The Return Home

Molly and I last left Salty Paws on the hard in Hilton Head, SC, to weather the winter while we headed back to work and life in Maine.  With the boat still 1400 miles from home, Molly decided to forego the quick two-week spring trip that I allocated to return her to Maine.

Cousin Cliff joined me for the first week, with the first four days of beautiful weather highlighted by the unplanned Charleston rendezvous with Cousin Zeke Holland, who the hour before had just completed his circumnavigation aboard the catamaran No Regrets with two crew.  Cliff noticed the cat and yelled out “Hey Zeke,” the same greeting he used some years ago while standing on the dock that Zeke came to in Bermuda after crossing the Atlantic.   We ended up rafting with them for the day and night and shared a wonderful meal after walking to a great restaurant in downtown Charleston.  Zeke might benefit from asking Cliff his future travel plans to foretell his next boating adventure. 




Observing a paddleboard race.




Cliff met his twin.

At the City Marina in Beaufort, NC

Our departure from Wrightsville Beach, NC was delayed as we found ourselves surrounded by over a couple of hundred paddleboards competing in two different races.  Our first marina stop was in Beaufort, NC, (pronounced “bowfort” as opposed to the Beaufort, SC, “bewfort” where we spend our first night) which has a beautiful walking downtown, free car service to the supermarket and some nice restaurants.  While walking down the street in front of the marina we went by a guy who asked Cliff, “How do you like your titanium?”  I thought he was asking about some new boat design, when he was asking about Cliff’s prosthetic leg!  The “brothers” (pictured) had a nice chat.

The lock is beginning to open.

After Beaufort, NC, the weather turned, and over the next three days we generally found ourselves heading at an angle in to 3-5 foot unsettled swells and 15-20 knot winds.  We had a respite going through the Virginia-North Carolina Canal although I would have liked to go through the Dismal Swamp Canal, which is still closed due to last fall’s Hurricane Matthew.
After going through Norfolk Harbor, the lower Chesapeake was particularly stormy, and we sought refuge for the next day and a half anchored in the still water of Hampton, VA, while listening to traffic noise of three highways that surrounded the bay.  We finally made it to charming Annapolis

A few of the MD capital dome.

where we figured out the bus schedule for Cliff to travel to Washington, DC, to meet Norah and Margaret first thing in the morning.  After a dinner of fish and chips at an outdoor table at one of Annapolis’ many pubs, we settled in the Salty Paws cockpit for our last battle of a great 2-person adaptation of the card game “Oh Hell.”  After a tough initiation of a few games the first night of the trip, Cliff held his own until the trip end when he finally agreed to call it a night at 12:30 am after I had won multiple games in a row. 


Cliff was a great help on the boat, always quick to find a way to assist, and he had no problem maneuvering.   He left at 7 am the next day, and an hour later daughter Caroline and boyfriend Noah Merksamer arrived having just completed their whirlwind 2-week trip across country and back.  After a quick visit to the grocery store, Noah said goodbye and Caroline and I departed Annapolis Thursday, April 27^th, on the most pleasant of days with warm sunshine and calm waters.



Caroline and Noah in Annapolis.

Trouble was brewing, however, as the long-term outlook included turbulent weather and 10-12 foot seas along the Maine Coast for the following Tuesday and Wednesday, our expected arrival date.  To arrive on Monday would require an average of 150 miles per day for all of the 5 days.  This was doable, but potentially exhausting and allowing little time for sightseeing or trips ashore.

That became our goal.  After a pleasant trip through the Chesapeake-Delaware Canal we turned southeast through Delaware Bay into a stiff headwind and pounding seas.  The 50 or so miles to Cape May became 65 as we tacked upwind for greater comfort.  Relief finally came in the Cape May Canal only to be followed by some anxiety in our challenge to find an open marina selling gas.  As it turned out, marinas and gas docks Chesapeake Bay south were already in mid-summer swing whereas it was still pre-season New Jersey north with many marinas not scheduled to open until May 1^st or even later.  We finally found the one gas dock open in Cape May a few minutes before closing time.

We anchored in 6 feet of water not far from the Coast Guard station, and soon were entertained by the singing and cadence of the recruits.  There was only one other recreational boat anchored whereas last November, the harbor was full of recreational boaters, mostly sailboats, headed south.  While in the lee of the harbor, the stiff wind kept my attention on our anchoring situation.  At around 10:30 am, just after crawling in to my berth, the anchor alarm sounded, meaning that we have moved over 100 feet.  Our depth gauge now read 18 feet reflecting not only the 5 feet of tide but also that we were dragging anchor into the deeper harbor channel.  In our 75 or so days of anchoring Salty Paws, this was the first time our anchor had dragged.

Quickly, while just in undershorts, I started the engine, turned the controls over to Caroline and went to the bow to retrieve the anchor.  We repositioned in shallower water and put out more anchor rode, roughly 80 feet in 8 feet of high tide water.  As the boat draws 2 ½ feet, we would be close to bottoming out at low tide, but I ended up sleeping well for the night.

Lunch with our friends Mike and Jo Robinson.

Fishing rods lined the stairs
from the biat shop to the
restauran

The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) meanders up the inside of the New Jersey coast but is often avoided because of shoaling and the number of low bascule bridges.  Fortunately, the new day’s weather was pleasant and the seas were at our stern, which allowed us to go outside and speed 85 miles up the coast, past the aging towers of Atlantic City to Barnegat Inlet.  The Inlet led us to large Barnegat Bay, which we crossed to a private dock in Toms River, where we met my friends Mike and Jo Robinson.  They took us to a funky restaurant on the water that was mostly a bait shop and fishing store except for the few tables on the second floor that overlooked the water.  The crab cakes and company were outstanding.

Soon we were back on the boat, weaving our way north through the bay and part of the New Jersey ICW to its official northern entrance, Manasquan Inlet.  The large swells and wave at the Inlet entrance were reminiscent of January challenges in the Bahamas, but Salty Paws muscled through, and all was well once we got outside and turned the corner north. 

Finally, we rounded Sandy Hook and nestled in for the evening and a beautiful sunset not far from another Coast Guard station with similar rhythmic shouts of the recruits.

The next day brought fog and need to turn on the radar.  We were going to be entering New York Harbor and needed to be extra vigilant given the likelihood of much ship traffic.  The Verrazano Bridge was largely invisible except for the very top of its spires until we were within shouting distance of its large span.
  

 

The fog slowly lifted on the NYC skyline.

Slowly the fog began to dissipate as we approached the awe-inspiring skyline of New York.  Many pictures later, we were speeding up the East River, hitting a record 30 knots aided by the incoming tide at Hell’s Gate.   Once in Long Island Sound, we made a beeline to Norwalk, Ct, as it had the one gas dock known to be open.  Our destination was Newport, RI, and the smooth waters lasted throughout our crossing of Long Island Sound.  Once out of the Sound, however, the water temperature dropped from the mid 50’s to 44.5 degrees and the wind shifted to the northeast, resulting in a choppy ride into Narragansett Bay and our anchoring spot in Concunet Cove.

The next morning we motored leisurely into Newport Harbor, wanting to give the marinas sufficient time to open for the day.  Alas, it was Sunday and none of the Newport Marinas were to open at all that day.  A quick Internet search found a marina 20 miles northwest in Warwick, RI, the wrong direction but it gave us a chance to further explore the upper reaches of Narragansett Bay.  Now we were 3 hours behind schedule but we finally reached open Buzzards Bay on our way to the Cape Cod Canal.  The wind and waves were directly on us with water regularly crashing over the boat.  Once again, we tacked to get a better angle through the waves.  We were hugging the western shore as best we could and finally decided to cross the Bay to get on the leeward side of the Elizabeth Islands.  After a rough ride we were finally in the lee. 

Our destination of Gloucester, MA was still 100 miles away, and once again we began searching for a gas dock.  All were closed except for one in Bourne, just west of the Canal, but that was due to close in 20 minutes.  He agreed to stay open if we hightailed it to the dock.  We followed the Elizabeth Islands as far as we could and then cut back into Buzzards Bay.  Fortunately, the seas were a little calmer, and we cruised at 24 knots until confronted by two large tankers going in opposite directions in front of us.  We steered out of the main channel, keeping a close eye on our depth, and were able to leapfrog both vessels and proceed to the gas dock.

Once in the Canal we were soon reprimanded over the VHF radio for exceeding the 6 knot speed limit.  This was reminiscent of our trip south in October when I was reprimanded for turning around in the Canal for picture taking.  I had installed Automated Identification System (AIS), which is a great way to track other boats and also make one’s own boat trackable, and there are no secrets when it is activated.  Oh well, it was just a warning.

Our leisurely, calm trip through the 9-mile canal changed abruptly once Salty Paws reached the open waters of Massachusetts Bay.  While somewhat uncomfortable, we took advantage of the winds becoming more easterly and headed north on a direct course to Gloucester Harbor, arriving in the rain in the early evening.  We picked up a free harbor mooring (the harbormaster office was closed) and then fired up the generator for heat as temperatures were now down in the low 50s.  Caroline made the last of her great suppers, and we finished off the last of the wine.

Our last supper on the boat.  Fortunately the heater was working
and raised the cabin temperature from 50 to 70 degrees.

As Gloucester is a working harbor, there was no problem finding an open gas dock the next morning.  Our only challenge was to make sure that the small bascule bridge at the entrance to the Annisquam Canal would open.  Fortunately, we were able to confirm that it was open, and the pleasant passage through the Canal saved many miles from having to go around the Rockport peninsula.

After our Canal passage, we passed through occasional rain, fog, and slightly unsettled seas on our way past the isolated Isle of Shoals, split between Maine and New Hampshire. 

The warm weather of points south was now a distant memory, and I needed multiple layers of clothing to be partially comfortable in the 50 degree damp air.  We reached the Maine coast at the beautiful Cape Neddick lighthouse, followed the coastline north, cruised through the islands of Casco Bay, crossed the open waters of the New Meadows River Bay, past Cape Small and Sequin Light, which marks the entrance to the Kennebec River and our Georgetown home.  At 15:00 we docked at the Back River Boatyard.  Salty Paws had completed a 5,000+ mile roundtrip.


Finally home at the dock at the Back River Boatyard in Georgetown.

Bill’s Reflections

I am forever grateful to both my School Committee and Molly for supporting this 3-month adventure.  My School Committee weathered the criticism of the public unaccustomed to seeing a public employee taking 90 days off on his “yacht.”  Molly was always 100% supportive even with her initial trepidation about spending all that time with me in the cramped confines of a 25-foot boat.  Her concerns became even more magnified when our first week included freezing temperatures, a non-functioning heater and a $5,000 engine repair. 

Once in New York City, we finally found some warm weather, met other boaters and saw the Broadway show, Hamilton, one of the first of many unforgettable adventures.  Slowly, Molly began to move from supportive tolerance to outright enthusiasm.  Almost every day that followed included meeting wonderful people and experiencing our country’s and Bahamian history and beauty in a way that few do.  We also learned that our boat was big enough in warm weather and that with a little forethought we could eat as healthy and with as much enjoyment as if we were home.

Our odyssey was in many respects “the trip of a life-time,” but it also had us thinking that this trip need not be the pinnacle of our boating adventures.  Slowly, our thinking has begun to crystallize that after another two or so years of working to pay off our debt, we can spend 7 months a year in beautiful Georgetown (May – through Thanksgiving or Christmas) and then travel south to spend the better part of the remaining 5 months in the warmer climates of southeast Georgia, Florida, or the Bahamas. 

One major difference is that rather than travel the 1,500+ miles down the Intracoastal Waterway to Florida, we can trailer the boat south as it is small enough to be legally trailered without a permit.  Now, while we already have the trailer, it will require the purchase of a pickup truck capable of towing 10,000 pounds.  On the surface such a vehicle may make me a bona fide Maine redneck, but, more importantly, it opens up multiple options of exploration.  Maybe we pull the boat across country to Puget Sound and then cruise of the coast to Alaska.  Another option might be the Sea of Cortez in Mexico.  I have also heard great things about the rivers of Tennessee, Lake Champlain and the 1,000 islands in Canada.

Other cruises in our future may include doing the Great Loop, a 6,000 mile circumnavigation of the eastern United States (Hudson River, canals to the Great Lakes, Chicago River to the Mississippi, Up the Ohio and Cumberland to the TenTom and down to Mobile Alabama, etc.)  I am also intrigued with doing the Downeast Loop, which is a circumnavigation of New York, the New England States and eastern Canada.  There are so many options, including using our boat and trailer as an RV.  If we end up nighting in a Walmart parking lot, then surely we will have reached retirement bliss.
In the meantime there are multiple repairs and upgrades to our boat Salty Paws, and our dreams continue to form.

We both loved seeing the Pellies, as we called them.