tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15227098537012011772024-03-21T22:31:40.788-07:00Sailing; Freedom Thru SimplicityJoin us as we refit our 1983 Bayfield 29 sailboat, and discover the new places that she will
take us.Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.comBlogger200125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-42300402121900410132017-03-20T12:23:00.000-07:002017-03-20T12:23:08.936-07:00Sailing; Freedom Thru Simplicity - Has MovedHi everyone, for those who are still reading. After all, lets face it, I haven't exactly been the chatty type over the last few years. But that is all about to change. Starting Right now.<br />
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First thing we did was get Vita her own Domain name. You can find out new site at:<br />
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<a href="http://www.sailingvita.ca/">www.sailingvita.ca</a><br />
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Then we build a new blog/website, organized it, and made it easier for everyone to find what there are looking for, us included.<br />
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Secondly, as I was going through all of our old blog posts sorting them for the new site, I realized there were a pile of comments that I didn't even know were there. I owe everyone an apology in that regard. I don't know what happened, usually I get an email notice telling me that there is a new comment, but I did not receive very many at all. The new page has a Contact page, so if ever you have problems with the site, or notice that I have not replied to your comment, please contact me. I love interacting with my readers, and the thought that some of comments went unanswered causes me to drink heavily, and nobody wants to responsible for that. So please yell at me if need be.<br />
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Other than that, enjoy the new site, and check out our budding YouTube Channel. Its still in its infancy, and I am learning a whole pile of new stuff, but it should get interesting. If you like the videos, or not, please say so in the comments. Share, and subscribe.<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQgSFhkS3hwYdgnWB-RZN-g" target="_blank">Freedom Thru Simplicity</a><br />
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Vita Back to one six!Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-70611314469295499822016-08-21T15:20:00.000-07:002017-03-27T17:19:06.444-07:00We've Been Robbed......LiterallyI suppose if you travel long enough by boat, you are bound to run into some undesirables. We have somewhere near 5000 miles under our keel, and we've been to a few shady places, but we have never had a problem with anyone taking anything from our boat, until last week. We were tied up at Lovesick lock, a place we have come to really enjoy, hanging out with some wonderful new friends. One of the other boaters had a fire going, and had brought out his guitar. So we were sitting around the campfire, singing and carrying on all evening. When we returned to the boat around 11:00, the galley window screen had been pushed in, and the bandits had made off with a loaf of bread and a package of bagels. We were no more than a 100 feet from the boat all evening, but the sneaky little bastards still managed the theft right in plain sight. I apologized to the Lock Master the next day, as I had inadvertently now left two bread bags on the island. He gave me a short lecture on littering and the fines associated with it, but considering the circumstances, let me go this time with a warning.<br />
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So, if anyone is in the area of Lovesick Lock, and they see a raccoon with a bagel belly! You'll know the thief!<br />
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I also have to take a moment to talk about Serena's new found hobby. After spending so much time in the locks this summer, getting to know the people, the rules, and succumbing to the wonder of the canal system, she has taken it upon herself to start educating other less fortunate boaters in canal etiquette. At Lovesick she gave a rather ignorant boater a lesson in coming into the lock too fast, as he had waked all the boats tied up on the wall. When he claimed that there was no speed limit, she politely explained that it is only common sense to enter into a small area slowly. The boater behind her was not so nice and got into an argument with the guy after she left. Sometimes girls get away with telling you your an idiot, where another man cannot. Then later she caught a local cottager dropping his garbage off on the front step of the lock station after the staff had gone home. Lovesick is a remote island area, there are no roads, and because of that it is has a pack in - pack out rule. Serena picked up the garbage and waited near the peoples boat to give it back to them explaining that it couldn't be left there and why. It was pretty obvious that the cottagers knew, but they pleaded ignorance and took their garbage with them. I think maybe the Federal Government should give her a job, "Minister of Canal Education." Or Canal Cop....<br />
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In my last entry I talked about turning around and not continuing up Georgian Bay. At the time we were just disenchanted with the idea of travelling up there without the mast. Also the 175 mile trip up to Kilarney and back would have eaten up any time we would have had left of the summer. So we headed back into the canal system. We would spend the next 7 days dragging our heals while we waited for some friends that were sailing down the bay. We were going to meet them at their yacht club on Lake Simcoe. We took 7 days to travel what we had done in only 2 on the way up, and it was the best week of the entire trip. One of the little ironies in life is when you settle with or are forced to do something that you may not have chosen to do yourself, you end up better off and all the happier for it.<br />
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There are only 4 locks between Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe, so we were really go slow, "the speed of snail." Nightly limits on the lock system is 2, for most places, but as long as your not trying to abuse the system, or there is a storm, or you ask politely, the lock staff will usually let you stay a third night, and maybe a fourth, but we never pushed it that far. Saying that, we had been at Swift Rapids for two nights, the first hanging out with a great group of people. The second recovering from the first, when one of our new found friends showed up and a wine and cheese party ensued. Which meant of course that we couldn't leave; for although we have done some questionable drinking and dinghying, we would never drive Vita under the influence.<br />
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And this encounter became the highlight of our trip. If you look at the picture above, the young girl on the left is Lola. She was an incessant chatterbox, but her bubbly personality was infectious. And the group of us spent hours reliving our childhoods, playing in the water, diving off the wall, and just forgetting for a short period of time that we were stiff collared adults. If you ever read this Lola, thank you so much for helping a bunch of old people to let their hair down, and I hope that life feeds you nothing but sunshine and lollipops.<br />
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She was a pretty incredible kid, far more cultured than her 11 years, and I could probably go on for hours about how much she impressed us. But the picture below was of her docking her Dad's boat. With one engine acting up I might add.<br />
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The third night at Lovesick found us surrounded by new people, one of which asked our permission to swim nude. Although perhaps odd in Canada, perfectly normal down south, far be it from us to interfere. But I made a bit of an ass of myself trying to light a fire using the bow-drill method. Basically rubbing two sticks together. </div>
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After getting everything ready, making the bow-drill set, all I ended up getting for my efforts was smoke and black soot. I know my mistake now, but it didn't do me any good at the time. I ended up lighting the fire with a ferro-rod instead. Not as impressive, but cooler than a match. Next time!</div>
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On the seventh day back in the system we stopped at Orillia to do some provisioning and get some laundry done. Then we headed down to Hawkestone Yacht club on the west side of Lake Simcoe to meet up with some friends. </div>
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We had a great time catching up with Gil and Diana, and Jorge and Kim, couples we had met while we traveled down the ICW and into the Bahamas. Jorge and Kim did a two year trip returning last year, and Gil and Diana are still our there doing it. They spend their winters down in the Caribbean, and their summers here in Ontario. Rough life huh?</div>
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Since then we have been slowly making our way home. We are in Peterborough now, and we are meeting with family so that we can play "lift-lock tour boat". Lets face it, the lift lock is pretty cool.</div>
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Then we will make the quick trip home. We will be back a little earlier than originally planned, but the new to-do list is already 3 pages long, so a little extra time couldn't hurt.</div>
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Vita back to one-six.</div>
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Vita in the railway. A fellow cruiser took this for us, along with some video. The sweetest gesture, one we are very grateful for.</div>
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The railway is big. Here we see our male Vanna posing for size relationship. Now give me a vowel!</div>
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<br />Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-59428805728458509232016-08-04T15:14:00.000-07:002016-08-04T15:14:45.583-07:00Tootling Around the TrentSystem Part DeuxI never in my life would have believed this, and I am still not sure that it has sunk in completely, but I've come to the conclusion that there is such a thing as too hot out for a cold beer. I tried earlier today, and it just didn't work. My body rejected that wonderful cold elixir of life. So I sit here at the picnic table and drink a bottle of water while I type this. To all my readers, please do not think less of me, I'll try again later after a refreshing swim.<br />
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Its getting to be a recurring issue with me, trying to get blog entries out. Like most of my other blogging friends, I am starting to lose the desire to keep it up. It is such a pain in the butt trying to get reliable wifi, and enough time to site down and use it. I was about to give it up completely when a gentleman in another Bayfield 29 motored by us the other day while we were at a dock. He yelled out, "I read your blog", and I knew that I couldn't give up writing it. Because, truth be told, I love doing it, and for all the people that I disappoint, or those that expect more than I can give, I really do this for myself. And, if along the way I entertain someone just a little bit, than so much the better for it. After this summer though, I have decided to change my format a little. I am going to start a Facebook page to follow Vita's travels. Even when wifi is so bad you can't upload a picture, you can usually get out a short status update. I am, however, not abandoning the blog, its just the updates may be fewer and farther apart. Ideally I would like to start a web page, and a you tube channel, and link them all together, but if I can't manage to keep up a blog, where the hell am I going to get the time to keep all that other stuff going. But I digress; on to your regular blogging.<br />
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BTW, you might want to grab a glass a wine, and bring the bottle with you. Its been a couple of weeks, and this entry might take awhile to read.<br />
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Lovesick lock. That's where I left off the last blog entry, because I wanted to upload some of the video we took while we were there. It was funny as hell. Problem is, as stated previously, wifi and time, both in short supply. Then today, I went looking for the videos, and I can't find them anywhere. I sure hope that I did not delete them. They have to be on one of the computers somewhere. I did a little cleanup of both machines about a week back, and sorted everything so I could find everything easily. Then I forgot where I put it. So forget the video for now. I hope to get some serious YouTube uploading done in the fall and winter, I have hours and hours of footage that needs to be edited down and made into something worth watching, and that is not going to happen out here.<br />
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Lovesick was great. It is the kind of place we like to be. Quiet, out in nature, and very few people. The first night we were there we were sitting down to dinner when Serena noticed a little face looking in the galley window. I stuck my head around the corner of the dodger, and there was this cute little raccoon with one paw on the boat, and his two siblings running off into the grass. His innocent little face hiding the true terrors that this little fellow could impart on a cruising boat. It was only 6:00 pm, right at supper, I thought, maybe coons like barbecue is all. They would visit us later, when Serena caught one trying to pry the window screen out of the galley; and throughout the night running around on deck, before Serena managed to scare them off. One of the neighbours didn't do so well, losing their dew worms, and a tube of polysporin left behind on deck.<br />
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There just so cute!</div>
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We enjoyed the location so much that we decided to stay for a second night. I think the old rules allowed only 1 night at this lock, but this year Parks Canada changed that. What to do on day two. Why go kayaking of course. Up to this point Serena had not even been in her new kayak. I had spent a couple of hours before we left padding around the river at home with Serena's Dad, But she as yet hadn't had the chance.<br />
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The ever bashful human in a kayak. Serena says that it was hard for me to hide in nature with a red kayak, but I think I was fairly well camouflaged.</div>
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Lovesick has a neat little canoe portage made with rollers. It was built by a local group to mimic the old portage that was built originally way back. It was kind of neat. Our dismounting and remounting skills weren't very impressive, but it was definitely easier than carrying them. Hopefully I find the videos, and we can upload them so that everyone else gets to laugh as hard as we did.</div>
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So this route took us from the top of the lock to the bottom. Or Lower Buckhorn Lake to Lovesick Lake, which I assume was the same lake until someone decided to build a lock and 4 dams to separate them.</div>
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The lift of the lock is only like 4 feet. So its not like it was a huge portage.</div>
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However, we like the modern way of going back up. Serena had asked the Lockmaster if the kayaks could go through the lock, and he said no problem, as he could clearly see the yearly passes on the kayaks. I couldn't find them, but he said they were there, and his word is the one that counts.</div>
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Leaving Lovesick was hard, especially since we were headed from the quiet of the wilderness into the misery of cottage country. It might be a wonderful place for twenty-year-olds on jet skies, but not so much for a cruising home.<br />
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We stopped in Buckhorn overnight, and then in Bobcaygen to provision and get some laundry done. It was perfect for that, everything close by. But other than than, nothing appealing. Oh, almost forgot, the home of Kawartha Dairy, where they make the ice cream. That was cool.</div>
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Then we got to Fenelon Falls. By then we had had enough of the cottage country rat race, and after a couple of hours walking around town we said screw it, and left for some peace. Why anyone would want to immerse themselves in that chaos is beyond me. But I guess if you spent all week couped up in an office or downtown Toronto condo, this would be a welcome break</div>
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We planned on anchoring out for the night. I picked a nice spot on the chart, but when we got there, someone on shore lit this nasty fire burning garbage and all kind of crud. Not so appealing. So we changed our plans yet again, and managed to find a spot on the wall at the next lock, just barely.</div>
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It would turn out to be a great decision. Rosedale was another one of those secluded locks. There were more boaters here than Lovesick, but they were the quiet kind. Looking for a little piece. We went swimming, and visited with the other boaters. It was just perfect.</div>
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At most lock stations you can find chairs like these put in place by Parks Canada. We shanghai'd this one at Rosedale for evening cocktails. Just picturesque, and did I mention peaceful.</div>
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I can't remember the name of the dog, but he was my new best friend. He wouldn't go home no matter how many times his owner Ralf called him. Until of course I finished the piece of cheese I was eating, and then poof, no more dog.</div>
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We left Rosedale the next day, and we probably should have stayed. But hind sight being as it is. We moved on. We had everything planned out for the next few days, and by the end of the day we were sitting at Hawkestone Yacht Club on the west side of Lake Simcoe, 4 days ahead of the schedule we had set in that morning. Always happens. Don't ask me how, I haven't figured it out. Nothing changes faster than our plans. </div>
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Lift lock at Kirkfield.</div>
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Entering Lake Simcoe. Finally some open water. I have been suffering from tiny river fever all summer. We are sailors, we like big places. But something was missing, "the mast". I has been a problem for us all summer, and eventually it would send us over the edge, shortening our trip.</div>
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Open water is nap time. My Dad retired last year, at 65, and I keep telling him, the key to a good retirement, is naps, lots and lots of naps.</div>
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The members at Hawkestone treated us like family for the short few hours that we were there. We had hoped to catch up with some friends that we met on our travels south, but we weren't having any luck. We did eventually meet up in Midland for coffee, and we'll drop in on the way back. But for time being, we just kept moving.</div>
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Pitter patter of little feet in the night. We found these little footprints in the cockpit the night we stayed at Swift Rapids. Another beautiful, secluded spot.</div>
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Swift Rapids is the biggest conventional lock in the Trent System. 47 feet I think. But the water at the top was crystal clear, and it was really quiet. We'll spend a couple nights there on the way back.</div>
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Marine Railway. We have some video of this, "I think!", that we'll eventually get on YouTube, "I hope!" This was really neat. Serena sat in a lawn chair in the bow of the boat. We were right at the front, so it had the effect of her hanging 50 feet up in the air. The video is really cool, if somewhat understated, but I am glad she took the bow. Damn that was a long way down.</div>
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At the last lock in the system we helped this power boater thru the lock. Serena and her trying to save the world tour. This guy was on an old Chris Craft, wooden hull, big gas engines, 50 feet long, and he didn't now how to drive it, didn't have any crew, and was a little scary to watch. Serena figured if we helped him out, then we might save someone else the anxiety of going thru the lock with him. It was actually pretty smooth, and he let us off at the bottom of the lock. So technically we completed the Trent Severn Waterway before Vita did. Don't tell her though, we are keeping it a secret, she'll just get poutie.</div>
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By the time we got to lock 45 at Port Severn, I still had not opened the guide for Georgian Bay. Too busy doing the planning for our daily trips I guess. So we met friends for coffee in Midland, and headed out to anchor behind Beasoleil Island in Georgian Bay, so I could read the book and figure out where we were going.<br />
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We would spend 7 days there. Hiking all over the islands trails, fishing, swimming, sailing Lifeline, and just kicking back. It was a nice break, and a pretty little spot. I read the guide book, and knew where we were going, the problem was that we didn't know why we were going there. Its one of those strange epiphanies when you finally realize that you have no idea why you are doing what you are doing, your just doing it.<br />
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We tried to leave on day 5. We went into Honey Harbour, got some provisions, diesel, and a pumpout, and started heading out the small craft channel that tools its way up through Georgian Bay to the North Channel. But after getting the crap pounded out of us for 40 minutes by passing boats, we turned around and headed back to the anchorage in Chimney Bay. We just didn't have the desire to go any further north.<br />
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The truth is, that we just couldn't do it. We are sailors; Georgian Bay is probably the sailing mecca of Ontario. And where was our mast. Sitting in a rack in our yacht club in Trenton. It just felt wrong. Through the canals we had been an anomaly, but understandably, there are not a lot of sailboats in the canal system, even with their masts on deck. But out in the Bay, we were the only sailboat without a mast. We weren't an interesting anomaly, we were a misfit. I kept waking up in the morning expecting that Santa had moved us and poor Vita to the land of misfit toys.<br />
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As beautiful as the promises of Georgian Bay are, we just weren't comfortable, so we headed back into the canal system. We'll take our time going home, Stop to enjoy the things that we discovered we loved, and quickly skip through the things that we didn't. And never again will we make Vita be a pretend trawler. Are we glad we did the trip? Definitely. It had to me done, because it was there. We grew up on the Trent, we had to experience it, and it was a great experience. And next time we'll drive right through as fast as possible, and step the mast in Midland.<br />
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Fairy lake, on Beausoleil Island. One of the beautiful hiking trails looped around this lake.</div>
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Day 2 at Beausoleil, we went for a little hike, then drove Lifeline around the anchorage just taking it all in. We see these people waving from the shore, and when we waved back, they changed, motioning us to come over. So, curiosity got the better of us, and away we went. These too girls and their parents were visiting from Holland. The eldest was starting school in New York in the fall, so they were on a whirl-wind tour of North American before they left her to fly home. They had walked almost 4 hours from their campsite, and one of the girls was having a bad reaction to the deer fly bites. They asked if we could give them a ride back to their campsite. We of course obliged, and started the long 40 min, each way, trip to take them back. Lifeline had been set up for sailing, so the bottom plug was missing from the boat. With just the to of us on board, it wasn't a problem, but with the extra weight, the water was gushing up through the center board trunk flooding the dinghy. It was a constant battle to keep the water out of the boat. Of course they had to flag down the slowest dinghy in the anchorage. We did get them home, and other than an overheating engine problem on the way back, we managed the trip unscathed, and the girls appreciated the ride as it was better than taking the long walk back through the woods.</div>
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The trails were gorgeous, but the landscape was not all that different than what we have at home.</div>
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The views were a little better though.</div>
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Serena was excited about the hiking. She wanted to catch a glimpse of the Massasauga Rattle snake. She had never seen a rattle snake in the wild, and was keen to add that to her list of experiences. I told her not to get her hopes up. There were few and far between, plus they were very shy of humans. She kept looking for them anyway.</div>
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And then she spotted one. After walking about 20 kilometers of trail, her next foot would have landed just inches from this little guy. I managed to get some pictures and some video before we left the little fellow to himself.</div>
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Of course Serena had to play with him a little first. Just can't keep her hands to herself. Serves her right really.</div>
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Just kidding. These little guys are endangered, and we would never mess with an animal that is already having a hard enough time with humans. This was a stone carving on a plaque, and Serena was just pretending to hold its head. Creepy though. The previous pictures are real, we just didn't touch it.</div>
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Vita in her anchorage. The misfit boat.</div>
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This is the largest Beech tree I have ever seen, so I got Vanna to stand beside it for reference. Now give me a vowel.</div>
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At some point we ran out of delicates. So I did a load of cockpit laundry. It seems we wear more clothes in Canada than in the Bahamas. Down there we could go 3 weeks easy.</div>
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This is what the small craft channel looked like. It was crazy.</div>
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So now we start the long drive back down through the Trent. We are at Lock 45, and are dragging our heels waiting for some friends that are coming out of Georgian Bay. They have their mast up! We are just going to relax, in fact I think I am going to go for a swim here very shortly. And it has cooled slightly, so the beer Serena just brought me is going down quite nicely. Until next time, remember, if you want to be a sailor, go to sailing places, and if you want to be power boater, go to the canals.</div>
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Vita back to one six.</div>
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<br />Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-37174259520993492162016-07-21T06:37:00.000-07:002016-07-21T06:37:55.361-07:00Tootling Along the Trent Canal SystemHow can you tell we aren't in a hurry, well, its easy, we've been out 2 weeks, and haven't gone anywhere.<br />
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Ok, not completely true. We are sitting in Buckhorn tonight, and I am not really sure where that is other than it is north of Peterborough somewhere. Cute little spot though, we went for lunch, had ice cream, picked up a few essentials, and did some boat chores. Pretty much a typical day on the Trent.<br />
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We were actually doing pretty good, but between meeting up with my father and helping our Son buy his first house, we ended up sitting around Peterborough for a week. In fact we made the trip up to Lakefield with our guests, but had to turn around and go back to Peterborough the following day so that I could catch a bus and go do a home inspection for our Son. So we spent some time chasing our tails, but at least we got to spend some time anchored out in Little Lake, downtown Peterpatch.(local slang for Peterborough). That was really nice.</div>
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Other than that, its been a pretty peaceful trip so far. We've eaten too much, and drank too much, and eaten and drank too much of the wrong things, but that's what vacations are for, right? And this sure feels like a vacation after building two houses over the last too summers.</div>
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So we got out of Trenton and pushed ourselves in the first day all the way up to Campbellford. Unfortunately we missed the last lock into town and got stuck at the bottom of Rainy Falls. A good 5 km walk from Captain George's. It was a blistering hot day, we traveled for 10 hours, but we weren't going to give up George's fish and chips over a little 10k walk, so off we went. I said to Serena on the way there that I hoped they didn't have the air conditioning cranked, because I didn't think my body could take it, and we needn't have worried, because it was broken, and it was hotter in the restaurant than it was outside. Not really what I was going for.</div>
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The next day was a mix of sun and rain, and still more heat. The lock staff got us through in record time, and I dropped Serena off in town so that she could make the trek up the hill to her doctor for a emergency booking. She had gotten poison ivy while we were home, and some of it was around her eye, so she was a little nervous, with good reason. The appointment was quick, antibiotics in hand, she swung by picked up her sister and we were gone. Its always nice to have new person to boating on board, because their experiences are fresh, and we get to see through their eyes how cool this life on the water really is. Serena's sister Sherry left us in Healy Falls, and we carried onto Hastings to take a day off and recuperate from too much travel in too short a time. We always do it, we always pay for it, and we can't figure out why we keep doing it. I'm sure there is a psych paper in there somewhere.</div>
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In the slimy lock walls, you get to write things, like your boat name. Or your cousin's phone number, "for a good time call." Kidding.....</div>
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Swing bridge at Campbellford. Built by the Engineers in Trenton, damned if I can't remember the name of the unit, my memory is not what it used to be, and I was the goalie on their hockey team. Anyway, we used it on the way to Captain George's. Remember, fish.......</div>
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Hastings was a bit of a crap hole. And I really should be nicer since my cousin, not the one "for a good time call", has a cute little restaurant there, most of the people are really good. And there is a little bit of everything there. But; there are enough people on the bottom of the evolutionary scale to make the place seem somewhat inhospitable. And the fisherman, wow, is there a lot of fisherman hanging around the lock, the bridge, the dam, just everywhere. I will admit that I am a tad bit biased, as my wallet was stolen out of my car here several years ago, but when a man walks up to the tree next to your boat, in the day time, in the park, and pisses on it, while you sit in the cockpit, then maybe its just a little too much. Especially when the "open" lock washrooms were only 40 yards away.</div>
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Peterborough was much nicer. We had intended to stay out in Rice Lake for a couple of days to do some fishing, kayaking, and relaxing, but the weather man, plus a planned date for visitors in the Peterpatch changed that. As schedules and weathermen always seem to do. So off we went, making the 8 hour trek up into Little Lake. </div>
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Until Peterborough, the trip was pretty unexciting. Vita did not do so well in the first 18 locks, bucking and kicking so bad that both Serena and I now have man sized calasus and boxer sized bruises. But we'll recover. I'll do a post at some point on tips and hints for the canals, because the Rideau is different than the Trent, and all the locks in the Trent are different from one another. </div>
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Peterborough and beyond you start running into traffic, lots of traffic, big traffic, little traffic, houseboats up the wazoo, and traffic that don't know how to drive a boat. You meet tour boats, like the one above, and the Canal monster the Kawartha Voyager. You start to watch the morning jockey for position, as everyone tries to get into the first lock of the day. It is quite the parade. And not everyone finds it that funny. Serena and I just laugh our heads off, whether were in the middle of it, or just standing by sipping our morning coffee. It really is a must see. But I am sure that the laughing gets to some of the other boaters. But like everything else in life, if you take it too serious, you'll be on a short train to cookoo land. So the gates of the lock open, and everyone wants to be first, the lock master starts playing a good ol game of boat Tetris, and the boaters start playing that fun game of bumper boats.</div>
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And attitudes run the gamit. We saw people that were afraid to have anyone in the lock with them, because they might scare the gelcoat on their boat, to people who smashed and banged, and didn't care. Most of the rental houseboaters were afraid that they were going to smack into someone else's boat. No worries that they were going to look bad, that was a given. They were all just trying to mitigate the damages. Lets face it, no matter how good you are, driving a houseboat is like driving a bus with no steering and too much power. But, if you take it all in, and try not to stress the little things, then life is good.</div>
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The lift lock at Peterborough was really neat. It is one of the items on our bucket list. A smaller item for sure. But right up there with finishing the Rideau, or the Trent, or growing our own raspberries to make wine with. Did someone say wine?</div>
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It's a very quick ride though, in, up, out, or down, or in our case travelling through 3 times before we got out of Peterborough. </div>
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With a 66 foot lift though, and being rather open, I am surprised that I didn't have an issue with the height. I can't seem to figure out what triggers my fear of heights. I know a 8/12 roof will do it every</div>
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The fountain in Little Lake Peterborough. They turn the lights on at night for a little show.</div>
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Jockeying for position, You go ahead beside the houseboat, no, you go, you were here first. Actually, I think we'll wait for the next lift, yeah, good idea. Let the houseboat go up with the sailboat.</div>
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Hey honey. We going up Samwise.</div>
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We left Peterborough, finally for good, no schedule, no plans. It was a slow day up to Young's point, as Serena was a little under the weather. She had the 750 ml flu. So I pulled over mid day and let her have a badly needed 2 hour nap.<br />
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After that our intentions were to drop the hook in Clear Lake for a couple of days to let off some steam, and get back on track. Well, we have never been up here before, and what we realized quickly is that there is a lot of rock, everywhere. Trying to find an anchorage that was not a big rock pile was pretty much impossible. The chard would say 17 feet deep, but the bay would be 60 feet. I guess that there was probably a rock in the bay that came up to 17 feet, but how to find it, and how to get an anchor into the top of it is beyond me. So we enjoyed a meandering cruise up through Clear Lake, and Lovesick Lake, till we got to Lovesick Lock. A gorgeous little spot with no fisherman, and no riff raff, unless you count the raccoons. Even the lock workers have to boat to work, because there are no roads. Lovesick was a treat, and I am going to stop here, because we did some fun things, had some interesting encounters, and I don't want to ruin it before I get the You Tube video posted!<br />
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Vita back to one six.Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-6083379027637182732016-07-05T20:02:00.000-07:002016-07-05T20:02:21.227-07:00Bye Bye Rideau CanalI am afraid I am behind my time yet again. We have been home for a week, and its been at least two since the last blog entry. Busy busy.....<br />
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So we left Smith's Falls, looking for a place to get away from the hustle and bustle, in an anchorage where we would be protected from the heavy southwest winds that were expected for a couple of days. We tied up on a Parks Canada mooring ball in front of Colonel By Island in the middle of Big Rideau Lake. We would have liked to tie up to the last mooring ball around the south corner, as it had the best protection, but there was a pile of people at the island, and almost every space was taken. Sure as the sun comes up though, all the boaters cleared out around supper time, and we got our opportunity to move to the choice spot. In fact we would have the island virtually to ourselves for the next 4 days.<br />
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Colonel By Island has to be the jewel of the Rideau system. For as much fun as it was to take our boat thru the Nations Capital, it was twice the fun to have an Island to ourselves for a few days.<br />
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On Monday the winds blew in strong. And although we had the best mooring ball of the bunch, Vita was bucking like a wild steer, so we spent the day on shore, reading, sun tanning, and playing tennis in the tennis court left over from a previous tenant. Someone had left racquets and a tennis ball for everyone to use, so we played away the afternoon joking about being Serena Williams and John McRnroe, if only because they are the only two famous tennis names we could think of.<br />
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It is a great spot. Over the 4 days we went swimming in the beautiful clear waters more times than I can count, we kayaked through the archipelago of islands, and lost lake; we went for dinghy rides, read books, relaxed, enjoyed sundowners, and just really enjoyed each others company in a lovely place, void of the intrusion of world. The only other people we spoke to were a couple of guys on their first kayak trip, who stayed the night at the island. It was eden, and it made up for any of the bad crap we had to put up with the rest of the trip.<br />
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However, all good things must come to an end. And between our planned scheduling, weather, and some other interesting places we want to check out, we figured we had better get a move on. Besides, lets face it, the weekend crowd would have ruined our opinion of the place, and in that ruined the memory of a truly great time.<br />
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So we headed out on Thursday morning looking to check out Jones Falls. The lock station has four locks, a turning basin, and one of the most impressive damns I have ever seen. They also have a rather short, but rugged walking trail that was a lot of fun. And, as always seems to happen with cruisers, the world gets smaller and smaller with every person you meet. Well, we met a lovely french couple on a Monk 36 who just happen to be the parents of a young man who with his wife and two children had made the trip down the eastern seaboard to Florida 3 years. ago. The same year we did. And wouldn't you know it, they were on a Bayfield 40 that we locked through the dismal swamp with. I had pictures of their boat on my computer, and their son had remembered our little Bayfield 29. No matter how many times its proven to me, I am still amazed at the little things that make this world shrink to human size.<br />
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Jones Falls, however, is where the trip went to hell. We got stuck waiting over 3 hours to get through the lock. We had intended to go a little anchorage just below the falls in a quiet little spot to do some kayaking and swimming for the day, but we were so disenchanted that we decided to move further down the system and anchor in Cranberry Lake. That way we would be able to get out of the system the following day, and we might still get a swim in.<br />
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Another plan shot to hell, as we got to Cranberry Lake and discovered it was choked tight with weeds. What was a beautiful lake on the way up two weeks previously, was now a big swamp. Oh to hell with it, lets get out of here! We managed to make the last flight of locks at Kingston Mills right at the end of the day, and tied up to their dock at the bottom of the locks at 7:00 pm. The bottom end of the Rideau was like one big weed bed. The warm sunny weather, combined with the unusually clean water had choked the system right up. Vita was having a hard time getting through because of the weeds wrapped around her prop. At one point we were down to 2 knots, and I kept stopping to put her in reverse to try and dislodge the hitchhikers. I would not have wanted to try to do this trip in late July. In fact, I don't think we could have made it.<br />
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We woke early on Saturday. We were headed out through Kingston and back to one of our favorite anchorages behind Ram Island in Hay Bay. It was a picturesque morning. The temperature was perfect, the sun was bright, the wind was calm, and we were all by ourselves. We saw very little in the way of traffic. In fact I spent most of the morning in a clothing optional state, it was perfect.<br />
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Down behind Ram Island, we were planning to wait out a storm that never emerged. We swam, kayaked, relaxed, and even got Lifeline, our Walker Bay dinghy out for a sail around the Island. A nice end to the trip.<br />
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After a couple of days we decided to head home, originally expecting to take two days, we changed those plans and made the 6 1/2 hour run for the Yacht Club. Well, 8 hours later, and a very uncomfortable ride, we made it home. The wind had clocked around from the southwest to the west during the trip, almost seeming to fight us every time we made a direction change. And it was a very strong wind. I had heard people talk about Big Bay being rough in a good blow, and I can remember chuckling to myself, cause lets face it, its a tiny body of water, at least in comparison to some of the places we've been. Well, I take it back, and to the person that I quietly laughed at, I am very sorry. Don't get me wrong, it was dangerous, but it was cantankerous, short steep waves, right on the nose. It was slow going, and then every few minutes a set of waves would come along, slamming into Vita's hull and stopping her cold. Not a place I would have preferred to be.<br />
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Overall we are glad we did the trip. Going through Ottawa was cool. Seeing the old manually operated locks and bridges, double cool. Just living aboard Vita again was incredible, and felt like where we were supposed to be. However, I don't think we will do the system again in a sailboat. A houseboat would be neat, or even a small trawler. But I think the real glory of the Rideau would be to do it in a canoe or kayak. So right now we are tentatively planning to make the trip from Kingston to Ottawa in the kayaks in two years. Vita will be in Florida on the hard for hurricane season, and we will be back in Ontario for a few months, so it is the perfect time.<br />
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Please enjoy the following pics with narrative.<br />
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Vita back to one six.<br />
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I love these pics. Which one of these is upright. The top one or the bottom one. It was a very calm, very clear morning.</div>
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Colonel By Island was hit by a tornado in 1985, and some of the trees that got knocked down still survived. Although they don't really look like normal trees. It was odd, but neat at the same time. Nature really will find a way.</div>
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Lost lake, no fishing allowed, and surrounded by islands. I was shocked at how deep the water was. I though it would be a swamp, but when we kayaked through, it dropped off pretty good.</div>
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Colonel By had a nice hiking trail. And all the green you see on the ground are thousands of tiny maple trees. </div>
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Serena Williams</div>
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John McEnroe</div>
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The water got really thin in some spots, but Vita never went aground. Not so for Lifeline. It looked like there was enough water to get between the islands, there however was not, and Serena wanted to make sure she documented the Captains decision to try it.</div>
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The trail at Jones Falls, although short, was the best walk of the trip. Rugged and steep at times. Wish it was 10 miles longer.</div>
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The damn at Jones Falls. crazy big. All made with hand hewn stone blocks.</div>
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This lock was tight. When we tied up ready to go down, Serena could touch the bridge from her position on the bow.</div>
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Tell me this isn't heaven. Ray (the autopilot) was driving, the weather was perfect, and I sat on a lawn chair on the bow watching the world go by at 5 knots.</div>
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Lifeline is a blast to sail. It took us a bit to get past the island, tacking back and forth with the wind on the nose, but then on a broad reach, she just flew. Now if only I could learn to sail..........</div>
<br />Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-25988445424170048242016-06-18T07:57:00.000-07:002016-06-18T07:57:06.756-07:00Smith's Falls to Ottawa and BackA few days ago I was hell bent on doing a blog entry ranting about those power boaters who don't take responsibility for their destructive wake. But I've calmed down a little, and come to accept that it is part of human nature to destroy the things around us in pursuit of our own wants, whether out of ignorance, or just lack of caring. Serena on the other hand is still pretty pissed, that's why I kept her away from the keyboard. One of the episodes found her down below cutting up cabbage for a coleslaw when we got trashed by one of those destructive humans. Luckily, she still has all of her fingers, and most of the coleslaw was still edible. BTW, to all those power boaters who do watch and control your wake, I commend you, and you have my utmost respect and admiration.<br />
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As I mentioned in the last entry, the weather had not been cooperating with us, so we decided to book it to Ottawa, get that part of the trip over with so that we could relax a little on the way back through. I mean really, the entire waterway from Smith's Falls to Ottawa looks like the following picture, and other than looking at the odd cottage, there is nothing to do, or to see.<br />
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Ottawa on the other hand is really neat from the boat. We've been there several times by car of course, in fact we lived there for 5 years, but taking our own boat through the waterways of the nations capital city was pretty cool. Docking right down town in the heart of the city. Right directly in front of National Defense Headquarters. The same building that 6 years and 10 days ago I walked into first thing in the morning, handed the security guard my military identification card, giving up a life of servitude for a life of freedom. And not once in those 2200 days since have I regretted that decision. In fact I doubt I ever will.<br />
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So what does one do in the nations capital. One does tourist things.</div>
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We had lunch down on Sparks street, in an open air cafe.</div>
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Two days in a row of course.</div>
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We visited and took pictures of the now famous sink hole. By the time we got there they had already dump some 300 truck loads of concrete into it, so it was a little less impressive.</div>
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One takes naps in the cockpit, but that happens everywhere.</div>
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One plays the guitar in the cockpit. I thought about doing it on the street to make a little change, but the guys that were out doing that didn't look like they were making enough to buy coffee. So I did it for me instead of everybody else.</div>
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We walked around the Parliment buildings, and looked at the last 8 locks that we were not going to go thru. It takes 2-4 hours to go down, another 2-4 hours to come up, and the poor lock masters have to do all the cranking by hand. It would be nice to say we did the whole system, but that is just way to cruel to the guys out there in the heat cranking those doors and gates open and closed. So we'll live with the shortcoming. </div>
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And the parliment lawn selfie, no tourist trip to Ottawa would be complete without it. I didn't run into Justin while I was there, apparently he was getting his hair done and wasn't available for coffee.</div>
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This little fellow a.almost turned us from cat lovers to dog owners. He was a rescue from the Dominican Republic, and very comfortable on the boat. I was walking back from getting some wifi, and I stopped to pet these three dogs that were running around. Then they followed me back to the boat. I wasn't sure at first if they even had an owner, but after awhile some guy on a cell phone followed along behind. I knock on the hull of the boat and asked Serena if my new three friends could come visit, they followed me home.</div>
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Apparently this doesn't happen very often where two boats pass in a flight of locks, us going down, them going up. </div>
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On day two of being downtown we kayaked down the Rideau canal then took this little side creek into a residential area. It was preety cool kayaking downtown, under the bridges; we just had a blast.</div>
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We just fit under the Pretoria bridge, I mean just......</div>
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Coming into the downtown. So neat bringing our boat into Ottawa.</div>
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Let's face it though, we are not really tourists, and being around thousands of people all the time, everyday, is not our cup of tea. I had a hard time watching all the people going to and fro, especially the ones in suits. Thoreau said it best when he said that people are living and dieing in a prison of there own making. It is exactly the type of lifestyle that Serena and I have been trying to avoid, and the city is the poster child for it.</div>
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So off we went, back down the system, (see the first picture), to Smith's Falls to load up on provisions and go anchor somewhere quiet.</div>
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Showering on the boat. PG rated.</div>
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Spending time with other boaters in the locks. You meet some nice ones, and some not so nice ones. We try to be one of the nice ones, but some people make it so hard.</div>
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Vita back to one six.</div>
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<br />Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-63625823268705156472016-06-09T07:24:00.000-07:002016-06-09T07:24:22.543-07:00Rideau Canal First Impressions<div class="MsoNormal">
I have to admit, for many many years of longing to travel
the <st1:place w:st="on">Rideau canal</st1:place> system, I really was not
prepared for it. We’ve done canals before, in the <st1:city w:st="on">Trent</st1:city>,
and in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region>,
but the Rideau is completely different. I think it is the only place we have
ever been that reminded me of the old canals in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>,
and the only place we’ve ever been that made Vita seem like too much boat!</div>
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It is tiny; and shallow. The locks are small, the lifts are
small, the cuts and creeks and rivers, are really really small. There were
several places where we would not have been able to be side by side with
another Bayfield 29. And we have seen in channel depths as low as 5’, smack dab
in the middle of where we are supposed to be. But gorgeous, wow, there is no
way that I can put into words the profound feeling you get when being
surrounded by nature, much of it pristine. Its kind of like the feeling I get
when I go for strolls in the woods, just me and nature, and ahhhhhh.</div>
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The weather unfortunately hasn’t been the greatest, with a cold front moving down from the north, and the winds driving the chill right
into our bones, it hasn’t felt too much like a summer vacation. I only drove
for 5 hours yesterday, but I was done, I had nothing left to give. And today we
are staying put, tied up against the lock in Smith’s Falls, hiding below waiting
for a chance to escape and tour this cute little city, afraid that we might get
blown of the concrete pier should we stick out heads out. </div>
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Don’t get me wrong, we have had a some great times in the
last few days, and the worst day on the water is still better than the best day
behind a desk. I’ve included a couple photos with narrative below, and until
the sun comes out.</div>
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Vita back to one six.</div>
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Looks like hard work eh? </div>
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Ahh, the great white fisherman. I set him free, a little too small to fillet. Ironically this is the only perch we have caught so far, I don't know where they are all hiding, but I wouldn't mind a good feed of perch. Just maybe a little bigger than this one.</div>
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Serena has found her new adoptive family. I don't think they know it yet, but she is planning to knock on their door at the earliest possibility and let them in on the secret. Lets face it, who doesn't want this water slide in their back yard?</div>
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Our friend Jim from the yacht club was super duper kind to us, letting us borrow his two 8' kayaks for the trip. We love them, and have added them to our purchase list for future money that we hope to find under a rock, or pick from a tree at some point. True to form though, fumble fingers (me) dropped half of one of the paddles into the water beside the dock and watched as it went straight to the bottom with no desire to come back up. Why it wanted to escape so bad, I have no idea, I would have treated it well, only gentle strokes. So, long story short, we bought Jim a new paddle, before we even left the dock to start our trip. We are planning on getting a lot more use out of these in the next few weeks.</div>
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Yeah, this part wasn't fun, </div>
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The 401 bridge from the Rideau Canal, we've seen this a thousand times from the other direction, always dreaming of being down below. It may seem funny, but from this point of view, there was no desire to be on the Hwy. Which vantage point would you prefer?</div>
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Our first lock of the season, or set of locks. These Rideau locks are beautiful, old school, carved rock walls. And easy to traverse. The lock masters let the water out gently, a little bit at a time, so the ride up is like a warm bath with bubbles, relaxing and enjoyable.</div>
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I am not sure this picture does it justice, but you can just make out two green markers down the middle, and a red marker on either side. The red marker on the left had abandoned its post and went to visit some of his friends further down the channel. At times like this, common sense is the only thing that keeps the boat from going aground. Its hard to get upset though, the heavy traffic season is going to start soon, so this little red fellow was just trying to get a short vacation in before the big work started. Can't really blame him for that.</div>
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Dinner on the boat. We spent some time fishing in the afternoon, right from the lockstation, and manage to wrangle some tasty crappie out from under the dock. The water here is crystal clear, so there is no worry of contamination at this point in the year. We're hoping to find a few more of these in the weeks to come.</div>
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Really. Of all the things to see on route. I can't figure out if this is a retired sailor who just couldn't give it up, or a powerboater trying to get one more of those damn sailboats off the water. It is possible that this sailboat has received the coveted Jeep Trail Rated sticker, and is just proving a point, but either way it was good for a chuckle.</div>
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Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-8370490863401931622016-06-08T17:10:00.000-07:002016-06-08T17:11:18.628-07:00And So The Vacation Begins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I’ve been noticing lately that a lot of the things that we
do seem to make others around us uneasy. Some are afraid of water, some are
afraid of boats, or bad weather, or being trapped in a small concrete, rock and
steal room while thousands of gallons of water come rushing in, (a waterway
lock). And a whole host of other things, that to us, seem pretty normal, but
to others can be truly terrifying. </div>
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I was beginning to think I was immune to these phobia’s and
fears, but I’m not, I just don’t wear them on my sleeve, and a few days ago we left
our yacht club for a summer of cruising Ontario’s canals, and I was sick to my
stomach with anxiety and irrational fear. I couldn’t even pinpoint what was
really bothering me, but my stomach was tied in knots anyway. Maybe that’s the
point, for some reason my brain does not allow me to notice those fears until I
am already knee deep in them. As long, of course, that there is no sharply
pitched roofs on the waterway, those I know I have issues with. Brrrr, gives me
the willies just thinking about it….</div>
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Well I needn’t have worried, Vita preformed flawlessly, the
weather was beautiful, and Serena and I were in 7<sup>th</sup> heaven once
again. Anchored in a little bay with just each other for company. Good food,
good beer, and good companionship.</div>
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The second day was more of the same, only we got the anchor
down early in behind <st1:placename w:st="on">Ram</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Island</st1:placetype>, in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Hay</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Bay</st1:placetype></st1:place>, and had time to try
all kinds of stuff. Serena was on the coach roof in a lawn chair, beer in one
hand, and a fishing pole in the other before the engine was idled down.</div>
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We spent the day kayaking, fishing, swimming, and just
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Day three had us move to Collins Bay Marina in <st1:city w:st="on">Kingston</st1:city>, to take
advantage of the free overnight dockage that our reciprocal agreement with the
yacht club allowed. We picked up some marine hardware, some groceries, and went
to our favourite restaurant for pasta, the Pasta Shelf. A long hard day that
saw us in bed early.</div>
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That’s where the blue skies ended. The fourth day saw a bad
weather forecast continuing for the next three days; move now, or get stuck. I
knew we shouldn’t have stopped in <st1:city w:st="on">Kingston</st1:city>,
but the lure of pasta had my brain not thinking right. The forecast was for 40
km/h winds with gusts to 50. Bullshit, I’ve been in lots of 50 km\h winds (25
knots), and had a great time sailing, this was more like 70 km/h, at least. It
was brutal. We got the living crap beat out of us. The few boats that were out
were large sailboats with barely scraps of sail up, and they were healed right
over. Unfortunately Vita does not currently have a mast, because we are doing
the canals this year, and they have a height restriction that does not allow it.
So we did not have the wonderful stabilizing effect of the sails to calm the
ride. A swell coming off of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Lake</st1:placetype>
<st1:placename w:st="on">Ontario</st1:placename></st1:place>, and wind driven
waves from another direction made for a terribly confused sea and a very rough
ride. There were times we would role and I would swear that the keel was trying
to come out of the water, and times when I could watch the bowsprit sink
beneath the waves. Only a sailor would take a power boat out in that crap, and
Vita is effectively a power boat right now. Add to this rain coming down in
sheets so thick it was like a pea soup fog had rolled in. One of these rain
squalls hit us as we were trying to enter <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Kingston</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Harbour</st1:placetype></st1:place>.
We had a following sea at that point, thank god, but the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Wolf</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Island</st1:placename></st1:place>
ferry was leaving, and two sailboats under sail were headed straight at us.
Rules of the road be damned, I knew the ferry wasn’t going to get out of my
way, and there was no way those two sailboats were going to be able to avoid me
in that mess, so we swung Vita around and back out towards the lake in order to
make enough room for everyone. Once all the potential collisions were over
with, we headed back into the harbour unmolested, and aimed for the little
bridge opening in heavy winds and a following sea. Parts of me didn’t un-pucker
until we were shot through the hole under the highway into the relative calm of
the waters behind. And so we started the <st1:place w:st="on">Rideau Canal</st1:place>
system, its starting to feel like a vacation now.</div>
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Vita back to one six.</div>
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Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-90528951857859698042016-05-28T03:59:00.000-07:002016-05-28T03:59:42.664-07:00640 Day Blog UpdateDay 1, It has been a day since I wrote my last blog entry, and I will probably save them up for a bit before I upload them to the blog. I'll keep a simple daily diary, and then update them all at once somewhere down the road.<br />
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Day 2. Are you freakin' nuts, its been almost 2 years. just the idea of writing it bores the crap out of me.<br />
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Wow, I cannot believe it has been so long since my last entry. Life just eats up time, and rolls along whether you want it to or not. I'll try to give a quick update. We've been out of the loop for a long time, but I need to keep it short, or you'll end up falling asleep on me.<br />
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As of the last blog entry we were knee deep in a pile of dirt and building materials, trying to end up with a house. The event took us the better part of a year, with Serena's parents moving into the main house in May of 2015, and us moving into the granny suite in the back of the garage. By that time though, my father was living in our 13' travel trailer in our driveway, after separating from my stepmother, and he needed a place to live. That meant another summer lost to building another house. However, my body was starting to break down, and during the process I managed to blow out my right knee, and spend 5 months suffering the pain of a bad case of tennis elbow. Not to mention that Serena and I being so busy, we had neglected our heath, and in November my Doctor informed me that my blood sugar had moved me into the pre-diabetic range, heading toward all the bad stuff that that usually brings on a person. But I have a boat, and I want to cruise, and being a slave to doctors and medication is not an option for me. So although late in the game, it was time for some real change. Serena and I started to educate ourselves in health and diet, spending the winter of 2015/2016 looking after ourselves, walking, and trying to figure out what a healthy lifestyle looked like to us. As of this week we have moved aboard Vita for the summer, I am officially no longer a pre-diabetic, and we have lost a total of 100 lbs between the two of us. We feel great, and are looking forward to a lot of years of cruising, hiking, travelling, and living life to its absolute fullest. Come with us for the ride.<br />
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The Plan:<br />
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Going way back our original plan was to sail to the Bahamas and back in a year. And, if we liked it, we were going to take off for an indefinite period of time. We did that, and we loved the life, complete with its ups and downs, but we also realized that we wanted a house here at home. So instead of cruising as an end all, be all, cruising would be a part time life for us. Maybe 6 months out of the year, or longer, or whatever takes our fancy. So we are headed back down to the Caribbean next summer, and we don't know when Vita will be back in Canada. But, she needs a little work before she goes and we need a breather before we are ready. This year will see us travelling the local canals, the Rideau and the Trent Severn, as well as Georgian Bay and the North Channel. And for those who know those areas, access for a sailboat is limited, so Vita will be a power boat this year. It works out well, because the bowsprit is completely rotted out, and needs rebuilding before it will be safe to put up the mast again. I had cut some white oak last year and milled it on the saw mill just for that purpose, but its a winter project; next winters! There are also a list of upgrades and changes that we would like to make, from lessons we learned on the first trip. But for now, we just want to take the summer off, enjoy life on the water, and get to know Vita again.<br />
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Vita back to one six.<br />
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<br />Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-49390506391853170192014-08-05T05:06:00.000-07:002017-03-02T14:38:09.256-08:00Where o' Where is VitaWell. unfortunately she is sitting neglected in her slip at the Yacht Club. She is dirty, the rig isn't tensioned, the sails aren't on her, and if she has feelings, I am positive that she thinks we have left her. Its sad really, but it is hard to build a house and take care of a boat at the same time. Especially when you do all the building yourself.<br />
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The good news is that we are going cruising again. We came home to design and build a small house, to give ourselves somewhere to hang our hats when we are at home, and ended giving it to Serena's parents to live in until they no longer wish to. That way owning the house costs us a little less, we have somewhere to call home, and someone looks after our house while we are gone. Because we are going sailing! Reading the blogs of our other friends in Grenada has refueled our desire to make that trip, and we can hardly wait to get back out there. But we also realize that it is important to have a home base, at least for us. We weren't home 6 weeks and Serena had already had surgery to remove her gallbladder. So we realize how important it is to have someplace to recover. BTW, she recovered in a 13' travel trailer, with no running water, no TV, and no electricity. I think she is going to insist on something a little more comfortable next time, but she's a tough ol' broad, I give her that.<br />
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But first we have to get this house built, and maybe two, but that's a longer story that will have to wait for another time. Its hard work, and most of the time it is just us two broke back rednecks to get the job done. Right now we are down to one, because Serena threw her back out a couple of days ago. Luckily we have great friends and neighbors that lend us a hand when we need it. Ironically, the couple that bought our last house have been the most helpful. Pierre, at 69, is still full of life and energy, he can be hard to keep up with, and Ginette, his wife is a wonderful lady. She actually made us a couple of delicious meals while we were working late, and is just so friendly, you would almost think we were paying her to be that way. My son comes up and helps on some weekends with the heavy work. And my buddy Ron, my Dad, and anyone else who feels inclined is always willing to give advice, pick up a piece of debris, or try and figure out what the hell we are doing.<br />
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I am working on the crawlspace/foundation today. It goes together like big styrofoam lego blocks, and then we fill them with concrete. It is a more expensive system then some, but it is do-it-yourself, provides and incredible insulation value, and goes together really fast. Then next week is floors, waterproofing, backfill, etc...... It stops eventually, but I can't see the end. Below are a couple of photos we've taken while we are here, it has its ups and downs, just like cruising, but its still a lot of fun. Now I got to get back to work.<br />
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My new barber. He's not quite as good as his Grandma, but what he gives up in skill, he gives back in enthusiasm. Duke turned 4 yesterday.</div>
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This is Megan. She is the cutest little red fox that hung out with us for a few weeks. She would curl up in the driveway and watch us work. She eventually disappeared, as it was time for her to abandon her young to the world. Now we have two of her babies dropping by in the evenings. They aren't as friendly, but being a little scared will probably keep them alive longer. She is just so damn cute.</div>
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This is what a hole in the ground, in the woods looks like before you plop a house on it.</div>
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Buying the tractor was a god-send. It has saved our backs so much, an keeps the site looking clean. Ok, cleaner....</div>
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Here is home. It doesn't look like much, but we have a shower that would rival any cockpit shower, a head, a little trailer, internet (via our extender, and a gracious neighbor), a screened deck to avoid the mosquitoes, barbecue. Well, like I said, kind of like a boat, with more dirt.</div>
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One of the things I wanted to do when I bought the tractor, was to take the empty beer cases back to the beer store in redneck style. After saving up 18 cases of empties, which took several days, I took the trip. My friends thought it was hilarious, the girl at the Beerstore never even twitched, she's seen this more times than she cared to admit. But I was just funnin'.</div>
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And really, when is comes down to it, does this look any less relaxing than the view from a cockpit in the Bahamas.</div>
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Vita back to one six.</div>
<br />Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-59528944094037051182014-05-13T03:34:00.001-07:002014-05-13T03:35:23.940-07:00Home Isn't Where You Hang Your Hat.....Home is where the people you care about most hang their's!<br />
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And southern Ontario, is home for us.<br />
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This will probably be the last blog entry for awhile. With any luck we'll get a small trip in August, just to blow off some steam, and there will be some maintenance entries this fall. But for now it is time to concentrate on putting together a land based home. And as such, I am afraid that this post is going to be short-short.<br />
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We left Oswego Canal lock 5 shortly after 7 am on Friday. The lockmaster was a little late for work, so we were slightly delayed, but made good time down through the remainder of the locks. The winds were blowing 20 knots out of the south, and I was a little concerned about heading out into Lake Ontario with that kind of wind, and the mast on the deck. But Serena was gung-ho, and unconcerned. "If its bad, we'll just turn back". It was a good call, because the winds on the lake never climbed over 10 knots, and we had a lovely, if boring 8 hr drive. Must be some kind of funneling effect from the Oswego valley that made the wind speed pick up in the canal. Anyway, we decided to push on to Trenton, as the forecast for Saturday showed 50 km/hr from the west, right on the nose. After weathering a few squalls, some bumpy going, and a 1:30 am pizza craving, we arrived at CFB Trenton Yacht Club, tied up to vistor's dock, had showers, and fell into our bunks.</div>
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We spent a lot of time reflecting on our trip as we traveled the last stretch towards home. It is amazing how much we have grown as sailors, and cruisers. How our attitudes have changed towards potential challenges, and hazards. I can remember being concerned about crossing Lake Ontario, anchoring, things that seem simple to me now. I remember being scared shitless of New York Harbor, which on reflection, seems just silly. And we can remember our naive beliefs about cruising, which stand up very little to the act itself. Have we done something special? No, not really, people do this all the time, and some others make our little 9 month trip look like a stroll through the park. But for us it has been a tremendous opportunity to expand our experiences; and if lives can be measured by their experiences, then ours has just grown by leaps and bounds.</div>
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Whats next? Well, that's the big question. Building a house is first. But as far as cruising is concerned, I am sure there are plenty who do not expect us to go again. And there are days I go to bed wanting to sell Vita and move on to something completely different. However, we still love boat life, and there are still so many things that are on our bucket lists that include "Vita", so no doubt she will be in our family for a long time to come. As for cruising itself, I think that Serena and I have found the limits of our abilities, and as long as we keep them in mind, we should be able to cruise for many more years to come. As for gaining experience outside of what we have already done, well, ya just never know... Life is too precious and too short to deal in absolutes........</div>
Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-5787618157601907452014-05-08T18:41:00.002-07:002014-05-08T18:41:49.623-07:00Almost HomeYep, its been 13 days since I did a blog update on our travels, because we haven't been travelling, then all of a sudden, after 3 days of no internet we are 6 miles from lake Ontario, and only 18 hours from home. Plus, as an added bonus, tomorrow is looking like a great weather window to cross the lake. With our mast on deck, we need a gentle wind preferably from the south. As if somebody was listening.<br />
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We currently sit on the lock wall in Minetto, NY. Not as far as we would have liked to get to today, but apparently the lock workers left all their equipment on the top wall of the next lock, so there is no where for us to tie up. It adds about 45 minutes to our trip tomorrow, but not enough to delay the crossing. The unfortunate part is that we are trapped on the boat. The lock is in the middle of the river, with a spillway on one side, and a power plant on the other. And; of course; the gate to get to shore is locked behind the lock master when he leaves for home. Oh well, it just means we fuel up in Oswego before we hit the lake, and I have enough time to do a blog update.<br />
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I had to reread my last post to get an idea of what was going on at the time. We had been stuck in Castleton-on-the-Hudson, mast on deck, and no where to go. Unfortunately, that carried on for far longer than we were comfortable with. After 8 days on a mooring ball, trapped on the boat by bad weather, we moved in front of the mooring field and dropped the hook. The Castleton boat club raised the price on their mooring balls to $25, and unless somebody is dying, we would never pay that much for a ball. Anchoring in the Hudson River was far easier than a lot of other places we have been, so no concern. However, the weather continued to be crappy, and we sat on the boat for another 5 days. We surfed the internet, watched movies, worked on little boat chores, finished up the house design, and basically just tried to keep ourselves from going nuts. One of the other things we started doing, was watching the online, realtime, video displays of the docks at Waterford, NY. Waterford is the start of the Erie Canal system, and the place we were trying to get to. We had called the visitors center a couple of times, and they told us that we couldn't get through the Troy lock until the Erie Canal opened, May 5th. Well, if we couldn't get through the Troy lock on the Hudson River, we couldn't get to Waterford anyway. We watch the docks go in on the 29th, and started to salivate. Then on Thursday the 1st, we noticed on the video, that a sailboat was parked on the dock. A catamaran that had passed us a few days previous. Aha, lets try it. We fueled up, got rid of our garbage, and got a pump out, at the Bost Club that we were no longer paying guests at, and headed up the river to try and get to Waterford. After all, if one boat made, why not two.<br />
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It was slow going, fighting the tide and current the whole way, but the Troy Lock let us through. Woohoo, a dock, restaurants, groceries, and beer. We had drank our very last beer the evening before we made the trip, we needed refills. The river current was pretty rough, as you can tell by the picture above, but we wanted through anyway. We are getting much better at handling Vita in bad situations, and she always seems to get us through.</div>
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We got to the free dock in Waterford, boat number 3. We visited with the other boaters there, and went to dinner with some new cruising friends. Then off to the grocery store for beer and food. Showers, and then to bed. It was nice to be tied up somewhere different, with land only a step away. Showers, flush toilets, businesses where others will cook your meals for you, and good old fashioned Americana grocery stores. </div>
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How do you make grocery shopping sexy. You fill the cart with beer, and have this guy give you his best come hither look. Or this is just a good picture of a well trained bitch. Either way, Serena made me do it.</div>
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Lock spillway. Pretty little town Waterford, the parts that aren't destroyed by poverty.</div>
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The second day, being close to land, we donned our shoes and headed out to see the town. Pick up a few more things, and stretched our underused legs. Day three was more of the same, to the point where my knees were screaming in pain, and Serena was yet again laid up with a wrecked back. When will we ever learn.<br />
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Vita on the Waterford docks. The docks eventually filled up with boaters, but none of them came near us. The section we were on had no power, and they all wanted their yellow umbilical cords tapped into the nearest plug. That was one of the design criteria for Vita, off grid.</div>
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More Canadians waiting for the Canal to open. I don't know why, I am pretty sure they can fly. Oh well, who am I to judge.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFIXRrKrABrscrNWSoFtyRvld3lJnJX0YaEnE_tJJBq9UKH6XjaeT1b9GyleewsrMatm8K351hbkk_-E3Gb9PIRYzveFKrd6L-tpzD3PMA4UXJHbMpjWUbwW8tMDA6rDl8uzkf0KGWRf2G/s1600/IMG_3982.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFIXRrKrABrscrNWSoFtyRvld3lJnJX0YaEnE_tJJBq9UKH6XjaeT1b9GyleewsrMatm8K351hbkk_-E3Gb9PIRYzveFKrd6L-tpzD3PMA4UXJHbMpjWUbwW8tMDA6rDl8uzkf0KGWRf2G/s1600/IMG_3982.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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One of the other couples we met at Waterford were Scott and Sue, bringing home their new boat, or floating house, whichever you choose to call it. 66 feet long with over 1300 horse power between the two big diesel engines. We helped Scott celebrate his 66th birthday with our friends Rick and Dar from M/V September Dream, their daughter, and her new husband. Out cruising, its all about the people.</div>
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The final day there, Serena was laid up. I did some more chores, shopping, water, and remounting her TV. It helps with her sanity, and by default, mine.</div>
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But that was it. The lock opened at 7:00 in the morning on May 5th, and we became of a single mind, get through this damn canal system before it shuts down us. The Erie Canal is a beautiful stretch of water, but if your on a mission to get home, it can be the evil reincarnation of Satan.</div>
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The first wave through the lock included 2 power boats, two sailboats, including us, and some freakin' moron that shouldn't be allowed to own a boat, let alone a 48 foot motor cruiser. They'll sell these things to anyone. He spent more time drifting around in the lock then going through them. We were the last of the five to enter the first lock, and we were up at the front by the time we got through the fifth lock. As the other boats jockeyed for a position as far away from the idiot as possible. And then when leaving the last lock, his wife asked if they could go ahead of us, because her husband couldn't go as slow as us. I am still not sure if that was mean, or if he just was that useless. Note to those who want to enter a lock in a boat they haven't yet figured out how to handle, wait until you are alone. There is a much less chance of being shot by an irate boater, this is the US after all.</div>
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After that we just had the blinders on. We were travelling as fast as we could, for as long as they would let us. The first day was 11 hours, then 10, then 11, then 10 1/2. As long as the locks would let us through. We are tired, but after tomorrow morning we shouldn't have to worry about getting caught in the lock system. Serena did manage to take it easy, despite the locking drills, and she is feeling much better. Its a good thing, because we might actually get home before 2nd lift-in at the Yacht Club, and her services may be required on the crane crew.</div>
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Our friends on September Dream. We played leap frog with them a bit in the canals, but they tailed us from Brewerton until the next lock. Stalkers. Just kidding. They promptly passed us after the lock, and then stopped at the next lock for the night while we pushed on. I get the impression that they are in no rush to get home. Can't say as I blame them, but we are headed into the next adventure rather than an old one.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkK36WLBot6BBP771T-GMeKulSZlCLD33JCPxDD3MmDu8nRo0PfyGpvQQmg-hgyppQUbq5YSI6ltvWuWLBbqWSa-Q1QOyw7AfHvoO7bNYjm-Tj2gHTbphm0BacdcK3SJo_zaYI83gu_nHH/s1600/IMG_4010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkK36WLBot6BBP771T-GMeKulSZlCLD33JCPxDD3MmDu8nRo0PfyGpvQQmg-hgyppQUbq5YSI6ltvWuWLBbqWSa-Q1QOyw7AfHvoO7bNYjm-Tj2gHTbphm0BacdcK3SJo_zaYI83gu_nHH/s1600/IMG_4010.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Love this lock, a bridge across the chamber. You don't want to park under this on the way up. On the way down its much easier, read the sign.</div>
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Wow, hard to believe we will be back in Canada tomorrow; knock on wood. There are so many things that we are looking forward to; cheese curds, poutine, butter tarts from the butter tart factory, our truck. And of course, all of you, our family and friends. See you soon.</div>
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Vita back to one six.</div>
<br />Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-91359194273840465092014-04-30T14:31:00.000-07:002014-04-30T14:31:02.509-07:00April 2014 Endcap<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Dates: Apr 1-30, 2014<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Elizabeth City, NC – Dismal Swamp – Portsmouth – North Atlantic –
Nyack, NJ – Castleton on the Hudson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Sailing: 16 hr<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Motoring: 103 1/2 hrs (includes motor-sailing)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Mileage: 552 Nm (Nautical Miles)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Budget Amount: $1590.00 US (All budgeting is
in US funds)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Charts/Books: $ 0.00 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Boat Parts: $ 42.00
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Marinas</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">:
$ 40.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Diesel:
$ 120.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Beer:
$ 17.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Grocery:
$ 197.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Entertainment: $ 285.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Fees/Services: $ 69.00 (pump-outs, laundry,
wifi, taxis, etc...)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Clothing/Shopping $
121.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Misc:
$ 130.00
(Propane, hobbies, etc...)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Total:
$1021.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Debit/Credit:
$ 569.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Another under budget month, this one way under. There are many
factors affecting the reduced cost of living, but I think the biggest reason is
the cheap ass that I live with. A couple of successful under-budget months has fuelled
her frugal nature, and made spending money needlessly, an evil sin. Just
kidding, Sweetheart. We are trying to use up all the stores that we bought to
sustain us in the islands, we are almost at the end of the big beer shopping
spree we did in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Florida</st1:place></st1:state>,
and we have been sitting around with our thumbs up our butts, and nowhere to
spend the dough. Sprinkle on a dose of we are running out of cash on hand, and
the poor performance of our dollar, and you get the frugal moving over to
cheap.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">We did spend a little more on restaurants, but we were under
budget, so we were a little frivolous while we were out wandering. We also paid
for 8 days on a mooring ball at Castleton Boat Club, and for use of their mast
crane. We would have stayed longer on their moorings, but they raised the price
to $25 per night, and there is no way I am paying that if I don’t have to. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">For the 9 month trip, we budgeted $1590 per month, and we ended up
being $5000 over budget. Much of that stems from work to the boat that never
got finished before we left, but most of it was for things we didn’t yet have,
and either needed or wanted to make the trip more enjoyable. Things like foul
weather gear, Go Pro underwater camera, and a sailing kit for our dinghy. I
think it is safe to say that the next trip will cost a little less, barring any
unforeseen circumstances, like, oh, an engine….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">So the plan for the month of Apr, was to get to Castleton on the <st1:city w:st="on">Hudson</st1:city>, take down the mast, and be ready when the <st1:place w:st="on">Erie canal</st1:place> opens on May 1<sup>st</sup>. We succeeded, but
not without a little rough weather. And, the canal is delayed until May 3<sup>rd</sup>.
Of course, if the rains they are calling for in the next few days have their
way, it could be a longer wait. But we watch, and pray.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">We have determined that we need to slow down a little, but we also
know that it’s not in our nature. As it is, we have been sitting still for 11
days, no where to go, and little to do. A bit too slow I’d say. We have also figured out that we like to be able to get off the boat more often. Having
somewhere to land the dinghy, or even dock Vita is nice, but we are also too
cheap to pay for a marina, so that becomes and issue. Next trip we’ll try and
keep that in mind, and find places to go that cater to that ideal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">This will be our last month end, at least for some time. Next
month finds us moving from the boat to a small camper on our building lot in
Marmora. We were going to pack Vita up for the summer, but I think we will keep
her ready to go. A little sailing vacation once in awhile might be a welcome
break from building the house. Unfortunately she is not likely to get the work
done on her that she requires, at least until she is out of the water. There
are a couple of leaks that need to be addressed, some vents that never got
installed, raise the waterline once again, finish the woodwork, work on the
black water tank and fittings, and a few other little things that will have to
wait until lift-out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Now back to your regular blogging........<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-10756316981820206872014-04-29T19:01:00.001-07:002014-04-30T11:42:19.121-07:00Hind-SightFor those of you that are reading the blog for the travel part, you might want to skip this post. I promised myself that I would do a quick review of the systems we installed/or didn't install on the boat, and whether or not it was a good idea. For those who'll keep reading, please keep in mind that what works or doesn't work for us, may or may not work for you, we can only offer our own opinion, and/or perhaps the opinions of a few fellow travelers. Where to start......<br />
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<u>The Fridge</u><br />
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If only because this is my crowning achievement. We heard more complaints about fridges from our fellow cruisers than the weather. Can't freeze, uses to much power, won't keep the beer cold, etc, etc... Our fridge was a dream.<a href="http://svvita.blogspot.com/2012/10/building-proper-marine-refrigerator-and.html" target="_blank"> http://svvita.blogspot.com/2012/10/building-proper-marine-refrigerator-and.html</a> It performed better than we could have expected, made ice in the hot Bahamas sun, and used so little power that our solar panels had no trouble keeping up. If you are going cruising, willing to take on a rather big project, and like us, you like your beer chilled, then this is definitely worth the hassle. I think the key, other than the 4 1/2" of insulation, is the heavy integrated lids with the double seal. However, keeping the box small, and using a refer unit that draws very little power definitely makes it a total win-win package.<br />
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<u>Stove</u><br />
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We bought the cheapest 2 burner stove, with oven, that we could. You can make the trip on a single burner if you want, some do, and others don't have an oven, but for the $2k that it cost to install the stove and propane system, we feel it was worth it. Serena baked all the time. We always ate well, perhaps too well, and the stove performed flawlessly through the whole trip. We expect we will get many more years of service out of the unit.<br />
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<u>Interior Redesign</u><br />
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Most of this worked well for us. The table did not, if only because we ended up turning the settee along the table into a permanent double bed. Lifting the galley counter 4" saved our backs from even worse torment, and the added built in storage was a dream. The more storage you build into the boat, the happier you'll be. Especially if its a small boat. It is absolutely amazing how much crap we can cram into poor little Vita. I think perhaps we are not the only ones who have gotten a little pudgier around the middle. The couch offered us comfortable seating, which worked out exactly as planned. It made a great sea berth with the lee cloth, and a comfortable place to spend our evenings.<br />
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<u>Solar Panels</u><br />
<br />
Wow, another triumph. I didn't do much, mount them, and install the panel, but they are a incredible. They did the bulk of our charging, and if we were careful, they would handle all of our charging needs. We went a week and a half with no alternator, and had no problem keeping the batteries topped up. Now, our boat is a model of efficiency when it comes to power usage, so that helped, but still, I reiterate what others have been saying for a long time, solar is the way to go. I can think of only two people we met that were happy with their wind generators, even though the rest of the anchorage wasn't. Hour for hour, you will get more power out of a good solar setup than any other system. And its quiet....<br />
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<u>Hella Fans</u><br />
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We have three of the expensive ones, "hella turbo". Use next to no power. They were a godsend. We ran them all the time in when it was warm. We only wish we had a couple more.<br />
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<u>Shower</u><br />
<br />
Serena was pretty adamant when we left that she wanted a shower in the head. We took along all the pieces we needed to build the shower. We never did install it. Like most small boat cruisers, we shower in the cockpit. The add-a-room gives us all the privacy we need, our little buddy heater heats it up if its cold, and we never have to worry about too much moisture down below.<br />
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<u>Water</u><br />
<br />
We opted for manual fresh water only. A hand pump in the head, and a foot pump in the galley. The foot pump was awesome, the hand pump, not so much. In a rolly boat you cannot afford a hand for the pump. Next upgrade will see a second foot pump in the head. We went without hot water, as it tends to be very inefficient, unless you have a system that heats it from the engine exhaust. So we heat all of our water on the stove. It can be a pain sometimes, but we don't seem to mind it. Besides, what else you going to do with the time. We do have pressure water though, for outside water only. We use it for rinsing all our dishes before we wash them, and for cleaning our garbage before we store it. It has been wonderful, and we highly recommend it to others headed out. If you'll have a watermaker, its less important. Water was plentiful all through the states, but in the Bahamas, free water was difficult to come by. We carried about 90 gallons of water, and that lasted us easily 6 weeks with conservation.<br />
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<u>Lavac Head</u><br />
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No complaints. Which is the way a head should be. We have had several issues with the black water tank though. Also the lack of a good way to empty the tank while in the Bahamas was an issue. We used a manual pump that we connected to the deck fitting. It was a nasty process, but it worked. One of the future upgrades will be a through hull for those offshore runs, and a way to pump out the tank from inside the boat. Most cruisers don't talk about their head, and with good reason. The laws have gotten so strict that most boats would probably have something illegal in their setup. But for those who travel outside their home port, some versatility is important. Have the tank, have a way to empty the tank, have a way to bypass the tank. Nuff said. Have a lock out on it to be as legal as possible, and please for the environments sake, be responsible.<br />
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<u>Anchor Gear</u><br />
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It took awhile to gain confidence in our anchor gear. It never gave us reason to doubt it, but hanging a 5 ton boat by a 33lb hunk of steel takes a while to get comfortable with. The windless was awesome. We could not have done it without the mechanical advantage of the Lofrans. Our gear is not particularly heavy, but with our back problems, lifting the anchor too often would have been a real issue for us. The Rochna is a great anchor. It never failed to reset instantly with a wind change, and had a tendency to bury itself completely in a strong wind or current. All chain, 130', we wish we had 200', but it worked out ok. The worst we saw was 60 knots with a 3 knot current, and we never budged an inch. The rework of the bow with the chain locker and fibreglass work, performed exactly as expected, and turned out to be stronger than I thought. I can't say enough good things about the whole setup, we are just so happy with it. The biggest thing we figured out along the way was to set the anchor hard. There is not enough power in our engine to do any damage to the system, so we let her have it. When the snubber stretches to its limits, and starts to sing from the strain, I sleep a lot better.<br />
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<u>Garhauer Rigid Boom Vang</u><br />
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The one thing that every person who has done it, agreed on, was to get a Garhauer. For the $375 it cost, it didn't seem worth it, to not do it. Now we add our own voice to the group, and it is still an unanimous vote. For handling the mainsail, I am sure there can be no better piece of equipment. If you have never seen one in action, I won't be able to convince you of its benefits, but the first time you use it on a cruising boat, you will never be without one. Such a simple piece of gear, that honestly we didn't use that much because we didn't sail all that often, but worthy of its weight on the boat.<br />
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<u>New Sails</u><br />
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Arguably, we didn't sail as much as we hoped on this trip. And, most of the time we had a sail up, we were running with just the yankee and the engine on. However, the battenless main worked as flawlessly as we had hoped. It was such an easy sail to handle and setup. I ended up sausage rolling on the boom, instead of flaking it, because it just worked so much better. The lazy jacks that we intended to install, never got installed, because they were never needed. The staysail on the other hand, only left the bag about 10 times the whole trip. It was a pain to get ready, and most of the time it added little value. We left it bagged on the stay the whole time, and it always got in the way. I think we are going to put it on a furler before our next big trip. It'll get used more often if its easy to deploy, and it won't get in the way so much. The DRS is a beautiful sail, but it was never needed on the boat. If we were going to do long offshore trips, I would keep it, but for inshore work, it was more of a toy than anything else. I think I flew it 3 times, and they were all just for fun.<br />
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<u>Life Line</u><br />
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Our dinghy, named Life Line. Like all dinghies it seems, is a compromise between a lot of different things. We have a 8' Walker Bay with a suzuki 2.5 hp four stroke engine, a hypalon inflatable collar, and a sail kit. She rows nicely, and she is a blast to sail, but she is slow, and wet. Many times I wished for a go fast dinghy so that we could explore further and faster, but they are a bitch to row, use a lot of fuel, and can't be sailed. We used 4 gallons of gas in out little motor during the entire 9 month trip. We know people with nice dinghies that burn that in a day. So the answer? I don't have one. I guess make a choice and live with it. We will stick with Life Line for now, but may one day get a little inflatable with a larger motor, who knows. We may go ahead and do it, and then regret our decision later when our engine quits 4 miles from home.<br />
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<u>Davits</u><br />
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I really wasn't sure about having davits on such a small boat. But Serena was adamant. She did not want the dinghy on the foredeck blocking our view, and towing it was not an option. So I went ahead and took the $1400.00 plunge, and installed them. And man, I am so glad that I did. The boat looks quite shippy with Life Line slung from the back, and it puts the dinghy out of sight, out of mind. It took most of the trip to figure out how to secure the dinghy in a way that I was happy with, but now it doesn't move at all under way. Also, because of the way the dinghy is lifted so high out of the water, I have been confident in leaving it on the davits even while offshore, a thing that I was dead set against before we left. I will admit that it was a pretty expensive extravagance on such a small boat, and we definitely could have made the trip without them, but we are happy we didn't.<br />
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<u>Electronics</u><br />
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Laptop - We bought a small netbook before we left. The theory being that it used less power, had less moving parts, and was small for a small boat. It has worked good, but a little more power would be nice for editing video and a little bigger screen wouldn't hurt. I would have one again, but I may bring along a second laptop as backup, and to do things that little one had a rough time with. Also with the laptop is an external hard drive. Backup everything, because in the wet environment of the boat, you never know when its going to give up the ghost.<br />
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Chart Plotter - Standard Horizon 5" display. Mounted at the wheel, we loved this thing. It was far from perfect, but when it died there the one day I missed it dearly. This was no substitute for paper charts, but it aided them marvelously. We also had two backup handheld GPSs, which came in very handy, and a full set of free charts on the netbook. I purchased Polarview on the way down and used that to download all the Active Captain data so that we could use it offline. For those of you uninitiated, Active Captain is the cruising guide for cruisers, by cruisers. Check it out, you'll see what I mean.<br />
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Knot log and depth sounder - Depth sounder, good, knot log, waste of $350.00. On a cruising boat with GPS, the knot log is not all that useful. Fun to watch, when its working, but definitely not a requirement. The depth sounder though is awesome. We even bought a handheld depth sounder for using in the dinghy, and it was a great piece of kit too. We have friends with no depth sounder, and a 6 foot draft, so its possible to go without, but I don't think even they would recommend the ICW under those circumstances.<br />
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VHF Radio - It didn't work out the way we hoped. With the engine running we can't hear the radio below, so we end up using the handheld in the cockpit. I think the answer might be to insulate the engine compartment. Serena and I have been considering AIS as well, but it wasn't really all that hard to live without on this trip. We only come close to being run down 3 times, and they all worked out okay!<br />
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Xantrex Battery Monitor - Love this little expensive guy. Monitor the batteries. That's all it does, but it provides us with 24 hr tireless updates to what is going on in our electrical system. We spend more time looking at this than the sunsets.<br />
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Digital camera and GoPro - Wow, we took a lot of pictures, and a lot of video. If we never make another trip outside of our home town, we have these memories that will last forever. Outside of the Bahamas any camera that takes good pictures wil do. Ours was less than $200. But in the Bahamas, underwater is where it is at. That's where the GoPro comes in. If you want to be the envy of the other boats in the anchorage, bring a GoPro, and video tape your friends playing underwater with the sharks.<br />
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HF Radio - All we have is a receiver. It allows us listen to Chris Parker for weather in the Bahamas. We are not really the chatty type, so if our friends are outside of VHF range, we'll talk to them later.<br />
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TV and Antenna - We might not have survived the trip without it. There were days that we could do nothing else but sit in front of the TV, or lay down and nap. Whether because of broken body parts, or bad weather. In the Bahamas there was no TV, and when the mast is down we do without, but all the times in between, the TV saved our sanity, what little there was to save.<br />
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Wifi Extender - I built one of these before we left, and it has given us access to internet all over the place, right from the boat. There are lots of commercially available ones, and perhaps I will do a post on how to build one in the near future. We wouldn't be without this nice toy.<br />
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Ray - Is our autopilot. It is probably the cheapest wheel pilot you can buy. He can't keep a decent course for any real length of time, is prone to erratic behavior occasionally, and can't drive at all when the weather is rough, but, we wouldn't be without him. The number of tireless hours that he took the wheel, under close supervision of course, made the trip possible. I know lots of people who drive the whole way with no autopilot, but that is not us. And to think, Serena almost didn't let me get him.<br />
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That was it. We don't have much in the way of electronics, but we didn't seem to want for anything. We drove in thick fog without a radar, and survived. Although in hind site maybe it would have been smarter to sit still. An anemometer would have been nice, but we didn't seem to notice we didn't have one. Like a friend once said, you simply must have what you must have.<br />
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And this is starting to get overwhelming. I think of the myriad of little things that made our life easier, or more fun on this trip, and covering it would keep me typing all day long. But I reviewed most of the major systems. If you where looking for more, or want some intricate details of any of the systems on the boat, please feel free to message me. And, if you read through this thinking that there might be something interesting for the non-boater; I warned you at the beginning.<br />
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Vita back to one six.Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-53359297501044924702014-04-23T07:14:00.000-07:002014-04-23T07:14:38.119-07:00Sittin' in the Hudson RiverWatchin' the time roll away;<br />
Sittin' in the morning sun;<br />
And we'll be sittin' when the evening comes......<br />
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Yep, that's what we are doing, sittin'. Oh, and we are watching the ships roll in, and we're watchin' them roll away again.<br />
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All ready to transit the Erie Canal for Home, and no where to go. We had wanted to get to Waterford to wait, and it turns out we can't even do that. Apparently they won't let us go through the Federal lock at Troy even to get to the Erie, because there is nowhere to go. The docks aren't in the water, at Waterford, and there are no marinas. So we hang back. We are paid up until Sunday on the mooring ball at Castleton on the Hudson, but then we will be on the hook next to the mooring field until they let us up the river. No use paying for a ball when there are no services attached to it. The good news is that we had word yesterday that the locks were opening on the 3rd of May, a little late, but better than three weeks delayed.<br />
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So where were we. That's right, exhausted from a long 66 hour passage in the pleasant North Atlantic. (Just like child berth, the memory of the pain goes away quickly, and you only remember the good stuff). We woke to a beautiful day in Nyack NJ. Again we were accused of bring the warm weather with us. Guilty as charged, please just throw money. Still not feeling up to our usual selves, we decided to take the day off and wander around, until we found out that the laundromat was open, and then the lure of fresh bedding drew us out. So after walking through the streets of the local artisan fair, where we picked up some Christmas presents, don't ask, we headed back to the boat to get our two big bags of dirty stuff.<br />
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We hadn't seen this many people in one place in a while. It was a little weird, but the day was beautiful, and the vendors not too too pushy.</div>
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Monday the weather deteriorated, but one of the club members took me to get our propane tank filled while Serena helped his wife with the bottom paint on their boat. We hung out at the club house most of the day using their wifi, having showers, and visiting with the locals. Nice relaxed day. The bad weather went to worse; the winds blew strong, up over 40 knots from the south, putting large, sharp, nasty, waves through the mooring field. We were trapped on the boat for two days while it rolled and bucked, and tried to make us ill. Then finally late on Wednesday we got a little reprieve, and were able to dinghy in to the club, have showers, use the internet, fill up our drinking water jugs, and just sit somewhere that wasn't moving for a change. We also said our good byes to our host, who had graciously allowed us to use his mooring ball, for free. We would have stayed longer, but we already felt like we were taking advantage of their generosity, so we packed up and headed out on Thursday morning, into freezing temperatures. But at least the winds were light, and the sun was shining.</div>
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The spring brings a different kind of beauty than you get in the fall. These little waterfalls showed up sporadically along the river. </div>
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West Point, once again, always awe...</div>
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And trains, the Hudson river has lots of trains. Twin tracks on each side of the river I think, and they are the busiest I have ever seen.</div>
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The first day we traveled only 28 nautical miles up to Pollepel Island. We stopped here on our way down. A nice little anchorage tucked in behind the island. It was however, rather quiet without our friends from C'sta Time and Serenada. We noticed that there was scaffold set up all around the castle, so it must be a restoration project on the go. It is sad that all the extravagance of yesteryear tends to get destroyed by fire, on in this case by an explosion, and a fire. </div>
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The following day was a long 50 nautical mile drive up the Hudson river. We pulled off the river and dropped the hook across from Catskill Creek just after sunset. There was some strong north winds being called for on Saturday, and we wanted to make sure we didn't have too far to go. Plus, Sunday was promising to be a great "mast taking down day", warm, with no winds. After 10 hrs in the cockpit though, the temperatures barely above freezing were starting to get us. I am still trying to figure out what the big rush was to get back here, oh, right, house....</div>
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Debris, man, is the Hudson full of debris. You can't take your eyes off the water. Logs, firewood, trees, garbage; anything you can think of, it floated by us. We even saw three car tires, one of which I made an evasive maneuver to avoid, just in case the car was still attached to it. You never know. We considered travelling Friday night, to get up to Castleton on the Hudson before the nasty north winds moved in, but with this much stuff in the water, it would be too dangerous.</div>
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Yes, we are early. Almost all the clubs on the Hudson are still shut down. This should be a sign.</div>
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More pretty streams. This one has a bunch of trees still waiting to be dislodged so that they can join their brethren in the river.</div>
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Serena took about 200 pictures of logs, and debris. </div>
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Oh, did I mention trains.....</div>
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And tugs. Sometimes, lots of tugs.</div>
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This was our biggest tree. Roots and all, probably about 60 to 80 feet long. Serena had a hard time getting the whole thing into the frame to take the picture. Imagine plowing into this puppy at 20 knots. Not that Vita is ever going to see 20 knots, but if she were a power boat, this would be a very treacherous obstacle.</div>
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And barrels. Enough to make a nice dock.</div>
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And ships, the Hudson river has no shortage of these either.</div>
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Or tugs and ships. We had to get out of the channel for these two, plus two other tugs, one before and one after. There was a nasty current, and with the waves from these things, it was all I could do to hold Vita straight. We kind of crab walked up the edge of the channel trying to stay out of their way.</div>
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But we made it to Castleton on the Hudson. 21 nautical miles took 7 1/2 hours. Compare that to the day previous, and its very sobering. The Hudson river can be a real bear in the spring. The water is tidal, so you get flow in both directions, but the incoming flow has to fight the current, so it isn't as strong as the outgoing flow which is aided by the current. It amounts to a really slow ride at times.</div>
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The Boat club welcomed us, the people have been great, and we joined them in their first party of the year; a Mexican night. All you can eat for $12 a head, very reasonable, and really cheap beer. We came pretty close to closing the place, and we had an awesome time. </div>
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Sunday, being Easter, was really slow at the club. The sun was shining, and the winds were light out of the south. A better day to be taking down a mast, there is not. Luckily for us, Vita's mast is so simple to take down, that I am pretty sure I could do it myself with the remote control they have here. Having Serena here just made the job all that much simpler. Any more than two and the job gets too complicated.</div>
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Still debris floating by, all the time.</div>
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Take off the sails, the lines, undo everything, put the mast cradle pieces onto the boat and secure them. Taking down the mast takes only a few minutes, but the work up to that point takes hours. And, Serena wouldn't even let me have a beer until the mast was down.</div>
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Almost ready.</div>
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Serena working hard. Controlling that button on the remote is hard work.</div>
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Up, up, up.....</div>
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Down, down, down.</div>
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Our only injury for the day. The button left an indent in Serena's thumb. I consoled her while she wept on my shoulder. Boat bites.</div>
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Then I got a chance to do some of the hard work. Reeling the winch back up. I didn't get an indent. The button on the motor control box is bigger.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidx_h06LEvzV029pCd_l1If5VPAA6J8kdM1-wrLYQWYrNXxD041GvzJL_uo7_hgaWr3JiXSLpTrPzHOu9ZA_Z56VS1Q0o68nATaRT7VPtPgubnZms-iTWLT3Q1dMjWwauZjSRs0n0vxbzA/s1600/IMG_3941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidx_h06LEvzV029pCd_l1If5VPAA6J8kdM1-wrLYQWYrNXxD041GvzJL_uo7_hgaWr3JiXSLpTrPzHOu9ZA_Z56VS1Q0o68nATaRT7VPtPgubnZms-iTWLT3Q1dMjWwauZjSRs0n0vxbzA/s1600/IMG_3941.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now Vita is a power boat once again.</div>
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We've now been sitting on the boat for two days. We haven't even gone to shore. After tying up the mast, and doing a pump out, it was getting late. We headed back to the mooring ball, made supper, and had a celebration of sorts, for a job well done. That meant of course that neither of us was in any mood to doing anything the following day. </div>
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Yesterday we started working on some of our outstanding chores. I fixed the alternator, which hadn't been working since some time in the Ocean. Turns out the wire that powers the regulator was broken at the connector. A fault in the manufacturers wiring harness. Serena cleaned, and I cleaned, and we organized, and sorted, and on and on. There is no end on a boat. If you want the space to be livable, you are constantly trying to keep it that way.</div>
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So now we sit. There is no where to go. And we wait. We might go to the store today for ice cream. Maybe do laundry tomorrow. And of course there is still a long list of things that could use our attention on the boat, maybe we'll look at those for the next day. Life can be so rough sometimes.</div>
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See everybody soon.</div>
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Vita back to one six.</div>
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<br />Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-64611604348386862412014-04-14T13:26:00.000-07:002014-04-14T13:26:21.930-07:00Small Craft Warning in Effect<div class="MsoNormal">
Serena, honey, when
they say small craft warning in effect, they are talking about us right? No
dear, I think they mean canoes and kayaks, small fishing boats, stuff like
that. (I hope!!)</div>
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Well, so much for
the perfect weather window to move from <st1:city w:st="on">Portsmouth</st1:city>
to <st1:state w:st="on">New York</st1:state>.
It looked good on paper before we left, but it shut down rather abruptly, and
left us with a pretty rough ride for about 35 hours. At one point we heard a
Mayday on the radio, a man in a much larger ketch had rolled, dis-masted and was apparently taking on water. By the time I figured it out, the Coast Guard was on their way
to pick him up. We were 7 miles off the <st1:state w:st="on">New
Jersey</st1:state> coast, and about ½ a mile away from the boat
in distress. The good news is that the man and his cat were saved. The bad news
is that NOAA was recommending that all small vessels seek shelter immediately.
Definitely not a Christelle Day, and not really a Rob and Serena kind of day
either. However, my buddy Larry would be in seventh heaven! Below is the link to the Coast Guard article. The man did contact them on the VHF, because I heard the conversation. Whether or not he called them on a cell phone, I don't know. Its good to see that they saved the boat though. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-assists-man-cat-from-disabled-sailboat-off-toms-river-nj/2014/04/11/">http://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-assists-man-cat-from-disabled-sailboat-off-toms-river-nj/2014/04/11/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Wow, its been so
long. There wasn't really much going on, and then all of a sudden there was so
much that I wasn't sure I would be able to get it into one blog entry. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We left off in
Elizabeth City, NC. We love this place. The people here are so friendly. But
its not just here, its all of <st1:place w:st="on">North
Carolina</st1:place>. They just seem to be so welcoming. Free
docks, rides, and a conscious effort to improve the experience for transient
boaters. It’s a hard place to leave. While we were at the visitors center in
the <st1:place w:st="on">Dismal Swamp</st1:place>, I asked the lady how long we
were allowed to stay on the free dock. The one lady said there wasn't any
official time limit, and the other lady said, “until your dead”. So apparently
as long as there is one living person on the boat, you can stay. Now that's welcoming, wouldn't you say?<o:p></o:p></div>
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We stayed three days
in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Elizabeth</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">City</st1:placename></st1:place>. Officially we’re only allowed to
stay two days, but Gus said we could stay much longer. A sentiment echoed by
the Mayor when I talked to him Friday night. This time of year the water front
isn't that busy, so they weren't all that concerned. I like common sense rules,
enforced only when it makes sense. Staying that extra day meant we got to go on
the first Art Walk of the year. We had an absolute blast the last time we did
the art walk in November, with our friends from, Anthyllide, Sea Angel, and
Northstar. This time we were alone, but the locals embraced us all the
more. It was great, free food, free beer and wine, good conversations, good
people, and great art. It was somewhat lacking in the antique furniture this
time, but we came across a bed and breakfast that we missed last time. They
were showing the works of a couple of local artists, but they were beyond
friendly, welcoming, and generally interested in us as Canadians and boaters, it
was great. By the time we left there we had offers to use peoples docks, stay
with people, and there were hugs all around. I felt like I was leaving after a
family thanksgiving. I almost felt guilty for leaving too early.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Art Walk over, loaded with food and water, we said our goodbyes to Gus, (the local self appointed boater host), and headed out the next morning. </div>
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It was a warm spring day up the river to the Dismal Swamp, and the locals were all out enjoying the sunshine.</div>
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We are starting to see a lot of Canadian Geese. Maybe they know something we don't?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBGYTy4UmxgDRJEi9Q6oQu5_h3qZdJcVyYbt3WE7zeAcYGUoy0XvUYrANZw52BAmIldtSjW-3D2t7n2BasaxGmF598bPNMDX3LvKerItYUkH69BjEty8qkktwNvUy5tY421yiUe37x8J6U/s1600/IMG_3595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBGYTy4UmxgDRJEi9Q6oQu5_h3qZdJcVyYbt3WE7zeAcYGUoy0XvUYrANZw52BAmIldtSjW-3D2t7n2BasaxGmF598bPNMDX3LvKerItYUkH69BjEty8qkktwNvUy5tY421yiUe37x8J6U/s1600/IMG_3595.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Nature, always Awwhhh.</div>
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Even when man cuts a canal through it, it remains beautiful.</div>
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Our first lock of the season. We were only the third boat to arrive in Elizabeth City this year, the first Canadian. The first Canadian through the lock and the first Canadian at the Dismal Swamp Visitors Center. I wonder if we get some sort of prize for that, or just strange looks, of, why aren't you still in the Islands?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3aqJwuzEXMPQoryoFoOowHk0a33_ceb_DqQ1pLeQbuxwryIcw7qrfFEEE7dpwyAUG0At4xTCDNISgn-_ysyfloKLJZCf9eMcSiolEtW3cqD1NCwt9pDataHpV-UTg_mOcKA-iBM6q4D8S/s1600/IMG_3625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3aqJwuzEXMPQoryoFoOowHk0a33_ceb_DqQ1pLeQbuxwryIcw7qrfFEEE7dpwyAUG0At4xTCDNISgn-_ysyfloKLJZCf9eMcSiolEtW3cqD1NCwt9pDataHpV-UTg_mOcKA-iBM6q4D8S/s1600/IMG_3625.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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The locks only open 4 times per day, so if your early, you wait.</div>
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The Dismal Swamp Visitors center has bikes you can borrow to ride down the nice trail into town. It was a blast. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1lcUDhIMI5gUTr-6xheYFNNfpzXVjSdrp51bk1yRAiYBlifLEpRs8u0wDRXOcc9ND1vhHuYDmq5pW7e9DCFc5-jSDMxe_-yXzq1XcnQbnj9In8e7_f8BaqMySmO3jRDHY4CvoG1DBfao/s1600/IMG_3650.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW1lcUDhIMI5gUTr-6xheYFNNfpzXVjSdrp51bk1yRAiYBlifLEpRs8u0wDRXOcc9ND1vhHuYDmq5pW7e9DCFc5-jSDMxe_-yXzq1XcnQbnj9In8e7_f8BaqMySmO3jRDHY4CvoG1DBfao/s1600/IMG_3650.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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We stopped at the lock during our ride, and the lockmaster showed us how the bridge worked as he locked through another sailor headed north. We enjoyed sundowners that evening with him on Vita. But this bridge was circa "old", with the backup still running under a small gas engine from like 1923. Really neat.</div>
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Vita at the Dismal Visitors dock. We love this almost as much as Elizabeth City, maybe more, its just so quiet, peaceful, and welcoming.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT9FwJ7WL3sqKVoSVh0acCgFdB8X9ySv8poruQ57HIvmRrtzewf0r2PT4RBlhJcKBCej2OeMgtWSapGC6_UBXTb0Wmv8OKWYwE1yTeu5ZGWn8YznvOnHasSKga31zf1V9sfGfdpJGxZkYp/s1600/IMG_3660.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT9FwJ7WL3sqKVoSVh0acCgFdB8X9ySv8poruQ57HIvmRrtzewf0r2PT4RBlhJcKBCej2OeMgtWSapGC6_UBXTb0Wmv8OKWYwE1yTeu5ZGWn8YznvOnHasSKga31zf1V9sfGfdpJGxZkYp/s1600/IMG_3660.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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We took a little walk through the park while we were there. Nice area, but it was wet and raining. We did get a real kick out of the signs. This is a policy that we will strictly adhere to, hopefully. We are not big tick fans.</div>
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Tuesday morning I woke up, check the internet for news, with the free wifi, provided by the Visitors Center, see, welcoming. Anyway, I noticed that the weather man had changed his tune and there was a nice weather window opening up for us to get to New York. So we said our good byes to the wonderful ladies working at the center, untied Vita, and headed for Portsmouth. It was a nice quick trip up to the Portsmouth free dock. We got a pump out, and had plenty of time to get to the Commodore for dinner and a movie. Awesome.<br />
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How do you know you are in Norfolk Virginia, the skyline changes to this.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQJPEepgJpvGbXgKS29Hsy4WWRLoJMZKnk8qWw4pkFJRCYJnri81H-Hhb42evRJpMcHvlPUxmh0Jo2Mfv_-RiNGCN6A4qmIPSC_4f8L__dlNqn1eYqbFhnKoeFPBHBh3TZVQywwBMp44I/s1600/IMG_3669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQJPEepgJpvGbXgKS29Hsy4WWRLoJMZKnk8qWw4pkFJRCYJnri81H-Hhb42evRJpMcHvlPUxmh0Jo2Mfv_-RiNGCN6A4qmIPSC_4f8L__dlNqn1eYqbFhnKoeFPBHBh3TZVQywwBMp44I/s1600/IMG_3669.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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We love the Commodore. The food isn't particularly good, and the movie selection is so-so, but the experience makes it worth it. We watched Noah with Russel Crowe this time. Much better than Captain Phillips from our October experience.</div>
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The following day we topped up the diesel. Serena made up some food so we wouldn't have to cook too much on the passage. And, we took the afternoon off to nap, as we intended to leave at midnight, ensuring that we would arrive in Nyack, New Jersey before dark on the 3rd day. Well, by 6:00 everything was ready, so said what the hey, just means we'll have to go through New York Harbor in the dark. Piece of cake.</div>
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Leaving the channel, this container ship followed us out until it passed us. These things are really big when they are running next to you in the channel. Really, really big.</div>
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Bye bye Norfolk.</div>
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So, blow by blow. We ended up with no wind at all for the first 20 hours, then we motor sailed for 4 hours before there was enough wind to shut off the engine. Serena was feeling ill by then, so I let her stay in her bunk while Ray(the autopilot) and I sailed the boat for 12 hours in some pretty nasty stuff. But we were making good time. When the sun came up, I reefed down the sails a bit and turned the motor on. It was too windy for Ray to be able to handle the boat with a good sail set, and with a aft wind the boat was not balancing well. More importantly though, Serena wasn't in any shape to hand steer for a few hours while I got some sleep. She was quite the trooper for holding a watch at all, so I just made the boat easier for her to handle.</div>
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I had intended to wake her at 6:00 am, because I was starting to have a problem staying awake, but I decided to let her sleep until the sun came up. At 6:02 a hole about 10 feet deep opened up behind Vita, and the stern dropped into it like falling off a cliff, only to be instantly launched straight up in the air on the biggest wave I have ever seen in my life. She was pointed straight down into the hole she just fell into, and start to slide sideways along the face of the wave. I just had enough time to disengage the friction lock on the autopilot and drive the helm the other direction steering into the skid. The wave slipped underneath us, followed by two more very large waves before things settled back to normal. It was the most intense moment I have ever had sailing. If I hadn't of got a hold of the helm as quickly as I did, the boat may have broached, likely rolled, and probably took the mast off. It took awhile for my nerves to calm down before I went and woke Serena. The whole incident was just a little too spooky for my poor heart. I was loath to leave her in her condition, alone in the cockpit while I went below, but I couldn't stay awake forever. Besides that, from everything I've read, a wave like that comes along very seldom. </div>
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In the afternoon I managed to get the alternator belt tensioned, which didn't do anything. The alternator stopped working after the first few hours of the trip. Thank god for solar panels to charge the batteries. I topped up the fuel tank from our jerry jugs, and got a few more hours of sailing in before I needed to take another nap. I knew it was going to be a long night, finishing up the New Jersey coast, and transiting New York harbor. So I set the boat up for easy handling again, so that Serena wouldn't have to work too hard. Bad enough that she was still feeding the fishes every 30 minutes or so. But she hadn't eaten in 2 days because nothing would stay down.</div>
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When I woke up and took over again, the winds had died a little, but the sea state again was treacherous. I left the boat set up the way it was and it remained that way until I dropped the sails in New York. But shortly after 5:00 I heard a distress call on the radio, as I mentioned at the start of the blog. I could see the boat from where I was, and it was getting beat to crap pounding into the waves and wind. After the rescue by the coast guard I listened to NOAA weather radio, and they were calling for outrageous winds and waves for the area we were in. So, the weather is deteriorating, a much larger boat just got wrecked next to us, and we had nowhere to go except New York, still 7 hours away. Not to mention that the wave direction could have made the entrance to the harbor impassible. To say we were a little concerned would be an understatement, but over the next 5 hours the winds abated completely, and the waves started to lay down. When we entered New York Harbor at 2:00 am, the weather was calm, and the skies were clear. A near perfect ending to a rather exhausting trip.</div>
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This was the sunrise after the first night. We were about 12 nautical miles off the Virginia coast, and the next piece of land in that direction, is Europe. What amazing colours!!</div>
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I again went to bed after sunup, and Serena made the run up the Hudson River to Terry Town, New York, where we stopped in and filled up on diesel. Upon leaving to cross the river to the Nyack Boat Club, we were pulled over by the local police. We have been stopped twice in our entire lives, both in the same spot, Nyack, New Jersey. Customs pays the local police to do their work here, and I get the impression that they get paid for every boat they pull over. So if your travelling through here, and you have a foreign flag, you'll get to meet them. They are very friendly, and Serena got pictures of them this time for the blog.</div>
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Man cops get nice boats.</div>
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So now we are in the Nyack Boat Club. They aren't even open for the season yet, but one of the members allowed us the use of his mooring ball, as his boat wasn't ready for the water yet. Another member took us to get propane, and everyone here has been so damn friendly that we are feeling guilty for staying. Unfortunately the weather has gone from bad to horrible, and we are stuck here for a couple more days to wait out another front. I just hope we do not overstay our welcome. This place is awesome. It reminds us a lot of our own self-help club back in Trenton.</div>
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So we'll sit here a little longer, then make our way to Casleton Boat Club where we will take our mast down. I called yesterday, and one of the members, said yeah, come on up, you can help me put mine up, and I'll help you take yours down. Must be the spring weather. Everyone we've met recently has just been so damn happy; gotta love it. Then on to Waterford, NY to wait for the Erie canal to open. Home is only 10 travel days away, but it'll take about three weeks, if all goes well.</div>
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Vita back to one six.</div>
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<br />Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-3480171797651821252014-04-07T01:57:00.000-07:002014-04-07T01:57:31.940-07:00What's It Like Living On A Small Boat?A tiny space you can't escape. Your partner becomes the monster you feared they might be. You sleep with one eye open in case your anchor drags, or your neighbors does. Its constant fear coupled with constant pain from having nowhere comfortable to be. You are a slave to the weather, and the mechanical systems. Leaks, poor cooking facilities, water conservation, and violent rocking from passing boats or passing cold fronts. Toilet smells, and showering in the cold, will drive you into a straight jacket before your time. Sounds heavenly, doesn't it.<br />
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Just kidding; mostly. This is a question that one of our readers asked recently, and although I am not sure that I will be able to paint the picture for everyone, I'll give it a go.<br />
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The best land based parallel I can give for living in a small boat, is like living in a small motorized RV. Cruising really is a lot like camping, although few of us would have any idea what camping for a year would be like. Even I can only imagine. We lived for 5 months in an 8 x 12 shed while we started building our house, and that came close, but we still had a car, and a way to escape if we needed to. There is little escape on a boat, and more so on a small boat. You learn to be more tolerant, more selfless, and willing to give up any idea of personal privacy, or you go home. Both Serena and I found that we rewrote our idea of privacy to include the two of us, instead of each of us. Of course that meant that there are some things that we never would have shared on land, that becomes part of "us", on the boat. That can be hard for some people. Now if you choose to romanticize it by saying that we have grown closer together, then that is true, but there are somethings about each other that may be better suited to the privacy of a land based bathroom, smells aside. That does not mean that there is no escape. Cruising is one of the most social activities that we have ever been involved in, and there is always someone around to offer an impartial shoulder, or just for a change of conversation. But overall, you will become much more intimate with your partner, and I don't think that is a bad thing.<br />
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We live on a 29' Bayfield, but it is as well equipped as most 35' cruising boats. So, although it is a small boat, its not as small as it may seem. We do lack any reasonable place to entertain. We chose not to have a shower, which we intended to install originally, but decided we didn't need. We lack a dinning room table, and room to have a dance. But; we have a great galley, a comfortable bed, a comfortable couch, incredible storage, a stove with oven, a good fridge and freezer, TV, a good quality toilet, bullet proof ground tackle, and an overall package that is easy for the two of us to handle.<br />
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But what is it really like. Well, that is complicated, because life on a small boat is pretty simple, its just about living. Performing the little things that need to be done on a daily basis, just to sustain life. Where it gets difficult is that no task is simple to perform, and the crew is always trying to find ways to make each little task simpler, or better suited to the environment. Figuring out where and how to store everything is a chore in itself that never seems to get a break. You have to take into consideration what you need, how often, how important is access, is the item safe in that location, and on and on. Then after you have tried it for a few weeks, you solidify the choice, or move things around. When you travel somewhere new, you go through it all again, because the meals you eat, the pastimes that you partake in, change your whole schedule and needs. Daily living is constantly changing and evolving in order the fit the surroundings in which you find yourself. And to be honest, the only difference on a bigger boat is that there is usually more room to store more stuff. Plus, if you are really lucky, you have more room to deal with the stuff. But this goes for everything. How do you handle water storage, treatment, usage. How to generate power, or conserve it. Balancing wants with needs, and becoming comfortable with the choices. A small boat is not an easy place to live, and that is probably the point. It is always challenging, on a most basic level, Its like playing house all the time, but the stakes are a little higher than getting in trouble for not putting away your toys. Its like being a pioneer in a 29' world.<br />
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But with all that work, and the constantly evolving environment comes the successes, and sense of accomplishment for a job well done. Finally figuring out the best way to make bread, because there isn't any within a few days sail. Learning how to prepare and cook some new food that until recently was completely foreign to you, but now is to become a new staple. All the little problems that you create solutions to, provide the energy needed to move on to the next issue, and conquer that. And for the cruising small boater, the knowledge gained from each new experience, brings its own conundrum in that it forces you to go further abroad to find the next challenge. When the overnight sail in the ocean has been done a couple of times, then you need that in rougher weather, or a longer range, just to push yourself to the next level. But, the counter point to that is that you no longer fear the overnight sail, its just a normal part of cruising. It is sad to say, but when we left our yacht club last Aug, we had very little experience. We had anchored overnight one time, on a smaller boat. We had traveled under sail or power for perhaps 400 kms total. We knew only what we had read. We were scared of everything. I hardly even slept the first few months when we are at anchor, bringing myself at times to wish that the boat would drag and be wrecked so that I could escape the responsibility of having to worry about the boat dragging. (And lets not try to analyze that). Now, after anchoring out countless numbers of days, in all kinds of conditions, heavy winds and heavy currents, I sleep great at night. I give the whole process of anchoring the respect it deserves, but I no longer fear it. In many ways living on a small sailboat is like relearning how to live. At least from my perspective in that it is only our first year. We have friends who have been our cruising for longer periods of time, some so long that living in a house is completely foreign to them, and I'll bet their view is a lot different than my own.<br />
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And that is really the problem with this question. The answer is different for everyone. I wrote a lot of words over the last couple of weeks for this post, and I ended up deleting all of them except the ones above. During the process I figured out that even Serena and I differ in our opinions of "what its like to living on a small boat". The only way to really answer the question is to give it a try. The only real advise I can offer is to go into it like a child with a new discovery; all smiles and giddy with excitement. Because living on a small boat is a hard life, but it is so rewarding that it is worth it.<br />
<br />Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-47788668145687442312014-04-03T16:37:00.000-07:002014-04-03T16:37:01.537-07:00March 2014 Endcap<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Dates: Mar 1-31, 2014<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Berry Islands, Bahamas - Vero Beach Florida – Florida – Georgia –
South Carolina – North Carolina to Cedar Creek, ICW 130.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sailing: 1 hr<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Motoring: 227 1/2 hrs (includes motor-sailing)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mileage: 922 Nm (Nautical Miles)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Budget Amount: $1590.00 US (All budgeting is
in US funds)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Charts/Books: $ 0.00 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Boat Parts: $ 92.00
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Marinas</st1:place></st1:city>:
$ 154.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Diesel:
$ 311.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Beer:
$ 242.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Grocery:
$ 327.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Entertainment: $ 108.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Fees/Services: $ 97.00 (pump-outs, laundry,
wifi, taxis, etc...)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Clothing/Shopping $
20.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Misc:
$ 125.00 (Propane, hobbies, etc...)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Total:
$1476.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Debit/Credit:
$ 114.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Under budget for the 3<sup>rd</sup> month in a row. Boo yah….
Okay, not that impressive considering that we did a big load up in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nassau</st1:place></st1:city> the month before,
which by the way, we still have most of. And, of course we have been travelling
like our hair was on fire. The high beer bill accounts for the fact that it is
so cheap here, and we found it on sale for $12.99 a two-four. That means that
we have enough to get to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
probably. The diesel bill was high, but look at the mileage! To the non-boaty
Canucks, that’s pretty close to 1750 kms, in a boat that does 7.5 km/hr. We are
going to need to have our heads examined when we get home, but we are actually
having a blast. Who knew we were the ones that people talk about.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So the plan for the month of March, was to make some miles toward
home. And make miles we did, as evidence above. We discovered a new thing about
ourselves in the process. Serena is goal oriented, and I am all about the
mission. Good news is, when there is a mission, we are both pushing to see it
done. Bad news is that sitting around drinking margaritas is only a casual pastime,
instead of a retirement goal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As disenchanted as we were with the ICW on the way down, we are
appreciating it on the way back up. Quiet and comfortable every night, a sharp
contrast from the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bahamas</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
Services only a few miles away, if we were willing to stop and use them. And
nice friendly people. We have even had good luck with customs this time around,
not one agent has been a pain in the ass, and that is probably a record of some
sort. In fact, some of the customs agents have been extremely wonderful to deal
with. Could be the beer talking! Oh, and of course wifi, everywhere!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">On a sad note, we are so jealous of our friends that are still
travelling down through the <st1:place w:st="on">Caribbean</st1:place>. We miss
the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bahamas</st1:place></st1:country-region>
already, and are feverishly planning the next trip with to-do and to-visit
lists. The Place is magical, and although we left rather abruptly, most days we
wish we had of stayed. On the upside, we know that next time we head to the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bahamas</st1:place></st1:country-region>, we
need way more time, way, way more time. We will probably leave Vita in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Florida</st1:place></st1:state> and drive home
that year. Then go back down the following winter and do the Florida Keys, the
pan handle, maybe even <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Texas</st1:place></st1:state>,
who knows. The sky is the limit!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The great thing is that this month we are seeing our future with a
much better clarity than we have in the past. Our dreams have become more
reasonable, and more attainable, but no less exciting. Finally, we are figuring
out what we want from retirement, but we might need a vacation from ourselves
if we keep pushing toward the next goal all the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">That's it for this month. Next month I will try and do this again.
The format may change a little as I go. 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now back to your regular blogging........<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-61381544202421287052014-04-03T06:41:00.002-07:002014-04-03T06:41:42.654-07:00Elizabeth City, North CarolinaIts a long story, and I will try not to bore you with too many details, but it must have been the work of a higher power that made all the ducks line up in our favor; to get so far, so fast. That or Serena had the whip out, and not the fun one!<br />
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Actually it has been a pretty good trip. It's ironic though, that when we left we heard stories about people cruising down south, who would get up early in the morning, drive all day, and put the hook down, get up early, and do it again. making miles without enjoying the trip was the belief. And I told everyone, that won't be us, we are going to take our time, move 5, maybe 6 hours a day, relax, and enjoy. Well, I was wrong, we are those people they talked about. The day before yesterday we did 12 hours. The day before that it was dark by the time we dropped the hook. We are machines........ Or maybe its just that there is nothing better to do out here in the middle of nowhere. Plus, Vita moves so damn slow, that if we don't put in the hours, we don't get anywhere. Oh well, plenty of time to rest when we're dead, isn't that what they say.<br />
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We are 50 miles from finishing the ICW and heading offshore to New York City, "when" the weather gives us a comfortable window. In the US for 4 weeks, and technically only about 2 weeks of travelling before we are home. It might take a month and a half.... We will rest and relax, and watch the weather man's report, looking for favorable winds and seas for the 60 hour trip from Norfolk VA, to Nyack, NJ. Three days and two nights. It will be our longest single trip yet, over 250 miles, and we are really looking forward to expanding our experience base.<br />
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The last blog was a while ago, but our internet has been very spotty at best, and we have been driving like mad people. We left off after our stop in the marina at Barefoot Landing in South Carolina. We did the whole marathon load the boat thing, and headed out to Little River Inlet to relax for a day before moving on.<br />
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I took the opportunity to make a drop down door for the companion way. It allows quick access to the cockpit, keeps the heat in, and is water proof to keep water out. It has been amazing. This is a prototype made from a shower curtain we had on board, but I will make this out of canvas after we make sure the design is sound.<br />
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We also filtered our water. On the way down we drank water bottles, but they are expensive, and take up a lot of room. In the Bahamas they are not really available in quantity, and are really expensive. So we bought this small water pitcher with a charcoal filter, and use it to filter our drinking water. It works so well, that we are still using it, and have not bought a case of water since we've been back. It takes about 2 hours to filter a weeks worth of water though. Serena does it while she watches TV, and I am in the cockpit making sure Ray(the autopilot) doesn't make me do another "stuck in the mud" post.</div>
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Back under way we headed up to Southport, but the free town dock was full, and the tides and wind were in our favor, so we pushed on up the Cape Fear river, and kept pushing until we dropped the hook at sundown in Wrightsville Beach. </div>
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Tight spot, North Carolina. Okay, not a real place, but there was huge dredging operation going on, and we were traveling in 7' of water, in a narrow channel. Nail biter.</div>
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Okay guys, you win, I'll go around, or aground. Man this was tight.</div>
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Waking up in Wrightsville Beach. The morning was completely still. Cold as hell, but wow!</div>
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Mush doggy..... We drove on again, stopping in the old Hateras Plant that we stopped in on the way down. Another tight little spot. We had free wifi though, that was nice, but no energy to do anything with it. I think I may have quickly updated Facebook.</div>
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We ran across Bella Donna on the trip. Like a fish out of water, first time on the ICW. I remember that! They are to be featured on Shark Hunters this summer for six episodes. </div>
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We got stuck waiting an hour for the bridge at the Camp Lejeune Firing Range, but at least they offered our own personal air show for the inconvenience.</div>
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Not all ICW markers are where they should be. Some are more obvious than others.</div>
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Then we made the mad dash through Beaufort NC. The weather was horrible, raining, cold, and windy. The day was actually pretty good right up until the end where we had a wind against tide situation, with a 5 mile fetch pushing us into a narrow creek. It was the most difficult piece of driving I have had to do the whole trip. By the time we got out of there I had a migraine headache, my neck was strained, and I was in no mood to even be spoken to. Then just as I was starting to relax a giant barge and tug almost put me into the shore on a tight corner. I just managed to slide in behind the tug as he passed me, keeping Vita off the shoal, and wham, a wind gust pushed her over 40 degrees. We didn't even have any sails up. It was crazy, but short lived. I have never been so happy to get the hook down, in Cedar Creek, where we would get stuck for 2 days. The winds topping out over 35 knots, and no protection from wind and waves. But it was surprising comfortable. Good holding, and lots of room, but loud and bumpy.</div>
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The second day we managed to get out of the creek. The winds were down to about 20 knots, and still we were knocked down to 1.5 knots leaving the creek into the Neuse River. We would not even have been able to make it out of there the previous day. I told Serena that it was only a hour and a half to get to Oriental NC, where we would tie up at the free dock, get some fuel, and maybe go out for dinner. Well.... we dropped the hook 24 miles north of Oriental at 8:00pm, after dark. The free dock full, the fuel dock shut down for upgrades, and the next fuel 5 miles off the ICW. But at least we were closer to Elizabeth City.</div>
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And it ended up being a beautiful sunset.</div>
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The next morning, in a haze, and a narrow channel. Hello Mr. big dude! There was plenty of water though. Thank god we weren't in Georgia.</div>
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The following day was long, 12 hrs, we pulled over in the middle of nowhere in the Alligator River. Then up and gone by 6:30 am. But now we are in Elizabeth City, chill-axin'. Went for dinner, and a walk. We'll do a few chores today, and the Art Walk is on Friday, so we'll take that in before we head further north.</div>
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Some days are hard to take.</div>
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Vita back to one six.....</div>
<br />Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-85802559002236678642014-03-25T03:53:00.000-07:002014-03-25T03:53:34.344-07:00Vita, Stuck in the Mud…..Again<div class="MsoNormal">
I can’t believe I have to repeat this post. We draw 3’ 8”,
and we are not that adventurous. What the hell do people who draw 6’ do in this
water-way. We've done about 100 miles in water between 6 and 8 feet, just in
the last few days, and I was a nervous wreck, If we drew 6’, I’d of just stayed
the hell home.</div>
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So, we are transversing a little place called Fields Cut
just as you leave the Savannah River and head up into <st1:state w:st="on">South Carolina</st1:state>. It is a tricky little cut
with high current, and notoriously bad shoaling, and I know this! I took the
entrance a little too close to the green, but managed to get into the middle of
the channel without incident, then made it all the way through the cut, back
and forth, hugging the outside of the corners. The exit is a tight little spot
on the green side of the channel. But apparently tighter than I thought. The
current was running about 3 knots, and it gave me a little spin just as I
entered, shoving us into the shoal. Vita rose up above her waterline, and both
Serena and I were very aware of what had happened. I quickly turned into the
deep water, but to no avail, we were hard aground. The bow of the boat was
about 40’ from the shore, and the depth sounder, (near the bow), told me that
there was water deep enough to float us, just in front. We tried all the easy
stuff to get unstuck, but we weren't going to try too hard, as we were 2
minutes shy of low tide, and could afford to wait for water levels to come back up. So there we sat sideways to
the 3 knot current, with our bow poking into the tiny little channel. I was
just about to crack a beer and wait an hour, when Serena says,” what if we
raise the sail.” To which I almost replied, “that won’t do anything”. But as I
looked up I realized that the wind was coming over the beam from down current; the
exact right direction, and it just might work! Sure enough, I unfurled the
yankee, and sheeted it in as tight as I could get it, while Serena took the
helm and powered us into the channel, and up through the remaining part of the
cut. We win!!! </div>
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We bought Tow Boat US the day we entered the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region>, in <st1:city w:st="on">Oswego</st1:city>.
Our friend Walley had told us that it was cheap insurance, and who are we to
argue with the expert. Luckily, both times we have been stuck, we managed to
free ourselves. And the discounts we have received in the last year from being
a Tow Boat US member, have paid for the membership. We’ll get the membership
again, but we are hoping to never have to use it. After all, we have a 3’ 8”
draft, why would we need tow insurance?</div>
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398 Nm in 8 days. That has to be some kind of record for a
Bayfield 29 in the <st1:place w:st="on">Intracoastal Waterway</st1:place>. Of
course that comes at the cost of 83 ½ hours of motoring. The only time we
stepped foot on shore was when we stopped to get fuel, a pump out, and some
water. Otherwise it has been a bag drive. However, we are only 4 weeks from
home now, and we can take it a little easy. We can’t even enter the <st1:place w:st="on">Erie Canal</st1:place> system until May 1<sup>st</sup>. Tomorrow we
will be at a marina. We stopped at this spot on the way down. It was cheap, and
had great services. We’ll pull in and load the boat up, fuel, groceries, water,
pump-out, beer, laundry, and real showers. Then we’ll go somewhere and relax
for a day. Then make our way further up the coast. There is no going outside
now until we get to <st1:city w:st="on">Norfolk</st1:city>.
We've used up all the miles that we could have done outside. And it worked out
well, because the ocean has been a nightmare the whole time. One bad cold front
after another. I hope it cleans up its act so we can make the 48 hr jump from <st1:city w:st="on">Norfolk</st1:city> to <st1:state w:st="on">New
York</st1:state>. </div>
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As you can probably guess, there hasn't been much going on
since the last post, except for driving the boat. Serena wrecked her back on
the day of the last post. So when she woke up, she was bed-ridden for another
two days. First the neck, then the back. Thank god my back has been doing
better. Quiet nights with no swell has made my recovery happen pretty quick. </div>
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Highlights:</div>
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A local fisherman decided to come up and talk to me while I
was driving in a winding area. Serena had to grab the helm having no idea where
we were going. It seems the guy has a dream to buy a catamaran and head to the <st1:country-region w:st="on">Bahamas</st1:country-region>, and he
was inspired by us. We managed to stay off the shoals.</div>
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We met up with a single-hander at a fuel dock. He had just
passed us a few hours earlier, and wanted to let us know that we were only the
2<sup>nd</sup> boat he has passed in 2 years of cruising. Okay, we get it,
we’re even slower.</div>
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Dolphins, pelicans, and every manor of sea bird, all day,
everyday. Its like being in our own private zoo.</div>
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Almost putting Vita aground for the third time while I was
trying to take a video of a pelican. We were in 5’, headed for shore. Ray (the
autopilot), cannot be trusted, I mentioned that before, but for some reason I
forgot.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAq8M-4Mz4SojHeo2gAP7ry6aUSLLFem480RnjJViFi_C9Hbs3CcuRCeIL6IkRsuOCGblT6ghFup4Uud1BTHvFk39p9SGGQvznNAPdsQ_zqE5rS94Hn-wjB8FdHOrBcA-7ivABDjRV9oRl/s1600/IMG_3425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAq8M-4Mz4SojHeo2gAP7ry6aUSLLFem480RnjJViFi_C9Hbs3CcuRCeIL6IkRsuOCGblT6ghFup4Uud1BTHvFk39p9SGGQvznNAPdsQ_zqE5rS94Hn-wjB8FdHOrBcA-7ivABDjRV9oRl/s1600/IMG_3425.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">Beautiful crystal clear, perfectly still morning. It was incredible.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUOZXSs4J2Y3EQoK0Apco8vZKpydoo2p6DmfWhnicFmc5eSk4wzrz4qbqn2OxLtYBIbkms_J1OvNSi1_XRIQZqSoxsZC1JcV1s97edaaGIfp3cSPPkiX_WOZjRvWBG_LOdQrs0y3X5cMPT/s1600/IMG_3428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUOZXSs4J2Y3EQoK0Apco8vZKpydoo2p6DmfWhnicFmc5eSk4wzrz4qbqn2OxLtYBIbkms_J1OvNSi1_XRIQZqSoxsZC1JcV1s97edaaGIfp3cSPPkiX_WOZjRvWBG_LOdQrs0y3X5cMPT/s1600/IMG_3428.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">Another foggy day, but no shipping channels.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXdsBqo5S3Lt0IDD-BGIIuGZHTvVpOet-hdTAAR5WTMqOnvuNoFAaVNnGBzw1FUs0d3niSu6RwYKjbem-0vmcZvNYC69SsBqPpLqdzwJKc0Wap7_B6Kg5dBAapbMpJBxlkDcfIdVud0Pa/s1600/IMG_3435.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXdsBqo5S3Lt0IDD-BGIIuGZHTvVpOet-hdTAAR5WTMqOnvuNoFAaVNnGBzw1FUs0d3niSu6RwYKjbem-0vmcZvNYC69SsBqPpLqdzwJKc0Wap7_B6Kg5dBAapbMpJBxlkDcfIdVud0Pa/s1600/IMG_3435.JPG" height="332" width="400" /></a></div>
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The Karate Kid Pelican. Mr. Miaggies family didn’t come up
with the move, they stole it from the pelicans. This dude was poised to kick
some serious seagull butt.</div>
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Ta ta fer now.......</div>
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Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-34719431167141564622014-03-19T16:00:00.000-07:002014-03-19T16:00:23.076-07:00My Little Buddy<div class="MsoNormal">
Now that I have it, I wouldn't be without my little buddy.
Thanks Rick and Darlene for getting me on to this little wonder of human
ingenuity. Yep, it’s a heater. A propane heater made for indoor use, or better
yet, for boat use. Yes it comes with all the usual precautions when using a
fossil fuel burning device inside, but, I have been running it for the last
three hours, its 10 deg C outside, and 28 deg C inside. Okay, a little warm
even for me, but it is 12” away from the propane sniffer, and the carbon
dioxide detector is 5’ above it, and all is well. Travelling home in this cold
weather we have been having, would be a nightmare without it.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMYdPHQyWM5Z4AKKSVmRnDZvDdB_87it-ruCmci3V1noZp52WTYFriUg8jJAS8gXjYK4sX7xhixR2ewB2uBGOwfCwr8-RN51QjWgog7PF7knZknhSc6El4AWDFEkdksQXyrespDFnSG1b_/s1600/IMG_3405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMYdPHQyWM5Z4AKKSVmRnDZvDdB_87it-ruCmci3V1noZp52WTYFriUg8jJAS8gXjYK4sX7xhixR2ewB2uBGOwfCwr8-RN51QjWgog7PF7knZknhSc6El4AWDFEkdksQXyrespDFnSG1b_/s1600/IMG_3405.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Walmart $69.98</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gpgekPE0QwwcSGytNF0JSvOKuuD6laoNb40zFfEk5TA3kYdN32NpNaQLoUyHJAz5eqaosI2J9cwRJ4dijpcVSofC6Rf57bPnLoWz3JXMz_uPlUmutZpu1iSxLVGoO45stOFBv3LdDbmU/s1600/IMG_3407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gpgekPE0QwwcSGytNF0JSvOKuuD6laoNb40zFfEk5TA3kYdN32NpNaQLoUyHJAz5eqaosI2J9cwRJ4dijpcVSofC6Rf57bPnLoWz3JXMz_uPlUmutZpu1iSxLVGoO45stOFBv3LdDbmU/s1600/IMG_3407.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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It works well for drying out the foulies after a long wet
days travel.</div>
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Its been a few days since the last blog entry, but in all
honesty, there hasn't been that much to blog about, and internet has been a
little scarce. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfkVOCKa7LJbSpLExPQQKJKgUmjYCif-uGCpBHLg22coUhNvqi1ZYmjIxRavhS9N3eaZUJwAfl1IETRmVWkMIG1WNQsdo3VBE3R_6SHqO46PAHoPXTYXG27ybuFjqs-vrf-LT_HdyTGInT/s1600/IMG_3342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfkVOCKa7LJbSpLExPQQKJKgUmjYCif-uGCpBHLg22coUhNvqi1ZYmjIxRavhS9N3eaZUJwAfl1IETRmVWkMIG1WNQsdo3VBE3R_6SHqO46PAHoPXTYXG27ybuFjqs-vrf-LT_HdyTGInT/s1600/IMG_3342.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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We left off arriving in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">New</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Smyrna</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Beach</st1:placetype></st1:place>. The first morning there Serena
woke up screaming. I swore someone had ripped off her arm, but no, it was a
neck strain. The really bad kind. I get them once in away, so I know what she
was going through. There are kinks, and then there are pulls, this was a pull.
She managed to get dressed and go have breakfast with our friends Jim and Gail
and their friends from Texas Bruce and Judy. We met Jim and Gail at the <st1:place w:st="on">Dismal Swamp</st1:place> on the way down. They are great, and if
Serena had of been feeling a little better, we would have spent more time with
them. However, by the time we got back to the boat, she was in no shape to do
anything except lay in bed, which she did for the next two days.</div>
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I know we were over extending our welcome by staying on the
free dock for 3 nights, but this is off season, and nobody said anything to us.
On the third day we went to the farmers market with our friends Rick and
Darlene, who had arrived the night before, and topped up on some fresh veggies
before we left to travel the 13 miles to <st1:city w:st="on">Daytona
Beach</st1:city>.</div>
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<st1:city w:st="on">Daytona Beach</st1:city>
was hosting Bike Week, so all night we heard the soothing sounds of Harleys and
sirens. Oh goodie. Apparently the week went well, only 3 deaths, and they were
accidents. We didn’t stick around to find out, we woke up and
headed out. Coming to the conclusion that we had been in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> for a week
and a half, and gone nowhere. At this rate we might get home by the fall. So,
we decided to push on for the next couple of weeks into <st1:state w:st="on">North Carolina</st1:state>. From there we are only about
4 weeks from home, so we can slow down and take it easy. If
something were to slow us down, being close to <st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region> would make it easier on us.</div>
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We started out making good days, 64 miles from Daytona up
passed St. Augustine, then 55 miles up to Cumberland Island, GA. That’s where
the fun ends. The tides in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Georgia</st1:country-region>
are around 8’ and the currents associated with those tides will drive you
completely insane. We made 45 miles yesterday, and that’s statute miles, for 10
hours of 10 deg C fun-filled driving. Today was a little better, but still enough to want to take a portable drill to my temple.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIc92cPkRiYRoAYsvL34XMoovfW7bRcZx0Buyc-kkqY0w3QuRF3HqFnTgFI5Fjk89suopouIX262HsvlYzvZNiR86FES1zApKkBDZQv4Nhk9JAViqNGDV-_jYXsKf5b5h8KIWY6tE7aRMc/s1600/IMG_3347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIc92cPkRiYRoAYsvL34XMoovfW7bRcZx0Buyc-kkqY0w3QuRF3HqFnTgFI5Fjk89suopouIX262HsvlYzvZNiR86FES1zApKkBDZQv4Nhk9JAViqNGDV-_jYXsKf5b5h8KIWY6tE7aRMc/s1600/IMG_3347.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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We stopped here at Matanzas Inlet on the way down, and toured this fort. It was one of our favorite spots, but on this day the wind and current were in our favor, so we pushed on.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVvZBWA1jqaS6A_bGVeETjVHrR8wS6CoCn6RCNAGNnY9NjGIGf3OAN6VcuZfnpYyRaEBF4R6ekjvou5ORidkPyYK-1FA-hJtseLhjw4aiknFRGWnam8ZCk-qQ1y-vyRYqJBdBxWdbqG-R/s1600/IMG_3354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVvZBWA1jqaS6A_bGVeETjVHrR8wS6CoCn6RCNAGNnY9NjGIGf3OAN6VcuZfnpYyRaEBF4R6ekjvou5ORidkPyYK-1FA-hJtseLhjw4aiknFRGWnam8ZCk-qQ1y-vyRYqJBdBxWdbqG-R/s1600/IMG_3354.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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St. Augustine. It is interesting to see this place, as the last time we were here we missed everything from Jacksonville to this bridge. The tall ship is from Spain, neat, but they start to blend into the environment after awhile.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3jzmUYiihUxk9gniWip1ZVnyVjgnsq8DLRn8DakF3heQ9oR0Q3nFc5RdyOZUj9856MwLkv7nB4L-uKLXHRT2TUQIx9kQMlOxUp5JJqMv8skgsdwGOkDDW1_vQfSCoMKCcmgf6hOcuh1nj/s1600/IMG_3379.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3jzmUYiihUxk9gniWip1ZVnyVjgnsq8DLRn8DakF3heQ9oR0Q3nFc5RdyOZUj9856MwLkv7nB4L-uKLXHRT2TUQIx9kQMlOxUp5JJqMv8skgsdwGOkDDW1_vQfSCoMKCcmgf6hOcuh1nj/s1600/IMG_3379.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Looks big huh? We were 200 yards away from this on the way down during the foggy day, and we had no idea that it was here until we drove by it on this trip. Freaky.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg984QPuWKDFTw2R2ipi__f1ERfabpMP7WzWhBu3SyIZ4TfOI3osYXDbT_q2FhCtAkqm1MGwvmwTzaC0yrFFkRphQCF5j0bS6GcikSsLTxo_xANUl2yA3lXzNhnjWzO8xUJNl4TNYU9jSXK/s1600/IMG_3384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg984QPuWKDFTw2R2ipi__f1ERfabpMP7WzWhBu3SyIZ4TfOI3osYXDbT_q2FhCtAkqm1MGwvmwTzaC0yrFFkRphQCF5j0bS6GcikSsLTxo_xANUl2yA3lXzNhnjWzO8xUJNl4TNYU9jSXK/s1600/IMG_3384.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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What's worse is that we crossed this shipping lane also in the fog on the way down, and watching this bad boy come flying up the channel made us realize that there is no way we would have had time get out of the way of one of these in the pea soup fog. Makes us wonder why an extra day at a free dock was such a bad thing that we had to travel 35 miles barely able to see the front of the boat.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi90GOBZZDOYVLGnAAcY3RHNTdsCNaScu-2aOP2-PNi8a3R0Dd3W9t4QEizp_7QBI4mKyT3ebjT_7aWgigvP7D707S2_KAuC1t0vkmx2WVZr6b1LaZ4-S8Xc6UtXpbpvTrmf4Ihaul7xtl3/s1600/IMG_3393.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi90GOBZZDOYVLGnAAcY3RHNTdsCNaScu-2aOP2-PNi8a3R0Dd3W9t4QEizp_7QBI4mKyT3ebjT_7aWgigvP7D707S2_KAuC1t0vkmx2WVZr6b1LaZ4-S8Xc6UtXpbpvTrmf4Ihaul7xtl3/s1600/IMG_3393.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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How much water do you figure is at the edge of this channel. It is surprising how many markers down here are way out of the channel. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFn6K0Rgmuqkt3HItLp7fIc3lfUapK463wXDCCg3z1394Z5V1k34ThU2s3ym0fhH2ZOFdTJ_Gd7ccq9Or17BpfGcvOisKQd8ZZA7pC1qbU4wO9KZbbR4qG3-n3V9eaRgTUNXqnYBw0jewr/s1600/IMG_3376.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFn6K0Rgmuqkt3HItLp7fIc3lfUapK463wXDCCg3z1394Z5V1k34ThU2s3ym0fhH2ZOFdTJ_Gd7ccq9Or17BpfGcvOisKQd8ZZA7pC1qbU4wO9KZbbR4qG3-n3V9eaRgTUNXqnYBw0jewr/s1600/IMG_3376.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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This guy passed us earlier in the day. And as far as I could tell, he went aground pretty close to high tide. This would totally suck. He was obviously taking it in stride, sitting in the cockpit reading a book.</div>
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When we pulled into the anchorage at Cumberland Island, the horses were hanging out on the beach. The first time here we hunted for them for about 4 hours.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQWi27j66Tsq-3G_n1PuS-MIMwNHD8m5wjwrOXvgzK5AGQ73BDWSw_l-4z-aqa-gswuCr-vfbXeCeDds4vckqrLMDlT2xEHe2N_jrytM80eWWfMEMLMC5beLNkm3nRVboRuenjbTah13b7/s1600/IMG_3416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQWi27j66Tsq-3G_n1PuS-MIMwNHD8m5wjwrOXvgzK5AGQ73BDWSw_l-4z-aqa-gswuCr-vfbXeCeDds4vckqrLMDlT2xEHe2N_jrytM80eWWfMEMLMC5beLNkm3nRVboRuenjbTah13b7/s1600/IMG_3416.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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No this not for effect, its that cold. Serena has been spending her days down below cleaning, baking, and making me anything I needed, while I brave the cold driving 10 - 10 1/2 hrs per day.</div>
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So far the trip has been relatively uneventful. I noticed a note on Active Captain about Little Mud River being shallow. As luck would have it, we were transiting it at high tide, and the tide was 7 feet, so not a problem. However, interestingly, we had 10 feet of water, the tide was 7 feet of course, and Vita draws 4 feet. Now it doesn't take a genius to figure out that when doing the complicated math, that you run out of fingers. Glad I didn't try this at low tide. I read later that this is considered the shallowest spot on the ICW.</div>
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The trip out around Cumberland Island, through Jekyll Sound, was actually pretty good, even with the north wind. For the uninitiated this is probably the nastiest piece of water in the ICW, especially in a Northeast wind. In fact there are two, all be it longer, well traveled alternate routes to get around it. The problem is that in order to avoid the shoals, you have to go out around the sea buoy, which is a long trip into hell on the wrong day. We had a good trip, getting pounded by the wind against tide going out to the buoy, and then spending 2 1/2 hours getting back into the sound at 1.5 knots. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT1wYqyTa-RBxPg-MIKs2JUyi6rxy6rOOowH46lJFdRHMB0npQeAkcL66cNu0lwlZ5R5ZHn7FRJM5zqtNa-Tu-_8dU4xj1esg22hyeXkf1_b5_nmx6AfeJyptpJ-hCznk5KLIHBQnaZx0M/s1600/IMG_3422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT1wYqyTa-RBxPg-MIKs2JUyi6rxy6rOOowH46lJFdRHMB0npQeAkcL66cNu0lwlZ5R5ZHn7FRJM5zqtNa-Tu-_8dU4xj1esg22hyeXkf1_b5_nmx6AfeJyptpJ-hCznk5KLIHBQnaZx0M/s1600/IMG_3422.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Serena's newest triumph. Instead of bread, buns you can make sandwiches with. Totally awesome, yummy, and way more versatile than a regular loaf. As a bonus, they are tear-aparts.</div>
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So now we are anchored in a great little spot 25 miles from the Georgia/South Carolina border. We stopped here on the way down because we had heard there was free wifi, and it is some of the best wifi we have come across during the whole trip. We would have passed right by it with our previous schedule, but since the currents have been slowing us down, it made for the perfect stop. I got the oil changed in the engine, and enough time to update the blogs. Incidentally, it is a bit strange going from an oil change per season, to once a month. This last one was 16 days, and we were over by 8 hours. Now we are good for another 450 miles, so somewhere in North Carolina.</div>
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Next update, whenever possible! Have a great spring everyone.</div>
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Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-46174983650828860072014-03-12T18:23:00.000-07:002014-03-12T18:23:06.628-07:00I'm Runnin' Down the Road....Tryin' to loosin' my load, I got seven women on my mind. Just kidding honey, it's only a song...<br />
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And its not really a road, its the ICW, a transportation route of sorts, but we're "takin' it easy." Oh, I kill me....<br />
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We escaped Vero Beach, aka "Velcro Beach", by the skin of our shorts. Its not hard to figure out how it got its name. $15 mooring balls, great facilities, free buses to everywhere in the city, and every amenity you could ever need. There is no way you can get bored in Vero Beach. But what really makes this place special is that most of the tenants are transients, nobody feels out of place, and everyone feels like they belong. It would be real easy to get lost in the days.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDnp43FPv9TOLyPKT4LkJ0b0fu_oar55ptwdWYJX0Z8IgNsSdyaJPNk8CK122S8CPkV9KVl44W2yUk36UocAD1tM3Pd_O1ZRrgwgLsFiTUjCWWxnLsqF4JHkrq7xqQIiBkq1CM11GPXe2i/s1600/IMG_3297.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDnp43FPv9TOLyPKT4LkJ0b0fu_oar55ptwdWYJX0Z8IgNsSdyaJPNk8CK122S8CPkV9KVl44W2yUk36UocAD1tM3Pd_O1ZRrgwgLsFiTUjCWWxnLsqF4JHkrq7xqQIiBkq1CM11GPXe2i/s1600/IMG_3297.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Vero Beach south mooring field. Vita is in the middle right at the back.</div>
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Man she's got big hips, but we still think she is hot.</div>
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We rented a car the second day there, as we had to drive to the St. Lucie airport to check in with customs. By the sounds of things clearing in down hear can be a pain, because there are precious few customs offices near the water. The rental car was cheaper than a taxi, and we got to run to Walmart to stock up on cheap beer and a few essentials we couldn't get in the islands.<br />
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The following day was laundry and try and get caught up on some sleep after the long crossing.<br />
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Saturday we hung out with our new friends on MV September Dream. Rick and Darlene have been following our blog for some time, in fact I received the first message from Rick two days after leaving Trenton, and this is the first time our paths have crossed. See, small world. In fact we ran into a few people we had met throughout the trip down. It really is a small world. Anyway, we followed around on their coat tails all day, having a wonderful Vero Beach experience. Then we dinghied over to their boat for sundowners. They have a Mainship 34, identical to our friends Greg and Marg back in our home yacht club. It is quickly becoming our favorite little trawler. Everything you need, and a very capable little cruiser. Kind of like a power boat version of Vita, only with a living room.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmTCAaDV49ikx1jGL4GqKtLP7nZYplMEz1Yf1vjK9Jw3SrkaDogJadvT37HP6DRp0ws1fJYgfEcmuX_dLcHsP9fUCOrBQY6mN3ofICywCDHBGdkuPN4o1WjOlnBUzebflZ87yW_TdfuEDx/s1600/IMG_3299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmTCAaDV49ikx1jGL4GqKtLP7nZYplMEz1Yf1vjK9Jw3SrkaDogJadvT37HP6DRp0ws1fJYgfEcmuX_dLcHsP9fUCOrBQY6mN3ofICywCDHBGdkuPN4o1WjOlnBUzebflZ87yW_TdfuEDx/s1600/IMG_3299.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Rick, Darlene, and Serena looking over the mooring field from the bridge. It was quite the view.</div>
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The fourth day there we did another load of laundry, got water, and put the boat back to order. It was a long day, but one of the most productive we have had in a long time. On the Monday morning we took the bus down to Walmart and bought a small propane heater for the boat. We are headed home too early, and we know that there are going to be days when we are going to need it. Then we payed our bill and headed out of Vero Beach, sad to see it go, but knowing there are lots of wonderful places along the way.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKQmZaEOFyMDmN_Rcdw656eHqu93YTfqDz6Vl3O9aTqTV3MDJn-xO5tj81pFWwC0gkQDnkTOxVHuFQpMi0KUUqMmNjRoJxybS5Oyr-qq9z4rHub_KG4pTOWhZhU8U0_GAED9v3RUuRR5Xq/s1600/IMG_3310.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKQmZaEOFyMDmN_Rcdw656eHqu93YTfqDz6Vl3O9aTqTV3MDJn-xO5tj81pFWwC0gkQDnkTOxVHuFQpMi0KUUqMmNjRoJxybS5Oyr-qq9z4rHub_KG4pTOWhZhU8U0_GAED9v3RUuRR5Xq/s1600/IMG_3310.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Back to the ICW, the channel markers have the little yellow square on the green markers, and the little yellow triangle on the red.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLH_QWI1MtQu2_kMgqXG15inUicu_2qAmlU7z1l-lkSo3iA9KeYCKFL4z7cvAEQ6RJvzDSJeccA3cFUg_NaznKRw8LZVQSYP_Xp6FpzmRkttenH6RfHjILc3wCQEXT3rgjg8f24ZB2JBPN/s1600/IMG_3315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLH_QWI1MtQu2_kMgqXG15inUicu_2qAmlU7z1l-lkSo3iA9KeYCKFL4z7cvAEQ6RJvzDSJeccA3cFUg_NaznKRw8LZVQSYP_Xp6FpzmRkttenH6RfHjILc3wCQEXT3rgjg8f24ZB2JBPN/s1600/IMG_3315.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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We saw this boat in transit. A Bayfield 36 named Serena. How creepy is that.</div>
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Our friends on September Dream. They were anchored less than a mile from us on Monday night, left later in the morning, and still passed us long before we got to Cocoa where we enjoyed sundowners together on Vita.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiRJVZ5vFyeC4diAeBGJbp09VTo-Vb13hY2KLqoRk2pC9fjrsR4gIQ4a_zMwcb4GlhsHuFZKBJluQrCGbCVilA_iDRDTJWHOIVFNmHGMN0Ho3iT0cxSNElg39v8Q7KSKALULluFH_N1856/s1600/IMG_3325.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiRJVZ5vFyeC4diAeBGJbp09VTo-Vb13hY2KLqoRk2pC9fjrsR4gIQ4a_zMwcb4GlhsHuFZKBJluQrCGbCVilA_iDRDTJWHOIVFNmHGMN0Ho3iT0cxSNElg39v8Q7KSKALULluFH_N1856/s1600/IMG_3325.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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After 10 months, Vita is still a nice little home.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfsQCtxgy0JzAlh05Kv535JkgIMLi3FQ2gS8lF_yFutZaHbYKpPBvd8X7uriF-wUjbahXIEGRfaGLERa0Ve6_RPH8G_ldAEDBMampGZgnyj5XGwk3NkjQMQ5cx0vjQeVaqJfBQjK623OrC/s1600/IMG_3331.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfsQCtxgy0JzAlh05Kv535JkgIMLi3FQ2gS8lF_yFutZaHbYKpPBvd8X7uriF-wUjbahXIEGRfaGLERa0Ve6_RPH8G_ldAEDBMampGZgnyj5XGwk3NkjQMQ5cx0vjQeVaqJfBQjK623OrC/s1600/IMG_3331.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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And the ICW has bridges. We hate bridges. But at least up here in the north part of Florida, there isn't many of them.</div>
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It is amazing how much wildlife there is here. We had forgotten while in the Bahamas. Over in the islands there is little to no wild life above the the water, animals, birds, etc.... The beauty of nature is definitely below the water. But here in Florida, the skies, the land, and the water are teaming with life and activity. It is wonderful to be greeted every morning by dolphins, and watch the pelicans drift by the boat all day long, It has also made us realize that we love nature's creatures. We can hardly wait to get home and watch the local birds, deer, raccoons, and squirrels. </div>
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Anyway, here we are in New Smyrna Beach. There is a norther coming through that is making travel a little tough for a day, we wanted to get our yacht club dues sent away, and visit with Jim and Gail, a cruising couple we met on the way down. We are sitting on the town dock for convenience, but we are not really happy about it. Somewhere along the way we have changed and we now feel more secure at anchor than we do on a dock. We can't pinpoint when that change came to be, but it haunts us none-the-less. Places where wind and wave have little effect, then docks are great. But where there is a chance of becoming stuck on a dock, or trashed because of bad weather, we feel much better on the hook. Too funny really, considering that when we left home we would consider a dock every time bad weather was coming.</div>
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So tomorrow we may stay here, but there is a better chance that we will move onto an anchorage a little north of here. We are having breakfast with our friends, and I think Jim is going to give us quick drive to the post office. He offered us a car should we need it, but we are well provisioned and have issues with borrowing other peoples stuff, especially expensive stuff. Amazing though, people we hardly know going out of their way to lend us a hand. I said a long time ago in another blog entry, that if you cruise long enough, the people you meet will restore your faith in the human race.</div>
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<br />Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-72210822012338369792014-03-09T07:10:00.001-07:002014-03-10T03:49:06.560-07:00February 2014 Recap<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Dates: Feb 1-28, 2014<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Black Point</span></st1:city><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Bahamas</st1:country-region>
– Little Farmers Cay – Staniel Cay – <st1:city w:st="on">Norman</st1:city>’s
Cay – <st1:city w:st="on">Nassau</st1:city> – The Berry Islands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Sailing: 15 hrs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Motoring: 16 1/2 hrs (includes motor-sailing)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Mileage: 140 Nm (Nautical Miles)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Budget Amount: $1590.00 US (All budgeting is
in US funds)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Charts/Books: $ 0.00 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Boat Parts: $ 47.00
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<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Marinas</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">: $ 62.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Diesel: $ 50.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Beer: $ 422.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Grocery: $ 605.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Entertainment: $ 220.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Fees/Services: $ 67.00 (pump-outs, laundry,
wifi, taxis, etc...)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Clothing/Shopping $
45.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Misc: $ 46.00
(Propane, hobbies, etc...)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Total:
$1564.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Debit/Credit:
$ 26.00<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Under budget again, just! Not really that impressive, since we
were in the islands away from shopping, for most of the time. That of course is
reflected above, and so is the big provisioning we did in </span><st1:city style="font-size: 13.5pt;" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nassau</st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-size: medium;">. In hind sight that really wasn't the
smartest thing we've done on the trip, but at the time we still thought we had
4 - 5 weeks in the </span><st1:country-region style="font-size: 13.5pt;" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bahamas</st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-size: medium;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The entertainment was a little high, only because if you do
anything ashore in the islands, it’s expensive. And, you either just do it and
don’t fret about the cost, or you don’t. But after being away from civilization
for a few days, we tend to get a little silly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">So the plan for the month of February was to enjoy the bounty of
the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bahamas</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
and we did. In hind sight we wish we would have enjoyed it more, but there will
be other winters, and perhaps next time we will plan our time a little better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">What we discovered this month is that the world is a whole lot
bigger than we ever realized. And that is really hard to explain, but perhaps
the best way to do so, is to say that there are so many things to do and places to see, that there is not enough time in our life to get to them
all. What that really amounted to for us was some reflection on what we wanted
out of the cruising life, or life in general. That coupled with the new
realization that we were not physically capable of living the world cruising
vagabond lifestyle, is slowly rewriting our dreams to suit us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">It is funny how much of an idealistic attitude we generate about
our dreams, regardless of how ignorant we are about the reality of them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">So, here we sit in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Vero
Beach</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">Florida</st1:state></st1:place>. 4
days on a mooring ball, for no other reason than we are enjoying it here.
Before we left I would have shunned the idea of wasting money for no reason.
But happiness is not about proving you are right, it’s about figuring out what
is right for you. And that is what I learned in the last four weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">That's it for this month. Next month I will try and do this again.
The format may change a little as I go. 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Now back to your regular blogging........<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-73184464297200719292014-03-06T19:03:00.000-08:002014-03-07T05:18:37.722-08:00Where oh where is Vita?She is in Vero Beach, Florida, and its a long story..... More beer from the fridge, it might be awhile.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcNMgMbtQNN-cdHVw71MCMFK8wqdV_8SMKjyhqWnn8mixdLCXusKc3UWLzKf3n8oI8JgnyIhm2SAxF97VtRy2Qr_2LGO2xXUHfTwZcANq9hR44OsNFn2-OOz3OJGiXWv0Gr6QkCUp5woWn/s1600/IMG_3284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcNMgMbtQNN-cdHVw71MCMFK8wqdV_8SMKjyhqWnn8mixdLCXusKc3UWLzKf3n8oI8JgnyIhm2SAxF97VtRy2Qr_2LGO2xXUHfTwZcANq9hR44OsNFn2-OOz3OJGiXWv0Gr6QkCUp5woWn/s1600/IMG_3284.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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What the.....? Florida? I know, I get it. We are supposed to be in the Bahamas still, but we got stuck in behind one of the Berry Islands due to weather, and we realized that if we push it to see the Abacos, then we could get stuck waiting for a window back to the US. We had a really good opportunity to get across from Bullocks Harbor, Bahamas over to Fort Pierce, Florida, 170 nautical miles of ocean, so we went for it. That and we had a change of plans for our cruising life, so we are intent on getting home as soon as mother winter will allow us.<br />
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The change! First of all, we are coming home, and although that was planned, we are staying for a couple of years, and that wasn't. There is a pile of excuses as long as my arm, but basically it comes down to our bodies not being able to cope with the lifestyle we thought we wanted to live. Readers of the blog, friends and family will know that we went cruising early because we were afraid that if we didn't go as soon as possible, we would never be physically able to. Ironically, by the time we left, we were already at that point, we just didn't know it. Broken body parts have no place on a bucking, bouncing, violently shifting sailboat, and Serena and I have more than our share of less than adequate parts. Be nice Peter, all our parts started out more than adequate, its just the broken ones that I am talking about.<br />
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Does that mean we are giving up cruising? Hell know, not a chance. This lifestyle is amazing. Filled with ups and downs, exhausting, and a real pain in the butt sometimes, but amazing none-the-less. We have seen and experienced things that we would never have had the chance to, in the comfort of our home. The wonder of nature, raw and uncontrollable. Social acceptability on a scale unseen anywhere, even in the military. Just the ability to travel, see new things, at the speed of life rather than at the speed of an airplane. And, all this at a cost less than an average house bound lifestyle. Its hard to beat. Incidentally, the speed of life is in fact 5 knots, and I dare anyone to prove me wrong. lol<br />
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However, world cruising is a lot different than local cruising, and we have learned enough to know that we will never physically be capable of long term world cruising.<br />
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New problem; we sold our house, and most of our belongings. So where are we going to stay. Why, with all of you of course. After all, you love us don't you? Think of the stories we could regale you with, and the sundowners we could share if we were in your spare bedroom, maybe your basement. We could bring cruising right to your living room, and you would never have to surf your own boat down a 20' swell in the gulf stream, which I gotta tell you, is freakin' awesome.<br />
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Just kidding. We like all of our friends and our family, and we would prefer to keep them liking us, so we won't be moving in. However we are going to need somewhere to live. With our last house we could not afford to keep it and keep the boat, however selling it provided us with enough of a profit to build a simple, small house and keep the boat. So that is our new plan, build a simple small house back in Marmora, Ontario, where we already own land. Spend part of our year cruising, whether it be in the great lakes, the east coast of Canada, the Chesapeake, the Bahamas or the Caribbean, and spend the remainder of the year at our home. We already have plans to come back down in two years once the house is finished, and we want to do the Great Lakes, Georgian Bay, and the Trent Severn Waterway next summer. But this summer will find us in the woods living in a camper trying to put together the shell of a house before the snows of winter swallow us up.<br />
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Barring that big change, the tales of Vita will continue. And for you tech oriented junkies, I will be adding some reflecting and reviewing blog entries about what worked, what didn't work, what I should have done, and things I needn't have bothered with. Either on our trip back north, or after I return home. Of course I may have to pull myself away from the TV and high speed internet. It is funny how much you appreciate things when you don't have them for a couple of months. I even drove a car today for the first time since Aug, and that was freaky, I should have taken the rental companies insurance, then I could have drove it like I stole it, instead of driving like some ol' man who's forgotten how to drive.<br />
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So where did we leave off. Nassau, right, seems like a long time ago now, but it was less than 2 weeks.<br />
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This is Oasis of the Sea, parked in Nassau. As we sailed by it the people on the boat were taking pictures of us, while we took pictures of them.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqrpMjuYo6eZiIRTMn80nyDXll59lLHCjfbsIHKem2-Ucs8t6ZPc2xhqqJqttDMcKSqS4JEldqTySWdYLZYHFCB9-1NFISKy-ZX9beGlvLnpo8ISr8JSc8eR4U8jqUiXc8zGd7pdbzl75-/s1600/IMG_3231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqrpMjuYo6eZiIRTMn80nyDXll59lLHCjfbsIHKem2-Ucs8t6ZPc2xhqqJqttDMcKSqS4JEldqTySWdYLZYHFCB9-1NFISKy-ZX9beGlvLnpo8ISr8JSc8eR4U8jqUiXc8zGd7pdbzl75-/s1600/IMG_3231.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Used boat parking lot? No tire kickers please. Just kiddin', they entertain a lot of big cruisers here. Someday we'd even like to give it a try. Maybe an Alaskan cruise, or Bermuda.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga3fj27SYRGehOa7nHmMf96kTXnZ6ILkNABRLGrtvfoxc-mp5QFBI3AT3Tq2SIH4kssgH3UQz61khKQGtmsWklNbxPYCKFkAhuFu7CQq7khshpRCUuOanB-fZeJeCADMS7eQ9-sMRl5TpN/s1600/IMG_3234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga3fj27SYRGehOa7nHmMf96kTXnZ6ILkNABRLGrtvfoxc-mp5QFBI3AT3Tq2SIH4kssgH3UQz61khKQGtmsWklNbxPYCKFkAhuFu7CQq7khshpRCUuOanB-fZeJeCADMS7eQ9-sMRl5TpN/s1600/IMG_3234.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Leaving Nassau harbor for the gentle Atlantic Ocean.</div>
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We left Nassau on the Sunday, and man were we bagged. The provisioning left us completely drained, and all we wanted to do was find some quiet spot in the middle of nowhere to drop the hook and recuperate. My back was trashed yet again, and Serena was beat silly, we just needed some down time. We traveled to the Berry Islands, about 35 miles away, and anchored behind Bonds Cay, which is apparently owned, at least in part, by Shakira. But it was void of other humans, for as far as the eye could see. It was perfect.<br />
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And warm, and quiet.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwyUVGnHA42A-SP-r6-fs4qCrOu3LXvK2Q-69CzPrWM4xrRcRX5ZcQkzD-fchoFIz6jUDmbMeo5dkG6sT_8BUsaFHicTGGVgIEdaQxi3IzgrNhARBt_ywgBoU3e8-3fn0aolM_EBPQaex1/s1600/IMG_3239.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwyUVGnHA42A-SP-r6-fs4qCrOu3LXvK2Q-69CzPrWM4xrRcRX5ZcQkzD-fchoFIz6jUDmbMeo5dkG6sT_8BUsaFHicTGGVgIEdaQxi3IzgrNhARBt_ywgBoU3e8-3fn0aolM_EBPQaex1/s1600/IMG_3239.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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I didn't even put clothes on for 3 days.</div>
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Then it happened. The weather turned worse than we had expected. It got really lumpy, and there was nowhere to go. We couldn't escape into the ocean because the cuts leading out to them were impassable due to the raging seas, and there wasn't anywhere to go close by that was any better protected. So for 2 days we got the crap beat out of us. Most of the time it was all I could do to keep from crying, my back was in so much pain. On the third day it settled down, but it was raining and dull, so we decided to stay and leave the following day. Mistake number two. The winds came back with a vengeance. The following morning it was all I could do to get the dinghy loaded, and I was in tears, by the time it was done, but we had to leave. Neither of us could tolerate it any longer. The wind direction had shifted slightly, and allowed us to make the cut out into the open ocean, and there was an area up the coast that should have offered us a little better protection from the wind and waves. </div>
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Unfortunately, although the cut was passable, the ocean was not. The waves were huge and confused, the wind was blowing like stink, and poor Vita could only make about 1.5 knots. After I consulted the charts, I found a small little spot where we should be able to get some reprieve from the weather gods. So we reentered the same area from the next cut, and slipped in behind Lizard Cay to drop the hook. 3 hours of travel for a 3 mile change in location. But finally we had a break.</div>
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Which lasted about six hours. Right about the time that it was too late to do anything about it. The wind had shifted throughout the day, only a few degrees, but enough to send a horrendous amount of surge through the cut. So now we had the winds keeping us pointing NE, and the swell hitting us broadside from the SE, causing Vita to role violently. How I made it through the night is beyond me. I did manage to get some sleep, but by 2:00 am my back pain was so bad that I couldn't do any one thing for more than a few minutes. That included laying in bed.</div>
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The following morning we knew we had to leave again. We also knew that if we went back to our last anchorage, we would be a little better off. But the best thing to do would be to head north further up behind the islands, and away from the open cuts. The ocean was a mad torrent, and the cuts completely impassable, so we couldn't go outside. And, the charts showed no navigable route up the inside. However, we had spring tide, (meaning that the tide was at its biggest depth), and it was high. So I figured with our 3' 8" draft we could just get through if we were careful. No guts no glory. Serena drove the boat watching the depth, the chartplotter, and me. And I stood on the foredeck looking for anything that might get in our way, like rocks, coral, or sand bars. It took us a little while, going at the speed of snail, but we manage to work our way in through and around, to get to a beautiful protected anchorage in behind Hoffman's Cay. Finally rest. It is funny, but as soon as the boat stops acting like a washing machine, my back pain comes down to a reasonable level. It takes weeks to go away, but I have learned to cope with it over the years, and still manage to stay active, although somewhat slower and more methodical in my movements.</div>
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Which meant I could go play with our new neighbors. Ruth and Scott off of MV Esperanza. They were the only boat we had seen in over a week, and we two were the only boats for miles. The Berry Islands are definitely off the beaten path. But, just to prove how small this world really is; they are friends of Gary and Christelle aboard Time and Tide, from our own yacht club.</div>
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Ruth and Scott dinghied over, and we all went onto the island to see the big blue hole. Then we headed back to their boat for sundowners and dinner. We had a great time. I can add the number of times I have over indulged at someone else's boat with the fingers on one hand, and still have spares, so I must have enjoyed myself. lol ............. We left late, borrowing their dinghy to get home, because Scott really wasn't in any shape to play taxi either, and returned it in the morning before we both lifted anchor headed for Bullocks Harbor.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmvRTKqrkIYNuU8xjWq0-q2Cuvdln1Exv2MIZp0JMAz-qz_VdMT4lMHcVmOtrIVipF2M7KtLZQrZMqnhIVuKy4iab6t7QUVWnFzMd9R7Ov4Fo0Oy5x1OjU4MmcoUzS1NSl1bxTVXJnz5k/s1600/IMG_3254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmvRTKqrkIYNuU8xjWq0-q2Cuvdln1Exv2MIZp0JMAz-qz_VdMT4lMHcVmOtrIVipF2M7KtLZQrZMqnhIVuKy4iab6t7QUVWnFzMd9R7Ov4Fo0Oy5x1OjU4MmcoUzS1NSl1bxTVXJnz5k/s1600/IMG_3254.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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I don't know that much about blue holes other than they are land locked salt water ponds fed from the ocean through deep underwater shafts, and they are deep.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSDRDpUKZUZ7BvfYxu5wm-SF_XPpQeOE34GPv_XKC1e1RXCoch5YQnXkvVcVbrkczfCQRwLOA8nssndy2g-mkz23B4pgeaHRPZMgmWp-Ygmt6bKUNorByLr6_709BAhzJ6cbyDnfeK5fas/s1600/IMG_3259.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSDRDpUKZUZ7BvfYxu5wm-SF_XPpQeOE34GPv_XKC1e1RXCoch5YQnXkvVcVbrkczfCQRwLOA8nssndy2g-mkz23B4pgeaHRPZMgmWp-Ygmt6bKUNorByLr6_709BAhzJ6cbyDnfeK5fas/s1600/IMG_3259.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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This one had a big cave at the waters edge.</div>
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Too cool.</div>
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Serena wanted to go swimming, but she had no shoes to wear into the water, and the coral around the edges was pretty sharp. Me, I would love to, but the idea of being in there scares the shit out of me.</div>
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We even met this little guy at the beach. There really isn't that much wild life on these islands, but what is here is pretty cute.</div>
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The trip to Bullocks was uneventful. The winds had died in the night, and the ocean was calming down. We had dolphins play in our bow wake for the first time since arriving in the Bahamas. It was really neat, in the crystal clear water you could see them bright as day; and these were by far the biggest dolphins we'd ever seen. We were planning to leave at 0'dark stupid in the morning, so we anchored in the outer harbor and dinghied in to visit with our friends from Esperanza, and Time and Tide. </div>
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How's this for tranquil?</div>
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Everyday is a party with friends.</div>
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Bullocks Harbor is actually quite a neat place. Serena and I are seriously considering spending a month here next time, just to really get to know the place.</div>
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We had been chasing Time and Tide all over the Bahamas, missing each other by a day here, or a day there. With poor communication ability/availability, it just never seemed to work out, and here they were. We had a great evening, sundowners, dinner, and drinks at the marina bar, before Serena and I dinghied back in the dark to get Vita ready for her big trip the next day. The night was particularly dark, and the bright lights on shore left us blind, so we couldn't tell what manner of creatures were jumping out of the water all around us. It might be better not to know, I'm just glad that none of them ended up in the boat.</div>
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The next day we had to dodge the big cruise ships on our way out. They have a couple small cays set up for their customers to come and play at a tropical island. They didn't really get in our way though, its pretty hard for these guys to sneak up and surprise you.</div>
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So the ocean trip was pretty much uneventful. It took us 36 hours to get from Bullocks Harbor to Fort Pierce, fuel up, and make it to Vero Beach, Florida to tie up at the marina there. A total of 182 nautical miles. I saw one dolphin, some garbage, a few ships, a giant ass sea turtle, and this little blue guy below.</div>
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I am sitting at the helm at 1:10 in the morning. The world is black around me, except for the red night light below in the cabin, and low glow of the chartplotter. The only sound is the engine purring along, and the odd slat of the mainsail, when smack, right in my side, just below my shoulder, a sticky wet, fishy smelling mess. I knew instantly what had happened, but that didn't stop me jumping and squealing like a little girl. I ran down below to get my flashlight and the camera, so that I could take a quick print of the little flying fish who had come to visit me during my late night watch. This guy was lucky, and I got him back in the water so that he could live to tell the story to the rest of the school. I always wanted a good flying fish story to tell, and now I have one, but just imagine how much funnier it would have been if he'd landed 12 inches higher and smacked me in the side of the head. Funnier for you guys, of course.</div>
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The gulf stream was the only part that was rough, and I am not sure if it ever smooths out. Some giant rollers were coming down out of the north. 15 to 20 feet high, they would tower over poor little Vita, and she would just ride up and over them. I never thought I would be sailing my boat over the foot hills of Alberta, but there I was. Luckily there was no wind, so they were just long big waves. A 20 knot wind on top of that would have made them so dangerous that Vita would probably not have made it home, and that is why we travel during good weather windows. Then just as we were closing on the coast of Florida, a nasty wind came out of the north to welcome us to America, and make the transition into the Fort Pierce inlet as nasty as it could. We fueled up and pushed ourselves on to Vero Beach, and their $15 a day mooring balls. We needed a few days off, check in with customs, do laundry, and pick up some essentials that were not available to us in the Bahamas. Like cheap beer.</div>
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And that is where we currently are. Soon we will be headed further north, but there is so much stuff to get done. We need to watch the weather, stay away from the snow, visit friends that are here (it really is a small world), rest, and abuse their high speed internet connection.</div>
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We have some places on the way home that we would like to visit, and life is rarely boring on a boat, so we'll try and keep the blog posts coming. Can't wait to get home, missing friends and family, coffee on the yacht club bench, and a new life building challenge.</div>
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<br />Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1522709853701201177.post-63094782202512056862014-02-22T17:12:00.002-08:002014-02-22T17:29:07.423-08:00Nassau, BahamasNot a bad stop to reprovision, and if you like crowds, probably good for a weeks vacation; but, not really our kind of place. We knew coming in though, and we were on a mission. Load the boat up with the necessities, and get out of here as soon as possible. That didn't stop us visiting the Atlantis resort, and chatting with the locals.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqCG1Czi1xc9EwTumnOwLRnSPH2QHiXGkxSUFDjxeu7LAzI3rEFrRY3ibXIwVsvu_ob3DiuWjegyyDWJuSZJv0TEWyEZRUnt7pfo_I5tH1yo2Qn9-pbnFGl7SyRF-zyguQC0fkqIOFadEt/s1600/IMG_3205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqCG1Czi1xc9EwTumnOwLRnSPH2QHiXGkxSUFDjxeu7LAzI3rEFrRY3ibXIwVsvu_ob3DiuWjegyyDWJuSZJv0TEWyEZRUnt7pfo_I5tH1yo2Qn9-pbnFGl7SyRF-zyguQC0fkqIOFadEt/s1600/IMG_3205.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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It looks like they are trying to break a Guiness record for the number of people on a catamaran. This is a charter we saw going through the harbor a couple of times a day. Wonder how may life jackets are on board.</div>
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The giant Atlantis, impressive really, but catering to so many people, it was like a big ass shopping mall at Xmas. And you could tell that the only thing they really wanted from you was your money.</div>
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This is walking over the bridge to Paradise Island. My Mom and Dad, Aunt Jan and Uncle Murray, stayed here last year on their vacation. A year too early! I wasn't exactly sure which hotel they stayed in, but I could finally put some pictures to the stories that they told of their trip. Too cool. And by the way Dad, we could have stayed in that marina for $160 per night, giving us access to all of Atlantis's facilities. Not really a bad price, but we're too cheap, maybe next year.</div>
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Atlantis casino. I'll bet that my parents spent a few hours in here during their visit. Serena spent $5 in one of the slots, but that was our big expenditure, and 3 minutes of our life we'll never get back.</div>
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<u>We had a plan. </u><br />
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1. Wednesday we arrive and anchor in the harbor.<br />
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2. Thursday we dinghy to the nearest marina, and walk the town. Discover the cheapest places, who has the selection we want, and the best way to get to them all. The primary concerns are food, wine, beer, and rum. We save most of the purchasing until the next day.<br />
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3. Friday we check into a local marina for one day. The marina offered water for $6, laundry $6 per load, propane fill-up, diesel, gas station next door, the best liquor store across the street, and the biggest grocery store across the street. In a word, convenience. And convenience is going to make this reprovision happen quickly.<br />
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4. Saturday, finish what we started Friday, and leave the marina for the anchorage by lunch. Then lay down in our bunks and die.<br />
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5. Sunday, catch the favourable weather to sail to the Berry Islands.<br />
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Wednesday was no problem, we had a great 40 mile sail here, if a little lumpy, and anchored comfortably in the harbor. Most seem to want to warn us about anchoring in Nassau harbor, but we have found that if you stick to shallow water, drop the hook in a nice sandy spot, and make sure its set well, everything is good. It is a bit of a weird anchorage, and the conditions must change as the tide cycle and weather changes, because we had light current in one direction, on the ebb, and no current at all during the flood. It was quite comfortable; but we had been told there were strong currents here, who knows. Our friends on Anthyllide were here for three weeks, and their anchor got wrapped around the bow of a sunken powerboat. However, they were in 27 feet of water. We anchored in 6 feet, and there was no garbage, because we could see everything on the bottom from the bow.<br />
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Vita is about the middle, foreground.</div>
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Anyway, between Friday afternoon, and Saturday morning, we manage to go grocery shopping at two different stores, bought wine at one store, and made two trips to another liquor store for beer and rum. We got both propane tanks filled, gas can for the dinghy, diesel tank filled, and the on deck jerry can's. We filled all the water tanks and jugs 86 gallons, including filtering 8 gallons of drinking water. Our freezer is packed solid with 26 meals of meat, plus some luncheon meat and wieners for our next box of kraft dinner, yum. Our fridge is completely filled, mostly with cheeses, sour cream, and cream cheese. The dairy's take up the significant part of our fridge, as it seems to be with most cruisers we've talked to. We have 3 cases of coke, 3 cases of beer, 45 litres of wine, 17 bottles of rum, and 1 bottle of vodka. $480 for food, $422 for booze, and a bunch more for the rest. To the point that the budget is stretched very thin for this month. The problem is that very little is cheap here, and in hind sight, there are a few things we would have bought more of, before leaving the US. At least the rum was cheap. I got a 20% discount for buying a case, in other words, buy 10, get 2 for free. Now there is a deal I can live with.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjand2GfRP6PstYX2BoKIfYBGv0J2gXQHWeTMSpQvzsA92DUvDU-3OSSfOwVGSHUNP_55mVWIg5UQXMcbFJF4XbDnWjcCdoLXvQNpBRdcmtpALqM6V4-ZFVm4RksElGZTN0amYHsfeardb1/s1600/IMG_3221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjand2GfRP6PstYX2BoKIfYBGv0J2gXQHWeTMSpQvzsA92DUvDU-3OSSfOwVGSHUNP_55mVWIg5UQXMcbFJF4XbDnWjcCdoLXvQNpBRdcmtpALqM6V4-ZFVm4RksElGZTN0amYHsfeardb1/s1600/IMG_3221.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is how cruisers on small boats store their wine. It might not be fine wines, but wine in a box is way better than broken glass on the boat. Plus the above picture is 6 bags of wine, the equivalent of 40 bottles. The bags are a little lighter, and take up a lot less space.</div>
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The marina was awesome. We off loaded a ton of garbage, for free. The staff was great, and they had a pool. Oh, how I love a pool. After Friday's mad dash we sat around the patio drinking a couple of coolies, and finishing up our laundry. I went for a swim to cool down, and we just hung out on the lit patio, chatting with fellow cruisers, and people who were waiting for their dive charter vacations which started on Saturday. It was really nice to relax and just hang. In fact we enjoyed it so much that we had our morning coffee in the same spot while we tried to get the last load of laundry dried.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKNoZxE9S16ZIgPk1PqHzQYg04SoazIGHEBUEj7toXb5X9QNOQ2hxx7cRD_ZzIvyhsqlnNeyvCsS7v3zCPWrNs7YmisJbXN97lFg6uregRTceDRMstU_9QyjVX6y94grPobOeDCt50p-2r/s1600/IMG_3223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKNoZxE9S16ZIgPk1PqHzQYg04SoazIGHEBUEj7toXb5X9QNOQ2hxx7cRD_ZzIvyhsqlnNeyvCsS7v3zCPWrNs7YmisJbXN97lFg6uregRTceDRMstU_9QyjVX6y94grPobOeDCt50p-2r/s1600/IMG_3223.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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It looks rough eh? My chair is empty, cause, ahhh, I was taking the picture.</div>
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The worst part of Nassau, is that it isn't really safe. The Bahamas is a third world country, with the American dream. Unfortunately that breeds some bad eggs, and in the biggest city, there tends to be a larger contingent of them. The guides, and the marina staff, and the local workers, told us to stay off the streets at night, because it just wasn't safe. Truth be told, there were places where I felt uncomfortable during the daytime. We had a long chat with Sheena, the meat counter lady at the grocery store, and she told us where to shop, and that we had to be very leery of the taxi drivers, ensuring a price before the ride. She told us that if you find a driver you can trust, keep him. She even offered to take us shopping next time we are in town. It seems so weird to be in a place that has such friendly people, with such bad crime at the same time. The stores are mostly locked, even when they are open, and you have to push the buzzer to get let in. There were security guards everywhere, and I made a comment that this place must be bad, to a security guard in the drug store, and he said it was. Luckily we stuck with everyone's advice, and other than some begging, and being molested by street vendors, it was a perfectly safe visit.<br />
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Highlights of Nassau. Hangin' out by the pool in the evening, actually managing to finish the provisioning and not getting completely tired out, although we kind of felt like it most of today. And, best of all, learning a local phrase for: "don't let them screw you": - "don't let nobody break a shaft off in yah". I think our version is easier to say, but there's is far more colorful.<br />
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So tomorrow morning we head off to the Berry Islands for some chil-laxin. We've earned it. We are planning on a couple of weeks away from civilization, so I guess the next update will have to wait. Miss us......Rob and Serena Colehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07422858692212481095noreply@blogger.com0