11/23/12  Persephone & Bluejacket have arrived in Fernandina Beach, FL - we left Thursday morning at 6:30 and sailed down the coast arriving this morning at 7:00 am. 

11/19/12
Here's Jerry's movie of our sail on the Chesapeake Bay from Deltaville to Portsmouth, VA.

From one extreme to the other going from the Chesapeake Bay one day onto the Dismal Swamp Canal the next.....

A nice shot of our anchorage on Pungo Creek at the end of the day.  Lots of north wind = fast sailing.

We're now tied to the dock at Donna and Jerry's house in Oriental, NC.  A nice dinner in town with Donna & Jerry, Mary, Don & D, D's Mom Pam, Mike & Heather and then off to the Catholic Church for a Thanksgiving community service.  A quick visit with cousins Dick & Georgette and we'll be off tomorrow.  "Persephone" and "Bluejacket" will be heading south.

11/13/12

Sailboat Pie

We always leave home in the fall wondering what we’ve forgotten.  Nothing noted…until we arrived in Kingston and started digging out the parts to make Persephone into a sailboat – sails, blocks, sheets, halyards, battens….battens?  Where are the battens?  We have 4 battens ranging from 3 feet to 14 feet essential to the performance of our mainsail.  They were stored in Brian and Deb’s attic back in Pennellville in the spring of 2011.  Thanks to Brian who found and transported our battens to Albany and thanks to Vince of Hideaway Marina who loaned us his fancy truck to drive to Albany to retrieve the battens.  

Sailing the Hudson - Bear Mtn. Bridge around the next bend

Looking back on West Point

We're passed by a classic "Justice" on Havestraw Bay, Hudson River

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With the fully-battened sails up we sailed and motored the Hudson River from Kingston to NY City starting and finishing in the dark.  The high water from Sandy’s storm surge was evident.  Boats that broke loose from moorings or docks floated 8-10 feet above the river bank and were stranded on the banks when the water receded.  Marinas all along the Hudson had a mess of boats that were stored on shore and floated off their stands during the surge.  New York Harbor looked unchanged from our view other than a few new buildings. 

New York City

 

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The lack of ferry traffic buzzing around us made a smoother-than-usual transit through NYC to an anchorage behind Liberty Park.  The winds continued to howl most of the night.  

Verrazzano Bridge

 

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We had a spectacular view of the Verrazano Bridge from our anchorage.  The arches of the bridge lit up the night outlining tomorrow’s exit point to the ocean.  Off in the morning in the dark with NW winds at 20 knots – NW is a great wind direction when you’re heading south on the coast.  Great winds from behind to push and the waves don’t have a chance to build as we scoot along the NJ coast.  

 

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With binoculars we saw the wreckage of homes along the shore and the roller coaster at Seaside Park in the water on the beach. 

Sailing along NJ Coast

 

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Onto Barnegat to anchor for the night and then our sprint south to arrive in the Chesapeake before the next storm system arrives.  To Cape May, NJ then up the Delaware Bay where we smacked and pounded our way along.  Just doesn’t seem right to be sailing north when we want to go south.  The 50 pounds of apples in the v-berth may well have been applesauce if the Bay had been as rough the entire way as it was the first two hours.  We sped along making tracks – when Jerry hears snow in the forecast he’s on the move.  We dodged the storm.  Although the temperatures have been downright brisk we have not  had any snow on the boat.  Sailing south on the Chesapeake in blue skies, good NW winds,, and sunshine would have been perfect if it were a little more than 40 degrees out.

By the time we arrived in Deltaville, VA to visit our friends Ryan and Kari the temperature was up to 60 degrees.  And sunny!  Ryan and Kari live aboard “Valkyrie” currently in Fishing Bay at Chesapeake Boat Works.  Conversation, dinners together, reminiscing, games, it’s all good when we spend time with Ryan and Kari. 

Valkyrie on the left, Virginia on the right, Persephone in the background at anchor.

The excitement at the Chesapeake Boat Works was the arrival of the 115’ schooner “Virginia”.  The marina has a railway system to haul large boats.  Crowds gathered to watch the all day affair as “Virginia” was tugged ashore atop a platform on rails.  Divers assisted to arrange the blocking on the hull under the boat.  It was quite a sight.

Divers hammer supporting structures for Virginia

Halfway there!

Today is Wednesday, November 7th.  We're anchored in Selby Bay just south of Annapolis, MD on the Chesapeake Bay awaiting a couple inches of snow.  Sailing and snow just don't go well together!  We've had long days getting up early and pushing south to arrive in the Chesapeake before this predicted nor'easter.  In a few days we'll be in Deltaville, VA where we may be able to have better wifi for posting more news and pictures.  All is well.  Wishing you the same.

11/3/12  We're leaving Kingston this morning and heading down the Hudson.  No more posts until we have internet access again.

10/30/12  Hurricane Sandy turned out to be mild for us here tucked away on the Hudson River.  The highest wind gust we saw was about 30 knots.  We had some rain but not much.  The big problem here was (and still is) flooding.  We were fine at the dock but those boats Jerry helped  Vince haul out and put on stands on shore didn't fare so well.  The storm surge from the ocean came all the way up the Hudson River to coincide with high tide and a full moon.  The water came up over the banks, into the parking lot, almost to the road.  A number of the boats that were stored on jack stands started floating around the marina.  We lowered the dinghy and Jerry put the outboard on.  From about 11 pm to 4 am we were in the dinghy with Vince, the marina manager, tying onto the floating boats and towing them to docks.  The water in the parking lot was at least 5 ft so we were able to tow powerboats and sailboats with the dinghy through the parking lot!  At 4 am the water had receded too much to make towing viable.  Jerry made a big breakfast for the 3 of us and then they went back out to see what else could be saved. After an hour nap we were back out this morning to help out Vince and the crew that showed up to clean up and organize.  It's almost 1 pm now with another high tide at 2:25.  The water continues to creep back up. 
Here are some before and after pictures.  I do not have any pictures taken when the water was at its highest - too dark.
This is looking toward the office before....

And after....

This is looking toward the other end of the marina before.......

And after........

Our view this morning from our boat.......

HIdeaway Marina in the distance taken from the bridge.......

Here's a closer picture of the marina.....

There were only 9 boats in the water at Hideaway before the flooding - this picture shows all of the boats towed to docks overnight.  Even the 47' Fairlane Gran Turismo in the background was towed through the parking lot with the dinghy and the 4 hp outboard in the dark!
We hope all is well on your end after Hurricane Sandy,
Karen & Jerry
Aboard Persephone (the one with the black mast in the picture)

10/29/12  Hideaway Marina, Kingston, NY

I planned on starting this fall's journal with pictures from the summer.  We spend every summer tied to a dock in front of Brian and Deb's house on the Oneida River and I never update the blog.  But when I looked at my pictures I see I have few pictures to show.

Brian & Deb's outdoor pizza oven

Emma & Gabi, Brian & Deb's grandkids make their own pizzas.

Our community garden in Brian & Deb's backyard.

Cross Lake Rendezvous with Brian & Deb and Bill & Laurie.  Dave & Bonnie came up by car for the fun.

Deb & Karen go for a paddle.

Laurie out for a paddle.

Kurd, our cat we rent from Laurie & Bill for the summer, enjoying our company.

Our trip to Maine to visit with my family: Susan, Tom, Syd, Kira, Owen and sailboat f Donna & Jerry from NC cruising in ME.

Some of you may notice I have not posted car pictures or car parts, which is what we worked on for a majority of the summer.  I have a ton those pictures but I'm tired of looking at them!

Today is Monday - we're tucked in at Hideaway Marina, Kingston, NY.  It's called Hideaway for a reason - it's off Rondout Creek so we don't have to worry about debris floating down the creek to the Hudson and we're in a valley away from the highest winds.  It's a good hide away.

Vince & Dave of Hideaway Marina stop for a piece of apple pie after another busy day hauling boats.

Here we are tied to a dock and trees with our friends Mike & Liz next to us.  They traveled with us from Oneida Lake on their boat "Wanderer".

Persephone & Wanderer at Hideaway Marina

Wanderer exiting a lock on the Erie Canal

Salad made from the garden we kept at Brian & Deb's house this summer.