Newsletter Sep/Oct 2005

"The country boy goes to the big city!
He’s been lax on writing newsletters. "

Since I haven’t published a newsletter in a while I will try to give you a whirlwind tour of our adventures to catch you up. In the future, I’ll try to be more expedient about writing.
New York, New York, the town that never sleeps. Yes, sports fans, the crew of Pipe Dream made port back in New York City. Jutta and I left Newport and Narragansett Bay bound for New York. We arrived on Aug 29 and tied up to a mooring buoy at the 79th Street Boat Basin on the Hudson River (79th Street and Broadway in Manhattan). All total we stayed 10 days in New York and didn’t waste a second. Jutta and I toured art museums, took in two Broadway shows, explored China town, Greenwich Village, Little Italy, Ellis Island, and walked Central Park on several occasions. We stayed busy and on the go every waking hour. On Labor Day we caught the subway to Brooklyn for their Caribbean Fest. This is the largest single day event held in New York. I had never seen so many people. There was an all day parade and exotic food booths were tempting us everywhere. Yes, you were probably thinking it, there was also tons of beer!!!
A lot has happened in the last two months. Pipe Dream had developed engine problems and we knew it was time to make some much needed repairs. We left New York and sailed down the coast of New Jersey until we reached Cape May. From there we piloted Pipe Dream up the Delaware River through the C and D Canal to reach the Chesapeake Bay. Our destination was the Boat Show in Annapolis, Maryland, held the weekend of Oct 8 thru 11. We needed to talk to marine engine distributors and try to find a place to have Pipe Dream’s power plant replaced. Our search was successful in finding a marina to change out our engine. We intended to pay for it with our lottery winnings but our luck didn’t hold long enough for our lottery ticket to win. We left Annapolis to cross to the eastern shore of the Chesapeake to Haven Harbor Marina to have a new Yanmar engine installed. (If any mariner reading this newsletter needs any work done we highly recommend Haven Harbor Marina in Rock Hall, Maryland.)
Exactly two weeks to the day, October 30, we cut the dock lines, bundled up in every piece of clothing we could find on Pipe Dream, and motored out of the marina/shipyard bound for points south. We even purchased long underwear the weekend before we left. I used to make fun of the winter visitors (snowbirds) arriving in Arizona every winter. Now I understand why they run from the cold weather. Pipe Dream is not set up for the cold. Our cockpit is not enclosed and we don’t have heat on the boat. We left the shipyard in forty degree weather standing in the wind with a cup of hot coffee and covered in goose bumps. Our one pair of long underwear is holding up just fine and we don’t need to wash them until they stand up by themselves.
Our travels south, after leaving Chesapeake Bay and Norfolk, Virginia, are taking us down the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW). We took an alternate route on the ICW and spent two days motoring through the beautiful Dismal Swamp Canal which presented itself in full autumn colors ending up in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The city, built on the waterway, offers fourteen free city docks to visiting yachtsmen and hosts a wine and cheese cocktail party to all yachtsmen if there are at least five boats at the docks. The key word is free!!!! To offer a free cocktail party to a cruising sailor is like announcing the bank is giving away free money. I’m sure it doesn’t surprise you that the zany crew of Pipe Dream attended the party and stayed until the wine and beer were all gone.
We have finally reached a city from where to send the newsletter. The zany, cold crew of Pipe Dream has pulled into Beaufort, South Carolina. We drove right up to a marina, pulled out our visa card, tied Pipe Dream to the dock, hooked up the electrical, and cable TV. All those other cruisers anchored out in the channel think we are a couple of visiting millionaires in town for the holiday. We will stay tied to the dock for four days and enjoy Thanksgiving. I hope they serve a good free Thanksgiving dinner at the local homeless shelter.
Every month I try to end my newsletter with a little humor but not this month. I need to give you a little insight about the cruising sailor. In most of my newsletters it seems our cruising life is made up of spectacular beauty, profundo sensations, parties with friends and our luxurious ability to travel 100% of the time. We don’t sit home in our recliner and read the paper and watch the news on TV every night. We take life as it comes on a daily basis. Today we might be having fun and tomorrow we might be out on the ocean fighting the elements. We grab life by the balls everyday. Two weeks ago we received notice that our very good friend and cruising buddy Bob Willmann lost his boat “Viva” to Hurricane Beta on the Columbian island of Providencia in the Western Caribbean. Bob is safe but his boat was a total loss. Upon receiving the news Jutta and I poured a glass of wine, went up on deck, and to a beautiful sunset toasted to “Viva Bob” (as he is known) and to the cruising lifestyle. We hope his future journeys will take him back to the Sea.
The crew of Pipe Dream wants to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving. If the temperatures don’t warm up soon, we will be asking for some clothing donations from all of you. One pair of long johns will only last so long.

From the decks of Pipe Dream
Ferdy and Jutta