Well we finally got off the dock and heading south about 10 days later than we have in the past. It was hectic doing so with all the traveling we did from the time we got back from our summer cruise to New England. First it was off to sunny California to celebrate the 90th birthday of Terri’s mom. We all flew in from various points of the compass and descended on Long Beach. Terri and I had not seen Pete since he moved out to Portland Ore. Alex we had seen this summer shortly after we got back from NE. It was a grand time. We flew back from the left coast only to get in a car the next day to drive up to NYC where we were to attend a symposium that honor my scientific mentor from many years back. After an overnight stay in NYC we were back in the car heading for home to get ready to cast off, which we did after two days of provisioning and packing. On Saturday night the 24th of October we were dropped off at the boat by our friends Roberta and Tom so we could spend the night and get off early the next day. Our objective was to get up early and travel the about 70 miles to the patuxant river and the Solomons. Well the day started out fine but with out much in the way of wind we were motor sailing to keep our speed up so that we might make the Solomons by dark. We were on a mission to make our southing as fast as possible so as to keep ahead of the impending cold weather since we had started a bit later than last year where we froze on the way down.

Well the best laid plans…… We were about 5 mile out of the Solomons when the engine started to behave like it had last summer as we were coming down the Jersey Coast. It was doing what they call hunting, which is reving up and slowing down. We pressed on hoping to make the Solomons and get someone to look at the motor, hopefully make it right. We were not to be that lucky for after only about 10 minutes running the engine abruptly stopped dead and would not start. We were so close, but still about 4 miles away. It was time to call our BoatUS towing service. As I have discussed in the past, we like other cruisers buy unlimited towing insurance from the BoatUS foundation. It cost us about $120 per year and we have used it every year we have gone south either for break downs or pulling us off the bottom when we’ve run aground. This year would be no different so we made the call. Not waiting we sailed on in a light wind until our rescuer appeared and appear he did. In fact, it was the same rescuer that towed us in last year when we suffered from what was probably the precursor to this year’s problem. It was back to Zanhizer where they worked on Abraxas last year and relieved us of a big bundle of money. It was deja vu all over again in the words of Yogi Berra and John Fogerty. I was expecting to be relieved of another big bundle since I had visions of having to replace a very expensive part the high pressure fuel pump, which goes for around $1000 plus installation.

Well I won’t bore you with the detail but suffice it to say we were felled by a BB size particle of grunge that blocked the fuel line and starved the engine of diesel thereby stopping us dead. Our problems of the past were but a prelude to our current predicament but thankfully it did not empty our pockets. The next day we were on our way only a few hundred dollars lighter. We took advantage of strong winds from the north to blow us south in attempt to make up lost time and lost time we needed to make up because we learned that a drawbridge just north of Charleston SC was going to close for 10 days starting on the 10th of November. By my calculations based on our past experience we would just make it on the 9th if we pushed hard every day without a lay day. If we ran into bad weather and had to stop we would not make it, which would hold us up for 10 days on the wrong side of an impassable bridge. It took us two more days to get through Norfolk and to the beginning of the Dismal Swamp Canal. On the second of these two days we were in a fog with less than ½ mile visibility, so I was thankful to have radar to keep an eye out for the big guys. At the canal entrance we ran into some Canadian friends we met in the Bahamas last year. They are in a 40 foot Admiral Catamaran (Never Bored), which is the lap of luxury. Three staterooms each with a queen size bed, two heads each with a shower stall large than our whole head and a main salon that is about the size of our kitchen/breakfast room in our house in Maryland. Did I mention that they also have a washer/drier on board? They had the boat made for them in South Africa and sailed it from there to the states via the Bahamas last year. Great people and we enjoyed their company for the next few days.
From here we went through the Dismal swamp canal, which never fails to awe us with its beauty, and ended up in Elisabeth City, NC. EC is a wonderful stopping point, which we have described in our past writings so I won’t go over it again. It was here that we learned that we need not rush so to make the bridge closing because they postponed it until January. This took some pressure off and allowed us to slow down and smell the roses.
Our trip from here took us the Alligator River and Oriental NC where we re-united with our friend George & Mary D. Our travels from here took us through Beaufort, NC, where we parted with the folks on the Admiral Cat because their 65 foot mast would not fit under the bridges we were to go under, then on to Mile Hammock Bay, Wrightsville Beach, Calabash Creek, and finally Georgetown, SC. It was an uneventful but still a beautiful trip, no breakdowns or groundings to report.
After moving on from here after stocking up on Carolina shrimp we made it to Charleston where we encountered the folks on Never Bored with whom we partied for 3 day while waiting out the bad weather. Oh how tough the cruising life, but someone has to do it.
When the weather broke we were off to Beaufort, SC, which is one of Terri’s favorite stops, with an interim stop at the Morgan River where we once again parted ways with Never Bored but with plans to rejoin them at Thanksgiving in St. Mary’s Georgia.
Beaufort was once again delightful to visit and after a few days we pushed on to Brunswick GA where we ran into more cruising friend we had met in previous years. One a Canadian couple on a PDQ Catamaran called Medori and the other on a Catalina 42 called String of Pearls. It was nice to reunite with old friends again with sundowners in the cockpit, a cruising staple.
Our next jump was to be a short one to Jekyll Island, the location of the millionaires retreat turned into a state park and who did we run into—why Never Bored once again. We’ve got to stop meeting like this. Well we enjoyed their company once again as we toured this state park.
From here we were off to St Mary’s to celebrate the cruisers Thanksgiving along with about 120 other boats. Once again we had a blast, the food was great, the company was better and it was great.
The rest of our trip south was uneventful, visiting places we’ve been before including Fernandina, St Augustine and finally Eau Galle where we left the boat while we went north for the holidays to visit with family and friends.