Charleston to Stuart, FL

We’re getting closer to home, one passage at a time, one storm at a time!

While we love Charleston, we'd spent a rainy week there and were itching to move on. I’d been glued to the weather and there were early warnings of a possible tropical disturbance developing in the Gulf later in the week. So we decided we should leave and get further south even if the conditions were a bit bumpy. And they were! We left Monday morning and pushed through beamy/head seas – conditions which make Blossom hobby horse. Conditions varied over the 52-hour passage as we crept along the coast with it calming down significantly the last 8 hours or so. No one got sick though and having 8 hours to rest between shifts was a God-send. I even managed to take a shower and only bruised one side of my body 😉

A Brown Boobie took a rest on our bow the first evening. He spent an hour grooming his feathers and I think he was planning on spending the night. Unfortunately, we turned a bit east and it got too bumpy for him to hold on.

Very pretty bird

When we left, we weren’t really sure where we’d be stopping, just that we wanted to make it to Cape Canaveral or further south.  We decided to stop in Stuart though we probably could have gone another half day to Ft Lauderdale. Part of the reason we stopped in Stuart is that we’re eyeing Lake Okeechobee. It’s possible to cut through the state through the lake if it’s high enough. That would cut our trip short by about 250 miles and we wouldn’t need to wait for the seas to calm down after the storm… It looks like we might have made the right decision – the lake has been coming up every day and central Florida is looking at getting 6-10 inches of rain over the long weekend. (Yikes!)

Sunset Bay Marina had a slip available for us which was great – I was worried it would be hard to get a slip over the holiday weekend. I think we got lucky as the marina is pretty darn full! It’s weird being back in Stuart – we lived here for 7 months back in 2014 while commissioning Blossom and haven’t been back since. We ended up arriving at dead low tide and were warned off passing through the crossroads area of the ICW. So we dropped anchor and waited for the tide to come in. After chatting with Sea Tow and a couple boats passing by we decided to drop Petal and do some sounding.

Martin and Jim checking depths

By now it was mid-tide rising and the guys saw plenty of water. We passed through with 1.5 under the keel at it’s shallowest. Boating in Florida is an exercise is navigating shallow water!

Going through the Roosevelt Bridge – just ahead of some wet weather!

We’ve never stayed at Sunset Bay though we’ve eaten at the restaurant there several times. It’s a pretty marina and it’s just a 5 minute walk into the cute downtown area from there. We pulled in to a dock filled with Nordhavns and Krogans and bumped into our water maker technician and later, the commissioning manager who commissioned Blossom.

As usual, we're enjoying one of our favorite aspects of cruising - the community! We passed by a Nordy on our way down here from the west coast of Florida and had a great chat on the radio. Then we met an awesome couple on another Nordy here at Sunset and found we had a number of cruising friends in common... It's such a small community of friendly, interesting people!

We’re happy to be here and able to ride out the weekend in comfort. The storm has in fact developed into a subtropical storm and is currently the first named storm of the season - Alberto. Hopefully it won’t strengthen beyond a Tropical Storm before it hits landfall on the northern Gulf coast. With crazy rainfall expected throughout Florida, we’re assuming the lake will be nice and deep by early next week when we hope to cross.

Boat Business:

• Our 9k gen died on the passage down. Martin found that a breaker had failed. The same thing happened in 2014 so we had a spare.
• Jim replaced the filters in the air handlers and sneezing seems to have lessoned on board. I’m still finding yellow dust in nooks and crannies…

Irma and a Change of Plans

Once again, I’m very behind on our blog. Well, our cruising season ending up taking a bit of a detour this year!  Here’s the scoop:

We returned the end of August from a (Fabulous!) vacation in Bordeaux, France. We stayed with friends aboard their boat and had the most amazing time...

 The water mirror in Bordeaux

 Boats in Bordeaux (that's the color of the water - solid silt!)

 Wine school and workshops...

 Yes, even cheese classes!

 Voyaging down the Garonne. Talk about current and silt!

 The French seaside village of Royan

A brief tour de Paris

As soon as we got back there was talk of Irma. We did a bit of sightseeing, like visiting the National Air and Space Museum in DC (which was amazing!!).

Blackbird and the Space Shuttle Discovery in the background, pretty darn cool

We decided, however, to stay in port as we watched her track and tried to make the best decisions as to what to do. It’s not an easy task when you don’t really know where it’s going to go until you’re about 3 days out. With a new home in St Pete, FL, a mother in SC and a boat on the Chesapeake, we were fearful that one or more would be a target of such a monster storm. We ended up renting a car and made sure my Mom was safe, returning to Blossom in case we needed to prepare her for high winds.

Then Irma moved west and we had a pretty miserable weekend as we waited to see what she would do to Florida. We crossed our fingers and I got little sleep but in the end, the storm spared our new city the worse of it as it passed the Tampa area as a Cat 1. My heart breaks for the folks who weren’t so lucky. News and video from the islands and southern parts of Florida and Puerto Rico are distressing to say the least.

As we were waiting to see what Irma would bring, we were also watching Jose, close on Irma’s heels with early models hinting a possible northern landfall. And thus, I reached the end of what little resiliency I have and we decided to pull the plug on our 2017 cruising season a bit early. I take full responsibility – the stress of having two homes and family spread over 1000+ miles, all potentially in harms way was too much. The idea was that if we could get Blossom out of the water and safe, we could better focus our energy. 

Blossom on her way to her hibernating home for the winter

I found a marina in Baltimore that could haul Blossom out and put her on the hard, in a storm-rated, heated shed. Initially they said we could stay until mid-Oct, when the winter boats would be coming in. Then they said that there was room and we could stay for the winter if we wanted. Anyone who’s hauled a boat knows it’s a harrowing experience so the thought of doing it once and letting her be was appealing. Though we’d played with the idea of bringing Blossom down to Florida this fall, the logistics were proving difficult because of our schedule and so we made the decision to end our season.  

We raced through 3 days of moving to Pleasure Cove Marina, hauling the boat and prepping her as best we could. Then we drove the 1000+ miles to St Pete.  We found our home in good shape and still with power and internet. We lost one sickly tree and had a messy yard - we were incredibly fortunate. I'm happy to be back in Florida for the rest of the season so we can board up if necessary and be properly prepared if the Gulf kicks up another storm this year.

We’ll be returning to Blossom for a few days in early October to finish prepping her. In defense of mold, mildew and all things stinky means I need to give her a proper vinegar wash down and put our anti-mildew packets in all the lockers. Martin has some work he’d like to do while she’s above ground and can access strainers and the like. We’ll post a final blog entry once that’s been complete.

Stay safe everyone!

Boat Business:

• Oil changes. Martin changed the oil on the main, wing, and both generators
• Bathroom sinks. Though Martin had done much investigative work, our sinks were still draining way too slowly. This time, we disassembled the drain in the sink and oh, let’s not in to detail. Suffice it to say, the sinks are clear and draining easily now! Give that man a beer…
• Windshield Wipers. Blossom needed new ones so Martin replaced them.
• Lines, Balls and Fenders. Impending storms motivated us to purchase a few things… We now have another gi-normous 3ft ball, 2 large horizontal monsters and 4 exceedingly expensive 1 inch storm lines. I don’t want to “bring it on” but if we’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, we’re better prepared.

Guests Aboard

A beautiful evening at anchor

Look at that shine!

[Once again, I’ve fallen far behind on our blog. This entry is from early August.]

We returned to Blossom the last week of July to find her looking spectacularly shiny and sparkly! We had hired a local detailing company who came very highly recommended to wax and detail Blossom. They were almost finished when we arrived – we flipped her around as soon as we got in so they could finish off the hull.  Wow – she’s pretty 😊 

We were only back for 12 days but packed a lot of fun into that time. Our friends John & Steve came up from the DC area on Saturday and we had a wonderful time enjoying happy hour on the flybridge and dinner at Sam’s Waterfront.  Sunday we played pickle ball and provisioned for the week ahead. We only recently realized the marina will provide a shuttle to where we need to go so we took advantage and did a “heavy provisioning run”. The boat was bursting with wine, beer, juice, laundry detergent…the essentials.

The following Monday we welcomed our guests, as my Aunt Lori and Jim arrived to spend the week with us. We had such a fantastic visit with them!  We enjoyed a day at the marina and took the opportunity to introduce them to our two favorite games straight away - Mollky and pickle ball... 

Lori, Martin and Me

Lori & Jim at happy hour on Blossom :)

An evening aboard (Martin is sporting his new flamingo shirt)

And then set off to St. Michael's for a few days of R&R...

Driving from the fly bridge

Ladies in Charge

We couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was warm and sunny except in the evenings when huge storms skirted us so we had dry views of distance lightening. We walked the town, pounded crabs with mallets, kayaked, toured in the dinghy, fished, and enjoyed the Wednesday night beer can sailing races from the flybridge.  

A picture is worth a thousand words so they say, so here you go... :) (Thank you Lori & Jim for the photos!)

On way to town

Me and Martin, being dorky tenticle twinsies :)

The ladies kayaking

On our way to the crabs

The restaurant provided instructions but there was a couple sitting next to us that provided additional and very helpful instructions :)

This is how it's done

Let the fun begin!

Jim learns the ropes

And away he goes!

We had an amazing time with them and boy, Blossom felt lonely when they left later that week!

It seemed impossible that time could go by so quickly but suddenly we found ourselves prepping for another trip back to Florida where work was in full swing.

 Gratuitous sunset photo

 Boat Business: 

• Sparkly. We’re really pleased with the wax and detail work we got. Blossom is so sparkly!

• AC and Dehumidifying. We came back to a warm boat this time. It seems that the 50 amp  breaker we’re using for AC had popped. We had closed all the blinds and had the window screens on so the boat was fine but it was too damp for my liking. Since she kept reasonably warm and not hot, we decided to set up the dehumidifier and fans when we leave again. That way, if the AC goes off, at least she’ll stay dry inside and there’s less to worry about with the big AC pump off.

• Updated the Maretron screens to the latest software version. This included functionality that Martin had requested to Maretron last year, so he was very happy!

• KVH Satellite Phone. Dead again! Twice in less than 4 years isn’t a very good track record. Their customer service has been stellar but I wish the reliability of the product was better. We need to get it up and running by this fall. Martin has arranged for a swap "in-place". The replacement unit has arrived and Martin will be installing it this weekend.

• Martin changed out the charcoal in the gray tank vent filter.

• Fly Bridge Fridge. We don’t normally have this fridge on unless we have guests aboard. We used it this week and it was fantastic to have drinks and ice up top!

• Blossom’s Bottom. We hired a diver to clean the bottom and check our zincs. We had noticed that she was running a bit hot during our run up. The diver confirmed that we had algae growth on the keel cooler, but very few barnacles. He did pull a few big barnacles out of the thruster tubes. Probably missed at the last cleaning when they were small. She ran much cooler when we ran her up this week.

Moving up the Chesapeake

After almost 2 weeks at home we returned to Blossom ready to head north. We took on over 1500 gallons of diesel, provisioned for fresh food, and were ready to head out in a couple of days. We enjoyed our last 2 days at AYB watching the steady flow of northbound boats.

The procession

One of the passing boats heading north

Some of their passengers have been hanging around a long time 😊

We had a calm cruise up to Norfolk passing through 1 lock and under 2 bridges we needed to open for us. We planned to leave early to avoid the rush as boats depart the southern marina, Coinjock, first thing in the morning and head north.  As it turns out, we dodged a bit of a bullet by doing so. We made the 9 am opening of Great Bridge with several other boats, (we weren’t quite early enough!). The next bridge we needed opening was two bridges next to each other. A bascule railway bridge and a lift highway bridge. We had to wait for about 15 minutes as the railway bridge was taking forever to open. Boats were beginning to call on the radio to question if there was a problem. Then once we got tied up at Waterside we heard the “securite” on the radio – the bridge was broken in the down position. We were so happy that we’d left early that morning!  We were the last group of boats to get through before it broke and it was stuck in the down position for three days! This meant there was no northbound traffic and an empty marina all weekend. It was obvious the floodgates had opened on Saturday night as boat after boat checked in to Waterside.

Blossom at the dock

Norfolk’s mascot, the mermaid. Painted versions are all over the city

Female cadets in training

We had a primo location on the docks at Waterside, in the middle of the action, right in front of the newly opened Waterside District. Apparently, this building was an abandoned warehouse for years. It’s hard to imagine that now – as part of a revitalization effort, it’s now filled with restaurants and bars with games and live music. We tried twice to eat dinner there but seating was 1.5-2 hours out. Yikes! Outside there are bocce ball courts and paddle tennis. There was live music Thursday – Sunday nights and it was very festive place to be.  Our prime location meant that Blossom got lots of attention. We had to wait to leave the boat a couple of times to avoid photo bombing peoples’ selfies. Blossom is a popular girl!

Waterside District

Festivities at "The Largest Office Party in the World" celebration included a hula hoop musical chairs type game

Hard to see but there are bocce courts and table tennis

The weather wasn’t our friend on this visit. Our first evening at Waterside we found ourselves enjoying cocktails on the fly bridge. One minute we were enjoying the scene below, and within 10 minutes we were hiding behind the helm chairs from large pea-sized hailstones that were raining down horizontally into the fly bridge. It was chaos! Folks running and screaming across the waterfront. It put quite the damper on the evening. The storm ushered in unsettled weather for next week or so.

One of the highlights of time in Norfolk was meeting up with some friends who we’d met last year in the Bahamas. We just caught sight of their arrival while we were out for walk. We enjoyed a great meal at an Irish pub and got caught up with Laust, and his crew.

L’Adagio arriving

Although we hadn’t intended on staying more than a few nights at Waterfront, we ended up staying for a week. We had 4 days of rain and lightning storms with shifting winds and decided we’d rather get a weekly rate at the marina than poke our way north through raining anchorages and winds.

Being in town for a bit gave us the opportunity to do some exploring. We visited the Chrysler Museum Glass Studio and the Chrysler Museum of Art. The museum was delightful and we were greeted with live music and couples dancing tango in the entry hall! We enjoyed the visiting Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit and their permanent glass exhibit. All this and entry to the museum is free (requesting voluntary donations of course)!

This glass chess set was on display but we couldn’t find a tag to explain it. Jews v. Catholics on a chess board and the Catholics look a bit maniacal!

Quirky glass chess game

We also visited Nauticus, a marine themes science center and museum. The highlight of Nauticus for us was getting to tour the Battleship Wisconsin. She first set sail in 1944 and was decommissioned in 1991. If you go to Norfolk you really must see the Wisconsin!

View of the Wisconsin from her fore deck

View of Norfolk from the deck of the Wisconsin

Once the weather improved slightly, we left to anchor out for an evening in the Piankatank River where we’d anchored before on our first trip through the Chesapeake aboard Blossom. It was a windy, gray day, Martin was quite sick with a cold and I managed to get sea sick. The highlight of our cruise was when Aircraft Carrier 78 - the  USS Gerald R. Ford - called to pass us just as the channel narrowed. They wanted us to stay at least 500 yards from the ship which meant coming very close to a shallow bar. Martin ran as far to port as he was comfortable and they requested that we move over more. Martin said he wasn’t comfortable doing so (!) and they seemed nonplussed. They politely told us that was fine but they’d place their navy patrol boat between us and the carrier for the pass. What a site! I don’t think I want to know how many weapons were trained on us but we certainly got some cool photos!

Aircraft Carrier 78 heading out

She's passing us

Armed boat keeping an eye on us!

That night Martin took some niquil and I tried taking some Bonine (thinking that if I took some at night and then 1 in the morning, maybe I wouldn’t be so dang tired from the meds during the day.) That evening a storm blew through which we were expecting. However, neither of us woke up! I always wake up with any wind/rain/noise. That night however, we experienced a gust that registered above our anemometer setting (50 kts) and then broke our anemometer – and we slept through it all. Thankfully we have a kick-butt anchor and had put out extra rode in an area with good holding…

We had thought to anchor out near Solomon’s Island the following day as the winds were due to clock around and be quite gusty again. With more storms on the way and anticipating crowded anchorages over the start of Memorial Day Weekend, we made a last minute call and ended up going in to dock at Zahniser’s Marina. It’s a really friendly marina and an easy walk to downtown. We spent 2 lovely days there while Martin continued to fight his cold.

Martin enjoying an evening walk into town

A bird on almost every post

Monday, we headed out and up to our new home port, just around the corner from Annapolis.  We finally had some really perfect weather!

Early morning departure to beat the afternoon thunderstorms

Osprey on a red marker - the storm was coming

It’s a super protected, key-hole marina. Knowing that we’d be leaving Blossom for weeks at a time over the summer, we chose this marina because of it was so protected and because it came so highly recommended by a friend who’s very fastidious. He had spent a couple of summers there on the boat he captains. Low and behold, as we enter the marina, there was our friend George waving to us. We had no idea he’s be there and were thrilled to see him!

We have the best seat at the bar :)

Blossom at the wall. She fills the space in!

A somewhat narrow fairway

We had a wonderful time at the marina. The marina is part of a gated community boasting a lovely restaurant, bar, 2 swimming pools and 4 tennis courts. It’s a short Lyft ride or 4 mile bike ride into Annapolis.

Even though we were only there for a few days, we packed in quite a bit of fun. I’ve become a bit addicted to a game called “pickle ball” and we were so happy to find the tennis courts at the marina. Even after I caught Martins cold, with both of us under the weather we still managed to get in 3 games 😊  Laust was once again nearby and we were able to connect with him again meet his beautiful wife. We caught up with George and met the wonderful folks that he captain’s for.  One evening, George and a friend sat down with us and pointed out several deep-draft anchorages and fun towns/tiki bars to visit around the bay. We aren’t going to have nearly enough time this summer to explore such a vast and interesting area!

Time flew by and suddenly it was time to head home to Florida to take care of some renovation business see how things are going. We’ll only be in Florida for a week before we’re back to Blossom and can start exploring!

Boat Business:  there are still a few outstanding items but several tasks were completed this visit:

• Mesh window covers. Martin fixed the broken snaps on our window screens and added a few more for good measure. Originally we gave suction cups a go, hoping to not have to put too many snaps in. It was a great idea but not very practical in windy conditions. He fixed the few that had broken last season and then decided to add a few more so we’d feel more secure about leaving them on when we’re gone from the boat for a while.
• Wavenet. We got both units back in Norfolk but only one was working. We managed to ship and get back the other in Annapolis so we ended our stay having 2 working units once again.
• Air handler filters. We had run out of spares and had a ton sent while we were gone. Martin finished replacing them.
• Satellite TV. We had to replace the hard drive in satellite receiver for the guest room tv as it died over the winter.
• Kitchen sink. I had an unfortunate experience with fibrous veggies in the kitchen sink/garbage disposal. Thankfully, George is well equipped and lent us a kitchen plunger (I hadn’t known these existed before this incident). Blossom now boasts her own little plunger and the sink is flowing once again.  (How cute is this little gadget?)
• Anemometer. Martin installed our third (in as many years) Maretron anemometer. Poor design perhaps?