Monday, March 12, 2012
Found Summer!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
We have "Hit Bottom" in search of free docks!
BarrySo there we were tied to a free dock in a great location when our friend Dave, that sold us Godspeed, showed up like a pusher and said "hey guys this is a nice free dock alright, but come tie up to my free dock, it's much better"... so we did! We once spent eight months swinging on the hook without being tied to anything. At that point in cruising we were "salty anchor Dogs" and were proud of it! Now look at us,
Sunday, October 9, 2011
As published by “The Star Valley Independent” September 22, 2011
"Fair Winds and Following Seas"
By Pat Harris
The ship’s radio bellered: Commercial shipping traffic approaching buoy 5TB… inbound… Penobscot Bay shipping channel… standing by channels one five…one six. The clarity of the message and the very professional voice sent shivers up our spines. Either he has a very strong radio or we are very close! Lorrie was plotting our position on paper charts while I was using satellite and radar navigation at the helm. Buoy 5TB and “Mr. Big Ship” were just a couple of hundred yards off our starboard side, on the portside was the “clang clang” of a buoy and the ominous sound of crashing waves against a rocky shore. To really add to the fun, visibility was less than one hundred feet, the closely spaced lobster pot buoys would appear suddenly out of the fog, causing us to travel the pattern of a snake, much like a dangerous game of high stakes of Tetris. Several times we would pick up other vessels on our radar and make evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision just to see them “ghost by” at the edge of visibility in the pea soup fog.
“We are in the big time now… I guess this is where we find if were cut out to be mariners” I said to the first mate (My wife Lorrie). We traveled on passing buoys with horns, gongs, bells, each marked on the charts with distinctly different sounds to guide the fog bound mariner away from danger and to safe harbor. A couple of hours later, Lorrie saw a flashing light that cut through the fog and was brighter with each passing moment. Perhaps we had run into the rocks, or “Mr. Big Ship” had run us over and we had perished. Was this the Archangel Michael guiding us to the Pearly gates… actually it was the “Owl Head Light house’ marking the entrance to Rockland Harbor, Maine. We now see Light houses not just for post cards, but in a completely different light, if you will!
Our journey to complete our trek from Key West Florida to Maine began where it ended, Deltaville Virginia. Last September, after our journey to the Bahamas, we put” Godspeed” (our 35’ Endeavour sloop) to bed for the winter and vowed to be back. After returning from a Wyoming winter, we spent several weeks preparing her which included: new navigation electronics, radar, state of the art solar power system provided by Peter Hatcher of Alpine Wyoming, and the usual bottom paint etc. that goes into a vessel for re-commissioning.
July 1st we slipped the dock lines in Deltaville and sailed North into the Chesapeake Bay, transited the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, and into the Delaware Bay. With Delaware on the port side, Maryland on the starboard, a Nuclear power plant looming off the bow, we sailed through the Delaware Bay and into the open Atlantic Ocean to Cape May New Jersey. This leg of the trip went smoothly and we caught and feasted on several Blue fish along the way. The lust for fresh seafood began as we gorged on our all-time favorite “the Chesapeake Blue Crab”.
The next leg began in the evening as we sailed through the night along the New Jersey Coast with our new cruising friends on the sailing vessel “River Rat”. We ghosted along through the night about a half mile apart, keeping each other company on the radio and watching the lights of Atlantic City slowly appear on the bow and slip away on the stern. Shortly after sunrise, the skyline of Manhattan appeared. We set the hook (anchor) in Sandy Hook, NJ awaiting the arrival of our son Dylan.
Sailing by Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty struck an emotional chord as we traveled the same path of generations of immigrants. Manhattan seemed to rise straight up out of the water as we headed up the Hudson River. We moored close to a subway terminal where it was quick and easy to explore the city. Dylan arrived and we were New Yorkers for a week, seeing all we could. Godspeed lay on a mooring and was a great refuge to dinghy home to her when city life was overwhelming. Sailing in and out of New York Harbor is quite an experience. The volume of large vessel traffic is very intimidating for a crew from Wyoming but we pulled it off.
We watched the Big Apple disappear as we traveled through the notorious Hell Gate with its extreme currents, comparable to navigating the Snake river in a 20,000 pound sailboat, and then into Long Island Sound. Lobster pot buoys began to dot the water adding a new unwelcomed hazard to navigation. The states get kind of small around there. We realized later that we anchored in a different state five consecutive nights in a row…in a sailboat…that moves about 7 knots (8 mph).
After a couple of days seafood lust, we found clamming on the shores of Massachusetts quite rewarding, we passed through Cape Cod and sailed into Boston harbor that afternoon. Once again we had a front row seat to the city, only a five minute walk from our mooring and we were on the Wharf. “How about those Red Sox” That evening the captain rested while Lorrie and Dylan Took in an exciting game at Fenway Park. After a couple of days enjoying Boston we waived goodbye to Dylan and continued North to New Hampshire and into the cool waters of Maine.
Maine’s marine wildlife is something to behold. On our first day of sailing we had several whales around us, big Bluefin Tuna tearing the water apart and passing through the air like missiles at times while voraciously feeding close by. Dolphins were constantly checking us out, while seals surfaced and would bask and stare at Godspeed as she silently slipped by. Eastern Egg Island host the southernmost colony of the Atlantic Puffin for only a short time while they breed and have their young and then they spend their lives at sea, We sailed by to see if they were home and their bright red feet and beaks gave them away. The young were in groups on the water and the adults were having words with the sea gulls on land. We were treated to see this rare site that can only be seen from the water in a private vessel. The Ocean is alive!
If given lemons, make lemonade! After a hard day of dodging those never ending lobsterpot buoys we decided to partake on what was at the other end of the line. Anchored in Boothbay Harbor, we were directed to by locals to the dock where the lobstermen unloaded. We tied our dinghy up to the dock and watched as one crate of bugs (Lobsters) after another swing by on a crane onto pallets to be processed or shipped live all over the world. We had to time the swinging crates and make a run for the office. We walked in and ask how much for a bug?…five dollars each…great we will take four please! That was three weeks ago and every little port seems to have about the same thing going on if you just follow the incoming lobster boats. The seafood lust continues!
Bet you did not know there is mountain climbing in Maine. While touring Acadia National park we climbed Dorr Mountain (elevation 1270 feet) and lorrie got into Maine’s blue berries and has not stopped yet.
Who is the captain of the boat? Not Pat or Lorrie but the weather. Hurricane Irene was not a surprise to us as the weather report is taken with the first cup of coffee in morning and reviewed just before retiring to the cabin at night. So when she came to visit we had plan A, B, through-Z. We went with plan A and took Godspeed into a little “Hurricane Hole” which was well protected by land on 3.5 out of 4 directions. It was (Say this five times real fast) in the Penobscot Bay up Eggemoggin Reach behind the bar in the Benjamin River. Irene was losing strength and falling apart so we decided to stay onboard for the fun. Lorrie watched movies all day while I read books and was tracking conditions on the internet. The local people were fantastic, they offered us shelter in their homes and use of a car if needed and gave us fresh vegetables from their gardens. Plan B was to abandon ship which we were fully prepared to do at any time but it was not necessary. There were some rolly times in the middle of the night as Godspeed slugged it out with Irene as the winds and seas passed through the unprotected .5 direction. Snug in our Hurricane Hole it was mostly a non-event, we have weathered worse in the Bahamas and were blessed to find this sheltered haven.
We are once again back in Booth Bay Harbor, Maine awaiting favorable winds to ride south. South is not a place but just a direction!
"Fair Winds and Following Seas"
By Pat Harris
The ship’s radio bellered: Commercial shipping traffic approaching buoy 5TB… inbound… Penobscot Bay shipping channel… standing by channels one five…one six. The clarity of the message and the very professional voice sent shivers up our spines. Either he has a very strong radio or we are very close! Lorrie was plotting our position on paper charts while I was using satellite and radar navigation at the helm. Buoy 5TB and “Mr. Big Ship” were just a couple of hundred yards off our starboard side, on the portside was the “clang clang” of a buoy and the ominous sound of crashing waves against a rocky shore. To really add to the fun, visibility was less than one hundred feet, the closely spaced lobster pot buoys would appear suddenly out of the fog, causing us to travel the pattern of a snake, much like a dangerous game of high stakes of Tetris. Several times we would pick up other vessels on our radar and make evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision just to see them “ghost by” at the edge of visibility in the pea soup fog.
“We are in the big time now… I guess this is where we find if were cut out to be mariners” I said to the first mate (My wife Lorrie). We traveled on passing buoys with horns, gongs, bells, each marked on the charts with distinctly different sounds to guide the fog bound mariner away from danger and to safe harbor. A couple of hours later, Lorrie saw a flashing light that cut through the fog and was brighter with each passing moment. Perhaps we had run into the rocks, or “Mr. Big Ship” had run us over and we had perished. Was this the Archangel Michael guiding us to the Pearly gates… actually it was the “Owl Head Light house’ marking the entrance to Rockland Harbor, Maine. We now see Light houses not just for post cards, but in a completely different light, if you will!
Our journey to complete our trek from Key West Florida to Maine began where it ended, Deltaville Virginia. Last September, after our journey to the Bahamas, we put” Godspeed” (our 35’ Endeavour sloop) to bed for the winter and vowed to be back. After returning from a Wyoming winter, we spent several weeks preparing her which included: new navigation electronics, radar, state of the art solar power system provided by Peter Hatcher of Alpine Wyoming, and the usual bottom paint etc. that goes into a vessel for re-commissioning.
July 1st we slipped the dock lines in Deltaville and sailed North into the Chesapeake Bay, transited the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, and into the Delaware Bay. With Delaware on the port side, Maryland on the starboard, a Nuclear power plant looming off the bow, we sailed through the Delaware Bay and into the open Atlantic Ocean to Cape May New Jersey. This leg of the trip went smoothly and we caught and feasted on several Blue fish along the way. The lust for fresh seafood began as we gorged on our all-time favorite “the Chesapeake Blue Crab”.
The next leg began in the evening as we sailed through the night along the New Jersey Coast with our new cruising friends on the sailing vessel “River Rat”. We ghosted along through the night about a half mile apart, keeping each other company on the radio and watching the lights of Atlantic City slowly appear on the bow and slip away on the stern. Shortly after sunrise, the skyline of Manhattan appeared. We set the hook (anchor) in Sandy Hook, NJ awaiting the arrival of our son Dylan.
Sailing by Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty struck an emotional chord as we traveled the same path of generations of immigrants. Manhattan seemed to rise straight up out of the water as we headed up the Hudson River. We moored close to a subway terminal where it was quick and easy to explore the city. Dylan arrived and we were New Yorkers for a week, seeing all we could. Godspeed lay on a mooring and was a great refuge to dinghy home to her when city life was overwhelming. Sailing in and out of New York Harbor is quite an experience. The volume of large vessel traffic is very intimidating for a crew from Wyoming but we pulled it off.
We watched the Big Apple disappear as we traveled through the notorious Hell Gate with its extreme currents, comparable to navigating the Snake river in a 20,000 pound sailboat, and then into Long Island Sound. Lobster pot buoys began to dot the water adding a new unwelcomed hazard to navigation. The states get kind of small around there. We realized later that we anchored in a different state five consecutive nights in a row…in a sailboat…that moves about 7 knots (8 mph).
After a couple of days seafood lust, we found clamming on the shores of Massachusetts quite rewarding, we passed through Cape Cod and sailed into Boston harbor that afternoon. Once again we had a front row seat to the city, only a five minute walk from our mooring and we were on the Wharf. “How about those Red Sox” That evening the captain rested while Lorrie and Dylan Took in an exciting game at Fenway Park. After a couple of days enjoying Boston we waived goodbye to Dylan and continued North to New Hampshire and into the cool waters of Maine.
Maine’s marine wildlife is something to behold. On our first day of sailing we had several whales around us, big Bluefin Tuna tearing the water apart and passing through the air like missiles at times while voraciously feeding close by. Dolphins were constantly checking us out, while seals surfaced and would bask and stare at Godspeed as she silently slipped by. Eastern Egg Island host the southernmost colony of the Atlantic Puffin for only a short time while they breed and have their young and then they spend their lives at sea, We sailed by to see if they were home and their bright red feet and beaks gave them away. The young were in groups on the water and the adults were having words with the sea gulls on land. We were treated to see this rare site that can only be seen from the water in a private vessel. The Ocean is alive!
If given lemons, make lemonade! After a hard day of dodging those never ending lobsterpot buoys we decided to partake on what was at the other end of the line. Anchored in Boothbay Harbor, we were directed to by locals to the dock where the lobstermen unloaded. We tied our dinghy up to the dock and watched as one crate of bugs (Lobsters) after another swing by on a crane onto pallets to be processed or shipped live all over the world. We had to time the swinging crates and make a run for the office. We walked in and ask how much for a bug?…five dollars each…great we will take four please! That was three weeks ago and every little port seems to have about the same thing going on if you just follow the incoming lobster boats. The seafood lust continues!
Bet you did not know there is mountain climbing in Maine. While touring Acadia National park we climbed Dorr Mountain (elevation 1270 feet) and lorrie got into Maine’s blue berries and has not stopped yet.
Who is the captain of the boat? Not Pat or Lorrie but the weather. Hurricane Irene was not a surprise to us as the weather report is taken with the first cup of coffee in morning and reviewed just before retiring to the cabin at night. So when she came to visit we had plan A, B, through-Z. We went with plan A and took Godspeed into a little “Hurricane Hole” which was well protected by land on 3.5 out of 4 directions. It was (Say this five times real fast) in the Penobscot Bay up Eggemoggin Reach behind the bar in the Benjamin River. Irene was losing strength and falling apart so we decided to stay onboard for the fun. Lorrie watched movies all day while I read books and was tracking conditions on the internet. The local people were fantastic, they offered us shelter in their homes and use of a car if needed and gave us fresh vegetables from their gardens. Plan B was to abandon ship which we were fully prepared to do at any time but it was not necessary. There were some rolly times in the middle of the night as Godspeed slugged it out with Irene as the winds and seas passed through the unprotected .5 direction. Snug in our Hurricane Hole it was mostly a non-event, we have weathered worse in the Bahamas and were blessed to find this sheltered haven.
We are once again back in Booth Bay Harbor, Maine awaiting favorable winds to ride south. South is not a place but just a direction!
Blue crab earings!
All U can eat blue crabs!!!
Is this right?
New navigational stuff.
Worlds problems...solved!
Chow Time
Boston, Check out Godspeeds location... sweet!
Dylan "Koolin' It"
Clam Bake tonight!
Coney Island hot dogs anyone? Yea, we had some and they were GOOD!
Central Park
Father, son, central Park, how sweet!!!
Subway! We did this every day for a week to get around. A bit different than we are used to OK considering where we were.
New York "Under Sail" if you will.
Our evening "Clam Bake"
High tide... check next picture.
Low tide! Same exact spot six hours later-12 foot tide.
victims
Ten dollar dinner! not each...total...well I did not figure in lorrie's butter...so more, lot's more!
Lobster Trap buoys everywhere along with lobster boats! No respect for channels
I see the light. Portsmouth Harbor light, New Hampshire
We saw over half of Maine's 68 lighthouses. Owl Head Light, Rockland, ME
Acadia National Park, Mount Desert, Maine
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Pirate Attack!
You all said it was going to happen and it did! We arrived at Godspeed a couple of weeks later than we wanted with at least 2 weeks of work to do to her. Mainly improvements and routine vessel maintenance. It was during this period it happened! You may not know it but my favorite food "Hands Down" is the Chesapeake Blue Crab.
It was a hot day and Lorrie was at the pool while I slaved away on Godspeed. We had a dozen blue crabs in the fridge just waiting to be cracked when they came. Swashbucklers wheeling mighty swords and hoglegs demanding blue crabs. I offered money and jewels but they said the weak dollar and all... just give us the blue crabs. Harrowing to think that they will attack a vessel on land and get away with the booty! Lorrie doesn't believe me... AGAIN!
Anyway, July 1st we slipped the lines and headed for Reedville VA. It was a little scary for the first two miles as we motored out of the harbor and into the Cheasapeake Bay. We had not done this mariner thing for eight months. Crabpots everywhere and those annoying waves just keep on coming. Nerves were on edge when it suddenly happened, We chilled and did what we have done for thousands of miles, we hoisted the sails and it was all good with the world.
Reedville was a great "time machine". We stepped onto the dock and into the sixties. We had a soft crab sandwich for lunch and unfolded our new folding circus bikes and went on tour. There was a great fireworks show in the harbor that night and a parade the next day. We had homemade ice cream on main street and giggled with the locals until the fireworks started, which we took in on the dock sitting by some local families.
Life is good today!
They don't call her Godspeed for nothin'. We knocked off close to a hundred nautical miles the next day and anchored in Annapolis VA up Weems Creek, a rocks throw from the Naval Academy. Our good cruising friends Jim, Joanne, and Meagan the cat stopped their cruise there but it was great for us to see them. Loads of fun and they carried us all over shopping for provisions, etc. Thanks guys!
Oh, bye the way we had blue crabs... no pirates...dollar getting stronger I guess!
We knocked off another big day and...
It was a hot day and Lorrie was at the pool while I slaved away on Godspeed. We had a dozen blue crabs in the fridge just waiting to be cracked when they came. Swashbucklers wheeling mighty swords and hoglegs demanding blue crabs. I offered money and jewels but they said the weak dollar and all... just give us the blue crabs. Harrowing to think that they will attack a vessel on land and get away with the booty! Lorrie doesn't believe me... AGAIN!
Anyway, July 1st we slipped the lines and headed for Reedville VA. It was a little scary for the first two miles as we motored out of the harbor and into the Cheasapeake Bay. We had not done this mariner thing for eight months. Crabpots everywhere and those annoying waves just keep on coming. Nerves were on edge when it suddenly happened, We chilled and did what we have done for thousands of miles, we hoisted the sails and it was all good with the world.
Reedville was a great "time machine". We stepped onto the dock and into the sixties. We had a soft crab sandwich for lunch and unfolded our new folding circus bikes and went on tour. There was a great fireworks show in the harbor that night and a parade the next day. We had homemade ice cream on main street and giggled with the locals until the fireworks started, which we took in on the dock sitting by some local families.
Life is good today!
They don't call her Godspeed for nothin'. We knocked off close to a hundred nautical miles the next day and anchored in Annapolis VA up Weems Creek, a rocks throw from the Naval Academy. Our good cruising friends Jim, Joanne, and Meagan the cat stopped their cruise there but it was great for us to see them. Loads of fun and they carried us all over shopping for provisions, etc. Thanks guys!
Oh, bye the way we had blue crabs... no pirates...dollar getting stronger I guess!
We knocked off another big day and...
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
"A Year Barefoot"
September 18th Godspeed slipped into the slings and out she came. After a barnacle scrape and pressure wash she was set on her keel and stands for a long winters nap. It took us several days to winterize and put her to bed. Then we waived goodbye, vowed to return, and flew back to our home in Wyoming.
The renters did not tear the house up and the weather was great for a few weeks as we settled back into a completely different lifestyle.
In "a year barefoot" we learned so many things. First we went from idiots to mariners, traveling well over 4000 miles and spending a 8 month stretch without being hooked to shore electricity or tied to a dock. Navigation, sail trim, anchoring etc. etc. etc...
In "a year Barefoot" we learned many other things about ourselves and the world we live in. Living at anchor and going to shore daily is much like looking in at the world from the outside of a window. Each place is so different from the last and we would go to shore and interact with people just living a life in which we were in no way involved in but were there as observers. Some were in a country way, some in a great hurry, soccer moms in beautiful homes, different industries ( if any) and how that affected the locals lives. It seemed at times that we would watch from the window until we weighed anchor, sail on, and then go to the next window and look in for a completely different show.
Our shopping only consisted of groceries. maybe a movie to rent, and maybe a needed part for Godspeed. We had no place to keep any souvenirs or collectibles and learned there is no need for such things aboard. Our small budget did not have a dining and entertaining allowance, so we cooked on the boat and did not have to worry about what to do with extra money, because we had none, just one less thing to worry about! We went without TV, hair driers, curling irons, utility bills and many of the things we all take as necesary. During this time we have learned how little it takes to enjoy life and be comfortable doing it. Sure it was nice to get our big bed set back up and take a long hot shower, or a soak in the jacuzzi instead of a very short water saver's special. We carried about 85 gallons of fresh water which would last us over two weeks without even trying. Sure we bathed, washed dishes, even drank water just like anyone else but we learned to do it using very little. I think it is called conservation or something like that.
"A year barefoot" taught us to be very in tune with mother nature. Mother nature made all decisions on when and where to move, when to hunker down, where to anchor, and which anchor to use among many other day to day factors that we just don't have to deal with on land or in a marina. Mother nature also told us when it was fine to leave Godspeed and enjoy exploring an island or go bike riding for the day, Or have a wonderful meal in the cockpit while having dolphins or other sea life for dinner guest and splash, play and feed, in a mirror flat sea.
"A year barefoot" also gave us many new friends. Cruisers come from many walks of life. Some seem to have an unlimited budget and some have almost no budget at all, but we are all out there doing it and that seems to bring a common bond that is the great equalizer. Sure there are those that are too good to mingle but that is there loss and the rest of us are enjoying new friends constantly from all walks and instantly forgiving differences in each other because we are "real cruisers" and are a part of a very small community. "Real Cruisers" have a strange bond that maybe comes from traveling many of the same miles, living like most would not understand, and seeing and experiencing life in a way that is only possible from a boat. We visited cruisers well over a thousand miles from where we met them several times, some pre-arranged some just bumping into each other and instantly resume our friendship, watching each others back, and will do whatever it takes to keep all in the anchorage safe. The cruisers were probably our biggest surprise!
Lorrie, Dylan and I, hopped on our snowmobiles and left from the house to cut our Christmas tree yesterday. We rode from the house for ten minutes and arrived at mother nature's tree lot. As we cruised on our "snow yachts" through the forest looking for the perfect tree, we were able to experience a different side of God's great creation. There is beauty everywhere and we have much to be thankful for!
The "cruising kitty" is being replenished and we plan to wet Godspeed again this spring and head north to Nova Scotia and just take it all in!
Merry Christmas and a Happy new year from the crew and we wish you all "Godspeed"!
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