Category Archives: Great Loop

Deltaville, VA

If you look at a map of Virginia, find where the Potomac River enters the Chesapeake Bay. Then move your finger south to just past where the Rappahannock River enters the Chesapeake Bay and you will see a spit of land that jets out known as Smith Point.  That is where Deltaville is, and NO we do not get Delta Skymiles points for staying here! (Darn).  We arrived here on Sunday after a beautiful day on the Chesapeake Bay, motoring up from Yorktown.  We are in a marina (Dozier’s Regatta Point) and it is one of the best we have stayed in yet.  Great Wi-Fi, showers, laundry and a Captains lounge open 24-hours a day.  Deltaville has a population of about 500 residents, but houses over 5000+ boats amongst all the marinas in the area. It is home to many “Waterman” – a term used in the Chesapeake to reflect anyone who makes their living off of the bay (e.g. crabbers and fisherman).

Dozier’s Regatta Point Marina

Dozier’s marina from porch

Madison & Jimmy –
Dozier’s Dock masters

Here is a rundown of our activities over the last few days:

Wednesday & Thursday (5/6 & 5/7):  We continued attending the lectures for the AGLCA Rendezvous and enjoyed meeting and getting to know more cruisers.  Already we are forming friendships and learning so much from those who have done this trip, or parts of it.  Wednesday evening we had cocktails with fellow loopers Chuck & Vicky Stapleton aboard their boat (“Patriot”). They have both served in the FBI (now retired) and Vicky grew up in Alabama – very familiar with Heflin and the surrounding areas. Like us, they are quite vocal about not being able to take their guns into Canada (no surprise there) or NY and other states.  They were very interesting and shared many stories of their work in service of our nation.

Chuck & Vicky
“Patriot”

Thursday night was the final dinner as a group and several awards and door prizes were given out. We came away with a free t-shirt from one of the sponsor’s; now 2 new ones for Denise and 1 for Mark.

Friday (5/8): We left Norfolk early in the morning hoping to avoid heavy winds and seas on the Chesapeake Bay.  Locals will tell you that the wind builds during the day, and it can get ugly very fast if the wind and current are in opposition. We sailed north to Yorktown, VA on a pretty nice day to be on the water.

Denise driving the
Island Office

The seas were pretty flat (yes, being in the southern part of the Chesapeake is like being on the ocean because it is 30 miles wide at this point) and the wind was not too bad.  The most intimidating factor was the US Navy Destroyer coming into Norfolk harbor as we were leaving.  It was escorted by a large Coast Guard ship that buzzed by our boat and sent it rocking with its large wake.  This is the second time we have seen the USCG have no respect for pleasure boaters – we think they think it is a game for them.

Yorktown Monument – York River

Yorktown City Marina

We made our way up the western shore of the Chesapeake until we came to the York River. It is quite wide, and about 10 miles up the river is Yorktown.

Yorktown Victory Monument

Mark on Tobacco Road
Yorktown Battlefield

This location was made famous by the victorious battle which resulted in the defeat of the Brits during the American Revolution.  Because we arrived early enough in the day, we had time to walk up to the visitor’s center, obtain a National Park Annual Pass, see a short movie about the battle, visit the monument and some of the battlegrounds before walking back through the old town to the marina.  It is quite a beautiful place and to be able to see this historical site was fun.  You can see the monument from afar and it is a great navigational aid when trying to get up the river.

Yorktown Victory Monument
Overlooking York River

Our boat sat on the inside of the East pier of the city marina near two large tourist sailing ships that take people out for daily cruises on the York River.  As the day wore on the wind, and therefore the chop in the river started to build. By the time we got back to the boat, we were rocking quite a bit.We went to dinner hoping things would settle down but they did not. Before sunset were able to work with Sue the dock master to move our boat to the western pier behind a sailboat.  We were so glad we did as it was much calmer there and were able to sleep well.

Dock Master Sue

Saturday (5/9): In the morning we woke up to the harbor so foggy we could not see across the dock.  This is the stuff they talk about when they say “Pea Soup thick” fog!  It took until almost lunch time before it had burned off enough for most boats to go out on the water. In the meantime, we had talked with nieces Christen and Shannon and agreed to a time to connect.  After working through a last-minute family issue, we were able to visit the farmers market Yorktown was holding in the square.

Farmers Market in Yorktown

Mexican Dinner with nieces and their families.

Then via the Shannon-shuttle we went to the grocery store and back to the boat before going over to Christen’s for the rest of the day.  There we played with the grand-nieces and nephews, got our laundry done (thanks Christen & Chris), ate at a Mexican restaurant and topped it all off with a Fro-Yo. It was a treat to tell bed-time stories to the boys, and spend time with all the kids teaching them how to fly a kite.

It was late before we got back to the boat and we are so grateful to Christen and Shannon (and their families) for an entertaining & hospitable day.  We loved seeing you all and hope it won’t be long before we get together again.

Sunday (5/10): Obviously we had been watching the weather and woke up to find that Ana had become a tropical storm with expectations of landing in Myrtle Beach, SC.  We knew things were going to get bad for us weather-wise and since Denise has a webinar to give on Wednesday, we knew a good internet connection was important. So we decided to go to Deltaville and made reservations accordingly.  The marina there was offering a special for all AGLCA loopers who attended the rendezvous and it would provide a safe harbor for the inevitable storm coming our way.

The problem was that when we woke up, again the fog was thick as can be.  Denise was sitting there enjoying her morning coffee and all of a sudden heard a strange noise. It sounded like a big boat, but when she checked, none could be seen.  After a second time hearing the noise she got up from the table in time to see a huge cruise ship pulling into the outside pier, directly across the dock.  It was like something out of a movie – the ship emerged from the fog at the very last minute.

Independence appears out of fog

The ship was the “Independence” and is part of the American Cruise Line fleet.  Their itinerary was a 6-night trip that included Yorktown and had come down from Baltimore during the night in all that fog!

We waited until just before 10:00 am when the fog seemed to be lifting a bit and decided to leave Yorktown. We have radar aboard so we were not too terribly worried, but it was nice that by the time Denise pulled the boat out of the slip, and we got under way that the visibility was at least a mile and we could safely navigate without much trouble.

It ended up being a really spectacular day on the water.  The sun came out and the seas were pretty calm.  We did have a period of time when we had to run where the waves were rolling us and crashing on the bow, but we had a pretty smooth ride with it.

Wolf Trap Light

The highlight of the trip was passing very close to Wolf Trap Lighthouse and getting some great pictures. Sister Susan, I thought of your love of lighthouses when we went by.  If anyone is interested in owning a lighthouse, this one is for sale!

It was a short 3 hour run to Deltaville and we entered the harbor just as the winds started to kick up a bit. As we pulled in we were greeted by fellow loopers Kenny & Kathy Walker (“No Zip Code”) who were two slips away from us in Norfolk.

Kathy & Kenny Walker

They helped us with dock lines and getting tied up, along with Madison (one of the dockhands).

Once we got settled into the dock, we cleaned the outside of the boat from stem to stern. It was so dirty from days of exposure to salt and air, and the whole thing needed a complete scrub down. By the way, this is a lot of work and had Denise (who fears heights) climbing up on the top of the boat to make sure the cabin top got cleaned. It is a bit of a workout to say the least.

During the afternoon a boat came into the dock next to ours and we met Pam & Mark (“Sea Bear”) who are from Sonoma, CA.  Yes, we had a lot to talk about, especially when Mark saw his “Newport to Ensenada” sailing t-shirt; a race he has done several times.  After spending years in Southern California they had moved up to Sonoma.  They have a Nordic Tug 32 and have cruised the Northwest Passage as well as the San Francisco Bay area.  They had their boat shipped to Mobile, AL and are now doing the Great American Loop.

Once the boat and we were all cleaned up, we joined other loopers from the marina for dinner at a local restaurant called CocoMo’s. We already knew one couple Jack & Jane Conway (“Spirit”) and were introduced to another couple, Jim & Paula Stephens (“Palmetto Paradise”) who were from North Myrtle Beach, SC.  Together with Kenny & Kathy, the restaurant (which is located 3 miles away) came to the marina to pick us all up. This was a great service, but it took two trips to get us all there, and another two trips to get us all back when we were done. It’s a colorful place with a plastic palm tree, and food that was average but reasonably priced.  As it was Mother’s Day, the place was busy, but not crowded and we had a plenty of time getting to know each other and share boating stories. We learned that Jim & Paula are huge USC fans and we had much discussion about Southern College Football.

Dinner at CocoMo’s

Monday (5/11): As was predicted, the bad weather came, but not before Denise was able to go out and get in a 3+ mile run.  A welcome adventure since it had been since Norfolk since she had been able to run at all.  By 8:00 am it was raining and the wind was blowing.  Denise & Mark both had lots of work to do, so it was a good excuse to hunker down and get it all done, including finally connecting with yet another prospective client for Denise. Work is definitely interfering with our social life!

By about 4:30 the rain started to clear up and everyone started to congregate on the docks. By 6:00 we had a full blown marina happy hour going in the Captains Lounge with all the loopers.  We had invited Pam and Mark to join us, and there was another looper there we had not met, John Pylant (“Endeavour“) who has already completed the loop once single-handed, and is taking his boat up to the Annapolis area and putting it up for sale.  You meet all types! It was well past 7:00 before we got back to the boat and had a quick dinner of left-overs and spinach salad (thanks to the Yorktown farmer’s market).

Tuesday (5/12): It was a bit cloudy and windy this morning, but it actually turned into a sunny day.  The marina is very quiet at 6:00am; Denise is one of the few up with the birds. By the time Mark woke she had made coffee, showered, emailed and was raring to go.  Once Mark was ready, we used the marina courtesy car to drive to the local Wal-Mart for a few items. In this part of Virginia it is mostly farm country and rural, except for a few marinas and a few small towns. The Wal-Mart is the biggest retail outfit going besides West Marine, but it is not next door. It took us 40 minutes to get there and another 40 minutes to get back to the boat. By then the morning was shot. So much for getting this blog post out by noon.

Rappahannock River

However, during our trip we were able to take the bridge across the Rappahannock River and see what it is like. This was great as it is very likely we will not get to cruise here this trip and miss such a great River.

Mark spent the afternoon working on interior boat chores, and making future arrangements at marinas, first in Baltimore at the Maryland Yacht Club. There is a (AGLCA) “Harbor Host” in Maryland that is a member and he is getting us a greatly reduced rate to keep the boat there for the week when we go home.  He will keep an eye on the boat and give us a ride to BWI airport as he works there.  Now that is a Harbor Host!  It is not far from the Baltimore Inner Harbor and gives us piece of mind knowing that the boat will not be right in the middle of downtown Baltimore; especially in light of the recent events there.  He also made arrangements at Tangier’s Island where we are going to go on Thursday if the weather continues to cooperate.

Tonight we had a very impromptu pizza party on the porch at Dozier’s.  Several of us began congregating around 5:00- we have found this is a usual custom with the loopers – and were discussing our original plans to watch a dvd on the Trent Severn waterway. That was quickly shelved and replaced with a Happy Hour of wine and Popcorn Kathy had already made. Shortly thereafter it evolved into a decision to order pizzas and eat them on the porch.  That is precisely where we found ourselves enjoying a great sunset over the marina, until the no-se-ums came out. We all quickly scattered back to our boats for safe coverage.

Tomorrow, after Denise’s webinar (1:00 – 2:00) we intend to leave here and anchor out north of the Rappahannock River (Painter Pointe). Then from there we will head towards Tangier’s Island for Thursday.

Looking forward, our plans are to be in and out of Annapolis before Memorial Weekend, then on to Baltimore area for 5/27 and fly home on 5/28.  Mark will return to the boat on 5/31 and Denise will follow after her client engagement in Atlanta.

Longer range plans are to be in New York in mid-June, but our dates are really in a state of flux. Denise has some work commitments for the entire week of 6/8 and for 6/17 & 6/18 which is messing up our plans. Our hope is that something in our works schedule changes and we can be enjoying time with nephew Jacob on the Hudson River.

We hope you all are doing well and that all the Mother’s had a great Mother’s day.  We will post again in a few more days.

Sites from our trip over the last few days:

Sunset over Norfolk Harbor

RC Cruise ship in port for the day

“Just Married” – at Duke of York Inn Yorktown, VA

Yorktown Beach

Chesapeake Bay from Dozier’s Marina

Typical VA farm
Seen on Denise’s run

Warning: this is a very long post!

Norfolk, VA

Safely we sit at the Waterside Marina in Norfolk, VA and we are enjoying the absolutely beautiful weather here (at least for now).  It is 80 degrees, no clouds in the sky, and a breeze constantly blowing; what a refreshing change from NC.

Saturday (5/2/15):  We stayed in Coinjock, NC for another day as the wind continued to blow like crazy and it was cold (45 degrees). We both had lots of work to do, so it proved to be a good opportunity to sit tight and take advantage of a great internet connection.  And what a very fun day it became, especially when the weather started to clear and it warmed up into the 70’s.

In the morning, several boats left the marina to make the trip north and since most of the other boats had cleared out the previous day it was pretty vacant.  Left tied up to the 1200’ dock was our boat at the very northern end, and a Canadian-registered sailboat named (Papa Jovial) was near the very southern end. There was no one else in between.

Coinjock Marina – empty

Landmark Sign – Coinjock Marina

Coinjock Marina & Restaurant

Around mid-morning we took a break to walk the dock and get some exercise, as well as take a few pictures of the Veterans Park south and across the canal from our marina.  We stopped at Papa Jovial to talk to the woman in the cockpit and Mark was saying that their boat looked familiar. Mind you by this time have repeatedly passed several boats and we recognize them, but can’t remember where we know them from (which passage).  Some are “loopers”, some are not.  As we were talking to the woman, the man pokes his head out of the cabin and Mark recognizes him as the “Frenchman” from our marina in Merritt Island (Harbor town).  What a small world and what a wonderful surprise.  We listened to his stories about traveling all around the world in this particular boat, clocking over 70,000 miles over 6 years, including traveling from Australia to Cape Town, South Africa. He lost all his electronics in a lightening hit off the coast of Martinique and navigated through the Bahamas without a depth-sounder (can you imagine?), GPS, or any of them working. He was quite a character as you can probably imagine.

Big boats come in – Coinjock

Around lunch time, boats started to come in one by one and before 5 pm the dock was full.  None of these boats were small, in fact we were probably the smallest boat. Also, as we were at the top of the dock and were blocked by the next (big) boat and could not see all of them that had come in.  It was only when we took a break and started talking to the people in the next boat that we saw all the boats that had come into the dock. These boats included several sport fishing boats (Viking, Hatteras, Carver), a large catamaran motor vessel, two Flemings (a boat we considered several years back) and another 75 foot Hatteras (not a sport fishing configuration) – as well as others.  But the most amazing boat was a 125 foot custom yacht named “Aspen Alternative”. It had a full crew of at least 4 and more than one guest aboard. It looked like an otherwise typical day in Ft. Lauderdale, but we were in Coinjock, NC.

So there we were minding our own business and enjoying a cocktail and the nice weather (finally) in the stern of our boat when 3 guys who were walking the dock came by. They had obviously been drinking a bit and were in ‘good spirits’. They asked about our boat and we started chatting it up and eventually invited them to come aboard.  Come to find out one of them (Brian) owns a marina in New York along the Hudson River and invited us to come stay in it when we are there.  Brian has the 75’ Hatteras motor yacht and it is parked at the extreme southern end of the dock behind Papa Jovial.  We have a fun time talking to them for about an hour and then they left to go to dinner.

As Mark and I had eaten at the restaurant the night before (great seafood and homemade potato chips!) we decided to cook on the boat.  While we are eating dinner we watch a helicopter come in and land in this tiny little spot behind the restaurant; 3 people got out and head to dinner.  This is obviously the place to be on a Saturday spring night in this part of NC. It is prom season and the restaurant was hosting many couples as well as all the cruisers that had just come in. In addition they had a guitarist playing on the patio which would have attracted more crowds had it been warmer. While the winds and rain had dissipated, it was still only in the 50’s.

Helio to dinner – Coinjock Marina

Aspen Alternative in Coinjock

After we had eaten, we decide to go check out all the big boats (including Brian’s) and see what else was going on in the marina.  We walk past “Aspen Alternative” and two of the fishing boats (one from Key West) and down to Brian’s boat (“Corporate Approved”).  They are still there and invite us aboard for the tour.  What a boat!  His “main salon” is bigger than our living room at home and he has 3 levels; 4 bathrooms (including one with a Jacuzzi tub).  He was the most gracious host and was really down a down-to-earth, likable guy. His two buddies were also just as fun and warming. Who would have known that one was a NYC attorney and one was a former entertainment host (think MTV/VH1).  Come to find out Brian’s Marina is one of the vendor-sponsors of the AGLCA event we are attending in Norfolk, so we knew we would see him there.

Corporate Approved leaves Coinjock

Sunday (5/3/15):

On Sunday morning we watched almost all the boats pull out, one-by-one. Finally at 7:00 am we untied the dock lines and made our way north. It was a beautiful day to be on the water with temperatures cool at first and then warming so as not too hot to require the air conditioner yet.

On our journey north, we have two bridges and a lock to pass that will require opening for us to get through. All of these have restrictions as to their opening times. The second bridge opening is coordinated with the lock opening and occurs only on the hour; it is a short ¼ mile between the two.  The first (swing) bridge opens on the half-hour and the hour. We knew if we timed it right we could get through all three in a row and watched are speed and time carefully.  That is until some (self-centered) motor boater barged in front of us at the bridge, took his time getting through, and delayed our passage. This caused us to miss the 2nd bridge opening….by < 5 minutes.  Despite our pleadings, the bridge tender would not hold the opening for us.  So we tied up to the docks they provide for such occurrences and waited the 55 minutes for the next opening.  Did I mention that this same motor-boater followed us the entire way from Coinjock and was right on our stern (dangerous) and in our wake (for his smoother ride)?  We gave him plenty of opportunity to pass before the bridge, which he did not take.

“Princess” buds ahead
Centerville Turnpike Bridge

Taking time – see boats in queue for 2nd bridge in distance

But this very small setback proved to be an adventure (aren’t they always?).  When we tied up to the dock waiting on the opening of the second bridge, we met fellow “loopers” (Sno Daz) who were from Englewood, FL. They were very friendly and offered suggestions on the route north as they had traversed the bridge/locks heading southbound in the fall.

Met Sno Daz
Waiting at Great Bridge

We also met a guy by the name of Jim who lives on his boat in the marina where the tie-up docks are. He has a lobster-type boat and he has been boating all his life. He was from upstate Maine and was familiar with the Back Cove boats (made in Rockland, ME), complementing us on our choice of a “good boat”.  He was so interesting to talk to and we loved that he helped us off the dock when it came time to go through the bridge/locks.

Jim at Great Bridge, VA

As the wind had mostly died down the lock was a relatively non-event. They take you up only 2 -3 feet, so the water pouring in is pretty mild (kind of like the locks at Port Canaveral) and it was easy to hold the boat steady. The lock master and tenders were so friendly and helpful.  You can tell we are still in the South.

Here are some pictures of the approach and us in the locks:

Looking West – In queue for lock

Boy Fishing – North Shore

Crabbing – North Shore

First boats entering lock

Lock tender

Great Bridge Lock

On our way into Norfolk we stopped to get fuel at a marina called Top Rack and paid the cheapest rate yet at $2.38 per gallon. What a nice surprise. Cheap fuel means more nights in a marinaJ.

Coming into Norfolk is quite an experience on the water.

Ships at NNSY

In addition to being a huge military (mostly Navy) shipyard, it is also a large commercial seaport. Military & police vessels, container ships, freighters, car carriers and tugs pulling/pushing barges is a constant.  Throw in the tourist clipper ships, water taxis and day-sailors and you have what looks like 1-4 traffic at rush hour on the water….all the time. Navigating the channel and motoring through all the traffic was a bit nerve wracking for Denise, but she handled it well. Coming into the very crowded marina right off all of this and docking the boat (stern in) was a job professional, and Mark handled it perfectly.  Thank goodness for bow and stern thrusters for making those 360 degree turns.

Aircraft Carriers
Norfolk Naval Shipyard

Every picture or movie you have seen about military ships, especially air craft carriers just does not tell the story about how large they really are.  We are not a small boat, but next to these things we are like flies on an elephant.  There were destroyers, air craft carriers, and even a sub in the shipyards being worked on, and they are massive. It easy to be intimidated by them and this is why our military just needs to patrol the waters off the coast of Africa to keep our ships registry vessels safe from pirates.

The marina we are staying at in Norfolk is very different than any we have stayed at on this trip so far. First of all, it is located right on the major waterways, and is in the heart of downtown Norfolk. It is noisy and the boat moves with each passing ship or barge.  It has a river-walk area and park nearby, and it is adjacent to what used to be a major shopping & dining complex (sort of like Jacksonville Landing).  However, all the shops and restaurants are closed as the whole place is undergoing renovation.  The marina bathrooms are located in a small part of this complex as is the laundry facility.  None of these is in great shape and really is way overdue for a renovation.  There is no cable TV, and the internet is not great, making streaming even the news or weather a bit of a challenge; certainly no video. On the other hand, the dockhands are terrific and very professional. They know what they are doing and will bend over backwards to help you.  There is one guy with red-orange hair that reminds us of the comedian Carrot Top.

‘Carrot Top’ Chad
Dockhand at Waterside

Full marina

After getting the boat docked and situated we got showers and met a few of the other “loopers” who were walking around the docks.  We found a local microbrewery a few blocks from the marina where we went for dinner before turning in for the night. Come to find out we had just missed a wine festival they were having in the park next door, and it was Virginia-only wines they were serving. Too bad we missed it as it would have been fun to attend.

Monday (5/4/15):

Denise started the day with a 3.5 mile run around the river walk area, which was really needed as she hadn’t run in over a week. The path to the west took her past a memorial, a museum, the tourist boats area, and into a residential condominium section that has a community park. This was not your typical community park; it was all Japanese themed and had the most beautiful flowering trees and shrubs. There was a pagoda in the middle that is a café of sorts (it wasn’t open) and a beautiful fountain and pond.  You find the nicest surprises on a run!

Japanese Garden – Norfolk
Discovered on Run

Mermaids are everywhere
Norfolk, VA

As the AGLCA Rendezvous did not start until the afternoon, we had the morning to get some work done.  While Denise had a client conference call, Mark met with a canvas person to get an estimate for a dinghy cover.  We then did a little work on the boat and then after lunch headed to the opening sessions at the event. The first was an overall high-level presentation about the most popular loop route that included some very spectacular pictures and reaffirmed our decision to do this.

There are over 200 participants and about 50% are people who have already completed one or more “loops”, or are in the process of “looping” today (that includes us).  The other 50% are people who are interested or are planning to do it.  While most of the people we meet are retired and “older”, we had the chance to meet several couples who are our age (or younger) and are close to retiring or trying to figure out a way to do the loop while still working. We have met one other couple (so far) who are actually working while looping like us, and we met a couple from Anchorage Alaska that flew down from this event as they are considering looping in 2 years.  During the “In Process Loopers” introduction there was a guy who got up and talked about his first loop. He did it in a speedboat and it took him 7 weeks. He rushed everything just to get it done, and is now doing it again, albeit slower. He was hilarious and was the hit of the afternoon events.

The people we meet are from all walks of life and some have never even driven a boat. The hardest part will be trying to remember everyone’s names, even though we have their boat cards.

The next few days are packed with all-day session and events, including a Boat Crawl each afternoon which we have signed up for. It allows people to come on your boat and show off your set up, as each looper is different and people do it in all kinds of boats. Very fun and very educational at the same time.

Tuesday, 5/5/15:

The day started with our first boat issue – we ran out of water…or so we thought.  As the showers facilities at this marina are few and are pretty gross, we opted to use our boat shower. It is really fine for me, but kind of small for Mark.  However, we had not put any water on the boat since Morehead City and we were not really paying attention to it. Well, when Mark was showering we could hear the water pump laboring and so he ended his shower quickly. When he got out he began putting water on the boat, but it took only a few minutes before the fill up was overflowing.  Since he was using hot water from the hot water tank, we now think that maybe it was not that the tanks were empty, but that the outflow of water from the tanks could not keep up with the feed to the shower.  Or it is possible that pump just lost the prime and couldn’t feed water through the system. After the fill, Denise took her shower and there were no problems.

Then we had internet connectivity issues.  The Wi-Fi antennae for this marina is inside the marina office and not very high. They keep moving it to give the strongest signal (probably to the boater who complains the most) which knocks people off the connection all the time.  All the boaters are complaining about it.  So we could not get on the internet to do email (or send out this blog post as originally planned).  Finally we gave up as we had to go to the Rendezvous.

Our events start at 8:30 with the morning briefing and then move right into the first session. After two sessions in the morning, we break for lunch in the ballroom, then back into two sessions in the afternoon.  Then today began the boat crawl, then there is the pre-dinner cash bar cocktail hour, and then the dinner. During the dinner they have different presenters and they give away door prizes from the Rendezvous sponsors.  It makes for a very long day and we didn’t get back to our boat on Monday until 9:00.  So, today we attended the morning sessions (The Chesapeake & the Delaware Bay to the Eerie Canal), had lunch and then attended the afternoon session (NY Canals). At the afternoon break Denise made the decision to go back to the boat while Mark attended one of the vendor presentations (The Waterway Guide) and then joined her.

We worked on the internet connection and got it going again, then attended the Boat Crawl to see how a few other boats.  In addition to seeing a nicely outfitted Grand Banks (“Patriot”) we also saw a sailboat (“Heron”) that had rebuilt the entire inside and put a secret fort under the main salon settee for when the grandkids were aboard.

Elizabeth on Heron
(Grandkids fort)

Elizabeth made all the pink flamingo curtains for her boat and although it is old, it is really cute.  We also toured a big boxy 36’ motor-cruiser (“Zendo”) owned by a couple from Ponte Vedra Beach – who are relocating back to Miami. We have a good friendship brewing with this couple and hope to see them along the way in this adventure.  It is fun to see how other people are living aboard their boats and what they have on it. We definitely have a minimalist approach compared to most, but it is not our permanent home.  We still like our boat best! Tomorrow it will be in the crab crawl and they get to see how we live.

Brian Donovan
Corporate Approved

AJ
Corporate Approved

After the crawl it was time for the cocktail hour and dinner.  We had been invited back to our friend Brian’s boat (“Corporate Approved” – 75 foot Hatteras from Coinjock) as they were having a Cinco de Mayo celebration for the loopers, so we went there instead.  They were handing out t-shirts for the marina in NY and we got to meet Brian’s daughter (Laura) who just ended her first year at University of South Carolina and was joining him for the boat ride home. We (again) had a lot of fun but had to leave for dinner and bid them good-bye. They are leaving tomorrow to start the journey home and we promised to come to their marina when in Albany.

By the way: the Rendezvous is great! The presentations are fantastic with lots of great pictures and highlights. We are shown how to enter certain harbors, points of interests, places to avoid and why, and things to do.  It is so well done and we are really impressed with the quality of the presentations and the information that is shared. It just gets us all excited about the upcoming adventures.

We will be very busy with the Rendezvous and leaving on Friday, so we probably will not make a posting again until Saturday or Sunday. Our next stop is probably going to be Yorktown so we can try to connect with nieces Christen and Shannon and their families.  No matter what, we will be somewhere on the Chesapeake in Virginia.

Other Pictures of interest from the last few days:

Kayakers in the VA ICW

Manhole Cover at Coinjock Marina

Lunch Buffet AGLCA Rendezvous

Morehead City, NC

It has been a busy 5 days and we have not moved the boat since arriving on Saturday, and therefore no posts.

Saturday (4/25): We made a safe passage from Top Sail Sound to Morehead City, including through Camp Lejeune where we were thankful they were not doing firing exercises on the beach as they close the ICW in that area when they do. This could have delayed us by as much as 5 hours in a very narrow part of the ICW. Fortunately, our only delays were caused by our own poor timing on two swing bridges; one just north of Top Sail Sound that only opens on the hour, and we were 20 minutes late for the opening and had to wait 40 minutes for the next opening. The second bridge was at Camp Lejeune (Onslow Beach Bridge) and we were only 10 minutes early for that one.  For most of the day it was cloudy and overcast, and we had a bit of rain along the way.

Artillery Exercise Equipment
Camp Lejeune

Target Practice
Camp Lejeune

  We came into Morehead City mid-afternoon and had to put fuel on the boat and get a  holding tank pump out. The wind had really kicked up and the current was running wild which made controlling the boat quite a challenge. Fortunately, Mark was driving and approached the fuel dock cautiously.  However, we had to abandon our attempt or we would have crashed the boat into concrete pilings and the dock. Our second attempt was much more successful and we were able to get all tied up with the help of 3 wonderful dockhands.  After the fill-up and pump-out, we had to move the boat to the slip we were assigned. Again the wind proved to be a challenge, but Mark did an awesome job of getting us off the fuel dock, moving the boat around the marina, and then backed into our slip. Did I mention through all of this, it was also drizzling?  Of course within 30 minutes after docking, the wind and rained stopped and it was calm as can be in the marina!

Dock master Bill – Morehead City Marina

The marina here is really in a great location and there are lots of restaurant choices in walking distance.  One of the best features is they have a loaner car they rent for $10 for 2-hour increments.  So after we got showers, we rented the car and used it to drive to AVIS and take advantage of a free weekend coupon we had with them. After returning the marina loaner car, we used our rental car to make Sat. evening mass at the church nearby (St. Egbert). Not as pretty as the one in Charleston but very welcoming to visitors. Afterwards we drove over the bridge and into Beaufort (2 miles away) where we had dinner at a terrific new restaurant (City Kitchen) that overlooks the boats in a marina. In this area they are building a new bypass highway that will take cars directly to Cape Lookout, bypassing downtown Beaufort. It is literally going to go right by the restaurant and is all the topic of conversation by the locals.

Sunday (4/26): Since we went to mass on Saturday evening, we had our morning free and decided to go out to a local place for breakfast (“Georgia B’s”).  We arrived at 7 am just as they opened and we were the only people in the place. The food was good; not great, but it was pretty cheap. The serving pieces used by the restaurant are hand-made pottery with a folksy and colorful flair to it. They also sell some of it in the restaurant. Come to find out the owner (Georgia) has a sister who makes the pottery and lives in Cocoa Beach. Small world!

After breakfast we made a quick trip to the local Wal-Mart to get a few things. On the way back to the boat we decided to go into downtown Beaufort, since we had the rental car. Mark had been to Beaufort a few years ago on a boat delivery and wanted to show Denise the town.  On Saturday we had met another cruising couple (Mary & Brad Barger) who were in the marina slip next to us in Southport, SC; although we did not have a chance to meet them there. They came into Morehead Marina right behind us and we had passed them earlier on the ICW. So we invited them to join us and we had a wonderful time getting to know each other all afternoon, despite the cool and intermittent rain. They were leaving the next day and heading north and we hope to see them later this summer on the Loop! This is really what the adventure is all about.

Blustery cool day – Beaufort

Mary and Brad Barger

Downtown Beaufort, NC

Sunday afternoon Mark drove Denise to the Jacksonville, NC airport as she had to be in Atlanta Monday morning. This was another reason for using the free rental car, and enabled Mark to make a grocery store run and do other errands. The airport services Camp LeJune and two other military bases in the area, so it has a lot of activity. As a result, they are building a new terminal, but the old one (circa 1960’s) consists of two gates and one TSA security screening.  What an experience!

Monday (4/27) through Wednesday (4/29): Denise worked in Atlanta at a client site, and Mark worked from the boat, and did laundry and boat chores.  Mark rented a car from Enterprise so he could drive to Jacksonville, NC and pick up Denise.  On the way home we stopped in Swansboro and bought some fresh shrimp from a local seafood shop; typical of ones we see all along the way.

Clyde Phillips Seafood Market

Back of Clyde Phillips Seafood Market

After a Chick-fil-A dinner and quick trip to buy Denise a sweater and long-sleeve shirt at TJ Maxx, we made it back to the boat as the rain started to come in again.  It is much cooler than we expected and wished we would have brought a few warmer clothes. Spring here is way different then the two days of it in FL.

Tomorrow (Thursday) we plan to leave Morehead City and head to Bell Haven, NC.  We have 4 days to get to Norfolk, VA, which should only take 3 days. However, the weather is not in our favor with high winds expected Friday night and all day Saturday.  Since we have 2 major open water areas to cross (Pamlico Sound and Albemarle Sound) in the next few days, we want to move north in case we get hung up an extra day somewhere.

Because we have been so busy with work, we do not have time to post a lot of pictures. Here are our highlights.  We hope to remember to take more pictures and post them as we go.

Hope all is well. Please keep the emails coming to let us know what is going on with you – we miss you all!

Southport, NC. to Top Sail Sound Anchorage – 4/24/2015

This morning we woke up to very chilly weather in Southport (49 degrees) and that kept us on the boat for a while; dashed were the original plans of going for an early run.

Southport Marina

After the sun came up and we got going.

Southport Waterfront

Morning run  Southport waterfront

 Denise ran and Mark rode the bike all around Southport including their harbor boardwalk that overlooks the ICW. Although it doesn’t have as quaint a downtown as Georgetown (see prior post) there are lots of shops along the main thoroughfare through town.

What was really neat was to see the lovely old homes that have been around since the late 1800’s that people have restored and are actually living in.  These houses are not really big, but they are really beautiful and many are on streets lined with big shady oak trees.

Southport Typical Street

Southport house on Waterfront

The waterfront has a great park and several piers that you can walk out on, which on a clear sunny day like today was spectacular.

Another cool thing about our visit here was that there was a “plein air” event going on, so many artists were about on the waterfront painting today. For those that don’t know, “plein air” is a French expression meaning “in the open air,” and refers to the act of painting outdoors with the artist’s subject in full view.

Southport Waterfront

Plein Air Artists

We left the marina at Southport with the intention of going to Wrightsville Beach for a night at anchor.  However, we were enjoying our spectacular day on the boat and arrived in such a short time, that we pressed on. Instead we found a very cool anchorage in an area known as Top Sail Sound, about 20 miles north of Wrightsville Beach.

Topsail Anchorage looking West

House to the East of Anchorage

We are surrounded by Marsh to our West and a barrier island that is one block from the beach to our East. The island has amazing homes on it with boats in their backyard docks (facing us).  We hear nothing except the birds and slap of the current on the bottom of the boat hull.  It is so peaceful here that Mark actually got in a late afternoon nap.  That was until the helicopters came by – Camp Jejune is just northwest of here.

Military Buzz us – Topsail Anchorage

We have seen the most amazing things along the ICW today: one house that had a life size giraffe statue in the backyard; one with a 5’ swan statue by their flagpole; and one with an Indian Warrior sculpture about 10 feet tall.  We have seen white sandy beaches and barrier islands that come right up to the ICW, and very shallow waters. Perfect fishing areas.

Indian Warrior sculpture – NC ICW

Fisherman on the ICW

We have also seen the most amazing homes along the western short of the ICW. Here are some of the “average” ones:

Mansion on NC ICW

Mansion on NC ICW

In the anchorage were unable to get a good Wi-Fi signal from a neighboring source (we got one off the Marriott Courtyard in Charleston for 3 days) and since we are not in a marina we turned on the AT&T HotSpot to get email, etc. It works pretty well and allows us to really do work from the boat.  Today we truly are an “Island Office”.

Tonight we made fajitas for dinner and watched a gorgeous sunset over an increasing cloudy sky. It is clear the weather is turning, and tomorrow it is supposed to be overcast with storms in the afternoon. Our plan is to be safely tied up to a dock at Morehead City Marina in Morehead City.  We will post again from there in a few days.

Sunset Top Sail Anchorage

Brunswick, GA to Charleston, SC.

We are now in Charleston after uneventful passages from Brunswick, GA and Beaufort, SC (pronounced BUE-FORD).  We left Brunswick, GA on Saturday morning after a 3-day stay there; Denise had to fly to Atlanta and visit a client on Thursday and Friday.  We found Brunswick Landing Marina to be a great location to put the boat for a few days. It is a well-equipped marina with free water, pump-out, great diesel prices, and have several restaurants within walking distance.  Its airport is small (4 gates) with only 3 Delta flights arriving/leaving per day, but made traveling to Atlanta very easy.

Brunswick Manatee

South Carolina Welcome Committee

Our Saturday night was spent on the “hook” just outside of Beaufort. It was quite peaceful and we were surrounded by awesome homes with private docs less than 100 feet away.  We had a great time watching a handful of dolphins dancing around our boat with the incoming tide, until it got dark and bugs started to eat us alive; then it was time to go in.  As we had made a long passage that day, we both went to be early and got a great night’s sleep.

Our original intent was to get up early and go to 8:00 am mass in Beaufort, and then head north to Charleston. However, when we woke up early Sunday morning, the forecast looked like we were going to get really wet all day, with severe thunderstorms threatening later in the day.  Also, because going to church would require a dinghy ride and we didn’t feel like getting wet on the way, we decided to just leave early for Charleston. So at 7:00 am we picked up anchor and got underway, but had little to worry about as we barely got any sprinkles all day.

By noon we were tied up at the dock at Bristol Marina; home to Coastal Carolina Yacht Sales who actually sold us our boat.  Since we are a past customer, they allowed us to stay in one of their slips and they were very gracious hosts.  We are grateful for their hospitality, and I am especially thankful that they had a package waiting for me: my running shoes!  I had accidently left them behind and my terrific friend and neighbor Kim was kind enough to ship them to me.

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

Sunday evening we were able to take a taxi to church and attend mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. It is a beautiful church and just as we got inside the skies opened up and there was a torrential storm. Fortunately, by the time mass was over we were able to walk to the restaurant for dinner. We ate at BASIL which is a fusion-Thai restaurant that we had tried to get into several time before. It was delicious and worth waiting for.

On Monday we both had a little work to do in the morning, and then mid-morning were joined by my brother John and his wife Cathy.  Together we explored some of downtown Charleston, shopped in the Market, ate some good seafood at Noisy Oyster (lunch) and Hanks Seafood (dinner) and hung out on the boat.

Mark, Denise, Cathy & John

They also took us to Wal-Mart and Publix so we could get a few things we needed.  In the evening we had a chance to just sit around and chat and I got lucky enough to actually beat John at a game of Cribbage! They stayed overnight on the boat and this morning we went on another adventure; to check out a sailboat that my sister and her son are interested in.  After lunch and talk of future travel plans we had to bid them goodbye.  We really hope they will join us along the Tenn-Tom waterway in the fall.

Bristol Marina at sunset

This morning we will leave for the 56 nm run up to Georgetown, SC and from there begin making our way towards North Carolina.  Denise will have to leave and go back to Atlanta next week, so we hope to get up to Wilmington, or near there so Mark can have some fun areas to explore while she is away.  In the meantime, we are trying to juggle our work schedules with enjoying our cruising destinations, while still trying NOT to be on a schedule!

We are Mark and Denise Gillespie aboard the motor vessel “Island Office” and this is our first blog.

We are within the 60-day window of untying from the dock and heading on our adventure known as America’s Great Loop.  Over the next year or so we will be motor boating through the North American rivers and bays, as well as the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW). Since we are still relatively young to be doing this, we will be working along the way, thus the name of our boat.

We still have much to do to get the boat and our land home ready.  The list is long, but it will not stop us from going. And is if we didn’t have enough to do in preparation, we are getting really busy with new and existing clients.  Usually that is not a bad thing, and being owners of our own company it is usually welcomed, however right now all we want to think about is getting on the boat and going!

Our cruising vessel of choice (Island Office) is a Back Cove 37 that is manufactured in Rockland, Maine.  You can learn more about these fine boats at Back Cove Yachts.

We will be posting more on our adventures in the coming weeks and months.  Stay tuned!