June 19, Day 6 - Cape May to Barnegat Bay

We left Utsch’s Marina about 6:00 am with a plan to go to Atlantic City for the night. After some light surf in the Cape May inlet, the Atlantic settled down and we had a nice “rocking chair” ride - see video below. We arrived at AC (Absecon Inlet) before 11:00, so decided to press on to Garry & Sherry Haferbier’s on Barnegat Bay
Because Utsch’s did not have a pump out, decided to hook up the rebuilt macerator and take care of the full holding tank once we got out in the ocean a few miles. STILL DOESN’T WORK! Will work on that during the next weather delay.
We gave Garry a call to get his recommendations to get to his place. He suggested that we come into Little Egg Inlet as it linked right up with the Jersey Intercoastal and passed right by his community.
WELL - - - , that proved to be a very entertaining recommendation. We crashed through a 12 foot surf that gave my arm and the steering system a real workout. See the videos below. The Vineyard threatened to broach several times, but came through like a champ. Then we entered the Jersey Intercoastal and immediately ran aground (softly - backed off easily). We were in between the marks and the GPS told us we had 12 feet of water. That shook my confidence in both for the rest of the a run to Garry & Sherry’s. A real nerve racking trip – frequently coming to a complete stop while waiting for the depth sounder to tell us we had more than zero feet under the keel.
After a short stop for a pump out, arrived at the Haferbier’s around 4:00 after a 10 hour run. We were ready for a drink! Garry and their dog Bailey helped us tie up and we made toddy or two.
Sherry arrived home from work and we visited for a while before having a wonderful dinner at the Bay View Terrace – a terrific view of Barnegat Bay and great food (it was probably the company).
We went back to their place and CRASHED! We were beat.




Leaving Cape May Inlet. Smooth Seas.









Sailboat in the sunrise.

Garry & Sherry's Marina Guard Dog - Bailey.

Garry & Sherry's Mainship 34 - on their waterfront canal.

On the open ocean

Should we really be doing this?

Did it - never again!

June 18, Day 5 - In Cape May

We're still in Cape May as the wind is howling and raining cats and dogs. Good day to update blogs and logs. Waiting for the wind to die down so we can continue north. Did laundry and other mundane things. Decided to have dinner at the Lobster House. Great service and a wonderful meal.

Sorry, no pictures.

June 17, Day 4 - In Cape May

We spent the morning doing some maintenance and cleanup. Then in the afternoon walked into town enjoying the stroll through the Victorian mansions that are so prevalent in the town. Browsed through the shops in downtown, walked along the area adjacent to the beach and grabbed some lunch. Then back to the marina where we spent what felt like forever getting internet access so we could check e-mail and do some banking. The weather did not seem as bad today as yesterday, but we are committed to stay here at least until Friday.

Linda did Coq au Vin in the pressure cooker tonight. Gerry said it wasn't as good as his, but really pretty darn good (maybe it really was as good as his - - - - ).

Linda preparing Coq au Vin for the pressure cooker.

The Vineyard's home in Cape May

Cape May Victorians.

The Emlen Physick estate.

June 14 - 16, Days 1-3 of our Great Loop Trip, Home to Cape May, NJ

Linda, Kaycee, and Gerry - right after breakfast and bike loading - now ready to shove off.

Departure Day - send off party.

Dale, Don, Kara, Grace, Lisa, & Gerry

Kara, Cam, Karen, Dale, Grace, and Lisa.

Jimmy, Lisa, and Dave - who drank all the champagne???

The whole gang (minus the Janssen's)! Thanks for the send off!!! Many thanks to Edna for letting us use her dock and the fantastic champagne and snack send off.

Jimmy & Karen Mullins - Thanks for letting us stay at your house, keeping us overfed and all the empanadas and hosting the parties, and - and - and - and.

Gerry, Kara, Cameron, and Linda

Dave and Luke Kapp
Passing by the Naval Academy in Annapolis on our way to the Bay.

1st day of our Great Loop Trip - Home to Still Pond
Couldn't have asked for a better day. Friends (Edna & Terry Marsteller, Peter Pelling, Jimmy & Karen Mullins, Dale & Don Boyce, Kara Etzold, Cameron McCartney, Lisa , Dave, Grace, and Luke Kapp -(missing because we forgot to tell them we were leaving from Edna's - Torrey, Matt, Tyler, & Trevor Janssen) gave us a champagne toast and snacks for a send off from Edna's dock.

We sure miss all you guys!!!!

Temps in the 80's with a nice breeze from the north. Anchorage at Still Pond full when we arrived, but emptied towards evening. Had steak and Karen's potato salad for dinner. Linda made room for us to get into bed. Slept very well - love this bed.

Still Pond

June 15, Day 2 - Still Pond to Summit Marina North
Heavy fog to start and cold temps. Had to wear jackets. Caught favorable current in the C&D canal and had a 2.5 knot boost. Boat was going over 10 knots - we were flying. Stopped at Summit North Marina to wait for current to boost us to Cape May - 5:00 AM tomorrow. Got a call from Shawn Beal - going to meet us in Cape May tomorrow. Changed priority to get organized - well - sort of. Day turned sunny and breezy. Threat of T-Storms this afternoon, but tomorrow looks great for a trip down Delaware Bay. Still finding junk to toss out. Good thing too! We need all the room we can get.

Foggy morning at Still Pond

Chesapeake City Bridge

June 16, Day 3 - Summit Marina North to Cape May, NJ
Day 3 started with a plan to stay in Utschs' Marina in Cape May and meet Shawn and AJ Beal there. However, things sometimes do not go according to plan. Winds were predicted to be under 10 knots. However, they were more like 15 gusting to 25. The seas were 6 feet at times. We know this because we heard the local fishermen commenting on the seas and, of course, fishermen never exaggerate. During the course of the trip, Shawn called to say they were not going to be able to make it. We were sorry about that, but because we thought we were having company we had incentive to get things organized and ready in the forward cabin for guests ... so now that is done. In spite of the weather, we made good time because we were riding the current and arrived in Cape May at around 2:00 p.m. We topped off the fuel tank and headed for our slip. Dockage was a bit of an issue with the high winds, but the dockhands were very helpful and we successfully docked and disembarked. However, we did immediately drink the wine that was in the "goody package" they provided. We took a short walk and got a late lunch at a local restaurant. After listening to the weather for the next few days, we decided to extend our marina reservation for a couple of days. Hey, we have over a year to complete this trip ... why be in a hurry.

Ship passing Salem Nuclear Power Plant - Delaware Bay

Ship John Light - Delaware Bay

Other "followers" - must think we are a fishing boat.

Cape May Ferry Terminal

Short video of Delaware Bay

Bon Voyage Party

Our first picture with the "Looper" burgee.

Linda, daughter Kara and Gerry

Granddaughter Kailey and grandson Cameron

Monk's Vineyard providing boat rides during the party.

Our neighbors, Jim & Karen Mullins held a Bon Voyage party for us last Saturday (June 6th). A great time was had by all. It was great to see and visit with neighbors, friends and family. I am attaching a few pictures - bear with me, this will be a first. Pay particular attention to the cake - isn't that cool? The Great Loop Cake


Guests of honor with the cake.

We want to thank Jim & Karen for putting this together for us - it was pretty special. Thanks also to Edna for loaning us her dock and the great crab soup. A big thanks to Pat who manned the grill for several hours. And many thanks to all who brought stuff to feast on. We also want to thank everyone who came to wish us well. It was great to see everyone and get a chance to visit before we head north.

The last of our furniture went off to storage today. Now we need to move our stuff to the boat. Not sure it will all fit, but we will give it a try tomorrow. We meet with our property management folks tomorrow as well. Hopefully we will have renters occupying the place by the 1st of July.

The house cleaners come on Thursday, the carpet cleaner on Friday, and we put the car in storage on Saturday. So, we think we are on schedule for our planned Sunday departure on the 14th of June (that is also our 41st wedding anniversary). We are going to shoot for a 10:00 AM departure (that way we should be sure to leave by noon).

The Countdown continues

Last week was a busy one.

I finally got all of my Captain's license paperwork together and submitted to the very helpful folks at the Custom's House in Baltimore (the exams were easy compared to all the paperwork involved).

Joe Voss of Cummins (a great guy and mechanic) was able to finish up the repairs to our main engine and we were able to leave for our docking and close quarters boat handling class in Baltimore on schedule.

We had a bumpy ride to Baltimore with 25 - 30 knots of breeze out of the north, and put in at Anchorage Marina for our boat handling class with Mother Goose (Bill Shermer) of Blue Goose Charters http://www.bluegoosecharters.com/.

Had a bit of classroom work to start with, but Linda was soon at the helm and way out of her comfort zone. I was assigned as the line handler. I soon found out that Linda is a far better line handler than I and was reminded of that on a pretty continuous basis by Mother Goose. We spent two days with Bill and received some excellent instruction. Hopefully, it will all sink in and make us better boaters so that the rest of the folks out there won't have to run and hide when we start trying to dock.

While we were there, our friend Bruce Barbara just happened to be in town for business, so we met with he and some co-workers for dinner at Bertha's Mussles in Fells Point. They took us back to the boat and we gave them the grand tour and had a couple glasses of wine on a gorgeous evening.

We also found the best place ever for margaritas and appetizers in Canton ( a few blocks from the marina) - don't miss Geckos if you find yourself in this area (their version of Nachos is to die for) http://www.geckosonline.com/NewSite/index.html .

We had a nice ride back home and used our new SPOT (highly recommend by Dan & Biddie of Biddie & the Beast) to try out the tracking feature. It worked very well and the folks we shared the tracking link with thought it was pretty slick - especially the link to the track in Google Earth.

Then it was back home to get the Jeep ready for our son Derrick to pick up and take home to Utah. He arrived Friday at 4:00pm, and after a dinner (that he paid for!) loaded our extraneous TV's, stereo's, etc. and started the long drive back to Salt Lake City around 9:00 that night.

Our local "do everything" guys finished up all the power washing, deck sealing, interior and exterior painting so that the house is ready to rent.

I also managed to finally get all the parts and pieces back into the correct place after undertaking the task of replacing the impeller on our 9.9 HP Mercury outboard. I now know a lot more about outboards than I had ever intended to find out.

We are now getting ready to leave with our friends Jim & Karen Mullins and Dave & Lisa Kapp to cruise over to Galesville for a restful evening on the hook. This will be a bit of a shake down cruise as long tall Dave will get to try out the forward bunk for size and comfort.

Next week should be a bit less hetic, but we still have to get ready for the yard sale and finish packing stuff that is going into storage.

That's it for now.

Gerry & Linda
Monk's Vineyard
AGCLA Member #5108

Updated Itinerary

After attending the America's Great Loop Cruising Association (AGLCA) rendezvous in Charleston and carefully studying the exploits of Bill & Ruth Donovan and Gail & Matt Jenkins, we have updated the itinerary (on the right - under the video clips). This is an interactive spreadsheet that you can add your name to the date/place that you would like to join us on the trip. Remember, this is still just a guidline and is subject to the weather and other potential problems that might pop up along the way, so check back frequently as we will update as we go along.

We are now planning to depart here on June 14th and head for North.

The genset has been serviced and is ready to go, but the Cummins still needs to have a rear bearing replaced. That will happen on May 12th, and then the boat will be ready to go.

Things have been very hetic with the AGCLA Redezvous, studying for my captain's license (passed the exams last week), and packing things up so we can rent the house during our trip. It is a good thing I retired, or we would never be able to get everything done in time - still might be pushing it.

We keep track of other folks on the loop and their latest oo's and ah's regarding places and people they have visited. That always gets us back on track. Can't wait to get out there an join them.

All the best,
Gerry & Linda
Monk's Vineyard
Monk 36 hull #219
AGCLA Member # 5108

Dinner with Bob and Carol Markunas

We had to update our blog with this event because of the wonderful dinner, great conversation, and the really cool wine labels that Bob and Carol created.

The main label included a photo of our boat "Monks Vineyard" (from the blog) and the label "Monk's Vineyard", Trawler Wine, 2009.

If that wasn't cool enough, the back label really speaks to their creativity and knowledge of the boating community (and wine).

"Monk varietals are chosen for snug harbors and quiet anchorages. Cask aged in the holds of merchantmen heading 'round the horn, these wines have "been there; and done that". If you've got the T-shirt; Monk's got the wine. With several styles to chose from -- whether you've just dropped the hook or just holed the dinghy-- Monk's is the perfect choice.

GOVERNMENT WARNING (with commentary):

It is an excellent practice to wait until the sun is over the yardarm (but as every sailor knows, the sun is always over some yardarm somewhere). Unlike the traditional "Grog" which can give you a head like a caulking mallet, after Monk you wake ready to holystone the decks, re-pay the seams, or just have a cup of joe.

(At the Vineyard, the cup of joe wins every time!) Enjoy! "

Is that cool or what?? Linda and I want to express our sincere appreciation to Bob and Carol for the wonderful dinner and gift. Next time it will be our treat (chili dogs in the cockpit).

The guy from Onan (Marty) was at the boat today to do a 1000 hour service on the generator. He replaced the heat exchanger, ordered a new water pump, and will be back to replace the bearing between the engine and the generator later this week. I sense that more than a few boat units will be invested in this project. It seems that running the generator in the shallow water that is at our dock, sucks in lots of sand and grinds down the water pump pretty quickly.

The Cummins guy will be here on Friday, so I am hoping that will be a bit less painful than the Onan service.

Look out Charleston - we will be heading for the America's Great Loop Association Rendezvous next week and looking for lots of advice on doing the "Loop".

Another reminder to check our itinerary under the "Links" section of this page to let us know when to expect you to visit. This will be update soon to reflect a much longer stay in the Bahamas.

Gerry and Linda Etzold
Monk's Vineyard

Back in the water

Monk's Vineyard is back in the water and at her dock on Valentine Creek. No problems so far. She floats, the engine runs, the gen set runs, and the heat works. Now we start to get things organized and ship shape to get ready for the Great Loop. Still lots to do. The Onan guys come to check out the gen set on Monday and the Cummins guys show up on Friday. Hope everything checks out ok on that end.

It would sure be nice if the weather would cooperate. We are still having temps below freezing at night and now we are expecting major rain through the weekend. Oh well, if it was nice, we would be trying to get started early. As it is, we will be able to stick with our June departure plan.

We will be heading to the Great Loop Rendevous in April. I start my Captain's License class the week we get back, and Linda takes her "close quarters" boat handling class in May. We should be ready to go in June. Well, we still have to get the house ready to rent out.

Good thing I retired or we would never be ready by June.

Still have lots of slots open for folks to join us on the loop. Check the itinerary and let us know when you would like to visit.

Gerry & Linda

Monk's Vineyard - Great Loop: Great Loop Itinerary

Monk's Vineyard - Great Loop: Great Loop Itinerary