Annapolis to Port Canaveral

So, the boat show is over and it's time to head south.  One last Starbucks coffee and we head out.  A bit wet getting to the coffee shop this morning, Annapolis downtown often floods, still we got a free croissant for our efforts!

Catching up with good friends in Sarah Creek, Richard and Ward on 'Bagheera' and Jeff and Ellen on 'Sea Dweller', and enjoying a meal at the very hospitable marina here.

Going into Ocracoke, for a bit of shelter for the night.  We had never seen so many birds, what an incredible sight.

 

Happy sailors!                                             

Cruising slowly down the Chesapeake day, there were beautiful sunsets and scenery to see.  We needed a bit of relaxation after the boat show and these anchorages were just perfect.

Stopped in Brunswick, and the saturday market was on.  Daryl made good friends with the couple selling the most delicious crab cakes.

Also in Brunswick the Lover's Oak, having a quick kiss, the Spanish moss draped from the branches.  The Brunswick marina was great, the people really friendly,  the laundry was free and there were even bikes we could borrow.  Great place to stop on your way down the bay.

Good friend, Mitch, joined us in Charleston to cruise down the coast with us.  Wonderful guy to have on board and we had a lot of laughs together.  He is now back in cold Vermont and we shall miss his good company.
He left us safely tied to the quay at the Port Canaveral Yacht Club.

South to Annapolis Boat Show

En route from Malta to the boat, stopped over in London to catch up with good friend Val and family in Walton on Thames.  We spend our precious time together catching up, chatting away, usually over a glass of wine or three.
I charge around the plentiful shops finding bits we need on the boat, and shopping for 'unmentionables' in M&S!

Back with the boys and the first stop is Starbucks for a coffee and snacket.                                                                            

On our way south we stopped at a place called Rockhall.  There is a public dock and we stayed there for a few days getting the boat ready for the boat show.  The community is big into catching crabs and oysters, a hard way to earn a living.

Rockhall also had a great coffee shop, just a short bike ride from the boat.  The leaves are starting to turn beautiful colours here and the temperatures are falling.  

This, believe it or not, is the local library!  I went along and exchanged some books.

Jay helped us with getting the boat look it's best for the boat show and then he flew off the England to spend some time with his dad and see some friends there.                                                         

'No Rehearsal' in the Brokerage section on the Annapolis Boat show.   The weather was not too good and there was a lot of rain on some of the days, but there was a lot of interest.  On you tube there is a video called 'Annapolis Sailboat and Brokerage Show' and runs 11.32 minutes.  NR is easy to spot as we are the only cat in the brokerage section, which plays after the main show shots.

We spent most of the time at the show showing people around our boat, but now and then I managed to get off for a look around the new boats.  Great sight with all the flags flying and the usual buzz of boat show fever, grabbing a quick coffee if the queue was not to long, or a painkiller later on in the day!

Malta

In August I headed to Malta for my annual visit to see my family.  I left Daryl and Jay on the boat in Newport, Rhode Island and flew out of Boston.

My sister has moved to a farmhouse in the country and is busy reforming it into the family home.  She is working very hard trying to get most of the outside work done before the rains start later on in the year, and I must day, there was a lot of dust there in August.
I stayed at the farmhouse the first week and then rented an apartment for the second, a friend Celia, from school days in England came and joined me for that.

No visit to Malta is complete without a visit to Valletta, the narrow streets leading down to the Grand Harbour.

Dinner 'en famille' from left to right:
Celia, me Mum, Jane, Joey, Ashley and Gary

Taking Mum out for lunch in Mdina, we found a wonderful restaurant with a fabulous view over the countryside.

Myself, Jane, my sister and daughter Ashley and then Mum at the Tuesday market in Cospicua.

An evening out in the smart marina complex of Porto Tomaso in Paceville

We put the rent a car on the ferry for trip to the neighbouring island of Gozo.
Celia is photographing some of the beautiful rock formations near the bay of Xlendi.

Charleston and Northwards

We continue to head north, stopping at some of our favourite places on the way.

Beautiful Charleston has such attractive houses and gardens and even the smaller lanes and alleys are attractive.  The boys looked around the galleries and I did a little retail therapy after a coffee.  How civilized!

When the wind was right, Jay headed to the beach to kite board.                                                                                         

Celebrating the 4th July with friends at the beach and watching the sunset with a glass in hand, perfect!                  

Baltimore Aquarium had a great selection of sea life, all displayed in a multi-level building that was fabulous to walk through.  (I love one way museums, you don't miss anything and don't get too many people jams either)

Passing though the C and D canal, which joins the Chesapeake Bay to the Delaware River, you need to watch out for the huge tankers.

Jay invited some of his Kiwi friends to join us on the boat for the day.  We gave them a sail up the Hudson River in New York, passing all the sites on the way.  A great  way to see them without queuing for hours!

Jay Arrives

Daryl and I drove down to Fort Lauderdale and picked Jay up from the airport there.  He has decided to have a break from sailmaking in Auckland and cruise with us for a while.
He is quite interested in the art business, so Daryl suggested he join us and as we head north, they can visit the galleries en route together, and Jay can learn about it as we go.

Put to work straight away, Jay is repairing one of the water pumps.                                                                                          

Our next tender?  It's the right color, but would it fit on our davits?

Moving on to Port Canaveral, Jay and I went to visit the Space Centre.  Good day out and the rocket park made even Jay look small!

Back at Millikens restaurant in Port Canaveral, the barman, Daryl saw us coming and decided to stock the bar with our  preferred wine, Oyster Bay, of course.

En route to Charleston we caught a beautiful sailfish.  We were ready to put it back, but sadly had done too much damage to the fish, so kept it.

West Palm Beach

We left the Bahamas at the same time as Andrea, and had a great sail all day.

Andrea sailing alongside us to the States, here he is on the aft deck of Lo Espirito de Stella in his wheelchair.

Land Ahoy, approaching Palm Beach as a cruise liner leaves, just as the sun was setting too.

Brett and Teresa from Seismic Wave, and the crew from Zeepard on No Rehearsal for one of our good party evenings.    

Celebrating 11 years of wedded bliss with a bottle of the best stuff!                  

'No Rehearsal' and 'Our Rose' anchored off West Palm Beach.  It's a wonderful anchorage, just off the main street and shops just across the road from the boat.  A convenient trolley bus service that takes us to the nearest Publix supermarket and retail shopping.  The town has a wonderful feel to it.

Today was the last saturday market until October, and it was extremely hot out there.  This is a stall selling air plant orchids, beautiful.  A yellow one was very tempting!

So I am finally up to date on the blog, so good to have a Starbucks about a hundred yards from the boat!  To sit in the air conditioning and sip a latte too.

Georgetown, Bahamas

The night before we headed off from the DR to The Bahamas, we anchored off a resort island in the Bay of Semana.
Whilst we were sat having our sundowners, two small local fishing boats spent about two hours laying a net, and retrieving it.  Such hard work and after all that, not one fish was caught.  We really felt for them, so Daryl decided that a cool Heineken might help, they were thrilled!

Cheers!

My hunter/gatherer strikes again, a beautiful Mahi Mahi, caught en route.                                                                                

Meeting up with our good friend Andrea on his catamaran 'Lo Espirto de Stella' in Georgetown was a real treat. He always seems to be around when we have caught a big fish!

Waiting for gas refills in Georgetown can take all morning, luckily there is a watering hole across the road for a cold one and a chat, but after waiting about two hours, we gave up.

Daryl and I organized a dingy drift.  We tie all the boats together and drift down the bay, excellent fun meeting other cruisers with a glass of wine.

We love our citronella candles in the evenings, designed to repel bugs!  Well I suppose if they are in the candle they are not biting us!

R and R in the DR

From the British Virgin Islands, we decided to head straight to the Dominican Republic.  We had not stopped before, but had heard good reports, so heading to the recommended Puerto Bahia marina in Semana on the north east coast of the island.

Great sailing to the DR with our favorite sail the G2, easy to put up and always as easy to snuff.

Daryl, as usual, managed to get us the best spot in the marina, right alongside the pool, bar and restaurant in this beautiful marina.  The island is a lush green and we were keen to head to town and see what that was like.

Relaxing  by the pool!  What a hard life.       

At the market in Semana, this must be parts of the biggest Calamari I have ever seen, comparing to the ladies arm!
(Sorry can't seem to get the photo the right way up!)

The local shoe store in town, there were a lot of traders using vehicles as shop windows.  The town was interesting, but rather rundown and poor.  It seemed like a different country from the marina, which is a gated community with fabulous houses and landscaping.  You could visit the marina and get a completely false impression of the character of the island.

The British Virgin Islands

After checking in at Gunn Creek in the BVI's we headed to our favourite anchorage, just off Eustatia Island.  Wonderful clear water for swimming and snorkeling, and within easy reach of Saba Rock for sunset painkillers too!

In Norman Cay, there is a bay where all the boats put an anchor down and then a line ashore.  This is the view off the back steps of our boat, such clear water that it looks like six inches deep, rather than six feet.

Also cruising in this area were a Swedish family on' Elin', great people.  They crossed the Atlantic in their small boat and now will return home, planning to buy a larger boat sometime in the future for more cruising.

I was in touch with a school friend who said that she was also this area cruising on a boat.  As the internet connections were rather patchy, we decided to head for their last known anchorage in Trellis Bay and try and find them.

And find them we did!  'Feelin Good' is a gorgeous 82' Bruce Farr design, built in South Africa,  and owners Art and Tracey were pleased to show us around there beautiful boat.

Celia and I celebrating our reunion with a glass or two of wine on 'No Rehearsal', so good to catch up again.