Trip South to Washington DC

Posted on September 24, 2014 by Teresa

We had an awesome downwind sail down the NY and New Jersey coast to Cape Henlopen at the Delaware Bay entrance. It was nice and calm behind the breakwater. The sunset was amazing.

The winds changed and once again were behind us up the Delaware. We anchored very close to a nuclear plant before going thru the C&D canal, which is a 400ft wide channel that you drive through; yes no sailing! Why because these big guys turn up doing 16 odd knots and there are all sorts of bridges along the way.

We caught up with Jen & Richard for a night, which is always fun and bid farewell until the Annapolis boat show.

The Chesapeake Bay gave us a great sail down to the Potomac River. Coming up the Potomac River was interesting with some beautiful homes on the shores, the military base and its testing areas, Fort Washington sitting on one of the corners of the river, The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge spanning the river into DC, planes flying over head to land at Washington National Airport and the Washington Monument standing tall near the riverfront.

Gun placements that the military use for testing on the river

Fort Washington

Memorial bridge on entry into Washington DC

Planes & helicopters everywhere

Washington monument on the skyline

We arrived at our marina ready to see some culture in DC.

New canvas

Posted on September 20, 2014 by Teresa

While in Noank, CT we engaged the services of Custom Marine Canvas to replace our canvas work, as our canvas was looking a little worn and not too water proof. They did a great job and we are happy with the design. Seems to be waterproof but time will tell.

Aaron and Brian the fabricators who worked their magic on the design

The white inside makes it feel bigger

Lovely Long Island Sound & Block Island

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Teresa

We have spent approx a month in the Long Island/ Block Island Sounds enjoying the many anchorages and towns in the area.

Long Island Sound is located between Connecticut (CT) to the North and Long Island, NY to the South with many rivers emptying into the sound. This is the first place where we have come that has a lot of sailing boats and people getting out and using them. Every weekend there are people out racing smaller sailing boats looking like they are having fun. Even came across a Tall ship with youth sailors who had been out sailing.
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There are many places to anchor or moor throughout the sound so makes it great grounds for cruisin’. The houses along the coast of Long Island are huge. Who lives in these mansions?

We enjoyed The Thimble Islands, CT, which is a group of small pink granite rock islands with homes on them. Each island varies in size and number of homes. We were invited onto Money Island where there are 32 homes packed onto the small island. Everyone we met on the island was so friendly.

Money Island

Noank/ Mystic, CT area is a nice area with a lot of historic buildings and a working seaport museum with some very old wooden boats that they restore and still use. Really interesting place to wander around.

The seafood at Fords in Noank is fresh and the location on the water great

Swinging Rail bridge on way up to Mystic

Town of Mystic down to the Mystic highway lifting bridge

bridge opening

A small part of the huge nautical Museum

The Charles W. Morgan built in 1841 at the museum

Enjoying the Mystic food festival with Graham & Fi from Kairos

Watching the Mystic Rowing Regatta just off our perfect anchorage

Block Island is at the far eastern end of the Long Island sound and is a beautiful serene area with a very protected harbor. The island was great to bike around. It was amazing how many people came in on the ferries each day to enjoy the many beaches, shops, restaurants and bars on the island.

the parade of boats up the channel to the anchorage, yes popular

Mohegan’s Bluff with its 200ft cliffs and 100 steps down to the popular beach

Spring House Hotel with its enormous veranda and great views

At the Beachhead ordering $1 oysters; yum

We stopped at Watch Hill for the Labor Day long weekend to enjoy the sandy beaches and town. On arrival there were yachts out racing in the sound. The Ocean House is pretty impressive up on the hill overlooking the sound.

Ocean House: Croquet is even set up on the perfect lawns

Aphrodite a 74ft motor launch passed us in the Watch Hill anchorage. Wow, nice looking boat and when it picked up speed and took off you could see the power. The boat was recently restored and you can read stories of it on the Internet.
Shelter Island and the Hamptons’ area on Long Island, NY was an interesting area with some cute towns to wander around and all sorts of people from all walks of life. Shame the weather wasn’t better to get some good photos but we have realized we need to head south, its cold (relatively) here.

Brett fancied this lighthouse off Orient as a home…ah I don’t think so.

Sag Harbor town was great to walk around just a little breezy

On our way! Brrrrrr.

The East River, NY

Posted on August 22, 2014 by Teresa

Coming through the East River passing all the sights and under the 7 very high bridges was pretty amazing. The current through the river gave us a boost of about 4-5 knots so we arrived in the Long Island Sound on the other side pretty quickly. Thank goodness we weren’t going the other way!

Lower Manhattan start of the East River

Manhattan right up to the water edge

The famous Brooklyn bridge

Under Brooklyn bridge with Manhattan behind

Chrysler Bldg highest one

Float Plane landing on River

Back along the river

more bridges and more float planes taking off around us

The UN Bldg; when in session this part of the river is closed

New York, New York

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Teresa

Wow what an amazing place with so much going on. We had such a good time. It has obviously taken years to create this machine. There are 9 million people living in NYC and 27 million in the greater area of New York within 75 miles. Wow! Truly feels like it with all the tourists in Times Square.

Times Square during day

Times Square at night

New Jersey and a kiwi?
On our first afternoon here we rode our bikes down from the marina along the walkways of New Jersey to Liberty State Park to admire the views over to Manhattan Island and the sun glowing on the towers. Freedom Tower is just so huge standing at 1776ft significant because it was the year that America was founded.

We ended up at a bar on the river where we met a kiwi, Pete and Vito an Italian New Yorker. Turned out that they both had boats at our marina and had come in on Vito’s boat. After a very late night we all hit the Hudson River in Vito’s boat and found we were the only boat out there admiring the skyline of Manhattan. Amazing.
Highline and Greenwich Village
The walking/ food tour along the Highline and through into Greenwich Village was interesting. The Highline is a park built on a section of the elevated former NY Central railroad along the lower West side of Manhattan through arches that used to lead the trains to what used to be the old factories. The park has been so successful they are extending it. There are great views along and down to the streets and you can see the development over the years and change in architecture.

Greenwich has great little streets with interesting homes and restaurants around each corner. A very expensive and desirable area.

Outside Friends TV series apartment

Garden tucked away behind a gate

Washington Square

The food portions at the various stops were generous so we were full. Some of the places we went to:

Bantam Bagels

Faicco’s – Italian sausage sandwich

Best pizza ever

Rocco Pasticceria – wow!

Central Park
We rode our bikes to and around Central Park. The bike system is amazing in NY with bike paths and special lanes designated on roads. You mainly have to watch out for pedestrians who walk out in front of you, not traffic. Never thought we would ever ride in NY.

People hang out everywhere throughout the park. Great place to people watch.

Belvedere Castle

Brooklyn

Our bikes once again got a work out as we rode our bikes down through Battery Park on Manhattan Island, passing close to the Freedom Tower. There were a group of kayaker’s out on the Hudson, off Battery Park, crazy. Ferry’s are flying around all over the place and the current can be crazy.

Looking over to New Jersey

Over the Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn Heights by bike was a great decision given the crowds of people on the bridge. There is a separate bike lane so that was a bonus for us.

Great views at the top over to the Manhattan Bridge and along the East River. There are a lot of bridges in the New York area and they are huge! We will be passing under these bridges when we go to Long Island Sound on the boat.

It was so nice and relaxing over in Brooklyn Heights with locals running about their normal lives. The promenade in Brooklyn Heights has great views back to Lower Manhattan.

A lot of nice streets in Brooklyn Heights

Lower Manhattan

It was a beautiful day to walk the sights in Lower Manhattan including the World Trade Centre site which was so different from my last visit 12 years ago. Busy!

Photos at the reflecting pool in the footprint of the original twin towers. Above Metro being built in background.

Right base of Freedom tower.

There are sculptures all over New York. This red cube sculpture is on Broadway down near the Financial District.

The financial district reminded me of London, England’s bank district with all the suits and hype.

Charging Bull – A little less crowded than what we saw

Stock Exchange on Wall Street

Stock Exchange

Near Wall Street

Found a great bar in the area called Fraunces Tavern which originates back to 1719. Lots of stories here from the past. This was also a great dark bar with a huge variety of craft beers to enjoy.

Midtown

We hit all the sights in midtown admiring the architecture and shear size of the buildings including; Madison Square, Flatiron, Empire State, Chrysler, Grand Central Station…..with every other tourist in NY I think.

Empire State Bldg

Flatiron Bldg, you can see why

Madison Square Park – great for a break

Grand Central Station – Outside

Grand Central Station inside – impressive

The views from the Observation deck on the Empire State Bldg were almost worth the wait. So that’s where all these people live… Buildings go on forever.

Along East River, Brooklyn in distance

Over Midtown and Chrysler Bldg to East River

Out to Central Park

To Hudson River & New Jersey

to Lower Manhattan; East River Left, Hudson Right

Shows

When in New York you just have to go and see a show or two. We went to one on Broadway and one off Broadway. Kinky Boots, on Broadway was fabulous and a must see. Loved the whole show.

Shopping
What can I say…. Something for everyone. Crazy crowds out shopping!

Parking?

Parking’s a premium perhaps

It looked like parking was still cheaper than in Calgary. Alternatively people take one of the many bikes for rent scattered throughout the city. $99 per year and they are everywhere. For the non-snow months these would be the way to get around.

Overall we had a blast in NYC.

Back in the water and up to New York

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Teresa

We got back to Jarrett Bay and finalized things at the yard and put Seismic Wave back in the water where she belongs.

We decided to hit the seas and head up to New York. We had 3 days at sea and this was our view coming into New York and up the Hudson River to our marina.

Coney Island

Verrazano-Narrows bridge

New Jersey Left & Manhattan Right

Manhattan

Ellis Island

Hudson River

Midtown

Lincoln Harbor Marina – our home in NYC

Visiting friends in Boston

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Teresa

Jen & Richard were moored in Boston Harbor and invited us to join them for a weekend. They had the best views and so close to the wharfs. We were delivered by water taxi from the airport ferry dock to Our Rose and returned back to the airport the same way. Very cool.

All parents would love their child to go to Harvard University and so we did. A very large university with well maintained buildings. Love the colorful chairs set up in the park for the students to sit and chat.

We also wandered around town going to Boston Common park, the famous Cheers TV series bar, the Italian district for dinner etc. Great city to wander around and take in the hype.

Great weekend and good catch up yet again with Jen & Richard.

Road Trip down the Panama Pacific Coast

Posted on July 22, 2014 by Teresa

A friend organized a car for us so we decided to head to the beach area for a break.

Is this a safety concern on the highway?

In Panama city most people don’t have cars as taxis are plentiful and cheap, while parking is almost non existent. The road system out of the city is a well maintained 4 lane highway all the way out to the beach areas, with lots of signage along the way promoting project developments off the main road. Its hard to imagine that they will all be developed and sold. I love all the fruit stalls along the way.
P1060433 We stopped in Coronado to see the building development since 2011, when Brett was last on the Pacific Coast. He was surprised at how much more construction and development there had been since 2011. Some developers bring in a huge team of people to build subdivisions of homes so the area is complete before anyone moves in. Amazing. Not sure if the houses are all sold.

We ended up staying in Playa Blanca for a few nights. Great views from our room and a long beach to walk along. Love it when you arrive and your hotel room has this cabinet.

In Pedasi we rented a place to see the beach area past Las Tablas. There are so many beaches in the area to check out so it was great having a car.

The pool overlooking Playa Los Destiladeros

Playa Los Destiladeros

The local parrot, nicknamed Pancho by the locals. So beautiful and very friendly. He’s smart as he stops at people’s houses for food.

Pedasi is a small village of about 2000 people who seem to be either cattle farmers or fishermen.

Pedasi Square

The town is very cute with a square where people get together in the evenings. The statue in the square is of one of the past Panama presidents who came from Pedasi and promoted the area. She still lives in Panama.

Packed into a bar to watch a futböl game and met some great people.

On our first Saturday in town we went out to one of the local beaches to find a huge fishing competition on. No wonder no one was in town. Huge fish were being brought in from the local fishing boats. This tuna was 128lbs once they got him on the scale. If only…..

We took the advise of a friend and organized private intensive spanish lessons while in Pedasi at Buena Vida Language School. Yes Brett and I were back in school again. Its tough to learn a language as you get older! Feeling much more comfortable.
We went out to the famous surfing beach of Playa Venao. Billabong has actually hosted 2 international surfing competitions here so great promotion for the area.

Love the signs down near the beach.

The tide was out in the bay when we arrived and it was hard to imagine this as a surfing mecca. By the end of the day when the tide was back in you could see why it was. The waves were high and crashing constantly. There were so many surfers out riding the waves. We played in the surf and got pounded by the crashing waves.

The car would not start one morning on our way back and so we got the help of a few men to jump start the car. Still wouldn’t start so ended up calling the rental company.

The car was installed with a GPS satellite security system to turn it off and as it had not been returned by the supposed contract date so they had engaged it. Wow, technology. Mix up on the dates.

Well we had fun in Panama and saw the coast but its time to get back to the boat to see the East Coast of the US.

We’re on the Pacific Coast

Posted on July 21, 2014 by Teresa

Well its been a busy trip to Panama. We came to see dentists and doctors in Panama City and have some fun.

Brett found Einstein

From what we have experienced in the past getting anything done is not simple and typically takes time in Panama but we have definitely been impressed with the medical process. It took us 2 days to get an appointment to see English speaking dentists and doctors, including having tests done. That’s unheard of in Canada.

We could not believe all the things that had changed from our last trip to the city.

The metro (subway) is operational and is only 0.35c to ride.

The ring road around Casco Antiguo is complete and seems to have eased traffic congestion. There is even an amazing bike/ walking paths.

High rise buildings that were under construction are built and the cobblestone roads in Casco Antiguo are done and look great.

The city all looks so much cleaner as there’s not so much road construction compared to our previous trip. There has also been a change in government so it will be interesting to see the changes that will happen there. Hopefully for the good.

The Bio Museum is partially open after being started 10 yrs ago. Great architecture but a little expensive for what’s open.

Some friends Randy and Judy from Pedasi invited us to their Panama City apartment to meet some friends. We ended up meeting Jakub Pustina, a tenor opera singer from Chekoslovakia who was singing in Panama so yes we went along to his concert. A bit of culture and an amazing theatre, which had been built in 1907.

Jakub Pustina; tenor opera singer

With the World Cup being on everywhere was busy with people watching the futböl. Love the half time entertainment in one of the places we were for the final game.

Brett spotted something he really liked. The Unimog not the one on top.

We went on a road trip while waiting for paperwork to be complete.

Eeek! A hurricane!!

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Teresa

Whenever we are away from the boat we watch the weather near the boat. Of course, Hurricane Arthur decided to develop and cause havoc on the East Coast of the US. Our first hurricane near the boat. We had mixed feelings. We are safe but then our home is not. This was the first sight of knowing bad weather was approaching our boat. Seismic Wave is near the black circles just north of the storm. Not a good feeling I’ll tell you.

Of course, we continued to watch the weather and did not see it turning East. Our boat is up on land within the red shading so was not looking good and there was nothing we could do. This picture is taken at 10pm.

The eye of the hurricane touched land as a category 2 storm just west of Beaufort, NC at 11:15pm with winds of 100mph and gusts of 115mph. That’s crazy. 200,000+ people were evacuated and 22,000+ homes lost power, which included power at the boatyard.

Of course it was July 4th long weekend so it took us a while to get notice that our home was not damaged, Thank goodness.