The Atlantic Coast...

ah, morning with the nuclear plant glowing in the morning sun...

and Luke doing chores--- it never ends. This is our "dew mop" for cleaning the boat using the early morning dew. at 5:30 am.

Our plan today worked well. We left our anchorage outside of the C&D Canal at 5:30 am, took advantage of the current going in our direction for a few hours, spent a few hours at a new anchorage, and then used the current again to take us to our current anchorage in Great Egg Harbor, NJ (just outside of Atlantic City). The current can give us a 2 knot boost or a 2 knot handicap. When you consider that our average speed is 6.5 knots, 2 knots is significant. We plan to leave bright and early tomorrow morning and go to Barnaget Bay to visit friends Nancy & Dave, from our earlier meeting in St. Augustine, FL.

If this is a nuclear plant, it must be Delaware...

Made it past the Chesapeake and into the Delaware Bay! Here's the nuclear plant to prove it, resplendent in the full moon.

We had an absoultely beautiful start to the day, at 5:30am as we left Annapolis and headed towards the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Just perfect...

Onwards to Cape May, NJ on Monday, July 6th.

Catching up and Eric Clapton

We left early the morning of July 1 to get to Janes Island State Park, 2 miles from Crisfield. Janes Island has several kayak trails through the marshlands. IF you get there at high tide, you can navigate them with the dingy. We did! The birdlife is wonderful. Big, big herons and egrets.

One more night in Crisfield --- not a pleasant one. A huge thunderstorm hit and the two boats in the anchorage (us and one other, thank goodness) began to drag our anchors in the high wind. We motored with the anchor down, dancing around with the other boat in the blinding rain. Luke said the wind hit 70 mph gusts...that's a lot higher than hurricane force, y'all! Fortunately the other boat finally got pushed into a dock and we were out there alone, slamming about.. The rain and wind finally stopped, and we headed for a dock space. All the lights were out, so it we could locate it only when it lightening... all were safe and sound, but soaked to the bone with a full adenine high.

On Thursday we sailed to Solomons to visit our friends Ret and Joe. Remember the lady in FL with the "pet" herons and raccoons? Them! Wonderful time visiting them again. She has "pet" ducks now!

Friday. off to an anchorage 15 miles south of Annapolis, in Galesville. Nice place to spend the night. We'd like to go back and explore the old, quaint town.

The 4th of July! In Annapolis! The usual local parade, but I did have a few favorites. Luke especially liked the West Point band. They were good.

My PERSONAL favorite was seeing ERIC CLAPTON! Yes! As we motored through the anchor field, you couldn't help but notice a beautiful, classy,. big motor yacht named "Blue Guitar". I remembered it was his.

He and a small boy, maybe 3 or 4 yrs old, were sitting on the stern deck, mostly hidden, watching the boat traffic. The little boy was watch us and I waved. He and Eric Clapton waved back! yulp, I could recognize Eric, of course. Now I can say that Eric Clapton waved to me personally!!!! That's him walking along the front of the boat. honest.and last, but not least, my weekly picture of Wickie

Back in the water and headed north

Finally! We finished our chores…First, we added a “shaft shark” --- a line cutter “guaranteed” to cut any crab/lobster/miscellaneous line that we might run across. We sure hope we never test it…To run across a line can stop a motor dead until the line is completely removed from the propeller, not a pleasant underwater task, especially in 60 degree Maine waters.
Then, Luke doing last touch-up bottom painting on Latitudes.
We did have engine problems, but Wonderful Mechanic Nick came to the rescue early Monday morning, enabling us to leave Monday afternoon. A “little” replaced part and we’re good to go.
Then, we covered the car again and left her in storage until we return in October.
Back in the water for a four hour motor ride from Deltaville (from 3pm to 7pm) to Tangier Bay. Wickie weathered the ride with no problems..as he gets older, he cares less about the boat noises.
We anchored in a bay on the south east tip of Tangier Island. This side of Tangier is beautiful --- we can see the outline of the island. We’ve never anchored here before.
A wonderful sunset, the trademark Tangier water tower, and a good end to our first day on our Northern Trip #2.

We took the time to visit the beach at Tangier before we left on Tuesday morning. It’s a beautiful, typical Chesapeake area.

We managed to sail from Tangier to Crisfield MD, a leisurely 4 hour sail. I tried fishing with my larger-than-life fishing lure (a sure winner, per the guy at the fishing store). I think I'm glad I didn't catch anything....I'll try this one again when we hit the Atlantic.

The plan is to explore Crisfield and Janes Island tomorrow.

the 400 mile detour....

We had a great vitit with the families in CO, leaving for a 2 day trip down scenic highway 285, south through CO. It was a dreary day, misty, 37 degrees, but the views of the Collegiate Range were still spectacular.

We also visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park --- these dunes are beautiful. Our excursion out on them was limited, with a 25 mph headwind on the way back -- blowing sand, of course. Think they're small? Check out the size of the folks climbing them!

Next, into New Mexico to visit Luke's uncle Gust and aunt Wis in Albuquerque. En route, we stoped in Sante Fe. Yes, a little sidewalk shopping....

Then a side trip to Bandelier National Monument. This is one of the places where the Indians lived in cave homes carved out of the sides of the rocks. Most of the rooms are tiny.

After sightseeing, more sidewalk shopping, and a casino visit (Ask Luke how to win at Roulette!!!!! really!!!! Luke's note -- tripple your money, unfortunately only on an initial $20!) and a very nice visit with Gust and Wis, we headed out for the southern route home, through TX, OK, AR, and TN.

Only 50 miles out of Albuquerque, we saw the fateful sign "Roswell/Carlsbad Caverns this-a-way".... So, we suddenly opted for a 400 mile detour and are glad we did. NOW we're talking 101 degrees!

Roswell, home of the original reported alien landing in 1947 is as tacky as you can imagine.

The evidence in the UFO Museum is quite convincing, though.

In our usual friendly cruiser mentality, we did make friends with other cruisers....

No, really! See, they even invited us up to their spaceship... Here we are, getting ready to be beamed up, Scotty.

Then to a much more natural beauty, Carlsbad Caverns. The cave is over 600,000 sq ft in size. Incredibly large, and seemingly endless. Our photography can't do it justice. In the picture below, we can see for almost 100 yards, note the hand rails as a reference. Get a better look at http://www.nps.gov/cave/

Finally, on Sunday, 12 days after leaving Roanoke, we made the final 900 mile trek homewards. We did stop in Menphis for a couple of hours, visiting the Elvis Presley Welcome Center. woo woo!!!!

And also the short monorail hop to Mud Island. The entire Mississipi delta has been carved into a 5 block walk - even updated for huricane Katrina. Cute.

Home finally at midnight, tired, and glad for our own bed. 5000 miles, 12 states, 12 days! We picked up poor old Wickie after 13 days at the vet ---- he's awfully glad to be home, too.

If all goes well, we'll head for Deltaville around the week after Father's Day, hopefully setting sail within a week after that. Next news, the trip towards Maine!

Trip West

We are currently on our trip west to visit our grandbabies Evelyn and Simon. Most beautiful babies in the world, of course.

We started out May 27, 09, for a 13 hour marathon from Roanoke (5am...) to a state campground in IL. It rained. and rained. We got up at 4:15 am the next day, as soon as the rain stopped, broke down camp, and headed for the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Fortunately, we were there an hour too early, which gave us time to set up the tent in the bowls of the parking garage. It did dry!

The arch was great, even with the rain and fog. I enjoyed the side trip.

The next night was great, dry, warm, and with VERY clean facilities. A KOA campground in Goodland, KS.



And yes, folks, western Kansas is flat, flat, flat.

Then to Denver to see the beautiful babies. We went camping with Lisa, Mat, and Simon at a remote hot springs campground. It was great.

Erin and Evelyn met us on Saturday. Evelyn loved the hot springs.

Sunday we drove to Longmont, CO, to spend a couple of nights with Erin and Cian. Boys and their grills...

Back to Work....

For those of you who remember the first blogs, they were work, work, work.. Guess what.... it's work, work, work. We've worn ourselves out doing maintenance while we're on the hard. First, there was waxing of the boat. Which I will say, made her shine beautifully, as I did all of the waxing. We did buy an orbital sander, which helped tremendously.

After waxing, we accomplished a goal which has been on our "list" for a long time --- the name "Latitudes" on the sides of the boat, not just the back. As you cruise, you find you check out each boat that passes you on the water or if it's at anchor. The easiest way to see the name is on the side. While we were in Spanish Wells, Bahamas, we had the name replicated on special paper which were were told would be a snap to apply. It actually was...first we had to decide where to put it (and make sure it was in the same place on both sides).

Then, voila! Follow a few simple instructions, and we have "Latitudes" on the boat sides!

Then, taking care of water blisters on the keel. These darn things develop during the year as water gets between the paint coat and the keel. It's a pain, and I'm glad Luke does it. First you sand, then you fill, then you sand, and then you paint, all the while squatting down underneath the boat.

Then wet sanding, my most hated prep job. It's wet, messy, hard, and very time consuming. We were a mess. This is Luke about half way through. I looked like a Smurf.

We're almost done, one more coat of paint to go. Then we're home for a few weeks. We'll be home by Sunday, as my ex-mother-in-law passed away yesterday. She was 93 and had a a full life, but the finality of death is always sad. We remained friends, and I'll miss her, as will both of my daughters.

Early June we'll drive to Colorado and visit Luke's daughters and our beautiful grandbabies, who will be having their first birthdays!!! Hopefully, by late June we'll be on our way to Maine again, maybe even Nova Scotia. I'll take our passports this time, juuuuust in case....