May 31, 2007

Today we cruised slowly past some more very picturesque countryside on the canal and through the city of Utica and down to Sylvan Beach where we are tied up to the city dock and have no services so we got out our generator and it was just like having all the conveniences that everyone has. The town of Sylvan Beach lies on the edge of Lake Oneida in New York. From here it is twenty eight miles across the lake to the next lock. We ate supper and then in the park next to us they were having a car show that happens every Thursday evening in the summer. And who should come by the boat while we were waiting for the show to get organized but some people who were from West Texas where my wife is from. They were born and raised in the Stanton, Midland and Big Spring area and we had a great time talking about that and just many, many other things. The people we have met on this journey have been absolutely wonderful in most all cases. We have been traveling with two Great Harbor trawlers today and it was fun to see all of us in a train going down the waterway and we would meet in the locks, talk a bit and then it was off to the next lock. We woke up this morning to find an 82 foot Hatteras behind us for which Shorty would make a good tender. They were so quiet coming in that we did not even know they were there. The Great Harbors are tied up behind us tonight and I am sorry we did not get to talk to them but maybe tomorrow night we might be together again. We had a beautiful sunset this evening and tomorrow the weather is supposed to change somewhat and this lake has kind of a rough reputation so we will be up early and running across it. Twenty eight miles gives the winds a good run at us from the west to east so we are hoping the winds not be to bad. I will have to check the marine forecasts tonight to see what we are looking at. This is kind of short but with all the visiting we did tonight we have lots to do before the night is over and we get to sleep.

May 30, 2007

Today began in the city of Amsterdam, NY and ended in the little town of Ilion, NY just after lock 18 in the Erie Canal. Weather-wise the days have been perfect, very cool in the morning and then about seventy or so during the afternoons with a slight breeze but I am sure this will change. We are kind of letting the weather do what it wants now that we are in protected waters where it does not matter. It was a day filled with Catskill Mountains as we are still climbing as we are going west in New York State. We went through eight locks today. The reason for the seemingly slow pace was some of the locks are very large. The largest we went through today raised us 20 feet at one time and the rest were smaller but still take lots of time. It takes them time to empty the locks to get to our level and then fill them to the level proceeding westward along the Canal. We also drove under the lock door in one lock as it raises up to let you in and then drops like a guillotine would. We also saw more of the little canal tugs at work today as we ambled along. This will go on until we reach some five hundred feet above where we were in Troy, NY. You also are restricted in areas as to how fast you can go. We have been going about 8 knots between locks so we won’t miss any of the views as we go. We saw what in New York is called a very pastoral and picturesque setting as we moved along today. What they meant is that you would paint some of the scenes we saw today. At times there would be granite bluffs along the canal then there would be a farm scene and then towns and villages. The interstate highway ran alongside the canal today on one side and the railroad on the other plus the regular highways of the state. We passed a point today where they were fixing last years flood damage and another where they were dredging. Another area had the shoreline washed away and it was being filled in. Some of the locks also had construction being done to them from the flood and some of the lock walls were scarred up pretty bad. All in all it was a very pleasant day moving as slowly as the tows would have done in years gone by. But everywhere there are signs of villages decaying away and further on some are growing so it is just like everywhere else in the various states I have come through. Tomorrow will be another changing day in the way the countryside looks if today is any indication.

I will continue to take photos of the canal and post them all at one time instead of daily.

May 29, 2007

The day started off yesterday morning with a beautiful sunrise at the Visitor Center Dock in Waterford, New York. The lock there opens at 7:00 AM and we had two early birds that pulled up in line to enter the lock. The rest of us were still working on breakfast and other personal things to go then. While we were having breakfast, the trawler guys were checking engines, checking oil, etc. We checked our oil the night before to make sure that Shorty got the proper dose. I had gotten up at sunrise and was walking around the area doing my morning walk and noticed the similarities in the village of Waterford as compared to the villages on the coast of Maine. They were very friendly and came strolling through the park for there morning walks as well and you could visit with them. I took a few photographs of the area and then it was time for breakfast. After breakfast the boat just ahead of us called, “Just Us” was also up and about and we decided to go through the locks for the day together. We got ourselves in line for the lock and the gates opened, the light on the lock turned green and in we went. The first series of five locks takes you up 150 higher than you are at the dock on the Mohawk River. As we went up each lock it was fun to see the new vista which opened up ahead of you as you slowly rose to the top. Then it was off to another lock not very far away, another lift up and another wonderful area to explore for the first time. We went slowly at about 10 miles per hour and saw villages and people fishing, farmland, boaters, islands, rocky shores, and even an atomic research center. We went through Schenectady which is a city and numerous small towns. We passed marinas, kayakers and then we arrived here in Amsterdam which has a Dutch name and which was the home to Mohawk Carpets. It was sad to see the carpet mills closed as well as a lot of other industry all along the way. But the people have maintained a good personality and that is what counts. After ten locks we arrived at the dock where we are tied up. It is a public dock and only has electricity but it is free.

Also tied up at our dock is the canal tug known as “Urger” which was built in 1901 as a fishing tug and in 1912 it was converted from steam power to diesel power and it has no gear box for shifting gears. The engine must stop and then be restarted to enter reverse.
We got a tour of the boat which is 75 feet long. The tugboat is the only one in existence now that communicates with a system of bells and whistles to tell the engineer in the engine room of the boat what to do. The baggywrinkle is done by a member of the crew which means that he does some very fancy rope weaving for fenders on the boat and the bow piece which is shoved against other boats and the stern which is dressed up and the skirt holds off other boats stiking it by chance. We met the crew and got a tour of the boat and its history on the canal and they are superb with the history. The crew consists of the Captain, first mate, and engineer and fourth drives the car they take with them from place to place on the canal. They do festivals along the canal and travel as far as New York City for tug boat shows. But the real job of the tug is that of education as they go from village to village and cities with the tug to educate the children of New York about the Erie Canal. They say the children come marching down to the boat singing the Erie Canal song called “There Was a Mule Named Sal Who Worked on the Erie Canal.”

Then to top the day off we went to dinner with the crew from “Just Us” and the “Urger”. They knew of a little Italian place in Amsterdam a few blocks from the docks and they used there car as a shuttle for us. We all had a great time visiting and enjoying the food. Afterwards it was back to the dock for more conversation and stories and then it was too late to stay up and write this so I am doing the blog early this morning. The people who are doing the Great Loop Cruise are always so exciting to meet and we all have so many stories to share with each other about what has happened different places on our journey around the country.

May 28,2007

We were in Catskill Marina on the Hudson River last night. During the night we had a thunderstorm which I slept right through as I was very tired. Bob said it rained down in sheets and lots of lightning. We got up and had breakfast and I began calling around the area to see if I could find someone who could change the oil in the outboard. Finally found someone who could do the job at Coeyman’s Marina in Coeyman, NY. And they could do it on a holiday as well. They did a super job and did very good work and in about an hour we were on our way. Since we only had about 30 or so miles to go today to get to the first part of the Erie Canal we were not in a very big hurry. We passed through Albany, NY which is the capital of New York and which has a very interesting house of government. I hope the photos do it justice as some of the highway system was right in front of it. The building sort of reminded me of a miniature house of parliament in England. From there it was just a short distance to the Federal Lock which is the first lock in the Erie Canal. The first lock was a breeze with Bob along to help had the bumpers down and no more boat bites or scratches. We are tied up at the Visitors Center for the Canal which is in Waterford, NY and Waterford is the oldest incorporated city in the United States. You can stay free at the dock here for two days which kind of helps you do some planning ahead. From here we go through five locks which lift us up a number of feet. We also walked to the grocery store tonight for a few things. Waterford seems to be a lot like the typical New England village and is a very friendly town. There are other boats who are on the Great Loop Cruise are here as well. So we have met and talked to a few more people on the Loop. I realize that this is kind of short but it was one of those days that you pass under bridges and one that was special was the Rip Van Winkle bridge as the tale of Rip Van Winkle took place in that county. Maybe that is why I slept so well last night and did not even realize we had a storm.

May 27, 2007

This morning we got up and said good bye to New York City and headed North toward the Erie Canal which is north up the Hudson River. We had enough fuel so we pulled out of the marina canal just as two huge cruise ships were heading up the river. It was interesting to see how one did not need tugs and the other one did. We also observed the security measures and only saw a couple of boats on duty on the holiday. Then we headed toward the Tappan Zee Bridge; crossed under; and spied the Tarrytown lighthouse sitting under it. Then it was on northward to the Bear Mountain Bridge with bluffs all along the Jersey shore and small hills on the New York side. We also caught a glimpse of Stony Point Lighthouse which is the oldest lighthouse on the river. The next sight was that of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Even though it was a gray day it was so impressive to see this monumental institution and to know its part in the history of our country. The river then narrowed a lot and we had to follow more definite channels. We passed Washington’s headquarters during the Revolutionary War but not much was visible. We then passed under the Newburg Beacon Bridge and went onward to the Mid-Hudson Bridge and passed Hyde Park the home of Franklin Roosevelt which was not visible from the water but the Vanderbilt House was just visible. Then we came upon the Hudson River Lighthouses that are in the middle of the river. The first was Esopus Meadows and then came the Rondout Lighthouse and then it was under the Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge. Then came the Saugerties Lighthouse which was very neat and actually sat on its Jetty to the channel. Soon we turned the corner and there was the Rip Van Winkle Bridge and we decided to stop at a marina just before the bridge for the day and it is now five o’clock and we are tied up and they have a good laundry area so we are going to do that chore. We are probably 40 miles at most from Troy, NY and the Erie Canal. We really need to have Shorty’s oil changed but it is a holiday until Monday so it will probably have to wait until then. Some of the lighthouses were open for tours. We also passed what looked like an old castle of some sort in the middle of the river and we are going to have to research that one. The countryside really surprised me. There were the Palisades of New Jersey and the bluffs and mountains around the Military Academy and then in the distance further from the shore you could see the Catskills which were caught up in kind of a blue haze today. The river had a lot of sticks and trash floating in it like they had a lot of rain which washed down into it. There was some type of tree in bloom along the riverside and lots and lots of pollen floating in the air. We passed a large ship anchored in the river about half way into our trip today and some barges and tows coming down the river but nothing loaded going up the river. We passed a two masted schooner going up river with a group of tourists on it. I can’t remember the name but I have a photograph of it.

As a postlude to New York we walked down to the edge of the river last night and looked at the skyline at night. It was so much fun to see the buildings all lit up that you had seen on TV and elsewhere before your own eyes in person. The Empire State Building, Chrysler building and others were really neat. This morning when we left we think we saw the United Nations towers and Central Park and others in the daylight.
I don’t remember if I mentioned it or not but the Liberty Landing Marinas restrooms and showers and etc., are in the original old Liberty Lightship itself which was really neat

May 26, 2007

Shorty is in New York City at Liberty Landing Marina tonight. How’s that for a little guy. We are excited to be here. We left Beach Haven Marina at Beach Haven, New Jersey to finish the last forty miles of the intracoastal waterway in New Jersey. It was very hazy with a kind of low fog but it burned off quickly after the sun came up. We crossed the rest of the bay we were on and then went into Manahawkin Bay and next we crossed Barnegat Bay which has been written about lots of times. The fishing boats were thick as flies in the inlet to Barnegat Bay and it is famous for its fishing. We met sailboats, fishing boats and big sportfishermen going through the bay on there way to the ocean. As the morning wore on it became kind of hot and hazy and we were running with the windows open. We went through a short canal at the end of the intracoastal going into Point Pleasant where we met lots of other boats and the wakes and currents were very strong and fierce as the tide was running out to Point Pleasant from the bay. We had intended to stay in Point pleasant and see what the weather would be like tomorrow but we could not find a transient slip on the holiday weekend. Our next move was going to be out on the Atlantic Ocean so we decided to go out the inlet and see what it was going to be like. We got out of the inlet and onto the ocean and lo and behold it was one of those days when there was nothing but swells and boat wakes and very little breeze so we looked at each and said lets go. Our goal was to reach and duck behind Sandy Hook at the top of the Jersey Shore but we let Shorty run at close to eighteen to twenty knots and we were at Sandy Hook in a little over two hours and we could just see the New York skyline through the haze so we said why not. We ran two more hours at that speed and we entered New York under the Verazano Narrows Bridge and whoopee, we had made our first ocean crossing in absolutely wonderful conditions. We next came upon the Statue of Liberty and it was thrilling to view her in person even though from a distance. Then came Ellis Island where our ancestors may have passed through on there way west. Very exciting to see in person from the park at our marina and a fellow pointed out to us where the World Trade Center had stood and that was nice of him to do that. We can see the Empire State Building from where we are and many more things and buildings of interesting shapes and sizes. It is wonderful to think that a boat of Shorty’s size and stature has made it really look easy. We have been extremely fortunate in that the weather continued to be really nice when we needed it.

May 25, 2007

What a day. We began at six in the morning today and were out of the Delaware City Marina and on our way across Delaware Bay toward Cape May, New Jersey. We rolled out on the Bay and were so happy it was almost glass. So we said lets go and turned up the rpms enough to do a steady fifteen knots on the glassy surface of a big bay at dawn. The next thing we began to see some ripples on the water but that’s alright and finally it reached the forcasted level for the day which was one foot waves and ten knots of wind. Well it didn’t quit there which I knew it was not going to and finally we were running in about two feet of more of waves and the wind was at least 15. That was not bad enough to add to the mix we had an adverse tidal current which was trying to take us out of the bay and into the ocean as we were trying to steer a course for the Cape May Canal. We reached the canal about ten something in the morning and entered there and continued up the Intracoastal Waterway along the east coast of New Jersey headed north. After running in the slop we had this was heaven on earth and we kept going north past all of the coastal towns until we reached Atlantic City, NJ and decided that about five we should call it a day, well they were full up because this is a part of the Memorial Day Weekend. They suggested we go further up the coast and maybe we could find a place there. So we ended up in Beach Haven, NJ at the marina there. It was pretty close to seven in the evening when we got fuel and received our dock assignment. We had to go into the slip backward with the wind blowing straight at us on the bow. We are amongst all the sport fishing boats which pass us and leave us bouncing in there wakes all day and think we are just a little ant in their way.

We saw some very diverse land area today. There were the typical marshes that we have seen before but these seemed to have had a butch haircut so that looked almost like a lawn. We saw a great number of birds which were standing on the edge of the waterway at low tide and we could have reached out with a net and caught them. We saw some dolphins today and realized it had been a long time since we had seen them. The we would go through cities and the horizon and the type of housing changed again from sprawling huge houses to very narrow and stuck close together like cages and this is both old and new housing. Some were brand new and others were falling down right next door. From the 1920’s to now the houses were so very different more the row house type but not in the San Francisco way you think of row houses. The houses were built on stilts out over the edge of the waterway and some had boat garages in them. We also crossed some of the big inlets and bays of New Jersey. All in all it was a very interesting day.
The bad news is our sponges were full of water again this evening and our patch is now dry and seems to be holding okay. This means we will have to think of more possibilities that could be leaking. We just have no idea where this can be coming from but it happens whether we are running in perfect stuff or in the sloppy stuff

May 24, 2007

This morning we got up at 6 AM and got ourselves a quick breakfast and we were on our way out of Baltimore harbor and headed north toward the C & D Canal. As we neared the tallest bridge out of Baltimore we found the tall ship Libertad anchored and waiting for the tide to go out some more as there masts were so tall they could not clear the bridge. We figured the journey for the day was about 70-80 miles but we were able to take a heading across the bay and not follow the commercial channel. We were running at about 13 knots until we started to get near the part of the bay where it narrows and we got hit by an adverse tidal current which put up some pretty heavy chop against the Southeast wind behind us and for a long time we were going through some pretty heavy two feet or better stuff until we rounded the corner and then it got a little better going. The shoreline was much wooded and the lawns and pastures were looking like they were very well manicured and we also saw some beautiful homes as usual on the side of the bay. We met and passed other trawlers and small boats but for a canal which is the busiest canal next to the Panama we never saw a ship the whole trip. We did see a couple more lighthouses in the center of the bay. We are tied up tonight at the Delaware City Marina off of the C & D canal in Delaware City, Delaware at the entrance to Delaware Bay. If our weather holds tomorrow we are going to try to make it to Cape May, New Jersey where we will reenter the Intracoastal Waterway along the New Jersey coast. This should take about two or three days as we are nearing the point where our motor needs to be serviced again. This means we have been running for about two hundred hours since we started out in Crystal River, Florida. We are in a channel which is a shortcut from the Canal to the bay and the bugs and the tidal current are very fierce. The bugs are the famous no-see-ums that we are finding exist virtually everywhere. There is a brand new sportfisherman tied behind us at the pier which is one long dock along this channel with barely enough room to turn around in. The dockmaster has some beautiful peonies growing out back but the bugs are too bad for me to go get a photo of them.

This is not much news but the pace will slow down a little soon. Our current dilemma with the water leak just won’t end. We now have placed sponges in the bilge and just wring them out after our days run. The blister spot that was leaking was dry at the end of the days run. We now are wondering that since one of our sponges was near a piece of equipment that is fastened to the inside of the bottom of the boat is the culprit and we may have one or more if this is true. We dried out the area around them and will check there tomorrow while we are running. Maybe the screws are going through the bottom of the boat and if so we will take them out and reinsert them filled with sealant compound and hope that will stop it. We are determined to find the leak.

Please read and send gas money, as fuel went to 3.99 a gallon here. We are only kidding.At the rate the people who buy 500-600 gallons at a time and really getting hit hard. It might slow the traffic on the waterway during the upcoming holiday

May 23, 2007

We had a short trip today from Pirates Cove Marina north to Baltimore, Md. We left early this morning and went around the next point and did a slow circle by boat through Annapolis, Md. This is the home to the US Naval Academy which is right downtown in Annapolis and of course we could see the dome of the capital from the water in the morning sun. It looked as though the academy was out for the summer and the cadets were doing their training elsewhere. There was nobody on the scale model training ships that we could hear or see. The harbor was full of sailboats from all over and a few power boats that were pretty large but not as large as the sailboats. We saw our first modern sailboats over one hundred feet long both at anchor and tied off at the wharfs. The real narrow alleyway that goes to the center of town always looks to small to get into and once there you have to back all the way out of it and most times it has only one boat width through it. Saw a megayacht anchored which is something you rarely see in the US. After a cruise around there we headed for Baltimore going under the large four lane bridges between Annapolis and the Easter Shore of Maryland. After that it was just follow the channel around the point and into Baltimore, Maryland. We did the harbor tour in Baltimore using Shorty and cruising slowly along at no wake speed. It was an interesting trip. First we saw the hospital ship Hope tied up at the wharf and loading supplies. Then came a number of navy supply ships which use merchant marine crews to take supplies to where they are needed. We are in a huge marina with probably four to five hundreds slips and all filled with big boats. We are probably the smallest boat here.
But there are groups and groups of marinas that have sail and power boats in them even more than in Norfolk. Coming into the harbor we passed Fort Mchenry where the star spangled banner was written and it flies a flag over it with the thirteen original stars of the colonies. Coming up the channel from Annapolis we again saw some more of the lighthouses that are in the middle of the Chesapeake and left over from the 1800’s or older maybe. We photographed those and the fisherman working there nets and crab people tending there pots as we came through shortly after sunup this morning. We have been making and eating breakfast under way which gives us more hours to run. We had a tanker ahead of us in the channel this morning and a container ship behind us who was trying to outrun us. There were also tugs towing barges and not pushing them. That always looks so unusual because on the Mississippi and elsewhere they are always pushing barges. As far as I know barges do not have brakes and if I was the tug I would be afraid of getting run over by them. We had beautiful weather today and the seas were the gently rolling kind of swells so Shorty was able to run about 12 to 13 knots till we got into the harbors.

Our pin prick hole in the boat continues to leak a drip now and then but after we stopped today it had been enough to fill a large sponge we put there to sop up the water coming through but at least we did not have a half gallon or more in the bilge so something is working right. Bob just put some more 5200 sealant on the hole and so far no water drips are showing and all is dry. Maybe at some point it will seal but we are managing to do alright.

We have fueled up and if the weather holds we could be at the entrance to the C & D canal some time tomorrow. That I am sure will be another story. We have been encountering some currents both days that are adverse to us causing us to lose time and burn more fuel. After some heavy weather one and adverse current our fuel burn has increased slightly.

May 22, 2007

Today we were up as the sun came up and pulled up the anchor in the Back River just twenty miles north of Norfolk and tonight we are in a slip in a marina just south of Annapolis, MD. I forgot to mention Belle Isle Marina where we got our lift out of the water to check things on the Back River. This a very quiet marina and very much country but an excellent place service wise. The little dune we anchored behind last night was a nesting place for all sorts of water birds and if any Loopers are birders and have a dinghy this would be the place to get good bird pictures. We got an outstanding price for the slip in Pirates Cove Marina on the West River in Maryland. The price was so good we ate dinner at the restaurant just a few feet from our slip and came out cheaper than one night anywhere else and for that we thank them. Our problem of yesterday seemed to have held for today but conditions were not as rough today. In fact when we started out at sunup the bay was like glass and then the breeze picked up throughout the day but to only about ten knots. Running at 12 knots this meant a 120 mile day. We chose to run longer so we could make use of the beautiful day we had. When we turned in to go to our marina we could see the Annapolis bridges real well. If we have another good day tomorrow we should easily be in Baltimore tomorrow night and we may stay an extra day there if it proves to be tourist friendly.

Today we saw boats that were in the process of netting fish and we also saw old time fish traps where they set a net and the fish swim into the circular pen and then they dip them out. We saw towboats pushing barges and tugs pulling barges using a harness. We saw regular size barges and huge ocean going barges that were tankers and probably about 150-200 feet long. The fishermen were out in there own boats, on party boats and fishing from shore. The crabbers were out gathering and setting their pots and others were setting there nets. We saw some very large boats netting fish that were probably 60-70 feet in size. In other words today was a day of seeing the waterways used in a commercial way. There were also large container ships and cargo ships which put up pretty large wakes for us to cross. There were other people on the Great Loop Cruise like we are and we talked to a couple on the radio which included one from Houston, Texas. They went up to Washington, DC on the Potomac River when we passed them with other trawlers on the Loop. Shorty attracts visitors wherever we go tonight we have a front row seat.

We also stopped to photograph lighthouses along the way. We took photos of the Smith Point Light, Wolf Trap Light and a couple of others. These were unusual in that they were in the middle of the bay instead of on the edges of the shores, those on the shores edges we couldn’t get because they told of shoaling water and they were to be passed further off shore.

That was about the extent of our day and I will post the photos of the lighthouses in the next group.

May 21, 2007

This morning we got up and it looked like it was going to be a good day. A gentle breeze was blowing when we got underway going north on the Chesapeake Bay. We went out on the Elizabeth River and started up past all the Navy Activity in the bay area. Up past the Coal Loading area and the cargo carriers unloading containers. Then we passed by the Navy yards in Norfolk and saw all the ships that were in port at the time. When we reached the end of the Navy yard we heard a call on our radio that we were not supposed to be within five hundred yards of a warship. What we thought was a lighted buoy ahead of us about a half mile was really the conning tower of a nuclear submarine. And about that time here comes the blue light special over to us and showed us he meant business if we did not get the heck out of the way so we made a turn to starboard or the right about ninety degrees and went until we were out of his way and then proceeded on. I think I will have my bifocals checked in the next port because it sure looked like a lighted buoy.
Well by the time we reached the end of the Navy Yards we knew that quite possibly the weather man had not told us the whole story because a day that was supposed to have waves of one foot suddenly had grown to three feet with an occasional bigger one thrown in for good measure. We slowed from nine knots down to four and were still getting bounced around to we started looking for a river to head up and out of the wind. We found that place in the Back River just north of Norfolk where we are anchored out tonight behind a little sand dune area that protects us from the wind and I just looked and they are saying not much wind tomorrow and waves of one foot. We shall see if that is true in the morning.

But we also discovered when we were looking in the closet area that we had pin prick of a leak that was coming in from a blister like source that we have no idea where it originated. It looks like it was just a flaw in the way the fiberglass cured up or something. Then we thought it might be coming from the rub rail on the boat because some of the screws were not tightened well. Anyhow all this resulted in Bob’s one suitcase of clothes stored there was wet and we needed to dry them out. He spotted a marina maybe half mile away on the river so we went over and got some epoxy type material to seal the hole where the water was coming in. So were are watching the spot to see if it cures up and we are rid of it. Just checked and it had a new water bubble in the spot. We had the boat put on a lift to check it out and the only thing that had water in it was the rub rail area of the boat. Tightened all of those screws and we will see when we run tomorrow it helped any. Otherwise we may have to go to a boat yard and see what they think. Of course the famous words apply here as of now, you bought it you own and it’s your responsibility even though there might be some kind of warranty for that type of source of the leak in the boat. We just have to work on it some more. Our head also hiccupped again in the rougher water and we had that mess to clean up also. We sponged all of the water out of the bilge and for now we have that dried out and hope that we got it all so we don’t have any mold in the bilges. With all of that happening today we made a total of about twenty miles so we hope things go better tomorrow. This is just a part of the adventure. Where we are anchored there is every kind of bird on the sand dune that has to do with water, gulls, plovers and many others. When anchored there was a lady on the island with them and photographing them.
We traveled about 20 miles total for the day and plan on doing better tomorrow

May 19, 2007

It has been a long time since I have written anything but I have been tied up in Norfolk, VA as you know since April 10th or so and have just been waiting for my friend to return from his vacation in Hawaii before we start on the trip north. It also needed to warm up considerably northward before we started again. Hence the month of not much activity for Shorty. I have not been bored but just doing normal household things around the boat but today I began preparing for the trip onward. I had to purchase a few things for the boat and then tomorrow when Bob gets here we will make our grocery trip and then hopefully on Monday the weather cooperating we will be out of Norfolk and on to more unknown waters by both of us. The last couple of days I did a few more little tourist type treks to Norfolk and Portsmouth.

Last night the Spanish Navy training ship the “Juan Sebastian de Elcano came into port for a visit on its trip around the world. They had tours of the ship today so I got over to the fifty cent ferry and rode across the river for a tour. The tour was given by one of the Spanish Navy midshipman who did not speak English to well but tried to answer our questions the best he could. They have a very rigorous day at sea every day working with the tall ships sails, learning navigation the old way and new, regular college courses in different fields and then they do sports also on board. When they graduate from their naval academy they are the equivalents to our Lieutenants in the navy. So it was a very worthwhile trip over. I took some photos and will post them tonight.

There is another ship about to come out of drydock sometime soon as they removed the canvas from the docks and then they were painting the bulbous nose which is usually the last thing done before it goes in the water. It is one of a new class of ship called the San Antonio class and it is a ship the size of a helicopter carrier but it is a destroyer plus other capabilities. The helicopter carrier next to it is also looking more ready to go but it is not in drydock as it is to large for that.

I will post photos tonight so look for anything with todays date on the file and those will be new.

Musings Of A Person Docked For Too Long-May 2007

These are the musings of a philosopher who has been at a dock too long. Last night I happened to be awake after sunset which is my normal time to go to bed and then arise with the sun at 6 AM. I decided I would go and sit on the shore of the East River and watch what goes on at night. My special cultivated interest turned to, of course, the drydocked navy destroyer across from the docks. I am interested because I hope that at least as payment for me being here so long they will float the ship soon so I can watch that process. As I watched her sitting there quietly at night out of her element my eye was focused on the bridge deck and with its night lights on it looked like a very evil being sitting there and getting ready to pounce the moment she is let out of the docks. Like don’t get in my way I eat people like you for breakfast. Then I begin to notice that just like a sleeping giant there is activity day and night aboard her. As my eyes adjusted to the light I could see people moving about like they were doing secret things in the middle of the night. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, I was watching a red ant hill; as in Texas red ants that was about to explode and give someone or anyone a few very itchy bites. If you know what a rain in Texas called a “frog strangler” is then you can visualize this at its best. There are these ants living in this thing called a billet box and ever so often they change up to see who does the best job of getting even for all of this rain and fog they are having to endure. Yes my thoughts are occurring as the fog is getting eerier and thicker by the moment and buildings are disappearing but this evil red eye keeps peering through the fog at you. Anyhow, the ants come out of the box and climb the steps to the edge of the drydock and then up another flight of steps to the middle of the hill on the ship. Then they disappear below and this lift crane feeds them day and night because if it doesn't the worker ants get more and more upset. This morning at change time here come the night ants out of the mound and down to the billet box and up goes the day crew but the eye still looks evil even if its night lights are now off. As usual, the lead ant for the day comes out, goes to the bow and proceeds to raise the battle flag after he says a mantra which I cannot hear. This morning he has problems, his battle flag won’t raise and he has to ask for help, not good in the land of super ants. His next duty is to raise the national flag of the colony and then he goes into the middle of the colony for the day. He probably was disciplined for the slow rise of the battle flag. Then later on the civilian ants arrive to aid the ants dressed in blue. These ants come in many colors and different kinds of ant skills I would imagine and probably think the blue ants don’t know what they are doing anyway. This goes on all over the port every day and it is even going on when most people are asleep. Most of the ants in this world we live in don’t care whether this other group of ants exists. It knows that their taxes pay for them and as long they pay taxes this group of ants better produce. There are metal ants running all over at night supplying the other group of ants that is asleep. Without these ants going hither and yon and delivering all sorts of products these ants deem necessary to function with, namely fuel, sand and gravel and other things not showing; the ants of the bigger colony would probably protest and march until they got the chief ant of the country involved and then things would go much slower as they have now got the government ants mad and they have decided that if the ants they represent would just pay them more money they would take care of this whole mess. If you just think of the USA as an ant hill and start reading National Geographic articles on them you get a much clearer picture of what this country is all about. Right now even though I am suffering through a time at the docks and know that more adventure lies ahead it also provides time for thoughts such as those above and when you look at things in a simple manner you can see how we just make getting to the ant hill such a big problem in our lives. If only every one would quit trying to be the leader ant it would be helpful but even ant leaders will tell you that isn’t going to happen because we all think we are capable of being the leader of all the ants. Then there are those like me who are just lying back traveling around the country and as we go we are free to check out the ants of different sections. There is even competition between the crab pot ants on that level to see who can put the most pots in the channel to irritate us traveler ants on there waterway who think we own it because are buying gas in each of there constituencies so that we might see this competition up close and personal each day. As a traveler ant I am finding that ant refills are costing more and more as I travel northward in search of ant heaven and then southward again toward the gentler more serene waterways of antdom. All the way is fraught with different things and exceptions to the normal ways that ants live. As I have said before in my writing I am sure that I am looking at the backside of America that no one usually sees and that some of it is very beautiful and some of it really stinks. This is my mantra and I am sticking by it and have the soggy boxes and bedding on the boat to prove it this morning, I need a strong breeze to clear the air and someone please come and cut up the Velcro at my dock. One day soon I will bow to the head weather ant and hope he is right and I will have a fair day with no wind and waves if any on my backside and even though this will make all the sailing ants mad it will make this one happy ant and, please no fog or glowing evil ants in my stern view. I mean these are huge and can wreak mighty havoc with little Shorty. Until next time just think of ants, how little they are and what they can achieve

April 28,29,30 and May 1, 2007

April 28 to May 1 - I pretty much just sit around and go a few places locally or spend my time at the library. The charts for the next part of the trip are in the mail and once I get them I can start and do a little preplanning which will pretty much go out the window once I get started back because for me an exact schedule just does not work. I will miss a lot if I just do what is necessary.

Yesterday I did go over to Norfolk to the Nauticus museum and then took the Navy base tour on the harbor tour boat. The narrative was really good as they told about all of the things along the river and just not the Navy stuff which is better than half of the shoreline. He pointed out where the traffic tunnels go under the river and how you could tell where they were. The big kind of odd looking Navy shipping in drydock just down from me is a new type of ship called an L which performs landings of marines in addition to the helicopter carrier across from me. There were quite a few destroyers in the Navy yard north of Norfolk City as well as some submarines of the Los Angeles class which were in the piers with white floats across in front of them. He said if you cross the float line at any navy pier you are pretty much a dead man as the orders are shoot to kill and ask later. And I believe what he says. There was a number of what is called RORO ships in the piers and they are know as Roll on/Roll off as the equipment can be driven on right from the piers or floats if they are in a landing zone. Another neat ship the marines can use for an amphibious landing goes in as far as it can to the beach and then it takes on water and the amphibious landing craft emerge from the body of the ship already in the water and loaded. A lot of you may know all of this but I did not know some of this existed. We also saw the carrier, Harry S. Truman, in its pier location which is super impressive but I will also tell you that we did not get close enough that any photos will give away anything but close enough to give you a perspective of the size of things. After the last Navy pier if you go right you enter Chesapeake Bay and to the left you would go past Newport News ship yard and on up the James River which leads you on to Richmond if I am correct and do not have a chart here to prove it. If anyone goes to Norfolk I would certainly recommend this tour so you can see where your tax dollars are going when the Navy gets their appropriations. Of course the only part of the fleet that was in came in because of needed repairs or restocking.

I did not go into the Nauticus Museum yesterday and have saved it for another day. I have to go back to Norfolk again and do the walking tour they have laid out in the old section of town. Of course that means another ferry ride and I like doing it. Saw a couple more ships come in to town in the last couple of days but nothing spectacular. I did see a beautiful yacht even if it was power that was bronze in color and all the rest handrails and other equipment were all painted black. A super nice paint job and it did not seem to be in a hurry like most of those people are. That is all I have for now and the photos will come later.
I did notice one thing though and that is the water police which enforce the NO WAKE areas of Norfolk seem to only stop the boats that are under forty feet or that are easy to board so in some cases bigger is better. I think it shows a lot of prejudice on their part to do it that way, the little guy gets the ticket and then the big ones slow a little bit. The locks from the Dismal Swamp open each day at a certain time and there is always a group of boats from there which arrive in Norfolk at about one in the afternoon and the police always gear up to meet them in the channel and after going at idle speed through the swamp they know every one is itchy on the throttle and here is this big river and you still must idle along at the swamp speeds and most miss the signs because they are way over on the sides of the river and not where you would see them