2008 Cruising

10/1 to 10/15/2008

This is our log for 2008; our other voyages are now in Prior Voyages.

We plan to post and update at least weekly. We move the older portions of the log to secondary pages accessible at the bottom of the page. Join our voyage!

Updated on 10/22/2008

10/1/08 - Seven AM, kind of a gray dawn. It must have rained based on the puddles on the overhead ports. No early birds among our neighbors, they are all there. No cell or wireless coverage here either. We'd forgotten about that. Ariel's crew must think we sailed off the edge of the earth. They should have left Cape May before dawn to make the run up the Delaware today. We're off to Havre de Grace, a small port we've bypassed on our other trips. We arrived at Havre de Grace about 11am after winding up the channel into the Susquehanna River. There wasn't really a good place to anchor so we took the bulkhead at Tidewater Marina ($65.00). The town turned out to be as interesting as the channel to it. A delicious lunch at the Waterfront Grille was Crab Cake Sliders for me (crab, bacon and cheese on a croissant) and a Pot-roast beef sandwich for Ruth. Entertainment for the meal was a flock of Canadian geese that would flip onto their backs in the water and wave their feet in the air - wild to watch. Walking, a hair cut, and shopping rounded out the day. We returned to AA in light rain trying to remember the last time we'd spent the night at a dock... decided it was in Falmouth when Amy, Tom and Lofton visited - mid July. Ariel called to note they'd passed through the C&D and were anchored near the Bohemian River in their own special little nook. We'll hook up tomorrow. 10/2/08 - Beautiful 54° fall morning, we can see a little yellow in the trees along shore. Ariel joined us at noon, taking a slip in the next marina. They noted that the 20 - 25 knot winds on the nose made it an interesting trip... spray sailing over the boat. While they explored the town as we'd done that morning and the day before we got boat stuff done. Being on shore power gave me a chance to cycle the air conditioner, check the heater in the new hot water heater and test the shore power switch. Wow, they all worked! About 5:30pm a group of diehard sailors launched a half dozen J24's for an evening race. We got talking with the crew of Magpie, promising to root for them. Soooo, we took our folding chairs out on the bulkhead and noisily cheered them on. Didn't do well their first race but with our inspiring cheers driving them they won the second race. That evening we saw the Blues Brothers (photo) and found and excellent pizzeria, La Cucina Italian Restaurant. Ate too much and waddled back to our boats. We'd definitely go back! 10/3/08 - Another sunny fall morning, light winds and a high cloud bank to the west. Given a forecast of 10 knot winds from the south we departed Havre de Grace at 9, headed for Swan Creek. As soon as we cleared the Aberdeen testing range we were hit by 15 - 25 knot winds that whipped up a short 3' chop. With the hull pounding against the wave and spry flying over the bimini we decided to make it a short day and seek shelter in the Sassafras River. We'd anchored here a couple of times before but never as deep as we followed Ariel, finding shelter by Turner Creek.  It turned out to be a great anchorage just behind Pond's Bar. The only drawback was a poor to no internet signal (typical of much of the eastern shore). We went to Ariel for dinner, bringing a pork tenderloin to grille along with the one Miles had. Dinner prep got a little exciting when one of the tenderloins tried to jump ship while Miles was turning it on the grille... landed next to Ruth on the swim platform. It was quickly recaptured and tossed on the heat. Laureen had the rest of the meal prepared - great evening. Tomorrow they head to Baltimore for the weekend while we continue down the east coast working our way to Annapolis. 10/4/08 - A cool sunny morning greeted heralded this Saturday. We lazed around until 9am, Ariel had left at 8 enroute to see Laureen's sister at Baltimore. We did a little reading - Ruth had purchased two Life Magazines from an antique store in Havre de Grace... they were from our respective month and year of birth. Very interesting. First, we were both war babies, WWII and the Korean. Additionally the February 43 issue had a feature on the Aberdeen Proving Ground which we'd skirted entering and exiting Havre de Grace. Very interesting to read the stories and ads, all aimed at supporting the war efforts. Aberdeen became staffed by civilians, mainly women due to the men being drafted. The story mentioned the three fat ladies of Aberdeen, 225#, 225# and 231#... their ages were a war secret - go figure. We decided to revisit Magothy River and anchor behind Gibbons Island. There was a fleet of sail and power boats anchored there. The long sand bar was exposed in low tide creating a perfect beach for waders and swimmers. 10/5/08 - Woke to a sunny morning, the temperature was perfect for breakfast in the cockpit. We had about 15 sailboats anchored around us; mainly local boats enjoying a weekend outing. It had been a still night and several two boat rafts were evident. Ruth and I took advantage of a nearby sandbar in low tide to mount a planing plate (fins) on our dinghy outboard. What a difference... the bow no longer lifts when we accelerate and the boat is on plane in 1/4 the former distance. Another job off the to-do list (been hauling the parts around for 3 months). We phoned Bradd & Maeve learning that they had been trying to reach us (the charger for my phone died a couple of days ago and we need to get to Annapolis and a Sprint store to replace it). They are driving to Havre de Grace to look at a boat and wanted to invite us to come along. As we worked our way to the far west end of Spa Creek we passed Don't Look Back while John and Bobby Jo hailed us. We found a spot to anchor next to Blue Planet and were surprised to find Sampatecho on a mooring directly behind them. Small world! Bill Rhode, Jubilee, e-mailed that they were in Still Pond, across the bay from the Magothy River. We'll surely see them at the show. We joined a group of cruisers for a meet & greet at the park across from our anchorage - had a great time. It is interesting how many of the cruisers have sold homes and are full time cruisers. A lot of discussion on voting, taxes, establishing residency... issues we are dealing with. Around dusk Maeve, Echo and Bradd returned from looking at the boat in Havre de Grace and stopped by to say hi. Very nice to see them again. 10/6/08 - Cloudy morning, sure not what the forecast calls for. We had no wind so we dropped the headsail and made another repair... definitely needs to visit a sailmaker - too heavy and bulky for my machine. We spent the day on boat tasks and some reading. A quiet day before show. Ariel arrived from Baltimore and accepted the Moore's invitation to dock next to Silver Girl. 10/7/08 - Another down day waiting and watch the stock market fall apart. Good thing we live on a one story boat. Miles stopped by to deliver the Sunbrella I'd ordered for his dinghy chaps along with some service parts for our sewing machine. 10/8/08 - Set-up day for the US Sail show. Yesterday all the boats moved in and the docks were set up. Today we set up our booth, mirroring the activities of a hundred other teams. The weather is looking good for the week, may a little rain tomorrow. Ruth did a spaghetti dinner inviting Jeff, Bradd & Maeve over after the set-up. We had good food and a great time. 10/9/08 - VIP day at the show, activity in the booths was good... I don't know how the boats were doing. Ruth worked on our boat, contacting her paper accounts. The rain didn't materialize and the day was cool - perfect for the show. At the close of the day we joined the Beneteau reception dockside for drinks and jaw boning. 10/10/08 - Ruth and I headed into the show, the booth was busy enough that we needed Ruth to help sell and act as cashier running credit cards. Our LED lights are the big movers, followed by the "Marriage Saver" headsets. Ruth found the mattress top she'd been looking for to put on our main berth. We have to send a pattern to the factory and they will ship it to us. Thank goodness the stock market is closed the next two days. Our 401K has been dropping so fast it should have a parachute. Kiss that baby goodbye! 10/11/08 - The show really takes a lot out of you. First there is a lot to learn as you answer questions posed by hundreds of booth visitors. It's great that we have good product - makes the job easier. Bill Rhode, a Chi Lambda frat brother I hadn't seen since graduation in the mid 1960's  stopped by a couple of times allowing for a little catching up. Hope to buddy boat with them for a couple of days after the show and have them over for dinner. We took a couple of hour break mid-day to quickly see the other booths visiting MAC sails to get a quote on reworking our genoa while we are in Boca. Should give the sail another 5 years of service. I've been shopping for solar components trying to get independent of diesel for electricity. We are power pigs with our nav equipment, computer, phones, freezer, refrigerator, heater, sat comm... really rooting around in the electrons. Back at the boat I went up the mast and removed the bulb from the anchor light so we can replace it with an LED bulb. Should be the last bulb the light will ever need (50,000 hour life) and it uses 1/10th the current of the halogen bulb. Fell behind on posting to the log. We get back at dusk, eat and go to bed getting up at daybreak, eating and taking the dinghy to the show to work. 10/12/08 - It's Ruth's birthday... oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! She took our credit card and bought herself a couple of gifts yesterday. That way I got her exactly what she wanted (I'm a sweetie). We worked the show again - had a pretty good day. We were swamped about 1/3rd the day, slower than yesterday in head count but sales seemed strong. I'd brought in our anchor light only to learn that the fixture was too small for our boat size... and not legal by Coast Guard standards, shame on Jeanneau! We ended up buying a series 40 fixture that I'll need to mount in place of the current light. Another boat project, go for a bulb and you end up replacing the boat. We tested some bulbs in the boat for Jeff last night. Interesting results. He has a new product for the tubular fixtures we have around the sides of our cabin. Important to us as these are the lights we use most often for reading and working. I've learned more about LEDs than I wanted to know. If you ever consider putting LEDs in your vessel do not use bulbs that use a resister to control current - they WILL fail. Use only a bulb with a microchip constant current circuit (bulbs with wide range of voltage tolerance, like 8 to 30). 10/13/08 - Another nice morning, cool as has been typical of the past week. Last day of the sail show. We reported to duty at 10am working until tear down was completed about 6:00pm. It was a relatively quiet day though we did sell out on headsets and sold a nice quantity of LED lights. We put a Cruising Solutions LED replacement for the lamp in our Davis hanging anchor light. What a difference, the little $10 LED cluster lights up the aft and cockpit like a farm night light. At 7pm we went to Chuck's for a small dinner party celebrating the last day of the show. Good grazing, great range of people and smooth wine... a nice way to finish the show.  Needless to say when we got back after 10pm we crashed with a satisfied feeling. 10/14/08 - A cool sunny fall morning greeted us when we climbed to the cockpit for coffee and cereal. Busy morning getting ready to complete some AA, Ariel, Don't Look Back and Cruising Solutions projects.  Ruth did the wash while I started working on Don't Look Back's bimini solution.  Miles called to say that he and Laureen  were going on a cruise on their "most probable" purchase of a Leopard Catamaran 46. (It's beautiful.) Also, on the last day of the boat show we  purchased a Blue Sky solar panel regulator that will boost our energy 30% and be able to handle the additional 2 panels that we want to install.  Barry started designing the mount as we'll benefit even before the additional panels are installed. When all is said and done, we WILL be self-sufficient energy-wise.  No more running the engine for 2 plus hours a day when the wind is non-existent or low. Yeah! Miles & Laureen have been trying to take Ruth out to celebrate her birthday. The show took so much out of her that's she's crashed 3 nights in a row and begged out. What a leaker (he said smiling). We stayed home and made a great shrimp stir-fry with crisp snow peas... delicious. 10/15/08 - Warm dawn with a wispy veil of clouds high overhead. Yesterday a customer had called that he'd been overcharged at the booth... paid for more bulbs than he'd bought. We couldn't figure out what happened. In her sleep last night Ruth came up with the solution. Ruth ran the credit card, never seeing the merchandize. She'd been told 50 for bulbs and 250, 300, right? Nope, $50 for 2 bulbs and $2.50 for an adapter. Credit enroute! We went by car to Havre de Grace today and surveyed a Beneteau 440 that Bradd & Maeve are considering for their new home. Ruth and Maeve were a great help recording the data as Bradd and I tore through the boat. It's a fast Bruce Farr design with plenty of storage and living space. At 44' 10" she'll outrun AA. Structurally the boat was in good shape, the interior and systems need quite a bit of work. Bradd has the skill set and contacts to make her a beauty. Got home late and pooped, we ate carry out chicken and flopped into bed.

Click on the photos for an 8" x 10" view. Use Back to return to the site. Rare shot of AA in a slip Launching the J's Magpie leads at the weather mark Blues Brothers dance on in Havre de Grace Mystic Whaler, New London, CT, at Sassafras River Sandbar off Gibbons Island Portable beach? Magothy River Cruisers' get-together Youngest of French cruising acrobats On arrival fall was just show color 15 watt halogen uses current equal to... 12 of these 13 watt equivalent LED bulbs, the light is slightly bluer The quiet before the crowd The flowers contain solar panels... Bradd views the 440 440 galley Ruth taking notes in 440 salon

Visit earlier portions of our 2008 voyage...

Boca Raton to Miami, FL - Jan 1 to 15, 2008	Miami to Key West, FL - Jan 16 to 31, 2008
Key West to Marathon, FL - Feb 1 to 15, 2008	Marathon, FL to Nassau, Bahamas - Feb 16 - 29, 2008
Norman Cay to Georgetown, Bahamas - March 1 - 15, 2008	Georgetown to Royal Island - March 16 - 31, 2008
Royal Island to Green Turtle Cay - April 1 - 15, 2008	Green Turtle Cay to Fort Pierce - April 16 - 20, 2008
Fort Pierce, FL to Savannah, GA - May 1 - 15, 2008	Savannah, GA to Norfolk, VA - May 16 - 31, 2008
Norfolk, VA to Deltaville, VA - June 1 - 15, 2008	Deltaville, VA to Cape May, NJ - June 16 - 30, 2008
Cape May to Point Judith, RI - July 1 - 15, 2008	Point Judith to Gloucester, MA - July 16 - 31, 2008
Gloucester to Acadia to Portland - August 1 - 15, 2008	Portland to Gloucester - August 16 - 31, 2008
Gloucester to Point Judith, RI - Sept 1 - 15, 2008	Point Judith, RI to Havre de Grace, MD - Sept 16 - 30, 2008