Newsletter October 2007

The Kids are going back to the Islands to play

Jutta and I are back and getting Pipe Dream ready for the trip to the Caribbean. In the last newsletter we had just returned to the boat from our summer vacation. I say it that way so you don’t think we play all the time! This life isn’t easy but someone has to do it!
We left Savannah and headed up the Intra Coastal Waterway to Annapolis, Maryland and the “Annapolis Boat Show”, our favorite. Our first night on the waterway was in Beaufort, South Carolina, the most beautiful little town you will ever visit. “Prince of Tides” was filmed there. As we were pulling up the anchor in the morning, the windlass (anchor winch) was making lots of nasty grinding noises. It was time to take it all apart and fix it. Not to fear, another day in the life of a sailor. In a couple of hours Jutta and I had it fixed, lubed and put back together. As we pulled up our 69# anchor we also pulled up a 10 speed racing bike. What a stroke of luck, we thought at first. After hanging over the bow for almost an hour to get the barnacle encrusted rusty bike untangled from the anchor chain while Jutta drove Pipe Dream back and forth in the narrow estuary, luck never again entered my mind. We should have known this was the start of things to come. The next day the master head (toilet) stopped working. A sea plant was growing in the raw water inlet hose and had wound through the pump assembly. A few days later our instant on demand water heater stopped working. Had to replace the water pump. Then we finally got sick of our “snaking” autopilot and decided to dig deeper into our cruising kitty to replace it. Keep in mind the word “BOAT” means bring over another thousand. I did find a way to save lots of money and keep the barnacles off of the bottom: Instead of paying someone to scrub the bottom, I ran aground several times in the waterway. If that doesn’t knock the crap off the bottom I don’t know what will? See, this life isn’t always a walk in the park.
In Georgetown, South Carolina, Jutta and I took the dinghy to town (our family sedan) to buy some fresh shrimp from the shrimpers’ dock market. After our purchase, and a couple of happy hour beers we decided to return to Pipe Dream for a Thai-shrimp dinner. To prevent theft, we always lock our dinghy to the dock. During our absence the tide had come in and we found that our lock was four feet under water. This was a great way to start a romantic evening, stripping down in your dinghy at the town dock and diving down four feet in the dirty water to unlock the dinghy. This year seems like one thing breaking after another. Sorry, but weighing all the negatives, repairing the boat is still better than working!
Everything appeared to be ok until we reached Norfolk, Virginia. It was a very windy day and Jutta and I were sailing through the huge harbor marveling at the enormous military fleet. Norfolk Harbor has about the same amount of traffic as a Los Angeles Freeway. Two large sport fishers cut in front of us at full speed in the main ship channel. We stood there in the cockpit staring at their large wakes heading for Pipe Dream. Realizing at the last minute that all the hatches were open, Jutta raced downstairs to close them. Pipe Dream rode over the first huge wave, then dove into the second wave like a sub marine sending a wall of water three foot high completely down the length of Pipe Dream. I was at the wheel and was almost knocked down by the tsunami. Jutta got down into the salon just in time to be doused by two giant waterfalls entering through the hatches. As you can guess, we had three inches of water in the main cabin, and galley. Both couches and all the rugs and pillows were soaked in salt water. We headed for the first marina we could find and spent several days washing everything. Ah, a perfect day in the life of a sailor. It’s too bad Jutta isn’t as fast as she used to be!!!
We finally did make it to Annapolis and the boat show. We had a wonderful rendezvous with our good buddy “Viva Bob”. If you read about the shortage of rum on the eastern seaboard, he was the probably cause. We also ran into some cruising buddies (“Dulcinea” and “Kachina”) we had met in Mexico six years ago and Brian and Lisa on their new boat “Wasabi”. See, it really is a small world!
The week of the boat show Corina and Jochen, Jutta’s niece and her new husband arrived from Germany for a visit on Pipe Dream. We were very excited at their arrival and rolled out the red carpet. The first evening, we had dinner on the boat and put them to bed for the night. There was a slight breeze but Pipe Dream was in the inner harbor tied to a mooring ball. It seems Jochen does much better on dry land. He managed to “feed a lot of fish” all night long. The next morning, he got a taste of the American medical system. Twenty minutes at the doctor, a pat on the butt and a few pills, and he felt better. I’m sure the $150.00 fee made the doctor feel a lot better, too. After that adventure, they decided to spend the next night at a hotel. What a bunch of sissies!
After Annapolis, we had an uneventful trip down the Chesapeake and the waterway to Florida. It was nice to spend a few days at Bruno’s Zoo in Fort Lauderdale again. Brit and Dano rolled out the welcome carpet and cooked us a fabulous dinner.
Well, that about wraps it up. Sorry it’s not very exciting. Jutta and I will sail east for the Caribbean in the next couple of weeks. I’m hoping our next two or three years down in the islands will be more entertaining. Until then, keep sending your dollars to the “Help Ferdy Cruising Fund”. Things are breaking faster than I can fix them. In closing remember these words from Ben Franklin, “We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing!”


From the Decks of Pipe Dream

Ferdy and Jutta