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