ICW - Intracoastal Waterway

5 days since the last blog update. See what I said in the last post about wifi. In Portsmouth we had nothing, we managed to do a quick facebook update from the mall in Norfolk, but that was it. Now at the visitors center in the Dismal Swamp, NC, where there is nothing, we have great wifi. It's actually kind of funny, because usually when I make a bold statement, I get made a liar for some time, this go-round, I win.... Or loose really, because we were in Portsmouth for three days, with no internet access. Oh well, if that's the worst thing that happens, were good.

When we left Horn Harbour Friday morning, the winds were quite strong, but coming from the west-northwest, which made for a great sail all the way to Norfolk. I had originally planned for a 6 hour trip, and it took us 4 1/2 hours. The only unfortunate part was that Serena was in bed the whole trip, trying to recover from blowing her back out in Deltaville. I am finding though that I really enjoy sailing by myself. I tweak, and play, and relax. I think I have found my "me time". I could be a solo sailor, but I don't think that I would want to spend much time at anchor alone. Plus, even when sailing by myself, Serena is always available if I need her, and that makes a difference.

Norfolk, Porstmouth, is awesome. Except for the whole wifi thing; I'm working on forgiving them. Our friends Joel and Lynette told us about the Commodore Theatre, which is a restaurant as well. So you go there, have dinner, and then watch a new release movie. The food was good, and the experience was great, the movie, not so much... Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips, is officially the worst movie I have ever watched, taking over from snakes on a plane. Not everyone agrees with me though, and several people loved it.

 Quaint little table for two. Absent was me, taking the picture from the balcony.

 Such a neat idea, and the prices were some of the best we've seen for a restaurant in a while.

So this is how it works. You decide what you want from the menu. Drinks, appetizers, main, dessert, everything, before the movie starts. You pick up the phone and dial 0, the kitchen staff takes your order, and then everything is delivered to your table in order. If you want to make a change, order something else, just pick up the phone and dial 0. So simple. However, once the movie starts, no more orders, just water or ice tea which is apparently unlimited. We drank beer of course, as they had it on tap, and we were afraid that it might go stale in the keg. And nobody wants that. We are prepared to do our civic/social duty.

Our first night we anchored behind hospital point. While sitting in the cockpit having a well deserved beverage, we were entertained by the Carnival Glory. When it pulled out it had to turn itself in its own length right beside us so that it could leave the harbour. According to the news, the cruise ship which has been based here for years is leaving permanently, and we got to see it depart. Neat.

The next two nights we tied up to the Portsmouth public warf, so that we could walk to everything without dinghying around. There are no good dinghy docks in the area, unless you want to pay to use them. We're cruisers, and too cheap. Portsmouth allows tie ups for three days, but we know of people who have stayed much longer.

I have to put in a pump for our new friend Bob, who owns and operates the Mile Marker "0", marine supplies store. Bob is a "godsend". He will get your propane tank filled, give you a ride to Walmart, or the grocery store, and back. He will take you to laundry, and give or get you anything you need, equipment or information. He is a cruisers saint. If you are ever travelling through Portsmouth, you have to go visit him on High Street. His prices are reasonable as well, so if you have a list of stuff you need to get, send him an email before you get there, and he'll have for you when you arrive. (milemarker0@cox.net) Guys like this need to be supported by the cruising community, because they are the people who make cruising effortless. Thanks Bob.

 We played tourist, on day two, taking the ferry over to Norfolk to see the USS Wisconsin, on display at the Nauticus Museam. Even with my military discount, it was still very expensive. And although some of it was fun, I am not sure that it was worth the $26. I guess maybe we just aren't museam people. The ship was neat though, and Serena go to pet some sharks. I took video of it, and sometime I'll get that on YouTube so we can freak out her Mom. Hi mom....

Sometimes lifting the anchor can be a real chore.

I the picture above, I am the spec in between the two right most guns. They is big.... In fact, the rounds are about the right size for riding. I had a flashback to Armaggedon with Bruce Willis, "get off of the nuclear warhead, now."

Serena's first visit to Navy ship. She really wanted to see a submarine, but there was none on display.

 The admiral, reviewing her ship.

We also walked around Norfolk, visiting the Japanese garden, and the MacAurthur centre.

Norfolk is ship mad. They are everywhere.

Little Vita at the warf in Porstmouth.

The ferry that travels between Portsmouth and Norfolk, across the Elizabeth River. $3 round trip.

But, winter is coming to Norfolk too, and we needed to keep moving south. So on Monday we untied and head down the ICW. We were chuckling when our friends Gil and Diana got caught by the train bridge that is never closed, and didn't it happen to us too. Honest guys, we're not trying to copy you. Luckily for us it wasn't a train, it was a pickup truck on the tracks, so we still managed to make the 9:30 Gilmerton bridge opening, and headed down the creek towards the Dismal Swamp.

Robert, the lockmaster at the start of the dismal was full of information, and even held up the boats in the lock while he bombarded us with historical information about the canal, and the USS Wisconsin. He was great. The lock above is covered in this green duck weed. Apparently it happens like this every year, and a couple of weeks ago it was really bad.

Morning deer, on our way up to the lock.

I've heard people say that the dismal swamp is not dismal, and that the ICW, nicknamed "the ditch", is not a ditch. But; the dismal swamp is definitely a "ditch". It is a neat place, but there are areas where it has grown in so much that two boats couldn't pass each other.

It was still neat to see. The oldest canal system in the Americas. Apparently there are so many tannins in the water that it can never go stale, or grow bacteria. Of course the water is the color of dark tea, so it looks a little freaky.

Our first raft up. We stopped for the night at the visitors center near the end of the canal, and in fact we have decided to stay two nights and get some boat maintenance done. The wall has room for 4 boats, and there was 7 of us, so we tied up to one another. It was kind of fun. Most of gathered together in Gail Force's cockpit for sundowners and chocolate. Thanks Gail and Jim, we had a blast. The dew is just starting to burn off, and Serena has just fed me the most wonderful bacon, eggs, and toast brunch, so I guess I should get some work done.

Tracie was wrong.....

Our friend Tracie told us that after the boat show, it gets cold on the way south. She was wrong, it gets really really freakin' cold. This morning we woke to 10 deg C., and although that isn't exactly freezing, it sure feels like it when you are crawling out of bed. Then, the wind chill while sailing reminded me of the winds blowing through CFS Alert, up by the North Pole, in winter..... I swear tomorrow it'll snow.

Sunday we finally got out of the Solomons, and had a great day sailing down the bay, turning into a motorsailor late in the day, and finally getting the hook down in the Little Wicomico River at 6:30 PM, just after sunset. We had a great dinner, shower, and hung out in the cockpit, it was a beautiful evening, the kind that we went cruising for in first place.

Monday morning we got up to leave. The weather man had changed his tune, and it looked like we had a window to get to Tangier Island, so we made the jump, 3 hours of motoring in an absolutely flat sea. However, I am happy to report that Vita had her first encounter with the bottom, and came out unscathed. Coming in the inlet into the anchorage in the Little Wicomico was easy at high tide, but in the morning at low tide, not so much. There were so many fisherman in the mouth of the inlet that we were forced to go right down the middle of the channel instead of on the north side where the deeper water was. The depthsounder went to 2 ft, and Vita dragged her keel over the sand bar. At first I thought it was the current hitting us, but on reflection, it was pretty obvious, we found bottom. On the brightside, we didn't stick, and we now know that our depthsounder is out by approximately 1' 6".

Tangier Island has been on our bucket list for many years. And perhaps because of that, we ended up leaving a little disappointed. It is a beautiful piece of land, and the people were generally friendly, but I think that at this time of year the town starts to shut down and return to its simple roots. The tourists have all gone, and the residents are probably glad to see them leave for another season. Everything was closed, except one restaurant and the general store. We intended on going for dinner at the restaurant, but the lady decided to close at 4:00 pm that day, for no particular reason, it was just that time of year. And Milton, the gentleman who runs the Marina was a sweet 82 yr old, but he wouldn't take no for an answer, and insisted on doing everything his way. Which was fine, except docking and undocking a fishing boat with a big engine, is a lot different than doing it with a little under-powered sailboat. No damage was done, but both Serena and I prefer to do things our way, because we know how to handle our boat, and if we screw up, its our fault, no one else's. Other than that, it was nice to finally get to see the island. We walked everywhere, all 1.6 miles. Although, we are still hungering for the Tangier Island experience, but we may have to wait until next year to get it.

Tangier Island is definitely a unique community.

Their water comes from 10 wells, each over 1100 ft deep, according to Milton the Marina Owner. He says its deep enough that the crabs don't get in.

 Here is the main drag, wide enough for one car.

And; this is a side street, wide enough for one golf cart.

 Now this is a golf cart. Big wheels and made of aluminum because of the flooding. I want one!

 Tangier Island welcoming committee. They had a serious feral cat problem for a long time, and then they had 3 veterinarians come over to spade and neuter them all. Over three hundred cats were done, and they clipped the left ear of every cat that was fixed, so they could tell the difference. Notice the pointy left ear on this cute little guy. Guess they didn't get em' all.

I still haven't identified this guy, but they were everywhere, hunting lord knows what in the marshes. But I got some neat video of it, here he is ready to pounce.

Serena bent over to pet one of the kittens, and before she knew it, they were everywhere. A gentleman said that we could have anyone of them we wanted except for the black and white one. For a minute I thought he was joking, as they were all black and white, but there was one in particular that was his. Unfortunately, and I am still unsure about this one; I had to be the voice of reason. Something not likely to be repeated anytime soon.

Tuesday morning began, apparently in our honor! Winds, twice as strong as forecasted, and coming from exactly where we wanted to go. But, because of our rather disappointing visit to Tangier, and the fear that we would get stuck here for days, we headed out. Besides that, the other snowbirds left, and nobody wants to be a wussey. We pounded into heavy wind and seas back across the bay from where we had come. In fact we were losing ground to the north because we couldn't point high enough, a Bayfield issue....

By the time we got to the west side of the Chesapeake Bay, the wind shifted to the west, and we had a great sail all the way down to Deltaville. Further than we had originally planned, but considering that winter seems to be chasing us down like a mad dog, not far enough.

Wednesday was a sit still day. The weather was crap, we were tired, and we hoped to get some provisioning done. In the afternoon the skies turned blue, so we headed to the grocery store. Ten minutes after landing the dinghy, we were offered a ride by a pair of ladies who happened to be going that way. We thought that was sweet and excepted the ride. From the time we arrived at the grocery store, and walked the 2 miles back to the dinghy, we were offered rides 6 more times. We almost had to beat off the good samaritans with a stick. People turned around on the highway, and came to offer us rides. People offered to wait while we shopped in the hardware store, to give us a ride back. Even when we were less than a 1/2 mile from the dinghy we were still getting offers. This town lacked a laundromat, propane refill, and the pump out was broken at the local marina, but the people were the most friendly we have met since we left Canada. Their excuse, they are all sailors, and they understand; we love sailors, although we are probably a bit biased.

In Deltaville we also got to meet a couple of the cruisers in the anchorage. Had sundowners in the cockpit of Pinnacle, a 38' Catalina, home to a couple of Canadians from Montreal. Rob and Ginette. Rob was retired military, and had spent some time in Trenton where he learned to sail from fellow CFBTYC member John Seden, one of the pillars of our yacht club. It's a small world...

Today started rough, but the sailing was good for about 3 hours until it wasn't anymore. Luckily it was short day, and we settled way up in Horn Harbour. Its a place that only allows shallow draft boats to enter, as the water is somewhat thin. I saw less than 5' on the way in, and the tide was at about 3/4, which means I'll have to be careful going out in the morning at low tide.

I do apologize for the delay in getting out this post, or the last one, or the.... you get the picture. Ironically we tend to get internet in the non-populated places, and then suffer without, or with bad service in the more populated places, go figure. The really unfortunate part, is that when we are in a beautiful secluded place, its hard to find the motivation to write a blog entry, because there are just better things to be doing!

Until the next time.....

On the Road Again, ……

Wow, how quickly we jump back into cruising mode. I thought that we would forget how to do everything, but we ended up having more focus, and things have been going very smoothly; knock on wood.

We left Magothy Marina on Wed the 16^th, after having sundowners the night before with the crew of Haven (from Trenton), and saying goodbye to our new friends and the staff at the Marina. We travelled all of 2 miles before we dropped the hook and settled in for the night. A nice steak dinner, a few coolies, and a beautiful evening to start the next leg of our adventure.

Thursday we travelled as far as the Rhode River down the Chesapeake coast past Annapolis. It was recommended by our friend Dave, and looked to be a good place to hide from the storm that was blowing in, we were right. It was a wonderful, warm, sunny day, but the winds were light, and Vita was a power boat for most of it. It was short trip, and an early day, so we sat around and watched the rest of the boats coming in to anchor, I practiced my guitar, and later in the evening we dinghied over to our neighbour, a fellow Canadian, just to say hi. The highlight of the day though, was watching a pair of boats run aground, fail several times to set the anchor, and then drag several times in the night. Its surprising that they didn’t end up beat up on the beach. I was playing the guitar, and Serena mentioned about a boat coming in, I turned and said, that’s not good, they are headed straight for the “charted”, sunken island. Sure enough, 2 minutes later, clunk… They did manage to get off, and then their friends, arriving 45 mins later did the same thing. 4 guys on each boat, makes you wonder if they stole the boats, or were just very very drunk. They were most likely charters out of Annapolis though, makes you think twice about chartering your own boat!!

Friday there was a left over wind from the storm, and we had a nice push for most of the day as we sailed down the coast towards the Solomons Islands. It started out blustery, and Vita was making over 7 knots with the wind, the waves, and the current. But it was not to last, and slowly throughout the day the winds, and the waves laid down, eventually causing us to turn on the engine to make it the rest of the way in. We did find out something rather interesting on this day. The reacher (big lightweight sail), that came with the boat, when we bought her, is in fact, not a reacher, like I should be surprised. And I am not totally sure, I’ll have to look it up when I get a chance, but I think it is actually a DRS (big lightweight sail, but differently shaped than the reacher). I don’t think it really matters in our sail plan, but the reacher can be carried when the wind is more forward, where the DRS is a much bigger sail, designed to be sailed more downwind. As my understanding of downwind sails goes, the DRS is kind of a compromise between a spinnaker and a reacher. And I am sorry, I didn’t mean to bore you non-sailor types, but this is paramount to finding that the engine in your Ford Focus, is actually from a Toyota Corolla, explain that to the mechanic.

Saturday was supposed to have winds on the nose, but they were only going to be 5 – 10 knots, so we figured we’d give it a try. We wanted to catch some nice weather for travelling across the bay to Tangier Is. It is one of the places we really would like to visit before it sinks completely. It is slowly being consumed by the Chesapeake, and at times the streets are covered in water. It is an island rich in heritage, and would be a unique place to visit while its still around. However, as the weather man is never completely right, the winds were a little stronger, and true to Chesapeake Bay, the waves were short and steep. It took us 3 hours to make an hour of headway, so we said screw it, turned around and headed back to the Solomons. Today is expected to better, so we’ll try again.

Before we were initiated to the cruising life, we made fun of people who returned to port because of bad weather. Our thinking being that as sailors, we should be able to put up with a little bad weather, wind and waves. What we have discovered, and are surprised it never seemed to come up, is that it’s not the bad weather that stops us, it’s the fact that we are bashing to windward for no particular reason, and getting no where fast for our efforts. When it you look at it that way, its seems pretty foolish to keep going. I think this really came to light for me during the delivery, and now it is easy for me see the logic for own travels, we are cruisers after all.

Anyway, its time to get moving. Today should be a good one, then we have some bad weather coming in around mid week, so we’ll find a quiet place to hold up, do some shopping, reprovision, and take it easy while the winds kick the bay into a furry. We can definitely tell its time to go south though, the geese have been heard flying over head, it was 14 deg C. in the cabin this morning, and the leaves in the Chesapeake have started to turn over their fall colors.

Fair winds and following seas…..

Time to Move On

It is hard for me to believe that it has been a week since I got home from the delivery. There has been so much going on, that the time has just slipped by. My honey-dew list is now longer than it was when we arrived here a month ago.

A Magothy River Sunset, courtesy of our friend Dave.

Our good friends Tracie and Don from Trenton, showed up on Tuesday to surprise us, and what a great surprise it was. We have known them for quite a few years, and we have always enjoyed their company. They drove us all over the Annapolis area, to all the chandlers, and we had dinner in the old part of town before relaxing with a few sun-downers back on Vita in the evening.

Wednesday, we headed down to Annapolis again, and some friends got us into the boat show during setup day. They were helping out with a booth for the show, and managed to get us some passes. We had to temporarily change our names, but it was nice to talk to some of the vendors one to one. It is amazing how differently the conversation goes when you are another vendor, vice a customer. 

Thursday we took the day off to rest, and get some boat chores done. AKA, clean up the mess from two days of neglect... 

Friday we went to the boat show. Walked 2 km to the bus stop, took the local bus downtown, and spent the day checking out the show as customers. All, in the rain of course... Our new foulies (foul weather gear), worked awesome, but my deck shoes with drain holes did not. Well, that's not exactly true, they worked the way they are supposed to, draining water, but they couldn't keep the water out. We spent about $1000.00, ouch, and almost all of it was impulse buying. Sure, the items were on our list, but not the must buy today list. We bought the sailing kit for our Walker Bay dinghy, Serena bought a new Tilley hat, and a pile of other little things. The prices and opportunity just couldn't be passed up. We were really surprised to see low prices at the show. At the Toronto show there are no real deals, everything is just conveniently located in one place. At the Annapolis show, there were good deals, and everyone was co-located. Score...

On the weekend we hid from the rain. Except Sunday, where we walked 4 km for some cases of water and some groceries. It was nice to kick back, practice my guitar, chat with our friend Dave, watch a movie, and just chill-ax. We did miss our friends Joel and Lynette on Saturday, at the show, unfortunately, but some of our gear didn't make it out of the show Friday, unscathed. My shoes were soaked.

Then Monday we took the bus back to the show, and spent the day walking around town, enjoying the sunshine, and the beauty of the Annapolis downtown. Went aboard some boats, and watched the tear down of the show from Pusser's balcony drinking painkillers, which to the uninitiated, have a crap load of rum in them. Whoosh.. Helped a friend tear down their booth and then headed to dinner with friends before catching a ride back to the boat. Sun-downers with Tracie and Don, and poured into bed.

 Crazy Carib drinker.

Cool watching the docks and boats being displaced. The whole operation took less than two hours.

The highlights of the show were talking to some of our heroes. Bob Bitchin and his wife Judy were there promoting their new rag(magazine). I met Yves Gelinas, inventor of the Cape Horn wind vane, maker of the movie Jean-Du-Sud, and affectionly known as the naked french guy, in my house. Our friend Wally Moran was there, with his faithful sidekick Aduana. We chatted with Liza Copeland, famous sailor and author, And of course Norm, from the Online Rope Store. Norm's rope is less expensive than anyone else's, and usually less than half the price of any West Marine product. Every rope on our boat came from his store, I just hope he doesn't decide to retire anytime soon.

Boat show over, friends gone home, its time to move on. It is a very hard thing to do. Magothy Marina has been a wonderful home. Its clean, quiet, and friendly. The staff is doing an incredible job keeping this place so homey. And of course there is the people. Everyone has been so nice to us, helping Serena when I was gone, with offers of rides, information, and just friendly conversation. Our friend Dave will be missed more than he could know. If I meet anymore people like him on this trip, I may have to start liking the human race again, and I am not sure I am ready for that.

September 2013 Recap

When I started this whole blog, the premise was that I would be passing on my knowledge and experience, (or lack of), to others behind me. I did this because so many people have done the same for me over the years. I know that what they have taught me through their books, their notes, their magazine articles, and their blogs, has been invaluable, and without their stories, we may have never embarked on this adventure at all. So, I am going to try to do a recap of each month covering concerns, budget, and things I learned that I wish I had known before I started, so that someone contemplating making the jump can perhaps learn something useful from it.

Dates: Sep 1-30, 2013

Polleppel Island, NY(on the Hudson River) - Nyack - New York City - New Jersey - Atlantic Ocean - Cape May - Delaware Bay - Chesapeake City - Chesapeake Bay

Sailing: 5 hrs

Motoring: 61 hrs (includes motor-sailing)

Budget Amount:      $1590.00 US (All budgeting is in US funds)

Charts/Books:            $70.00     

Boat Parts:               $470.00     

Marinas:                   $715.00

Diesel:                      $150.00

Beer:                        $147.00

Grocery:                   $371.00

Restaurant:               $160.00

Fees/Services:           $141.00     (pump-outs, laundry, wifi, taxis, etc...)

Clothing/Shopping      $81.00

Misc:                        $690.00     (Propane, new cell phone, Trip to London, etc...)

Total:                      $2995.00

Debit/Credit:          -$1405.00

I know I have to publish this number, because I said I would, but please don't tell Serena. Main reason for the overture, the trip to the UK to deliver the Nic 55. Total cost for the trip was $2410.00 CAD. Most of the expense came out during the summer, and the only extra was the cash that I spent while I was there, $570.00 US, over half of which was train costs; and that portion shows under misc. Plus, we had to pay out $560.00 for marina fees to park Vita while I was gone. And, on top of that, we are still working on the boat, things that didn't get done before we left. Next month will probably be bad too, as we are at the Annapolis boat show, where we have already spent $450.00 on foul weather gear, but we'll save that for next month.

Things We Learned

1. Stay the hell away from 79th St Boat Basin in NYC, unless you are a mexican jumping bean, or a masochist.

2. The ocean is beautiful, and teaming with life. More so than we ever imagined.

3. Smells are the triggers for seasickness. Learning your trigger, and keeping it off the boat, will help slow down the effect. Serena's smell is stinky feet, or the head, neither of which is good. Mine is bad breath, so I learned on the delivery.

4. Wifi connections are usually password locked, but most marinas keep it simple by using their phone number, or their address. When that doesn't work, ask a young employee, they usually don't care, and will offer up the goods.

5. People are great. If you're not a big fan of the human race, cruising will definitely renew your faith in mankind. The only caveat is that you stay away from the news, because that's where all the bad people are, oh, and retail sales, but they come by that honestly, customers are nasty.

6. American grocery stores with their customer cards are a pain in the ass, but if you don't have one, the cost of food is insane. Serena bought some chicken that was $15 without the card, and $4 with the card. Robbery comes to mind, but that is illegal, right?

7. 10 lbs of propane does us for 3 months. That is echoed by others we have talked to or read about. And, when one tank goes empty, keep and eye out for where to get it filled. Filling stations are few and far between, and in some of the strangest spots. Here we filled our tank at the liquor store, of all places.

That's it for this month. Next month I will try and do this again. The format may change a little as I go, because this is new. If anyone reading the blog would like to see anything in particular, let me know, I may be able to squeeze it in, especially if it seems like good info to pass on.

Now back to your regular blogging........

I'm Back......

Hi everyone, did you miss me? Be honest, I have no feelings to hurt; Serena always complains about that.

Here is me helming the Camper Nicholson 55 (Nic 55) named "Chaser", during our trip accross the Bay of Biscay. The winds were 35 knots, gusting to over 40, (70-80km/hr), waves around 12-15 ft with the odd big one thrown in. A mild day on the Bay.

How was the trip? The question every asks, and its a question that is so hard to answer, because its complicated. The short answer is that it was good, I am glad I did it, but its not my kind of cruising. The standard response to that is; it was a delivery, not a cruise; Exactly.....

The long answer is a lot different. Being a delivery, there are times, although good experiences, that are not that much fun. Like seasickness in 25 knots and lumpy seas, or a boat that is constantly trying to throw you around like a rag doll, or trying to cook while going to windward in 35 knots of wind, or all of those at once. And then there are times that are absolutely wonderful, calm starry nights, or beautiful conditions for a perfect sail. The problem was that when it was bad, I was thinking, this is stupid, why go out in nasty weather and beat to windward when you don't need to; and when it was good, all I could think about was that I was on the wrong boat with the wrong crew.

Don't get me wrong, the boat was a mighty machine, to be respected, and the crew were a great group of people, but the boat wasn't Vita, and the crew wasn't Serena.

Other than that it was a wonderful trip, full of good experiences, good ideas, and of course the personal pride we all get from having crossed the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay. Two of the nastiest pieces of water in the world. I know from past adventures, that no matter how negative I may feel about the trip, eventually I will only remember the good things, the stories, and the sense of accomplishment.

Synopsis:

Saturday: Arrived in London, train to Portsmouth, crashed in hotel, exhausted.

Sunday: We were supposed to start, but they delayed us a day, so we took the train to Southhampton to see the boat show, one of the best in the world. It was nice, but I think its reputation was a little over-blown. Bowmore scotch had a booth there, so definitely not a wasted trip.

Monday: Arrived to the boat, and it was trashed. The boat we were supposed to take was in an accident 3 weeks prior, so they pulled this one out of refit, but it was no where near ready. It took us the better part of 3 days to clean, fix, and load the boat.

Wednesday: Afternoon, finally left the dock, did some practice maneuvers, and then docked up in Lymington on the Solent for the night. The winds were light, but we were off the dock.

Thursday: We left Lymington at O'dark stupid to catch the tide. It was a beautiful overnight sail across and out of the English channel to Camaret Sur Mer, France. The winds were 15 knots, over the aft quarter, with 10 to 15 ft seas, it was great sailing.

Saturday: We stayed in Camaret, rested up, loaded up on food, I did my laundry, we drank way too much, and enjoyed the fruits of the French coast.

Sunday: We left Camaret a little late to catch the outgoing tide, but there was no wind for the first 18 hours as we headed out into the North Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay. The water was as clear as glass, with a greenish/blue color. We were visited by dolphins, a monstrous jelly fish and lot of sea birds.

Monday: By early morning the winds had started to fill in, and Chaser once again became a sailboat. The winds continued rising until we were pounding into big waves, with 25 knots of wind, reefed down to little scraps for sails, pushing to windward. It was pretty obnoxious, and I found my seasickness level. At 10AM I took my post as cook with one of the Brits, but Mal-de-Mer put me under, and I spent the next 18hrs in my bunk. Anymore than 15 mins out of it, and I lost all my strength, and the ability to hold up my own body. It was nauseating, but I never threw up, one of my other problems, but I wish I could have.

Tuesday: More of the same weather, but we closing on the coast of Spain. I was feeling much better, but still couldn't kick the upset stomach. We docked in Viviero, Spain, late in the day, and crashed, exhausted.

Wednesday: We stayed put for the day, one because we we're ahead of schedule, and two, because we just needed some badly needed rest. I did some more shopping, it takes a lot of food to feed 9 people, walked around a little, but spent lots of time sleeping. I still wasn't feeling good, so obviously something other than seasickness was ailing me, what I haven't got a clue.

Thursday: We had to wait for the tide to come in, because we were sitting on bottom. So I went and picked up a few beer, just to make sure we'd have some when we got to La Coruna, Spain, that evening. None of the locals were going anywhere, as the weather forecast was bad, "light-bulb". It was a 50 mile trip, and it took us 19 hours. The winds were 35 knots, gusting up over 40, for most of the trip, and of course, right from the direction we needed to go. Ironically, this was fun, and I really enjoyed this part of the trip, but it could be because I was starting to feel a little better, and, well, it was awesome.

Friday: We arrived early, very early, in the morning. By the time we fueled up, and got a slip in a marina, all we wanted to do was sleep. We did go for a stroll into town in the afternoon, had appetizers and beers, then dinner at a nice restaurant. Then crash, exhaustion.
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Saturday: We cleaned the boat, from stem to stern. And did we clean. It took us most of the day. At 3pm, we were done, so I decided to take a walk through the city. 5 hrs, and who knows how far, but it was nice to get away from the boat, and do something on my time, under my terms. I got back to the boat just in time to have a shower and meet the rest of the crew for dinner at a local restaurant.

Sunday: We flew back to London.

Monday: Flew home, to where I belong, back to my beloved Vita, and my pretty wife.

Points of note:

a. The water in the Bay of Biscay, especially in the more southern areas, was impeccable, a deep sapphire blue, I never expected it to be so incredibly beautiful, or so incredibly clean.

b. Europe is beautiful, old, and mature. I hadn't really forgotten, but it has renewed my faith in my belief that Europeans have somehow figured out how to live life, while we North Americans are still playing with our toys.

c. The ocean, although powerful, should be respected, but not feared. At no point in the trip did I feel scared, or even mildly concerned about my own safety. A little irritated with the drips on my bunk, perhaps.

d. Deliveries suck, in comparison to cruising, but I'll bet there are some who will disagree with me. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. I will admit though, that deliveries will give you experience far faster than cruising.

e. And; when an automatic life jacket goes off, it happens slowly, despite that fear that everyone has that it will blow up in your face. I barely noticed when this one went off; of course it could be because I was up to my chest in water.

Imagine if you will; I am sitting on the low side of the cockpit, my mate Ron is steering the boat. A giant wave crests over the bow and washes the length the boat, burying me up to my chest in water as is passes. Then my life-jacket, overcome with grief, inflates itself, making me go below to remove it and replace it with one that was a little easier to move around in.

Overall, it was a great time, although not one I am likely to be repeating anytime soon. I am thankful for my buddy Larry hooking me up, thanks Larry. And, hope to one day be crossing the same strips of water in my own boat. For now its time to refocus, and continue our trip south to warm clear waters, and sunshine that doesn't need to be shoveled.

Here is a video of my helming the Nic 55.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rHN3N1czNM