Cat's Eye keeps movin'

Is it time to leave already? The time we spent in Maine flew by!
We had a lot to keep us busy! Dave got to spend time with his kids and I got a chance to go back down to NYC and spend some great time with my family.
While we where in Maine Dave and I made some big decisions. We decided to buy a house in Florida. We decided that America is not all that bad. BUT we are all so planning on spending 1/2 the years cruising the Caribbean (we are not ready to be landlubbers just yet). The house is also 500' from the ICW on a dredged out canal. Nice.

Yup my new house will be on sticks on the water!

This added to the list of things for us to do while in Maine. Trying to buy a house when you are not there can be done but would be much easier if we where not floating about. So we made an offer (on a house I have never seen) and now are just going through the motions. If all goes well we will be Florida home owners on the 15th of September. Keep your fingers crossed!!

We had to show Cat's Eye some love too, all this talk about a house we did not want her to get mad - we had Scarborough Signs (thank you Joe) redo the Cat's Eye lettering on the boat. We had the name across the transom but when the dinghy was pulled up (which is every time we are under way) it covered the name of the boat. We had Joe relocate the letters to the sides of the boat. So now everyone can see her name!! And I think it looks much better too!

This is great that we are buying a house BUT we are still very north of Florida. We started our journey back down south today. We are anxious to get back to Florida but not just yet. It is still hurricane season. And we also have some important stops along the east coast to make. This trip is not over yet!! We have a long way to go!!

Portsmouth Harbor Light

We left Portland harbor this morning wrapped up in hoodies, long pants, slippers and Dave went and got his facemask (the one he used for work - Yes he looked scary!) We where cold. Summer is just about over in Maine. We sailed down to Portsmouth, NH - day started out choppy and lumpy but evened out as we sailed on. A hot meal and a good nights sleep and we will be off again tomorrow headed for Gloucester, MA

So big changes on Cat's Eye but we are really excited about it. It is a great feeling to be back up in the states and soo close to family. I NEVER thought I would want to comeback here to live but after being here for more then a "visit" I can not believe I have stayed away so long! Having a home on Cat's Eye and a home on land seems to bring some great balance for us right now!

Have to end the blog with a picture of Charlie!!

Can't get there from here!

Well, I guess I am LONG overdue for an update!

So much to tell!!

Once we hit the Jersey area we starting seeing the Family! First stop was Cape May to see Sissy!! Dave's sister and brother-in-law. We also checked out the USCG base where Dave's son will go in October for boot camp! YEA!!
A couple of nights in Cape May and we kept heading North (Now we are getting into MY neck of the Hood -Opps I meant woods!) We grabbed a mooring at Atlantic Yacht Harbor (Sandy Hook). After a few nights here and a couple of hangovers later we moved on.

Next stop THE BRONX!! Finally Cat's Eye made it to her home port!

Lady Liberty!!

As I was growing up in The Bronx, I never was on the water. Sailing was not a part of my life at all. I did not stare longingly at the open ocean thinking - I will return here someday on my very own sailboat. Soo the fact that I was in the The Bronx with my family was a little bizarre! The big highlight was getting my family out on my boat for a little harbor cruise. Both my sisters and 2 nephews, my father and my mother (those of you that know MY mother right now are asking if we drugged and hit my mother over the head to get her on a boat! NO we did not!! She actually had a good time!!)
After a week of hanging out in the Boogie Down it was time to move on. We have a goal! We need to get to MAINE!!

Never thought I would sail under these bridges, way better then being stuck in traffic driving over them!

We sailed through the Long Island sound for the next couple of days. We also spent a couple of days relaxing watching movies due to the fog. We spent a night at Block Island and had a great time but we moved on fast. It was starting to get chilly at night. I pulled out the comforter and long sleepy time pants. Dave got out his fuzzy slippers. We knew we where getting close to Maine now!

We finally arrived in Maine around July 16th! WoooHoooo!! We did it!!

So now it is time to give Cat's Eye some love. Dave replaced the floor in the galley. We are having the name on her hull redone. Cat's Eye also decided that she wanted Dave to replace all of her head hose - real shitty job! :0) Cat's Eye also decided that the refrigerator need to take a break. Hopefully it will feel like working soon! She also decided that her starting batteries where just tired of starting! Glad she waited till we got to Maine.

We had Uncle Sam ship our Jeep here from the Virgin Islands - thanks Uncle Sam! So food shopping is no longer a huge task! Yea!

The Jeep will live in Florida!

Where to from here..I don't know.
I do know that being around family is amazing. I know that I would do this trip again in a heartbeat. I know that you never have enough money in the cruising kiddy. I know it is F**king cold in Maine.I know it is hard to keep that great looking caribbean tan when you are wearing hooded sweetshirts and long jeans!!  I know Dave and I will start heading south on Aug 31st. I know that we will figure things out as we go. I never thought that this trip was about "finding something" or to do "soul searching" But it has made me rethink what is important. And as crazy as this might sound I am still not tired of being around Dave! You would think that we would be ready to kill eachother by now. So far so good!! (This is just my opinion Dave might feel different!)

For now we are just really enjoying the family..

Dave and Jeremy @ Maine Indoor Karting - Jeremy works here - for now. He just sold his soul to the USCG!! Yea!

The plan after here...?? We will let you know as it all unfolds on our trip back down south!

East Coast Update

I have been slacking on my blog updates!
sorry no picturs, internet is slow and will not let me upload :(
As we have been  heading up North along the ICW we have been stopping and enjoying places that we either just heard or learned about and some places are places we where returning to see good friends.

We hit Charleston, SC - we spent a couple of days enjoying the southern charm of the city.
we spent the next week or so stopping at night to rest and moving forward the next day. This deadline to make it to Maine during the summer is slowly (really fast!!) creeping up on us! We stopped in Myrtle Beach, SC to enjoy my birthday but then we kept moving. We still have tons of stops to make before we hit Maine and the further North we get the more friends we have to stop and see!
North Carolina just had 4 stops . We spent one night at each place. The one place that stands out the most to me was Belhaven Marina, It was just another case of southern kindness from a stranger. The owner of the marina asked if we needed anything, I said yes I need a taxi so I can go food shopping, Brenda (the owner) took me to the local Food Lion and waited for me as I restocked Cat's Eye fridge and freezer. That was just nice!
Next state on the list was Virginia, at this point we are also entering the Chesapeake Bay. Finally some open water!! We might even be able to sail again!!! But not really. We did the unthinkable to most boaters. We crossed the Chesapeake in 2 days. We did not stop to site see, we did not enjoy the lil rivers and cool boating areas that the Chesapeake has to offer (Maine summer is slowing disappearing and we are not there!!!) I also had a mission to get the Annapolis, MD!! I have been lucky enough to work the Annapolis Boat show the past few years. Over the years I have made friends that live there and I have also fallen totally in love with this lil boaters paradise of a town. I wanted to spend a couple of days there so Dave could also hopefully love it too!!
The time was spent in Annapolis visiting friends walking around and enjoying town, Dave has not said to much but I think he is looking forward to spending a month there in September/October (boat show time). I did stop in a real Estate office to see what they have around for sale. There where plenty of condos/townhouses for sale right on the water too. We are playing the lotto, that would be the only way we could make that work!

SO now here we are. We waved goodbye the Annapolis and headed to Chesapeake City, DE for the night. Here we meet up with friends for an afternoon of fun! Thank you again Ed & Lesa for dinner!!

As we speak we are heading in to the Delaware River. Now this is a whole new chapter in the cruise for us. We are in our old stomping grounds!! Finally the hailing port on the back of Cat's Eye will not make people call us Yankee's (or sometimes Damm Yankee's!). People will look at Bronx, NY at the back of the boat and we will just look like locals!
Cape May will be the fist NJ stop. Then we will spend 2 days with Dave's sister (can not wait to see you Sisssy!) in Beach Haven - Then a stop in Perth Amboy to see some of my NJ family and then... City Island!! Woohooo Cat's Eye finally meets the Bronx!! Having the hailing port Bronx, NY we get asked a lot if that's where the boat came from and Dave always says "No, she has never even seen the Bronx." Well not anymore!! (I am the one that set up the hailing port, if Dave did it the boat would have been documented in the USVI, probably St.Croix but that's not where I am from!! It is the Bronx!!) I think us New Yorkers can get a little over the top with New York pride but really how could you not!!
This next leg of the trip should be fun, but we are not in Maine yet!! Hopefully by July 15th or so we should finally get there, but hey who is complaining I can think of worse ways to spend my days!!

Banjos?

Jekyll Island is beautiful! The marina was nice and the restaurant had good food. We decided to make one more stop in Georgia before heading to South Carolina. We stopped at Kilkenny Marina.

 Now I have been in Florida (I was born in Florida!!) and I have lived in the Caribbean (very south!) BUT my only real exposure to the south has been meeting people from there. Some of my greatest friends are from the back woods of some southern state. I have not really spent any length of time in the south. I have to admit I did think that some of the redneck stuff was a little over exaggerated. Well I got a taste of a very strange lil marina. The nicest people (I really mean that!) I just had never really seen anything like it. Funny living in the Virgin Islands so long and travelling so far and seeing sooo many new places I am a little shocked that being in Georgia was a culture shock to me!!
Since the point of the trip is to sail and see new places and meet new people Dave and I deiced to do what any good red blooded American would do - We got out some whiskey - beer and Gator Jerky!!

We did have an early start the next morning so we did not get crazy with the Scotch. We headed up to South Carolina and stopped in Hilton Head.

Cat's Eye resting at Hilton Head Harbor!

 We took a short lil taxi ride to a fun marina bar called Skull Creek Boathouse

 - we had some yummy oysters and some sushi - a few drinks and we headed back to Cat's Eye.


We are now underway - on our way to Bohicket, South Carolina - We are still travelling to ICW. We have been seeing dolphins everyday - almost all day long. Smokey can spot them before anyone else can! The dogs have been wonderful on this whole trip.

We will hit Charleston, South Carolina tomorrow. I think we will take a few days to explore this city.

Doing the Ditch!

Bye Bye land! We are back on the boat and sailing!!!! YEA!!! Oh wait - we are in "The Ditch" also known as the Intercostal waterway (ICW) OK so we are not sailing, we are kinda motoring along. We are on flat, FLAT calm water just kinda going. Very different from all the open beautiful blue water we have be used to.

 I really thought that after our long the sail up from the USVI that I would want the calmness that ICW offers, I am thinking I was wrong. Instead of sailing in open water - we are motoring through brown murkie water. Instead of nothing around us to hit for miles we are in a constant look out for all types of things to hit - other boats - oh and lets not forget about LAND. It is also shallow. With the hard grounding we had in the Bahamas still fresh in our heads we are a little up tight when we are in only about 5' of water. BUT on a positive side we are still having a blast!!
After we left New Smyrna Beach (Bye Bye Mom & Dad!!) we headed to St.Augustine Florida. What a fantastic lil old town!! We meet up with a old friend did some shopping and had some lunch.

We may not be in open crystal clear beautiful blue tropical water anymore but we are still on the boat and still loving it!!

We left St.Augustine on Saturday June, 04 2011. we are now in Jekyll Harbor, Georgia. This is my first time in GA. Dave has fond memories (o.k. just memories) of being here 25 years ago when he was just starting out his career with Uncle Sam. He did his training here for 3 months. Funny the place it all started for him - his career that gave him a a nice retirement is the place where we sit today - the biggest decision of the afternoon is if we are going to go in the hot tub or the pool in the marina..Who would have know Dave would come back here 25 years later on his catamaran that he just sailed up from the Caribbean - I thank you Uncle Sam!!

We will be here for a couple of days. We are looking at weather. We both feel we might want to sail on the outside for a few miles! Maybe even get a good over night sail in.

Here are somethings that Dave did while on land!! Hehehe

Dave up on the roof!

Dave looks more comfortable up on the mast!!

Next stop is South Carolina (maybe)!!!

New Smyrna Beach, Florida - that's where we are. Dave's parents live here. The boat has been put in a marina for a month to get some love! The boats get love, the parents get love, the dogs get a yard to run in and I get to take a shower till my fingers wrinkle!! Everyone is happy!! ( I am VERY happy to also spend the month with my in-laws! It is like a second set of parents! I am lucky!!)


I left the boat in Melbourne and swapped places with my father in-law. He sail the 2 days up the ICW with Dave and Charlie and I got some R & R back at the house with mom.
Cat's Eye took good care of the boys and they safely sailed up to New Smyrna Beach.

Dad at the helm of Cat's Eye!!

3 weeks has passed since we landed here.

We are now getting ready to start moving again! Palm Coast is the next stop. We are headed to the NY/NJ area to visit more family (mainly mine!!)
Staying on land has been nice but I miss my floating home! And as much as the dogs love to run in the yard - I know they do not love the fleas and ticks that are found on land.

So the sailing blog will be continue again!

A Lot of First!

We made it!! Cat's Eye for the first time is in the states! This is the first time Smokey our island mutt has ever been stateside too! First time I have seen water this brown. First time Cat's Eye has gone under a fixed bridge. First time Cat's Eye has gone through a bridge that opens! I can say that I stop traffic today!! I always knew I could!

Brightling Star going throught the bridge right before us.

We crossed  the Gulf Stream yesterday (April, 28th 2011) The ride was choppy in the beginning but evened out as the day went along. The crossing was only 70 nautical miles. At this point in the trip if we are doing less then 80nm in a day I think of it as a piece of cake! And we where lucky again yesterday. The only twist in the trip was the Gulf Stream. Just like crossing the Mona Passage there are a lot of stories about what will happen when your boat crosses over the water... I was expecting some big traffic sign or billboard that said "Hold on you are in the Gulf Stream!"Since I did not fine the sign I had to rely on Dave, and his "Yea! Cat's Eye is doing 11 knots!" (at one point we did 12 knots) We normally can do 8 knots on a really good day but more like 6 or 7. I mentally pictured my own "Welcome" sign - Cat's Eye was heading to AMERICA!
We travelled across from the Bahamas with another boat named Brightling star. After dropping the anchor in about 4' of muddy water (brought back some bad images!!) in St.Lucie, Florida we all headed into to shore for some good old American food!! I was thinking Maine Lobster was in order for me!!

A Little R & R. New friends on Brightling Star!

The Millers!! Kirsten & Jim! Cat's Eye has a great cockpit for a party!!

At this point in the trip we have come about 1400 nm. We have a long way to go to reach the goal of Maine. But everything changes from here. No more nude sailing, no more wondering what we will find when we go ashore, wondering what the locals will be like. We know what we will find - Target/Walmart/Old Navy/Olive Garden - traffic - lots of rules. Good thing? bad thing? Not really sure. Another thing that is a first, is sailing these waters for Dave and I too. We might not be looking to learn about local way of island life anymore but I am sure we can learn something from this half of the trip. I know there are still plenty of nice cruiser/boaters to meet. We will also be around family for a while and that is a nice thought. The land is not new or the people but it is always and adventure on Cat's Eye!!

Vero beach is the second stop. Dave and I are going to go explore - see if we can find a Burger King or Taco bell - amazing the things you miss when you do not live in America!

Know to tackle drive on the right side of the road!! oh boy!!