May 18th

Nearly 10 days ago, we left Wilmington NC to travel the 300+ miles to Norfolk VA where we were to meet up with our friends, Joan and Steve Edmonds, and prepare for the next leg of our journey. Before leaving, we had a close encounter with the "baby" of the alligators in the marina basin. Just had to say good-bye!! Cute, isn't it?

We arrived at Salt Pond Marina, at the south end of Chesapeake Bay, last Monday afternoon, May 14th. We tucked into our slip across from Colorado Cat, a 44' Endeavor Trawler Cat, just before two days of wind arrived. Coincidentally, Steve and I nearly bought the same boat but couldn't get one in a timely fashion.

After giving the Turkey a well-deserved bath, getting Steve to the hairdresser, and doing some errands, we sent Steve to the airport to catch his early morning flight to Tulsa OK and the spring cow sale at our friends' ranch in Skiatook, OK.

Salt Pond Marina Office

Our trip from Wilmington took us up the ICW through Swan Point near Camp LeJuene where the marines were practicing for their "maneuvers", I assume, in Iraq or places nearby. Kind of eerie plowing waters through the base with fatigue-clad men (and maybe women) crawling over the sand dunes with BIG guns on their person!

Our next major city was Beaufort NC and then stopping in a quaint little town, Oriental NC. For history buffs, Oriental is the sailing capitol of NC as it opens directly into the Neuse River which takes you to the Pamlico Sound and the Outer Banks. There is plenty of deep and wide open water for sailboats to open up in. We had planned on staying in Oriental and checking out the surrounds but due to our prolonged stay in Wilmington and a plane date in Norfolk, we stayed the evening, had dinner with our friends , John and Julie, then pressed on.

After leaving the Pamlico River, the ICW takes a trip through some quiet rural areas, across Albemarle Sound, the North River, and Currituck Sound before entering the Norfolk Shipping Channel to exit into the Chesapeake Bay. After spending so much time in the "ditch", it was quite a wake-up call to hit big water again!

Steve and I were impressed with all the military activity in the area compared to our last trip through here 3 yrs. ago. Hampton Roads has always had a huge military presence but certainly more so now. With as many warships in dock as there were, it made us wonder just how many ships this country does have? Langley AFB is just up the road so there is always plenty of air activity as well. Joan and Steve's daughter, Brittany, is in the AF and was deployed here for 3 months from Enid OK. Her husband is a pilot based in OK...for now.

Steve gets back from OK tomorrow evening...Sidney will be sooooooo happy! Monday will find us departing Salt Pond Marina north up the Chesapeake Bay to the Solomon Islands. We had hoped to travel outside up the VA coastline to Cape May NJ but weather (actually wind)is not cooperating. After the Solomon's, we'll finish our northern trek up the Chesapeake, through the C&D Canal, down the Delaware Bay to Cape May then north up to Atlantic City where we will spend the Memorial Day weekend. Maybe THEN I'll have something exciting to report.

May 9th

Steve and Sidney are sooooooooooo excited!! We're going to try it again...leave, that is! Yes, the transmissions are in and WORKING. We have one more little thing to be done, throttle adjustment, and the tech is to be here "first thing in the morning" to remedy that issue and then...we're off to catch up to Colorado Cat sitting in Norfolk VA.

Can I tell you we're all so very glad that this episode is over with. And, in a timely fashion as Andrea, the first sub-tropical storm of the season, has exited the area and left us with calm winds and smooth seas. We'll see how long it lasts!

So, until next time, thank you for sharing our journey thus far. Hopefully, we'll have more exciting adventures to relate next time.

Week of May 5th

HAPPY CINCO de MAYO

Before we go any further, some have asked "what is the Loop" all about? We've been talking about it for so long, I forget that we were as uninitiated as perhaps some of you. So, here it is....
The Great Loop is a circle of the inland waterway and the open ocean comprising about 6000+ miles. One can start the Loop from anywhere but we started in Miami Beach FL. From there, we are transitting the eastern seaboard to the NY Harbor. After visiting the Stature of Liberty, we will move north up the Hudson River to the Erie Canal near Albany NY. We will traverse the Erie Canal and exit at Oswego NY to cross Lake Ontario to Trent, Ontario, Canada. The Trent Severn Canal is like the Erie Canal in that it was built by connecting existing waterways to serve as a means of commerce years ago. We'll "vacation" along the Trent Severn Canal which will connect us to the Georgian Bay and North Channel, both protected northern bays of Lake Huron. At the end of the North Channel, we will cross to Makinac Island and the western shore of the state of Michigan. We'll marina hop down the coast of Michigan and cross to Chicago then north to Waukegan where we'll rest and visit with Joan's sister. About the second week of September, we'll head into the Illinois River, connect to the Mississippi River, down to the Ohio River, up to the Cumberland River, over to the Tennessee River, up to the junction of the TomBigBee River, down to Mobile AL, have some work done on the boat, transit the ICW to Apalachicola FL, across the Gulf to Tampa FL, down the western coast of Florida to the Keys, through the Keys and up the eastern side to our slip in Miami Beach. All by Thanksgiving. Then home for X-mas with the Kids.
We consider this an exploratory trip as we'll never be able to spend enough time in any one place to really experience the area. As with many other people who have done the Loop, I expect that we'll head back again one day.
Meanwhile, on our way....

Here at Wilmington Marine Center, sitting on the stern of the boat, I can view the traffic heading up river on the Cape Fear. While somewhat surprising, the Cape Fear is a noted commercial river and Wilmington serves to transfer a fair amount of cargo. Usually, at least one cargo ship passes by each day.
And, this is what keeps us occupied as we wait for ZF to arrive on Monday to install our new transmission along with various other parts and pieces to make the boat run again.
In the interim, we pass time shopping, doing laundry and other various and sundry chores on the boat. Here's Steve after he finished his shopping for fresh fish for dinner. Mott's Fresh Seafood is near Wrightsville Beach and has served to supply us with fresh fish, this time Wahoo, everytime we pass this way. Usually, however, we arrive by boat...not by car! This same day, we found a Starbucks and thank our coffee angels for that! We were nearly out of coffee and a disaster would have happened if we didn't have our coffee. Never mind that mine is decaf these days...a remnant of being bitten by a crab.

And, our other bit of entertainment is watching the resident alligators. There are three that we know of...sort of like the Three Bears...Momma Alligator, Baby Alligator, and Daddy Alligator. We've seen the Momma and the Baby but Daddy, a reported 10' specimen, has yet to appear. The baby likes to swim up to boats and hang out watching whatever activity is going on. Sidney is justly attracted to the little guy but wisely stays near the boat.

Otherwise, our week of "waiting" has been filled with various and sundry boat duties along with Claire finishing a few of her knitting projects. The grandbabies are going to be grown and gone if she doesn't pay attention. Rain helps to focus her on the projects as the boat can't be waxed or worked on when Mother Nature is showering us with liquid gold.

Sorry we don't have anything more exciting to report. Living in a boat yard is not the most interesting sport in the world. However, it has caused Claire to start running again...next to swimming, it is her favorite thing to hate. Thank Gawd for IPODS. The boat yard is not close to anything and Wilmington is not a bike friendly town so we're relegated to "on site" activities. Hopefully, next week will find us traversing the ICW headed to Norfolk and our rendezvous with Colorado Cat.

Week of April 28th

At the Boat Hospital, Carolina Inlet Marina, NC

At anchor, Wrightsville Beach, NC

This will be known as the week that wasn't. As planned, we left Wilmington Marine Center for Carolina Inlet Marina to get hauled for a wheel tune. For the unaware, this means some pitch needed to be taken out of our props because there is too much "stuff" on our boat and it wouldn't go fast enough. By Tuesday, we were back in the water with full intentions of moving north after a delightful evening at Wrightsville Beach, a favorite anchorage of ours. But, that was not to be.

While sea-trialing the boat after the wheels had been tuned, we noticed a small vibration...not bad but irritating. But, we continued on to Wrightsville while Steve talked with our engine guru, Tom DeMann. The engine tech was to be on our boat in the morning, Wednesday, so we dropped anchor and prepared to enjoy the rest of the day.

There is a fresh fish market near where we anchor so after getting the dinghy down, we loaded Sidney and headed for the market where we picked up some Wahoo for the grill. As often happens, as we were leaving the market, Steve looks over at a nearby fishing boat and says "don't we know that guy?". Of course, I said no but after looking again, it turns out it was Daniel, a guy who attended Chapman's with us in 2002. Now, how about that as a coincidence! He was in the process of restocking his boat to head out for another few days of commercial fishing...by himself about 50-60 miles offshore in 4-5 foot waves. Not for us!! After dinner, we took Sidney to shore and walked him on the beach. Idyllic...sun setting, a nice breeze, and plenty of running room for Sid. Topped off the nite with a scoop of ice cream from a local outlet.

Wrightsville Beach is a major resort and vacation area in these parts so there are plenty of little restaurants, coffee shops and junk stores.

Wednesday morning we take Sidney to shore for his "duty". Off to the beach...so good to be able to walk him and enjoy the ocean at the same time...or so we thought. It seems we didn't read the sign correctly...not only are dogs not allowed on the beach April-Sept. but when they are allowed, they must be on a leash. Busted by a Beach Officer on both counts. We apologized, leashed him up, and headed back to town. Their signs are kinda strange in that they are big, for sure, but misleading unless you REALLY read them. They start out with a big NO followed by all the no-no's...including no dogs allowed. Well, all we saw was "dogs on the beach April-Sept" and "on a leash all other times". Completely missed the NO!! No ticket so the day was not ruined and we did have about a mile or so on the beach before we were "caught"!!

Duane arrived to finish the throttle repair and deliver our 2nd set of wheels. Further discussion regarding the vibration and we're heading back to Wilmington on Thursday...bummer big time! Another nite on the hook isn't so bad.

Arrived back in Wilmington and Friday Duane is back on the boat. Finds the alignment is just fine but there are bigger problems to come. Seems our port transmission is giving us fits. Final determination: replace the transmission. That process begins on Monday and if our travel Angels are with us, we should be back on the road, again, by Thursday or Friday. Remember, this is a boat and we're in a boatyard...anything can, and usually does, happen. While I'll try and remain optomistic, I'm also pragmatic.

The good things: we're healthy, we're with our engine guru and not in the wilderness somewhere, and the weather is wonderful.

So, while Steve digs through our holds cleaning and organizing, I clean and wax the stainless, a job I put off until it HAS to be done. Next is the cockpit, or the rear of the boat, since I haven't cleaned and waxed it in quite a while. It's our major living area outside so hard to do when the rest of the boat is waxed. Great way to get a tan! And, yes, kids...I put on sun lotion every two hours.

Once we do get out of here, we will be deadheading (major straight through) to Norfolk so we can get Steve on the plane May 17th. Hope all is well with each of you. Any comments on this blog are welcome...just email us at cdernie@aol.com. Happy Days.

Manatee off our swim platform...Miami

Sunday, April 22, 2007

The "day before departure" has arrived. With clear blue skiies and warm temperatures, we ready the boat for her trip down the Cape Fear River to Carolina Beach where she will be hauled for final maintenance. The leaky injector pump was deemed to not be an issue thus all the Turkey needs during her final check-up is to fine tune the wheels and tighten up the throttle mechanism. After all is finished, we will head up the NC ICW towards Beaufort NC and our next destination, Oriental NC.


The past few days have been spent in relative quiet. The boat had a new coat of 3M Performance Wax applied to the upper decks and gunnel, the inside had another cleaning, various and sundry items were put back into their normal storage quarters and Sidney got his grooming for the week. One can always tell when that happens as there are little balls of hair floating all over the boat basin. Honestly, I can't figure out how he can lose so much hair and still have such a heavy coat left on him! And with the onset of warmer temperatures, he'll lose even more. Thank God for vaccum cleaners and specialized hair brushes for dogs!


This morning was an interesting morning as we saw our first alligator. Small though it was, it was confirmation that one really does need to keep the dog within sight at all times. The gator was sunbathing on the edge of the basin nearest our boat. By the time I got our camera, he was out of sight. So we headed off to the grocery store to provision for our next week without sight of fresh fruits or veggies.


Once we leave here, we'll travel about 50-60 miles a day which means we'll be in Oriental in about 3 days barring any unforeseen issues with mechanical issues or weather. We met a retiring Marine Corp officer in Miami Beach just before we left. John was taking his newly purchased Island Packet sailboat up to Oriental where he lives with his wife. We'll, hopefully, tie up to his dock and spend a couple of days checking out the area. Steve is not terribly fond of the heat and humidity of late spring and summer in this part of the country but I don't mind it at all. Oriental is on the Neuse River just west of the NC Outer Banks and just a short trip either north to Norfolk VA or south to Beaufort NC; both are easy trips to the ocean. And, there is great fishing so what's there not to like!


Once there, we will search for an open wifi connection but, if none is available, we'll talk when we can. Take care for now.

Week of April 15th

Though I said this wouldn't be done, after reflection, decided that it would be easier to post weekly summaries rather than try to remember (I'm getting old!) everyone I want to send emails to.
This blog will be our story of traveling the Great Circle from Miami Beach Fl, up the Hudson River, through the Erie Canal, across Lake Ontario, through the Trent Severn Canal, the Georgian Bay, North Channel, down Lake Michigan, across to Chicago, to the Illinois River, the Mississippi River to Cairo then onto the Ohio, Cumberland and into the Tennessee River, up the TN River to the Tenn-Tom Waterway, down the Tenn-Tom to Mobile, home for the holidays, then on to our berth in Miami Beach.
We started our Adventure April 2nd from Miami Beach FL with our friends, Rick and Joan Bullock, aboard to Charleston. While uneventful, Mother Nature prevented us from traveling outside. Other than 2 days, we have been on the ICW. Nice but slow. We made a few stops along the way, including Cumberland Island and Savannah. On Cumberland, we saw a gaggle of Wild Turkeys (name of our boat) but no wild horses. In Savannah, we tried to have dinner at Lady and Sons (of Paula Dean fame) but were unable to get a decent time for a sitting. The town is laid out around many lovely parks (reminiscent of Denver) and is noted as the first planned city in the US. We loved the antebellum homes and old live oak trees covered with spanish moss.
We reached Bohicket Marina after 10 days of cruising where we dropped Rick and Joan off. They live on John's Island on a golf course. We were here nearly 3 years ago and how the landscape has changed. Of particular note, Freshfield Farms. A must for anyone traveling through here. It is near the intersection from John's Island to Kiawah Island noted by a traffic circle. Not only is there great shopping but it has a grocery store to die for! If I would have bought everything I wanted to, the boat would have sunk! True to a fine grocery, there was a Starbuck's.
After two days of visiting and meeting their newest grandson, Jackson, we headed to Wilmington NC and the Wilmington Marine Center where we are currently at the dock. Mother Nature had again been displaying her curious nature hitting us with 35-40 kt winds with gusts to over 50 so we tied up in North Myrtle Beach for the weekend and tried to wait her out. Monday brought continuing winds so, since we were somewhat protected by traveling on the ICW, we left the dock and headed to Wilmington. All was fine until we hit the Cape Fear River at Bald Head Island. Here, the tide was going out and the wind was howling making for unruly seas. So, we buttoned all the hatches, put on our weather gear, and headed up river to the Marine Center. It was a fun ride, for sure! And you know it was a bad day when there weren't any other boats on the water! But, with our travel angels at our side, we made it here safely.

Here, we are getting our 800 hour engine maintenance done. This maintenance is extensive including cleaning of all major engine parts and search for any potential engine issues. Afterwards, we'll go to another marina where we'll have our props rebalanced and alignment done. Hopefully, we'll be ready for the Loop without concern for major engine issues.
Meanwhile, as you all know, I am not at all fond of cold weather. So far, we're still wearing long clothes and warm jackets. There have been a few days of "warmer" weather but nothing where we can drive the boat from the upper helm station. And, after reading blogs of past adventurers, it doesn't look like this trip will be much warmer until mid-July. The good part is that we'll have less sun exposure which will make my kids happier.
Sidney continues to loose his hair in massive quantities meaning I have to vacuum everyday at least once. What would we do without him? He doesn't mind boating as long as there isn't any big water. In these parts, Steve is always careful to remind me to watch out for alligators!
Time out: We'll be here for a while. Seems we have leaks in our injector pumps. Always something! Don't know what this means in terms of time delay but for sure we'll be here until next week. Bummer!! Our only concern is getting Steve to Norfolk to catch a plane to OK on May 17th...it's Bull Sale time at the Ranch. Guess we'll have to rent a car to go shopping and revisit Wilmington!! Oh well.......
Until next time, thank you for sharing our adventure. We'll try and keep you posted on a weekly basis, and include appropriate pictures from time to time but will be dependent on WiFi availability. Canada, in particular, is going to be a dead space unless we find marinas with wifi capability. Hope you enjoy.