A year later...

It has been nearly a year since we last posted. Unfortunately, our trip from FL to NY ended in South Carolina. Brian and I felt that the conditions the captain ran his boat under unsafe pretenses, and we felt it necessary to get out of there. We saw a lot of amazing places, met some great people, and learned a lot from a rare opportunity.

We got off in Beaufort where our good friends Tom & Doris on Second Fantasy were only a few hours away to save us. They had hooked us up with some family member of theirs that lived in Beaufort so we weren't roaming around lost in a city we'd never been. Bill and Nancy understood the tough trials boaters will go through, and welcomed us into their homes with open arms. We couldn't thank them enough for taking in a young couple who looked like they hadn't been near a shower in weeks.

Tom and Doris picked us up, and let us stay on their boat while we tried to figure out our plan from there. These two people have done so much for us, we would not have gotten this far into sailing if it weren't for them. We owe them so much, and one day we will pay them back.

Since then, we have been home in WV fighting to get back to our boat and doing what we love. If only money weren't an issue. We weren't able to go back to Kilmarnock last Spring due to car issues, and it's looking like we won't make it back this Spring either. We're both working regular minimum wage jobs to try to get back to doing what we love. I think our dream is still achievable, but this has been a big damper to our spirits. I'm working on my positivity, because that is what is going to get us through this tough time.

At least the snow is gone!

Happy Sails friends!

From North to south, to south to north.

- Wednesday - Left for Pittsburgh on the Greyhound around 9 am, arrived in Pittsburgh around 11 am in the snow, left Pittsburgh soon after on a Greyhound heading for Baltimore, arrived in Baltimore around 3 pm to wait for the Amtrak train, boarded the train around 6 pm
- Thursday - Arrived in beautiful and sunny West Palm Beach, Florida after a 22 hour train ride. Stepped off the train in warm, breezy weather, we were then picked up by Captain Leo Smith of the sailing vessel Glory B, a Bristol 30' and Jimmy, lover of Hobie cats and owner of head shops.
- Friday through Monday - lived, loved, enjoyed
- Sunday - rough dinghy ride with five people in the afternoon, fun and wet. Attached a wire deep in the port side cock pit locker (received slightly injured elbow from leaning on it). Had dinner made by Jean, a French chef. We were served a meal consisting of an inch thick rib eye, grilled asparagus and broccoli, and marinated tomatoes, as well as a bottle of local New York wine and a bottle of local Chesapeake wine, followed by sipping of a dark Jamaican rum
- Monday - prepped for the journey, changed the oil and filter, free dove on the prop in very cloudy, salt water. Water was appx. 65 to 68 degrees, 7 to 8 ft. deep, 88 degrees outside and sunny
- Tuesday - Set sail from Stuart, Florida appx. 8:30 am, passed a few bridges, ran aground in soft mud, went under a draw bridge, saw dolphins, docked around 5:30 pm
- Wednesday - Motored from Vero Beach to Titusville, stopped in a Loggerhead Marina

- Thursday - Motored from Titusville to Daytona Beach; rainy day of boating but the captain had some moldy, old rain gear for us; stayed at a mooring ball
- Friday - Entered Daytona Beach during "Bike Week"; very cold day of boating, saw manatees and dolphins
- Saturday - Waiting for warmer weather for a few days, scheduled to leave Daytona on the 10th or 11th
- Sunday - Cold front finally leaving the area followed by a warm front
- Monday - Left Daytona Beach, headed for St. Augustine. Warmer weather today, really nice speed, topping out at 6.2 knots. Moored off of the north side of Lion's Bridge in St. Augustine, saw the slave quarter, an old Spanish mission, and the Castillo de San Marcos.

A Sudden Turn of Events...

By the time November rolled around we had realized that there was no way we could comfortably remain aboard No Quarter and had to retreat back to our home in the 'mountains.' We had landed some decent jobs rather quickly, I in a local eatery and Brian in a scrapyard. When winter rolled it's nasty way through the Ohio Valley, we were called off a lot due to lack of work at our jobs. We were struggling financially, but luckily Brian's sister-in-law who owns a few apartments had a lot of work for us, and without them our winter would have been just as rough back home as it would have been on the boat. We didn't expect to make it back into the boating community until mid-April or so, when suddenly our luck took a turn for the better (and warmer.) Our friend Leo Smith, whom we'd met when he passed through Chesapeake Boat Basin last summer, posted on Facebook that he needed a crew for his trip home from Stuart, FL to Oliverbridge, NY. We jumped on the chance and after a 5 hour Greyhound trip from frigid Pittsburgh to snowy and frankly quite unimpressive Baltimore and there we awaited the train in beautiful Penn Station.
After a loooong and uncomfortable 22 hour train ride we arrived in Stuart, Florida, all within three days.

Just to think a week ago we were staring out the window into a wintry wonderland. West Virginia is not a place of many opportunities, and Brian and I could never express the gratitude and appreciation we have for getting this chance. Separately, we had bad luck, but ever since we met we've tried our hardest to do good for everyone and just hope that one day our luck will turn. Well we must have some very very good karma, because this is a life/career changing experience for us.

We would never be able to do what we're doing without the help and support of family, friends, and everyone we've met along our journey (who are now life-long friends.) Every single one of you have made a huge difference in our life and we could never repay everyone who has helped us, but we are doing everything in our power to get everyone we care about to where we are now. We love all of you and we will eventually be able to pay you all back!

Expedition into the mountains

We set out on our 400 mile journey through the Appalachian mountains. It was a warm and sunny 71 degree November day when we began our expedition. We knew when it was over, 7 or 8 hours later, it would be about 30 degrees colder. We received our first glimpse of mountain between Charlottesville, Virginia and the West Virginia state border.

Our first view of the mountains.

We took interstate 64 past Charlottesville, then traversed the windy (in both senses of the word) and mountainous U.S. 250 which could easily get us from home to Richmond, but after experiencing just a portion of it, I think we're going to stick with the interstates, so thank you President Eisenhower for those. 

It was a little scary following this guy. A lot of the folks, as they would be known as here, travel these roads often, and know what to expect. Despite the intimidating road that lacked sufficient guard rails for my personal taste, it was a fun ride, with many astonishingly beautiful views. 

This was, unfortunately, the only scenic over-look of the journey, but we could see at least three different mountain distances. It was extremely windy standing close to the edge.

      
 

We went from roughly 200 feet to 4000 feet in approximately two hours and we could definitely feel it. We traveled through George Washington National Forest and Monongahela National Forest.

Finally some proper usage of Appalachian mountain power retrieval.

The day before we left we received a wonderful sailing lecture from "The" Bob Murphy.

We learned some very important and crucial turning tips from Bob that will help us every time we go out on a sail from now on. The were some very large jelly fish that we saw out that day, some with bells as large as basketballs.

It started as a really foggy day, but that lifted and gave us a decent day sail.

And so we say so long to the welcoming calls of the Chesapeake Boat Basin and the east coast of Virginia for the winter. We will return in the early spring. 

 

Blue Note Sailing

An invitation found us enjoying a windy sailing excursion this past Saturday, on the 26th day of October with a Tim & Karen Henry, of the sailing vessel "Blue Note." We took them up on their offer and set out at approximately one o'clock post meridiem. It was a beautiful and sunny 60 degree day and the winds were coming out of the south at 13 to 15 knots, causing white caps as far in as the Chesapeake Boat Basin. We released the dock lines and set out, raising sail before we even passed the first red marker. Captain Tim Henry knew right away that we would be reefing the main AND the jib due to heavy winds funneling into and out of Indian Creek.

Once we were into Fleets Bay we could tell that we were seeing chilly three and a half to four foot swells which was well in "Blue Notes" capabilities to handle, although as nautical amateurs it was an exciting learning experience to see the boat heel as far as 30 to 35 degrees.

It was an amazing day for sailing though and we had a really great time. We came back in about four hours later, sailing all the way into the creek and right up to about 100 yards from the basin, where we did the sailors dance of circles, avoiding the shallows while we lowered the sails. 

Our three week vacation aboard the 2nd Fantasy

Sierra and I are spending three weeks aboard this exquisite power yacht. There is also a young kitty here by the name of Annie and we are looking after the two of them while the owners, our friends Tom and Doris, are away visiting Texas and California. I don't feel very politically correct calling this vessel a boat, because it's more of a ship to us. But it is a pleasure for us to be staying aboard their ship for them. It has all the amenities of an apartment or home, including some things that apartments and homes don't have. Such as gorgeous nautical wood work, legions of hidden compartment, resplendent views from every direction, palliation of cramped and confined quarters while keeping our ideal minimal living. I've seen quite a bit of water crafts in the past 5 or 6 months since we've been here of all different shapes and sizes, and every one of them still amazes me with their meticulous and diligent workmanship. Shipping vessels are some of the most glorious and literal works of art that I've ever seen, with exchange values and use values that sore up from the murky depths and well into the sky.

I filmed this short video while aboard as a quick tour or walk through with the hopes that we maybe able to share some of an artists rendering of a nautical home with all the tranquility that a human being could ask for.

Fall is making its presence well known...

We went back home a few weeks ago which was nice. We got to hang out with the children all weekend and they were all super excited to see us, so that was nice spending time with them. Since we've returned it's been constantly drizzling, and we both were fighting off a cold we brought back with us. Our colds have gotten better, but the weather has not. Brian was able to get some pictures of how high the water was from all the rain. 

And according to the locals, that was only about a 2 out of 10. 

Other than that, we had oysters for the first time....eh. It will take a little longer for me to warm up to them. We did get to clean them off though. Approximately 1200 of them. Although we didn't quite acquire the taste for oysters, we had a great time hanging out with friends and making new friends.

September was a good month for diving for us. We got more jobs that month than we had gotten any other month. And as soon as we got back it all just stopped. But it's fall now and we expected business to be dropping quite a bit. After spending this week on the boat, it's kind of made us reconsider staying here for the winter. As much as we'd love to, we think it's going to be pretty cold and damp, so we'll have to see what the future holds.