On Sunday I turned on the de-icer. The whole creek is frozen over and the marina guys haven't bothered to install many of the de-icers along the dock... need to bug them about that.

The rub rail that was damaged this summer is now under repair, thanks to some unseasonably warm weather here. The woodworkers think they can have the work completed by the end of next week.

This week we decided on a new home for Silence. We plan to move her to the West River on the 1st of April, to Hartge's Marina. The view from our new slip is beautiful, looking north down the river out towards the Bay. We're looking forward to sailing in new territory next season.

We went over to check on the boat today, and to rig the de-icer. It seems strange to rig this when the temperature is in the 50s, but we had skim ice last week, and we expect it to get cold again in a week or so... We also dug out the canvas covers for the dorade boxes and handrails and put them on to protect the teak.

Today we finished most of the winterizing tasks for the boat. This mostly consists of running non-toxic antifreeze through all of the systems that use water. For Silence, this is about a 7 hour job, but I got some of the work done last Thursday.

We also take stuff off the boat that won't make it through the winter: beverages, food, the cockpit table, and anything else that can easily come home. You know the season is really over when the alchohol comes home...

A quick follow up on our Labor Day incident: we've had estimates for the repairs, and the insurance company has settled the claim (less our deductible). The insurance people didn't pursue the responsible parties, and we don't have the time to pursue them ourselves, so the culprits are going to skate on this one. The repair work is scheduled for this month.

In other news, our marina in Back Creek has notified us that they are raising our rates by 42%, so we will be moving on come spring. It will be sad to leave the creek that we've been calling home for 14 years, but we are being priced out of the market. Too many boats and not enough slips have driven up the cost of being in Annapolis.

We'll probably end up keeping Silence on the West River, or perhaps the Magothy. My winter pastime will be looking at marinas in the area to find a new home port.

We sailed our last sail of the season yesterday. It was a perfect day, with 70 degrees, plenty of sunshine and plenty of wind (15 knots from the SW). Silence stormed out of the harbor on a starboard beam reach, then we hardened up and worked our way down to Thomas Point Light. We sailed rail-down for an hour or so. Then we tacked over to port and sailed easily back into the Severn River, up to the Naval Academy where the 150 year old Constellation was temporarily berthed. The sun was low in the sky, backlighting her rigging and glinting off the water.

Finally, we struck and lowered the sails, to be folded and stored for the winter below decks. Back at the dock, we made a toast to a great sailing season, and appealed to the sailing gods for a short winter.

We sailed to Langford Creek over Labor Day weekend. There was no wind on Saturday, so we motored to a small cove, up a creek off the Chester River (north of the Bay Bridge). Along the way we ran across one of our marina friends (who we won't name here) who were planning to meet us. Oddly, they were anchored, just off the mouth of the Chester, in the Bay. They had run out of fuel, so we tied up along side and tried to figure out how we were going to move 5 gallons of diesel from ourboat to their boat. This would be easy if we had a proper siphon pump, but of course we didn't. So, we had to open an access panel in the top of our fuel tank, down in the bilge and draw the fuel from there. With the boat bouncing around it was a miracle that we didn't spill half our fuel insidethe boat! We had some leakage, but it was manageble with paper towels. After the fuel transfer, we were on our way, once again.

All was pleasant and quiet until Sunday. We had met up with three other boats, so we were all tied up together with fenders between the boats in a wooded cove. I was napping down below, when a large wake started the boat rocking. I went up on deck to see what was happening, when an even bigger series of waves struck us from the side. A wake 4-5 feet in height tore through our raft and all the boats started rocking wildly. Sadly, we did have some damage. Our teak rub rail came down on the edge of one of the other boats, and was split and torn away. The boat adjacent to us didn't have any damage to their side, but the tri-color at the masthead was broken, and their Loran antenna came down. The idiot power boats that caused all this were well away and it was hard to see the boats' names. Several of us launched dinghies to talk to the other boats in the anchorage to see if they caught a name. We found one person who had seen the name of one of the two boats responsible, so we are hoping to track them down.

Yesterday made up for Sunday. We had an east wind at 15-20 knots, which allowed us to sail home more quickly than we had motored the distance on Saturday. Everyone felt great about the sailing, and time will put the bad experience of the boat wakes behind us...

On Saturday we prepared the boat for hurricane Charley. The forecast was for 50 knots in our area, so we doubled lines and secured everything that looked vulnerable.

The forecast turned out to wrong, fortunately, and we only saw about 20 knots at Thomas Point Light. Dodged another bullet...

Today was de-winterizing day. Started the engine, generator, fridge, heat pumps, etc. Everything is working OK after the long winter, so we could sail next weekend if the weather is good. It feels good to know that the first sail of the season is just around the corner!

Snow today! We received 6 inches of the white stuff overnight. I went by to check on the boat yesterday: the creek is freezing over, the marina has the de-icers running. I have an extra de-icer that I install at the bow for when it gets really cold. I turned it on since there was some ice forming at the bow.

Six months after our return from Bermuda, it seems like we never went. Suzan has the same sensation. It's odd that something so intense could become so distant. There is only one fix for this: another trip! We're planning to stay in the Bay this summer, but maybe the next season we can make another journey. I'm thinking of going North, maybe Maine or Nova Scotia. Stray winter thoughts...

I'm back in the office today, and it feels surreal. The "real" world is out there at sea, close to nature. It's impossible to say in words what this trip meant to me, the sensations are too powerful for that. To all of you who joined us on this adventure by following this blog, thanks for all of your support. We started this blog just to let our family and friends know that we were safe and making progress, but it has turned into so much more. We keep hearing from people how they followed our adventure here.

I think all of us who made this voyage were transformed in some way. For me, it was a dream fulfilled, and I have many moments at sea etched into my brain. It was a great adventure and now I plan to spend some time thinking ("noodling") on what comes next.

Until the next adventure, take care, and always reef early.

First we sign in with Herb and a bit later, he calls on us to give us advice. Just thought it might be fun to hear all that goes on.

That's all from the Eichhorn/Brooks crew. We are off on the next part of the adventure. \look forward to seeing you all in a week or so to share more.

Cheers
Suzan

Hello everyone,
This may be our last entry (and my first) as we will be busy tomorrow preparing for our departure. Our time here has flown but we have tried to make the best of it. We were sorry to say goodby to Eric and Eveleen last night but look forward to greeting the next addition to our crew on Friday.

Emerson is busy looking at weather maps and listening to Herb on the SSB. I am busy making lists of things we need to buy to make our passage back. We managed to meet someone at the marina we are in who is a auto pilot expert. This morning he spent fifteen min. and repaired the thing!!!!

We have had such excellent meals so far thanks to Eveleen and all of those who gave me advice about easy meals underway. We have spent loads of money on eating out - this place is more expensive than we anticipated but no complaints from the galley wench - every time a waitress brings me a dish I am forever grateful!!!

Meg, if you were able to follow us on your ham radio, we will resume contact with MaryAnn on Sunday at 8:00am . We will also be talking to Herb for weather on 12359.8 everyday at 4:00.

Today we are in a little internet cafe, preparing for a day of shopping in St. Georges. Even though we've walked around quite a bit here, we haven't really spent any quality time in the shops. Tomorrow we will begin thinking about our departure, checking the weather, watering the boat, shopping for provisions, etc. We hope to find a weather window starting on Friday. Several boats that wanted to leave this week were advised to wait until then before departing, due to high winds over the Gulfstream (30 knots!). One boat even went out for a day, then turned back due to the forecast. We'll be looking for a milder forecast before our departure. We plan to remain flexible in order to minimize our exposure to bad weather. The upshot of this is that we might have to stay in Bermuda an extra day or so... not too bad now that we think about it...

Stay tuned...

Yesterday we rented a scooter and met Eric and Eveleen in Hamilton for lunch on Front Street. After lunch we motored back to their place on the far side of the harbor. They have a sweet little cottage, right on the water with a view of several small islands in the distance.

From Hamilton we headed out to the southwest end of the island, out to the end of the "hook" where the old Naval Dockyard has been converted to a museum and shops. The museum is in a fort with canons overlooking the southern approaches to the island. Lot's of good nautical history here... We watch kids swim with dolphins in a "dolphin encounter", we saw a demonstration of glass-blowing, and we sweated (it was hot!).

As the sun was sinking we jumped back on our scooters and motored back to E & E's place, showered and watched the sun set over the water. Then back downtown in Hamilton for a nice dinner at the Lobster Pot. Three of us settled on the tuna steak, and it was the most excellent ever...

Then, back on the scooter for us to return to St. Georges and Silence. One word on riding a scooter in Bermuda: the streets are narrow, with rock walls on either side at the edge of the street. This is no place to learn to drive, though I did let Suzan drive a little (I didn't do any back seat driving, no, not me...)

We are now sitting at an internet cafe in Bermuda. It was great to make landfall after 6 days at sea, a sense of accomplishment washed over the crew as we ran up the south coast of the island. We arrived on the evening of July 4th, and we didn't expect to see any fireworks this year since we aren't in the US. However, many of the resorts set off fireworks in our honor as we passed up the coast!

Some details from the crossing that might not have made it into the blog yet:

On our first night out we saw an atmospheric test which caused a effervescent glow of gas, dispersing across the sky. A second rocket exploded an hour later.

On our second day, we encountered a returning aircraft carrier. The deck was fully loaded with planes and helicopters. An F-111 Tomcat made a low altitude pass, straight at us at mast height, then rolled out and ascended. A second Tomcat made a pass a short time later. We loved the airshow!

The early parts of the trip were mostly motoring, punctuated by short bouts of sailing in light air. After three days we started to worry about our dwindling fuel supply, and when the wind died again, we simply drifted in rolling seas for 7 hours, waiting for wind. Finally, a Southwest breeze started, barely perceptible at first, then building to 15 knots. We kept this wind for the remainder of our passage, logging a 165 mile day in the best of it!

Several equipment failures: the autopilot ("Bob") gave up the helm halfway through the trip, then shortly after the radar went on the fritz. We are having Bob checked out tomorrow morning, the radar will have to wait until our return to Annapolis.

We're loving island life here, and it will be hard to leave on Saturday. Beck will be joining us on Friday. I'm starting to eye the weather to make sure we have a good window for the return crossing.

Special thanks to Mary Ann and Jim, who made our link back to shore while underway. Mary Ann was faithfully on the radio for us each morning at 8:00 Am, and Jim has been keeping the website up to date. We're also getting weather information from Herb of Southbound II each day, which is very helpful.

The crew dynamics for this trip were the best you could ever hope for. Everyone worked hard, kept a positive attitude even when there was no wind, and we enjoyed each other's company immensely. Eric and Eveleen are moving to a hotel room tonight, so we'll visit them in Hamilton to minimize the separation anxiety.

We have taken a Mediterranean style mooring in Bermuda, which has been a new experience. We reach our boat on a wood plank from the land. Walking the plank here means going out on the town for Rum drinks!

Yesterday our shore power cord shorted out, blowing the dock breaker. The cord was ancient, so it was off to West Marine for one more expensive item. We have to leave the dock so that we can stop spending money!

I'm looking forward to being underway. We'll likely be motoring all the way down the Bay, but there appears to be 10-15 knots of SW breeze waiting for us on the ocean. On the outbound trip there will be a new moon, so we should see lot's of stars. On our return leg, we'll have a full moon... less stars, but we can see the waves at night.

We set sail Saturday at noon. The forecast is for light south winds on Saturday and Sunday, so it looks like we'll make our first leg to Norfolk under motor. We're hoping that the winds will remain from the south for our Gulfstream crossing. The Gulfstream current moves from southwest to northeast and having the current and wind moving in the same direction makes the waves smoother. If the wind shifts to the north, which often occurs when a front passes by, then the seas will be choppier.

Our first update underway will be on Sunday the 29th, when we should be closing on Norfolk. Then we will continue to maintain a radio schedule each morning at 8:00 AM until we arrive in Bermuda.

Tally ho!

The rental EPIRB arrived today. This is one the most important pieces of equipment on the boat. EPIRB stands for Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. This thing transmits a mayday signal to a satellite which is then forwarded to the Coast Guard with position info accurate to within a couple of miles. It's great to have this connection to shore-based help. (Hopefully, we'll never need it!)