Elizabeth City to Manteo

The Prequel

It was Friday, October 26 and there I was, navigating through a particularly byzantine channel just off the ICW and slightly north of Beaufort, North Carolina when I realized that we were on the wrong side of the channel markers. I immediately tried to turn back into the channel, but before I could get there, I heard the bump, the grind and the other unforgettable sounds of the hull getting hung up on the earth; we were aground. I tried moving backward, forward and all the other standard remedies. Nothing. I called the marina and told them we would be a little late, then I called TowBoat US (kind of a AAA for the boating crowd) and gave them our position and prepared to be rescued.

Little did I know, however, that that lovely my wife was on Facebook telling everyone what had happened. I mean my god, she could have at least waited until I made up a good excuse ... er … I mean until I determined the exact cause of this unfortunate incident. As you know, the National Transportation Safety Board can take years to determine the cause of accidents. I mean, while I am no fan of our current president, I sympathize that sometimes reportage gets ahead of the truth – or at least the truth as I want it to be known.

Again, however, I am afraid I am ahead of myself. Before I give you the detailed explanation of what happened and why, I need to discuss some other aspects of our trip.

After Elizabeth City

In our last entry we left you after touring Elizabeth City, the “Harbor of Hospitality”. After Elizabeth City we decided to go to Manteo, NC on Roanoke Island. To get there, we had to traverse the eastern half of Albemarle Sound. Although the afternoon part of the journey was okay, I must admit that the beginning was a little rolly. Everyone did okay, though, and we got to Roanoke Island without any real problems. Maneuvering through Shallowbag Bay, which is the area just in front of Manteo, however, was bit tricky as it is getting increasingly shoal every year. Nevertheless, we got into the marina with very little difficulty.

There seem to be two geographical areas of tourism on Roanoke Island, one in the north near the original fort, and the other in the center near the town of Manteo. The problem is that these two areas are 5-6 miles apart. That’s not a problem if you have a car, but on foot 5-6 miles is quite a walk. Needless to say we didn’t make it to the northern area of the island, and stayed near the town.

For those of you not as steeped in North Carolina history as I am (after all, I attended 6^th and half of 7^th grade in Fayetteville), Roanoke Island is the site of the first English colony in America, before Plymouth and before Jamestown. It is the location of the famed “Lost Colony” and is the birthplace of the first child of English descent born in America, Virginia Dare. Or, to be more verbose, as Wikipedia does

Roanoke Island was the site of the Roanoke Colony an English settlement initially established in 1585 by Sir Walter Raleigh group of about 120 men, women and children arrived in 1587. Shortly after arriving in this New World, colonist Eleanor Dare, daughter of Governor John White gave birth to Virginia Dare She was the first English child born in North America. Governor White returned to England later that year for supplies. Due to impending war with Spain, White was unable to return to Roanoke Island until 1590. When he arrived, the colony had vanished. The fate of those first colonists remains a mystery to this day and is one of America's most intriguing unsolved mysteries. Archaeologists, historians, and other researchers continue to work to resolve the mystery.

While in Manteo we did some shopping and had good dinner at Avenue Waterfront Grille and also to the Manteo Island Festival Park. There, they had a few interesting Native American exhibits, a couple of costumed English tradesmen plying their trades and a replica of the Elizabeth II, the ship that carried the colonists to the New World. We spent most of our time on the Elizabeth II. It was a 69’ vessel that carried 50 colonists plus their provisions across the ocean – a journey that took three months. As a matter of comparison, Traveling Soul is a 52’ vessel carrying four people right now down the Intracoastal Waterway.  Just sayin’ …

After Manteo we anchored at the end of the Alligator-Pungo Canal. There is an anchorage there at the mouth of the Pungo River that is one of my favorite anchorages on the Waterway. It has great holding and provides some protection from the east and the north. One reason I like the anchorage so much is that if there is serious weather, you can go further up the river and get protection from all sides.

We weighed anchor and proceeded to Beaufort, NC. Between us and Beaufort, however, was a large chunk of Pamlico Sound and the Neuse River. Was it rolly? Was it bumpy? Well, you will have to ask Dave or Joan because Ann and I thought it was just one of those things. Even Spot decided that hiding under a blanket was sufficient, rather than hiding under the table like she does with serious wind and waves. Besides it didn’t last for more than an hour or two, then we turned so the seas were pushing us forward, i.e. we had following seas.

After the unfortunate grounding incident – about which I will say more later – we arrived in Beaufort, NC. Beaufort NC is pronounced BOW-fort, in contrast to Beaufort, SC which is pronounced BYOU-fort. While in Beaufort we had two lunches out. One of the places was recommended by the dockmaster, it was called the Black Sheep and had a nice beet salad (at least that is what Ann told me, I personally, hate beets) , and some of the best thin crust pizza I have had in a long time (to that I can personally attest because I LOVE pizza). The other, which shall remain nameless (only because I can’t remember the name) was, at best so-so.

We also did a lot of browsing in the shops – with one exception. Ann, as many of you know is an accomplished chef who loves her olive oil. There is an olive oil store in Beaufort that we had to visit two or three times to get the correct oils and the proper containers for her to cook such wonderful meals.

A shot of the Olive Oil Store In Beaufort

We also went to the Beaufort Museum. The museum is pretty good. It focuses on findings from the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the flagship of the infamous pirate, Blackbeard. In 1996, archaeologists discovered the ship in shallow water about a mile offshore near the Beaufort Inlet, so Beaufort has first dibs on the artifacts. We also took a tour of the city and got a chance to see a bunch of old houses (still in use). Some were “Sears” houses, which you could order out of the catalog and would be delivered, with instructions, on the train. From the look of the houses, they gave much better instructions for putting together houses than Ikea and others do today. We actually saw one house that brought together several of the Beaufort themes. Apparently in the 1950’s or 60’s Sears painted a house on Beaufort with their famous “Weatherbeater” paint. They chose Beaufort because it was on coastal North Carolina and they could leave it there for several years and show how well the paint held up through hurricanes and all the other inclement weather the sea can offer. At some point, apparently, Sears got tired of waiting so they brought in big fans, hired the local fire department and made their own “hurricane.” When it they ran the ad, Sears said it held up in hurricanes and referred to the house as Blackbeard’s old house.

Okay, now I will explain that for which most of you have been waiting. It is true that we went aground just outside the ICW on the way to our marina in Beaufort. For those of you who don’t know, in boating it is said there are two kinds of boaters: those who have been aground and liars. At least I am not a liar. How bad was it? Well, while this certainly isn’t the first time we have bumped the bottom or even stalled on the ground, it the first time in nearly 20 years of boating that have I called TowboatUS, so that means we paid $2800 for this tow. And do you know what? The membership is worth every penny. The TowboatUS Captain was young but very professional. He knew what he was doing.

Now my crack “Grounding Investigator” (moi) has analyzed several different possibilities for this grounding.

1.       On this voyage, Dave and Joan are acting as additional crew for Traveling Soul. They are fairly green and had never been aboard a grounded vessel, at least not a grounded Traveling Soul. If I need to, I will swear that I was simply trying to train the crew in the proper processes and procedures when grounded. That would mean that this was no accident; it was a well planned and executed training event. The fact that everyone thought it was real is testament to how well it was planned and executed.

2.       While he has been a member of BoatUS for 20 years or so and had never used the membership. He just wanted to see if everything would work as advertised. It did.

3.       The markers in this area are so screwed up and difficult to interpret that it is amazing more people don’t run aground. My award should read that “at great personal risk and with extraordinary courage he determined to challenge the authorities and show them how much dredging is needed.” Rather than be shunned, I should be awarded the Cruiser’s Cross (or some other appropriate award) so the authorities will do something about the markers.

4.       Or perhaps my favorite … Did you know Blackbeard grounded his ship Queen Anne’s Revenge just outside the Beaufort Inlet (it was just discovered in 1996)? I was just trying to get the full “pirate experience” by grounding Traveling Soul.

5.       With extraordinary stupidity I took my eyes off the markers that I was following and began focusing on where I was to dock. In the process I missed the (admittedly small) green markers marking the channel.

Since I have eliminated explanation 5, you can see my crack investigator (moi) determined that notwithstanding anything you may see on Facebook, I WAS NOT AT FAULT. And that is all I am going to say about that.

 Continuing the Story

One of the excellent displays at the Maritime Museum

of North Carolina in Southport, NC

After Beaufort we anchored for a night in Mile Hammock Bay and headed for Southport, NC. Enroute to Southport there are three bridges, the Surf City, Figure Eight and Wrightsville Beach Bridges that open on a schedule that defies any logic. It is absolutely impossible to make any kind of decent time through the three of them. I have asked my classmates, some of whom were professors of mathematics, some rocket scientists and one even a professor emeritus of engineering to calculate a schedule for making the bridges. No one has yet succeeded. I have detailed this conundrum in previous entries and won’t go say any more today. Except GRRR! Dame the state of North Carolina!

Okay, with that out of my system, I can tell you that we spent a day touring the lovely and historic city of Southport, NC. I had heard about the North Carolina Maritime Museum of Southport and had long wanted to check it out. It wasn’t very big and didn’t have as many artifacts as I would have liked, but it told the maritime story of Southport fairly well … at least through the Civil War. Then it kind of petered out. It seemed to say, “and in the 20^th Century there were a couple of more wars. The End.” I guess any museum has to choose its focus and theirs was clearly the pre-revolutionary, revolutionary and Civil War maritime histories of Southport.

We also visited Fort Johnson and the Visitors Center which are one in the same. There, there was very little discussion of Fort Johnson and a lot of pictures of Southport through the ages. We checked out a few stores, then headed back to the boat. Later that evening, we had our friend Jim Treadwell over and all went out to dinner. Jim had been an underclassman in my company at West Point and later became my company executive officer in the 82^nd Airborne Division. Ann had remembered that last time we came through Southport and met Jim and his wife Bess,we had gone to dinner at a place called “Fishy, Fishy Cafe.” Actually, what she remembered was their “Shrimp Wrapped in Bacon with Maple Glaze.” It was scrumptious a year ago and was scrumptious this year. Speaking of scrumptious, one of our new crewmembers, Dave Wolf, has asked to discuss scrumptiousity and our Chief Chef, Ann.

Dave’s Notes:

Thanks, Mike…Mike has often blogged about the great food on Traveling Soul.  I thought I would take a minute and review what we’ve dined on so far on our trip.  Here is a summary of the menu we have enjoyed since we left Maryland:

·       15 October:  Reuben Sandwiches (a tradition of ours to have Reubens  when we start a trip);

·       16 October:  Chicken and Carrots (another boat tradition);
·       17 October:  Ribs cooked on the grill with cole slaw and beans; Mike cooked half way on the grill
·       18 October:  Pork Chops stuffed with spinach and goat cheese (unbelievable);
·       19 October:  we dined out at Amber Lantern;
·       20 October:  Roasted chicken thighs with vegetables;
·      21 October:  Beef Stroganoff;
·       22 October:  Shrimp Bisque (this was a cool evening and begged for a great soup!);
·       23 October:  Spaghetti Bolognese with Italian sausages;

·       24 October:  dinner out in Manteo;
·       25 October:  Ribeye Steak on the grill with baked potato and salad; Mike grilled out
·       26 October:  Cornish Game Hens with stuffing and a side of roasted zucchini and squash;
·       27 October:  Rack of Lamb!  See photo…
·       28 October:  Shrimp ala “Homer Smith” and cole slaw (fresh shrimp right off the boat);
o   Mike’s note: Homer Smith’s is the name of the marina were we stayed AND the co-located Shrimp processing plant. We not only get the shrimp fresh, but at wholesale prices!
·       29 October:  Chicken Enchiladas ala Joan Wolf
·       30 October:  Ribeye Steak on the grill with tater tots (we are in the South);Mike grilled out
31 October: Shrimp Quiche (More of Homer Smith's shrimp!)

I think the above list gives you some idea of how well we eat on Traveling Soul.

One small portion of the hurricane damage we saw.

If I may delve into one more topic:  hurricane damage.  As we cruised past Elizabeth City and went deeper into North Carolina, we saw more and more examples of hurricane damage from Hurricane Florence.  As you might recall, Florence came ashore as a huge hurricane between North and South Carolina, then stalled, dumping many hundreds of inches of water on both the coastal and inland portions of this area.  It was followed up by the remnants of Hurricane Michael.  As we cruised down the ICW, it was amazing to see that some places were severely hit, while the house next door appeared to be untouched.  This view does not account, of course, for repairs that have already been made, but damage was pretty extensive in coastal North Carolina.  It will be interesting to see what South Carolina has suffered in terms of hurricane damage.

Ann’s Notes:  geez…Now I need to follow up after all the reading you have done already. I will try to make it semi-short.

We have had a good cruise so far, granted it has been on the cooler side of sunny at times. I can tell we are in the Carolinas by the amount of dark, sticky, smelly mud that is clinging onto every single link of our anchor chain. Hosing it off before it goes into our anchor locker can take an extra ten to fifteen minutes in the morning. You may be thinking…ok…no big deal … but when Captain Michael says… anchor up and underway by 7 or 7:30 …he means to keep that schedule. On my end, I just adjust the alarm clock to take into account all the other morning routines I do… get dressed, put in my left contact lens ( I only wear one -- mono vision works for me), put sun screen on, make the bed. Than the galley routine starts pour the coffee, have a little something for breakfast, listen to the weather report. Then it is time to go to the bow of the boat, take out and turn on the wash down hose, take a deep breath, put my foot on the windlass bottom and start to messy ordeal of cleaning the anchor chain, link by link. So… taking up 100 or 120 feet of chain, mostly covered in yucky mud can take a few minutes out of your morning. Michael and I have the routine down well and Big Bertha has held us faithfully, so she deserves my TLC .

Now…about the grounding and Facebook… if you are stuck, have good WiFi, time to kill while waiting for BoatUS to arrive and have loyal, concerned friends  that follow you…be honest…what would you do? You already know my answer… POST … day, time and Location… Just sayin’.

Spot, waiting for dolphins to appear

I want to thank Dave for reviewing the daily menu. Most of you know that I love to cook, have a wonderful stocked pantry and a  galley that has all the luxuries of home( but not a gas stove, I miss my gas stove when cruising). I did have to get a new Induction , mine broke just before we departed Solomons. I ordered a new and better one while underway, from Amazon , and had it delivered to Homer Smiths in Beaufort NC. That little cooktop is also a time saver in the morning. It can boil water in seconds for Dave’s morning tea and Joan’s oatmeal… it took several minutes to boil water in the microwave. Tick Tock…the Captain is waiting for Bertha to get her shower and get underway.

Thanks for following us…Blessings

Spot is well and enjoying her bird watching, dolphin watching activities.

Traveling Soul…OUT

2018 Down trhe ICW!!

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time of year. We are once again preparing to head into the deep blue seas to explore the coastlines of America and visit the waters of the Bahamas. This year the plan is generally to head south along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, take periodic excursions along the way, then leave the boat in Palm Beach, Florida for about  a month while we go back up to Virginia/Maryland to visit our family and friends over Christmas. After the New Year, we will link back up with Traveling Soul and head to the Bahamas for another winter. Exactly where we will go in da’ islands and what we will do when we get there we are not yet sure. We are determined, however, to do something a little bit different than we did last year. Lobstering is a definite possibility and so is visiting more of the out islands. You will just have to wait until we get there to learn more (and so will we).

More of you than I care to mention ask more questions about 

Spot than the rest of us combined. And she knows it.

Traveling Soul spent a relatively uneventful summer at her slip in Solomons, MD. I know some of you really enjoy counting the boat units we spend to make her seaworthy, but this year we deliberately kept expenditures to a minimum because we bought a new car and didn’t have any money left over. (I don’t know how landlubbers can spend sooo much on automobiles – and sometimes even buy more than one of them! Gimme a good ol’ dinghy any old day).  The other reason we didn’t spend masses of BU’s is because we have, over the past several years, repaired just about everything at least once, so very little is left to break down (knock on wood). Moreover, we have made most of the modifications we want to make. Yes, it is true we replaced an air conditioner this year at the cost of about four BU’s and an air conditioner pump that cost another two.  Beyond that, however, most of the repairs were small and we did them ourselves.

 While Traveling Soul didn’t have much work done, I certainly did. In July I had outpatient back surgery to fix problems that had been brewing for decades and had been practically debilitating for the past couple of years. It took a couple of weeks for the operation to have its full effect, but I am now repaired! It’s not perfect in that there is still some pain, but at least I can walk for more than ten minutes at a time. Now, all I have to do is recondition my “walking muscles” – kind of a weird problem for a former US Army infantryman! Ann has been healthy all summer and has done yeoman service getting me to all the doctor’s appointments and hospital visits. Moreover, when recovering from back surgery one is not supposed to lift any more than 10 pounds, so Ann has had to do all the heavy lifting in the family. And Spot? Well, Spot is Spot. She is as spoiled as ever, has slept more than any cat deserves to sleep, and has run, jumped and climbed like a kitten. I can tell, though, that she is as ready to head south as Ann and I are.

I have already told Dave and Joan the motto of Traveling Soul

This year, for part of the journey, our friends Dave and Joan Wolf have signed on as crew. We have owned two boats with Dave and Joan and they have become some of our best friends. They will be with us from or start in Solomons, MD until we reach Saint Augustine, FL.  I have already told them the motto of Traveling Soul. 

Solomons to Fishing Bay

Our journey actually began several weeks before 17 October as we had to load the boat with everything we had taken off her earlier in the year. That meant not only clothing and kitchen gadgetry (what would Traveling Soul be if not the boat with the best equipped galley on the ICW?), it also meant food, medicines (which is turning into a major chore in and of itself),  Since I couldn’t lift much, a lot of the responsibility fell on Ann.  When everything was loaded, we were ready to go.

We were just about ready to start our journey. The plan was to spend Monday night on the boat in the marina. On Tuesday we were going to start her up, move a mile or so into the harbor, and spend the night at anchor just to make sure all the systems were working – especially the batteries and the rest of the electrical system.  Monday night went fine, but as soon as we awoke on Tuesday, Dave (of Dave and Joan) received a message that someone had broken into their house. Now we were all pretty sure it was a false alarm, but there was no reason to have them spend the next several weeks on the boat wondering whether their house had been burgled. Dave and Joan rented a car, drove to Virginia and found no indications of anyone being in the house. They then returned to Solomons. The next morning, they returned the car and were ready, once again to begin our journey.

Our friends Dave and Joan. You can tell that it is still a bit 

chilly by their dress. Note, however, that Dave is in 

appropriate attire: shorts and a sweat shirt.

Okay, on Wednesday morning we were determined to leave. I started the starboard engine VROOOM, VROOM. I then started the port engine. Again, VROOM, VROOM. Finally we were ready to go. I then put both engines into ge … into ge … the starboard engine would not go in to gear. Damn! I knew exactly what to do. I ran to the dockmaster’s office and asked for mechanical help. The office called Wayne (about whom, more later) who showed up at the boat went down into the engine room and immediately diagnosed the problem. Basically, while we had started the engines and exercised other systems of the boat during the summer, we had never really put her into gear, so the gears had frozen in place. With a healthy dose of “liquid wrench” and a big hammer, he loosened everything and we were – once again – ready to begin. This time we made it away from the dock and were off.

The first night we made it all the way to the anchorage at Fishing Bay, just south of Deltaville. Unfortunately, the following day was forecast to be very windy and, on the Chesapeake, very choppy, so we decided to sit out the weather at anchor. Fishing Bay was just about the perfect anchorage. It is well protected from all directions and most especially from the north and west – the directions from which the winds were coming. While the winds did get up to 30+ knots, the day and evening were pretty uneventful and – dare I say it – boring.

Fishing Bay to Top Rack

After Fishing Bay, we were off to Top Rack Marina in Chesapeake, VA. We have been to Top Rack a number of times over the years and have always loved it. In the past, they had the cheapest fuel in the region and offered free dockage if you ate at their restaurant, the Amber Lantern. More recently, because so many of our fellow cruisers cheated the system by taking advantage of the free docking without eating in the restaurant, the marina began charging a flat rate of $35 for an overnight stay. This is still a great deal, especially when you realize the Amber Lantern is one of the best restaurants along the Waterway and would be competitive with some of the best in the DC area. This year I had Canadian duck. Now I have been known to give our Canadian brothers and sisters a hard time once in a while. But I’ll tell you what, they sure know how to make ducks up there!

Red 36. The first buoy on the Intracoastal. 

Mile Marker Zero

Okay, after having bragged about Top Tack, you would think we had a great experience with them. We did not. Slips with electricity are supposed to be first come first served. Just as we arrived, a large 65’ boat named Maverick whipped around us and with the acquiescence of the dockmaster took the last slip with power – he basically cut the line. Needless to say, I was a bit miffed and explained my concerns to the dockmaster. He apologized profusely and promised a free slip with power for the next two times we stay. We’ll see. 

It was also at Top Rack that we made a discovery. Our bilge pump had been going off a little more often than I thought it should, and it seemed to be "sticking" somewhat. I decided that I needed to take a look and see what was going on.  When I got down there, I saw oil; lots of oil. When our mechanic, Wayne (remember him?), changed our oil he said something about spilling some and cleaning it up. Well, he apparently cleaned up the oil in the engine room without realizing that some (a great deal?) of it leaked into the bilge. So, we had to get as much as we could out of there before we pumped more into the Bay and had to get some absorbent pads that would get the rest. Hey, Wayne … thanks!  

The Dismal Swamp

A sign at Deep Creek Lock -- the entrance to the

 Dismal Swamp Canal

After Top Rack we took the Dismal Swamp Canal route through the ICW. (After Norfolk, the ICW divides into two routes, the Dismal Swamp route and the Virginia Cut. They both end up at the same location in the Albemarle Sound, it is just that the Dismal Swamp route is a bit more scenic and has more history. Here is a little bit about the canal from Wikipedia.

In the Colonial period, water transportation was the lifeblood of the North Carolina Sounds region and the Tidewater areas of Virginia. The landlocked sounds were entirely dependent upon poor overland tracks or shipment along the treacherous Carolina coast to reach further markets through Norfolk, Virginia. In May 1763, George Washington made his first visit to the Great Dismal Swamp and suggested draining it and digging a north-south canal through it to connect the waters of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia and Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. As the first president, Washington agreed with Virginia Governor Patrick Henry that canals were the easiest answer for an efficient means of internal transportation and urged their creation and improvement.

Work on the canal was started in 1793. It was dug completely by hand; most of the labor was done by slaves hired from nearby landowners. It took approximately 12 years of back-breaking construction under highly unfavorable conditions to complete the 22-mile long waterway, which opened in 1805.

Even more interestingly from the same source,

At about the time the canal opened, the Dismal Swamp Hotel was built astride the state line on the west bank. It was a popular spot for lover's trysts as well as duels; the winner was rarely arrested as the dead man, as well as the crime, were in another state. As the state line split the main salon, the hotel was quite popular with gamblers who would simply move the game to the opposite side of the room with the arrival of the sheriff from the other jurisdiction. No trace of the hotel can be found today.

The view off our bow as we traversed the 

Dismal Swamp Canal

We did not see the hotel. Instead, what we saw was a canal, about 100’ across at the widest point, straight as an arrow for about 20 miles. It was supposed to be maintained at a 6’ depth, but since our 4.5’ draft boat bumped the bottom several times, I have to guess that it isn’t 6’ everywhere.  Moreover, the day we traversed it, the weather was cold, wet, rainy and dreary making the swamp even more dismal than normal.  I am thinking this may be the last time we take the Dismal Swamp route.

Elizabeth City

We knew that weather – in the form of gale force winds – was coming into the area the day after we completed the Canal, so we decided to head for Elizabeth City and catch one the free slips the city offers. THAT was a mistake. When weather is coming, every boat in the area is going to be looking for safe harbor. Moreover since the Elizabeth City slips are free, everyone will be heading for Elizabeth City as their harbor of preference. Since we had to proceed slowly through the Dismal Swamp, we arrived at the city much later that we had planned. As a result, there were no free slips left that were big enough for Traveling Soul. We could have anchored, and since we have anchored in MUCH worse weather than was predicted, I was fully prepared to do so. However, there was also a commercial marina in the area, the Pelican Marina. When we found out that it charged a flat rate of $35 per night, including electric and water, we decided that the cost was worth it. While the city slips are free, you see, they do not offer electricity or water.

While in Elizabeth City, we saw our friends Jeff and Sally on Adirondack. We met them several years ago in Bimini and gave presentations together three years ago at the now-defunct Hampton Snowbird Rendezvous. We also saw Glory Days, though, try as we might, we could not seem to link up with Joe and Pat. After two days paying for electricity, water and dockage at the marina, on Monday we moved into one of the free slips and went to the Regional Museum of the Albemarle, right across the slip. It is extremely well done and tells the story of the Albemarle very well. They also had an exhibit on WWI and did a very good job there, as well. Dave Wolf, one of the new members of our crew, is something of an expert on WWI and also thought that they had done a good job.

For lunch we went to the Cypress Greek Grill on Water Street in Elizabeth City. Although I didn’t see anything on their menu that was Cypriot or Greek, they did have a Yellow fin tuna wrap that was to die for. It might become one of my favorite meals!

After a great deal of discussion we decided that the next leg of the trip would take us to Manteo, on Roanoke Island, the home of the Lost Colony and the site of the first European birth on American soil – that of Virginia Dare. We are saving that discussion, however, for our next entry.

Ann's Notes:
I feel like a school girl when Michael said I needed to do my part of the blog...remember going back to school in September and the first writing assignment is ...What I did on Summer vacation.
Well here goes...

We arrived back to Solomons on the 21st of May, just in time for our granddaughter Caylin's 11th birthday celebration. Hard to believe she is a Tween.

It was good to be back on land and into our wonderful land condo. However we were only home a few days before flying off to CA to visit our daughter Lisa and husband Dave. They had just moved from 29 Palms CA to Oceanside CA, he is assigned to Camp Pendleton Marine Corp base. We had a short and fun filled visit with them and our grandson Trent. From CA, Michael and I went in different directions. Michael went to AZ to visit his mom and I went to OR to visit my mom and sister Liz. 

We both had a week with our families. I did some pretty tricky planning, those eight years I was a travel agent came in handy. Michael and I meet at Dulles airport, from different states and different airlines, and landed within fifteen minuets of each other. We linked up in baggage claim, picked up our car from long term parking and drove off. In case you were wondering where Spot as, she was enjoying her vacation at Dave and Joan's  house.

June was filled was doctors appointment and the normal yearly medical stuff. My doctor was pleased to see that I had lost weight over the winter even while living on a boat. I have managed to keep it off and feel so much better.

W bought a new car. We now have a Ford Fusion Hybrid...I love how quiet it is. After driving around in the little Mazda Miata , having cruise control and automatic transmission is wonderful. I thought I would miss that little car but I was wrong. We had it detailed, put it on several local sites and it sold for a fair price and quickly.

July was filled with visits with family and friends, nice summer days. I had a small garden on our back deck, watched the humming birds return and all the song birds to the feeders. I also put a squirrel feeder out so Spot could have something to watch. We had a busy back deck.
Michael had his back surgery on the 30th of July.

August was recovery month, a few more medical appointments. Lots of packing and unpacking and re-organizing the boat. Now that we have a bigger car that task was much easier. 

September was a fun month, Michael had recovered enough to make it to his 45th West Point class reunion. We went a few days early so I could visit were I grew up in Saugerties NY. Thanks to my cousin Ralph  and his wife Mary, I got to visit all the places I remembered as a child. It was a great day and discovered I had a pretty good memory.

The reunion was GREAT, I had hopes of seeing a few friends I had lost track of and my wish came true. Army won the football game and the event was well organized. The downside was our hotel was about an hour away from West Point campus and the bus ride got old fast. All and all it was well worth the time and expense.

We are now into October, I am sitting on Traveling Soul with Michael and our good friends Dave and Joan. Spot has settled into her cruising mode and being her best spoiled feline self.
Traveling Soul....OUT 

Abacos II: On the Way Home

Dark Apples, Dark Waves and Abacos III

Ladies and Gentlemen, you are in for a treat. You are the first people (after Ann) to read about a theory of oceanography that will revolutionize the field. You must feel like Einstein’s editor when he published his first paper on relativity, right? Ok, here goes.

Many of you have heard about the theory of Dark Matter. Basically, physicists have measured all the matter in the known universe and determined its gravitational pull. They then compared that pull to the gravitational forces that must exist so the universe doesn’t fly apart. Guess what. They have determined that there is not enough matter in the universe to hold it together. Now that could be a problem unless you posit the existence of matter that we cannot see – and call it “Dark Matter.” You see theories of physics and the calculations of physicists cannot be wrong because … well … they are physicists … and physicists cannot be wrong. It must be, then, that reality is wrong.

Let me explain this mathematically. When I was a kid, my teacher would ask me “Mikey, what it 2+2?” Sometimes, I would answer “5.” She would tell me that I was wrong and prove it by going through the apple proof. “See, Mikey,” she would say. “When I take two apples and add two more apples, how many apples do we have? Let’s count: 1 … 2 … 3 … 4.” My teacher, brilliant though she might have been, never saw … (wait for it) … the “Dark Apple.” I was not wrong. I could not be wrong, because I am … well … me. There just had to be a dark apple.

I know you can see where this is going, but let me explain it anyway. We have all been there. We have been waiting for a weather window to cross between two pieces of land. Finally, the forecasters tell us the waves are going to be between 2 and 3 feet so we head out. Of course, when we get to the water, we find the waves are at least 3-4 feet. When they tell us to expect 3-4 feet, we more often than not see waves of between 5’ and 7’, and on it goes. Previously we mariners have had the audacity to believe that these well paid and comfortable meteorologists were wrong. Now we know the truth. The difference between the model output and reality was “Dark Waves.” Now, you know why weather forecasters can keep their job even though they are so often wrong. It is the “Dark Wave” phenomenon. I know, right? How simple, yet so elegant. Maybe, just maybe THIS will get me the Nobel Prize

Abacos III

Okay, back to boating. After Dave and Joan left, Ann and I hung around Marsh Harbor for a few days before we started meandering home. We had to accomplish two tasks before we left Marsh. First, we needed to visit the Jib Room.

Here it is ... a BLT with home made onion rings
and a Kalik on the side. According to Ann,
 life can't get much better.

Some of you may remember that the first year we visited the Bahamas, we spent most of our time at the Marsh Harbor Marina, which houses the Jib Room Restaurant. While we were there, Ann fell in love with the restaurant’s Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich on Bahamian bread, especially when it was served with Marvin,s home-made onion rings. Every year since then, we have had to visit the Jib Room, if for no other reason than for Ann to have her BLT with onion rings. I joined her this year and I have to admit, they were scrumptious.

After the Jib Room we just had to visit the most secret of grocery stores – a place called Skaggs. Skaggs is located at the southern tip of Marsh Harbor and is co-located with a fish processing facility. Skaggs appears to specialize in two things: fresh fish, which they get from next door, and bulk items that you might find stateside in a place like Costco’s. The reason we go there is so we can buy mass quantities of lobster. This year we bought 10 pounds of Bahamian spiny lobster tails for $166. Now that is a chunk of change, but these were good sized lobster tails. Year-before-last we bought 10 pounds and there were 33 of them. This year there were only 20 because we deliberately bought bigger tails. Mmmmmmmmm we are looking forward to lobster of all kinds in the coming weeks and months.

Since we had arrived in the Abacos, Ann had wanted to go to a special ceramics store located at Treasure Cay. Although we had been to Treasure twice this trip for a couple of days each, we had always been there on a weekend or a holiday and the store hasn’t been open. After Dave and Joan left, we decided to go to Treasure one more time so we could get to the ceramics store. There we spent a couple of nights on a mooring ball and we bicycled to the ceramics store which was only a couple of miles down the road. Now, Ann had told me that she was looking for a specific dish, but when we got there, we got the specific dish she was looking for, and a nice butter dish, and this dish and that dish and pretty soon I was afraid we were going to buy the store out! We made it back to the boat and continued our trip north.

We had already set a tentative date for our arrival back in the States. In fact, we had already made an appointment with Marine Plumbing Services to fix our heads. (No, not those heads, our BATHROOM heads – Jeez, you people. Since we had a few days before we needed to head back, we decided we would meander back through the northern Abacos where we have actually spent very little time in years past. The first order of business was to go to Foxtown.

Our signature from our visit in January 2012.

The first year we were in the Bahamas, we traveled with our friend, John Cairn aboard his boat Vulcan. It was John’s mother’s birthday and he wanted to call her. He had heard they had free wi-fi in Foxtown at a place called Da Valley. I am not going to tell the whole story, but when we got there, John connected via Skype and called his mom. Now, although we love John dearly, he is a bit of a cheapskate and didn’t order any food; he just wanted to use their wi-fi. Ann and I thought that we really ought to order something so we asked for a beer each. John spent so much time using their free internet connection that Ann and I thought we should spend a little more money, so we decided to come back the next day for lunch. We got there and ordered something we had never before eaten – cracked conch. OMG it was wonderful! I fell in love not just with the cracked conch, but with the way they cooked it at Da Valley. On every trip since then we have tried to get back to Foxtown, just for  cracked conch.

I ordered cracked conch and a Kalik beer. It is still the best cracked conch in the Bahamas. It is cracked perfectly, it is battered to perfection, fried just right and seasoned like nowhere else. Mmmmmmmm My mouth is watering just writing about it.

Next, we wanted to go to a restaurant called “Rosie’s” on Grand Cay in the northern Abacos.  We had heard mixed reviews and weren’t sure what to expect, but we wanted to go because … well, because it was there. The problem was that there were not many good anchorages near Rosie’s. Moreover, we expected wind was from the west, which means there was really only one anchorage we could use – the anchorage at Double Breasted Cays. Now, I am a red-blooded American boy at heart. Of course, I wanted to go to Double Breasted Cays, who wouldn’t? Unfortunately, there was one very shallow area through which we needed to pass at high tide. And, this time of year, high tide was very early in the morning and a little after midday during daylight. We needed a lot more flexibility than that and had to forego our trip to Rosie’s. (Deep wistful sigh) Maybe next year.

Instead we went to an anchorage we had not seen before and from the looks of it, not many other people had been here either.  It is in the Bight of Abaco and is one of the most isolated set of anchorages we have ever seen. We knew also that it would provide excellent protection from the west and the south, where the winds were supposed to come from.  How isolated was it? Well, after we turned into the Bight we saw only one house. It was on the southern side of Little Abaco and was maybe two miles away. As we grew closer to the anchorage, however, we lost sight of that house and all vestiges of civilization save one; we could see Foxtown’s cell tower several miles in the distance – which meant that we still had an internet connection. We really wanted to take the dinghy ashore and explore the islands and their beaches a little, but we had been having a few problems with the dinghy. And I wasn’t sure this was the place we wanted it to fail us when we were, for example, on the shore of an island 500 meters from the boat. It would be a long swim. So we just enjoyed the protection and the splendid isolation the anchorage provided. All was right with the world.

The weather closing in on us at West End.
We are the little boat in the middle.

The next day we faced a conundrum. We still needed protection from the south and west, but this time it wasn’t just wind, there were thunderstorms predicted for later that afternoon. We hemmed and hawed and hawed and hemmed and eventually decided that we would head on into the Old Bahama Bay Marina at West End and wait for a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream. We would be at Old Bahama Bay on Tuesday and would probably leave Thursday or Friday.

As it turned out, we arrived at Old Bahama Bay about an hour before a major thunderstorm hit the marina. We could see the dark clouds rolling towards us and the marina and, so we made sure Traveling Soul was well tied down and that our fenders and all other equipment was properly deployed. When the storm hit, man there was a lot of wind! Some people, whose timing was less fortuitous than ours, actually tried to dock during the storm. We didn’t see any boats get seriously damaged, but we saw a lot of close calls and we heard some near panic on the radio. In fact, one sailboat anchored in the turning basin – normally a no-no – so he didn’t have to dock in a slip.

We had hoped to leave on Friday, but the weather kept evolving – and the dark waves kept getting bigger – so we didn’t depart until Saturday. To be honest, I was expecting a bit of a bumpy crossing, but it turned out much better than I had feared. In fact, on an “A – F” scale, Ann and I both gave it a solid B. Even Spot was not too upset. Although she spent much of her time under the pillows, she did venture out a little to get some food. Then, at about 1600 on Saturday 14 April, our 2018 Bahama adventure ended in Lake Worth, near North Palm Beach, Florida.

Ann’s Notes: I think Michael has been watching too many episodes of the Big Bang Theory on TV or DVD. I often wonder what is going on in his head, now you know why I don’t ask some times. Dark Matter, Fractals and Chaos Theory is on his mind, I think about more practical things, like what is for dinner, are the heads clean and are the freezer and fridge doors locked down so all the food does not fall out , in case a sudden dark wave should suddenly appear and rock the boat. Just saying…Mars vs Venus way of thinking.

We did enjoy our last few weeks in the Bahamas. Michael was looking forward to the cracked conch in Foxtown as much as I did the BLT and onion rings at the jib room. It is good when the food is as good as you remember it.

It seems every time we return from one of our Bahama adventures, we have a few things that stop working properly. This year it was our middle head and our dinghy motor. Our dinghy is like our car when we are on the water and have to go to shore, so not having it puts a stop to going out and exploring. The good part of these breakdowns is that they are sorta minor fixes compared to last year when we had to buy a new $$$$ generator$$$$. Our bank account is still recovering from that one.

 I think next year we are going to have two inflatable kayaks to play and explore with, that will be great exercise and we will have much more flexibility to explore little mangrove rivers on some of the out islands. That will be a lot of fun, much easier to deploy than the larger, heavy, fishing kayak we have on board now and only one person can use at a time.  

I am glad to be back in the USA, the land of plenty and working our way North once more.

Thank you for following us…

Traveling Soul…OUT

Dave and Joan's Excellent Vacation

On March 22 we pulled into Harborview Marina in Marsh Harbor. Actually the Bahamians spell it “Harbour” because they were a British colony. But Mr. Gates continually corrects my spelling whenever I write it the British/Bahamian way, so for me, it is now “Marsh Harbor.” Anyway, our friends Dave and Joan Wolf arrived the next day. We had planned a couple of boat trips, one each to Treasure Cay and Hope Town, one car trip the length of Great Abaco Island, and a ferry trip to Nippers on Great Guana. We planned on spending the rest of our time relaxing in or around the marina.

Dave and Joan arrived on Friday, and on Saturday we were on our way to Treasure Cay. I wrote about Treasure Cay in our last entry when Ann and I went there on our own, so I won’t tell you how beautiful the beach there is. I’ll just say it is 3 ½ miles of the most magnificent, powdery sand that you have ever seen and that, more often than not, the beach is practically empty. I will say the weather for our cruise to Treasure was nearly perfect. Moreover, we immediately found a mooring ball in a very good location. The location is important to us because our boat is bigger than most, and the pennants at Treasure (the lines connecting the boat to the mooring balls) are at least 20 feet long. That means that just sitting on the mooring ball we take up 72’. If you double that (in case the wind changes) it means we have to have 144’ diameter to swing. Anyway, after hooking up to the ball, we went ashore to check out a few of the little stores in the neighborhood. We thought about going swimming in the pool, but you know how it is; sometimes when you have spent a stressful morning cruising in near ideal conditions, have hooked a mooring ball without any wind, and have engaged in some “Retail Therapy,” it is time to take a nap.

Now, not everyone knows how to take a nap in the middle of the afternoon. Dave and Joan aren’t yet retired and haven’t learned the art. Me? I have been retired for six years now and have mastered the afternoon nap. I know, some of you look down on us nappers, but look at our brethren. To name a few,

• Leonardo da Vinci took multiple naps a day and slept less at night.
• Napoleon was not shy about taking naps. He indulged daily.
• Albert Einstein napped each day—on top of getting ten hours of sleep each night.
• Thomas Edison was embarrassed about his napping habit, but practiced his ritual daily.
• Gene Autry routinely took naps in his dressing room between performances.
• John F. Kennedy ate his lunch in bed and then settled in for a nap—every day!
• John D. Rockefeller napped every afternoon in his office.
• Winston Churchill’s believed a nap helped him get twice as much done each day.
• Lyndon B. Johnson took a nap every afternoon at 3:30 p.m. to break his day up into “two shifts.”
• Ronald Reagan famously took naps as well.

 

If you love someone ... let him nap.

There are several different methods of nap taking. The first is what I call the power nap aka the key nap. You lay down, preferably on a sofa with keys in your hand and your hand dangling over the edge. When you fall seriously asleep the keys will fall out of your hand, hit the floor and waking you up. That means nap time is over and it is time to get going again. I sometimes take power naps when we are cruising and I can barely keep my eyes open. I ask Ann to take over for a few minutes so I can take a power nap. You would be surprised how effective it can be in giving you an extra energy boost. Second, of course, there is the regular afternoon nap.  My afternoon nap typically comes just after I have had lunch with a beer. The afternoon nap is generally a bit longer than the power nap, and I prefer to take mine on the sofa. You see there is activity in and around the salon such that I cannot get into REM sleep; I can doze just deeply enough to re-energize myself. Finally, there is the serious nap. For that, I head to the bedroom or stateroom, get under the covers and get into REM sleep. Doctors will tell you that 90 minutes is a REM cycle and encourage you to sleep at least that long. I don’t do that very often, but once in a while there is nothing better. Remember my new motto: If you love them, let them nap. Anyhow, that is enough about napping.

Dave and Joan at Treasure Cay

The following day, of course, we went to Treasure Beach and found a couple of empty cabanas. We proceeded to read, get a little sun, then we would move our chairs into the shade so our skin could recover, then read in the shade, go back in the sun and repeat – until lunchtime. (Remember when we used to go “sunbathing”? Although we might have used a little suntan oil, no one knew what “sunscreen” was, and anyone spending too much time in the shade was a pale wimp. How in Heaven’s name did we survive?) At lunchtime we went to Coco’s (about 50 yards away) and ordered lunch. Dave and Joan have visited us before in the Bahamas and every time Joan has eaten conch of any kind she has become ill. Now I am not one who thinks every time you get sick it is because of something you ate. That said, Joan is not permitted to have cracked conch. Since she doesn’t like it that much, this prohibition works very well. That said, at Coco’s I always order cracked conch and a beer. Then, back to the cabana. Read in the shade, get a little sun, then repeat.

You can only have so many perfect beach days, so the following morning we were on our way back from Treasure Cay to Marsh Harbor. After a restful day at Marsh, we metaphorically set sail for Hope Town. (Actually, since we do not have sails, I guess we “set our engines” towards Hope Town. There are three ways a cruiser can stay at Hope Town. Most people take a mooring ball. There are about 50+ moorings inside the harbor that only cost $20 per day. They are a really good deal.  We have picked up a mooring before, but remember what I said about how much space our particular mooring needs? Very few places at Hope Town have that much space, so we have to come up with an Alternative. If we couldn’t take a mooring in the harbor, we could have anchored outside the harbor and, as long as the winds are from the east, we would have been fairly well protected. Or, you can rent a slip at the Hope Town Inn and Marina, which is what we did. This time, though, I wish we hadn’t.



Over the radio, the dockmaster told me that our slip wasn’t ready so we would be moving into a “temporary” slip. Now I’m not big on temporary slips because it is difficult to dock a big boat with any kind of wind, but I figured I could discuss that with the dockmaster later. Then he told me I would be backing into a slip intended for a 30’ boat. I reminded him that we were 52 feet in length and that we had a great deal of windage that obeyed the laws of the wind, not necessarily the instructions from the helm and that it was very windy outside. He pretended not to have heard me. Well, I lined up to back in and just as we were nearing the slip, the wind caught the stern and moved us very close to the boat next door. Needless to say, I gave her some power and we got out of there. The dockmaster suggested I might feel better going in bow first. Really? Like I hadn’t suggested that five minutes earlier? Oh well, we lined up and moved into the slip. However, remember that stern that liked to follow the laws of nature not necessarily orders from the helm? My stern was now sticking over 25 feet into the channel, receiving instructions from the wind to move further and further from the finger pier.  Now had this been a decent-sized slip, we would have tied the stern to a piling and that would have been that – but Nooooo, this slip was short and lacked a piling where we could tie the stern. It was a mess and the dockmaster did not cover himself in glory (neither did I for that matter). Eventually, we got one of the aft cleats tied to the finger pier. It was tied very awkwardly, but it lasted for the next three days. After tying up, I was ready to get out and explore the town..



Mike and Ann at Hope Town

Like many other settlements in the group of islands known as the Abacos, Hope Town was founded by Loyalists from the American Revolution. Many of the settlers had been loyal subjects in Carolinas, some in New York and New England, and from East Florida, after East Florida was turned over to Spain in the Peace of Paris (1783). The initial settlements in the Bahamas were at Carleton (near the current Treasure Cay) and Marsh Harbor.  By 1785, there were over 1,000 refugees in Great Abaco who were distributed in five or six settlements.  In that same year, the settlement at Hope Town was founded, in part, by a widow from South Carolina named Wyannie Malone.  Wyannie, along with her children, started a dynasty in Hope Town that spread the Malone name throughout the Bahamas, over to Florida, and outwards from there.

As you tour the town, you can find evidence of the old way of doing things.  Walking through the settlement, you may discover an old stone oven for baking in the yard, or a wooden boat under construction.  In another yard, you may spot a boat of the same design many years older, rotting away!  All over town, you will find scattered reminders of the wrecking days, when the citizens repurposed the cargo of ships that had foundered near shore – sometimes they foundered with help from the locals. Near the fire station, the “cholera cemetery” provides a grim reminder of how harsh life was in these out islands. In the 1850’s nearly a hundred souls were buried there, when the population of the town was under 500. 

After a little exploring, the first day we were there, we had lunch at Cap’n Jack’s Bar and Grill. Having been here before, we knew that the Cap’n made homemade potato chips that were absolutely wonderful. My plan was to go to Cap’n Jacks and just have potato chips and beer – the lunch of champions!! Then I saw conch chowder on the menu. Now I have had conch chowder in the past – exactly once, five years ago. It was so spicy that I couldn’t eat it and I have never particularly wanted to repeat that experience. Still, after I read Cap’n Jack’s description of his conch chowder I decided that I just had to give it a try. Well, I needn’t have worried. This conch chowder was GREAT!! I now have a new lunch favorite: homemade potato chips, a cup of conch chowder and a Kalik beer. Ahhhhh! It was the perfect Bahamian meal. The following day we had intended to have lunch at a place that is about 2 miles away but we couldn’t find a golf cart for rent. So what did we do? We went back to Cap’n Jacks! And what did I have? Potato chips, conch chowder and a Kalik. It looked so good that Ann ordered the same and we both had a perfect meal.

So, how do we top Hope Town? Ann and I have both wanted to explore the length and depth of the island of Great Abaco for years. You may remember that earlier in our travels, we have rented a car to explore some of the out islands like Cat, Long and Eleuthera, so we decided to get a car and head south as far as we could.  

Great Abaco is almost 90 miles long, but on average it is less than 4 miles wide. It was once logged for its pine trees, and many of the old logging trails, we have heard, lead to secluded beaches along the coast. Having seen some of those logging trails, though, I would suggest that for many of them you would need four-wheel drive. The island is supposedly home to wild horses, cows, and boars, and the endangered Abaco parrots, none of which we saw. (Actually, Joan think she may have seen a pair of parrots, winging their way across the road.)

What we did see – and what I thought was particularly striking – was pine trees, miles and miles of pine trees. Yellow pines to be exact. As you go further south, there is a bed of palms under the pines, but that’s about it. Pines and palms all the way south. Okay, that’s not quite true. There are several half (or less) built “developments” on the way – like there are in many of the out islands we have visited – the majority of which are near the water, trying, no doubt, to attract second home buyers. We drove into one (for which we got in “trouble” from the guard) where we saw several roads laid in rectangular patterns, a brand new poorly thought-out marina with zero boats in it, some very nice landscaping and about four houses. It was really kind of sad to see so much money tied up in what will doubtless be a failed development.

There were also two settlements (towns), one at the southern tip of the island, called Sandy Point, and one about half-way down called Cherokee. Both were remarkably clean, had relatively few “second homes” and only a few tourist amenities. We drove through them but, unfortunately, didn’t have time to explore them in any detail. Maybe next time. We did have time to stop at Pete’s Pub and Gallery at Little Harbor. We have been there before by boat and I can assure you that boat is the way to go. The road to Pete’s was, shall we say, a little challenging. Kind of like the roads I used to take to my favorite fishing spots in the Rocky Mountains. Anyway, we admired the quaintness of Little Harbor, took a look at the gallery (where the prices are WAY out of my range) and had a quick lunch at the Pub.

Our last destination was Great Guana and the “world famous” Nipper’s Beach Bar and Grill. We spent most of the day at Nipper’s, using their pool, going down to the ocean, having lunch and yes, maybe one or two Kaliks. Usually, there is a lot of tourists at Nipper’s, but  because this was the day after the restaurant’ big Easter Bash there were very few tourist and/or boaters (who may have all been home nursing hangovers). Instead, most of the other diners (lunchers?) were locals. Anyhow, we had a lot of fun.

The pool at Nippers taken from deck 2 ... or is it 3?

Other than the fact we went on Easter Monday, the other interesting aspect of our trip is that we went on a local ferry. We have seen them all around for several years, but had actually never been on one of the “Donnie Boats.” They are called Donnie boats because their names are all Donnie plus a Roman numeral, e.g. Donnie X, XI and XII.) It took about 30 minutes for us to get from Marsh harbor to Great Guana and costs us $30 per person round trip. If you us the shuttle frequently there are special rates. A ten-trip passbook, for example, is $113.

After a few more days relaxing in Marsh Harbor, Dave and Joan left. Back to Virginia, where, if I am not mistaken, it was snowing. We’ll be seeing them again this summer and wish them safe travels until then.

Ann’s Notes: I think Michael covered the visit and everything we did while Dave and Joan came to visit. We all had a good time, meet all the docking challenges and lived to tell about them. We also ate very well that week on the boat.

Traveling Soul…OUT