Day 2

We pulled out of the marina at 7:30am and just as we powered up an alarm sounded. Throttling back, we checking all the gauges and everything looked normal. Just to be safe, we shut down the engines, but the alarm didn’t stop. Checking all the switches and the bilge didn’t show anything out of order. Suddenly the alarm stopped. Will had an idea that maybe there was a water alarm from the bilge since there was some water trapped in there and the angle of the boat would have caused water to flow to the stern. Sounded plausible so we powered up and got going again with no more alarm. Two minutes later, Will noticed that the 50-foot line he stored at the center cleat was trailing behind the boat. We really don’t need that wrapped around the boat. After reeling it in we were off again and cruising at 28 knots.

After entering the Chesapeake Bay the water began to get bumpy, as the wind had been blowing from the south most of the day. Listening to the weather channel confirmed that small craft warning were in effect. We made it to Annapolis at 1pm and refueled with 175 gallons. Quite a bit more than we anticipated for the 90-mile run. Hmmm, better throttle back a bit. We left at 2pm, knowing we would not be able to make it all the way to Norfolk. We decided to aim for an intermediate stop about 5pm and gas up. John set a waypoint and off we went. The water was getting bumpier and we had to throttle back even further to 15 knots. Thinking it was about time for that intermediate gas stop to show up, it was evident that we had passed it about 40 miles back. After further checking, it was clear that John had set a bogus waypoint. Shirl was sure there would be fuel at St. Mary’s near the mouth of the Potomac River, so we headed there to no avail. It’s now getting dark, so we decided to head for what appeared to be another marina across the mouth of the Potomac. No luck again, as it turned out to be private moorage for a condominium. Our luck had not run out yet, because just around the point was what appeared to be an abandoned marina. It USED to be a Navy marina but it is now used by the maritime training academy. Nevertheless, we were docking there for the night: no power, no water, no cable TV. Sure glad we got that generator running! The security personnel showed up and after hearing our story agreed to let us tie up for the night.

First thing tomorrow – get fuel, then off we go again!

Day 1

Will and I started off October 29 by arriving at SeaTac airport 2 hours ahead of flight time to allow for check-in and screening for our 12:25pm departure to Philadelphia. At 11:30 am we were informed that the flight was delayed indefinitely due to weather in Minneapolis and that we were likely to not make the connection to Philly. After the agent searched for half an hour he finally came up with a flight to Phoenix leaving at 4:30pm. Our connecting flight to Philly from Phoenix was a red-eye leaving at 7:30pm, arriving Philly at 6am the next day. Not a problem. Now all we needed to do was cancel the hotel reservation in Philly. After several phone calls the Travelocity agent informed us that our reservation was non-refundable. Not wanting to lose $113.43, a plan was devised to allow Shirl to check into the room since he was arriving around midnight, and he would inform the clerk that we would arrive “later on”. This satisfied Travelocity and the Sheraton Hotel and saved us the $$$.

Since neither Will nor I had slept much, we checked in the hotel at 7am. But hey, the room is ours till checkout time, so we managed to get a few minutes rest while Shirl arranged for a rental car. Shirl picked us up at the hotel and we went grocery shopping, after which he dropped us off at the boat while he tidied up some business in Philly. After Will and I cleaned out Shirl’s “expired” food stuff, we stowed all the groceries and proceeded to check out the boat. The generator was inoperative, but we got it running (low battery and rusty choke) but we got it purring. Shirl got back to the boat about 2:30 and after we gassed up the boat we decided that it was too late to try to head out today. Besides, Will and I were beat and we both had headaches. We agreed to cast off in the morning at 7am, off to bed for us.

Route# Start – End
Route Miles - Total Miles

01 Philadelphia PA to Annapolis MD
91 - 91

02 Annapolis MD to Hampton VA
123 214

03 Hampton VA to Bellhaven NC via Virginia Cut
129 343

04 Bellhaven NC to Wrightsville NC
128 471

05 Wrightsville NC to McClellanville SC
127 598

06 McClellanville SC to Port Royal SC – pit stop in Charleston SC – Shirl’s friends?
96 694

07 Port Royal SC to Isle of Hope GA
79 773

08 Isle of Hope GA to Lanier Island GA
147 920

09 Lanier Island GA to Daytona Beach FL
126 1046

10 Daytona Beach FL to Fort Pierce FL
116 1162

11 Fort Pierce FL to Fort Myers FL – pit stop on ICW in Melbourne FL – John’s cousin:
Lat: 28o17’52.02” Lon: 80o41’56.87”
146 1308

12 Fort Myers FL to Tampa Bay FL
110 1418

13 Tampa Bay FL to Cedar Keys FL
106 1524

14 Cedar Keys FL to Apalachicola FL
115 1639

15 Apalachicola FL to Fort Walton Beach FL
112 1751

16 Fort Walton Beach FL to Biloxi MS
126 1877

17 Biloxi MS to New Orleans LA Lake Pontchartrain – Marina Del Ray, Madisonville, LA
- THE END???
95 1972

On October 29, 2009 three Emerald Rose Yacht Club captains (Shirl, Will and John) will start the first leg of a 2000 mile journey from Philadelphia to New Orleans-Lake Pontchartrain aboard Shirl's SeaRay 340 Sundancer. Four years ago this same trio cruised the boat along the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) from Charleston to Philadelphia, a journey of some 700 miles.

Like the previous 5-day trip, this will not be a leisurely one either, as we plan to be in New Orleans in two weeks. Our journey will take us south through the C&D Canal and Chesapeake Bay to Norfolk, VA. From there we will pass through the Virginia Cut, along the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida as far south as Stuart, FL. From there we will travel through the St. Lucie-Lake Okeechobee-Calooseahatchee waterways to Fort Myers. Leaving Fort Myers, we will exit to the Gulf of Mexico and make our way along the Gulf Coast of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and finally to Louisiana.

We will keep this blog updated as often as internet service is available. You are welcome to leave comments and messages.

Three C's