6.29.21 Weather was supposed to be very windy with big waves, but in typical coastal fashion, it changed to be a a great travel day.  After a fuel stop at Westbrook we anchored at the Thimble Islands again for a perfect evening & sunset.  The atmosphere among the rock formations with interesting homes and activity with locals enjoying their summers is so fun.  Even did a little dancing on the back, which some of the locals applauded.

6.25-6.25.21. ​Left mid morning in some fog, which did not lift and got worse toward Port Judith.  A little clearing as we came into the harbor.  We walked to Matuck's Oyster Bar for a great dinner of super fresh oysters and farm to table food.  Fog and rain the next day but we toured the entire 'Pond' in the dinghy and had a seafood lunch at the TwoTen Grill on the far side of the bay.  Late afternoon clearing and we walked around the cute residential area.

6.26-6.28.21. NEWPORT RI. ​More fog and wind today but it started to lift late morning so we left Port Judith and headed toward Newport.  The point area has what is called the 'Raceway', which is the tide rush in and out of Narraganset Bay.  It becomes a very confused sea with the wind and opposing tide rush .  Once into the bay, it was just wind and we docked by 1:30 at Newport Yacht Club where we were met by our friends Sarah and Albert Bouchard.  We had a nice lunch at the Yacht Club, then they were off to work and we ventured around Newport.  Met Albert & Sarah after 10 pm when they were done with work and had drinks with their staff (they own the infamous Bouchard Restaurant). Monday morning we walked the Cliff Walk, a famous walk along the Newport shoreline where you view mansions and a beautiful rugged coast.  Lunch with Sarah and Albert at Castle Hill, a famous mansion overlooking the bay, and a tour around the island to see other homes.  Dinner at the Black Pearl bar, ending with ice cream and a walk.  

​6.11.21. Moved up to Essex, to the SH island marina.  Lots of open space, the bar/grill for food, a ship playground with slides and forts and town to walk to.  We had pizza and lobster rolls!

6.12.21. Mystic, CT.  When we arrived in Mystic we met up with Megan, Alanna's friend. They are good friends from college and it was a great reunion for them.  Started out with a rainy day, but it cleared and we took the dinghy to town to the playground and to explore.  Alanna and Megan were able to spend some quality time at a brewery while we played with the kids. We grilled a wonderful salmon dinner on the back deck of the boat, eating with another beautiful sunset.  The next morning Alanna and Megan went paddle boarding, before we all took the dinghy up river past the museum, to see the tall ships and old boat yards.  

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Started out with a full out rainout but by just after nap, we went in the rain to the little beach across from the marina - just to get out of the boat.  Kids had a ball in the sand and rain.  Went over the Westbrook late afternoon after the rain had stopped.  Ate lots of leftovers before we were going to leave the next day.

6.7.21.  Westbrook, CT. ​Flew back with Alanna, Nora and Roark.  Flight went pretty good although kids were very anxious to get off the plane.  Arrived at the boat late afternoon and Joe took the kids for a dinghy ride while I got dinner on.  Got settled in  kids to bed.  

5.26.21. Crossed Long Island Sound up towards CT and the shore and found a mostly protected bay by Milford, CT to anchor.  Enjoyed a beautiful evening sunset while watching a sailboat race and the boats coming back to the harbor at sunset.  

5.24.21 Toured by the statute of Liberty again for more pictures and got to Liberty Landing in time to get the ferry to Lower Manhattan.  Walked around with Marisa and Adam, including the 911 Memorial, neighborhoods, parks, street entertainment (artist's celebrating Bob Dylans birthday) and some fun happy hour drinks. Met Kyrie & Ronald (Marisa's long term friend) for a walk on the Sky Walk, then  an excellent dinner in lower town and more touring around town.  New York for the 3rd time on the loop doesn't disappoint. 

5.22.21.  With Marisa & Adam on board, we left early for the long day up to the top of the Chesapeake Bay, through the C&D Canal and then the 55 miles down the Delaware, in glassy calm waters for a beautiful ride.  We arrived at Cape May Canyon Club late afternoon to clouds and cool.  We walked to the famous Lobster House where there was about a 3 hour wait but we were able to shop in their fresh fish market and got some fresh shrimp and crab to bring back to the boat for our own seafood feast, followed by a hot game of dominoes. 

​5.20.21 Arrived in town in time for a dinghy ride and got our grocery delivery.  Marisa and Adam arrived mid morning on Friday the 21st and we spent a great day in Annapolis walking around, lunch at Pussers, shopping, dinghy ride, then dinner at Boatyard Bar & Grill in EastPort at Boatyard Bar & Grill.  Enjoyed this very historic city, with great shops and restaurants, plus, with the week before the the naval graduation and commissioning, there was lots of formal whites in town.

5.17.21 Relaxing morning then arrived at Cambridge, MD where we found our old friend Pat, from Bumper Crop, as this is his home port.  Pat had drinks with Doug, Kathy, Joe and I and brought us on some errands.  Had a great dinner and saw many of the homes from the 1700 and 1800's.  

5.16.21.  We traveled 70 miles north to a quiet anchorage in the Little Choptank River, with Sea Stories.  Enjoyed a nice sunset, cigars, maybe some whiskey and good conversation.​

5.14-16.21. Moved to Crisfield, another small eastern bay town.  This 500+ slip marina was almost empty (again, the boats don't show up for a couple weeks).  Town was sort of sad in that many of the very few businesses in town closed during the past covid year.  We did have Smith Island Baby Cakes and some super fresh crab though.  Stayed there with Sea Stories (Doug and Kathy) for 2 nights and have a great time enjoying the quiet serene town.

​5.13.21 After a tour around Newport News to see the aircraft carrriers under construction, we landed on the east side of the lower Chesapeake at Cape Charles.   This charming town had nice shops, a delicious distillery with great ambiance and good food for dinner at the Shanty, right at the marina.  The marina was very nice but very quiet as the season is not underway fully yet.

April 17, 2021.  Outside travel from St. Catherines Sound to Charleston, about 110 miles. Had time to walk town before attending the AGLCA Docktails across the river at a yacht club.  Our first officially sponsored event and we met quite a few Loopers.

May 7, 2021 An 8 hour day for 80 miles to Beaufort but arrived in time to walk and shop the town.  Dinner at Clawsons followed by games on the boat.  

4.21.21 Winds came up during the day and after a stop for fuel, we had a difficult time getting into Safe Harbour South Harbor with the wind and strong current.  Doug and Kathy were adjacent to us and we had dinner on the boat with drinks at the Rusty Hook after.  The next day was a work day and we met more new neighbors from Cleveland and had drinks with them and Doug and kathy with Cigars before dinner at the Italian restaurant.   Since a hurricane had destroyed the marina within the last 9 months, the new docks did not have water yet and electricity was going on & off so we prepared the boat for leaving.  ​

March 22, 2021 - April 12, 2021:  After a  crazy day traveling through Miami with the Spring Break shutdown of the beaches and bars, everyone was on the water, with many not knowing how to navigate or drive a boat.  Stopped for an hour to experience the anchorage across from downtown and it was loud, crazy,  & a little dangerous.  We traveled a few hours the ICS to Hollywood area and found a nice anchorage in the South Lake.  

A short ride to Bahia Mar in Fort Lauderdale where we spent a few days at one of our favorite places.  Lots of boat projects and dinghy touring and eating at favorite local haunts before we flew home to spend a couple weeks with family & friends. 

We arrived back to the boat with Anna and Ted on April 7th and after a couple days of errands, showing Anna & Ted around, dinner at 15th Street Fisheries and finally Covid shots, we said good-bye for now to Fort Lauderdale and moved up an anchorage in Peck Lake for a nice sunset & grill.
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Vero Beach and Cocoa:  Stopped on the way to Vero at Fort Pierce and had a long lunch with Albert & Sara (Main Course) and their friend Sandra.  In Vero we stayed Loggerhead Marina is a gated community a few miles outside of town.

Left early in the morning to get to Cocoa Village Marina and walked up town with Anna & Ted.  Cute downtown with shops and art.  Beers, cigars, outdoor music and Crydermans BBQ, and ending with another competitive game night with the Sages. The next day there was a classic car show in downtown Cocoa .  We saw the exact car we had in the 70's, the Yellow Triumph Spitfire, now a classic car, just like it's former owner's, 'Classic'.  

65 miles to Daytona and tied up to our slip at the Halifax River Yacht Club just ahead of a storm front.  After watching a cool storm blow by we went for dinner in the clubhouse. A super nice facility and the oldest yacht club that's been in the same location on the entire east coast.  Super nice members and staff.  Total rainout the next day on Sunday but we fit in a long walk (with an uber ride home in the rain), and tons of relaxing with movies and games with Anna & Ted.  Anna & Ted left Monday morning.

Daytona, FL

March 14, 2021:  Finally a couple day break in the winds so we pulled out mid-day on Sunday the 14th and got 25 miles up Hawks Channel to anchor by Five Mile Channel and Lower Matacumbe Key (on the inside).  A cool sandbar and some nice canals to investigate.  Water was beautifully clear and stars were amazing.  

​Pulled anchor about 8 (just light with the new time change).  Started out a little rocky but as we got further toward Miami, seas flattened & had a nice ride.  Passed the Stiltsville area into Biscayne Bay, where we saw one of the few stilt houses remaining had burned very recently.  These cannot be rebuilt and are so unique that it's sad to see this loss.

Arrived to our friends, Jody and Normans at Gables by the Sea, where they had arranged a place to tie up at a neighbors as they are building their sea wall.  Neighbors George and Ana were so kind to share their space.  We stayed for 5 nights here and and got to participate in the neighborhood happy hours, meeting a great group of people.  Joe spent a good day of fishing with Norman and a few friends and caught enough for dinner for the group, which we brought a couple days later to the Coral Reef Yacht Club and had them fix them.  The catch included Mahi, tuna and a few others. 

We toured the South Miami area with Norman and Jody and saw lots of houses (ideas for our new home) and some of the nicest areas of Miami.  

On Thursday morning early we headed out in Biscayne Bay to Boca Chita, a state park.  The island was owned in the early 1900's by Marc Honeywell and he built a harbor and large estate for his family.  In the first days of occupancy his wife died on the island and Honeywell never returned and eventually gave the property to Miami for a park.  IT has a nice little harbor and lighthouse and gets quite crowded on the weekends.  It was pretty tame when we were there with John and Nancy from Just US and Norman & Jody, who stayed with us but brought over their center counsel for us to run around on.  Biscayne Bay is a great cruising area with nice anchorages.  ​

Headed north through Miami, Marine Stadium and downtown. 

Feb. 17 - March 14, 2021.  We had a few more weeks to spend in Marathon and started to really enjoy this laid back lifestyle.  Each day went went fast but at a slow pace and included a boat project or two, maybe an errand, an adventure and a happy hour sunset.  After a brief trip home, we returned with Julie Ulrick.  We rented a car for a few days as the winds were very high and traveling was not an option for about a week. Visited Key West again with Julie and did some walking, pool time and dinghy rides until Julie left on Friday the 12th. Had some fun teaching Julie 42 that we learned with our friends Brian and Michelle. Also got to meet and spend a little time with Michelle's kids and grandkids.  We enjoyed our last couple days in Marathon and prepared to leave on March 14th after the winds finally broke. 

Feb. 13-17, 2021. Made a last minute decision to fit in a trip to the Dry Tortugas as the weather that was not looking to cooperate made a slight change.  The Dry Tortugas are a National Park (as of 1992) and are 70 miles east of Key West.  There is one main island and several small patches of beach that constitute the other islands. Most of the other islands are nature habitats and you are not allowed on them. We shared the anchorages with about 10-15 boats throughout our stay but there is also a ferry and several seaplanes that bring tourist from Key West for the day. 

On Bird Island, which was part of the bay where we anchored it was mating season for the Sooty Tern, a small white bird that very seldom lands and this is one of their major breeding areas.  There were literally thousands of them flying (and squawking) all the time.  High over the Fort the large Magnificent Frigates soar non-stop.  Although the islands are named for the tortoises, we did not see any.  The term Dry was added to the name years after the its discovery for the reason that there is no fresh water here.  

There is very little for protection from the frequent storms that come out of no where so we tried to have a 5-7 window to allow us to travel & enjoy a short stay. We left on Feb. 13 at first light and cruised the 120 miles from Marathon to arrive by 2:15.  The weather was getting a bit dark as we anchored and within a few minutes a 'blow' came up and several of the dozen boats anchored broke loose and it was a half hour of chaos.  We were exhausted and with the extra wind and waves we stayed on the boat and just watched the activity.  

The next day we visited Fort Jefferson.  This remote National Park is a well preserved fort from the 1850;s-1860's.  Never completed or shot upon, but it had a vibrant life.  Prisoners and slaves did much of the manual labor.  The most famous prisoners here were Dr. Mudd and a couple associates who were some of the coconspirators of Abraham Lincoln's assassination.  Dr. Mudd ended up taking over the Fort hospital on site after all the other doctors and medical staff died of yellow fever.  Walking the fort, you can get on all levels (with no railings or precautions) and much of it is being repaired.  

The waves were a too big in the area to get to some of the wrecks which are good snorkel/scuba sites but we did some snorkeling close to the Fort which was very abundant with fish and plants.  Explored in the dinghy, did a few boat projects, read and enjoyed the beautiful scenery fo couple more days.  Headed back with a stop over for the night in Key West. 

​Traveled a long day past Marco and much of the Everglades and anchored in the Little Shark River in the Everglades.  We arrived in time to take a dinghy tour before sunset.  The river banks are all very mature mangrove trees and it is a beautiful river and area.  By just before sunset when we were getting the dinghy back on the boat and hoping to sit and watch the sunset and then the bugs came out - and these were serious little buggers.  No sunset or any more outdoor activities for this evening.  Left early in the morning so those bugs didn't have more time to chomp on us.