Completed the Loop 25 March

Hello to Family and Friends,

Well, we finally crossed our wake and completed the loop at 1202L on 25 March, 2008 as we entered the South River. It has been quite a trip!

We last posted from Oriental NC where we "weathered" for two days waiting for winds to abate. On Thursday, 21 March, we left early and headed north with plans to anchor on the other side of Ablemarle Sound. And for once, the plans actually survived reality. As we crossed Ablemarle sound that evening, the winds were just starting to pick up...good timing on our part. It was getting dark just as we finished the crossing and we pulled to the west of the ICW and put out Anchor for the night. It was not the best of anchorages but we did alright and were beat from a 12 hour day.

The next day we left early and headed up to Norfolk. We made our way through our last lock...just a 1 ft drop to control the tidal currents. We pulled into the Norfolk city marina at around 1600 and headed to Joe's Crab Shack...right next to the Marina. We decided to stay two days until the Chesapeake became calm enough to go north. This gave Ashton and I a chance to see the Naval Nuseum right next door...we also toured the Battleship Wisconsin. Neat stuff.

On Monday we headed out bright and early to take advantage of the tidal currents heading north in the Chesepeake. Forcast was 10G15 Knots early increasing to 15G20 for the afternoon. Well, we hit the higher winds right away and they were blowing opposite the incoming tide. This stood the waves up a bit and instead of having 2-3 footers, we ended up with 3-5 footers...very rough. Lots of water over the bow. Ashton and Cathy hid below as they were a bit ill. We beat north in this manner all the way to Soloman's Island where we were relieved to pull into a nice protected anchorage for the evening. We had to set the anchor twice to get a good bite but enjoyed the scenery around Solomans for the evening.

Tuesday, the 25 we hit the bay at sunrise and made great time, this time the weather was correc and the waves were a relativley calm 2-3'. We pulled into the Pier 7 Marina on the South River at about 1230L....Loop Complete.

Was it worth it...YES. Was it more expensive that we had thought and budgeted? Yes

So, my apologies for the delay for this final post. We have been at work now for two months..still a ways to go before all the trip bills are paid...and yes, it was worth it! Waveaway is for sale now with an offer pending. We have not been out since we pulled her into the slip at Pier 7 on the South River. Oh, I go by and do some boat work every weekend, but I can't find the energy to take her out. She, I am sure, knows this and is ok with it. I think she is ready for a new owner and grateful for the trip of a life time. Yeah, or I might just be a little crazy.

It is funny how intense the preparation for the trip was and how excited we were to have the privilege to manage such a trip (especially with a teenage son) during our "earning years". It is only fitting that the end of our trip and of our relationship with Waveaway is a slow, long and without fanfare goodbye...we have had all the excitement we deserve for a while.

Fair wind and following seas my friends.

Weather Delayed in Oriental NC...it is boating you know!

Hey Friends and Family,

We arrived in Oriental NC on Tuesday after a very busy week of cruising and some time off to go back home for a very sad event.

First, we left from St Augustine on Sunday, March 13 cruising up the ICW with a planned stop in Fernandina Beach Fl. About an hour out, we received a call from our daughter Holly. She was in tears relaying that River, our great dog for over 15 years, had declined rapidly in health and was unable to stand or bark. Cathy had just returned from D.C. two days earlier with River in very good health at that time so this phone call was a shock. We quickly decided to put the boat at a marina for a few days and drive back to D.C. as we all wanted to see River again before it was too late. We also called our daughter, Marylee, who is staying with her grandmother in N.C.

Everyone drove back and met at the house on Monday evening. That evening was extremely emotional for everyone as we realized the gravity of River's health. There were stories told of River of old as we all cried while petting him as much as possible. He still recognized everyone but was unable to stand without assistance ...he still smiled when we all would love on him.

That night River stayed in our bed room and we attended him through the night. It was obvious he was in pain but was also refusing to give in...always been an extremely tough dog. This is the dog that attacked a group of coyotes in Arizona who were trying to lure him out of the yard so they could make a meal of him....he killed two and sent the others scrambling...loving every minute of it. This is the dog that would love going on 10 mile runs with me and beg for more at the end of the run. This is the dog that patiently ate through our fence for 2 days to attack a large Rottweiler next door who everyone knew, including River, was a dangerous dog. River sent him to the vet. River would have died for any of us.

Cathy and I took him to the vet that morning where we discussed the situation with the vet, through tears, and decided to do the right thing...hardest decision I have EVER made. River sensed it I am sure. He was ready...we were not and would never be but life doesn't care. While River rested his head on my lap, Cathy and I stroked and cried as the assistant very compassionately administered a fatal dose of anesthesia. River's labored breathing slowed, his eyes shut ever so slightly, and he left us. I still cry when I think or write (as in now) about this. I have owned LOTS of dogs in my life...loved all of them. But River was special in so many ways. He is missed. There will never be another River.

We returned to the boat the next day and left early in the morning heading "outside" to avoid the Georgia ICW. We initially planned on coasting in at Hilton Head but starting bucking a head current. We made the decision to continue overnight and go direct to Charleston. We slowed to make the arrival in Charleston during daylight. We all took turns at watch with me taking the last watch to maneuver the boat through the extremely busy Charleston inlet during dawns light. It was a pretty sight as we cruised in past Ft Summter...dogding big container ships.

We spent that day in Charleston and saw the old market area enjoying a great meal...what else? The next day we left for Georgetown and then on to North Myrtle Beach. From there we slogged up the ICW only grounding once in Lockwoods Folly inlet...appropriately named. We were able to back off and try an alternate route (not marked) which was successful. Later when I discussed this with a rag boater, he relayed he grounded in the same place.

Right now we are in Oriental NC and have been for two days. Last night we had severe storms and I had to get up to tend the lines. I slipped on the dock and quite possibly have broken a bone in my left foot. It will have to wait until we return to Annapolis. Tomorrow the weather should improve and we will attempt the two-day run to Norfolk crossing some rather nasty water in Albemarle Sound and Pamilico Sound. Then it is only two days up the Chesapeake back to our home waters. Wish us luck.

We are ready to be home.

Waveaway in St Augustine

Hello to All,

Ashton and I began our final leg north on Monday, 3 March. We fueled up and headed out into the glorious Florida weather bright and early...Ashton time...1000 AM. We had a very uneventful trip up to Melbourne were we chose an anchorage that would be protected from southerly winds. The weather was calling for thunderstorms later in the evening and all the next day so we pulled into a nice spot right behind the Melbourne Causeway. This spot already had a nice sailboat named "Carp Diem" sitting peacefully waiting out the weather. As we pulled in to avoid the sailboats rode, I pulled a little too close to some crab buoys and yep, got one wrapped around the port prop. We continued to anchor and now had one more chore for the next day.

Here is a picture of the "job" accomplishment...water was nasty and NOT WARM.

On Wednesday, 5 March we started north again with plans to pull up into an anchorage just north of New Smyrna Beach....just south of Daytona Beach. We had a great trip up with beautiful weather and light winds. However as we were going through the town of New Smyrna, in 18' of water, something got tangled, or I hit something with my starboard prop. It was getting close to sunset and we were sitting in the middle of the channel running on one engine (pulled the starboard engine back to idle) and we looked to our left and saw the municipal marina and thought it better to be at a place to fix whatever was wrong than to proceed on one engine to a tricky anchorage. We called and they directed us to a easy slip. So, with no daylight left, I donned my wet suit again and dove the boat using Ashtons scuba flashlight. The water was very nasty and cold again but I was relieved when I saw a big nylon jacket wrapped around the prop. It took about 15 mins to cut the thing off . All the while I was surrounded by fairly large fish which I felt was unusual for a marina. Long story short, here is a picture of the jacket and the fish didn't bite.

Thursday found us headed north to just south of St Augustine. and yes, another wonderful day at the beginning. However, as the afternoon wore on the storm clouds gathered and we felt the need to pull into a marina for protection...the anchorages around St Augustine are pretty open. We pulled in just as the lightning and winds hit...good timing. The next day we picked up Cathy from the Jacksonville airport and came back to the boat to wait out the storm.

Today the storm has left but there are 40+ mile an hour winds so we walked around St Augustine and played tourist. We also provisioned for a week as tomorrow we head up to Fernandina Beach to anchor and then our plan is to go "outside" and proceed direct to Hilton Head SC. We chose this by-pass Georgia route because their ICW is reportedly the worst kept anywhere this side of Jersey. And we ALL remember what happened when we tried to use the ICW in Jersey. We will let you know how it turns out!

Present map position......................................................................>

Update on Waveaway resting in Florida

Hello to All,

Since late November, we have been "wintering" in Florida. We spent the holidays in Marathon Florida and moved up to Stuart Fl spending the last month at the Hutchinson Island Marriott Marina....really nice spot. However, we realize we have not updated or kept current on this blog since leaving Panama City Fl in November. This post attempts to bring readers up-to-day with our travels.

We left Panama City and went direct to Clearwater Fl...distance of about 250 miles. This was the first trip that we have been over open water and out of site of land for any long duration. We left at 1200 noon and arrived in Clearwater at 1400 the next day. We took turns during the night and had a great trip with light winds and clear skies. We dodged shrimp boats during the night and crab pots once we got closer to the west coast of Fl. All in all uneventful...we like that.

As a side note, during all our travels down western Florida, we we often in the company of Dolphins who would play in a wake and keep us company for a while. It was always fun to watch; they seemed to enjoy the company as well. Sometimes they would play in our wake and sometimes they would play in the bow wave...really neat stuff.

The next 5 days were spent working our way down the west coast of Fl with stops in Sarasota, Ft Meyers and Shark river...various anchorages between as well. During this time we only stayed at one marina in Clearwater preferring to anchor the rest of the time. We have evolved to the "rather anchor out" group as this is easier to do....and certainly cheaper. We like the solitude and the independence anchoring give us.

We arrived in Marathon just prior to Thanksgiving and opted to cook the traditional diner on board. After diner we joined other marina folks in singing and merriment until all we done. We also had two manatees as slip mates everytime we washed the boat!

The month of December found us back up in Virgina for our daughters graduation from Virgina Tech...Bio Chem honors graduate headed to Pharmacy School...we are very proud. We headed back to the boat just before Christmas with Ashton opting to stay in Virgina to get his checking account back in the black by working for two months (also his girlfriend, Naomi, was anxious to have him around for awhile).

We had several visitors during Dec and January, old friends from California (Gene and Julie Laughery), my sister Ruth, and my best man at my wedding ,Mike Saviano. Seems everyone wanted to visit the Keys during the mid-winter stretch...can you blame them? Also during this time we would take Waveaway out for exercise to the reefs to snorkel and fish.

During the downtime I also had Waveaway pulled for an insurance survey and had one prop removed and reconditioned as that shaft have exhibited some vibration after "touching" several objects on our journey (bottom in New Jersey; logs in the rivers etc). Good news is the reconditioning fixed the vibration (total cost 700$) and my cutless bearings had not suffered any ill affects.

I also had the engines tuned up while there and took Waveaway out for sea traisl where we got the old girl up to 18 Knots...wide open! The mechanic chastised me for not opening her up more often. I resolved, fuel costs or not, to open her up during the last 30mins of cruise each day (more on that later)

Also during this time I played chauffeur for Cathy as she had to fly in and out of Miami five times to do the work thing. We did manage to get to Key West three times and do those tourist things there. Crazy place.

On Feb 1, Cathy and I (Ashton was still in Virgina earning $s) starting a move north up to Stuart. We took the Hawk channel as the depths are more forgiving and the weather was excellent. We picked a nice anchorage just north of Key Largo for the first night. And I proceeded to "blow out the soot" and pushed her up for 10 mins or so as we neared the inlet. All went well until I came off power as we were entering the inlet and both engines flamed out....sporty. I quickly realized I was running on the forward tank which was getting low after 9 hours of running that day (only 90 gals in the fwd tank). So, when I came off of plane, the angle of the boat went from 5 degrees up to approx. level with the fuel leaving the area of the fuel pick-up lines. ...stupid me. I quickly gave the helm to Cathy and told her to try and stay in the channel while I went below to switch tanks and re-prime the engines. She did what she could but without power we were at the mercy of the tides and waves. We lucked out and the tide pushed us directly into the inlet. Meanwhile I was swapping and pumping madly in a HOT engine room but was patting myself on the back at the same time at a modification I had done putting hand priming pumps on the engines. I had it changed and primed in less than 1 min with the engines restarted shortly thereafter....lots of lessons learned on WAY too many legs. BTW, we had an uneventful anchorage even seeing florescent jelly fish that evening coming and going with the tide.

The next day we went outside again direct to Ft Lauderdale...about 7 hours of cruising. We stayed just off Miami Beach and had a great trip pulling into the inlet by all those huge cruise ships! We entered the New River which takes you to downtown Ft Lauderdale and pulled up to the wall there managed by the City Marina (cheap). We met my sister there and had a great time people and boat watching late into the evening. This was a neat stop.

The next day we went out the inlet again to avoid the Sunday Inter coastal Waterway congestion. However, on that day we paid the price with 4ft beam seas all the way until I called uncle and went into the Palm Beach inlet. We continued north up the ICW another 30 miles until we pulled into the Marriott for our one month stay.

Ashton returned yesterday to prepare for the final leg north. We plan to begin heading up to our next short term destination, St Augustine, one week from today (3 March). We will then ease our way north waiting on favorable winds or temperatures. More updates more often as we actively begin cruising again on 3 March!

Touch and Go in Mobile AL and Headed South!

FIRST,
Here's to the folks left behind slugging it out day in and day out in the Pentagon

Dave and Susan (overworked and under paid!) They are only smiling because of earlier free drinks!




David and Mildred....both great Americans!

Bring passion and a Latin flair to everyday Pentagon crises.



These folks were my favorite peeps I worked with and for at the Pentagon. They are all closet loopers. They work in one of the hardest places to keep your sanity, Air Force A8, which is where you either get money or have it taken....makes people a "bit" on edge. Anyway, I miss them all. I know one day they will take their own loop....it doesn't suck and you guys need a vacation!

Blog continues.....

Hello to All,

We are currently in Mobile Alabama, taking a breather from a very busy 10 days of "river running". In the past 10 days we ran almost 800 miles...averaging about 80 miles a day...and at 10 MPH! It was fun but I was glad to see the ocean again after 6 months of fresh water cruising. Here is a brief recap;

When we returned to our boat from our vacation from our vacation...life if tough, i know, we had to rest for 3 days...weather was crap. Here is a picture from our front porch in Highlands NC...really nice place.

But then we started from Green Turtle Bay KY running down the Kentucky lake. The weather was cool and rainy which added to our motivation to "push er up". That night we pulled into a quiet anchorage and finally saw blue sky for the first time in a week. Here is a typical shot of the house that are along the lake...not quite as spectacular as the 30,000 island in Canada, but still pretty nice scenery to cruise through







We left the lake and started the locking process again beginning the SLOW decent back to sea level. Some of the locks were quick and some others we waited 3 hours or more....yeah, I do really well waiting on anything. Ashton says I start pacing after about 20 mins. Cathy just goes below...smart girl.



After the lakes we started the rivers again...only 500 more miles of them!





Fall colors added some needed scenery...we timed it about right with the leaves changing and the temperatures in the 70's


The time change made our days a bit shorter...we would start getting a bit anxious toward the end of the day, with day-light fading and we still had 20 miles to go. We pulled into on place using flashlights...spotlight had burnt out...not fun.

The mornings were always foggy. Here are some crazy loopers leaving before most folks are even up (except those lucky guys working at the Pentagon)

Here we are...the blind following the blind. This day we had to make 100 miles due to no suitable anchorages or marinas so everyone, including us left butt early and of course, the fog had not burnt off yet. I followed the guy in front of my part of the way using radar....made me think of my old C-5 days trying to find the tanker in crap weather....don't really miss that. Sun came out and burned it off making for a glorious cruising day. Ashton and I tucked into a 1 boat anchorage that night and watched the Cowboys kick Philly butt...love my SAT TV!


This is just a cool picture...taken by a marina we stayed at in Mississippi








And so, we are DONE with river cruising after 1400 miles of it (not counting the stuff we did in Canada)...here is the parting river shot. We will increase our blogging tempo as we should have more stuff to explain away and we are FINALLY back in the land of Verizon WIFI.

Takinig a break in Grand Rivers KY

Hello to all,

As you can tell, we have taken a break from our blogging responsibilities after departing Chicago on the 16th of September. Frankly, there has not been a lot to say or to show in the way of pictures. This part of the trip is "river travel" which is a bit monotonous and without beautiful vistas...for the most part. Here is a recap:
Ashton and I returned from our trip to California (Cathy caught a flight back to D.C. from California) and did a late night provisioning run before dropping the car off the next morning. That day's trip consisted of mainly industrial cruising through lower Chicago and then one Lock that took us to our destination that evening, a free wall in Joliet Ill...with electricity. There we met cruisers Joan and Steve, aboard Colorado Cat who we had last seen sitting on a the front porch of the dilapidated hotel in Killarney Canada. Joan invited Ashton and I over for dinner which was wonderful, as was the wine! We stayed in Joliet for two nights just because...

The next day we traveled 77 miles down the Illinois river and tied up to a free dock in Ottawa Ill. We were met by the town's ambassador who told us where all the good places were etc. This led to me going by the farmers' market in the morning for fresh cherry pie and fruit. The next day we traveled another 80 miles and pulled into a nice anchorage occupied by Colorado Cat (they called and let us know it was a good anchorage) . We joined them for a wonderful dinner of steak, dessert of my newly purchased cherry pie, great wine and conversation. It was pretty neat as we were tucked back in this little river, out of the way of the tows that traverse this part of the world. These gulls would follow us down the rivers hoping we would chew up some of the famous jumping carp...which we did and that made these gulls happy...bad day for carp however.







We made the Mississippi the next day







and traveled to a barge/dock called Hoppies. This was the only place to get fuel for miles but was a great overnight stop. The "experienced lady" there took us aside and gave us great tips on getting down the river ....basically all the way to Mobil. She was great...here is a picture. She has worked the river her whole life






There are not many places on the Mississippi to anchor so we called the lock master at Kaskaski River lock and asked if we could tie up to his wall for the night...he said "sure". Later we were joined by an 80 foot Coast Guard buoy boat who pulled up to our front (literally 2 ft away) for the night. I watched as the Master Chief ran his folks through the evening rituals of readying the boat for the next day. Wasn't much else to watch there, trust me. The next morning I departed on "George time" with Ashton still asleep. There was a pretty good layer of fog on the river so I went slow and used the radar and GPS to monitor position and watch for tows....made me feel like I was back in the Air Force going into Europe in the winter!






We made the Ohio river the next day and anchored behind a small island which provides shelter from the tows, but not much else. However, we had a great night of stir fry and lots of cold beer...life does not suck.

Traveling up the Ohio River was a pain. Both locks we had to go through were having mechanical issues and we waited a total of 4 hours. Plus, we were traveling up river so we had about a 1 1/2 mph current against us. We made our anchorage late that evening which was occupied by four other looper boats....it was fun to see those folks again (Our Time...the folks we "tasted" scotch with in Frankfort MI were there)

Finally, on the 25 of September, we pulled into Green Turtle Bay Marina KY. I paid for a month marina slip here because of planned trips to see Mom and attend a wedding for my Cousin's daughter in D.C. Besides, it is still hot and the leaves are not turning yet and we see no reason to continue south until those two things change! So, we will talk to you when we return from visiting family.



All the best,
George, Ashton and Cathy
Aboard Waveaway
Currently Lying Greeen Turtle Bay KY