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Radeen in the Deep Creek Lock Lifting up to the level of the Great Dismal Swamp

One of the most diverse section of the Waterway ranges from naval aircraft carriers in drydock to the Deep Creek Lock to the solitude and peaceful beauty of the Great Dismal Swamp. This diversity is what sailors experience as they traverse this 27 miles of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway from Portsmouth VA to South Mills Lock NC.

Our stay in Portsmouth was wonderful as always. It was especially nice as an Island Packet Yachts minivous developed with IP38 It’s About Time (Sally and Conrad) and IP350 Kismet (Laurie and Jim) and visiting IP380 Tides Inn (Sue and Mark) joined us all in the South Ferry Basin. We enjoyed happy hour on Island Island Spirit and then strolled up High Street a few blocks to the Commodore Dinner Theater to see, the new movie “Trouble With the Curve.” Then we returned to IP38, after the movie, and sampled the Nassau Royale Rum to make sure it was still OK to consume…it was. There is something special about gathering on friends’ boats, sharing some stories and learning about the cruising life. Everyone has so much to share and we value and treasure these Island Packet gatherings.

Island Packet Yachts Minivous in the South Ferry Basin

Departing at 0745 we began our run for the Great Dismal Swamp after a quick fuel and service stop at Ocean Marine just south of the basin. From there, we made the 0930 Gilmerton Bridge opening and were easily anchored off the Deep Creek Lock in time for the 1045 opening and 1100 lock. This lock is run by ROBERT, the most upbeat and positive person you will meet on the the waterway. He kindly guides you into the lock, takes your lines and helps you secure your boat to the lock wall  to be lifted 6-8 feet. Once lifted, you are ready for the 22 miles of the Great Dismal Swamp.

The sign directing you to the Dismal Swamp Route…read that…

This is our fourth run on the Dismal Swamp, and we love it. We prefer this route over the Virginia Cut, because of the beauty and the reflections the canal presents. I shot 175 photos today and I never seem to capture the true beauty. This really is a boating run you have to make yourself in order to take in this wonderful canal and swamp.

We had planned to run out the lock and another 12 miles to Goat Island, but this time, we docked inside the South Mills lock and will rest here in a charming old town for the night.

Here are a few of the best photos from today ( I shot 175 photos and 6 videos today!)

Fleet Gathering on IP38 It’s About Time Radeen, Mark, Sue, Sally, Laurie, Conrad and Jim

Island Spirit flying the IP Flag over High Street, Portsmouth VA

Radeen tending the bow line as we rise up and the lock fills

Distance sign in the Deep Creek Lock. We have sailed north to Eastport (Acadia, Maine) We have run south to Key West, FL…..WOW…it is long way by boat

Radeen and Robert, the greatest Lock Tender in the World, a very positive person

Welcome to the Dismal Swamp’s beauty…it is endless

Here is a photo without the boat. This photo could be flipped upside down

Self portrait over the bow reflecting in the water

Great Dismal Swamp

It is FALL, the water is litered with leaves and pine needles

There you have it….our fourth passage through the Great Dismal Swamp. Tomorrow we will make Elizabeth City, NC, the City of Hospitality. We always look forward to stopping there.

Please note:
If you click on the photos in the blog, they enlarge to a full screen size at 1024 x 768. I make my blog images this size so they can be used for screen backgrounds. I hope you enjoy the photography; I have taken 350+ photos since leaving 5 days ago!

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The best Chesapeake Bay Sailing. Sunrise as we head south.

We have sailed the Chesapeake Bay since 1986 and we never tire of the beauty and diversity the Bay presents to sailors trying to cover the 150+ miles in a few days. Lucky for us, this was one of the best runs down the bay in many years. In past years, we have had waves crashing over the bow with spray going into the windshields and you just pray for it to end. This time, it was so lovely, so calm, so flat, with beautiful sunsets, spectacular sunrises, full moonsets and interesting commercial ship traffic.

When in transit mode, we try to run about 50 miles a day. This would be 3 days down the bay to Norfolk from Rock Hall, MD just above Annapolis. This time we actually took 4 days to run the bay. We had some sailing, lots of motoring, but calm seas, so we will take it.

4 Days down the Chesapeake Bay (165 nm)

1. Rock Hall, MD to Annapolis, MD 16 nm (visit our boat buddies, Eric and Patricia)
2. Annapolis, MD to Solomon’s Island, MD 42 nm (anchor off Calvert Maritime Museum)
3. Solomons, MD to Jackson Creek, VA 53 nm (anchor and enjoy a beautiful sunset)
4. Jackson Creek, VA to Portsmouth, VA 54 nm (dock in the South Ferry basin, explore the city)

Hayden sailing wing on wing heading south on the Chesapeke Bay

Norfolk, VA Naval Base and Shipyards

Portsmouth, VA South Ferry Basin NOTE: Coffee Kiosk right there (blue peaked roof)

Here are the best photos from the trip ( I shot 87 photos today)

Interesting Italian Ship passes close by. Note the bow wave well in front… that is the underwater bow bulb projecting well forward of the bow. This ship is doing 15 knots!

IP350 KISMET sailing their spinnaker southbound Nice job, Jim and Laurie!

Sunset at anchor during our dinner…beautiful Jackson Creek, Deltaville, VA

WOLF TRAP LIGHTHOUSE, now you know you are moving south

Tugboat SARAH DANN pushing two barges up to Baltimore Beautiful paint colors

Thank you….our miltary practicing landings on an Aircraft Carrier!

Shipping containers, those are tractor trailer boxes of imported goods being off loaded

OH NO….this Navy ship was listing…..just kidding 🙂

Chesapeake Bay….CHECK….done….onto the ICW, Intracoastal Waterway mile marker ZERO is right here. Now the trip to Florida and the Bahamas takes on a new challenge. Bridges, hundreds of them to navigate, locks, narrow rivers, swamps, and more. FUN.

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Year #2…off to explore the BAHAMAS some more. We did it! We left the docks on time!

OMG…why it so much work preparing to depart on a sailboat for a winter cruise of 8 months to the Bahamas? It seems like it should be no more effort than simply packing your bags for a two week vacation, but it is NOT, it is much more!

Imagine trying to buy almost all the food, paper products, cereals, canned goods, snacks, drinks and wine you plan to consume for the next 8 months. …”We need these …..”…”We need to fix this”…..”We need to buy more…   “Remember to bring”…..and so on. Next thing you know, you are stuck in this endless loop feeling locked to the dock. You feel as if you can’t possibly be ready, you will never be ready, you have too much to do. This loop needs to be BROKEN by simply setting a date for departure and then busting your tail to get it all done and get off the dock. JUST LEAVE, get going, you can almost always fix it later or buy it down the road.

A well stored boat. 10+ dock carts of stuff all stored and put away. Island Packets hold a lot!

Well, that is what we did. Our boat was in the parking lot just 10 days ago. Within 24 hours after launching, we had guests for 3 days. Lucky for us, they are great friends and helped us get the boat ready for our sail. Provisions were bought and stowed, oil and fuel filters changed, systems all checked and the boat washed and cleaned up. We made a final run to home to check in with a few doctors and our house sitter, then back to the boat for departure. This process is hectic, stressful, and a ton of work, but it is so incredibly rewarding once you are under way!

The TRIP LOG is reset to ZERO last year we logged 3,514+ nautical miles!

Underway on a coastal cruising sailboat can be very easy. Each person stands a one hour watch driving and watching the waterway. While off watch, you are free to read, write, and surf the web, pay bills, watch the stock market, send emails and write blog posts like this. Our normal transit day is 8-10 hours of running at 6 knots. This will push the boat about 50 miles. Do this for 20 days and you cover 1,000 miles, or Maryland to Florida. Along the way on this coastal trip, you anchor in some beautiful towns and walk, and explore the area. Again, life on a cruising sailboat doing coastal trips is really fun. It simply takes time and we have the time!

So, we are off the dock and we welcome you along for the ride. We will try to post reflections and insights and photos of the trip, sharing with you the life we are so lucky to be living. We are thankful for our health and our contentment….

Here are some photos of the start of our trip…you know I love to take photos…

We had a fun rendezvous with the “CALIFORNIA KIDS,” friends we met in Miami and sailed to the Bahamas with last year, Cary and Tom of IP 37 Dragon’s Toy.

Departing our HOME…the Chesapeake Bay Bridge near Annapolis, MD

Sailing into Annapolis, we passed WOODWIND, the mightly wooden schooner of Annapolis

Radeen arrives shore via OUR CAR….the inflatable boat down in the water. This is our vehicle for the next 8 months. It is how we get to shore.

Patricia and Radeen. We enjoyed dinner with our boat buddies Eric and Pat of IP-460 Cutter Loose. Like Dragon’s Toy, they are Caribbean bound!

Eric and Hayden sharing dinner at the Boatyard Grille’s Full Moon Party in Eastport, MD.

The best way to WINTERIZE your boat….HEAD SOUTH at 180 degrees and southbound we are for the next month+

Nothing like arriving Solomons and having the Wm. B. Tennison pass by on a tour from the Calvert Marine Museum.

SO….welcome to our travels south back into the Abacos and maybe into the Exumas. Thank you again for following along.

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Our Passive Solar Home, endless power, water and comfort Left to the care of our Friend and House Sitter…Edward

Here we are moving out of our home and anticipating the accompanying change in perspective. Life on “land” as “dirt dwellers” vs. life on a “cruising sailboat” is interesting to compare. Now with one year of cruising behind us and with the second one on the door step, we can reflect and compare these two worlds.

#1. WATER
Imagine you and your wife living on five gallons of water a day! That would be for showers, dishes, flushes, and boat washing….yup….5 gallons a day is our conservative usage and, when we splurge, we let it rip and use 7 to 8 gallons a day for the two of us. In our home, we have shower heads that flow at 5 gallons per minute! Take a 10 minute shower are  you have used 50 gallons of water! In two showers, our boat would be OUT of water. When living in a house, when do you ever think about running water? NEVER, it is endless!

Living on a sailboat at anchor in the calm

#2. ELECTRICITY
At home, the freezer is kept at zero degrees and the refrigerator is kept at 38 degrees. The water heater is holding 80 gallons of water at 140 degrees ready for anyone to use at anytime. Lights are left on, computer networks are up and running, printers are left on, cable TV boxes, night lights, outdoor lights, and deck lights are all left on for effects and for convenience. WHY? Because POWER is endless. When do you ever think about electricity usage in a home? NEVER. On a boat, we use 12 volt power, imagine living in your car and everything you run must plug into a cigarette lighter outlet. I challenge you to think about that and try it for one day.

#3. SPACE
2700 square feet is a lot of living area and allows plenty of room for every one to have “their own space.” Kitchen counters and the bar area flow into the open and well light living space. The dining room table seats 6 for dinner in actual chairs with backs, imagine that! Bedrooms have regular doors and closets for HANGING CLOTHES. Bathrooms are full size with showers one can actually walk into and close off. Toilets have a very unique feature with a flush handle and running WATER! What a concept. Compare this to living in the space of a walk in closet or the space of a small bedroom and you will begin to see the contrast.

Island Spirit sailing a nice breeze under autopilot

??? SO WHY LIVE ON THE BOAT ???

There is something very magical about the FREEDOM cruising provides. Imagine, waking up in an isolated creek, on anchor, hearing the birds as you proceed topside with a fresh brewed cup of coffee. On deck, you take in the sunrise or the early morning mist on the water as you imagine the day ahead. It is peaceful, quiet, calm, and relaxing. The two of you prepare a healthy breakfast and enjoy it while you plan your next passage or land side explorations. Once underway by sailboat, it is very beautiful; you may be traversing a salt marsh among great blue herons, or setting sails offshore for the next island get-a-way. There is no AM rush hour, no schedule, no beeping horns, no rapidly talking TV news caster or radio shock jock. There is peace and reflection. Calm discussions and planning. Listening and communicating. Dreaming and enjoying. LIVING…and when you drop anchor off a beautiful sand beach with turquoise waters, put on your snorkel mask and fins, and swim with tropical fish, you will know WHY you sail, why you left the house behind and why you left the rat race. There is no better life for us than exploring, discovering, and traveling with your best friend on a cruising sailboat….NONE…

SO LET THE ADVENTURES BEGIN AGAIN….off we sail to the Bahamas…

P.S. We will NOT miss the SNOW in the Northeast…

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Island Spirit gets relaunched for 2012…Bahamas bound

We completed the helm install and ran Island Spirit out the creek for a sea trial. When all systems checked out, it was back to our home dock to clean up the boat and prepare for good friends Dianne and Gene to visit.

The boat was really dirty and a real mess as is common when storing your boat in the yard for a month and tearing apart major systems for repair. Lucky for us, it rained and stormed our first day back in the water so we had 24 hours to prepare the boat.

Dianne and Gene enjoy happy hour on Island Spirit

Dianne and Gene are like family, Hayden spent his teaching career with Dianne and Gene was a Technology Ed teacher like Hayden. We have sailed the Caribbean together and taken cruises and land vacations together. So, they would understand that the boat was a wreck, there were jobs still to do, and that we would most likely just do a day sail.

24 hours after launch, we are getting ready to travel

So, our 2012 Bahamas run began with this wonderful visit with good friends. We enjoyed cocktail hours, sailing and anchoring out in the creek for a leisurely lunch. Getting Island Spirit back into service is a lot of work, but cruising and sailing with friends is as good as it gets. Dianne and Gene are great boat guests and it is always easy to spend time onboard with friends that know how to live on a boat. Thank you, Dianne and Gene, for your help and for kicking off our 2012 season with a great time..

Photos of the visit…

Notice the GREAT Island Spirit cocktail napkins! A gift from Amy and Brian….Thank you!

Gene is very determined as he sets the main sail

The Galley BEFORE as we begin to load the frig

The galley AFTER and how it normally looks

Gene helped to launched the AB 10VL, so we had to take it for a 25 mph spin out the creek. Gene was amazed at the speed of a 15 hp Yamaha…hold on!

Hayden and Radeen enjoying happy hour

Great friends and long time teaching buddies…this is what 85+  years of collective public school teaching service looks like! We had great careers….now we are all onto other adventures….

Check it out…A BLIMP from the US .NAVY. How cool is that?

Dianne takes the helm with ease, no problem, she has been here before

Sunsert to the PORT BOW….means one thing….it is time to sail to the BAHAMAS!

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Radeen under the bow of Island Spirit

Island Spirit gets a lift out of the water at Haven Harbour Marina in Rock Hall, MD, for the first time since June 2011. She has been in the water for 15 months so it was time to clean her up and get ready for her second trip to the Bahamas! Hauling out is a big deal and it also represents a lot of work. Once “on the hard,” the term for being in the parking lot, the work can begin. Imagine waxing a tractor trailer and you can begin to feel the pain your arms and shoulders will soon be put through. You need a lot of Advil and other pain killers in order to sleep after a full day of holding a buffer at arm’s length and moving it up and down and side to side. There is no easy way to accomplish this; you simply must get up on that platform and get it done!

Hayden waxing the boat via a ladder scaffolding

After waxing the beast, you then get the pleasure of rolling heavy, nearly SOLID copper-laden paint with a paint roller that is on the end of a broom stick. Yes, you keep the paint roller 4+ feet away from your body, which means you contort into all kinds of angles just to hold up the copper-filled roller and press it UP under the curved hull. Sounds easy, right? Well, next year or the next time we paint, come on down and we will LET YOU have a try at painting the bottom of the boat. I am not sure which is more difficult, rolling the bottom with Trinidad Paint (the highest copper paint on the planet), or holding a buffer at full arm’s length. Each of these arduous tasks is what owning a cruising sailboat is all about. Lucky for most, this ritual is performed every one or two years, so it is forgotten about soon after the boat is back in the water!

Radeen helps paint the bottom, notice the stylish cover ups!……nice!

Team Island Spirit is a TRUE team and always has been. We work on these jobs together with each of us doing our own various tasks. Yes, it would be much easier to simply write a check for this work, but the bid on waxing was $850.00 and the bottom paint was $1,000, so we don’t mind doing it ourselves to save these fees. The real beauty is that we are NOT working, we are retired, and we have the time to do this prep work. All the while, we are dreaming about and talking about all the places we will soon travel to via this wonderful boat.

Living the “cruising life” has been a dream and it is far better than expected. We have now spent one full year living our lifetime dream and we are looking forward to the next year. These challenges and jobs of being on the hard are a small price to pay for a year of cruising south. Bahamas, here we come…..

The Haven Harbour Marina travel lift picks up the 17,500 lbs with ease.

Job one….a marina employee power washes the bottom to remove slime and barnacles.

The travel lift is driven across the parking lot via a WIRELESS REMOTE CONTROL. Very cool to see. It is like a large video game!

Radeen always scrapes the bottom of the keel. She hates barnacles there, or anywhere.

Service job #1, remove the helm steering system for service. Edson Marine wanted to see this helm after 12,000 miles.

We installed this system…so we removed it. 2.5 hrs to remove the entire steering system and shifter mechanism.

Bottom paint on day one. Day two, jack stands moved forward so we can paint those patches.

Trinidad Paint by Pettit, does this look like $300 per gallon? Copper has gone up! Our boat needs 2 gallons of paint to coat the bottom.

To service the prop, we sanded it clean and re-coated it with 2-step Speed Prop.

Next, we sanded and repainted the boot stripe using a $5.99 can of Krylon Fusion Spray Paint in Navy.

Jobs COMPLETED in 4.5 days, time to go home and rest….

Next move, reinstall the Edson CD-i helm and below-decks steering arms, reconnect the shifter and throttle cables and get this girl launched, back in the water where she belongs. After that, share the joy with some good friends and load up, because we are SOUTH BOUND very sooooooon. Year #2 will officially begin at the end of this month. BAHAMAS, HERE WE COME……

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We had a lovely 5 hour drive to Portland and a delicious seafood lunch with my nephew and his wife who dropped us off on their way home to Seattle. Then we set off to make the most of our 1.5 days in Portland. After riding MAX, the light rail system, from our airport hotel to downtown, we used the street cars and found our way to one of the few stores open on Labor Day evening, Powell’s Book Store, http://www.powells.com . This famous store covers more than a city block, is 5 stories tall and has a plentiful and incredibly helpful staff. An amazing place! This was followed by shots of drinking chocolate at the historic Heathman Hotel’s Cacao, http://cacaodrinkchocolate.com   Books and chocolate – what bliss!

Radeen, smiling and clutching her map of the store…a true necessity at Powell’s

Even on a holiday, the Portland public transit system ran frequently and flawlessly.

We started the day meeting Phyllis so she could escort us via MAX to their neighborhood, The Pearl District. Larry amazed us with salmon and cream cheese omelettes and fruit salad with yogurt. Thus fortified, we started out on a full day of sight-seeing and sampling the city’s famous fare, including infamous & scandalous VooDoo donuts.

Our friends’ condo with a wetlands park in the middle of the city .

We enjoyed a guided tour of the lovely and surprisingly spacious Lan Su Chinese Garden. www.lansugarden.org

This tram car is yet another mode of public transportation in Portland. We enjoyed a stunning view of Mt. Hood in the distance and shared great stories on an outdoor terrace.

A walk in the afternoon took us to interesting old neighborhoods of NW Portland, followed by dinner with their son and his girlfriend. We enjoyed one of Portland’s famous brew pubs, Widmer’s Gasthaus and Brewery on the east side of Portland, across the Willamette River. http://widmerbrothers.com/

Saying good-bye at the MAX station. Thank you, Phyllis and Larry, for a wonderful day together!

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Sharon and Claire, Blue Eyes (B.E.)

We have not blogged in months and that is because we have been having a great time with friends aboard, friends at home, and friends on the road. We have spent a blazing hot summer on the Chesapeake Bay and ran away to Cape May NJ for a two week reprieve. We have enjoyed our spacious home with endless power and hot water, as we play between the boat and the house. Overall, it has been a relaxing and peaceful summer. Since I love to take photos, the best way to show our summer is via my photo collection…..here you go….

Claire, our good buddy, and Blue Eyed friend

Claire (B.E.), Jeff (Nuke Man) and Sharon (Artistic GrL)

Wanda, our good buddy with Radeen

Radeen and Gail sail Island Spirit to Annapolis, MD

Island Spirit sails beautifully for Annapolis, MD

Radeen and Freddie,great friend and our “Mechanical Man”

Radeen and Gail…pretty girls aboard Island Spirit

Blue Angles Airshow Baltimore MD for the 1812 Celebration We were anchored at the edge of the airshow box.

Radeen with a Summer Sunset in Rock Hall, MD

Daphne and Phil arrive from Chicago

Daphne after a full NAVY career, sails Island Spirit

Tall Ships sail past Fort McHenry for the 1812 celebration We drop anchor right off the fort and the ships parade by

Phil and Hayden. Phil makes the BEST OMELETS in the world !

Road Trip to see Jim, Gail and Courtney’s stunning new home

Road Trip to our HOME….wow, nice deck!

Summer in the Chesapeake Bay looks like this. HOT

Road Warriors Visit:  The Kerlins swing by with their 40 foot camper Patricia (IP460 Cutter Loose) Kate (IP350 Eilean) and Radeen

Off we sail to Cape May, NJ for escape from the HOT Chesapeake Bay

Happy Anniversary #32, we popped the DOM

After 2 weeks in CMNJ, we sail north back up the Delaware Bay This is the Salem Nuclear Plant that our buddy Jeff keeps online

Radeen loves living on the boat, and I love taking photos of her 🙂

PARTY: The Fleet assembled in the Magothy River, MD

We celebrated Brian and Amy’s engagement with a trip across the bay Sail to Annapolis, tour the town, pop some MOET, and enjoy dinner at the Charthouse

Haul Out: Aug 21, 2012 Time for one month of service and then off to the Bahamas!

Service Job #1 Rip out the helm and send it in for inspection and repairs. Edson wants to fix one item as a preventative measure.

What a GREAT SUMMER 2012 has been. Normally right now, we would be preparing for the RETURN TO SCHOOL, as we have done for 32+ years. Now, we are dreaming of a return to the Bahamas and beyond! The boat is hauled out for a month while we take a trip to Oregon to visit Radeen’s brother and family in the new log home they built. In September, we will service and re-launch the boat, load it up and make our second run south on the ICW for a repeat of last year. We plan to go deeper into the middle of the Bahamas, the EXUMAS, and explore this beautiful area. From there….we have no plans….we will go where ever…..

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3,514 nautical miles !

As we complete nearly one year of cruising and living aboard our sailboat, I wanted to reflect on some summary statistics. We take a lot of digital photos as we travel and this year we set a record in photos and in nautical miles.

Here is the summary:

How Far did we SAIL?

May 2011….Crew on Larking About, an Island Packet 40: Bermuda to Maryland……………..700 nm
June-Sept 2011….Sail Island Spirit: Maryland to Maine back to Maryland……………………1,563 nm
Oct 2011 – May 2012…Sail Island Spirit: Maryland to Florida to Abacos to Maryland…..3,514 nm

Total Miles traveled in this first year of cruising ………………………………………5,777 nautical miles!
Note: You can see our Google Map of the ICW to Bahamas trip here.

How many Photos did we take?

Summer Maryland to Maine…………4,405 photos
ICW south to Florida…………………..4,915 photos
Bahamas……………………………………3,171 photos
ICW north back to Maryland………..1,333 photos

TOTAL PHOTOS TAKEN…………13,824 photos!

• Of these 13,824 photos, we blogged 2,146 photos here on this blog.
• Of these 2,146 photos, we selected 318 best photos and created our VIDEO PHOTO ESSAY HERE.
• NOTE: I have a typo in this video of 2,514 nm, it was 3,514 nautical miles.

What Cameras do we have?

1. Canon EOS D30 with 300 mm lens and a 28-75 mm lens.
2. Canon PowerShot SX130 which is a 12.1 megapixel camera

• We have enjoyed this first year’s planned adventure so much that we both have decided to do it AGAIN next fall.  After the ICW and Florida, we will explore the Exumas and lower Bahamas and then come back north into the Abacos. 
• We both agree….there is no better life than cruising aboard our boat!

Hayden and Radeen sail north under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, returning HOME from the Bahamas, year #1 completed

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