/>Here we are at the Channel Club Marina in NJ to rest for a few days and visit with family (kids and grandkids). We arrived early Thursday afternoon and made our way slowly up the Shrewsbury river to get to our designated marina. The rest of the afternoon was used to detail the boat not just on the outside but also inside to welcome our guests that are anxiously awaiting to see our new floating home. Finally our first visitors arrive, Jennifer and Rocco and they take us to a lovely dinner at the Beach Club Restaurant where we enjoyed a lovely meal in great company. A serious storm made it’s way on to us and stranded us for a while at the restaurant.
Friday morning arrived quickly with a bright and sunny day indicating a lovely and hot summer day. Today we had more of visitors come by and spend some time with us on the boat. First one to arrive is our newest graduate, Austin followed by Jessica and Chace who kept us all very busy armed with insatiable energy supply. After initial discomfort and fear of his new environment Chace warmed up to it all and was very busy exploring in and out every knob, key and opening. After a while of opening the door and going in and out down and up he tired himself and us out and it was time to return to his comfort zone, his home.
Austin was kind enough and drive Capt. Tom and I do make some supply purchasing and bringing it all on to the boat. Thank you Austin!
Just as we finished all of that our next group of visitors arrived: Tom Sr., Daniel and Christine. They all loved our new home, our Contessa and we decided to go to and old stumping place of the admiral, the Bahr’s Restaurant on the bay side of the newly built bridge to Sandy Hook. The meal was not very memorable but the company was great and it was good to spend quality time with them all!
Tomorrow is another day of family visits! May it be as memorable and fun as today was!

<a href="http:// As indicated in my previous post we were on our way to Annapolis via the western shore of the Chesepeak. Once we disconnected the falty sensor, our engines kicked right back into gear and we arrived at the Yacht Basin Marina in Annapolis just about 4 pm. Took on fuel and detailed the boat. It was a late dinner last night but nevertheless it was superbe. We ate at Piccola Roma Reastaurant right up the street from the marina in the center of town.
Today was a beautiful morning and as the day progressed it got hotter and reached 90 F.
Kevin Cory came for breakfast and was kind enough to lend us his car for the day so we could drive our west to visit with Marin and Vanessa to see their newly purchased 12 acres of forest. It certainly is primarily forest with it’s own creek to give a cooling respite to the wery visitor or the hard working owners. It is a beautiful peace of nature and perfect for deflating from all the stress acuminated in the “rat race world”. Good job Vanessa and Marin on finding this peace of respite and peace offering land! Good luck and many blessings!
Later on in the day we were visited by our second group of visitors: Kevin and Ann Cory with their lovely daughter Reed. It was good to see them all and catch up on life’s events and simply just be together! Dinner was held at a historic building from 1850 downtown Annapolis, the Middleton Pub. Thank you Kevin, Ann and Reed for coming to visit with us!
It was another late night for us but it was worth it.
Just about resting time a storm passed through alarming us to some unusual activity on the boat. After taking down the cockpit fly and the storm passing quickly all was well and we were ready for a good night’s sleep.

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Onward we go across the Chesapeake on our way to Annapolis. It is a glorious day out here on the water. As we were leaving Hampton Roads and moving along our channel to wards the Chesapeake Inlet we were honored to pass by a returning war ship back to it’s home base. It was a lovely site to see! Along the western shore of the Chesapeake we move along and have some 140 nm to cover till we reach our base for the night and possibly two. There are some old but picturesque light houses along the way and we even encounter some Navy training going on. A fighter plane flies right above our heads as I am able to catch him on my camera. The noise of it’s engines are so loud that I feel the vibration still. Yet it did not discourage me to go up on the bow and still take the picture I came to do.
As we move along our engines sound trouble and we need to slow down. There are no grave indicators to this problem but we have to take certain precautions and slow down. From our usual 20 KN down to 11 KN we go. I don’t mind it at all for it makes it a much easier ride for me and so much more comfortable too. It does mean that our arrival has to be prolonged by several hours, but hey, we are on no time restraint as long as we can move along. Good lunch can be prepared at that speed as well!
Lucky for us and Capt. Tom’s connections we determine that the trouble most likely lies in a malfunctioning turbo boost sensor and once that was disabled we were ready to speed up and go right back to our usual speed 20 KN. Annapolis here we come!

It is a lovely new day of arising and we are on our way to our next destination. Just past 7 am we pushed off our dock and are on our way. It is a bit windy today and the winds are out of N-NE which is not in our favor. The decision is that today we are following the “ditch”, commonly known “the intercostal water way”-ICW . It has been a long, long day along the ICW of SC ending in North Myrtle Beach. We passed by some beautiful homes, old plantations and some pretty country of this proud southern state.  It is a slow ride as well, because of little marinas along the way and many floating docks in front of those southern mansions along the way. Even here we encountered a dolphin swimming in our wake which was a delight to see.
More of swamp land, southern homes and majestic trees rising right up from the water that is so generously feeding them. Yes it is a lazy river pushing it’s way through to the point where it meets the mighty ocean. After some good eight hours in the ICW we decide to stop for the night at a small resort marina named Harbourgate Resort and Marina.
The boat is washed down and some items are fixed while I prepare a nice dinner consisting of Sea Bass, Sweet Potatoes and mixed salad preceded by a Minestrone soup. Everybody is exhausted and ready for a good nights sleep.
Our internet is down I have no way to writing on my blog but hope the new day will change that around. The new device from At&T has simply died on us and we need to replace it which seems to be not as simple as it sounds. At&T stores are not very common in this area. A rainy night ahead promising a good night’s sleep. Good night to all!

It has been a fun day in the old city. Admiral Joe, Capt. Tom, Contessa Nadica, Michael and Katie walked the old city visiting beautiful old churches, cemeteries, restaurants and a Belgium Gelateria. Walking in the footsteps of history, enjoying the tastes of the south and being in delightful company was a special treat.

In the late afternoon our guests have departed and we did some food shopping. For dinner decided to visit Justine’s famous southern cooking while Capt. Tom searched for a place where he could watch the last and infamous game of the Heat. The heat was on and as usual at the last moment they won and got their trophy.

We, on the other hand encountered a family of 7 waiting in line to be seated at Justine’s restaurant. This couple had five little ones at their hips and hands of which they all adopted. The youngest just a baby of one year of age and the oldest, Lola just turned seven. As usual Joe kept their attention and promised them a buck each if they behaved and set still through the dinner. Well, they most certainly did! Yet what was the highlight for us, was when all of the older children, Lola, Diego, Imani and Torrey, marched up to our table with self drawn pictures of dolphins, hearts and their names on each one of them, to give their special treasures of gratitude to us. What a blessing it was to have met this beautiful family that so lovingly tended to each other and shared a moment of their presence with us! Thank you God for such a very special blessing bestowed upon us!