August 6, 2013

Tyler on the bow as we navigate the St. Peter Canal and enter the Bras D’Or Lake

The Bras D’or Lake is the Nova Scotia equivalent of the Great Lakes – an inland sea in the middle of Cape Breton Island with beautiful harbors and sheltered anchorages. One key difference is the Great Lakes are fresh water, while this is 75% salted. This is perhaps cruising at its best! After passing through the St. Peter Canal, we stopped in the town of St. Peter and reunited with our friends Kristina and Atle on Summer Star. We explored the town and hiked back to the canal and along the shore. We had a nice dinner out with some live music. Then it was on to Little Harbor, a short trip north where we met up with Milt and Judy on Bluewater. Summer Star soon joined us and we also met some new friends, Tish and Rob aboard Kittiwake, a 75-foot custom steel boat. Rob is 86 years old and a lifelong merchant mariner. He joined the Navy in 1943 at age 17 and was aboard a Navy ship at the battle of Iwo Jima. Since then he has captained every imaginable kind of vessel, including super tankers, research vessels, passenger ships, and even sailboats. He is a walking encyclopedia of maritime knowledge and a delight to spend time with. His wife Tish is an accomplished mariner in her own right and she and I have had some great adventures together. We exchanged boat tours and enjoyed seeing the design of Kittiwake, which Rob and Tish designed and had built. Rob also gave some sextant lessons to Tyler, who is interested in learning celestial navigation.

Tish and Rob with Kittiwake

Little Harbor is a beautiful anchorage and it was just our four boats anchored there. We explored the area by kayaking, biking, and hiking and enjoyed the feeling of quiet and solitude. There is a restaurant ashore, run by a German couple who have made part of their beautiful log-cabin home a restaurant, where we enjoyed a very nice meal. Aside from that, there is not a commercial establishment anywhere to be seen. The main road has very little traffic and there are many nice places to hike.

From Little Harbor, we traveled north to Baddeck, again meeting up with Bluewater and later also joined by Summer Star. We anchored in Herring Cove, a nice spot just north of the town where we stayed for a couple days. Baddeck is a great small town where Alexander Graham Bell had a summer house and spent a lot of time. We enjoyed visiting the Bell Museum and learning about Bell’s many interests and accomplishments aside from the invention of the telephone. Among other things, he was very involved in early flight and also developed hydrofoil boats. 

Washabuck River

Bradley returned to the US for his father’s 80^th birthday party in Florida, so we moved the boat to a more sheltered anchorage at Indian Point in the Washabuck River where we would be safe during his absence. Only a few miles from Baddeck, which we can get to easily in our tender, the anchorage is peaceful and isolated – we see more bald eagles than people here. It also offers some great adventure kayaking and hiking. We were soon joined in the anchorage by Kittiwake and I was joined by Atle and Kristina and later by Tish on long kayak trips up the river. Atle and Kristina were anchored near the town dock, so we had to transport their kayaks to our anchorage; luckily they fit nicely into our tender. On every kayak outing, we saw at least one and often more bald eagles as the undeveloped shoreline of the lake makes it a natural attraction for them. Birds of many kinds are plentiful and we saw two families of ducks with large broods and many species of land and sea birds. Our kayaking took us through some areas that had not seen humans for awhile as we had to find ways around many fallen trees and other obstructions along the way. I also explored many of the small coves on my own, marveling at the feeling of peace and solitude and the sheer beauty of the landscape.

Kathy marks the trail on the wilderness hike

Though there are no real hiking trails that we could find, Tish and I did some wilderness hiking. We saw some trees that had been marked with orange tape, making us wonder if there was a trail. It turned out to be a property line that had been surveyed which allowed us to follow the markers for awhile but they soon ran out. Not to be deterred, when those markings ran out, we contined on, marking our own trail as we went. Just to be safe, we carried a hand-held GPS and VHF radio, as it is easy to become disoriented in the wilderness! After “bushwhacking” for nearly an hour, we ran out of trail-marking material and headed back, taking time to enjoy the forest with its beautiful pines as well as deciduous trees, many kinds of moss and ferns, and even some wild blueberries which were small but good! Bug spray kept the deer flies at bay and long pants protected our legs, so we emerged relatively unscathed and feeling like true explorers.

Kathy and the ferry driver

I enjoyed a round of golf at the beautiful Bell Bay golf course with views overlooking Baddeck Harbor, found a few geocaches, and discovered a couple nice hiking trails in Baddeck. I also took the free ferry over to Kidston Island, a 5-minute trip across from Baddeck where there are two lighthouses, a beach, and a nature trail. The “ferry” is a small platform with a little outboard motor used to make the 200 yard trek from the town dock to Kidston Island. However, it requires a “Safety Assistant” selected from the passengers to be in charge in case anything should happen to the Captain. On my trip, I was selected and listened as the captain explained that I was responsible for ensuring all passengers remained seated with their life vests fastened. He also explained how to turn off the motor and radio for help in case of an emergency. I even got to wear a “Safety Officer” badge. Oh, did I mention,there was ONE other passenger onboard. I’m please to report that we arrived safely in both directions! 

Milt and Judy on Bluewater set off for Newfoundland while Randy and Rebecca on Argo arrived in Baddeck. One of the best parts of this season has been the opportunity to cruise with other people and we have really enjoyed the chance to spend time with our old and new friends.

There is a short (5 min) video titled Why We Cruise, which shows some of the highlights of our last month, including the unique experience of being mooned by a bald eagle! Check out the Shenandoah page for some new photos. I am way behind on book reviews, but will include some in my next update! See brief technical update below photos. I’ve included below a few more photos from our time in Lunenburg. Click any photo to enlarge and send us a reply or comment – we love to hear from you!

Technical issues

The last time I reported on technical issues we were awaiting receipt of a replacement inverter from Mastervolt. I’m happy to report that the inverter arrived shortly after that post and has been installed and working without problem ever since. In that same post I had reported on some modifications made to our tender to replace the large center seat with a lean-bar to create more space. Photos of the before and after are below.

July 21, 2013

This blog entry is co-written by Bradley and Kathy. Bradley’s text is in RED and Kathy’s is in blue.

Sid and Stef at the Roseway River in Shelburne

We are now in cruising mode. What does that mean? Well contrary to what many perceive, we do not just sit around being waited on, reading and sipping cocktails. Not that we are complaining in any way; just trying to balance the perception a little. Unlike waking up at home we have to manage our environment. Each morning, we wake, turn off the anchor light, check the house battery level, start the generator to charge the batteries, manage the load to minimize the run time and usually take on a boat project or two. Often we have to reboot something before we have internet access, carefully study the weather from multiple sites, and most importantly plan our eating for the day, as often there are not restaurants or stores close by. Food has to be defrosted or retrieved from some storage area on board.

Shelburn, Nova Scotia

For us, checking the weather is not just a matter of turning on the morning news for a couple reasons; our satellite TV system believes we reside in the NY area so we only get the local channels from NY. Besides, we are not that interested in temperature and precipitation – we are more concerned with wind and seas so we need specialized marine weather forecasts. If we have internet access, it’s easy, but if we are out of range, we are set up to receive forecasts via email over our satellite phone and also through a Sirius/XM satellite radio service. When we check weather, we will look at 3 to 5 sites and try to blend the information to determine the weather not only for the day but for the next several days. Is there a major storm coming, high winds, or other major weather issues? It is not unusual to have completely opposite information presented. Take 20 July in the Bras d’Or Lakes region of Nova Scotia. One site called for a perfect cruising day – winds slowing clocking around in the 10 to 15 knot range, with the likelihood of some thunderstorms late afternoon.

Shear Madness in Shelburne

A different site called for winds from the East, clocking south in the 20 to 25 knot range, with gusts into the high 30’s. This is quite a large difference that would affect one’s decision to move and where to move to. We decided to place our faith in the first site, which proved to be accurate. We had a perfect day moving the boat 12 miles to an incredible little Cove – Little Harbour. So why is the weather so important, other than the obvious concern for major storms? When in cruising mode and anchoring in place of staying in a Marina, the weather and most significantly the direction and strength of the winds are critically important to where one anchors. While if the winds are below 20 knots, it is not as critical, it still can affect the comfort onboard. In a perfect anchoring world, one wants to be anchored where the winds fly over a short distance of water, before reaching the boat. This way the waves do not have a chance to build up and we sit very comfortably. This is even more important for boats that are smaller and lighter. Given we displace approximately 240,000 pounds we can be comfortable where other boats are wondering why they are cruising. I strongly encourage everyone reading this to visit google maps and pull up the Bras d’Or Lake region of Nova Scotia. It is an absolutely amazing area. As you will see, there are many places a boat can safely anchor, where depending on the direction of the wind, one has to move to be protected.

Argo, Bluewater, and Summer Star await as we arrive in Lunenburg

So far our experience in Nova Scotia had been wonderful. Beautiful scenery, welcoming people, interesting weather, seals playing everywhere, frequent whale sightings and wonderful friends both new and old – what more could we ask for? After clearing in through customs, we spent a couple days in the lovely town of Shelburne, founded in 1783 by British Loyalists. We were anchored out with no plans to dock at the yacht club (in other words, no plans to spend money there). We went ashore to explore and were met on the dock by the Commodore of the Yacht Club – we wondered what kind of reception we would get. Not to worry – Commodore Bruce introduced himself, welcomed us, told us where to dump trash, allowed us free use of their internet, and even offered to drive us to the grocery store if need be (though it proved to be a short walk). We had fun exploring the town, including a stop at the local cell phone store to acquire a local sim card to provide internet access. The next day Sid, Stef, and I did a scenic hike while Bradley explored by bike. Other than some pesky mosquitoes, it was a great day as we encountered the rapidly moving Roseway River and saw views of Shelburne Harbor from several angles. We had drinks at the yacht club and met several locals, including the former Commodore who remembered seeing our boat at Shelburne several years ago when she was still named The Good Life and being enjoyed by her original owners. We had a wonderful dinner at Charlotte Lane restaurant, known as one of the best in Nova Scotia. We were not disappointed!

Bluewater at sunset – Lunenburg

Our next scheduled stop was to be Lunenburg, about 55 miles north. Rather than do it in one long day, we decided to head to Port Mouton, about half-way. Once again we encountered some fog but arrived safely in a lovely anchorage in calm seas by mid-afternoon. We boarded the tender to check out the “town”. Port Mouton turned out to be just some docks with commercial fishing boats. There was no real town and no shops or commercial establishments of any kind. We walked the docks, looking at all the fishing boats and talking to some of the local fishermen. They were removing their large crab pots from their boats for storage as the crab season had just ended. Heading back to the big boat was interesting, as the fog had settled in again. We did not actually see Shear Madness until we were very, very close. Fortunately we had placed a GPS mark on the chart in our tender!

Summer Star in Lunenburg

The next stop was Lunenburg where we arrived after another very pleasant day sail. Waiting for us in the harbor were three Nordhavn friends – 68 foot Argo (Randy and Rebecca), 57 foot Summer Star (Atle and Kristina), and 47 foot Bluewater (Milt and Judy). After anchoring, we set off in the tender to explore this incredible town. Lunenburg is a Unesco World Heritage Site and it is a truly beautiful village with a long history. When a geocaching adventure led us to the visitor center, we learned that the Fisheries Museum had a once-a-week live performance with skits and songs to illustrate the town’s history. Luckily for us it was that night! We greatly enjoyed the performance and learned about the settlement of Lunenburg by German, Swiss, and French Protestants in 1753, the history of the fishing industry and the most famous fishing schooner, the Bluenose, which graces the back of the Canadian Dime. It was a very fast vessel and won the International Fisherman’s Race in 1921. The Bluenose II, a replica of the original, still resides there. Rum-running was a major industry during prohibition and the famous Lunenburg sausage is a delicacy best enjoyed with sauerkraut and beer.

Sid tees off at Bluenose golf course in Lunenburg

Sid and I were joined by Randy from Argo for a golf outing to the very scenic Bluenose golf course, a small course with 9-holes and 18 tees located right at Lunenburg Harbor. We also organized a progressive boat party with drinks and appetizers aboard first Bluewater, then Summer Star, then Argo, then dessert on board Shear Madness. It was a great time for all. But it was time to head north again, this time to Mahone Bay, about midway between Lunenburg and Halifax. After a beautiful trip we anchored and went in to explore the small town. We found some delightful shops, friendly people, and a few nice restaurants. There were also some very friendly people, including several folks who saw us anchored at Mader’s Cove, found our blog, and emailed us offering hospitality and/or assistance. Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to meet any of them as it was time to move on to Halifax. Hopefully we will pass by again on our way south later in the year.

Tyler, Kristina, Judy, Stef andSid watch the sunset on Shear Madness (Argo is in the background)

We had an uneventful trip to Halifax, a busy commercial port complete with a traffic separation scheme and traffic control. This is akin to air traffic control for planes, requiring us to contact control via VHF radio and follow their instructions. After a trip up the main channel in Halifax, we decided to head up the Northwest Arm where we found an anchorage close to the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Club. Here we had a brief reunion with our good friend George, the captain of Sweet Hope who had guided us down the ICW nearly two years ago. Unfortunately we were leaving just as George was arriving, so it was just enough time for a quick catch up. We hope to see him again soon! It was also time to say goodbye to Sid and Stef, whose time aboard had flown by and who had to reluctantly return to the real world. Next it was on to the Bras D’or Lakes, an area we have heard is stunning for cruising.

Waiting in the lock at St. Peter Canal

However before moving the boat there were a number of chores we had to complete. We needed to go ashore for both high speed net access (this is a relative term) to download some large files by Producer Clark for her award winning videos, walk to the local grocery store for some important staples (milk for coffee, fresh vegetables), and for me to visit the local post office to drop off some post cards for my grandson. In addition we always take advantage of every trip to civilization to dispose of any trash built up on board. Canada is one of the more friendly (and smart) countries, that make it very easy for visiting boats to properly dispose of trash. We have a whole trash management system on board, but that is for another day’s blog. Traveling to the Bras D’or Lakes was a really exciting experience as we had to pass through the St. Peter canal to get from the Atlantic Ocean into the lake. The canal is approximately 25 meters wide and 800 meters long, with a lock at one end and a swing bridge at the other end. This was only our second time traversing through a lock, but it went very smoothly. We entered the lock, tied up to the wall, waited for the doors to close behind us, then for water to be added to the lock to raise the level by 10″. This took only a few minutes. The same Canadian Parks staff work both the lock and the bridge, jumping in their car once the lock is closed and the boats are raised to get to the bridge to open it. We continued to have the wind gods Aeolus & Jupiter smile on us, as our passage from Halifax to the lake was wonderful. Winds were coming out of the NW, at around 10 to 12, which meant they were coming over the land so we had very calm seas which became flat during our overnight passages as the wind dropped into the single digits. We departed around Noon and arrived at the lock just as it opened at 8:30 Friday 19 July.
We are now once again anchored along with Bluewater and Summer Star and look forward to our adventures in the Lakes.

A 12-minute video of the passage from Cape Cod to Shelburne and Sid and Stef’s time aboard is available here. We miss our shore-based friends and family and think of you often – please reply as we love to hear from you!

July 12, 2013

Provincetown Cape Cod to Shelburne Nova Scotia

By Captain Bradley Rosenberg with Editorial and Photo Assistance from First Mate Kathy Clark

Sunset at sea

This was one of those crossings you usually only read about in others’ blogs. This is one of the big reasons we cruise – for these types of experiences. Let’s recap – We departed from Prudence Island near Bristol, RI at 0500 (5am) on 5 July. We had a wonderful full day passage to the Cape Cod Canal, through it and over to P-Town. (If you have not yet visited this place it is worth a couple of days. Great protection from all but strong southeasterly winds.) We arrived and had the anchor set by 18:00 (6pm) after taking a slow tour of the harbor trying to figure out where to anchor for both protection from a 30 plus knot late afternoon sea breeze and access to town without having to off load our tender. We had already made the decision to spend the night; more about that in a minute. The guide book indicated a launch service was available for both moored and anchored boats. (Not true as we found out later.)

We decided to anchor where there was the most protection from the wind and give up access to town for the day as we were not planning on launching the tender. We anchored inside the cape, just east of the light house in 18 meters of water. We put out 70 meters of chain including snubber. Not quite the normal 5 or 7 to 1 depth ratio, but as the water deepens you can safely reduce the anchor scope, especially when working with chain. As you can see from the below picture, anchoring is a little more art and science than first apparent. This unlucky boat, anchored a little too close to the change in depth line. The combination of a little wind shift during the night and a 3 meter (9ft) tide drop, made for an uncomfortable morning. As the tide rose, all was well and he motored off to the town dock.

Oops! There was plenty of water until the tide went out!

We were not planning on launching the tender; because we had made the decision that Saturday the 7^th would be a sleep in and rest day. Two factors affected our decision. One, our return dreamer guests, Sid and Stefani had taken the redeye in on 4 July and had a very busy 4^th, followed by a very early and long 5^th . Also Team Shear Madness had had a very busy week fighting last minute gremlins that always appear prior to major trips; this guy Murphy is really a pain in the @*%. The Captain felt we would all be better served by resting for a day and making the crossing refreshed. Second and equally important, a detailed review of the weather indicated that while a direct crossing from the Canal, which was an option we had kept open, “predicted” (we all know about economist and weather forecaster accuracy) the weather would be even more settled if we departed Saturday evening. The reason for the evening departure in both options, is given the distance ~ 270 miles, and our estimated speed of 7.5 knots, we like to arrive in the morning, allowing us plenty of time to push back arrival and still arrive in daylight. While the good ship Shear Madness and crew has the technology and experience to arrive in most places at night, prudence suggests arriving at an unknown port is best in light.

From the water at Provincetown

While we did not exactly sleep in (the captain was up at 03:30 using the internet (too slow in the day time) to finalize the sale of his mother’s home, and the guests were up at 05:00 for the sunrise), we did all retire very early after a wonderful dinner of Lasagna with garlic cheese bread. However we did have a slow lazy morning. The water was a very comfortable 72 degrees, so Kathy and Sid took the inflatable paddle board to shore for a walk, while Bradley and Stefani swam for an hour. Bradley then spent some time working on the bottom, cleaning out some through hulls and cleaning the paddle wheel on the speed through water sensor, which had grown some barnacles which that prevented the little paddle from spinning. We all re-assembled on SM around 13:00 (1pm) for a hardy lunch and afternoon siesta. Our departure target was 16:00 (4pm) with an estimated hour to make all final preparations for the crossing. Because we had spent the past 7 days anchored up a river we did not make water so our supply was down to less than 30% of our 800 gallons. Our trip plan was to start out running the generator to fully charge the batteries, fill the water tanks and then switch over to the hydraulic alternator for the remainder of the trip, there by arriving at Shelburne with full batteries and full water tanks.

Two whales off our starboard side

Team SM was successful; at 16:00 the anchor came up and we were on our way. Based on the forecast we were expecting winds from the SW to W at around 15 to 20 knots and falling through the night to 10 to 15 by 0600 Sunday. Waves were predicted to be from the South by South East at 1+ meters, also declining. What we had instead were winds SW at 5 to 10 and less than 1 foot swell. We opened up the flybridge and drove from it most of the trip. What a start. In addition we had a little current with us for the first several hours so we were making 8 to 8.2 knots over the ground. That would put us in at 23:00 Sunday evening. Our private Chef, Kathy had prepared a crock pot surprise for dinner, it had simmered all day while we played. It was ¼ of a turkey cut up bones and all with broccoli, corn, mushrooms and corn bread topping. Boy was it good. The Captain had two helpings, one at dinner 17:30 and the second just before bed at 23:00. Lots of swimming in NS to make up for that.

Tyler watches the whale show

Our luck continued through the night with the winds going even lighter than forecasted. It was a clear night with a new moon, so the stars were out in all their grandeur, one of my favorite aspects of cruising. The swell got a little more confused, but at less than 1 foot and our stabilizers working as designed (thank you ABT), we were having the perfect ride. In fact the wind got so light and the batteries filled up so quickly that we needed a way to put extra load on the generator, while continuing to fill the water tanks. (In a perfect world generators like to be run at 75% load). So with the temperature inside the master and crew cabins at 85+, the captain turned on the AC. We cooled right down and the generator loved the load.

Sid and Stef on deck as a large ship passes nearby

After taking the first watch from 18:00 to 22:00, Bradley arrived back on watch at 07:00 to a wonderful whale show and a super tanker on a collision course with us, 30 minutes in the future. The tanker was extremely pleasant and called us to request that we hold course and speed and he would alter course to starboard, to pass on our stern. We told him we would, and had only recently slowed down to avoid a whale off our bow. While we technically had rights in the situation (for the tanker, not the whale), it is not uncommon for us not to be able to raise anyone who speaks English on the bridge of commercial ships. Thank you Captain for your extreme courtesy.

It needs to be noted that when the Captain is off watch, he wakes every 1 to 2 hours to check on the watch and make sure all situations are under control. I am able to do this with no alarms, just by drinking lots of water prior to going to bed. As I arrived back on watch at 07:00 we had another wonderful whale show. It is hard to convey to our readers just how fascinating it is to see the beautiful mammals of the sea up close and personal. Spouts blowing all around us several times that morning. It is, however, difficult to get great photos of them! The Captain and crew were then surprised by a wonderful breakfast of oven baked Cinnamon Sticky buns and fresh fruit. Thank you, Kathy.

Shear Madness in Shelburne, Nova Scotia

Our speed slowed down a little dropping in some cases to 6.9 knots, thereby stretching out our arrival time to 0300 EST or 0400 local time, by which time the sun would peeking over the horizon. Sunday continued to be perfect, with the temperature dropping into the mid 60’s and water temp. the same. The fishing line was out for the day, but no luck, so dinner was grilled sausages with onions, peppers, a salad and other goodies. During the day we were treated to fresh baked brownies meaning even more swimming in NS.

As evening approached we continued to have Westerly winds in the 8 to 12 knot range, with very settled following seas of less than 1 foot. The Captain returned to watch at 0200 on Monday morning, as we were approaching the turn to head into Shelburne.

Cape Cod sunrise

The good news and bad is that we had made better time than expected and were going to have to make the run up the river while it was still dark. With the Captain and 2^nd mate Tyler on watch we were working our way up the river and all was going well, until we came across a small green light that was not on the chart. When returning to ports (in North America, the rest of the word is different) boats are supposed to keep Red lights on Starboard and Green lights to port. This light was just to our starboard and the chart showed we were in plenty of deep water. Luckily earlier we had slowed the boat speed to be conservative in the dark, because just after we passed the green light on the wrong side, we began to see shapes in front of us. A quick reduction in speed and inspection with our spot light showed we were heading straight for a fish farm anchored in the middle of the river. We altered our course and slipped safely past the farm.

As we arrived in Shelburne proper, we knew to find the Yacht club dock, tie up and contact Canadian Customs CBSA. After a little looking and the sun beginning to rise, we found the dock but it was full. We called Customs to report in, explained the situation and after asking us some questions cleared us in with no issues. Thank you CBSA.

Anchored at Provincetown at Cape Cod

It took three tries to get the anchor to hold properly, but when she did, there was no doubt it could handle any wind. By then it was 0500 local time, the sun was up and the boat needed a good cleaning. With the water tanks full, we set about giving SM a detailed bath and Chamoising. She was very happy and was the prettiest girl at the ball.

In the middle of the wash, our 2^nd mate, being from Alabama found out our guests had never had grits, so he cooked up a wonderful batch for breakfast along with some fruit and pancakes. We completed detailing SM, took a siesta and then around 13:00 headed into Shelburne to experience the town.

We would like to thank Neptune and Poseidon (Gods of the Sea) and Aeolus and Jupiter (Gods of the wind) for such a wonderful crossing.

July 4, 2013

We left Block Island and headed to Portsmouth, RI for a brief stop at Nordhavn’s northeast headquarters.

Tyler brings the replacement inverter aboard

We were having a replacement inverter delivered for our batteries and needed a safe place to install it (see technical section of previous post for details). Fortunately Bradley was able to get it installed with no problem. We decided to hang out in Rhode Island for the next week or so for a couple reasons. First, the weather for the next week did not look great – plenty of clouds, wind, and fog. Second, our friends Sid and Stef, who cruised with us earlier this year in the Bahamas are planning to join us for the passage to Nova Scotia and had arranged to fly into Boston so we wanted to be somewhere they could get to easily.

Another dinner with our friends Dennis and Linda in Providence led to a discussion of Bristol. At the junction of Narraganset Bay and the Sakonnet River, Bristol has plenty of nice anchorages that would protect us from the expected winds. In addition, Bristol is home to the longest continuously running 4^th of July festivities in the country – 228 consecutive years – and they take this event very seriously. There is a week-long schedule of activities, including free concerts every night, fireworks, beauty pageants and a huge parade that draws 250,000 people. So we headed for Prudence Island, just around the corner from Bristol and a short trip from Portsmouth and anchored comfortably near Potter’s Cove. From there, it was a ten minute ride by tender to Bristol where we explored the Herreshoff America’s Cup Museum, did a little geocaching, enjoyed some great restaurants, and attended two of the free concerts. We met some new friends, a Swedish couple Yalmar and Britmarie, who joined us to hear a wonderful Jimmy Buffett tribute band. While there, we met a family with a ten week old puppy who was happy to play with all of us. We also got to meet Little Miss 4^th of July, the winner of the Junior pageant.

With our Swedish friends and a cute puppy at free concert in Bristol

We also took a short trip to visit some old Rosenberg family friends, Jack and Mary and their daughter Dana and husband David. Jack has been friends and business partners with Bradley’s father for many years. A former Army General, Jack founded an investment management firm after retiring from the Army and just shy of his 90^th birthday, continues to manage the business. We had a delightful visit with them.

Prudence Island was a great place to practice paddleboarding, though the wind and current made it a challenge at times. But I was able to meet a couple local quahoggers – quahogs are the local clams – and we enjoyed a couple dinners of very fresh ones! Prudence Island was fun to explore, except for the mosquitoes, ticks, and poison ivy! We went nearly a week with no visible sign of the sun and with temperatures remaining fairly cool. Finally, on the 3rd of July, the sun made an appearance.

4th of July flag flying over Bristol

We needed to make a run to West Marine to pick up a new circuit breaker as we noticed a bad sound whenever we turned on the circuit for our primary battery chargers. Over-the-phone diagnostics identified the breaker as the likely problem. However, the closest West Marine store is in Newport, more than 12 miles by car. We looked at Google maps and determined that there was a nice cove where we could take the tender less than a mile from West Marine, so off we went. The only problem is that we had not studied our charts in enough detail – the entire shoreline where we needed to go was a naval base with restricted access so there was no chance of getting ashore by tender. Any other option at that point would have meant several hours of time in the tender. But there was a marina on the Naval Base and it was not restricted space, so we went in there to inquire about possible solutions to our problem. There was a gentleman standing on the dock and we asked him if it was possible to get to West Marine from there. He said, “you would need a car”, to which he quickly added “I have a car and I could take you there”. Little did we know where this would lead!

Tyler and Alex at the parade

Our new friend, Alex, is a Marine Corps major and F-18 pilot. He had just returned from an assignment in Japan and his wife and children were not due to join him for several more days. Alex had just acquired a small sailboat from his father and had just launched it at the marina when we encountered him. He was excited about the sailboat, but had little sailing experience. He was happy to chat with us as he drove us off the base, dropped me at the grocery store, and proceeded with Bradley to West Marine. After procuring the circuit breakers, they picked me up and we took Alex out to lunch. Then we headed back to the base and to Alex’s boat, where Bradley spent some time helping Alex to sort out the various halyards, rigging, and docking lines. We suggested to Alex that if he was alone the next day – July 4^th – that he come to Bristol for the parade and then come out to Shear Madness for a visit. As he had no other plans, he thought that would be a good idea and was interested in seeing our boat. We returned to Shear Maness in the tender, but on the way, the light fixture for the stern light on the tender broke – the metal rod housing just cracked. It did not look repairable, so another trip to West Marine would be necessary in order to get a replacement. Bristol does not have a local taxi service, but we found that busses run regularly between Bristol and Newport, so that was the plan. We thought perhaps, if Alex was coming for a visit the next day, we might be able to get a ride with him back to West Marine, and just take the bus back to Bristol.

Bristol has the country’s oldest July 4th celebration

July 3^rd was the night for fireworks as most of the local jurisdictions planned them for Wed night instead of Thursday the 4^th. From our anchorage we were able to see plenty of fireworks shows and it was the first clear night we had had in over a week! The weather forecast for the coming week also looked promising for our departure to Nova Scotia.

Sid and Stef landed in Boston at 6am on July 4^th and arrived in Bristol just after 8am. Alex arrived about the same time and they all, along with Bradley, returned to Shear Madness to give Alex a tour and for Sid and Stef to stow their gear, while I stayed ashore to find us a good spot to watch the parade. If you have never experienced the 4^th of July in New England, it is hard to describe. The streets along the parade route are painted with red, white, and blue lines down the center and spots along the parade route are hard to come by, even two hours before the start of the parade.

Alex and Bradley arrive at Prudence Island

A carnival-like atmosphere is everywhere. We finally found a great spot in the shade with enough room for all of us to watch. The parade is really spectacular and includes everything you could imagine – marching bands, floats, beauty queens, horses, bagpipes, fire engines, old cars, new cars, and much more! When we had had our fill of the parade, I headed back to the boat along with Sid, Stef, and Tyler. Bradley and Alex had come up with a great plan – they would head to West Marine in Alex’s car, then proceed to Alex’s boat where they would sail together up to our anchorage at Prudence Island. Alex would drop Bradley off before sailing back to his marina on his own. Bradley’s sailing knowledge on the way up would help Alex to get comfortable with the boat and we were sure he could manage the return trip on his own after that.

The rest of us spent the afternoon swimming and playing – paddleboarding, kayaking, and even trying to ride Willy the Whale. A few hours later, a small, but fast moving sailboat approached with two guys wearing ear-to-ear grins. Bradley and Alex had had a great sail and had figured out all the sails and rigging. I took the tender out to retrieve Bradley, and we waved goodbye to Alex. After a dinner of turkey burgers and hot dogs, we saw a few more fireworks and went to bed early as we planned a 6am departure to head through the Cape Cod Canal and then on to Shelburne, Nova Scotia.

You can follow our progress by clicking here.As always, we appreciate your comments and replies!

June 22, 2013

On June 10^th we departed from Jamestown in a classic New England fog. Visibility was less than a few hundred yards and it was an eerie feeling to see big ships on AIS and radar but not to see them until they were passing by.

Shear Madness and a Nordhavn 68 at Mystic Seaport

We sounded our fog signal – one prolonged blast every two minutes, which fortunately can be done automatically through our VHF radio and loudspeakers mounted on the deck. We kept a sharp eye on radar, listened intently, went slowly, and established radio contact with anyone in our vicinity. To complicate matters, the Annapolis to Newport sailboat race was concluding and there were several sailboats just coming into Newport, including one that was disabled. But we slipped safely out of the channel and by mid-day the fog had lifted. We had a pleasant 35-mile trip to Stonington, CT where we anchored for the night. Then it was on to Mystic, CT for a rendezvous with other Nordhavn owners at the Mystic Seaport, a museum/marina/park located on the Mystic River. Navigating the river is tricky – the local guide says “the channel is narrow and twisting;

shoals abound just outside the channel”, meaning we had to pay close attention. We also had to pass through two bridges, the first a railroad bridge which “will open on call, unless a train is expected” and the second a highway bridge that opens once an hour at 40 minutes past the hour.

A group of Nordhavn owners and Bob S aboard Shear Madness

The railroad bridge is a “swing bridge” meaning the span swings 90 degrees to open while the highway bridge is a “bascule” bridge, or drawbridge. The bridges are 3/10 of a mile apart and there is little room to sit and wait for the second bridge to open. Thus, the trip needs to be timed so that you can pass through the first bridge just in time to make the opening of the second. No problem, we had it timed well and as we approached the first bridge we saw a train just passing over it. We contacted the bridge keeper on the radio to request an opening. After calling twice for the “Mystic River Swing Bridge” (which is how the bridge is labeled on charts) and getting no reply, I tried “Mystic Railroad Bridge” and got a response. “We’d like to pass on your next opening” we said. He replied “the bridge only opens after a train passes over it”. We replied that we had just seen a train pass over and just wondered when it would next open as we were trying to make the next opening of the highway bridge. “We are separate bridges and we don’t work together” he replied. “OK sir, but can you tell me when you might be able to open?” to which he replied “There’s a train one minute away. Whaddya want me to do, open it now?”. I’m not sure what he would have done if we had replied “yes, that would be nice”, but we waited until the train had passed, then asked if the bridge could open soon. “Observe the bridge Cap’n, it’s opening” he said gruffly and soon we were through, remembering to call and thank the nice gentleman for opening for us. The next bridge was a bit more polite, but indeed there was little room to wait and there were boats on the other side waiting to come south. We coordinated with the bridge and other vessels and easily passed through and soon were safely docked at Mystic Seaport.

The Railroad Bridge opens for us

Here we would meet up with old friends and make new ones as 12 Nordhavns and their owners, along with several owners who came by car or plane congregated along with industry experts and representatives from Nordhavn/PAE. There were some wonderful educational seminars and we were happy to catch up with “Lugger Bob” Senter, who stayed onboard with us. Tyler attended Bob’s one-day diesel engine maintenance class and accompanied Bob on several engine room tours. We all attended seminars on stabilizers, electrical systems, and a life raft demo. There was plenty of time to socialize and discuss cruising plans too. The Seaport itself was a wonderful setting with a chance to learn a lot about the history of the area. We also visited the nearby Submarine Museum at Groton and were lucky to have fellow Nordhavn owner and former submarine office Barry along to provide a personalized tour. The moderator of the Nordhavn Dreamers Group, Ed, also joined us onboard as our guest for a night. Having known Ed online for years, it was great to meet in person!

Rich, Hildie, Beth, and Jared come to visit

A former colleague from my Landmark days, Beth, who now lives in RI, came by for a visit along with her parents and her son Jared. Beth’s father Rich spent 30 years in the Navy as a submarine officer and was the captain of several subs so the timing was perfect as we had plenty of questions. We had a great visit and it’s hard to believe it’s been ten years since I saw Beth (she doesn’t look any older of course!). Following the rendezvous, we departed for Block Island, successfully passing through both bridges without incident. It was a short trip in good weather so we ran without stabilizers. Of course, the wind picked up and the little 3-foot waves came at the most uncomfortable angle, sending us scurrying to make sure everything in the galley was properly secured and making us glad when we safely anchored at New Harbor in Great Salt Pond. We arrived on Monday, June 17 to a nice anchorage with boats scattered here and there. But Block Island Race Week is next week and every day more boats have been arriving. As I write this, our anchorage is downright crowded and yesterday we even had a fly over from the DirecTV Blimp! Lots of beautiful sailboats and crew are now in town for a week of serious sailboat racing (and a bit of partying). We’ll be departing before the racing gets underway as we will head to the Nordhavn dock in Portsmouth, RI to pick up a replacement part – an inverter for our electrical system – which we need to install before heading further north. But that’s a story for the technical section!

Block Island Sunset

Block Island Race week is one of the major racing events on the east coast. Sailboats come from all over, using the Annapolis to Newport RI as a key feeder race. The boats will spend a week racing during the day and partying hard during the evening. If it was not for our need to continue to sort through our problems with Mastervolt, we would stay here for some of race week and Bradley might have even found a boat to race on. Race week has a combination of one design racing (boats identical by rule) and Class racing where similar boats are given handicaps, seconds per mile, that is applied to their time to determine “Corrected Time”, thereby determining the winner. This is a great event, usually with plenty of wind, that can be very challenging for boats. Both the Air Force and Naval academies have boats in the race. There are also a number of very well financed racing boats, which have mother ships here. That way the crew can live in comfort, have lots of toys and the sailboats can be stripped of all legal weight. The one pictured below has a fishing boat, two lasers and multiple tenders.

Mother ship with all its toys at Block Island

We’ve had a great time exploring Block Island. We’ve kayaked, used our new paddleboard, and launched the tender so all the toys are out! Our Nordhavn friends Atle and Kristina from Summer Star are here and we’ve had some great meals and card games with them. I’ve also been geocaching – a great way to explore the island – and have so far found 11 caches (see

www.Geocaching.com). Beth and her parents are also here for the weekend, aboard her dad’s Grand Banks trawler Brilliant. We’ve had spectacular sunsets and a wonderful full moon – actually a Super Moon. And we are seeing more of the famous New England fog – one morning we went ashore for some exploration and exercise and returned to the boat after lunch. It was a nice sunny day and we took a short afternoon nap, awaking to find that a heavy fog had settled over the anchorage and we could barely see the nearby boats. A reminder to never let yourself be unprepared.

There are two new videos meant for those who want more technical info. The first shows how we do an engine room check while underway and the second features “Lugger Bob” Senter giving some tips on how to conduct an engine room check safely. After watching, looking for your thoughts and comments!

Photos below – click any to enlarge. A brief technical section follows.

Technical Section

Before departing Florida, we began experiencing a problem with our Mastervolt Inverter. This is the component of our electrical system that converts DC power from the battery bank into AC power for use onboard. The inverter was a new unit installed as part of our lightning strike repairs in early 2012. Suddenly, it just began to fail. It would be running quite happily, then just shut itself down with no error lights or indication of a problem. It then would not restart until it had sat for some period of time. The failures occurred somewhat randomly – sometimes it would run for a few days, other times for only a few hours before failing. We began a series of diagnostic steps in an attempt to determine the cause of the problem. James Knight from Yacht Tech came on board and, working with Mastervolt support, determined that there was likely a problem with the inverter. We were asked to package up the inverter, along with the two DC to DC Converters, which work together with the inverter, and ship them all back to the factory in Holland for testing. We reluctantly did so, worrying about how much time it would take and whether it would impact our plans to depart. Without an inverter, we would need to be connected to shore power or run our generator 24×7. Off they went to Holland, where they got stuck in Customs for a week before being released. Once at the factory, the inverter refused to fail, leading the engineer to conclude there was no problem with the inverter and it must be something else on the boat. The inverter and converters were shipped back, re-installed, and promptly failed again, even after making all the recommended changes the engineer advised. Oh yeah, did I mention that this inverter is no longer made and that there are no spare units available? Since the inverter worked most of the time, we decided to depart from Florida as planned, to run the generator when needed if it failed, and to continue problem determination efforts. After much frustration, we were able to convince Mastervolt that there was indeed a problem with the inverter and they have now found and are shipping us a replacement, which we will install this week. Our cruising plans are now a week behind, as the promised shipment date of Monday lapsed until Friday.

One thing we are very happy with is a modification we made to our tender. Despite its large size, the tender had very little room for carrying dive gear and other toys as it had large seating structures. We decided to remove the center seat and replace it with a custom made “lean bar” for driving. Since we always stood up and leaned against the seat when driving anyway, this gives us much more space inside.

June 10, 2013

As usual, we were finishing up lots of projects in preparation for our departure for the journey north. A final check of the weather showed that we should have favorable conditions for the next several days, but we could expect a bit of rough weather when the winds shifted to the north as we rounded Cape Hatteras. With the wind coming from the north and the stream moving north at 3 to 4 knots we could expect steep seas on the nose.

Bruce in the flybridge as we get underway

We departed from Old Port Cove Marina in North Palm Beach at 4am on Sunday, June 2 and by 5am were in the ocean headed north. This would be Tyler’s first offshore passage aboard Shear Madness and our friend Bruce (trained on a passage last year), rounded out our 4-person crew. Our journey would cover 1000 miles and we would continue non-stop until reaching Jamestown, RI in about five days. This would be the longest continuous run or Shear Madness. During this time someone would always be assigned to be “on watch”. That person is responsible for monitoring our course, watching for traffic, performing hourly checks of the engine room, and waking the Captain (Bradley) in the event of anything unusual. During daylight hours, a watch consists of a 4-hour shift and at night a 3-hour shift. Those not on watch can sleep, relax, and work on other projects.

A car carrier passes close by

Our first two days were pleasant and uneventful. Our course placed us in the Gulf Stream, a warm-water current that flows northward, giving us a nice push. We averaged over ten knots, well above our normal cruising speed of 7.5-8 knots. Winds were from the south and we had following seas with a gentle roll. As we journeyed out of cell phone range, we received weather forecasts via emails over our satellite phone and from WeatherWorx, a satellite-radio weather service. We knew the winds would shift to the north and be on our nose as we approached Cape Hatteras and sure enough, they shifted right on schedule. We had an uncomfortable 18 hours as the wave height increased to 6-8 feet, with some breaking over the bow and pitching us around a little more than we would have liked. But the boat and crew were fine and soon we had passed Cape Hatteras. After that the weather turned delightful with light winds and smooth seas. The boat was covered with salt from breaking waves and spray so we were able to give her a quick washdown and inspection of the decks. (NOTE: we do not don life jackets or shoes for this, much to the dismay of the self-appointed “safety police” who watch our videos).

Bruce’s mahi

Soon conditions were nice enough to allow us to deploy the fishing pole. We only fish if we have safe conditions to do so as bringing a fish in requires the boat to be slowed down and people to be working on the swim platform – not something to do in rough seas. Bradley had not even finished letting the line out when the first mahi-mahi was hooked! It was a beauty and soon was cleaned, vacuum sealed, and in the freezer. The line went out again and just before sunset Bruce caught the second mahi, another beauty which provided us a nice appetizer of sautéed roe completely fresh.

Attached to the mooring – the white lines are on the mooring, the black lines are ours

Soon Block Island was in sight as we approached Rhode Island. We had made such good time that we were arriving well before sunrise on Friday morning. We did not really want to arrive in the dark because we planned to pick up a mooring at Conanicut Island Marina at Jamestown. Although we have anchored countless times and picked up moorings on our previous boat, this would be our first attempt to pick up a mooring on this boat and we really didn’t want to do it in the dark, (our bow is over 12 feet from the water, which can make picking up a mooring a little more challenging than on our sailboat). But as it turned out, we could not delay our arrival and the visibility was good. Throughout the night every time we reduced the engine RPM, our SOG (speed over ground) increased, as we were catching a favorable current & tide. We finally gave up and elected to arrive at 4am. We talked through our plan and were comfortable. Using our spotlight mounted high on the deck, we identified our assigned mooring and Bradley adeptly got us in position. Working at the starboard boarding door, I picked up the mooring line with our new boat hook and Tyler fed a line through the eye and soon had it secured to our bow. (a mooring is a line attached to a permanently secured structure, such as a block of concrete, to which boats attach with a line which runs from the mooring to the boat. Moorings are like a pre-positioned anchor). No sooner had we secured our mooring than it started to rain. It turns out we had made it just in time as the wind and rain pounded us for the next 24 hours. It rained so much we did not have to do the usual post trip washdown of the boat. Tyler simply waited for it to stop and did a good chamois. Let’s just say the temperature was not quite what we had left behind in Florida! This was the remnants of Tropical Storm Andrea, which had been following us up the coast, and once she had passed, we returned to pleasant weather and warmer temps.

Bradley and Kathy with Mary and Mike

Bruce had a flight out of Providence on Saturday so his old Marine Corps friend, KC, drove down from his home in MA to join us for dinner and an overnight stay before taking Bruce to the airport. We had a wonderful evening discussing books and the state of the world. Though we had only met KC 18 hours earlier, it seemed too soon for him to depart! Saturday also brought a visit from our RI friends Dennis and Linda, who joined us for drinks aboard Shear Madness and a wonderful dinner out in Jamestown. And Sunday brought my niece Mary from Quincy, MA along with her boyfriend Mike who we greatly enjoyed meeting. We spent a delightful day with them exploring Jamestown Harbor and catching up.

I’ve made two videos of the trip – the first is a 7-Minute Highlight version and the second is an 18-minute version with more technical details. You can click on any photo to enlarge and don’t be shy about sending us a comment/reply – we love to hear from you!

June 1, 2013

We are finally ready to depart to head north. Our first stop will be Jamestown, RI where we will stay for a few days before heading to Mystic, CT for a rendezvous with other Nordhavn owners in mid-June.

The forecast looks good!

The trip to RI will be just about 1000 miles and should take us about five days. We plan to depart either this afternoon at high tide around 3pm or around 3am Sunday morning and complete the trip non-stop. Our friend Bruce, a Shear Madness veteran from last year, is joining us for this trip.

The weather looks good and we expect to make good speed using the Gulf Stream to help push us along. We have spent much of the week provisioning with lots of food and produce and yesterday fueled up from a tanker truck, taking on 1311 gallons of diesel. I made two videos of our trip preparation, Fueling Up from a Tanker and Route Planning. These are not videos of nice sunsets and dolphins and are probably only of interest to those of you who are interested in the more mundane aspects of cruising.

You can track our progress by clicking here.

May 20, 2013

Shear Madness is still safely tucked away at Old Port Cove Marina in North Palm Beach, FL. For the past four months we have been busy attending to family issues. Bradley’s father, Ted continues to be an inspiration to all who know him. He is known as “Mr. Magnificent” because for years whenever someone asks how he is, his response is “Truly Magnificent”. He believes that your quality of life is a result mostly of your attitude and has always embodied the most positive attitude towards all things. He continues to do so as he battles cancer, enjoying life to the fullest between chemo treatments, playing a little golf, spending time with family and friends, and even taking a Caribbean cruise with friends. Meanwhile, Bradley’s mother, Eleanor, continues to recover from a broken hip and leg, as well as the heartfelt loss of her long term companion, Norm, in February. She has now moved from a rehab hospital into an assisted living facility and continues to make progress with her physical therapy and regaining her independence. We feel very fortunate to have had the time to spend with them these past few months as they are both adjusting to the next phases of their lives. This time has also reminded us of how important it is to enjoy each and every day we have – whether it is cruising in some exotic location or spending quality time with family and friends.

Marilyn and Ken, married for 68 years and still going strong! Ken fought with the Marines at Iwo Jima

Just one quick story in that regard, especially in light of Memorial Day in the US this coming weekend. Yesterday, I took Bradley’s mom out for lunch to a diner within walking distance of her assisted living facility (she is getting more mobile daily, but for this outing was in a wheelchair). When we returned, there was a resident couple sitting outside enjoying the fresh air. We said hello and stopped to chat for a minute. Over an hour later, we were still talking. Ken and Marilyn, we learned, have been married for 68 years. Ken was in the Marine Corps, having joined the day after Pearl Harbor in 1941 and served four years. He fought on several islands in the Pacific, most notably on Iwo Jima, where he was wounded and spent seven months in a hospital afterwards. He is an amazing character, loves to talk, and is a wonderful story teller. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who has been married quite so long, nor anyone who was actually at the battle of Iwo Jima. It was quite a day and I am so thankful we stopped to say hello.

Richard and Maggie at their Commitment Ceremony

During this time we have also had a chance to catch up with many other friends and family, with various photos below. On April Fool’s Day, the 3rd anniversary of our purchase of Shear Madness, we attended our good friends’ Richard and Maggie’s Commitment Ceremony on the beach in Naples. This is like a wedding but without the legal license. We are so happy for both of them! I spent some time in Northern Virginia and saw many friends and in North Carolina where I visited our dog Jordan, now living with his Aunt Meg and still as playful as ever, though a little bit slower at age 14+.

Although we are eager to get back on the water, we have also treasured this time with friends and family. We are planning to resume our cruising in early June. From Palm Beach, we will head north to Connecticut where we will join a rally of Nordhavns in Mystic in mid-June. From there we hope to proceed north up the coast to Nova Scotia with a few stops along the way.

New crew member Tyler with Bradley on the flybridge

We are also pleased to welcome aboard our new deckhand, Tyler. Tyler comes to us from Alabama and is already proving to be a great addition to the Shear Madness team. He is switching careers from the restaurant business to the marine industry and already has a good start learning about how to maintain a boat like Shear Madness. He’s a pleasure to work with and we look forward to getting him plenty of sea time!

We did take the boat out for a run this past weekend. After spending some time updating our nav software and charts, we were pleased that everything worked well. We exercised the generator, stabilizers, autopilot, Watermakers, and all navigation instruments with no problems. However, we have had some problems with our inverter, which has been shipped back to the factory in Holland for diagnosis and repair. Meanwhile, we will either be connected to shore power or running a generator. But the boat is ready to go and as anxious as we are to get back out on the water! Stay tuned as we resume the cruising adventures.

March 17, 2013

A nice hall for one afternoon

After bidding a fond farewell to Sid and Stef, we hung out at Cat Island for a little longer and enjoyed some wonderful spearfishing and exploring. Our friend Matt from Halvorson House accompanied us on a great spearfishing expedition, resulting in a cooler full of nice fish. Taylor and Matt did have an interesting moment when a fish Matt had speared was stolen by a shark – but just a fish-eating one, not a man-eater. While this isn’t the first time we’ve lost fish to a shark, it always makes for a bit of heart pounding excitement.

But alas, out time at Cat Island was cut short as we had to return to the States to attend to some family issues. We got the word that Norm, Bradley’s mother’s long-term companion, who had been ill, had taken a turn for the worse so we decided to head back to Florida as soon as possible. We calculated that it would take about 36 hours non-stop and the weather was OK, though not perfect. The biggest problem was getting the tender back on deck as the winds were blowing about 20 knots and there was a bit of swell in the anchorage. In calm conditions, it’s no problem to get the tender on board, but when we are rocking a bit and the tender is hanging from the crane above the deck, swinging like a 2000 pound pendulum, it can get a little exciting. But we got it onboard safely and soon were picking our way through small reefs at the top end of Cat Island and soon we on course to Palm Beach.

Norm’s memorial service

Conditions on the crossing were never quite calm, but neither were they uncomfortable. The crossing was pretty uneventful and we arrived back in Palm Beach where we booked a flight to Baltimore in order to try to make it to see Norm who was with his family in Cumberland, MD. We arrived in time to see him and to say goodbye before he passed away on Super Bowl Sunday. Norm was a wonderful man and will be missed by many – his wonderful children and grandchildren, his many golf buddies, his friends from the many chapters of his life, and the Rosenberg family. “Saint Norm” as we called him, brought laughter and joy to all who knew him. His care and loving kindness to Bradley’s Mom also made it possible for us to cruise and travel with no worries. After his memorial service we returned to Florida to spend some time with Bradley’s parents, both of whom have their own health issues. We’ll be spending most of March and April on land with family and hope to resume our cruising schedule sometime in May.

Kathy with great-niece Sophia

In the meantime, I visited my stepson, nieces and nephew, great-niece and other friends in Colorado, where I was also able to play a little early spring golf with my stepson Mike. Speaking of golf, Bradley has recently decided to give it a try for the first time so after a couple sessions at the driving range with our friend Richard, Bradley, his father, and I played a very successful nine holes. Bradley seems to have a natural ability for the game, so maybe there is hope for him after all!

We are using this time to catch up with many family and friends and were pleased to meet another “Nordhavn Dreamer” couple, Fred and Shirley, who live part time in Palm Beach and came to the boat for a visit and a nice dinner out where we got to know each other a little. We also had a nice dinner with Nordhavn owners Nina and Josh from Escape at our favorite local Mexican restaurant.

Finally, this month we will say a fond farwell to Taylor, our deckhand, who is returning to Maine to enroll in the Maine Maritime Academy where he will continue his pursuit of a career in the marine industry. It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly six months since Taylor joined us, but it has been a great experience for all of us and we wish him the very best of luck in the next phase of his journey. Shear Madness is looking quite ship-shape thanks to Taylor’s efforts.