Changes at Jekyll Island...

Our offshore passage was what we expected it to be -negiligble winds and flat seas. We motored throughout the night and arrived at Jekyll Island the following morning.

Ashore at Jekyll, things are changing! The gas station has been torn down and a new and larger gas station /convenience store is going up in its place. The strip mall with the IGA and other stores has been vacated and all the shops relocated to trailers about a mile north. With the strip mall vacated, the plans are to knock down the strip mall and the convention center across the street and start fresh.

The new complex will feature more shops, the convention center and a new hotel. When finished it should be quite the sight!

We happened to be exploring the island the day before the mall and convention center were to come down so we thought it appropriate to feature a before shot with hopes that in 2-3 years we can feature the after shot.

More to come.

The Admiral

11/9 - 11/12/10

Land Ho...

After nearly a week, we were ready for a little shore leave. Destination....Charleston, SC. We pulled into the marina and sprung into action. The fun would come but there were chores to be done - laundry, groceries and more.

Three loads of laundry and a grocery stock up later we were ready to explore. We headed downtown, walked through the market and enjoyed the sights and smells that are Charleston. Along our stroll we took in the architecture that is unique to the city, but you've seen that posted here before. So instead we happened on something we thought truly unique. A Ferrari parked next to a Maserati. Not pictured is the Mercedes that pulled up next to the cars shortly after we had snapped the photo. Quite the neighborhood.

What is next. Well the weather is warming into the 70's. The winds prediced to be negligible. The seas flat. We thought we'd try our hand again at an offshore voyage. Given our last experience we figure we'd prefer not enough wind to too much.

Next stop - Georgia - weather permitting.

The Admrial

11/7 - 11/8/201

At Sea

Monday: On a beautiful morning we left Elizabeth City and motored toward the sunrise and into the Albermarle Sound. The wind picked up and Dave opted to put up the spinnaker. Within no time we were cruising along at 8+ knots. Then it happened....the spinnaker blew out ripping the sail in two. I can't believe it....it happened again. Those of you who have been reading our blog from the beginning may remember that in our first season we crossed the Albermarle Sound and the spinnaker burst - not only on the same sound but also in the same location on the sail. Ahhhh.... the Captain's frustrations were heard for miles.

But we persevere. So up went the main and genoa and we cruised the balance of the day. Certainly not at the 8+ knots we had been, but still a respectable speed. We ended the day with the hook down in the Pungo River (Mile 127.5).

Tuesday: Day two of the cruising adventure started with another gorgeous sunrise and another challenge. Today it would be Pamilco Sound and stiff northerly winds. The parade of boats began the journey and by the time we reached the sound there were sailboats everywhere. The southern migration was obviously in full swing. End day at Mile 187.

Wednesday: Day three was more of the same. Lots of boats. So many in fact that when we reached the anchorage at Mile Hammock Bay we feared we may not find a place to drop the hook. Fortunately we did and our friend Francie would later tell us that we were one of 29 boats in the small anchorage for the evening. Thank heavens Mother Nature decided to bless us with a quiet evening. (Mile 244.5)

Thursday: She got even. We woke to a dense fog the next morning. It delayed every one's start as we couldn't even see the boats anchored next to us let alone the ICW channel markers. Instead Dave and I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and waited for the fog to lift. It did and the race to hoist anchors and be off was underway.

Yet Mother Nature wasn't done with her tricks. On this day she brought a fierce rain and cold wind that had Dave and I asking ourselves why we hadn't left a month sooner. Once we reached Wrightsville Beach most of the boaters chose to stop for the evening. Not wanting to experience another evening in a crowded anchorage, the Captain and I continued a few more miles finally dropping the hook around Mile 244.5.

Friday / Saturday: Isn't their a saying that boaters should never begin a journey on a Friday. Perhaps we should listen in the future. The day began sunny and breezy. We exited the Cape Fear inlet and found ourselves sailing along Atlantic waters. The wind was out of the west with an expected shift to the northwest later in the day. But as the afternoon progressed the westerly winds turn more southwest and we found ourselves either headed to the Bahamas or pointed straight into the wind to reach our Charleston destination. As the sun set storm clouds started to pop up and the winds picked up into the 20's with gusts to 30. The ride had become entirely too unpleasant.

Around 11pm making little headway into the wind we finally gave up Charleston as our destination and set course for the more northerly port of call, Georgetown, SC. Unfortunately, our bad luck would continue for as we reached the 17 mile long inlet the outgoing tide was in full force bringing Tropical Breeze to a 2.5 knot crawl with both engines humming. Seventeen miles at two and a half knots is a long way and we were exhausted once done. We dropped the hook and went down for some shut eye. The winds and tides still rallying around us.

The northerly wind shift finally came at 5:30 in the morning. The shift woke me up and I went out on deck. I watched for a while as the boat move with the winds and against the tide. It is always an interesting site to see these two forces battle against another. You never know which will win. Today wind won but in the midst of it all Tropical Breeze found a buoy marker and ran over the top of it. If you could imagine me in my sleepy state suddenly realizing that if I looked underneath the trampolines there was a yellow buoy marker flashing. Oh CRAP! I yelled for the Captain and was scared to death that we would never get ourselves out of the predicament without damage to the hulls. We somehow separated ourselves from the marker (it is all a blur) and were relieved when we realized the marker was encased in styrofoam hence no damage done. Close call!!

Wide awake now we anxiously waited for sunrise all the while keeping an eye on the nearby marker. We didn't want to hoist the anchor before the sun came up as we feared that the anchor chain may have gotten wrapped around the marker and we'd need the sunlight to maneuver our way through the mess. As twilight broke anxiety got the best of us and we began hoisting the anchor. We were happy to realize that the chain had not wrapped around the mark.

Adrenaline overcoming the lack of sleep we continued the journey down the ICW finally choosing the quiet and solitude of Dewees Creek with which to drop the hook. Sleep finally came. We rose to watch a beautiful sunset and could hardly believe that less that 24 hours before the calm that surrounded us now had been fury. (Mile 454.9)

The Admiral

11/1/ 2010 - 11/6/2010

Trick or Treat?

Halloween found us in Elizabeth City. The town is great for cruisers providing dockage at the town wharf and having a quaint downtown to explore. The Captain had high hopes of stopping at the local seafood place for his favorite - soft shell crab. Unfortunately it was Sunday and the restaurant is not open on Sundays.

Instead we enjoyed happy hour on board 'Release' with friends Ken, Francie, Mike, Lu and four legged friend Skipper. Yet it was Halloween so we should do some tricking or treating - shouldn't we? So we all opted for treating and walked up to the local Dairy Queen for our favorite ice cream treat. As you might imagine that made the Captain happy........and yes Dave's his Blizzard was EXTREME!

The Admiral

10/31/2010

The Dismal Swamp...

One of the nice things about tying up at Elizabeth Dock is the next morning, before the first lock, you have the opportunity to have coffee with Lockmaster Robert. We did just that; catching up on all the local happenings. The lock had actually been on a restricted schedule due to drought until a heavy late September rain - 17 inches in less than 3 days. That took the Dismal Swamp from a drought situation to a flood and forced Lockmasters to start draining the excess water out of the canal. The dispersing the excess water created problems of its own. A shoal formed in the canal and a dredge was inside trying to move the excess earth.

After coffee, we continued our journey through the swamp encountering the dredge. We had fears that our wide beam would prevent us from passing. That would not be the problem. Instead the dredge held up canal traffic for 1 1/2 hours to move a pipe. Gridlock on the Dismal Swamp who'd have thought?! Fortunately being one of the last boats in the pack has its benefits. Sailboat ChrisJen stopped at the Wallaceton Tower bulkhead just before the 'traffic jam' and tied off. They let us raft to them. From behind came the power Trumpy Windrush who rafted to us. Now you really had a traffic jam with three boats rafted to each other in the canal. I wish I had a photo!!

The dredge did, eventually, allow traffic to pass but not until we deemed it too late to continue the journey to Elizabeth City. Instead we chose to stop at the dock between the South Mills lock and bridge for the night.

The Admiral

10/30/2010

Photo 1: Robert tending to a boat in the lock.

Photo 2: Robert's banana tree and conch shell collection

Photo 3: The swamp.

And We Are Off!

The wind blew steady all night making Dave and I wonder whether or not we would be able to get off the dock. Come morning the wind had calmed and we took it as an opportunity to begin. Good thing we did because within an hour of our leaving the marina the wind started its steady blast. So much so that even before we reached the Chesapeake, Dave suggested we do something we had never done before - reef the main.

Admittedly we were flying a little blind. Our wind speed indicator is not working but nonetheless we both knew it was blowing a might harder than the 15 knots forecasted. By mid-morning we had our confirmation. Someone from the Navy came over the radio and announced to other Naval ships that the wind had averaged 30 knots for the last 10 minutes. Good thing we reefed the main.

Yet wicked wind is not all wicked. In this case it was out of the NNW and with our southbound heading it made for a fun and fast ride down the bay. We averaged 8-9 knots but at points were surfing 10+ down the waves.

Our journey was so quick that we passed our anticipated stopping point in Hampton Roads, zipped by Hospital Point, crossed underneath the Gilmerton Bridge and successfully locked through the Deep Creek lock and into the Dismal Swamp.

Already two days ahead of our albeit loose schedule, we pulled up to Elizabeth Dock for the night. What a great first day!

The Admiral

10/29/2010

Where Did Summer Go?

Heavens can it be that time of year already? The summer has flown by and while we are excited to begin a new cruising season, it is hard to believe that November is already on us.

We had a great midwestern summer! The midwest heated up this year which made for some great days boating on Lake Michigan. We also spent time in Nova Scotia - beautiful country - visiting our friends Eric and Ellen on West Wind. (Thanks so much E&E!)

Lots of family activities kept us busy. Pictured here are photos from the annual family Corn Roast where we spent a weekend tubing down the river and eating pig and corn.

Boat work also entered into the mix with Tropical Breeze getting lots of pampering. We raised the water line two inches, gave her a new look with lots of bottom paint, modified the bimini, restitched the trampolines, a wash and wax and more.

But before we get too far down the road a few shout outs:

Thanks to Jim and Kathy (and Murphy too) on Charm who have agreed to take care of the "Silver Bullet" during our journey.

Also a call out to Dave, Shirley and Christopher. Sorry we missed your last blog comment until now. We hope you - and many others - had a wonderful summer on Tiffany Rose. And yes Christopher, I am once again in search of the elusive manatee this season.

So we are ready!! Let the southern journey begin!!

The Admiral

10/28/10