A short sail to Koko Head

Today was a little unusual, a high pressure system passed over which switched the wind opposite the trade winds.  It was a rare opportunity to have a relatively subdued sail beyond Diamond head along the coast to Koko Head and Hawaii Kai.  The other pleasant side effect of this high pressure was a beautifully clear day!

Oahu, HI at Sunset

We sailed through some beautiful sunsets on the last two voyages.

The video is from our first trip sailing up the shore of Oahu past past Perl Harbor followed by a night sail back to the Ala-Wai harbor.

The image gallery below is from a trip out past diamond head.  We were just off Waikiki when the sun finally set.

Open Water Sailing

Tried a bit more adventurous sail today.  We had 4-6 waves and a stiff wind out past Diamond Head. Sails like this one into open water are a great way to try something a little more exciting!

Sail to Worton Creek, MD

June 17, 2013

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We left Havre Da Grace after a nice cup of coffee at Jana’s Java with a new friend from the marina. The wind was again coming from the south, not very strongly at first, so progress was slow. Toward the evening however, rainclouds built up off the western shore and brought some sprinkling rain and stronger winds to us. We enjoyed excellent, if wet, sailing down the bay.

As the clouds continued to build on the western shore, we decided to head in a little earlier and anchor in the sheltered mouth of Worton Creek. Kris fired up the grill again and cooked us a delicious dinner of burgers and sweet corn. After, we explored the nearby shores a bit, discovering a great deal of driftwood on the northern shore of the inlet. This beach had good evening bonfire potential, but perhaps for another night, as more rain seemed to be heading our way. Kris and I got the dingy over to the boat just in time, the rain beginning to patter and ripple across the water.  Glad we’d put up a makeshift canvas tent to cover the cockpit, Kris and I watched the sun set and the steady rain settle in.

IMG_2322Storms passed over us in the night, more than we had thought were predicted and certainly more than we had the previous night in Havre de Grace. Though we turned about in the shifting winds, the storms seemed to be passing, and the anchor was holding well. Then, around 11:30, a hurling gust ripped across the water. The boat healed over from the force of the wind and the canvas tore loose. Barefooted and barely able to get our jackets on in time, Kris and I rushed out into the cockpit. I felt as though someone had dumped an icy bucket of water straight over my head. Everything, everything was soaked instantly.  The torrential downpour half blinded us with water, but we were able to quickly rescue the canvas, tie up the bimini, and batten down the hatches. Then we stayed up, awaiting storm front after storm front until we felt sure that the anchor would hold and that the worst was over. We’d seen much stronger storms, but that blast of wind caught us off guard, nature reminding us that just when you think the storm’s past, she’s not finished yet! Perhaps next time we see storm clouds rolling in, we’ll be sure to fully batten everything down, not matter how light the storm may seem.

 

Havre de Grace, MD

June 16, 2013

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Kris and I explored the nearby inlet off the Sassafras River this morning. The charts indicated that the depth would be too shallow for our 4 ft draft, but upon further investigation via dingy, we believe that we may have been able to slip through the narrow opening and into the protected area beyond. Several power boats had anchored there the night before and were enjoying a morning on the beach. This would be a lovely place to stay if you have a boat with a shallow draft!

The wind was still coming from a southernly direction, so Kris and I decided to lazily zig and zag back up and across the bay a little way to Havre de Grace, MD.  We’d heard that this was a nice little town on the bay and would be worth a visit. Besides, storms were forecasted for the evening and a marina and safe harbor for the night would be welcome.

We motored up the channel to Havre de Grace on the Susquehanna River.  On the way we passed a few tiny islands off the channel where power boats and a few sailboats enjoyed a Sunday swim and a little beach time. It looked like fun, but we decided to pull into the Tidewater Marina early and have time to explore town a little.  Havre de Grace is a good place to enjoy a relaxed walk in the shade after a hot day on the water, visit the quaint lighthouse and maritime museums on the south side, stop in a few shops up on the north side, and perhaps grab a bite to eat and an ice cream cone after. Not much was open on a Sunday afternoon, unfortunately, so we would recommend stopping by on a Friday or Saturday if you’d like to visit this little bay town.IMG_2277

We’ll await the forecasted storms tonight, tied up at the docks.

Spot Specs:

  • Marinas: Havre de Grace City Yacht, Havre de Grace Marina, Havre de Grace Marina at the Log Pond, Penns Beach Marina, Tidewater Marina
  • Restaurants: there are a variety of different restaurants in town. We enjoyed Nonnie’s Brick Oven Pizza, Bomboy’s Homemade Ice Cream, and Jana’s Javas.
  • Shops: toy shops, antiques, decoys, gift shops, and more
  • Museums: Havre de Grace Maritime Museum, Havre de Grace Decoy Museum
  • Lighthouse: Concord Point Lighthouse, small, but still offers a nice view for a short climb to the top
  • Lafayette Trail: historic tourism trail marked through town by a painted blue line and numbers that correspond to information in a tour pamphlet. We procured one from our marina office.
  • Parasailing: Old Town Parasail

Tangier Island, VA

May 3, 2011

Houses beyond the island marsh.

Tangier Island. A quiet place, removed from the hustle and bustle of the world. Imagine a New England fishing town taken from the shore and plopped down on its own little island, left to its own for decades. The people are all very friendly and glad to have you. The inlet is littered with docks, crab traps stacked on shore, and small motor powered crabbing boats. The houses are almost all whitewashed, a few handfuls of paper homes all placed along narrow paved roads. There are but a few trucks on the island. On a cool spring evening, the small streets are buzzing with golf carts, teens and children on bicycles, and those out for an after dinner stroll. Everyone here knows everyone else on the island, so do not be surprised if the town’s people give you a taken aback stare before saying hello. There are a few small restaurants and gift shops on the island, but the shops are only open in the summer for the short tourist season. Signs all around the island give insight into the island’s history. My favorite was the large purple painted house that was apparently imported from Dublin for a Tangier resident.

We pulled into Parks Marina for the evening. Mr. Parks is eager to talk with travelers. He and Gary hit it off beautifully. We were not the only travelors to find safe harbor at the Parks residence. Mr. Parks is kind enough to feed the stray cats on the island. Among all the feline visitors walks Mr. Parks’ big old dog (whom Kris and I lovingly dubbed the “Dingy Dog”). He keeps watch over the dock, and greets you with a slow tail wag. Bathrooms are provided in the dock house for your convenience. It’s a slow paced, sleepy place to be, and it suited us just fine for the evening. Tomorrow we are off on my last leg of the trip, up the Chesapeake further to Annapolis, MD.

Down the ICW to Tangier Island, Virginia

May 1 – 2, 2011

We traveled up out of the Palmilco Sound, down the ICW, and out into the Chesapeake Bay. On the ICW, the cool air and lift bridges that we came upon along the way reminded me of the Erie Canal. We even went through a lock!
A word to the wise, however. The bridges and the lock on this stretch of the ICW are interestingly timed. There are hours during the working week that most bridges are closed, due to heavy traffic. If you are planning on passing through here, I recommend that you do it on the weekend, as the bridges will typically open open upon request on Saturday and Sunday.
As we grew closer to the Chesapeake, more and more buildings and developed areas popped up along the ICW. Near the north end we encountered numbers large tug boats, huge cargo ships, and some military ships as well. Once we’d entered the Chesapeake, the crab traps began dotting the water. They lead us all the way up to our last stay before Annapolis: Tangier Island, VA.

Roanoke Island, North Carolina

We stayed on Roanoke island for our Outer Banks visit. Roanoke Island was one of the first places in North America to be settled by the English. It was first discovered by the British in 1585 by Richard Grenville on a mission organized and financed by Sir Walter Raleigh. When Richard left the island, he left behind several men with the promise of sending settlers soon after.
Here is the Wiki article on the rest of the history of Roanoke:

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In 1587, Raleigh dispatched another group of 150 colonists to travel to Roanoke and preserve the newly found land of Roanoke. They were led by John White, an artist and friend of Raleigh who had accompanied the previous expeditions to Roanoke….On July 22, 1587, White and his men arrived back at Roanoke and set out on a mission hoping to find the Englishmen that Sir Richard Grenville had left behind the year before. They had found nothing except for what they thought may have been the bones of one of Grenville’s men. On July 23, 1587, White appointed his men to dive off of the North end of the Island in another attempt to find the remains or evidence of Grenville’s men. They were counting on these men to help with the affairs of the new colony, but when all of their efforts turned up nothing, they gave up without hope of ever seeing Grenville’s men living.[1]
On July 30, 1587, White and his men traveled to the neighboring Island of Croatoan in an effort to determine the disposition of the people of that Island and to see if they could find an ally in them. At first, it seemed as though being allies was not an option, but as they began to converse and negotiate fine details of the history of relations between the two Islands, it became apparent that they would be able to trust and rely on one another.[1]
On August 18, White’s daughter Eleanor gave birth to the first English child born in the Americas, Virginia Dare. Before her birth, White re-established relations with the neighboring Croatans and tried to re-establish relations with the tribes that Ralph Lane had attacked a year previously. The aggrieved tribes refused to meet the new colonists. Shortly thereafter, a colonist named George Howe was killed by natives while searching for crabs alone in Albemarle Sound. Knowing what had happened during Ralph Lane’s tenure in
the area and fearing for their lives, the colonists persuaded Governor White to return to England to explain the colony’s situation and ask for help. There were approximately 115 colonists—the 114 remaining men and women who had made the trans-Atlantic passage and the newborn baby, Virginia Dare—when White returned to England.

Because of the continuing war with Spain (Anglo-Spanish War), White was not able to mount another resupply attempt for three more years. He finally gained passage on a privateering expedition that agreed to stop off at Roanoke on the way back from the Caribbean. White landed on August 18, 1590, on his granddaughter’s third birthday, but found the settlement deserted. His men could not find any trace of the 90 men, 17 women, and 11 children, nor was there any sign of a struggle or battle. The only clue was the word “Croatoan” carved into a post of the fort and “Cro” carved into a nearby tree. All the houses and fortifications had been dismantled, which meant their departure had not been hurried. Before he had left the colony, White had instructed them that if anything happened to them, they should carve a Maltese cross on a tree nearby, indicating that their disappearance had been forced. As there was no cross, White took this to mean they had moved to Croatoan Island, but he was unable to conduct a search. A massive storm was brewing and his men refused to go any further. The next day, they left.

The end of the 1587 colony is unrecorded (leading to it being referred to as the “Lost Colony”), and there are multiple hypotheses as to the fate of the colonists. The principal hypothesis is that they dispersed and were absorbed by either the local Croatan or Hatteras Native Americans, or another Algonquian people; it has yet to be established if they did assimilate with one or other of the native populations.”

Ye Old Pioneer Theater.

We stayed in the town of Manteo, named after early settler’s Croatoan guide. The town is in Dare County, NC, named after the first born British child in the colonies. The town was quiet as most things open up in the summer for the tourist season. The people of Manteo are a pleasant and friendly. Kris and I chatted for a good hour or so with one of the workers at Ye Old Pioneer Theater, an independently owned movie theater that has been in business since 1918. The marina we stayed at was right across the water from the replica of the Elizabeth II, the ship the colonists brought over to the new world. One thing is for certain, Manteo is filled to the brim with history.

Flying Away: Kitty Hawk, Jockey’s Ridge, and Kite Boarding

The Outer Banks are famous for long beaches, sandy dunes, and…wind. On a nice breezy day you can see kites of all colors and shapes flying up and down the beaches. The ocean is dotted with windsurfers and kite boarders, kits and sails zipping through the air. In this wind swept place, on the desolate dunes, the Wright brothers became the first men to fly on their own power. Here the breath of the skies plays constantly over the ever shifting landscape.

Kris is airborne!

Our first wind adventure brought us to Jockey’s Ridge, the largest dunes on the Banks. It’s here that Kitty Hawk Kites gives hang gliding lessons. Kris took to the skies here a few years ago. Today, however, the gliders were furled and put away, as the winds were gusting up to 45mph. That couldn’t stop Kris from flying his power kite! With the sand stinging our skin, the power kite took to the sky. Kris made several jumps and drags. The kite lifted him up into the air about 9ft at one point. After 20 minutes of flying, Kris put the kite away, his body sore and a smile on was his face. Now that was some crazy flying!

A replica of the Wright brothers\’ first flier.

We headed north to the Wright Brothers Memorial. Here we saw replicas of the brothers’ 1903 glider and 1904 flier. The flier was the first power driven airplane that was successfully flown by man, if only for 12 seconds. We saw the dunes were they flew, now a great grass covered field. The winds were ripping across the land. It was easy to see why the Wright Brothers chose this place to test their airplane, with the steady winds and the wide open spaces.

Kris and the power kite field.

Kris couldn’t get enough of the wind sports, and when he got a chance to take a kite boarding class, he had to take it up. The weather was glorious in the morning when we dropped him off at the Kitty Hawk Kite site, but by noon and wind had died down. Kris had learned everything about flying the kite in the water, but he hadn’t gotten a chance to actually get on the board. Sadly, the actual kite boarding will have to wait for another day. Still, it was an excellent way to round off our wind driven adventures.

Looking Back: Edisto Island and Charleston, South Carolina

April 15 – 19, 2011

On this long stretch of days, my mom came for a boat visit. She arrived Friday night in time to celebrate my birthday with us. She, Kris and I explored Botany Bay the following day and later took Spin for a dingy ride down the marsh creeks. The 17th was a traveling day for the Krasnosky’s as the moved the boat to Charleston and a Mom and me day for my mother and I. We spent the day in Charleston mostly, just meandering down it’s beautiful streets, taking photos and enjoying ourselves. We all wandered Charleston on the 18th. The following day we had to bid my mom goodbye. Kris and I later visited Fort Sumter to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War.
It was an extremely eventful week! I’ll let you all view it via the photo gallery: