Freedom's Turn Travelogue

Heading Home

2009-07-17T13:27:00.018-05:00

We ask our friends at our home marina to take our official Gold Looper photo designating the Loop closure. We flew a white flag identical to this one during the trip and once completing the Great Loop, we could display the Gold one.

We have completed our loop.

Our friends at DBBC welcome us with open arms and a finish line banner and champagne

Linda got off the boat and grinning ear to ear, kissed the dock.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009, 6:20 PM - Freedom's Turn slides into

Slip # 249, at Duncan Bay Boat Club, Cheboygan, Michigan

6,069 miles, 342 days and 112 locks later:

We arrived back at our home marina, safe and sound.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Well.... the cigars and Glenlivet scotch are gone. The LOOP must be finished? At least our physical location tells me so. Are we through with the flood (Illinois River), hurricane (Ike), fire (Myrtle Beach), and tornado's (Belhaven, NC)?

I'm sitting on Freedom's Turn at our wonderful slip at our boat club on my 38th wedding anniversary to Linda. It has been three days since we "crossed our wake." All is well with our world, but I still have a bittersweet feeling in my gut. Hopefully, writing this blog entry will give closure and make things better.

But first, I would be remiss in not thanking and confirming deep feelings for Linda. She and I have truly grown closer during this trip. Everyone has wondered how our relationship would work being so close together for so long. Let's say that I could not have chosen a better companion for the journey. She has grown immensely as a first mate (admiral while on shore!) in all aspects of the boat's daily duties. Obviously, the Freedom's Turn blog was her doing and would not have happened without her. Her artistic outlet has proved to be a conduit to all of our friends and relatives.

While closing in on the last miles of the trip, I took awhile at idle speed (as recommended by our Looper friend Jim from the boat Kismet) to reminisce. Linda and I started recalling the many sayings that I acquired in my memory from the many friends we made while on our trip. These phrases truly sum up the feelings we have experienced during the trip.

I would like to repeat some of those quotes followed by the boat name for everyone to share. Don't you just love these boat names! I think the comments below help show how close Loopers and friends are to others on such a journey. Here we go: (As Bella Luna would say---"This is a TRUE story")

"You're a Looper? Oh, a newbie, only 3 weeks, huh? Let's go to dinner and talk" by FOOTLOOSE in Grand Haven, MI; our first contact with a fellow Looper.

"Pull your boat in right here, I'll take your lines. Free dock and electricity" by ETCETERA in Joilet, IL at the city wall after an extremely long day from Chicago. The folks on this boat later became our mentors.

"Get your butt down the river NOW, there's a flood coming!" by ETCETERA, while we were going down the Illinois River. The flood and Hurricane Ike left us for 12 nights in Grafton, IL as a "River Rat."

"Good morning kiddies, are we ready to go out and play?" by ETCETERA each morning at 7:00 AM while we and several other Looper boats were traveling the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. This was followed by "Has everyone taken their medication ?"

"A WHAT jumped on your boat?" By SOJOURN after a 7 pound Asian Carp jumped onto our boat going down the Mississippi.

"They've hit a diving buoy!" by C-LIFE, after HIGHLANDER, a boat in our caravan, was struck by an unseen object on the raging, flood swollen Mississippi River.

"If you're supplying the meat, then I'm going to bring the best salad you have ever had on your boat." by ADRIANA while rafting with Freedom's Turn at anchor in Little Diversion on the Mississippi River.

"Sure, I know how to do a three-strand line to a chain splice for your rode" by VOYAGER II.

"Oh my, she is keeping her boat cleaner than mine, I'd better get to work!" by KISMET after seeing Linda clean and polish Freedom's Turn in Green Turtle Bay Marina, Kentucky.

"Have you gotten one of Bud's cinnamon rolls this morning, they're wonderful!" by SOUTHERN COMFORT at Pebble Isle Marina in Tennessee, referring to a treasured gift from the boat SUNSHINE .

"Five women ate my whole gigantic cookie and ice cream!" by BELLA LUNA at Pebble Isle.

"When I get home I'm going to have to join Weight Watchers and Alcoholics Anonymous!" by BELLA LUNA at our Looper rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park.

'We insist you drive our vehicle to Michigan for the Michigan State/Ohio State football game!" by our college friends Warren and Debbie who live near the Joe Wheeler State Park, Alabama.

"Charlie, I wore the Michigan State shirt during the game!" said both by C-LIFE and BELLA LUNA (this was big because they are from North Carolina!)

"Boy, that didn't sound good!" by WANDERIN" L & M after hearing a metal clunk sound when FREEDOM'S TURN shifted to reverse when leaving the free dock at Gunthersville, Alabama.
(An expensive prop repair followed.)

"It's 25 degrees this morning!" by KISMET as Linda and I ponder how to get the frost off of our strataglass at anchor in Alabama. Another boat, ROY EL, chimed in with" Howdy, howdy, take your hair dryer up there and your portable inverter and plug her in."

"I just talked to Greg and Carl and they said to invite you two to join us at their home during the Thanksgiving holidays " by ROY EL when they found out we had no plans for the holiday.

"We're going to pick up the speed a bit to get there earlier!" by GOLDEN LILLY to our travel group on the way crossing the Gulf from Carrabelle to Steinhatchee, Florida, as waves were building to 3-5 footers.

"Let's go get one of those wonderful Greek salads at Hella's." by WANDERIN" L & M while in Tarpon Springs, Florida.

"Freedom's Turn can stay at a slip in our marina while you go home for the Christmas holidays, we'll watch over her." by Demetri and Val in St. Pete Beach, FL.

"We have a free dock for you in Marathon, Florida, while you are coming through." by SUN-CAT whose brother and sister-in-law let us tie up at their wholesale fish company dock plus fed us wonderful seafood during our three day stay.

"You're going to love it here" by C-HORSE and DESTINY at our one month stay at Marina Del Mar in Key Largo, Florida.

"Yes, we would love to have you as our buddy boat" by KISMET for the crossing from Ft. Lauderdale to West End, Bahamas.

"You must stop at our place in Ft.Lauderdale and have dinner. And we love to take Loopers anywhere they need to go." by VICTORY.

"I don't care how deep the water is! What can I do about it?" by Kismet when I radioed him about his position during the navigation of surfing 10 foot waves while going past Don't Rock in the Abacos, Bahamas.

"Welcome back into the United States!" the first words from ICE when we returned from the Abacos and they checked our LBO.

"Hi Mom and Dad, we are here!" from our daughter Carrie and her husband Jody, who drove all the way from Michigan to come and see us for a few days while we were in Daytona Beach, Florida.

"Our home (and beds!) are open for you guys" by cousin Becky and her husband Bill at Hilton Head, SC while we visited them for several days.

"The US Coast Guard has closed the Intracoastal Waterway at Myrtle Beach due to fire" broadcast from Channel 16 on our VHF delaying the day we went through there.

"Ya'all must stop by and visit a few days at our beach house when you come through Beaufort, (NC) by BELLA LUNA. After five days of ourselves and KISMET, the folks from BELLA LUNA were probably ready for us to leave. We'll never forget all they did to make us welcome; especially the 'low country" dinner.

"Happy Mother's Day! We miss you!" written on the card by daughter Christa when sending flowers from Carrie and her to Ocean Marina in Portsmouth, Virginia for Linda.

"We'll miss you guys..., by the way, here is your cork screw!" as Freedom's Turn cruised over to the dock by KISMET to do a hand to hand transfer from their dock to our moving boat! We left KISMET for the last time in the Solomons, Maryland.

"You guys must see the 'Blue Angels' at Annapolis" by QUEEN ANNE'S REVENGE while in Deltaville, Maryland

"So.....WHY do you want to come home?" by our friend from back home, Kathy, upon responding to an e-mail Linda sent her with an attached photo of Linda posing with some buff Navy Midshipmen in Annapolis, Maryland.

"Hi Freedom's Turn, we've been on the Loop for three weeks now and have lots of questions!" by ADAGIO when meeting them in Kingston, Ontario. (It was at this point that Linda and I realized we had matured into seasoned Loopers and the end must be in sight.)

"We heard you might be in Little Current (this is on Manitoulin Island in the North Channel, Ontario, Canada) the same time as us!" by MISTRESS. This was to be our first get together with boater friends from our home marina.

"On second thought, how would you like to come to our house for dinner, eh?' by Denise and Wayne owners of the Westview Bed and Breakfast, Little Current, after they treated us at Farquahrs for ice cream.

"Hey, we're looking forward to you guys getting home; how about a cigar and some Glenlivet!" by Dave, a college friend and poker opponent from back home.

Maybe life will go on!

Bless all of you,

Charlie

This ends our Great Loop blog. Some statistics and three photos follow below.

Some TRIP STATISTICS
Days traveled: 342
Miles traveled: 6,069
Fuel used: 2,215.08 gallons of diesel
Engine hours: 954.16
Marina nights: 257
Anchoring nights: 36
Lock wall nights: 9

Free docks: 21
Mooring ball nights: 3
At home in Okemos nights: One weekend in October and two weeks at Christmas
Hotel nights: 2
Other transportation: renting a car: 7, plane trip: 1, ferry rides: 2
Laundry costs: $391.50
ICE CREAM Costs $550
Living our dream: Priceless

Our celebration continues with a cookout with our Duncan Bay Boat Club friends

Sunset in the Florida Keys at Islamarada

Hiking at Covered Portage Anchorage, Canada

THE END

Canada Part 4 - The North Channel

2009-07-15T09:18:00.043-05:00

July 12-13, 2009 This island is known as the Whalesback Island, marking an area in the North Channel as the Whalesback Channel. Behind this island we anchored in Bear Drop Harbor; our last two nights of our trip. This anchorage will always be special.

The North Channel, Ontario, Canada July 8-13, 2009

Duncan Bay Boat Club, Cheboygan, Michigan July 14, 2009

Greetings to all,

This blog will cover the past seven days for a distance of 260 miles from Collins Inlet in the Georgian Bay to yes, you just read correctly from above, to our home port of Cheboygan, Michigan. Today is Wednesday, July 15, our first day back to our home marina and I am trying to recover from the bittersweet feelings I have as I write my last blog after we completed the trip yesterday, July 14. We made it.. hip hip HURRAY!

Even though this is my last blog to write, there is actually another one coming in a day or two from Charlie. He will take you all in with him as he pilots Freedom's Turn on that last mile into Duncan Bay Marina yesterday. Besides his facts, he may even have some feelings!

On July 8 we woke up to an absolutely beautiful morning at anchor in Mill Lake in Collins Inlet of the Georgian Bay. We traveled to Killarney at the beginning of the North Channel where we spent one night at anchor at Covered Portage, then on to Little Current, Manitoulin Island for two nights, then two nights to wait out west winds of 20-25 knots gusting to 35 at our Bear Drop Harbor anchorage.

On our last day of cruising, Tuesday, July 14, it was a good day to leave the protection of Bear Drop Harbor. The water was laid down as I snoozed off and on all morning and later Charlie told me he saw a Bald eagle fly right past our boat. That must have been our good omen to go home.

There was a weather threat building for Wednesday and Thursday, so after much discussion, we opted to go past our planned Harbor Island two day anchorage and go on ahead to report into U.S. Customs at Yacht Haven Marina on Drummond Island ( it was quick and uneventful) and thus, head on home.

We made a mutual decision at 1:30 PM to go all the way to Cheboygan, after bracing ourselves with emotional thoughts settling in. We then called a few looper friends to hear their voices and to share what we were going through.
a
Being so close to our home marina, we decided it was meant to be, so home we went. Michigan at last. So on July 14, 2009 at 6:15 PM Captain Charlie gave a blast on Freedom's Turn horn as we entered our home harbor with boater friends waving us in and taking our lines.

If we could go back briefly to July 8 and have the privilege of sharing our last beautiful Great Loop Adventure days with you all, we'd just love it.

The North Channel of Lake Huron

If this would be your first time in a boat in the North Channel of Lake Huron, you would be enthralled with the natural beauty of the area. The 120 mile long channel offers small and remote towns welcoming you to tie up your lines to their docks and discover their small town Canadian charm such as in Little Current. Or how about a divine fresh whitefish or trout sandwich at an outside restaurant that once was a bus with a sign just under the order window that says "Fish eaters make better lovers. " You could experience this in Killarney.

Nowhere will you see high rise developments, congested traffic, or fast food chains in the North Channel.

On the water, you would see for miles and miles the wide, open spaces of Mother Nature's finest forest land, rocky granite cliffs, and rock formations. Some even look like Indian faces like the one just going into Collins Inlet from the east on your starboard and one at the Covered Portage anchorage off of your port going in.

If you were in charge of navigating these waters, you would have to master your exploration techniques as you plan where to cruise otherwise you could get confused when finding your way around the many islands here with their hidden, shallow water areas. Studying the weather several times a day would be paramount especially if you were going westbound with westerly winds predicted as the long, open body of water could produce waves greater than many days on the Atlantic Ocean.

Much of the land in the North Channel is protected Indian reservation land and has been untouched by commercial use. You would be lucky enough to hike on much of this land; just don't take or leave a thing!

The pure air would fill your lungs completely yet comfortably and make you feel relaxed if you were cruising the North Channel. The very blue water would be clean enough for you to swim and bathe in.

You might see a six foot in diameter bird nest at the top of a tall tree and then spot a mother and father Bald eagle bringing food there for their babies on Turnbull Island if you are lucky enough. Should you take your dinghy ashore, there are hikes to take on big rocks where you could pretend you are an explorer on an expedition at a place like the Benjamin Islands. The wild blueberries you could pick in the Whalesback Channel area at Beardrop Harbor make the best blueberry pancakes ever, if you time the blueberry season just right.

Hidden waterfalls and beaver dams are here and there to be discovered and of course many fishing opportunities would be awaiting you in the private and abundant coves at places like MacGregor Bay or Strawberry Island.

Many of these coves are surrounded with views of granite cliffs that will take your breath away during the day and will make you feel protected at night.

And this is a place you could see a mother loon swimming proudly with babies on her back. And should you take your dinghy ashore to swim and bathe in a sandy beach spot, we cannot forget to remind you to check the floor of your dinghy before you get back in. There just might be a snake in there, curled up like a bunge cord.

Charlie and I have experienced all that is mentioned above throughout the years here in the North Channel. Consequently, it has been a real treat for us to end our Great Loop Adventure coming back to this summer vacation paradise we have enjoyed so much. Last summer was the only summer since we have owned Freedom's Turn that we did not go to the North Channel because we began the Great Loop working our way down the west side of Michigan in August instead.

For Charlie, the North Channel is the place he first came to all the way from West Virginia as a baby on a blanket with his family for their yearly fishing vacation.

We will love this place forever and it seemed very appropriate to come back now as we prepare to end our vacation trip of a lifetime.

Out of all the places we have been, the North Channel remains our favorite place to cruise.

North Channel, July 12, Little Detroit Passage.

From right to left the black marks represent the following stops: Collins Inlet in the Georgian Bay, then the remainder in North Channel with stops at Covered Portage near Killarney, Little Current on Manitoulin Island, Bear Drop Harbor, to Drummond Island to check in and last to our home port.

July 5, 2009 Henry's Fish Camp Restaurant, Frying Pan Island, Georgian Bay.

This photo should have actually been in the last blog but did not make it in time so it is here now. These gentlemen are friends traveling together on a boat next to us when we stayed at Henry's the one night. Charlie asked them to pose for this photo because they were each wearing, coincidentally enough, shirts with Michigan State's two biggest football rivals printed on them. The other interesting thing was that both men were Canadian and did not realize the significance!

July 8, 2009 Anchoring in a beautiful place here at Mill Lake in Collins Inlet, northern Georgian Bay, which is also at the beginning of the eastern part of the North Channel.

July 8, 2009 The 'Crabby Indian' Profile in a rock formation. Someone spoiled the view with a speed sign painted on the rock just below.

July 9, 2009 After setting the anchor in Covered Portage mid morning, we take a fun dinghy ride into Killarney (a little over a mile)for a fish and chips lunch at what boaters call the red school bus restaurant. It is really Herbert Fisheries.

Charlie is getting the condiments.

Our anchorage at Covered Portage near Killarney.

The Indian face rock formation at Covered Portage, can you see it?

We come to our first landmark for Little Current; the Strawberry Island Lighthouse! July 10, 2009

The swing bridge in Little Current opens on the hour and we made it there at just the right time.

Downtown Little Current; a familiar place for us to come back to!

July 11, 2009

We begin a long bike ride of eight miles round trip by leaving the city limits and going to visit Denise and Wayne; owners of a B & B who we met through Charlie's brother Bud and his sister-in-law Diane. Bud and Diane drive from southern Ohio every summer for their week at the B & B for fishing and enjoying the sights of this long time family vacation area. Two summers ago Charlie and I were passing through Little Current on Freedom's Turn the same week that Bud and Diane were staying with Wayne and Denise.

On our way, we went past a field of cows! To our friend Warren and his wife Debbie who own a beef cattle ranch in Alabama, what kind of cows do we have here?

Boy, were they staring at us.

Protecting the calf.

Coming into Little Current, we listened to the Cruiser's Net radio program that is broadcast every day at 9:00 AM on marine radio channel 71. We learned about current weather conditions, local and national news. Boaters can announce their presence in the area so Charlie came on and said we were coming in from the the east. Imagine our delight to hear the voices of our sailboats friends Nancy and Tom on their boat Mistress (we know them from our home port in Duncan Bay) announcing on the radio station that they were coming into Little Current same day we were only coming from the west!

We reunite after 11 months! They are the first link to our other life!

Denise and Wayne invited us to their B & B for a lovely dinner. We were so grateful and it was great to see them again. Until next time and not good by, we said to them.

We walked carefully to the top of a granite cliff in Covered Portage. You can see Freedom's Turn in the middle of the three boats on the right. Just another day in paradise up here.

It is here that I finish my blog writing. I thank Charlie for helping me with the right words and for the facts for the blog past 11 months. The feelings have been all mine.

And I thank all of you for reading our story.

And I feel like a very lucky first mate to have made this trip in my lifetime. I have endured 342 days of living outside my normal comfort zone for a distance of 6,069 miles and have learned more than ever that I can do whatever I set my mind to.

I have been blessed to have been able physically to make this thrilling cruising trip with my husband, the guy who put up with me through thick and thin and kept me safe through it all. I have been on my own inward journey as well as the outward journey and have gained personal growth daily by leaps and bounds. And last, I have learned that the friends Charlie and I have made on this trip are so dear that they have become part of our chosen family.

I will include one last quote from one of my favorite writers, Henry David Thoreau, taken from my well read, battered and dog eared book, "Thoreau on Water, Reflecting Heaven," one book from "The Spirit of Thoreau" Series sponsored by the Thoreau Society. This particular book is a collection of Thoreau's writings from several sources, carefully chosen to highlight his experiences living on the water throughout his life. I have relied on it throughout the entire trip.

From a writing in his Journal #3: pages 274-75 on June 22, 1851 (while living on a Walden Pond)

" To be calm to be serene - there is the calmness of the lake when there is not a breath of wind -there is the calmness of a stagnant ditch. So it is with us. Sometimes we are clarified & calmed healthily as we never were before in our lives - not by opiate - but by unconscious obedience to the all-just laws - so that we become like a still lake of purest crystal and without an effort our depths are revealed to ourselves. All the world goes by us & is reflected in our deeps. Such clarity! Obtained by such pure means! By simple living - by honesty and purpose - we live and rejoice!"

Thanks again for going along with us. Oh, what a ride.

Sincerely,

Linda

Canada Part 3 - Leaving the Trent-Severn Waterway and entering the Georgian Bay

2009-07-07T22:08:00.042-05:00

Here we are, at the top of the Big Chute railway car on the Trent-Severn Waterway. Linda is sititng on the bow and Charlie is in the upper helm. This was a huge THRILL

July 3, 2009 Trent Severn Waterway
Lock 44-Big Chute marine railway lock. Lifts Boats 57 feet high OVER LAND.

We wait for our turn and watch (above) the boat in front of us go.

Freedom's Turn handled the three most magnificent locks on the Trent-Severn waterway very well. We were proud of her and excited for us to experience the Big Chute which is a marine railroad car, the Kirkfield Lift Lock, and the Peterborough Lift Lock.

The Big Chute ride! Here we go! Charlie is up in the upper helm and Linda is sitting on the bow! In a matter of minutes we crossed over land and were down in another body of water. The big photo on top of the blog is where we were at the high point looking down!

Here is the end part where the boat that was behind us is coming off the ramp we just got off of. Freedom's Turn is at a dock over to the side (out of view here) for her overnight stay.

Then we walked over to the beginning to continue watching other boats start out.

Boats entering the submerged railway car from the same location we entered. Even jet skies can get on!

Below, the jet ski entourage is lifted up and then will go over to the bottom.

Time to get our daily exercise. We walked away from the Big Chute to go exploring. Charlie wanted his ice cream and lo and behold we found a sign leading us to an ice cream place at a near- by marina. We feel like little kids again, going on our walk to the candy store to find us a treat. I am about the same weight I think not eating ice cream much but Charlie has lost weight, he is sure of it. How does he do it?

This is where we stayed the night of the Big Chute Lock. It is just below the lock on one of their official walls. The tracks you see are left over from an older, much smaller marine railway car.

Oh, what an amazing thing to do on that day!

June 28, 2009 - Trent Severn Waterway
Lock 36 - Kirkfield Lock Drops boats down 49 feet

This lock is the second highest hydraulic lock in the world, dropping boats down (if going west like we were) at the point where the Trent -Severn Waterway begins losing elevation. We went in one of two pans filled with water first then Adagio came along next to us. We were in the front and could look all around us and it was THRILLING. Adagio gets our picture below!

Living on the edge, so to speak.

Ready to go down!

June 26, 2009 -Trent-Severn Waterway

Lock 21 - Peterborough Lift Lock Lifts boats 65 feet!

Adagio is entering the lock with Freedom's Turn going to enter right behind them in the same pan. (The word Adagio is a musical term meaning "slowly and with feeling)

We prepare for the lift by handing our lines to the locktenders who help us tie up. We have turned off our engines. (we do in all locks)

The Peterborough Lock is actually a national historic site of Canada. It is the highest hydraulic lift lock in the world. The lock was completed in 1904 and was considered an engineering marvel at that time. The lock is hydraulic which basically means it works with valves letting water in and out of the pans and relies on gravity as well to help move it up and down . It has two pans that hold boats; each pans weighs 1300 tons when filled. When one pan is lowered, boats are loaded into the submerged pan. Then the higher pan has one foot of water added to it (which weighs 130 tons!) which then helps the higher pan come down. Boats exit and enter the upper and lower pans and the process repeats itself.

We are going up and feel like holding on good, which we do.

Charlie's position on the boat in locks is always handling the stern line and I am at the bow line. Here he can't believe the view as he gulps in some fresh air and hopes all goes well. The ride is amazingly fast and smooth. It takes about three minutes!

July 1, 2009 Orillia, Ontario. Canada Day!

Freedom' Turn and Adagio stayed in Orillia for a delightful three day stay. Port of Orillia Marina was super and in a great location next to the park where most of the Canada Day festivities took place. Above is a downtown scene showing the Mariposa Market which is like no other shop we have ever seen. Gifts galore and a bakery extraordinaire!

Opening ceremonies in the park. Canada became an independent country in 1867.

We previously mentioned Canada Day festivities in the blog before this one, just didn't have any pictures ready.

These boat decorations reflect the mood of the marina during our stay in Orillia. It was great fun to be a part of it all. We have noted that the Canadians we have met have an abundance of pride for their country.

The Canada Day fireworks were some of the best we have ever seen and the rain stayed away until the net day. We do it up in style on the bow of Adagio with Dave and Pam as hosts complete with chocolate layer cookies and yes, some ice cream.

Earlier that day, we watched live military enactments along the water's edge. Very well done. Here is a battle taking place in 1759, the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. It depicts the French on shore and on their ship (in the foreground) you see here defending their Quebec by attacking the British ship in the far distance. The British won and allowed the French to keep their language and their customs even though the British were in control of the territory.

We certainly enjoyed our stay in Orillia. Freedom's Turn left Adagio behind and headed toward the Big Chute and then to lock 45 at Port Severn; marked on our charts as the end of the Trent-Severn Waterway. We stayed at Port Severn Boat Haven Marina for July 4 and had our own little celebration on board and out to dinner for fish and chips in an old schoolhouse turned into a restaurant.

Thirteen days after entering the Trent-Severn Waterway, we were ready to go out into the big blue water of the Georgian Bay.

July 4 - Happy Birthday, America!

July 5, 2009 - Day 333 Entered the Georgian Bay

Boats in a hurry can go from the southwestern part of the Georgian Bay straight to the northwestern part to Killarney, Ontario and by-pass the small craft channel, a channel going on the inside through an area known as the 30,000 Islands. We do not want to miss what our cruising books tell us; the 30.000 Islands rank in the best fresh water cruising waters in the world. our boat is capable of making the journey. We will not miss this part of our adventure!

Today, July 7, Charlie and I are in day three of our small craft journey and although it takes vigilant navigation, it has been beautiful indeed.

The most remarkable feature of the Georgian Bay are the granite rocks that line the shorelines. The rocks are the most beautiful sight and yet are our most potentially dangerous enemy as we make our way through narrow passageways at places where Charlie says we have to really "thread the needle" through some of the tight spots.

Here is one of those 30,000 islands. Rugged and pristine. Close to shore, the water is deep.
By the way, whenever we see water breaking in the middle of a channel, we know there are rocks just under the water.

We went for a meal and an overnight stay at an island known as Frying Pan Island where we ate wonderful walleye fish (Canadians call it Pickerel) at a place called Henry's. It is a very well known place to eat in Canada. Small water planes even land here just to come and eat.

Here is a chart showing some of our route; the continuous islands, shoals, rocks, bays, and markers of navigation we are constantly studying as we make our way slowly through on the marked sail lines of the small craft passageway. The tan colors represent land. Our navagation books for the Georgian Bay tell us that for every land mass there are just as many rock masses below the surface!

Below, we approach the markers on our route. We have to go between green and red markers by keeping the green buoy on our our port (left) and the red on our starboard(right) then immediately turn sharp to port again to keep the red on our right again. We could most certainly hit some rocks if we go off the marked channel. The space is only a few feet wider than our boat.

Coming to a clearing we enjoy resting our eyes from buoys and rocks as we sit back, take another drink of our morning coffee, and see a pretty red and white lighthouse called the Snug Harbor Lighthouse. Our coffee tastes good as our past three days have been chilly with highs only in the mid 60's.

A road map showing our position at this writingat the end of the red line in Britt, Ontario. the black line is yet to go. We are not far now from the North Channel in the northernmost part of Lake Huron; the place we have gone every summer vacation since 2003 when we bought Freedom's Turn. We will enjoy some time there revisiting our familiar stomping ground before we think Freedom's Turn will get excited.

You see, she is about to head home. Home to her very own slip amongst her boat buddies at the Duncan Bay Boat Club in Cheboygan, Michigan. And that, will be a a very, very special place to travel to indeed.

All is well here, hope for you too.

Linda and Charlie

Canada Part 2: Trent-Severn Waterway - Trenton to Lake Simcoe

2009-07-02T06:16:00.036-05:00

Greetings from Orillia, Ontario! Today is Thursday, July 2 and Freedom's Turn is in her third day of four at Port of Orillia Marina. Her Looper boat buddy Adagio with Dave and Pam is right next door.

Yesterday was Canada Day and we all joined in to watch and participate in the many activities offered in the park and in the town right next to our marina. Included in the festivities were historic enactments, dog shows, live music of all kinds, a lovely community parade, lots of food and crafts, new citizenship ceremonies, and a wonderful display of fireworks that we watched on the bow of Adagio while enjoying Pam's chocolate layer cookies and ice cream. Charlie smoked a cigar on our upper cockpit with two Canadians which also included lively discussions about lots of things in general. Everywhere we looked we saw people and boats decorated fully in Canada's colors; red and white. The rain held off until today.

At the moment it is pouring rain as I sit in the marina's office plugged into their internet connection. They advertised that they have internet but the signal is too weak at our boat. Charlie and I have found this to be the norm at many places in Canada and although it is frustrating, it is part of the journey, we guess. Not having the Canada Day pictures ready yet, we'll just send this blog along today while I have this opportunity.

Here is our updated map as it is today. Only a small part to go, as indicated in black, about 400 miles left. We still need to finish the Trent-Severn, then to the Georgina Bay and the North Channel and then to our home port of Duncan Bay in Cheboygan.

Our last blog ended at Kingston. The Trent-Severn Waterway canal is made up of rivers, canals, and lakes. It begins in Trenton and ends in Port Severn on the Georgian Bay; providing a way to connect us from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron. We continue on here to the Trent-Severn Waterway where the red line ends and the yellow line begins. The green line indicates the remaining part of the Trent-Severn we will travel tomorrow and Saturday when we get out into the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron.

We stayed one night at Frazier park Marina in Trenton then woke up all ready to go on our waterway adventure that would last an anticipated 10-14 days. Our friends Pam and Dave from the boat Adagio are traveling with us and took this picture.

The Trent-Severn Waterway is operated by the Canada Parks System. Most of the locks offer a nice wall both above and below each lock to tie up at a reasonable price of .90 a foot for an overnight stay if we choose to do so. There are passes that make it cheaper one can buy if planning on spending several nights on the lock walls. For us, it is better to purchase each night as we go along.

There is no water or electricity at most of these locations but there are clean washrooms and we can leave our garbage there. The grounds are always neatly manicured and offer lots of shady trees and trails to explore. We can read about the local history on display boards and eat on their picnic tables. Besides marinas along the way, staying at the lock walls are pleasant and unique. We have stayed five nights on lock walls and five nights at marinas so far.

Here we go!

Here is a look at a typical lock from the lockmaster's point of view! Charlie took this shot while taking a walk on day after we were tied up.

There are 44 locks numbered 1 through 45 with lock 29 no longer being used. Lock 33 is off the beaten path and one lock, the Big Chute, which we still have to go through, is not a lock but a railroad car! So there are is really a total 42 locks plus the railroad car. At our present location here in Orillia, Freedom's Turn has three locks and the railroad car left to go to complete the Trent-Severn.

Here we are approaching a lock. We cannot talk to the lockmasters ahead like we could on the Erie Canal to tell them we were coming. We rely on the lockmaster from the previous lock to call ahead. To prepare, we have our inflatable lifejackets on as well as our special gloves to handle the cables we loop our lock lines around, our lines ready to loop, our boat hooks out in case we have to grab a line with them or push the boat away from the wall. Things happen quickly once we are inside.

At Trenton, the elevation was 243 feet above sea level and the first 35 locks are lift locks. Near lock 36 at Lake Balsom, we were at an elevation of 840 feet which is the highest elevation in the world for navigating a boat on water that has access to an ocean!

By the time we reach Port Severn, the locks go down and elevation will have dropped to 576 feet above sea level.

Here we are with Adagio at Lock 8 for our first night on the waterway. We have enjoyed being with them; sharing meals, Playing Euchre (the women are winning big time) and offering each other tips to help us with navigation.

The lockmaster locks the gates to the roads when he leaves for the day so we are in a private and quiet setting.

Staying at the locks have been peaceful; we have woken up to mornings of mirror-like waters and lush greenery to look at as we take an early walk. The nights have been quiet and offer panoramic skies to absorb. No TV or internet for us so we play cards, nap, and look forward to grilling something for dinner and going to bed early with a book to read. We can turn on our generator if we want for electricity or heat or cooling but we try to limit ourselves because we like the quietness and it is a courtesy to others.

While on these lock walls, we relax our minds and bodies and open our senses to hearing the birds in the morning and the crickets at night. While traveling, we smell the sweet smells of farm lands and all things growing. The water is clean and clear and we see many places where the locals swim and boat and fish. So many places we can see that people traveling in cars simply cannot see.

Our sunset view at lock 8.

The marinas we choose are close to town. There are no big commercial districts in the towns. Many of these communities along the waterway are designated "Communities in Bloom" which means they participate with an non-profit Canadian organization that enables cities to part take in projects to foster environmental responsibility, develop civic pride and beautification projects and community participation. We find places like the World's Greatest Chocolate Factory, farmer's markets, the birthplace of the two dollar coin, the Tooney and wonderful ice cream stores. There is laundry to do, groceries to purchase, restaurants to check out, and ATMs to find to get more Canadian money. We ride our bikes sometimes into town. We find our way, feeling like the explorers I guess we are!

The towns were originally formed because of the waterway so they along with their residents form an intricate part of the waterway. For entertainment, the locals come out to the locks to watch the boats come and go so I guess we could call ourselves an intricate part as well; temporarily, that is!

We stayed in Campbellford, Ontario at a marina for one night. This town is where the "Tooney" was invented. It is Canada's $2 coin. Charlie is in the background.

Here we are in Peterborough where Linda poses in front of a furniture store.

We work hard maneuvering the boat through the locks and if it is a warm day, we get pretty hot and sweaty but are proud of our system on the boat that we think works well. At one lock, they ask Linda if she would like to try opening the lock! Locks are manually opened for the first 35 locks as boats reach higher elevations on the waterway and hydraulically from locks 36 on down to Port Severn, for the most part. the exception is at lock 22, the Peterborough Lock. We'll include some photos of this lock as well as two other unusual locks in the next blog.

The lock masters and their staff have been most helpful. Here is one who was kind enough to pose. He has the offical lock master hat on; one that another boater friend of ours though was cool and wanted one so much.

Two beautiful views of lock 12 that Charlie took photos of while we were at Campbellford.

Here we are waiting to go through lock 21. There is a small cruise ship going through ahead of us.

When we approach, we look for the light to see if it is red or green. Here it is red and we are told it won't be long so we drift for a bit. Approaching the lock from either direction, there is a blue line painted on the lock wall designating the place to tie up if there is a wait. That way the lock master knows we are wanting to go through. You can see the blue line that Adagio is tied up to. Dave let them know we are waiting too.

The following photos are of scenes along the way....

Peterborough Art Museum. The art here is done by an Ojibwa woman artist and is named "Grandma is visiting

Here is an areas known as Hell's Gate. It is tricky going through and we stay well within the red and green buoys.

Pretty little cottages dot the shorelines of the lakes. We have also seen many little fishing boats so we think these waters are a fisherman's paradise and maybe they stay in these little cottages.

St. Peter's -Anglican Church-on-the-Rocks built on an island in 1914. The church is only opened in July and August and is only accessible by boat!

A pretty 'American Tug' boat complete with an unusual red colored dinghy. Owned by a Canadian!

Coming into Bobcaygeon. The couple here are Ron and Barb, people we met while in Kingston. Linda called them ahead to arrange for them to watch us as we go by their home while passing through here. What fun to be waved at! Barb is talking to me on the phone here! We met later met them in town for a lovely dinner and a trip to the Kawartha Dairy where their ice cream is out of this world!

And thus Charlie is happy.

More next time,

Looking forward to getting home in a bittersweet sort of way in about four weeks. What else can we say.

Sincerely,

Linda and Charlie

Canadian Waters, Part 1: Kingston, Ontario

2009-06-23T15:53:00.030-05:00

Coming into Kingston, Ontario on June 16, Charlie counted 86 wind turbines on Wolfe Island. Charlie and I saw on the local Canadian TV news that the wind turbines in general are stirring up lots of controversy these days here as they are in the U.S. These generate enough power for 75,000 homes. One thing people have against them is the low level, continual noise they create.

A general map of the cities and passageway along the Trent-Severn Waterway which runs from Trenton to Port Severn.

Our journey continues into Canada.

June 23, 2009

Greetings from the city dock wall at Old Mill Park Marina in Campbellford, Ontario,Canada! (we are about where the end of the red line is above.)

Freedom's Turn is on her second day on the Trent-Severn Waterway Canal along with her new looper boat buddy "Adagio." We met Adagio's crew Dave and Pam from Akron, Ohio in Kingston, Ontario on June 17 and have had the pleasure of their company since then. Dave and Pam are newbies on the Great Loop having left just three short weeks ago; starting on Lake Erie and entering the western end of the Erie Canal at Buffalo, NY to Oswego to Kingston.

The Trent-Severn canal begins at Trenton and ends at Port Severn; a distance of 240 miles, 42 locks, and a railroad bridge later. We are taking this passage as a way of getting from Lake Ontario to the Georgina Bay on Lake Huron. We estimate this canal trip will us about 12 days traveling about 20 miles and five locks per day or sometimes 40 miles and just a few locks per day. Twice along the way we will spend two or three nights. So far it has been easy locking through, a peaceful journey with beautiful scenery. The next blog will document this trip.

This blog will take us from Oswego, NY to entering Canada at Kingston, Ontario; from June 15-18 and a distance of 95 miles.

Freedom's Turn entered Canadian waters via Lake Ontario on June 16. Her destination for the day was Kingston, Ontario which is in the northeastern part of Lake Ontario. Our reservation was for Confederate Basin Marina, located right in the heart of the downtown. The first task for us was clearing customs.

Other than securing your boat lines, pleasure craft entering Canada are technically not allowed to hook up power or water until they report to Customs. If there is a Customs office on the premises, only one person is allowed to leave the boat and go in person to report in with the proper documentation papers. In our case, there was no Customs office on the property so Charlie called the appropriate number on his cell phone and ended up with more of a situation than we had planned on.

The Canadian government has the basic information about Charlie and I and our boat already because we have been boating in Canada several times since 2002; going through the checking in process each time. In the recent past, a cell phone call and answering a few questions are all that we needed is obtain a report number that we write on a paper and tape it to our window in plain view. We always knew though, that should they want to, the agents can still request to board our boat at any time and any place during our Canadian stay if they wish to.

After answering an affirmative "no" to firearms and illegal drugs to the agent on the phone with Charlie, a "yes" to under the limit of 50 cigars on board per person. Then we told them we had more than the 1.15 liter of alcohol or one case of beer per person on board. (this is the amount allowed duty free) We informed the Customs agent of the exact amount of bottles, remembering from past years that only unopened bottles could be taxed and we didn't have any that were unopened. The opened bottles had been considered just part of our ship's supplies.

The agent we spoke to said the rules have changed and every ounce of alcohol above the limit is taxed per additional ounce and by the type of the alcoholic beverage.

We abided by the rules with as much patience as we could muster up because we had nothing to hide and were honest with them all the way. After we did a thorough inventory and called them back, they surprised us by informing us that two agents would be coming to the the boat in 25 minutes for an inspection! They came and acknowledged that the information was correct then taxed us $25 in duty charges! Honesty is always the best policy but it can been a challenge at times. For those of you that know Charlie you can just imagine the challenge here.

Later, we learned from a fellow boaters that while in the Unites States, Customs reports to Homeland Security, in Canada, Customs reports to the Department of the Treasury!

Oswego, NY June 15

Backtracking a bit, Freedom's Turn turned off the Erie Canal onto the Oswego Canal going north to the town of Oswego. The next day we would be going across Lake Ontario into Canada!

The photo above shows a different view for us because coming into Oswego, the Oswego Canal is running right nest to the Oswego River! Actually, the canal is the tame part of the river.

Coming into Kingston we appreciated looking at the the blue Canadian waters. They are as beautiful as we remember and the lighthouses are still quite striking to us on the blue water. It was the first time we had boated on Lake Ontario. According to our charts, we had depths that day near 600 feet. Lake Ontario is the third deepest lake of the Great Lakes; the deepest is Lake Superior then Lake Michigan.

We had read that Kingston is the fresh water sailing capital of the world! The World Sailing Olympics were held in here in 1976.

Getting to the ice cream store is always important. Guess who just went through the opened door here?

Captain Charlie!

At our marina, we spotted an interesting pontoon boat whose owner is proud to be a Canadian!

We toured Ft. Henry. Here is the moat. The walls of the fort are very low profile; designed to make the enemy fall in rather easily if many would rush in and not be able to see ahead in time to stop. If the fall didn't get you, our guide said, the gunfire coming out of the walls would.

Kingston, Ontario, June 3 16-18

Charlie and I soon found the downtown of Kingston a lively college town (Queens University) with ethically diverse restaurants and unique shopping. Among the fun things we did were going to a farmer's market where we bought cookies for Charlie and a tart for me. We took a 50 minute trolley tour around the city seeing the historic sights. We paid $3 more than the regular trolley ticket price so we could get off and on as much as we wanted for the day. We enjoyed a stopover at Ft. Henry.

The area of where Kingston is today was first discovered by the French explorer LaSalle in 1669. Following the American Revolution, Kingston was settled by the Loyalists, sympathetic to the British Crown and was Canada's first capital until it was feared that the Americans would attack it. The capital was then moved to Ottawa.

Fort Henry is a British Fort and was built following the War of 1812 on Point Henry overlooking the Canadian Naval Base and the Kingston Harbor. The fort was to defend the waterway to the Saint Lawrence River from a possible United States attack. Although there were never any battles fought here, Fort Henry served as a place to hold prisoners for the Civil war and during other times in addition to being a strategic military stronghold for the British.

We took the tour inside the fort. There was a major restoration in 1936 when the introduction of a guard was established to the garrisons of the earlier days. The guards were not a part of the military but were made up of college students working their summer jobs this way. They did a great job making us feel like we were seeing some of the the sights of the fort as seen during the mid 1800s.

At 12 noon, we witnessed the shooting of the cannon ceremony. This has been a tradition since 1867 when Canada became a sovereign state. Our guide told us that a cannon was shot at 12 noon every day as a way of telling the people in the fort and in the city that it was lunch time, since many of the people did not have clocks.

In the early days, these big guns would shoot cannon balls as a far as 1 kilometer. (.6 of a mile) Our guide told us that each shot would have eight lbs. of gunpower and a 24 lb. ball.

We learned about the meaning behind the design of the British Flag. The red cross is for St.George, England's patron saint. The white diagonal stripes are for Scotland's patron saint, St. Andrew and the red diagonal stripes are for St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.

There were many unique book stores in Kingston. Here is one that only has mysteries for sale and is named "As the Plot Thickens." Another interesting bookstore was named "A Novel Idea."

The Canadian Royal Military Academy is in Kingston. Here is a dormitory building we saw from our trolley car window. This building here at the Academy as well as many of the buildings in Kingston, including Fort Henry, are made of limestone because of the huge limestone quarry here.

The Royal Academy is the top Canadian Military school for officers for the Army, Navy and Air Force combined. There are over 1,000 cadets in the Academy's five year program. About 25% are females.

This is a photo of the blog writer these days. She was having a good hair day and asked her captain to take her picture.

We hope everyone is enjoying their summer.

Our weather in Canada this week is very warm with highs in the mid to upper 80's!

Sincerely,

Linda and Charlie

The Hudson River and the Erie Canal

2009-06-12T20:52:00.065-05:00

June 12, 2009 Charlie and I toured the Remington Arms Factory in Ilion, NY while we were on the Erie Canal. This site has been in operation since 1825.

Sunday, June 14, 2009 Day 312 Greetings from Sylvan Beach on the Erie Canal!

Freedom's Turn cruised the Hudson River at New York City to Albany, NY; a distance of 160 miles taking her four days. Two extra days layover in Albany, then a cruise of eight miles north to Troy, NY where Freedom's Turn entered the Erie Canal with a destination of Oswego, NY (will arrive there tomorrow)on the southeastern shoreline of Lake Ontario. This stretch equals a distance of 180 miles in eight days. Added up these distances and we get 348 miles for this blog. These are all statue (land) miles.

If we would have continued on the Erie Canal to it's end, we would have ended up in Buffalo, NY.

Charlie and I bought a ten day pass for $37 which will be more than enough time from June 9 to getting through the Oswego canal by June 15.

There are many free city docks and free lock walls as well as marinas along the way for us to choose to spend the night. Some have electricity and water, so do not. The marina prices are very reasonable compaired to New York City,the Eastern Seaboard, and Florida.

The time span for this blog is from June 3 through tomorrow, June 15.

After tomorrow, we will have gone through 31 locks on the Erie and Oswego Canals. Each one takes about 1/2 hour plus we travel at about 8 MPH (the speed limit is 10 MPH.) "Go with the flow" could take on a whole new meaning for some; for us it is our comfortable and economic cruising speed.

Last night Freedom's Turn enjoyed a free dock wall tie up in the town of Sylvan Beach on the Erie Canal. Today she is heading west for a 1/2 day cruise on Lake Oneida to Brewerton, NY (near Syracuse, NY) where she will leave the Erie Canal and go north on the Oswego Canal to Oswego on Monday. SEE MAP (Brewerton is not on the map but is roughly at the turn heading north on the map's black line)

We made a big black dot for Oswego because it is here where we will cross over Lake Ontario to Kingston, Ontario, Canada on Tuesday, June 16; signifying us leaving the U.S. for the next 4-6 weeks; the last leg of our trip! If you click on the map you can see the details a little better.

Once in Canada, Charlie and I will not have internet coverage with our Verizon aircard. Checking email and blog updates will depend on hot spots found either in a cafe or marina that provides wi-fi coverage. We will still answer our emails; we regret not knowing how soon we can make that happen! We will change our cell phones to include Canada, however, so feel free to call us!)

This blog has lots of photos because it is our goal to catch everyone up to the point of entering Canada by June 16. Since we are on the Erie Canal now, well start the blog here, then we'll move backwards to the Hudson River.

The Erie Canal

The Erie Canal was opened in 1825 at which time New York city was second in size to Philadelphia as a port and also as a city based on size. Ten years after the canal opened up, the Port of New York was larger than the Port of Philadelphia. The canal runs from Buffalo on Lake Erie across New York state to Troy and Albany, which are on the Hudson River. The exact location, size and depth have changed over the years but today the canal has an average depth of 10 feet. All locks are 44.5 feet wide and 300 feet long. even though it is called the New York Barge Canal system, there are very few barges on the canal. The overwhelming majority of boat traffic is recreational.

During the week, we have experienced one or two boats each time we have been through one of the 21 locks so far. Now that we are into the weekend, we have seen a slight increase.

From Troy, Freedom's Turn went up in elevation a total of 420 feet to Rome, NY and then will have descended 246 feet by the time we reach to Oswego.

Charlie and I had the pleasure of traveling with Hank and Ann of Queen Ann's Revenge continuing on from New York City to just a few days ago when they went past of us on the Erie Canal to go further west to Youngstown, NY. Their goal is to rent a car and drive to Iowa because their son is getting married in about a week from now! We did not say good-bye but see you in Canada or Michigan, we hope.

Entering the New York Barge Canal System on the Erie Canal, June 9. The Champlain Canal leads boats north to Lake Champlain and to the St. Lawrence Seaway. Many loopers go this way and it extends the trip by a month or more.

Each lock has a sign

giving us information.

The walls are very rough and we have to wear sailing gloves and use plenty of fenders and hold the lines they drop down to us very tightly.

Some locks have a pipe or cable for us to loop our line to.
Our books tell us so we can prepare ahead of time.

Canajoharie- We are tied up at a free dock but no power. We went out to dinner with Hank and Ann. Linda and Ann toured the fabulous Arkell Art Museum and library here. This town is where Beechnut gum and all other Beechnut products originated from. The factory is still in operation!

In Illion, Charlie and I toured the Remington Arms Museum as well the factory.

Freedom's Turn is at the Illion Marina on the Erie Canal for a two day stay. Town was very close. We both got our hair cut here!

There were many historical sites including Revolutionary War sites we learned about while on the Erie Canal. Although it was hard work at times going through the several locks and holding our boat steady, it was a very pleasant trip overall.

We had two days of rain which is a bit uncomfortable standing outside while in the locks but we were grateful the rain was not extreme. In the spring of 2006, the Erie Canal was closed for 20 days due to extreme flooding and our fellow Great Looper boats and others were stranded in the canal!

The Hudson River

In 1609 Dutch explorer Henry Hudson sailed his ship the "Half Moon" from what is known today as the New York Harbor to Albany, New York on the great river that would later bear his name.

History books tell us he was seeking a short cut from Europe to Asia but instead found a river that had lush, green highlands and plunging rocky cliffs.

Queen Ann's Revenge and Freedom's Turn were very lucky to see the official and exact replica of the Half Moon as she passed us on June 4 on her way south to New York City to be apart of the 400 year celebration of her maiden voyage up the river. Here is another view; showing her stern. It was a thrill to see her and to imagine, even if just for a moment, that we were back in her time.

We found the Hudson River absolutely beautiful. There are numerous small towns dating back to the 17th century when the Dutch settlers were the first to come. We saw glimpses of these quaint towns as we cruised by them. Visitors from all over the world flock to here to enjoy the ski resorts, fishing and camping, wine tasting, antique ships and art galleries. Key attractions include the West Point Military Academy, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Historical National Site, and the the Vanderbilt Estate which we visited via rental car, once we got to Albany we drove back to some of the sights. We did not get to The Culinary Institute, to our dismay!

Historical villages are flanked by rolling hills where farming is still a major industry. There is a real town of Sleepy Hollow, where Washington Irving wrote Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow! Everywhere we went, we felt the locals took pride in preserving the environment in the Hudson river Valley.

It was on this part of the trip we began to see and hear the cardinals again!

Charlie and Hank enjoying their cigar time at Norrie State Park Marina.

From the Hudson River valley, dense forests spring up in panoramic views. These include the Adirondacks, and the Catskills. Tourism took off in the Hudson river Valley in the mid 18th century with the steamboats bringing folks in to see the places they were beginning to see in paintings produced by painters from the Hudson River School, founded by Thomas Cole in 1815. Many of America's best landscape painters studied at the school. Winston Homer was one of them. Besides being a watercolor painter, Winslow Homer was an avid hunter and fisherman and many of his paintings reflect the scenes of and near the waters of the Hudson River.

One of my favorites of his painted in the late 1890's along the Hudson River; not typical of the large, romantic landscapes of the Hudson River school style but never-the-less, I just so happened to have a book about Winslow Homer on board!

We saw the Indian Point nuclear plant along the way.

A pretty line of sailing vessels at Norrie State Park Marina.

Our bathroom-shower house at the Norrie State park built in 1939!

Our beautiful cruise on the Hudson River; looking at views that Henry Hudson must have seen.

Queen Ann's Revenge going up to West Point Military Academy.

Many of those city slickers from New York City and other places have had country estates along the river for many a year.

We rented a car while in Albany and visited West Point by land. In their museum, we saw this crest bearing the army's motto: Duty, Honor, and County.

In the museum we saw this actual death mask of Cheyenne Chief Sitting Bull done by the government. Sitting Bull was the victorious chief where General George Custer was defeated and killed in the Army's Battle of Little Big Horn in the 1878. Sitting Bull died a few years later.

The Army's football stadium. The athletic teams at west Point are called the Black Knights.

A view from a mountain road along the Hudson River.

A Civil War Monument at West Point. It is overlooking the place on the Hudson where George Washington ordered a 68 ton large linked chain to go across the river to act as a hidden hazzard to any British ships coming up to West Point. It took 270 men to lay the chain across logs that were all just under the water's surface. The British found out about it and did not come up the river to here, thus the stronghold here on the river was preserved.

West Point Military Academy was founded in 1778 and is the oldest continually garrisoned post in the U.S. army. Distinguished graduates include Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, and Douglas MacArthur.

There are 16,00 acres of training grounds, playing fields,and buildings constructed in the Military Gothic style. The lifestyle while here is very rigorous.

The Academy's Chapel. Catholic and Jewish services have their own places of worship. Everyone is required to attend special events here from time to time.

Inside the chapel, there is a row of seats reserved for the MIAs only. A perpectual candle burns, waiting for them to return.

The chapel and a dormitory.

The Congressional Medal of Honor was displayed in the museum. The West Point Museum is the largest Army Museum in the world.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
National Historical Site

Winston Churchill

"Freedom From Fear" monument, below. The two figures in the center are made from actual pieces of the Berlin Wall and were made by Winston Churchill's daughter.

Burial place of F.D. Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor is in their beautiful rose garden on their Hyde Park, NY estate known as Springwood.

Springwood Estate
This is the boyhood home of F.D. Roosevelt and when he married Eleanor, his mother Sara gave the couple the house as a wedding gift. This was their primary residence. But then Sara moved in with them! There were other residences for the Roosevelts as well but Springwood was their primary one.

Springwood Estate

Here is the Vanderbilt Estate known as
the Hyde Park

We ran out of time to go inside the Vanderbilt "Hyde Park" mansion. Charlie is on the front porch. We walked through their Italian gardens. The extensive gardens were in full bloom!

After sightseeing by car for a twelve hour day, we were happy to get back 'home' to our boat at Albany Yacht Club and settle in for the night. The next day would be our first day on the Erie Canal.

The gazebo at Albany Yacht Club

Good night and thank you for reading our blog.

Sincerely, Linda and Charlie

Cruising the waters of New York City: oh, what a ride!

2009-06-07T05:47:00.041-05:00

Here is a map referring everyone to our cruising route into New York City. Freedom's Turn and Queen Ann's Revenge stayed the night before on a mooring ball at Great Kills Harbor on Staten Island via the Richmond Yacht Club. The next day we entered the New York Harbor!

We began our day by cruising under the Verrazano-Narrow Bridge getting a first look at Coney Island, the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline straight ahead. We then cruised over to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, as indicated by our yellow star on the map. They are located on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River.

Then we passed Manhattan on our port and headed up the East River to the Brooklyn Bridge, then turned around to go back to the tip of Manhattan, known as the Battery, to pay our respects to where the World Trade Center Twin Towers once stood. The Twin Towers were once the first landmark as you entered from this location, we had read. The area is known as Ground Zero today. Charlie and I had a mixture of feelings on this day that went from excitement, pride, and personal acomplishment to sadness when we saw the gaping hole in the Manhattan skyline.

Last, we headed north up the Hudson as indicated on the map.

Both boats chose not to stay in the city for a variety of reasons. We both have been in the city before and wanted to keep moving. It is very expensive to stay in a marina here and the wakes from the ferries and other watercraft can produce choppy anchorages and moorings.

We could have taken a bus and a ferry into the city from our Staten Island mooring spot by going ashore in the tenders that come back and forth to the moored boats staying with the Richmond Yacht Club. But with mixed feelings, we wanted to get ahead of the June 6-13, 400 year celebration of Henry Hudson's trip up the Hudson River. A flotilla of at least five Tall Ships and several hundred pleasure boats boats were about to journey up the Hudson and we wanted to get ahead of them because we heard the places to stay on the water were going to be packed. We read that there were many activities planned along the Hudson River to Albany for the entire next week.

Luckily for us, in the next few days as we headed northbound on the Hudson River, we got to see three of the Tall Ships in the Floatilla when they passed us, making their way southbound to New York City for the Blessing of Boats at the Statue Of Liberty on June 5.

First, an explanation of our present location.

At this writing, it is Monday, June 8 and we have completed a three day stay in Albany New York at the Albany Yacht Club, right on the Upper Hudson River. We have been on the Hudson River for eight days now total. We have been on the go since Baltimore and needed a place to tie up, do chores, rest, and take in a little more sightseeing by land.

Arriving in Albany, we worked for two days straight promising ourselves a free day on the third day. We rented a car for the three days to run around in and it was great.

Linda caught up on her chores consisting of basic cleaning inside of the boat, six loads of laundry, major grocery provisioning, Walmart, journal updates, washed the exterior of boat along with a cleaning and polishing of the strataglass on the upper helm bimini and last, cleaned and polished all the external stainless steel.

Charlie also caught up with speciality chores because of now going from saltwater to fresh water. These items included changing zincs, cleaning the bilge, changing the transmission fluid, cleaning out the shower sump, cleaning the sea strainer for the air conditioner and the engine.

But today was our free day! About an hour ago, Charlie and I returned back "home" to the boat from a 12 hour sightseeing day back south along the Hudson via land with our rental car. It was a very satisfying day to see the land side of the water scenes we saw from the past three days. The next blog will be about our experiences and observations from June 2-8 on the beautiful Hudson River, both on and off the water!

June 1, 2009, Day 300, Staten Island, New York

Here is the view going into mooring ball night in the Great Kills Harbor at Staten Island. "Great Kills" means "Great River" in Dutch. The Dutch were primarily the first settlers in the entire Hudson River area.

We wanted to go ashore so we called the launch service and this young man came to pick us up in only five minutes. The service runs every day from 9AM -11PM taking boaters back and forth to shore. The service is included in the cost of the mooring ball.

We called our friends Lew and Florrie who live close by in Key Port , NJ and met for a delicious Greek dinner nearby. Charlie and I shared the same dock with them for several weeks at our marina at Elbow Cay in the Abacos. Florrie is an accomplished acrylic painter of animals and landscapes and Linda has enjoyed keeping in touch with her new found artist friend. Lew and Florrie have a sailing catamaran and are experienced sailors.

Charlie checking the oil from the engine; getting ready for the trip up the Hudson river.

This photo shows how we tied up to our mooring ball. We use an old line for this, not our regular lines.

June 2, Entering the NYC Harbor!

Oh, what a ride we are about to experience! This view is showing the west side of the Hudson River with New Jersey in the center of the picture. You can just barely see the Statue of Liberty in the distance on the left but there she is! Ellis Island is not shown in this photo or on the map but is just north of the Statue of Liberty; the same side of the river (the New Jersey side.)

Queen Ann's Revenge is ahead of us. The Narrows Bridge is behind us.

There are five boroughs of New York; Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx. Queens is the only borough not shown on the map above. It is located north and east of Brooklyn.

The following paragraph is taken from Dozier's Waterway Guide Book; Great Lakes 2005.

New York City is the largest city in the United States with a population of more than 8 million people. The City is the world's most important center for global finance and communications and is unrivaled in cultural events and entertainment in the western hemisphere.

Hank and Charlie planned carefully to go in with the currents and tides flowing out. The wakes from the many boats made them require their full attention. (except when Ann and Linda directed them to pose for a quick photo while the boats kept moving in the busy harbor!)

Since 9-11, if this day would have been a high security day from the department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard could have required us to call in ahead before entering the harbor.

New York Waters are deep and well marked here which helped our captains greatly.

Linda and Ann took the pictures and at the same time watched for any potentially bad floating debris. Cruising this harbor was exhilarating to say the least.

The Statue of Liberty. Our lady of liberty stands for democracy, freedom and opportunity and is breathtaking to see whether one is on land or water. We got the lump in our throat and felt very proud to be an American.

The Statue of Liberty is 152 feet high and sits on top of a 98 foot pedestal. Her official title is "Liberty Enlightening the World." French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi is her creator and in 1886, France presented her to the United States as a gift for the friendship the two countries had shared since the American Revolution.

Since 9-11, no one can go up inside past the height of the pedestal and no vessel can get closer than 300 feet to her in the water.

Freedom's Turn navigating the busy NYC harbor. A Staten Island Ferry whisks behinds us.

What a view of the tip of Manhattan. The very tip is known as the "Battery." In 1693, there was a British battery of 92 guns placed on this tip to defend the city from the French. You can see the opening in the skyline in the left of the photo where the Twin Towers once stood.

Just past the Statue of Liberty going north, we cruised past Ellis Island. Millions of immigrants have come through here for a new life; including my maternal great grandparents from Germany! Another proud moment for us. The Moorish towers and minarets have a kind of fairy castle look!

Below, we are going past the Battery (the low greenish building in the front) in Manhattan. Notice the gap where the 9-11 bombing took place. (on the left in the photo) It made us feel very somber and sad.

Now called "Ground Zero," there is a 16 acre work site here with a two story, "see through" work fence we could see but it is not visable in this photo.

Freedom's Turn going past Pier 17 on the East River going north towards the Brooklyn Bridge. Wall street buildings in the background.

The Brooklyn Bridge with the city of Brooklyn in the background. Do you see the smallness of Freedom's Turn in the center! We are coming back from going under the bridge here; heading back towards Manhattan.

A majestic view as I looked back for a close up photo.

Going north on the Hudson River near the Bronx. A pretty red tug. Hoboken, New Jersey in the background.

This photo was taken last of the next three pictures. This one shows us leaving the City, heading northbound up the Hudson River. We are looking backwards and seeing the George Washington Bridge. This is the location on the water where the pilot of the plane that crashed into in the Hudson approached as he flew south, just before crashing his plane in the water on the other (north) side of the George Washington Bridge. He safely landed his plane and it was considered a miracle.

The photo above we took of the southern side of the G.W.bridge BEFORE we cruised under it, to show where the plane actually came down. The photo below we took first out of the three, and it shows Pier 90 where the authorities moved the plane afterwards.

We know these facts because while we were on the radio with Hank and Ann wondering where the plane went down, a captain from a commercial boat heard us and radioed us back with the information.

Before we left the City, we were all delighted to see the first of the Tall Ships that would parttake in the floatilla celebrating Henry Hudson's historic voyage; 1609-2009 later in the week. This ship is known as the "Clearwater." Henry Hudson's ship was the "Halve Maen" in Dutch or "Half Moon' in English. We actually got to see the authentic replica of the Half Moon the next day during our cruise up the lower Hudson River.

The next week would be on the Hudson River with our destination to Albany, NY.

Sincerely,

Linda and Charlie

On the Ocean Again

2009-06-03T14:01:00.035-05:00

May 31 Atlantic City casinos!

Thursday, June 4, 2009 - Day 302

Greetings from a one night stay in Norrie Point State Park, New York. Currently Freedom's Turn is traveling the beautiful Hudson River about forty miles south of Albany, New York. She is joined by her buddy boat Queen Ann's Revenge. About a week from today the two boats will be going through the locks on the Erie Canal! Yesterday the two boats entered the New York City harbor and both sets of crews had breathtaking views with plenty of oohs and ahs and photo taking. Charlie and I are eager to get the photos ready in a few days and send them in the blog to everyone!

This blog will begin with leaving Baltimore, Maryland through Mannasquan, New Jersey. This leg of the trip was traveled in six days for a total of 237 statue miles.

May 27 Chesapeake City, Maryland, the western end of the Chesapeake-Delaware Canal(C&D)

May 28 Delaware City, Delaware, at the eastern end of the C & D canal and north two miles

May 29-30 Cape May, New Jersey

May 31 Atlantic City, New Jersey

June 1 Mannasquan, New Jersey

The map below shows the route to Cape May from Baltimore on the Chesapeake Bay, going through the C & D Canal and the Delaware Bay out to the Atlantic Ocean.

May 27, Chesapeake City, Maryland

Chesapeake City is a city on both sides of the C & D Canal. It is a small village with a story to tell in their wonderful museum, about the building of the canal, which we visited. The tourist part of the town is on south side of the canal where we stayed at a marina and the regular business of the city is on the northern side.

It was interesting to tour the C & D Canal Museum. In the early 1800's this man made canal began being dug and by 1829 there was a four lock system in place to better handle the changes in elevation. This waterway provided boats to take a short cut from Baltimore to the Atlantic Ocean and Philadelphia, or the other way around. In 1927 the canal was converted to a sea level waterway and the locks were removed.

Below is a old time photo showing the making of the "deep cut"canal as it was originally named.

Notice the name of the old time tug in the wording below the photo.

Here is the way the C & D canal looks today. It was a pleasant passageway of about 18 miles.

Many boats were coming and going both little and big. When a U.S. Coast Guard boat passed us we sat up a little higher in our seats smiled and waved, acting like we had everything under control.

We were glad to have had our current sticker displayed on our port side. This sticker shows them that we have invited them on board already this year and have voluntarily been inspected and approved. So now they are more apt to go on by with just a wave. We have always had the current sticker displayed and have never been stopped to date. (if they see something questionable or just feel like they want to stop you, however, they have every right on the world to stop you and request to come aboard, sticker or no sticker)

Chesapeake City is a quaint city. It was a bright and warm afternoon by the time we got on land to walk about. Here is Ma and Pa.

Here, Ann and Hank and Linda walk to an old home converted to a B & B. Charlie is taking the photo. Below, Ann and Linda sit on the steps and pretend we are charming guests staying here with our afternoon sun hats on like ladies do.

Coming off a day of looking mostly at water scenes, there were colorful flowers galore for our boater's eyes to delight in.

This man is a long time resident here and gave Ann and I several tidbits of information about the town. He and his son have a business here. "What do you sell?" we asked. "Everything," he said. Notice the sign indicating the name of his business. It was not the same as his name. How weird would that have been?

When we woke up to leave the next morning, we noticed a boat being towed into our marina. It is being towed by a tow boat designed to help boats about our size. This boat's batteries were dead.

This towing service is from Boat U.S. which is the towing insurance we have. Boat U.S is the main towing service for the Great Lakes.

The marina we stayed at here was called the Chesapeake Marina and Inn. It was a bit costly for what they had to offer. We met up the boat Izzy R who we first met in Annapolis and later saw in Baltimore. While tying Izzy R up, first mate Izzy fell into the water head first and the dock hand pulled her out. "Glad you are OK and welcome to my club," I said after recalling my fall off the dock at St. Pete Beach back in December.

May 28 Delaware City, Delaware

Freedom's Turn along with Queen Ann's Revenge and Izzy R arrived in the early PM at Delaware City Marina. Above, you can see the tip of our pulpit and the AGLCA flag showing. Our traveling boats were tied at long dock wall for the night.

We all can't say enough about this wonderful marina. It has a ship's store, nice laundry, clean restrooms and showers and is a short walking distance from the shops and restaurants of the town. The owner, Jim, and his dock master, Charles greeted us as they helped us tie up in a swift current that was bringing us in rather quickly. We were given a welcome packet with much enthusiasm and Jim even offered to give us a ride in a golf cart if we would like a quick tour of the town. I recall it was a hot day. While Ann and I did laundry Jim brought a fan for us to cool down the room a bit. When I told him I was writing a blog, he went and copied an article about the area for me to read. He was proud of his facility and it showed on his face. Charlie walked on his own to look around. I know he secretly was looking for the ice cream places.

Going out to dinner was definitely an option for all of us so upon a recommendation from Jim, we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Crabby Dicks downtown Delaware City. Jim and the manager of the marina, Steve, went there also for dinner and came over to our outdoor table to say hi. It was a lovely evening.

Beginning on the left: Hank and Ann, Queen Ann's Revenge; Izzy from Izzy R; Jim, owner of the marina; a Izzy R guest, Jeff; manager of the marina, Steve: Jeff from Izzy R; and us!

The next morning, we all wanted to leave with the tide going out so the three boats left at 5:30 AM!

Delaware City is off the C & D canal by two miles but it was well worth it to take a few extra minutes and stop and enjoy a terrific marina in a very nice town. Good ice cream store, too, Charlie added.

May 29-30 Cape May, New Jersey

After careful planning from all, we took the Delaware Bay waters with no big surprises. Our run was 55 miles out in fairly calm seas of 10-15 k and waves 2 ft. Our main goal was accomplished by timing our trip for the right day and time to go out to sea to the point at Cape May. We wanted the current and the winds to not fight each other. We had ebb tides; the water approaching low tide going out to the ocean which gave us a boost. In addition to the tide, we got our preferred winds coming out of the north and west and not the worst, which would have been the east and south.

Our stay at the Utsch Marina in Cape May was extended for an extra day so we all could rest, do chores and some provisioning. The facility and the people who own and run the facility is first rate. The dock master, Ernie, made us a reservation for dinner for the well known Lobster House Restaurant. The folks from the boats Theresa and Frankly Terryfic, and a man named Morris traveling solo on a 21 ft tug; all doing the Great Loop, joined us. There were eleven of us in total that night eating together and sharing our boating stories. We had lobster, shrimp, scallops, mussels, crabs and clams. What a feast!

Ernie, the harbormaster of Utch's Marina is on the right and is Ernie the III. His father, Ernie, (or Poppy as he is affectionately known) is on the left. Poppy and his father, Ernest, started the marina in 1951. Ernie was kind enough to offer a ride for Ann and I into the downtown of Cape May for a little shopping, groceries, and lunch. We split some fish tacos, a first for me, and they were delicious. We took the taxi back.

Ann and I enjoying the little shops and water fountain in downtown Cape May, New Jersey.

This is the dock post we had to tie up one of our stern lines to at the Brielle Marina in Mannasquan, New Jersey. It was ridiculous. Someone had nailed fish tails into it which made it almost impossible to wrap a line around because it got caught every time. Finally, Charlie got it done.

When we left Cape May on May 31 there were eight boats heading out at the same time going the same direction; three traveling with us. We all took the outside route up the New Jersey Coastline. The inside on the NJ ICW was an option but the outside was more compatible for our boats and less congested from the smaller pleasure boats. Also many inconsiderate sport fisher boats throwing big wakes inhabit this part of the ICW. A fellow Looper had their radar mast broken by the wake of one of these large boats and it cost over $1000 to repair!

Extra careful planning was needed again as we went on the outside into the Atlantic Ocean. Our 50 miles trip was choppier than we had planned and by the time we arrived in Atlantic City, Charlie and I did not feel like getting a ferry to the casinos. He and I were really beat. We had actually gone to the Atlantic city casinos for our 25 wedding anniversary more than 10 years before!

The winds that next day were predicted to be 10-15 knots and gusts to 20 with winds out of the NE in the AM and to more favorable 5-10 k and out of SE in the early afternoon. It was our best day in several to get out there and so we did. Even though we could begin to see a slight change by noon, it was a extreme challenge for the first mate to get our noon time cereal with bananas to the upper helm that day. We were hungry so I told my captain, "sure thing, I can do."

Thinking that I am very efficient as first mate, I prepared to do the cereal. Hanging on with one hand on the galley counter, I open the refrigerator with the other hand and held it open so that the door did not bang open for the eggs spill out as I pulled the milk out. Of course everything shifts in the frig whenever I pull anything out and in this case, a red pepper falls out. My legs are in an open stance for balance. I put the red pepper back in and a lime falls out. The boat takes the 3 -4 ft rolling waves up and down and side to side very well as I scramble to unlatch the drawers containing the bowls and spoons. I get the cereal ready and take one bowl up at a time keeping both feet firmly planted and one hand holding on. Surprisingly we can tolerate the waves OK to eat. One small example of the crazy day.

June 1, Mannasquan, NewJersey, Brielle Marina

We needed to get to our marina to unwind after 50 miles of rolling waves. Freedom's Turn and Queen Ann's Revenge split up from the other boats and the two of us cruised into a private yacht club offering us a good price but when we got into our slips, we discovered there was not enough water depth when low tide came, so we moved on.

We then headed over to nearby Brielle Marina. We did not get clear information as to where and how to tie up from the woman in the office on our radio. Luckily we got help from Izzy R and Theresa who were already there. Then we have that crazy fish dock post to tie up. The dock hands were just standing around. We don't think they spoke any English from the way they were looking at us. Upon check in we were handed a list of 'thou shall nots.' Our showers required putting quarters in to work and I ran out of water with the creme rinse still on and no more quarters. Charlie had extra quarters for his and said to me afterwards, HA HA, told you so. And to top it off, the cost to stay here there was very expensive. We were beat so we stayed. Needless to say, we left early the next day.

The next day, June 2, we finally made it to New York Waters!

It is time to give the computer over to Charlie. We want everyone to know we are doing just fine. Charlie seems to have a knack for getting scrapes on his knuckles and knees (boat bites we call them) and Linda's knees get stiff from little walking to stretch out the legs.

We are going to have a little happy hour now and then some stir-fry shrimp in a red pepper sauce over pasta and a spinach salad.

Thinking about you all and hope all is good.

This week is being spent going up the calm waters of NewYork's Hudson River. Freedom's Turn and Queen Ann's Revenge must be thankful to be off the ocean and it's rolling waves. And no more salt water.

Sincerely, Linda and Charlie

Annapolis and Baltimore Here We Come!

2009-05-26T20:26:00.055-05:00

May 20, 2009, Annapolis, Maryland

Charlie and I and our friends Les and Judy, from the boat Voyager II, toured The U.S.Naval Academy. It was a fabulous day!

When our tour of the Naval Academy ended, we were able to watch a ceremony known as the Noon Meal Formation/Brigade Change of Command Ceremony (above). The building in the center background is Memorial Hall. In this hall, we saw numerous plaques on it's walls honoring all men and women in military services who having died in the line of duty. The wings on either side of Memorial Hall are the dormitory halls of Bancroft Hall; the largest dormitory in the U.S. with over 4,000 midshipmen living there.

There were also many special events and many visitors on campus while we where there because it was graduation week. More of our Naval Academy day further down in this blog.

Before we give an overview of our visits to Annapolis and Baltimore, we'll give you our current location.

Today is Friday, May 29 and the crew of Freedom's Turn just tied her up in a slip for two nights at Utsch's Marina in Cape May New Jersey. To back track, last night she stayed along the main dock at Delaware City Marina, Delaware. The night before that, she spent one night in Chesapeake City, Maryland after leaving Baltimore that morning, May 27.

To get from Baltimore, Maryland to Cape May, New Jersey, Freedom's Turn traveled on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. (the C&D Canal is a man made shortcut dating back to the early 1800's that connects the Chesapeake Bay to the Delaware Bay and is about 15 miles long)

When we leave Cape May, we'll cruise on the outside of New Jersey in the Atlantic Ocean for one day to Atlantic City, then cut into the New Jersey ICW to Sandy Hook. From there we will take a loop around Staten Island, New York then head up the Hudson River to Albany!

Freedom's Turn is traveling with two Great Loop boat buddies these days; Queen Ann's Revenge and a new friend, Izzy R, who Linda and Charlie met while in Baltimore.

Annapolis, here we come

We entered the historic port of Annapolis on May 20. We read that Annapolis is known as a museum without walls. It is a modern day city in an antique setting; dating back to the American Colonial period in the early 1700s. One of my pamphlets stated that Annapolis boasts of more 18th century buildings continuously used than in any other city in the U.S. Pictures from the colonial days show the docks and city much like it is today. The roads of the city come down to the waterfront like spokes on a wheel with the state capital in the center of the wheel. There are no skyscrapers or big condo developments here. The highest buildings that we can remember seeing as we entered the harbor were the Naval Academy's Chapel dome, the State House dome, and the steeple of St. Anne's Episcopal Church.

In 1694, Anne Arundel Town was made into a capital city and rechristened Annapolis in honor of the heir to the British Throne, Princess Anne.

Tobacco farming thrived here and farmers began to rely on the work of slaves in the 18th century. Annapolis was a main stop for the slave trade boats from Africa. There is a bronze sculpture near the city docks in Annapolis of Pulitzer prize winner Alex Haley reading to a group of children out his book "Roots." The sculpture commemorates the arrival of Haley's ancestor, Kunta Kinte to Annapolis aboard the slave ship Lord Ligonier.

Below, we are just entering the harbor. There are sailboats everywhere, all eyes looking up at a practice of the the Navy's Blue Angels. You can see the dome of the Naval Academy's Chapel in the distance.

We read that Annapolis is the sailing capital of the world. A beautiful sailing vessel entering the Annapolis harbor.

Below is the Annapolis Yacht Club finishing up their Wednesday evening regatta. They were on the other side of a bridge from our slip.

Above, our slip at the Annapolis Yacht club. It is a private club but we could stay there with a reciprocal agreement between the yacht club and with an organization we belong to called the Marine Trawlers Owners Asocition. (M.T.O.A) We have used this privilege three times so far on the trip, saving money and getting great marinas to stay at. I took this picture of Charlie as I walked back from the bridge. He is partaking in his own personal happy hour complete with a cigar.

Behind us at the dock is the boat Voyager II with our friends Les and Judy.

Annapolis is Maryland's state capital. Here is front side of the State House, our nation's oldest capital building in continuous legislative use.

As stated on the plaque, Annapolis was the Nation's capital city briefly for nine months from 1783 to 1784.

This dome (a side view of the state house here) is a one of three landmarks we saw entering the harbor.

Right after we got settled into our slip, we changed our boat shoes for our walking shoes and took a lovely walk to the nearby historical part of the town.

Above, everywhere we looked, there were navy midshipmen walking; dressed in their whitest of whites. The building in the background is very famous as it is the Maryland Inn where the restaurant "Treaty of Paris" is still in operation since the early 1800's. John Adams, John Jay, and Benjamin Franklin came to eat here just after returning from France where they signed the Treaty of Paris, ending the War of 1812.

We had hoped to eat in the restaurant but it was not open during the week. Luckily, we found a door open and went in to sneak a peak. It was an elegant American Colonial dining room done in mostly golds.

When in the Bahamas with no TV service, Charlie and I watched a DVD set of the HBO miniseries "John Adams" which got us primed for this area of the country. We would heartily recommend watching the miniseries.

Speaking of the midshipmen walking around, here is a photo of me and the guys......

It was a spur of the moment and I took the opportunity to pose with these first year midshipmen.

This gentleman is a retired Navy man and he was our wonderful tour guide. Here he shows us with great pride, the footballs depicting all the Navy over Army victorieson a display in Ricketts Hall, the NCAA Athletic Building on campus here. The football stadium is nearby and seats 40,000. Their mascot is a goat!

By the way, this great two hour tour costs us only $8.00 apiece. We had to show a photo ID.

In 1845, the War Department acquired Fort Severn and adjoining land to house the newly established Naval College, now the U.S. Naval Academy. The campus has 338 acres and borders the city of Annapolis and the Severn River.

Getting accepted into the Naval Academy is very tough but once accepted, it means getting a four year scholarship paying for room and board and tuition plus a monthly allowance of $900 to use for books and other things like uniforms. There is an additional monthly allowance for their funny money of $100 for the 1st years,$200 for the second years, $300 for the third years and $400 for the fourth years. Our tour guide informed us that the enrollment each year averages between 4,000 and 4,500 with about 20% females to 80 % males in the first year and by graduation, 10% of the females and 20 % of the males that began, have dropped out. The females have a better sucess rate!

The Academy offers twenty-two academic majors, mostly technological degrees.

It was great fun to learn about the rituals and rules of the academy. For instance, a first year midshipmen is never supposed to be seen on campus sitting down; they always have to stand or be walking!

Beautiful Memorial Hall. We could not go up these steps because there was a ceremony pertaining to graduation going on but we could look at the top of the stairs and just make out the words of a famous Navy slogan: "Don't give up the ship."

Above, the inside of the Interdenominational U.S. Naval Academy Chapel with an original Tiffany window. It was a magnificent building. The chapel houses the crypt and sarcophagus of Revolutionary hero, John Paul Jones. He is credited with being the leader of the first Continental Navy for the American Colonies even though he was born in Scotland.

The outside of the chapel.

After our tour the four of us decided to stay on campus and join the several other folks to get a first rate view of the Navy's premier Blue Angels pilots demonstration; a special event for graduation week.

We were awed by their performance which lasted a little over an hour. There were six jets in all doing unbelievable swoops and dives and even upside down. (see below)

And the sound they make is a show in itself.

We hit it just right to be on campus this day! We could have spent more time in this wonderful city but the next day we had reservations in Baltimore so we said good-bye to Annapolis; hoping to come back here again someday in our future.

Welcome to Baltimore, founded in 1729

Here is our spot on the city dock finger pier in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. We had a delightful six day stay. As mentioned in the previous blog, the price was one half of a normal per ft. charge of other marinas in the area and we were right in the middle of the action! In a panoramic view, we were surrounded by sights and lights.

Then there were the sounds of this big city which engulfed us and somehow made us feel like we were a part of it all; like the welcoming sounds of numerous church bells and the chimes coming from an obscure city clock, with chimes heard every hour.

And what really made us stop and listen was the city playing patriotic songs in the Inner Harbor during the mornings.

We took this photo above from our boat. Pictured above is the U.S.S. Constellation, the only remaining ship from the Civil War still floating in the water. She is also the last all sail ship the U.S navy built before steam replaced wind as the standard source of power. The ship was used to help fight the transatlantic slave trade.

There are three other ships as part of the Baltimore Maritime Museum in the harbor as well: a WW II submarine, the USS Torsk, that sank the last two Japanese warships in the war of the Pacific, a Coast Guard ship named Taney,the last suriving vessel from the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, and a lighthouse ship, the "Chesapeake" used to provide a safe passage to incoming ships into Baltimore. All four boats are open to the public. We heard the live cannon firings of the USS Constellation in the Inner Harbor.

Charlie and I have gotten so much information when visiting several cities on our trip by taking a tour. The Visitors Center was located right next to our dock so we signed up for a Baltimore trolley tour with them. Our tour guide was excellent. For entertainment, he put on a special hat depicting different periods of history as we went along.

We learned that Baltimore is a city of "firsts" for the U.S. First factories for the following: umbrellas, tin cans, straw hats, gas lights, and the making of chrome. It is also the city of the first regularily published newspaper, the first senior citizen apartments, first Catholic Basilica, first Unitarian church, first Evangelical Lutheran church, the first YMCA, first Church of England in the U.S. which is dated from 1692.

While on the trolley tour, we saw several neighborhoods within walking distance so later in the week we explored more by foot. Among the many attractions on the tour were Federal Hill; quaint streets with open markets and little street cafes, Fell's point nautical heritage, Little Italy restaurants, Edgar Allen Poe's home and burial place, and the historical Fort McHenry.

Later Charlie and I went to the Cross St. Market in Federal Hill and strolled down the open booths filled with fresh produce, flowers and seafood. Charlie went on his own to buy an ice cream cone and on a later trip, he purchased cigars in a cigar shop, and lingered there to join other smokers in their smoking room.

I went to a fantastic used book store and stocked up on more reading material and toured the Visionary Art Museum which is a museum of self taught, contemporary artists.

On another day, Charlie walked to the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards and the Babe Ruth Museum.

Fort McHenry was a highlight for us to see. The flag flying at the fort shown below is a replica of what was later known as the Star Spangled Banner flag. It flew here during the War of 1812. Americans turned back the attack of the great and powerful Britian here. Fort McHenry and on the land side, east of Fells Point, is where our Nation was saved.

Our tour guide informed us that this flag is only flown on special days of the year. Because we were here on Memorial Day weekend, we were lucky to see it, our guide said. The flag is flying in the exact location where Francis Scott Key saw it on the night he wrote our national anthem.

We first saw the flag and the fort as we entered the harbor. It was a thrill for us to see the spectacular view from our own boat; first the red and white blue bouy marking the location of the British ship holding Francis ScottKey prisoner, and then following the direct line across the harbor to the Fort to see flying the exact replica of our county's Star Spangled Banner. You can see the bouy in the top photo.

This experience was probably in the top ten of all sights we have seen on the trip to date. Both the flag and the buoy are only put out by the city on very special days and weekends and we were there to see them both!

Above, Fort McHenry and an exact replica of the Star Spangled Banner flag.

The Star Spangled banner, a giant 30' by 42' flag, was sewn in this house by Mary Young Pickersgill. The orginal flag is in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. You can see a sign in the background of the flag in it's actual size.

Baltimore and Fellspoint served as a hotpoint of underground railroad activity. Charlie and I visited the Civil War Museum which was known orginally as the President Street Railroad Station; one of three railroad stations in Baltimore during the period just before and during the Civil War. This train station was a hub for providing a means to freedom for escaping slaves.

Through a series of photos inside the museum, we also learned that outside the doors of the President Street Station, the first death of the Civil War occurred. On April 19, 1861, a volunteer militia from Massachusetts arrived here on a train on their way to Washington D.C. and was attacked by a mob of angry southern sympathizers. One man was mortaly wounded and his picture is up above. He is the first death of the Civil War. As I write this, I cannot find his name in my notes. I remember he was only 17 when he died. History tells us his picture was put in the northern papers after the attack and ignited a rage among the northerners.

Fort Sumter near Charleston was the first battle of the Civil War but there were no deaths there.
From our boat, we took this photo of the Chesapeake lightship and the submarine USS Torsk in the background. We spent an afternoon touring the National Aquarium which is the modern looking cube you can see in the background. There were water taxis taking people to and from places on the harbor and for the children, these fun dinosour paddleboats came out everyday.

Once a shipping harbor, Baltimore's Inner Harbor is a now definitly a recreational harbor welcoming visitors of all ages. This 'pirate" ship was a frequent sight from our spot on the dock.

On our last day here, we visited the National Aquarium. It was very well done with special exhibits including an awesome jellyfish exhibit.

Above, this is my friend Ann from the boat Queen Ann's Revenge, which is another Great Loop boat staying here at the city docks the same time we were. In the background is the hill that gave the neighborhood of Federal Hill it's name. Before the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, Federal Hill once hid escaping slaves in tunnels made inside the hill. Before that time, in 1788, 4,000 patriots celebrating Maryland's ratification of the U.S. Constitution, climbed to the top of the hill for a picnic and fireworks. Charlie walked over there and said it was beautiful and peaceful up there.

Seeing some of our country's early history from the water has been so wonderful. But we'd have to say that it is making friends like Ann and her husband Hank and many other friends we have made since we left home nearly ten months ago, that puts this trip over the top.

To all our friends out there on the Loop and our friends back home;

we appreciate your friendship very much.

Sincerely,

Linda and Charlie

Cruising the Chesapeake Bay, Part 2

2009-05-22T22:09:00.055-05:00

Explanation of map found in the blog text below. Click on map for enlargement. Freedom's Turn will continue north to Chesapeake City then onto Cape May, NJ by May 29.

Solomons Island "Screwpile Lighthouse" displayat the Calvert Maritime Museum. The stilts are screwed into the muddy soil in the Chesapeake Bay which enables the lighthouses to be placed off shore.

Since the last blog, Freedom's Turn has taken us to the following ports on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay for a distance of 265 statue miles.

Portsmouth, VA May 11-12: Ocean Marine Yacht Center

Deltaville, VA May 13-14: Dozier's Regatta Point Marina

Solomons Island, MD May 15-18: Zahnizer Marina

Annapolis, MD May 19-20: Annapolis Yacht Club

Baltimore, MD May 21 to the present day of May 25- Baltimore City Docks

Well, it has been almost two weeks since we last published the Dismal Swamp blog and it's time to do another one because our friend Louis called and wondered if we were stuck in the swamp or have continued on!

Today marks our sixth day of a long Memorial Day weekend at the Baltimore
City docks in the Inner Harbor of Baltimore, Maryland. We are having a fabulous time.

Hank and Ann and their boat Queen Ann's Revenge is here also and we have enjoyed being with them.

The city docks are finger piers off of the wall and are offered to transient boaters on a first come first serve basis. The harbormaster's office and facilities are two blocks away, with just a small building at the dock for an attendant that greeted us and helped us tie up upon our arrival. The price to stay here is great, though, at $1.25 ft and $4 for electricity per night compared to the three marinas in the harbor at $3 ft and $12-15 per night for the electricity.

So we use our head and shower on-board. We are in front of a great visitor's center and we look out our windows and see a beautiful waterfront setting with museums, ships and skyscrapers. More about Baltimore in the next blog.

Our friends Jim and Sandy on Footloose went to another marina in Baltimore for a long term stay so they can leave their boat and travel to Texas to see their family. We met up with them here in Baltimore the other day for a stroll and an ice cream cone and said farewell, we'll see you again somewhere we hope!

Portsmouth, VA

We left the Dismal Swamp on a damp and cool day and traveled 35 miles to Ocean Marine Yacht Center Marina in Portsmouth. Charlie wanted to get fuel and have a pump out so we radioed ahead and the harbor master greeted us at the fuel dock. Freedom's Turn took 158.70 gallons at $1.81; the lowest price we have found, to date on the trip.

I got off the boat to stretch my legs and look around for a few minutes. That is when I saw a Navy ship with a number 67 on it across the harbor. To my surprise, Harbormaster John told me the ship was the Naval Destroyer USS Cole; the same ship bombed in a suicide attack in October of 2000 while it was harbored in the Yemeni port of Aden. Seventeen U.S. sailors were killed on that ship at that attack. These days the ship is getting fitted for a new bow shape for better displacement.

The USS Cole

We had planned to stay the next day so we got into our slip, tied the lines, put fenders in place, and hooked up our two, 30 amp electrical lines into our 50 amp splitter (we use this splitter almost every time) and plugged into the 50 amp shore power at our slip. For a 48 hour turn around, we did not hook up the water hose so we made it easy by just using the water from our tanks. Charlie checked the engine and it's oil while I did the laundry and some blog writing. A simple dinner eaten on-board on a chilly but cozy night and off to bed early.

The next day it was sunny and warmer. Jim and Sandy from Footloose joined us for a ferry ride across the harbor to Norfolk, VA. There we toured the Hampton Roads Naval Museum and the USS Wisconsin and ate a great lunch in a restaurant that used to be a church.

One of many great displays inside the museum.

The USS Wisconsin below

Just before entering the museum, Sandy and I got our picture taken in front of a mermaid statue. The mermaid is Norfolk's cultural icon. We saw many of them that day around the town; all different sizes and and colors.

The mermaid below was exceptionally unique.

When the four of us began our tour of the USS Wisconsin, I realized a blog story here so I asked questions to the the Navy Veterans who were the tour guides and took down notes.

The USS Wisconsin is an 887 ft long Iowa-class battleship. She is in what the Navy calls "inactive reserve status" which means she can still be commissioned for duty if the need arises but for the time being, she stays in the harbor and visitors can come aboard and see limited areas.

Launched December 7, 1943, the USS Wisconsin has six battle stars for service, from WW II and the Korean War and after being modernized in the navy's 600 ship plan in 1986, received a navy 'Unit Commendation' for service in the Gulf War.

The ship is painted with Measure 13, the veteran told us. "What is measure 13?" I asked. His answer: "The paint scheme that the Wisconsin currently wears." He explained that all navy ships wear paint schemes called 'measures', designed to make it hard for the enemy to recognize the ships. Measure 13 is the navy's normal peacetime system of peace gray. This paint is the least visable under the widest range of light conditions. How cool is this I thought?

After more of my questions and Charlie raising his eyebrows at me like he does, the man lead me into the museum for more about the ship. He told me he had been assigned active duty on the USS Wisconsin during the Korean War.

This photo below is of a shell from a projectile from the ship. It came from one of nine barrels that can shoot up to 2 projectiles each for a total of 18 all at once. Each projectile can travel 2,700 ft a second or 27 miles in a minute; three times the speed of sound, my veteran friend told me. I regret I did not write down his name for he was very knowledgeable and kind enough to answer my questions.

Jim and Charlie standing along side of the USS Wisconsin. You can see some of the the barrels on top of the ship here.

When the four of us left, we thanked our veteran guide for his first hand information and more importantly, for his service to our country. We are proud of our military and do not tell them sometimes.

Freedom's Turn and Footloose left the following morning in route to Deltaville,VA to spend two nights at Regatta Point Marina. It is commonly known as Dozier's Marina, named after the family that manage the marina. The Dozier family publishes a series of important chart books for boaters (especially Great Looper Boats) known as The Waterway Guides. This marina has everything we needed in the line of basics plus a wine and cheese reception for us, a courtesy car to use to go into town and even a price cut for dockage for Great Loop boats.

Before we arrived in Deltaville, here is another Navy ship photo taken as we are leaving the Norfolk harbor. I saw many a Navy ship in movies growing up but never in person that I can remember. My family used to go to the drive-in movies during the summer months and after the cartoons, we would watch WW II movies sometimes like"South Pacific". To see these big ships now, so big and powerful and in person, is something like I cannot explain. The opportunity here gave Charlie and I a chance to pause and think about all the work done for us by so many military behind the scenes for our national security.

Seeing the Navy ships coming and going

Deltaville, VA

In Deltaville we met up with our friends John and Ellie from Adios. We also met new friends Ann and Hank from Queen Ann's Revenge, and Mary and John from Legacy. Along with Jim and Sandy from Footloose, the ten of us went out for dinner. There were three orders of tomato pie shared, and boy was it delicious. The restaurant's name was Tobys and they came and picked us all up in three different cars and took us back!

A flaky pie crust, three kinds of cheeses, and lots of fresh tomatoes. I will have to experiment with making this when I get back to Okemos!

Solomons Island. I am checking out the time for the Episcopal service the next day at St Peter's, built in 1890. I walked there the next day in the rain but it was a good feeling to go. I wore my two piece boaters rain suit to church!

Solomons Island

At the mouth of the Patuxent River on the western shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay, there is a small island that is not seen on a land map as an island very well. It was named Solomons Island after Issac Solomon who established the first oyster-canning plant here in 1867. We soon discovered that this area was a recreational boater's hot spot and a place where we would take the time to finally eat some local blue crabs.

One hightlight was re-uniting with Jim and Lisa from Kismet and eating at Crabby's restaurant where patrons crack open the steamed blue crabs with wooden mallets and eat them right off a vinyl table cloth. Then they just throw the non- edible parts in their own table's bucket.

Before we decided to order them, Charlie asked our waiter all about them and then we were convince it would be another adventure, we said! It was lots of work hitting the shells. A roll of paper towels later, we paid an expensive $24 for such a small amount of meat; (six crabs). Then we sat back, sighed and said "here on Solomons Island we just had to try the blue crabs." We sampled our first steamed mussels as well. ( It was all very tasty.)

Charlie and I also met up with Judy and Les from the boat Voyager II and together we went to the Calvert Maritime Museum. No charge, the attendant said; it was National Museum Day!

Inside, we saw many great displays about the abundant marine life on the rivers the flow inward off the Chesapeake Bay such as the Patuxent. These rivers are noted as "estuaries" which are places where salt water from the ocean mixes with fresh water to provide a rich and complex environment for many kinds of wildlife.

We also learned about the Calvert Cliffs, the white sandy cliffs along the western shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay we saw coming into the island. Thousands of years of ocean water flowing in and out built up the cliffs which helped form the Chesapeake Bay. Numerous layers of sand, silt,and rock preserved an abundant amount of marine creatures from thousands of years ago. These cliffs have served as a major spot for excavation for many years and continue to do so.

Here is a woman on staff at the museum showing us a fossilized dolphin's skull that was just found recently in the cliffs. You can see it placed inside a custom sized mold; the third of a five step process. The first is the cleaning (they use dental tools!) Second, is gluing the parts together, third, placing the specimen in a mold, and the fourth stage is classification. (They can determine the age by the location within the cliffs) And last, storing it in an airtight container and placing it in a metal drawer.

Museum photo of the blue crabs. We discovered that they really are blue before they are cooked. (when we ate them they were bright orange!)

The male crab at the top has a T shaped design (upside down here)on his underside where the female, this one carrying her egg sac, has the distinction of having a redish tip on her front claws, kind of like red fingernail polish!

Our last night on Solomons Island, Jim and Lisa invited Charlie, Les, Judy and I over to Kismet, their boat, for grilled chicken. Jim and Lisa and Kismet will stay on throughout the summer on Solomons Island. So we thanked them for a great dinner and bid them a fond farewell. (never a good by from boater to boater)

On May 19 around 6:30 AM, Freedom's Turn and three of her boat buddies paraded away from Solomons Island ; Queen Ann's Revenge and Footloose (they stayed at a Navy marina close by) and Voyager II (at our marina). We were all headed for Annapolis, about 50 miles away.

Annapolis and Baltimore are such unique cities that they deserve another blog.

Until next time,

Hope all is going well for our wonderful family and friends.

Oh, and I'll call friend Louis and tell him the blog is done.

Sincerely,

Linda and Charlie

Cruising the Chesapeake Bay in May

2009-05-12T19:54:00.041-05:00

I am finishing up the writing this blog entry on a sunny day of 70 degrees on Wednesday, May 13. Freedom’s Turn is cruising just four miles north of the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. The entire Chesapeake Bay is a whopping 218 miles long. Virginia is mostly on the southwest and southeast side of the bay, Maryland borders on the northwest and east sides and a small part of Delaware is on the east. The southeast end of the bay opens into the Atlantic Ocean.

The Potomac River lies north and west of us where Mt. Vernon and Washington D.C. are. Charlie and I have already been to both places with the girls by car. Of course, seeing it by boat would be awesome. Going up would take 3-4 hard days and then back 3-4 days with a few days of sightseeing; adding about a 10 day side trip. We decided not to do the Potomac at this time. And we have heard the Potomac is tricky at times with cross currents, tidal surges, and an abundance of fish traps and crab pots.

We could get ourselves up for the challenge but we want to stay a little tighter to our schedule now as we get closer to summer. Besides, we learned a long time ago we just cannot do it or see it all.

We just left Ocean Marina Yacht Center today in Portsmouth, Virginia. Portsmouth is located at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on its south side. Norfolk, Virginia, the sister city of Portsmouth, is located almost directly across the bay tothe east.

Norfolk has the world’s largest naval base. We took a ferry boat from our marina and spent a day going ashore to Norfolk with Jim and Sandy from the boat Footloose and visited the Nauticus-Hampton Roads Naval Museum as well as touring the Battleship Wisconsin that is open to the public as seen below.

Charlie and I are so excited to be the Chesapeake Bay finally. So much of our nation’s history was decided here in these exclusive boating waters of the US! And there is much of our nation’s commercial and international operations conducted here! Annapolis and Baltimore, here we come!

Our destination today is to travel about 50 miles to Deltaville as we begin about a two week cruise up the bay. We are now passing through Hampton Roads just past Norfolk where there are many kinds of the big navy boats on both sides of the harbor. Charlie says he bets they take good care of these babies. He says they look like they are ready to go at any moment, from our vantage point. At the next blog writing time, we’ll show you more photographs of the navy boats.

Norfolk is Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway MM 0 and we just passed it! We have now reached a milestone for a boater’s cruise: traveling the entire Atlantic Intracoastal from Key West, Florida at Mile Marker 1239 starting on January 5, to Norfolk, Virginia, at MM 0 by May 13. Hurray, Freedom’s Turn and her crew have made it this far!

Concluding Our North Carolina Cruise

Charlie and I have greatly enjoyed unique travel days in North Carolina these past few weeks.

This past week, Freedom’s Turn took us 30 miles in one day from Oriental to Belhaven for a two day stay there, then 90 miles in one day(!) from Belhaven to Elizabeth City for a two day stay there. Then we cruised 51 miles in two days from Elizabeth City to Portsmouth, Virginia, spending an overnight during those two days in the Great Dismal Swamp.

Belhaven, NC A tornado Sky

The Belhaven Waterway Marina was small but the husband-wife harbormaster team was big on friendliness and cleanliness. We stayed an extra day because of high winds. Tornadoes actually developed throughout four counties surrounding us on our second night; the county we were in, Beaufort, had a tornado warning with a sighting within 7 miles of us. We watched the sky closely (see photo) and the TV diligently that evening and had a basic bag of essentials ready to go to the local hospital next door, as a place of shelter, any minute if needed. We were relieved when the all clear came shortly after two hours.

Elizabeth City NC

We stayed here at the free city docks for the complimentary 48 hours the city gives boaters; one of the many ways the city makes all of us traveling the Great Loop want to come here. We entered the harbor following our boat buddies Sandy and Jim from Footloose. After getting off the boat, one of the first things we saw was the large painted sign that we had heard about from many. Took a photo of it right then.

We then got to meet the man whom we had heard about and read about named Sam, a self appointed dock master who makes it his daily mission to greet the boaters and help them with docking as their boats approach the docks. He is a fine example of a dedicated volunteer.

Sam waved us in with various hand gestures.

Then came to mayor from the city and the tourism director, (we are serious), to welcome us and invite us to a beer, wine, cheese reception at 4:30, promising a rose for every lady boater.

Several boaters showed up to hear the mayor's welcome and enjoy the appetizers. A group photo was taken (below) just before some of us set out for the town to have dinner in one of the downtown restaurants we had just heard about.

These wonderful folks represent the “Rose Buddies” of Elizabeth City. They are carrying on a tradition started in 1983 when Fred Fearing and Joe Kramer began greeting boaters with roses and a reception. Fred was the original “rose buddy” and carried on the tradition until just last year when he passed away. Lucky for all of us, the tradition is continues.

We filled our time in Elizabeth City staying in the downtown even though we could have had the local grocery store pick up and delivery for groceries if we would have needed to go; all for free We enjoyed the Saturday morning Farmer’s Market (right in front of our dock), shopping and sampling some good meals in a ‘down home’ kind of place and a Wholesale Seafood place that also served the food cooked for us.

Featured in the book, The 100 Most Livable Small Towns in America, by Norman Crampton, Charlie I could began to see why Elizabeth City was included in the book.

Jim and Sandy from the boat Footloose on left, the mayor and director of the city's tourism in front, Charlie from the boat Highlander in center back,his wife Jeannette in the striped shirt, Jim and Barbara from the boat Golden Lily in back on right, Charlie and I.

Farmer's Market Day. The man talking to Charlie is discussing the MSU basketball loss to N.C. Tar Heels. The day before, Charlie had replaced our MSU burgee with a new one and had accidentally placed it upside down on the mast. This man started the conversation with"Are you still in mourning?" He then told us with a smile that we had our burgee upside down! They both had a good laugh over this one.

This city is home to the largest Coast Guard command complex in the nation. Entering the city, there were several sightings for us to see of Coast Guard helicopters.

Two days later, we left Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River headed for Turner’s Cut, a canal that led us to our day’s destination, another canal that goes through the Great Dismal Swamp.

The Great Dismal Swamp Canal

The historical and beautiful Dismal Swamp offered us an alternate route from the more heavily traveled Virginia Cut. The map below gives an idea of the general layout of the water and land. Both routes are still part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.

The canal’s construction began in 1793 and took 12 years of slave labor to complete. George Washington surveyed the land which he partially owned. Later, the canal served as a major commercial artery until it was damaged in the Civil War and later rehabilitated for use of moving lumber and farm products and then passengers.

Now the canal is used for pleasure craft boating and is maintained by the Army Corp of Engineers. The canal has remained open because of intense pressure from local politicians.

Once we passed an ACOE maintenance barge taking up about a third of the canal and I yelled out to him that we appreciated his work to make this so nice for us and he smiled and waved back.

I loved taking a place on the bow. There was an intense smell of spring, so much stronger than being on a larger body of water. And the sounds of nature filled me up to the brim! It was Mother's Day and Charlie had taken me to the Dismal Swamp. A good gift after all. Ahead is our buddy boat Footloose.

The Dismal Swamp is only about 75 feet wide. Its banks are heavily draped with various kinds of grapevines. (I bet there are alligators galore in there!) The fresh water is rather stagnant, not being able to really flow in or out due to the locks. The color of the water is a distinctive tea color which is due to the amount of tannic acid from the break down of trees and shrubs, mainly the Cypress tree. I have read about this tannic water being connected to medicinal proposes by the Native American Indians and passed on to colonial settlers.

Water lilies in the dark, tannic waters.

Charlie got his great view from the upper helm station.

To backtrack a moment, before locking in to the first lock of the Dismal Swamp, we traveled eighteen miles from Elizabeth City to get to the south lock. In this photo, at the south lock, we rose the 10 feet to be at the same level as the Swamp.

There were two other power boats and seven sailboats in all at our locking at one time. The locks are 50 feet wide and 300 feet long. Some of the sailboats would raft together for us all to fit. It was fun to holler over to exchange a few words with the others near to us.

The locks do not open on demand, consequently there is a lot of strategic planning on every boat’s timing when approaching the locks, maintaining speeds of 5-6 mph when traveling through, and timing it just right to come out when the lock is scheduled to opened at the north end. (Or vice versa if you are coming from the north)

We would travel four miles that day in the swamp and then stop for an afternoon and overnight rafted to Footloose who was rafted to a sailboat who was tied up at the visitor’s center free docks as seen on right!

They next day we traveled about 18 miles more and reached the north lock where we went down the 10 feet.

We had previously heard about the lock master at the north end who accepts conch shells from boaters and if they have a hole in them will blow and make music for us all. He then places all the shells in his conch shell garden right at the lock’s edge for all to see. He did this, true to the stories, and as I held my position holding my bow line tight I regretted that Charlie or I were not anywhere near my camera and thus we lost this ‘Kodak’ moment.

We had maintained radio contact through out the two days with all the other boats and the lock masters to keep everyone on the same page, so to speak. The sailboats were most courteous to let us power boaters maintain the lead all the way through the swamp.

Poet Robert Frost, four time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, (1874-1963) once vanished into the great Dismal Swamp waiting out an answer from a woman who he had proposed marriage to. She would later accept and be his wife. It was during this time while staying in an inn somewhere in the swamp, that Mr. Frost wrote his signature poem 'The Road Less Traveled'.

About half way in the canal we found the marker welcoming us into Virginia, leaving North Carolina. At this spot in 1820, there stood a hotel once known as the “Half Way House.” It was a popular place for marriage ceremonies, duels (!) and those escaping the law. Edgar Allen Poe wrote his poem “The Raven” while staying at this hotel.

Jim and Sandy on Footloose agreed with us; we all certainly enjoyed this pleasant diversion.

A few trip statistics

Making the “Chesapeake Bay in May” is a goal boats on the Great Loop want to have this time of year. A cruiser’s schedule is all about following the weather. Traveling north any earlier for this area and the weather can still be too cold to travel by boat comfortably. Much later and boats could find it difficult getting through Canada and the Great Lakes before the warm weather of summer and early fall turned to cold again before getting to Mobile, AL.

The time of year for Great Loop boats to start their journeys depends on where their boat is at the time of departure. A boat from Florida would begin sometime in the winter and a boat in Virginia would begin in the spring. We started August 8 from Cheboygan in northern Michigan near Mackinac Island and it was perfect; by October were thankful we were well into Tennessee.

These are general guidelines, however, because someone’s trip might be interrupted by choice or necessity and thus delayed for several weeks, months or even years.

We are close to being on time for our own schedule. Based on what we know now, Charlie and I will tour the Chesapeake Bay for the next two to three weeks. Then we anticipate being in the state of New York part of the month of June and in Canada most of the month of July before returning to our home port of Cheboygan, MI sometime the end of July-first part of August.

A Few Trip Statistics from our ship’s log August 8, 2008 - May 13, 2009
From Cheboygan, MI to the start of the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia at ICW MM 0!

Days: 280

# of marina nights: 230
# of anchorages: 31
# of Free docks: 19
Miles traveled: 4,514

Number of engine hours to date: 1,100.40
Engine hours beginning of the trip: 460.88 hours. ( an accumulation of five Michigan summers!)

Extreme weather:
Warmest day: Elizabeth City, NC: 92 degrees on May 9. Also:
Illinois River: September days in the high 80’s.
Coldest day: Near Demopolis, Alabama: 50 degrees daytime, 25 degrees at night

Other natural extremes we experienced:

FLOOD:
September 12-24 at Grafton, Illinois

HURRICANE IKE:

Aftermath flooding again in Grafton (Mississippi and Illinois Rivers closed)

FIRE:
April 23 Myrtle Beach (ICW closed for one day- we came through the next day)

TORNADO:
May 7 Belhaven (7 miles west of us – dusk settled storm down)

Highest price for diesel fuel:
Grafton, Ill in September, $4.75 gal. including tax

Lowest Price for diesel fuel:
Portsmouth, VA in May, $ 1.81 gal. including tax and a .10 per gal Boat U.S. discount

Arriving at Ocean Marina Yacht Center in Portsmouth, VA and having Mother’s Day flowers waiting for me at the harbormaster's office from our two daughters: Priceless

Our route in red traveled so far.

At this time we plan to take the southern most route of the 2 routes of the final leg; up the Hudson river in New York and cuting across the Erie Canal and Lake Ontario and then through a large series of locks known as the Trent-Severn Waterway in Ontario, Canada to reach the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron and then to our home port of Cheboygan, MI where we started!

One last note about the Dismal Swamp. We certainly can’t say enough about taking the less traveled route of the Dismal Swamp over the more heavily used Virginia Cut. It was a slow and deliberate route and we were glad to see it. Realistically, we think our visit here will be the only time we will be passing this way again.

The photo below was our sunset view when we spent the night in the Great Dismal Swamp. We were lucky enough to have been the lead boat. The lead dog gets the best view (as Uncle Kenny says!), I guess. And the view was unforgetable.

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Sincerely, Linda and Charlie

Cruising in North Carolina, home of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels! Oh my!

2009-05-07T11:32:00.049-05:00

Friday night drinks and dinner at the Coral Bay Beach Club where Louis and Diane are members. Louis and Diane on left, from the boat Bella Luna; Linda and Charlie, Jim and Lisa from the boat Kismet. A good time with friends!

Above: April 29 - Frank and Mimi (on left in photo) came to the home of Diane and Louis our Looper friends (Louis in center) while we were in the Morehead City area. Mimi and Frank came to dinner bearing welcome gifts for Charlie and I: blonde brownies and Tar Heels insulator drink holders from the University of North Carolina. Yeah, thanks guys, especially the blue drink holders.

Since the last blog, dated April 27, Freedom’s Turn has traveled 190 miles on North Carolina’s Intracoastal Waterway. From Southport Marina in Southport, NC to Beach House Marina in Surf City on Top Sail Island, then to a private marina in Morehead City, then on to Oriental City Marina and to finally to Belhaven Waterway Marina in Belhaven, where we arrived yesterday, May 6 at noon.

That morning, we left the small, sleepy, fishing village port of Oriental at 6:30 a.m.

(Click on the photos to zoom in. Go to the page back arrow to resume)The red dot on the map above just north of Wrightsville Beach is Top Sail.

Below, follow our ICW route indicated by the dotted line. At this writing, we are in Belhaven. We will continue following the ICW line to Elizabeth City when we get there in a few days, choosing to go through the Dismal Swamp just off the map to the north. One has a choice to do that or go up to Coinjock, both on the ICW.

We left the port of Oriental traveling with Sandy and Jim and their boat “Footloose,” a 41 foot American Tug. Leaving Oriental at NC MM 183, our destination was to go to Belhaven located at NC MM 135; a distance of 48 miles. Temperature was 62 degrees at 6 a.m. It reached low 80’s with a 60 % chance of rain. Winds began at 15 mph out of the SSW increasing to 20-25 mph by mid afternoon. We needed to get tied up and tucked in before the weather was supposed to get ugly.

Both boats cleared Pamlico Sound at 11:30 AM with a bit of a chop and following seas but very doable. We beat the predicted increase in winds that came with much gusto by mid-afternoon. Our friends on ‘Footloose’ went on to another marina four miles further up the waterway called Dowry Creek. Earlier in the week we made a reservation in Belhaven and had our mail sent there. Today we discovered many boats we know are at the other place here, Dowry Creek Marina. Never-the-less, Linda was excited to finally get to open her birthday cards today that were waiting for her!

We got off our boat to explore the small town of Belhaven and Charlie turned on his own natural radar for an ice cream cone place and a gift shop for me. (We found both) After a nap and later drinks, cheese and crackers, enjoyed in the marina’s pretty gazebo on the water and talking with a boater couple from Long Island, (cruising is tough!) we retired to the boat with a simple meal of taco salad and blonde brownies. Charlie and I shared the computer; I began blog writing and he studied the next day’s weather. An episode of CSI New York and off to sleep.

We are still here in Belhaven today, May 7 waiting for better weather tomorrow to go up to Elizabeth City. I noticed a scale in the women’s bathroom yesterday and as I write this in the early am I will get my courage up to weigh myself, not having weighed since Key Largo in January. Then I’ll sneek Charlie in to weigh himself. I may or may not announce the results at the end of this blog.

Note the two large sounds in the third photo above.

During our Intracoastal Waterway journey of about 710 miles from the northern Florida coast where it begins to Norfolk, Virginia, where it ends( also the beginning of the Chesapeake Bay) we are traveling in fairly protected waters except for two of these large sounds in North Carolina we have to cross; today we crossed Pamlico Sound then in two cruising days north of here we will cross the Albemarle Sound.

These sounds are formed by the Outer Banks of North Carolina. These Outer Banks provide significant barriers from the ocean. The two or three inlets into the sounds allow water coming into the sound and then into the rivers causing a raise the water level as much as an additional three feet, from wind, but not tide.

Conversely, winds can pull the water back out of the rivers and then out of the sounds. This sudden rush of waters (over a day or so) out can create serious low water levels especially in a boat slip (boat can start with four feet of depth, then as the waters move out, the boat lays on the bottom waiting for a water rise again) Its all about the wind direction and speed.
These vast sounds looked like small seas to us. And even though these sounds look very tiny on a road map, they take us most of one day for our slow moving trawler to cross.

Heading to Top Sail, NC

On April 27 Freedom’s Turn left Southport and traveled about 60 miles to Beach House Marina located in Surf City on Top Sail Island, a barrier island between the ICW and the ocean on our starboard side. This island is about 20 miles north of Wrightsville Beach.

In the 1700s, the island was given the name Top Sail by merchant sailors who were frequently attacked by pirates hiding their ships in the small channels behind the dunes here. The merchant ships soon learned to keep a lookout for the topsails showing above the dunes. ( It sure was a different life back then!)

Charlie and I walk out on the main pier at Top Sail Beach to watch all the folks fishing. What would their day be without the water?

View from the pier. We had a pleasant afternoon and evening there.

On the way to Top Sail, we cruised past several acres of remote looking land on both sides of the ICW. (photo below)

Here the eastern side of the ICW comes close to the ocean with thin strands of land so that we could see the ocean’s breakers on our starboard. The area is known as Camp Le June, a Marine training area and is completely restricted to anyone except the Marines.

Among the deserted looking land, there are many old, deserted military vehicles as pictured here where the marines conduct their target practice. As we cruised by, we heard shots being fired in the far distance. Sometimes, we were told, this area including the waterway can be closed for military drills so it is always good to check ahead, which we did.

After Top Sail, heading towards Morehead City

Freedom’s Turn headed up the ICW leaving Top Sail for MM 205; Morehead City and Beaufort, North Carolina. It would be a one day, 55 mile run from Top Sail.

We passed ICW buoys with Osprey nests built on top. The red triangle seen below indicates the side of channel closest to lthe mainland. We follow them on our port side going north. We see green square buoys on our starboard indicating the sea side of the channel. The exception to this is if we are leaving the ICW to go on a river to a marina. Where the diversion takes place, the buoys change to red on the right(red right return rule) and green on our left as we leave the ICW.

I got a great close-up shot when Charlie steered the boat over nearer. I could sense we were intruding.

And we passed commercial shrimp boats.

Freedom’s Turn passed the Cape Fear River where you turn off the ICW to go to Wilmington, NC. We thought of our Looper friends Bud and Muriel and daughter Shelley from the boat ‘Sunshine’ who just completed their Great Loop adventure by arriving at their home port of Wilmington City Docks a few days earlier. Finishing the loop is commonly known among us as “Crossing your wake.” Two weeks ago week we visited with them along with Bill and Irene from the boat ‘Blue Max’ while we were all in Charleston, SC and so we knew they were doing good. Blue Max is heading to their home port in New York. Congratulations to ‘Sunshine’!

April 28-May 2 Morehead City Goin' Ashore!

Morehead City has a sister city named Beaufort, (pronounced Booooooo fert, where as Beaufort, South Carolina is pronounced Buuuuuuuu fert). This area is a commercial and sportfishing center, with a big charter fleet that heads out into the open Atlantic year round. Fishing for tuna is a big here. The tuna migrate from the colder winter waters of the North to the coastal waters of the Outer Banks.

There are two international ports in North Carolina, Wilmington and Morehead City. Consequently Morehead City is a port of entry for customs inspection. Any type of marine services are plentiful here as well.

The Beaufort here in North Carolina is named for Henry Somerset, Duke of Beaufort, England, and was surveyed in 1713 while Queen Anne was still on the throne. Thus the ‘Queen Anne’ style of furnishings and architecture, etc., came to be in U.S.history. The town has a wonderful board walk and an outstanding maritime museum, as we would later see.

We were very excited as we came into view of Morehead City to reunite with some other ‘Looper’ friends. We tied up in a slip in the private marina and home to the boat ‘Bella Luna’ and our friends Louis and Diane, who just recently completed their Great Loop as well. We had been graciously be invited to stop for a visit with them at their beach home on the ICW in the nearby city of Atlantic Beach on Bogue Banks Island.

Bogue Banks is a barrier island of the Outer Banks and is 18 miles long. There are separate communities on this island each with their own zipcode. Besides the well known city of Atlantic Beach, Emerald Isle is another popular spot where Charlie's North Carolinian cousins Larry and Linda go every year. We regret just missed seeing them here actually.

While in North Carolina, we chose not to go out to the Outer Banks. On another visit we will want to go to places like Kitty Hawk, where the Wright Brothers first flew an airplane. Getting out there is one thing, getting back is another with the weather predicting. A faster boat going in and out is more favorable here by many, however several have taken the extra week to explore and have loved the Outer Banks. Our priority was to visit Louis and Diane.

Above, Louis and Charlie getting together for a nice long talk on Louis and Diane's lovely back deck overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway.

Louis and Diane also own a home on a lake in Leasburg, North Carolina. They are in the process of going back and forth to both homes in the process of getting settled yet they generously offered to put us up at the beach house with them.

Jim and Lisa from ‘Kismet’ arrived a few days later and stayed at the beach house also with us all. We had a wonderful re-union complete with getting tours of the area, including the historic Beaufort, walks on the local beaches, eating in their favorite restaurants, (Linda had to seek out the local shrimp and grits) and Louis and Diane took us for a special night eating dinner at the Coral Bay Beach Club where they are members. (see big top photo)

Charlie and I have grown very accustomed to living in the smallness of our boat. But during our time ashore as guests of Louis and Diane, it was surprising how comforting it was to able to walk with immovable earth under our feet thoughtfully again for days on end! Being guests in their home meant eating delicious meals, even artfully prepared and eaten at an unmoving table!

Sleeping in a real bed meant there was no water current moving us to and fro, nor were there any sounds of gurgling water to wake us up. And taking hot showers without taking our big bags of shower stuff sometimes a block away to the facilities was divine. We have a nice shower aboard Freedom's Turn but for this trip, it is filled to the brim with extra provisions.

I especially enjoyed a used book store where I bought enough books for my spring and summer reading supply and the store even sent a new book to my mother that I selected for her Mother’s Day gift.

Louis and Diane buy baby clams and plant them in their sand, thus harvesting their own clams!

Below, Charlie and Louis finishing their clam hunt with loads of clams for our happy hour.

Fresh, steamed clams - a delight!

The clams were just the appetizer! Later, friends Mimi and Frank came over for the main course; a low country shrimp boil. (see the first photo again and the very last photo)

A favorite lunch stop for Louis and Diane; El's Drive-In Restaurant featuring shrimpburgers. The waitresses actually come out to your car! The local seagulls (different from our Michigan ones) liked to stop by for handouts of French fries from Diane. Photo taken from the car window.

We will work for food, we said. Lisa and I helped Diane pot plants and Jim and Charlie helped Louis by pulling out and moving a palm tree. (below)

During our visit, Diane took Lisa and I for a walk on the the beach at Ft. Macon where a civil war battle was fought and to the beach at the Coral Bay Club for lovely beach walks. We collected shells at both places. It was a special time with special friends.

Louis took Charlie and Jim to the Maritime Museum in nearby Beaufort. Through displays, they learned about the history of local boat building and fishing as well as aspects of modern commercial fishing; from modern boat building to net making, etc.

In 1996 a shipwreck was discovered in the harbor in Beaufort that experts claim to be Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge. A display of Blackbeard, his ship and the history has become a major tourist attraction at the Maritime Museum. This excavation was the subject of an episode of the PBS series "Secrets of the Dead."

The guys saw two artifacts from Blackbeard’s ship; pieces of platters and plates and cannon balls. They also saw displays about boat building and fishing throughout history in the Mid-Atlantic area of United States. They learned about the aspects of commercial fishing from modern boat building to net making, etc.

About Blackbeard

Blackbeard is a very famous pirate and since we were in his old stomping grounds, I had to read more about him so I looked him up on the internet at Wikipedia, Feb. 25, 2008.

The information I gathered lists his birth name as either Edward Teach or Thatch and was born in Bristol, England near 1680. Blackbeard was a notorious English pirate in the Caribean Sea and western Atlantic during the early 18th century, a period referred to as the Golden Age of piracy.

Eighteenth Century drawings and engravings of Blackbeard show him with the smoking ends of his long, black pigtails and black beard where he lit cannon fuses with his hair and kept several pistols in his bandoliers.

The bulk of Blackbeard’s career as a pirate was only from 1717 until 1718 yet he has been the subject of books, movies, and documentaries. His alligence was to no one. He would plunder merchant ships, forcing them to allow his crew to board their ship. The pirates would seize all of the valuables, food, liquor, and weapons. Despite his ferocious reputation, there are no verified accounts of him actually killing anyone. He deliberately cultivated his barbaric reputation, and so could prevail by terror alone.

Blackbeard was prone to burying treasure. He would allegedly take a treasure chest ashore with one sailor in a small boat, and return alone. The sailor's corpse was said to lie atop the chest in the excavation to discourage the squeamish from continuing the treasure hunt. In times as difficult as the American revolution, people commonly dug along the beaches in search of hidden treasure.

Blackbear 's chief claim to fame is his blockade of Charleston, South Carolina. In approximately late May 1718, Blackbeard entered the mouth of Charleston harbour with the Queen Anne's Revenge and three lighter vessels. He plundered five merchant freighters attempting to enter or leave the port. No other vessels could transit the harbour for fear of encountering the pirate squadron. Blackbeard was successful in his mission.

Later Blackbeard was killed in a battle near Bath, NC by British Lieutenant Maynard, who shot him and then cut off Blackbeard’s head and diplayed the head on Lieutenant Maynard's bow of his ship. Things were really different in those days...

Blackbeard was thought to have fourteen "wives" throughout his life!

But was he ever home for supper?

Sunday, May 3 Oriental City Marina Traveling with Kismet

Oriental is a small town of 1,000 and its claim to fame is the Sailing Capital of North Carolina.

There are two turning off points to Oriental City Matrina; one is older and closer to the main hub of the marina action and the other is a new section with less protection from the the wind. The harbormaster put us and Kismet in the newer section for the first night only then he moved us after Charlie persuaded him to do so for the following two nights.

I was glad to move because it was too far to walk to the bathroom and showers in the newer part and because of the fact thet there were signs saying “beware of snakes” along the desinated pathways leading to the facilities. Sure enough, Charlie and I saw a snake slithering by our sandeled feet! (Later we found out it was a water moccasian also know as a cotton mouth-poisonous!) We stayed the third night because we were waiting to get a screen repair back. We appreciated the clean showers and laundry room and ate at great restaurant having super hamburgers and onion rings named M &M’s.

Kismet left a day ahead of us while we waited for our screen to come back. We hope to see them again in the Chesapeake Bay in about a week. On to Belhaven. Where we began this blog.

We"ll sign off for now with a picture of a Low Country Shrimp Boil below. Sampling the local cuisine along the trip ((and receiving the local hospitality) has been wonderful!

By the way, Charlie stayed the same weight as in January and I had gained five. No more shrimp and grits (for a while)

Diane's Low Country Shrimp Boil with Old Bay seasoning and has kielbasa, corn, shrimp
and new potatoes.

Thank you Diane and Louis! We will never forget you.

By the way, we have just noticed that our Michigan State burgee flag which flies at the top of our radar arch, has fallen apart... just like our basketball team did. Oh my!

Sincerely,

Linda and Charlie

More highlights from the Carolinas

2009-04-27T13:38:00.041-05:00

On South Carolina ICW along the way, we see examples of what can happen to boats at low tides. There has been extreme changes in the tides at more unpredictable times here lately due to the full moon affecting the tidal currents differently. Charlie and I have been meaning to read more about this topic at some point to further our understanding. Somehow, this natural phenomenon adds to an increase in more sand drifting into channels that creates new and hidden shoals below the waters.

Charlie is relying on all the information he can get his hands on to know where to watch out for. Salty Southeast Cruisers Net on the internet gives him constant updates. And he communicates with many boaters on the great loop email web site. One thing we know for sure, always stay in the marked channel.

Many boats are stored this way. Boat parking lots Linda calls them.

SOUTHPORT, NORTH CAROLINA

Today is Monday, April 27. As we write this blog entry, Freedom’s Turn just left the Southport Marina in Southport, North Carolina, where we a lovely, one night stay. This morning, we reunited with our fellow loopers, Kay and Robert from the boat C-Life.

Robert even wore his MSU shirt we gave him during football season last fall. He and another friend Louis patiently put up with us watching our MSU football while we all ate some Saturday meals together so we bought them appreciation shirts when we were home in October. He supported MSU in the NCAA tournament towards the end until his son, a Tar Heels fan, got on him so he had to switch his allegiance.

Kay and Robert live in Southport next to where we stayed in the marina. They are lucky to be able to live on a bay directly off the Intracoastal and can keep their boat year round in a slip right across the street from their home!

The four of us enjoyed a delicious breakfast (above) in a favorite restaurant of theirs named P.J.s. The four of us celebrated C-Life’s completion of the Great Loop which happened on April 15 at 4:55 p.m. I was told. Congratulations are in order for the couple that traveled close to 6,500 miles in close to eleven months.

The restaurant had college pennants all around and when we found the Michigan State one, we felt right at home.

Robert and Kay are part of a circle of dear friends we have made on the Great Loop. We left Southport after breakfast and did not say good-by but 'see you down the road (or water) somewhere.'The frineds you make while on the Great Loop are truly the best part.

Hurray! Kay spotted an alligator in the basin in front of their home so Charlie and Robert took pictures of it.

We will stop tonight near Top Sail, North Carolina and either anchor out or grab a marina called Beach House. Tomorrow we look forward to giving Freedom’s Turn a rest in Morehead City while we visit with other dear looper friends of ours who have also completed the Great Loop trip recently; Diane and Louis Wade from the boat ‘Bella Luna.’

We will now go back to the past week to fill in some of our ports of call.

CHARLESTON April 21-22

We arrived in Charleston late in the day on Tuesday, April 21 coming from Beaufort. Lining the ICW at Charleston were many beautiful old homes.005

The following two paragraphs were taken out of the book “Honey Let’s buy a Boat” written by Ron and Eva Stob.

“The American Revolution had its seed in early uprisings against the British in Charleston when in 1765 the townspeople, tired of the Queen Mother’s taxation, sent England’s ships bearing the official papers of taxation back to England. This was one of the first instances of rebellion in any of the 13 original English colonies.

The first shots of the Civil War were sent from Charleston against the U.S. at Fort Sumter. South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union (1860), a major player in the establishment of the Confederacy in 1861, and one of the last to succumb to Union Forces. If any people deserve to the label, Rebel, it’s the Charlestonians.”

We arrived in Charleston late in the day on Tuesday, April 21 coming from Beaufort. Lining the ICW at Charleston were many beautiful old homes.

At the City Market, ladies were making and selling the famous Gullah baskets. Gullahs reflect a strong sense of family and community and African cultural traditions in language, food, art and music more here in the Southeast than any other part of the United States.

These homes below are in the historical district and are known as the Rainbow Houses, an early example of modern day townhouses. The unique color for each house has been kept. These houses were known in there early days as the houses of ill repute. On our Charleston carriage ride, our guide told us that the reason these homes were originally painted different colors was for the men to know which house their ‘lady’ lived in.

The historic homes were taxed many times by the number of running feet facing the street so the homes were built deep within the parcel of land with the front door on the side.

The majestic Customs House

Before we arrived at the Maritime Marina in downtown Charleston, we spotted a magnificent Navy boat. I got the binoculars and saw many people on the ship’s deck standing in a line, looking out on the water. There were smaller boats cruising around the big ship that looked like they were a part of something happening there.

A few hours later, at our boat slip, we saw the big Navy boat go by us! We learned later that the boat’s name was the U.S.S. Truxton and that we were witnessing its first time out in the harbor; taking the public on a little ride!

Our next stop was Georgetown.

GEORGETOWN, April 23-24

We were looking forward to visiting Georgetown again as we tied up on the floating dock at downtown Hazzard Marina.

In June of 2006, just before I retired from the Meridian Senior Center in Okemos, Charlie and I drove to our timeshare condo at Myrtle Beach for a week of R & R. We made a side trip to Georgetown. While we strolled down the street in the quaint downtown, (it looks like the town could have came from a Norman Rockwell painting)

I found a beautiful bracelet in an art shop that I loved the moment I saw it. We continued to look around. Charlie knew I loved that bracelet. Nothing was said and we left town.

Later that month on retirement day, he presented the bracelet to me, adding much joy to my special day.. It turned the day he said he wanted to go golfing later in the week, he went back to Georgetown (one hour one way) to get the bracelet!

While we we were both in Georgetown the first time, we had said to ourselves, “Someday soon we will be living our dream when we come back here on our boat!” And what a satisfied feeling we had to have made it back by boat.

Georgetown dates back to 1721 when it was declared a royal providence by Prince George of England who later became King George the 2nd. It is a living museum town of wide avenues and sleepy streets with historical homes everywhere. There is a wonderful city dock that runs along the back of the downtown shops where one can see a pretty view of the boats and water. Our marina lies south of this view. This harbor walk gave us a ‘glad we came back again feeling.’

When we took the historical district walking tour on our first visit, we discovered the Thomas Café and had a truly wonderful southern cooked lunch. On this trip, we had to go back to get Linda’s very favorite Southern meal to date again, which they cook at the Thomas Café like no other. (I have conducted taste tests with other places and they all have not held a candle to this place). Here it is: fried green tomatoes, shrimp and grits with a touch of ham and red pepper in rich, creamy gravy. Charlie was disappointed his favorite Seafood Jambalaya was not available anymore so he tried what I ordered.

If you really like something you eat I guess you are taking a chance when you find out what is really in it. So I asked what was in the gravy (after I ate it.) You won’t want to eat this when we tell you! The gravy is mostly half and half cream with ham juice and butter) with the red pepper and other flavors added and it is soo good. We gave our compliments to the cook and hope to someday come back here to eat it again! Once every few years won’t hurt. The day was all about Linda because after lunch I got my hair cut and a new pair of shoes. I guess you could say that Georgetown is my kind of town.

The wonderful Thomas Cafe. It even has green and white checked table cloths.

This is a wonderful city dock that runs along the back of the downtown shops where one can see a pretty view of the boats and water. Our marina lies south of this view. This harbor walk gave us a ‘glad we came back again feeling.’There is a wonderful city dock that runs along the back of the downtown shops where one can see a pretty view of the boats and water. Our marina lies south of this view. This harbor walk gave us a ‘glad we came back again feeling.’

MYRTLE BEACH April 25

From Georgetown, our next stop was to be North Myrtle Beach, our own family’s long time favorite summer vacation place driving all the way from Michigan. This time though, it was going to be a unique visit for us, coming the first time on our boat!

Unfortunately a large fire broke out in the area a few days earlier west and north of the marina we were to stay at. The Coast guard closed the ICW for several miles surrounding the area the day we were supposed to arrive so we stayed an extra day in Georgetown and left one day later, April 25 for Myrtle Beech. We stayed only one day at Myrtle Beach where we did not see any of the damage done but we learned that 19,600 acres burned and 2,500 residents evacuated. The waterway stopped the fire from spreading south of the ICW towards the ocean. We did smell a burnt smell in the air so we left the next day. We took in a great variety show at the Alabama Theatre called “One” before we left.

The next photos give a few of the sights we saw along the way along the waterway from Georgetown to Myrtle Beach known as the Waccamaw River. Enjoy!

A two mile stretch off the ICW on the Prince River. We were on the lookout for alligators but no such luck

It was a beautiful diversion. A 'river less traveled' feeling. Quiet and peaceful as Linda sat on the bow while Charlie took off the auto pilot and enjoyed a gentle steering. Spring was everywhere.

An osprey nest. Artfully done.

A Saturday fishing time

Coming into the shores of Myrtle Beach, of course.

Beautiful homes that looked like estates! Who takes care of this home?

Coming into Barefoot Landing, Myrtle Beach from the water view.

The next day, leaving South Caroina on the ICW known as the Little River. North Carolina here we come.

Sincerely,

Linda and Charlie

Coastal South Carolina: Hilton Head Island and Beaufort

2009-04-24T21:02:00.024-05:00

On April 16 Freedom’s Turn left her cozy anchorage at Birthday Creek, just off Georgia’s Intracoastal Waterway Mile Marker 612. On a road map, this spot is near Tybee Island just outside of Savannah. Like we said in the last blog, Birthday Creek was a great anchorage for our one night. Before we left there, Captain Charlie had timed the departure for 10 a.m. the next morning. This is quite a late time for a departure; 7-8 am is more like it.

But timing was everything in order to reach areas like Florida’s Passage (normally shallow) and Hell Gate (a passage through two islands with lots of currents depending on the winds). By leaving at 10 a.m., we could go through those areas on the high side of the rising tides. Tides in these parts vary as much as 8-9 feet. (Would you like to go to sleep one night knowing you were going to go through an area on your boat the next morning named Hell Gate?)

Winds that morning were gusting out of the ENE at 20 knots so the Captain wanted to cover all bases. Turned out a little bumpy but not bad at all. (The Captain is getting pretty good at calculating the best times to go through an area.) By late morning we settled down in at the upper helm with more coffee and thoughts about getting to Hilton Head Island. The sun felt great and the temperature was 70 degrees.

We were at MM 594.8, seven miles from Savannah, (where we had visited by car earlier in the week,) when Charlie looked up from his guidebook and announced that the pretty, winding river we were passing was named “Moon River” and that it is the actual river inspiring the popular song with the same title. My thoughts went right back to the senior citizen exercise class I used to teach where we stretched and lifted weights to many of the wonderful old songs from the past. What a different life I am living right now.

We reached our destination at 5:00 pm, secured the lines, and had a drink and a simple supper onboard.

Re-visiting Hilton Head Island, South Carolina April 16-19

April 16 - Passing the Hilton Head harbor where the PGA Heritage Golf Tournament was being played at the time. The green canopies on far right are near holes 17 and 18. See the blimp; it is way at the top.

We were told that boats can anchor close to the 17th and 18th greens. It looked really crowded so we dismissed that idea. And the marina next to the golf course, Harbortown Marina, had a waiting list only at the special price of $10 a running foot per night! We have a 39 foot boat! We stayed on our boat at Hilton Head Marina for two nights and then moved to Skull Creek Marina. Prices were normal for this part of our trip- $1.50/$1.75 p er foot. At Hilton Head Marina, we were put on a public dock where the locals hang out and this dock was also used for fishing charters so we changed marinas; we cared not to stay.

This visit was going to be our second time at the island. Charlie and I and our daughter Christa first drove to Hilton Head Island in early October of 2007. We attended a beautiful beach wedding of Charlie’s niece Mackenzie and her groom, Peter. A bunch of the Thomas family had made it as well.

The mother of the bride, Charlie’s first cousin Becky, and her husband Bill, live in Hilton Head Plantation on Hilton Head Island. We informed them weeks ago of our upcoming visit by boat. Plans were made to be together for the weekend along with Charlie’s other cousin, Monte, and his wife Carol, who drove down from Athens, Georgia, a five hour trip. A good time was had by all.

We all get to together at least once a year with nearly 60 other relatives at the Thomas Family Reunion each July in Parkersburg, W.VA. Charlie has a great family and we always look forward to seeing the clan each year. The reunion actually lasts three full days; chock full of activities for all ages. Our grown daughters have missed only a few reunions since they began coming in their strollers. They still make the effort to go on their own. Since we will be cruising in Canada this July and not back home until mid-August, we regret that we will probably miss this year’s event; only about the third time in 38 years. It will be the 80th anniversary of the reunion. We’ll see what happens.

Charlie and I and Monte and Carol were lucky to see the sights by car with Bill and Becky driving us; someone else in control! We enjoyed some delicious seafood at a local restaurant named “The Sea Shack.” We had a wonderful time.It was fun to show family our boat!

It was a delight to see so much beautiful land with the abundant smells of spring and the sounds of birds, such a contrast to all the water! The weather was perfect for us; temperatures in the high 70’s. Interestingly enough, earlier that morning we looked up the current temperatures on the internet for our home in Okemos, MI (55 and sunny), in Cheboygan, MI, our home
marina near Mackinac Island, (57 and sunny) and in Hilton Island, S.C. (61 and sunny.)

Thomas family cousins and their spouses. after me, Carol, then Bill, Becky, then Monte, then Charlie. Monte and Becky are Thomas cousins, Carol and Bill are their spouses Lunch under the trees at Boathouse Restaurant, Hilton Head Island.

Shrimp Boats

Hilton Head Island is a year round resort island. This island is the largest barrier island on the Atlantic Coast. It has been developed into very exclusive areas including parcels of residential living areas known as plantations. These plantations are mostly gated communities with manicured lawns, their own golf courses, pools, and private social buildings and grounds.

Hilton Head Island, like all the islands along the Eastern Seaboard, is rich in early American history. The Island was founded by the British in the 17th century by William Hutton. Besides the many historic sites from Revolutionary and Civil Wars, the island’s history goes way back to the 1500s when the Spanish boats, laden with treasure from Florida and headed back home to Spain, were attacked and raided off the coast of Hilton Head by the French Navy. The stories of buried treasure not found still remain in the lore spoken of in the area.

The land on Hilton Head is lush with abundant flower gardens, and a rich variety of trees such as pecan, cedar, oak, and pine. The coastline has pretty beaches and not as built up with high rise condos like Myrtle Beach. Besides golf, and tourism, fishing is an important industry here; harvesting oysters and the shrimp industry play a major role in the local economy.

We left Hilton Head Island on Sunday, April 19 heading for the historic and romantic southern town of Beaufort, SC.

April 20-21 Discovering the city of Beaufort, South Carolina

Beaufort County is famous for its history as well as its reputation as a world-class resort destination. The coastline here is beautiful with intricate saltwater creeks and rivers that wind between sea islands (including Parris Island, a recruiting station for the U.S. Marines) Besides the resort islands, some islands are still uninhabited and on many of the secluded ones, the native language of Gullah, a combination of English and African can still be heard.

In the 1700s rice planting and production of indigo were the main crops. The marshlands were perfect for the rice fields. In the 1800s sea cotton, a long silky fiber, was the main crop and well sought after. Beaufort became one of the richest cities in the American Colonies.

The city of Beaufort (pronounced Buuuuufort) was a hotspot for both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars with the articles for the Confederacy drawn up there. The town was settled in 1711.

Charlie and I enjoyed a carriage ride tour pulled by one horse named Rocky and our tour guide Becky.

Many of the historic homes here have three stories. The bottom level was mostly open it its day and housed the slaves. The problem with that was that this coastal area is only a few feet above sea level and many times the slaves’ quarters were flooded from time to time. The middle story was used for entertaining and the top story was the family’s living quarters.

On our tour, we learned interesting facts from our guide, Bonnie. She talked about the documented history of the homes and area. Bonnie also entertained us with stories carried down to add to the history to bring the lore to the story. Some tales are believed to be true but can’t be always be proven to be true, she said. For example, the origin of the sayings you are about to read, our guide told us, as far as she knows, have been said to be true.

Colonial kitchens were generally detached from the houses because of the threat of fire. The slaves that cooked would prepare the meals and walk it to the house as seen below.

The kitchen is the building on the left, to the rear of the main house, in the photo above. In order for the family not to worry that the slaves would eat the food before it got to the house, they instructed the slaves to whistle as they walked to the house with the food. The dogs would come and bark when they heard the whistling. The slaves would ward them off by giving them little bits of fried corn dough and say to the dogs, “Hush puppy, hush.”

South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union just before the Civil War broke out on Sullivans Island at Fort Sumter near Charleston. The house where the formal action took place is here in Beaufort. (above) It is the Milton Maxey House, commonly known as the “Secession House, and was” built in 1813 with a foundation below it known to have been built in1743.

Houses were built with two staircases in the front, one for the men to walk up with their dirty boots and one for the ladies to use to keep their dresses clean. Besides, if an unmarried man followed an unmarried woman up the same staircase and saw any part of here ankles, he would be expected to consider proposing to her.

The flat chimney tops were crumbing due to the extreme weather thus the design was changed from flat to arched(below.) Note the twin staircases as well. (Below)

Throughout the tour, we were told more about the origin of some famous sayings. Such as the hanging Spanish moss everyone sees on the live oaks. Colonists used to stuff their mattress with this moss not knowing about the chiggers in the moss. Thus the saying “Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

Old churches tell so much to the visitors about a town’s history, both political and religious. St. Helena’s Episcopal Church here in Beaufort was fascinating.

This church spans the time from before the Revolution when everyone was loyal to the queen, and British soldiers and families comprised the church. St Helena’s was established in 1712 when it was still an Anglican Church, the Church of England. Among the dead buried in the church yard (above) are two officers from the British Revolution. (Below)

Here is another interesting saying for you. Upon death, even though one was pronounced dead, sometimes they were actually in a coma instead; the plague, for example could make a person comatose. Some people were buried with a string on their finger and the string brought up through the grave with a bell on it, the hole giving oxygen air to the person and if the person came to, could ring the bell. Thus “Saved by the bell” and “Dead Ringer” came to be.

Many of the old homes have the front door and the back door directly aligned with each other connected by a central hallway. These houses were referred as “shotgun” houses making it easy to shoot someone if needing to catch someone breaking into your house.

Another fact about the homes was regarding the ceilings of the front porches. They were painted light blue. It was believed that wasps would not build their nests on a blue ceiling because they would think it was the sky.

Most of these old homes within the residential blocks surrounding the downtown were currently being lived in yet looked remarkably kept as they must have looked in their era. That is because if you own a house in the historical district you must abide by the 300 page code book to keep everything as close to being historically correct as well as have the ways and means to afford the upkeep. On top of that, you have to go before a board of regulators before anything is changed. Just on the outside, of course.

The homes were taxed by the square footage of a house one year and by the number of windows the following year. Many houses were built with separate buildings beside the house that were not taxed and windows that could be made into doors during the appropriate tax years.

Pat Conroy has a home here and wrote many of his books in this setting, one book is The Water is Wide.

We learned that many films were made in Beaufort including parts of “Forrest Gump,” “Prince of Tides” and one of our favorite movies, “The Big Chill.” The home used for the Big Chill here is known as the “Tidalholm” and was built in 1856. It is a private residence today but never-the-less I took a photo of the front and on the other side of the block of the back as best as I could.

Back of the house where the movie 'The Big Chill" was filmed.

Tom Hanks bought his chocolates that he ate in the movie “Forest Gump” while in the Chocolate Tree, Inc. located downtown before going to Savannah to film the scene. The park where he ate his box of chocolates was actually filmed in Chippewa Square, Savannah, as we wrote in the previous blog.

Here is a photo of the Beaufort Arsenal. Built in 1798 it was later rebuilt in 1852 and was the home of the Beaufort Volunteer Army during the Civil War.

We would definitely recommend Beaufort as a must stop for anyone passing through.
(And Charlie would definitely recommend the Chocolate Tree store from first hand experience as well.)

My highlight was my own stroll where I took photographs of my favorite sights while imagining I was back in history….

We left Beaufort after a delightful two day stay. My walk midday up the ramp (above) to check out the gift shop at the Ship's Store. Notice the steep angle from the dock to land . Extremely low ride.

One thing about the marinas in this part of the county, they have floating docks to accommodate the 8-9 foot changing tides. Boats tied up to floating docks do not have to have their lines constantly retied. But the people have to watch the ever changing angles of the ramps connected to the land as they walk up.

Well, as usual, I have rambled on. We have so much to tell. We would recommend this area of our country if you enjoy seeing where our country first started. This part of our country is where our roots began. St. Augustine, Florida, Savvanh, Beufort, South Carolina. Next stop, Charleston then Georgetown.

From the boating view, it has been awesome to see the sights from our country's waters edge, where our U.S. history all began!

Charlie says hi.

Hope you are all well.

Sincerely, Linda and Charlie

A look at Georgia's Intracoastal Waterway

2009-04-21T12:07:00.025-05:00

Freedom’s Turn arrived at Two Way Fish Camp Marina on the Altamaha River just north of Brunswick, Georgia on April 12, Easter Day. Due to torrential rains coming on April 13-14, she would rest one extra day on top of the two day planned stay.

The swollen rivers and creeks produced very fast currents surrounding our marina and the Intracoastal Waterway in the area. Even within the slips in the marina, there was a current running 2-3 knots.

Debris collected everywhere. There is actually a crane in this photo!

Can you find it?

Charlie and I had visions of the flood of Grafton back in September along the Illinois River and shuttered to think we might be delayed again to the extent again of 12 days! only one extra day was needed, to our relief.

This occurrence was a normal thing to happen in this parts, according to a group of local fishermen who Charlie spoke to as we where preparing to leave at some point. The rivers and creeks that run out into the ICW in this area are responsible for nearly 1/3 of all of Georgia’s water drainage out to the sea. Naturally after heavy rains the abundant water moves powerfully and swiftly down to sea level and out to drain.

We had planned going to a marina in Savannah on the 14th however we changed our plan and rented a car and drove to the city instead. We picked the car up in Brunswick the night before we needed it and ate at a Golden Corral on our way home. The reason for mentioning this restaurant was the remarkable thing we saw in the restaurant. And I did not have my camera!

Inside the main entrance, there was a small table set for what appeared to be for one person. The table had a white tablecloth and a small U.S. flag was placed on the table top next to the plate; in honor of our country. There was red ribbon in a vase symbolizing the blood shed from war. Inside a single bud vase, one red rose lay on its side symbolizing the love of this missing military person fighting for our freedom. There was a small plate with salt sprinkled on it for tears, a lemon on it for the bitterness; the bitterness of war. And a down- turned glass for not knowing when this person (soldier) would be coming home to eat there.

What a strong statement demonstrating the love, honor and respect of those serving our country. We felt very moved after reading the sign and by the sight.

Darien, Georgia April 14, 9:00 a.m.

Along the way to Savannah, we stopped at the village of Darien because we spotted the town's barber shop. Charlie wanted to get a much over- due hair cut. There was one main downtown street lined with quaint shops and businesses that looked like the town was living in the past. This mural painting above was in the same building as the town's barber shop. It depicted the lumber industry here years ago and made an interesting statement about Darien's past. Today, shrimp is the area's main business, we were told by a long time resident.

I explored a side street while Charlie got his hair cut. I took a photo of vultures, up close and personal. They were the size of hen turkeys! On the same street further down, there was a colorful and fun looking restaurant called the Purple Pickle.

Savannah, Georgia April 14 10:30 a.m.

We took the advice from our fellow boaters and Charlie’s Georgian cousin Carol Thomas and took the trolley car in the city for a delightful 1.5 hour tour of the heart of Savannah’s historical district. For $25 apiece, it proved to be a wonderful way to get an overview of this beautiful, Southern city.

During our visit, Charlie and I took in all we could of Savannah’s abundant azaleas, large expansive live oaks draped with Spanish moss; beautifully preserved, stately old homes complete with ornate wrought iron gates and fences and lush flower gardens. Spring was in its glory with its fresh, sweet smell, I said to Charlie.

Founded in 1733 by British General James Oglethorpe, Savannah was the first city in the British colony of Georgia. General Oglethorpe is credited with the ingenious layout of the city. There are 23 public squares here, each centered within city blocks placed in a symmetrical grid. There are main streets paralleling the grids that end at the Savannah River.

Each square has a monument and statue of a statesman or soldier relating to both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars as well as detailed information to give the visitors. Below, Charlie stands in front of the statue of Sergeant William Jasper; a United States soldier honored here as a famous Revolutionary War Hero for rescuing prisoners of war from the British and bravely replacing the flag while under heavy enemy fire. Sergeant Jasper was mortally wounded a few hundred yards from this site.

This historical city is famous for many movies being filmed here including the Mercer House (1871) in Monterey Square where the movie “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” was filmed. The house was built by the grandfather of Savannahian songwriter Johnny Mercer but no Mercer ever lived here. Jim Williams, the main character in the movie, owned and lived in this house until his death in 1990.

The Mercer House

Chippewa Square (above) is the location for the scene where Tom Hanks as “Forrest Gump” sat in a park on a bench and ate candy out of his box of chocolates (‘life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get”) Just for the movie, a bench was placed in front of this statue of Major Jacob Jennings Brown for Tom Hanks. This photo is borrowed from my book 'Savannah Squares.' by Robert J. Hill II My photo did not turn out.

Charlie and I ate our lunch in a tea shop named Gryphons then walked around and inside this beautiful Catholic Cathedral of John the Baptist, founded in 1876. Among the breathtaking views, we noted the magnificent hand stenciled borders on the walls. One of the side altars still displayed its lovely Easter flowers.

This city is one we want to come back to someday.

After a great day in Savannah, which, by the way, the rain held off during our 5 hour visit, we dropped our rental car off back in Brunswick in a heavy down pour. Another passing through Darien and we were “home’ again on our boat to settle in and prepare to leave Two Way Fish Camp the next day. More of the marshy waters of the Intracoastal. We appreciated the hospitality of the marina here and even had a great hamburger at their restaurant named Mud Cat Charlie’s. Getting out of the slip the next morning took two extra men helping with the lines due to the current. This marina would be very doable during most days we would guess; however we were glad we did not get on the outside dock right on the river.

Our last night in Georgia, Freedom’s Turn slowed to a stop and drifted on the waters of an unmarked channel at mile marker 612 getting ready for her anchorage. It was near 5 p.m.

In his book, "Anchorages Along the Intracoastal," Skipper Bob names this little no name creek "Birthday Creek." It was a good anchorage with good holding.

This night became one of those great anchorage nights that every boater cherishes.

Being truly alone from the outside world, our minds emptied the the day’s details from our thoughts and we truly relaxed. The big open sky with its panoramic view was our visual backdrop as we enjoyed a happy hour filled to the brim with a oneness of nature and the scents of a new spring. We saw the new green marsh grasses coming through the mucky soil. From our chairs on the upper cockpit, we heard only the chirping of the spring insects. (And the slight shift of ice in our cooler below). Nature quiet is divine.

A beautiful sunset came and it was icing on the cake. But soon the no-see-ums came out like bitter tasting pepper on our sweet 'cake' so we went in for dinner, closed up the ship tight, and with our little fans on us, slept just fine to a gentle rocking side to side.

To quote Henry David Thoreau:

“To be calm to be serene – there is the calmness of the lake when there is not a breath of wind – there is the calmness of a stagnant ditch. So it is with us. Sometimes we are clarified & calmed healthily as we never were before in our lives – not by an opiate – but by some unconscious obedience to the all–just laws – so that we become like a still lake of purest crystal and without an effort our depths are revealed to ourselves. All the world goes by us & is reflected in our deeps. Such clarity! Obtained by such pure means! By simple living – by honestly of purpose – we live and rejoice.”

22 June, Journal 3:274-75

The next day would be Hilton Head Harbor Marina in South Carolina. Freedom’s Turn would be taking us to another state again. At this anchorage, on April 15, she had safely taken us 3,857 miles in 252 days.

We were living our best life that anchorage night. And so be it.

Sincerely,

Linda and Charlie

Moving Up the Eastern Coast of Florida and into Georgia

2009-04-13T14:43:00.043-05:00

Today is Monday, April 13. Yesterday Freedom’s Turn and her crew made it safely through St Andrew Sound, Southern Georgia; an inlet from the ocean near Jekyll Island. Going through 4-6 ft rolling waves with crests on top, we hung on tight for about 20 minutes. The winds were 15-20 knots from the northeast right on our bow. The tide was coming in also, rising to peak one hour later. We were only outside in the ocean for 1.5 miles but going against the rising tide coming in. Then we came about 100 degrees with the waves on our stern for another 1.5 miles before we got into the protected waters of Jekyll island. This passage in these waters on the Intracoastal can be the most dreaded if the winds and tide are going against each other.

Freedom’s Turn did fine. There is another way to go, more on the inside with more protected waters, but it would have taken us 2 hours out of our way. Charlie says here is where more local knowledge would have come in handy. Traveling alone, we weighed the pros and cons and then went with our gut feeling. And it was OK but not fun.

This next part will be getting everyone caught up with brief descriptions of the past two weeks.

When we arrived at Ft. Pierce City Marina on April 1, we had just crossed over from the Bahamas the day before. We were ready to move on up Florida’s eastern coast.

We also wanted to be in a good place to entertain our daughter Carrie and our son-in-law Jody who were driving from Michigan to be with us. They delighted us with a wonderful visit from April 6-10. They were with us in Daytona Beach and St. Augustine.

April 1-2 Ft. Pierce City Marina

The highlights here included meeting up with our friends Larry and Margie on Wanderin’ L & M. Larry took Linda to get major groceries since they had the daughter’s car for the time being. Charlie said Linda really helped the local economy. A big thank you from Linda to Larry! Other highlights while in Ft. Pierce included a delicious dinner in a Greek restaurant with Lisa and Jim from Kismet and Larry and Margie.

Six weeks of mail held for us back home in Okemos while in the Bahamas was waiting for us at the marina. Our wonderful house sitter mailed it to Ft. Pierce ahead of time for us. Most marinas will hold mail for boaters.

Linda paid all the bills on line and did eight loads of laundry she had been saving up from the Bahamas, since it cost $15 a load over there! Charlie installed a new battery charger and new batteries, both on partial warranty still. We called family to let them know we were back in the U.S. and emailed family and friends like crazy. We left Ft. Pierce the morning of April 3 with fond farewells to our boat buddies; not really saying good-by, but see you later.

April 3
Dragon Point Anchorage
on the Banana River, just south of Cocoa Beach

The anchorage offered a protected area with a night view of a military rocket launch from nearby Cape Canaveral, about 25 miles away. Another highlight was the dolphins swimming in our wake as we entered the channel.

Below, beautiful homes along the water at Palm Coast.

The Intracoastal Waterway from Northern Florida to Norfolk, Virginia is about 700 miles long. It is basically a series of rivers, inlets, and sounds connected by man made canals forming a much protected waterway except for a few open ocean inlets. The water is a mixture of salt water and fresh water. We have seen mostly muddy looking water lately. We find ourselves watching closely at times for floating debris, especially in populated areas. The waterway has large tides and strong currents in some locations and we are always checking the tidal charts, wind and weather. One day while piloting the upper helm, Charlie counted seeing 6 ospreys, 2 bald eagles, 7 manatees, 10 dolphins, 2 blue heron, and a white crane. Every few miles something interesting will come in to our view to photograph. Some other sights are below.

Fishing along the banks of the ICW is a popular pastime in these parts.

A Naval Ship Yard below

Cocoa Village Marina port

April 4 Cocoa Beach Village Marina

Coca Beach is known as the surfing capital of the world; considered some of the best waves and weather on the East coast of Florida. Ron Jon’s Surf Shop is found here on the beach and is a popular place to buy beach wear. We only stayed one night and so did not make it to the beach which was on the ocean side of the Intracoastal. Linda wondered how the town got its name so she looked it up. Back in 1898 a group of locals wanted to name their town a short and simple name. One fellow saw a box of cocoa sitting on the counter in their meeting room and suggested Cocoa. It was agreed by all and the city had its name. True Story.

Charlie and I walked into the quaint downtown with its open air cafes and boutiques and enjoyed some very delicious pizza at Ryan’s. We went to an old time hardware store named Travis Hardware. It had a charm with statues of different characters in each isle way as well as parts for everything, it seemed, stored up to the ceiling!

We were curious about the dogs dressed in little outfits being walked by their owners in dog carriers; one was elaborately decorated with flowers. We talked to the owners and discovered there had just been a fund raising competition event to benefit the Coastal Poodle Rescue League. We were told that there are dog rescue organizations specific to the breed. These two Pomeranians took 2nd place in the show. The white cutie is Riley and the sweet lt. brown dog is Shantelle. They are beautiful!

April 5 New Smyrna Beach anchorage at Rockhouse Creek.

This location is right off the Intracoastal and there is an island here, offering plenty of beach frontage and camping for the locals that were there. Since we got there on a Sunday afternoon, the place cleared out by evening.

During the day we passed by the shores of Titusville; home of Kennedy Space Center and the Space Shuttle, NASA’s giant vehicle assembly plant, and where many of the high techie’s who work for NASA live. We chose not to stop here and go on to Daytona Beach to meet up further north with our daughter and her husband who were driving from Michigan. "Next time we’ll tour the Cape Canaveral area," Linda said. Charlie asked “Are we doing this again.?" Linda raised her eyebrows and said, “It maybe by car.” (This seems to becoming sort of game we play back and forth.)

April 6-8 Daytona Beach Halifax Yacht Club Marina

Carrie and her husband Jody arrived safely on Monday, April 6 just in time to go to a pub and watch the men’s MSU BBall NCAA Final Championship game over some burgers and beer. They shared our sorrow as MSU went down in defeat to an awesome Tar Heel team. It sure was fun to watch the games though; what a wild ride.

Although a cold front came through with highs in the 60’s, we had a wonderful time together there for two days. Nothing like family to be with!

We got a great look at the Daytona Speedway by taking the tram tour. We got to ride on the speedway, stand on victory row and walk at the pit stop area as well as sit in the stands. Our guide told us that on the Daytona 500 Race day, there are around 240,000 people total at the track, making it Florida’s 7th largest city during the race! The track’s first race was in 1959 with 41,000 fans. The four corners of the track have a 31 degree tilt which they re-created for us to see at the museum.

Another fun thing was driving Carrie and Jody’s car on Daytona Beach! The hard packed beach made out of coquina shells gives the surface a hard packed velvet like surface that enabled cars and motorcycles to set world records for the fastest times as early as 1935 when a man from England named Sir Malcolm Campbell set a record of 330 miles per hour with his Bluebird V. It is a wide beach of 500 ft. at low tide and long at 25 miles.

Angell and Phelps Chocolate Factory was also one of our destinations. Linda wanted to buy the biggest chocolate bunnies but her idea did not fly with the captain. That was OK, they were $35 apiece.

April 9-10 Oyster creek Marina, St. Augustine

Carrie and Jody drove 45 minutes (50 miles) to our marina here and spent their fourth night with us. It took us 6.5 hours by boat to get there. Boating seems archaic at times!

Just before entering our marina, we went past the Mainship Factory where Freedom’s Turn was made! The factory has closed down in the past few months and moved to New Jersey. Freedom’s Turn had just completed her own loop (with a small tear!)

The factory where our Freedom's Turn was made!

Like all Spanish towns, St Augustine has a plaza at its center from which the streets branch out, making the city a maze of restored houses and buildings. Henry Flagler, the railroad builder, left many turn of the century monuments around town including the Flagler College. One of the city’s main landmarks is the remains of the Spanish Fort named Castillo De Marcos. We had enjoyed touring this site years ago when previously visiting the area.

Seeing the plentiful churches, mostly Catholic, and the fact that it was Easter weekend, made our visit seem quite timely. We visited the site of our country’s first parish mass at the shrine named the ‘Nombre de Dios’ (Name of God) in honor of the Holy name of Jesus. This first service took place on September 8, 1565. There is a cross 204 feet tall here as well, documenting the birth place of Christianity in the United States. It was elevated in September 1965, four hundred years later. We felt a sense of wonder as we walked up to the cross. Linda felt a deeper appreciation of the faith of the people that lived here so long ago.

An example of a new building with the Spanish architecture blending in with the older buildings.

Charlie and I knew some of our 'looper' friends had arrived at the city marina so we met up with them for a quick but friendly visit and photo. In the middle are Bill and Jeannette from the boat Highlander and Jim and Barbara from the boat Golden Lilly. The new friends we have made on our journey have been a wonderful part of the experience!

St Augustine is the oldest continuously lived in city in the United States; founded in 1565 by Pedro Menendez from Spain. To put the date into perspective, it was 42 years before the English colonized Jamestown and 55 years before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. It was founded only a year after Michelangelo died and a year before Shakespeare was born.

We walked on the grounds of the original Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum where we found the exact duplication of the statue of Michelangelo’s David Linda had heard about from her painter friend Florrie. It was awesone! It is third in the world; second is the duplicate in the Piazza del Signora, Florence, Italy and the original is inside the Ufitizzi Gallery in Florence.

Linda considered it a thrill to stand so close to her very favorite sculpture of all time and happening on her birthday, April 10! She had the honor of seeing the original David during her Italy trip with her friend Bev in the fall of 2007.

Charlie and Linda enjoyed Carrie and Jody's special visit more than we could ever tell them. We all said good-by with a bittersweet “see you in four short months” parting. Then they asked with a smile if their visit would qualify them to be in the blog and we said aha! (and yes of course)

April 11. Cumberland Island Anchorage

Freedom’s Turn went under the St Augustine Bridge of Lions and headed for an anchorage at Cumberland Island. We had just crossed into Georgia! It was late afternoon when we arrived. We saw lush, sub tropical land with a few resort looking buildings but a mostly desolate view for us. Charlie and I spotted some of the island’s wild horses. This photo is for our horse lover friend and neighbor, Sharon. Sorry, we don't know their breed but they looked beautiful!

We only stayed one night and unfortunately did not go on land. We had heard about Cumberland Island as being worth a walk around. The next morning, we went past Kings Bay Submarine Station. Even though we were showing depths of 14 feet during the night at our anchorage, passing through this area showed us depths of 45 feet that had been dredged out for the military. This photo above is a platform that is used to lift submarines out of the water.

More of King's Bay submarine station as seen from our boat. There was a security boat patrolling the area as we passed by.

April 12-14 Two Way Fish Club Marina, near Brunswick, Georgia

Freedom’s Turn has seen serene marshlands with big open sky since coming into Georgia. It has been quiet and soothing cruising for the most part. Until today.

Currently we are in our second day at Two Way Marina. Located on the Altamaha River just off the Intracoastal at Brunswick, this marina is named Two Way because of the flow of both salt water and fresh water coming together. The current is always moving extra fast here, even moving within the slips something like two mph Charlie estimates! There is a lot of river debris in our slip.

We wait out a two day bad weather window before heading north again. Today there was a tornado watch with wind gusts up to 40 mph and strong thunderstorms all evening. We are grateful to be a marina with floating docks so as the river rises, we rise right with it without adjusting the lines! And after three paid nights, it is the same cost as the weekly rate so the rest of the week is free if we need to stay longer. We will see what happens. We will be staying three nights for sure. Tomorrow we will take a rental car and drive 60 miles to see the Historical Downtown District of Savannah.

And it will only take one hour to get there!

Hope you are well and having some good spring weather wherever you are. A special hello to our wondeful neighbors back home in Okemos. We miss talking over our back and front yards with them!

Sincerely,
Linda and Charlie

Good-by Florida

2009-04-12T08:19:00.002-05:00

As I write today, it is Easter Sunday and what a different Easter it is! Yesterday we said good-by to Florida as we left our slip at Oyster Creek Marina in St. Augustine, Florida and cruised north along the Intracoastal Waterway for a long 75 miles to anchor on the banks of Cumberland island, Georgia. Today we will get to somewhere near Brunswick, Georgia. Charlie just informed me that I have only 20 minutes to be on the computer as we will be approaching an opening in the waterway that goes out to ocean at Jekyll Island and he has heard the waves are building to three foot or more as we go around this passage.

So we are well and just wanted everyone to know this brief update.

Will write more to get you up to date as soon as we can.

Happy Easter!

Sincerely, Linda

Good-by Bahamas

2009-04-02T14:39:00.012-05:00

Crossing the Atlantic again! Taken by Lisa from the boat Kismet

Today is Thursday, April 2 and we are in our second day at Ft. Pierce City Marina, Florida. Freedom’s Turn did a wonderful job getting her captain and first mate across the Atlantic Ocean from West End, Bahamas.

The Crossing: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 Day 237

Our alarm clock woke us up at 5:15 am, announcing the day to leave the Bahamas and make our crossing back over the Atlantic to Ft. Pierce, Florida, about a 90 mile, 11 hour trip. We were instantly up and at ‘em; all senses on alert. Freedom’s Turn and her crew prepared for a first light departure of 6:30 am. Lisa and Jim and their boat, Kismet were to be our buddy boat. After carefully studying the weather for several days, we all decided it was the day to go back to the good ol’ U.S. of A.

The air was already hot and muggy and very still as our feet first hit the deck in the dark; and we were already getting the extra clammy, extra adrenaline rush feeling that would be with us until 5 PM that evening. The feeling of great anticipation was upon us. So off we went. A big day in this year long adventure! Good-by Bahamas!

The sky had a bit of red in it as the sun came up. The ocean breezes picked up right away and became 10 knots out of the east, then later out of the southeast. This was fine because the Gulf Stream coming from the south gave us additional 2-3 knot boost. The waves out of the North were not a factor as we experienced only 2-3 ft rollers. Much later in the day several storm cells developed south of us. We only got some sprinkles. It is rather amazing to see the constantly changing weather patterns developing from such a long range! The temperature of the seas was 78 degrees and 83.4 degrees. in the Gulf Stream

We lost sight of Kismet off and on but could always contact them on the radio.

We made it safely after a turbulent passage into the channel entering Ft. Pierce. It was 5 p.m. We were tired but happy. We anchored the first night in a nearby cove outside of the Ft. Pierce Marina along side of Kismet. The next day, April 1, we both entered Ft. Pierce City Marina. To our delight, we got reunited with our friends Larry and Margie from the boat ‘Wanderin’ L & M’ who are currently staying here for several weeks. Also, friends Patti and Brad from the boat ‘Salvage Crew’ came in today.

Our Bahama adventure lasted 47 days. We stayed in marinas all but 3 nights; two were anchorages and one night was a mooring ball. Freedom’s Turn took us 535 statue miles.
This brings us to a total of 3,474 statue miles with about another 2,500 to go!

Our very best meals were on our boat eating fresh, locally caught lobster and grouper which Charlie did on our grill,($8 for a medium sized lobster tail and $10 /lb. for wonderful Strawberry grouper), rice (seasoned with a new and now favorite spice for us- Old Bay seasoning) and we made our favorite coleslaw with oranges, dried cranberries, walnuts, and key lime honey mustard dressing. Coconut ice cream was a favorite dessert. We ate this meal several times. It was certainly a treat for us. And we now know how to make tasty tropical drinks, especially our Pina Coladas!

One More Event needs to be written here, before we end the Bahamas blogs. We were leaving Treasure Cay on Great Abaco Island one day last week, heading back north into the Sea of Abaco. These cruising grounds offer a great deal of protection, normally speaking, against the strong open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. There are a few passages where you have to go to the outside briefly, however. Calculating the weather and tides carefully is a must. We chose passing through an inside channel where a massive rock called “Don’t Rock” is located. All weather conditions and going in at a rising tide made the trip look very doable.

Even though the area here is surrounded by islands there is a brief opening to the open ocean and the waves and winds really picked up. Quickly.
Others that had traveled through here before advised us to go at high tide and head straight for the rock until we were only 100 yards away then make a sharp left turn.

Making the sharp turn.

The tide was still rising at 9:30 am, not yet at slack tide. (Slack tide is when the only water movement comes from the winds and residual waves.) Later, Charlie would say “ the rising ride may be the second worst time to be there, second to tides lowering.”

As we came about the turn, the incoming water, the winds and waves seemed to be colliding with each other. The waves were building fast to swells (rollers) of 6-10 feet with additional surf on top.(crests) At the lowest part of the waves, when we were in the troughs, the depth got to only 1.3 meters (about 5 ft) so we only had about one ft to the bottom! In ocean waters, the rollers come from the ocean current underneath the water.

These photos don't capture the force of the waves and winds. That is because we could not release our grip or stand up t0 get a better look!

We made it through, but were somewhat frozen to our seats as we watched the waves hit us and rock us like we hope we never have happen again. Linda thought Charlie did an excellent job turning into the waves to quarter them; making the waves hit us between the bow and the mid ship on our starboard.

We made it ok but hope to never have the conditions like we had that day. We know first hand why this rock is called “Don’t Rock!’

We anticipate our schedule in the following spring months as follows. As always, weather and mechanical factors always dictate the actual timeline.

Around mid-April, Charleston S.C. area
Around early-May, Norfolk, VA area
Around 1st week of June, New York City

There are several people we hope to meet up with as we go up the Intracoastal Waterway. Those that need to know more specifically where we are heading to and when, can email Linda or Charlie or call us on our cells. Linda’s number is the same as our home phone number.

Happy Spring and Happy Easter!

Sincerely,
Linda and Charlie

On the Move Again

2009-03-26T20:34:00.023-05:00

A big hello to all! Currently we are finishing up a delightful three day stay in Treasure Cay at their marina, on the Great Abaco Island. We left Sea Spray Marina on Tuesday, March 24 and are basically on the move again. We are making our way towards the West End of Grand Bahama Island one more time where we will cross back over the Atlantic around March 31. Ft Pierce, Florida will be our destination next. Our friends Jim and Lisa are on the move also and are paralleling our cruise plan.

Using Skype, an internet video phone system, we just found out while talking to our daughter Carrie that she and her husband Jody are taking her spring break week April 6-10 to drive down and visit us near Daytona, Florida!

We had a great time at Sea Spray. We were happy to see friends Peggy and Bob from their boat ‘Baby Grand’ again, who we originally met in the Florida panhandle.

One of our highlights was seeing the Discovery Space shuttle while on our boat as it traveled over the northern Bahamas on Sunday, March 15. I took photos but I asked a fellow boater, Paul, from the boat Katerina, to lend me his photo as seen above, to put in the blog. What an awesome photo. This was a thrill to see for all of us at the marina! Thank you Paul!

We made new friends with Lew and Florrie from New Jersey on their catamaran named ‘Harmony.’ Linda and Florrie went off painting together and had a great time.
We certainly had lots of winds at Sea Spray during our month and Linda usually had quite a time getting on and off the boat.

We had a very rainy day once and it was fun to stay inside where Linda made a family favorite; chocolate drop cookies. Linda set up a DVD movie exchange between us and our friends when the rain stopped temporarily so we had a ‘new' movie for the evening, cookies and coffee with Bailey’s added!

One fine day we walked on the beach by our marina where we were told to look for seaglass. We did find several pieces. Seaglass jewelry is popular in the shops here. It takes several years (20+) for pieces of glass to become weathered. And it is becoming more difficult to find it as glass containers are being replaced so much by plastic. The color of the glass can indicate the age of it. Common colors are green, white, and brown. Blue, aqua and pink are older and more rare. Historic and highly prized are the orange and red and gray colors.

Here is a collage of some of the things collected from our exploring days at Sea Spray. Seaglass from the beaches and from the water, the sea biscuits, and the bougainvillea flower from beautiful bushes growing around the pool.

Lisa and Jim joined us for the Bahamian feast night.

In conclusion, here are two more photos taken while staying at Sea Spray. First, A quaint view of a side street in Hope Town.

Second, the humor of a road sign. Linda was going “That Way” at the time!

Playing Tourist in Treasure Cay. March 24-27

Our marina here at Treasure Cay is pretty and has all the amenities. Water, electric, cable and high speed wireless internet! Treasure Cay is located on the Great Abaco Island.

Treasure Cay boasts of one of the top ten beautiful beaches in the world and the best in the Caribbean! We couldn’t get enough of looking at nature’s colors!

Today (March 26) we made it our top priority to spend the whole day on this beach. We found sand dollars, star fish and a conch! Look closely and see if you can find the eyes on the conch animal inside his shell! Click on the picture to enlarge! We gently threw him back in!

Here is a photo of Charlie looking for more shells at low tide. In the background you’ll see a mammoth rock. Named “Don’t Rock, it is well known in the area and is mentioned on all the charts of this area for being a treacherous area to go near on boat. We are going through the Don’t Rock passage in the morning on our way back to West End. Wish us luck!

We’ll touch base again in a week or two when we’re back in the good ol’ U.S. of A.

Sincerely,
Linda and Charlie