Washington DC

We did wrench ourselves away from Oriental on the 10th June. Later than we wanted but what can you do. We're just ol' pensioners and don't move so fast any more. Having said that I gotta say we went as fast as we could once we dropped the lines. 5 to 6 mph is pretty fast and we knocked off 47 miles in the 8 hours of light we had left after a late start due to a thunder storm moving through in the early morning. By the second night we had made it across the Albermarle Sound and into the Pasquatank River where we dropped anchor at Goat Island.The water's the colour of strong black tea and it was totally calm and we had it all to ourselves....and then the full moon came up just to put a cherry on top of it all.
 In the morning we left marker 13 (our lucky number ) and chugged the last 12 miles or so to the Great Dismal Swamp Canal.

It was ,in fact , a dismal rainy day but it didn't take away from the beauty of this place.

So....we got to Norfolk Virginia and anchored for the night and first thing in the morning chugged on past the aircraft carriers and destroyers and every type of battle ship and into the Chesapeake Bay. No wind,hot and muggy , thunder storms likely, all the usual summer on the east coast type of weather. Nevertheless... we motored in to Deltaville unscathed and dropped the hook ready to stay a couple of days while a northerly cold front went through. Before that though, a quick couple of storms to use up the heat.Deltaville is a nice little place and our stop there was made all the more pleasant as we hung out and barbequed etc. with a couple of friends from our first year cruising in the Bahamas. Mark and Julie..and here they are on their lovely Tayana....Rachel.

 

So 5 days after we left Oriental we slipped out of Deltaville and motored,with occasional help from the sails,the last 25 miles to the mouth of the mighty Potomac.

Just a hundred miles to get to the Capital.

This was on the ol' bucket list for years,so it was reeeal exciting. Weather was still flat calm so there was no need to look for a calm anchorage and in the evening we just pulled over to the side of the river and anchored off some of the beautiful mansions that line the banks here and there.

Sun up and hook up and once again we'd been anchored near marker 13.

Then........excitement....danger.....ooh ah....we were chugging up the middle of the Navy firing range!

A nice young sailor in a 'range boat' advised or ordered us ...nicely...to hug the Maryland shore for a few miles while the range was "Hot". That's navy talk for "we're firing."

If ya look carefully,there's a black dot in the middle of the picture and that's ordinance of some sort exploding. It's very loud and percussive and did start the morning off better than several cups of coffee.

Further on up river we passed Potomac Creek where Pocahontas was allegedly captured. Don't remember that part of the story but Captain Smith probably had his reasons.

Further on again we passed Quantico....subject of the many spy/cop/mystery novels we've read over the last few years. I'm just trying to hold your attention here...I mean if the pics all look the same it's because the river is still 2 miles wide even on the second day!

Another pull over anchorage for the night,interupted by a heavy storm at the usual time of 1 to 2am and off for the last 20 miles to DC.

The river,pretty much from Quantico on ,has a lot of floating logs and branches and big dead fish. I figured the dead fish were none too bright saltwater fish that swam into fresh water without realizing until it was too late.....sounds fair to me.

When I'm talking logs,I'm talking tree trunks and long planks and....and.....you know.

Anyway ,past Mt Vernon,and there's George Washington's old place. Just a medium sized place compared to some of the "palaces" along the way but must check it out while here.

Yep...another 12 miles and we dropped the hook in the Washington Channel. Like everywhere in this marvelous country we're right in the middle of things..Short stroll to all the monuments and museums and art galleries ,park on one side marinas on the other and that's the Washington Monument obelisk in the background.

Of course it's all pretty pricey.To use all the marina facilities,like showers,laundry and dinghy docking....all with security.... is costing us $10 a day

Then you've got to put up with dragon boats practicing every evening.

Sailing dinghy races,helicopters buzzing overheadat at least 10 or 12 times a day,cruise boats sliding past....but we don't want your sympathy...we'll manage.

The Worlds Quickest Blog

We left the Bahamas on 21st May. 3 days and nights to Charleston, S Carolina where we cleared in and got another years cruising permit and ate ,drank and got merry with Bill and Gail (the other ones from West Florida) as they passed through in their RV.A day and a night and a day out in the "wild" Atlantic and we were back "home" in Oriental where we will try not to get velcroed and tear ourselves away from our good friends and continue north for the summer.Stay tuned.

Spiraserpula Plaia

Just before we left the Bahamas,from the Abacos which is the NE area,we saw these two. Bill and Gayle Plaia, friends from Oriental from years back ,but we hadn't seen them on our travels before. Gayle is a marine biologist ( so was Bill in his youth ) and she did something special which is what this blog is all about. SPIRASERPULA ....strange name for a boat maybe but here's the thing.....
It's actually the name of a worm...a marine one which makes it far more attractive than yer earth variety for a start.That's not a spiraserpula on the right but it is a worm ( I think....I didn't take notes ) The little flowery things are its lungs/food grabbers. (I think ) At the top of the circular cross-section on the side of the boat is a little upside down mushroomy thing. That is what Gayle found . A different species. Other spiraserpulas (or maybe it's spiraserpulai ) don't have that.  The strain was officially named Spiraserpula Plaia....after Gayle .so that's pretty cool. Probably a good thing her surname isn't Smith.....not so Latin sounding.
Now when I go snorkeling or scuba diving I look at the coral and the fish swimmin' around it and hope to see something big ......with an ooooh factor but going diving on B and G's hookah was a whole new experience.....not just cos it was my first time on a hookah.....but with them we went looking for all these marvelous little things that live under and around the coral.Of course there were lots of medium size,colourful fishies about but check some of these out.All photos by Gayle by the way.

On the right a stinging type anemone with red banded shrimp centre stage.

They're about 1 1/2 inches long (4 cm for young Aussies )

There's a cleaning shrimp on a purple tipped anemone

Hey!......you looking at me?

This is a juvenile Lion Fish. About 4 inches long.We didn't kill this little fella but the general vibe around the Caribbean is kill as many as possible as they're predators and they ain't from round here. They don't grow that big but those are poisonous spines on its back. One of the attractions to killing 'em is they are supposed to taste good.

Here's Mo (fanatic Lion hunter/artist and muso) from Elouthera with an adult.

He's also got a web site with Lion Fish recipes.

Meanwhile ......back on the dive.

When an eel jumps right out

And bites you on the snout

It's a Moray

(Jimmy Durante circa 1950 )

Would you believe....this is a crab.

That's his head right in the middle and all the seaweedy looking stuff around him is in fact ..seaweedy stuff that he's stuck all over himself to make himself look like ........a piece of seaweed.

He's about 4 inches across.

There are some things you see when ya don't have a spear gun handy.

Nevertheless Gayle was the STAR of this  dive of course.

Yuk yuk yuk.

Abacos

As the sun came up behind the Liberty Clipper at the Government Dock on 24 April we dropped our lines and motored out of Hatchet Bay on a dead calm morning.....and kept motoring for 5 hours,through the Current Cut (at about 91/2 knts ) and anchored at Royal Island at the north end of Eleuthera. Before the sun woke up the next day we were off SAILING ! (for a couple of hours then motor sailing ) up to Little Harbour Abacos.
Dead calm again the next morning we chugged up to Marsh Harbour on a lovely sunny day.The water was so clear that the sun shining through our wake was making flame like patterns on the bottom......15 to 20 feet below us........

That's a sting ray on the right

We did a bit provisioning at Marsh Harbour and sailed the 8 miles or so to Great Guana Cay for the Sunday pig roast at which we decided to go vegetarian and eat Conch salad.....allowing for the fact that conch isn't really meat......it feels and tastes like rubber....and I used to think they got rubber out of trees.

Would you believe it.........we walked back over to the west side to Grabbas and there was a funky duo playing and people dancing in the pool. Bill told the guitar player ,Stone McEwan, that there was a sax about and just for a change.....

So...............Stone's lining up some gigs to do in Marsh Harbour before we start our trek back to the US of A

Ho hum ...life goes on

 

 

 

Living Next Door To Alice

We're in the Abacos now and that's another story,so please join us as we look back on why we stayed at Alice Town / Hatchet Bay for over 2 months. Apart from the fact that the mooring balls are free and the water is too....if you carry it from the public taps in the streets.

The safest harbor...but I've told you that before.

The pub/bar. Da Spot. Dominos gettin' slapped down inside.

Sharnie, the barmaid below

 

 
 
 

Da fashion store

Best hamburgers we've had in 20 years right there where the kids are...next door to the bottle shop.

Julianas eatery. Tasty food....2 chairs inside if you want to eat in....on ya lap.

She's putting 2 kids through collage from her kitchen.

Internet -copying-etc.

Tom,the boss, and Goldie at the supermarket.

The rest of the bad girls that work there.Judith (left ) calls me Dundee.

Can't think why.

This beautiful lady,Alona, lives just down from the supermarket. Always the biggest smile and chat.

Would she smile when I took a photo.....no way!

Just down from Alona's house where we get our water we're usually joined by Gabriella....just to advise us and help if necessary.

Then it's back down to the dinghy dock. I'm getting too old to carry 10 gallons of water too far.

Then having done the round trip from the Government dock through town and down to the dock that's closer to the water and store ,there's usually a couple or so of da lads fishing.

Back over at the Gov. dock Thursdays are always good when the Current Pride brings in fresh produce from Nassau and Tom's shelves are full again...'til about Tuesday.

The big fella Island Link comes in Friday evening taking people and cars and trucks etc. to Nassau for the weekend and other folks to Eleuthera for the weekend......then Sunday evening she's back doing the vice-versa.

Rest of the week the dock,as well as the closest place to dinghy too,is mainly used by the crabbers. They spend at least a day a week sawing cartons of pig bones into small pieces to bait the crab pots. Stone crabs that is.

On the way up from the dock and back to Da Spot is the basketball court and park.....all kept neatly mowed by these hairy lawnmowers.....before they become lawnmower stew.

And when was the last time you saw a bunch of boys playing marbles.?

No...Alice Town isn't the Bahamas of the brochures  (lets face it ...seen one resort ya've pretty much seen 'em all ) but it's a real nice place to hang out and it's a PARTY TOWN!

Today was Spider Girls birthday party.

But I guess the biggest attraction was the playing ,mostly with this bunch, individually or as a group.

On the left Maurice (Mojo)Artist and singer /guitarist, Julie..opera singer and fast becoming "band chick " par excellence (so for 'fat ladies with horns" )  .Her husband is a famous painter www.curtishooper.com and on my right ..Nick Holmes check his pedigree  www.NickHolmesMusic.com

Can't go without mentioning Andy. We did some pretty groovy jazz duo's but never seemed to get a photo.

No bloody wonder! Geez Andy give us a smile.

 

Like these!!

Nearly forgot the last night (for us )at the Rainbow.There was a bunch of guys from Louisiana doing a sort of reality TV show. A couple of 'em were  good 'ol southern rockers and after we'd jammed with them the Hatchet Bay Junkanoo band( Eleuthera champions actually )  came marching through. Afraid it's one of those 'had to be there ' things and you're well aware of my expertise at uploading videos but there ya go.

In the car park ready to roll.

Just step aside with your sissy white boy music

This gent is the proprietor of Da Spot (the pub remember)

 

If BaTelCo would stop making pensioners stand in the corner and serving the young people first.

It would be paradise.

That's definitely Eleuthera see yez in the Abacos