12/17/23

 An update:  Thanksgiving in West Palm with our friends, Ryan and Jerry,  from Zinzi!  Jerra flew in from Denver to celebrate.  And celebrate we did!  With food and games.  Jerra requested cribbage games at least once each day.  What fun!

Jerra made scrumptious tacos for dinner one night.

This is the night we put on our fanciest clothes and Ryan and Jerra took us out on the town. Here we are at  rooftop place overlooking a marina and the ICW.   Next stop: a fancy Italian restaurant where we stuffed ourselves.  Thank you Ryan and Jerra!  And then we walked around West Palm and found a place that sells homemade ice cream!  Just what we needed to end a perfect evening.

Ryan and Jerry working on Ryan's lower unit of his outboard motor.

Thanksgiving dinner with Ryan and Jerra

Right after Thanksgiving dinner we said goodbye, hugs all around, then hauled the anchor.  We headed for the ocean.  We usually leave West Palm and sail for 48 hours nonstop to Georgetown in the Exumas.  This year, because of the wind, we sailed across the Gulf Stream on toward Chub Cay and anchored for the night.  The next morning the wind picked up and we headed for West Bay on New Providence where we stayed for 2 days waiting for the wind to clock around.  Here's a video of sailing from the banks to West Bay.....

It's a good thing we stopped at West Bay because we had a chance to get in the water and look at Persephone's bottom.  It was covered with growth!  We spent an afternoon scraping and cleaning the bottom of the boat making it smooth and slippery for efficient sailing.  Who wants to sail around with something akin to a carpet attached to the bottom?

We left West Bay when the wind was from the right direction.  A little light but as long as it wasn't from the direction we were trying to go.  We left at 9:30 pm and sailed all night in the shallow beautiful waters under a full moon south of New Providence towards the Exumas to anchor at Pipe Creek for the night.  Here's a video taken in the morning........

Our last leg of the trip from Pipe Creek to Georgetown involved catching dinner!

This Big Eye Tuna provided enough tuna steaks for about 10 dinners!

We anchored near Monument Beach in Elizabeth Harbor.  Georgetown.  Here's looking down at Persephone from the monument erected on the highest point of Stocking Island.

We're early - there are usually a hundred boats in this same picture.

Every day we have been walking on Stocking Island for exercise.  Walking the beach on the sound side, on the Exuma Sound, has been brisk.  The winds, which have picked up a couple of days after arriving, spray salt water mist on us as we walk along in the sand.

Jerry waves from the top of the next "up and over" between the sandy parts of the beach.

The interesting limestone shoreline...

I framed Jerry

The "inside" or the harbor side of Stocking Island....

Our walk involves dinghying to the beach on the harbor side, finding a trail to hike over to the sound side and then turning north or south.  After 2 or more miles we find another trail to come back to the sound side and then a walk back to the dinghy.

The prevailing wind is from the east so the sound side is usually windy and the harbor side hot and humid.

We have enjoyed the warmth, walking, visiting with friends old and new, swimming and just relaxing with books and games onboard.  In a few days I'll be leaving Jerry aboard Persephone while I fly back to NY to spend Christmas with family and friends there.  

Wishing you a healthy, happy, peaceful holiday season.

Karen & Jerry

11/17/23

 Looks like I haven't written here since we put the mast up in Kingston, NY on the Hudson River!  Those of you who clicked on the SPOT link in the top right hand corner know that we're well beyond Kingston!

We had to motor sail through a bit of fog on the Hudson River.  

Fog on the Hudson

We can see other vessels (such as the tug and barge) on our radar and chart plotter but not with our eyes until they are close.

Here's what it looks like from under the dodger as we try to navigate in the fog with the chart plotter and radar that shows on the iPad screen you see.  Also necessary: the autopilot remote and the instruments showing water depth, wind speed and direction and our speed.

Navigating the Hudson in the fog.

By 11 am or so the fog clears...

Bear Mountain Bridge on the Hudson River

Our stopping point for the night: the George Washington Bridge.  We've never anchored here before.  Nice view of the George Washington Bridge and NYC beyond.

George Washington Bridge with NYC in the background at sunset.

George Washington Bridge at night.

We made our way through NY Harbor the next morning and onto Atlantic Highlands, NJ where we met up with the original owner of our boat, Marianne, and enjoyed dinner with Marianne, Richard and Richard's sister Diane.  The next morning (like 3 am)  we were on the ocean heading to Cape May.

NY City just before sunrise.  A tug and barge pass by headed north.

NY City at sunrise.

Our view of NY City as we head to the Verazzano Bridge.

We stay warm under the dodger with our "ghetto blankets".  We clamp these blankets to the back of the dodger and turn on the furnace below.  It gets nice and warm as we sail out on the ocean to Cape May.  Not too pretty but cozy.

From NY to Cape May, NJ to the Chesapeake.  Mostly motor sailing as our priority was to arrive further south for warmer temperatures.  Heading south from Norfolk we cross the Albemarle Sound and on to Belhaven, NC and Oriental, NC where we met up with our single hander buddy, Captain Bob and then to Donna and Jerry Luh's.

Crossing the Albemarle Sound....

Another first: anchored at Belhaven, NC.  We stopped to see our good friends Chris and Gosia who were working on their catamaran.  Nice visit!  Hope to see them again this season.

Bob and Jerry Luh come aboard Persephone for some apple pie!

Jerry borrows a bike from the "Waterway Provision Company" in Oriental and made a trip to the local grocery store.

One of our favorite things to do: playing cards with Jerry and Donna.

You can count on a beautiful sunrise at Donna and Jerry's place.

If you ever are near Oriental you MUST stop and see Barry and his wife Sam at Aggie's Restaurant on Route 55 in Bayboro (not far from Oriental).  Barry not only is an amazing, kind-hearted, fun-loving person, they make THE BEST steak sandwiches ever (the special sauce is a must).

It was hard to move on when the weather was so nice in NC and so many friends to visit but we had to keep moving.  From Beaufort, NC to St. John's River with plenty of wind this time.  

We only needed the jib on the sail from NC to FL.  You can see the "whisker pole" we used to hold the jib out with the wind right behind us. 

We had at least 20 knots on the stern the entire way!  On this leg south we slowed when passing the entrance to Charleston Harbor.   Our friend Ryan (whom we met in the Bahamas in 2020) wanted to come out the inlet and sail with us to FL.  When we arrived and anchored at Blount Island, Zinzi rafted alongside and more of our friends we spent time with in the Ragged Islands came out to meet us. 

From L to R: Ryan, Brandon, Dustyn, Karen, Jerry, Conor and Toby.  (Sad to miss: Conor's wife Stephanie and Ryan's wife Jerra who had to work).  Ties that bind: we met when we were "stuck" in the Ragged Islands during Covid in 2020.  Fond memories.

Our visit was short as an opportunity to head south came up and we had to move on.  Zinzi (Ryan's Sabre 36') and Persephone had a beautiful sail to Ft. Pierce.  You'll have to click on the link for the YouTube video of this sail.  Too big for blogspot:  Slow Sail to Fort Pierce, FL

More videos of our sail with Zinzi to Fort Pierce.

And even though Ryan put up his spinnaker (we left ours back in NY) we ended up arriving in Fort Pierce first.  Ryan had to sail along shore because while he sails he is working as a computer coder and needs to be within cell phone range.  He has single-handed Zinzi all the way from Maine to FL while working every day!  Crazy!  Talk about multi-tasking.

Ryan puts up his spinnaker, passes us, and then goes below to go back to work.

Our friends Dale and Roni drove up to Fort Pierce to have rotis from Calypso Cuisine.  A roti is an Indian type of wrap.  A roti starts with a bread wrapping made with a layer of mashed yellow split peas and spices.  They take a ball of dough, poke a hole in it, add the split pea mix, seal the hole and roll out the dough and fry it.  Our rotis were filled with our choice of a curry, potato, meat stew.  Chicken, goat, shrimp, duck, beef were the choices and you had to make sure to ask for boneless if that's what you wanted.  Indians traditionally leave the bones in and pick them out as they eat.  These roti in Ft. Pierce were excellent and a first experience for Dale, Roni and Ryan.

Having our rotis aboard Persephone.

Next sail was on the weekend from Fort Pierce to Stuart.  Ryan sailed in the inlet well ahead of us.  It was a weekend and he didn't have to work!  Nice visit with Aunt Susan and Ken here, tons of rain and wind as a low pressure system came through.  We borrowed Dale's van and finished provisioning.  What a luxury to be able to use a van to gather supplies!  Thanks Dale and Roni!

2 propane tanks, 4 jugs of gasoline for the dinghy, food....here the dinghy is about half filled.

We'll be headed further south this weekend.  A day sail to West Palm Beach.  Plans are to have Thanksgiving in West Palm with Ryan and his wife Jerra who is flying in from Denver.  Then on to the Bahamas where I will fly out to spend Christmas with family back in NY.  

Hope you are well and looking forward to hearing from you!

Karen & Jerry

October 2, 2023

 The summer goes by so fast!  So many projects and so little time....here is some of what we remember....

The rusty rims have been replaced with the aluminum rims we found in Stuart, FL last winter.  When we stopped in Stuart in the spring to pick them up and load them onboard to sail north we found that Aunt Susan and Ken were already in NY with the rims!  Thanks Aunt Susan and Ken!

Our 1972 Airstream has new plank flooring.  We removed the original parquet flooring that was coming apart.  Jerry carefully planned how the installation would proceed and after a lot of work the results are perfect.  What a difference!

A view looking aft.

Brian and Deb had this vintage 1975 Aristocraft runabout sitting out back for years.  We pulled it out, cleaned it up, replaced a few parts and succeeded in getting it to run after a 11 year hiatus.   Brian is at the wheel enjoying a sunny afternoon on the river.

After 6 or 7 years of claiming "I'm going to replace the canvas on Mouse", I finally did!

 

Debbie and I enjoyed our annual weekend at the Clayton Antique Boat Museum's Boat Show. 

 Here's our Peace of Paradise booth at the marketplace.

And when the apples are loaded on Persephone, summer is over....

Cortland, Honey Crisp, Blondie and Gala

Across Oneida Lake and on the Erie Canal on our trek east.  We found a few spots where there was not quite enough water but not as shallow as it was in the spring.  It is rare to see commercial traffic on the Erie - at Lock 18 we waited for a tug and barge to exit!  

Lock 18 - full capacity with this tug and barge!

The" Edna A" pushing a barge out of lock 18.

More traffic like this would help keep the Erie dredged I think.  That tug boat needs more than 6' of water and when it motors along the powerful props must dig up some muck in the center of the canal.

We motor along each day.  The locks are open from 7-5.  At the end of each day we tie to the wall at one of the locks.  

Tied to the wall on the west side of Lock 16.

We often have to wait for the dense fog to clear in the mornings so we can navigate!

The fog finally clears enough for us to see the red and green buoys on the canal.

This is the Crescent Bridge - looks like an inspection crew or maybe preparing to work on the bridge.

Crescent Bridge Saturday morning workers.

There's someone way on top of the bridge!  

There are 5 locks in a series when we get to Waterford.  The first 4 were a breeze and we locked through quickly.  When approaching the last lock we had to tie up and wait for an hour or so.  

Waiting at Lock 2 at Waterford.

One of the valves in the lock wouldn't close.  The boat that was in the lock had to wait while the repair guy arrived.  He was able to close the valve.  The lock had to operate with one less valve until a proper repair could be done.  We were able to lock through and tie to a concrete wall past the visitor center.  Many boats are docked here waiting for tropical storm Ophelia to move away from the coast.  We were able to tie to a floating dock on our last night at Waterford.

A view from the bridge locking at the Waterford Visitor Center, Lock 2 and the docks.

Another photo taken from the same bridge showing the brick walkway that is actually a "map" of the entire Erie Canal.

I crossed the bridge to the park on the opposite side of the canal to take this picture.  The 2 sailboats at the right side of the picture are on the wall where we first tied upon arriving.

A little rain on the way on the Erie. 

Next: From Waterford through the Federal Lock in Troy on the Hudson River to Catskill for the night.

It happens to all of us at some point - anchor for the night and the current switches putting the boat in shallow water.  No problem for these sailors - they just had to get up between 2 am and 4 am at high tide in the fog and motor out to deeper water.  They were anchored near us when we woke up and looked out.

We arrived in Kingston with plenty of water to get into Hideaway Marina but it has been raining!  No mast up yet.  Good weather to make pie!

We made our first apple pie (and then a couple more) in Kingston for Vince and crew at Hideaway Marina.

                  

The rain finally slowed down and then stopped Saturday afternoon.  Vince and Chuck met us at the haul out slip with the crane and we put up the mast....

Saturday - mast stepping day!

Sunday and Monday we worked on installing the boom, lines, sails and more.  Looks like the current will be in our favor Wednesday morning to head back to the Hudson and south.  Thanks to my family for providing the funds to keep the SPOT going,  you will be able to track us as we move along.  Probably as exciting as watching paint dry.  Ha ha!  At least anyone who wants to know where we are can click on the link at the top right hand corner of the page for our location.  Thanks Mom and Dad, Susan, Brian!!

Karen & Jerry

SV Persephone