Newburyport and off to Maine

The past five days have found us in Newburyport, MA enjoying this very interesting coastal town.


Most of this week we have spent walking around and enjoying the town. I had to go down to Cambridge for a fraternity corporation meeting which took most of the afternoon and evening..  We found the town dinghy dock right in the middle of town.  The train costs $7 or so for a hour ride down to Boston. A very good value as it sure beats driving by car, especially if you do not have one.

Speaking of cars.  Our takeover of a Toyota Rav4 lease is moving forward. We have been approved by Toyota Motor Credit and expect to get the car around Oct 10 or so.

Joy loves the window flower boxes that are all over the town.  A town employee goes around every day taking care of them. They really give the town a nice sharp image.

Did you know that Newburyport is officially recognized as the birthplace of the United States Coast Guard? Bet you did not know that.  It was here that the first ship of the first 10 ships was launched in 1780s under the Presidency of George Washington.  The new Federal Government was relying on custom taxes and the collection of these taxes.  The 10 ships were launched to monitor shipping traffic and make sure that ships entered ports to pay taxes.  Newburyport has one of the oldest custom houses still standing in the United States.  It is now a maritime museum and quite interesting to visit.  I spent the afternoon there yesterday.

Joy went to the Oldies Marketplace, the home of 6 vendors of  used items, especially furniture. It is the size of three barns end to end   Anything you would ever need to furnish a home with old items.  We may be coming back here to find stuff for the New London rental side of the house. 

Today we are off to Maine for the Joy's Simmons college friends lobster weekend up at Lisa and Steve's house.  We are leaving around noon time after we get washed up and buy some food for the weekend.

When we come back on Sunday, we have one more short trip out to the Isle of Shoals off the coast of Maine for a quick visit and then into Kittery on Wed Oct 5 to start hauling out and cleaning the boat for winter storage.

Joe

DO NOT GO AGAINST THE TIDE

This is a lesson we learned today. DO NOT GO AGAINST THE TIDE.

We left Gloucester at 7:30 am so that we would have a favorable push through the Blynman Street Bridge (sometimes the current is 6 knts) and get through the commuer train bridge and the Route 128 Highway bridge.  Got through all three with no problems.

The first two pictures were shot at sunrise today.  One of the sky and one of the water around the boat.

So we were up at the end of the Annisquam River, and we decided to pick up a mooring and take the dinghy over to Windershek Beach(thrid picture).  Joy and Sally used to go to this beach as kids.  Had a nice 3 hour visit on the beach, just walking around and talking to people with dogs.  I counted 8, Joy counted 11 or so.  Everybody was really friendly and inerested in our trip.

After lunch we fired up the engine and headed to Newburyport.  Took about 2.5 hours to get there.

When we got there it was 4 hours into a ebb tide,  When we hit the harbor entrance, our speed over ground dropped to 2,5 knots.  High Spirits can do 6.2 in flat even water. 

We continued up the river with our speed slowly dropping and the current pushing us all over the place. At one time, the speed got down to 0.9 knots over ground. Almost standing still.  It was a little tense to say the least.  If it had gotten any lower, we would have turned around, shot back out into the Bay and anchored until the tide turned.

So what is the lesson learned here.  ONLY ENTER OR EXIT NEW ENGLAND RIVERS WITH THE TIDE BEHIND YOU!!!

Newburyport is our second to last stop before hauling out.  After this lobster party weekend, we may go to the Isles of Shoals, about 9 miles offshore. Then on to Kittery for winter storage.

Joe

History Through an Artist's Brush

We finally have a little sunshine and warm weather to enjoy the art, history, and waterfront of Gloucester.  Saturday afternoon I went to the Cape Ann Art Museum and benefited from the Sails and Trails program, which the city is hosting over 2 or 3 weekends.  They were having a free lecture/walk through the waterfront area, highlighting the history and paintings of Henry Fitz Lane, a well-known artist from the early 1800's, known for his seascapes of Gloucester.  In fact, the park near our boat, has his home, and bronze sculpture of Henry, who from the age of 18 months was crippled(see picture below).  He is looking out over the sea and sketching, with his crutches by his side.  Born into a fishing family, he wasn't able to go to sea, but became a painter and lithographer, known for his detail of the ships and waterfront.  After the walk, I was able to tour the museum, which has a bountiful collection of his paintings, as well as several other local artists.

Sunday morning as we dinghied ashore we were able to photograph several dories from the dock.  There is a dory club in Gloucester, whose members have use of several dories for enjoyment and the occasional race.  The dories are beautifully maintained and a delight to watch.  A couple of mascots got to ride along "for ballast", I was told. 

In the afternoon, we toured the Maritime Center, which highlights the fishing/ sailing industry and Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, located between Cape Cod and Cape Ann at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay. 

Tomorrow we leave for Newburyport, MA, transiting through the Blynman Annisquam Canal.  We are planning to enter the canal at about half tide as there are two areas of concern.  There is shoaling at several points so we need enough water, so we don't run aground, and secondly there is a 65 foot bridge, with a repair work scaffold at the top of the bridge, which will shorten the vertical span by about 4 feet.  Our mast is about 61 feet high.  If we were to transit at high tide, we could have a problem getting under the bridge, but at half tide we will have four extra feet to play with, and shouldn't have a problem- a little nerve racking though!

Joy

Gloucester, FOG, and Rain

When we woke up, the place was FOG City.  The fog lasted most of the morning. It has been on and off most of the day.  After a nice breakfast of blueberry pancakes and sausage on the boat, we headed to the shore to hook up with Paul Banados for an trip out to the hotel he is staying at.

At the dinghy dock we met a couple from Durban, South Africa who sailed over to the States on a 38 foot catamaran.  Sounded like a major adventure. They did a 13 day passage from Puerto Rico to the States by themselves. When they crossed over the Atlantic, they had two extra crew to stand watch.

We finally found Paul and headed out to where he is staying, the Atlantic Ocean View Inn.  It is now owned by members of the  John Dorrance family.  They do 2 to 4 weddings a weekend this time of the year.

John T. Dorrance, MIT 1895, invented condensed soup while working at the Campbell Soup Co  He eventually became President, bought out the Campbell family's interest and the rest is history. MIT people are everywhere.

Anyway, it is a old Inn, build at the turn of the century. Paul is hoping to redo the entire grounds as part of a large redo project, both buildings and grounds.

Couple of pictures of Paul and Joy and the Inn plus High Spirits hiding in the morning fog.

After a nice lunch at the Inn featuring molasses bread ( very tasty), Paul dropped us off at the Rocky Neck Art Colony.  He had to take us separately as three people do not fit into a Miata Sports car.

The Rocky Neck Art Colony started in the 1900s when many artist came to Gloucester to paint and create other forms of fine art.  They all ended up on this little spit of land, and there are still many artists and galleries(last picture below) open year round.  We walked around for a couple of hours and then took the bus ($.50) back into town.

Headed out to the boat at 4 pm, just in time to get caught in the first heavy rain of the afternoon.  Before that it was mostly drips, mist, and spit.

Tomorrow is the day that we will be doing the boat chores that should have been done today.  Mostly getting a propane refill ( 100 feet from the dinghy dock, can not ask for much better than that) plus the weekly clothes washing project. Do you know they charge $3.50 for a normal size washing machine load. Highest we have ever paid. Joy is headed off  to the super market to buy what might be our last week of groceries.  Hauling out in about 10 days.

Joe

An Enjoyable Day, Rain, Fog, and All

It is probably appropriate that as we get farther north, we have more rain, low clouds, and fog, so we better get used to it.  Apparently, this Sept. has been one of the wettest in New England.  We woke to a dreary day, but had some delightful encounters all day, starting with our meeting Paul Banados as we left the dinghy and headed for breakfast ashore.

Paul describes himself as "an eccentric" gentleman who loves anything nautical, an architect, artist, and collector of antiques.  Joe met him drawing sketches at the dock master's office, and soon had struck up a conversation, followed by inviting him to breakfast, and offering a ride on the boat (in the fog and drizzle), so he could sketch the shoreline from the harbor.  As soon as he introduced himself as an Irishman, I knew that he couldn't be from Ireland, as he had an accent similar to our friends in Ecuador.  His Irish grandparents immigrated to Chile, where he grew up, coming to the US forty years ago.  Below is a picture of Paul at the wheel.

After the morning ride in the fog and lunch at a cafe, Joe and I headed for the local arts cinema, where we saw Incendies, nominated for best Foreign Language Film, a very moving, suspenseful, and powerful story.  A picture of the theatre, which is in a former function room with sofas and upholstered chairs for seating.

Then, our friends, Marty and Steve from Manchester, joined us for dinner at one of their favorite restaurants, Latitude 43, with a jazz ensemble on Thursdays.  Fish and sushi were the highlights of the menu, along with beautiful, art-filled ambiance.  Back to the boat for relaxing and blogging with anticipation of tomorrow's events.

Gloucester, MA

Arrived today after the fuel leak was finally fixed.  Took 15 o rings and a new fuel line but finally everything is okay and no more PINK oil pads.

Actually got to sail today from Manchester.  Took about 2 hours as we were only doing 2 to 3 knots.

After checking in with the Harbor Master, we went off exploring the town.  Found the famous fisherman and wives statues.  Did you know that over 5,000 fishermen have lost their lives since 1630.  They have a list of names starting in 1713 at the Fishermen's Memorial. 

Bought clams for Joy and fish cakes for Joe. Tomorrow headed back to shore for breakfast, and then a visit to the Visitor's Center.  Looks like Steve and Marty are coming up for Jazz Dinner at Lat 43 restaurant.

Joe

PS  This sign says it all about the flower gardens near the Fishermen's Memorial.

Almost back on the Trip

Today we thought we would be leaving for Gloucester, MA, but no such luck.

The last 4 days we have been in Manchester, MA at Manchester Marine, almost right next door
to Steve Carhart and Marty Farmer.  Steve and I were college roommates at MIT and members of Phi Bea Epsilon fraternity.  Our fraternity reunion was this weekend with a Board meeting on Thursday evening.  I got elected Corporation Treasurer at the annual meeting on Friday evening.

So we have been sleeping at their house for the last 4 nights and going into Boston via train and car.

Had a great time seeing old friends from the past.  The reunion is every year, but we missed 2010 because of our sailing trip.

On last Thursday, we had the mechanics from Manchester Marine fix a fuel leak.  Thought they
were successful, but today when we got back to the boat,  PINK under the engine.  They had put down a white oil cloth and it was soaked.

Now it appears that the fuel pump has the leak and they are checking out our options.  So we may still be here for a while.  However, a very nice place to be stuck.  Moorings are only $35/night.

Our next event is Joy's college roommates LOBSTER PARTY ( they have a ham and cheese sandwich for me) in Maine on Oct 1.  So we are very close to Kittery  Point where the boat goes out of the water and we have two weeks to get there. So we are just enjoying the last days and taking it east. No pressure to get anyplace this week.

Joe

PS  Here are some pictures. The first one is the famous Spirits of 76, this is the original which is hanging in the Marblehead Town Hall.  There is a second painting hanging in Cleveland, Ohio but this is the first one.  Then there is a picture of sun rise in Marblehead.

The third one shows the pink on the white cloth, fuel leak on High Spirits.  Look like we will be getting a new fuel pump. Hopefully by the end of the week.

A Great Day in Marblehead

Joy is having a great time here in Marblehead reliving part of her childhood as well as time she spent with her Mother visiting restaurants and shops here in town.

Today we went on a tour of the Col Jeremiah Lee house which is still very much in original condition.  They have the original wallpaper in the house, put up in 1768. The reason the house lasted so long was that after the Lees died, a bank took it over and used it as their headquarter for a 100 years, and then the Marblehead Historical Society took it over in 1909 or so.  Very impressive wood work

We had lunch at The Barnacle, a favorite place of Jeans, then we did the house tour

Also I discovered that Skip, Joy's grandfather, joined the Corinthian Yacht Club in 1948 and when he ended his membership in 1981, he and Gar were 15th on the membership seniority list. 

We met some women and the pool the last two days.  Three of them came out to High Spirits for drinks before dinner tonight.  Pam, Beth, and Kathy have know each other for 30 years or so. They live here in Marblehead.  Beth's day job is a nanny for an 8 year old boy.  Both parents are in medical sales and they need a nanny.

Well that is it for now

Joe

ps  One more day in Marblehead and then it is off to Manchester by the Sea.

Childhood Memories

Today we left Boston and sailed to Marblehead, MA, where my grandfather had the boat, Primrose VI for 35 years.  Growing up, we used to go sailing every Saturday and Sunday from mid-June to Labor Day.  I guess I followed in my grandfather's footsteps.  Pictured is a daytime shot of the Corinthian Yacht Club and then again with the full moon overhead.  It was a gorgeous day with warm temperatures and balmy breezes.  We are on a guest mooring through the yacht club, so made use of the club house and swimming pool.  Basically, the Clubhouse is open, but no food until Wed due to Fall hours, but the pool, where I had swimming lessons as a child was open and now is heated fresh water- about 84 degrees today.  As a child it was always freezing as it was salt water and unheated.  After a swim, I was able to explore the rocky beach and climb on the rocks as it was low tide.  As kids we used to find starfish underneath the seaweed, but no starfish today, just periwinkles.

We spoke with several members around the pool and found out that to get a mooring in Marblehead Harbor is a 15 to 25 year wait.  We have heard this the past few places we have been in New England, that good harbors have long waiting lists.  We are glad that we are not looking for a home for High Spirits in this part of the country.  We can enjoy their guest moorings and continue cruising.

The town is on the other side of the harbor, so tomorrow the Corinthian launch can drop us off in town to wander around and go to one of our favorite restaurants for lunch. 

Boston Remembers Sept 11

Today was a special day in the City of Boston.  Sept 11th's 10 anniversary was marked by a large variety of special programs to honor the 206 people connected to Boston that died on Sept 11, including 14 MIT alumni.

We started the day off by going to church at the MIT chapel for a 9:30 am Mass. After Mass we had coffee and doughnuts with some of the students.  Meet a family from Chile.  He is in the Master of Engineering Business Management program run by the Sloan School for Engineers. The large American flg is hanging from Building 10, which is the center building anchoring MIT's Great Court.

Then we took the subway and walked back to the Aquarium and the Rose Kennedy Greenway where a group called Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund was assembling 1,000 gift boxes to send to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.  We went through the filling line 5 times packing our box.  The governor, Duvall Patrick, Mayor Mineno and Sec of Homeland Security,Janet Nepolotano, were the main speakers.  I got a picture of the hand bell choir and the stack of boxes.

Then we went to the afternoon Memorial service at the Hatch Shell on the Charles River for a service featuring the Boston Pop Brass Ensemble and the Boston Children's Chorus.Got some pictures and video but not sure how the video attaches.

Then we had dinner with John and Sue Esposito, not related to Phil the Bruins hockey star of the 70s, but still good friends from boating. Had a great dinner with them, and saw this fabulous Lamborghini, outside the restaurant. Check out the waiter!

All in all a great day for Joy and Joe.  It is days like today that make us proud to be Americans..  A good day for reflection

Joe

NO Rain Today- Boston Harbor

Woke up to  NO RAIN.  Blue skies and bright sunshine most of the day.  Today was the day that we moved from Boston Harbor Sailing Club( the place with the launch service but not washer.dryer) to Boston Waterman Marina(no launch service, have to use your dinghy, but has a washer/dryer, and two showers)

We  are moored right over the Silver Line subway service to Logan Airport, and you can hear the trains underneath us even though we are in 50 feet of water and the subway is probably 50 feet under the ocean  floor if not more.  You can also feel the vibrations.

This morning we motored up the harbor to get diesel, fresh water and pump outs for our two heads.  Then motored back to Boston Waterman Marina and picked up a mooring.  Took our clothes to shore and got in line to use the one washing machine and one dryer. Took turns.  Joy went to Haymarket Square and did some fresh produce shopping.  When she came back, I went off to the Old State House building which was built in he 1700s.  Has quite a history to it.

Took two pictures of some items on display. One picture is doctor's equipment from the 1770s that they used to saw off legs/arms, and to pull out musket balls.

Tomorrow , Joy's high school friend, Daphne, is coming down to go with us to the Boston Arts Festival.

Sunday afternoon we are volunteering at a 9/11 project right here on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, and then going over to the Hatch shell for Memorial Service and Boston Pops concert.

Monday it is off to Marblehead, we have a mooring reservation at Corinthian Yacht Club where Joy's family ( her grandfather and his uncle) were members for probably 80 years.

Joe

ps  Two pictures of the Toyota Rav4 that we are picking up for a 10 month lease, hopefully starting in Oct if the paper work gets done quickly.

More Rain in Boston Harbor

The rain is still coming down.  We thought it would be over this morning but it is still coming down.  The forecast is for it to stop this afternoon. We are on the boat out in the Harbor.

Looks like we found a car to pick up on a 10 month remainder lease.  The guy is coming this afternoon around 1 pm to show it to us. Hopefully the rain will stop by then. It is a 2009 Toyota Rav 4 Limited, which means it is fully loaded with heated front seats which will be great for this winter in New Hampshire as we do not have a garage.

Yesterday Joy had lunch with her old high school friends, the five of them have reconnected over the past 10 years and try to get together every couple of months.  I went to the movies to see The Debt, not bad.  The day before both of us went to see The Whistleblower.

Joy is wiping the boat down with lemon oil.  We were supposed to have dinner tonight with some old boating friends but they have cancelled out due to bad weather.

Joe

ps  Included are some pictures of our walk around the Boston Common Gardens, riding on the Swan Boats, and a picture of an ice cream tank painted with the famous picture of Make Way for Ducklings.  See the large LNG tanker.  If you look close you can see a little red dot( at the water line in the middle of the boat) which is a 24 foot Coast Guard Inflatable speed boat which has a gunner with a machine gun on the bow.  The Coast Guard runs security for the LNG tankers once a month for security from a terrorist attack.

Rain in Boston Harbor

Today is a rain day, in fact it has been rain most of the day and night.  Woke up to rain, going to bed
with rain.  Joy spent most of the morning working on cleaning the inside of High Spirits with an oil based product.  Helps keep the interior wood in good condition.

I went out to lunch with a fraternity brother whose office is about 4 blocks from the mooring field.
We are staying at Steve's house the weekend of our fraternity reunion, Sept 16-18.  Need to cancel our hotel reservation.

When I got back, Joy told me the water pump was making the noise that indicates that we are low on water.  So we got the dinghy down, motored over to the docks and filled up 2 five gallon jugs. If this can make it to Friday, then we are going over to the fuel dock to get fuel, pump out and water fill up.

After I got back we took the subway over to Kendall Square to see The Whistleblower, a movie about human trafficking in Bosnia back in the late 1990s. Very disturbing but well done film.  Back to High Spirits in the rain and a light dinner around 7 pm.

Tomorrow Joy has her high school friends luncheon up in Melrose.  Me, I'll just try to stay dry and perhaps go to another movie.

Joe

Boston Harbor Islands

Yesterday, Sat, Sept 3, we spent the day exploring the Boston Harbor Islands, a National Park area, that was developed in the 1970s.  There is a lot of history to the Harbor Islands.

At various times in its life it was a hospital for contagious Bostonians, a Civil War prison camp,  horse rendering factory, a candle making facility, a garbage dump for the city of Boson, and finally a place where the dirt and stone from the Big Dig, the Downtown tunnel project, could be dumped on top of the garbage dump, turning it into a lovely park.

Attaching several pictures.  The one picture of the round golf ball tanks is the Deer Island Waste treatment plant which has vastly cleaned up Boston Harbor.  Another one is a large tanker that was motoring through sail boat traffic.  You can see how big it is next to a 35 foot sailboat. Plus a picture taken from the top of the North End of Spectacle Island, the island where all the Big Dig stuff ended up. It raised the top of the island from 95 feet to 155 feet.

There is huge amount of people traffic down at the Rowe's Wharf where we are at. It is back to school week for all the colleges and there seem to be a lot of families enjoying the Boston sights.

The above picture is the mooring field that we are staying in off of The Boston Harbor Hotel at Rowe's wharf. It is a nice place to stay, there is no place in Boston you can stay for what we are paying, $50/night that has this view and closeness to the transit system.

Today we are going to church in the North End of Boston, where Joy did her nursing internship as a senior at Simmons College.  Going food shopping at the outdoor markets afterwards and may take in a movie in the late afternoon over in Cambridge.  I have a weekly subway pass for $15, and Joy has an old pass from her last visit her for her reunion.

Joe

I love Boston!

Our plans today were to do some work on the boat in the morning and then take the T(subway) to Copley Square for a free lunch hour concert at Trinity Church which we read about in the Where monthly magazine.  When we got there we found out that the concerts start next week, so while disappointed, we headed for the huuuge! Farmer's Mkt on Copley Plaza, where we were able to have lunch.  Each of us went our own way after lunch which is lovely, as most of the time we feel that we are joined at the hip.

Joe was off to MIT to kibitz with the alumnae office and drop in on his fraternity.  I spent some time at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square, reading USA today and looking at the books on display for 9/11 10th Anniversary.  USA today highlighted several families impacted by 9/11, so by the time I left the reading room I was wiping tears.  then it was back to the Farmer's Mkt for wonderful produce, cheese, bread, middle eastern food, etc.  I have included 1 picture from the market in Copley Plaza.

Upon returning to the waterfront, I took several pictures of the Rose Fitzgerald Parkway which was developed after the elevated highway was torn down and the "Big Dig" was completed.  The Big Dig made national headlines because it cost billions of dollars and ten years to complete.  There was a lot of negative press at the time, and we still occasionally hear about problems with it.  However, I don't know how anyone can argue with the outcome and the beauty of the urban space that was created from this project.  The park is a couple of miles long with walkways, natural plants, waterfalls, sculptures, and sitting areas, just a block or two off of the waterfront area.  I used to be fearful of crossing under the highway to get from one neighborhood to the other, with the darkness, dampness, graffiti, and derelicts along the way.  I have included a couple of pictures.

Last but not least, our mooring field with the Boston Harbor Sailing Club is located in the midst of the busiest part of the harbor, just off the Aquarium.  Ferries and harbor tour boats are busy from morning to dark.  The last picture is at dusk, taken from the boat.

Boston, Ma Day 1

So here we are in Boston, the Hub of the Universe, as it is referred to by some.

After eating lunch on the boat, we took the tender into shore and went off exploring on our own.

Joy went shopping at Haymarket Square and walked around the North End where a long time ago she worked as a nurse for Boston VNA. It was here first real job. I was in my second year of grad school working on my MBA degree.

I went to Fanueil Hall and got a nice lecture by the National Park ranger.  Then over to the Old State House building where I bought a new American flag for High Spirits. Our last one got too ripped to use. It would catch on the dinghy davits.  Then we headed over to the Boston Harbor Hotel for dinner and the Blues Barge concert.

Every Thursday during the summer they have live music on this barge outside the hotel. Tonight was the last concert, Jeff Pitchell and his group.  Very good blues.  We stayed for two sets and then had to leave to catch the tender back to High Spirits before the tender stopped for the evening.  All in all, a very enjoyable day in Boston.

Joe

New London - Aug 29&30

After Hurricane Irene, we went up to New London for two nights while Joe the Cable guy was fixing the broken fuel cable.

The house looks great, very clean and tidy.  All the visitors this summer kept the place shipshape.

The most interesting news is that we are thinking of possibly renting out the rental side to a couple of foreign students at Colby Sawyer College, right in New London. Our old friend, Mike Todd, has a student for this year staying at his house.  So we saw him at the gas station. Went over to visit his 8 new Lab puppies ( we did not take one).

Otherwise Joy and I will be fixing up the rental side with furniture and we will become our own renters starting Oct 1 or so.  We will be living in New London until May/June 2012.  Then we start another year long sailing adventure to Maine and Nova Scotia, and then south again to warmer waters and to the Bahamas.


Joe

BOSTON, MA

Today, Sept 1, we arrived in Boston Harbor about noon time. Got a mooring from the Boson Harbor Sailing Club.  The harbor is interesting. There are ferries going everyplace, water taxis, and commercial tour boats kicking up a good size wave or two.  The story is that around 11 pm, things get smooth and mellow.

Of course, we are only paying $45/night for a mooring which includes free tender service to the Aquarium dock.  So this is great place to park for 6-7 days.

What should we do in Boston? There is so much to do that it almost gives you a headache.  We want to go to some concerts, plays, musicals, movies, & shopping, plus museums.

We did enjoy our stay in Scituate Harbor. The cables are fixed and worked correctly this morning The cost was reasonable, 4 hours of labor plus parts.  Cost us $480 in total.

The weather has started to cool down, so it was a good thing to get the diesel heater fixed.  I know we will be using it in the next couple of weeks if not days. Our plans are to stay on mooring the rest of this boating season.  The only reason we need to get to a marina or gas docks would be for fresh water and pump outs.

Joe

ps  No pictures, the camera needs charging.  We will be running the generator on Sat.
for hot water, and some devices that need to be recharged on a 110 volt charger.