The Done Diggin’ Diaries

We were finally able to leave New York on Friday the 19th after 12 days on a mooring waiting for a decent day to be out in the ocean.  Since then we’ve traveled down the coast to Cape May, NJ, then the Delaware Bay, the C&D Canal and now we’re in the Chesapeake Bay in a little town called Deltaville, Virginia.  Today’s forecast is for sunshine and a high of 62, though there’s a small craft advisory because of winds in the Chesapeake so we’re sitting again!

We’ve been enjoying the time out on the water.  Well, Danny has enjoyed all of it, I love it when it’s sunny and really calm.  Most days have been great, though we’ve had a few hours of high wind and waves that have provided some excitement.  Danny has started referring to the helm as “The Church of the Flybridge” because I’ve blessed myself so much!  Yesterday we saw a bald eagle, three dolphins swimming together beside the boat and two pelicans.  Pelicans!!  A sign of the south! We’re close!  We’ve also seen beautiful sunrises and sunsets and have started to meet some people who are also migrating and in the same marinas as we are.

We’re trying to stay active to make up for the food (and wine!) that we’ve consumed along the way, so we’re walking or bike riding just about every day.  We ate a lot of crabs in many forms while we were in Maryland – Danny said that after dodging the pots in the bay all day we deserved to eat them, and we have.  It’s been fun to explore the different towns we’ve visited, including New York City, Atlantic City, Cape May, NJ, Solomons, MD and Deltaville.  Each one has had it’s own personality; from NYC subway where nobody makes eye contact (then everyone smiles when a baby comes on the car) to Deltaville where every driver that passed us waved as if we were friends.  This is what it’s about.  Seeing our country in ways we never would otherwise.  And sneaking past “private property signs to look at pretty views like this one :-)!

 

Thanks for traveling along with us.  I’ll keep posting!

 

This is beginning to feel like our new home -we are in a neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY called Sheepshead Bay.  We’re happy that The Sheepshead Bay Yacht Club was recommended to us by someone on one of the forums we read; it’s a safe bay behind Coney Island where we’re waiting out more weather.  Right now we’re sitting inside safe and dry while the remnants of Hurricane Michael are starting the rain and wind around us.  We are also feeling “itchy” to move, but there’s an old adage that “it’s better to be on the dock wishing you were at sea than to be at sea wishing you were on the dock”.  I’ve had a little of both so far as I get used to being out on the ocean for longer days.

We’ve enjoyed being here though; it’s an interesting place with mostly very friendly people.  We were smart enough not to make a big deal about the Red Sox beating the Yankees earlier in the week (yay Sox!!) and were glad we declined the offer to watch the the games in the clubhouse with the native New Yorkers!  We took a long walk to Coney Island one day and had a hot dog at Nathan’s.  Danny says it’s the best meal he’s had so far and keeps threatening that we’re going back.  We also went into NYC (via public transportation!) for a day and spent way too much for a lunch at Rockefeller Center and visited the 9/11 museum.  Really moving place.

We think the next decent travel day is Sunday and we hope to do a pretty long day to make it to Atlantic City.  The temperature is still warm (I think at home too!), but we’re anxious to be where it’s going to stay that way.  So….I’m a little homesick, we both wish we were making more progress, but all in all we’re enjoying our adventure and making memories!

Doctor appointments (and clean bill of health!!) behind us – then a wait for a full week for a decent day on the ocean. We left our mooring at home yesterday morning at 8:30 am to start our great adventure. We had a really good day at sea and arrived in Provincetown, MA at 4:30 pm. It’s a good thing we like it here – doesn’t look like another good weather day until Friday – maybe Thursday. We are anxious to get New England behind us but I’m also – just anxious! So we wait. The wind woke me at 4 am – I finally came up to the “back porch” (cockpit), drank coffee, listened to music and calmed down. We are happy to have started the journey and grateful to be where we are!

The good news is the boat finally got in the water last week, on July 10th.  The not so good news is we’ve decided we need to go to Plan B as far as our trip is concerned.  In order to be through Canada and heading south into warmer climates in time, we would have had to leave here several weeks ago, and because of incredibly frustrating delays by the boatyard and mechanics responsible for our repairs, we weren’t able to do so.  So, we’ve decided that we are going to explore the Maine Coast this summer; hope to leave one day next week (weather looks lousy from Sunday until about Thursday) and travel up and down for about 6 weeks.  We’ll come home for a couple of weeks in September and get ready to head South in October.  We will travel down the East Coast and spend the winter in Florida / Bahamas before starting the Loop in Spring of next year instead.

Meanwhile, we are enjoying having the boat right at home. We officially renamed her “Done Diggin” the first day she was in the water, and believe it or not, we are STILL waiting for the mechanic to finish fixing our generator.  This week he’s told us that he’ll be here “first thing in the morning” three days in a row – and hasn’t showed.  We’ve decided that if we ever come out of retirement we’re going into the marine business –  you get to take say yes to everyone, make promises you don’t keep AND charge a ton of money.

The engines are running well, we’re loving the new canvas and cushions and we had a great day on the water with my kids over the weekend.  Weather permitting we’ll be taking some more of the family out on Sunday.  All in all, not so bad!

 

So, we are still not in the water.  Danny’s been planning our Great Loop Adventure for 5 years and retired at the end of May to get ready to go.  Since then we waited for over a month for the drive shaft to be repaired, and in the past two weeks have had to replace two other parts that the mechanic (who took it all apart) “couldn’t find”.  Meanwhile the boatyard has started to charge us for summer storage for our boat that sits all by herself in the yard, the Fourth of July stalled all hope of getting parts until today and means we can’t get in the water until next Tuesday, the 10th at the soonest.  Oh, and our canvas guy has actually gone backwards with his progress – he took some pieces of the enclosure away early in the week and hasn’t returned with those or the cushions he’s supposed to be making!  We’ve been discouraged and a little pissed off, but are trying to keep a positive attitude.  At this point it’s probably getting late for us to do the Loop Route and get heading toward warmer weather in time – so we are thinking about a Plan B.  We are still determined to get on that boat this summer, do some cruising and be in warm waters for the winter!!!  Meanwhile, our granddaughter Lilah is at the helm! Stay tuned!

Dan and I are hoping to start The Great Loop on our soon to be officially re-named 43’ Power Catamaran, Done Diggin’!  The Great Loop is a 6000 mile boat journey which will take us to 3 countries (US, Canada and The Bahamas) through oceans, lakes rivers and canals.  It will take about a year and we’re hoping that our friends and family will follow us on this blog.  I’m still fine-tuning the blog and I’ve also set up an email account for the trip – symesdonediggin@gmail.com.  Stay tuned while we get the boat and ourselves ready for this adventure!!!