Quick update 11/21/13

    Just a quick update for everyone: We're in North Carolina. Cassie and I met back up with Dan, Scott and SomeDay in Portsmouth, did the Dismal Swamp Canal, and are now tied up to the free docks in Elizabeth City on the Pasquatonk River. Laundry, showers and supplies are on the list of things to do and tomorrow I think we might take off for the Alligator River on our continuing trip south.
    We also met up with a Canadian couple from Halifax who bought a Tanzer 22 in Norfolk and are sailing to Guatemala with almost literally no money. I'm sure we'll be helping them out along the way, just as we've helped each other in a scrape. Small boat, but they seem happy. In some ways I envy them. They have companionship and only room for the essentials. Some days Cassandra feels too big, but she's actually just about right I think.
    Anyway, I got a couple pictures from along the way they'll probably go up in a few days, whenever I get internet again. I forgot to bring my camera to the library today.

Spending-Time in Maryland

Impulse at anchor in Cape May the day I arrived.

    Again I sit, somewhat contented and lulled into a feeling of false security by the whirling, self-absorbed world that is the internet.
    I could write paragraphs on just how crudely mundane the internet feels after being away from it for some time. Memes, and rants, and all the things you were doing wrong but never knew. But that's not what my blog is about. If, perhaps, after a longer break from the inter-webs I feel more strongly I will go into that myriad of feelings and opinions, but not today.
    Today I'm here to tell you about Maryland. Hmm... Maryland... Well, we can start with facts. As of today I've been in Maryland as long as I was in New Jersey. I've spent more money on food and sancks in all of Maryland than I did the month before. And I've felt largely less hurried in leaving than I did New Jersey. Of course, with the cold we've had the past few days, I'm beginning to think I should pick my heels up a bit more.
    Last night it was 33°, today the high was 40°.I bought a propane heater to keep the chill off at night, but it'll eat through a bottle of propane in six hours if I let it run, so it's not a permanent solution. I've taken what towels and blankets and foam I have to block off non-living areas and stop up drafts. This has been relatively successful. In fact, it was almost enough that just burning a large candle and my oil lamp all night would keep me from shivering in my sleeping bag on a 40° night. Almost; hence the addition of the heater.
    Let's see, I suppose you'll want to know where I am. Since I last posted I managed to sail down to Annapolis where I stopped in at Bacon Sails and picked up a few things I've been needing at discount prices. Bacon is a marine consignment store, and someday I'd like to run one. So many do-dads and gizmos for cheap. Marine cheap anyway. Nothing quite excites the creative juices like a rack of bins full of rigging hardware. Bought three pounds of fudge, because, I don't know why. It was quite good though. I also picked up a new pair of sneakers since my old ones were falling apart on my eight mile a day walks to various shopping centers. I need to get an alternate mode of land transport, my feet are still killing me. I have a small kick scooter, but it's almost useless. Thinking of modding it with a longer handlebar and bigger wheels, but we'll see, it's not as urgent as getting somewhere warm again.
    After Annapolis I set off for Solomons where I was to get a package from home. About three hours out, after having gone nowhere fast, the wind began to pipe up, and even though it wasn't bad, I decided to throw a reef in. Just as I tied the last lashing on the main the wind gusted up and heeled us over a little more than 15 degrees, and held us there. So, the jib came down and just as it was packed away the wind blew harder. I tried to sail towards the windward coast to get behind the cliffs where the wind couldn't build up a chop and I could keep on to Solomons. This was not to happen though. I was too far out already and in what seemed like minutes the waves were no longer small, and getting bigger. I couldn't make Solomons before dark anyway, and I decided my best bet was to run with the wind and waves until I could duck behind a point on the opposite side of the bay and hide in some anchorage. So on we went, skidding downwind under a reefed main at an average of 5.5knots. If I remember correctly Cassie has a theoretical hull speed of 6.4 knots. There were times we were doing all of that, surfing down waves we hit as much as 7.5kts. It was a physically demanding and mentally intensive experience, one where I didn't have time to be afraid, I had to be steering, watching for the next big wave, seeing where the wind might shift. At times I did look back at think, "wow... those are big waves... I hope they don't get worse." From the time I took in my reef to the time I anchored, cold, exhausted, and not a little happy to be safe, was probably four hours, the last hour of which was spent tacking against the 25mph wind between attempts to start my outboard so I could motor into my anchorage. I hid there two days waiting for the wind to die down, and when it finally did I motored the remaining 30 miles to Solomons. And here I sit still. I had to wait for my package since I got in on Saturday and the post office was closed through Monday for Veterans Day. The wind has picked back up again, blowing a steady 10-15kts and gusting higher last night. Thursday looks like the next day I can get out onto the water again, and maybe, maybe Make it to Virgina.
I never did meet back up with SomeDay. They decided to do an overnighter and passed me while I was in Annapolis. I suspect I'll see them again though.

New Jersey Gets Old.

    Finally. After weeks slogging down the coast of New Jersey, and days waiting for the weather, we've done it. The three fates have conspired with our three sirens and brought us up and out of that purgatory of a state.
    Monday saw SomeDay's engine part come in, by noon it was installed and the old OMC Zephyr was purring like a kitten. Or, perhaps more accurately, growling like an overweight house cat who is trying to eat. We settled up with the yard for dockage, then headed out, through the Cape May Canal and into the Delaware. The day was largely uninteresting and not too long. As night approached it was clear we wouldn't make it out of the bay before the tide turned, so we navigated our way through crab pots into the Cohansey River, and Cohansey Cove. All in all, a nice, quiet anchorage with decent holding, but no real measure of wind protection and no wave protection from the South. Luckily it was a light-air night from the north.The next day we left just ahead of the incoming tide hoping to ride it into the C&D canal to Chesapeake City. I was about half an hour early in my estimation, so most of our travel was at slackwater. We pulled into the free docks at Chesapeake City MARYLAND just after dark and set about finding something to eat. As the little town of Chesapeake City is nothing but touristy historical homes, everything was closed and being young and foolish we decided to walk to the nearest McDonalds, about six miles away in Elkton. After having devoured nearly a dozen sandwiches between the three of us we called a cab and got a ride back to the boats.
    The following day my sister, Christine, stopped by for a few hours. She'd been visiting a friend in New Jersey and had a little time to kill before going home. Much to my surprise Tuesday was to be a day of chance meetings. Just as Tine and I decided we'd had enough of the cold and wanted to get into the car to get warm I heard a familiar voice referring to the port of call on Cassandra's stern.
 "Hey, I was just in Baldwinsville"
It was the voice of Ken, an affable and charismatic individual whom we had met in Castleton. I forget if I mentioned at the time or not, but he was the person who paid our dockage in Castleton in exchange for helping him rig his boat.
    Ken was there to meet another cruising couple we had met along the way. Steve and Nancy if memory serves. I'd only met them in passing, but they were on their way up the C&D that very day to meet Ken in Chesapeake City. He took Tine and me to breakfast while we waited for the other boat, and we chatted. To make a long story shorter,  I got to see my sister, whom I missed more that I realized, I got to catch up with a friend I thought never to see again, and made two new friends in Steve and Nancy. SomeDay and Cassandra spent another night on the wall so we could leave alongside our newly refound friends, but that was not to be either.
    Jackson chose that next morning as a day to be stubborn, it was six hours of troubleshooting before I found the cause, the kill-switch had filled partly with seawater and weakened the spark enough that he couldn't run. So I stayed another night on the 24 hour limit wall. SomeDay took off sometime that afternoon after I'd assured them I wouldn't need a tow and could certainly have Jackson running in no time. Their engine also chose to sputter out along the way, and they had to pull into a marina not 5 miles from where I was. They reolved their issue and I mine, and when the rain and wind let up I left Chesapeake City, motored nine miles and tied up at the very marina I am writing this from. I have the place practically to myself. Showers, wi-fi, lounge, electric, cable, and all for $30 a night. I couldn't say no.So here I sit, content after downing an antipasto salad, and a dozen wings while I while away the evening catching up on the bits of internet I may actually care about. SomeDay will likely catch up sometime tomorrow if the weather cooperates and we can move on again.
    I have to replace the 12v plug on my solar panel when I find the part, coming up the Delaware it put out too much power and blew the 1Amp fuse, also melting the interior of the plug's housing somewhat.
 So, those are my adventures for now. I'll keep going, becoming more confident in my boat and myself as I go. I never imagined I'd actually sail in the Chesapeake Bay, and now here I am. Life is interesting for certain.