Big and Bigger Water: DE Bay & The Atlantic to NYC

A friend on DE Bay

After several days in Delaware City, the winds died down, and we had a great day to cruise the length of Delaware Bay:  sunny, warm and a slight northern breeze at our back.  We feared a sudden storm or fog bank as we had experienced on earlier trips [see: July 24 2009  -and-  pix], but none appeared, and we spent the day using Carolyn’s nifty AIS iPhone app to learn about the BIG ocean freighters and tankers with whom we shared the Bay.

On an earlier trip north, we stayed in Cape May and had an opportunity to get into the town proper [see: Adventures in the Atlantic, Aug. 1 2009  -and-  pix].  This time, we spent just one night there and then began the run up the New Jersey coast, some 2-3 miles out in the Atlantic. The Atlantic City Marina (Farley State Park, fondly called “Trump Marina”) is always a good place to end the first day on the ocean, and we were not disappointed.  In fact, we were pleasantly surprised: The Golden Nugget now operates what was “Trump’s Casino and Marina,” and the many changes made are all for the better.  Unfortunately, the Black Jack tables were no friendlier to Carolyn, though she did get to play several hands before losing her limit ($20.00!!).  We were also weather-bound in Atlantic City once and thus got to see the big ocean racing boats (Hurricane Igor forced the cancellation of Trump’s big race [see: Oct. 2010 -and- pix]).  The second day’s stop when running the Atlantic (at Manasquan, NJ) is the one we always dread…  and with inclement weather approaching, we decided to skip it, to make a BIG run from Atlantic City all the way to New York City-  We cast off at first light, pushed Sojourner faster and farther than she is accustomed to run and passed by the Statue of Liberty some 9 hours later!

NJ Ferris Wheel

Still operating NJ wooden roller coaster!

Running up the Jersey shore is always fun because we can see the old-time amusement parks with the wooden roller coasters and Ferris wheels as well as families soaking up the sun on the beaches.  This year’s Atlantic cruise was basically uneventful though we were surprised to meet a covey of dredging vessels and equipment out in the open ocean just beyond Atlantic City.  And the entrance into New York harbor is always a heart-stopper, partially because of the pure grandeur of it all and partially because of the ferries, water taxis, tour boats, freighters, tankers, tugs and tows going every which way to say nothing of the recreational sail boats and all manner of motorized boats darting in and out among the commercial vessels.  [see: Atlantic Ocean & NYC, August 1, 2009 -and -pix]

Always a breath-taking sight!!

We spent our one night in NYC at Newport Marina on the Jersey side so we had a great view of Manhattan as the city moved into night.  The next morning, we met an ocean liner as we exited the marina and followed it to its berth a couple miles up the Hudson River.  The tug captain maneuvered that behemoth into its narrow slip perpendicular to the river from the stern with no visibility at all!!  That is piloting skill, pure and simple!!

Night comes to Manhattan

The following slide show contains additional sights from our cruise on the Atlantic and into New York city; following it are hot links to blog entries and pictures sets from earlier trips along the Atlantic and in New York City:

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Though our last entry into NYC was just as spell-binding as earlier ones, we probably took more pix on earlier trips through the city. [see:  NYC and Harbor (2009);  NY summer 2010 ; NY and NJ Fall 2010 ].

Days and Days in Delaware City

Crabs are the local icon

Several of our cruising friends recommended stopping at Delaware City DE, located near the east end of the C&D Canal and next to two major shipping channels at the north end of Delaware Bay.  Such a stop makes good sense as it shortens the trip down DE Bay to Cape May, NJ by an hour or more than if we were to stay at either of the two places we stopped on previous trips (Summit North, half way through the C&D Canal or Chesapeake City, nearer the western/Chesapeake Bay end of the Canal).  The shortened run to Cape May was good enough reason for us, and so we came to all the way through the C&D Canal from Rock Hall, MD to Delaware City.  We now know other, good reasons for this stop.  As noted at the end of our last posting, we hit a weather delay…we were here 4 days … and finally resumed our journey yesterday!  By the time your read this, we’ll be cruising up the Jersey Shore about 3 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean…. IF the weather window holds!!

Anyway, if one must spend many days at any point along the C&D Canal, DE City is a good place to be!!   The marina is  just a short walk from “historic downtown” Delaware City.  The old historian in Susan often rails at the frequent  mis-use of the word “historic” instead of the usually more accurate  ”historical”-  In the case of Delaware City, however, “historic” is accurate!  In the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was a thriving commercial port and way station leading to Wilmington, Philadelphia, and New York.  With two forts within its environs, Delaware City also played a strategic role  in both the War of 1812 and the Civil War.  And it does stand at one end of the very important commercial C&D Canal…. a canal first envisioned in the 1600′s, championed by Ben Franklin in the 1700′s, finally built in the 1800′s, and still carrying some 40% of the commercial traffic between Philadelphia and Baltimore in the 21st century.  Besides, it is simply a charming little town, with many architecturally interesting buildings, several fun shops, some decent restaurants (all with “crab” in their names), and a brick promenade along the waterfront.

Four, very long facing docks running down a straight, narrow canal constitute the Delaware City Marina.  Though not deep, the canal has a wicked current and incredibly large (6 feet) tides.  This was “home” for us for awhile, and we thought you might like a little slide show of the sights we saw during our stay here, one of the many, many places we had not even heard of before we started on our grand cruising adventure:

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The Chesapeake Bay Reprise

Industrial Norfolk

Early morning breakfast on the Elizabeth River

Double-barreled floating crane

Cruising through VA offered enjoyable familiar sights and remembered runs to catch bridges with strange (and inconvenient) opening times.  Passing through the first of hundreds of locks on this trip (at Great Bridge) took us on to the industrial outskirts of Norfolk… and after a night at Ocean Marine, very nice (new to us) marina in Portsmouth, we headed out the Elizabeth River, past the naval shipyards, and into Chesapeake Bay.  We have had great weather since leaving Tanya’s, and it continued as we headed northward on the big Bay through our traditional stop at Deltaville and then on to Spring Cove Marina up the Patuxent River in Solomons, MD.  We stopped for two nights to rest and do laundry and arrived just in time for the marina’s annual open house, a festivity filled with people, good food, and friendly company.  We also got Sojourner’s USCG inspection completed so we are officially safe to continue on our journey!

Rock Fish prefer chartreuse!

A decked water wing

Patriotic rock fish water wing

In contrast to earlier trips (July 2009, October 2009, July 2010, October 2010), we encountered no sailing regattas nor any crabber convoys along our Chesapeake cruise.  However, we did meet a new (to us) kind of boater in the waters of Maryland who left a lasting impression.  Evidently, our entry into the Maryland Chesapeake coincided with the first BIG Rock Fish tournament of the season-  and the Bay swarmed with contestants!   Dealing with hundreds of small fishing boats is a reality of Chesapeake cruising, at least on the weekends, so the boats and their numbers weren’t totally unexpected. It was striking, however, that to a boat, all the fishing vessels were decked out with between 5-25 poles, all adorned with BRIGHT chartreuse flies. But what really caught our attention and kept it for two solid days of cruising, were the “wings” all boats dragged some 100-200 yards behind them.  The brightly colored ones popped in the water so we had a chance of seeing them, but many were dingy white or moldy green and thus, virtually invisible.  We came to assume every boat was “draggin,’ ” and then the challenge was to calculate where the wings were hiding in the water and how best to avoid them without having to alter course and/or speed completely.   Despite our diligent and best efforts, we were not totally successful.  Two boats along the way yelled at us!!  For what, we aren’t sure, given they both had meandered directly across our bow without even looking up, much less changing their course or speed to avoid a mishap-  Perhaps when they finally came to, seeing us close and looming startled them…  and that, of course, was our fault!!

Typical ocean freighter sharing the waterway

Carolyn has this nifty new iPhone app that provides all kinds of fascinating information about the commercial ships with whom we share the waterway.  It is the equivalent of an AIS ( automatic [vessel] identification system), without the cost and all that wiring!  AIS is the rage among some sectors of the cruising community, and many boats like ours now have one.  We figure giving the name, size, weight, etc. of Sojourner to every passing freighter just clogs their screen and database, but it is very useful for us to know something about these big boats.  So we now know that freighters like the one in the picture, typical of those we pass on the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, are about 900 ft. long and 150 ft. wide; they weigh some 155,000 tons, have drafts around 48 ft.; and they cruise at 10-12 knots.  In contrast, Sojourner is 40 ft. long and 15 ft. wide; she weighs less than 20 tons, has a draft of less than 5 ft. and cruises between 7-8 knots.  Being alerted to the presence, name, relative size and perhaps even destination of commercial vessels will be very useful information the inland waterways, especially on the curving rivers where we have encountered big barges and tows unexpectedly as we cruise around corners!

Sunset at Rock Hall MD

From the Solomons, we crossed over the Chesapeake to try out Rock Hall, a well-known recreational and fishing port on Maryland’s eastern shore.  A delightful little spot, we had a good stay and Carolyn had great crab cakes!!  Susan decided to try the Rock Fish given that its existence was new to us, AND it is now seared in our memories.  A nice, firm, mild white fish but perhaps not worth all the stir trying to catch it created on the Bay.

Classic Chesapeake scene

Surprising mobile home park on the Chesapeake

Other than our day on the Mississippi just after the early summer floods of 2008, we experienced our best cruising day ever in terms of water and current on the trip from Rock Hall MD through the Elk River at the head of Chesapeake Bay to the C&D Canal, which, obviously, connects the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays.  We seemed to have the current all day, so we cruised at 10+ knots burning between 4-5 gals/hr.  instead of our usual optimum which is 7-8 knots  @ 4 gals/hr.  That extra speed helped get us to Delaware City, DE at the far end of the C&D Canal at high tide, and we cruised right into the town’s narrow lil’ canal and down to the marina’s 4 long face docks without incident., despite the hefty current on our stern and a 15 kt. wind on our bow.  Once arrived, the dock crew turned Sojourner around and here we sit, 3 days later waiting for a weather window to run the length of Delaware Bay (north to south) and across to Cape May, NJ where we will begin three days of cruising out in the Atlantic Ocean along the Jersey shore to New York City!

5th Time Adventures, con’t.: North Carolina

Brunch at Kure Beach

Our stop at friend Tanya’s on the ICW just south of Wrightsville Beach, NC was, as always, a perfect mixture of fun, relaxation and exploration in the company of good friends!  This time we brunched at Kure Beach, an old time beach settlement yet to be ravaged by condos, hotels and planned resorts communities.  And as boaters, we did the obvious, we spent one of our few days on land riding in a boat!!  We took the ferry to Southport, an historic 19^th century fishing village at the mouth of the Cape Fear River with shops, restaurants and many preserved/restored original fishing family cottages.

Southport cottage

Friend Sandy Ihly, the renowned Wilmington painter and mixed media artist, joined us for the trip, and she regaled us with stories of her studio and art being commissioned to star in a feature film entitled “The Writers”. Sandy’s assemblage pieces employ intriguing, beautiful works of art created from everyday domestic objects to communicate strong, thought-provoking feminist messages.  We feel very fortunate to have one of them in our Lexington condo.

Camp Lejeune warning

All the cruising guides warn travelers on the NC ICW that Camp Lejeune is a working Marine training facility, and it is possible the ICW may close while the boys shoot their guns across the waterway.  On our first trip, we called to be certain there would be no “live fire exercises” near the time we wanted to transit through the Camp Lejeune section of the ICW…  the second time, we asked at the marina before we cast off for the day’s cruise that would take us there…  the next two times, we did nothing to check and simply cruised through, again commenting on the burned out tanks on the beach and taking pictures of the warning signs…  Yep, 5^th time’s the charm!!!  We arrived at the Enslow Beach Bridge entrance to the “live fire” range 20 minutes after it opened for the last time before a 4 ½ hour exercise began!!  It was 12:30 in the afternoon and what’s a boat to do??  The closest marina was 10 miles in the wrong direction, and no one can hold a boat in place for hours, especially in the narrow canal-like stretch of water before the bridge-  So, we followed the bridge tender’s advice and dropped an anchor, right there in the middle of the channel!  During the course of the afternoon, 3 other motor yachts, 6 good size sail boats, and a handful of small, weekend/afternoon power boats joined us-  all at anchor, spaced out nicely for about a mile along the channel…  precisely at 4:30 the bridge opened, even though the firing exercises weren’t over-  Wel-l-l…  anchors were rapidly pulled, and at 4:35, the same dozen plus boats are now maneuvering frantically in a space smaller than a football field between the training side of the bridge and the imaginary line drawn and protected by “The Navy Guard Boat,” a hard-bottomed inflatable boat with machine guns mounted on its bow, and a radio man who so garbled his words that every time he said “The Navy Guard Boat…”  we thought he was saying “Greta Garbo”…”This is Greta Garbo calling the motor boat approaching the prohibited zone…”  We find our humor where we can…

Proud of his Pungo RIver catch

On each trip through NC, we’ve enjoyed cruising the Neuse River-  it took us to Oriental, the famous sailing center and to New Bern, the 300-year old, first state capitol. This year, the Neuse gave us a new adventure:  contrary to all weather predictions, the wind kicked up; the waves responded in kind, and suddenly we were reenacting a 1 ½ hour-long episode of  “Deadliest Catch” !!!  If we had not laid a track on the chart plotter leading off the river to the creek and then the marina, we might never have found it!!  And with the possible exception of tying up at St. Simons after our Cumberland Sound adventure, we’ve never been so glad to see a marina as we were to turn in the canal leading to River Dunes, one of favorite marinas and a safe haven for us from earlier storms.  Not to worry-  we were perfectly safe!!  Sojourner is truly an ocean trawler and handles 4-5 ft. waves splashing up over the top of the fly bridge with aplomb-  we just don’t like the ride and its not fun for us to watch the bow, first dip deep into the water and then fly back skyward, before dipping again and she surfed the waves!

Beautiful Belhaven sunset

We cruised uneventfully through the very rural and extremely isolated northern section of the state, with the remote and desolate, yet beautiful Pungo River and Pungo-Alligator River canal…  At “Ms. Wanda’s”, the infamous Alligator River marina behind a Shell gas station, we renewed acquaintances with a couple we first met in St. Augustine, another from River Dunes, and two others, from Belhaven.  “Ms Wanda’s” is obviously the only game in town-  the last marina before entering the Albemarle Sound.  The next evening, we saw and dined with most of them at Coinjock’s Marina, after an uneventful crossing of the Sound.

Dangers in the Alligator-Pungo River Canal

Striking sights in remote rural NC

The FL-GA-SC ICW: 5th Time’s the Charm?

Sunrise on Dawtaw Island

This trip is our fifth journey on the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway (AICW or ICW for short), and that reality affects our experience in more ways and differently than we might have anticipated.

Miles of Georgia Salt Marsh

First, we have favorite places we looked forward to visiting and without exception have enjoyed these again:  Cocoa Village, New Smyrna Beach and Palm Coast as we wound our way northward in Florida are certainly examples of this.  We even felt just a little sad that 2012 is most likely our last stop at these places, but we’ve said that before…  so who knows!  Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island is always a favorite stop, but we know we will return there!  With friends Jan and Spence always willing to take in “their boat people”, we are trusting that if we arrive by car, it wouldn’t be too different!  We also love meandering quietly through the isolated Georgia salt marshes and along the miles and miles of uninterrupted South Carolina sea grass.  We returned to Dawtaw Island, just north of Beaufort, SC and once again enjoyed the silent beauty of the Morgan River, the incredible sunrises and the delicious repast served at the Sawgrass Grill right at the marina.

Carpets of South Carolina Sea Grass

Conversely, spots along the ICW we enjoyed before weren’t so friendly this time…We had hoped to jump out (into the Atlantic Ocean) from Fernandina Beach/St. Mary’s to St. Simons and then from St. Simons to Tybee Road/Hilton Head….to miss the slow trudging through much of Georgia…  We had both jumps well planned, way points entered on the chart plotter and great weather predictions…. until the morning of departure from Fernandina!  The winds rose unexpectedly, and we thought better of trying the first, easy, jump… still hoping we could make the second, longer one…  So we took the inland route… but it did not compute that the “inland” route through St. Andrews Sound actually goes to the very tip of Cumberland Island and thus VERY close to the open ocean…. Wel-l-l… we got confirmation that we made the right decision NOT to jump out into the Atlantic proper, but we had a rather rough ride on the Sound….  4-5 ft. waves breaking over the bow and splashing the TOP of the bimini….  No time to look for the wild horses roaming the island that we had spotted on earlier -and gentler- crossings of the Sound!! Needless to say, even with a much better weather prediction the next day, we didn’t even think about doing the next jump outside!

SC dredge ready to work at sunrise

And then, there are the perennial “Do we really have to?” portions of the ICW journey, those necessary points along the way we must endure to get north.  Most significant are the infamous “ICW Trouble Spots” noted in all the cruising guide: Brick Hill, Jekyll Creek, Little Mud  & Hell Gate in GA;  The Brickyard, Elliott Cut, McClellanville, Minim Creek & the Rock Pile in SC; and Shallote Inlet, Lockwoods Folly, Cape Fear River & Snows Cut in NC. These are areas with incredible current and/or shoaling that defies regular dredging.  Either way, they must be traversed at certain points in the tide cycle (high, rising, or at least, hours from low tide and hopefully at slack, but certainly not flood or ebb tide). Then, of course, there are always the 7-9 ft. tides of Georgia to contend with when tying up for the night.

Holiday get away on the water???

Most onerous, though, are the “green-eyed monsters” of the sea marshes, gigantic flies that have moved aboard by the hundreds when the boat crossed into Georgia.  They hang threateningly from the ceiling of the fly bridge…. silently lurking, waiting for your most vulnerable moment to swoop down and strike, fast and deadly. We made it through Georgia with only a few finding the fly bridge and naively thought we were early enough in the season to escape their torture- Almost!!! After Dawtaw we started picking up riders and just as we hit Minim Creek, a spot infamous for its very strong current and shallowness, they swarmed!! We were quite the sight:  Carolyn, fly swatter in one hand and a rolled cruising guide in the other, swinging madly, hitting every which way to keep the devils away from my head and face, slaying them so fast you could almost hear the bodies fall-  Meanwhile, I tried  desperately to keep us in the channel while duckin’ and dancin’ to avoid Carolyn’s killer blows and keep those jaws on wings off  my legs and feet-  As quickly as it appeared, the swarm vanished!  Killed in action??  Judging by the literally hundreds of bodies strewn all over the fly bridge floor, perhaps!!  In any case, we survived and somehow Sojourner stayed in sufficient water to progress beyond the worst spots and we pressed on.

"Favorite" marina in Georgia!

So now we are on land for a week with our friend Tanya who lives right on the ICW just south of Wrightsville Beach, NC. …or just north of the Cape Fear River which goes to Wilmington, NC proper.  And we realize we haven’t posted at all about this journey!!  We have noticed interesting sights and enjoyed immense beauty, but we haven’t had the urge or taken the time to share either via Sojourner’s Sea Stories.   Hopefully this posting and its small Flickr pix set companion will at least partially rectify our omission.  For those who would like more pictures and details about cruising northward on the ICW from Florida to North Carolina, we offer the following hot links to Sojourner Sea Stories postings (and accompanying Flickr picture sets) made during our earlier journeys through this area.  The postings are archived by month so for each of the following, the last posting in the month will show up first.  Scroll down to the bottom and read back upward for the chronologically correct order of things:

1^st Trip North Spring-Summer 2009:  Florida to Georgia;   Georgia and South Carolina;   North Carolina to Norfolk VA

1^st Return South, Fall 2009:  Great Dismal Swamp and North Carolina;  NC, SC, GA and  FL

2^nd Trip North, Spring – Summer 2010:  Florida to North Carolina;  North Carolina to Virginia.

Movin’ On Northward

Sojourners (KY and NY) meet again!!

It’s been awhile since we  have posted and we’ve been busy both on and off the water!!  We finally got a weather window through which to depart Ft. Lauderdale, and from there, we enjoyed a very pleasant cruise, ever northward,  including stops, first in North Palm Beach  and then in Stuart. At the former, we rendezvoused with good friends Susan and Slade on Sojourner NY; we’re going north and they’re headed to the Bahamas!!  Together we enjoyed cold but fascinating visits to the North Palm Beach “Farmers Market” and the state park named for John D. MacArthur (of the MacArthur Fellowships and Foundation fame).

Chilly day at MacArthur State Park beach

Unusual nighttime bridge view in Stuart

At Stuart,  we had a delightful dinner with Cousin Evie and a short, but very welcome visit with former neighbors and fellow Selene owners, Susan and Jerry.  Though we retired and bought our boats at about the same time and we had enjoyed “talking boat” together when visits to Lexington coincided, we had not seen Susan and Jerry on the water before.  It was great fun to chat with them  and finally get to tour Ho Hum, their beautiful (and big) Selene 53! Susan alerted us to the spectacular Stuart sunrises, and she did not exaggerate!!  It REALLY looked just like this:

Sunrise on the St. Lucie River

From Stuart, we continued northward to Indian Harbor Beach, a small community located at the point where the Banana and Indian Rivers meet, very near Melbourne and Eau Gallie.  We left Sojourner at Telemar Bay Marina in the capable hands of Larry, of Larry’s Marine Services, for routine maintenance and a few special projects in preparation for “The Loop” while we returned to Lexington.  The timing was dictated by Susan’s being called for a month of jury duty, but  we also put the “land time” to good use visiting with old friends, attending a couple University of Kentucky Women’s Basketball games, doing some work on the condo, and completing a plethora of doctor, dentist, banker, broker, and accountant appointments!

We are now at Cocoa Village Marina doing final provisioning and finishing several little projects.  Weather permitting, we will start our 2012 Grand Adventure at first light on Tuesday.  We’ve posted a VERY tentative itinerary in the Map & Itinerary section of Sojourner’s Sea Stories home page.  We’ve already some reservations but there’s still space available for the adventuresome to join us along the way!!

Hangin’ out in Lauderdale

Ft. Lauderdale is 100 years old!!

With slight breaks in the rain, we’ve had a chance to do a little sightseeing in the very narrow land spit between the Inter-coastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean.  Las Olas city marina is only 2 blocks from the Ft. Lauderdale beach, and we’ve walked by the water, visited interesting restaurants, and engaged in much people watching.  Even in bad weather the beach is beautiful, tho’ we do feel sorry for the tourists who came for sun, sand and warmth!!  Without either sun or warmth, we’ve enjoyed experiencing the power of weather on the water from the safety of the land and discovering  Ft. Lauderdale’s wonderful sense of history as displayed along the beach walk…

Sojourner's BIG neighbors

Departing the Keys

Menacing -but beautiful- Atlantic weather wall

Hard to believe our dreamed about “winter in the Keys” is over…  We left Key Largo on after a 2-day weather delay…  Yes, not-good weather in the Keys!!  Not just wind, not primarily wind….actually rain!!  But accompanied by powerful wind and high seas as well…

After an early morning review of the latest weather forecast, we departed with a light mist falling but clearly distinguishable clouds in a rather grey sky.  A 20-minute, idle speed cruise took us from the Port Largo canal basin, passing slowly by all the dive, snorkel and fishing boats on the approach to the infamous and aptly named  “Crash Corner.”  It is a blind, 90 degree turn into the main canal channel.  Six small waterways cut off the Port Largo canal between Crash Corner and the jetty leading to Hawk Channel and the Atlantic ocean, and it wasn’t until we passed the last of those that we got a good view of the weather on open water.  To the right (Key West way), large grey clouds hung heavy in the sky; to the left (north to Coconut Grove, our day’s destination), a grey, more uniform cloud cover suggested the possibility of sun later; but straight ahead, due east, a most menacing black monolith threatened terrible weather farther out in the Atlantic!  So, we turned Sojourner sharply to the north and with a somewhat nervous laugh, recalled a day on the Hudson River during which we chased the sun all day only to be caught shortly after docking for the night by a storm so fierce it whipped up white caps all around us!  That threatening wall of weather hung about 5 miles off our “Atlantic“ side all day, but it did not move inland.  Unlike that day on the Hudson, we did catch the sun, and for hours before reaching our destination, we enjoyed a vision of the Miami skyline seemingly arising out of the sea like Atlantis!  By the time we approached the Biscayne Bay slit houses, however, the afternoon storm clouds were clearly gathering, and as it turned out, the rain came just minutes after docking at Dinner Key in Coconut Grove!

With the possibility of rain still very much in the forecast, we headed out the next morning with an eery grey cloud cover over all of Biscayne Bay.  Nonetheless, we enjoyed about 30 minutes of peaceful cruising across a corner of the Bay before passing under the Rickenbacker Bridge, into the downtown and residential waterways of metropolitan Miami.   A quick crossing of the main Port of Miami shipping channel and not-so-speedy passage under 15 (!!!) city bridges and through innumerable “slow speed”, “no wake” and manatee zones brought us to Port Everglades, a large and busy commercial shipping hub.   Encountering no freighters on the move, we passed through easily and within another 20 minutes we docked at one of the Ft. Lauderdale City Marinas.  Three days later, we are still hangin’ out in Lauderdale hoping for a break in the rain and wind so we can resume our journey.  Hopefully the slideshow will give you a feeling of our weather-intense departure from the Keys and our return to the “real world”…

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Key Largo: Before and After Key West

Sunset on the Port Largo Canal

When we started exploring the possibilities for our “winter in the Keys”, one of our boating colleagues noted that the each Key has its own vibe, ambiance, and personality; thus, he advised we had to find which one/s fit us best.  Not knowing exactly how to do that, we decided to drive from one end of the Keys chain to the other, visiting several communities and many more marinas.  And that actually helped!!  Our search found a marina that made Key Largo more appealing that it would have been by just driving through; conversely, we really liked Islamorada but could not find a marina there that would work for us. (As the quintessential key, Key West was a given as a destination and our only task there was to find a good marina!)

Key Largo was our first Key destination and thus, our first exposure to “the Keys” as an environment, atmosphere, lifestyle and culture. We stayed almost a month before heading on to Key West and then changed our post-Key West plans to return to Key Largo rather than to head on up the west coast of Florida.  We’ve been here three weeks this visit, and we love it!!  What’s not to like:  warm temperatures and sunny skies every single day!  A lush tropical setting along a quiet (mostly) canal well away from the Atlantic with its strong winter winds and heavy seas. Yet, it is still close enough to one of the world’s premier snorkeling and diving reefs when the winds give way for just a little while.  In Marina Del Mar, we found a lush, low key, resort setting offering fresh towels and breakfast every day and access to several different swimming pools in addition to covered car parking and the usual marina amenities like power, water, cable TV, and internet!  The local glass-bottom reef boat and innumerable fishing, diving and snorkeling vessels are Sojourner’s neighbors on the canal and offer endless entertainment in their comings and goings.  Even the famous African Queen of the movie by the same name, calls “our” canal home!  Because we’ve had the car, we could also enjoy an endless supply of very fresh seafood at a variety of different restaurants, several right on the water!  Stone crab claws and hog fish are local delicacies and the conch chowder is to die for as well!!

Rare still day on Port Largo Canal

Key Largo offered us some quiet, relaxing time and provided a great setting for sharing our time in the Keys with others as well. Carol and Patti, our Sea Sense training captains and now good friends, were Sojourner’s first visitors. They came for Thanksgiving, and we all thought for snorkeling and generally hanging out on a mooring ball as well. Unfortunately, the weather was not at all cooperative!  Beautiful sunny days but with winds way too strong and ocean swells way too big for snorkeling or even cruising out in the open water.  Carol did test out her new snorkeling gear in the protected cove of nearby John Pennecamp State Park, but that was certainly not the water-based experience we had hoped for!  Nonetheless, it was great to spend some time with two very special women, people without whom we’d not be doing what we are doing on the water!!

The Susan "triplets"prepare to go snorkeling!

As noted elsewhere, friend Maurie spent some time in Key Largo-  an unplanned and very short visit, but fun:  a hastily arranged glass-bottom boat ride out to the reef, in the Kentucky-built, Key Largo Princess II, no less, and a stone crab dinner topped off her short stay here.  Soonly thereafter, friends Susan and Sue, also from Syracuse, stopped in for a visit.  Originally planned as a quick overnight stop in their travels from Boca Raton to Tampa, the wiles of Key Largo worked their magic, and the “Susan’s” stayed for a couple days. The weather (wind) forecast seemed propitious, and so Susan of Sojourner joined Sue and Susan of Syracuse on an afternoon snorkeling adventure aboard one of the neighboring dive boats. The crew and other divers had great fun with the “Susan triplets”…. One only wishes we could say the same for the experience had by the three!  They were the only snorkelers on a boat filled with divers and that fact determined the underwater locations visited on the excursion. The first was a wreck some 40 ft. down and the second, a well submerged reef with swim-through holes too deep for snorkelers to explore. The snorkeling adventure had other issues as well.  Despite taking precautionary medication, Susan S. got  terribly seasick; despite her wetsuit, Sue G. became so chilled in the wind on the open water that she stayed on the boat at the second dive location; and Susan H.’s faulty equipment precluded any sustained exploring of what might have been seen otherwise.  Sound awful??  In some ways, it was!  But we’ve no guarantee that every adventure will turn out fit for a storybook,   At least, the Susan’s were able to get out on the reef and try their flippers!  All-in-all, it gave us some very bizarre underwater pictures and many laughs once back on solid ground and in warm clothes, to say nothing of offering the makings for some great (horror) stories!!

Shirley & Wayne's "room of their own"

Soon after the Syracuse Susan’s departure, our last set of visitors provided Sojourner’s Susan an opportunity to replace her first Key Largo snorkeling memories with more positive ones!  Shirley and Wayne from Tallahassee/FAMU/UK chose Key Largo as the place to try out their new camper and the timing of their trip worked perfectly for us! They biked and hiked and then joined us on the aft deck of Sojourner for sunset, drinks and gentle conversation before we all enjoyed seafood at a local restaurant. One day, we joined them for lunch at “their place”, i.e., the camper, really a covered bed on wheels, and a large, screened enclosure complete with refrigerator, gas stove/grill, picnic table, and two wonderful lounging chairs!!  Before lunch, Wayne and Carolyn enjoyed the chairs while Shirley and Susan snorkeled in the same, protected cove Capt. Carol had explored at Thanksgiving, and everyone had a fine time!!  For the snorkelers, the water wasn’t too cold, the breeze was gentle and there were no swells at all!!  The day before Shirley and Wayne had to return home, we all enjoyed the sights, sounds, and stone crab claws of the annual Key Largo Stone Crab and Seafood Festival!!     For more pix, check these out:  Key Largo

School of fish leading Key Largo Princess II

As our long-fantasied “winter in the Keys” draws to a close, we look back on a simply incredible experience: the water, the weather, the lifestyle, the ambiance, the sights, the food, and the people!  The Keys are a place like no other either of us has ever visited… Clearly, a world of extreme contrasts:  the wildness of Duval Street and the historic seaport of Key West on one hand, the tranquility of life on the Key Largo canal on the other…  Face in one direction and experience the cacophony of craziness created by Mallory Square street performers but turn 180 degrees, and revel in the languid silence of gorgeous sunsets… The stark juxtaposition of jewel colors is everywhere: the sapphire, aquamarine and turquoise of the water, the bright white of coral sand beaches, strikingly emerald palm fronds, deep amethyst ti plants and bright ruby bougainvillea blooms…. Or, the total change from perfectly placid to heavily roiling seas in a matter of minutes, tho’ the reverse always takes longer… As powerful as such contrasts are, the Keys also offer striking constancies, and the water is also one of these:  always some shade of blue, always clear and virtually always clean. Nowhere else in all our cruising to-date have we been able to  see the bottom in a marina, especially when the water is 12-15 feet deep, or enjoy tarpon, schools of sergeant majors and even the occasional blue parrot and angel fish swimming around Sojourner while she’s tied to a dock!  All-in-all, the Keys more than met any expectation we might have had.  We didn’t do all that we’d planned   -Susan still wants to snorkel off Sojourner’s swim platform-   but we experienced much and enjoyed it all!!

In a day or two we’ll begin our next adventure:  we’ve decided to head north again and this time, to keep on going once we reach Canada!  “Doing the Great Loop” was the original inspiration for our adoption of the cruising life, and we hope to cross our wake in St. Louis sometime after Labor Day this year!!

What a Difference a Day Makes: Maurie’s First Cruise

Our friend Maurie from Syracuse came to visit and inexplicably, she seemed to bring warm weather with her.  For her visit, Key West offered its signature sun, gentle breezes AND warmth! Unfortunately, all weather predictions indicated it would not remain beautiful for very long nor once gone, would good cruising weather return anytime soon.  Our month’s space in the marina would end the day Maurie was scheduled to leave, and our spot was already taken by a sailboat coming for the impending Key West Sailing Regatta. Thus, we had to think seriously about leaving early… while Maurie was still with us.  For a non-boater, Maurie had the chance for her very first cruise… But that meant being on the boat (and not on land)…. all day… for two days….  After some consideration, she decided she’d rather travel on Sojourner than follow along on US 1, either in the Keys shuttle or driving our car.  The predicted weather window for the two-day trip back to Key Largo was glorious, and we just knew her very first cruise would be one to remember! We-l-l… It was, but not exactly for the reasons we assumed!!

On the first day out, we knew almost immediately the weather would not live up to the predictions: a thick cloud cover hung stubbornly in the sky, while the swells were larger (significantly), the wind was stronger (by alot), and the temperature, much lower than expected-  It got better as we traveled, but being on the water just wasn’t at all comfortable for most of the day-  Often, we ask guest cruisers to assume responsibility for the “Comment” section of the daily log, and that day’s entry read in part:

“Somehow- I have no clue how- we entered into waters near Antarctica.  Climate change is a reality; we saw ice caps… Lost two toes to frost bite, but they were ones I wanted to  get rid of anyway…!”

The weather had moderated some by the time we began our “moat approach” to the Hawks Cay resort, and an uneventful night there brought an end to a difficult day. Luckily, the second day of the trip more than made up for the discomfiture of the first. In fact, it was our best cruising day EVER!  The seas were glassy, the wind, but a gentle breeze, and the sun, soft and warm-  We were tempted to stop the boat and jump off for a swim-  seriously!!   And Maurie decided she just might try cruising with us again sometime!

Because her adventuresome spirit overcame what turned out to be well-founded trepidation, Maurie got to see not only Key West but Duck Key and Key Largo as well.  A delicious stone crab claw dinner and a glass bottom boat trip to the reefs just beyond Key Largo finished off her visit in fine, if unexpected, fashion!

Hopefully this slideshow will provide some sense of the two-day trip:

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