Caribbean Cruise

Okay, so it's been a long time since I've posted anything. Let's face it, there isn't much boating on the Chesapeake Bay during the winter. Luv'n Life III has been dry docked for a couple months now.

However, a couple weeks ago, I returned home from a trip on this boat:

We had a fantastic 7 night cruise on the Norwegian Pearl. We left out of Miami and went to Roatan, Honduras; Belize City, Belize; Costa Maya (Mahahaul), Mexico; and Key West.

Our favorite stop was in Honduras where we had the opportunity to SNUBA. I love snorkeling but I'm a little apprehensive about SCUBA. This was a great chance to experience underwater breathing without any fear. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes the water.

A few thoughts from the trip:

*We weren't expecting a bon voyage party but this boat had other ideas. Sorry guys, I've colored over the inappropriate for a public blog parts. The thought going through my mind when I saw this boat -- "Hey! Riding on the bow of that boat while it is in motion is illegal!" Granted I don't know Florida's boating laws but I know it would be illegal in Maryland.

*I have many boating friends who won't take a cruise because they can't drive the boat. While I understand that thought, I suggest that you book one anyway because you will have so much fun that you will forget that you aren't driving.

*For my friends who think you can't feel a big boat moving -- think again. Of course, you aren't constantly feeling the boat move and your wine glass isn't going to tip over but your body does sense the movement. Try bowling on a cruise ship; let's see how many strikes you get.

*Don't pay a lot for your room. I know the ones high up have the best view, but how much time do you really plan to spend in your room? Plus, if you are at all prone to motion sickness, get an inside room on a lower deck because the middle of the ship moves less with the rocking of the boat.

*This was our second cruise on a Norwegian Cruise Line ship. While we sailed on two different ships, they were the same design. This took away a little of the excitement of first day exploration as you find everything onboard. Then again, we already knew the quickest way to our favorite bars. This similarity is not the same for all NCL ships, but it is something to think about.

*I should take a tropical vacation in the middle of winter every year. This was so much fun and we are looking for some place warm and wonderful to go next year.

San Diego

I just returned from a conference in San Diego. Aahh, Southern California, where the marinas are still full... And you can eat outdoors in January...

It made me wonder what it's like to live on the other side of the US on a boat. Does anyone know what it's like on a boat during an earthquake? My initial thought is that it would be safer than being on land. Maybe year-round boating makes up for that threat.

Back in Maryland, I'll just have to keep dreaming about spring....

Boats and Politics

During Election season, we see people campaigning for their favorite candidates in many ways. If you have a boat, why not get it in the mix too? Look at this boat in my marina:

I would like to point out that I am not campaigning for or against Jessamy. This candidate is not even in my district.

Make sure you get out and vote today!

Fairlee Bonfire

Fairlee Creek gets pretty quiet after Jellyfish Joel's closes for the season. This makes it the perfect spot for an end of season raft-up and bonfire.

After watching the weather for issues from the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole, we headed out Friday night. While I'm really glad we left, I would not have recommended anyone else venture out in that weather. There were white caps in the Inner Harbor and without the strataglass in place we would have been soaked. We were throwing water over the hard-top once we got out into the Bay.

Since we were the only ones in our group to actually leave Friday night, we figured Fairlee would be dead. We were right, there were only 2 other boats anchored in a spot that has a few hundred anchored boats during the summer months. Unfortunately, one of the boats was already at the beach. The whole purpose of going to Fairlee was a beach bonfire so we pulled up alongside the other boat. I guess I should really say that we struggled to anchor beside them. The wind was whipping and the current was strong. At least the wind was blowing us away from the other boat. After getting the bow anchor set and trying twice to set the stern anchor, Doug got in the zodiac, went to shore, and physically pulled the boat into position using the stern anchor line. It did not look like fun from my viewpoint but you do what you gotta do (or you man the helm while the captain does heavy labor).Once finally situated, we set up our "kitchen" for the night. As we said numerous times that night "there is just something about a campfire that makes you feel like a kid again." Hot dogs and s'mores cooked on long thin branches are a perfect fall dinner.

We were really pleased when the couple on the other boat joined us. We had a great time making new friends around the camp fire. When we said goodnight we made plans to merge our raft-ups in the morning and Doug and I looked forward to making even more new boating friends. People always ask me how we make boating friends. Well, basically it's as organic as the situation this past weekend. We are in the same place and the same time, we have a boat - they have a boat, we discover that we are all nice people, and Ta-Da! new friends are made.

By Saturday night, we had 7 boats rafted up together (3 we already knew and 3 new boats, plus us). We built another bonfire, we drank, we cooked, we made new friends, we talked smack about the upcoming Ravens/Steelers game (great win Ravens!). We also saw a really cool mode of transportation - wouldn't this be fun:

The entrance to Fairlee is a great spot to fish because of the strong current. Doug caught striped bass, catfish, croaker, spot/perch, and even a blue crab.

One tip for those who are unfamiliar with Fairlee Creek - follow your charts VERY CAREFULLY! The entrance into the creek is tight. The areas right outside of the channel are VERY SHALLOW! After all the rain from the tropical storm, it was difficult to see the beach/shoal that became flooded on the starboard side of the entrance. We saw a couple boats with near misses and one sailboat that was lucky that my husband and one other guy in the group are so nice. They had to push him off of the beach.

Trawler Shopping

Doug and I attended Trawler Fest this Sunday in the Inner Harbor. Yes, we are die-hard boat fanatics - we attended a boat show in the rain. We are truly starting to research potential live-aboard boats.

The wonderful thing about trawlers - lots and lots and lots of space!

The not so good thing - they typically go very slow. I don't mean to make fun of trawlers, but when you are accustomed to cruising at 30-35 kt it's difficult to imagine only going 8 kt.

What are we looking for:

*2 1/2 staterooms: one for us, one for guests, and one for storage. Go ahead and laugh, but if we are still working while living on a boat, we can't just live in shorts and t-shirts, we need room for work clothes.

*2 separate living areas: an example is a salon and a helm station with extra seating. We love each other but we also need to be able to get away from each other.

*A decent galley. One of the boats we looked at has a full side-by-side refrigerator!

*A patio: we want an outdoor living space that is close to the water level.

*Ways to go green: how fuel effecient is the boat? is there a potential for solar panels to run the electric?

*Something we can actually afford!!!

We did find three boats of interest. I'm not saying they are in our price range, but one can always hope to win the lottery.

The Fleming 55 Pilothouse Motoryacht

The Manta 44 Powercat. One of the catamaran dealers did mention that we need to consider where we plan on keeping the boat. There are only so many shipyards that can pull a 21 ft beam boat out of the water.

The Maine Cat P-47

Annapolis, again

Annapolis has been a frequent stop for us this year. It's a great city for many, many reasons. These are a couple from today's trip:

1) The view from the top of Main Street.

2) This sign outside of Armadillo's:

Seriously, how can you go wrong at a place that charges less for a margarita than for a hot dog?

Finally, just to show that I'm not the only one that sleeps during our trips, here's my fantastic captain sleeping on the job.

College Football Saturday

Good friends, tasty adult beverages, beautiful weather, and college football - what more could you ask for? I know, how about a bar on the water. So with a crew of 8, we set off for Pusser's in Annapolis. Home of:I don't drink rum (I know that is a blasphemous statement to most boaters) but many of the crew threw a few back.

One quick note about Pusser's. There is a two hour limit on docking along their wall. We chose to get a mooring ball and take the dinghy in so we could stay longer.

It may seem silly, but I have to compliment them for posting the games which would be shown on each TV. So the signs were a little primitive, at least they were useful. How many times have you been to a bar during college football season and spent many precious minutes trying to figure out which TV is showing your team's game?

Boating is such a small world. We ran into 5 other boats that we know while we were in Annapolis. Part of the Labor Day bunch was directly across Ego Alley from us.

The sun sets earlier this time of year so we started the trek back to Baltimore around 4:30. Sirius 90s on 9 is a perfect station for singalongs if you have a bunch of 30-40 year olds on board. This was certainly one of our more lively return trips. Thanks everyone for making the day so much fun!