Category Archives: Port posts
The OCC Azores Rally
Great catching up with old friends
I was really happy to discover the OCC were planning a rally in the Azores at the same time that we would be there. Peter Café sport was celebrating their 100 year anniversary and together with the OCC put together a week of events.
We arrived on Saturday 16th June a day behind Ken on Antaras. Our old friends Norman and Sara had arrived on Norsa a few weeks earlier. It was good to meet up for a meal later that day.
The end of the pursuit race
Free beer and wine brought out a crowd
The start of the week began with the end of the Pursuit ‘race’ at 12.00 on 18th June and despite many boats having to motor to the Azores through lack of wind, there were quite a few boats crossing the line. I watched from the harbour wall. Time was allowed to check-in, collect badges from OCC rally control and generally catch their breath before the first event that evening. Jose was offering free wine, beer and gin & tonics before everyone followed the leaders to the fort in Porto Pim where a large pig was being barbecued.
The fort at Porto Pim
The pig roast
There were speeches from the mayor in Portuguese, with a young lady interpreting, followed by a speech from John Franklin and Jose thanking every one. Several of the sailors had completed their 1000 mile qualifying trip on the way to the Azores and were rewarded with an OCC burgee. The food was very nice and plentiful, the setting in the evening sun was glorious.
Norsa on their way out of the harbour
The next morning we said goodbye to Norman and Sara because they were anxious to get back to the uk.
Bill walking
Looking back up the steep bank
Meanwhile the group was divided up with some going on a guided walk in the morning but we joined the afternoon walk. Something was lost in translation because I, along with a number of other participants, thought we were going on a guided walk of the town but instead we were taken on a wonderful bus trip to the centre of the island and taken on an 8km route march! It wasn’t so bad and the views down towards the ocean were impressive. It was a fairly easy walk except for one area that had collapsed during a recent landslide and it was necessary to scramble down one side on pumice rocks which turned themselves into ball bearings, and then back up the other side which fortunately had steps cut into the hill side. After 3 hours we eventually re-joined the bus for the trip back to the harbour. There was just time for a shower and a quick change before a scrumptious dinner at Peter café sport courtesy of Jose.
Beautiful views out to sea
Beautiful Hydrangeas
The flowers in the hedgerows are beautiful here.
Not sure what these are but they were beautiful
Wild strawberries
Beautiful ferns, lots of amazing greens.
The path followed an open culvert
The forecast for Wednesday was cloudy so sadly the planned walk around the caldera was cancelled. Jose came to the rescue once again with lunch provided at Peter Café Sport. I, along with many others, although sad not to see the caldera, was quietly relieved at not having to do 2 walks in 2 days. That evening there was a visit to the Volcano museum with a reception which by all accounts was excellent but we chose an early night.
Early morning view of Pico
A full ferry
Thursday saw every one emerging from their boats early for the 15 minute walk to the ferry port to catch the 7.30 ferry to Pico. Once everyone boarded the trip took about 20 minutes.
Looking back to Horta from the ferry
The interesting vineyard
The group was divided between 2 coaches, ones having lunch and those not. Having made our picnic we joined the no lunch coach although they travelled together. The first stop was to a vineyard but with a difference. The vines were being grown in clumps behind little dry stone walls expertly built, it reminded us of Lanzarote where the vines were grown in little hollows. The reasoning behind this is firstly it protects them from the wind and secondly the bricks heat up during the day and then during the night the cooling causes condensation and therefore making them self watering.
There are red windmills like this all over the island
The beautiful red windmill in the centre looked lovely but probably didn’t function any more judging by the sails. Everyone took turns in climbing the little ladder to get a better view of the vines.
The cafe garden. Can you see his goat?
We stopped for coffee by a little roadside cafe who didn’t appear to know we were coming when he saw 2 bus loads of tourists descending on him but coped very well. The coffee here is really nice and only €1 a cup. They don’t know what cappuccino is but a latte is the same. The area was very rural with a lovely garden behind the cafe.
One of the very good exhibits
Eventually we arrived at Lajes and were taken to visit the whale museum. The group were shown into a video room to watch a video of how the whales used to be caught. I didn’t want to watch anything like that and chose not to watch it. I’m glad I didn’t because apparently it was fairly graphic.
The view from our lunch spot
The view across the harbour. Our lunch stop was just to the left of the photo
After the museum visit the ‘lunch included’ coach gathered its group and left for a restaurant outside the town. Bill and I took our picnic and climbed up to an old fort for a wonderful view looking down on the harbour while we ate our lunch and had time to explore the pretty village.
The streets of the old town were very narrow
Very pretty
I love all the shutters
Lake in the hills
Our coach joined the other one as we set off over the hill to the northern side of the island. A brief stop by a lake gave us some lovely photos but the mist was coming in so we moved on. The coach continued over the hill and stopped again before descending to Sao Roque do Pico for more photos.
Very beautiful island
A natural pool in among the rocks
We stopped at a natural swimming pool among the rocks. Unfortunately no one had brought any swimmers with them although a couple of people jumped in in their underwear – no not me!
Stunning coastline
Amazing rocks
Interesting arch
The last stop was a little village with more splendid views. You used to be able to walk across this natural arch but it’s breaking up now so we viewed from afar.
Bill bought a bottle of the brandy. The last bottle on the right hand side of the top shelf.
There was a little distillery there and we were offered a free tasting. Bill couldn’t resist the old 51% proof Brandy and bought a bottle. It was back on the ferry and then back to our boats before another quick change in time for a delicious dinner in Praia do Almoxarife, a coach ride across the hill.
Back on the coach
James, Ken and Bil
Friday was allocated to whale trips but we didn’t go although the ones that did had some excellent sightings. I went along to Peter Café sport for a tour of Jose’s Scrimshaw museum with Jose himself giving the tour. He has an excellent collection which was brought to life so much better for knowing the history of it all. I was fascinated and spent an hour peering into the many glass cases. That evening everyone dressed ‘smart casual’ for the final dinner and prize giving. It was amazing how everyone scrubbed up and looked wonderful in their smart clothes. We shared a table with Ken and Eiloo of Antaras II and James and Patti of LaAdventura. Ken won a prize for being the first single hander to arrive,. Speeches were made and prizes handed out before a wonderful buffet dinner was served.
Bill and I feel so fortunate to have been in the Azores the same time as the OCC rally. Let’s hope it isn’t 100 years before the next one.
New york state.
Our car on the country roads
Thursday 12th October we left the motel and continued to drive north on I87 leaving it to drive a circuit of the Catskills area. The interstates are useful for getting somewhere quickly but, like all motorways, they aren’t very scenic plus there was no where to stop when I saw something I wanted to photograph. I was looking for a white church, with red trees, green grass and no power lines!
Some nice leaf colour by the river.
Driving through the countryside
The Catskills is a mountainous region west of the Hudson Valley and hosts a mixture of cultures, both manmade and natural. In 1894 the state constitution was amended so that thousands of acres will be kept as wild forest lands. It’s the closest place to New York city to see the Autumn leaves.
Interesting Halloween display
We left the I87 and drove onto route 28 to join the country roads passing through Arkville. This house in Arkville had one of many Halloween displays we saw. Halloween is big business here and the shops were full of costumes and decorations for your house. This garden had so much going on.
Beautiful trees in Roxbury
Colourful Tannersville
In Arkville turn north to Roxbury then head back east on Rte 23 which passes through colourful Tannersville. All the houses and shops were painted in lots of interesting colours.
Autumn flowers with a Halloween theme
Creepy
The Halloween display outside this shop was a bit scary. I wouldn’t have been surprised if this had been someone dressed up but I don’t think it was.
Colourful trees by the lake in Tannersville
And also a white church on the hill
Red leaves on the ground
After coffee we continued for a few miles east to the Kaaterskill falls. There are so many wonderful hikes in this area and the Kaaterskill falls was recommended to us. With a change of shoes we were ready to go. There were a lot of leaves on the ground already from the recent rain but still a lot on the trees.
There was stunning leaf colour all around the gorge
The top half of the falls
The Kaaterskill falls are at the end of an enormouse gorge. It was very autumnal to start with but we soon warmed up when we started walking. The views were stunning. The walk was downhill into the gorge until we came out into a clearing at the middle level. The falls were in the shade but you can still see the strata in the rocks. The falls were greatly reduced at that time of the year but it would be spectacular with the snow melt.
The first stage fell into a pool surrounded in moss.
Amazing colours surrounding the observation deck.
Looking up you could see the observation deck which is only a short walk from the car park.
The surrounding colours were beautiful. The water fall continued and so did we.
The lower half of the falls
The two falls together
The last part of the path was steps which made it easy to get to the bottom pool. I’m sure in the summer it would be lovely to have a dip but a bit cool that day. I counted the steps back up- 198! My poor knees but it was good to get out of the car for some exercise. The views across the gorge were glorious.
The whole of the gorge and the mountain beyond was a riot of Autumn colours
Looking down onto the falls
Once back at the top we walked to the observation deck to look down onto the falls for more amazing views.
You only need one tree
The view from the observation deck was equally stunning
A much nicer airbnb
Our walk had taken several hours but we really enjoyed it. Afterwards we headed back to the I87 because we had about 120 miles to travel north in New York state to the Saratoga springs area for another airbnb. After dinner we arrived at a beautiful New England style house hosted by Joanna with a bedroom, bathroom and sitting room just for us. Really nice and completely different from our Philadelphia experience.
Lake George
Driving passed more beautiful trees.
The Adirondack mountains cover 9375 sq miles from the centre of New York state to the Canadian border. With many peaks over 4000ft high. Like the Catskills to the south, much of the Adirondacks’ dense forest is protected by the state constitution. It’s also a great place to see the colour show of the Autumn leaves. Lake George is the gateway to the Adirondacks. A 32 mile lake with paddle-wheel boats rides on the crystalline water’s. Friday 13th we stopped there for breakfast before our hunt for more Autumn leaves continued.
An old mill house
Beautiful reflections in this lake before the water disappeared over the dam
There were many more smaller lakes and rivers to see on our onward quest towards Lake placid.
Amazing lower tree line of fir trees but behind it acres and acres of Autumn glory
Amazing scenery
Difficult to catch the right light. Needed more sun
Lake Placid public library
Lake Placid is a tiny resort town made famous by the winter Olympics of 1932 & 1980. It is sited by the mirror lake. Unfortunately with the wind that day there weren’t any mirror reflections. We parked up and walked around the town. Every where was fairly small including the local library and this beautiful stone church on a small rise.
Beautiful stone church
The mirror lake but no reflections
We had a delicious lunch overlooking the mirror lake.
More Autumn leaves – sorry
The Whiteface mountain toll gate
After lunch we drove further north and up towards the Whiteface mountain toll road where the Olympic ski races were held. Whiteface is the only peak in the Adirondacks accessible by car. Unfortunately it had clouded over and the colours of the leaves weren’t great. Furthermore when we got to the toll gate we found it was closed until May!
Spectacular colour
I love these Autumn colours
Not to be put off we decided to walk up. It was nice to have the road to ourselves apart from a couple of bikes who also got round the barrier. At first the view was obscured by trees in the fore ground but after about an hour of walking up we came to a clearing designed for picnics where the scenery was magnificent. The sun came out in bursts to improve the colours.
Glorious colours
Mile upon mile upon mile upon mile of colour. It goes on as far as the eye can see.
You can just see lake Placid in the distance
Another view of the lake
Taking a rest before the walk back down
Bill by the lake
When we got back down to the car the light had brightened and there were some lovely reflections in a small lake by the toll gate.
7
Beautiful reflections
Driving along the river
We continued to drive through the forest towards Platsburgh where we stayed in a wonderful airbnb with KC in her querky house. Again we had a bedroom, sitting room and toilet to ourselves on the lower floor. We sat in the garden with her in the twilight drinking her homemade wine. Airbnb is certainly the way to meet local people.
Spectacular scenery. The river bank was just a riot of colour
Pennsylvania
An Amish horse drawn buggy
Monday 9th October we were all packed and ready to leave but it was raining. Gemma’s garden was a fairly steep bank to climb up some uneven steps so we waited until it eased off a bit. At 11.00 we called an uber and went to the car hire place. After the initial checks we were on our way driving north out of Maryland into Pennsylvania. We headed into the so-called Pennsylvania Dutch community. These religious orders and cultures have been established here since the 18th century. Amish are the best known for their devotion to various degrees of low-tech, plain living but it was really slightly surreal seeing them in the flesh riding up and down the country roads in their very characteristic horse drawn buggies.
Sitting in the buggy
They were offering rides around the local homesteads in one of these so we decided it might be a nice way to dip our toes into their culture. We shared our buggy with several other families. Levi, our host in his straw hat, Dutch beard and plain garb chatted away about their culture. The first thing we noticed was that there were no power lines going to the houses.
No powerlines
An Amish farm
As we trotted the few miles around his circuit Levi gave an introduction to the plain way of life they lead. We were fascinated that they did not not allow electricity into the house but discovered that this community, each having it’s own slightly different rules, allows a diesel generator to be run twice a day for just two hours to allow them to milk their cows. The power is also used for a variety of tasks including charging compressed air tanks up. This compressed air is then used to drive air powered washing machines inside the houses which along with gas lamps prevent the wickedness of electricity from entering the home. So they have washing machines, I could live there!
Bill and I with our buggy
They have a very plain and simple life with a structured day that starts at 5am with milking the dairy herd and ends with lights out at 8pm. Youngsters are schooled in Amish schools and rarely go outside of the community other than for something called a run around where young adults are allowed out into the world to find out what it is like and then given a choice. ‘Come back and follow our way of life or go and never come back’. Unsurprisingly the vast majority return to live in the community for the rest of their lives. For such sheltered folk the world must be a scary place.
Lady in buggy
The first of the glass buildings of Philadelphia
It rained on and off all day as we continued our drive to Philadelphia. We stayed in an airbnb for the next 2 nights. We purposely choose the cheapest accommodation just to see what you got for your money. Could have gone badly but worked out ok in the end. It was in the ethnic area of town and we were the only whites in the area but Deidre was very friendly. She had 4 rooms available that shared a bathroom and kitchen. It was clean and fairly quiet but i think we’ll go a bit higher next time.
Tuesday 10th we left the car outside the airbnb and took an uber into town, much less stress.
We enjoyed Philadelphia established by Quaker William Penn in 1682. Some if its streets are lined with glass buildings but it’s also the birthplace of American government where the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. For a time in its early years, Philadelphia was the second largest city in the British empire, after London, then, along with Boston, the empire’s undoing. From the start of the Revolutionary War until 1790 (when Washington dc was founded), it was the new nation’s capital.
The city hall, it was difficult getting it all in the photo
Half of the city hall
We started our day at the city hall completed in 1901. It’s 548ft high not counting the 27 ton bronze statue of William Penn which makes it the world’s tallest structure without a steel frame. It holds mostly offices.
Beautiful reflections
The fountain in the square outside is allowed to freeze in the winter for ice skating but that day it was giving some wonderful reflections of the surrounding buildings.
The view from the observation deck at the top of the tower was stunning.
Looking out to the Benjamin Franklin bridge
Looking out over the CBD
Looking down John F Kennedy blvd
The stairway was impressive too.
There was a lift to the top of the tower but the staircase alongside it was pretty impressive too.
Looking up into the dome
The reconstruction of where George Washington’s house was.
Bill and I continued walking along Market street towards the old city which has been dubbed ‘America’s most historic square mile due to the role it played in the American revolution and the earliest years of American democracy. There is a large L-shaped area designated Independence National Historic Park. It starts where the foundations of George Washington’s house are marked.
The liberty bell
Behind the house is the Liberty bell centre which houses the icon of Philadelphia history. Weighing 2080lbs it was made in 1751 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Pennsylvania’s constitution. It tolled on the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. The crack developed in the 19th century and it was retired in 1846.
Independence Hall
A painting of 1776
Independence Hall is renowned as the birthplace of American government. It’s a modest Quaker building and is where delegates from the 13 colonies met to approve the Declaration of Independence on July 4th 1776. There’s a painting of the meeting in the entrance. It was a beautiful building inside.
The courthouse
The senate with a lot of original artefacts in place
The stunning staircase
A copy of the original declaration of independence signed by the representatives of the 13 colonies
The beautiful tower.
The beautiful Congress hall
Lovely park gardens
We continued to walk around the old part of the city, it was really attractive.
Majestic buildings
Interesting street.
It was wonderful day and the rain kept away. We got an uber back to the airbnb and luckily not only was the car still there it still had it’s wheels! Haha only joking wasn’t that bad. More Philadelphia photos on facebook.
The Raymondskill falls
Wednesday 11th we headed out to the Delaware Water gap, a beautiful spot where the Delaware river passes through the Kittatinny mountains. In the pre air conditioning days it was a popular resort destination. It also acts as a border between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The 30 mile road on the Pennsylvania side gave some stunning views and the beginning of the Autumn leaves. We stopped at the Raymondskill falls car park and walked down to the falls for a picnic. The falls were small but very picturesque.
Not a bad selfie
Leaves turning colour
After our picnic walked back to the car.
Btw this is the rental car. The bottom 2 categories, small or compact were the same price so we booked compact. When we picked it up we were offered the next size up for a few dollars a day extra. Having already spent a lot more than we intended we turned down the offer. Then they said they didn’t have any compact and this the smallest car they had!
Bill with the Mitsubishi outlander
A bridge over the river
The drive through the trees was beautiful although it clouded over in the afternoon. Frustratingly there weren’t many places to stop. We kept seeing the most beautiful scenes but no where to stop. Eventually we found a car park and I was able to take some reflection photos.
Beautiful river bank
Looking up the river
Having driven the Delaware Water gap we made our way back onto interstate 84 then onto the 87. We crossed the border into New York state and stopped at a motel in Poughkeepsie for the night. There were about half a dozen to choose from. The next day was the Catskills.
Beautiful Autumn leaves
Maryland
Pretty house built around a lighthouse
Monday 2nd October there was no wind as usual so we motored south. We had a day in hand so decided to stop in Magothy bay overnight and dropped our anchor just after 5pm. The waypoint was
39°04.916N
076°27.623W
There were the usual ‘cottages’ around the water’s edge. One of them was set on an island and built around a lighthouse. I can’t imagine it ever being used for navigation that far inside the bay but it looked pretty.
Tuesday 3rd, after taking my turn on the OCC net on the SSB radio, we got underway again.
Big double bridge crossing right over the Chesapeake
This bridge is one of the few possible ways of crossing the Chesapeake from Maryland to Delaware. It was enormous and disappeared off towards the horizon.
Approaching Crab creek
It was a shame we didn’t have more time to explore the bay but October was heavily planned with events and our holiday. I had contacted an OCC member and asked if we could leave Camomile on the jetty at the end of her garden, as advertised on the OCC website. It’s an amazing feature the OCC offer and well worth the membership fee. The marinas in the U.S. are way beyond our budget at over $100 a day. Gemma’s place is just south of Annapolis in Crab creek.
One of Gemma’s neighbours
The jetty is just across from the boathouse on the left of the photo.
There were several other OCC boats anchored in the creek as Gemma allows them to use her jetty to tie up their dinghies.
The jetty is at
38°57.522N
076°31.811W
Gemma is the port officer for Annapolis and her contact details are on the OCC website if you are members.
Bill tying Camomile securely to the jetty.
Screenshot of our position on the chart
The OCC end of season dinner
Gemma moved to the U.S. from the Netherlands many years ago. It was very generous of her to allow us to use her jetty, we were very grateful. It was so nice to be able to step ashore. Gemma’s house is set up a steep bank which we walked up to look for the supermarket to buy a few supplies.
Wednesday 4th was the day of the OCC US east coast end of season dinner. Gemma and other OCC members did a wonderful job of arranging lifts for everyone. It was nice to dress up for a change. Some of the cruisers we had met on the Maine rally in August were there along with Dick and Moira from the Westerly called Equinox. It was nice to see them again.
The lady speaker
Dinner was chicken Cesar salad and a very nice tortellini in a creamy sauce with prawns followed by some chocolate dipped thingys. It was all delicious.
The speaker was a lady from the Chesapeake bay program who spoke about their restoration of the bay and the control of the environment protection they are undertaking.
Visiting the Annapolis boat show
Thursday 5th I spent a very frustrating day trying to book a car for our holiday and kept hitting brick walls! The problem in the U.S. is that everyone carries their own insurance but as we don’t we would have to take out the car hire’s CDW (they insist). This would only cover the hire car if any one hit us or if we damaged it so we needed a second insurance that was a third party insurance that would cover us if we damaged anyone else’s car or, more importantly, them. I spent all day trying to find cheaper options but gave up in frustration.
The Annapolis boat show
Bill next to the Gin tent – the equivalent of the Guinness tent
Friday 6th again the OCC members arranged for the cruisers to be picked up and taken to the boat show. The Annapolis boat show is almost as big as the Southampton boat show but is divided into two shows, sailboats the first weekend then there’s a 2 day change around with the motor boat show the following weekend. It was great to see some old friends. We were just standing by the Gin tent when who should wander by but Jason of YOLO and Karen. Haven’t seen them since Malaysia. There were also a number of new friends recently made.
Meeting Jimmy Cornell
It was nice to speak to some old friends on the supplier stands. We finally met the guy who organised our new Staylok fittings when we had our rig failure on the way to the Galapagos. Also Will Curry was on the Hydrovane stand. We almost helped him with a sale by telling his client how good our Hydrovane was and how we wouldn’t be without it. Will had a guest on his stand later in the afternoon and that was Jimmy Cornell. We last met Jimmy at the Cruising Association in London many years ago when he had inspired us to go sailing. It was great to meet him again.
Bill on Solstice
Jake and Jackie of Hokule’a
After the boat show we made our way to Solstice in the marina for the reunion we had been looking forward to. Bill on Solstice had invited our lovely friends Jake and Jackie of Hokule’a, now based in California, to stay with him, also Jack and Zdenka of Kite drove down from Portland where we met in the summer. Neil and Ruth had Rutea across the way and were invited and Behan of Totem joined us later in the evening. It was wonderful to all be together again and catch up on everyone’s news.
Ruth, Zdenka, Jackie and Sue
On Saturday 7th I looked at the hire car situation again including working out if it would be cheaper to fly to Boston and hire a car from there but it was more expensive. I looked at trains but they were also expensive plus public transport isn’t so regular in the States. Buses aren’t so good either so eventually I booked a car at a cost of $25 a day plus over $40 a day for the 2 insurances. Crazy!
Sunday 8th I spent the day cleaning the boat and packing and getting excited.
October is here.
The blog has got very behind so I’ll try to bring it up to date and maybe fill in the gaps later.
Sailing under the Brooklyn bridge.
I’m going to divide our Land trip into states.
After dodging several hurricanes in September we finally started heading south at the end of the month. It was fun travelling through the East river into Manhattan and sailing passed the statue of Liberty again.
NEW JERSEY
The statue of Liberty
Our last glipse of New York city in the distance.
It’s possible to anchor behind the Liberty but it was a bit rolly so we carried on south to Sandy hook and anchored behind the breakwater next to our friends Ruth and Neil on Rutea. We all went for a nice meal at a Thai restaurant that Neal had found in the town. We anchored at
40°25.095N
074°01.308W
The next morning the 1st October we set sail for the overnight trip to the Delaware river taking one last glimpse of New York.
Early morning fog just starting to clear.
We had fairly strong winds on the passage south overnight but as it was a northerly it wasn’t uncomfortable. We arrived at the entrance to Delaware bay at 8am, just as the tide was turning against us. At the same time we had to turn up into the wind. Not nice. We decided to go into cape Henlopen to wait for the tide to turn anchoring at
38°47.7N
075°06.2W
Just after midday we started off again with Toodle oo and the Australian Amel Perigee. It had been worth waiting for the tide because it carried us all the way to the C&D (Chesapeake and Delaware) canal plus, just as we arrived at the canal entrance, the tide turned in our favour again. We continued until midnight when the tide was going to turn against us and went into a tiny anchorage about three quarters of the way along the canal with Perigee. The waypoint is
Perigee behind us.
39°31.551N
075°48.455W
The entrance was shallow but once inside it was good. We arrived just in time because the fog was coming down and was still there in the morning.
Monday 2nd October we continued along the C&D canal emerging into the Chesapeake at 11am. We were starting to see the autumn leaves and we were now in Maryland.
A bridge over the C&D canal
Beautiful house on the waters edge
Leaves just starting to turn
June Update
This is also very late but here is the June update. I hope it isn’t too boring but I put the waypoints in for my yachtie friends.
Lovely fountains near the apartment
We arrived safely back in Florida and Kate had very kindly booked an apartment for us all to stay in for 3 nights. Bill and I had wanted to get back to the boat to start getting it prepared to head north but I was quite ill when we got back and the rest in the apartment was very welcome. I had had a nasty cold for several weeks in the UK and added to the jetlag combined with the heat I wasn’t improving. I retained my cold right through June, just couldn’t shake it off. The apartment was in a nice area with the Disney parks a short bus ride away but at $105 ++ per person we didn’t visit them.
One of the pools
There was a nice pool and gym which Kate and Mark enjoyed while I rested in the air conditioning for the first day but joined them the next day. Again the most convenient way to get back to the boat with all our luggage was hire a one-way car, a shiny red Dodge. Sorry forgot to take a photo. After travelling three sides of a square because I’m rubbish with GPS (give me a map any day) we were eventually on our way. We stopped at a mall on the way back but it was fairly uninspiring.
The car didn’t have to go back until the next day so we made use of it to stock up the boat with food and wine to take back to the boat. This is a boring photo of the local supermarket car park but look at the size of the cars! More about them later.
Harbourtown marina has a nice little pool which Kate and Mark enjoyed while I sorted the boat out. It easier on my own. When we had left on the 9th May it was a nice temperature but now after 3 weeks away the temperature had soared and the pool was the only place to cool down.
Happy birthday Kate
Sunday 4th was Kate’s birthday and I had a nice salad lunch with a cake to celebrate.
There was a double celebration that day because our Blue Water rally friends Peter and Margie drove up from Miami to join us for lunch. They had brought bubbles for the double celebration. We had a great time chatting to them not having seen them since 2011 in NZ at Kate’s house so lots to catch up on.
Bill, Sue, Margie and Peter
The ICW is lined with these huge houses
Finally on Tuesday 6th we got going. Unfortunately there was a thunderstorm brewing and I didn’t want to go on the outside. We were already late and didn’t want to wait another day so travelled up the ICW instead. Once we passed through the opening Fort Pierce north bridge we were committed and couldn’t go back. As the wind was coming from the south Bill pulled the headsail out and we sailed slowly up the waterway. Most of the Florida section is lined with these huge homesteads that are obscene in their size. At first we thought they were hotels or apartments but then we realised they were 1 house.
Day boats
Most of them have their own jetties with various types of boats on them. These are very popular and potter up and down the waterways. I would think they have a fairly shallow draft so don’t have to keep within the channel.
Irritating stink pots
Unfortunately there are also a lot of these. Just look at the wash this was kicking up. The owners have a total disregard for anyone else on the waterways. There are ‘no wash’ signs everywhere but they ignore them.
It’s shallow outside of the channel
It’s really important to keep with in the channel, a few feet out of it is very shallow as you can see from these boys just able to step out of their vessel.
We found a nice little anchorage for the night just north of the Eau Gallie fixed bridge. For my yachties friends the waypoint is
28°08.11N
080°37.343W
The next day we were off again and sailed with just the genny again. Mark enjoyed taking a turn on the helm. By lunchtime the wind had gone and it started to rain. The decision was made to go into a marina. Oddly enough it was also called Harbourtown marina. It was in the Canaveral Barge canal at
28°24.51N
080°40.757W
At $104 for 2 nights, which, for a transient berth, was a bargain for America. We stayed 2 nights enabling us to visit the Kennedy Space centre at Cape Canaveral, which was just a taxi ride away. If you come to Florida forget the Disney parks, do the Kennedy Space center we had a great time there.
The rocket garden
Bill had a sit in a rocket.
The day started off sunny and we explored the Rocket garden but the clouds built up and brought the rain later in the day. Your ticket includes a guided bus tour of the launch sites and we were able to get quite close to them although you have to stay on the bus.
This is the huge crawler that carries the space rocket from the hanger where it’s assembled to the launch pad at a really fast 1 mile an hour.
The crawler base
This is one of the launch pads. You can see the crawler tracks.
This is one of the launch pads. You can see the crawler tracks.
The bus stops on the Cape Canaveral island at further exhibition halls. This was a simulator for a rocket launch and these screens were showing an actual launch. I have a video of the whole thing. The floor was shaking and it was very loud, it was really exciting. It would be fantastic to witness an actual launch.
Rocket launch simulator
Part of the simulator
The Saturn V
The main hall had a really Saturn V on display. Bill was very excited to see it.
There were lots of smaller exhibits to see before getting back on the bus to go back to the main site.
The space shuttle
One of the main exhibits on that side contained an actual space shuttle. We all queued for the Shuttle Launch Simulator, which was fun. We all laughed while trying to speak as our voices were all shaking with the simulated speed.
This is an actual space shuttle not a model.
The space shuttle
Everything was very well presented and I would recommend it. Back to the marina to cool off in their pool and put some washing on.
Our selfie. haha
Following English boat through the open bridge.
The next day Friday 9th we discussed going outside again, there’s an inlet at the end of the Canaveral canal, but there was no wind and it was quite a long way out so we continued up the ICW.
More bridges.
More beautiful houses but the ICW was as boring as it looks. The water was filthy and Camomile was starting to get a dirty mark around her waterline.
More big houses
Titusville bridge
We traveled just 4 hours that day and stopped at Titusville to give our guests a chance to go ashore. We anchored just south of the bridge at
28°37.170N
080°47.928W
During the evening a band set up by a bar under the bridge and they played some really nice music. Kate and I were dancing around the deck all evening. Unfortunately the next day we discovered another blight of the ICW. As the screens hadn’t been in, the boat was full of mosquitoes and we were all covered in bites, except Mark, they didn’t seem to like him!
Kate and Mark had decided to spend the last few days of their holiday back in a hotel in Orlando; I think the air conditioning was calling because it was very hot on board and the ICW is fairly uninspiring.
Daytona beach south
Saturday 10th no wind. Bill and I got up at 6.00, lifted the anchor and got going. It was 38 miles to Daytona beach where Kate and Mark were leaving us so we decided to get there as soon as possible so they could enjoy the beach. I found another small marina that just had a little space for Camomile at
29°09.272N
080°58.541W
It was called 7 Seas marina and was very friendly. No pool but washing machines and showers for $93.09 for 2 nights. It was just outside Daytona and the beach was a short walk away.
Daytona beach north
Daytona beach bills itself as ‘The World’s Most Famous Beach’. It’s the birthplace of NASCAR, which started in 1947. Its origins go back as far as 1902 to drag races held on the beach’s hard packed sand. We were a bit further south than the actual Daytona beach but it all looks the same. It was a beautiful beach. Kate and Mark went off to explore. When Bill and I got down to the beach it reminded us a bit of the Gold coast in Australia.
This was our first and only time on the beach on the East coast south of Virginia. There aren’t any suitable anchorages along the coast. The inlets were quite bouncy until you were well inside the ICW. Most of the anchorages in the ICW are fronted by beautiful houses but nowhere to land among the private docks. We noted some public jetties but they were often full with local ‘day’ boats and a fair walk to the beach. So Daytona was our one and only walk on the beach.
Mark with 2 breakfasts
Sunday 11th was their last day and Kate kindly treated us all to breakfast in Pat’s café. Mark over ordered and managed to get two breakfasts but he still eat it all! The marina manager very kindly offered to give them a lift into town to catch their bus back to Orlando so we said our goodbyes and they left.
The next day the marina manager offered to take us to the supermarket, as we needed to restock the boat before we headed north, everyone was very friendly there. We left in the afternoon and motored south to anchor by the Ponce de Leon inlet ready for an early start in the morning. The anchorage was at
29°03.671N
080°55.890W
I’m not sure I would recommend it because the anchorage was full of midges of some sort and in the morning we were both covered in bites, particularly Bill. His chest was covered in little tiny red bites.
Time was pressing on. It was 13th June and we were still in Florida. Our insurance company had asked us to be north of 35° north before 1st June and we were still at 29°N. On reflection we should have got Camomile much further north before going to the UK. Hurricane season had started and we weren’t covered for a named storm although hurricanes are very rare in June. In fact it was the opposite there wasn’t any wind forecast; another reason I would recommend trying to get north early. We had been advised by friends who had sailed these shores on previous years ‘Go north quickly, come south slowly’ although it’s a bit late in the season that was our plan, to try to get north as quickly as possible.
St Augustine waterfront
That morning there was no wind but we left early and motored on the outside covering 62 miles to St Augustine. We arrived in the rain and tried 3 times to anchor but were told by a local there’s no holding and to pick up a buoy. It was at
29°53.66N
081°18.55W
The next morning we decided to have a look at the town before we moved on but went to pay for the buoy first. It was $25 for the night plus we were informed we had to ‘check out’ by 11am, it was 10am. After complaining bitterly the harbour master relented and gave us until 1pm!
Juan Ponce de Leon
St Augustine was founded by the Spanish in 1565 and is the oldest permanent settlement in the US. Juan Ponce de Leon discovered it in 1513 and has his statue erected near where he stepped ashore.
The entrance of the big government building that dominates the town
The beautiful Basilica
We wandered into the Cathedral Basilica and found a striking building inside. Some of the walls and woodwork had beautiful murals painted on them.
The interior was stunning
The altar was beautiful
The altar was sitting on a marble floor and had a centrepiece behind the altar covered in gold and surrounded by the organ pipes. Really stunning. It was also cool in there.
The main street
Quaint houses
We walked down the pedestrianised St Georges street. I felt it was on the edge of being Disneyfied but stopped just short of being a historic theme park because many of the buildings are original, if heavily restored. After stopping for coffee we continued. Some of the buildings were very quaint.
The original school
Castello de Marcos
On the edge of town is the Castello de San Marcos, the country’s oldest masonry fort completed by the Spanish in 1695. For many years it was the northernmost outpost of Spain’s vast New World empire. It protected St Augustine from pirate raids and Spain’s major rival at the time, Great Britain. The fortress is a hollow square with diamond shaped bastions at each corner with only one way in or out.
The bastions
Cannons in one bastion were positioned to create a deadly crossfire with those in two other bastions. The fort’s commanding location on the west bank of the town allowed its guns to protect not only the harbour entrance but the ground to the north against a land attack.
Cannons lined the upper walls
In 1763, as an outcome of the Seven Years (French and Indian) War, Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain in return for Cuba. After the American Revolution Florida was returned to Spain until 1821 when Spain ceded Florida to the United States. Over the years it fell into disrepair until it came under the National Park service in 1935.
The sleeping quarters
St Augustine was a garrison town and no one lived inside the Castillo. The soldiers lived in town with their families and came to the fort to stand a rotating guard duty. They slept on these platforms and prepared their meals in this room.
The inner walls
Camomile on her buoy
Fascinating tour. These days it just looks out over a bunch of yachts including Camomile.
We returned to the dinghy at exactly 1pm and left the buoy motoring to the outer harbour to anchor by the lighthouse at
29°53.19N
081°17.06W a nice peaceful overnight stop.
The St Augustine waterfront
Back out through the inlet
Thursday 15th we left early and headed back out to sea. I noticed a ‘buddy’ on the AIS and discovered it was Solstice with Don and Phyllis on board. We haven’t seen them since St Helena. After a quick chat on the vhf I discovered they were heading into Jacksonville. It would have been nice to catch up with them but we had made the decision to push on. We motored half the day and sailed half so a bit of an improvement.
Big factory in the entrance
At 7pm we dropped anchor at Fernandina beach (no where near the beach) right on the Florida/Georgia border. There was a fairly ugly factory of some description just inside the entrance to the harbour. It had huge piles of sawdust on the side and Bill said he thought they were making some sort of fibreboard.
Sad sight
We also passed a boat yard with a number of dead boats on the side, which were probably remnants of hurricane Matthew that went through here last year. We had seen lots of broken boats in the shallows on our way up the ICW. The anchor was dropped at
30°40.229N
081°28.110W just behind the British boat with the French name Ile Jeudi (Thursday Island). We had seen them on the water a couple of times.
We were ashore the next morning when we bumped into them, they were Bob and Lyn and we had a great chat over a coffee. Having left all our sailing friends in the Caribbean it was nice to make some new ones.
Beautiful church
The residents of Amelia Island, home to Fernandina Beach, are quick to tell you their town is just as old as St Augustine but unfortunately they can’t prove it. It certainly has the familiar historic theme park look. Everywhere we’ve been so far is so manicured, almost unreal it’s so clean and tidy without a blade of grass out of place. I guess we’re used to the scruffy island states of the Indian and Pacific oceans.
Beautifully kept properties
We followed the walking tour recommended by the tourist office but unfortunately it started to rain so we found a nice Pizza restaurant and stopped for lunch.
Traditional shop fronts
Interesting veranda
Shop selling Christmas trees in June
Later that afternoon I noticed this amusing shop. Were these the first Christmas decorations on sale in June?
Saturday 17th first thing in the morning we were off again. After motoring all morning the wind picked up in the afternoon and the engine was turned off. We decided to continue overnight as we had some decent wind for a change. It meant we would miss Savannah and the state of Georgia but we needed to keep going. Ile Jeudi were sailing in front of us and decided to do the same.
Are these the biggest fenders you’ve seen?
Big houses on the Charleston waterfront
We dropped anchor in Charleston, South Carolina at lunchtime the next day. We were both tired and stayed on board. I think sailing for 1 night is worse than doing a week. You don’t get a chance to get into a routine. Our waypoint was
32°46.555N
079°57.222
We had a couple of days in Charleston with a strong north wind blowing, which we couldn’t go out in. Typical, decent bit of wind and it’s on the nose.
Edmonston-Alston house
Monday 19th we went ashore with Bob and Lyn and had a nice lunch together. Charleston or Charles Towne, named for Charles II, was settled by English colonists on the Ashley river in 1670. By 1740 it had become one of the busiest ports on the eastern seaboard, the centre of prosperous rice-growing and a trading colony built on the back of slavery. Charleston was a key trading centre for the slave industry and bustling slave auction houses clustered along the river. In 1861 the first shots of the Civil war rang out at Fort Sumter that we had passed in the harbour entrance. After the war the labour intensive rice plantations became uneconomical without slave labour and the importance of the city went into decline. The southern most tip of the peninsular has the bulk of the antebellum mansions and about a half a dozen of these majestic homes are open to the public. In the afternoon we looked around the town and visited the Edmonston-Alston house, which was beautifully restored but no photos allowed.
Everything’s big in America
Tuesday the wind was still blowing in the wrong direction so Bill and I went ashore again. Bill wanted his photo taken next to this monster, the bonnet was right up to his shoulders.
One of the grand paintings left
Continuing out tour of the town we visited the Aiken-Rhett house. The only surviving example from the urban plantation times, it gives a fascination glimpse into antebellum life. Constructed in 1820 for Gov and Mrs William Aiken it remained in the family for 142 years. Many of the rooms were closed off for decades and it is being kept in a ‘preserved-as-found’ condition.
Love the windows
Would have been some lovely parties here once
The furniture and interior is unaltered since the mid 19th century.
The original slave quarters
Inside the slave quarters
The role of slaves is also preserved and it’s possible to wander through the dormitory quarters behind the house.
The old cooking range
This kitchen would have been used to cook meals for the entire family. They were very nervous of fire in those days and didn’t like it in the main house.
Joseph-Manigault house
The beautiful dining room
The Joseph Manigault house a few blocks away is a complete contrast. The three-story Federal style house was once the showpiece of a French Huguenot rice planter. The rooms open to the public were beautifully furnished. The third floor is still a private residence.
For ladies that write letters
Beautiful fireplace
Beautiful hallway
Amazing chandelier
Formal garden
There was a small neoclassical temple in the garden.
We were told there are some beautiful plantations outside of the town open to the public but you would need a car to get out to them. Maybe another day.
On the Wednesday Don and Phyllis arrived on Solstice so it was nice to catch up with them.
Thursday 22nd the wind dropped so we decided to leave along with Ile Jeudi and Solstice. We motored in the morning but the wind picked up in the afternoon so we were able to sail. The intention was to go to Georgetown but it seemed a shame to stop as we had some wind so we continued. Ile Jeudi went into Georgetown but Solstice continued with us into the night. The engine went on at 10.30 the next morning and we motored into Southport, North Carolina. There was a storm coming and we needed to be in secure in a marina for a few days.
Bill – Solstice, Bill Neal and Ruth – Rutea
Then the confusion started. We were calling Solstice on the VHF when another Solstice answered – it was our old friend Bill who we hadn’t seen since 2014 in Malaysia, how cool was that. Added to that when we arrived at South Harbour Village marina Neal and Ruth on Rutea were there and we hadn’t seen them probably since 2013! It was great to catch up with them all on Rutea for drinks later.
The marina was at
33°55.11N (getting nearer to 35N)
078°02.90W
it cost $125.20 for 2 nights and had nice showers and a washing machine. It was quite a way out of town but Bill had a car and drove the 5 of us to a nearby group of bars and restaurants where there was a good band playing.
Quaint church
Don and Phyllis on Solstice
The other Solstice had gone into a different marina (South Harbour only had 1 space free) but on Sunday 25th we left South Harbour and joined Don and Phyllis to continue our journey. The storm had gone through but the seas were still a bit rough so we decided to continue up the ICW again for the day and dropped anchor in Wrightsville at 3pm. Our waypoint was
34°12.352N
077°48.003W
Motoring up the ICW
Solstice travelling behind us passing under the bridge
There had been no wind and we’d motored all the way. In the ICW all the fixed bridges 64ft, give or take a foot depending on the tide, if they are less than that they open. Some will open on demand, some have timetables but ask the bridge operator. The depth in the ICW in the channel is supposed to be about 10ft but Camomile draws 2 metres or 6 feet and has touched the bottom a couple of times but it’s only soft mud.
Wrightsville waterfront
West Marine store
Monday 26th we went ashore with Don and Phyllis in search of a supermarket and found a West Marine opposite. While we were out Rutea and Ile Jeudi arrived so we invited the 4 of them to join us and Don and Phyllis on board Camomile for a drink that evening. The interesting thing was the six of them didn’t know each other only us. It was interesting introducing everyone and all had a great evening.
Beautiful evening
Ile Jeudi ahead of us
Tuesday 27th we joined Solstice and Ile Jeudi for the journey to Beaufort. We exited at the Masonboro inlet but again motored all of the way 70 miles; crazy.
It was late when we arrived at Beaufort but just got our anchor down as the sun dipped below the horizon at 8.30. That’s one of the advantages of heading north the evenings are drawing out. Solstice came in behind us.
Solstice and Camomile at anchor
Our waypoint was
34°42.886N
076°39.887W
An original routemaster
Wednesday 28th we went ashore and enjoyed walking around the town. I was very excited to see this London bus which is exactly the sort of bus my Dad used to drive many years ago. In the US it isn’t mandatory to have a front number plate so this bus was still displaying it’s original English number plate at the front. Also on the side it still had it’s bus number and destinations in London on display. The tourist company were using it for tours around the area.
Original sign
One of the oldest
This little house from 1778 is the oldest existing one in the village. It looked very small compared to most of the other homes although Beaufort had some cute little places.
This one was my favourite, such a sweet little house.
Beautiful church
The whole town was very attractive and many houses already had their 4th July decorations on display. This was the beautiful village church. One thing that struck us as we walked around Beaufort that, along with many of the coastal towns we’d visited, we didn’t see a single black face. In Beaufort the only one we saw was a guy cutting someone’s lawn. We had seen various groups of kids on summer school on our journey along the coast but not one non-white face. I’m not sure what that means but we found it slightly disturbing.
The next day Solstice and Ile Jeudi left for Oriental further up the ICW and that was the last we saw of them this year. We wanted to wait another day and make the final push over the 35° latitude before the end of the month around the outside.
Our dolphin escort
Friday 30th the winds were forecast to blow from the south. We motored back out through the Beaufort Inlet and had to motor 20 miles south around the cape lookout shoals before we were able to turn north and sailed the rest of the day with a dolphin escort. During the afternoon it was in a north east direction towards Cape Hatteras before turning north towards the Chesapeake bay. Rutea and Bill on the other Solstice were also making the journey that day although they were about half a day behind us. At 10pm we finally crossed the 35° line. Cape Hatteras has a dreadful reputation in these parts and we weren’t disappointed. As we rounded the cape at 1am we were hit by a huge squall that completely overpowered the boat for about 10 minutes until Bill was able to regain control but that was in July…..
Finally sailing
May update
I can now continue with my blogs. This is long overdue but this is the May update.
Monday 1st May we checked into America. It took all morning. The biggest problem was not having an American phone and the satellite phone wouldn’t call the number the coastguard gave me. It’s necessary to have a check in number, which you get calling the phone number, before the customs will even speak to you. For yachties following us, the custom’s have an internal phone you can use when you get there. We spent several hours establishing that! We also assumed they would want to inspect Camomile and tried to obtain a marina berth for a few hours but that was unnecessary because they decided they didn’t want to inspect so we stayed at anchor.
Very clean American mall
The next day was my birthday and I decided I wanted to go a real American mall, Bill’s idea of purgatory but off we went. While there we got a new phone for me on an American contract so I can facebook and message as much as I want. The number is 561 301 6266. I had a wonderful time browsing around the shops.
Yum yum yum
We had lunch out, which was delicious, but the best was the strawberry shortcake for dessert. The first of the ‘Everything is big in America’ pictures.
The next day on the 3rd we headed north leaving at 6.30am going back out through the Lake Worth inlet at
26˚46.348N
80˚01.719W
The wind was from the east and gave us a good push with the sails hoisted. We entered back into the ICW (inter coastal waterway) at
27˚28.537N
80˚16.137W
and then into Harbourtown marina at Fort Pierce.
Camomile in Harbourtown marina
The entrance waypoint is
27˚28.030N
80˚19.569W
The space is the marina was very tight. As you can see Camomile is way over the edge of the berth but the marina weren’t concerned. It will be fun getting out but we’ll work that out later. This would be Camomile’s home for the next month. The cost was $623 for the month working out to a little over 55c per foot per day. We were later to realise what a bargain this was. In the US you pay by the foot for a day or a month. The monthly rates are a lot cheaper than the daily rates.
As many of you know the purpose of the beginning of our stay was to fly back to the UK but the first job was to clean Camomile inside and out, which took most of the next day. I had spent several hours cleaning Camomile’s decks then it started to rain!! Should I have bothered. The couple on the motorboat next to us were very friendly along with most of the other boat owners. Word got round there were a couple of Brits in town and everyone was ‘Just stopping by to say Hello and welcome’.
The smallest car available to hire.
Spent the rest of the week sorting out the boat, washing and packing.
Monday 8th we picked up our hire car. A one way car hire worked out the cheapest way to get to Orlando airport which was only a 4 hour drive away but America doesn’t really do public transport. When we arrived at the office in town and had completed the paperwork we were shown to our car. I pointed out that I thought they had given us the wrong car. I had booked a small compact car. ‘No’ he said ‘this is a small compact car’!
Selfie by the fountain
Tuesday 9th we drove to Orlando airport. I was really excited. We were flying to Miami and then to Heathrow. Orlando airport is huge and full of shops selling Micky Mouse hats. There was a beautiful fountain in the middle of the building.
Getting our flight ready
Our flight was delayed twice and was transferred to Philadelphia where we had to take a later flight to Heathrow. All good in the end.
It was wonderful to see Thomas at the airport. All the planning for this event and finally we were in the UK.
Logan is such a cutie
Had a busy first week. On the Friday Bill went off on the stag weekend to Barcelona to the F1, with James, Will the best man and some others. Thomas had a great time. I spent 3 days with my younger sister shopping for my wedding outfit then 3 days with my middle sister enjoying chatting with her and my niece Kirsty and my great nephew Logan, who is adorable now. It’s a year since I’ve seen him and he isn’t a baby any more. Bill and James were back from the stag and working on James’s van.
Thank you to my sisters for having us.
We then returned to Kent to stay with Sonal’s mum Meena. Thank you for having us Meena.
Working in the cookie kitchen, do you like my hair net?
During our second week James was back at work so Bill helped Thomas put some finishing touches to their house, which ended up taking quite a time. I had a day in the cookie kitchen making cookies. I didn’t eat many……
Kate and Bill catching up.
A week before the wedding on the 20th we were invited to a family party of Bill’s relatives at cousin Sally and Rob’s. It was wonderful to see everyone. Bill’s sister Kate was there who had flown in for the wedding and Bill and she had a lovely catch up. It was also the first time we’d seen our nephew Will in almost 5 year, he had grown very tall.
3 delicious cakes
Bronwyn blowing out her candles
There were 3 cakes for 3 celebrations Mike and Angie’s 25th wedding anniversary, Bronwyn’s 80th birthday and cousin Wendie’s 60th birthday. We had a wonderful day.
The Chilston park hotel
Amanda and I with the Ferrari
Our third and last week was spent shopping for boat bits, of course, clothes to take back, more visiting, hair dressers, nail painting, more last minute bits for the wedding that it just flew by. Finally on 27th the big day arrived. A group of us had stayed at the Chilston Park hotel which served the most amazing breakfast. James and Thomas were there and we had had one last family evening together – when everything was finally completed.
On the morning of the wedding Thomas’s friend arrived in his Ferrari to take Thomas to the venue. My sister and I had a pose in front of it.
My two sisters-in-law Claire and Kate, the very tall nephew Will, Uncle John and Auntie Hilary
Guests were arriving at the venue when Thomas’s party arrived. Everyone looked beautiful in their wedding outfits. It was a glorious day, they were so lucky with the weather.
My favorite photo. My sisters Angela and Amanda
Sonal’s mum Meena. Our babies were getting married.
Bill and I outside Bradbourne house, the wedding venue.
Thomas and his best man Will
Thomas leads his bride up the steps.
Finally the bride arrived and looked absolutely stunning. The wedding was outside on the steps that made a stunning setting. Sonals’s dress was exquisite. She had done a wonderful job of blending Indian style accessories with the traditional English wedding theme.
Slinky the ring bearer
Their little dog Slinky was a ring bearer. They were attached to his collar. Will led him up the steps to Thomas so he could receive the rings.
Thomas had asked Bill to do a reading but instead Bill wrote a poem and read it to them at the end of the service. Here it is
Welcome
And so I am called – to give sage advice
It’s a special occasion – so I’ll try hard to be nice
All things considered – I really feel I oughter
Because today – I gain a beautiful daughter
It is a brave step – to be husband and wife
One that’s at least – for the rest of your life
So be a friend and an ally – as well as a lover
Be tough be gentle – care for each other
Be quick to unsay – the wrong things you said
You can’t always know – what’s going on in their head
Compassion and compromise – tolerance too
Strive always to see – another point of view
Share fair the burden – of everyday chores
You both work so hard – but make time that is yours
Show respect and interest – for each other’s dreams
Be fast to forgive – however tricky it seems
Put up with the in laws – when they get you upset
They love you and care – so sometimes will fret
Are they smarter than you? very probably not
do they know useful stuff – well they’ve been round the block
All these good things – in plentiful measure
Will build you a life – you’ll both love and treasure
Did I hear you say – is that right are you sure?
It can’t be that simple – there must be some more
After near 40 years – of matrimonial bliss
I’m pleased to say – we’re still working on this
So
A talented woman – a beautiful bride
How lucky is Tom – to have you at his side
And how lucky am I – that it now falls to me
To welcome you Sonal – to my family
Bill reading his poem
Signing the register
We all moved into the grounds for the photos. Everyone has hundreds but this one is one of my favourites.
Claire, chief bridesmaid, Sonal, my beautiful daughter-in-law, Jasmine, my beautiful niece, Jen, Sonal’s sister-in-law
The beautiful bouquets
Lovely photo
Thomas giving his speech
Cutting the cake
and of course there were cookies
Amazing photo. I’m going to have this framed.
This was the first Indian style dance then it was followed by a first English dance
The girls looked beautiful dancing together.
My wonderful flowers
It was a fabulous day and one of the nicest things was the wonderful mix of cultures.
So now I’m no longer Mrs Redgrove – I’m Mrs Redgrove senior.
The following day Thomas and Sonal had invited any one who had stayed in the area over night to join them for a drink at a lovely village pub near where they live. It also gave us a chance to say our goodbyes to everyone as our time in the UK was coming to an end again.
Bill with his award for writing the best technical article for the Westerly magazine
We spent our last two days in the country with our old neighbours in Teston. Relaxing and going for walks in our old neighbourhood. James was able to join us for a day. Thank you Gill and Nigel for having us.
Also Bill had won an award at the Westerly AGM earlier in the year and we were able to unpack it and photograph it before leaving it with my sister.
Our plane awaits
Tuesday 30th May it was back to the airport where our plane was waiting for us. Sorry to all the many people we didn’t get a chance to see this visit but we plan to return April next year for 6 months so we’ll see everyone then. Thank you to everyone we were able to see for making our visit very special and to Thomas and Sonal for allowing us to share your special day.
Despite being on 3 different flights we managed to meet up with Kate and her partner Mark in Orlando airport. Their journey will be in the June update.
xxxx
Camomile continues North
Diamond Rock
Our position at 10.00 (16.00 UTC) Sunday 26th March
14 26N
061 02W
We have just passed the beautiful Rocher du Diamant (Diamond Rock)
We left Le Marin marina yesterday and anchored off of St Annes last night, as we did last Saturday. Having had a week in the marina we felt refreshed again. I was in the middle of posting a blog on Martinique when I ran out of internet so it will have to wait until we get back on line again. No facebook again for a while so if you’ve messaged me I’m not ignoring you. 🙂
The dinghy came back from ‘ospital and we had no reason to stay any longer. We had a great time catching up and saying goodbye to another set of cruising friends. Life long friendships have been made again. So on to pastures new, new friends and hopefully some old ones.
Crews of Antares, Keyif and Adina
Last thought for today. We’ve seen lots of flying fish on passage and around the island. Quiz question for you – is it a shoal of flying fish or a flock of flying fish??? I actually don’t know so you’ll have to google it and tell me.
Be good. XX
South Africa to the Caribbean – day 57 we made it.
This is the same blog but I’ve added some photos.
Our position at 16.30(19.30 GMT) Saturday 18th March was
14 26.39N
060 53.38W
The anchor is down, thank God, literally as we’ve arrived safely in Martinique after completing our circumnavigation.
Our last 30 hours was fairly uneventful except for the mini drama of nearly using the Hydrovane rudder. Bill had noticed the steering was behaving oddly on his night watch and put the autohelm on. In the daylight he looked over the stern to see the Hydrovane rudder looking bent. We hove to (stopped the boat) to look at it and discovered the pin clipping it into position had broken. Fortunately Bill always ties it on as well so we hadn’t lost the rudder. It was brought back on board and was a passenger for the rest of the journey. Incredibly Bill doesn’t have a spare, he had already used it, so we’ll have to get one along the way. That was our only breakage on the whole trip which is pretty incredible considering the miles we have covered.
Barbados in the distance
We continued to sail through the day although the wind started dropped in the afternoon and we motored for 2 hours because we (I) didn’t want to slow down, until it picked up again. Barbados came into view about 4pm as we sailed past the north coast with the lights from the resorts twinkling in the dusk. I watched a cruise liner leave Barbados on the AIS and was SOOOO tempted to call them up and ask for a lift! I ate my last 4 squares of chocolate during my last night watch.
I awoke to 100% cloud cover and a line of squalls matching across the skyline. Bill went back to bed for his second sleep while I sat in the cockpit with the umbrella up because it was also raining. The wind disappeared so the engine was on again. The cloud and mist continued through the morning and Martinique was hiding behind it. St Lucia appeared about 8am, which is the island south of us, and Martinique about 8.20, but disappeared again. When Bill got up I made pancakes for our last breakfast at sea because we seem to have missed pancake day while we’ve been out here.
Camomile right on the line
I started to come out of my chrysalis like a butterfly and began to sing again, I haven’t been singing for a while and although Bill says it’s nice to hear me singing again I think he’s just being kind because he prefers it to the silence! As we were about an hour away from our finishing line the sun appeared along with a pod of spinner dolphins jumping out of the Caribbean blue sea to welcome us. The wind started to blow and the engine went off. As Martinique emerged from the cloud we were quite close and able to see the lovely houses built into it’s verdant green hills. As we’ve already written we crossed ‘the line’ at 1.30pm Bill and I hugged each other with me in tears and Bill pretty close. It’s just amazes me we actually managed to do it.
Turning Camomile back to Le Marin, Martinique
We turned Camomile back towards the marina and had to motor quite hard against the wind to get there. Even though it was only 4pm when we got to the channel we decided not to go into the marina but anchor in the bay in front of St Annes for the first night to ‘wind down’ slowly from the journey. Once we go into the marina my feet won’t touch the ground with washing, cleaning, shopping, etc.
Heading into the anchorage
Once anchored I felt an enormous sense of relief that we were safe and could relax. We spent a short time sorting out the boat then the bottle of bubbles came out. We didn’t have posh Boli like someone we know (!) but a nice South African sparkling wine that was very nice along with some cool white wine too. I had intended cooking lemon chicken and apple crumble but I put some Pringles and cheese and biscuits out to have with our drink and dinner got forgotten.
The celebrations begin
I spoke to Sara on Norsa for the last time on the net (the SSB doesn’t work very well in the marina) and said an emotional farewell, they have another 7 or 8 days out there but they aren’t coming in our direction. Not sure when we’ll see them again – the down side of cruising. 😦
So to sum up the journey we left Simonstown 9 weeks ago and spent 3 days in Cape town before leaving on 19th January. The journey from Cape Town to here was 5634 miles altogether but we stopped in St Helena for 2 weeks and 2 days. The passage just from St Helena to here was 3857 miles that took 27 days 9 hours or 657 hours giving us an average speed of 5.8kts which isn’t bad considering we’ve had anything from 3kts to over 8kts along the way. It has become our longest passage and, as I’ve already said, it won’t be beaten. Of those 657 hours the engine was only on for 77 hours, half of those were for charging the batteries when the day was cloudy. The solar panels and wind generator kept the batteries going for the rest of the time.
So we go into the marina later today for 5 or 6 days then we will start to make our way north to complete the rest of the 1500 miles or so to get us to Florida. We’ve got 6 weeks or so to do it which, hopefully, will be enough time. The plan is Martinique this week
Antigua next week
St Martin first week in April
BVIs second week in April
Sail to Turks and Caicos third week in April
Sail the last 700 miles or so to Florida (on the inside route) during the last week in April If there’s anyone on that route that we know we would love to meet up.
All well on board.
The blog goes through to facebook but we can’t see facebook or your comments. I’ll catch up with them all in the Caribbean. If you wish to email us please use mdqf6 @ sailmail.com (take out the gaps) Stay safe everyone.
Camomile completes her circumnavigation
This is the same post but I’ve added some photos.
WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP We’ve done it!!
Bill and Sue on the bow of Camomile
At 13.30 this afternoon Camomile crossed the ‘finishing line’. We have sailed around the world traversing all meridians of longitude, the equator and then met our outgoing track here. Eventually we’ll complete our journey and head back to the UK but for now we feel we can call ourselves circumnavigators. Very emotional moment. Can’t believe we’ve actually done it, just Bill and I on our own but that’s basically how its been for the last 8 years. We’ve joined rallies and cruising groups but once you leave port, particularly on ocean passages, you are on your own; completely unassisted.
The line between the green crosses was our track from 2010
From the UK we’ve traveled 58525 miles so far on the worlds oceans and our circumnavigation from this spot on the 11th January 2010 and back to it today was 52365 sea miles or to put it in another context, two times around the earth’s equator.
This voyage has taken us 7 years 2 months and 7 days visiting 44 countries, some more than once, and more islands then we could keep count of – maybe we rushed it!
We haven’t arrived back with a tatty worn out boat either, Camomile is in better shape than ever. During our circumnavigation Bill has kept her well maintained and she has had new electronics including new autopilot, vhf and ssb radios and a new dinghy and outboard as a result of insurance claims from storm damage. Bill has replaced the standing rigging and most of the running rigging (ropes), she has had new sails, stackpack, cockpit cover and bimini, a new cooker and I’ve replaced the kettle three times. Bill also repainted Camomile and replaced all the woodwork (grab handles, toe rails, etc) and the propshaft. So I say to all you yachties working on your boats getting ready to leave, like Bill’s rhyme says JUST GO, there’ll be plenty of opportunity to finish your boat on the way round.
Back stooped and shoulders sagging
Soul and body really flagging
Worn out and weary, time to retreat
Before this daily grindstone has me beat
Cast your mind to a white sand shore
Green palm fronds over sea azure
Trade winds there cool a simpler life
And roaring breakers mute that strife
Above blackest night and pin prick stars
Milky way and meteors
Beneath glowing wake eats up the miles
as mast and deck heel to the sails
Go cruising now my friend don’t wait
’till fatty fare ‘n stress slow up your gait
Real loved ones will support you swim or sink
Life’s hour is later than you think
exert from the Rhyme of the Middle Aged Mariner by Bill Redgrove
Camomile 