10/14/17 Pennellville to Kingston

I posted the pictures in the previous post to go along with this post.  Scroll down to check out the pictures.  Remember you can find our position by clicking the SPOT link in the upper right hand corner of this screen.
It felt like summer as we chugged our way across Oneida Lake and down the Erie Canal last week.  We promise we won't say, "It's tooo hot."  One stop at Sylvan Beach and a visit from Mike and Liz; we had dinner together and then back to the boat for warm apple pie.
We also had a Ryze vodka tasting for Mike and Liz.  Our summer hosts, Brian and Deb, are helping their son and 2 cousins grow their new distillery - Lock 1 Distillery in Phoenix, NY.  It opened in June.  Here is their website: http://lock1distillingco.com.  They are also on Facebook.  Ryze vodka is a local product - winter wheat and rye grown at a farm just outside Phoenix, the bottles are from a plant in Waterloo, and the labels are printed in Syracuse and then carefully placed on the bottles by hand.  If you try it you'll see why they have already won a silver medal at 2017's New York World Wine & Spirits Competition.
We were expecting more traffic on the Erie Canal as it is closing a month earlier than in the past.  But there seemed to be even fewer boats than ever.  Hmmm.  We made it to Waterford, NY the end of the Erie Canal on Friday and joined the boats already there taking advantage of the hospitality offered by the town and visitor's center.  A variety of boats from all over the US and Canada; a variety of people onboard with plans for places to go.  We enjoyed the company of Pam for dinner one night.  She is on a 58' motorboat.  She and her husband (who had to travel back to Michigan by car) have spent 10 years building their boat.  It was originally a 1970 Roamer, they bought it, gutted it, designed and rebuilt the entire boat.  It is now their home and a work of Art (which happens to be her husband's name).
After a couple of days working on the boat and relaxing on we motored to the Hudson River.  50 miles to Kingston, NY where we pulled in to Hideaway Marina and were greeted by our buddy Vince.  Hard to believe it was just over 3 months ago when we were here to have the mast taken down.
Mast is up!  We've been here at Hideaway a couple of days baking apple pies, helping Vince, doing laundry, walking around Kingston.  It's time to move south anchoring along the Hudson for a few nights and then onto Atlantic Highlands/Sandy Hook area to meet up with Marianne and her son Andreas who is visiting.
We look forward to hearing from you when you have the opportunity to write.
Karen and Jerry

Erie Canal Pictures

Anchored at the end of the day just past Lock 16

Kurd tries to stow away in the cabinet under the sink in the head before we leave.

We had to take Kurd to Bill's garage, fluff up the canned cat food in his dish to make it appetizing, and then run back to the boat to make our getaway before he noticed we were gone.                                                                                              Nothing worse than leaving with a forlorn cat sitting on the dock watching.

Heading down the Erie Canal.

Approaching Lock 16.

Old Lock 33 historic site just past Lock 16 and St. Johnsville

Ready at 7 am for Lock 7

End of the day - tied up at Lock 7

Another shot of the Erie Canal

Early morning geese and mist on the canal

Another morning picture of the canal and hills in the distance

Tied up at Lock 7

Watching the Harvest Moon rise at Lock 7

Harvest Moon Lock 7

Pam and Art's boat "Tinacious" in Waterford, NY

10/2/17

Jerry's summer project - sweet ride.

Karen's summer project - a Pakk Pack for our mainsail constructed in Brian and Deb's backyard.

Ron (from Scheherezade), Jerry and Kurd working on our teak deck.

Clayton Antique Boat Museum Flea Market - my seaglass booth with Deb waiting for customers.

Kurd comes close to inspect the lens when I take his picture.

17 years old is pretty old for a cat.  He works for a bit and then needs a cat nap.

It’s that time of  year again.  We have the boat packed up and ready to go tomorrow, Tuesday.  Our summer cat, Kurd, who lives at Bill and Laurie’s house for the winter, has been pleading with his eyes for us to stay.  But the locks close on the 11th of October this year.  Persephone must start the trek through the Erie Canal.  Sorry Kurd.
If you would like to see where we are this winter click on this link: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0GDxHcnIICYp8nUSWJhRhxonUejZNOheg
This link is also in the top right hand corner on the persephonesail.blogspot.com web page.  I will try to update the page each month.  Our plan for this winter is to go to the Bahamas.  The internet “cafes” are not plentiful and we are still in the dark ages with our flip phone but I will still try to keep in touch.  We have a load of tools and supplies onboard to finish a number of projects.  And a box of apples for pie making, of course, from our friend Gary down the road.  Best wishes and please write.

5/26/17

Bob is now a gardener.  We have tomato seeds started under the dodger.

A sailing greenhouse planted in Oriental, NC thanks to cousin Dick and our trip to Lowes.

The smell of cow pastures and the bright green of spring on shore reminded us we were almost "home" as we motored along the Erie Canal.  Home is in quotation marks; the boat is really our home.  The other "home" is Brian and Deb's dock in Pennellville, NY where they have graciously put up with gypsies in their front yard in the summer for too many years to count.  This summer will be cut about 6 weeks short as the NY Water & Power Authority have taken over the management of the Erie Canal.  They will only be open from May 19 - Oct. 11 this year.  The excitement on the canal this week for us was catching up to and passing a tug pushing 2 barges with Genessee Brewery's new beer tanks aboard headed for Rochester.  More on that later.
Our last ocean passage for the season was almost perfect.  Light southerly winds and sunshine from Norfolk, out the Chesapeake, to Sandy Hook, NJ.  We had to start the motor here and there when the winds dropped off but all in all a wonderful sail.  Here's a video Jerry took of a ship coming in at Norfolk as we go out: https://youtu.be/3T01aMm1ll4

Sunrise on the ocean

This was our first time anchoring at Atlantic Highlands, NJ.  Nice spot!

Atlantic Highlands with Persephone in the center.  "Atlantic Highlands" was on the transom when we bought the boat.

And a special treat - Marianne met us there on shore.  A wonderful reunion and dinner together at the Inlet Cafe along the Shrewsbury River sharing stories of winter adventures and making plans for Marianne to spend some time aboard sailing with us next season.  Something to look forward to.

Karen, Marianne, and Jerry at the Inlet Cafe.

Excellent sailing the next day from NJ to the Verrazano past the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan.  Here are some videos on youtube: Sandy Hook to West Bank Light https://youtu.be/ACu3b4dUGk8
and NY Harbor https://youtu.be/W2Sq0EFkzZg.  A million ferry boats darted back and forth dodging us to deliver passengers here and there.  Can you imagine our surprise when what I thought was a log up ahead turned out to be a deer!  Swimming in the open water south of the Verrazano Bridge and being carried with the tide towards the sandy beaches of Sandy Hook.  I scrambled to take a video: https://youtu.be/IQZygBkOwIc and https://youtu.be/C9ZAahiCoS4.  Hope she made it.


Last year when we approached the Tappan Zee bridge a thick fog rolled down across the water.  No visibility and we had to proceed with radar and chartplotter through the bridge.  This year  a dark cloud rolled over us with thunder, lightning, gusts to 40 mph and a downpour of rain.  Again, the bridge was not to be seen until we came out on the other side.  Glad we had just put the sails away.  Blue skies and sunshine prevailed as we continued up the Hudson River.
Vince is always on the dock to greet us with hugs when we pull into the marina at Kingston, NY.  No apples on board so I whipped up a batch of brownies.  The smell of brownies wafted up from below as Vince used the crane to take our mast down and lay it on the supports on deck.  During break we sat at the picnic table by Vince's office munching on brownies, talking, and watching the action at the marina.  Vince saw us off the next morning, "See you in the fall!"
Back out on the Hudson, now a motorboat, to Albany and Waterford.  The beginning of the Erie Canal.   More motoring.  We sat in the cockpit each day, steering with the autopilot and remote control, watching for debris, enjoying the sights, and creating "to do" lists for summer work projects.  So much to do in so little time.

Debris pile up blocking a section of the bridge.  Our new friends from Ithaca, NY aboard Lucky Charm under the bridge.

On our 2nd day we came upon the barge carrying 6 60 ft. stainless steel beer tanks on 2 barges.  We were able to sneak by on a straight section to pass the barges and arrive at Lock 14.  The tug "Otter" allowed the other 3 sailboats behind to pass him and we all locked through ahead of the barge.  At each lock the barges have to be separated, they use winches to pull one barge into the lock, fill the lock with water, and then out the other side.  The lock then has to be prepared for the tug to push the 2nd barge through, reconnect and continue west.  Spectators lined Lock 14 to watch the 2 hour process.  Thank you Mr. Tug Boat Captain for letting us go ahead!

3 beer tanks on a barge near Coeymans south of Albany.

6 beer tanks on 2 barges up ahead.

6 beer tanks on 2 barges behind us.

Rain greets us as we come to the Syracuse area.  We are "home" by Friday afternoon.  Looking forward to some warmer and dryer weather now!
Karen & Jerry
Persephone

5/8/17

Here's a boat keel anchored in Beaufort.  The spot he picked was fine until the winds came from the other direction and he swung into shore.

Same day in Beaufort.  Oops!

One more oops - no one aboard this boat and when the winds picked up to 30 knots their anchors dragged.  This boat was still on the beach when we left for Oriental.

Wild ponies or horses on Carrot Island, Beaufort.

More horses.

Our stay in Beaufort included a beach walk on Carrot Island.  It was near low tide as we hiked through the muck to the sandy beach picking up sea shells along the way.  Just off the beach we found a herd of 24 horses grazing in the marshy grass.
While in Beaufort the winds picked up with a passing front and we had a ton of rain.  You can see Persephone in the background of the last boat up on the beach picture after the storm had passed.

Next stop - Oriental.  Feels like home.  We met up with many cruising friends on their boats and in their homes.  Cousins Dick and Georgette are close by too.  On borrowed bikes we rode to the marinas where friends were staying, biked to the grocery store, biked around during the town wide yard sales.  We spent a lot of time at The Bean, the local coffee shop right at the town dock.  There were potlucks to attend, projects to help out with, always something going on.  Jerry is always sought after for consult on a variety of boat projects.  He loves to help out, talk about boats and boat systems and diagnose. 1400 bicyclists came in last weekend and set up their tents all over town for their bike event in Oriental.  Imagine a town of 900 hosting 1400!  Our friends Don and D organized an entertaining and informative presentation at the Town Hall about their recent trip to Cuba on their boat.  I even took my guitar to open mic night at the Silos Restaurant and played a couple of songs.  Staying almost 2 weeks is a record for us.  We will be on our way today heading north.

Fort Pierce, FL to Beaufort, NC

4/22/17
63 hours from Manatee Pocket, FL to Beaufort, NC!  We had less wind than we would have liked but a fairly comfortable passage.  The gulf stream current added up to 4 or 5 knots at times.  Average speed about 10 knots!  Now that's moving.  We were thinking of our friend Jeff who has a performance catamaran and travels in excess of this speed all the time.  Fast!
The swells were large and confused as we approached the Frying Pan Shoals area of NC and we rocked and rolled.  An area of heavy rain, thunder and lightning greeted us as we exited the gulf stream current and headed for Beaufort.  A nice fresh water boat wash to clean the salt water spray away.  By 11 pm we were anchored in Taylor Creek.  In the distance at the Beaufort Town Docks we could see our buddy boats:  Blue Jacket (Donna and Jerry) and Scheherazade (Deb and Ron).  They arrived earlier after a 4 day sail from Great Sail Cay, Abacos, Bahamas.   We picked them up in the morning by dinghy and Jerry made breakfast aboard Persephone for everyone.  It was the beginning of a wonderful day with Ron, Deb, Donna, Jerry enjoying the sights of Beaufort. 

Don't tell anyone that our friend, Capt. Bob, who singlehands from NY to FL every year has his 82nd birthday next week.  Anyone looking at the photo would assume that Capt. Bob is our age.  Photo taken aboard Persephone in Lake Worth, FL.

Ryan, Harmony, and Zoe drove up to visit in Lake Worth, FL.  Here's what Zoe thinks of sailing.

Dale brings Dale's Pale Ale to share with Jerry aboard Persephone in Manatee Pocket, FL.

Here's a ink to a video Jerry took near the end of our passage from Ft. Pierce, FL to Beaufort, NC: https://youtu.be/rdc6hPwfjBc

4/14/17

With a favorable 4 or 5 day forecast we left St. Thomas headed west not knowing where we'd actually make landfall.  The wind would choose the destination.  In a little over 6 days we arrived at the inlet at Lake Worth.  It was a wonderful passage with wind between 5 and 20, all pretty much on the beam or a little after, sun shining or stars and near-to-full moon each night.  There are 2 videos as we approach Lake Worth Inlet.  You can click this link to go to Youtube to view:  https://youtu.be/I10ELFRLMRM   This one is the sun coming up:  https://youtu.be/5M0bigobQmM.

We counted 4 flying fish on deck after we anchored in Lake Worth.

The moon rising over the fancy houses at Lake Worth.

Sunset on passage through the Bahamas.

The next day we moved south to the City Docks in West Palm Beach with a view of the Trump Tower building looming and walked all over the hustling downtown.  We met the other sailors at the anchorage and had an interesting evening of sea stories.  Our friend Bob, who is anchored at the north end of Lake Worth, came down via bus and we sailed together to his neighborhood with a stop to see his son's new boat on the way.  Our plans are to hang out with Bob, go visit friends in Stuart, and continue heading north.  Please write when you have a chance!  We love to hear from you!

PS  One last video that I just found - my favorite brother-in-law Tom Shepard at the helm aboard Persephone in March.  https://youtu.be/cnR1tHYl8K8