I Wanda
Christian & Mary Verlaque Joined: April 29th 2009
Logged in: February 5th 2012
Logged in: February 5th 2012
Travel Blog Posts
Hatching on the 4th
We are winding down our cruise of Maine for this summer and wanted to share some of the landscapes and experiences. The transmission was successfully repaired, but with one thing and another it took a full 4 weeks to get done. We used this time to enjoy the Portland areas we love and discovered some new places. We always head to Micucci’s in the old Italian district to stock up on good cheese and coffee if we need it (we prefer Italian coffee) and now a slab of Sicilian Pizza and a cannoli are “must haves”. The Standard Bakery is handy on Commercial Street and EVERYTHING they make is wonderful. This time we had a pecan sticky bun and a “Financiere” treat that is indescribable. That usually means you do not want to know how many ... read more
Mary at the Gate
Rockland, Maine We have been looking forward to this for WEEKS! For Christmas our lovely daughters Lauren and Andrea surprised us with a gift certificate for Primo Restaurant in little Rockland, Maine. They knew we were planning a cruise to Maine and that Rockland is an all-weather port that we enjoy visiting. Our wedding anniversary is in August (39 years and counting…) so we decided that a romantic dinner at Primo wold be PERFECT. There are a lot of great eateries in Maine. What sets Primo apart from the rest is their commitment to raising and cultivating much of the meat and produce that is served. Lauren and I had seen a food channel show (Anthony Bordain) that featured Primo and we were impressed with the commitment to quality and in-house production. Now for the taste ... read more
Gramma Pike's Rolls
Seal Bay, Vinalhaven A couple of times recently when we could only pick up one or two TV signals on the boat’s antenna we actually watched a couple of episodes of Hell’s Kitchen. Those who know him well are familiar with Christian’s peculiarity—he loves to cook and does it very well but does NOT like to watch food shows on TV. I, on the other hand, love them. We enjoyed it for a couple nights, laughing at the chaotic disarray these “chefs” seemed to inflict on their kitchens. Well, I Wanda seemed a lot like Hell’s Kitchen this morning. We are anchored in the lovely Seal Bay of Vinalhaven, Maine with four other boats, two of which belong to friends. We had the fine idea of making Gramma Pike’s overnight sticky buns so we could have ... read more
Falmouth Foreside
Falmouth Foreside Some of you know that we have experienced a transmission failure here in Maine. So it goes on a cruising boat! We were just talking this morning-- these lovely Maine mornings when dawn slips in about 4 am... it was CLEAR and that surprised us as we expect a gray rainy day... but I digress! We were talking about how happy we are. And how that could seem strange since we have had one of those rare breakdowns on I Wanda that could cost many boat units and eat up most of the summer. True. Yet we are happy as little clams. One of my FIRST reactions when the transmission did not engage as we were 4 feet from the mooring next to Mike (Madeline, Maddie now Valkyrie) here in Falmouth Foreside was to ... read more
Verrazano Bridge in the haze
When last we wrote it was about “Plan B”—altering course to sail with a changed destination. That brought us to Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey which has always been for us a good stop. Easy to as anchor, a dinghy dock for transients near town and easy to reach services: a Laundromat, post office, and grocery store within an easy walking distance. This time we scooted into town to do laundry only to find that the place, clearly marked “open 7 days a week” was closed. Folks in the area assured us it would open automatically at 5 am the next day. After checking the tides we saw that we could make a favorable current in the East River by leaving in the mid to late morning so a 5 am laundry run worked for us. It ... read more
We always have a “Plan B” when we set out, even if it is just for a short day run. When I write in the Log Book I put the point and time of departure but the destination is always blank until the hook is down. Of course we have a IDEA of where we want to go, and 90% of the time that is where we end up… but winds change, bridges close for repairs, and friends call on the radio and suggest a get together. There are any number of good excuses to change the “plan” and we call it Plan B. We decided to leave the Chesapeake because the heat was oppressive. Water temperatures from Georgia north were never under 80 degrees and often much higher. The prospect of cooler temperatures gave us ... read more
Lighthouse Design
In our cruising life there are times that we are not exactly cruising—but more “migrating” from one cruising ground to another. Our home base is in Georgia gets warn in the spring and you want to be on your way to a cooler spot WELL before summer officially begins. We sailed out St Marys Inlet on May 22nd and finally arrived in cooler water about 2 weeks later. Here are some highlights from our “migration.” The first surprise was that we sailed much more than we expected to based on forecasts we had studied before leaving. This is always welcome news, both because we LOVE to sail AND because diesel prices topped $4 per gallon when we left and each hour that we motor uses about 2/3 of a gallon. On our off shore run to ... read more
Atlantis
It used to be that we came regularly to Nassau. It was the place the kids flew into for Christmas and spring break from school, or the place we chose to do check-in formalities with the Bahamian government. While it is a big and dusty city, by Bahamian standards, we always found fun things to do like dinghying the canal into Paradise Island to try our luck at the casinos, or meandering down to Potter Cay for fresh local vegetables and conch salad. High church holidays like Christmas, All Saints and Easter have been celebrated here with GREAT pomp and circumstance. Sea planes landed in the harbor in those days so you had to watch where you anchored. These days we mostly by-pass Nassau for the quieter out islands. We like checking-in in small places like ... read more
Every year we go through the contortions to service every one of the too many through-hull fittings on I Wanda. You want for them to move firmly but easily in case you need to close them. Some of these fittings are used fairly regularly, but others have stayed in their position between servicing most all the time. We had noticed over the past few days that we had to empty the bilge more often than usual, so we were watching and keeping tabs on the bilge levels. One culprit we have had in the past is a leak or loose fitting on a fresh water hose. If the fresh water pump is left on you can empty a LOT of fresh water directly into the bilge. I decided to check the fresh water tank to see ... read more
The View from Monument
Our youngest daughter lived on board with us for three years and was fond of calling George Town, Exuma “camp for grown-ups” because there are so many activities to choose from and the pace can be the opposite of the usual laid-back and relaxing cruiser style. Cruisers here seem to fall into two categories-- you love it for all the things there are to do and the convenience of services, or you hate it because there are too many boats, too much radio chatter, just too much. So where does the crew of I Wanda fall? In both camps, actually. We find that we enjoy George Town very much indeed for its wonderful services, yet we like to escape too for quieter places. Exuma Markets has been the cruisers’ best friend for as many years as ... read more
