Monday, October 6, 2003
 Last minute details
took half of the morning. In the past weeks we had stripped the condo, palmed
much of the furniture off on our kids, stuffed some into storage and the rest
into Kibon. Our tenants took over. The smell of winter was in the
air. Time to shove off south. The plan is to run outside from Jones Inlet
directly to Cape May, New Jersey. Slogging up through NJ-ICW and Barnegat Bay in
the Spring with its serpentine shallows was a once-in-a-lifetime experience;
hopefully, no more. At Kibon's speed, it's about a seventeen hour 
overnight run. Jon would have loved it. He'd enjoyed a lifetime affair with the
Atlantic and all its bays and sounds and was always ready to stand in for Mom on
any ocean crossing. Best friends, Steve Koller and Frank Marinaccio, stood in
for Jon. We left Long Island at 2:00 pm, savored Margaret's stew and Kay's fried
chicken during the night, enjoyed a glasslike sea, marveled at the lights of
never-asleep Atlantic City which is simply awesome from three miles offshore and
arrived at Cape May as dawn gave just enough light to find our way through the
inlet.
Tuesday, October 7, 2003
Utsch's Marina in Cape May harbor is one of the best in the high-priced
northeast. Fuel is always a little less than anywhere else nearby, diesel
right now is $1.39, they're always helpful, and gave us a temporary slip
until Kay (who hates oceans) could arrive via the Garden State Parkway. She did,
Steve and Frank said goodbye, took Kay's car north for winter storage, and we,
finally just the two of us, headed out into the glass ocean again (Kay loved
it!) to cross over to Lewes, Delaware.
We passed the Harbor of Refuge Light at the south end of
the mile long breakwater and crossed the harbor to enter Roosevelt Inlet at
Lewes. We followed  the
Lewes and Rehoboth Canal to the municipal dock. This is not a place to
stay for a night, but it is good to a visit. The first 6 hours are free,
but the charge for the rest of the 24 hour period is $2 a foot for the
"length overall." There is water and 15 or 30 amp service.
We decided not to ask the other marina for prices. We would continue on
down the canal to Rehoboth Bay. The tide was low but should be going
up. We walked around the town for an hour and returned to Kibon and cast
off. About 500 feet south of the Lewes drawbridge we ran over what
appeared to be gravel on the bottom, but we were able to clear it by going
closer to the starboard bank. We draw four feet and there were some places
where the depth sounder showed very  little
water under the keel. There was silting where side channels came in, and
we sort of slid through the muddy bottom. We passed through meadows and
treed areas. There were even some very fancy and some very plain homes
along the section as we neared Rehoboth Bay. There was more silting just
after the Rehoboth Bay Bascule Bridge. The bridge tender tried to direct
us through, and we finally just plowed through the mud. The entrance to
the Bay was very shallow, too. The Army Corps of Engineers certainly
don't bother to keep the waterway navigable. We asked the bridge tender
what he did if no boats came through. He said he gets an occasional
boat. Most come back. When  we
got to the bay we understood, because it was mostly 2 to 3 feet deep.
There is the channel that goes across, and we could see good sized boats on the
eastern shore, but we couldn't find the way across. We dropped anchor for
the night just off the channel.
Wednesday, October 8, 2003
We awoke to a mist enshrouded lake. The sun was coming up and cast a red
strake over the water. The mist dissipated until the sun rose above
it. Then it descended again. We raised the anchor and followed the
well-marked channel toward the Indian River Inlet. By this time the mist
was gone, and we made our way through the fishing boats gathered around the
inlet and out into the ocean. We had a beautiful ride down to Ocean
City. The winds were calm, growing to 5 knots, and the seas were 2 to 3
feet. The inlet at Ocean City is well marked. The tide was still
going out, so we had to power up the engines a bit, but the entrance was
good. We called the White Marlin Marina, which is the first one on the
right. It was mostly empty when we came in at noon, but during the
afternoon five boats came in. Tom, the owner of the marina, said he gets
several of them every day (mostly southbound deliveries) now through
Thanksgiving when he closes down and goes south himself. We walked over to
the boardwalk and found a place to have lunch. Many of the stores and
restaurants are only open on the weekends now. We visited the Coast Guard
who advised against going down the inside passage at this point. There are
several places with depths less than 4 feet. After our experience in the
Lewes Rehoboth Canal, we decided that since the weather was still good we would
go outside down to Chincoteague tomorrow. Kay watched all the captains
washing down their boats and suggested that would be a good way to spend the
rest of the afternoon. Pearce got out the bucket, the soap, and the scrub
brush. Kay closed all the windows. Kibon came out looking
gorgeous.
Thursday, October 9, 2003
We rode our bicycles up to the repair shop where Pearce got a new tube because
his tire was not holding air. He also got a new seat. The store had
"used" seats, and he got a practically new one that is better suited
to his posterior. Kay got new handle grips. We stopped at 7-Eleven
to buy milk and eggs, returned to the boat, and took off. We left Ocean
City at 10:45 am and came into Chincoteague Inlet at 4 pm. The seas were 2
to 3 feet and the winds were light and variable in the morning. During the
afternoon the winds  increased
to 10 knots and the seas were 3 to 5 feet. Chincoteague Inlet is well
marked outside, and local reds and greens take over inside. It took almost
an hour to follow the squirrelly channel up to the town. We had a few
local boats to show us the way which was good, because at one point we passed
between an obvious shoal only 20 feet off the shore. The bottom rose to 7
feet below the keel. We were headed toward the town dock when someone
hailed us from the Chincoteague Inn and asked if we would like to tie up
there. Since there were several tables full of people getting ready to
enjoy the sunset, we decided that was a good place to stop. The owner
charged $20 for the night -- no water or electricity. We had to climb over
the railing to get onto the deck. We walked a block or two into the town,
looked at a few restaurants, but decided to eat on board.
Friday, October 10, 2003
We went to Mr. Bill's for breakfast. Kay had pumpkin pancakes, and Pearce
had chipped beef on toast -- shades of WWII and the Korean War! Pearce had
gone out earlier while Kay was washing her hair, and he had talked to the Coast
Guard and some local fishermen who said they do run down the inside passage very
carefully. The CG said, "One day we can get over the 4 foot lump and
the next day we can't. You have to pick your tides." Pearce
also talked to the town dockmaster, and we decided to move over to the new dock
just north of the swing bridge. They charge $1 a foot with water. We
are the first boat at the new dock.  They
have yet to finish the electricity and the parking, but we can get the bicycles
off of the boat. It was a challenge to dock the boat. The wind was
out of the northeast at 20 knots, and the current was coming in strong from the
south. Once we got into the dock, Pearce had to use the windless to
center Kibon between the poles.
 We
rode the bicycles down to the Chamber of Commerce to buy tickets for the 31st
Annual Oyster fest tomorrow. At $65 for the two of us, it had better be
good! We rode on over to Assateague Island to visit the lighthouse and to
see the wild ponies. The Pony Penning is a July event when the ponies are
driven from their island across the narrow channel to Chincoteague and are
auctioned off to benefit the Fire Department. Anyone who has read
Marguerite Henry's Misty of Chincoteague and the sequels know the whole
story. This weekend, the veterinarians were riding out to check the ponies
and give them their shots. The wild ponies we saw were a mile away, but
fortunately we found some tame ponies in town that we could feed and pet.
We did some window shopping, thought about checking out the prime ribs at a
local restaurant, but we decided that we needed to put our tired legs up to
rest, and we returned to Kibon.
Saturday, October 11, 2003
Rain came up during the night and continued into the early morning. The
wind was still strong, and we were beginning to wonder what the Oyster fest would
be like. The rain let up  during
the morning, we donned our slickers and took off on the bicycles for the
noontime start. Kay lined up for fried oysters while Pearce brought back
two oyster fritters. Then we headed for a cup of coffee and then over to
the boiled crabs. Next on to the raw oysters, the steamed oysters, and a
mug of beer. The mist became heavier, so we retreated under some tents for
shelter. Those in the know had brought their own tents, tables, chairs,
hibachis, coolers, and other amenities. They even came equipped with trays
because all the servings were huge. There is a competition for the best
decorated table. We not only saw decorated tables, the canopies and tents
were part of the decor, and there were even some people in costumes. Two
ladies in Medieval gowns with lots of décolletage might have been happier if
the weather was warmer and drier, but they seemed to be enjoying their
food. We contemplated the clam fritters and
the hush puppies, but our tummies were full. Kay got a cup of clam chowder
to warm up, and then we decided to call it an afternoon. The ride back to
Kibon was a little wet, and we were grateful to climb aboard for a rest under a
warm blanket in front of a stupefying movie. Dinner was a hot roast beef
sandwich, and we are ready for bed.
Sunday, October 12, 2003
Wouldn't you know that today is sunny and clear! After a leisurely
breakfast, we rode over to the Methodist Church for their 11 am service.
It is one of 3 churches on (appropriately) Church Street and was built in 1922,
although the congregation dates from 1869. After the service, we did some
food shopping and got a Sunday paper. Since it was such a lovely day, we
thought about riding to the south end of the island where the ponies swim over
from Assateague, but we decided to be lazy for another day. Pearce washed
down the boat and did some  maintenance chores while Kay checked out the shops on
Main Street. We wrote some letters and walked over to the Post Office to
send them off. Several skiffs were nosing around the bridge with their
fishing lines out, so Pearce decided to join them. He couldn't see what
they were catching, but they were pulling in fish that were at least a foot long
and throwing them back. They were using lures that were five to six inches
long, ones Pearce didn't have. He did catch a gar which was very happy to
get back in the water. Kay decided she had better marinate the steak to be
sure we'd have something for dinner. We watched some of the tourists
taking pictures of the draggers parked near us on the dock. We read the
paper and watched the sunset. It shone through the bridge and seemed to be
both behind it and in front of it at the same time.
Monday, October 13, 2003
Another beautiful morning. We watched several draggers head out, and we
followed soon after. We have decided to head south on the Virginia Inside
Passage. Both the guys from the Coast Guard and some of the local
fishermen have given us information about the shallow spots. The most
interesting part is that the bottom changes from day to day. Our first
shallow spot was just north of the inlet into Chincoteague. As we were
backing off a bar in the middle of the "channel" a skiff zoomed by to
our port. So that's where the channel is -- almost up against the port
bank! We continued on, following the marks and carefully watching the
depth finder. We discovered what some fishermen have told us -- the marks
are not always right.  They
are merely an indication of where the channel was, may be, or could be. We
came to a really interesting place where the marks gave no indication where the
channel was, but we could see across some marsh areas where the channel
continued. We tried several approaches and finally found a way that passed
very close to the marsh and certainly was not in the open water where a person
would think it should be. We continued south for several miles, passing a
few inlets that were not open to the ocean but allowed the water to create shoal
areas around them. We finally reached an inlet and the channel that
crossed within yards of the inlet. We bumped bottom, and because it was a
falling tide, retreated to the north side of the inlet. After checking
with some fishermen who had come up behind us, "We haven't tried to cross
the inlet, we only know the waters to the north," we checked with some of
the other fishermen who were gathered on the shore. There is a passage
across on the very west side, "Go right up to the bank, but don't try it
until high tide." We anchored, and Pearce got into the dinghy at low
tide to investigate the channel and the inlet. He almost went aground in
the dinghy, and he decided that this whole thing was a bad idea. We
decided that the best way is to go back to Chincoteague and head south on the
ocean. So we headed back to Chincoteague and our place at the town dock.
Kay's mom had been admitted to the hospital at the end of last week.  The
doctor said she had had a small stroke, and she seemed to be stabilized and
responding to the medications. He called again as we were heading along
our shallow trek and reported that she had suffered another stroke and was now
in more critical condition. When we discovered that we couldn't continue
through the inlet, we decided to rent a car in Chincoteague and drive down to
Florida to the hospital. We are leaving Kibon in the care of the
dockmaster, Dave Lewis, in Chincoteague and will head toward Florida
tomorrow.
Next: A Sad Day In Florida
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Cruisin' The Loop Aboard Kibon