On our way

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Alan

Well we made it to Wichita, Kansas. What I found interesting about our trip so far is the fact that we avoided the “big cities” and traveled mostly rural Southern routes. When we went into stores the clerks would look at us real funny after hearing our accents. What was even more hysterical is that half the time we couldn’t understand anything they were saying. It was like traveling in a foreign country (we did better communicating in Mexico).

For some reason I became obsessed with Tornadoes (as we’re still in “Tornado Alley”). I know the chance of us encountering one is pretty slim, but still.

Well I found I’m not the only one. Last night we were at a campground in the sticks of Oklahoma. Guess what. They had a Tornado shelter on site.

Dodge City, Kansas tomorrow.

Posted in Roadtrip summer of 2012, Travel | 4 Comments

Leaving tomorrow

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Alan

Well it’s finally arrived. After weeks of planning and packing by Janice, it’s time for me to get started working. We’ll be leaving tomorrow AM so I have a lot to do. In order for me to accomplish anything I need to be under pressure. Guess getting everything done in one day might be considered pressure.

My job is mainly to prepare the boat and house for a hurricane which might arrive while we are away. In addition I have to have all my important files and programs transferred to my laptop. I need to register the boat and our cars as the registration will expire while we’re gone. I have to be sure the Post Office will forward our mail to my brother, make sure we don’t leave anything behind and other diddly stuff.

Oh yeah, I do most of the driving.

While this trip probably won’t be as exciting as our sailing trips it certainly will be easier. There is a certain sense of security knowing that our RV will be exactly in the same spot we park it in the morning. No worrying about the anchor dragging.

We’re bringing two still cameras and a video camera and will be hitting three National Parks during the trip so I have no excuse for not posting some interesting photos.

More to come!

Posted in Roadtrip summer of 2012, Travel | 5 Comments

Our next trip

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Alan

Looks like we won’t be sailing for a while (other than locally). We’ve decided we miss our friends on the West Coast. Here in Florida when one speaks of the West Coast most people think you’re referring to the west coast of Florida, e.g. the Tampa Bay area. No I mean the West Coast of the US.

As it wouldn’t be practical to sail through the Panama Canal again we’ll be driving our Roadtrek Class B RV. Check out the link in the right hand column to learn about Roadtreks.
The plan is to drive to Vail, CO. where we’ll be staying at the empty condo of a neighbor who was grateful that I fixed her virus infested laptop. We’ll be hopefully meeting up with a childhood friend and his wife who live near Denver. Then on to the National Parks in the Pacific Northwest followed by Portland where Janice’s friends and relatives live.

From there we’ll drive to Reno, NV where the annual Mensa gathering is being held in early July. Then on to the SF Bay area, Southern California, Bisbee AZ, Alpine TX (where my brother lives) and finally back home where we can begin sailing again. After all the name of this blog is Cat Cruising, not Roadtreking. Though I hope to have some interesting photos and adventures to share. Parking in Wal-Mart parking lots at night is always exciting.

Posted in Roadtrip summer of 2012, Travel | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Interim post

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Alan

Not much is happening since we arrived home. Soon after we arrived we hosted a Canadian couple from Nova Scotia. We had met them in the Chesapeake and invited them to stay at our dock while the were preparing their boat for the crossing to the Bahamas. They stayed with us for about a week while fixing an overheating problem.

We had fun and I’m sure they were pleased to get off the boat for a while.

They finally found a weather window and the last I heard they were in the Exumas.

Since then I’ve been busy trading puts and calls (my latest investment scheme). I’m actually doing pretty well considering this volatile market.

My hand has yet to heal since my anchor chain incident. In fact it’s getting worse. I’ve seen a hand surgeon and a physical therapist but still can’t make a tight fist. Luckily it’s my left hand and I don’t think it will interfere with our future sailing plans.

Janice is still recovering from our last trip so I don’t know when we will start our next, but I’ll be sure to let you know. In the meantime if I receive a few comments I might be encouraged to write a few more posts before our next trip.

Posted in Chesapeake, Travel | 10 Comments

Home!

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Alan

We reached our home dock at about noon today. Now the hard work of unpacking the boat, putting things away and re-organizing our lives. We’re thrilled to be back, but can’t wait for our next adventure.

Hope you enjoyed our blog.

I’ll have more to write when we go on our next trip.

Alan & Janice

S/V Latitude Adjustment

Posted in Chesapeake, Travel | Tagged | 5 Comments

Fort Pierce

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Alan

After motoring south on the ICW for 9 hours we’re now anchored in Faber Cove (a favorite of ours) in Fort Pierce. Only about 30 miles from home. I wasn’t going to write another post until we got home, but having a good wifi connection I couldn’t resist.

Tomorrow will be my last post (if I can get my home internet connection turned back on) until our next trip.

Posted in Chesapeake, Travel | Tagged | 2 Comments

Almost home

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Alan

We’re in Cocoa, Fl, just south of Cape Canaveral. One more days travel we’ll be in Ft. Pierce which is just about home (5 hours). We’re really looking forward to it. We love cruising (still) but after our 3 year trip we’ve had it being away from the comforts of home so 3 months is enough for this trip. It’s also getting pretty cold and with the wind on a sailboat, pretty uncomfortable. Today I wore a t-shirt, sweater, sweatshirt over that and an insulated jacket over that. I wore a wool watch cap. It was still cold. Our boat has air conditioning, but no heat.

Posted in Chesapeake, Travel | Tagged | 4 Comments

Back to Florida

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Alan

When we started this trip we were thrilled that after our overnighter on the outside we had left Florida behind. Now after an overnighter on the outside we are in St. Augustine, Fl and thrilled to be back in Florida. We had a beautiful moonlit over night sail about 15 miles offshore. The only thing ruining it was when I noticed on my chartplotter the phrase “Northern Right Whale habitat, do not approach within 100 yards of a Right Whale. I spent many hours worrying that we would hit a sleeping whale and sinking the boat. Even with a full moon I don’t think we could have seen a whale at night.

The weather is supposed to be terrible tomorrow so we will stay here in the mooring field for a second night.

Posted in Chesapeake, Travel | Tagged | 4 Comments

Flesh eating bacteria

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Alan

This AM after spending a night in the rain in an isolated anchorage between Myrtle Beach and Charleston we attempted to weigh anchor. The wind was 20kts with a 2 kt current in the opposite direction. The anchor rode instead of being in front of the boat, went under between the 2 hulls. We hard an awful time trying to raise it. At one point I grabbed the chain with my hand at the bow roller. I couldn’t hold it and in the process of trying to release it my hand was trapped between the deck and the chain. It felt like my fingers had been crushed. My first thought was that I had lost my fingers and wouldn’t be able to use my computer (my favorite activity). I soon realized my fingers were intact but the flesh was missing over 3 of the digits. There was blood all over the foredeck and some dripped all the way over the side deck into the cockpit in my rush to get inside and dress my wounds.

It took us an hour but we finally got the anchor up. My thoughts then went to the memory of a friend in Stuart, a retired physician, who was fishing in the ICW near Stuart. He cut the skin on his hand and within 2 hours was deathly ill. He went to the ER and told them he thought he had flesh-eating bacteria, and this was confirmed. This is a serious illness that can lead to death with 24-48 hours. I worried that if this happened to me I would be nowhere near medical care, and we didn’t have any antibiotics in our first aid kit (it wouldn’t have mattered as this infection needs to be treated with high dose IV antibiotics).

I sweated for the next few hours. I’m still here so I guess I didn’t get it <g>. I’m still a little concerned that my wounds might become infected, but at least I’d have some time to find medical care.

We expect to reach Port Royal inlet tomorrow and sail on the outside to St. Mary’s GA. That’s just a couple of days (and night) from Fort Pierce. Almost home.

 

Posted in Chesapeake, Travel | Tagged | 2 Comments

Stuck

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Alan

We’re anxious to get home but the weather isn’t cooperating. It’s expected for the wind to be 20-25 kts with gusts to 30 and seas 5-8 ft. until Wednesday. We try to be fair weather sailors. It’s one thing to be caught out in a storm but considering we’re safe on a free dock at a good restaurant in a nice town, Janice thinks we’d be crazy to leave with that forecast.

We hope to make up the time by finding a good weather window and traveling the ocean several days and nights straight.

As of now we’ll be leaving on Wednesday (but of course that can change).

Posted in Chesapeake, Travel | Tagged | 3 Comments