ICW 2016

[Bob Morrow]

Ed,  I guess that you don't have the same weather considerations now, but if
you do end up in the Great Wicomico River, you might want to go up Cockrell Creek
to Reedville. It has some beautiful places to anchor, not much further off your route
than Sandy Point and much more protected, with the option to go into the small town
for restaurants and a very few stores, one good seafood restaurant/outlet right on the
water.  You might have to contend with the smell of the menhaden processing plant,
but it's usually not too bad, especially if you choose your anchorage upwind of the
plant. There's also the "adventure" of having to go around all the docked menhaden
fishing boats through a narrow fairway and around the very tall smokestack of a ruined
plant that looks like it might collapse on you at any minute.

I have also been in the Little Wicomico River, through Smith Point, but that was
on a catamaran and as I recall at that time there were some depths that might
have been problematic for a boat with a deeper draft.

How do I get your "follow by e-mail gadget"?

[Ed Criscuolo]

How do I get your "follow by e-mail gadget"?

The "Follow by E-Mail gadget should appear in the right hand pane, under the profile area.


As for the trip so far, we've already had two equipment failures, which have each cost us a day.

I hope this is using up all of our bad karma at the beginning!

We're currently at Zanheisers, at Solomons Island, hoping to leave tomorrow for the Wicomico.

Full details on the blog: http://sv-dolce-vita.blogspot.com/

[Ed Criscuolo]

Been quite a while since I updated this thread.

We're currently in Jacksonville FL!  Went "outside" from Charleston to St. Mary's inlet, skipping Georgia.

Planning to fly home soon for a week or two for the holidays, then come back to continue.

[Ed Criscuolo]

We've had a change of plans.

Couldn't find a slip in Ft. Lauderdale to leave the boat for a couple of weeks.  Its their busy time of the year and everywhere is booked solid.

On a friend's recommendation, I checked here in Ft Pierce, and Harbortown Marina just happened to have a slip open up that very day, and their monthly rate was half of what it would have been in Lauderdale!  So, we scooped it up, and made airfare arrangements to fly home earlier than planned.  We will leave the boat this Thurs, Dec 1, and return after Christmas.

So, this ends the first phase of our trip. The numbers so far:

Days Enroute:       44
Distance Traveled: 1123 NM
ICW Mile Marker:   965 (Statute Miles from Norfolk)
Engine Hours:        179.3
Gasoline:               199.5 Gallons
Oil Changes:          3
Memories:              Priceless


In late December we will return, reprovision the boat, and head for Miami/Key Biscane and on to the Bahamas!

[Ed Criscuolo]

Since our December hiatus back north for Christmas, we've had a whirlwind of activity.  Too much to cover in detail here.  See the blogs:

http://sv-dolce-vita.blogspot.com/
http://bahamas2017.blogspot.com/

A quick summary:

Left Ft. Pierce on Dec 29
Got to Miami, spent 10 days in Oleta River Park waiting for a weather window to cross.
Crossed to Bimini Bahamas on Jan 19.
Spent 5 days in Bimini waiting for a front to pass.
Have been to the Berrys, Chub Cay, Nassau, Allen's Cay, Normans Cay, Shroud Cay, Warderwick Wells, Cambridge Cay, Big Majors Spot.
Had to run south 23 miles 2 days ago to get to a sheltered marina on Cave Cay to ride out a westerly.

Still having a great time!

[Ed Criscuolo]

More change of plans. Based on available time, and skipped spots, we have decided to come back up the Exumas instead of going to the out islands.

We made it to Georgetown, our furthest point south and east on the whole trip!
N23 31.788'
W075 46.259'

It's cruisers regatta here, so there's over 300 boats in the harbor!! Activities every day. It's like a playground for adults!

We plan to stay for a week or so, then start heading north.

[Ed Criscuolo]

We stayed in Georgetown for almost 2 weeks, and rode out a 3-day front with winds up to 35kts.

Started back north on Friday, and spent 2 days off Lee Stocking Island, exploring the abandoned marine research station there. Kept looking over my shoulder for Velociraptors!

Now anchored just east of little Farmers Cay.