Our Return Home

The following 2 videos are shared because we were unable to load them in our last posting. The first will show how beautiful it can be sailing out on the water. The second we took while motoring through the Great Dismal Swamp. As you will see, it is awesome, scenic and definitely NOT dismal!

 Sailing the Chesapeake

from Norfolk to Deltaville

 

 Motoring the Great Dismal Swamp

to Norfolk

Kimtory off the Jersey Coast
Before the fog set in

We stayed in Cape May, NJ from 5/26/12 until the morning of 5/30/12.  The weekend of the 26th was Memorial Day weekend and we had learned by now that holiday weekend boating was crowded and rough due to endless wakes from weekend power boaters.  No offense but the number of power boats encountered is in direct correlation to the number of inconsiderate a**holes you'll encounter.  I can't begin to tell you the number of times we were overtaken by large power boats who would intentionally create the largest possible wake while sitting on their aft decks laughing and gesturing as they watched us being rocked unmercilessly to and fro.  You have to wonder at the mentality level of people who get off on this type of behavior.  Therefore we stayed at Utsch's Marina through the Memorial Day weekend planning to leave early Tuesday morning for our trip up the Jersey coast.  As is always the case the weather would dictate our schedule and we didn't leave Cape May until Wednesday morning the 30th of May.  A strong storm system was moving north by northeast.  The morning we left it was off the coast of Virginia.  After extensive conversations with Kimtory we estimated we had approximately 24 hrs to get up the Jersey coast ahead of this storm system.  We all took a deep breath, cut the lines and headed out into the north Atlantic through the Cape May inlet. I would be remiss if I didn't give credit for the in depth weather analysis to Frank and Denise.  We had first met Frank and his crew mate Denise in Jacksonville Beach a year and a half ago.  We chatted over breakfast one morning and found out they were from Ithaca, NY and headed to the Bahamas.  We would not see or hear from them until we crossed paths at Utsch's sixteen months later.  We shared cocktails with them on board Kimtory and Frank gave us an analysis of the weather system bearing down on us.  If we didn't leave Wednesday morning it was certain we would be in Cape May through the weekend.  We were all anxious to get up the Jersey coast and decided to leave Cape May the next morning.  After the weather briefing Frank and Denise shared with us some of their sailing adventures over the intervening months.  We were all in stitches at some of the predicaments they got into and somehow managed to get out of.  Both are true adventurers and a fun couple to pass some time with.  At last report they were continuing their sailing adventure and heading back to the Bahamas.

Once again the 24 hrs off the coast of New Jersey was not kind to us.  Although wind and seas were calm we encountered heavy rain less than an hour out of Cape May.

 

After sunset off the Manasquan Inlet we were in fog as thick as pea soup.  Kimtory tucked in off our port stern and we managed to stay in sight of each other until day break.  The fog lifted as we entered Atlantic Highlands.  It was this shared experience which bonded our close friendship with Keith and Katie.  We remain in touch to the present day.

Keith & Katie

We were on a mooring in Atlantic Highlands when the storm system caught up to us.  We spent the next 24 hrs rocking and rolling unable to visit our friends on Kimtory less than 50 yards away.  At 0630 hrs on Saturday morning 6/2/12 we said goodbye via cell phone to our friends on Kimtory. They waved to us from the cockpit of their boat as we sailed away.  As was the case many times over the course of our journeys it is hard to say goodbye to the close friends with whom you've shared such unforgettable times.

The trip through New York harbor was memorable.  Being early Saturday morning shipping traffic was light.  Once again we saw Lady Liberty up close and personal.


Lady Liberty

As we approached the tip of Manhattan we could see clearly the changing shape of the New York City skyline.


The rebuilding of the World Trade Centers rose ever closer toward the sky.  Sailing Club races were starting in the Hudson River and joggers and walkers were visible all along the west side of Manhattan.  We travelled to many places over the past year and a half.  Each stop along the way held fond memories.  However as we sailed up the Hudson River on this sunny Saturday morning there was no doubt in our minds, "WE LOVE NY"! 

World Trade Center
rebuilding

The next two weeks we made stops in Haverstraw, Kingston, Catskill, and Waterford on the Hudson River.  Amsterdam, Ilion and Sylvan Beach on the Mohawk River and Erie Canal.  We stayed in Ilion for a week to make dentist/doctors appointments and register our car.  My sister Becky assisted us greatly by letting us use her car until ours was on the road.  Over a twenty two month period our journey on board Dalliance had taken us over 3600 miles, through nine states with a total live aboard time of just under thirteen months.  In addition we lived five additional months on board Dalliance at the Fair Haven Yacht Club.  In between our lay up at Indian town Marina in April 2011 and our return to Dalliance in March 2012 we lived in Belize, Central America and completed construction of our seaside home.  We'd like to extend our sincere thanks to all the people who made our journey a success.  We know without the support of family, friends, fellow sailors and marine service providers our journey would not have been possible.  Our future sailing plans include a return in May to Dalliance who's spending the winter on her cradle at Bayside Marina in Fair Haven, NY.  We'd like to continue our explorations of Lake Ontario next summer getting to ports on the west side like Niagara-On-The-Lake and Toronto.

We plan to continue posts from our home in Belize and other future ports we find interesting on our journey through life.  Stay tuned.

Return To Fair Haven Continued

We left Morehead City, NC on the morning of 5/9/12 heading for Oriental.  Our stay at the Portside Marina was brief but memorable.  The owner Denard was one of the nicest people we met on the entire trip.  He met us at the dock when we pulled in and helped us tie up the boat.  We were out of propane and he sent one of his workers across the bridge to Beaufort to get our tanks topped off.  He really couldn't do enough for us.  All this while the marina was undergoing major repairs from storm damage caused by Irene the previous fall.  Denard really showed us what southern hospitality is all about.

Over the next several days we really moved north.  Single night stays at Whittaker Creek in Oriental, NC, on anchor in the Pungo River, the Alligator River Marina and again on anchor in the Great Dismal swamp preceded our arrival in Norfolk, Va. on 5/13/12.  Contrary to it's name the Dismal Swamp is beautiful.

We didn't know it at the time but Waterside Marina in Norfolk would be our home for the next 8 days.  Tropical storm Alberto the first named storm of the season would make sea conditions intolerable for the eight days.  Sixty and seventy foot yachts would leave Waterside Marina each morning only to return a couple of hours later due to rough seas both in the Chesapeake Bay and off shore.


Dalliance at Norfolk
Calm before the storm



 

We stayed put and enjoyed the sights and sounds of Norfolk, Va.  Highlights of our stay included dinner at an Irish Pub with Hoss & Dottie from S/V Skye, Mother's Day dinner at Joe's Crab Shack, cocktails onboard S/V Kimtory with Keith & Katie, a tour of General Douglas MacArthur's tomb and memorial.

The Happiest Tugboat ever!!

We would meet up with Skye and Kimtory several more times on our way north.  Hoss, Dottie, Keith & Katie became close friends.  We left on the overcast morning of 5/21/12.  By mid day the sky had cleared and the Chesapeake was calm.  We arrived at Dozier's Marina in Deltaville, Va @1430 hrs.  After taking the courtesy car to town for provisions we joined the Norfolk crew on the deck for happy hour.  A good time was had by all! 
After a quick layover in the Solomons we arrived back in Annapolis, Md on May 25th.  It was hard for us to believe it had been a year and a half since our last visit to Annapolis.  We love Annapolis and believe it is the premier sailing port on the Chesapeake and probably the entire east coast.


Annapolis from our mooring

Two of our favorite hangouts in Annapolis are Chick & Ruth's deli where we get the best crab cake sandwich we've ever had and the CastleBay Irish Pub for Guinness and corned beef.  After a one night stop at Summit North Marina in the C&D canal we were on our way down Delaware Bay to Cape May, NJ.
While at Summit North our friends Ann & John from S/V Luna drove up from Baltimore and spent an evening with us on board Dalliance. It was great to see them, catch up and reminisce about our travels together through Virginia and North Carolina a year and a half ago.

Anne & John - s/v Luna
aboard Dalliance

We arrived at Utsch's Marina in Cape May, NJ late in the afternoon of 5/26/12.  The trip down Delaware Bay had not been an easy one.  We battled fog in the C&D canal early in the morning and wind and rough seas most of the afternoon in Delaware Bay.


Navigation aid on the Delaware Bay

We were happy when we finally entered the Cape May canal where we found sanctuary from the high wind and seas.  We'll pick up our next post from our stay in Cape May.  Stay tuned.

Our Return To Fair Haven

South Dock-FHYC

We arrived back to our old slip at the Fair Haven Yacht Club on 6/20/12.   We left Sylvan Beach, N.Y. at 6:15 am and arrived at the Yacht Club at 6:15pm.  The weather was beautiful and Lake Ontario was flat as a pancake so we just kept going.  We were met at the dock by our long time sailing companion Barb Servadio and fellow Yacht club members Tim & Chris Criss.  It was an emotional return.  As we've stated many times missing family and friends was one unanticipated draw back to our travels.  Somehow being back at the Yacht Club for the summer made everything seem alright.

Rainbow-part 1
FHYC

Rainbow-part 2
FHYC

Our engine problem was resolved in St. James Plantation a Marina on the intracoastal waterway a few miles south of Southport NC.  It turned out to be a worn out washer on the bleed screw located on top of the fuel pump.  Once the washer was replaced the engine ran fine.  Kris and I enjoyed the trip back much more than we did the trip down.  We've discussed the reasons and believe longer daylight hours allowed us to travel more miles each day, we were familiar with the route, we were much more relaxed and confident in our abilities.  Also we're certain the intracoastal generally had higher water levels in the spring time than we experienced in late fall and winter.  Notoriously shallow portions of the intracoastal such as Jekyll Creek, Little Mud River, and Hell's Gate posed no navigation issues for us on our return.  It's hard to report all the highlights of our trip back to Fair Haven but I'll relate a few that stand out.  We met a wonderful couple Ron and Marg Cyr at Palm Cove Marina in Jacksonville Beach, Fl.  They were travelling on their 36' Albin trawler "Meander". 


Meander @ Fernandina Beach

Ron and Marj winter at their home in Punta Gorda, Fl.  They were moving the trawler to their summer residence in Shelter Island, NY.  We made great time travelling together  through Fernandina Beach, the state of Georgia and South Carolina to Georgetown.

Sunset
Fernandina mooring field

We parted company in Georgetown, SC.  We left Georgetown on 5/3/12 and headed to N. Myrtle Beach.

Docks @ Georgetown, SC

On the way we called an old friend from our work days with the CNYDSO.  Buzz Purrington and his wife Sue make their home in Myrtle Beach.  They met us that evening at Barefoot Landing in N. Myrtle Beach. We enjoyed catching up and had many laughs over stories of days gone by.   On the morning of 5/7/12 we entered the mouth of the Cape Fear river at Southport, NC.  The weather as unsettled with high winds out of the east and a strong rising tide in the river.  With the wind and current behind us Dalliance was pushed up the river at a consistent 9 knots.  This is virtually flying on our sailboat.  We arrived in Carolina Beach a full two hours ahead of schedule and made one of the best mileage days of the entire trip staying in Surf City, NC that evening.  The following night we arrived in Morehead City, NC.  It was here that we first saw the devastation caused by hurricane "Irene" the previous year.  High water and winds took out entire Marinas and many were just now beginning to return to normal operations.

Loading ship
in Morehead City


Some will never re-open.  From Morehead City through the Hudson River and Erie Canal we would hear the stories and witness the devastation this storm caused to our coastline and inland waterways.  We're doing these postings from our home in Belize.  We now have the time to devote to our blog and intend to do so.  Stay tuned for the next installment on our Return To Fair Haven.

Fair Haven Or Bust!

We're sitting in a slip at the Titusville Municipal Marina in Titusville, Fl.  This is the first time we've tied up to a dock since we left Indiantown Marina on 4/1/12. We had visitors as we washed the boat. See video above. Dalliance's commissioning went well and she is in pretty good shape after spending almost a full year on the "hard" in the harsh Florida environment.  We had a section of our teak toe rail replaced as dry rot had set in.  We've stayed on moorings at Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart, Fl,  Vero Beach Municipal Marina Vero Beach, Fl and on a private mooring in Telemar Bay Eau Gallie, Fla.

Fellow sailors, Jon & Libby from Fair Haven
 on the hard at Indiantown 

We had a soft grounding incident in Vero Beach which required our first tow by Towboat US.  We're also experiencing some problems with our engine.  After the engine warms up it will stall when the throttle is put into neutral.  We've changed all the fuel filters, adjusted the idle speed, tightened all fuel lines and cleaned the fuel vents.  I'm going to treat the fuel with injector cleaner and hope the problem will be resolved.  All things considered our problems pale in comparison to those others are experiencing.  Friends we met on the way down were returning from the Bahamas when their transmission malfunctioned in the intracoastal near Fort Lauderdale.  We don't know how the problem is being resolved but we're sure it won't be cheap.  As we mentioned in our last post from Belize we decided not to bring Dalliance into the country.  The main reason is the extreme heat during the summer months.  The heat index in the months of August, September and October rose as high as 120 degrees.  The heat index is a combination of the air temperature and the relative humidity.  Suffice it to say it was REALLY HOT!  Having Dalliance back on Lake Ontario gives us a boating option in a cooler climate during the summer months.   We're a little over 100 miles into our 1600 mile journey back to Fair Haven NY.  Check in over the next few weeks for periodic updates.

Good-bye for now to the beach at ShanKri-La

Life In Belize II

Marc & Alex on our veranda

Welcome back to Dalliance's journey!  I know it's been a long time since our last post but we've been very active over the past few months.  Our son Marc and his girlfriend Alex visited us for a week in early November.  We packed a lot of activity into those 7 days.    The Belize Zoo, the ruins at Lamanai, the baboon sanctuary, cave tubing, zip lining, a couple of days on Caye Caulker fishing and
snorkeling gave Alex and Marc a look

Fresh fish dinner we caught

at the best Belize has to offer. 

Zipline Tour

Belize Zoo

Sailing/snorkel trip with Juni

Climbing Lamanai

Cave Tubing

 

Alex feeds a baby howler monkey

Kris and I travelled back to central New York for the holidays leaving on December 8th and returning on January 4th.  We booked our flights out of Cancun Mexico.  This was the first time we went through Mexico to fly home.  We normally fly in and out of Phillip Goodson International airport in Belize City but flight schedules and costs have become increasingly prohibitive.
 We decided to try Cancun and spend a few days exploring the Mayan Riviera on our drive up and back.  A round trip flight from Belize City to Syracuse would cost approximately $1650 for both Kris and I.  On the return flight we would have had an overnight lay over in Atlanta (not fun).  Our round trip tickets out of Cancun cost us $1050 and the flight was direct to JFK and then a short hop on to Syracuse.  We were able to get very nice accommodations two blocks from the white sand beaches of Playa Del Carmen for $56 per night before the holidays and $66 per night after January 1st.  Off season rates are available until the middle of December which marks the beginning of the peak tourist season on the Mayan Riviera.

Playa Del Carmen

Shuttle buses take you directly from Playa Del Carmen to the Cancun International airport in about 45 minutes.  The trip up and back was very relaxing on comfortable Coaches that had movies to entertain you on the 5 hour ride from Chetumal to Playa Del Carmen. A taxi took us the 15 miles from our home across the border to the bus station in Chetumal Mexico.  We liked it so much we are taking the same route when we return to Dalliance on March 20th.  Upon our return to our Belizean "digs" we continued to peck away on the house.  Small projects such as installing towel bars, coat hooks, window blinds and painting have kept us occupied over the past month.  Our next door neighbors to the south arrived last week and we've spent some quality time getting to know each other.  Dave and Wendy are wonderful people and we're thankful we have them for neighbors.   By way of follow up to our post "Life In Belize" we're including some photos of private residences located in the Mayan Seaside, Consejo Shores and Wagner's Landing residential developments in the Consejo area.  As I mentioned previously we are rejoining Dalliance at the marina in Indiantown Florida on March 20th.  We expect to spend two weeks getting Dalliance ready for a return trip to Fair Haven Yacht Club back in good old New York.  We plan to spend the summer living aboard Dalliance.  Our dock mates for over ten years Sam and Barb Servadio will spend the summer with us living aboard their sailing yacht "The Summer Wind".    We're extremely excited to be reconnecting with our long time sailing partners for a summer of sailing adventure on Lake Ontario.  For those of you who have followed Dalliance's Journey from the beginning you're probably wondering why we're not bringing Dalliance into Belizean waters.  The explanation will have to wait for a future post.  I've got to get back into this slowly.  Stay tuned there's alot more adventure to come. Enjoy the pictures that follow.

Entrance to Consejo Shores



Pier at Mayan Seaside

Mayan Seaside-"Toucan House"

Consejo Shores home

Neighbor Dave & Wendy to our south

Rob is our neighbor to the north



WELCOME to our home

Our 'ShanKri-La'