Ed. note: someone has noted that the self description in the "looking for Waldo" picture was somewhat inaccurate but nonetheless hopeful.
To refresh your memory...
The suggested correction...
"I'm the short guy in a gray shirt with NO hair between two tall guys in gray shirts with NO hair."
Anyway, the summer phase of our trip to St Petersburg, FL, is complete as we have returned to the marina where this saga began two months ago. I know we initially claimed the trip plan would take us to Chicago and down the western rivers but...chiseled in sand.
Susan promised that this entry would not be full of details about fixing the boat's running gear (propellers, shafts, struts, bearings, rudders). She did not know how prescient she was...the boat is not fixed yet. We did stop at a Hudson River marina fully intending to effect repairs but, after talking with several staff there, I was not brimming over with confidence about the facility.
So we decided to soldier on, baby the injured propeller and see how that worked out. Since we made it all the way home, so far so good. Other impacts of our decision get revealed soon since we pulled the boat out of the water last week, had the experts look it over, discover the true damage and actually make repairs. We're hoping to know the full story by the end of this week. My guy at Morgan Stanley is working the over/under on BOAT units.
Back to the Hudson River, we continued south after filling our diesel tanks (200 gallons @ $3.15 per gallon) anchoring just north of New York City. From there through NYC, out into the Atlantic and back into NJ with stops at Barnegat Bay, Atlantic City and Cape May. I must say the NJ Intracoastal Waterway is not in good repair and many cruisers skip it completely and run that part of their trip in the Atlantic. The weather did not cooperate for an ocean run, so we took the inside route.
After Cape May, we crossed Delaware Bay and then back into the Chesapeake. Our last several nights before getting home were spent in Solomon's, MD, across the Patuxent River from the Pax River Naval Air Station. NAS proximity results in far too many "crabs". Ed. note: at West Point, critters that attend the Naval Academy are referred to as "crabs". I'll let readers ponder for themselves whether the reference honors decapod crustaceans or human parasites.
One Solomon's homeowner (a crab?) clearly is not sensitive to some visitor's delicate feelings as evidenced by his porch banner.
I was riding by on my bike and, just glancing over quickly, thought "Hey, I've got one of those banners too!" But something didn't feel quite right, so I stopped to discover the antimatter version of the banner we've used for years on our boats.
One summer in Annapolis (one time at band camp) we cruised past the Naval Academy flying our banner just after the new freshmen arrived. There was a near riot ashore as several hundred plebes screamed and yelled what, I am certain, were words of encouragement.
So after Solomon's it was one day to our home marina on the York River wrapping up the summer phase.
Readers who worked with me know I'm a data guy, so here's a summary of the summer phase.
We'll suspend blob posts until we take off in mid October for Florida.
To refresh your memory...
"I'm the short guy in a gray shirt with gray hair between two tall guys in gray shirts with gray hair."
The suggested correction...
"I'm the short guy in a gray shirt with NO hair between two tall guys in gray shirts with NO hair."
Anyway, the summer phase of our trip to St Petersburg, FL, is complete as we have returned to the marina where this saga began two months ago. I know we initially claimed the trip plan would take us to Chicago and down the western rivers but...chiseled in sand.
Susan promised that this entry would not be full of details about fixing the boat's running gear (propellers, shafts, struts, bearings, rudders). She did not know how prescient she was...the boat is not fixed yet. We did stop at a Hudson River marina fully intending to effect repairs but, after talking with several staff there, I was not brimming over with confidence about the facility.
So we decided to soldier on, baby the injured propeller and see how that worked out. Since we made it all the way home, so far so good. Other impacts of our decision get revealed soon since we pulled the boat out of the water last week, had the experts look it over, discover the true damage and actually make repairs. We're hoping to know the full story by the end of this week. My guy at Morgan Stanley is working the over/under on BOAT units.
Back to the Hudson River, we continued south after filling our diesel tanks (200 gallons @ $3.15 per gallon) anchoring just north of New York City. From there through NYC, out into the Atlantic and back into NJ with stops at Barnegat Bay, Atlantic City and Cape May. I must say the NJ Intracoastal Waterway is not in good repair and many cruisers skip it completely and run that part of their trip in the Atlantic. The weather did not cooperate for an ocean run, so we took the inside route.
After Cape May, we crossed Delaware Bay and then back into the Chesapeake. Our last several nights before getting home were spent in Solomon's, MD, across the Patuxent River from the Pax River Naval Air Station. NAS proximity results in far too many "crabs". Ed. note: at West Point, critters that attend the Naval Academy are referred to as "crabs". I'll let readers ponder for themselves whether the reference honors decapod crustaceans or human parasites.
One Solomon's homeowner (a crab?) clearly is not sensitive to some visitor's delicate feelings as evidenced by his porch banner.
I was riding by on my bike and, just glancing over quickly, thought "Hey, I've got one of those banners too!" But something didn't feel quite right, so I stopped to discover the antimatter version of the banner we've used for years on our boats.
One summer in Annapolis (one time at band camp) we cruised past the Naval Academy flying our banner just after the new freshmen arrived. There was a near riot ashore as several hundred plebes screamed and yelled what, I am certain, were words of encouragement.
So after Solomon's it was one day to our home marina on the York River wrapping up the summer phase.
Readers who worked with me know I'm a data guy, so here's a summary of the summer phase.
- Miles travelled: 1900
- Diesel gallons: 800 (includes about 50 gal for the generator)
- Days: 64
- Locks: 60
- Avg Speed, mph: 7
- Marina nights: 33
We'll suspend blob posts until we take off in mid October for Florida.
