Michigan

Stopped at Eau Train National Forest for the night. While walking along the side of the lake a big white splat fell right in front of us. We looked up and saw a bald eagle...up close and personal, just 20 feet above us. Good job we weren't walking any faster!!

Marquette, on Lake Superior, is a lovely old town. We learned a lot about iron ore here. This huge ship 1,000 feet long and 100 feet wide, transports ore which is unloaded via a huge covered conveyor belt. The processed iron pellets are later loaded via train rail cars which are stopped above these enormous chutes. The chutes are then lowered into position over the hold, trap doors are opened, and the iron pellets drop into the ship. Pretty amazing

We passed the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca, it looks way tamer and narrower here than in Memphis, 2,000 miles downstream, where Julie used to live.

Upper Peninsula Michigan, look on a map and you'll see where it gets it's name. Often referred to as UP (yoo-pee) and it's residents call themselves Yoopers. They are very proud of their heritage, independence, and ingenuity. We stopped at a 'Da Yoopers Tourist Trap' in Ishpeming. This, the worlds largest operating chainsaw powered by a V8 car engine, was just one of many interestinf and funny exibits. Unfortunately, we somehow managed to lose all our other photos from here – you can click here to see some of what we saw.

Drove through Wisconsin, famous for it's cheese, but only saw one cow! What's up with that?

Travelled through 3 states in one day Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Starting to see lots of grain silos, wind generators, and open range.

Sorry we 'lost' some photos so they are a bit slim on this entry.

Ontario

Location: Sault Saint Marie, Ontario, Canada

Big Chute Marine Railway is a boat lift at lock 44 of the Trent-Severn Canal in Ontario, Canada. It works on an inclined plane to carry boats in individual cradles over a change of height of about 60 feet. It is the only marine railway (or canal inclined plane) of its kind in North America still in use. If you look closely at the photo you'll notice that there are two sets of tracks – one for the front wheels and one for the back. When the car goes down hill, the inside tracks descend more quickly than the outside tracks, keeping the car with it's contents level. Very cool engineering.

Georgian Bay is breathtakingly beautiful. The scenery is much like Maine, including wild blueberries, only without the salt water and the 10 foot tide. These pictures are from Killarney Provincial Park.

Sault Ste Marie is on the border of US & Canada. We decided to drop back down into the US for our journey west as fuel in Canada is more expensive than in the US. We walked the boardwalk to the smaller of the locks, on the Canadian side. Then we were stuck in traffic on the bridge so got to see an aerial view of the massive lock system on the US side. The great Lakes is an amazingly huge commercial waterway.

As you can see, we're really enjoyed taking the back roads – you see so much more interesting stuff that you miss on the main highways. 

Technically the moose is a Maine picture as Julie saw her first live moose while driving through Maine. We weren't fast enough to take a picture so this is just to memorialize the occasion. It's included here as it was actually taken in Sault Ste Marie.

At the border crossing back into the US, the officer confiscated almost all of our vegetables. Once back on the US side we filled up the petrol tank and stocked back up on veggies.

The New Big Adventure

Location: Collingwood, Ontario, Canada

Once again we're sorry for the long delay in communication. Since deciding in March to put Rachel on the market we've had lots of jobs to do. House jobs, boat jobs, camper jobs and family jobs. This all finally came to an end just over a week ago and we have at last taken off on our newest big adventure. Except that the camper jobs are continuing – not unlike living on the boat....

We've traded living on a 37 foot sailboat for living in a 20 foot camper. Our storage and living spaces are w-a-a-a-ay smaller but we can travel w-a-a-a-ay faster and still have all the things we need to make our lives comfortable. Our 1987 Damon Escaper RV (classified as a "Toyota micro mini motorhome"), whom we have yet to name, is tinier and more cramped than Rachel, but more comfortable and expansive than Wanda the Honda. And a bit between the two for speed with our self-imposed maximum speed of 50 mph (80 kph), as well. We are very happy with the compromise thus far. We get to see a lot more when we travel slowly and avoid the interstate highways.

To date we've traveled the length of the DelMarVa (Delaware-Maryland-Virginia) peninsula, stopping at Chincateague and Assateague islands to see the wild horses. We were lucky enough to cross paths with wild horse #14 on a trail we walked and got a nice photo.

We continued on through Pennsylvania and had a wonderful time visiting the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area where we hiked to 4 different waterfalls, visited Millbrook Village with it's costumed docents, and stopped at Grey Towers, the boyhood home of Gifford Pinchot, first Chief Forester of the National Forest Service (NFS).

From there we headed up to Mark's mum's to help her get organized in preperation for moving to a retirement community in Greensboro, NC. After a wonderful (and busy!!) ten days with her, we headed out again, this time to visit other family members in Massachusettes and Maine.

We found a lovely NFS camp site right on a small pond in the Maine woods. Spent the night and walked some trails. We had the campground to ourselves – it was quiet and stunningly beautiful. A wonderful respite from all the visiting and travelling we'd been doing.

Since we were planning to go to Canada the next day, we went to get out our passports - and couldn't find them! Turns out we'd left them in a file cabinet in the basement of our house in Blacksburg. Sheesh! Luckily our daughter Charlotte was able to send them up to Mark's brother's law office nearby overnight, so crossing into Canada was only delayed by a day.

We crossed the border without incident and headed to a 1/2 price campground we found just south of Montreal. This turned out to be a real find as the last commuter train station in the line was only about a mile from the campground. So the next day we parked the RV at the train station and took the train into town. Old Town Montreal is very cool. We really enjoyed the lovely architecture, great walking and people watching.

From there we started heading to Collingwood, Ontario to meet up with some cruising friends we'd met in Panama. Along the way, we decided to stop at a small town at one of the locks on the Rideau Canal. We went for a walk, checked out the locks, and noticed a Grand Banks trawler named "Hope" at the dock. There was a woman on the back deck so we stopped by to chat. In the course of our conversation, after telling her a bit about Rachel, she said "We had some very good friends who owned a Tayana 37. Butch & Ellie." Julie, not sure if she'd heard correctly, said "Did you say Butch & Ellie? OH MY GOD!" This couple we had just met at a random stop in the middle of Ontario were friends with Rachel's previous owners! How small a world is that? They invited us to ride with them while they moved the boat from the dock around the corner to get set up at the lock. We, of course, said "Yes!" and it was nice to get back on the water – even if it was only a 15 minute ride. What a trip, eh?

The RV developed an oil leak on the way to Collingwood, so, after we got there, Mark researched the issue and, since it looked like a big job and we weren't set up to do something like that, we called the Toyota dealer to set up an appointment. They said "1987? We don't work on anything that old." The Toyota dealer, for crying out loud!! So Mark & Steve ended up doing the work in the driveway themselves. It's just as well, since after all that, it turned out to just be a loose bolt - Steve snugged it up and the leak stopped. The next day Mark helped Steve with a house chore – hanging ceiling fans. It wasn't all work and no play, Collingwood is a fantastic little town and we really enjoyed checking out the trails, Georgian Bay waterfront, downtown area and ski resort. Good friends are priceless.

Steve & Marg are wonderful hosts and great friends. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time here with them and will look forward to seeing them again whenever / wherever we can.

Fair winds and following ... ?roads??

Spring!!

Location: Blacksburg, VA

As Mark's Dad used to say, “Spring is sprung, the grass is riz, I wonder where dem boidies is?”. Well, the grass hasn't actually risen, yet, but we've had a couple of warm days and the daffodils, crocuses, and snowdrops are poking their heads out and starting to flower. The snow is gone, the buds on the trees are swelling, the birds are chirping, and spring is definitely in the air. And yesterday we got to wear short sleeve shirts outside for the first time in months!!

And big changes are afoot in Rachel land, too.

After our thoroughly enjoyable camping trip in Wanda the Honda two summers ago, it came to us that there are lots of places we haven't seen yet that we can't get to by boat. So we bought an RV. It's an old, funky camper built in 1987 on a Toyota pickup frame. It has a 4 cylinder engine, gets about 14-18 mpg depending on how it's driven, and goes from 0 to 60 mph in, oh, about 5 minutes or so. It's like a tiny Rachel inside – sink, stove, fridge, bathroom, settee, bed, generator, and more - all packed into a 20' length. Much smaller than Rachel, but way, way bigger than Wanda. 

We're currently refurbishing the inside – new linoleum flooring, some shelves, shades, curtains, and new paint on the cabinet doors. Unfortunately, it looks like a tornado has passed through it, and the only photos we had of the inside were on the previous owner's ad which he removed from the Internet after the sale. Rest assured that we'll take more and get them posted as soon as things are a bit more settled in there.

When we're done fixing up the camper and finish the outside house jobs that have been on hold for most of the winter, we'll start tootling around in it for a few months. Hopefully, we like the lifestyle!!

After that, we've been thinking we might enjoy going to some exotic place and immersing ourselves into their culture for a few months. Some friends we met while cruising in Honduras have been doing that for the past three years and are really enjoying it. So we thought we'd give it a try, too. We're currently thinking about Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Thailand, or the Philippines – time will tell where we end up, and we'll make sure to keep you posted as it all unfolds.

Our other “a-bit-sad-and-really-quite-momentous” news is that we've made the difficult decision to sell our Rachel. After more than ten years and over 25,000 nautical miles, it's time for us to move on. We're not done cruising, but we are done with long trips - Mark's seasickness has really put a damper on future blue water passages. Our current plan of action (drawn in sand, as usual) is to to “land cruise” for a couple of years, then buy a smaller boat with a shallower keel, allowing us to continue our boating adventures with more of a focus on coastal cruising and “gunkholing” rather than passage making. Rachel's deep draft and extreme seaworthiness are quite simply overkill for the type of cruising we expect to do in the future. So we thought it would be best to pass her along to someone who will get more use out of her and get her back out there in the deep blue sea where she belongs.

“But life is change, that is how it differs from the rocks, change is it's very nature.”

John Wyndham, “The Crysalids”

Mark & Julie

s/v Rachel

Our 13th Wedding Anniversary

Date: Christmas Eve, 2014
Location: Blacksburg, Virginia

We were married on Christmas Eve, 2001.  Since then, we've always loved planning and cooking a delicious dinner together.  That is, until we moved aboard Rachel.  Her galley is just too small to allow both of us to work in it at the same time.  We've managed to get by over the years by moving some of the prep work into the salon, but that's only a marginal solution, at best.  It's just not the same if we aren't both experiencing the semi-organized chaos of the "kitchen dance".  So we were quite happy this year to take advantage of the spacious and well-appointed kitchen at the house to make up for lost time.


Our 13th Wedding Anniversary Dinner Menu 















Salad
Wedge of Iceberg Lettuce w/ Warm Gorgonzola Dressing

Main
Grilled Portobello Caps Stuffed w/ Tomato, Rosemary & Mozzarella

Asparagus w/ Toasted Pecans & Warm Tarragon Vinaigrette

Grilled Tuna w/ Lemon Zest & Garlic Herb Rub

Wine (from some friends)
A lovely Tempranillo by El Cortijillo


















Dessert (from our local pastry shop)
Opera Cake: a wonderfully rich (and dreamy) combination of delicate almond biscuit or joconde, chocolate ganache, coffee buttercream, and chocolate glaze assembled like a very refined and decadent layer cake.

Some other rich and decadent choclate-y, creamy, rasberry-y confection whose name we can't remember.

All served in a very romantic setting before the warm glow of the Christmas tree lights and gentle Christmas music.  It's great to be in love!

Wishing you all a richly delicious, warm, and sweet Christmas.

The Week Before Christmas

Our first Christmas tree in 7 years

The kids came over to help us decorate

Fireplace all ready for Santa

All done

Snow?

Date: 26 November, 2014
Location: Blacksburg, VA

We woke up this morning to something we haven't seen in over seven years.  Sheesh!

Front yard - 6:30 am

Side yard - 7:30 am

Back yard - 9:30 am

Winter

Date: November 24, 2014

Location: Blacksburg, VA

We moved back into our house in Blacksburg last week for the winter. It's in the mountains of SW Virginia at 2,000+ ft elevation. The day after we got our furniture moved from a friend's house we had a hard frost and snow flurries! We looked out the window and then at each other - no words were necessary. So far this winter has been a far cry from the last 7 we spent on Rachel. No, instead of balmy it's going to be COLD....freezing cold, not the 70 degrees F cold that we whined about when a cold front came through the Bahamas. No, this is the real thing – 15 degrees F during the day!! Sheesh! What were we thinking???

Even though it's only been a week we are already enjoying hanging out with family and friends here. We are also enjoying being at home again, although it does still feel weird, especially being here and not going to work every day.

And it is so big, compared to Rachel. We open the fridge, “Oooo this is SO big”; we lay in our king size bed, “Oooo this is SO luxurious”; we turn on a tap, “Oooo on demand hot water”; we turn on a light, “Oooo we don't need to check the batteries”; we fill the dishwasher, “Oooo”. We feel so decadent.

The house is in great shape to say it has been rented for so long. We've had the same family here the whole time we've been gone and they cared for it as if it were their own - we are very lucky. Now we have lots of jobs to do over the winter, both deferred and regular maintenance. Nothing too major, just lots of little things that need doing to keep things up. Today, for example. Winter took a little break and it was a balmy 60 degrees F (!!) so we donned our shorts, went outside, and got everything out of the shed and onto the lawn. Then we gave the shed a good cleaning and inspection, then sorted through the stuff, some of which got put back in. Then we made a pile for the dump, a pile for donations, and a pile of stuff we've never seen before to see if it belongs to any of our current tenants. Awesome, that's one thing crossed off our list!

What are our plans you may ask? Well, we're not sure, but we'll probably figure it out over the winter, sitting in front of the fireplace with our mugs of hot chocolate. Now, where are our slippers and woolly jumpers?

Plans

Location: Deltaville, VA
Position: N 37° 32.94' W 076° 19.78'

We have been very remiss in keeping the blog up to date this year. Our last entry had us lobstering in Long Island, Bahamas. Hmm well it's now almost August!!

We had a great but fast trip back north from the Bahamas. We met up with our friends Shep & Deb, to travel north with them from Florida. It's their first year cruising and we traveled offshore together from Florida to North Carolina. We are now back in the Chesapeake Bay using Deltaville, VA as a base for Rachel and are taking side trips to visit family.

We've been down to the outer banks of North Carolina twice, Blacksburg, VA twice and we are now in Connecticut with Mark's mum.

We've decided not to go south this winter. We have seven years of deferred maintenance that we need to do at our house in Blacksburg and some work we need to do on Rachel, as well. The house stuff is easier done if we're living there and the Rachel stuff is easier done if we are NOT living there. So...we've told our tenants we plan to move back into the house when their lease runs out mid November, or , if possible, before. And hopefully won't freeze to death during our first winter in 7 years!!

Hunting lobster

 Location: Thompson Bay, Long Island, Bahamas 

Position:  N 22 21.144 W 075 07.793

We're sitting at anchor in Thompson Bay, Long Island, another of our favorite stops. Julie, as usual, is in the water. Yesterday, she went snorkeling with some friends and found a lobster living in a small cave in some rocks.

Our friends ask “Do you have a spear?”

Julie replies “Yes, but I've never used it. We've only had it for 7 years”.

“You should try and kill the lobster” they say.

This gets Julie thinking, (always a dangerous proposition).

“Hmm how hard could it be? We have friends who hunt lobster all the time. It does seem silly to have the spear and never use it. And some fresh lobster would go down pretty well ...”

That settles it. The next day she dons her snorkel gear and Mark's way-too-big leather work gloves. The spiny lobsters down here in the Bahamas are, well, spiny, and without heavy gloves, it's easy to get poked when you try to handle one. With her trusty pole spear in hand, she sets off toward shore.

The spear has a piece of surgical rubber tubing attached at the non-pointy end, allowing one to pull the spear back, stretching the elastic. When released, the spear springs forward, hopefully hitting and killing the target, in this case Julie's lobster. Unfortunately, the first time she tries, the old elastic gives out and breaks under the stress. This leaves her on the surface with a plain old 5' long spear and a lobster about 8' below on the bottom.

She provides Mark with a running commentary.

“I've found it, but the spear elastic broke!”

She dives down 3 more times and shoves the spear into the hole and wiggles it around. The lobster emerges from the hole.

“I've got it on the run!”

Mark, watching her shenanigans from aboard Rachel, giggles and cheers her on. She dives down a few more times. He notices her swimming away from the lobster's hole.

“It's running around on the bottom and I'm poking at it!”

Rachel's captain nearly falls overboard because he is laughing so hard. When asked if there's a problem, he replies “Nothing, dear. Nothing at all.”

Not having any luck with the spear, she swims dejectedly back to the boat.

Score: lobster 1, Julie 0.

A friend mentions that he's heard you can catch a lobster with a mop. Apparently, one shoves the mop into the lobster's hole, twists it about a bit, and the lobster's spines tangle in the mop, allowing one to pull it out of the hole and take it to the surface to the dinghy. This sounds like a good idea to her, so a few hours later (after more dangerous cogitation) she's once again on the hunt, gloved up, with trusty mop in hand.

She spends about 10 minutes locating the lobster and another several minutes “mopping” it. She calls out a progress report to Mark, still aboard Rachel.

“I think I've traumatized it!”

Mark is once again having difficulty staying aboard Rachel due to the effects of his convulsive laughter. Several photo ops are missed because he's finding it difficult to see through the tears.

Julie comes to realize that swimming around traumatizing the lobster isn't going to do the trick and reluctantly gives up, swimming back home with her mop.

Score: lobster 2, Julie still 0

That evening at happy hour she tells friends the story and one of them says “I have a spare elastic if you want it.”

He brings it over and leaves it with her. She installs it on the spear, gives it a good stretch and it breaks! Another dry rotted piece of rubber.

Hmm. (Oh no! More “thinking”!) She decides to cut the ends off the new elastic and retie it with our old string. She whips the elastic onto the string and now she's back in business, after a good test she's ready for attempt number three.

The next day she goes off again. At first she has trouble finding the lobster as the visibility has got pretty bad with lots of sand being stirred up from the high winds. Finally she finds the hole and there's the lobster staring up at her, taunting her. Arrogant beast! She shoots the spear 5 or 6 times to no avail. Finally, the lobster emerges from the hole and, with one last derisive wave of it's antennae, swims, really fast, off into the distance. Wow! She never realized they could move like that!

Score: lobster 3, Julie still 0

Later, we tell other friends the story during yet another happy hour on another boat. After the laughter dies down, Julie says

“I've decided that if it wants to live as much as that, I just don't have the heart to kill it, so I'm going to stop trying.”

Final score: lobster for a win with 4, Sweet Julie still 0, but also a winner in our book.