Oct 27 2016 Beach Haven Nj

We did a lay over at Waterford and then the next day entered the Troy lock on the Hudson River.  The Hudson was once again beautiful with the foliage. We stopped at Esopus Creek another great anchorage we like and continued on in the AM.  For our next anchorage we decided on the south side of Croton Point by Sing Sing Prison.  It was shallow so we were a ways from shore for our nightly trip with Skipper was a bit rough.

 

We traveled on to Atlantic Highlands for another layover and resupply.

Once again a windy night and a wet trip to shore for Skipper and us.  Wednesday Oct 26 we left for a bumpy ride aound  Sandy Hook and then the wind calmed and the waves were down. We unfortunatly had problems with fuel filters and had to anchor off shore and change filters. After a couple of times I got the correct filter changed and we were able to run at normal RPM.  We entered Manasquam Inlet with little trouble at slack tide and  we continued to Toms River to change the other primary filter. The local constublary, were not fond of Skipper Bob and our choice and told us to move. We moved to another location where we spent the night.  Today we carried on to Beach Haven where we put on 197 gals of fuel ( OMG).  They were very happy to see us and offered a reduced rate to spend the night. Skipper and I walked the streets of Beach Haven for a while and returned.  We are plugged in to power with the heat on and the rain beating against the windows.  Now to draw straws to see who will take Skipper to shore again. 

Oct 19 2016 Leaving L. Champlain

   Francie, Skipper and I  spent Monday the 17 chasing around WRJ  VA with appointments for Ken and getting the go ahead to head out on our trip.  Tuesday was a fast trip stocking BSN and Wednesday Left for the Champlain Locks. We passed throughlocks 12 through 7 and tied up in Ft Edward NY freedock.

We had a great evening and did a few chores before leaving to pass through the rest of the Champlain Canal.  The views of foliage were great most of the way.

 Rain interupted our peace and contenment thursday afternoon.  We  arrived Waterford NY about 1630 and tied up at the free dock here.  The weather front is coming through with plenty of moisture , so we decided to layover another day.  Hopefully the front will have passed through by Saturday and we can continue.

May 2016 Waterford to Chipman Point

   We continued from Waterford  into the Champlain Canal and had a ver good trip all the way to Whitehall NY where once again we tied to the dock and Skipper had a good run.

 The following morning we entered Lock 12 the final lock on the canal and into L Champlain. The rest of the trip to Chipman Point was quite nice .  We had been watching the leaves come out from full bloom at NYC to almost none existant in Vermont.  We got to watch the lilac's bloom in several different locations.  We are now home and getting ready for a summer of doctors appointments ect.

April 2016 Cape May NJ-

   Awaking at Cape May the weather for travel outside to Atlantic City NY was not good, so we decided to try the inside route.  It was an expierence in itself but got us to Beach Haven  where we stopped at the marina for the night.  The wind was quite raw and it was great to have heat and be able to walk Skipper with out taking the dinghy ashore.  We stayed three days and finally decided to move on.  At Manasquam inlet,

the seas were looking pretty brutal, so we pulled off and waited a while to let the tide settle before going out.  It got a little better and we chanced going out.  After about a mile out the seas setled down and we continued to the anchorage behind the Statue of Liberty. We had a quiet evening there and an early start up the Hudson the next morning.  We continued north to Esopus Creek and anchored there.  The next morning we lowered the mast to be able to go through the Champlain Canal.  We passed through the Troy Lock with a lot of wind and going broadside in the lock before getting straightened out with the help of the lockmaster.  We stopped at Waterford for our evening and Skipper had fun walking throgh the town.

April 2016 Palm Coast FL

   We were heading to Palm Coast and recieved a call from good friends Cori & Dale who were in Palm Coast for repairs.  Would we like them to bring Release to Oriental NC while they were waiting for the repairs to be done on their  boat?  They are two very special people we have traveled with in the Bahamas and we were happy to lay over in Palm Coast with BSN while the four of us rented a car to return to Vero. On the way back with Release we showed them our knowledge of Release and what to expect when.  Back at Palm Coast we left with BSN while they waited for a weather window to go off shore to South Port NC.  We stayed inside with BSN and were able to travel in the more inclimate weather but not make the progress that they could outside.  They had problems with the auto pilot and had to lay over a day waiting for parts at Southport  and we got to within a few hours of them. We met at Oriental NC where Tim joined us to take Release to the Chesapeake Bay.  Cori and Dale took BSN to New Bern, their home port to leave her in their marina,   Francie,I, Tim & Skipper continued to  the Rappahonic River VA  and his new marina where Tim took posession of Release.  With tears in our eyes Francie ,I & Skipper unloaded our gear to a rental car and drove to New Bern NC to pick up Both Sides Now.  We learned from Cori & Dale that there was a problem with the holding tank.  Those two wonderfull people had cleaned up the mess before we got there.  We decided to get a  composting toilet to use till we got home and could replace the holding tank.  While I was not to sure of it, I have become an avid believer and it works great. We did insall this in Maryland as we had it shipped to Francie's sister Sue & Frank's house,  Joe and Jody Frost were kind and let us use their dock to install the head.

We continued from there to Cape May and some more rough weather.

March 28-Apr1 2016 Mangrove Cay - Florida

We waited at Mangrove Cay as better weather was predicted the next day.  Ba Humbug!!  Should have gone on to Ft Pierce, but stayed through a real nasty storm with winds od 56 knots.  Our anchors held, but Release suffered a blow out on the canvas at the Bimini.  Next day sun was out but winds from the wrong direction, so four of us boats made for West End and found a deserted Marina to repair the canvas and wait for a weather window. Release and Both Sides Now decided to leave on the morning tide, while the two others elected to wait for another day.  Nancy & Skipper were not very happy with the crossing, but I was happy to get to Ft Pierce even though it was some what rough getting in the inlet.  Francie & Dick had a better ride as they were able to put up a sail and the draft of Release helped as well. We proceeded to Vero Beach where both of our boats were tied to a mooring and we were able to rent a car for Dick and Nancy to check in.  We did a little provisioning and treated ourselves to a wonderful dinner out.  Dick and Nancy took the rental car to Maryland the following day, while Francie and I continued on with Both Sises Now leaving Release on the mooring.  We had decided that we  could not keep both boats and sent out an email to our friends that we would sell Release. We received an email back from our friend Tim in Va that he would like her and to send pictures .  We proceeded onward to Palm Coast.and thar's another story.

March/2016 Getting boats together to leave Bahamas

We took delivery of Both Sides Now shortly before the arrival of Francie's brother Richard and his wonderful wife Nancy in Marsh Harbor.  We had taken Release to Green Turtle Cay to wait our departure to the US, and were were were enjoying BSN.   Dick (Richard) and Nancy had agreed to help take our two boats to Florida.  We first had to see the Barefoot Man concert at Guana Cay and a little more sightseeing before leaving. The concert as usual was GREAT! The following day we were off to Green Turtle Cay to pick up Release for the trip to Florida.
   At GTC we were able with the help of some friends ( I recall a song about this) to install  an autopilot control and depth gauge in the lower helm of BSN.  This was great for the expected foul weather in the future.
  The following morning early we left as Release required high tide to get out of the harbor.  It was decided that Francie and Dick would take Release and Nancy and I BSN,  Francie was more comfortable sailing than motoring and BSN was new to both of us. We sailed to Great Sail Cay and tied up together for the evening and to take Skipper ashore.
  The following day we moved on to Mangrove Cay  where we met with some other boats who were going to Florida as well.  The consences was to spend the night and leave in AM.  That is another story for later.