The Elizabeth Islands - Cuttyhunk

We were on a mooring in Newport for quite a while. Finally the mists surrounding our schedule cleared and we headed for Wickford and a few nights on shore power and a step onto land. Wickford was a peaceful location; a historic village to stroll around, the estuary to explore by kayak, and of course Dave's supermarket - it felt like Harrods to us compared with a couple of weeks of Stop and Shop. After a couple of weeks on a mooring we were also able to get some maintenance jobs done. Both dinghies are now detailed - it was surprising how much bottom growth accumulated in a short space of time. Last Mango is now gleaming inside and out from application of varuious fluids; I think we have just about every cleaning substance available to man on board this boat. We felt virtuous after our labours so it was clearly worth it.

After our chores were done it was time to move on. Destination - the Elizabeth Islands. No, I had not heard of them either...........but they have some interesting history. Named after Elizabeth I; privately owned, mainly by the Forbes family, an old Scottish clan who made their first fortune from opium in China. The island chain lies SW of Cape Cod, and the island we headed for was Cuttyhunk. Here is a picture of Last Mango tied to the pilings at the village dock. In 1602 Bartholomew Gosnold founded the first English settlement in the Americas on Cuttyhunk. Gosnold's plan was to harvest sassafras extract, a herbal medicine of value in treating venereal disease. On return to England with his cargo he encountered some difficulty since Sir Walter Raleigh claimed to have a patent on all New World products. Intriguing trivia! Gosnold had been a Cambridge Scholar and studied law at Middle Temple. But I digress.

Cuttyhunk is a great cruiser destination. There is a well protected natural harbor and the island has very few permanent inhabitants, less than 20. But they are fully geared up to looking after the itinerant cruisers who flock here on weekends in the summer. When we arrived I ordered our lobster at the dock and it was delivered, cooked, at 6pm. If you need something from the Raw Bar it will be delivered to your boat - oysters? Clams? The main dining option on the island is Bart's Cart - just what it says it is. But there is also a breakfast option at the Cuttyhunk Fishing Club.

The island is well known for its striped bass. So much so that a group of New York millionaires bought most of the island in 1865 and built the fishing club; there were 50 members initially and the joining fee was $300. What men will do 

to get their fishing! Apparently they wore jackets and ties even while they fished, and drew lots each day to see which of the 25 fishing stations they would use. Although the club is no longer active, it is a rustic bed and breakfast location and a wonderful place to have breakfast. Here is one happy Admiral at the club on 3 September - the last day of the year that the club will be open for breakfast - it is the end of the season for many (not us!), and as I sit here writing this I am watching boat after boat heading home to the mainland after the holiday weekend.

Yesterday I reviewed the stats for this blog. Wow! I am so glad that you all are following us and reading the musings. To have such a following from around the world............from Austria, Japan, Singapore, Russia, and many other places......is amazing. I started looking at the possibility of pursuing the cruising life by following blogs; it did seem hard to achieve at first but feasibility came with more knowledge. Thank you all for looking in on us; it is much appreciated.

Tomorrow we will move on to some more islands. Here is my checklist for today (1) Engine room checks - always a good idea. (2) Weather forecast tomorrow - 5-10 knots, 2-3 ft seas (that is fine). (3)Reservations/mooring/anchorage - I have a slip reserved at the next destination already. (4) Check the route and likely length of trip (48 miles - 7 hrs). (5) Check tide and currents in Buzzards Bay and the Sounds (best current 2 1/2 hrs after current turns SE at Woods Hole per Eldridge).  

New England

Hallo All

It is a while since I posted. So here is a catch-up...................only a couple of months have passed by but it already feels like a lifetime.

Way back in the mists of time (actually it was only June) we left Last Mango in Essex,CT and flew back to England to visit with friends and family. We had new arrivals to bond with, old friends to catch up with, the departed to remember, and then there was my coming of age party. It was good to relax and watch Wimbledon, do some chores, and stay out of the inclement weather. The jet stream was a couple of hundred miles south of where it should be, and as a result the weather was, in a word, horrible. Putting the heating on in July? Oh well, perhaps that means that the poles will freeze over a bit more? Unlikely.

Back over on this side of the pond we started off with a 90 mile run to Newport where our friend John rolled out the red carpet and treated us to New York Yacht Club hospitality and tours of the Belle Vue mansions and the Newport Shipyard. Yes, this is THE yachting center of the North East. Weather was great and although I have some slight damage to a knee (blame 20 years of tennis) we did the cliff walk hike right round the peninsula. After a few days we made the short run to Bristol to tie up at the America's Cup Museum. The admiral was soon off on an Art Evening after some local networking. Next stop was New Bedford, and a visit to the Whaling Museum, quite an exceptional place. I didn't know that whale oil was still used until the 1960's in various lubricants; another example of man's wanton squandering of scarce resource, I guess we will never learn.

When the time comes to get past Cape Cod, there is a short cut - the Cape Cod canal. Quite a project, it is very wide and 40 feet deep, 8 miles long - and the essential part is to consult one's Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book and enter when the current turns in your favor - then you are whisked along at 4 knots over your normal speed, we almost need our seat belts. We anchored near New Plymouth - close to where the Mayflower arrived. Last Mango is 55' long and has two people aboard; the Mayflower was 100' long and had 130 people plus pigs, goats, poultry, cats, birds and 2 dogs. Those brave people took two months - September to November - to make their journey in 1620.

We try to find places to settle into in our travels, where we can establish a bit of a base. We found one at Salem, Massachusetts. There is an excellent wharf in the center of the town, just steps away from all you need. A weekly farmer's market, the train to Boston (30 minutes and 6 dollars), and the Peabody-Essex Museum, quite a gem. What links Normandy, JP Morgan, and Salem? Well, in the first place, Salem was the first port in America where captains decided to gamble on trade with the Far East - the gamble paid off, and in the 18th century Salem was the richest town in America, and the early museum concept was formed. From Normandy at the time of the English Conquest came a family from Pabode - later forming the name Peabody. George Peabody was an entrepreneur in England and America, involved in trade and banking. His very successful firm took on a new partner - the father of JP Morgan. Later the name was changed. As for George, he was the first philanthropist and his generosities endowed the wonderful museum in Salem and of course many other projects - the Peabody Trust for example. The museum has a number of restored period houses in the town which you can tour in date order. And the piece de resistance, they purchased a fascinating house from village in China - then transported it to Salem for a faithful rebuild.

Now I suppose I have to make some passing comment on the Salem witch trials; it would be remiss of me not to. In 1692 there was an outbreak of mass hysteria and the ordinary functions of society broke down. It took almost a year for people to come to their senses but it was too late for many; approximately 28 people had been executed or had died in prison; familes had been fractured, and property confiscated or appropriated. It took nearly 300 years for the victims to be declared innocent.Today this ugly incident is a reminder of how easy it is for injustice to happen in any society. Salem thrives on the notoriety; the town is full of kitsch stores, witch "museums" and ghost tours. Good luck to them.

From Salem we have made other forays on the train - Boston; Lowell. The latter is full of museums and a working cotton mill (not to mention the Quilt Fair!). Boston's Italian Quarter is a great place for dinner. Certainly it almost reminded us of a wonderful long weekend in Sicily a while ago. Our travels by train, boat and road have revealed enormous infestation of fallopia japonica, one of only 32 plants on the list of the worlds most invasive species according to the World Conservation Union. The USA has been slow to recognise the insiduous spread of this plant although it is listed as an invasive weed in certain other non-New England states. It can grow up to 3" a day and penetrate 2" of asphalt and concrete; the root system extends up to 25' wide and a depth of 10'. It is near impossible to eradicate and spreads over vast areas stifling native species. There are thousands of acres of this plant in New England; nobody appears to recognise it and I have seen it tended as a shrub in hedges and gardens. Look out, Japanese Knotweed will take over the area. I am just doing my bit......................
So, back to the travels. We are now back in Newport, on a mooring in the main harbor. It is very peaceful here and we can pop into town in the dinghy for supplies, walks, and entertainment - it is bustling at this time of the year. And this is the place to get boat things done. Here in Newport I have changed the way the title to Last Mango is held so she is now US flagged (again). Being a foreign-flagged vessel in the Americas is, in a word, a pain.

Forward plans are uncertain. Very much in our thoughts at this time are family in England with health issues. We are going to be here in New England for a while; we may see some of Maine and visit the Islands; we may head back to our base in Salem.

Essential valve cover knowledge

The departure from New York to Long Island Sound needs research on the tides. The plan is to ride the incoming tide up the East River and arrive at Hell Gate at slack. Hence we were underway shortly before 0600 and in the melee of the rush hour ferries as we went round Manhattan Island. Of course the end result of doing the tide research and arriving at the right answer is that all the captains have the same idea and all vessels converge on Hell Gate at 0736 - we had three barges and two small tankers for company! But I found that driving one's yacht around and through New York is probably much less stressful than driving a car.

The weather had not been particularly good for a couple of days and today was no exception. East wind against the outgoing tide in the Sound meant that we had short six foot seas so we were glad to get to Huntington Harbor. Although well sheltered, 20 knots of wind made for an interesting pick-up of a mooring buoy from the yacht club - we will work on the technique..........the 10' bow means you need different strategies ready and available depending on the length of the pick-up stick; availability of the ring on the buoy; length of the line on the buoy........so many options but probably only one will work.

We had a wonderful time in Huntington because cruising friends have lived around here all their lives and very kindly took us out for the day and showed us round. This was my first day on Long Island and I learned a great deal from their local knowledge. Not many people know that the Admiral was a keen biker in her youth and so it was also super treat day for her to view a number of Harley Davidson motorcycles.


For me, I was absolutely fascinated by these incredible machines; it opened up a whole world of something of which I know very little (I know, there are plenty of items in that category). The first Harley was made in 1904 and within five years annual

production was 1,149. The Harley Davidson corporation has survived a turbulent century - the Great Depression, World Wars, Japanese competition, and various forms of corporate controversy. The ability of a brand to stay within the top 50 in the world in these changing times has to be marveled at, particularly when you consider that the focus is on an iconic retro style of product, supported by dream, myth and implied freedom.

HD have a museum containing 450 of their models but there are countless enthusiasts and private collectors out there with their own piece of Harley history.

The essence of a Harley is the V-twin engine which enables a high torque engine to occupy a small space. The cylinders fire at uneven intervals producing the throaty growling exhaust with some popping. The distinctive shape of the valve covers is used by Harley experts to refer to successive model designs. Chronologically they run from F-Head (1914-1929), Flathead (1930-1948), Knucklehead (1936-1947), Panhead (1948-1965), Shovelhead (1966-1984) and so on. If you want to collect something you need to stay in a narrow field..........the bikes in the picture are all Knuckleheads. Yes.

Turning again to that distinctive Harley sound, in 1994 the corporation filed a sound trademark application essentially to protect by patent the sound of their motorcycles. This was dropped six years later after howls of protest by competitors at this sheer piece of cheek. An intriguing factlet all the same.

After all I have learned about Harleys today I will always look upon them in a different light, hoping of course that I will immediately name and recognise them by the valve cover (well, I will try).

We slipped our mooring at Huntingdon and wandered on, pressing further East. Perusing the cruising guide it seemed that the Fishtail would be a good area to visit so we set course for Greenport. The Fishtail is the name for the "messy" end of Long Island. To gain access to Gardiner Bay we pass through Plum Gut, a narrow channel full of current. Gut is probably from the Dutch "gat"  - gate - a Dutch ship foundered in the pass in the 1670's, and in those days there were wild plum trees along the shore. We soon arrive at the municipal marina, right in the heart of Greenport, and explore a charming old world town. Greenport refuses to change, and mixes the old and the new, rich and poor.

We were also treated by Jack, father to Rich, to some wonderful Shelter Island hospitality. Invited over to the island for supper, we thoroughly enjoyed a great evening with Jack and friends, the party never stops in Jack's house. And the following day we were delighted to show off Last Mango and make inroads into the gin supplies on board. May we wish all the best to Jack and Francis, Tom and Irene, and not to forget Frank, all the way from Liverpool. We hope to catch up with you all again either here in the North or in the your other home area - Florida, of course.
Finally we cross the sound and head up the Connecticut River on the flood tide to the charming hamlet of Essex. We will leave Last Mango here for a few weeks while we travel to London, visit family and friends, and generally have a good time. Before we depart I am treated by the Admiral to a special supper at the Griswold Inn, founded in 1776 and exuding eighteenth century atmosphere. The IPA slips down well and I can cut the beef short ribs with my fork. This is not bad at all. 

Lucille and the Big Apple

On the left Last Mango can be seen across the Hudson River at Lincoln Harbor; the view from the pilothouse across to the Empire State Building is on the right. Let's dispel a myth. The cost per night here of mooring one's private yacht is only a little more than the cost of one night in a bed and breakfast in the UK.

Our ferry across to Manhattan takes only six minutes. We spend several days just wandering around soaking up the unique atmosphere in New York, checking out places we stumble into; Susie also hits the museums on her list. Doing a lot of walking and having the occasional foray onto the subway and bus; part of the relatively inpenetrable public transport system. It is always interesting how one soon adopts places as your own as if you have been here for years. I love the delis and bars here, they are great for atmosphere and value. One day we went for brunch at BB King's Blues Club to see the Strawberry Fields show, a Beatles tribute band. They were fab (of course), tremendous fun; afterwards I was talking with "Paul" and sharing memories of seeing the Beatles perform live back in the early sixties - for me it was the Odeon at Weston-Super-Mare. Of course I didn't mention that a few years ago our firm had acted for Heather in the big break up.

I brought the family to New York in the early 90's, we did a number of US-based road trip marathons for our summer holidays. With no particular plan in mind, on one occasion we had landed at Philadelphia and over three weeks drove to New York, Washington DC, New Orleans, Disneyworld Orlando, Savannah and back to Philadelphia. Our New York trip was short; we woke early with the jet lag on the Sunday, were parked Downtown by 9am, up the Twin Towers for the view and a snack and on our way out of town at lunchtime. As usual, Dad didn't hang about. Here now in NY 20 years later the missing Towers and the events of 9/11 are always in one's mind; on the right the Admiral stands by the National Tribute Quilt in the American Folk Art Museum, this is made from thousands of individually named squares, one for each life lost. One can sit quietly here and contemplate such tragic and senseless killing, designed to provoke even more conflict. More people lost their lives than in the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941; another example of how desperate and evil people on this planet can become towards each other, once again with terrible consequences. Pearl Harbor brought about the full scale conflict in the Pacific; by 1945 the casualties exceeded 20 million, including 240,000 from the conclusive bombs "Little Boy" and "Fat Man".
I was keen to visit one or two old haunts from when I used to travel over here on business in the old days. We stayed often then at the Peninsula, so we popped into the Gotham Lounge for a pre-dinner drink. It hadn't changed a bit. But it was empty, and the prices were shocking - these issues are probably connected. On to Palm Too for supper; the food was still very good and the same waiters are still there, although now they actually have a menu. But my instincts tell me that current economic times are taking a vast toll. The streets are absolutely packed, but the busy places are fast food where you can eat virtually anything "and a soda" for only $5, the high end is having difficulty surviving. In a typical diner my iconic pastrami on toasted rye, with fries and a soda, was delicious and a valuesome $9. The pastrami was piled high - all thirty slices of it!
Some four years after the end of the Pacific War, BB King was playing at a dance hall in Arkansas; two men started a fight, and knocked over the kerosene barrel used for heating. He had to run back into the blaze to rescue his guitar. The fight was over a girl called "Lucille" and from then on, BB's guitars bear that name. It is also the name of the bar at the Blues Club, and on a Monday evening Jon Paris plays and hosts a jam session with friends. Jon is an incredible musician, having recorded and played with just about everyone, and he knows just every blues track there is. Well...............yours truly has been playing guitar a lot recently and the fingers are working well so we turned up for the show. It was a high end affair, with some great musicians (Gene Cornish, Joe Berger, Steve Holley), but I am grateful to Jon who introduced me at the beginning of the second set, handed me his Stratocaster and said "You're on!". Seeing a harmonica in his hand - and knowing that one's key selection is essential in these all too  brief opportunities one gets in life - I seized the initiative and hit the E-chord and we were off for a great blues jam. Playing live at BB Kings certainly cures any stage fright you might have.

Andy Warhol said that everyone is famous for fifteen minutes so I had my ration right there. Great fun and something to remember for a long while. Incidentally I was talking to drummer Steve Holley afterwards; he has played with a great many people; in a month's

time he will be playing at the Hop Farm, Paddock Wood, Kent, the week after we will be there. Small world!

Also here is my favorite shot of the evening at Lucille's - the Admiral in full flow, by far the best dancer there that evening Go girl Go!

Soon I turn once again to forward plans...........what next?........

She wore a brand new jersey

It has been hard to get that song out of our heads in this part of the world. Delaware... New Jersey...

Sunday 21 May. Shortly after 0700 I was unplugging us from the shore power and attending to the lines; it will be good to get back to floating docks ..........in Maryland, because the tidal range is so small, docks are fixed; mainly pilings. That means that the fenders need to be horizontal against a piling; and a clove hitch is used to tie to the pilings. Soon we were heading down the Severn and round the early fishing fleet by the William P Lane Memorial Bridge. There must be some fish in the Chesapeake because there are a lot of people fishing..........I haven't seen any catching however yet, apart from the ospreys. As is was a Sunday there was considerable small boat traffic but not many of the big boys; just a couple of commercial vessels heading up to Baltimore. Our course took us up the Tolchester Channel and into the Elk River; it was a blowy day, sometimes over 20 knots. We found out later that in the south Chesapeake it was blowing 35 knots and there were 7 to 12 ft waves; essentially it was impassable down there. For us eventually the channel narrowed and turned into the C&D Canal; it is 150 feet wide, 40 feet deep, and no bridges for us to worry about. Soon we are travelling through leafy Maryland and then Delaware. There was one AIS target coming towards us and it turned out to be what in Panama we call a "bath tub" - a huge 800ft car carrier. After an 8 hour trip I turned into our marina for the night; Summit North. Off the canal in a backwater the guide tells me to watch the depths - I had timed our arrival for a rising tide. Good job too, as I nosed in extremely slowly we had only 6 inches underneath for a hundred feet, thankfully there was more water at our slip, right at the back. There weren't many Nordhavns here that's for sure. I would explain at this point that, since we want to get ashore quickly and easily to explore is not our intention to anchor out much on this first East Coast foray.

Monday 22 May. Today was going to be all about the tides. We needed to run down the Delaware River which can see 3 knots of tide, so we waited at Summit until high tide was approaching (1020), then left to plan our exit from the C&D into the Delaware at high slack (1236). After the run down the Bay, we entered the Cape May canal with an incoming tide (around 1800) because depth can be an issue. Well, the plan was good to start with. At Cape May I had called ahead; the marina with the deep water is South Jersey. Calling the marina they had a tie inside the fuel dock with someone on the dock to take the lines. From my visual analysis it looked tight, once inside the docks I needed a quick turn to starboard and then a reverse into the starboard tie, something that I have done a hundred times. Looked ok but by the time I had run to the stern helm station we were moving away fast; reverse was very difficult and the bow would not come round; regrouping I tried again; the angle was better but we just could not get near that dock and were getting very close to the pilings opposite; at that point I was getting worried that my thrusters would time out which they did (3 minutes of cumulative use and they reset in 15 minutes time). It was then extremely difficult turning into the current and the wind; we were out of the dock but then lying in the tight fairway on the other side of the fuel dock. With no thrusters it was too tight to turn into the wind and current; I worked crabwise down the channel and got the stern to the fuel dock for a dock line; she came round and soon was safely alongside the dock. Tricky! Inspecting the inside fuel dock tie afterwards I saw that there was probably a 5 knot current directly across the end of that dock, no wonder it was extremely difficult to reverse firstly into and across the current and then try to thrust the bow into it. Life is all about lessons isn't it? Sometimes we think that we know just everything. But then, looking back a couple of years, did we really know anything at all?

Cape May is a really good place and it would be good to spend some time here. Susie went off into town to explore but I seemed to have injured my knee so I lingered on board for the day, doing some forward plans. Which inlet do we head for? I was changing the plan every time I looked at it; there are issues with the Atlantic inlets around here and also we have a problem this week, yes, fog. In the morning it was pretty dense and you could tell how reluctant the cruisers were to leave. We hauled out mid-morning and headed for the closest stop, Atlantic City. A short run to the marina at the Golden Nugget; fortunately we were with fellow travellers on Twowowie - Fleming 65 -  and so we went off for supper with them. After supper we wandered the Casino; I have to say that I don't really understand the folk who frequent these places. I have a lot to learn. In the morning the fog persisted and it was a quiet run up the coast; I was "revising" the plan............Manasquan inlet? .... Shark River? ... actually it was a good plan just to head to the anchorage at Sandy Hook; fellow cruisers Richard and Judy on "Knucklehead" saved us a spot there and it was great to set Rocky in the mud and just chill out. Just 14 miles from the Big Apple and here we are in the middle of nowhere.

In the morning I was washing persistent mud off Rocky and when he emerged from the water there was rope and a very old anchor wrapped round him. Well, we waited a bit for some tide to carry us up into New York Harbour. It was an interesting trip since here we were entering one of the busiest harbours in the world and we had visibility of just an eighth of a mile! We had just a three hour trip and in the first two hours we didn't see another vessel apart from on the radar!

Well, we are now safely tied up at Lincoln Harbor Yacht Club. And I  can see across the Hudson River to the Empire State Building. Time to go exploring I think.

Life and Annapolis, Maryland

We are often asked, in many different ways, to describe what occupies our time in the cruising life; I will give you some outline. Here in the Chesapeake for instance, our first job is to leaf through the essential resource - Dozier's Waterway Guide to the Chesapeake, nearly 500 pages of very relevant information to plan our trip. There are comparative marina listings, town plans, distance tables, bridge openings, tide tables - just everything you need. Firstly we fill it full of post-its and identify places that look interesting to visit. The routes can then get planned into Maxsea and we can figure out how to divide our time - a couple of weeks ahead for instance - into a rough port-by-port itinerary. I can book slips as required a few days ahead and we can adjust things as we go along. From the route, the travel days have a known number of miles, and we know how fast we travel so it is then a question of working back from a good arrival time to the required departure hour; we just need then to get to the next port and go ashore to explore. The boat chores need to get done - provisioning, cooking, washing, cleaning, engine room checks and maintenance. Then there is the socialising that takes place everywhere. Lastly we have time for oneself; the Admiral is going to be working on at least one or two quilts, and I am probably working on a guitar piece - at the moment, I am back with one of my old favorites, "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed", which I used to play (badly) back in the early 70's and now I have the music CDs I can try to improve on things forty years later. Also we will spend time on our correspondence and that great essential, Admin, in between the games of Scrabble, always toughly contested. All in all we have a busy time, not many spare moments!

In St Michaels we met fellow Nordhavn owners Jim and Marge on N43 Summer Skis, so we naturally went out for the Maryland speciality, crab cakes.
And here I spent a couple of days cleaning LM up from the tannin-coloured water in the ICW.

It is a short run of 26 miles from St Michaels - 4 hours - to Annapolis. Home to the US Naval Academy, the compact city retains old world charm and is hardly changed from its original design in the late 1600's. It is rich in history, even serving briefly as the capital of the United States at one time.

We were lucky that friends from the FUBAR, Mark and Jeann, live a short way away and came over for the day to show us round the town. There are not many cruisers who have the privilege of a private tour from a graduate of the USNA - Mark graduated in the early 70's, about the same time that I was enjoying Mathematical Economics (!) at the University of Birmingham, England. Mark is extremely knowledgeable and together with input from the musuem I feel my American Naval History might even be getting to an acceptable level. At least we now know all about John Paul Jones and also the experiments of Michelson in the 1870's to measure the speed of light. Michelson had a 2,000 ft line along the banks of the Severn in Annapolis and used a much improved technique pioneered by Foucault to get a very accurate reading of 186,355 miles per second for his Nobel Prize.

After a great day touring around with Jeann and Mark we relaxed with suitable refeshments at the Annapolis Yacht Club.







So, some advance plans. We embark tomorrow, pushing further North as part of the spring migration, following the emerging summer weather (today it is 88 degrees F here in Annapolis). Leaving soon after dawn, we go to the head of the Chesapeake. Even in the mid-1600's it was discovered that only a few miles of marshy land separated Chesapeake Bay from Delaware Bay and now there is a connecting canal. Down the Delaware Bay we will soon be paying close attention to weather before further ventures into Atlantic waters and our destination in a week's time, New York. After a week in New York we head up Long Island Sound and soon after will head to England for a month for family visits and so on.

At this stage of our journey I had always intended to contact a friend and colleague in New York. We worked closely for a number of years in the early 90's on the transatlantic bankrupcy, Robert Maxwell, Maxwell Communications plc and MacMillan Corporation. Tragically I discovered all too late that he passed away, peacefully, on 16 February 2012, at the age of 58. Charles ("Chet") Gerdts III was such fun to work with and as sharp as they come. I don't really have words to describe how sad I am that he has gone. Tim Allen and I will share our memories of you Chet, Rest in Peace.

From our Underway log, our run North has been as follows. Firstly we left Beaufort NC and headed inside on the ICW. The whole day is a tricky exercise in steering the boat since the channel is narrow and sparsely marked; see the picture below for the size of tug that can be encountered from time to time. Wild areas of countryside. And many of the channel markers have osprey nests, so the Admiral was snapping away on the camera. The first day included also some open stretches on the Neuse River, with some rough estuary seas. After 63 miles we found a place to tie up at Belhaven, the Forest Manor, once upon a time a stately mansion, now boarded up and waiting the revival. Next morning we were again on our way at 0630 following travelling companions on Dauntless, another trawler. Another long run which included open stretches of the Albemarle Sound, and the odd bridge with our favorite radio operator - every response was "10-4". The day's run - 77 miles -  ended at Coinjock Marina, clearly a legendary stop en-route. Diesel is just under USD 3.50 a gallon, and Ed and Danny on Dauntless asked us to join them for cocktails and then the 16 oz prime rib dinner; a great evening. The next day we had to factor in an unexpected bridge repair - there was emergency closure from 0600 to 2000 at the Gilmerton Rail Bridge. This resulted in a late departure from Coinjock and some travel strategy; there are a number of bridges with set opening times and also the Great Bridge Lock.......in the end, we had on of those slow-quick-quick-slow days and finally we arrived Portsmouth around 2230; pouring with rain. The next day we walked the Olde Towne, a mixture of 18th and 19th centuries, very scenic. Having checked the weather (vastly improved), next morning we were on our way out into the Chesapeake and a 51 mile run to Deltaville; once there we borrowed the marina bikes and checked out the town.......a short trip! Today it has been silky smooth on the water and a pleasant run to Solomons, Maryland, a big yachting centre. It is a lively place, and we have been out to the hostelry with more new friends in this small world, remembering mutual cases and acquaintances in the global world of forensic accounting...........


Tug and barge on the ICW - stay clear!



Many, many breeding Osprey pairs to see





Sunset on the Chesapeake