New Zealand March 2017

It's 6:00 am Wednesday March 15th, in Miranda, New Zealand on the Coromandel peninsula on the east side of the North Island.   That makes it noon Tuesday the 14th for most of you reading this.   It is our first night in our tiny moving home, a camper van from Wilderness RV.   

OK, clearly this is not for everybody, and right now drinking our first coffee of the day, Shelley is saying,  "What are we doing here?"    We do not have our sea legs yet, as we try to figure out how all the systems work in this camper.    But I digress.   My initial concern was whether we would be suffering from major jet lag, and surprisingly, traveling for 24 hours, we are not.    Yes, we are six time zones away, and across the International date line, but it is easier to go north/south than east/west.    We left Los Angeles Sunday evening at 11:30 pm.   That is a busy time at the airport, as late evening is the time for all the Red Eye flights to the US east coast, and dozens of international flights headed across the Pacific.    For an airplane buff, I love walking the Tom Bradley International terminal as every big new jet is sitting there ready to take passengers to all the corners of the earth.   Several big Airbus A380's (as my grandson Luke will tell you is the world's largest passenger jet) are present, along with the long distance workhorse, the Boeing 777 ER.   Plus the new kid in town is the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which many of you have taken, but I have not.   It is still on the bucket list of things to do.   All these planes take you on trips lasting up to 17 hours.

For us, we could not get our ticket on American's new 787 service direct to Auckland, as we were using Advantage miles for our Business class tickets.   320,000 miles to be specific and $149.    Not bad for Business class round trip to NZ, Australia and back.  But American sold all of its seats to "Revenue paying" passengers on its Flight 83 from LAX, so we got our seats on their One World companion, Air Tahiti Nui.    Not sure how many of you care, but Air Tahiti Nui has 5 airplanes that fly from Tahiti to Los Angeles, and on to Paris, with branches to Auckland and Tokyo..... all are 25 year old Airbus 340's.   4 of them have had a recent upgrade.   Guess which one we got...right, the one that has seats so old, they were like wood.   OK, maybe I exaggerate a bit, but it was not the best seat to try to sleep in overnight, plenty wide, but they barely lay back.   It is 8.5 hours to Papeete Tahiti, where we landed at 5:30 am.   We had to get off the plane, clear security and then stay in a transit lounge until our flight continued on to Auckland at 8:00 am.   Shelley says she slept just fine, me not so much.  

From our prison inside the Papeete terminal it was a spectacular view across the ocean to the island of Moreau.    Clearly this now becomes a new bucket list item, which is to come back to Tahiti and explore.   It is just beautiful from my limited vantage point.   Our flight on to Auckland took 5.5 hours, so we landed at 12:30 pm Tuesday, as we crossed the International date line.  Tahiti is on the east side of that line, just barely, so it is where the day ends.   NZ is on the west side, so the day start there.    Our course heading all the way from LA, Tahiti, and on to NZ was mostly south, 200 degree heading.   Hence, not much of a jet lag.  

It took an hour and a half to clear customs, and get picked up by the friendly folks from Wilderness RV.   For all of you who have been sailing with the Moorings, it is a very similar process to pick up a camper van.   You have to go through the rental contract and take responsibility with your first born child if you screw up, then give you a brief walk through of the camper.   That should be a cinch for us ole veterans of the RV world.   Not so much.   They do things different here.   

All the time, I am thinking that we can figure out how the systems work on the coach, but I am wondering how the hell to drive on the wrong side of the road.    Our camper van is really nice.   It is a Fiat diesel van chassis with a very nice 22 ft. camper.   We picked this one because of the king size bed in the back, a bathroom, refrigerator, stove, and table.   It is very easy to drive.  Everything you need for a month of exploring NZ.   To my delight, it was easy to drive....much easier than my big ole Class A back in the US.   After surviving the first drive, I am happy to say I did not hit anyone or anything, nor screw up by turning into the right hand lane.   In fact it was pretty easy.   Whew!!

We did not arrive at our Miranda Holiday Park until late, so have not had a chance to get into the NZ camping life yet.   Just trying to get our legs underneath us.   But we survived our first night without killing each other, so life is good.    Now we have seen our first dawn in New Zealand, and all is right with the world.   Time to explore.

2017 Next Adventures

It has been a long time since my last post in 2013.   As most of you know, we continued our journeys on Rock Chalk for several more years, but with less time on the boat, and more time back at home in Austin.  We had taken Rock Chalk to Canada twice, down the US river systems, out to the Bahamas, and up and down the US east coast for many years, seeing our favorite spots over and over.   But it was time to sell her, and move on with another adventure.   Selling was easy for Shelley, but not quite so for me.   We finally sold Rock Chalk in the spring of 2016 to a nice couple from North Carolina who intended to take her on another Great Loop.   I could not ask for more.  

                                          The last day on Rock Chalk in Southport, NC


So 2016 has been a significant transition year.   We have moved from the boat to dirt again, and it was my last year of working for the insurance agency.   My company of 39 years, New England Financial has gone away, Metlife has sold out to Mass Mutual, and that part of my life was turned upside down. All that turmoil made it a much easier decision to fully retire, and start doing our homework for new places to travel.   So Shelley and I spent the balance of 2016 researching where we want to travel around the world, and looking for an RV.  The former was pretty easy, as we knew that an extended trip to New Zealand was # 1 on our bucket list of travel destinations.   That trip begins March 10th, 2017 for 5 weeks.

I will blog on this site once we reach Auckland, whenever we can connect to an internet connection, which we understand to be a bit more difficult to find.  We are renting a 22 ft. campervan from Wilderness RV in Auckland, and taking her around both the North Island, and the South Island, dropping it off in Christchurch four weeks later.   More to come.

So we bought an RV.   After months and months of research, reading online blogs, going to RV shows, and talking to as many people as we could who have different types of RV's, we bought a Tiffin Class A gas coach.    How did we get there?   It's complicated.  

We had to figure out where we wanted to go, and how we wanted to travel.    There are a number of newer smaller diesel chassis that get great gas mileage (16 mpg), are very easy to drive, park, and can get into any camping spot in the country.   They are called Class B's.  They are so maneuverable that you do not need to pull a dinghy (the term RV'ers use to refer to a car you pull behind the RV).   We were very tempted for their simplicity and ease of driving.   The trade off was that they are very small inside, with individual bunk beds, no slide outs, very limited storage, and a small refrigerator.  We were used to the boat, but a Class B just did not fit our lifestyle.  

The next step up was a Class C which is a gas engine, Ford van chassis with a coach attached, and typically with at least two slide outs to provide more interior room.   This is a good compromise, with much more room and storage, and still easy to drive.   This is a popular choice for many people, who when  driving a Class C for extended trips, will pull a dinghy behind.     This type was a finalist in our decision process.

However, we purchased a Class A gas coach.   There are two excellent brands of Class A coaches out there, Newmar and Tiffin.   Both have the best quality, best after the sale support service, and excellent customer satisfaction.  We wanted the smallest coach we could find, that still handled well,  but had the interior size for long comfortable trips, and the storage beneath to carry everything you may want for those long trips.    Just like boating, there is no one coach that is perfect in every respect, so we made our decision based on the interior comfort, and the amazing amount of coach we could get for the same price as a Class C.

By far the best time to purchase an RV is in the fall.   It is the end of the travel season, and many people are ready to sell their coach.   Plus, if you find the one you want at a dealer, this is the time they are ready to make deals.  In our case, after much research, visiting the Tiffin factory, and visiting many different dealerships to look at every conceivable model, we decided on the coach and floor plan we wanted.   It was a Tiffin Open Road 32 SA gas coach.   I found 15 dealerships around the country on RVtrader.com.   They each had slightly different options, but anyone of them would have worked for us.   I negotiated with each dealership on an "Out the Door" price, ie. I wanted their bottom line price that I would write my check for to drive the coach away.  No hidden dealer fees, or other charges, just give me the simple bottom line number.    North Trail RV in Ft. Myers Fl. gave us the best price for a 2016 model that was still brand new, but had been on their lot unsold now for over a year.   That price was less than many of the Class C's we saw around the country, and was $10,000 to $15,000 less than any other of the 15 dealerships with whom I was talking.  

The other major item to note if you are in the market, is the significant price increase for a diesel coach.   That is what we REALLY wanted.   The diesel chassis is a much better platform with the engine in the rear to keep all that noise behind you, and the generator up front, far away from the bedroom at night.   The diesel engine is much more powerful and handles climbing passes, and coming back down much easier.   They ride better because of the heavy duty diesel truck chassis.  All in all, a much better choice.   But we could just not justify a $50,000 to $100,000 higher price for the exact same size coach.   That was the killer.   So a gas coach it was made by Tiffin Motorhomes in Red Bay, Alabama.

Everyone has different budgets and needs, and there is an RV, or Fifth Wheel, or Travel trailer to meet their goal.   We found the one we wanted (at least for now) and are anxious to head out across the country in our new "Rock Chalk 2".

              Our new coach and our little Kia dinghy on our break in trip to Mesa AZ

But first off to New Zealand.  
Marc and Shelley
Feb. 2017

South Carolina

We are moving south with not only the migrating birds, but the migrating boaters.  Each fall there is a mass movement of boats headed south to warmer waters in Florida and the Bahamas.  It is a pretty time of the year, and we are in no hurry, so we spent some quality time cruising through the Low Country of South Carolina on our way to one of our favorite ports, Charleston, SC.

It has been our observation that once you are below Cape Hatteras, the bird life and wild life begins to pick up.   We saw dolphins again in Beaufort, NC and Southport, NC on Cape Lookout.   Blue Herons, Ibis, Osprey, and even the occasional Bald Eagle populate the low country grass and trees along the Intercoastal Waterway.   Even the alligators are starting to show themselves early in the morning.

An Alligator on the Wacamaw River in South Carolina

This pair of Bald Eagles were keeping a sharp eye on the river

Those long skinny legs of the Blue Heron seem to be pretty stable on that small branch

The sunrises this time of year are spectacular.   We have had beautiful weather all in all. Much nicer than last spring on our northbound trip through the same area.  We stopped in Charleston for two weeks to enjoy that city's southern charm and wonderful food.

Sunrise just south of Georgetown, SC

The southern tip of Charleston and the Battery

Our daughter Shana flew in to join Shelley for 4 days of Mother/Daughter time in Charleston.   They walked miles every day, took historical home tours, and most of all sampled almost every restaurant in town.   This is clearly Shelley's favorite spot on the east coast.

Following that visit my sister, Gayle and her husband Mark joined us on Rock Chalk and cruised 4 days with us down to Savannah.  It is always fun to have family join us on our adventure.   We all have slowed down a bit from our hard drinking days of sailing in the BVI, but there certainly was plenty of time in Charleston and further south to "pass some pleasure".

Gayle and Shelley enjoying a snack and conversation on Rock Chalk

Rock Chalk is headed south for Stuart, Fl.   We should be there by mid-November, where we will keep her at Sunset Bay Marina for the holidays.   We are beginning the process of marketing the boat to sell.   Yes, I know, that is a heart breaker.   But it is time to end this chapter and move on.   We have loved this boat and she has taken good care of us for almost 15,000 sea miles.   This too,  like all good things, must come to an end.

Marc and Shelley

US Navy Yard-Norfolk, VA

It is the world's largest.  We have been by it 3 times before, but I get goose bumps every time we do a slow cruise out the Elizabeth River from Norfolk past the United States Naval Shipyard.  You have to see these big guys up close to appreciate these magnificent ships and our US Naval forces.

The yard seemed a bit less busy this time than two years ago, which tells me that we have more ships deployed across the oceans.  The first most impressive ship you see as you approach the yard is the #77, USS George HW Bush Aircraft Carrier.  It is huge, and I am sure these photos will not do it justice.   Use as your measuring stick for size,  the tiny men standing on her deck looking down at us as we cruised by.   Plus there were six Navy Fighter jets on the deck that we could only see from afar.   It is HUGE!!

The USS George HW Bush--this is just the front third of her in this photo

Those guys on top do not like us getting too close.  Also there is an electronic fence in front

The newest ship to the Navy fleet is the #24, USS Arlington.   She is a San Antonio class Amphibious Transport and Dock Ship or LPD.   She was just christened this last April, 2013.

USS Arlington

Notice the more Stealth look of the newer ships.   There were two more LPD's in dock.  The USS Mesa Verde and the USS Bataan.   These ships are designed to carry marines, and their amphibious assault equipment to a theater of war, along with their helicopter escorts.   They can put a bunch of marines anywhere in the world pretty quickly with these guys.

USS Mesa Verde LPD 19

  Finally, in her home berth in Norfolk is one of the Navy's hospital ships, the USNS Comfort.   Her primary mission is basically a seagoing Level III trauma hospital, supporting all branches of service with mobile surgical and acute medical care.

USNS Comfort in Norfolk, VA

She has 1000 beds and 12 Operating Rooms

There were dozens of other ships, destroyers, cruisers, and amphibious deployment ships.   It is the largest fleet in the world and they keep us safe.   It was a cool, fascinating experience to cruise by these ships and see them in person.  We all ought to be thankful for what they do, and how well they do it.

Marc

Baltimore and the Chesapeake

It has been a month since my last posting.  We had a beautiful trip down the New Jersey  coastline, up Delaware Bay, and into the Chesapeake to get Rock Chalk to Baltimore.   Our main purpose for going to Baltimore, other than its very nice Inner Harbor, was to have our boat in the Baltimore TrawlerFest in late September.  On arrival in Baltimore's outer harbor you have a great view of one of the most historic sites in our country, Ft. McHenry.  

Ft. McHenry with the Baltimore, MD skyline

   The fort has some impressive canons on the parapets surrounding it for 270 degrees, all with a commanding control of the harbor.   It was 1814 toward the end of the War of 1812, in which the British navy was pounding Ft. McHenry and Baltimore.   Francis Scott Key was captive on a British frigate watching the barrage all night as he penned our National Anthem.   Today we cruised by a red, white, and blue buoy marker in the harbor that marks the location of that British ship, and the view that Mr. Key had that fateful night.  Just another in a long list of history lessons we have been able to observe from Rock Chalk in our 3 year voyage.   

Too bad it was closed to all visitors due to the Obama Government Shutdown

TrawlerFest is a three day meeting of sorts for couples investigating the cruising life.  There are classes on all kinds of subjects, and over 40 different manufacture's of trawlers have boats there for the participants to crawl through.   It is an excellent way for those in the market to capture in one place,  many of the different types of cruising boats available in the market.   The owner of Endeavour Trawlercats knew we have been considering the sale of Rock Chalk, and asked if we would be willing to put our boat in the show.   It was a good opportunity for Endeavour to generate interest in new yachts, and for us to get a feel for the market.  

We had dozens of couples come through the boat, and many showed a real interest, but no offers.   We were relieved by that, as we still feel like we have some cruising to do on Rock Chalk this winter in Florida and next spring in the Bahamas before we really get serious to sell her.  

Once the show was over, Shelley and I headed south, with the next stop of any length, Charleston.  You may remember that our travels north through the North Carolina sounds and the Chesapeake last spring were pretty horrendous.   Very bad, wet windy weather was the signature of that trip.  Quite the opposite this fall.   It was beautiful.   Here are some photos of absolute dead calm on the Chesapeake and the Alligator River in North Carolina.

Point No Point Lighthouse off the mouth of the Potomac

Sunrise on the Alligator River--Red Sky in the Morning...TS Karin was on its way

How often can we see our wake on the smooth waters of the Chesapeake?

We had glorious fall weather all the way down the Chesapeake and into Abermarle Sound.  From there the winds remained quiet across the Alligator, Pungo, and Pamlico Sounds as we made our way south to Beaufort, NC.   We stopped for a couple of days to catch our breath, and then it hit.  We are still sitting after 4 days of Gale force winds, and sideways rain.  

Maybe tomorrow we can continue down the Intercoastal toward Charleston!! 

Long Island Sound to the Chesapeake

Remember Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby"?   The Gold Coast described in the book is the north shore of Long Island east from New York City for 30 to 50 miles.  Manhasset Bay, Huntington, and Northport are just a few bays lined with mansions of the rich and famous.  It is impressive, and one of the best, most prolific, boating venues we have witnessed.   Big houses and big boats are the order of the day!!!

A "Summer Place" on Long Island

Each bay has hundreds of mooring balls

We bounced our way from bay to bay as we made our way east from NYC along the New York shoreline, then crossed the Sound to Connecticut.  There we visited small towns such as Branford, Essex, and Noank/Mystic.   It was impressive how much these folks love the water and their boats.  There is a massive amount of sailboats and powerboats in every harbor.   They utilize the mooring balls with with most bays having a mooring field of over a 100 boats.  The city or a marina will utilize a launch in each bay that takes a transient out on a mooring ball into shore.   That is a great service.  

The waters are beautiful, but this time of year you really have to watch the weather.  We spent one very uncomfortable afternoon banging into 3-4 foot waves on the nose.   That is not a fun way to spend your day.  It was also interesting to try to navigate in the thick fog.  We left Noank thinking the morning fog was lifting.   No, we found ourselves in thick dense IFR conditions.   I had the radar on, our AIS transponder, the chartplotter,  and Shelley looking out, but I still felt lost.  It is a very uncomfortable feeling, but I guess you would have to get use to it if you lived here.  We made it back safely to New York City and then on south around New Jersey.   Even though we had just come around New York last month, it is still an impressive journey.  

The United Nations building on the East River

The Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges on the south end of Manhattan with Lady Liberty in the distance

One last drive by as we head south in Rock Chalk

The weather gods smiled upon us as we had two very nice smooth days that allowed us to scoot right down the New Jersey coastline to Cape May.  Getting two consecutive days of low winds, low wave heights, and no strong currents is unusual but we took advantage of it.  First to Manasquan, NJ, then we made a long day of 85 miles to Cape May.  A third day of good weather followed that, so again, off we go.  Shelley and I seldom let any dust gather under our bottoms, thus today we had another long day up Delaware Bay to the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.   Guess what it does, ....yes it connects the two big bodies of water.   Miracle.    Actually built in 1806, the canal is 14 miles long, about 400 ft. wide, and deep enough for big ocean going ships to transit.  OK, 1806.   Not alot of machinery then.  They dug this thing by hand.  My back hurts thinking about it.  

We have made great progress over these last few weeks, and are early for our deadline in Baltimore on Sept 23.  (Is anyone surprised by that????)  We are  flying home in a few days to visit family and friends, so my next post will be after we get back at the end of September.   Rock Chalk

Marc

New York City--Round 2

It was late August, and we were just starting to see some colors in the trees.  There is mist in the Catskills to the west of the Hudson River valley as we made our way south toward New York City.  The weather was cooperating and we had a very nice trip down the river.  

I had been planning for days to take a different way around the island of Manhattan, as we are headed east out Long Island Sound.  There is a low railroad bridge over the mouth of the Harlem River right at the junction of the Hudson.  All the books tell you that the bridge opens on demand.  The Harlem River runs around the Northeast side of Manhattan and joins the East River at Hell's Gate.   Hell's Gate is known for its very strong currents, so all the advice we had was to hit Hell's Gate at slack tide or with a favorable current.   Knowing that it would take us an hour and a half from the Hudson to the East River, we had to time our departure from our marina 20 miles up the Hudson to hit everything at just the right hour.  And we did.

Just one problem.  As we got to the Harlem River bridge exactly on time, I called the bridge tender on Channel 13 of the VHF, who quickly informed us that they did not have sufficient personnel to open the bridge on demand.  The next opening would not be for 4 hours!!!!   So quickly on to Plan B.   We continued south down the Hudson to the Battery at the bottom of Manhattan, then turn left and go back northeast up the East River and through Hell's Gate.  So off we went.  Luckily the view is spectacular.

The George Washington Bridge looking south down the Hudson

The Freedom Tower is now topped out at 1776 ft.  

The United Nations Building from the East River

The end result was a nice trip around Manhattan and another chance to see this beautiful city from the water.   It took a bit longer, but we were still able to hit Hell's Gate at a favorable time to make our way through its strong currents.  It starts at Roosevelt Island in the middle of the East River, and then shoots you out into Long Island Sound at LaGuardia Airport.  I have flown into New York for years for business, but this was really a special way to see the city and its airports.    

Roosevelt Island splits the East River into two channels.  Texas proud in NYC

Hell's Gate's current shooting us out to Long Island Sound

The next leg of our trip is into Long Island Sound and explore a whole new cruising area.  We hope to spend a couple of weeks off Long Island NY, and the Connecticut shoreline before we need to get south.  I hate deadlines on a boat, but we have to be in Baltimore by Sept. 23.   So we will see how much of this next waterway we can explore.  The navigation will be challenging this time of year, as fog is common.  So we will have to be on our best "game" in navigating our way through the Sound.  Marc

Stepping Stones Lighthouse at the junction of the East River and Long Island Sound

Fog in Mystic, Connecticut.   About 100 yards visibility.   We're not going anywhere