Big Retirement Adventure
November, 2006. End of the Trip Spent some time touring around in a rental car, visiting New Bern, Atlantic City, and on up to Edenton where we saw Suzanne and Sam Young again. Got back on the water on November 6, 2006, and continued on our way home. Our last stop in North Carolina was memorable. We arrived around dusk at an anchorage in Carolina Bay that is notorious for soft, shifting bottoms and immediately went aground. Fortunately it was low tide so we gradually rose with the water until we were free. The wind was blowing around 35 mph and we had terrible luck setting the anchor—it kept dragging. It got later and later, darker and darker. Finally, Greg spotted a free dock at a condo and we made our way there and were able to secure a place for the night. The wind finally died down around 1:00 am. It was a harrowing experience that we hope never to repeat. Good-bye North Carolina. We had a great week after that, meeting up with Tom and Barb from TOBA in Georgetown, enjoying a few pleasant days in Charleston, and getting together with Jan and Jean Trochet in Beaufort, SC.. To avoid another nasty night, we docked in a snug marina in Hilton Head when another windy storm passed by. Next we spent a few quiet days in Savannah docked right downtown at the River Walk docks. Again, another bad weather forecast prompted us to tuck in a safe harbor. We had hoped that would be St. Mary’s, GA, where we planned to meet up with the boys for the big Thanksgiving fest there, but the boaters who were scheduled to leave were staying put. That left us in Jekyll Island right in the historic district. It was getting all dressed up in Christmas lights and was a magical place to stay. Alex flew up from Miami and Chris drove up from Merritt Island and we all went to the St. Mary’s festivities by car. It was wonderful, with steamed oysters and turkeys provided by the community and the boaters bringing the sides. We all left the next day to resume our lives. Greg and Susan were happy to get to the warm, muggy Florida weather. We were able to visit Chris’ soon-to-be first house in Titusville and spend some fun time with him. From there it was getting-home time. We arrived back in our slip at the Key Biscayne Yacht Club on Friday, December 1. Nine months of unforgettable experiences. Time to get ready for the holidays and plan our next trip. October 2006 On our way North last spring we were pleased to see the flowers and trees blooming, and now we are equally happy to see the fall colors exploding as we head South. Cathy and Guy Smith, our buddies from Miami, came up to join us in Woods Hole. We planned to visit Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard with them, but by the time we got to Nantucket a nor’easter came upon us and we spent the whole time there. It was a fun place to be stuck—the crowds were down because it was post-season, so we got to enjoy the history, shops, architecture, restaurants, etc., like the locals (almost). The Smiths took the ferry back to the mainland and went on to Boston while we waited out another day to finally head to Martha’s Vineyard. We had some dicey experiences crossing the Sound in heavy winds up to the mainland of Massachusetts and then again continuing west towards New York. We pulled in to the harbor at Port Jefferson after dark and in rain. At first we tried to pick up a mooring but ended up anchoring, using a spot light to determine how close we were to other boats. On October 12 we arrived in to the anchorage behind the Statue of Liberty, closing the Down East Loop. From now on we will be repeating our route back to Florida. It is always fun to spend some time in NYC. We finally got to take the tour of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, eat at Katz’ Deli, and see the Broadway show “The Drowsy Chaperone,” which was wonderful. We took advantage of the good weather forecast to make our way to Baltimore, where we docked the boat and took a plane to Chicago for my brother’s wedding. That was a wonderful event and it always re-energizes my soul to spend time with my sons and siblings. Back on the East Coast we started South again. When we got to the Great Dismal Swamp, our friend Sam Young came on as crew while his wife Suzanne and I spent the day on land. In Oriental, NC, we picked up our new seat cushions for the pilothouse. We ended the month up in the air. The boat was hauled out of the water for bottom painting and routine maintenance in Morehead City, NC. For four days we climbed up a tall ladder to get on and off. The only thing that could make hauling groceries on board more difficult than from a rocking dinghy is having to do it one handed from the top of a ten-feet ladder.. September, 2006 Jack Han joined us in Saint John but we had to spend an extra day there because of bad weather. From there we stopped at the charming town of St. Andrews and celebrated our last night in Canada. We went through customs and immigration in Eastport and continued on through the “carpet of lobster pot buoys” and beautiful, rugged Maine coast scenery to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. This is a magnificent national park and we enjoyed learning and exploring. Then we continued around the coast of Maine, Camden, Rockland, Belfast, Castine, Booth Bay. What a wonderful part of the world! Already we are planning to come back here and spend a summer just cruising around Maine. Jack left us in Rockland and a few days later we picked up Mary and Hugh O’Connor. We visited a home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the LL Bean outlet store in Freeport, Bowdoin College, Strawberry Banke home in Portsmouth, NH, and dropped off the O’Connors in Marblehead, Mass. Greg and I continued on to Boston and had a great time—stopping at Shaker Village in Canterbury, Salem’s House of 7 Gables and Witch Museum, and all the wonders of Boston. Highlights included chowder at Union Oyster House, dinner at Durgin Park, Harvard visit, JFK Museum, arts museum, Beacon Hill, Old North Church, yada, yada, yada. It was cool, sunny and fun. From there we went over to Plymouth heading towards Cape Cod. We were able to meet up with our friend Marius Robinson and his friend Rosa, as well as Greg’s graduate school friends Breck and BL Owens in Wood’s Hole. August, 2006 Chris joined us in New Brunswick and we enjoyed touring around Prince Edward Island. One day we rented a car to visit Anne of Green Gables territory and the beautiful north coast. While in Charlottetown, we took in a number of great entertainment experiences: a big revue of Canadian musical contributions to the rock world called Canada Rocks, a comedy group called Sketch 22, a trio of folk singers, a quintet of brass horns and several musicians on the street. Due to impending storms, we had to cancel our plans to visit the Madeleine Islands, so we went across the Northumberland Strait to Nova Scotia and found some snug coves to hole up in. We worked our way along the Nova Scotia Coast to Port Hawkesbury where we enjoyed our first ceilidh, which is a musical presentation featuring Highland fiddle playing, singing and dancing. Very lively and entertaining. From there we entered the Bra d’Or Lakes, one of the most scenic cruising areas in the world. Alex joined us in Baddeck and the four of us were together again on a vacation, just like old times. We enjoyed the Alexander Graham Bell museum, a motor tour around Cape Breton Island, and the re-creation of the 1744 fort at Louisbough. Chris left from St. Peters by bus to the airport at Halifax and the rest of us continued on along the coast towards Halifax, the slow scenic way. We enjoyed the amenities at Liscomb Lodge—hot tub, in-door pool, sea kayak, planked salmon cooked on a wood burning stove at the restaurant. In Halifax, we toured the Maritime Museum, the Alexander Keith Brewery and the Cidadel. Next we stopped at the historic town of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, and dropped Alex off at Hubbards for his trip back to Halifax and home. Greg and Susan continued west along the southern coast of Nova Scotia to the Saint John’s River in New Brunswick. We went through the famous reversing falls and explored the idyllic countryside all the way to Gagetown. We plan to meet up with Greg’s brother Jack on September 3 in Saint John, and from there we will head to Maine and start the long voyage back home ourselves. We plan to be back in Key Biscayne by December 1. July, 2006 The Big Retirement Adventure continues. After spending a month in the New York City and Long Island area, visiting with Steven and Susan Henkel, Rick, Tricia and Jameson Kubas, and Rob and Jan Munier, we had a final fling the weekend of June 1-4 with Lee and Connie Niblock running around the Big Apple. Finally we picked up old friend Alan Busfield, whom we met 26 years ago on our honeymoon in New Zealand, and took off up the Hudson River. We loved our day at West Point and the Culinary Institute of America even though it was pouring rain. At Troy we turned in to the Erie Canal. Our first lock was quite challenging since we faced strong winds and currents. Fortunately, we had 3 sets of hands and Greg is a first-class captain, so we took it as a learning experience. The locks through the Erie Canal were much calmer and quite pleasant—we went through 30 of them. Halfway through Alan left us and we were down to just 2 pairs of hands but we were old hands by then. We entered Lake Ontario at Oswego and entered the magical world of the 1000 Islands. For years we had heard about this part of the world from Key Biscayne friends and now we can really understand their love. We were able to meet up with Charlotte Yehle who has remarried and is working as the events coordinator for the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, NY. Greg spoke to Jean Yehle who was up for a memorial for Art. She invited us to the event, but we could not anchor in the heavy winds and deep rocky river bottom around the island the Yehle family owns. We spent Canada Day in Kingston, strolling though the arts and crafts market and cheering the fireworks like natives. As we continued up (down?) the St. Lawrence River, Jack Han and Lynn joined us in Montreal and stayed through Quebec City. They met the heat wave with us, but we couldn’t complain since we have had cool weather most of the trip. We kept abreast of the flooding situation in the Erie Canal that closed it down a few weeks after we left it. A number of boats were stranded there and at least one lock was totally destroyed. It really sobered us as to the perils that face us. But then every aspect of life has its risks. Operating the French-speaking Canada could be dicey, but Greg is able to pull up his high school French and get by. Understanding people speaking English on the radio is difficult enough for me. We have been through several pods of whales (Beluga and Minke), saw puffins and harbor seals, and gorgeous fiord settings. For the next four weeks, our sons will be with us—Chris from July 28 to the third week in August and Alex from Chris’ last week to the end of August. It will be good to have the four of us together again on a vacation—just like old times. Beginning of Trip March 8, 2006
Alex came to the dock to help us cast off and to say good-bye. Besides finishing his third year of college in electrical engineering, he will be taking on the additonal responsibilities of managing the rental properties, keeping the Key Biscayne house going and caring for the cat.
We planned to go outside to the Atlantic Ocean for the first part of the trip to avoid the numerous bridges with various opening schedules in Dade County. However, the waves were too strong and we returned to the InterCoastal Waterway (ICW). We spent our first night at the Royal Palm Yacht and Country Club in Boca Raton. March 10, 2006
Chris met us at the Eau Gallie Yacht Club and drove us to Old Town Cocoa for dinner at Murdock's. He spent the night with us on the boat and helped us cast off in the morning.
March 12, 2006
Greg got a call from a fellow boater, Bob Williamson, inviting us to join him and his wife Lynn, at their friends' home in Palm Coast. We spent a lovely afternoon with them and Jim and Danette Potochick. We are sure to see both couples again in our voyages along the East Coast this year.
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Allegria off Cumberland Island, GA May 2005
Its our first day May 13, 2005. I cannot stop taking pictures of her. Its like having a new baby. |
