Dear friends,

We have added some more pictures to numbers 11 and 12.

Hope you are enjoying reading our blog.

Roman & Olha

14. Along the ICW

So far we have gone along the Elizabeth River to the North Landing River and through Currituck Sound and Coinjock Bay to the North River to the Pasquotank River which, in turn, enters Albemarle Sound. Albemarle Sound is very shallow and even a small wind will whip up the waves. Ours was a fairly turbulent passage. It was very windy and we were worried as the Alligator Swinging Bridge would not open if the winds were over 35 knots. We were very relieved when we radioed the bridge master and he said he was still opening “at this time”. We were lucky as later on in the day we heard that the bridge was closed due to high winds. From Albemarle Sound we entered the Alligator River which led to the Alligator River-Pungo River Canal.


One thing that you see when you travel slowly by boat is the forces of nature and the impact that man has had on the natural environment. On one side of the Alligator River-Pungo River Canal was lush with vegetation and trees and the other was barren and stark due to a fire which had swept through a few years back. You could see many uprooted trees lying along the banks of the canal. The root systems are very shallow and the wakes from the large boats that speed by at 20-30 knots hit the banks and then rebound eroding the fragile root systems and the trees topple over. Many of the trees look like they are just about to fall. We wondered why there was no speed limit posted. With the current low levels it seems the impact of the speeding cruisers is just magnified. What a waste!






The canal entered the Pungo River which led directly to Belhaven where we did our laundry. Chad and LeeAnn with whom were travelling told us about Oriental which is the “sailing capital” of North Carolina and we determined that Oriental would be our next stop.

I am going to outline our route in detail for Alex, Christopher, Alexandra, Julia and Andrea who may want to look it up.

The Pungo River runs into the Pamlico River which is a large expanse like the Albemarle Sound. Conflicting currents meet at the junction or the Pungo and Pamlico Rivers. When the winds are easterly or westerly strong gusts, the crossing can be rough and wet. Fortunately it was a smooth ride for us, but not enough wind for us to sail for any length of time. We went through to Goose Creek into the Intercoastal Canal to Bay River which enters the Neuse River. The 18 mile run over the Neuse River went smoothly and all went well until we entered Oriental.

See the wake hitting the banks of the river and the difference from one side of the river to the other. Fortunatelt the right side is starting to grow back particularly along the river but it is much more sparse inland and it takes many many years to regrow.

13. Norfolk, Virginia, the start of the ICW

Norfolk Virginia is home to the largest naval base in the United States. The shipyards and the ships are immense and there seemed to be a myriad of different types. The influence of Homeland Security is very evident. No boat is allowed close to the ships. The borders are clearly marked and police boats patrol along the markings.




This is the U.S.Leyte Gulf Aegeas class destroyer. It is capable of launching missiles, torpedoes and harpoons. It was going out on manoeuvres with a multinational task force. The young man who told us about it said he had seen the Canadian flag on one of the ships taking part. We were getting gas at the time and it looked as though the ship was going to come right into the fuel dock. It is immense!

The Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) is marked off in statute miles and the Mile One marker is at Norfolk. When we got to Norfolk we anchored right past this marker at Hospital Point. The VHF Radio was abuzz with information about the large cruise ship which ran aground just south of Pungo Ferry about 28 miles south of Norfolk.


No boats were being allowed through initially but when we set out the next day, boats were going by in single file past the cruise ship. Knowing that the boat was taking on water, the cruise ship captain had deliberately run into the sandy shoal. Something had pierced the hull but we never did find out what was the real reason. There was speculation that it was a tree growing in the water, a steel rod, maybe a log??? All the passengers were taken off the cruise ship by the Coast Guard and taken to the Hilton in Alexander Bay from which they were to complete their tour by bus to historic Jamestown which was their last stop. We heard on the radio that apparently the passenger had paid $5000 for the cruise. I bet they’ll get another cruise free!



When we passed the cruise ship it was surrounded by coast guard and marine engineering boats. We could see water spurting out of the hull. The entire side was surrounded by a large plastic sheet to collect any oil that might come out but is seemed clear when we saw it.


The ICW has many bridges and only one lock at Grand Bridge, about 11 statute miles south of Mile One in Norfolk. We were used to the locks of the Erie Canal System and got ready with our ropes and our poles at the lock. As we were sitting waiting to go down, we noticed that the gates were opening. We didn’t even feel that we had gone down. The lock had gone down only 1½ ft. Here we are all ready with the pole, the ropes and the gloves- all for a foot and a half!

12. The Last of the Chesapeake

We left Solomon Island the day after the time changed. The sun is up earlier and it gets darker faster. We had thought we would make Mobjack Bay but we were tossed about so by the time we reached the Great Wicomico River and sure enough, our anchorage was named Mill Creek again. It was a beautiful scenic anchorage and the next day we made it to Deltaville.

We have several guide books and in one of them it says that the Fishing Bay Yacht Club, near Deltaville, had reciprocal privileges with other yacht clubs. I called them and lo and behold they said yes they would be glad to accept a Canadian Yacht Club Member.



The yacht club was on a beautiful piece of land stretching from Fishing Bay off the Chesapeake Bay to Jackson Creek. It was great to have hydro again, although we found that we had become quite used to watching our power consumption. Our wind generator and the two solar panels generate a lot of power when there is wind or sun. And that really varies from day to day.
Our boat was at the end of the dock. You can barely see our red dingy hanging off the stern.

We rode our bikes to a neat place called “Naughty Nells” that specialized in nautical items. We met Peter and Sue there as well as Ray and Irene who had gotten a ride to the store from their anchorage on Fishing Bay. The best part was the consignment and used items area. We spent a lot of time browsing and we all bought charts and this and that. Ray was particularly pleased with a spinnaker pole that he bought.

One of things that we have noticed about small towns in the States is that there are no post office boxes. Everyone goes to the local post office to mail letters. Towns often stretch for several miles along a highway or main road. For the past several stops, we were not near any post offices so we made a point of riding several miles to the Deltaville Post Office to mail Roman’s mother her birthday card.

One of the best parts of sailing are the wonderful people you meet along the way. Fishing Bay Yacht Club was a wonderful example; the manager, Dickson Cole, went out of his way to be helpful. He lent us his car for shopping and helped us with the computer and invited us to attend their Wednesday night potluck social where we were warmly welcomed. One of the tasty things we had was Grits. Roman usually does not like them but he loved these. You might want to try this recipe.

Cook I cup grits (cornmeal) in 4 cups water. When cooked, mix with one egg and one cup grated cheese (cheddar or whatever you want). Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until set. Delicious! We even got some to take back to the boat and enjoyed it the next day.

Although it was warm, it was very windy, and the forecast was for small craft warning on the Chesapeake Bay with wind gusts to 40 knots so we ended spending three days at the Yacht Club. I had time to play with the blog programme and learn several “how to” s and managed to post some blogs. That's why you now see our picture and the little picture of our boat on the side of the blog. Can you find me in the corner of the clubhouse typing away?

This is a picture of C-Drifters and Superior Grace at sunset in Fishing Bay from the yacht club.

One of the interesting things we found out is the county in which Deltaville sits taxes boats at hefty 3% of their value yearly. This is calculated as of January 1 so many boaters take their boats out of county and even out of state to avoid paying the tax. Many of the boats were already gone from the yacht club. Boats in that part of the Chesapeake Bay can be left in the water all year long. There might be frost but the creeks do not freeze over.


We left Deltaville passsing many shrimp boats very early in the morning as we wanted to make Norfolk that day. Our last trip on the Chesapeake was quite uneventful. We had a nice sail with both sails up and then only the jib all the way to Norfolk. Finally we were going to enter the Intercoastal Waterway!

Here is a typical shrimp boat.

11. Solomon Island

Sunsets in Mill Creek Solomon Island.











Weather is always first and foremost in our plans. The tropical storm we were tracking into Hurricane Noah which was heading up north so we decided to wait out the weather in the secluded protected bay of Mill Creek off Solomon Island. Although the weather forecast described 15-20 foot waves on the ocean and at the mouth of the Chesapeake and gusts of wind up to 60 mph, it was relatively quiet where we were. We spent 4 days there. The only drawback was that the trip into town was a 20-25 minute dinghy ride and it was pretty rough near the mouth of the entrance into Solomon Island. While in town we stocked up on groceries, took showers and took in the sights. Oh yes, the there was a second drawback, no Wifi!



Here is Chad on his mast spreaders putting up Hallowe'en anchor lights.
















We spent Hallowe’en there and started out our evening, in costume, first on Ray and Irene’s boat where we had appetizers. Then onto our boat for hot dogs and the rest of the munchies. Everyone brought their own drinks and we had a great time!
















Here he is!!!!!

The next night we went to Peter and Sue’s boat for dessert and lots of laughs. Peter spent three months loading up his ipod and we were entertained by fabulous tunes and a great stereo system. Chad and LeeAnn brought their movies and we borrowed some to watch and we did a book and magazine exchange.







Hearing all that great music on Peter’s boat makes me realize how much I miss listening to music. I never knew much about ipods and watching LeeAnn with her ipod, it looks pretty easy to operate.

We had lots of time to do all the little things that somehow you never get to when you're on the go all the time. Here Roman is up on the mast fixing the spreader lights. I actually winched him up in the bosun's chair. I debated about leaving him up there but he promised me whatever I wanted so I let him down.























Chad found time to sing a song or two.














I found time to bomb around in our dinghy.













Ray had time for some acrobatics.











On our last day in Solomon Island, it was still pretty choppy so we all loaded onto Cambyration and Chad sailed all of us into the bay opposite the Holiday Inn. We then went by dinghy to the Holiday Inn Dock, paid our $2.00 docking fee and spent a great day in town. We stocked up on groceries and Old Bay shrimp, did laundry and had really hot showers. Old Bay is a Chesapeake seasoning which we have really enjoyed.

Finally the weather on Chesapeake Bay seemed fine. We heard that there was snow in Maine. That made our 50-60 degree days seem tropical by comparison. The nights have been chilly but we are snug and warm under our covers at night and the insulation that Roman put in the boat keeps the boat warm. The winter jackets that we packed have remained packed as well as the warm sweaters. Hopefully we will not need them at all!

10. Annapolis to Solomon Island

The next morning started out cloudy but soon gave way to clearing skies. We went by dinghy and tied up at the base of one of the streets which had a rickety dinghy dock. Every street in Annapolis and Eastport which ends at the water has a free dinghy dock. The one that we were close to was 6th street which turned into the main street of town.

Annapolis is an old upscale sailing town with cobble streets, quaint little shops and very upscale stores. It is very picturesque. There are no discount stores such as Wal-Mart , Dollar Store, or K-Mart allowed within the city and area. Everything is pricey!

And the boats! I have never seen as many sailboats in one place in my life! Annapolis is at the mouth of the Severn River and there are many tributaries which flow into the river. Every little bay, creek and river are just lined with docks and docks of sailboats of every size and make. I say every size, but most of the boats are larger than ours. Boats are constantly going up and down Back Creek where we have anchored.

At Port Annapolis Marina we paid $5:00 for the day and we could use the showers, internet, laundry (the washing machine was on the blink) and their bikes. We biked several miles (away from town) to West Marine, hardware and a grocery store.

Roman has figured our how to hook up piping to the diesel engine so that I can have hot water on board. He bought all the necessary supplies and I am really looking forward to having hot water.

Our friends are in Weems Creek on the other side of Annapolis because it is closer to Bacon’s, a marine consignment centre to which Ray was having his Rathion sent. Roman and I took the bus to Bacon’s and spent several hours looking through all the stuff. You could spend days there! I bought a Shore to Ship cookbook and Roman bought all kinds of odds and ends he needed. I also found a brand new orange emergency distress flag still in the original package but at half the price. This is required in the United States and we had been meaning to get one.

On Monday Cambryration, C-Drifters and Superior Grace motored over to Back Creek and we all decided to leave for the Solomon Islands the next day. We had been listening to the weather reports and there was a tropical storm that was right now near Cuba but was forecasted to head north soon. It could reach hurricane status and we wanted to be in a much more secluded place with far fewer boats just in case it came up Chesapeake Bay.

The trip to Solomon Island was mostly motoring as there was little wind. Chesapeake Bay is home to many crab traps which are huge nets below the surface of the water. A net caught in your propeller can do a lot of damage.

On the surface is just a little marker to indicate the presence of such a net. If you wander off the main shipping lane, you must keep a sharp eye out for the “crab pot” indicators. That was usually my job. Often the crab pots are very difficult to see with the glare of the sun and the water.

At one point we ended up right in the middle of large number of these crab pots and there were some tense moments until we manoeuvred our way out of them. Here is Roman on Crab Pot Patrol.

9. Atlantic City to Baltimore

Roman was left alone in Atlantic City and made his way down the coast in Moya Mreeya to Cape May, up the Delaware River to the C&D Canal and then onto Baltimore in the company of C-Drifters, Superior Grace (Peter and Sue out of Thunder Bay) and Cambyration. He waited for me right in Baltimore Harbour until I arrived on Oct. 25. Roman says they had some spectacular sunsets and he took several fantastic pictures which we are sharing with you.


Mine was an exhausting journey as first my friend, Olia drove me to St. Catharine’s (left at 10:00 a.m.) where my friend, Tanya had lunch ready for us. Tanya then drove me to Buffalo (left at 12:30) to catch the 2:15 out of Buffalo. Thank you so much both of you!


I had several adventures along the way. First the plane was late and we arrived in Baltimore half an hour later. I had checked my suitcase, the size of a carryon, and when we got to Baltimore it did not come off the baggage carrousel. Customer service could not locate it and suggested that I wait until the next plane comes in from Buffalo and my suitcase should be on that plane. They kept checking some sort of list whenever someone reported a missing suitcase. While I sat waiting I observed a steady stream of people from all different flights looking for their suitcases. My suitcase did come on the later plane 3 hours later. Then there was a 40 minute wait for the shuttle bus to the harbour. It was close to 7:oo p.m. by then.

There were 9 of us on the shuttle and the driver was to stop at different places along the way. It is actually a great system as you can book the shuttle to drop you off at hotels or even your home. Unfortunately, the poor driver (we all thought this must have been his first day) did not have a clue where anything was and relied totally on his GPS to show him where to turn etc. We went past one of the hotels three times and each time, he would stop the car and re-programme the GPS for the address to go around the block! When I booked, I was told that it would take 25 minutes to the International Harbour Plaza Hotel that was half a block from where Roman parked the dinghy. The 25 minute ride turned into 2 hours before I got to the hotel where Roman had been waiting for me since 4:00! There were three of us going to this hotel and wouldn't you know it, we were the last three off the bus.

The port of Baltimore is well designed and very pretty at night. The waterfront has been developed to encourage use of the waterfront with many tourist attractions such as the aquarium right at the water’s edge. All four boats had dropped anchor right in front of the aquarium. It was only a 2-3 minute ride by dinghy to a free dock.

The port of Baltimore is well designed and very pretty at night. The waterfront has been developed to encourage use of the waterfront with many tourist attractions such as the aquarium right at the water’s edge. All four boats had dropped anchor right in front of the aquarium. It was only a 2-3 minute ride by dinghy to a free dock.

You can see how close our boat was to the dock. The building behind with the wings is the aquarium. I wish our Toronto waterfront was as inviting.


The other boats that had travelled with Roman had left earlier on in the week to Annapolis and Roman was anxious to leave so we left early the next morning. It had been in the high 70’s and sunny the entire time I was away but it turned cloudy the day we left and and it rained on and off the entire trip to Annapolis. The beauty of having a pilot house is that we were indoors all the way. The only uncomfortable part of the trip was dropping the anchor in Back Creek, Annapolis and that was for Roman only as I was inside steering. We rested the entire next day as it continued to rain and rain.

8. New York to Atlantic City

It was time to move on! We left the 79th St. Basin about noon with the tide and travelled with C-Drifters across the harbour of New York City. What a busy place. One freighter after another some the size of city blocks, tankers, tug boats, ferry boats, large motorboats whizzing by, sailboats and fishing boats.

We had decided cross the Harbour to anchor in Sandy Hook New Jersey but first we went by the Statue of Liberty several times taking pictures of each other’s boat and the city skyline. If you look very closely you will see the Statue of Liberty sitting right on top of our boat.


The weather has continued to be wonderful, sunny warm, even at times, hot - “shorts” weather even when sailing. When we got to Sandy Hook we went to get diesel and gas at the marina docks. The current was exceptionally strong and it was very difficult to get off the dock. The attendants were very surly and unhelpful. These were the first such people that we encountered. Everyone, from the small towns to the cities has been polite, cordial and helpful. Ray and Irene on C-Drifters had the same experience with these young men. Afterwards, we dropped anchor at Sandy Hook and rested the next day.


That night we made arrangements to leave with C-Drifters at midnight with the tide and do the 16-18 hour trip on the Atlantic Ocean so that we would arrive in Atlantic City late afternoon. It is very difficult coming into a new port in the dark and we try to arrive at all new places during daylight. It was quite exhilarating sailing at night with the stars. We followed the buoys out to sea. Only a couple of large freighters passed by us. The wind came up and we skimmed along on just the jib. I dozed off for about an hour and when I awoke, both the main and the jib were up and it was wonderful sailing after so much motoring! I took over the helm while Roman made his famous delicious omelets. About 11:00 a.m. the wind died. We took in the main and while I was below, Roman decided to take in the jib as well. The ocean was like glass. Out of nowhere a sudden gust of wind came from the west and Roman had to let go of the line as his thumb was caught in the line. You can never let up your guard at sea! He had to go up front in the ever-increasing wind to untangle the lines. He needed both hands to do so and it was a good thing that he was wearing his life jacket and he was tethered to the life lines. Actually we both wore our life jackets and were tethered to the life lines whenever we went out of the pilot house.

From there on the wind increased steadily. We were doing 7 knots on just the jib and then just part of a jib. The waves got higher and higher and we were constantly sprayed in the cockpit as the waves and wind tossed us to and fro. We went into the pilot house where we were thrown about if we did not hold onto the grab rails which Roman had installed all over the boat.
To brace myself I sat on the cushions by the door with my back against the side of the boat and my feet against the wooden stairs hanging on for dear life. This was the longest 5 hours of my life!

Finally about 4:30 we made it into the harbour at Atlantic City and followed the instructions of Skipper Bob looking for the anchorage. His advice is really invaluable. We made it past Rum Point into St. George’s Thoroughfare Bay only getting stuck on a sandy bottom once. There was a boat already there tied up to a mooring ball so both C-Drifters and Moya Mreeya tied up to mooring balls as well. Exhausted we ate cold chicken and went to bed where we were rocked by strong winds and rain. Our mooring ball held fast but in the morning we found out that during the night both C-Drifters and Cambyration, the other boat in the Bay had drifted into the weeds and had to be pulled off by dinghy. Both boats dropped their anchors.

The forecast for the next few days was “gale force winds, rain and high waves”. Apparently out in the Atlantic Tropical Storm 15 was dancing about and heading up the coast. We decided to stay put in the protected Bay which was fairly choppy and windy. I didn’t want to imagine what it was like on the seas. Wednesday afternoon it calmed down a bit and Roman and I decided to dinghy to shore to see what was there. We had noticed that Cambyration only had a little rowboat with no motor so we went over in our dinghy to see if there was anything that they needed.

Cambyration is a 2 masted 35 ft sailboat with beautiful lines. Chad and LeeAnn are a young couple (23 and 20) from Michigan who bought this boat last August in New York for peanuts because it needed a lot of tender loving care and hard work! It is teak inside and out, even the decks are teak. Chad has been working on it non-stop. Chad is a young musician who can work anywhere and LeAnn has a job waiting for her in Wilmington North Carolina where they will live on the boat and keep right on working on it. They plan on completing their degrees on the internet. One of the best things about this trip is the wonderful people you meet along the way.

Chad and LeeAnn jumped at the chance of getting off the boat and we towed them behind our dinghy to shore on Brigatine Island where we found not only a large supermarket, a dollar store, a great bagel bakery but also a Burger King which had free internet access. Unfortunately neither of us had our computers with us.

We stocked up as the weather did not look good. It rained cats and dogs while we were in the supermarket and drizzled all the way back to the boats.


When we got back to the boat we had some time to relax. Roman read all about his new camera.
And I got caught up on my Sudoku. It is amazing but we are always busy on a boat especially when we are underway that there is no time to read or to do Sudoku. The wind picked up and the rain got worse so we went to bed even earlier than we usually do. When you are boating you get up with the sun and you go to bed with the sun. Now that the day is shorter we go to bed by 9:00 at the latest.


All night it poured and the winds threw us about in the v-berth. We could hear the strain of the lines attached to the mooring ball. Finally about 5:30 Roman got up and just as he went outside to check on the lines, the last of the frayed line gave way and we were adrift in the wind and the rain heading for the reeds and weeds. Roman had to drop the anchor three times before it held.



Here you see the four boats anchored off Rum Point. This is the day when finally it was calm and clear.
I needed to be in Toronto for the UCWLC Convention at least by the 16th or 17th. It was already Thursday the 11th and even if the weather cleared up by Saturday or Sunday, there would not be enough time to sail to Baltimore. I spent most of the day and my entire $30.00 telephone card calling airlines to see if I could fly out of Atlantic City. Surprisingly I found that only Delta could fly me out but only through Atlanta and at a cost of $1552.00. Unbelievable! My only choice seemed to be to stick to my original plan to fly out of Baltimore. But how to get there? Roman suggested that we rent a car. I added another $30:00 to my phone card and spent the next hour trying to find out which car rental places would pick us up on Brigatine Island. Finally we found one and arranged to be picked up on Saturday morning. I could then fly out on Saturday. But when I called the airline there were only the flights 2:15 or later on Sunday were available at the reduced rate. Saturday was sold out. Air Canada, by the way, could get me straight through to Toronto from Baltimore but at a cost of $652.00.

The next morning it seemed to clear up a little and we all decided to make a “caravan” (our dinghy towing the kids and Irene and Ray following) after “breckie” to the Burger King to use the internet. Ray and Irene are expanding our vocabulary. While there, the heavens opened up and it poured and poured again. I confirmed what I had determined by phone that I was indeed catching the cheapest flight and getting the cheapest car. So I booked the earliest flight on Sunday 2:15 and I would be in Buffalo at 3:15.

We got back to the boat all wet and found that I had forgotten to close the hatch over our V-Berth and our bedding was wet. Oh, the joys of boating! It is really quite difficult to string up lines to dry large items such as blankets in such tight quarters. We had some extra dry bedding and we managed.

We had to rent the car for the weekend as the rental agency was closed on Saturday. So we had time to do some sightseeing, grocery shopping and even went to Walmart. In the afternoon we went into Atlantic City to look at the casinos. Honest, we didn't even use a quarter to gamble, not that I saw a quarter machine anywhere. Here we are in the Trump Marina Casino.






This is in front of Caesor's Palace Casino. I can't get rid of the underlining so I'm leaving it. I am paying by the hour for use of the computer and no time to figure out why if it doesn't work in just a few minutes.







The ride to Baltimore was much longer than we had anticipated and took almost 4 hours. Everything had a toll: the bridges, tunnels and highways, but the roads were well-maintained and well-used. Maybe toll roads in Ontario are not such a bad idea. Our plane developed some mechanical difficulties and they had to bring in another plane so we left over on hour late. But I was finally on my way.