Below are links to Google Maps of our location, links to marinas if applicable, and links to Kem's blog on the Houston Chronicle. Most recent event on top.

Places we've been along the way and tentative plans We have no schedule and we're sticking to it.

"MANHATTAN NORTH" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " OK, we’ve checked out our July digs and it’s still early in the day. We are running with the tide and moving north at a whopping 11.2 mph, so why not keep going? You know our motto for Ju... "

"MANAHATTAN WEST" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " There were days, not too long ago, that you wouldn’t want to venture into Battery Park. The rehab of the park and surrounding area has been a miracle. There are jogging trails all along the wat... "

"MANHATTAN SOUTH"View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Our last blog found us leaving the “discovered” anchorage behind Lady Liberty and heading over to the Manhattan side of the harbor. After all, it was early and we had a lot of energy... "

"LADY LIBERTY" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " The Statue of Liberty ( Liberty Enlightening the World) is a colossal sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frederic Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886. The statue, a g... "

"THE BIG APPLE" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Our excitement over seeing the New York skyline and the Statue of Liberty “on our own hull” had peaked and boiled over, so we got an early start out of our Great Kills Harbor, even though... "

Atlantic City - Golden Nugget Casino and Marina

Formerly "Trump Marina" aka The Senator Frank S. Farley State Marina

Tuesday May 26, 2011 at 6 am ownership transferred from Trump to Tilman Fertitta.

"BOARDWALK" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " By 1874, almost 500,000 passengers a year were coming to Atlantic City by rail. The first boardwalk was built in 1870, along a portion of the beach to help hotel owners keep sand out of their lobbies... "

Credance Clearwater at the Taj

• Movie 1
• Movie 2

"STEVEDORE REUNION"View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " We finally caught up with our good friends Sharon, Max and Sophie, and Stephen, here in Atlantic City. Ever the hosts extraordinaire, we enjoyed wine, supper and great stories aboard their beautiful ... "

"TEXAN TRUMPS THE DONALD"

View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Atlantic City – at last, and we had the best surprise meeting us at the dock - none other than PoeMan, John. John is our long-time friend and boating buddy. We have cruised with John and h... "

"IN THE SOUP" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Yes, in the “thick as pea” soup – and a little nerve wracking. We left the safety of our Cape May marina at sunrise and all was well. That quickly changed as we turned the bend arou... "

"SEMPER PARATUS - CAPE MAY" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Cape May is home to the US Coast Guard Training Center under the command of Captain William G. Kelly. Although Bob did his Coast Guard training in Alameda, CA, at this time this is the nation’s... "

UNITED STATES COAST GUARD TRAINING CENTER CAPE MAY NEW JERSEY

Color Guard Video

Troops March in for Ceremony Video

"CAPE MAY - JERSEY SHORE"

View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Cape May is a city at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. Those are the operative words here – “meets t... "

"SOUTH JERSEY MARINA" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " What a great place to spend a few days – and those few days happen to mark Memorial Day weekend and the beginning of summer for this beach community. The South Jersey Marina has it all and as w... "

"THIRD YEAR'S THE CHARM"
View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " As I may have mentioned before, Bob has shortened his original 25 year itinerary to a mere 20 year itinerary. Whew! First stop, Galveston, May 28, 2009 This change of plans is due in part by a quote ... "

"MD - DE - NJ" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " I’m glad that we left at first light, and that Ed and Jim led the way - it was a long day on the bay. WOW – three states, two shipping canals and one 50 mile long body of water,... "

Georgetown Yacht Basin

$2.00 ft. Fast open WiFi, no cell phone (at&t) without booster antenna.

Rock Hall Landing Marina - Floating docks, strong WiFi and at&t air card connections. Skinny water coming in.

Hug the reds. Note they had the entrance red and green moved a bit south due to shoaling.

"ROCK HALL ROCKS" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Rock Hall is a town in Kent County, Maryland. The population was 1,396 at the 2000 census. It was officially established in 1707, and named Rock Hall Crossroads, but some historians believe that it w... "

"THE MAINSTAY AT ROCK HALL" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Timing is everything – and we hit Rock Hall at the perfect time. As soon as we got the boat secured and checked in at the marina (stay 2 nights, get one free – yippee), we cleaned up and ... "

Geoff Gallante Video - YouTube when he was 8.

Geoff playing with the Capital Focus Jazz Band at the Mainstay Theater in downtown Rock Hall last night. He's now 10. Video

The Capital Focus Jazz Band at the Mainstay - Video. The group has been around 22 years with musicians rotating out from various high schools and colleges. And with Geoff, add elementary schools.

The Capital Focus Jazz Band at the Mainstay - Video - Director Dave playing (older guy 2nd from right)

Knapp's Narrow's Marina

Channel silted badly at the red # 4 mark west entrance. Ran aground 30 feet off the mark.

Hug the red going in from the West entrance. At the last red where you turn to make the dogleg south the channel is only about 30 to 50 feet wide. Shallows to 3.5 feet quickly. We managed to find that spot but were able to back down, spin and plow through.  At the dogleg head for the end of the docks on the south side of the channel and stay about 15 to 25 feet off the docks as you wrap around until you’re a channel width away from the green, then it stays deep pretty much across the channel.

"RARE DAY ON THE BAY" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " We left Knapp's Narrows on the highest tide we could find – fortunately for us, it came at 8 AM. Bob did a stellar job of winding us around the “narrows” (read: skinny waters) and we... "

"KNAPPS NARROWS" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Our last view of Solomon's was a majestic cloud and super double rainbow. We are cruising again! Yippee! Our destination this time is Knapp's Narrows, 18 miles from Annapolis on the east side of the Che... "

Solomon's - Spring Cove Marina

"PART THREE - ASSEMBLY" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " It is a good thing that we’ve experienced great “porthole open” weather for the assembly days of this project. The fumes could get pretty strong without ventilation. Guess that&rsqu... "

"MOVER & SHAKER AWARDS" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Undoubtedly, the “mover” award here in the boatyard goes to Chuck. He’s been lifting and moving boats for over 20 years and is amazingly skilled at his job. There are probably over ... "

"PART TWO - THE REPAIR" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Yes, I can truly say that we wake up each morning on the boat and find ourselves high on life – or is from breathing goop, fiberglass and epoxy resin? At any rate, breathing deeply and watching... "

"BOBS JOBS" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " OK – the weekend is over and it’s time to hit the ever present “to do” list. Just because we are up on the hard in the boatyard, we don’t get a reprieve. I am using the ... "

"A TASTE OF SOLOMONS" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " As we crossed the original bridge from Solomon's (mainland) to Solomon's Island, built in 1870, we started looking for the restaurants participating in the Taste of Solomon's. This is an annual event wh... "

20 Century engine running (watch movie)
Green engine + 20th Century running (watch movie)
Hand starting engine (watch movie)

"MARITIME FESTIVAL" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " We certainly picked a great weekend to be up “on the hard” in Solomon's. There is sooooooo much going on that we took Saturday off and enjoyed the festivities. First on our list, and a blo... "

"LIFE ON THE HARD" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Be careful what you wish for! I have always thought it would be cool to live in a tree house, and now I am. When a boat is hauled and blocked up, it’s called “on the hard” and that ... "

"PART ONE - DEMOLITION" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Below is a shot of the little guy that started all of this fuss – the starboard rudder. Bob was polishing and transferring fuel from the lazarrette tank when he noticed that the rudder till... "

"HAUL OUT AT SOLOMONS"View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Hauling a boat out of the water is a necessary evil in the cruising world, both for the time it takes and the expense it costs. No matter what the vessel size, examining the bottom (hull) of your boa... "

"SPRING COVE MARINA & BOATYARD" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Up to this point, I haven’t said much about our current location – the Spring Cove Marina AND Boatyard. It’s a perfect place to catch up on work, meet old and new friends, try new n... "

"WHO IS ANNMARIE?" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " This is our third visit to Solomon's., and on this stopover I was determined to work in a visit to the Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center - a perfect “azalea blooming” time of year... "

"SOLOMONS LYC REUNION" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " I’ve often blogged about small world stories – meeting up with buddy boaters at different destinations several times along the journey, meeting Texas boaters everyplace we stop, and proba... "

"CROSSING THE BAY" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " We picked a great day to cross the Chesapeake Bay from Tangier Island, VA, to Solomon's. Island, MD, about a 5 hour jaunt for us. The seas were calm, breezes were soft and sky was blue. In the spring, ... "

Tangier Island - Parks Marina

Silting is getting really bad. Saw 5 foot coming in the east entrance and saw 5.2 leaving the west entrance. While there was plenty of water at the dock on the west side of the house, we ran aground getting to it.

2 - 5 foot seas - Anchors become weightless on their way back down to the platform - clunk. Movie

Skipper Kem pilots Spirit Dancer through a series of 3 to 5 foot seas. Movie

Cape Charles Town Harbor

Also the town of Cape Charles has a lot of events planned for the year including a visit by at least and maybe three TALL SHIPS.

"CAPE CHARLES, REVISITED" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Cape Charles is on the southern tip of the Chesapeake Peninsula and this is our second visit here. Since leaving (and staying lighter for) the ever so shallow Dismal Swamp, we are now on the lookout ... "

"BOTEGA PARTY" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " The word Bodega conjures up romanticized images of a cafe, bistro, delicatezza, boite, Trattoria and many other small dining establishments that serve great wine and offer a very unique variet... "

FBI Criminal Pursuit TV Series. Part of the last show of the second series was filmed next to our boat so we got to film them - Brief Movie - See Kem's blog for the scoop.

"FBI: CRIMINAL PURSUIT" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Last episode, second series… was filmed right by Spirit Dancer, so watch for it soon on the Discovery Channel, Fridays, 10/9c I was just wrapping up my morning chores when I happened to look o... "

"PREPARING TO PEEK" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " As more high winds and questionable weather approaches our current location, we are preparing to get underway as soon as it passes – probably within the next day or two. It is important for us ... "

"PENINSULA TOWN CENTER" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " We hit Hampton at just the right weekend. This is the weekend they started the BID (Business Improvement District) Bus runs. From this weekend on, they run a free bus from the Crowne Plaza, right by ... "

"ACT YOUR SHOE SIZE DAY" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " We had a kid’s day today – without the kids. You may have heard me say that once a day you should just “ act your shoe size ” and life will be more fun. This weekend has been ... "

Carousel Ride Video 04-24-11

"HAMPTON" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Yes, we have reached and passed ICW mile post 0 – again. Instead of staying in Portsmouth this time, we decided to try a new location, Hampton, VA. Hampton is an independent city in Virginia, a... "

Street Party Video 04-23-11

"MILE ZERO & WAR SHIPS" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " It’s always exciting to approach Norfolk and Portsmouth and know that we have reached Mile Zero on the ICW. The freighters and container ships are always larger than life when going by almost w... "

Movie in the Dismal Swamp

"DISMAL SWAMP" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " Much like “Spanish moss” isn’t Spanish nor is it moss, the Dismal Swamp is not dismal and the part that boaters go through is not a swamp, it’s a canal. The Dismal Swamp Canal... "

Alligator Marina - Only marina mid-way to Coinjock or Elizabeth City. Depths at 5.2 feet at entrance (MLW).

April 14 - 16

SPOT

Gale Force Winds hit Oriental - Movie

"ORIENTAL" View and comment on the post.

Excerpt: " After leaving New Bern in our rear view mirror, the first leg on our northbound journey was a short one – south on the Neuse River to Oriental, the Sailing Capital of North Carolina - at Atlant... "