Even before we met, we each had the dream of cruising.  This shared dream drew us together and provided us with a common direction, as well as many years of enjoying weekend and an annual week long cruise on the Chesapeake.  In many ways it is difficult to believe that this dream that we have had individually for 30 to 40 years, and shared for more that 20 is quickly approaching.

The  approximate date when we slip our lines for the last time at Herrington Harbour is roughly set -- October 2010.  Much of our energy and focus will be directed toward making that date a reality.  While the date that we actually slip our lines is an approximation for now, it is in a rather tight window.  Because of insurance requirements (hurricanes), we may not leave the Chesapeake Bay before October 1st.  Due to the onset of cold weather, we would like to be south of the Bay before November 1st.  (Our countdown below is based on the assumption that we will actually slip our lines on October 1st.)

Until now, our thinking had been much more strategic -- what kind of a boat, where to cruise.  Our thinking is now is becoming much more practical and tactical -- which mail forwarding service to use, when to put our house up for sale, how and where to relocate our vehicles, how much food to bring.  (We are religiously following the the websites of friends (see links) as they head south and to the Bahamas this year.

Much has changed over the winter, all for the better.

  1. 1.The old property-owners association board of directors for our future home in Georgia has been replaced with a board which appears much move active and interested in upgrading the community and property values in the community.

  2. 2.The marine permit for our new community in Georgia has been approved.  We believe that now that the marina issue has been settled, a new developer will complete the construction of the community and community amenities.

  3. 3.We have installed a new electronics suite to aid in navigation.  This is our single most expensive cruising expense.

  4. 4.We have chosen to not renew our slip lease at Herrington Harbour for 2010.  We have chosen, instead, to be on a month-to-month rental.  We hope that we can retain our same slip.

We enjoyed a lovely break in New Zealand and Australia--especially our visit with Kyle in Toowoomba--and we are now excited to be heading home, ready to focus our attention on the preparation for our cruising adventure. 

Except for the Americas Cup compound, Auckland was very commercial.  Christchurch was nice, but Queenstown (pictured to the right) was our favorite New Zealand stop.  While in Australia, we spent Christmas with Kyle and visited Bundaberg, where we toured the rum factory and the ginger beer factory.  We spent a day in Brisbane, and traveled to several small Australian towns.  We were fortunate to have the time to relax, get into the Australian way of life, and meet many of Kyle’s friends.  The weather in both New Zealand and Australia was quite a bit cooler and rainier than we expected.  Kyle has taken a new position with the parent company of his former employer, and he is moving to Brisbane.

Thursday, January 7, 2010 -- 268 days until departure.  We returned home from vacation.  It took us a few days to recover from the trip -- get over jet--lag, pay bills, retrieve Smokey.  We went from 28˚ Celsius (about 83˚ Fahrenheit) to 17˚ Fahrenheit.  Baby, it is cold here.  But, I think that this will be our last North-East winter.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010, Ground Hog Day -- 240 days until departure.  We have gotten over our “Jet Lag” and gotten used to the cooler temperatures (Not).  Over the last several weeks, We have busied ourselves working on projects to prepare our house for sale, and boat projects which could be done at home including:

  1. ✦Building “egg creates” to keep liquor bottles from sliding around in the liquor cabinet.

  2. ✦Purchased and registered an EPIRB

  3. ✦Purchased a soda maker so we could avoid carrying all of those bottles

  4. ✦Gotten our FCC radio license

  5. ✦Build a new bookshelf for the pilot house

In addition, we hosted Linda’s friend Debbie from Seattle for a weekend, and spent several weekends with Kevin and Courtney in Fredericksburg.

This winter seems worse than normal.  Punxsutawney Phil predicts six more weeks of winter.  The area got nearly two feet snow while we were in Australia, several inches in January when we returned, about 6 inches last Friday.  The official total season-to-date is 24” at Reagan National Airport, which is more than the total for the last three years combined.  Reagan tends to have less snow than Reston because it is in the city.   It is is supposed to snow 1 to 3 inches tonight, and snow again this weekend.  Usually, we get one significant snow fall every other or every third year.  Add to that, the cold temperatures.  It was 8 degrees Fahrenheit here the other morning.  Very unusual.  Normal low temperatures in this area are in the upper 20s.  Usually, it gets above freezing every day.  (It must be “global warming”.)  We can honestly say that we are glad that this will be our last sustained winter here. 

Saturday, February 5, 2010, 236 Days:  More Snow.  When will this end.  Last night and today, we got another 32.4 inches (Officially at Dulles) of snow.  From Jimmie Buffet’s “Boat Drinks”:

I’m close to bodily harm


Twenty degrees and the hockey games on

Nobody cares they are way too far gone

Screamin boat drinks, something to keep em all warm


This mornin, I shot six holes in my freezer

I think I got cabin fever

Somebody sound the alarm


Oh I know, (I know)

I should be leaving this climate

I got a verse but can't rhyme it

I gotta go where it's warm


I gotta go where there aint any snow

Where there aint any blow

Cause my fin sinks so low

I gotta go where it's warm


Saturday, February 13, 2010, 229 days until departure:  Our season-to-date snow accumulation is 54.9 inches and we are only half way through the winter.  That is the largest seasonal snow fall total on record and more than we have gotten during the previous decade combined.  What does this have to do with cruising Escapade?  Only that someone up there is reminding us why we want to go south, and is providing us with a life-long memory of how bad winter can really be in the mid-atlantic so that we won’t ever consider returning during the winter.

Monday, February 15, 2010, 227 days until departure:  When I woke up this morning it was 9º F.  it is snowing now, AGAIN.  Will this winter ever end?  

Saturday, February 20, 2010, 222 days until departure:  While snow still covers everything that wasn’t plowed or shoveled and while it is still too cold to work on Escapade, we think that winter is beginning to break.  It is still below freezing at night, but daytime highs have been in the high thirties / low forties for the last three days and are predicted to be in the same range for the next seven days.  Currently, our lows are higher than our highs of just a week ago.  It is not unpleasant to go outside wearing just a heavy shirt.  Even with our warm-up, the temperatures in Vancouver (site of the current XXI Winter Olympic Games) is warmer by 10º than it is here. It feels like Spring is just around the corner and it is time to begin the work of preparing to sell our house and preparing Escapade to be our new home.   This has been awful winter; if not the worst, than among the worse that we can remember -- certainly a memory of northeast / mid-Atlantic winters that we won’t soon forget.  We are excited to have this part of our lives behind us and are ready to move on to the next phase.

Thursday, February 25, 2010, 217 days until departure:  Winter is beginning to break in DC.  No so up north.  NYC and Philadelphia are expecting 8 inches of snow today, northwestern New Jersey -- 2 feet.  Here in DC, we are just expecting snow flurries.  Our temperatures have been in the mid-forties during the day, and around freezing at night.  While snow still covers everything not shoveled or plowed, it is definitely melting.  We are looking forward to making our first trip to escapade in the next few weeks.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010, 212 days until departure:  Well, I may have spoken too soon.  Maybe, I was just being a little hopeful.  Winter is back.  Out temperatures are back in the high 30s during the day and below freezing at night, with what the weatherman calls a “Wintery Mix” - that’s a combination of rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow, leaving a mess and making us just want to stay by the fireplace.

I stole the photo
on the right from the web-site  of our friends Bill and Jean (Chapter III -- see Links).  It is a picture taken yesterday (March 1) of Chapter III (Escapade’s sister-ship) entering Rock Sound in the Bahamas.  Please compare this photo with the two above, and then tell me where you would rather be.  I would much prefer to be in Rock Sound today than in Reston.  How about you?

Monday, March 8, 2010, 206 days until departure:  Winter is really beginning to break now.  Daytime highs are in the mid to upper fifties, nighttime lows around freezing.  The snow is really melting.  About half of the ground is bare.  It is still too cold (except for maybe a hour a day) to start to wash and wax Escapade, but we will start making weekend visits soon.  (Not soon enough, as far as we are concerned.)  Last year, our first trip to Escapade was March 29th.  We think that it will be close to that this year.

 
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