Parked in Annapolis

We pulled over for a week in Annapolis, and will now travel by car for a week of work. It will be tough to focus on anything but the boat after living on her these many miles. A paycheck is important I guess, so off to work we go.

It's been a blast so far, but it would have been even better if we weren't on a time schedule. We're trying to get SV Kelly Nicole to Florida with only four weeks vacation time to do it in. Not how I wanted to do this trip, but that's the way it is. One thing we do not plan on ever doing again is visiting Lake Ontario. Kind of a been there, done that deal. Never, ever again will we be in the Erie canal. I don't understand why people want to take their mast down and lay it on the boat, and hang on to ropes in a lock. I suppose a smaller boat, around 30 feet would not be so bad, still it doesn't appeal to me. The Hudson was beautiful at times, and a nice part of the trip, and New York Harbor was crazy, but I would go back there, if I ever win the Lotto.

Our sail around Jersey was very cool. Night time on the ocean was very interesting, and weird at times. The AIS came in handy many times, and fisherman pretty much do whatever they want out there, with any lighting scheme they care to display, if any at all. We were looking at the lights of Atlantic City for what seemed like all night. We thought we would never pass it.
We saw bio luminescence in the water, and it was wild. Picture Tinkerbell going for a swim in your bow wake. Sunrise off Cape May was beautiful. My daughter called us that morning and asked if we saw any Dolphins, and at that moment a pod of them popped up near the boat! Deb was very excited at seeing them, and it made her day, and Kelly was excited too. She loves Dolphins, and how weird that when she calls, they pop up!

The next post I'll get into a little more detail, especially Delaware Bay. We had a wild night there.

Picture time!

NJ. At 4.50/ft they should wash and wax.

We zoomed out of the harbor with the tide

you can see the stress just looking at her

A cool moment

Amazing from the water

one of the 200

Adios

All Ocean after that bridge

Here we go!

The moment has come.

Ocean voyagers, at last.

The new life begins

Atlantic sunrise

Delaware Bay flat as a pancake.

C&D canal. We timed it perfect. Who knew?

Sailing the Chesapeake

Felt good to sail. Made all the bumps and bruises of the last 2 weeks go away

Well, 1st phase over. ICW is next.

Annapolis is a tad pricey...cough!, choke. We are surrounded by $300-500k vessels, and I picked a boatyard thinking it would be cheaper. I could have bought an autopilot for the cost of this pier we're tied to. We were trying to get to Deltaville where it's much more reasonable, but weather and stuff kept us from getting that far. Now we pay the price. Our boat looks so small  here.

Thank you everyone who helped stay in touch along the way, through the blog and Facebook, and the many texts on my crappy phone. I don't have a smart phone, and texting is a bit sloooow.

Cheers!

Paulie and not Snooki