Sunday June 29 2:38pm Hot...damn hot...wind quit....rolled up the sails....motoring along....since we got to Crisfield we have been attacked by these damn green head flies....damn things draw blood...Joyce has filled the cockpit scuppers with dead flies...she is up there now wacking them....me down here sweating out the water Joyce is force feeding me....I think its beer time.....later
Sunday, June 29, 2008
$$$$1 Dollar a Mile
Sunday June 29th 11:43 AM Motoring up the Bay....We spent last night at the Solomons...motored most of the way from Crisfield..winds have been light...typical summer days on the Bay. Supposed to have some wind this afternoon prior to a cold front coming through tonight. We expect some strong storms with this front so we want to get to Annapolis and get the hook down before it hits.
We took on $200 dollars worth of fuel this morning...44 gallons. We are now out of my Hugo .40 cent a gallon stuff and are now burning the $ 4.45 a gallon. Comes out to about a buck a mile instead of $ .10 cents a mile. Joyce is already tired of hearing the engine run. Sailing up the Bay i n the summer is tough...with the tides and currents it hard to make 40 miles sailing....so we do more motor sailing. With the sails up and the engine at a fast idle we can doe 6+ knots. We have used the engine more in the last week than we did in the last 2 months. The Bay is almost empty of boats....the boating industry is hurting bad....fuel guy said they used to have 3 guys working...8 to 8 but now only 1 from 9 to 5 pm.. What power boats that do go out , go out and anchor. I'll let Joyce do the pictures later.......
We took on $200 dollars worth of fuel this morning...44 gallons. We are now out of my Hugo .40 cent a gallon stuff and are now burning the $ 4.45 a gallon. Comes out to about a buck a mile instead of $ .10 cents a mile. Joyce is already tired of hearing the engine run. Sailing up the Bay i n the summer is tough...with the tides and currents it hard to make 40 miles sailing....so we do more motor sailing. With the sails up and the engine at a fast idle we can doe 6+ knots. We have used the engine more in the last week than we did in the last 2 months. The Bay is almost empty of boats....the boating industry is hurting bad....fuel guy said they used to have 3 guys working...8 to 8 but now only 1 from 9 to 5 pm.. What power boats that do go out , go out and anchor. I'll let Joyce do the pictures later.......
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
West Palm to the Chesapeake
Wed June 25th 2008 Deltaville Va 12:25 pm We left West Palm noon last Sunday. 2 hours out we were boarded by the US Coast Guard. We were flying Matt's US Marine flag in the rigging. They were very courteous and were training a newbie...wanted to do a safety check. The head man and another on the boat had just come back from Iraq. They thanked me for Matt's service and wished him home safe. After 45 min they were off and on their way back into West Palm before the line of thunder storms hit.
By 6:30 pm we were in the Gulf Stream sailing north with the poled out genny. Over the next 24 hrs we covered 203.6 miles at one point hitting 12.5 knots. One hell of a ride. The 2nd day was close to 200 miles...one rolly night....the boat roll more when the poles are out since there is no stabilizing effect from the main. By Wed afternoon we were 120 miles east of Wilmington NC. The sky turned black and the radar showed a huge line of thunder storms. Joyce asks...whats that. Damn it was a waterspout...thats a tornado on the water...just as dangerous and the land based tornado except there is no debris in the 200+ mph winds.
We rolled up all the sails , secured the boat and motored off at 90 deg to the water spout. We start looking around and see 5 others...damn...time for the harnesses and tethers. We motored for about an hour or so dodging the worst of the storm and lightning. We had gone in with the wind from the south at 10-15 knots...then I checked the wind instrument...I thought it was broken ...wind now 15 from the north...then looked at the sail....damn...wind was from the north.....not a good thing when you are in the Gulf Stream. I yelled down to Joyce....we needed to get the pole down quickly..10 minuets later we had the pole stowed and were back in the cockpit. I went below to check out our options....we were in the western half of the Stream...we were about 25 miles from the west edge, further from the east side. We set sail for Wrightsville Beach some 80 to the west. By this time the apparent wind was in the high 20's with gusts over 30 knots. The seas were growing from 8 to 10 ft to the 12 to 14 ft range. We were on a beam reach...(wind from 90 deg) zipping along at 7 to 8 knots....not a bad ride...better than the rolly night 2 nights ago. It was not pretty..but the Lady handled it nicely...just befor dark we exited the stream, the seas laid down some and we let the auto pilot drive us through the night. Joyce woke me about 5:30...winds were down and we were motorsailing . Joyce said we had 1 boat aft, but could not see them on the radar....Joyce crashed...I tweaked the radar and picked up our tail...5 miles back at our same speed. At 1st light I made the decision to go north to Beaufort some 40 miles distant. Our tail makes the same 90 deg turn staying 5= miles off...just out of sight. The Coast Guard guys down in West Palm said there was always some one watching.....they followed for another 2 hrs then sped off at 25 knots to the NE. We made it into Beaufort before dark...ended up staying till Sunday...waiting for wind from the right direction before going around the infamous Cape Hatteras.
We were up at 4am and motoring out by 5:30 am. Little or no wind...so we motor sailed. Damn...using up my .40 cent a gallon diesel.DAMN....that 25 gallons cost me $ 125 bucks....I was able to get 150 gallons for 60 bucks back in Margarita...I still had about 40 gallons of the cheap stuff left...but thought I might need some for the trip up the bay. The old guy at the pumps said very few boats are out due to the fuel prices. We topped off the water and headed across the bay to this State Park. Seems they had sunk some Victory Ships left over from WWII to create a sea wall and fish have.
We arrived before dark and dropped the hook behind the relics. We slept in to catch up on our sleep....that was the last overnight for a while....we have been sailing hard for the last week. We decided to sail over here to Deltaville...about 30 miles. The Bay is a bummer to sail up...winds are light and variable...tides and currents can almost stop you. We sailed out of the lee of the Victory ships into 15 knts form the north....and what way do we want to go???? you got it NORTH.. Since the distance was only 30 miles...I decided to tack a few times to save my new expensive fuel reserve. Between the tide and the wind. the best we could do was 3.9 knots....damn....turned the key...now motor sailing at 4.9 knots with the engine at 2000 rpm...normally I can motor at 5 knots at 2000 rpm....motor sailing I should be at 6 plus ....so we motored on to Deltaville. DAMN Bay....Costing me about $1 a mile in fuel.
So we decided to sit here today...rest up...go for a bike ride and wait for wind tomorrow.
By 6:30 pm we were in the Gulf Stream sailing north with the poled out genny. Over the next 24 hrs we covered 203.6 miles at one point hitting 12.5 knots. One hell of a ride. The 2nd day was close to 200 miles...one rolly night....the boat roll more when the poles are out since there is no stabilizing effect from the main. By Wed afternoon we were 120 miles east of Wilmington NC. The sky turned black and the radar showed a huge line of thunder storms. Joyce asks...whats that. Damn it was a waterspout...thats a tornado on the water...just as dangerous and the land based tornado except there is no debris in the 200+ mph winds. 
We rolled up all the sails , secured the boat and motored off at 90 deg to the water spout. We start looking around and see 5 others...damn...time for the harnesses and tethers. We motored for about an hour or so dodging the worst of the storm and lightning. We had gone in with the wind from the south at 10-15 knots...then I checked the wind instrument...I thought it was broken ...wind now 15 from the north...then looked at the sail....damn...wind was from the north.....not a good thing when you are in the Gulf Stream. I yelled down to Joyce....we needed to get the pole down quickly..10 minuets later we had the pole stowed and were back in the cockpit. I went below to check out our options....we were in the western half of the Stream...we were about 25 miles from the west edge, further from the east side. We set sail for Wrightsville Beach some 80 to the west. By this time the apparent wind was in the high 20's with gusts over 30 knots. The seas were growing from 8 to 10 ft to the 12 to 14 ft range. We were on a beam reach...(wind from 90 deg) zipping along at 7 to 8 knots....not a bad ride...better than the rolly night 2 nights ago. It was not pretty..but the Lady handled it nicely...just befor dark we exited the stream, the seas laid down some and we let the auto pilot drive us through the night. Joyce woke me about 5:30...winds were down and we were motorsailing . Joyce said we had 1 boat aft, but could not see them on the radar....Joyce crashed...I tweaked the radar and picked up our tail...5 miles back at our same speed. At 1st light I made the decision to go north to Beaufort some 40 miles distant. Our tail makes the same 90 deg turn staying 5= miles off...just out of sight. The Coast Guard guys down in West Palm said there was always some one watching.....they followed for another 2 hrs then sped off at 25 knots to the NE. We made it into Beaufort before dark...ended up staying till Sunday...waiting for wind from the right direction before going around the infamous Cape Hatteras.
We were up at 4am and motoring out by 5:30 am. Little or no wind...so we motor sailed. Damn...using up my .40 cent a gallon diesel.DAMN....that 25 gallons cost me $ 125 bucks....I was able to get 150 gallons for 60 bucks back in Margarita...I still had about 40 gallons of the cheap stuff left...but thought I might need some for the trip up the bay. The old guy at the pumps said very few boats are out due to the fuel prices. We topped off the water and headed across the bay to this State Park. Seems they had sunk some Victory Ships left over from WWII to create a sea wall and fish have.
We arrived before dark and dropped the hook behind the relics. We slept in to catch up on our sleep....that was the last overnight for a while....we have been sailing hard for the last week. We decided to sail over here to Deltaville...about 30 miles. The Bay is a bummer to sail up...winds are light and variable...tides and currents can almost stop you. We sailed out of the lee of the Victory ships into 15 knts form the north....and what way do we want to go???? you got it NORTH.. Since the distance was only 30 miles...I decided to tack a few times to save my new expensive fuel reserve. Between the tide and the wind. the best we could do was 3.9 knots....damn....turned the key...now motor sailing at 4.9 knots with the engine at 2000 rpm...normally I can motor at 5 knots at 2000 rpm....motor sailing I should be at 6 plus ....so we motored on to Deltaville. DAMN Bay....Costing me about $1 a mile in fuel.So we decided to sit here today...rest up...go for a bike ride and wait for wind tomorrow.
A Few Bahamas Pictures
Lionfish..........
I would be online for a MONTH to share all of the great underwater pictures from the Bahamas...so this is a quick overview...if anyone wants more...email us... This is another Lionfish...they can be lethal if touched...and they are not from here (the Bahamas) but they are reproducing here and the concern is that because they have no natural predators they will take over habitat. Pretty they are...but stay away!!!!
The boat from a night dive...
Giant Basket Star...it coils up into a ball during the day and only at night unrolls itself to feed.
My "bunk" was the top one....there were 18 divers on a 65 foot boat!!!
Goatfish and Grunts...
Queen Triggerfish....
French Angelfish...
Queen Angelfish....
That's all for now...there were so many good ones to choose from!!!!
I would be online for a MONTH to share all of the great underwater pictures from the Bahamas...so this is a quick overview...if anyone wants more...email us... This is another Lionfish...they can be lethal if touched...and they are not from here (the Bahamas) but they are reproducing here and the concern is that because they have no natural predators they will take over habitat. Pretty they are...but stay away!!!!
This was a HUGE Blue Parrotfish....
This is a Smooth Trunkfish....
And then there are these guys...really was pretty cool to have them swimming around...
I'll admit I got a little nervous when they headed straight for us....
Reef Sharks....not sure I'll do that again...but it was fun...once....
Sargassum Triggerfish.... 
Picture from the beach of North Bimini...we docked there for the night and PARTIED...it was fun...but there were a few that didn't make it up for the first morning dive - the younger "kids"...but I DID!!!
Sun Anemone....
There were lots of dive (swim) throughs....
Hawksbill Turtle with Gray Angelfish and French Angelfish all eating the same coral area...
I'll admit I got a little nervous when they headed straight for us....
Reef Sharks....not sure I'll do that again...but it was fun...once....
Sargassum Triggerfish.... 
Picture from the beach of North Bimini...we docked there for the night and PARTIED...it was fun...but there were a few that didn't make it up for the first morning dive - the younger "kids"...but I DID!!!
Sun Anemone....
There were lots of dive (swim) throughs....
Hawksbill Turtle with Gray Angelfish and French Angelfish all eating the same coral area... 
The boat from a night dive...
Giant Basket Star...it coils up into a ball during the day and only at night unrolls itself to feed.
My "bunk" was the top one....there were 18 divers on a 65 foot boat!!!
Goatfish and Grunts...
Queen Triggerfish....
French Angelfish...
Queen Angelfish....
That's all for now...there were so many good ones to choose from!!!!Saturday, June 14, 2008
Bahamas the quick version
This is the LOUD smaller plane that took me the 40 minutes to Freeport, Grand Bahamas....
As I flew over Florida...there was the Lady H on Lake Sylvia from the air...I could just imagine Paul waving to me from the boat...
As I flew over Florida...there was the Lady H on Lake Sylvia from the air...I could just imagine Paul waving to me from the boat... And now I'm back to the US of A....after 18 dives in the Bahamas...I'm now a PADI certified Advanced Scuba Diver...had three night dives...four deep dives...five wreck dives...AND one SHARK feeding dive.....pictures will have to be later...for whatever reason even the few that I wanted to put up took forever...
Busy today...but will try to update with dive pictures later tonight or tomorrow!!!
Busy today...but will try to update with dive pictures later tonight or tomorrow!!!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Hot Hot Hot!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thur June 12 1:45pm I know it's been hot all around the US but South Florida in the summer is hell. The last 3 days were in the low 90's with high humidity...even hotter down below on the boat. If there was wind I could live with the heat but the wind has been less than 5 knots. At night still in the low 80's...Have not been doing my boat chores, just too damn hot. Have been working on getting our TV and movies onto the new HD. I have been running the genset about 11-3 charging the batteries and running the AC. I put the dye in the main engine so I could look for the coolant leak...but too hot down their to look for it after running the engine. I also needed to replace the water pump impeller on the main as it has been running hot. So this AM I got down their early (8AM) and started with the pump. I think the design engineer that put the pump where it is should spend at least 3 months replacing the impeller all day every day with my back..... My bet is they would find a better way. Of course after getting the old impeller out I didn't remember which way the blades were going. I got out the manual...2 hrs later back together. Also followed the book on cleaning the turbo...never beeen done before...will see if it makes a difference tomorrow when I motor back down to pick up Joyce. Guess I'll be getting hassled by the Lauderdale boat cops. My plan is to get Joyce tomorrow night...provision on Saturday and leave Sunday. If there is no wind we might just go up to West Palm and wait for the wind....no hassels up there. Well back to work...
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Fuel at $5 or more at the Marina
Sunday June 8 3:32 Ft Lauderdale / Lake Sylvia 92 deg F
Yesterday I dinked in with Joyce about 7:30 am to send her off for a weeks diving adventure over in the Bahamas. Joyce has been hinting...well more than that...since we missed the Bahamas on the way down she wanted to dive there. We decided to wait till Joanna, Phils wife got back from the UK, before we head north to the Chesapeake. So I found this Live-aboard 65'Sailing dive boat that goes to all the great dive sites in a week. So as I write this Joyce is on a "Cattle Boat" over in the Bahamas I have enough boat chores to keep me busy for the week.
Hot Hot Hot....Now what do all the stinkpot owners do now that fuel is over $5 bucks at the marina. They all come over to Lake Sylvia where we are parked and play idiot. Usually this time of yr I have this place to my self. This AM I awoke to the sound of some huge diesels only to see an anchor by committee on a 50 ft sport fisherman. His fore deck crew would let out about 15 ft of chain and watch the boat drift across the lake....after 4-5 tries they finally snagged something.
By noon the place was almost full. There was a slight breeze, enough to keep me cool while I played video editor and moved all our movies and TV programs onto our new 750 gig HD. About an hour ago I ventured up to see what was going on....Was 92+ below....even hotter up top....decks were frying pan temperature. I sprayed down the decks so I could stow some stuff in the garage. All the boats were anchored with people on the water....here comes this lady pulling 3-4 kids on a tube...through the anchorage. Wonder if we will make the national news when she chops up someone in the water. Now I know where all those idiots on the Charter boats come from. Well I checked the batteries and its time to charge....which means I go below...start up the genset...turn on the A/C and ignore the idiots. I wll give you all a update during the week....but now I'm starting Happy Hour early.
What an Idiot!!!!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
...Z diving Pictures
Thierry from Carlos Scuba picked us up at the downtown pier and across the Bay we went in his Panga. Up on the hill - the small white building to the right of the large group of condos - is the condo....
This is the Carlos Scuba panga. Picture taken from Las Gatas where Thierry has his "office".
The dive site was around the corner from Las Gatas. Around the lighthouse...called Caleta de Chon.
My new Pacific Coast Reef Fish book has been ordered -but I won't have it for at least another month or so...so while this IS a starfish...I can't tell you exactly what type...there are some fun differences between diving in the Caribbean and diving the southern Pacific Coast.
These guys are similar to Bank Butterflyfish...they are however, not identical to the pictures in my Reef Fish of the Caribbean. Another way they are unique is because they are friendlier than the Caribbean Butterflyfish!
No idea what this guy is...but he was beautiful!
A type of Angelfish...and Hamlet??
Another big fish...ha ha ha!!!
Hopefully you can pick this guy out from his hiding/camouflage spot...a Longsnout Seahorse.
The coral here is within the first 10 to 35 feet. Thierry explained to us that on the Pacific side there is so much plankton in the water that visibility or light only gets down to 35 feet for the coral to grow and remain healthy. Therefore the coral diving is not too deep...On this dive the deepest we went was 40 feet.
Another kind of starfish...
Something that had a grip on everything that passed it's way....
Many, many of these Butterflyfish...and they WANTED their picture taken!
I have no idea what this guy is...but he also wanted his picture taken...
And then at our deepest...40 feet...the rays....little guys compared to what we saw in the Caribbean...also different....
Another Ray....
Coral.....
A hairy hermit crab of some sort that Thierry brought up for us to see....
And, today is Friday, June 6th...we are anchored in Lake Sylvia...and tomorrow I fly to the Bahamas to go diving...more on that later....perhaps Paul will catch you all up on all of the work that he is going to get done on the boat while I'm gone!!!!
This is the Carlos Scuba panga. Picture taken from Las Gatas where Thierry has his "office".The dive site was around the corner from Las Gatas. Around the lighthouse...called Caleta de Chon.My new Pacific Coast Reef Fish book has been ordered -but I won't have it for at least another month or so...so while this IS a starfish...I can't tell you exactly what type...there are some fun differences between diving in the Caribbean and diving the southern Pacific Coast. 
These guys are similar to Bank Butterflyfish...they are however, not identical to the pictures in my Reef Fish of the Caribbean. Another way they are unique is because they are friendlier than the Caribbean Butterflyfish! 
No idea what this guy is...but he was beautiful!
A type of Angelfish...and Hamlet??
Another big fish...ha ha ha!!!
Hopefully you can pick this guy out from his hiding/camouflage spot...a Longsnout Seahorse.
The coral here is within the first 10 to 35 feet. Thierry explained to us that on the Pacific side there is so much plankton in the water that visibility or light only gets down to 35 feet for the coral to grow and remain healthy. Therefore the coral diving is not too deep...On this dive the deepest we went was 40 feet.
Another kind of starfish...
Something that had a grip on everything that passed it's way....
Many, many of these Butterflyfish...and they WANTED their picture taken!
I have no idea what this guy is...but he also wanted his picture taken...
And then at our deepest...40 feet...the rays....little guys compared to what we saw in the Caribbean...also different....
Another Ray....
Coral.....
A hairy hermit crab of some sort that Thierry brought up for us to see....
And, today is Friday, June 6th...we are anchored in Lake Sylvia...and tomorrow I fly to the Bahamas to go diving...more on that later....perhaps Paul will catch you all up on all of the work that he is going to get done on the boat while I'm gone!!!!
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