The Intracoastal Waterway south of Jekyll Island crosses St. Andrew’s Sound and due to a large sandbar and spoil area, the magenta line follows the deep water out into the Atlantic then makes a U-turn back along the North Shore of Cumberland Island. After many days of 30 knot winds this was a dangerous passage with shallow water and breaking waves over the sandbars.  Several boats left Jekyll on Monday and Tuesday and returned to the dock as the passage was too rough. On Wednesday at 5:30AM, the winds were a little calmer and we were anxious to leave so we cast off the lines and made a run for it. Out in the sound the winds were still up and as we left the shelter of the island we rolled in beam seas on the port, negotiated the u-turn to be rolled by beam seas on the starboard. It was rough going for about an hour but we made it and headed down the ICW past Cumberland Island in choppy seas and a swirling haze of salt air. We watched through the binoculars for the wild horse herd on Cumberland and were rewarded with a distant sighting of two small herds in the marsh on the south end of the island. Unfortunately they were too far away to photograph. As we crossed the Florida line at Fernandina Beach the sun broke through and we changed from jeans and sweatshirts to shorts and t-shirts.  It was tempting to stop at Fernandina to shop and enjoy the Palace Saloon (oldest bar in Florida) and the good restaurants, but it was only 10:00 AM and the wind was at our back so we decided to try and make St. Augustine before dark.  The tides and currents, affected by the recent full moon, offshore tropical storm, strong NE winds and whatever else affects the tides, were incredibly strong and as the ICW crossed the St. John’s River in Jacksonville Song of the Sea  suddenly spun sideways and Steve had to fight the wheel to avoid being swept up on the rock jetty. The fun was just beginning as we were propelled down the ICW through Jacksonville and shot through the bridges like we were on a river rapids ride. After all that excitement things settled down and we idled through a slow speed zone for several miles. Gave us a chance to have a bite of lunch and catch our breath. We arrived in St. Augustine at sunset and although I would have liked to stay at the city docks in downtown St. Augustine or at The Conch House lounge, Steve’s choice was for the easiest face dock we could find out of the wind and current. That would be Comachee Cove, an excellent marina with helpful dockhands and a nice restaurant on site. It was Halloween and the restaurant staff was festively attired in costume, the food was good and we were entertained by a good singer accompanied by acoustic guitar. A good start on our run for home.

We approached the Bridge of Lions early the next morning to find the old bridge was abandoned and falling into disrepair and had been replaced by a new steel bridge. What a sad situation!! The rest of the day was uneventful and in fact for the next several days we had warm weather, a following breeze and long easy days travelling south accompanied by dolphins playing in our wake.  We had hoped to make some time offshore but the wind and seas were still up and we opted for the relative calm of the ICW.

In Jupiter, at the former Frenchman’s Marina (now a part of Loggerhead Marina Group)the dock master waited for our arrival to help us in, made sure we were comfortable and returned early the next morning with fresh coffee and donuts. We walked over the bridge to Thirsty Turtle for dinner, a favorite hangout of our friends Terry and Sheila Frezell. We just missed them by a couple of days as they were off to a vacation for a month in the South of France. We had fun in spite of their absence and we really enjoyed the band, a multi-talented four piece guitar group.

The ICW changes in Palm Beach from the wide lazy bays to a concrete canyon spanned by bridges every half mile. We ohhed and ahhed over the multi-million dollar homes, condos, cruise ships and mega yachts that increased in size and number as we approached Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. It was very slow progress and the trick is timing the boat speed to the scheduled bridge openings. After a very long day we cleared the final draw bridge at the Port of Miami. An extremely busy and efficient female bridge tender patiently handled the busy requests for an opening and politely ushered us through the drawbridge. Steve thanked her and informed her that we had just cleared the last bridge of a 3500 mile journey.  In a heavy Spanish accent, she wished us safe travels.

Entering Biscayne Bay just past the Port of Miami is like holding your breath and letting it out in a long sigh. The water is an incredible turquoise and the setting sun outlined the Miami skyline as we approached Key Biscayne Yacht Club for our overnight stay. The club was closed so we enjoyed a meal and the scenery aboard Song of the Sea.

The ICW through the Keys is too shallow for Song of the Sea’s safe passage so we took the alternate route offshore to Hawk’s Channel.  An incredible sunrise outlined Stiltsville as we headed out to sea. We were expecting a choppy passage to Marathon and a long day at sea. We were pleasantly surprised with 10 knot following winds and light seas and had one of the best days on the water of the entire trip. We were accompanied by flying fish in the multi colored water as we skirted the reef on the port and the islands on the starboard.  We arrived at Sombrero Marina in Marathon to a stunning sunset, cocktails onboard and dinner with good friends Stu and Chris Threadgold. What an amazing day!

Marathon to Marco is 92 nautical miles, the longest run of our voyage. After an extra layover day in Marathon we headed out of Boot Harbor in the dark with the anchor lights twinkling on the moored sailboats and the lights along US 1 in Marathon outlining the shoreline. We passed under Seven Mile Bridge into Florida Bay just as the sun rose on another beautiful day. The crab traps were scattered like a minefield in our path and no correction in route seemed to change the number and pattern. They were everywhere.  We expected the traps lines to end as we headed further into the bay but there was no relief all the way to Marco. A sharp lookout was required and a quick hand on the wheel. To make matters worse we were heading into a 10 knot NW wind that built to 25 knots as the day progressed. We spent a long uncomfortable day bucking the wind and seas all the way to Big Marco Pass. We turned into the pass in beam seas and almost missed the marker at the end of the long sandbar extending south into the pass. OOPS! We noticed our mistake just in time to avoid spending our final evening aground off Marco. A very friendly and efficient dock master guided us into along face dock just in time for sunset. We were joined for dinner by our good friends Bob Morrell and Peggy Susko in the club dining room. Some friendly members sent a nice bottle of champagne to our table.

Finally, Marco to Ft. Myers, a short, pretty day with light winds and moderate seas, we made the last leg of our great adventure under the new Sanibel Bridge, up the Caloosahatchee to a warm welcome at Royal Palm Yacht Club in Ft. Myers and Song of the Sea slipped into her waiting Dock 14. Home at last.

ADVENTURES OF SONG OF THE SEA

CHARLESTON TO JEKYLL ISLAND

The South Carolina Yacht Club extended their hospitality to us with 4 night’s dockage and several nice meals in their beautiful clubhouse in Windmill Village Marina on Hilton Head. The marina is entered through a very narrow lock. We thought we were finished with locks. It’s actually a good thing since the Carolinas and Georgia have extreme tides and currents and the lock provides a very calm and protected harbor. After negotiating the lock, Song of the Sea was quite the dock princess in front of the broad front porch of the Yacht Club.

Our route from Charleston took us past Beaufort, SC.  As we were doing the Beaufort Crawl (i.e. a very long no-wake zone) we noticed a vessel that looked a lot like Song of Sea at the Town Dock. We swung by for a closer look and it turned out to be Sunny Days, sister ship to Song of the Sea. We are Hull # 1 and she is Hull #2 out of only 6 vessels of our model built. They are identical except for engines and some equipment differences. They were commissioned together at Dania Point Florida. We hailed the owners on the marine radio and after exchanging names and cell phone numbers, agreed to meet at some future date. We cruised on to Hilton Head for the weekend and they stayed in Beaufort.

As we were leaving Windmill Village, we heard Sunny Days on the VHF. As it turned out, we were both headed for Savannah. We met and shared a bottle of wine and a seafood dinner at Driftaway Café, on Isle of Hope south of Savannah.  Andy & Carin Hochman have owned Sunny Days since new and we had a great exchange of cruising stories and maintenance issues and had fun photographing each other’s boats.

It was a long, slow, muggy day winding through the marshes and sounds from Savannah to St. Simon’s Island. The tides and currents were extreme with the approaching full moon and a strong 20 knot southerly wind. The temperature was a record breaking 88 degrees. The ICW has not been dredged through this area for years and there were many places that would have been impassable at low tide. We made it through and Golden Isles Marina lived up to its name as we arrived to a glorious sunset. The gourmet fried green tomatoes at Coastal Kitchen were excellent. The marina was very strict on their one hour rule for the courtesy car. We did our best to see as much of the island and village as possible in our allotted time.

Since Jekyll Creek is only 3 feet deep at low tide, we had to wait for a high tide to make the 8 mile journey to Jekyll Harbor Marina. The tides have been as high as 9 feet all week. We reserved a week’s stay for a couple of reasons. Our kids were arriving for a visit over a long 4 day weekend and our insurance policy prohibits us from cruising south of Cumberland Island, GA until hurricane season is over on November 1^st. The kids arrived on Friday and in spite of the cool, blustery weather we all enjoyed a bike ride on the island’s bike paths, and explored the historic homes and the Jekyll Island Inn along with some very quaint shops.. A trip to the beach lasted about 5 minutes as it was too cold and windy to do much.  Everyone loved the low country boil at SeaJay’s, the marina restaurant, on Friday night and the spectacular Brunch at Jekyll Island Inn on Sunday. 

On a 60 degree afternoon, Skyler swam in the unheated pool while the rest of us got a kick out of the antics of SeaJay’s orange cat, Catfish.  He owns the porch and keeps busy chasing away the squirrels. The marina dogs give him a wide berth and he has been known to successfully attack Dobermans and Pit Bulls. The stories get stranger the longer we stay. He barely tolerates humans and you are met with an evil look if you haven’t come to fill up his dish.

The kids left Monday morning and we are anxious to leave ourselves. We are caught between a high pressure system on the north and an approaching tropical storm from the south and the winds have been up to 30 knots for several days. We have been watching the weather channel, watching the shrimp boats go by and waiting to complete the final 500 miles of our journey.

To all of you enjoying the bands at Meeting of the Minds in Key West, give me a wave as you pass by the webcams. I’ll be watching!

ADVENTURES OF SONG OF THE SEA - 10-17-2007

NORFOLK TO CHARLESTON

Two weeks of exceptional weather has allowed us to make considerable progress down the Intracoastal Waterway with some nice side trips along the way. Tonight we have “Charleston in the rearview” and Hilton Head in our sights and another 475 miles under the keel.

A fleet of vessels headed south accompanied us as we cleared seven bridges and one lock between Norfolk and Great Bridge. The timing is crucial for opening each bridge in sequence particularly during rush hour traffic. We waited for a large barge headed northbound to clear the Gilmerton Bridge before we could proceed southbound. By the time we cleared the Great Bridge lock at mile 12, we had put in a full morning and decided to stop at the free dock for the afternoon. We spent the rest of the day chatting with southbound cruisers, watching the passing parade of boats, and feeding a pair of geese.  A Canada goose and a domestic goose were a charming comedy act in their quest for bread crumbs.

The following day at mile marker 60 we had a choice, continue south on the Intracoastal or take a detour to the Outer Banks. It was a beautiful day and we turned East on Albemarle Sound to Roanoke Island. As we approached the northern tip of Roanoke Island we could see the dunes of Kitty Hawk where the Wright Brothers made their first flight. We picked our way into Manteo past fish stakes and shallow water and spent 2 nights in the lovely harbor. We docked across from a full size replica of Elizabeth II, the ship that brought the first English settlers to North America. The ship was 60 feet long with an 18 foot beam and carried 50 passengers in the hold. They were the true adventurers. In 1584 the first English colony was established on Roanoke. Manteo is currently a quaint little village with lots of boutique shopping and good restaurants but they haven’t forgotten their history. We enjoyed an afternoon exploring the Outer Banks History Center including a tour of Elizabeth II.

Southbound out of Roanoke Channel past Oregon Inlet we encountered shoaling as we headed out to Pamlico Sound. Several markers and cans had been added that weren’t on the charts and in the confusion we missed a marker and grounded on a sandbar. Fortunately we were moving slowly and were able to back off.  It made for some heart stopping moments. Pamlico Sound was as calm as a mirror as we made for Okracoke. We passed several shrimp boats pulling their nets and followed the Cedar Island ferry into the beautiful harbor at Okracoke. A sign on an Okracoke cottage adequately describes the place as “Off the Beaten Path”.  There are no roads to Okracoke only the ferries that bring in the daily influx of tourists. The beaches and dunes are pristine, the only thing making them less than perfect are the 4-wheel drive trucks bristling with fishing poles lining the shore. We bicycled 3 miles out of town to the “perfect” beach. When we returned to the bike rack, Steve had a flat tire as a result of a sand spur and we had to walk the bikes the 3 miles back to town. Do you think any of those redneck pick-ups would offer a ride?? On our return to town a friendly local directed us to the Variety Store where you can pretty much buy anything including the exact tire and tube to fit Steve’s bike. He replaced the tire under the shade tree in front of the store and we were on our way to visit the Lighthouse.

When we returned to Song of the Sea we found Neil & Peggy King from St. Augustine on their boat Early Out docked next to us. We had met them in Manteo the previous evening. Neil asked if we would like to share a fishing charter the next day. We checked out a battered Carolina Skiff with an equally battered charter captain and decided this could be an adventure. Okracoke has to be the fishiest place on the planet but do you think Captain Wayne could find us a fish? Steve caught a small blue and Peggy caught a ray and that was it for the day. Scenery was very nice though. We all went out for a seafood dinner and a bottle of wine and were informed by the waiter that we were fishing at the wrong end of the island. All the fish were caught at the north end. Yeah Right!! We said our goodbyes to Neil and Peggy and they invited us to stop at their dock in St. Augustine down the road from the Conch House Lounge.

The long spell of calm weather ended on the morning we pulled out of Okracoke. A cold front slapped our face as we crossed Pamlico Sound to the Neuse River bound for Morehead City. The city marina is newly rebuilt and we enjoyed excellent accommodations and a courtesy car for a trip to the grocery store and pharmacy.  We celebrated my birthday at Floyd’s, an attractive restaurant in an old house. The service and atmosphere were great, the food expensive and mediocre.

 The next stop, Wrightsville Beach, was memorable for the gorgeous sunrise as we left early for a weekend in Wilmington, NC.

An ocean going freighter, “Faithful” escorted us up the Cape Fear River as far as Wilmington’s very modern loading docks. Huge blue cranes towered over stacks of containers with strange Chinese names. The dock master directed us to the prime dock in front of the Hilton Inn where we were entertained by the band performing for the weekend convention of the NAACP. Song of the Sea was the entertainment for the locals on a Saturday stroll along the board walk. The colorful Farmer’s Market on the docks Saturday morning provided some tasty produce. Our evening  included a little theater performance of Hank Williams, Lost Highway by a very talented cast, a great vodka martini at Pravda, a Russian bar complete with a huge stuffed bear and a large photo of Lenin over the bar. The cooler weather has us thinking southward again and we have taken advantage of the clear cool days and light winds to enjoy the scenery along the waterway and put some miles under our keel towards home.

Tomorrow, Song of the Sea will dock at the South Carolina Yacht Club on Hilton Head Island for several days.  Next week we continue on to the Golden Isles and Jekyll Island, Georgia. We are looking forward to a visit from our son David, his wife Kathy and grandchildren, Skyler and Alex at the end of October.

ADVENTURES OF SONG OF THE SEA - 10-04-2007

SOLOMON’S ISLAND TO NORFOLK

It’s a short run down the Chesapeake Bay from Annapolis to Solomon’s Island but certainly a world apart.  Spring Cove Marina is laid back and friendly and the area embodies the best of the Chesapeake in small town charm. We immediately signed up for a 2 week stay. The weather was perfect for doing boat chores and just hanging out and watching the boats come and go in the anchorage.  We took the opportunity to sand and varnish the teak railings, make some small repairs and fix the scratches from the dock in Annapolis.

Dan and Ellen Howard arrived the second week and found a nice campsite for their motor home at Point Lookout State Park. Their locale was as nice as ours, but they accepted our invitation for a week aboard Song of the Sea. The warm weather was perfect for a dinghy tour of the coves that make up the Solomon’s area. We spent an afternoon exploring.

Calvert Marine Museum provided an interesting history of the bay from pre-historic times to present. We enjoyed a conversation with two ladies cleaning fossils that had recently been found in Calvert Cliffs along the bay. The display of pre-historic mega whales and dolphins was impressive. The outside exhibits included historic Chesapeake Bay boats from dugout canoes to workboats to a state of the art Research vessel used for NOAA surveys.

Since Dan & Ellen had a car, we enjoyed a drive to Point Lookout where the Potomac River meets the Chesapeake Bay. The scenery was beautiful and we stopped for an excellent lunch of soft shell crabs at Courtney’s, a small waterman’s restaurant Dan & Ellen had found. The Courtney’s run their own crab boats so the crabs were fresh and the buns were home baked. 

Trawlerfest was in full swing with events at the Holiday Inn in Spring Cove and the docks at Calvert’s Marine. The water taxi was busy moving attendees back and forth across the cove. We hailed the captain on the marine radio and he stopped to pick us up at our dock. An afternoon was spent investigating the exhibits and the many trawlers on display.

A cruise on Song of the Sea up the Patuxent River to St. Leonard Creek took us to another unique establishment. Vera’s White Sands is elaborately decorated in South Seas motif with tropical foliage, banana plants, palm trees with hammocks and even a mermaid. Vera was a former burlesque queen and known to dress quite provocatively even into her 80’s and loved to entertain her customers, especially the men. She died last year at age 92 but her legend and stories live on. We had a nice lunch on the deck overlooking St. Leonard’s Creek and a leisurely cruise back to Spring Cove.

The grand finale to our month on the Chesapeake was a trip to The Jetty on Kent Island to see Jim Morris and the Big Bamboo Band. The entertainment was lively and it was fun to visit good friends and enjoy the ambiance of yet another beautiful day and sunset at Big Owl’s Tiki Bar.

Monday, the first of October, we headed Song of the Sea southward down the Chesapeake to Norfolk beginning the Intracoastal portion of the voyage at Mile Zero.  Dan & Ellen returned to their motor home to head home to Florida with stops in Savannah and St. George Island.

We were invited to stop by friends Stu and Joy Kramer at Kilmarnock on our way south. They graciously provided dockage for Song of the Sea at their yacht club, Indian Creek Yacht and Country Club and invited us to dinner at their home overlooking the bay. We had a wonderful evening with old friends from Longboat Key.

Rounding Thimble Shoals Light into Hampton Roads and the huge naval installation at Norfolk is one of the highlights of the voyage. The route takes us close by huge aircraft carriers, battle ships and myriad support vessels. Norfolk is a bustling city with many dry docks and repair facilities for the enormous ships. On the quieter side, Portsmouth has a preserved historic district with shops and restaurants and our favorite, the Commodore, a restored 1930’s dinner theater. We enjoyed dinner and a movie on our last night.

The migration of boats to Florida and the Bahamas has begun and we congregated at the many lift bridges south of Norfolk. Our plan for the month of October is to cruise slowly southward through the Outer Banks, the Carolinas and ending the month with a week at Jekyll Island, Georgia before crossing into Florida on November 1^st.

We are watching the Corps of Engineers website for the water levels on Lake Okeechobee. As of today the lake level is 3.94 feet, way too low for us too cross. It looks like we will have to extend our trip through the Keys to reach the West Coast of Florida.

ADVENTURES OF SONG OF THE SEA - 09-15-2007

ATLANTIC CITY TO UPPER CHESAPEAKE

Our first day at sea from New York to Atlantic City was uneventful thanks to good weather and calm seas, just the way we like it. We docked for the evening at Trump Marina, the most expensive slip of the entire trip, ($212.00 for the night). Guess someone has to support the Trump lifestyle. We had dinner at the Trump Casino, avoided the slots and turned in after listening to a couple of tunes from the band. The most spectacular show was the lunar eclipse through the multi colored lights of the Atlantic City casinos.

With a good forecast, we headed out the following morning for Cape May and again enjoyed a really nice day at sea. Cape May was a fun stop and we took a trolley ride through the streets lined with restored Victorian houses to the beach and stopped for some shopping along the way.  Steve took the opportunity of a down day to do a scheduled oil change and spent most of one day in the bilge.

An early departure on the final day of August allowed Song of the Sea to ride the flood tide up Delaware Bay. Steve saw what he thought was a floating drum and turned out to be a huge loggerhead turtle. We entered the C and D canal at slack tide avoiding the usual strong current in this 12 mile stretch between the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays.

After a nice evening on the C and D we departed with the tide to continue on to the Chesapeake.  The vessel traffic picked up and we encountered barges, tugs and 2 huge cargo ships moving to and from Baltimore loaded with Japanese cars. It was neat to hear the conversations of the ship’s captains as they passed in the shipping channel. A fleet of Chesapeake crab boats provided more entertainment as we listened to their often colorful radio chatter as they worked their crab traps. The Bay filled with sailing and pleasure boats as the Labor Day weekend began.

Our destination for Labor Day weekend was Rock Hall, one of our favorite stops on the Maryland Eastern Shore. We had a front row seat to the “Floating Opera” from our t-dock at Sailing Emporium as we kicked back and watched the parade of boats into Waterman’s Crab Dock loaded with colorful and scantily clad crew. The aroma of steamed crabs and Old Bay seasoning is one of the signatures of the Bay. The entertainment continued all weekend as a lively group of boaters from Annapolis kept the dock party going. We were invited to join in the fun and food and hope they all survived the ride home on Labor Day.

Annapolis, another favorite Chesapeake Bay port, was our next destination.  Maybe things were going along too well because the evil demons were working overtime in Annapolis. On Tuesday, we signed in at the prestigious Annapolis Yacht Club for 5 days dockage on their only transient dock. After settling in for a nice stay, we were unceremoniously asked to leave by noon on Wednesday as they required the dock for their committee boat at the famous weekly Annapolis Yacht Club Wednesday night sailboat races. You’d think they would have known when we checked in that these races which have occurred every Wednesday night for over 100 years were scheduled. We moved to an adjacent marina, scrubbed Song of the Sea and ourselves and went out to our favorite restaurant in Annapolis, McGarvey’s, for  steamed mussels and Aviator beer. After a very nice dinner, we strolled along the historic Annapolis City Dock boardwalk. It was a beautiful evening and the boardwalk was busy with the evening crowd. I felt a tug on my neck and felt the gold chain which holds my Mel Fisher Gold Escudo slip from my neck and slide through a crack in the boardwalk. Steve and I were both on our bellies in the street searching under the boardwalk for the chain and coin. A helpful water taxi captain handed us a flashlight and Steve spotted the chain on a plastic bag under the boards. Steve carefully retrieved the chain but the coin was not there. Needless to say a huge crowd had now gathered and we had many “helpers” offering to look for the coin. We searched unsuccessfully for several hours and finally gave up and went back to the boat. Early next morning we returned to the boardwalk and raked through all of the debris. We found numerous coins but not the Mel Fisher Escudo.  The coin was significant in that it was from the 1700’s Spanish Fleet lost as sea in a hurricane along the Florida coast. It had spent over 300 years in a shipwreck at the bottom of the sea. Mel Fisher and his crew of divers found the treasure at great expense and personal sacrifice. The story is a true romance of the sea. Is it fate that the coin would be lost once again in one of the oldest seaports in America along a stretch of dock known as “Ego Alley”?

Chris and Stuart Threadgold arrived the next day for a week’s visit and a “spin ‘round the Chesapeake Bay”.  After enjoying the sights of Annapolis and a tour of the Naval Academy we agreed to rise early for a cruise to St. Michael’s the following day. As we finished our coffee and prepared to leave, a shot was fired and over 1000 swimmers dove into the harbor for the beginning of a triathlon. The Harbor was closed to vessel traffic and we watched the festivities from Song of the Sea’s bridge. By late morning the last swimmer finished and we were off to St. Michael’s. The day was calm and beautiful and we cruised by the Thomas Point Light taking photographs. Stuart proved his visual acuity in spotting crab traps in our path. We arrived in St. Michael’s just in time for the finish of the traditional log sailing canoe races on the Miles River another photo op. It’s an amazing sight to see these historic vessels with all sails set flying along in relatively calm winds.  Breakfast at Carpenter’s preceded a visit to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and some retail therapy and story swapping with Wells at Bleachers, our favorite Parrot Head Boutique. The cruise continued to Knapp’s Narrows a true Chesapeake Bay working harbor in somewhat roily seas and cool blustery weather.  Chris prepared a lovely lunch while we set up the dock and electric lines and rinsed the salt off the boat. We watched the crabbers and skipjacks come and go in the canal, explored some derelict work boats, walked to Harrison’s Crab House for cocktails and  crab stuffed rockfish, a house specialty.  Mrs. Harrison, an elegant lady, drove us back to the boat in her gold Cadillac. We had so enjoyed Rock Hall that we went back to show Chris and Stuart the town. After Labor Day the party was over. Main Street had rolled up the sidewalks although we did indulge at Durdings Ice Cream Parlor and had no trouble getting a table at Waterman’s, the Harbor Shack and Bay Wolf. We made several tours of town on foot looking for adventure but not much happening. On our return to Annapolis, a nail on the piling in our assigned dock dug several gouges and a scratch into Song of the Sea’s bridge deck, the first scratch of our 2000 mile journey.

The week ended on a high note, literally, as we attended the Annapolis Maritime Museum fundraiser Boathouse Beach Bash on Saturday night. The entertainment  provided by Sunny Jim White from Sarasota and the John Frinzi band accompanied by Doyle Grisham from Jimmy Buffet’s Band banished all the evil demons of the preceding week.  A great crowd, good friends, lively tropical music and a really fun evening completed our visit to Annapolis.

Watching for Crabtraps	Knapps Narrows Workboats	Crab Claw St. Michaels
Log Canoe Races	Thomas Point Light	Chesapeake Shipping
C& D Canal	Cruising Delaware Bay	Trump Marina

We expected a highly populated and industrial river with little natural beauty. However, the Hudson is quiet and scenic, dotted with small towns and the occasional larger cities such as Troy, Albany and Kingston. The large vessel traffic was light to non-existent. We encountered a few pleasure boats and a couple of jet-skis but in most areas, had the river to ourselves from Waterford to the Tappan Zee Bridge. A pair of eagles soared above Song of the Sea from their perch on a dead tree on a small island. We made the 150 miles in two cruising days, stopping in Kingston for a week at Rondout Creek Marina. There, we rented a car, explored the Catskills, visited Woodstock and drove to Maryland to see Jim Morris and the Big Bamboo Band perform at Summerfest in Denton and The Jetty on Kent Island. They are always entertaining and we are always happy to see them.

After dropping the car in Kingston, we set off on the second day of our Hudson River cruise. The day began with a light mist that increased to steady rain all the way to New York City. There was no wind and the mist along the cliffs and hillsides was actually very pretty. We were happy to be running inside in the cozy pilot house. West Point Military Academy dominates the western shoreline and is very impressive to see from the water. A large tug pushing a raft of barges 3 wide and 3 deep met us as we passed under the George Washington Bridge and into New York Harbor. The fun began as we dodged freighters, barges, water taxis and tour boats cris-crossing the harbor as we sorted through the myriad docks lining the shore to our marina at Liberty Landing.

Our dock at Liberty Landing on the New Jersey shore overlooked the Manhattan Skyline and the Statue of Liberty. It is a new, clean, modern facility located in a 1200 acre State Park. The water taxi to Manhattan docked there and we made a couple of trips into the city to see the sights. The first day in Town the temperature reached a high of 58 degrees, one of the coolest days ever in August.  By the end of the week the temperature had climbed into the 90’s and heat warnings were issued. The first sight we encountered was Ground Zero at the former World Trade Center. It is amazing how little has been accomplished in 6 years since 9/11. The gaping hole is full heavy machinery, and a road from street level runs down six stories to the bottom. The Deuche Bank building that had the fire a couple of weeks ago stands blackened on the corner. On a positive note, the entire waterfront along West Street from the Financial District to Mid-Town has been converted to parks and recreational facilities. A bike and walking trail runs about 10 miles along the Hudson. We walked into the city from the ferry terminal and then along 42^nd St, Broadway, to Times Square and Rockefeller Plaza. A tour of NBC Studios was interesting, and since we watch the Today Show it was neat to see where it all happens.  The set of Saturday Night Live was fun, and for all you musicians, it is an acoustically perfect studio. What a gig that would be!! We ended our day with a stroll down 5^th Ave window shopping and Happy Hour at the Trump Bar in the Trump Tower. What a beautiful building and Steve said he had the best Martini ever, the “Trump Special”.

The Circle Lines Boat Tour to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty was another fun day. However, nothing can compare to cruising Song of the Sea at dawn past the Statue of Liberty, lit by the rising sun, the Verrazano Narrows Bridge with her lights like a diamond necklace across the harbor, looking back at the New York Skyline in silhouette in our wake and heading out to sea.

The  8 locks on the Oswego were in poor repair and we were held up a hour at two locks while they made repairs. The Oswego River between the locks was very pretty. The Erie Canal has better maintenance and most of the locks are new, modern and huge. I guess locking through could best be described as placing a small plastic boat in a bathtub full of water, then pulling the plug. Holding on and keeping the boat from crashing against the walls in the turbulence was exhausting and took all the fenders we could hang on the boat.

Brewerton is another nice town kept alive by it’s proximity to Syracuse. We stayed at a nice marina, Winter Harbor, for a week while we waited for parts for the toilet. We used their complimentary vehicle for trips to the mall and enjoyed a couple of good waterfront restaurants.

We completed the rest of the Erie in 3 days. The towns were not inviting, the locks were work, and the canal was bordered by Interstate 90 on one side and a very busy railroad on the other. Dockage was very reasonable or free in some cases. Interstate and railroad noise was not conducive to relaxing evenings on deck. We closed up the boat, turned on the AC and tried to sleep.

The last day on the Erie, it poured rain in the morning and the grand finale was a set of 5 flight locks, one lock  after the other for a drop of 169 feet, the highest set of lift locks in the world. We dropped into Waterford, at the junction of the Erie Canal and the Hudson River, a delightful town, with FREE dockage, lively waterfront and good restaurants. The collected boaters were either excited to begin their westward trip across the Erie or glad to get it overwith. We stayed 4 nights, cleaned the lock grunge off Song of the Sea and recouperated.

We have a rental car for the week and are off this weekend to see Jim Morris in Maryland. The adventure will continue next week as we head down the Hudson to New York City.

We continued to Kingston on a warm sunny day with no wind and flat calm water. Kingston was the original capital of Canada and figured prominently in the war of 1812. The city overlooks Lake Ontario and is located at the entrance to the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Rideau Canal to Ottawa, the present capital of Canada. The city is only about 4 blocks square and has some of the oldest buildings in Canada with a distinct British influence. A large military academy and university dominate one end of town and across the river is Old Ft. Henry, restored to 1800’s condition. We were fortunate to get reservations for dinner in the Officer’s Dining Hall and view the weekly sunset ceremony at the fort. It’s a spectacular show with drum and fife corps, a demonstration of 1800’s British rifle drill and precision marching. At the finale all the cannons on the Ft. battlements are fired,  “God Save the Queen” and taps are played. A fireworks display completed the evening.  (Not sure they had fireworks in 1812 but who cares). It was an excellent finale to our time in Canada.

Rain again as we headed up the Bateau Channel of the St. Lawrence River to Gananoque and the 1000 Islands. We are now encountering the French Canadians from Quebec on their summer holiday. They love to drive their Sea Rays at wake speed ignoring the No Wake signs at marinas. We are also encountering the 1000 Island Tour Boats (there are at least 1000 of them) and they also ignore the No Wake signs. We spent 2 days in Gananoque in the rain rocking and rolling in the wakes.

Another beautiful sunny day and we are cruising through the incredible 1000 Islands heading for Alexandria Bay, New York on the US side. Our Nexus cards, obtained in Detroit before we began our journey, made crossing back into the USA very simple. A cell phone call to US Customs with our name, boat name and Nexus card numbers was all that was required. We dawdled along the islands admiring the immaculate cottages on the Canadian side and the spectacular mansions on the US side of the St. Lawrence. Many of the Islands on the Canadian side are part of Parks Canada and are designated anchorages and campgrounds. The most amazing sight is the Boldt Castle on Heart Island across from Alexandria Bay. It was constructed by George Boldt, owner of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, as a gift to his wife. She died before the castle was completed and he never finished it. It remains just as he left it and is now a popular tourist attraction.

Riveredge hotel and marina in Alexandria Bay is a very nice resort. We were directed to our dock by a couple of very cute “dock girls” in flowered shirts. Steve asked several times if the water was deep enough for Song of the Sea. We were assured that it was indeed deep enough; they put lots of big boats in here. As we pulled into our spot on the wall, we heard a loud crunch, the engines died and alarms went off. After hundreds of miles carefully picking our way through rocky passages unscathed we finally found our rock. Both props are damaged but so far nothing else. We are probably down for a week while the props are repaired. The good part is there’s a diver and prop shop in the next town and the resort has offered to pay for the damage and complimentary dockage until repairs are made. We have a castle view from our pilothouse window, a swimming pool, hot tub, restaurants and a short walk to town to numerous shops and a dinghy ride to the islands and harbor side pubs. Song of the Sea is having a well-deserved rest and Steve is offering complimentary docking consultation to the manager and staff at Riveredge.