11/28/18

Greetings from Florida!  I said it was all about the weather and it was too cold in NC.  Here we are in Stuart, FL with tonight's temperature forecast: 38 degrees.  Brrrr!!!  We have 80 to look forward to by the weekend though.
Our first leg from Beaufort, NC to Jacksonville - 72 hours.  We knew we'd have some southerly winds to bash into at first.  It ended up a little longer bashing than we'd anticipated but the wind finally came around to the west and north.  And "the new" Persephone doesn't really bash like "the old" Persephone where we'd lose teeth bashing into the seas.  Now, head on seas knock down our speed some as we bounce up and down but no bashing.
We arrived and anchored on the St. John's River in Jacksonville in the same spot as last year at the same time.  We had the anchor down at 6 am took a nap, and then started in on cooking up turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes......

Thanksgiving Dinner on the St. John's River

We called our friends Chris, Amy and Andrew nearby and they came and spent the next day sailing on the St. John's River.  We tacked back and forth, back and forth into the wind, against the current, explaining "This isn't what we usually do!".  Our sailing back and forth between NY and the Caribbean or Bahamas involves very few tacks!  It was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed every minute of it and were so glad to have friends who appreciated the sailing opportunity.

Amy takes a turn at the helm after building up her winch muscles.

Amy at the wheel looking down the St. John's River.

We had to do a short tack to avoid the container ship you see in the background.  The pilot called us to ask our intentions when they spotted us coming up the river at them. 

Chris relaxes at the helm for the downwind part of the trip.

Andrew at the wheel on our way back to the anchorage.

Andrew and Chris down below.

Then the next leg: Jacksonville, FL to Stuart, FL.  A 36 or so hour sail close to the coast.  There was a cold front coming off the coast so we started with southwest winds and went through areas of heavy rain and gusty winds before the winds clocked to the west.  Then a nice downwind sail to Fort Pierce and short jaunt down the ICW to Stuart.  We are sitting at our friends Dale and Roni's place right now, the savory smell of soup wafting from the kitchen, sure is nice to have good friends where ever we go!  Look forward to seeing Arnaud, maybe Benedict and Ocean if they're around, and Ken and Aunt Susan while we're here too.
We are in Stuart for a short time before heading out again to wait at West Palm for the right weather to head to the Bahamas.  Not sure if I will have wifi again to update the blog so you'll have to keep checking the SPOT next week to see where we are.

11/18/18

It’s all about the weather!  We arrived in Oriental to wait for the right weather to head offshore to the Bahamas.  We always enjoy our time here with everyone but as the weather gets colder we’re more anxious to head south.  We both caught a cold while here and were miserable for a bit.  A pleasant surprise while in Oriental - our friend Sunny drove up from Myrtle Beach with her dog Sky and spent the night aboard.  We moved to Donna and Jerry’s dock on Broad Creek a week ago.  We’ve tried to help out Donna and Jerry as they prepare their boat to head to the Bahamas.  There probably is no window to sail all the way to the Bahamas as we had hoped so Persephone will head south this week, starting Monday, and see where we end up.  If you check the SPOT link you’ll be able to see our progress.  (You may need to zoom in or out to see land for location reference.)

Send news about what’s going on in your world when you have a chance!

Jerry and I, Bob, and Ron came along with Jerry Luh when he brought Bluejacket from the boatyard to their dock at their home.   Here’s Jerry, Jerry, and Bob on the bow.

Jerry inspects Bluejacket’s new spinnaker pole as we try it out for the first time.

Persephone and Bluejacket at Donna and Jerry’s dock on Broad Creek.

Here’s Jerry working on projects in Donna and Jerry’s workshop.

A couple of fronts came through with high winds, heavy rains, and cold temperatures.  Nice sky though at sunset!

Another sunset shot.

11/6/18

Greetings from Oriental, NC!  We had a long day upon leaving Hideaway Marina in Kingston, NY on the Hudson River arriving at Atlantic Highlands at 8 pm.  Saturday morning, 10/13, we head out for the ocean, 1 overnight, and then anchor at Hospital Point, VA on 10/14.  15 knots of wind from the NW and then N gusting to 25 zipped us down the coast.  We had talked about stopping in Cape May but the promise of low temperatures in the 30s and winds turning south next week spurred us on.  A humpback whale feeding along the coast passed us as we approached Cape Charles.  Our reward for not stopping – we woke up to a warm sunny morning!

Portsmouth, VA has public docks to which we moored making it easy for friends to stop by and visit.  Ryan and Harmony, Haley and baby Braxton all came for dinner and visits.  We hopped in Ryan’s Tesla to do some errands.  Jerry had the honor of taking the plug off the charger at the charging station and plugging it into the car.  

Jerry and Ryan at the charging station.

Here’s Haley using the charging station as a changing station for Braxton.

This is Zoe finding a good spot on top of a pillow pile onboard while Ryan visits one last time before we leave Portsmouth.

 

Portsmouth to Great Bridge the next day – 12 miles.  We stopped to buy fuel and water along the way before going through the lock at Great Bridge.  The weather forecast was calling for gusts to 50 knots the next day so we decided to stop here along the wall between the lock and bridge.  Jerry found a 39’ spot to dock our 39’ boat between a trawler and a 50’ catamaran.  Good thing he’s a professional!  One lady came out in the rain and kept saying, “How did you do that?”

Overnight and into the next day the wind howled!  We were happy to be tucked in for the blow before heading south.  Three more days of motor sailing the ICW and anchoring each night in some protected, crab pot loaded creek, smelling the NC pines, and watching the sun rise and set on a flat horizon.   We changed the engine oil before dinner one night on Goose Creek then arrived in Oriental, NC the next day.  Our home away from home.  The streets were lined with piles of soggy home  insulation, trees, and debris from Hurricane Florence.  Lots of damage here due to water and wind.  Mostly water as the Neuse River rose beyond flood stage.  We borrowed some bikes to get around and have been enjoying friends and family here in the area.  Some of you have sent e-mail wondering if we’ve already left for the Bahamas – nope.  Not yet.  Maybe in another week or so.

Sunset on the Alligator River.  (We’ve never seen an alligator here.)

Jerry, Donna, Ron and Deb come over for dinner while we’re at the town dock in Oriental.