Thursday 10/28 - Day 2

We got up to leave the Alligator marina at 6am but the draw bridge was under wind restriction and didn't open for us until 7:15am. The weather was cloudy with 5 to 10 knot winds . We calibrated the knots and speed over ground on the GPS. We also calibrated the GPS, the bennical, and autopilot compasses. We rigged a preventer to prevent an accidental jybe off shore. We arrived and anchored off Oriental, NC after 13.1 hours. Tomorrow we will head to Moore Head City about 4 hours away where we will prepare and prevision the boat for off shore for Friday night.

Wednesday October 27, 2010 - Norfolk to The Abacos

Jasen and I arrived the Waterside Marina as scheduled at about 8pm last night. After a short weather and routing briefing we went to Hooters for some wings, showered, and went to bed. We left the Waterside Marina at 4:45am amongst our Navy's finest collection of aircraft carriers, destroyers, and frigates. Due to a low pressure system and northeast winds we decided to avoid Cape Hatteras and take the ICW. The weather was calm, sunny, and winds were 10 to 12 knots. We caught 5 of 8 opening bridges and 1 locke which allowed us time for breakfast. The winds kicked up 30 to 35 knots as we entered the Albemarle Sound with waves 3 to 4 feet. We decided to lay over at the Alligator River Marina in Columbia, NC which we arrived in the dark at 7pm. All and all the first day went pretty well after 87 miles in 13.4 hours. Tomorrow we plan to depart at 6am for Orient, NC. 

Monday, October 25th.

Captains Mike Bancroft and Carol Vernon departed Annapolis as planned on Sunday October 24th for Waterside Marina in Norfolk, VA where Jasen and I will meet up with them on Tuesday evening. The SPOT transponder has been activated so you can now follow the Mai Toi's location and progress.  Just click on the SPOT link to the right of the blog.  We will update the blog again once we arrive Norfolk. 

Monday, October 18th final preparations

The Mai Toi has been hauled at Port Annapolis and is on the hard.  The bottom is being painted, the zincs replaced, the engine serviced and she is being readied for the trip to the Bahamas. The capatins will leave to take her to Norfolk on Sunday October  24th.  Jasen and I will fly into Norfolk on the evening of October 26th and meet up with the boat.  We will re-provision, water and fuel the boat on the 27th and depart for the Bahamas on the 28th.  So far the tropical forecast and gulf stream is dictating that we stay nearshore around Hatteras, then South at approx 77 W with adjustments for current.  If the weather is bad we will take the ICW inside Hatteras and sail nearshore to around Jacksonville. If we have a long term good tropical forecast, we will cross the gulf stream N of Hatteras and stay well east of the eastern GS wall. It looks like the weather forecast off Hatteras in the coming week will decide everything. 
We will update the blog again once we get to Norfolk and keep it updated for as long as we have internet service off shore. Right now we are targeting to arrive Treasure Cay in the Abacos on 11/3 or 11/4.  

Day 6, Thursday October 7th

We pulled anchor and left Chesapeake City at 8:30 am. It was partly sunny and pleasant. Winds were SSW 12-15 knots increasing to 15-20 knots in the afternoon. After about 5 hours I knew we were close to Annapolis because we had just enought fuel to get there and we were out of fuel. But that really wasn't the case. Apparently we used more fuel than I had calculated because of the rough seas and we still had about 3 hours to go.  Luckily we had 2-5 gallon Jerry cans of diesel and we were able to fuel while we were under way. We arrived Port Annapolis Marina and were tied up at our slip at 4:45 pm. 
Friday and Saturday we will be at the sail boat show and head home on Sunday for the arrival of a new granddaughter on Monday morning.
Jasen and I will catch up with the Captains and the boat again in Norfolk around October 27th where we will continue this blog for the rest of the trip to the Bahamas.

Day 5, Wednesday, October 6th

We pulled anchor and left Atlantic City at 7:00 am. We were greeted by a school of Dolpins who followed us out of the channel. It was a beautiful morning. The wind was out of the SSW at 10-12 knots and the seas were 1-2 feet.  We were able to close reach down the rest of the coastline. Since we should have been in Cape May we had to make a decision to make a run at the C and D Canal about 90 nm or stop in Cape May and lose another day. We decided to make a run for it.  We passed Cape May and turned into the Delaware Bay.  The SSW winds which had us on a close reach down the coast were now on our nose. The bay was very choppy and iratic as usual. We pulled the genoa and motored under main sail.  As dark approached we were still 3 hours from the first available stop over at Chesapeake City which is located at the East end of the canal.  We sailed strictly by instruments along side the shipping lane in the bay to avoid any close encounters with the tankers and containerships. We entered the canal around 8:00 pm and navigated our way to Chesapeake City where we dropped anchor and called it another day.

Day 4, Tuesday October 5th.

We left Atlantic Highlands at 6:30 am.  Winds were still out of the NE at 15 knots and it was cloudy and rainy but predicted to change to SW 10-12 knots in south Jersey with clearing skies. As we turned Sandy Hook to head down the coast all hell broke loose. The waves increased 8-12 feet and it was pouring rain. We reefed the main and genoa.  The wind was blowing 25-30 knots and had us on a broad reach down the coastline at 8.5 knots. We were committed to make Atlantic City. It was a terrible day and didn't improve until we neared our destination when the rain finally stopped.  At Atlantic City we found a wonderful gunkhole which Marilyn Aymar of the Unusual Suspects recommended, dropped anchor, had dinner and said a prayer before calling it a day.  

Day 3, Monday October 4th

Held hostage by the nor' easter in Atlantic Highlands. Worked from the boat and did some maintenance chores. Mr. B and my brother Steve drove down to visit us and have dinner.  The wind calmed down some during the day but is still coming from the Northeast. We plan to make an attempt down the coastline on Tuesday based on the latest forecast for south Jersey.

Day 2, Sunday October 3rd

I was awaken at 4:00 am with 25 knots winds so you know the routine.  Up on deck to double check the mooring lead. Everything was ok so it was back to sleep until 6:30 am.  The wind had calmed down a bit to about 15 knots by this time but it was cloudy and chilly and the skys were threatening.  What a difference a day makes. We left at 7:30 am to catch the ebb in the East River.  The water was really choppy but the wind and waves were at our back so it wasn't so bad.   The sun began to appear as we approached the city and the trip down the East River was quite nice. We hit 12.5 knots at one point. Things began to change as we entered NY harbor.  As we went throught the Narrows the waves began to kick up to about 4 feet and it became like a washing machine. We were comtemplating making a run down the coast to beat the low pressure system they were predicting for Monday but cooler heads prevailed and we decided to put into Atlantic Highlands early. We grabed a mooring at 12:15 pm and will wait out the weather here until things improve.  Hopefully by Tuesday.

Day 1, Saturday October 2nd

We left Guilford at 7:00 am as scheduled.  Pete & Joyce came down to see us off with Jasen who drove the Navigator back home for us.  Capt. Bob came out to the end of  A-dock to waive good bye as we passed by.  It was a beautiful morning with winds wereout of the NW at 12-15 knots with 1-2 foot seas. The boat performed real well.  We were into a real groove on a beam reach and arrived Manhasset 9 hours and 15 minutes later at 4:15 pm. We picked up a town mooring for the evening, had dinner and prepared for day 2.