 22.841 W

Speed 5 kts

Course 333 Degrees True

 

All the best from the crew of Midwatch

Easter Sat Phone update April 20

Mermaids on the Beach



Chris from Cariad barbecuing the Mahi (Photo credit to Finn)

Happy Easter to you all via satellite email!

 We are spending our time with our fantastic friends from Yacht Cariad from Cornwall, England.  Our boats are hanging on moorings in Warderick Wells National Land and Sea Park.  We had a great snorkel with sharks and rays and lobsters this morning and enjoyed a hike this afternoon.  We have been dining on another big Mahi that Kim hauled in on our voyage from Long Island to here.  This one was a big bull that put up a long fight.  Luckily there are eight of us eating this one.

Tomorrow we plan to head to Green Cay with Cariad.  We intend to own that island for the next few days.   After that we will head to Fish Creek on Andros perhaps Thursday or Friday.



Easter Dinner, Yum!

Passages, By Anna

What is a passage?

A passage is the time when you move from one place to another.

 What do you do to prepare for passage?

To prepare for passage, you have to tie down everything. We always make           pumpkin bread and muffins.

What do you do on a passage?

On a passage you do everything slow and we have a rule,

                             ONE HAND FOR THE SHIP!!!

That means you have to keep a hand on a handle or table or something strong. Finn and I play and sleep and eat.

What do you eat on passage?

We eat pumpkin bread, bread, muffins, pancakes, Fish, and Ramen noodles and cans of soup and other kinds of things in cans.

                    Anna

More Boat not-Haiku, By Anna

On Mother’s Day, I wrote two poems for Mom.

The Tongue Of The Ocean

The waves are starting to roll,

We are in the ocean hole,

The engine is rumbling,

We are tumbling

Not at the North Pole.

By: Anna LaDue

The Starting Of A Storm

The wind is blowing,

The waves are growing,

The sails are filling,

The ride is thrilling,

We are not rowing.

By: Anna LaDue

Back in Beaufort (Well...actually Morehead City)

This afternoon, we are approaching Morehead City, North Carolina, the location we departed down

Departing Morehead City 523 days ago.

the ICW 523 days ago on a warm December morning. We have had an amazing journey since our last regular blog post (not counting the kids great posts) through the Bahamas, over to Florida and now up the coast to Beaufort/Morehead City. We were noting today that the last really rough night we spent on the boat was travelling from St. Maarten to St. John more than a month ago.  We have travelled many miles since then and this latest passage has been downright relaxing. We have had days of five to 10 knot winds out of the south and, albeit slow, it is quite relaxing. Most of our cockpit discussions have been around the coming weeks, preparation for integration back to a land-based life, and where best to prepare Midwatch for sale and where to sell her.

We bought Midwatch with the knowledge that, returning from this journey, we would have little funds to maintain her and so we bought her with the intent to sell when our journey was complete. So we are a little sad but have no reservations about the sale, the problem is how to define ‘Journey’s End.’  In our minds the journey will continue with new adventures including school, work, moving back into a house and reversing the logistics we were knee deep in two years ago, insurance, mail routing, banking, etc. Much of the discussion over the past two days has been where to prep Midwatch. Our first reflex move was to return to True World Marine here in NC, an affordable and nice boat yard where we have been treated like family. In fact the kids are jumping out of their seats today, excited about seeing their old friends at True World. Immersed in deep discussions in the cockpit, we are beginning to lean more towards taking Midwatch directly to Annapolis, planned sale location, or back to New Hampshire where we could vacate, allowing a more effective work schedule to complete our growing list of tasks. We won’t make the decision for a few more days and meanwhile we will catch back up with friends and do a little business in the Beaufort area.

Our blogging pattern has been, in general, I tackle visited locations, Bob takes on the passages. This has worked well for us and meets our original stated goals for the voyage, Bob was looking forward to the sailing and I, the travel and places. We had such an awesome time in the Bahamas and have been busy, busy (including a three-day wait on customs and immigration in St. Augustine, Florida), that I totally forgot to post Bob’s en route updates. Meanwhile, I am far behind on travel. With that said, we have numerous updates and photos that we will be posting in the next few days, many half written (Kim) or waiting to be typed (Anna transfers hers from her journal.)

Finn's Movie

What happens when you let the four-year-old have the camera?

Click here to link to Finn's Movie

Finn's Trip to Andros

I caught a big mahi mahi, bigger than me. We got pictures of it. Three other mahi mahi were chasing it. Dad was trying to catch the other mahi mahi. We were travelling from Green Cay to Andros. We gave one filet to the dock hand at the marina in Andros. We stayed at a dock in Andros and there were two fish under it. One was a giant barracuda. We are hoping to make a special surprise for Anna, it is chocolate milk.

We saw this!

When we were in St. Maarten, we saw a half sunk yacht anchored just a few hundred feet from Midwatch while coming back to Midwatch one evening. We couldn't figure out what we were seeing and went over to check it out during the night.  Bob found this video on the boat on a sailing news site today. Our dinghy, Dogwatch, is very clearly seen tied up at the AquaMania dock and if you look real carefully, you can see Midwatch anchored in the background.  We were amazed it was gone so soon the next day.

Video link