Mile 0 AICW, again, and back in the lovely ditch.....

We are docked at Portsmouth, VA at the head of the Atlantic ICW.  Tomorrow we head south in the AICW (not my favorite waterway) and head toward Myrtle Beach, SC. It should take us about a week to Myrtle Beach, as long as there are not any unscheduled lock or bridge closings, the Marines are not live firing at Camp Lejeune or we run aground, again....  We have to run the same gauntlet of problems we had on the way up, so fingers crossed! 

We will leave the boat at the shipyard in Myrtle Beach for repairs, and head home for a couple of weeks.  On our return we travel to Sarasota, where Perfect Fit will be put on the market.  

Yet another storm (the one that hit the Carolinas a few days ago) kept us in port a few extra days, but we hit the jackpot with the town of St. Michaels, Maryland.  A great stop with a plethora of shops, pubs, restaurants and a spa within walking distance. It also hosts the Chesapeake Maritime Museum, which was quite interesting.  This will (probably) be my last post, as we wrap up this grand adventure of ours.  Thanks for staying tuned!  

The Museum.  

This is a replica of a punt boat, which is a floating duck blind used by hunters in the old days to provide ducks for restaurants.  It has almost no freeboard, and is level with the water so ducks don't see it.  The hunter would use an old style punt gun (a small cannon) and hunt ducks out on the bay.  These were ultimately outlawed in later years. 

They call these bay skiffs, but I call them pirogues!  

Bill and I used to hunt rails (marsh hens) at my dads camp.  

These pics are from Cape May, NJ.  A great town which is an obvious vacation spot for the Northeast.  Think Destin, but better walkability.  

Mallards were everywhere in St Michaels.  They even blocked our dock! 

This is an exhibit at the Maritime Museum.  It is an old wooden Owens cabin cruiser.  My Uncle TT had one when I was young.  Dickie Barker was onboard it when it sank, a story I never fully heard!!  

 

Southward bound.

We are moored in a marina at Onset, MA, which is on the southern end of the Cape Cod Canal.  Stanwood will not be able to visit us due to an unscheduled medical procedure, so we have decided to head home (wherever that might be!).  We had a great time in Boston, and even rented a car for a side trip to the White Mountains in New Hampshire.  Now re-fueled ($3.45 a gallon in Onset, the cheapest yet!) we will dash past Rhode Island to NYC.  There we will wait for a decent weather window to take the 100 mile trek in the Atlantic to Cape May, NJ.  Once there we are in the relative protection of Delaware and Chesapeake Bay.  We then will keep heading south for Myrtle Beach, SC where we have an appointment to fix the hole in the boat inflicted on us by the slightly disoriented captain so many months ago.  We will fly home for a few weeks whilst that repair is made, and then head to Sarasota.  

 This trip has been the proverbial trip of a lifetime.  We have seen and experienced some of the best cruising grounds this country has to offer, and made new friends and caught up with old friends.  Alexis and I truly love boating, and the opportunity it has offered us to visit new areas and expand our minds by meeting new people and sharing the history of the areas visited.  Having all of our children, daughters-in-laws and grandchildren join us on the way again taught us the true meaning of happiness.  I am proud that we have been successful (mostly) in planning and pulling this trip off! But, there is always a but.  Alexis and I both turn 70 next year, and the rigors of handling and maintaining a 60' boat are beginning to wear on us.  It takes a day just to wash it! So we have decided to put the boat up for sale after this trip.  My mind rebels at the thought, but my body tells me it is time.  We don't want to give up boating all together, so we may look at something smaller, but we have to figure out what we want to do in the next decade of our life.  Long trips on any boat smaller than Perfect Fit will be out, since we so much enjoy the room and comforts she affords.  So if we buy something smaller it will be most likely for weekend trips.  Then we have to decide where we want to live out the remaining chapters in our life.  Houma has always been home, and having our house on the water with our 20' Robalo at hand is always an option.  And our doctors are in Houma, an important fact at our age!  Our travels, however, have opened up new and exciting possibilities to live that provide much more than our native Louisiana.  So, decisions decisions.  

Enough ruminations, here are some pics:

Our marina in Boston.  It never ceases to surprise me at the number of recreational boats in New England.  This is just one of many marinas in the Boston area. 

The marina is part of a large condo area called Marina Village.  It has numerous restaurants, stores and a grocery on site.  Also, it has numerous sites that honor military serviceman and women.  

This area was the crucible that sparked the American Revolution, and is proud of its heritage.  

For my flower enthusiasts! 

Quincy, MA is home to a national park that includes the house lived in by two Presidents, John Adams and his son, John Quincy Adams. The above painting from the house is of George Washington, who was immensely respected by John Adams, and the below painting is of John Adams. 

 

This is the desk where John Adams broke his feud with Jefferson, and began an extraordinary correspondence between the two of them late in their lives.  I have read some of the letters, which give a remarkable insight of both men.  Having read much about both men, and the role they each played in the formation of our country, being in this room sent a chill up my spine that is hard to explain.  

This library was added by Henry Adams, a descendant, who was a renowned author.  

The mother of all hamburgers in downtown Boston. 

Cousin George. 

Boston Commons Park.

These pics are from our adventure in the White Mountains.  We used an app Megan told us about and took a driving tour of the Kancamagus Trail.

Onset beach by our Marina. 

These New England "cottages" are ever present in the towns we have visited.  

 Maybe we will move here, and Alexis can open Nana's CPA shop and support me as a gentleman of leisure???

Au revoir Maine!

 We have been anchored in Seal Cove the past two nights, and some of the pictures below will validate the name! After Castine, we travelled to Southwest Harbor, in the heart of the Acadia Mountains.  We were surprised at the car traffic in the small town of SW Harbor, but it is at the crossroads to Acadia National Park, and hikers, canoers, and nature lovers of all types were headed to the park.  SW Harbor has had the most mountainous scenery of this trip, and is as far north as we will go.  From SW Harbor we were either jumping over to Nova Scotia, are heading back, which is the option we have chosen.  

We would not have had enough time to enjoy Nova Scotia, so will add it to our bucket list.  Instead we will head south stopping at a few ports we missed on the way up.  Stanwood and Janet will join us in Newport, RI and ride with us to NYC.  We are looking forward to their visit.  Before that, we will spend labor day weekend in Boston, and enjoy that city.  

We will stay the next two days in Rockland, ME to provision for our trip south.  The weather looks agreeable so fingers crossed the forecast holds. Alexis likes the marina at Rockland as it has a nice SUV we can use to grocery shop, and a laundry where she can do large loads (we have a mid sized washer dryer on board).  So we will provision, and head south Tuesday.  Maine has been absolutely spectacular.  The rugged coastline, the wildlife and the cool temperatures have been great.  We have had to run the heater the past few mornings to warm up the boat!  I can now understand why it is such a summertime destination.  Here are some pics: 

Moonrise Seal Cove.

Sunset Seal Cove. 

The next few pics are among hundreds I took of seals.  The rock in the above pic only comes out at low tide (12' tides here!).  This family of seals would show up at low tide and play king of the mountain!  They would try to push off whoever was on top and take his/her place.  Lots of barking and hissing, sort of reminded me of my grandsons at play...........

A channel in Seal Cove that only has water at high tide. 

The tundra would change from rock to marsh in an instant. 

The above pics were taken at Seal Cove; the below at SW Harbor. 

Acadia National Park mountains.  

SW harbor. 

High tide at the dock.

Low tide at the dock. 

High and low tide at the jetty. 

We walked to town, and this park was on the way.  Tons of mallards in the background, taunting me.

Geese too...

Squirrel!

These woodpeckers are sculpted with metal. 

This small museum was in SW Harbor.  Mr. Gilley was a decoy carver, who branched out into nature carvings and became quite famous in his day.  

This was a painting in the museum which reminds me of my sister's art. 

Notice the flounder in the osprey's talons. 

More of SW Harbor. 

I'll end up with this seal video.