Tuesday, June 27, 2017

6/5 thru 6/7/17

Heavy fog as we headed up the Hudson River. We discussed waiting because of that (this is one of the major highlights of this trip, getting to see the New York skyline); but decided to go on and make the best of it. The city skyline was not as visible as we would like, but we did get a few pics. The Statue of Liberty was of course our main highlight and our pics were great. The city seems to go on forever, and the scenery is really beautiful.  We traveled 56 miles that day up the river to Half Moon Bay Marina. We rented a car while here and toured the Culinary Institute and West Point. The Culinary Institute was interesting and we ate at one of the 3 main restaurants on their campus. The highlight of this day though was West Point, what an education! The setting, buildings, architecture, design........all of it is absolutely breathtaking and I would encourage anyone
Skyline of Manhattan in fog.....


Tug boats waiting for ship to guide into port

Ship and tug approaching our stern

Lady Liberty

Better view of skyline

Liberty Island, Ellis Island on right

Love this view with our flag!

Commuter train along the shoreline of Hudson River

CorkScrew with Statue behind us.....

History along The Hudson; Sleepy Hollow

Old Mill and house.....17th Century

Home of their famous hot dog

Famous hot dog!!!!!

Culinary Institute dinner 


Old Diamondsides

Culinary Institute

View of river

View of river

Gun barrel

View of river 

13 links from chain used to stop the British invasion

Battle Monument

West Point Campus

Cadet Chapel Organ

Chapel

Stained glass window

Window

Chapel

Monument

Entrance to Campus

View of river
to take a trip there if possible.

Monday, June 26, 2017

5/3 thru 5/11/17

After waiting for those short bridges to be repaired and open, we finally left and headed to Hampton Marina. Been here before, so we know what a great stop this is. It was a long day, 64 miles, lock and several bridges, so we didn't arrive until 7:30......We spent 5 days here but they were very quiet ones, waiting for the weather to change so that we can travel on.
It was still windy the morning we left but much more bearable. We traveled 65 miles to an anchorage in Mill Creek off Ingram Bay. There wasn't much wind but because of direction it was very rough; 5-6' waves. Tomorrow needs to be much better!!!
Up early and left @ first light for an 83 mile ride to Cambridge, Md. This is where we had new electronics put on the boat one year ago, and now we are having a couple things adjusted. We stayed here a couple days for that, but did nothing else. There seem to be a lot of days like that. 
Let me clarify the last statement.......when I say "we did nothing else", that means we didn't go anywhere. We do plenty......actually I believe there is much more to do on this boat than there was at our house. Nuff said. 
The next morning we will head to Rock Hall Landing & Marina, traveling 57 miles and it ends up a very cold and rainy day. We wanted to go into their little town, but raining so much we decided not to. 

Norfolk, Va

Marena in Hampton, Va

Six boats of us "loopers" in Hampton

Our favorite mexican restaurant in Hampton (found on a shopping day to mall)

Theatre w/bar and dinner served during movie.....

Sunset in Ingram Bay

Ships are a common sight

Chesapeake Bay Bridge






Monday, May 15, 2017

5/1/17 thru 5/3/17


Oh, forgot to tell you, a 230' cruise ship came into Coinjock too!!

Cruiseship coming by...


boats rafting up


Sandrobber

Us leaving, going by cruise ship
Our plans were to stay only one night, but that quickly changed. Had a big rain during the night, and with that added onto the earlier rains, the next morning there was lots and lots of water on the docks, roads, yards, etc.................we couldn't even walk to the restaurant. To give you an idea, there is just a wall to side tie up to, 1/4 mi long. There were lots of boats here, almost a "full house"! We only had a 40 mile trip the next day, so we did not plan to leave early. There were lots of vessels that did leave early though. After we got up and Sonny was moping the rain off the decks, he noticed a parade of boats (the ones that had left early) returning to the marina. Didn't take us long to figure out. Something was up!!! There are 2 swing bridges several miles upstream, only 3-4 feet off the water. Because of these rains, the water had gotten into the mechanisms of the bridge, so they were closed! Until further notice! Therefore, the boats turned around. So upon return, it was kinda like working a puzzle to get the boats back in; plus.................there are more boats arriving all through the day because they have reservations. The puzzle gets more complicated. Now we are rafting up. We ended up with a sailboat tied to us.....
We had a blast all day watching this fiasco!!!

4/29/17 thru 5/1/17

After spending 11 days in New Bern, we leave @ 7am for a 72 mile run to River Forest Marina for a one night stay. Four of those days in New Bern were spent attending seminars on traveling north through New York, into Canada and then Lake Michigan heading south in the late summer. It was so nice to meet up with some friends we hadn't seen in a long while, plus we made new friends too!
We left with our old friends, Sandrobber and Act III and plan on traveling with them through the summer.
River Forest Marina is in Belhaven, NC, a cute coastal town with lots of history. We borrowed their golf cart and rode into town for dinner @ Jack's Tavern.
We left the next morning and traveled 54 miles to Alligator River Marina. Unusual marina,  we tied up to a wall that was only feet away...............
The next morning we left @ 6:30 to cross The Albemarle Sound then on to the marina @ Coinjock, NC. The last 5 miles of the 37 we traveled today got pretty rough.

Sonny n Marena with Michael n Margo (Cockatoo); boat name: The Perch!

Farmers Mkt Bear


Cunningham Bridge b4 entering New Bern

A friend took these pics as we left New Bern


Marina as we left w/Doubletree Hotel in background

River Forest Manor in Belhaven, built in early 1900's

Alligator River Marina (see CorkScrew in background)