Not-so-welcome center

Most days, either Scott or I try to do some planning for the day’s trip. We look at the charts and books and try to figure out possible anchoring spots depending on how far we might get in a given day. You don’t want to travel as far as you can and then find out that there’s nowhere to stop for another 10 miles. Last night, I targeted Norwalk, CT as our best bet for where we’d end up. First of all, it was about a 30 mile trip, a nice amount of progress, but not a crazy-long day. We had already decided to do the Connecticut coast rather than the north shore of Long Island. And best of all, Norwalk advertises a public dock with a visitor’s center. According to their website, boats can tie up for up to an hour for free and there are stores within walking distance. Just what we needed – we are desperately in need of provisions, and I’m realizing that it is often difficult to find an anchorage where we can get to shore and stock up.

[Side note: I don’t know if people realize this, but getting an overnight slips at a marina is pretty expensive, usually over $2 per foot a night, and we are on a 30 ft boat. So aside from our brief stay at a strangely inexpensive marina in New Jersey – $.75/ft – we’re mostly just hanging at anchor, with one of us kayaking to shore when need be.]

So, we get to this public dock, we tie up, and then we go into the Harbormaster’s office.

[Another side note: I really like the title Harbormaster. I think I want to be one someday. But not in Norwalk.]

They tell us that we can stay for 20 minutes for free, and after that, we’d have to pay $.75/ft to stay until 4pm. Not gonna happen. So, I run to the corner convenience store and buy everything that looks like food, while Scott runs into a little Mexican restaurant and gets us some take out, and we meet back on the boat in no more than 20 minutes and take it out to anchor.

The harbor is a nice enough place to anchor (pic above), but I’m still holding a little grudge.

 

Tools of the trade

Now that I’ve spent more than three weeks on the boat, I’ve learned quite a bit about the resources we have to get where we’re going, and how to use them. There are all sorts of variables to sort out in deciding how to get where we’re going and when to travel.

Because of this, I’ve also found myself very grateful to have the following things that the ancient mariners didn’t have:

-Handheld GPS. Loaned to Scott by a friend for the trip, we follow the screen on this little device pretty constantly (shown in the pic above). It tells us our current location as well as our current heading and speed. The maps in it are not finely drawn enough to be useful for navigation, but it does prevent some big errors and it gives us some general idea of how far we have to go. Also, once we’ve anchored, Scott can set it to give us an alarm if we start dragging anchor.

-VHF radio: We stay tuned to the main channel listening to alerts from the coast guard, and calls from boats to other boats, and to towing companies. The general practice is to make contact on the main channel and then meet up on a different channel to finish the conversation. Sometimes when we’re bored, we follow these conversations to their new channel, to find out why the boat needs a tow, etc.

-Wireless phone and internet – useful for keeping in touch with our family and friends, and for checking the next set of resources.

-Online charts of the waterways, and tide and current tables, provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

And if those fail us, we have printed almanacs (shown above) that give us advice about routes and anchorages, and listings of fuel docks and marinas where we might need them.

Altogether, I think I’ll feel less worried about Scott when he’s alone on the boat, now that I understand how many resources he has at his fingertips.

A picture from leaving Barnegat Harbor a couple days ago. Makes me realize that I need to find the big speck of dust on my camera.

 

The best thing ever

I never pack the right stuff for long trips. In this case, I packed a whole box full of work-related books, and only one fiction book, which I finished in my first week on the boat. (Brittnie loaned me “Unaccustomed Earth” by Jumpha Lahiri – it was fantastic, thanks Britt!) After that, I got sick of my crossword puzzle book, still wasn’t able to get in a working mood, and was bored of staring at the walls.

Last week, we made a fuel stop and Scott pointed out the “paperback exchange” shelf in the marina store. I actually said, out loud, “My god, you’ve just saved my sanity!” It’s the perfect solution – you can leave the books you’ve read and not clog up your precious boat space, and pick up new ones. There’s no fine literature, mind you, but who wants that on a boat anyway! Since then, I’ve gone through a couple paperbacks, and exchanged them at the next one. I foresee a consistent stream of mystery novels from now until the end of the month…

 

Catching dinner

A few days ago, I asked Scott: Can I still call it fishing if I never catch anything? Now that quandary is done, since I finally caught some fish from the boat. While we were sailing through Barnegat Harbor, I caught two huge Bluefish.

Scott actually had to reel them into the boat, and then I avoided the cockpit uncomfortably while they flipped around until they died. I don’t like that part, but I guess if I’m going to eat them, I probably shouldn’t pretend I didn’t kill them. Later Scott showed me how to clean and fillet them.

Once we were tied up at the marina, I rode my bike to a real supermarket (another big treat) and bought supplies, including some corn to grill with the fish.

Top Chef style, we prepared “Bluefish Two Ways” – I took the fillets from one fish, and breaded it in panko, and pan fried it. Scott took the other one whole and wrapped it in foil and cooked it on the grill. I preferred the fried fish (big surprise) for the crunch. The whole fish was also really tasty and very moist.

 

A dinner party

Yesterday we anchored in Barnegat Light, NJ hoping to reprovision at the market in town. Scott kayaked ashore and found the store closed, along with most of the town. We had planned on getting something to grill with our new friends. Since neither of us were able to get more supplies, we still decided to combine forces to have dinner on our boat last night.

This was my first try for Rachel‘s 5-can bean soup, and it worked out perfectly, even though we didn’t have the onion or garlic to add. The five cans are: chicken broth, Rotel tomatoes, black beans, kidney beans, and refried beans. (If you have it, her full recipe includes chopped onion, and a clove of garlic.) We didn’t have the Rotel tomatoes, but used regular diced tomatoes plus some diced jalapenos. My favorite part of this recipe is the refried beans. I would never have thought of putting this in soup, and it adds so much flavor and gives it a thicker consistency.

Sandi made a salad with lettuce, grapefruit and avocado, dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Again, this is a combination that I hadn’t seen before, and it was really delicious.

Sandi and Maury are continuing north today; they are on a tighter schedule that we are. Still, we hope to catch up with them again on our way north, since we’ve really enjoyed their company!

We’re going just a few miles today up to Forked River (pronounced as two syllables, For-ked, according to the almanac). Scott has ordered a part that he needs to fix the steering, and we’ll be going to a marina (!!) to wait for the part to arrive. So my day is likely to include a hot shower, laundry and a bike ride!

Pic is a night shot of Barnegat Harbor. I’ve realized that night shots are pretty impossible to get. Even with the camera resting on the railing, the movement of the boat makes a slow shutter speed impossible.

 

Chesapeake City

Approximate location: 39.5277 N, 75.809 W

I can’t even begin to describe the difference a day makes. We did veg out at our anchorage yesterday. There were terrible storms in the area, and lots of people are still without power in the nearby counties, but Scott found us a very protected spot. It just felt like a regular thunderstorm, and we watched the rain come down while we had dinner. (Salmon patties, recipe coming soon.)

Scott got up early this morning, and by the time I got out of bed at 6am, we were on our way up the Chesapeake Bay. He explained that we need to catch the tide at the right point, so we could move faster. The wind was in the wrong direction, so we motored with the current, but against the wind. This does make for a bumpy ride (and the sound of the boat smacking down on the water after a wave is a little distressing). I did discover one key to avoiding seasickness.  If I’m at the helm, my eyes are glued to the horizon.  I drove for about half of the morning, and I didn’t get a bit queasy.

A little before noon we made to the public dock in Chesapeake City, MD, where we even got to have lunch on land!  (So much excitement for me today.)  Tomorrow, we’ll get through the C&D canal, and anchor at the other side, in the Delaware Bay.  It is nice to be making progress AND to be feeling good.

 

A difficult first day

Yesterday was our first day heading out of Baltimore. In the end, we made it about 30 miles to a creek on the other side of the Chesapeake bay, and we’re currently about 30 miles from the mouth of the C&D canal. (Recently, at my goodbye dinner in Western Mass, Matt asked about our route north – this is it: We’re going to cut through to the Delaware Bay, and then down around Cape May, and then up the Jersey coast to the East River, to the Long Island Sound.)

Yesterday’s trip could have been a better start for me. While the weather started out nice, the winds kicked up after noon. Scott was pretty excited because we got up to 8 mph, on sails alone. For a bit, I was a little caught up in the wonder of travel without motor, and thinking it was kinda cool. But the waves and the motion caught up with me. At least the motion sickness pills work as a sedative too.

We were most of the way across the bay at this point, so we kept going until we reached a small inlet, and were about to head into a creek to anchor, but the steering was stuck. So we dropped anchor for a while so Scott could figure out what was wrong. After a fix that will work “for now,” we were able to get into the creek to anchor. At the end of the day, I topped it all off by slipping on the stairs inside, and maybe breaking my toe. Swollen, hurts like hell, but nothing to be done about it. Those who know me will not be surprised: there were some tears.

We’ve stayed anchored here for about a day, in part because of thunderstorms, and in part, because I think Scott was afraid that if we had two days in a row like that, I may jump overboard and not come back.

 

Goodbye SoBa

Today we leave the marina in South Baltimore. We’re only going as far as Fells Point today, just to make sure the motor is working okay. From there, we’ll play it by ear, or rather, by weather forecast.

Yesterday was the day to tie up some loose ends, including taking my car out to Scott’s dad’s house where it will be safely guarded by eight fierce dogs and one cat while we’re away. Scott’s dad drove us back to the marina during a thunderstorm. Later that afternoon, the sky cleared and we had a beautiful evening, so I took a little photography trip around the marina. Some of the shots are below.

 

Admiral Crankypants

I’ve been a little out of sorts for the last couple of days. As Scott has mentioned, we’ve both spent the last several years living alone and now, we’re together in a space no larger than about 150 square feet. We’ve had a lot of errands to run before we leave Baltimore next week, and so have been running around for much of the day. On top of that, I was still living out of my duffel bag, and feeling not at all settled in. Most of you that know me would also know that this is a recipe for crankiness.

Scott alleviated some of my crankiness by cooking a most spectacular dinner last night – I’ll refer you to his post. Let me just add that Scott is one of those cooks who can walk into a supermarket and see what looks good and come up with a dinner like this. I am getting better at it, but am still pretty reliant on recipes and planning.

Today, we fixed the rest of my crankiness – Scott cleared out some space in the front of one hull. Meanwhile, I went to Walmart and bought some plastic bins, and came back to organize. Voila! I have a closet! Hard to get a good picture, but I’ve got three crates of clothes, a couple plastic drawers full of stuff, and a box full of books that I’m working from this summer. It’s almost embarrassing how much this small thing has lightened my mood.

 

The first week aboard

This first week, we are still at the marina in Baltimore. I think of it as a bit of a warm-up. We have access to stores and more fresh food, but are restricted to the same cooking and storing methods that we’ll have when we’re out at anchor. Even when we’re at anchor, we can sometimes tie up to a dock or kayak to shore and pick up whatever food we can carry in our backpacks.

Two nights ago, we were able to get some frozen salmon fillets and an eggplant and I made dinner out of that. I marinated the salmon in a teriyaki-style glaze – equal parts olive oil, honey and soy sauce – while I grilled the eggplant slices.

I threw some salt on the eggplant and then drizzled it in with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Once the eggplant was done, I grilled the salmon. Pretty good.

Yesterday we had the treat of a big Memorial Day barbecue at a friend’s house, where we gorged ourselves on everything, including our first Maryland crabs of the season (Thanks, Glen and Maryanne!). Tonight, it’s back to boat food: we’re having macaroni and cheese with ground beef.