November 21st, 2012

Well, that was annoying. I typed my blog yesterday and, of course it was the best one ever!!!!. And what did I do, not save it. Boo hoo.

Carol, I understand from Gary that I missed your birthday last weekend. Sorry, so belated birthday wishes to you.

Yesterday was uneventful except for the strong tides which were often against us. We spent the night near Darien in Georgia. After docking the boat we decided to go ashore and explore. We found a bar/restaurant and decided to pop in for a drink. I had my Baileys and Gary his beer. There were several people in the bar watching the football game so we got talking to them. The barman and barlady were so very pleasant as were the locals. They were surprised that we had stopped at their marina as it was quite a way from the ICW, the current was strong and the water shallow. The barman was quite taken with the fact that I had driven the boat. (I think his impression of lady drivers went up). The lady asked if I would like a coffee and beforte I could reply placed one in front of me (no, I was not drunk and needed sobering up). She then got the bottle of Baileys and proceed to pour it into my coffee instructing me to tell her when to stop. And what a nice coffee it turned out to be. What was even nicer was the bar did not charge Gary for a beer or me my coffee saying it was their Georgia hospitality. How very kind of them. A most enjoyable evening.

Today we have reached Florida and hope to get to the St John's River tonight. The sun is finally shining and the cabin warm enough for us to put on short sleeved shirts. We passed a degauser. What is that you may ask? I would not have known if Gary had not told me. It was in the waterway on the end of a peer and looked like an unfinished building (no sides just vertical metal beams - see photo). The purpose of it was to remove magnetic fields that had built up in ships. Apparently, TV used to have degausing fields around picture coils. We also passed some type shipyard that had a secrity guard keeping an eye on ity. If you got to close to the ships he/she came out to you to warn you away.

We have seen quite a few dolphins today plus the usual shore birds. A bonus was to see two large flocks of storks sitting on sand spits. We could not get in too close because the area around the spit was shallow. The storks used to be on the endangered species list but have increased in quantities in the last few years.

Well, I took a couple of days off because there was really nothing to write about. The weather was cloudy, overcast with no sun at all. Humph, did we not come south for the sun and warm air?

Today is 21st November, 2012. Happy birthday, Chris!

We have reached our destination after a very nice nights stay just outside of Jacksonville, Florida. We met a very nice couple of residents who invited us out to dinner with them. They took us in their car to a restaurant called the "Sanddollar" and we had a very good meal. Brown (his real name) and Nancy took us back to the boat said goodbye and off they went. When we got up the next morning  we found some charts of the St John's river left for us by Brown and his wife. How kind of them.

The cat decided to go "walkabout" again. She would walk around the boat and then let herself back into the cabin without taking a dip.

Yesterday was uneventful. What was nice was we saw several bald eagles. Such a magnificent bird. I am really glad that the people of the United States did not go with Ben Franklin's suggestion of having the turkey for the National Bird. The Bald Eagle is much more majestic.

We reached our destination, Astor just south of Lake George around about 2pm yesterday afternoon. The boat will be moored here for approx 6 weeks and then we will return to enjoy the winter sunshine in January and February. When we return and tour Florida we will be able to stop and see the sights something we have not been able to do on this journey. The cat has done great so will come back with us. Now we have to get her home by car and she hates the car. The vet gave me a sedative for her but I hate to use it. She has been so good on this boat adventure maybe she won't mind the car as much.

The boat is moored next a beautiful house boat owned by Ralph and his wife. I think they will keep an eye on our boat for us while we are back in Maryland.

Well, I have thoroughly enjoyed the journey down here. We have had no major problems except our generator is not working properly. We will take care of that when we return.  I thank-you for accompanying me on this journey. Mum, I have enclosed a photo of a bird that we saw when we took you to Florida and you could never get its name right. Do you remember its name.... the an -hin- ga, a relative of the cormorant. This photo is for you.

Take care everyone. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Over and out,

Margaret 88, x, x, x,

November 16th, 2012

I saw three ships come sailing by!!

Happy birthday to Gary (hubby) and Chuck (friend) "twins" separated by one year and different mothers.

Again, another rather miserable day. No sun, heavy waves at times. Because we have had so little sun the solar panels on the boat have not been of much use so we have been using the generator. I think it is the fourth day w/o sun. The temps are approx 20 degrees below normal so we are wearing jackets (me) and sweaters (Gary). Because it is the captain's birthday we are planning on stopping earlier today and anchoring in a marina. I have to do my laundry, grocery shop and clean the boat up a little (I do not like clutter - did you read that David?). Tonight we hope to go ashore at south of Savannah for a nice meal to celebrate the birthday boy gaining another year.

The cat has amazed me. She has really settled down nicely. She can even tolerate some of the larger waves now w/o retreating and going down stairs. Touch wood, Gary does not seem to have had any problems with her (he is allergic to cats, so is our son). Let us hope the journey continues in this way.

We have had a nine foot tide today which is the highest we have seen since leaving home.

 I had a laugh last night. Gary had to dock the boat in rather a tight area. He had been given directions by 'phone which dock to use so knew where to go once he reached the marina. A man came out to help us with the docking but Gary did not need it. The man complemented Gary on how  well he "parked" the boat. After he left, Gary said sheepishly that he was not trying to park in the spot we were in, the wind had blown him into this dock. So we had a good wind not an ill wind!! Gary said he was very glad there was not a boat in the spot already.

We went  to a seafood restaurant for dinner. Unfortunately, there was not much to choose from - shrimp, crab, oysters and chili. Gary is allergic to shrimp and crab so decided to have the oysters which took a lot of hard prodding and poking to open.  I had the chili which I enjoyed.

FYI we stayed at Savannah Bend Marina last night on the Wilmington River south of Savannah.

Nov 15

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Thursday 15th November, 2012

What wotten weather the Wover has been having the last two days!! It has been colder than normal (low 50s), windy and rainy so the journey has gone slowly but w/o problems. Because of the weather all our paper towels in the upper cabin got wet. So, Gary hung them up to dry. No-one can say the Johneys are spendthrifts. In fact you might say we are cheap, I mean frugal. Gary says it's 'cos we are retired!! He will have me washing out the toilet paper next!!!!

We spent the night just outside of Charleston, SC in a creek called Swinton. We had strong winds and a heavy current requiring us to put out two anchors, the usual one at the front of the boat and a second one at the back of the boat. Throughout the night you could hear the waves slapping against the boat. When we woke in the morning we had been pushed into the marshes at the side of the creek . Luckily, we were still in deep water and had no problem getting the boat back into the main stream due to leaving at high tide.

We have passed through Charleston Harbour where we saw an aircraft carrier turned into a museum. Gary is threatening to stay there on the way home. I am telling him we have not got time as he takes ages to go through museums. Me, I read fast and get through quickly. Dear Gary reads all the small print and finishes hours after me. Maybe there will be some gardens nearby that I can visit

We also passed a couple (Linda, that is two!!!) of dolphins. Unfortunately, they spent most of the time barely surfacing above the water so, in fact they looked like sharks, maybe they were!!!!! Gary dodged a couple of dolphins in the harbour thinking they were logs.

Again, we have passed some lovely homes on the banks of the waterway. We saw that they had to have very long peers due to the marshes at the side of the waterway. Boats were lifted out of the water by at least 5 feet due to the exceptionally high tides they experience.

The journey is proving to be quite relaxing. If the waves subside a little more I am going to attempt to write my Christmas Cards. David, I think you would enjoy this. We miss you and wish you were here.

It

 

November, 13 th, 2012

Rule Britannia, Britannia Rules the Waves, KNOT!!!! (Thank-you Chris and Angie!!).

We passed Myrtle Beach today which has many inlets from the Inland Waterway to the ocean. As you pass each inlet the flow of water varies. If the tide was coming in, we were slow going up to the inlet. As we passed the inlet we would speed up due to the tide pushing us on. The difference was sometimes as much as 4 mph which to us was a tremendous difference. Today, we had to battle the tide which varied as much as 5 feet.

Gary was a bad boy today so I had him swab the deck. Only joking - he is in fact cleaning the anchor area which can get the deck very muddy
To the golfers out there - Myrtle Beach is know for its 120 golf courses. Yes, it is golf heaven. We passed several courses next to the waterway. At one point we passed golfers looking for a ball in the "rough" and, man was it rough. We also passed a golf course that had its parking area on one side of the waterway and the golf course on the other side of the waterway. To get across you had to ride the aerial tram across the water. We saw two trams going overhead.

We passed a poor shrimp boat lying on its side. It must have been like it for quite a while as it was rusty and the shed it was lying next to quite derelict.  We also passed a huge boat storage rack which I thought was quite interesting.

I am continuing to enjoy the water birds. We took a photo of cormorants, pelicans on a sand bar near to the ocean (we did not enter the ocean), heron and ospreys. The cormorant I have here was drying out his wings due to having no oil in them to repel the water. He is a diver so needs to be able to go below the surface of the water.

We have been asked a question "what has taken the most adjusting to?". I would say going up and down the steps to get from one level of the boat to the others. We have three levels with rather steep steps. Both our knees feel the strain at the end of the day.  Gary says it has been having to get up early (6am) after retiring in March. We, (I) am also losing track of days. I thought today was Tuesday, 14th November. It is, of course the 13th November. 

Please feel free to e-mail us with any questions. There is a comment section at the end of the blog where you can write them.

November 12th, 2012

Hi there, me hearties (thank-you Steve and Jackie),

'Twas another lovely day on the water. Waves were low, winds mild until late into the afternoon and sun all day. The temperature reached the high 70s outside the boat and in the 80s inside. I was driving this morning and found that my left arm was beginning to get sun tanned. I told Gary I was going to drive the boat backwards so that the other arm could get tanned also.

There was quite a lot of wildlife to be seen today - pelicans, skimmers (birds), cormorants and dolphins. We had three dolphins in front of the boat whilst Gary was driving. By the time I got my camera out and ready to shoot only one dolphin was still within view. It was still lovely to see it. All the boats in the area stopped to see it or drove slowly passed it.

We passed many beautiful homes today one of which I think was owned by the CEO of Pepto Bismol - it even had its own lighthouse. We even spotted a giraffe  in one of the gardens. It was there to help let you know that the house was for sale. I bet the house cost and arm and a neck!!!
 


We also passed several boats demonstrating  how not to berth your boat!!! 

We are at anchor in Dutchman's Creek near Southport, NC. Tomorrow, the weather is supposed to be wet and maybe stormy. We plan on travelling to a marina and stopping there for the afternoon. I need to do some laundry and grocery shopping so will be able to do that.

November 11th, 2012

Happy Veteran's Day to all Veterans. Thank-you for dedication to your country(ies).

Shrimp boats are a coming, there'll be dancing tonight!!!

Today was uneventful except I got to lay in this morning. Gary got up first as usual and let me stay in bed for an extra hour. Lovely.

The day was again, perfect. Very little waves, lots of sun and not much wind. We travelled through the Pungo River,  Pamlico River, Neuse River and then made our first navigational error. We (the Royal We) missed the creek we should have turned into by 5 miles which to us was one hour of travelling. Therefore, we had to retrace our track to find the right creek, Adam's Creek. We passed several docked shrimp boats and one going out to sea to fish. I took some photos of them. I would like to have seen one with its nets being cast but no such luck.

Because of the navigation error we were now behind schedule and would have to find somewhere to anchor after the sun had set. I took a couple of nice sunset pictures before we found a place to anchor for the night. That turned out to be quite difficult as we could not see the channel markers or observe much in the creek that we were to anchor in. It probably took us at least 30 mins to find a place to anchor safely. Poor Gary, I am glad he was at the helm. I always get  the anchor to see to.

I thought I would give you some info about our boat. It is a 36 ft long, 15 foot wide powered catamaran. The make is Endeavor and they are made in Florida. We motor at approx 8-9 miles per hour on one 170hp engine. We have 2 engines but alternate using them to save wear and tear. We can sleep 4 with comfort, 6 with a squash. We have two bathrooms, one with a shower. The cat has claimed one bedroom, luckily not the one we use. We also have a galley and a sitting area. The boat is fairly roomy except when Gary and I need to pass each other in the galley area. When that happens we have to suck in our breaths. We have a TV but have been unable to get any TV channels due to poor reception. Thus, we have been watching DVDs I purchased prior to the trip.

We are anchored in Swansboro for the night. We guess we have another day of travelling through North Carolina.

Nov 10

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No internet last night so this is a day late.

November 10th, 2012.

Happy birthday, Ardie!!

Shiver me timbers!! T'was a very cold morning this morning! When I went outside to pull in the bumpers you could see my breath!! Tomorrow I will wear gloves as we have an anchor to pull in.

Today, was absolutely delightful. We were able to cross Albemarle Sound without any waves or problems at all due to there being no wind. In fact, the water was as smooth as a baby's bottom! From the Sound and into the Alligator River-Pungo River Canal which greeted us with smooth waters. We had several boats going through the canal in a convoy, several of which were from Canada. The sun shone brightly all day so warmed up the upper part of the boat to a temperature of 81 degrees. I actually was able to take off my heavy shirt and don a short sleeved top. The only disappointing part of the trip today was there were very few birds and no wildlife along the canal. We did see a cormorant standing on a log in the water drying his wings (wings outspread) but that was about all until we reached the Pungo River and saw a group of cormorants resting on a marker bouy.

Gary has been playing with his toys today and is trying to fathom out how to make full use of the navigation system and auto pilot. After playing with it for a while it began to beep which signalled man over board. After checking to make sure the cat was still with us we knew it was a false alarm cos I definitely had not fallen over board.

Tonight we are anchored off a creek in the Pungo River with no TV. We played the “Charlie's Angels” video which was awful. I am glad I did not pay to see it at the movies.

I owe everyone an apology. In earlier logs I have called the water way we are following the Inter- coastal Water. The correct name is the Intra-coastal Waterway. Sorry for the error.

November 9th, 2012

Oh fiddle de dee, a sailor's life for me!!

Today we traversed the Dismal Swamp in Virginia and North Carolina. The waterway was actually a canal so was narrow and shallow. We had good charts so did not encounter any problems.  The weather was smashing -  but cool. The sky a lovely azure without any clouds and best of all there were no waves, I repeat no waves. This meant that 2nd mate Mia and I did not have to take shelter below deck and could enjoy looking out of the windows.

We stopped at the Dismal Swamp Welcome Center and put Mia into her life jacket so that we could take her for a "walk" or should I say "pull". She did not like the leash one little bit, crouched down on her belly and refused to budge despite gentle coaxing. I did manage to get her to a mulch covered flower bed which was nice and warm in the afternoon sun. There she hunkered down and would not move. She remained there for approx 10 mins allowing Gary to visit the Welcome Center whilst I stood holding onto a leash with a cat on the end of it looking a right chump. In the end, the cat was picked up and carried back to the  boat.

The next part of the journey through the swamp was spectacular. Of interest were many cyprus tree stumps growing in the water with ferns and plants growing out of the top of them. I am known for my photos of reflections and managed to take several nice ones which we show you here.

We went through 2 locks with the help and guidance of one very nice lock keeper, Robert. Crews from the other boats already waiting in the lock also gave us advise on what to do as we have never been in a lock before. The locks raised and lowered the boat 8 feet. We met Al from Baltimore sailing in the Salty Spray who gave us good advise on how to continue travelling on the "loop". In fact, we docked near him for the night in Elizabeth City. He is a lone sailor in a lovely old fashioned galleon type sail boat on his way to Florida. He told us he had done the journey 8 times before so was a seasoned sailor.

Tomorrow, we plan on  crossing the Albemarle Sound, a 22 mile open stretch of water into the Alligator River. The weather is supposed to be good with light winds which should make the crossing more pleasant than going down the Chesapeake Bay.

Hi there, as Willy Nelson would say "On the road again" or as Margaret Johney would say on the water again!! After a day of cleaning the boat, looking at books we were ready to hit the waves again. We arose early and left our safe anchorage around 7:30am. The waves, again were quite high so the ride was bumpy. At one time Gary thought the waves were 4 feet or higher. I did not see them as I was below reassuring the cat that the end of the world was not going to end even though it felt like it was. When I resurfaced, the waves were still high but a little more bearable for me.
We approached the Naval Shipyards at Norfolk, Portsmouth and because of the rock and roll of the boat my camera fell on the floor. Luckily, it did not look as though it had been damaged so I clicked away taking photos of naval ships, a fireboat spraying water and a hovering helicopter. However, when I came to look at what I had taken I had no photos saved in the memory card. The fall had damaged the card and would not allow it to memorise photos taken. Luckily, I am equipped with several cards so was able to continue taking photos.

We spent 35 mins waiting for a bridge to open despite calling the bridge master several times. When we finally got to go under the open bridge we saw a sign saying the bridge height was 15 feet. What!!!! Our boat is 14 feet tall which meant we did not need to wait and could have gone under the bride with a foot to spare. We also realised we (Gary) had got the name of the bridge wrong so we had been calling the wrong bridgemaster!! Oh the joys of being a boater.


We are spending the night in Top Notch Marina, Chesapeake, Virginia. The docking is free as long as we eat in their restaurant and spend a certain amount of money. No problem with the price of the meals. The Marina has clean showers and restrooms and both Gary and I feel clean again.  The meal was very nice and enjoyed by both of us.

A strange occurrence is happening. As you have now guessed I am a wimp. I get motion sickness on anything that moves with the exception of a bicycle. Now we are on dry land, Gary continues to feel as though he is still on the boat and his world is rocking. Me, I am on terra firma and my mind is no longer fooled. 

We filled up the boat for the first time ever today - 178 gallons of diesel. We may be washing boats for the next few days!!!! The pumps had the lowest price in the area so it could have been a whole lot worse.

Tomorrow, we enter the Dismal Swamp Canal, one of the most unspoiled areas of the Inter Coastal Waterway. The weather is supposed to be kind to us for the next few days so I am looking forward to taking lots of photos.

It's a good night from me and a good night from him!!

Fishing Bay Harbor

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November, 6th 2012.

OK, so we were up for sunrise today even though sunrise was not very spectacular. We got going early to beat the weather as a nor'easter was expected on the east coast of the US. Well, the weather let us down as the waves were high and rough and the ride was very bumpy. The Captain attempted to beat the weather by crossing to the eastern shore so that the boat ran with the waves but the wind direction changed several times causing the first mate and the cat to take to lower quarters. The cat howled and yowled and the first mate howled and yowled as the boat traversed 4ft waves. Anyway, we arrived safely on the western shore in Virginia at Fishing Bay Cove where we were to spend 2 nights in a Marina because of the nor'easter. The Marina had showers and washing machines plus electric so we were able to use their electric and not the generator. This made for a quieter night's sleep for all. The cat did not like the day at all so I took her for a walk on her leash and in her harness when we were docked and would you believe she slipped out of the harness and ran away from me. Panic stricken I ran after her and managed to catch up with her to pick her up and take the naughty kitty back to the boat with her heart and my heart pounding.

November 7th, 2012.

A down day in the shelter of the Marina. The weather turned out to be better than forecast but still had high winds. Gary and I decided to organise the boat better, put stuff away that had fallen off shelves yesterday and do odd jobs needed around the boat. The cat slept most of the day, escaped once when Gary left the door open and headed for the front of the boat meowing “I'm free”. Not for long as I collared her quickly before she decided to jump to shore and run for the woods.

With the boat clean, organised and a nice hot meal fixed for supper, Gary and I had a nice evening watching a movie and sipping a Baileys.

The weather is supposed to be more congenial tomorrow so we are up again at 6am for an early start and hope to make Norfolk, Virginia.

november 5th, 2012

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Ahoy there, me hearties,

We made it! We did not however, sail at sunrise because it took it several hours to finally finish loading the Kingston Rover. We were up at 6am to see the sunrise and unfortunately, it was cloudy. That good old “Johney Luck” strikes again. Our dear neighbor, Ed came over and took photos of the 3, yes 3 excited travelers (Gary, myself and I guess, the not so excited cat, Mia).

The day was cold to start with, in the 30s and calm waters welcomed us in the creek. However, once we reached the Chesapeake Bay we faced rather large waves, bigger than we had planned for. We heard on the radio a few hours later that a “small craft advisory” had been issued. Humph, did the weather not know that the indomitable Johneys were sailing today and that we had a very valuable passenger, a cat who is prone to motion sickness. Luckily for us, the cat neither ate, drank or used her litter tray all day. We had one scary moment when we looked up from inside the boat to see the cat walking around the outside of the boat. I crept out quietly not wanting to scare her and as I went one way she went the other. I managed to put the leash on her and get her back in the boat without her attempting to learn quickly how to swim.

We saw something on the Bay today that we have never seen on the Bay before – a brown pelican. In fact, we saw 2 or maybe just the same one twice.

The boat traveled well and we managed to anchor without Gary yelling at me and me yelling back. So, all in all a good time was had by all.

We spent an uneventful night in Back Creek near Solomon's Island, Maryland.

We plan to rise at 6am again tomorrow. Maybe we will be lucky and have a clear morning with a beautiful sunrise. I have ordered it so let's wait and see.

So, good night from the Johneys.

November 5th, 2012.

Welcome to the Johney Blog, the "Kingston Rovers". Why, you ask, the "Kingston Rovers"? Well, I will tell you. Are you sitting comfortably and I will begin.

I lived in the city of Kingston-Upon-Hull for 29 years prior to moving to the US with my handsome husband of one year, Gary. Hull, as the city is known, is Rugby crazy and one of the teams is called the Rovers. Therefore, I combined Kingston with Rovers (because we love to travel - Rovers (get it)) to get Kingston Rovers.

Gary and I intend to rove around the inland waterway/great loop on our 36 foot boat, The Kingston Rover to see sights of the US we have never seen before. Gary is the Captain, I am his first mate (and had better be his only mate!!) and it is my job to steer, cook, make sure the boat is clear for berthing/leaving port, stowing bumpers and to look beautiful sitting at the front of the boat. Well, most of that is true, not all.

We plan on leaving our home in Pasadena, Maryland sometime in the next 4 days and head into the Chesapeake Bay sunrise, if I can get up early enough. This trip down to Florida, about 1200 land miles will be a test to see if Gary and I can tolerate such a small area together with nowhere to hide when not just the waves start to get rough. We have been on the boat together for 5 days when we brought her down from New Jersey. We only argued 5 or 6 times, mainly when trying to park her due to a very bossy captain and a first mate who needs very specific instructions. We got stuck on sandbanks 3 times but only had to wait once for the tide to lift us off our night perch. We had 3 thunderstorms, torrential rain and very hot weather. We blew a capacitor which meant we could not run the air conditioner so we sweated the journey out until we got to a marina where we had the generator looked at.  All, in all a not too eventful first journey. At least, it was not our last.

Stay tuned for the first true blog after leaving Pasadena this weekend.