Florida to New York

On with the next chapters! After we made landfall in Stuart last June we had some warranty work done and then motored home to St. Augustine in time for the 4th of July at the Lion's Gate Bridge. As we headed north from Florida to New York we said good bye to Ben who flew up to New York to start his acting internship on Broadway.

Lion's Head Bridge Downtown St. Augustine

During the first leg of our passage north we saw an aspect of Florida I had not ever appreciated. So much of the east coast is swamp… miles and miles of undeveloped swamp around the intercostal waterway. We stayed overnight in Cocoa Beach, alas...no Anthony Nelson, no Roger Healey, no Dr. Bellows and certainly no Jeannie. 50 years too late. All we found was a bunch of little shrimpy things that climbed into our depth sounder/knot meter and clogged it up. A quick brush up and we were on our way.

Ed, Maite, Karen, Jeff, Jeff's shirt, Aubrey and Hampton

We had a great 4th of July in St. Augustine with Maite’s brother Goar, his wife Kellie and there kids Tori and Vonn then headed for Charleston. 

Left to Right: Ed and Maite Pratt, Karen and Jeff Woodman

Replica of Civil War Cannon Ft. Sumpter                    

After a very easy overnight sail we were there and docked at the Patriot's Point Marina, right next to the USS Yorktown. We had a truly wonderful time with all the Woodman clan (Jeff, Karen, Aubrey and Hampton) before heading north. We had a spirited bowling competition amongst the six of us and if memory serves me correctly the winner was Jeff's shirt. It out shown us all!

We got to tour the Selden factory and learned about the new top down furling spinnaker. (More to come!)

Ruin of Ft. Sumpter

We also spent several days working on the boat with Jeff, exploring the town of Charleston and its highlights. We visited Ft. Sumpter where the Civil War began. Not too much left these days I'm afraid. The north gave up leaving the structure fairly intact when the Confederates from the town of Charleston took possession. However, when the north returned a few years later they blasted the poor fort to bits.

Our goal was to reach New York City in time to see our son Ben in his end of summer Broadway Cabaret August 14.We headed up the Intercostal past Georgetown and found some of the most unspoiled beautiful marshland you could imagine. We had some unfortunate mechanical problems with the port drive shaft falling off just aft of the transmission. I was able to jury rig it together and it was on with one engine to Myrtle Beach.  We spent a night in Myrtle Beach and found the nuts/washers to fix the problem temporarily at Lowe's. Then on to Southport, North Carolina where we had dinner with our good friends Martin Tate and Claire.

S/V Calypso and Echo (formerly Bare Feet and Good Trade)

The next morning we were off to Beaufort, North Carolina where we stayed one night just south of town and left before sun up. About 8 am we got word of a tornado passing right through the marina we had just exited south of Beaufort. Woah! On we went across the Pamlico Sound, Alligator River (spending one night on the hook), Abermarle Sound, and up the Virginia Cut. We arrived in Portsmouth, Virginia south of Norfolk at dusk. There sitting next to us was Barefeet which became Good Trade which was now Echo. We got to meet her new owners, Jeff and Mary Pernick although only for a few hours. Jeff was so gracious in helping me trace down our bad Rogue Booster connections. One more gremlin exposed! All those little things that don't quite work right, that no one else notices or appreciates, but keep coming back to haunt you...we call gremlins.

Approaching the Statue of Liberty from the south.

We met up with our daughter Meredith there and sailed outside around the Chesapeake and Jersey shore arriving about three days later in New York Harbor. We motored past Sandy Hook into the outer harbor, sliding under the Verrazano Bridge into the inner harbor, past the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the New York skyline, ducking the yellow Staten Island Ferries that seemed to be moving at about 50 knots and into our marina at Liberty Landing. We arrived with a day to spare as the rest of our family; eldest son Greg and my mother Sue arrived and moved aboard anxious to see the sights.

Manhattan Skyline from the south

Passing the Statue of Liberty

The process of getting over to the city was actually harder than it might seem. Getting back, particularly late at night was even worse. It took on average about two hours to go boat to Broadway and at night three hours to get back. We became very familiar with the ferry, subway system, PATH trains over to the Hoboken Station, and the New Jersey light rail that got us back to or at least walking distance of Liberty Landing marina.

We had a full week to see Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the 911 Museum (a must!) and several Broadway shows including If/Then, Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Avenue Q, and Once.

New Jersey and Manhattan Night
 Skyline from Calypso

Greg, Grandma Sue, Meredith at Liberty Landing Restaurant

Sue looking over Manhattan and Liberty Landing
from the Empire State Building

Meredith and Grandma at the
Statue of Liberty

Maite, Greg Meredith and Grandma Sue prepare for the Cabaret

2014 Circle on the Square Cabaret Group

Ben and a proud Mom

The Cabaret, the summer's final exam, featured the singing, dancing and comedic talents of an amazingly talented group of kids, all working to perfect their craft and get that big break that would propel them to the next level. 

Number "1" Mets fan

The saucer on the left was the getaway space ship in MIB

Mets vs. Cubs

When our New York week had come to an end, Mom and Meredith headed for home, while Greg, Maite and I repositioned Calypso up the East River to the World's Fair Marina next to Mets Stadium and the US Open Tennis Center. If you ever take that route make sure you hit the tides right. We were 2-3 kts going north and about 12 kts coming home as we learned our lesson the hard way. We got Ben and Greg packed off to LaGuardia then Maite and I headed to New England after taking in a Mets game and a nice long walk around the Tennis Center and World's Fair Grounds. For those that don't know this is where they filmed the final scene of Men In Black where the King Roach met his end. Next is New England and back to Baltimore!