Virgin – Olina

A Door 2 Fathoms Down

We left our slip in Solomons Island and the captain forgot to close the boarding gate door. We pulled up to the pumpout dock and the dockhand asked me to pull a bit more forward so the pumpout hose would reach and we heard a metal noise? The boarding gates on Simple Life open outward (very strange and a bit dangerous if you lean against an unlocked door) and when open they stick out further than the rubrail. The door caught on the fixed dock pilings and the sound was it being removed from the boat.

What to do? We are tied up at the dock and our door is 2 fathoms below us. It’s muddy brown Maryland water. Now… I love being “on the water” but I don’t like being “in the water”. Especially when the water is 57 degrees! Hmmm. Let’s call for an expert.

Diver Jeff Myers entering the cold murky water under the dock

It made me nervous just to watch Jeff our diver jump into that water. When he entered the water he took quite a few loud deep breaths. It looked cold to me. Jeff disappeared for what seemed like 5-10 minutes as I watched his bubbles appearing on the surface up & down the dock. I stood there holding the line he had attached to the dock and himself. I finally gave a tug on the line (cuz I think I saw that in a movie once) and he came up empty-handed and cold. He agreed to try another spot closer to the stern of the boat and he was down another 5 minutes… He surfaced and smiled a frozen smile. He had me pull the rope and the door came to the surface. Jeff had felt with his hands in zero visibility around the bottom until he felt the metal door and rapped his dive rope around it several times. We had already turned the heat on inside MV Simple Life so it was 80 degrees inside. Teresa handed Jeff a steaming hot coffee and a towel. Judging by how he stood in the path of the heat with both hands clenching the coffee cup under his chin… I’d say he appreciated it.

We spent the end of the day chatting with Jeff and decided to stay another night at the marina.

The door was unharmed. I spent the night pounding the aluminum hinges back into shape before reattaching the door which did not even have a scratch on it. (smile)

There is a great Italian restaurant at the marina called La Vela Italian Restaurant.

The next morning we had a great breakfast and set out for Gwynn Island just south of Solomons Island, MD.

I love the lines of a Chesapeake Deadrise

We anchored just off Gwynn Island and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

The next morning we set out for Norfolk, VA. As we passed the Norfolk Naval Yard we snapped a few photos.

We anchored at Hospital Point right next to Tidewater Marina.

We snapped a few photos while there.

In the AM we pulled out and circled ICW Mile Marker 0 which is actually this red buoy #36

The next morning we weighed anchor and pushed southward through the Great Bridge Lock.

Soon we docked at AYB (Atlantic Yacht Basin) in Chesapeake, VA and noticed the 80′ Northern trawler that had passed us while we were anchored was docked near to us. We met the owners briefly and discussed some boaters that we knew in common.

iiwii is pronounced E-WE and stands for “It Is What It Is”

We were excited to be docked because we had just enough time to get cleaned up and go to dinner with our boater friends who were driving to Chesapeake to have dinner with us at the Butcher’s Son restaurant. Caroline and Ruth are the best friends anyone could ask for. We wished we could have kidnapped them for the rest of our trip.

By the way that local Mosiac Goat IPA from 2 Silos Brewing was spectacular.

It was sad to leave our friends but the next morning we topped of the 1/2 full fuel tanks ($3000 worth of diesel) and set out for Coinjock Marina. When we arrived we saw MV iiwii was already tied up at the marina. We had just enough time to clean up and rush to get the Coinjock Restaurant’s famous 32 ounce prime rib special.

We actually ran into Fred and Sharon of MV iiwii and while waiting for a seat in the restaurant and Fred thought fast enough to tell the hostess that we would dine together as a party of 4 to make things easier. We enjoyed dinner with our new boater friends who entertained us with their boating stories from all over.

In the morning we cast off the lines and set out for Belhaven, NC. We snapped this photo of a nice looking sportfishing boat called MV McLovin which hailed from a port near me in RI.

Soon we were anchored in Belhaven, NC and enjoyed a night binge watching Friends. We are in Season #2 now.

The sunrise was amazing in the morning.

In the morning we weighed anchor and headed for Camp Legeune anchorage in Jacksonville, NC.

We saw the craziest rainbow spot in the sky. Not a whole rainbow but simply a dot in the sky?

We were now fast approaching Camp Lejeune.

It was a long 100NM trip here today cruising at 10kts. We left as the sun was coming up and dropped anchor just as the sun was going down.

As I sit here anchored in Camp Lejeune I am finally getting a blog post out. The five unblogged legs of our journey that got us to this location looked something like this…

Running the Inside of the FL Keys

Which Route to Take?

When I left Key West on March 18th, I decided to run East up the inside of the Florida Keys. The weather was both windy and wavy. This inside route can offer some protection as you run up the wind shadows behind different keys. The downside is… it’s also notoriously shallow in certain areas as we’ll see.

Bye, Bye Key West

I untied the lines, jumped aboard and put her in gear. The pic above was snapped just after leaving Sunset Marina. You can see Dredger’s Key on the left iPad as well as straight ahead. You can also see that I didn’t get an early start (8:32AM).

Informational Layout for Navigation

I like to navigate using twin iPads. You can see that the iPad on the left is zoomed out to get the big picture while the iPad on the right is zoomed in for more detail about depths around Simple Life. I split the screen of my MFD (Multi Function Display) to expose different pieces of data. A chart plotter on the left half of the screen, a rear-facing camera on top-right and a scrolling depth display on the bottom-right.

My chart plotter display is mainly used for showing radar & AIS targets. The rear-facing camera let’s me see boat traffic coming up behind me. The scrolling depth is very important as it gives me depth trending. The instrument display to the left of the MFD shows the current depth in real-time. I believe it is more important to understand how the depths are trending. It goes without saying that in almost every grounding case, the ocean floor came up gradually to meet the boat.

My track leaving Key West and anchoring inside Marathon. I can’t stop interpreting this picture as a view from space. A planet with the Keys curving across it’s surface.

Which Route?

I chose to run the shallow inside of the keys and not the plenty deep “Hawks Channel” running east-west just below the keys. Running Hawk’s Channel does not require as much attention because it’s plenty deep. You’ll never worry about running aground. However, the wind had been blowing hard E-S-E for the past few days and I’m guessing the waves in Hawks Channel would have made that passage a rough one.

End of the Day and the Cruise

After running the inside of the Keys all day, the sun was setting. Lucky for me I did not have that much further to reach my chosen anchorage for the night.

As I approached my anchoring location off Vaca Key, I made sure to tuck in close behind land. I hoped to gain a night’s shelter from the wind.

As I crept closer to the shore it shallowed to only 6.1 feet deep.

Now when I anchor, I always need enough water under Simple Life’s 5′ deep keel to make sure she is not laying on her side when low tide hits.

I had already determined that the tides here were less than a foot. It was currently high tide. The boat was in 6.1′ of water. While I’m fast asleep at 3:51AM, the next morning, I should still have an inch or two beneath the boat.

In the daylight fading you see the two other boats that I snuck past to get close to shore.

Sharing my anchor spot with these two while Social Distancing

Anchored, it’s time to celebrate todays run with an IPA (or two) before bed.

Jai Alai by Cigar City Brewing in Tampa, FL

The next day’s cruise was absolutely beautiful. I decided to shoot a short video to give a 360 degree view of what the water looks near Islamorada.

Islamorada near Cotton Key

For reference I placed a marker near Cotton Key, Islamorada.

It’s very shallow here. My shallow water alarm is set to go off below 6′. It is beeping incessantly.

Zipping along at 5 kts with inches beneath the keel.

Below I am approaching Grouper Creek in Key Largo. Here the banks starts to close in around you with mangroves.

Soon I was passing Gilbert’s Resort on Key Largo. Even though Covid-19 was shutting down most activities, this place seemed alive with people enjoying the beautiful day.

At this point I was in Biscayne Bay near Elliot Key just north of Key Largo.

Watching the sunset off Elliot key was beautiful.

I cruised on into the night with my heart set on making it to Miami. As you approach Miami you are struck with how amazing the skyline is from the ocean at night.

Approaching Miami from the ocean at night

I’ll end this post with a short video that I took from Simple Life while on anchor.

It seems like a framed photo rather than a city all lit up and alive with activity

Key West Reloaded

Covid-19

So it’s March 13th and the bars on Duval St. are open and seems worried about the Covid-19 pandemic but that will change by the end of this post.

Five Days

Preppy flew back to Boston yesterday but I rented my slip here in Key West for another five days. I was happy that Teresa had decided to drive down for the weekend so we could spend that time together. We started our weekend by hoping on the scooters and hitting Duval St.

1st stop Pinchers Crab Shack.

There was a woman playing guitar and she was great.

She kept us laughing the whole time

We were enjoying some beer, margaritas and bang bang shrimp (wow those were good).

The table is covered with brown paper which I keep spilling IPA on

It’s happy hour so they bring you 2 IPAs every time you order one 😉

I’m not sure how we missed the “Bucket of Fun” on that menu?

At one point a patron of the bar was proposing to the the guitar player by offering her a roll of toilet paper. At first it looked like he was going to win her over with the roll but she was clearly holding out for more.

You can see our scooter handlebars behind the singer and it was time to jump on them and go exploring Key West before this happy hour slows us down. So off we went scootering.

Southernmost Point Buoy

When in Key West, you must stop at the Southernmost Point Buoy and take a picture. There was a line to take a picture so we figured we’d simply stand in the street and take a selfie with the famous buoy.

Tuck & Roll

I forgot to mention to Teresa that when scootering, you cannot take your hands off the handlebars for any reason. Cow Key Channel Bridge (pictured below) was the scene of the horrific crash. Rather than wait for the med flight to arrive, Teresa agreed to scooter back to MV Simple Life where I would bandage her back together.

Boat Cruise

The next day was warm and sunny so we figured we’d untie Simple Life and slip away from the dock for a boat ride around Key West.

You can see the northern tip of Fleming Key behind us. Fleming Key and bridge that connects it to Key West are part of a section of the Naval Air Station Key West called “Trumbo Point” and are inaccessible to civilians without US Navy clearance.

Duval St Take Two

The next day we explored Key West again. This time via Uber and somehow we still wound back up at Pinchers. Teresa was born and raised in Florida and grew up on seafood. I think she’s working on converting me into a seafood guy. We had just enough time for one last obligatory selfie before our Uber arrived to take us back to Simple Life.

I pretty sure the 2for1s were flowing this night 😉

It was a weekend to remember.

Publix Run

The next day I put on my backpack climbed into the dinghy and set out across the shallow bay to Publix supermarket. Figuring I could carry four times as many groceries in the dinghy than the scooter, my plan seemed to make sense. The plan was to land the dinghy along the roadway in front of Publix. This resupply mission would ultimately fail. I had drastically underestimated just how shallow the water was around Salt Pond Keys and especially as you get close to the roadway.

Dinghy path shown in red from marina on right to Publix at the bottom

Feeling defeated, I returned to the marina tied the dinghy up and hopped on my scooter for multiple resupply runs. It was March 16th and people were still shopping without masks or protective gear.

While Simple Life has a fridge and freezer with a separate sub-zero freezer I could load up on perishables and simply freeze them but like most boaters I prefer to stock the pantry full of non-perishables.

Good thing I stocked up on beer because on March 17th at 5PM on St. Paddy’s Day, the FL Keys shut down all the bars due to Covid-19. My plans to enjoy a few IPAs @ Irish Kevin’s on Duval St. died a few hours before it would have started. Maybe another time?

Dinghy Fishing

I’m now back at the boat and tired from all the lugging food & beer on the scooter. The night was warm so I figured it was a great night to go fishing in the dinghy.

Plenty of height to squeeze the dink under Cow Key Channel bridge

On my last night in Key West I was reading on Facebook a post from a fellow trawler guy who motored past a a 63′ Viking sport fishing boat aground on a jetty. He snapped this photo in the early morning before the sun came up.

Seems the boat ran into the jetty in the night. I felt horrible for the captain of MV Fuelish Pleasure as this kind of thing can happen to any captain when you lose situational awareness. Sometimes when it’s pitch black out and you have the brightness of the chartplotter turned way down it’s hard to see all the chart detail. Add to that the boat is bouncing up and down and it’s easy to make a mistake in the dark.

The captain may have been trying to pass between two shallow spots on the chart and might not have noticed the thin line that depicts a rock jetty. It’s very easy to do.

The arrow points to a thin chart line that is a rock jetty

The chart above is of the St. Mary’s Inlet where this accident occurred. It is right on the Florida – Georgia line between Cumberland Island to the north and Amelia Island to the south. You can see my route line in red where I would was anchored in the Amelia River near the #1 waypoint. I used this route to exit that same inlet in 12 days after leaving Key West. I did a 40 hour solo offshore beginning the morning of 3/27/20. You’ll read about that when I catch up writing these blog posts. I’m glad nobody was injured in this accident.

Sapelo Island to Cumberland Island

Orange in the AM

Sunrises in the low lands of Georgia are amazing.

Get Up You Lazy Captain!

If you read the last post, I wrote about how 50 NM / day can be done but you have to get an early start. Well, I didn’t.

Tortoise and the Hare

Right of the bat I had a much faster boat pass me by. I’m sure he gets his 50NM in before noon.

Anyone Home?

I found this home on a small island interesting as I passed.

ATONs

ATONs (Aids TO Navigation) or buoys if you will, are important things to pay attention to on the ICW.

World is Ablaze

As I was approaching Brunswick, GA it looked like the world was burning.

No idea what was burning but there was a lot of smoke

Traffic

I hailed this tug & barge on the VHF and let him know that I would push over to the edge of the channel as soon as I rounded a narrow bend in the river.

The Unexpected

Next came something I did not expect. When I first saw it I had no idea what it was. I spy’d it with my binoculars but I still could not identify it.

Turns out this is the underside of the 656 foot long Korean RoRo cargo ship called “Golden Ray” that capsized in Cumberland Sound on September 8th, 2019. While 4 of the 24 crew members were missing 3 were later rescued and even the 4th was pulled out alive. They were trapped with a fire that was roasting them alive while they were stuffing their pockets with ice to stay cool.

Slow as She Shallows

I was making my way down Jekyll Creek just off Jekyll Island. I found shallows.

Foreboding

As I glanced up at the sky I could see that it was getting lower and darker.

Time to stop being a lazy captain and check the weather.

You Ain’t Be Around if You Ain’t Been Aground

I was happy that my anchorage was quickly approaching. However, before I could get to my chosen anchor location I came around a turn in the bend to find this trawler aground.

Like I always say, “If you want to know where it’s shallow… it’s where the birds are standing”

Have You Been Paying Attention?

Have you have been paying attention? Did you read my last blog post about how I plan on making 50NM legs like this leg shown below?

W03L017 Crescent River Anch – Delaroche Creek Anch

Well I got a late start, I ran into shallow water, Gale Warnings, slowed for all kinds of things like trawlers aground. When did I get to my anchorage? In the dark with gale warnings. OK, It may have been gale warnings out on the ocean but only strong gusty winds where I was anchoring. That said, I’m in the Georgia low lands. Nothing sticks up high enough to buffer the winds. I did not snap a pic while anchored because it was just black out. Anchoring did not go smoothly. I had a strong wind perpendicular to a strong current and I was challenged to find a spot that did not have the wind swinging Simple Life onto the creek bank. It’s going to be a long night on anchor. Now where did I put those IPAs?

D9 Brewing Company Hakuna Matata Tropical IPA

Beaufort, SC: The Other Beaufort

We weighed anchor in the AM and headed out of Toogoodo Creek. We followed the sinuous path that was spotted with shoals. During a VHF communication with a passing boat, the captain warned of shoals of only three feet ahead. We quipped back that MV Simple Life has a 4’10” draft (actually 4’8″ dry but after filling the tanks she sits a bit lower in the water) and that out to make things interesting. There were times when we were down to 3 kts as we hunted for deeper water but we made it to the Coosaw River as planned. What I had not planned on were the 25 knot wind whipped waves. Making matters worse, the current was flowing against the waves making them steep and breaking. Happy, our Boston Terrier, was not “happy”. She hates a lumpy ride. I had not bothered to check the weather in the AM. I was proceeding with the belief that while we were on the ICW, I could simply check the weather periodically. Even though I was aware of the Small Craft Advisory, I figured we’d never feel the full force of it while running “inside”. I was wrong. The Coosaw River runs West directly into where the 25 knot winds were coming from. We were forced to slog our way 8 miles in about an hour as the windshield wipers washed away the spray off the pilothouse windows. Not a bad ride thanks to the pilothouse.

Once we turned to port into the Beaufort River the tree-lined banks offered us some wind protection. Though even in the Beaufort River, the flags on the banks were out-straight.

When we hailed Downtown Marina in Beaufort, SC. Dockhand Troy gave us our slip assignment and caught lines as we neared the dock. We slipped just in front of the beautiful sport-fishing boat pictured below.

Without hesitation we hopped off the boat and ran for some refreshments. We found Luther’s to be an amusing bar where the locals were.

First IPA of the day and it put the smile back on my face.

We decided to check out a few more places so we hit up a fancy place called “Saltus River Grill” and while Kelly was eying their filet mignon, the only IPA on tap was terrible so I cleverly talked her into a restaurant called “Plums” that was two buildings away and served Stone IPA. Plums had amazing food and when we could not eat another bite, it was time to stroll back to the boat and check on the dogs. On our way we walked through Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park. I snapped the pics below as the light got low.

The next day I used the “courtesy car” to run to a local liquor store to stock up on Captain Morgan & some local IPAs

Precious cargo secured and it was time to replenish the fuel I used and get back home. For my brew-night pals, here is the list of local IPAs that I will be sampling and then reviewing using the Untappd app.

Well now it’s time to get ready to say goodbye to Beaufort, SC and on to Hilton Head, SC. We’ll check-in from an anchorage around Turtle Island next.

Supermoon Where Are You?

Yesterday morning we awoke before sunrise and got underway to Beaufort, NC.

The first & last supermoon of 2017 was helping slice through the dark as we pushed away from the dock.

Supermoon 2017 — Supermoon Reflecting the Sun’s Rays

Supermoon infographic — Supermooninfographic

Supermoons happen when a full moon approximately coincides with the moon’s perigee, or a point in its orbit at which it is closest to Earth. This makes the moon appear up to 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than usual.

December’s supermoon is actually the first of three back-to-back supermoon full moons to come in the next two months. On Jan. 1 and Jan. 31, the full moon will also occur near the moon’s arrival at perigee, according to NASA, which billed the line up as a supermoon trilogy. The Jan. 31 supermoon is also the second full moon of January, making it a Blue Moon, and also occurs during a total lunar eclipse.

As the sun got ready to sneak over the horizon there was a beautiful orange-pink hue reflecting off the water.

Today’s leg of our journey takes us from Hobucken, NC to Beaufort, NC

The Beaufort of coastal North Carolina is “BOH-fert”. The Beaufort of South Carolina is pronounced “BYOO-fert”. Established in 1709, Beaufort is the third-oldest town in North Carolina.

As we made our way out of Goose Creek and into Pamlico Sound, the only traffic we passed was a tug pushing a barge.

Tug and Barge — YATPB – Yet Another Tug Pushing Barge

The dominant wave set was coming from the NE and that meant we had a following sea as we turned and made our way down the Neuse River. A following sea that is slightly to one side of the stern can be annoying when you are at the helm. The waves catch up to the boat from behind and lift the stern pushing it to port or starboard. This can swing the bow as much as 30 degrees at times and it starts to feel like you are pointing the boat all over the place. I made a quick adjustment to increase the autopilot’s response rate and the bow heading deflection lessened considerably. Being a slow boat (6-9 knots) you are often at the helm from sun-up to sundown to make your destination. Autopilot is an electronic device with some firmware loaded on it that drives a hydraulic pump which turns the rudder. There are many settings that you can control but the response rate is the one you will want to adjust so that the rudder position changes are swift or slow enough for how you want the boat to point.

Autopilot Control

Autopilot Display

As weekend boaters, we were boating in destinations like Block Island, Nantucket or Provincetown. These locations are anywhere between 6-12 hours from our home port in Warwick, RI. We would be forced to run the boat at 8.5 knots and only get about 1 MPG. Now that we are full-time boaters, we slow the boat to about 6 knots and get 4 MPG. You can go 4X farther if you simply reduce your speed by 2.5 knots. (Recall 1 knot = 1.15 MPH so approximately every 6 knots you would simply add 1 to get the speed in MPH).

Even knowing this, we made the decision to up the speed to 8.5 knots and reduce the amount of time spent in the following sea.

Happy and Chief Martin Brody appreciated that we burned a a bit more fuel for their comfort.

Brody and Happy — Chief Martin Brody and his Big Sister Happy

As we turned into Adam’s Creek the ride smoothed out and we dropped back down to 6 knots. The current in Adam’s Creek was swift and the DSM (Depth Sounder Module aka. Fish Finder) was showing asymmetric rippling of the creek bottom. I believe this is caused by a swift bottom current.

Adams Creek Rippled Bottom — Asymmetric Rippled Bottom of Adams Creek

The fish finder was also well, finding fish. The DSM uses sonar or high frequency sound generated by a device that protrudes through the hull and is sending a column of sound waves straight down beneath the boat. These sound waves not only reflect off the bottom but when they hit a fish the sound resonates in the fish’s swim bladder (a small air-filled sack that helps control a fish’s buoyancy) and this echo is detected and colored sharply to allow you to spot fish on the screen.

Adam’s Creek is a lovely place with lots of sights to see.

Youtube Video of Bald Eagle in Adams Creek

Very Caribbean Don’t You Think?

Bonus Points for Parking Your Helicopter in Front of Your Mobile Home

Boat Slip only $75K

I’m Pretty Sure The War Over Slavery Ended?

Adams Creek spills out into the Newport River and it’s marshes and shallows are something that you will want to avoid.

Shallow Birds Standing.JPG — Kelly & I Often Joke… “If You Want to Know Where it’s Shallow; it’s Where the Birds are Standing”

As we pulled into our slip in Beaufort we hailed the dockmaster who warned us about the swift current running transverse to the slip we were assigned. As we pulled in to the fairway the current slammed into our full keel and began to push the boat toward the bows of the boats across the fairway. I was forced to back out quickly and reposition so that I could now take the swift current into account and position the boat for rapid spin and quick back into our slip. Kelly was quick to toss lines to the dockhands and soon we were checked in and given the keys to a “courtesy car”. Up North, I’ve never stayed at a marina that offers a fee courtesy car to marina guests. The car was a welcome treat and we put it to good use re-provisioning the boat with more food & beer.

Courtesy Car Kelly — Courtesy Car – We Got Wheels!

With all our chores completed we quickly made off to the marina bar for happy hour and spent time chatting with Bartender Kristen and fellow bar patron, Dan. Dan was an amazing fellow who told us stories of his solo sailing around the world in a small boat. He offered us some local knowledge about wild horses that roam the islands around here. I KNOW more wild horses to find!

After I consumed as many 50 cent pork sandwiches as a man can eat and washed them down with a great local IPA it was time to retire to the boat.

Hoppyum IPA.JPG — Great Local IPA From Foothills Brewery

We were no sooner readying for bed when we were accosted by “Monkey Bird”. This vile creature had a penetrating stare and an awful cry. I spent sometime staring into this monster’s gaze and knew it was time to lock the door and keep the crew of Simple Life safe.

So it’s off to bed.

Monkey Bird Standing.png — Monkey Bird Prowling the Docks

Chincoteague Island, VA – Where are the Ponies?

We awoke around 4AM this morning and I began pouring over the charts until I felt comfortable that we could safely make the passage down the outside passage to Norfolk, VA in 4 separate legs. By staying outside we will save days if not a week of traveling inside through the Chesapeake. While we would like nothing more than to spend months exploring all the great places in Chesapeake Bay, right now we could go for some Key West sunshine.

The other day we left Atlantic City and motored past the mouth of Delaware bay, I just could not bear to make a starboard turn and head up the Delaware Bay. This would mean heading North rather that South. In order to take the inside passage you must first run North up the Delaware Bay till you get to the C&D canal that connects the head of Delaware bay with the head of Chesapeake Bay. Once in Chesapeake Bay you again start heading South. It’s quite a bit longer than simply staying outside in the Atlantic Ocean. It’s also more work for the captain, who must stay vigilant to avoid other boat traffic as well as steer around lobster pots. Nobody likes getting a lobster pot line wrapped around their propeller. We installed a “shark” pot cutter in front of our propeller to hopefully chop any lines that tangle in our propeller.

shaft shark — “Shark” Pot Cutter in Front of Propeller (Similar to MV Simple Life’s Setup)

Inside Passage Map — Inside Passage – Up Delaware Bay, Through C&D Canal and down Chesapeake Bay

4 legs map — Outside Passage – 4 Legs, 2 Anchorages

The more we studied the few inlets along the outside passage, the more we realized that many of them were possibly full of shoals and shallows to be worth trying to enter. There were some that if we did enter the inlet, it was clear that once inside it we could easily run aground due to the shallows that abounded. It was also very evident to us that our 2012 electronic charts no longer match the current depths and shoal locations. I use the charts as a “guide” but keep a close eye out for breaking waves where a new shoal may have formed due to recent storm activity.

We arrived at Chincoteague Island sometime around 1PM. The journey here was pretty uneventful. We saw only one other boat and it was a large sport fishing yacht moving at twice our speed South down the coast. We studied the charts and found a nice spot to drop hook, close to the shore. MV Simple life has a 90 lb. Rocna, plow style anchor and 300′ of 3/8″ chain. I let out almost 120′ which was a ridiculous amount of scope (“anchor scope” is a ratio like 7 to 1: length of chain compared to depth of water). If we were in a crowded anchorage we’d never be able to let out that much scope as when the wind changed direction we’d swing into other boats. Along this coast there is not another boat in sight. After the anchor hooked up I applied some throttle in reverse (+200 above idle, or 800 RPM) which combined with the strong wind, buried the anchor. The extra throttle lifted the chain straight out of the water with no bounce. We believe you should always “back down” on your anchor and watch to see if the chain jumps up/down which is a clear indication that the anchor is dragging along the bottom. This can happen for many reasons but some possible causes can be the seabed could have eel grass that stops the anchor from “digging in” or the bottom might not be sandy but instead a super soft silt that is like pushing a potato chip through whip cream instead of thick cheese. Better to have your anchor drag while you’re backing down on it than when the wind picks up in the middle of the night and you are fast asleep.

Chinoteague map — Red X is Where we Anchored – Off Wallops Island. Chincoteague outlined in Red

After reading about the wild ponies on Chincoteague Island, I made up my mind to use the crane and drop the dinghy in the water to go find them ponies. I had no sooner raced off on the dinghy before I thought.. I’m freezing & I’m zipping along over the shallow shore and could easily run aground at full speed and wind up taking a dip in the cold Atlantic. So I put a lifejacket on and turned around and made it back to the Simple Life. DAMN, NO PONIES!!!

Back at the boat the heater was on and I quickly put the dinghy back on the flybridge and warmed up to an IPA 😉 That brings me to where I am now.. sitting in the pilothouse enjoying a beer or two. We’ll leave you with our sunset view — good night.

The Winds of November Came Early

We left Morris Cove Anchorage at 5:30AM. It was dark, very dark. We had woken up around 4 AM. I had pulled up the anchor, spun the boat around and MV Simple Life started going bow up, bow down. I thought… the winds were not supposed to increase until Thursday afternoon (per the NWS – National Weather Service Gale Warning). In the words of Gordon Lightfoot, “The winds of November came early”. We used our searchlight to spot the buoys on our way out of New Haven Harbor’s channel.

Jay Marques, you asked for video in addition to photos so these links are for you.

Leaving Morris Cove Anchorage – Low Light

Sorry, that video is the lightest of the three I recorded. With the winds out of the south it meant that the 16 mile fetch of water from the NY side to the CT side was making the CT side of the sound lumpy. I heard the VHF radio crackle alive with a tugboat captain complaining that the winds had been honking all night long. Here is a video after the sun came up and we were slogging our way South across Long Island Sound from New Haven, CT to Long Island’s Huntington Bay area.

Slogging our way South Across LIS

When Kelly & I first met I had a 1998 35′ Beneteau 352 Oceanis ,S/V Saltyhacker, (I’ll upload a pic of SV Saltyhacker later) that had only a dodger (the see-thru plastic and canvas that covers the companionway opening into the boat. We sold her to a great couple from Canada and bought a 2001 45′ Hunter 450 Center Cockpit. (I’ll upload a pick of SV Skull & Swords later, promise). The Hunter was owned by friends of ours who were living aboard her in Exuma Key, Bahamas and ever since we’ve said someday we’ll spend a few months on anchor there. We loved the Hunter for it’s liveaboardness; for it’s fully enclosed cockpit and interior space but Kelly would often quip that unless we are sitting in the outside cockpit you don’t get to enjoy the scenery. So we decided to buy a new boat that met our mutual demands. Kelly wanted a boat that was easier to move around in (Kelly has a habit of twisting / breaking ankles when underway or simply aboard). After spending 10 hour days at the helm outside and often cold, I was fancy on an enclosed pilot house. In the video above you will just have to imagine as the cold sea spray is hitting the pilothouse windows that I’m sipping my coffee in my PJs at the helm (smile).

Todays trip looked something like this..

As you approach the East-end of LIS you enter into the East River that takes you from the Bronx to the Statue of Liberty. As many times as we have made this trip we still find ourselves taking pictures of the scenery as we go down the river. Below are some of the photos we snapped along the way…

Prison — After going by Riker’s Island Jail you pass the Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center. This is a 47,000-ton, five-story barge with 800 beds spread over 16 “dormitories” and 100 proper jail cells. At 625 feet in length and 125 feet wide, it also holds a gym, a basketball court, a library, three chapels, a rooftop exercise area

Broklyn Bridge — Brooklyn Bridge – built in 1870

Helicopter — Whirly Birds buzz the East River and land just North of Battery March

Water Taxis are everywhere and as a captain you must be alert and ready to dodge them

We timed our trip down the East River to make sure we caught favorable currents that saved us easily an hour during our transit. After arriving in NYC harbor we hailed Liberty Landing Marina and requested our slip assignment. The wind was gusting but an attendant met us at the slip and caught the lines that 1st Mate Kelly threw to him.

LibertyLandingMarina — MV Simple Life tied off at Liberty Landing Marina

Tomorrow we’ll take the water taxi and find somewhere to grab a IPA & Capt-Pepsi -NFL (No-Flipping-Lime) & a bite. Tonight we’ll just relax 😉