Everyone has a Plan until…

Some wise soul spoke of (cruising) plans written in sand.  And, here we are, days out from flying off to Deltaville Boatyard amid the chaos and pandemonium that usually occurs before each sailing season.  However, perhaps this year’s winds changed or the tide simply went out.  We, like many others, have been away from the cruising scene.  For us, it’s been 3 long years, and much has changed – some things, dramatically.  So, here we are, deciding at the last minute to modify our current plan; it just had to happen!  It might seem no big deal, but actually, it is.

At some point during isolation, in a moment of madness, we decided that WJ3 should come home; it would be easier to manage her within the confines of our own country.  Who then, doesn’t want to cruise the South Pacific and we had no need to rush.  So, plans were made to make for Panama in 2023.

Finding another quiet spot in the Bahamas

Reality hit once we began to consider what was necessary to achieve this goal and to consider the usual paperwork, permits, not insignificant costs and the need to have WJ3 (and ourselves) in tip-top condition for an ocean crossing.  We began to feel we were climbing a mountain, but only because it was there.  We also began to ask ourselves many questions and to challenge choices.

Finally, this week, we called time out to consider all options and motivations rather than focus attention just on this, the famous Pacific milk run.  Our all-hands-on-the-table options list went like this:

1.    Stay on the United States east coast & island hop the Caribbean

2.    Head for Panama (our existing stage-the-Pacific-at-a-snail-pace plan)

3.    Cross the Pacific to Tahiti (haul out) then head home another season

4.    Cross the Atlantic back to the Med or perhaps the UK

5.    Ship home or even to Asia (Thailand or Malaysia)

6.    Sell up

Our decision was reached, again & again.  Finally though, the Galley Slave is off stress meds and no longer needs to stockpile seasick tablets.  Our Cap’n will continue his dream of spending 6 months of each year devoted to his other woman.  And just now, he’s just ordered a spanking new e-bike to be delivered to Deltaville.  A resounding win-win for all.

Well, you'll be pleased to know that the US option came up trumps (excuse this feeble attempt at humour!)…  Travel in the US is easy; there are so many sailing options that we’re spoilt for choice.  Land travel is readily available too and we will have the opportunity to travel further afield, much like we did in Europe with organised tours at our fingertips.  Perhaps Machu Picchu will open again soon?  We also like being away and being overseas means that we really will spend time sailing WJ3. 

Now we are settled (sigh!), we can plan visas to get back into the US.  In the meantime, we will take a leisurely cruise down the Caribbean to Trinidad where we will haul for this year.  The Cap’n is already salivating at the thought of Trinidad street food (roti, doubles, bake & shark, hmmm) just too good to miss!  Next year we’ll head back to our favourite Deltaville boatyard. 

So, perhaps we’ll see you in the Caribbean this year?

Mike Tyson (2012) is quoted as saying “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”  Some days it just feels like it...

Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park - 112,640 acres to explore... (That's WJ3 behind the navy blue sailboat!)
Squiz, Ingrid are you excited yet??

Languish No More

Changing of the Guard

Before we begin this year's (2022) saga, we'd like to announce yet another milestone.  Miss WJ3 has been our good companion in many adventures over now, 15 years.  It seems hard to believe.  Time certainly flies when you're having fun!

We slowly surfaced for air in 2022.  Travel opened up, both inter-state and abroad, so the Cap’n packed his trusty bags and set off mid-winter to Deltaville for a 3-month work-a-thon.  He was concerned for the welfare of his other woman; as you would after some 2½ years and living half a world away.  Thanks to the wonderful Deltaville Boatyard, WJ3 was in good nick and only in need of a good clean-up and minor repairs.  The Cap’n filled in his time despite the heat and humidity of a southern summer, and managed to make headway on a good number of projects.  Except for that fickle generator.  One day soon, he may get round to adding detail of these exploits (along with the long-awaited detail from 2019) to his Hunter 460 site, just don’t hold your breath.  Well, he is busy and we’ve been doing a lot of planning… 

Our original idea of leaving the Med and coming back to the US had been a good one.  WJ3 is an American built craft and it’s so, so much easier to source spare parts and have them delivered to the yard.  And there’s still an awful lot for us to see and do there…  Like Aus, it’s a big country and no matter where we go, we are always made to feel at home.

However, one member of our team has salt water pulsing through his veins.  And he wants to bring his muse home.  Not in a rush, mind!  So, we find ourselves researching, planning, and preparing to slowly traverse the Pacific.  That translates into buying just a few more boat bits…as one must.

Next year then, becomes the first step of many in this madcap plan.  We will leave Deltaville and make for Panama, where we will hold-up in a boatyard on the south-east coast, just below the Canal entrance.  This all needs to happen before hurricane season, which means leaving here in February 2023, making us now, a touch anxious.  Let’s also hope the snow in Deltaville has melted by then!

We will keep you posted!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and all the best of good things in the year to come.  (PS.  If Santa should mistakenly deliver you boat bits this year, then kindly forward them on to us!) 

It’s a Tree (not Sea) Change

Back in February 2020, we began planning for our usual overseas adventure.  It always takes a few months to organise ourselves.  The Galley Slave had found some great fares for our flights to the US and consulted the Cap'n.  “I’d wait,” he said.  “Things don’t look good.”  So here we are at the close of 2021.  Still waiting.  Still not looking particularly promising…

That’s not to say, of course, that we’ve been idle.  The Cap’n turned his hand to maintenance of his “home fleet” and those many outstanding home repairs (long neglected) that go hand in hand with living in a timber shack in the land of termites.  The Galley Slave began a major photo re-organisation project.  It’s finally nearing completion in 2021.  (I know, I know, she’s leaning towards the OCD type.)  However, with a gentle slide into Autumn and cooler weather this year, it was time to take a (sanity) break and tame the garden.  She, meanwhile, hit the garden shed, her quilt room in the garden, before winter sent us both back inside to sit by a warm cosy fire.

View over the Hawkesbury River
(and the Cap'n hard at work scrubbing bottoms)

After 12 years of summer seasons and some 25,000 nm on the good ship WJ3, it was rather nice to take time out to live in our local community, to spend time with our boys and get to know the grandkids better.  Lockdowns (within the confines of our local government area) had put a bit of a muzzle on any travel ambitions.  Even a 20-minute drive to the local supermarket added a real thrill to our week – it was outside the 5km limit!  So, to otherwise amuse ourselves, we’ve undertaken some big clean-ups inside and out, replaced a few bits of furniture & the barbie, ripped up a deck or three (ehem, still “under reconstruction”), put up a pole to fly the flag and otherwise enjoyed our life on the river.

Stuck on the mudbank!  Our trusty Cap'n & neighbour Chris
doing a bit of rescue work in the tinnie, yet again...

Fortunately, both boys have remained employed in steady jobs, although one moved out into country NSW, to an arborist’s job in Bathurst.  Managing to successfully combine raising the littlies, study and work, Miss V finished Uni and almost immediately found a great job in Gosford.  Under her watchful eye, Dancing Queen, Miss P, has just finished her second year of school (and home schooling with school closures) and possible sailing apprentice/crew, Master D turned a big “4”. 

Celebrating a significant birthday with a floating picnic
(Monty tied down to protect the food!)

A bit of tree trimming, Bathurst style

We’re beginning to wonder how we ever found the time to go sailing.  WJ3 sits quietly in the boatyard in Deltaville, just metres away from the beautiful Chesapeake Bay, on the North American east coast.  She is being well looked after but must by now, feel somewhat neglected.  Our long-term plans change by the day, dependent largely on inviting travel doco’s on the telly.  We’ve become such couch potatoes!  The Cap’n though, still dreams of completing his 1975 circumnavigation...  In the short term though, it’s really back to just pottering about in a boat, and any boat will do for now. 

Sailors in the making

Merry Christmas to all and here’s hoping for a much brighter Year in 2022.

Time to Go Home

Deltaville Boat Yard: 28 October

Firing up the BBQ

Firing up the Bagpipes (Nick)

Yes, it’s time to go home.  Overnight temperatures dropped to a low of 10C and we’re scratching to find enough blankets & quilts to keep warm.  Dress of the day for us includes fashionable navy blue thermals.  Locals are out in jeans, cowboy boots and stetson hats (rather like a bushman's Akubra only pushed up on both sides).  We’ve spent the last two days locked down in the marina with solid rain and winds gusting 30kts.  More is on the way.  Today is a good day to be working on the ‘net but the Cap’n is itching to start our final big cleaning effort.  That translates, of course, to ordering heaps from Amazon.  Sigh.

Tomorrow promises a nice day, which is just as well.  Deltaville Maritime Museum have organised an Art & Seafood Fest (with a band at lunchtime) so we might escape for a few hours to catch the last of the season’s crabs and admire local talent.  

Pickin' crabs with Kenny

Just a sample of the daily catch

Old Time Tipple: Sangee (sangria)

Our only real difficulty in leaving will be zipping suitcases closed.  GS has had a spending spree at Wal Mart.  So there's a forecast for tantrums....

Waiting in the Marina for Hurricane Dorian

End of Season

Our figures for 2019 came in as follows:

From: Deltaville, USA Lat/Long: 37:33.116N 76:19.817W Date/Time: 3/05/19: 1500

To: Deltaville, USA Lat/Long: 37:32.966N 76:19.805W  Date/Time: 23/10/19: 0935

Time Taken: (this year): 62 hrs  Distance: (this year): 367nm

Distance Total: (since 2008): 25,111nm  

Weather: From basking in famous Southern swelter to dodging hurricanes.  We've had it all this year.  Really had to keep our eye on the weather as predictions didn't often go as planned. 

Fastest Speed:  This was the year of OWM (Other Woman’s Makeover).  Fairly substantial “surgery” in the mechanical and electrical departments, with some head-scratching still needed to resurrect the generator. 

Lighthouses traditionally mean "keep away"
Aren't we a wee bit close?

Birthday Bash

Some days were just perfect 

And a final Farewell rings out over Jackson Creek

One Last Fling

Annapolis: 10^th October

Annapolis hosts boat shows.  BIG Boat Shows.  There’s one just for hot water (motor) boats then another for sailboats.  Then there’s others.  So, if boats are your bent, Annapolis is the place to be in October for floating wonders and a visual feast.  We chose to drool over sailboats and wanted to explore “apartment living qualities” of modern catamarans – just lookin’.  At the show, you can buy every gadget imaginable, speak to equipment specialists, climb aboard any boat of your choosing, book a holiday (charter) to any destination with/without a deserted island (except for the beach bar selling rum punches, of course), or get to speak with world famous sailors.  Lin Pardey was surrounded so we missed a chat.  So were the very popular Vloggers, La Vagabonde, if you want a more youthful approach to the cruising life.  It’s impossible to do everything in a day we’ve learned.  But never mind, that was enough…

Oh, I don't know - they all look the same to me...

Build you own trailer & kayak - now that's living tiny!

The weather of late had not been promising; we had a rough but fast trip north.  Solomons Island provided a safe overnighter and surprisingly, there were only a few on anchor.  Continuing rough weather kept the punters from anchoring in Weems Creek (Annapolis) too; a favourite spot and usually very busy at this time of year.  Lucky for us.  Well, that’s all the luck we had, other than a sunny, warm day for the boat show and free tickets (thanks to a nice lady who didn’t need them) to get in.  The Cap’n had his trusty bicycle stolen at the supermarket (just opposite a huge Police Station, if you please!).  So, we’ve taken up walking.  It’s conducive to good health and a hearty appetite… You should try it too!

Lots of boats = one happy Cap'n

Not the easiest to see, this patriotic crabber flying his Trump supporter flag

Leavin' Deltaville Blues

Deltaville Maritime Centre: 28^th September

Our last full day happily coincided with the last market of the year at the Deltaville Maritime Museum.  It was a nice day for it, though vendor numbers were down. Despite the lovely day, high summer markets seem to attract bigger crowds.  We explored the market, the museum and the grounds along Mill Creek, made a few purchases then headed back to WJ3 to rest up.  A band had been promised for the evening’s entertainment and it was definitely going to treat our Aussie guests with a taste of wild, down-home Bluegrass. 

Wish we had a recording, not just a photo, of  guest fiddle player (with Rappahannock Crossing)

Bluegrass is said to have originated in the Appalachian region in the 1940’s.  Well, let me tell you, Rappahannock Crossing were fantastic.  They had a surprise guest who played the fiddle like he was born to it (I guess he was!).  Brilliant.  Heather’s sangria kept us well oiled, though our final dinner with our guests, from the on-site Food Concession, was especially Southern (burgers, hot dogs and fries).  Still, I guess by now they’d experienced a range of interesting menus (isn't that why we travel?), some more forgettable than others.

Happy Birthday, Mr M

Mr M, our willing and hardworking crew, was surprised on departure day with a yummy birthday breakfast (cooked by our brekky chef, Cap'n) and some mementos of his time on board WJ3.  Too soon though, it was time to bid Mr & Mrs Magpie farewell at Richmond Airport.  It had been an exhausting itinerary but I think (hope) we all had fun.

Even better, it was great for the Motley’s to have ditched mooring lines and for WJ3 to stretch her wings.  She likes to roam and as her owners, we like to encourage her in things she does best.

Simon brought his girlfriends over to say goodbye to Mr & Mrs Magpie

Lunch at Elkwallow

Blue Ridge Mountains: 27^th September

Huge vistas over Shenandoah Valley

SkylineDrive follows the heart of The Blue Ridge Mountains and is a core route through Shenandoah National Park.  It has plenty of viewpoints, some side access roads (with fascinating names – Rockfish Gap and Swift Run Gap), a number of wayside stops (we lunched at Elkwallow) and plenty of things to do if hiking, meeting wildlife nose-to-nose, or photography is your bent.  We were warned to watch for bears. Yup, grizzlies (or maybe it was just photos of grizzlies).  The bears were too busy to bother with us, though the Magpies did spot a deer or two.  Sadly, fall foliage was not out on display (mid to late October, I’m told by Park Wardens but check out the link above) but the scenery over Shenandoah Valley and across the park was superb.

Oh look, I've just seen a deer!

St Mary's Rock Tunnel (1932)

Photo opportunity stops gave our chauffeur plenty of breaks; still, it was a long run across to Fredericksburg, then down along the Rappahannock River to Deltaville.  It was rather pleasant to finally be back on board enjoying our peaceful marina life.  I think we all slept well after our time away setting quite the pace as tourists-on-the-go.

The only fall colour we found...

Even Park Facilities were nicely situated

Well, kinda sorta!  Land touring really takes your mind off things like weather.  We noted that in our absence, Hurricane’s Karen and Lorenzo were spinning just off the coast.  Karen, after threatening the Caribbean, had lost a little puff, weakening to Tropical Storm intensity.  Lorenzo had other ideas and was busy building muscle to Cat 5, with an eye on the Azores.  Our guests were just so pleased we had managed to arrange for a little memento or two of their visit to east-coast US; aptly named if you know the Magpies.  Gotta love September!

Fall colours were about (some artfully arranged), everywhere else though