The trip south -- NJ to NC

We have come a long way since I wrote last, more than 400 miles. At an average speed of 7 miles an hour. I know some of you who can run faster than that. We've actually seen butterflies flying faster than our top speed.

After our stopover in New York we decided to sprint (at 7 miles an hour) down the coast as fast as possible to make up for lost time. New Jersey was, well, it's hard to describe New Jersey. My mom used to say if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. But those of you who know me well know that I've never been one to hold back my opinion. So here it is. We hate New Jersey. Sorry if I offend anyone with an affinity for NJ but after you hear this you'll understand. First of all, at our first anchorage a huge ferry came steaming right through the anchorage, even though there is no channel. And when we called the marina guy to ask him if that was the norm he was very curt and rude. Then, at the second place we stopped we ran aground (stop laughing, Jean). Luckily it was mud so no damage and we didn't get stuck or anything. And in another channel, one of the marker buoys was adrift and the coast guard didn't seem to care. And the worst was one terrifying day with waves of up to 8 feet and a terrible pounding every time we slammed into them. I don't want to scare anyone back at home, but we were pretty unsettled after that day, we definitely don't want to be out in those conditions again. On the plus side we anchored right in the heart of Atlantic City one night right next to Harrahs, and the lights were really pretty. But other than that, we didn't see anything about the famed "Jersey Shore" to tempt us back there again.

From Jersey we went up the Delaware Bay and into the C&D canal which connects the Delaware with the top of Chesapeake Bay. The canal itself was kind of pretty, we had a favorable current pushing us through and pretty soon we arrived in the Chesapeake. We stayed for a week in Annapolis which was a fantastic place with lots to do and see and we also had a chance to get into Washington DC to see the monuments and visit with our friend Carrie. For those of you who don't know her, Carrie has super celebrity spotting powers. While we were in Georgetown we saw a movie being filmed starring Nicole Kidman. Kevin's new zoom lens came in handy and he was able to snap some great shots. Then we went to lunch nearby and sure enough if Nicole wasn't sitting at the table directly behind us. So if next year sometime you guys see a film called "The Visiting" and see the scene with Nicole punching a pay phone, we were there during filming.

After DC we continued south through Norfolk (dodging submarines and Navy jets practicing bombing runs over us) and chose to take the route through the Dismal Swamp Canal. The canal is 22 miles long and has locks at either end. If you look at the photos it was neither dismal nor a swamp. But we did see several homes on stilts, a bunch of "no trespassing signs" and a tin shooting target shaped like a man and riddled with bullet holes(?!). So we knew we were in swamp country and were glad to be going through there on a sunny day. I think I might have heard dueling banjos in the distance.

So now we are in Beaufort North Carolina. It is a beautiful town with a great waterfront. On the way into the docks we saw three pods of dolphins. It is nice to be far enough south to see them again. We are docked next to a massive 70 foot power yacht. There are lots of mega yachts here where we are docked. Our 40 foot boat looks like a dinghy in comparison. Today Kevin's cousin Jeanne came to visit with her husband Bill and daughter Jessica. We had a nice lunch and an ice cream soda afterwards.

Tomorrow we will start up again, heading south down the intracoastal waterway -- we're about halfway to Florida now, the weather is warming up and we are sure appreciating seeing the sunshine again. It was pretty darn cold there for a while, it got down into the 40's inside the boat at night until just the last few days.