HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE BAHAMAS, AND HOW WE GOT HERE (Part One)

After three Covid tests and a rough passage from Key Biscayne, we checked into the Bahamas on Christmas Eve at Alice Town on the island of North Bimini. We stayed there for a little over a week, then had a nice overnight sail to the Bay of the Five Pirates on Great Harbor Cay. We anchored there for almost a week and are currently just south of Hoffman Cay, another one of the Berry Island chain. Early tomorrow we'll head to the east side of Frazer's Hog Cay. The photo is of a beach get together we had last night with the crew from three other boats.

Last May we had a mystery guest who at the time didn't want to be identified for fear of being "travel shamed" once she got back in MN. Delana's sister Jennie was with us from Naples to Cape Canaveral. As you can see from the photo, Key West was practically a ghost town. With the Covid thing, the Keys had closed early on, only allowing property owners and long term renters. Seeing there were only locals, we did stand out. Almost everyone was cool with it, but a few people were upset to learn that we were allowed in if we arrived by boat.

                              

The first stop after leaving Key West was Marathon. We snorkeled once on the way and again after we arrived. We saw a lot of fish.

I had heard about Marathon's strong sailing community, but had never checked out the harbor. It's big and really well protected. However, it is also absolutely packed with boats of all shapes, sizes, and condition, including a lot of derelicts that people live on, as well as quite a few that will never float again.

On the way up we saw at least a half dozen big sea turtles. I think they're Greens or Hawksbills. It was mating season, so we often got pretty close before they noticed.

Between Marathon and Cape Canaveral it was pretty squally. One of those storms hit while Jennie was driving; Delana and I were checking out a noise coming from the starboard rudder; and a fish hit one of our lures. As I left the rudder project to set the hook, a big gust of wind grabbed the sail, snapped the halyard and put the sail in the ocean. So I cranked the drag down on the reel and put the rod back in the holder; Delana gathered the tools we had out for the rudder; and Jennie kept the boat under control. Then Delana and I rushed to pull our largest sail out of the water. 

Amazingly after all of that, this nice Mahi-mahi/Dolphin fish was still there. But the circus wasn't over yet. It was too big for the net, plus it had a lot of fight still left in it and of course the boat was rolling. So after a couple attempts with the gaff we got it on-board and then pretty much had to wrestle it into submission. It was 48" long and weighed 40 lbs. That's about as big as they get. We had many delicious meals.

The entrance to Cape Canaveral is a pretty busy place. On top of that you have to go under a draw bridge and through a lock to get to an anchorage. In contrast to all the shipping here, we went by a half dozen anchored/moth balled cruise ships just off shore waiting for Covid to let up.

                              

While in Canaveral, Kirby and Jules (MN friends who had just moved to FL) were nice enough to come to the boat for an afternoon visit.

                                                                                      Also while in Canaveral, Jennie left us to fly back to MN. We really enjoyed her visit and appreciated
                                                                                    her help.

                                         

By then people with campers and tents were gathering onshore in anticipation of the first manned space flight to take off from US soil in a decade. We were able to get the boat another mile closer and had a great spot, but just minutes before lift off they called off the launch.

They rescheduled for three days later, but unfortunately we weren't able to wait. However, the next day we did sail by the launch pad and saw the SpaceX rocket in position.

                              

The next stop was St Augustine. The significance of this photo is to show how the inlet isn't even charted because the depths change so frequently. So much so, that there are over 500 known shipwrecks in the area. Actually, virtually every inlet has a history of shipwrecks. St Augustine now have buoys to mark the channel and get repositioned as needed.

         We were able to anchor right in front of Castillo de San Marcos, the 16th century fort. As most of you know, St Augustine is the oldest European founded city in the US. However, everything was pretty shut down due to Covid, so we were only there two nights, but were looking forward to coming back in the fall.

                               

While in St Augustine, Steve (an old Minneapolis Rugby friend) and Paula met us for lunch. They had moved from MN to AZ to Mex over the past several years and were now living in the Orlando area. We also ran into one couple on a boat we last saw in Roatan in January and another we hadn't seen                                                                 since Guanaja in February of 2019. 

                              

From St Augustine we sailed up to Fernandina Beach, FL, which is on the north end of Amelia Island. There we picked up daughter Grace, who flew down from Milwaukee to spend about two weeks with us. A real treat.

                             

Just north of Fernandina Beach is Fort Clinch. It's one of over two dozen coastal forts built from 1794-1867 from the Dry Tortugas to Maine. After touring several, Delana has kind of lost her enthusiasm for seeing more, which I really don't understand.

                             

                            

And just across the inlet from Fort Clinch is Cumberland Island, Georgia. Once owned by the Carnegie's, it is now a National Seashore that is only reachable by boat. It's very cool and was totally deserted while we were there.

                                        

Next we had an overnight sail to Savanah. As you can see, the new crew fits right in with the old crew.

                                        

Son Chance and daughter-in-law Katie flew down from La Crosse to meet us in Savannah. Another nice treat. Though the historic waterfront is pretty touristy I still like it.

                                        

But the nearby historic residential district is really nice with its many beautiful squares/parks and homes.

Grace, Delana and I then sailed up to Charleston. We went right past Fort Sumter as we entered the harbor. Chance and Katie drove up, doing some sight seeing on the way. 

Charleston is even more historic than Savannah, being founded in 1670 and playing prominent roles in the early development of the colonies, as well as the Revolutionary and Civil Wars

                               

Here we are all masked up before visiting the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston. On our trip from Naples, FL to VA, Charleston was probably the most open when it came to Covid restrictions.

                               

While in Charleston, high school/college friends Gary and Beth had all of us over for a really nice dinner. Along with Gary and Beth, the photo includes Gary's sister Jan, son-in-law Joey and daughter Hannah. We had a great time. Plus, got turned onto beer margaritas, which became our drink of the summer everywhere we went.

                                

Grace, Katie and Chance all flew back to Wisconsin from Charleston, while our next stop was Georgetown, SC. There we met a couple who were at the same marina we were at in Guatemala. This photo doesn't do Georgetown justice, but I thought it was kind of a cool shot. 

We had a wind instrument quit working. Delana took this photo when she was removing it so we could have it checked out.

                                

Most of the barrier islands, even the populated ones, have habitat for sea turtle nesting. When a nest is discovered various methods are used to help protect them from both predators and people. We were too early for the hatch, which would really be fun to see sometime.

                     

From Georgetown we originally planned on bypassing NC, going directly around Cape Hatteras, turning left and heading for Chesapeake Bay. This was because the charts and buoys showing the inlet to Ocracoke, NC aren't accurate and when I called the Coast Guard, as well as the local marina, I was advised not to attempt entering. However, I also spoke with the local BoatUS (BoatUS is kind of a AAA for boaters in US waters) Captain who explained how to get in. Plus, the weather really calmed down, which gave us a rare opportunity to visit. 

                                

Ocracoke is a very isolated barrier island that separates the Atlantic from Pamlico sound and the mainland. Sir Walter Raleigh repaired his ship there in 1585, Black Beard the pirate was killed there in 1718, and more recently, hurricane Dorian caused significant damage in September of 2019. Plus, we were told that it's one of the few places that still speaks Old English. 

     

We rented a golf cart for half a day to check out the place. Not much was open, hurricane damage was still very visible, it wasn't as quaint as I was hoping and we didn't hear any Old English spoken. What was interesting was the number of small graveyards. Some dating back to the 1700's and including one for British sailors whose boat was sank just off shore by a German U-Boat during World War II.

     

After two nights in Ocracoke, we had an uneventful rounding of Cape Hatteras and a two night sail to Virginia Beach, where we spent one night anchored right in the middle of a high end residential development. By late afternoon the following day we were at a marina on Stingray Point in Deltaville, VA. The point was named by Captain John Smith who was stung by stingray there in 1608. The Captain recovered quickly enough to have the ray for dinner that night. 

                               

Totally by coincidence, other than this area being one of the least expensive places in the US to keep a boat during hurricane season, there were already five boats (two German, two Canadian and one Dutch) we knew from Guatemala or Mexico, staying at the same marina. And with over 3,000 boats and at least a dozen other marinas on the peninsula, I'm sure there were others that we never saw. This cruising world really is a small one.

                               

What put Deltaville on our radar, was that it's where Delana spent time growing up. Plus, she has a lot of relatives in the area. Here's me, Delana, Jennie (Delana's sister and an old friend of mine), DJ (Jennie's husband and an old Minneapolis rugby friend of mine), Colleen (a cousin-in-law), cousin Joe and cousin Chet. Plus, there's cousins Dana and Andrea, Aunt Sue and a bunch of kids of cousins not shown.

                                                   

Besides Jennie and DJ driving down in their RV, their daughter Katie flew from MN. Here Katie and Jennie are carefully removing the crabs from the traps, which were set just in front of what is now Joe's house but was the old family cottage.

                             

These are about as fresh as you can get. We were so inspired that we bought a collapsible trap for the boat, but we haven't used it yet.

                            

When ever the Chesapeake has come up to anyone whose been there, they always start by talking about the stinging jellyfish. There were a few while we were there, but luckily not enough to keep us out of the water. This one was about two feet long in total.

                              

On a few days we were able to anchor the boat right in front of Joe's and had a bunch of people on and off-board. It was like a big floatie with bathrooms.

                                                           

What would the Fourth of July be without a potato gun? Ryan, Delana's first born, also flew down from MN.

                             

Along with Lauren, his partner.

                                       

And then the fireworks. This one perfectly silhouetted the neighbors tree.

                                  

Before heading back to MN we had our Deltaville hosts, Joe and Rosabeth out on the boat for dinner and drinks while we anchored in the Piankatank River. The Chesapeake is an amazing place with all the rivers, villages and cities. It would be easy to spend years exploring it. I would miss the clear, blue water though.

The original plan was to leave the boat in the water at a marina the two months we were away. However, as began to work on replacing the sanitation hose I accidentally took apart one of the through hull valves so water was coming into the boat. We got it temporarily repaired, but to finish the job, as well as make all of our other projects much easier, we hauled the Starship out.

And there she sat until we returned and completed all of our projects the end of October.

                               

The next day DJ, Jennie, Delana and I headed west in the RV. As you can see this pair's RV positions are very similar to their boating ones.

                               

After leaving Deltaville we spent a couple days "camping" in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Really pretty.

                                                  

Then we went to Gettysburg. It was a powerful experience and my first time there. As a matter of fact, when I, as well as when my kids grew up, our family vacations were usually west, with an occasional spring break in FL or Mexico. So it was really fun and interesting to be able to put in perspective the tremendous amount of history that took place in this part of the country, especially along the FL, GA, SC, NC and VA coasts. 

                              

We also stopped in Pittsburgh to see Ron, another old Minneapolis rugby friend.

                              

Then after driving through Ohio, Northern IL and both the mitten and U.P. of Michigan we were in MN at DJ and Jennie's house. It was a nice leisurely trip back. The Amazon orders we had been making since we arrived from Mexico were in the process of being delivered and Jennie put bows on the packages so it really was like Christmas, especially since we had forgotten what we ordered.

In Part Two we get back to the boat with a cargo van full of boat projects, make it down to Key Biscayne, FL and over to the Bahamas. I bet you can hardly wait.