Little Ragged - strong winds, beach walks

 We had a few days of strong winds, so pretty much just stayed on the boat.  

Saw a max of around 28 knots, while waiting out a 3 day blow

What to do while sitting on the boat:  Watch movies, read books, surf internet and, make cookies of course.   Kris is trying to eat a low carbohydrate diet, so tried a new cookie recipe.  

Surrounded by sharks, nice beach walk

 Still at Allans / Pensacola Cay.  Nice weather.   Still surrounded by sharks.  Have been working on identification, and 95% sure they are bull sharks.    Not ones to go swimming with.  Sharks in the Bahamas are not uncommon, but usually you are out of the water by 4:00 each day, as usually the sharks come around during twilight hours.    You can generally plan on mid day being shark free.  Unfortunately, we think that people have been feeding the sharks, or cleaning their fish catch from the boats and these have become used to boats having food.  They circle the boat all day long.  We have had from two to five swimming circles around us since we have arrived, with no visible break.

At anchor and doing projects

 We have been anchored in Carolina Beach since we arrived Wednesday night.  This is a good anchorage with close access to groceries, hardware stores, and cheap eats (McDonalds).   We headed into town, to pick up some groceries.   Only .6 miles each way - Not bad.

Relaxing, checking out boatyards, seeing friends, rowing for groceries and nice dinner out

Spent a nice few days anchored in a very calm peaceful anchorage.

View out back door

Checked out Zimmermans boat yard here, trying to find a good place to haul next spring, and get some work done.  It always pays to know in advance where you want to haul.  

Zimmermans does a lot of catamarans here.  They have a great reputation, but might be a little pricier than we want for now.    If we had major work, I would consider them, but we only need a few thru hulls plugged.  We will look at a few more yards.

A benefit of coming to check them out, is meeting other catamaran owners, and also seeing our friends we met in the spring, that are getting work done on their boat.  Always nice to reconnect and catch up.

We also took time to make a dinghy run up the creek, then paddle the dinghy for about 1/4 mile up a small narrow creek to get groceries, and also had a nice meal out (out being, got to go, and ate on boat) at a good Mexican restaurant. Mi Casa Azteca, in Matthews, VA.   Food was good.  

Would have gone for lunch, but have to go at high tide to have enough water in the small creek to get close.

Matthews looks to be a cute little town, might have to come back this way

Matthews, VA

and explore more, when high tide is not at 7 in the morning, or 6 at night.

Will head out tomorrow, will spend a night in Portsmouth at a marina, do laundry, top of batteries and water.

Fly back for wedding, Dean alone on boat, sailing south

 We left Annapolis and headed north - only to be closer to Baltimore, as Kris was flying back to attend the wedding of our niece.

Kris had to leave the boat at 8:00 a.m., to catch and Uber ride to the airport.   Wouldn't you know it, the hardest rain we have seen since the last tropical storm hit arrived right as we needed to get the dinghy in the water and head in.  Kris was soaked, and left a puddle in the poor Uber drivers car, but made it safely to Boise, then enjoyed a 8 hour drive with Derek (our son) to Bozeman, Montana for the wedding.

Sassafras River, Mt Harmon Plantation, Rock Creek, and Annapolis

 We left Cheasapeake City, and headed to the Sassafras River.  Anchored in Back Creek, near the Harmon House Plantation.  

Motoring to Sassafras River

Great sailing - a little too fast, followed by lots of anchoring and wrapping a line on our prop.

 We had a great sail from Coney Island, NY down to Cape May New Jersey, - only issue was we were too fast.  We left at 2:00 in the afternoon, and sailed the entire way down with a very smooth ride, with only about 2' seas.  Winds 14 to 18 knots, so full main and jib the entire way.  

Not much of a moon, but lots of stars out.  Got into Cape May at 5:30 a.m. in the morning, as we averaged 7.5 knots which was faster than we had planned on.   Dropped the anchor, around 6:30 a.m.

Notice SOG at 10.3 knots surfing down wave.  WOO HOO

The most dangerous thing on a boat - a schedule - and a COVID shot

We always try to time our boat moves for favorable winds and seas.  Lets face it, we have the time - so no need to move the boat when it is not a good time.  A common sailor saying is:  The most dangerous item on a boat is a schedule.

As we were heading southwest, with following seas and wind, having a pleasant sail, we saw this guy northeast.    You can get some decent seas in Long Island Sound, especially when heading against them.  This catamaran we passed must have been on a schedule.

We got our first Covid shot at a  CVS in Newport RI. and after waiting the 4 weeks it was time to get the 2nd shot.    Since we had gone with Moderna on the first shot we needed to find a spot where they offered the 2nd.  Port Washington Rite Aide was the spot so we planned the walk up to the store and then planned on the second day being a "recovery" day.  The first shot didn't have a huge impact other than Kris not being able to move her arm for two to three days but we had heard the second shot had more issues.

So today we have laid around the boat with all the side affects that were predicted, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, fevers, and nausea.  Hopefully tomorrow gets us back to normal because these side effects suck.

Common Side Effects

On the arm where you got the shot:

• Pain
• Redness
• Swelling

Throughout the rest of your body:

• Tiredness
• Headache
• Muscle pain
• Chills
• Fever
• Nausea

Things about cruising that you tend to forget

The cruising lifestyle sounds so appealing when you hear people talk.  Warm weather, sandy beaches, no work.    There is the other side as well though, and some things you don’t really think about.      Of course there is the boat work, constant maintenance living in a salt water environment, but there are a couple of things you forget to mention when talking about cruising – Like how to get on and off the boat !!!
	On our boat, currently tied up to the dock there is a 42” long step, which is a 12” step or step down depending if getting on or off.  (Hint: stepping down is easier)  Every morning we head off to the showers on land.  We wear flip flops as we shower in them to prevent any stray foot diseases.     Try it out, can you put on flip flops, and make a 42” “jump” up 12”?  Sure, you can, now do it over water that is cold and salty while fully dressed.
Knock on wood, so far, no mishaps.