A Weekend in Annapolis and St. Michaels with Family Guests

I'm going to give the straight scoop, and then turn it over to our weekend guests, my sister Debby and my brother JP.


Once again this blog site won't accept a photo
 that has been rotated, so please turn your head
to see Debby and JP!
 

Deeper Season has been in Annapolis since July, although we left it to spend all of August and half of September at home in NJ. We've had a great time with guests in October, and this weekend was glorious. What's even better, Debby and JP were able to be here long enough that we could actually go for a sail! On a cloudless blue sky with gently winds heading (for a change) in the right direction, we headed over to St. Michaels, which is across the bay from Annapolis. It was Halloween there, complete with church-benefit oysters on the half shell and the town parade. The spectators far outnumbered the parade participants, which included the high school band of about 25, the Brownies and Cub Scouts, and a few hardy souls with good costumes who felt like walking down the middle of the street. A good time! We headed back to Annapolis to get here before low tide (since we can sometimes find ourselves aground at the dock in a very low tide, and we need a little water to maneuver), which meant we were back by lunchtime. We dinghied into town for Sofi's Crepes and a beer at McGarvey's, which is one of JP's favorite spots from when he lived in Annapolis.
Now, I'm turning it over to Debby for more...

For every story ever told, there's a back story, and ours takes place around the oval table of Deeper Season's beautiful (and very functional) galley. Long battles between competitive sisters wrangling over Banagrams (and I humbly confess that I won all but one game, to Beth's great frustration)...and long, earnest discussions about politics, religion,aliens AND clouds, because family is allowed to talk about that stuff, and if we occasionally threaten bodily harm, no one takes it seriously (unless JP is holding a paring knife in one hand and a martini in the other). We argue about electronics, whether Apple's iPod is being unfairly controlled by a host radio, what music we should play. And we laugh. A lot. My son David would appreciate our foray into scatalogical humor...Oh well, I tried to explain the subject of his latest writing project - about a profane folk hero and dubious saint of Tibetan culture. But some things haven't changed, and I still can't remember the punch lines of any given story. More laughter. More food. A little indigestion. Well, we're old (except I have to say that it's JP who's been downing the Gas-X, and he's the youngest!). And now, before I get myself into too much trouble, I'm passing the torch to my baby brother, who (along with the rest of us), is missing Norma, his lovely wife and our dear sister-in-law, tonight. To our hosts, Beth and Bill, many thanks. They're the best! (And I know JP agrees with me on that one...)

JP: OMG! BTW, I picked up two typos from my dear sisters.  If you find them you get a free cruise to the Bahamas!  LMAOROTF!

A Week on Land at Chautauqua

Our home away from home

We just finished a fantastic week at the Chautauqua Institute in Chautauqua, NY. What a week! The theme was the 2012 election, and what we as voters need to know. Each morning was a general session in the ampitheater (which seats about 5000 people), and for our week the morning was hosted by Jim Lehrer (co-founder of the PBS Newshour). He had great guests, including a Friday recap with Mark Shields and Michael Gersin. (Watchers of the Newshour will know them).
The rest of the day, we took classes and attended lectures of interest. I signed up for an art class and Zumba - two things I've been wanting to try for a long time. Bill attended a series on the American Constitution. The evenings included concerts, theater, fireworks and just talking on the porch.
We shared a house with four other women, and all of us were brought together by our good friend, Ruthann Prange, who followed a hunch last year by renting a large house in this charming village. We highly recommend that everyone get recharged at Chautauqua for at least one week in the summer. The institute goes on for 9 weeks, and we were in week 2, so there are still opportunites this summer. Go! You'll love it!

Out of the Water in Solomons, MD

Out for repairs

A little more than a week ago we arrived in Solomons, MD, grabbed a mooring at Zahniser's Marina, and were glad to have avoided some nasty weather coming in. The next morning (last Friday, June 1) we were able to have Zahniser's pull the boat out to repair the gelcoat that was damaged by the cruiseliner last fall. We rented a car, zipped home for the weekend (it was great!), then back down here to meet the insurance adjuster and show him the estimate for repairs.

The breakfast porch
at the Victorian Inn

Even luckier, we were able to get lodging at a nearby B&B called the Victorian Inn. It has been marvelous! Great room, great breakfasts, a short drive or bike ride to the yard - all the conveniences of home! With the exception of this past Saturday night, when the Inn was full with previous reservations (it was a very hot night aboard the boat) we've been able to get a good night's sleep and leave the boat chores behind us each night.

Watching the model boat
races at the Calvert Marine
Museum Sunday

From here, we will most likely put the boat on a dock in Annapolis that our friends Tina and Scott told us about. Should be a neat way to explore that town and to have visitors come sail with us. That's a hint to those who might like to give it a try for a few days!

Closer to Home Now!

We left Beaufort with Beryl right on our heels, so decided we would skip Oriental this trip, and get as far along as we could. After two days we were ready to head up the Dismal Swamp into Virginia, still running ahead of Beryl. We learned later that the Dismal Swamp had caught several boaters in a fallen tree the previous Friday, so we were glad we avoided that mess! We met up with another catamaran, Nati, at the tie-up by the Deep Creek Lock. We rafted up with them, then joined them for Mexican food at a nearby restaurant while we waited for the bridge and lock to open. Then flew through Norfolk, and a last-minute call to Hampton Public Piers got us a place for the night. This time, Beryl was a helper - the winds were the only reason we made it to Hampton before the marina closed, and with high winds and strong current, we needed the help to tie up!
  The next day was rainy but not windy, so after a morning of oil changes and cleaning the water filters on the engines (the Swamp had filled them with debris) we set off for Cape Charles, VA, across the Chesapeake Bay from Hampton. Arrived around 4:30, fueled up, then docked and met up with Dave Steward and Hania for wine and then dinner. A fun evening!
  Today we decided to head north, so we are now on a mooring in Solomons, MD. We have a rental car reserved tomorrow for the weekend, so will head home to collect mail and say hello to our condo after 5 months away. It feels good to be so close to home!

Back in Beaufort, NC



Dawn over the marshes

Beaufort docks at night

After three pretty long days starting at dawn and ending near dusk, we made an average of 83 miles a day to get us up to Beaufort, NC, where we once owned a house and still have friends. We splurged and came into a slip at the Beaufort City Docks, right in the middle of the action. Our first day we rented a car and drove up to Sea Level, where we had built a vacation home. We first looked in on old neighbors Colleen and Ray who, unfortunately, are no longer in their house since it was ruined by hurricane Isabel and then Irene. They are renting a nice place and hoping to be able to win a lawsuit against the insurance agency to get enough money to tear down the old house (that Ray build himself) and rebuild. However, they are both getting up in age, so we're a bit worried for them.

The house we built in
Sea Level, NC

Bill, Pat and Carol, and Colleen
(seated) in our old kitchen/dining area

We took them to lunch at the Sea Level Inn, which used to have a very nice (and large) restaurant. Now, it's just a cafe, basically in the space that used to be the registration lobby for the Inn. The rest of the Inn has been turned into condos, mostly sold to fishermen who come down on weekends. So, one big disappointment there. Together with Colleen we then visited our old house, where very nice people (Carol and Patrick) now live. The house looks just the same, including the furniture (we had sold it furnished), the paint and paper on the walls, and all the curtains I had made. It made us feel very good to see it. Buzzing cousins who joined us there for a reunion will recognize the living room and dining area furniture.
Back in town, we've enjoyed just bummin' through the lovely town of Beaufort, eating lots of good food and listening to good entertainment every night from the bars. The winds have been high from Beryl, but are supposed to diminish tonight, so we plan to continue north tomorrow.

Florida to Georgia

Farewell to the Bahamas -
the remnants of our
Bahamas courtesy flag!

We're making tracks, although slower than we'd like. The weather has kept us in the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), which means battling tidal currents and bridge openings. More important to our progress has been that we've been facing daily severe thunderstorms that either have caused us to drop the hook or slow us down as we wait for better visibility. But, at least we're able to make some progress.

A music box at the
Lightner Museum

We spent an afternoon and morning in St. Augustine, with a memorable breakfast (Southern Benedict - shrimp and grits cake topped with spinach, poached eggs and bacon grave - just a few calories) at the Old City Inn, and a short visit to the O.C. Lightner Museum. He was a collector and publisher of antiques and hobbies magazine, and he collected EVERYTHING! Very cool.

Our frayed flag, and a cool
double rainbow as a
thunderstorm goes through.

The croquet playing
field in front of the
Jekyl Island Club

It takes an engineer to
design a footstool at the helm!

Following Scott and Tina on
Sangaris (another Manta, like ours)
through the Bridge of Lyons in
St. Augustine.

Heading north, we stopped at Fernandina Beach (love that town), then at Jekyl Island, where we took a quick bike visit to the historic estates. This morning we headed into northern Georgia, where we are anchored next to friends Tina and Scott on Sangaris. There is a named tropical storm (Alberto) heading our way, so we may hunker down here a few days until it passes through. Then we will continue north.

A Last Great Day in the Bahamas

Lunch at Green Turtle Club
with Tina and Scott

A cool gate on a property
on Green Turtle Cay

We had our last day at Green Turtle Cay, and saw it all with Tina and Scott on a golf cart. They showed us places we would never have found (last year they were looking at properties, so had discovered all the interesting 'roads').

We found these painted palm branches
hanging on a garage. Couldn't
resist shooting them all individually!

This one reminds me of a mahi-mahi

 Returned to the US, leaving Saturday and arriving after 22 hours at Ft. Pierce, FL on Mother's Day. We celebrated with a giant rum drink called Voodoo Juice. We're now slogging north, and should be north of Melbourne tonight on our anchor.

Love the expression on
this 'face'

Enjoy the pix!

This hermit crave enclave was
nestled in a rotted tree trunk.

What a fierce expression

 A flirty female fish - my favorite!

Back in New Plymouth, a visit to Vert's Model Boat Shoppe

One last sundowner at Sundowners in New Plymouth,
Green Turtle Cay.

Slowly Heading Home - to Green Turtle!

Green Turtle, Abacos

With Ivy Roberts, a Green Turtle
resident and our museum guide.

Ye Olde Gaol in Green Turtle

Miss Emily's - she makes a great
Goombay Smash!

After a great dinner with friends -
Can you tell we've been eating well?

After two weeks in Marsh Harbor, we finally got the engine repair done, so headed north to Green Turtle Cay. Its main settlement, New Plymouth, is among the best preserved of the original Loyalist settlements, and it hasn't been over-commercialized, so it's a great slice of Bahamian life. We met up with fellow Manta owners Tina and Scott from Annapolis yesterday, and had dinner at Sundowner's. Today, after a fierce thunderstorm this morning (including water spout and what felt like / looked like a microburst) we dinghied our bikes to shore, and spent the day riding through town, seeing the museum, and taking a long ride from Black Sound (where we are moored) to White Sound, at the north end of Green Turtle. White Sound has all the newer clubs / resorts, while Black Sound is closer to the Settlement of New Plymouth. Both are cool!

Getting a breath of air on the
foredeck, with interesting skies!

Stormy weather is predicted for the next few days, so we'll stay put here until it lifts. Enjoy the pix!

Stalled in Marsh Harbor (which ain't a bad thing!)

We limped into Marsh Harbor on one engine - a minor problem this time and purely a maintenance issue (a part that is now 16 years old gave way). We found an excellent mechanic who knows our engines / sail drives, and he came out last Thursday, poked around and knew what part to order. He also had a way to get the part here faster than is usual, so we thought we'd be on our way late last week. However, the part came in Thursday (a week from diagnosis) and our mechanic had to fly to Omaha that day for his daughter's college graduation, so here we still remain.

Abaco Inn for a great lunch overlooking
 the very calm Atlantic

Now here is where it makes so much sense that we have a dinghy with a 40 HP motor on it! The forecast for the weekend was very little wind, so Saturday we dinghied from Marsh Harbor to White Sound on Elbow Cay, to Tahiti Beach, to Lubbers Quarters for the Cracker P's Full Moon Party, and then back to Marsh Harbor. About a 20 mile round trip without a hitch. And lots of fun, so it really didn't matter where our boat was at the time.

An intentional grounding - the owner
cleaned the prop and hull in sand.

On Sunday we took the dinghy to Hope Town on Elbow Cay for one last Breakfast with the Benedicts at the Hope Town Harbor Lodge, then met up with friends on another Manta (Singaris, from Annapolis) for drinks and snacks on our boat. All in all, a great weekend.

Don't know if you can see the moon
coming up over the horizon at Cracker
P's Full Moon party.

Our mechanic was back today, and stopped by, but left to make a jig, so with luck we'll be fixed tomorrow and on our way. From here we'll start heading northeast through the less populated part of the Abaco chain, getting ready to make the crossing back to the US. We got our visas extended today for another 30 days just to give us a bit of breathing room getting back. All is well!

Back in Marsh Harbor for rest, rain and repairs

It's been awhile - Liz taught me how to put pictures directly on Facebook, so that's what I've been doing, but it's time for a little update. We had a great time with Liz and James - many games of Rummy, many Blasters and other island drinks, much good food, laughter and fun in the water. After a stop near Great Guana Cay for a last great swim, our port engine refused to go into forward gear (it's been slipping and getting steadily worse), so once again we limped into Marsh Harbor effectively on one engine. Fortunately our friends on New Moon (Paddy and John) had a recommendation of a mechanic who knows our engines, so he met us Thursday, just as Liz and James were heading to the airport.

Junkanoo at the Agriculture Expo

The good news is that it can be fixed without pulling the boat out of the water. Parts have been ordered and expedited, and with luck will be here sometime this next week. In the meantime we're enjoying being back in Marsh Harbor. Yesterday was opening day of the All Abaco Agra Expo, so we rode our bikes, and saw our first Junkanoo band. It was a high school group, but probably representative of what the Junkanoo bands are like. I tried to put a video on Facebook, but after 5 hours trying to upload it I gave up. Here's at least a picture of the percussion section. This Junkanoo band reminded me of New Orleans 'marching bands' - horns, drums of all sizes and shapes, and a slow, rambling shuffle as the band makes the rounds. The kids were great!

Some beautiful days with Liz and James

Welcome, Liz and James!

Getting ready to jump off the bimini
Yes, they did it, and so did Bill!

At Pete's Pub

After seeing the Vogels on their way back to Pennsylvania, we thought we would head down to White Sound, a part of Elbow Cay we haven't visited before. However, en route we had an engine alarm, and had to shut down the starboard engine. Fortunately, unlike the first time that engine failed, the alarms now work, so we shut it off before it ruined itself. We headed for Marsh Harbor and spent 4 days at the Harbor View Marina, trading calls with Deltaville Marina and Boat US (our insurance company) and then proceeding with the repair. Turns out although it was messy (oil everywhere) the engine was fine after an oil refill. Bill had to circumvent the oil pressure gauge (that same part that failed the first time failed again) but the alarm still works, so we're back in business.

Trying the tandem kayak - they
dumped it!

We explored a cave in Little Harbor.
No bats!

James's island

A friendly curlytail at Pete's

We anchored in Marsh Harbor for two days, had dinner with friends from Blue Moon, Paddy and John, then headed into the Conch Inn Marina on Monday, when Liz and James were due to arrive. Bill woke up with a stomach virus, so I ran a whole lot of errands, and we welcomed L&J to Deeper Season. The next day Bill was much better, so we headed to Lynyard Cay, a great anchorage close to Sandy Cay State Park (a great snorkeling location). Bill, Liz and James had a great day, but I woke up with the stomach virus that day, so I slept and read all day while they played. :( We spent another night there, then to Little Harbor and Pete's Pub, which suited Liz and James to a T. A great spot. This morning we came up to Hope Town and grabbed a mooring. Some bad weather expected in the next couple days, so we'll hunker down here for now. The pictures are just a little sample, but should tell the story!

A Great Week with the Vogel Family

Liv after visitng the Braid Lady
in Hope Town

Christine initiating the swim-up
 pool bar at Hope Town Marina

Trying the rope swing.

The week went by much too fast, and we had several days of rain and storms, but nothing got in the way of fun. Christine, Bob, Megan, Olivia and Jake Vogel were a joy to have on board, and they discovered things to do that we hadn't dreamed of! You've already seen the pictures of jumping from the bimini, and double kayaking on a single kayak. In the last several days, we rigged a rope jump off the boom, went snorkeling, and they said their last goodbye to the Bahamas with a perfect few hours in Treasure Cay. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

The tanning salon!

Bob and Jake at the beautiful
Treasure Cay beach



The Vogels enjoing a great sail!

Having Fun in Man Of War Cay



Megan was the first to jump

Christine takes the plunge

There is nothing like having teenagers on board for finding the fun things we never knew about our boat. After a great sail from Treasure Cay to Man Of War Cay, we moored and went into town to see the little shops (including Albury's Sail Shop, which was housed in a little 2-window house 25 years ago when we first visited, and is now in a large waterfront building). Back on the boat, the kids discovered two new things: jumping off the bimini, and dual kayaking. Jake had a lessons in running the dinghy, and proved himself a natural. They taught us Spades the first night, and last night we tried out a game we had on board called Nautical Trivia - it was in some ways excruciating, but we had lots of laughs, and even learned a few things. Our snorkeling adventure was postponed because the weather was bad - really choppy, very windy, with squalls coming through, but that didn't dim the fun.

Jake the Dinghy Captain!



The Deeper Season Hair Salon

Two on a single kayak - it can work!