Life sucks! I feel very indignant. All I wanted to do was to jump off the boat onto the docks and run around and explore like usual, but those two-legs moved the boat as I was about to jump and I ended up in the water! Must I mention that it was FREEZING! And I'm not exactly an experienced swimmer. Still, I managed to swim ashore, in spite of much fuss from those two, and I climbed up a tree... so what if I couldn't get down on my own. I maintained my dignity. Humpf!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Southport, North Carolina.
We've been steadily motoring north up the ICW. Our sails remain furled but Boris, our diesel engine, is doing an admirable job. It's cold. There are cold fronts nearly every three days with strong winds, freeze warnings, thunderstorms, rain, and general discomfort. We're trying to make up for the bad weather with good food, as usual. Thinking about it, good food can be applied in every situation: celebrating good weather, bemoaning bad weather, waiting for weather. Go figure! One of the nicest things about the ICW is the large amounts of protected wetlands in Georgia and South Carolina. There are lots of developments, big big houses and bulkheads to prevent erosion, but there are also lots of undeveloped islands and marshes bordering the ICW. It's very pretty for us to look at, and also pretty nice for all the animals!
In other news, our friends the Tillmans on Someday Came have arrived in the Marquesas after a looooong passage from Panama. Check out their blog! Way to go Captain Morgan and crew!
checking crab pots
oops!
looks like a nice spot to have a picnic and go sunbathing, storm drain and all!
Hans is all smiles behind the wheel of Dave's Porsche. vroom vroom!
a couple boats behind us on the ICW next to Jekyll Island in Georgia
Nicely restored and maintained old houses in Beaufort, SC
Here comes the cold front! and yes, it was cold!
Two guys digging for oysters (clams, mussels?) just north of Charleston, SC
We've seen lots and lots of bird life along the ICW. Countless osprey everyday, but the highlight was these two bald eagles.
April 2, 2009
It looks like we'll be motoring up the ICW until this mess clears up:
satellite image courtesy of NOAA
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
April Fool's Day!
No, this is not an April Fool's joke...we're back stateside on Whisper, trading in the sunny, dry Caribbean for cool and rainy Florida. ugh!
We sailed from Nassau to Cape Canaveral a week ago, leaving Nassau on Wednesday afternoon and arriving in Canaveral on Friday morning, 288 nautical miles. Overnight we averaged almost 9 knots in the Gulf Stream! Full Speed Ahead! As soon as we entered the Canaveral inlet, the water color changed from blue to brown and we knew we were back on the ICW. We're currently in Fernandina Beach, Florida, enjoying the hospitality of our friend Dave (from s/v Shannon Glynn) and catching up on internet, email, laundry and hot showers. It's been fun slowly making our way up the ICW, watching houses go by and then snaking our way through marshland. At anchor the other night we saw osprey, two bald eagles, a loon and sandpipers on the mud flats.
Great Isaac Light, the western-most lighthouse on the Grand Bahamas Banks. Goodbye Bahamas!
Tell us Hans...how do you really feel about being back in the US on Whisper? (approaching Cape Canaveral)
Our first anchorage in the States. How scenic.
It's a small world: the other day we had the VHF radio tuned to channel 09, the channel the bridge tenders monitor, and we heard the boat "Free Spirit." Our friend Jerry from MA is on the boat Free Spirit...so we hailed Free Spirit on channel 16 and sure enough, it was Jerry! He is on his way north for the summer and we just happened to be in the same place at the same time. We had a fun night catching up and sharing stories.
One of the many bridges we'll encounter on the trip north, this one is in Titusville, FL. The bridges are a pain, but the friendly bridge tenders make up for the hassle. They almost always are cheery and wish you a good voyage.
Hey, aren't there miles upon miles of really nice beaches in Florida? Instead, this group choses to camp and sunbathe on the muddy ICW just a few feet from the highway. charming.
