svwitchcraft

Can it really be the beginning of another new year. I suppose it must be since the numbers have rolled over to 2011! We had a terrific Christmas...three of them actually by the time it was said and done. New Years Eve was spent with friends aboard a neighbours boat. Good food and better company marked the arrival of 2011. The temps were above freezing and we all went outside to enjoy the city fireworks around 9 pm. A much nicer and larger display than Kingston manages for Canada Day. We all stood in the park and had our own private boaters fireworks at midnight. You can fill in the blanks to figure out what they consisted of. AS they year ended we said Good-bye to our favorite security guard. Harold retired last night, and last ... read more

We knew it was coming....it always does. There was a little snow the other day, then more snow two days ago, followed by ...you guessed the freeze. Last night temps dropped to -14. There is ice in Anglin Bay already and there are still a couple of boats to be moved! One of the metal craft boats has been busy going back and forth breaking up the ice! Our ice eater is running keeping us floating..but oh baby it's cold outside. What a shock to the system. The ugly clothes are out, for both people and boat. Our pretty boat has a great unattractive looking hump on her stern otherwise known as a cover. It is entirely practicle, but decidedly unatractive. Yes folks the grumbling has begun. We are thus far luckier than London which has ... read more

We reached Oswego NY and raised our masts in 100F temperatures. An already long job took extra time due to frequent cooling rests. The folks at Oswego Marina are skilled, friendly and welcoming. The sort of place that gives marinas a great name. Our trip across the lake was uneventful....a good thing, but it was a motor trip...and we had so hoped to sail. People were apparantly watching for us to go through the basqule bridge in Kingston. As we passed through and turned towards the marina we heard horns blowing, saw people along the shore and observed others heading to the marina gas dock. They all showed up at the gas dock and again at our temporary berth. Never have so many people gathered to watch us dock. It would not have been a ... read more

Our planned departure from Waterford was delayed by a few hours, as the flight of five set of locks was shut down. Mark had hatched a plan that would have seen us tackle 10 locks today, I was skeptical of the plan. Moot point since Lock 2 did not open until shortly after noon. We also waited inside lock five ( gratefully) until lock 6 was ready. One of the other boat asked why not let us out. Well if you have never done this you exit into a sort of cement bathtub with currents and not a lot of room. Today began quiet, but became quite windy which can also cause problems in the 'bathtub' between the locks. How do I know this you might ask? On our way down one of the locks did ... read more

The weather has been sunny, hot and humid since leaving Fort Pierce. Our windscoop (air conditioning for sailboats) has been working overtime to keep our berths comfortable for sleeping. The Dismal Swamp route was lush compared to our transit in the fall. It came with some biting insects called green heads. They are sort of like deer flies but have a bright green head. Nasty things too, exiting the canal and leaving those guys behind has meant my swollen and itchy ankles began to heal. We left Norfolk Virginia headed for New York City, but ended up putting in at Cape May. We needed to change seals on the raw water pump and also discovered an issue with the exhaust system. In any case the waves were getting fairly large and close together, so it ... read more

After sorting out a banking problem, by sitting in Vero Beach and receiving courier packets, sending faxes and so on we were on the move again. Titusville was a good anchorage to sit out the t-storms and torrential rains that arrived on May 17. It also was the beginning of an invasion of 'Love Bugs'. Thank goodness these guys do not bite, because it is an invasion. They did not like the rain any more than we did, so did not plague us during downpours. As soon as the sun comes back out so do they. I can say that once we were well and truly in the Mosquito Lagoon they began to abate. The crew of Witchcraft was very grateful, they were making us a bit nuts, crawling all over us and every available surface ... read more

We let go of our mooring on Wednesday, at about noon headed for the Current Cut. Why so late a start you ask...well we needed to time our passage through the cut. It is called Current I assume perhaps incorrectly for the settlement of Current, but from a cruisers stand point it would be because of the current that reaches upwards of six knots. A slow boat would have some trouble negotiating the sharpish turn as well as the subsequent cut. Get it wrong and you will be on the sand or worse yet on the rocks. Having successfully made our way through we headed to our planned anchorage of Royal Island. This is a large protected harbour that cruisers have been using for years. The previous development was lost to hurrican Andrew and a ... read more