??Cruising??

It's a good thing that I'm such a patient person (AARRGGHH%$%@#*?!#$%@!$)Oooh....that's better.
Well Irene was windy and wet but hardly bothered us.North Carolina took the worst of her but she did drop a lot of water on nearly everywhere except the Big Apple.Domino skidaddled ,with a flottila of boats,100 miles or so up the Hudson and had a far worse time of it(check thier blog) because of the flooding.We left a day or so later and dodged logs and all sorts of stuff on the way to Sandy Hook,the gateway to NY harbour.We were too busy winding our way through it all to think of photos but just imagine lines of garbage and whole trees and ex trees,as in telegraph poles , in long drift lines stretching for 10 to 2 or 300 yards at a time.Dodgy.

Anyway we had a calm anchorage at Atlantic Highlands and a beautiful sunset lighting up the Manhattan skyline and it was good night and goodbye to NY.
Next morning we started the overnight trip to Cape May and arrived to a beautiful morning and dropped the anchor off the Coast Guard station right next to.....DOMINO.So we popped over for drinkies on thier expansive 'back porch' as the sun went down behind Jabiru and the Coast Guard and Jean-Pierre and I took turns in being photographed with a 'chick' under each arm !

Thats where the fun stopped.A day later the sails arrived.The genoa was fine but the main just didn't fit.Richard took it back and was going to meet us in the Sassafrass River in a few days when he was going to doing a sailing regatta and all was looking good.Meanwhile.... Hurricane Lee (or was it Leigh) had swept over Alabama and on up the Appalachians causing massive floods all the way up the east coast.The entire Chesapeake Bay was full,the worst since 1972,of mud , trees and everything that gets swept along by floods.Roads were blocked,bridges down etc so the regatta was cancelled and Richard couldn't make it.There was nothing up the Sassafrass,except charming scenery,so we picked our way through log barrages down to Annapolis so we could get the sail sent to somewhere there.

We remembered that Steve from Music was staying at a marina just south of there so after checking that it would be OK we moved (cautiously)down to Rhode River to await the sail.Couple of days and it arrived still didn't fit so back it goes to Richard.Meanwhile(ya still with me?)Richard calls and says he cant be bothered with all this ,he'll give us our money back.We just want to get going so that's OK.One week later we're still here,cheque(that's English)is in the mail.Looks like our visit to DC is out .That's 3 days up the Potomac and 2to 3 back and the Potomac is still 100 miles from here.
Charlie Watts,when asked how it was playing with the Rolling Stones for 30 years said "5 years playing and 25 years hanging about."Hey Charlie ...try cruising!
Is this cruising?

Or is it this

Actually...I can't think of anything else I wanna do.
Yes dear...I'll stop complaining.

Big Ugly Woman Going to Visit

Well everybody from the Caribbean through the Bahamas to the US east coast knows who she is but to those of you on the other side of the world who mightn't have noticed,nasty ol' IRENE has got everyone on edge.She's giving the Bahamas a beating today (thursday)and is heading for Cape Hatteras next.She then wants to visit the New York and Long Island area over the weekend but we'll all be happy if she changes her mind and hangs a sharp right turn and heads off into the Atlantic.I know John has already boarded up his Hatteras house and Perry is flying back from Chicago and we hope all our friends back at Oriental get away without too much (or any!) damage.Got a call from my friend Porgy in Bimini and he said they're getting lots of rain and wind but should miss the worst.

Anyway the last week has been very pleasant.We left Liberty Landing at 6.30 am and caught the incoming tide up the East River in drizzle and a headwind but still did a 'thrilling'10knts through Hell Gate and into Long Island Sound.We picked up a complimentry mooring at Port Washington where we spent a couple of days just enjoying the town.We took off for Port Jefferson with Philip and Heather in Picaroon but were soon left behind as they cheated and used their genoa and went in a straight line.We jybed away with our remaining sails in a vicious 4 to 6knt SW until we got to Oyster Bay and gave up.

Oyster Bay is a lovely big wide bay withfar more space than appears here.It was the home base of Teddy Roosevelt and as I was reading about the building of the Panama Canal while there, it was interesting have it referred to here and there through the text. The whole bay is surrounded by enormous mansions and one that we were anchored opposite is owned by Billy Joel.The guy in the little boat in the foreground is raking up clams with an enormous rake on a pole.Don't ever complain about the price of clams!

Richard rang to say our sails are ready but of course we wont be heading to Cape May to get them 'til Auntie Irene has left town.So yesterday we thought to come back here as it's a bit smaller and closer to NY and a better town really.So it was bye bye to Billy's little place and back to Port Washington

......but....wouldn't you know it...Todd and Melody have been up here having a break and he rang and said to follow them back down to New Jersey tommorrow and tuck in at our little sanctuary at the end of the old Collins canal which is the work dock at Liberty Landing.What do we do to deserve friends like this? Oh yeh ....Gail's really nice!

Hopefully Irene won't be able to get at us here (this is sunset from the work dock,Manhattan is behind us) and we can get back to you to report that Jabiru (and us) are well and ready to start heading south.

A Tale of Two Cats

I shall attempt to fathom the mysteries of computers yet again.Fearlessly I shall breast the keyboard and even upload a couple of photos.
In this cruising game you meet some wonderful people and to try and tell of them all would be a books worth.They come from all walks of life and just about every nationality.I was discussing (not whinging.......Me!!)with a fellow cruiser one day the unsuitability of being a brass and woodwind tech. as far as earning some money while cruising.He said he had the same problem."What do you do?" 'I'm a neuro surgeon".See what I mean?
I digress as usual.Just felt like introducing a couple of 'Cat' people.

Ed and Sue Kelly we met first at Mayaguana,down the bottom of the Bahamas.They live on a 12 metre ( USA 12 meter but pretty much the same size)Catalac catamaran.Angel Louise,named after Ed's mother,is a big heavy lump of a craft that Ed jokingly refers to as a squashed trawler.Let me tell you that Angel Louise has taken them to more places than most of us have been.When we first met this mild mannered couple (though I don't think I'd like to be 'interviewed' by Ed in his old job as a prosecuting attorney)they gave us their card that says 'We choose not to arrive at the end of our lives in perfectly preserved bodies,but rather to skid into the grave broadside,thoroughly used up,totally worn out-and loudly proclaiming:"WOW!!! what a ride!" and we thought Hmm.Now that we've known them for 3 years or so and bump into them every year or so ...we know they mean it.They've just crossed the Atlantic and are having a ball in England and are now talking about hitting the French canals.I think if they got in their heads to go to the moon they would have old Angel Louise strapped on the back of a shuttle one way or another.Unfortunately I can't direct you to a blog as they write personal journals that go to "honorary" crew members of which we are fortunate to be.

This is the only photo I have of these two together.Marie and Jean-Pierre Dufour are the ones each side of the bikini chic.She's Debbie who lives in Marina Darsina in Cuba where she is welcoming committee,interpreter and tour guide and several other things.Anyway we met Marie and JP in Cuba then Mexico,back in Miami and then up in Cape May.They were just round the corner from us in NY and I know they're doing grand kid things just a couple of bays up from us in Long Island sound right now.We 've had lots of good times with them but the amazing thing with them is their boat.It's a gigantic motor catamaran that they built in the middle of South America in Paraguay.Took them 4 years and and all sorts of hurdles.Not too bad for a doctor and nutritionist!Fortunately Marie writes a great Blog and I recommend a look at it for the whole adventure.As well as their boat building story you'll see in their more recent blogs some great descriptions of a lot of the places we've been and a good variety of photos to go with them.Check it out dominocatamaran.blogspot.com or domino20.blogspot.com.
Well those E addresses didn't come out in blue for linking so I give up for today

Back To Joisey

I think I was saying something about plans.Well whatever they were... this is what really happened,or is still happening.It came to my notice that the bracket that our forestay is shackled to had a couple of cracks.I think they might have been there a while but I only noticed them while inspecting the post 'blowout' damage.That was looking like removing the entire pulpit and finding a welder in Cape May.Then I thought "our old buddy Todd from Liberty Landing is a welder. Lets go to Jersey City"
Wind was right behind us but ,of course,we have no genoa to pole out(but a lovely new pole!)so motored the 100 miles o/night and approached the Big Apple at dawn.
The bright lights in the middle are the sun hitting Manhattan before it came over the horizon and the chart plotter shows the Queen Mary 2 beating us in to New York.We had just received an email from our friends Ed and Sue on Angel Louise saying that she (the Queen )had passed them coming out of the English Channel as they approached Falmouth at the end of thier epic Atlantic crossing.Well I guess it wasn't epic but they did have a dreadful trip from the Azores to Falmouth.We are the black arrow head, by the way,and the Queen and most of the other boats were out of sight.Looks cool though eh?By the way 'Eh' is very Canadian as well as Kiwi eh.
Well we had a quick nap at Sandy Hook and headed up under the Verrazano Bridge and past our beautiful big green girl and back to our 'Joisey'residence up the back of the marina in the work section and amongst our companions the Ellis Island and Liberty cruise boats and the tugs etc.We love it.We also have our families of geese and ducks and not forgetting our Liberty Landing buddies ,particularly Todd our 'saviour' from last year. This time we got to meet his bride Melody and have a great night out at the marina restaurant.
Well New York is still the best city in the world.It's like visiting a whole bunch of countries/cities at once.COSMOPOLITAN this is the real deal.The people ,like all Americans that we've met are the friendliest,most polite and helpful folks you could hope for.(anyone from the government reading this ......put a word in for residency would ya!!) The architecture is varied and beautiful,there are lovely parks everywhere,from tiny to enormous and the many extroverts (who are not in your face....,just doing thier thing)just top it all off.
While we're here getting welding and new lifelines done , and now new batteries,we've managed to go to a couple of FREE concerts.Dr John in beautiful Prospect Park in Brooklyn and Mavis Staples at the Lincoln Centre and in between all sorts of great musicians and bands just round the streets and entertaining all in Central Park.Dave Mathews Band and Bela Fleck and Flecktones are together at Governors Island right here at the end of the month.Hope we can make that one.
Got a chance to see little nephew Scott ,who was visiting with Lee and 'little' Brittany and had a nice arvo in Central Park.Is there something wrong with this photo?Is Gail shrinking or what?

Brittany learning the bubble trade

Don't Make Plans

Everything was great,and still is really.We got away from Oriental and had marvelous sailing all the way to the southern end of the Pungo -Alligator canal where we anchored for the night and then had a slow sail up the canal to the south end of the Alligator River,only 20 or so miles .There we celebrated Independance Day on our own with not another thing in sight except "swarms "of wasps who somehow spotted us way offshore and figured we'd be a nice place to spend the night.Like most wasps though they didn't hang around once they knew they wern't welcome.FLIES...LEARN SOMETHING HERE!Another triffic sail up the Alligator and over the Albermarle then finally had to motor up the Pasquatank where we decided to go through the bridge and an hour or so closer to the first lock at The Great Dismal Swamp.

Had a great bug free night at marker 13 behind Goat Is and raised the anchor at sun up
This year,instead of travelling over a "mirror" we were cutting through a carpet of green.Unfortunately just as we raised the anchor a huge alumin(i)um boat overtook us and parted the way for us but it was closing in behind us again so thatwas pretty neat.
The trip up the canal (the weed had cleared) was its usual beautiful thing except ,for the first time for us,it was the attack of the killer flies.Well they bit and we killed.Withapologies to any Budhists this was about half an hours worth of the carnage.
A couple of days in Norfolk was fairly uneventful except one afternoon a distant rumble heralded the arrival of about 50 " cigarette boats"It was quite impressive really as most of them were crewed by guys that looked like bouncers or something and decorated with bikini 'girls' draped over them.The boats that is ,not the bouncers.Anyway had to get my crew into a bikini but she didn't want to 'drape'over any part of the boat.
So on a sunny Monday morning we left Norfolk,passed a sub on its way in (lost concentration and 'kissed ' a huge green channel marker!) and headed out between Cape Charles and Cape Henry picking up the forecast 15 to 20 from the SW and on the way to Cape May to wait a couple of days of northerlys out and continue to Newport or Marthas Vineyard.But....at about 1am we got hit by 40-45knts which shredded our(ageing)genoa and gave us quite an exciting 20 minutes or so.At the same time the 'tail' of the wind generator came loose and added to the excitement.Well,Jabiru wasn't that worried and if we'd had a camera going we might have even caght a wry smile on her.So on went the motor for the rest of the trip to Cape May (about 50 miles)where we licked our wounds,slept and ordered new sails.That's about it .We're still here,which is cool cos it's a nice place and the sails are all measured and ordered.Should be about a month. So we'll go for a sail around Long Island Sound for three weeks or so and come back through and pick them up on the way south again.Seems like a PLAN. Doh...there goes that word again.
Here's atypical pretty Cape May house.

The Bi-Monthly Blog

That's what it 's looking like nowadays,but when you're as busy as us .....it's hard to keep up!Now some people might think you can't possibly be "busy" doing what we're doing ,but we can't figure out how we ever had the time to WORK. Anyway here's what we've been up to since the last posting.
We did a few bus trips round the Yucatan area ,including yet another dip or two into the Cenotes,which are under ground caverns with pools that ,of course, are fountains of youth.We,re looking that young now that we're having to carry ID around.I told you it aint easy doing this stuff.Chichen Itza and all the amazing architectural odditys about it ,sent us all Mayan mad so we bought Mayan calenders and a mask etc and wondered how the Spanish ever managed to rape such an advanced civilization..... Oh yeah.....Guns.
So,we left the delightful dinghy dock at Isla Mujeres and took off in company with Music a 38 ft Hans Christian (hull no. 1) sailed by Steve and Eva heading for Miami.
We lost sight of eachother,of course, by the end of the day,but we had a beautiful sail all the way ,even though we had to tack against the easterly trades all the way up the Florida straights.Nevertheless we did 650 miles in exactly 5 days,to the minute,and dropped the hook at South Beach in beautiful Miami.The AIS images on the chartplotter as we approached Miami looks pretty crowded but it wasn't that bad.We're the little black arrow head and the red ones are all the other boats (with AIS of course)
We did 'stuff' in Miami,like getting our new liferaft fitted and also a new whisker pole that is attached to track on the front of the mast.Necessary because some people tend to throw them overboard if given half a chance!!!
21st May we left Miami and had another perfect sail,4 1/2 days to Beaufort and up the Adams Creek to good ol' Oriental.We've become a bit addicted to this offshore voyaging.Leaving port is a buzz and arriving at a destination is always a thrill,but that bit in between......just Jabiru and us and a whole lot of water and stars and the moon for company at night,well it's just ......kewl...as Bob Bitchin says.
So here we are back in Oriental,been a month now.All the same but some changes.Ray and Briget and Max and Noah have got off the boat and gone north to Ohio,Roy has had a triple by-pass and a whole bunch of things that if you don't know who the haell I'm talking about.....won't mean a thing.Big John (Boone) dropped down for a visit and brought his sewing machine ,so we worked at sails and ,would you believe,re-modelled the salon.I did all the carpentry and was very pleased with the result,but that left all the cushions to be re-shaped and re-upholstered.Had to lock Gail down in the 'sweatshop', otherwise known as the salon ,for a few days and ,well she did a brilliant job.So I sggested she could do it for money and she started throwing things at me and I guess I''l just have to be thankful she saved us a fortune! Check it out.
As a reward for her efforts (I mean it's like I did NUTHIN')we had a week up in the Smoky Mountains.We've been trying to make the trip up there to see our cruising friends Roger and Evans (from way back in the Bahamas)for about 3 years so we finally got up there ,via another delightful stop over at John and Joans place.'course as we arrived Roger decided to have a heart attack so we only saw them for a few minutes as we were leaving.Roger was fine but had to spend a few days in hospital so we house sat for them and looked after their dogs and looked around the mountains.Very beautiful and the dogs were a delight to spend time with.Hope Roger won't go to so much trouble to avoid us next time we get to visit!
Meanwhile,back in Oriental Jabiru is tugging at the docklines to get away.She's had her usual 'makeovers' and fussed overs and now it's time to get back out there and have people calling out "pretty boat" and "great looking boat" and "what is she " and all that.She can't get enough of it.She's so vain.
So we're going north,probably inside to Norfolk and then straight up to Marthas Vineyard and then on to Maine and hopefuly Nova Scotia so we get more time to head south again by winter.Hope I get to do this again before another 2 months passes.

Hola from Mexico

Well it's been a while but we've been away from easy email access an' all those sort of reasons.Nevertheless,here we are at Isla Mujeres up the top of the Yucatan Peninsula.Lovely little island and a great anchorage.It's just over the way from Ca
ncun which is tourista central and interesting to look at for a couple of hours.


We're going to do a couple of road trips to look at Mayan ruins ,or at least some of the less 'ruined 'ones and then head back to the USA as we're legal to do so after May 4th.We decided to pospone exploring south ,as in Belize and Guatemala etc. as it's gonna be stinking hot and hiding from hurricanes in the steaming jungle doesn't sound as much fun as doing some more New England and all that stuff.
Will get back with updates but a word or two about our time in Cuba.

This guy is everywhere.He was one of the heroes but gets more poster space ,I guess for the same reason he's an international poster boy,and that's 'cos he looks so cool.Nevertheless he was a leader and is revered by the people.Being there sort of makes you sympathiser of the revolution but after a while you just can't help feeling sad for the people,who are prisoners in their country that their fathers fought to free from opression.It's not done to talk politics there and I wont start now.It is what it is and from a tourist standpoint it is intriguing .It's like nearly everything stopped 50 years ago,except the tourist resorts.Havana is amazing and the vintage cars that are there as a tourist thing are also the real thing everywhere.Oxen drawn carts and farmers ploughing fields with an ox powered plough is really there.I could go on ,but heres a few photos.