Freezing in Florida

Well, After Charleston, we headed toward Beaufort, SC.  After some quick provisioning, we headed offshore, finally!  We parted from our friends Jen and Josh for a little while here.  We sailed for 33 hours and finally made it to Ponce de Leon Inlet in Florida!  I know what your thinking... your all jealous because it's all warm and lovely here.  Well, don't be so jealous.  We happened to land in Florida during the coldest weather they have had in some 80 years.  We have had a freeze watch for the last couple of days.  It's actually funny to listen to the VHF weather channel tell us to be careful of fires during this time... because people here apparently don't know how to work their space heaters!  Anyways, today we are in Ft. Pierce and heading to North Palm tomorrow.  I hear we should get a couple of nice days before the next cold front moves in.  This is so ridiculous!

Charleston

We have finally stopped in for a few days in Charleston, SC.  We have had some beautiful weather (75 degrees) the last couple of days.  Since Annapolis we have seen some beautiful places and many animals, bald eagles, an aligator and dolphins to list a few.  

We have had only one mishap with the cats... Kemse fell overboard.  We think she was after a fising lure when she fell in.  She was not a happy cat!  But it hasn't stopped her from walking the edge of the boat. 

We are hoping to get to Florida quickly, we haven't been very lucky with weather windows to hop offshore.  Sheliak (Jen and Josh) are still keeping us company. 

Until next time...

M & T

As the Winch Turns

So Team V (racing crew) joked that our updates sounded like a soap... As the Winch Turns... so we (us and Sheliak, the other half of our fleet, thought we would detail our adventures as it were a daytime soap... as follows...


Josh's parents visit... they bring wine, seasickness and big winds after a mexican fiesta aboard Sheliak. Josh's dad joins in for a high wind race across the sound... and Alida gets pinned to the water and is forced to turn on the iron genny. Both boats find safe harbor and good holding ground in Manhasset where Josh's dad is happy to find respite on dry land. The next day starts pleasantly enough. A quick trip through the Big Apple... they thought. Sailors were relieved to find calm waters through Hell Gate, however, harrowing traffic, by sea and air brought a boom's length and a close call with a high speed ferry to Sheliak! Not all was lost... 30kt winds brought Sheliak to speeds of 9.9 leaving Alida to battle ferries of her own. Upon arrival, sunset finds both boats entering Great Kills Harbor of Refuge. But, little refuge is to be had by either boat with little room to anchor. Over the course of the next 24 hours, Sheliak weighs and sets anchor 9 times... manually! Alida uses Rocna super holding power to find the only good place to anchor. After looking on bemused by Sheliak's anchoring and re-anchoring antics in the persistent 30kt winds, the crew of Alida is awakened by an unwelcome bump in the night. Tyler's nipples quickly harden as he rushes on deck to encounter a tipsy old fisherman wrapped in his anchor rode, while continually bumping and scraping Alida's topsides. Day 3 sees Sheliak in the cockpit in a neighboring C&C, causing them to anchor yet again... number 10. The day seems to go smoothly enough, Sheliak gets the garage cleaned out and Alida gets some much needed rest. Alida was surprised by reverse pirate trick-or-treaters in a dinghy from Sheliak, throwing candy at Alida's crew to celebrate Halloween. Dressed in matching black, the Sheliak crew kidnapped Alida's crew under skull and crossbones on a crowded dinghy ride to shore for a walk in the park. After feeling dry land under their feet, both crews return to Alida for some spirits and Taboo. Shortly after dark, the shore becomes ablaze with flashing red and blue lights on vehicles and boats numbering up to a dozen or so, causing questions to arise among the crew.... What's going on? After the NYPD boat with searchlights goes by, the crews are forced to look up to the deafening noise to the helicopter with search lights hovering momentarily over Alida. The crew runs on deck to see the commotion, but the helicopter moves on to the other side of the shore. Sheliak and Alida's crew get back to their game, but pause only to listen to the coast guard hailing the NYPD for any new info on their search. The VHF tells the crew that there's "one more boat we need to check out and then it's a 90 xray." The crews joke among themselves that one of the boats will be boarded shortly. Moments later, a NYPD 50 foot cutter is spotted over Sheliak's anchor rode with lights on Sheliak's cockpit. With no one aboard Sheliak and no response to Tyler's hail on the radio, Jen races to signal the boat with Alida' spotlight and horn in a desperate attempt to not have to reset or pull up their anchor for the eleventh time in 3 days. The boat changes course and the following moments sound like this...
Josh: Hey dude, that's my boat.
NYPD officer: ok, are their 4 of you on board
Tyler: Yes
NYPD officer: This search is for you.
Tyer/Josh: All this is for us?!
Josh: No Way!
NYPD officer: You don't think we have better things to do!?
Tyler: Dude!
NYPD officer: Somebody phoned in a bunch of kids on a dinghy on Halloween, drowning.
Michelle: (thinks... Oh no, the Jolly Rogers)
NYPD officer: You need to get back on your dinghy and return to shore.
Jen: But we live on these boats! We're from New Hampshire! We're leaving for New Jersey tomorrow!
NYPD officer: uh... What's your boat name?
Tyler: Alida
NYPD officer: What's your last name?
Tyler: Raymond
NYPD officer: Your leaving tomorrow... have a good night.
Both crews returned to Alida's cabin for some much needed wine!
Stay tuned for the Jersey Shore episode and what happens in Cape May.

In New York

We are in New York today, just outside the city at Great Kills Harbor.  We've made some stops along the way, Noank, CT being our favorite so far.  We met some kind folks who had a lot of advice for us.  Other stops include Onset, MA, and the Thimble Islands. 

We haven't been spending a lot of time in the places we have stopped in, we are still trying to beat the cold.  Yesterday was beautiful out... 70 degrees!  But, the cold caught up to us, today was a raw 50. 

We have been kept company by Sheliak, a Mariner 36.  Josh and Jen have been great company and have saved us a couple of times with their help. 

Finally

We have finally left Portsmouth!  We made a quick jump over to Lobster Cove in the Annisquam River.  The day was beautiful, sun shining with a good breeze.  We are trying to get south as quickly as we can so, it may be a while before the next post and pictures.  Be in touch soon