Tiger by the Tale

Just when you think you have the Tiger by the tail, you realize that it is the Tiger that has you...

The day started out just about perfect.  We got off the dock in Coinjock at 6:00am and had the waterway all to ourselves as we ran up to the North Landing Bridge just south of Norfolk, VA.  We arrived at the bridge just a few minutes before the 8:00am opening.

We proceeded through the 4 bridges and 1 lock just south of Norfolk and were actually about 15 minutes ahead of schedule as we cleared the no-wake zone and headed onto the bay.  We got out onto the Chesapeake Bay and the weather was about as forecast.  We had 2 to 3 feet choppy seas.  Not great conditions, but really not all that bad.

We rode for about 3 hours bouncing around a bit and then it finally calmed down a little.  Seas dropped to 1 to 2 feet.  Hey, this is now pretty good.  About an hour goes by and the seas flatten out completely.  Almost glass.  Sun pops out and we are having a pretty great day on the water.  Boat is running well and we can almost taste that cold beer once the last line get tied to the dock.

About 4:00pm Leon tells me he is going down to the cabin for awhile.  I am thinking, no problem at all.  Figure he is a bit tired and needs a break since he has been driving again all day.  About 45 minutes goes by and Leon has not come back up to the flybridge.  Kind of odd, so I go below to check on him.  Well he is laying on the couch, pale as a ghost, freezing cold and junk spilled all over the floor.  He is very sick.  I do my best to assess the situation, but Leon is having none of that.  He is able to call his buddy Tony at his marina who will meet us when we arrive.  Not much I can do, but try to make Leon comfortable and get the boat home as quickly as possible.  All of his vital signs are good, he is talking and seems to not be in imminent danger, so I continue to run the boat like a scaled dog to get home ASAP. 

We get into the marina about 5 minutes after 6:00pm.  Fortunately, Tony had several other of his boating friends with him and we get the boat tied up quickly.  We quickly decided that Leon needed to get to a hospital immediately.  Originally Tony's wife was going to drive him to the hospital, but soon determined we really needed to call EMS to get him there as fast as possible.

Long story short, Leon gets admitted to the hospital and is doing better.  He has an infection that the doctors think they now have under control.  They are keeping him overnight to monitor him and continue to give him IV fluids.  I'll know more in the morning. 

Just when you think you have it all figured out, life throws you a curve.  If everyone can say a little prayer tonight for Leon I would appreciate it. 

Almost a Perfect Day

Monday, June 17 - I start another trip tomorrow. The SPOT should be active around 5:30am. This time I will be moving a 2001 Carver 45 Pilothouse Voyager from Wrightsville Beach, NC up to Annapolis, MD. I expect (and hope) this trip will only take 2 days. We plan to run up to Coinjock, NC tomorrow; a run of about 235 miles. On Wednesday we plan to finish the trip from Coinjock up to Annapolis. The owner will be along on the voyage and we are eager to get moving first thing in the morning. The weather doesn't look all that great. We are forecast to have a good bit of rain tomorrow. Therefore, we plan to run up the ICW the entire day. I am not sure if I will have an internet connection tomorrow night, but if I do I will be sure to post the days activities.

Tuesday, June 18 - A near perfect day. Got off at 5:40am. Made all the bridges right on schedule; no delays. A very stress free day. The Neuse River was calm and the Albemarle Sound was the best I have ever seen. Just as calm as it could be.

Here is the real kicker. Got to talking to the owner today. His name is Leon. Come to find out Leon is 85 years old. Would have never guessed that. And Leon drove the entire day. With the exception of two bathroom breaks, Leon drove his boat 232 miles today. Just amazing!

We stopped at Coinjock Marina. For those that know, the absolute best Prime Rib in the world... really! Leon ate a 16oz Prime Rib, with all the trimmings and then put away a piece of cheesecake for dessert. The guy is my hero. I hope I'm doing half as good at his age.

On to Annapolis tomorrow. The boat is running well. We are cruising around 21mph. We have about 190 miles to go, but a bunch more bridges to contend with tomorrow around Norfolk.

It is nice when a trip goes as planned!

85 year old Leon at the helm

New Rochelle or Bust

WE MADE IT!!!!

We had a great day on the water and brought Y Knot Now into her new home slip in New Rochelle promptly at 4:00pm today. We left Cape May, NJ under clear skies at 5:15am this morning. Seas were 3 to 4 feet in a SE swell. Wind was out of the WNW and built a choppy wave on top of the swell until early afternoon. By the time we got close to NY Harbor the seas began to settle a bit, but the boat was covered in salt spray. We had a major clean up to do upon our arrival.

Tom Siriani the owner, his buddies Richie and Jeff Harris were on the dock to greet us as we came in. It was nice to get the boat home and complete a trip that started for me back on May 28; 16 days ago. We covered 1,531 miles on just 1,428 gallons of diesel. The Mainship with her Yanmar engine really ran well the entire trip. The horsepower to weight ratio on this engine is impressive.

Looking forward to getting home tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who followed along and provided words of encouragement during the trip. It means more than you know when you are in "Two Way Fish Camp" or battling a tropical storm.

Stay tuned; next trip could be as early as Monday.

Stuck in Cape May, NJ

Stuck in Cape May...

Talked to both Sea Tow and BoatUS to see about weather conditions off-shore. Wave height is 6 feet and the wind and waves are supposed to worsen as the day progresses. It is hard to believe as we sit here at the dock. It is sunny and looks like a perfect day to be out on the water. Tomorrow the wind will change and come out of the west with seas 3 to 4 feet which will be perfect for us to run up the beach. We are going to leave at sunrise (5:30am) and make the entire run to New Rochelle. It will be a long day, but we are anxious to get the boat back to the new owner.

So today we will just have to sit tight (as hard as that is) and enjoy all Cape May has to offer. It is killing us to not untie the lines as today starts week number 3 on this trip. Memorial day weekend seems like a long time ago.

At Least We are Safe

Unfortunately the weather got the best of us today. We left Chesapeake City at 5:55 this morning and got on to Delaware Bay around 7:00. Forecast was winds out of the South around 10 and waves 1 to 2 feet. Waves were 4 to 6 feet and we got beat up. It was all we could do to get to Cape May today. Had to slow the boat down to about 5kts. Visibility was very poor with steady rain and fog. I still have no idea what caused the waves to get up like they did. It must have been wind opposing tide, but the wind was not strong at all. By far some of the worst conditions I have boated in for an extended period.

Weather forecast for tomorrow is not very good with forecasted seas 3 to 5 feet and small craft advisories. We might try to hug the coast line and get up to the Manasquan Inlet tomorrow which would allow us to make New Rochelle the following day. Unfortunately the weather for the rest of the week doesn't look any better, so we just need to deal with it.

The batteries on my SPOT locator went dead. I guess when you are running 12 and 13 hours a day for a trip this long that can happen. Will replace the batteries tonight so the SPOT should be working again tomorrow. I appreciate everyone letting me know.

Long & Strong

Another EPIC day on the water. Departed Norfolk at 5:50am and ran for 13 hours without touching the throttle. Arrived in Chesapeake City, MD at 7:00pm after 205 miles. We covered the entire Chesapeake Bay; end to end.  The Bay was about as calm as I have ever seen. Fortunately the autopilot did most of the steering today. Had a great surprise and got a call from Pete & Lyn Walton from New Zealand and Bruce & Darlene Rouser from California . They were in Chesapeake City with their boats and we had dinner and drinks together tonight. What a great way to end a long day. Larry and I are flat worn out, but get to do it all over again tomorrow. We hope the Jersey coast is calm as we would love to try and get to NYC tomorrow.

I Hate Bridges

Sorry for another short post tonight.  The days are getting long and I am starting to wear down after day 12 on the boat.  We had a good run from Belhaven to Norfolk, VA today covering 138 miles in 12 hours.  Slow progress.  Got all hung up with the bridges going through Norfolk.  I am convinced that they must screen bridge tenders to find and promote the ones without an ounce of common sense.  Going "postal" is starting to take on new meaning to me after today.

Tomorrow we will try to run the entire length of the Chesapeake Bay and get all the way up to the C&D canal.  All is well and tomorrow is a new day with new challenges and opportunities.

                                                Missed Great Bridge by seconds.  Had to wait an hour.

                                               Waiting in Great Bridge, VA

                                                   Going through Great Bridge Lock

Tropical Storm Andrea

Ran 150 miles today from Wrightsville Beach up to Belhaven, NC. Got our butt kicked by Tropical Storm Andrea. Limited service here, so tonight is short and sweet. We are fine and the boat did well. Got hung up at Onslow Beach bridge for a couple of hours because they would not open the bridge while the wind was over 30kts. Finally begged them to open and they cracked the bridge half way and allowed us to get through.

Glad to be tied up and off the water.  Tomorrow on to Portsmith, VA... hopefully.

                                                    Leaving Wrightsville Beach

                                                  Onslow Beach Bridge where we got held up for almost 2 hours

                                               This guy liked Tropical Storm Andrea

                                               Crossing the Neuse River

Rain Rain Go Away

Left Bucksport this morning at O'Dark thirty.  I had the waterway pretty much to myself again today.  Not much to look at today as I traveled through Myrtle Beach and up the coast of North Carolina.  I did manage to take a few pictures today between the rain drops.

I had a short run today up to Wrightsville Beach where I will be picking up a good friend, Larry Strothers, to act as my first mate the rest of the trip.  Larry doesn't get in until tonight, so I have some time to catch up on a few things.

Covered just 95 miles today in a little under 7 hours.  The Cape Fear River was pretty nasty today as the current and the wind opposed each other creating a steady 1-2 foot chop.  The single engine Mainship tends to "wallow" a bit in a following sea so steering today in the river was at a premium.  Fortunately the autopilot did pretty well and kept me from having to work my tail off.

Since I got in early today, I was able to topped off with fuel and water and did a pump out so we are all ready for the next couple of days.  I'm looking forward to getting Larry on board so I have someone to talk to.  :)

                                          Bucksport Marina

                                              Bucksport Marina

                                            I have the ICW all to myself this morning.

                                           Myrtlewood Golf Course

                                           A nice little shack on the waterway.

                                              Lighthouse at Coquina Harbor, SC

                                           Lots of rain and ugly skies

                                             At least I had a better day than this captain.

                                              Cape Fear River - hard to see, but kind or rough.

                                           My office today.

Keep on Keeping On

Just another day on the water.  Almost no boat traffic today.  It was pretty overcast as well so I didn't take any pictures today.  The boat with the fixed oil line continues to run very well (knock on wood).  I ran 160 miles today from Beaufort up to the south end of Myrtle Beach, SC (Bucksport Marina).  Bucksport is a nice little marina with a good little restaurant.  Nothing to brag about.

The weather for the next 2 days does not look very good as tropical storm Andrea is heads this way.  We are supposed to get a good amount of rain and wind.  I plan to run up to Wrightsville Beach tomorrow to pick up my buddy Larry who will fill in as my mate for the rest of the trip to NY.  Running solo for the last 3 days tends to take a toll when you are putting in long days.  I will be glad to have the help.

Back in the Helm Chair Again

I got back in the saddle or helm chair so to speak...

We finally got our oil line fixed.  WW Williams, our mechanic, took the old line back to their shop and "braised" as well as welded the crack.  They were down at the boat around 8:30 this morning and by 9:00 they had the oil line back on and we tested it in the slip. 

Once things seemed to be okay, I made a B-line to the dock office to pay my dockage and get underway.  By 9:45 I was making way again.  The first hour I was on pins and needles checking the oil pressure every 15 seconds or so.  It held perfectly.  After the first hour of running up on plane, I went down into the engine room to check for leaks.  None found.  Big sigh of relief.

Ran for the next 8 hours without issue.  I did go down and check the engine room every hour or so.  Not an easy task when you are by yourself, but fortunately, I did have some wide open spaces on the ICW today.  Not to mention I don't think I saw 5 boats all day so running the boat solo today was not too bad.

I pulled into Beaufort, SC tonight a little after 6:00pm.  I covered 130 miles in just over 8 hours.  I'm glad to have this day behind me.  I hope to run up the Waccama River tomorrow and get to Bucksport just south of Myrtle Beach.  Then I hope to pick up a mate in Wrightsville Beach on Thursday night.

Just a couple of pictures from the last few days.  To my nieces: I got a another great shot of Elvis.  Thanks for the call this morning Abby and Courtenay.  Much appreciated!

                                             Elvis is in the foreground, Banjo is the big guy.

                                                          Elvis doing some tricks last night

                                                 A really beautiful day this morning

Running past Hilton Head

Sometimes "IT" Happens

Friday, May 31st - Sometimes I have the greatest job in the world, sometimes I don't. I do have a great job, but today was not one of them.

Day started out great. Beautiful day... sun was out and it was about perfect. We left Amelia Island, FL just before 7:00am and started making our way through Georgia. We had run about 5 hours and had covered about 70 miles since we left. We were out in the middle of no-where. And I mean the absolute middle of no-where Georgia when we lost our only engine. We get a low pressure oil alarm. Run down to the engine room to check it out. Looks like the Exxon Valdez threw up in our engine room. Oil everywhere. I can't figure out where the leak is coming from. We were at mile marker 650 on the ICW (look it up). I check the waterway guide and chartplotter to find the closest marina.  We could turn around and head 50 miles back south to Golden Isle (Brunswick, GA) or continue north about 60 mile to Isle of Hope in Savannah, GA. Doesn't really matter since we don't have an engine that works. We really had no options.

Called Sea Tow. Sea Tow starts arguing over who has to come out and get us. Believe it. No one wants to come out to the middle-of-nowhere and help us. After about 2 hours, they finally decide that Sea Tow Brunswick has to come help us because technically, based on our Lat/Lon position, we are still in there franchise territory. We ask to be taken to Isle of Hope Marina in Savannah where there is a chance we can get someone out to take a look at the Yanmar diesel. They say, "No way". Sea Tow says they can only take us back south 20 miles to (get this) "Two Way Fish Camp". Now I have stayed at a lot of different marinas in my day, but I have never stayed at a "fish camp".

Now I will admit, the "fish camp" is not that bad. It actually has a nice little restaurant on site called "Mudcat Charlie's".  How is that for a name. During our 2 hour tow to the marina I make a few million phone calls to try and find a Yanmar service tech that is willing to come out to "Two Way Fish Camp" in the middle of no-where Georgia on Friday afternoon at 4:00pm. That is like selling ice to Eskimos. Believe or not, I find someone that is willing to come out and take a look.

Long story short, and already this is a long story, they figure out that we have a crack in an oil line. Call another million parts stores to see if we can find the part and get it overnighted to us. Again, no way. Everyone is closed or does not have the part in stock. So I will be enjoying the next 4 days at Two Way Fish Camp near Darien, GA waiting to see if we can order the oil line on Monday and get it overnighted to arrive on Tuesday so I can get back underway to NY.

The owner has decided he has had enough fun for one trip and is catching a plane in the morning back to NY. I don't blame him. At this point all I can do is smile and be thankful that we didn't try to run off-shore today. I wanted to go outside from Amelia Island, FL up to Beaufort, SC. But the seas were 3 to 5 feet and it would have been an uncomfortable ride. So we stayed on the ICW. Good thing we did. Can't imagine what it could have been like if we lost our engine 20 miles off-shore.

I still wouldn't trade what I do for another career, but days like today do make me pause for just a moment.

Sea Tow pulling us to Two Way Fish Camp

Saturday, June 1st - Didn't get a very good nights sleep.  The forward A/C unit which supplies the air for both staterooms froze over, so no cool air.  About 4:00am the owner couldn't take it any more and went into the salon since the A/C there was working.  I heard him up and got up too since I couldn't sleep.  We turned off the A/C to the staterooms to let it thaw.  After a few hours, it was working again.  Thank goodness.

So our day began a bit earlier than normal.  Tom and I talked for a good while and made coffee about 5:00am and had some breakfast.  We were both on the internet off and on all morning trying to catch up on what has been going on in the real world.

Funny, but when you are on a trip like this, you really do lose all track of what is going on.  The pace of change in the world is staggering sometimes.  Although it is kind of nice to be disconnected sometimes too.

Got to know "Cricket" the dockmaster pretty well today.  Nice guy with a great sense of humor.  Also got to know quite a few of the local fishermen as they were launching their boats this morning.

Mostly spent the day doing odds and ends on the boat.  Tom headed out for the airport around 3:30pm.  Had dinner around 7:30 and then hit the hay.

The owner, Tom Siriani, getting ready to head back to NYC

Sunday, June 2nd - Got up around 6:30 this morning and decided that I needed to tackle the engine room.  The Exxon Valdez was still under the engines and it wasn't going anywhere without some help.  I had a few oil absorb pads and started the clean up.   I very quickly realized that I didn't have enough.  Went and saw "Cricket" the dockmaster to see if they sold oil pads at his store.  No such luck.  I think he felt sorry for me and offered me his truck to go to West Marine.  I jumped at the chance to get off the boat for a few minutes.

I drove his truck into town.  It was a good 20 minute ride each way.  Got to West Marine and picked up 25 oil pads and some bilge cleaner.  It just so happened that Winn Dixie Grocery Store was right next door to West Marine, so I stopped in to get a few things since I knew I was still going to be a while.  So that was a really lucky break.

Got back to the boat and started the deed.  Removing about 4 gallons of oil from under the engines was a very messy job.  But 15 oil pads and a gallon of degreaser later and you can now eat off the engine room floor.  It made me feel good to get that cleaned up.  I just hope the oil line part replacement doesn't put me back to square one later this week.

Got an email around noon from Tom saying that he got in last night just fine and his flight went well.  He was very happy to see his dog Sandy and it sounds like Sandy was glad to see him too.  A small victory, but we will take it.

All is well here at Two Way Fish Camp.  Looking forward to getting Y Knot Now back on the water.  Only question now is what to have for dinner tonight at Mudcat Charlie's.

                                                                   This is Elvis.  He is a 6 foot alligator.