Tally-Ho and off we go, after much planning and provisioning we finally got to leave the dock  for our trek to the Chesapeake.   We are now into day 3 of the trip and after a beautiful night at anchor at Titusville we are on our way to St. Augustine.  The first day out of Vero, Joe and Ruth Ritter aboard Ruth Ellen joined us and Jack and Betty Broomell for a nice dinner at the Eau Gallie Yacht Club.  That's all for now more to come as we poke along at Mock Turtle.

Carol and Bruce Hess Rear Commodore of the Eau Gallie Yacht Club joined us all for dinner.  Be assured we maintained the VBYC reputation of having fun at dinner.

Well some time has gone by since we wrote the preceding and we are now at  Palmer Johnson in Savannah.  Two nights ago we anchored in the Fredrica River in Georgia.  Nice place very secluded.  Last night we anchored in Kilkenny Creek, front came through blew like stink but was a cool beautiful clear night.  Had BBQ hamburgers on the grill and enjoyed a beautiful sunset, in fact the sunsets over the marshes  the last two nights were beautiful.  This morning awoke and found a couple of shrimpers anchored  nearby but they left before we could find out if they had any shrimp for sale.  

Jack and Betty on escapade are about a day behind us, Erv and Karen are about five days ahead of us.  

Next few days we are going to take some time off and sightsee.  So for the next week or so we will be taking it real easy with a day travel and a day sightseeing, maybe even writing a few emails.

Hope we can send this email today.  


We are into day 8 of the trip and are settled into Skull Creek Marina on
Hilton Head Island.  We are taking a day off after a week straight
running.  One chore is finding a place to send and get emails, Theresa is
out solving that problem, right now, as I write you all.

On the way we visited at a couple of yacht clubs a couple of marinas but
the memorable nights were those anchored out in the swamps of Georgia. 
One would meander their way up small channels till you saw no one, then
drop the hook.  At sunset like birds coming to roost the sailboats would
come in, sometimes one, sometimes several.  Between the saw grass and the
sailboat masts every nights sunset was beautiful, windy with a strong
current but beautiful.  Holding is no problem as the Georgia mud seems to
swallow your anchor.  The only problem is getting it back in the morning
as with most things it is easier to give than receive, but the old
windlass does it's job and we are back cruising looking for the next
place to plant an anchor and enjoy a sunset.   A couple of nights, when
the wind was really howling we were joined by a couple of shrimp boats. 

Going through Georgia is going from one sound to another with many creeks
and rivers in between.  Many sailboats are going north and we keep
passing the same boats over and over.  But we are in the routine of
between 50 and 75 miles a day, just enough to cover some distance and not
get tired of the trip.  Still a long way from the Chesapeake but we are
just chugging along at 8 knots.  Covered about 500 miles, the way the
river bends not as the crow flies, so far about half way.  The next week
we are cruising one day and visiting the next.  Here at Hilton Head, then
Beaufort S.C., then Charleston.   Then we start moving seriously again.

Will keep you posted, aey matey.  (a little salty talk)

Day 15 of the trip north has us in Charleston and the last week was one
of a lazy trip with us covering only about 100 miles, at most.  Took some
time off to sight see in Hilton Head, Beaufort S.C , and Charleston.  

Last weekend in Beaufort, when we thought we were spending too much time
there, we were pleasantly surprised on Friday night when we went for a
walk and  a youth orchestra from the local high school had a concert in
the park on the waterfront.  The setting was delightful and about two
thousand locals, didn't know there were that many people in Beaufort,
showed up for the event.  We sat on a swinging bench on the river front
and enjoyed music, which was surprisingly good, from classical to Sound
of Music to the Beatles.  A walking tour of the old part of Beaufort the
next day revealed true southern homes, large porches spacious rooms
beautiful gardens.  I half expected Rett Butler to come out of one of
them and chase the Yankees away.  

The tides are as much as ten feet so care must be given when anchoring,
or one may be surprised in the morning with that dry feeling one gets
when one does not have enough water in the system.  

Charleston is geared for the tourists but it is done in a nice way.  We
did do the tourist thing with a carriage ride through the old section of
town, but was much the same as Beaufort.  In fact, it would appear that
the homes in Beaufort were in better repair than here in Charleston.

Off tomorrow and this next week will be devoted to making some time going
north, but if the truth be told the waterway is getting a little boring
and we are beginning to miss the yearly trips to the Bahamas.

Deltaville.
Well we got here and are starting to enjoy the hospitality in Deltaville,
VA.  But getting here had some special times to let you know about.

The crossings of the  much discussed sounds and rivers went off without a
hitch, maybe a little sloppy, but made you feel as though you were on a
boat again.  The intracoastal feels like the I-95 of waterways and these
little open passages are a welcome break. 

I thought NOAA only made mistakes in Florida, so I am glad to report to
you that the folks in this area also have the joys of  NOAA’s  accurate
forecasts.   There forecast predicted a pleasant passage to Deltaville
but an hour into the trip it was confirmed their forecasting practices
were just as good as they are in Florida.  

But we are getting ahead of ourselves,  when arriving in Norfolk we
looked for a place to drop our hook, but there was no room in town and
designated anchorages.  The cause was OPSAIL 2000, the tall ship event
which was scheduled for the same time.  We then got a call from Erv and
Karen Roberts on Southern Star who were a few days ahead of us, that the
Virginia Beach Power Squadron had a barge positioned in the designated
anchorage just across the area where some of the vessels were to tie up. 
The best news was we could tie up for the night to the barge and enjoy
the views of Norfolk.  Needless to say we jumped at the opportunity.  Now
these kind folks are also practical folks.  No sooner that we arrived I
was pressed into service running a shuttle.  Seems they needed to get the
barge set up for the big event and were short shuttle operators.  The
last run was at ten in the evening.  But I must admit it was interesting
and a lot of fun with these great people.  They are special and if you
are a USPS member look for the piece about the event in the “Ensign”.

During this trip we have been fortunate with no failures, but on arriving
in Deltaville our Fridge decided that passage was enough and that fridge
did not want to continue on. But it could not have picked a better place
to retire.  Our friends from Vero who have a summer place here in
Deltaville, Marlene and Dave Brooks lent us their car, actually for the
duration of our stay here (talk about good folks) and we had a
replacement in place by three in the PM.  Their freezer and fridge saved
our food, which was significant.   

In the next couple of days Dave will be taking us crabbing and fishing,
his passion. With all the crab cakes Marlene is making and their Virginia
hospitality we will probably leave here ten pounds heavier and many times
grateful.

We will leave here in a few days and make our way up the eastern shore
then head to Baltimore and points north.  But we have no schedule and
will go as the mood hits us, and the bow of the boat points.  

We left Deltaville after a week with Marlene and David Brooks.  We had a
great week and so far the highlight of the trip.  Great folks as those of
you who know them can attest.

The Roberts went on to Washington and we headed for the eastern shore of
Maryland.  A sloppy ride to Crisfield, and we were greeted by the
Crisfield Air Force.  As we turned into Tangier Bay the Air Force
squadrons, which consist of green flies, attacked and were so numerous
our anti aircraft swatters and bug spray were not up to the job.  We
tried surrendering but they would have none of it and just kept
attaching.  Ducking and weaving from the attack we worked our way into
Crisfield’s Sommers Cove Marina at which point the attack stopped.  We
counted the dead and the fly body count was very high but I really think
it was fly friendly fire that did it.  

Crisfield was a nice surprise as the Virginia Beach Power Squadron again
was there to insure our time was enjoyable.  They were having a gathering
of the Power Squadrons for the lower Chesapeake at which time they were
to have a predicted log contest to see which squad was the best. 
Virginia Beach won by two seconds and I am here to tell you they know how
to celebrate a victory.  As Honorary members of the Virginia Beach Power
Squadron, they did try to get twenty dollars out of us to make it
official but I was content with the honorary title, we were included in
the festivities of the night which was a buffet dinner at a nearby
seafood house with the Southern Chesapeake group.  After which time we
drifted back to the Commander’s boat and had another, or the same party
(don’t know how to differentiate) till the wee hours of the morning.  The
Virginia Beach Power Squadron is known as the “ First in the Bay”  and we
are sure that also goes for partying. 

Salisbury MD was a nice surprise.  We decided at the last minute to visit
there as the Bay was really bad for a crossing to Solomon’s.  It is
twenty miles up a river and somewhat out of the way, but we feel worth
the trip, as the facilities are nice, people special, the trip different
and food very good.  That may be out of order of importance.  We stayed
two days and the Bay was still up so we decided to stay another.  Two
things happened here to confirm my warm feelings about this town.  Our
VCR broke and we needed to get another.  I asked the dock master where I
could get one and if we could ride our bikes to get one.  He would not
hear of it and gave us the keys to his new truck and directions on how to
get to the shopping center.  Then said he was going to be at the marina
till four so we should take the truck and explore the town and
surroundings.  The next was when we returned to the marina he told us
since they did not return our phone calls when we were trying to make
reservations the extra day at the marina was on Salisbury.  This only
gives you a small idea of the hospitality of this town.

On to Solomon’s where we met up with the Roberts and enjoyed a week
including a great Fourth of July Fireworks display.  Our dock was the
perfect place to see the display, so after a  BBQ cookout with the
Roberts we rode our dinghies over to our dock for a night of fireworks. 
We did explore quite a few restaurants during the week.

We are now in Oxford, Theresa and Karen Roberts are out looking over the
town, so that’s all for now and more will come as the computer turns.
Rocking along the waves,

Theresa and Vince Palermo