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Lake Erie In July

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  Don't be confused by the picture above, Huron is a town on the southern shore of Lake Erie; it was our first stop after my friend Doug picked me up from the Cleveland airport. Why did I fly to Cleveland? Because Doug invited me to go sailing in Lake Erie and see the Key West of the North; more details to come on that. You may recall that I met Doug in Florida over the winter, but he didn't sail here, he keeps his summer boat at Port Clinton, Ohio. He used to trailer his Florida boat here each summer but three years ago he happened upon a good deal on a 32 foot Endeavor sailboat and now lives on it six months of the year while it is too hot in Florida.  On 23 July 2026, Doug and I set out on his boat, Lady Love, bound for Sandusky, Ohio to see a Journey cover band called Escape. The city put on a great show as part of their summer concert series in the city park right on the water front, and it was free. This location also allowed us to sail to the venue and tie up to the sea...
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Chesapeake Bay

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  A calm May morning at York River Yacht Haven Marina  Being back in Virginia meant visiting friends, fixing some stuff at my house, working on the boat and endless other chores. To get it all done I decided I would stay at my old marina, York River Yacht Haven for a month and some change, basically through May.  They gave me a slip on a new floating dock where I met some new neighbors. Steve, on his 50 foot DeFever, knew some of the people we met at Sisters Creek in Florida and was quick to lend a hand or any tools I needed to borrow, thanks Steve. James has a beautiful Hylas 49 that he is getting ready to sail to the Caribbean in the fall, and had plenty of good advise on my myriad projects. I also met another Steve that also had a Passport 40, and not just any Passport 40, but the last one made, a very nice looking boat.  There were also old friends to catch up with. My first Tuesday back was Cinco de Mayo so I hit up Taco Tuesday at Plaza Azteca to catch up with ...
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Back to Virginia

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An unexpected offer of help and some favorable weather prematurely landed me back in Virginia in April. Here's that story of a great trip. You may remember Tim Cote from my very first post, he's The Man, and was game to sail around Hatteras in January. Well, Tim once again had free time and was ready for another adventure. He agreed to meet me in Savannah Georgia for a trip north around Hatteras. But here I am getting ahead of myself again. We last left off in St. Augustine, how did I get to Savannah?  I had some help. Marcia once again agreed to sail with me, this time from Jacksonville to Savannah. I made the day sail from St. Augustine to Sisters Creek, near Jacksonville, with time to spare which allowed me to meet up with Bobby, from the Receta delivery, for a nice visit. Bobby is planning to retire by the end of the year and is looking forward to more sailing; I'm very happy for him! On April 14th Marcia landed in Jacksonville and got a ride to Sisters Creek where I wa...
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Who's On First?

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Pilgrims, John Smith, Ponce de Leon, the French, the Portuguese, the vikings; who discovered and who settled North America first? Lets start with our oldest city.  Saint Augustine is an anomaly of American history, it is the oldest continuously inhabited city in what we now call the United States, but it was not the first place settled by Europeans nor was it continuously Spanish or English or American, there is much to unravel here. And what about the Fountain of Youth? We'll get to that too. On or about the 2nd of April 1513 Ponce de Leon, while taking a break from being governor of Hispaniola, led a voyage to Florida and landed at or near the sight of current day St. Augustine, claimed it for Spain and left. However, saying he discovered it first is not true.    This Portuguese map from 1502 shows a little bit of Florida in the upper left corner, they knew it existed at least eleven years before Ponce de Leon. This map was literally top secret to the Portuguese so no s...
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To The Moon Alice

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 You're probably not old enough to know the title line, it's from The Honeymooners, but it doesn't matter, neither am I. This is what matters: That picture is Artamis II launching from Cape Canaveral on April Fools Day. No wonder why people think the moon landing was fake. Come on NASA! As usual I am getting ahead of myself, I didn't tell you how much fun it was getting there. So, there I was, in Fort Pierce weighing anchor before dawn on April 1st, right in front of the US Coast Guard station, I like to hide in plain sight, keeps them guessing. I had 64 miles to sail to get to the anchorage at the south end of Cape Canaveral, there is also a bridge and a lock to traverse to get to said anchorage, nothing to it.  I motor out of the Pierce inlet at first light, 45 minutes before sunrise and already have a couple of miles behind me when the sun reluctantly rises after my usurping. After turning north it's a straight shot and my next log entry is at 4:05pm, "motor...
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Weather Windows II

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    Some day finally came, the day the wind shifted southerly enough to sail away from Key West before the heat built up to levels intolerable on a boat without air conditioning. On 12 March I set sail for Marathon on a heading of 80 degrees, the wind was at least 125 degrees, life was good.  It was an easy seven hour run and I arrived at the Marathon Safe Harbor Marina fuel dock where I slowed down enough for Doug, my friend from Marco Island, to jump on board. We did a lap around the Boot Key moorings, it is a very down to earth kind of place, regular folks living on the water. I had trouble reaching the city docks on the radio and decided to just anchor outside the harbor.  Doug and I rode my dinghy back to his boat in the Marina. I agreed to come by for a couple of days and help out on some more repairs.    Repairs require parts and parts require a parts run, a parts run requires wheels. We walked into town and the first thing for rent was the Polaris S...
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