Saturday, Day 2 in Santiago.

Hola! We were too tired last night to prepare a post, so it is all coming today. Our flight from Miami was really great (for an eight hour flight!) two meals, all sorts of electronic entertainment available, and some sleep. Mauricio Rojas (who was our exchange student in 1991-1992) met us at the airport helped get our van rented and took us to his mother's house for breakfast and lunch and the chance to shower and relax until we could check in at three. His parents, Isabell and Gorge, have a beautiful apartment with a wonderful view and Isabell had prepared two feasts for us! We got checked in and had only an hour to rest before driving to Mauricio's house for dinner.
We (with the help of Sam) had loaded maps of Chile on our Garmin Nuvi and were amazed how well they worked as we drove to the hotel. When we left for Mauricio's house we headed off blithely expecting to have no trouble, but the tall building in Santiago made it very hard for the Nuvi to find satellites! All of a sudden we were lost in Santiago without even knowing the actual address of his house! We muddled along for a while with Dan assuring us that he thought he knew the way. Finally we emerged onto a wide avenue and found signal - - - and Dan had been on the right track, we were only a few blocks away! Mauricio, his wife Carolina, their three children, Catalina, Tomas and Diego, Mauricio's parents and his brother and wife were there to share another wonderful meal and friendship with us. We all slept well when we got back to our Holiday Inn Express at 10pm.

Today Mauricio and family took us to Valparaiso to see the "most important port on the Pacific coast." What a city, streets (many cobble stone) that rival San Francisco for their inclination! Most of them were also very narrow, making it a challenge with our big van. We drove through the city and saw the open market, Congress building and many other magnificent buildings, then headed to the waterfront for a wonderful lunch. Mauricio had arranged a special table for all of us and ordered samples of all the seafood specialties of Chile, including abalone, clams, octopus and scallops for appetizers. All were delicious. We shopped the open air markets after lunch and then drove to Quintay, further south down the coast where Carolina's parents have a condo in a golf community right on the ocean. Again we were welcomed with open arms and given refreshments before our return to Santiago. We got back to the hotel at 8:30 pm and grabbed a pizza at a local shop to eat in our room.

Before we left home, we had a few worries about taking Grandma Peddie (aged 91) on such a possibly arduous adventure, but we had not thought about the emotional toll it would take. Physially she is holding up beautifully and her Spanish is coming back rapidly, but the tears!!! She is so full of joy and memories of, as she says "the best years of my life." - - - and we haven't even gotten to Concepcion where the Bliss family lived for seven years back in 1948-1955 yet! Buenos noches, D,M,J,P&Grandma P

~~~_/)~~~D&M
Jay and Pegg had to jog the length of MIA to make the plane, but they made it in time for the overnight flight to Santiago.

Grandma started the fight playing Free Cell, but ended up dozing, as did we all.

We're a little wrinkled and tired but very happy to see Mauricio, our exchange student from 1992 who met us at the airport.

Mauricio's mom Isabell served us a sumptuous breakfast and let us relax until our hotel would let us check in at 3 PM.

Saturday morning we all piled into our 14 passenger Hyundai diesel van for a trip to Valpariso.

We sampled some of the famous wine from this vineyard during our lunch in Valparaiso.

We arrived in Valparaiso in time for lunch at a famous restaurant with an astounding view of the whole harbor and an incredibly delicious menu. We had a special table for the 12 of us. The 5 Blisses, Mauricio's parents and Mauricio's 5.

The view of the harbor included the tall ship Esmeralda on the Navy pier. Martha remembers well hosting the crew of Esmeralda in New Jersey during OPSAIL 1976.

Off to Chile

Hola! We are off on a new adventure. Dan, Martha, Jay, Pegg and Dan & Jay's Mom (Grandma Peddie) are off to Chile for a trip down memory lane. We will be joined by Dan and Jay's sister Barb for part of the trip. Wish us luck!!
--
~~~_/)~~~D&M

That's rain, not snow coming down. We leave tomorrow morning for Santiago, Chile where the temperature is 78 and sunny!

No, this isn't Brunelle, it's a small sailboat on our deck here at
Lake PaHaGaCo. It is our one bit of holiday decorating this year as we are off to Chile for the next three weeks! If you want to follow along, just check our progress out on our blog. We are lucky to have Sam willing to keep it updated for us. ADIOS AMIGOS! D&M

Mill Creek, to Mill Creek to Lippincott

     C'est tout!  OR  "TH-TH-THat's all folks" as Porky used to say.  We are home!  We pulled into our slip at 6:30 pm this evening after a long but very easy day coming up the bay from the Great Wicomico River, just south of the Potomac.   On Tuesday, we got up early and headed off in spite of the forecast calling for North winds.  The winds were actually mostly from the West so we made good time for the early part of the day.  As the wind moved around to the north we began to lose headway in the chop that was developing and decided to head in early.  We anchored in another Mill Creek, just off the Great Wicomico River around 3:45 pm.  The creek was peaceful and beautiful and we watched a pair of eagles perched and then flying around.  We took several pictures, but none turned out all that well (sorry kids, I know you really wanted to see another eagle picture from Dad.) 
     We hadn't made the prescribed half way mark on our trip up the bay, so we knew we'd have to make an early start to make it home in one day.  That meant a 5:30 am start.  Luckily it was calm and there was enough light to head off that early, and we enjoyed the sunrise as we wound our way out the creek.  The forecasted strong southerly winds did not materialize until mid afternoon, but we were able to make at least 6+ knots consistently all day.   We had the main up all day and it finally paid off when the wind finally strengthened.  
     It has been a wonderful trip and as ready as we are to get home,  we are sorry it is ending.  Hopefully we will be able to do it again in the near future.  We especially hope to get more of our family and friends to join us along the way next time. ~~~_/)~~~D&M
Google Earth track files for 5/12
Google Earth track files for 5/13

Very little to see as we trekked northward on Tuesday, I thought this was one of the prettier tugs I've seen.

Predawn departure from Mill Creek off the Great Wicomico River on Wednesday.

The sun peeping through the trees as we left Mill Creek.

A MUCH quieter morning than yesterday.

I've always wondered how these fish weirs were used.

With all the times we've passed the LNG pier at Cove Point, this is the first time we've seen it in use.

Great Bridge to Mill Creek, Hampton, VA

     I knew I never should have quoted a frog!!  We got up Sunday and Dan asked if he could renege on his offer to take me out to lunch for Mother's Day (I'm not HIS mother) so that we could head off and just keep going until we got back to home base.  I've never been all that fond of the Mother's Day concept, so I was all for it.  We called the Great Bridge bridge to request an opening and were told that the RR bridge 5 miles down the canal was closed all day!  So much for "movin' right along"!  We walked "uptown" and visited the Fresh Grocer (where every second person left with a bunch of flowers for Mom.)  When we returned to the boat, we decided we would go across the canal to the Marina that offered diesel and then make the 12:00 opening of the bridge to try the other side of the bridge.  We tied up and listened to all the boats that we had passed as we put in long days catch up and stop on one side of the bridge or the other!  
     Monday dawned gray and dreary, but we were determined to press on.  We went into the Great Bridge lock at 8:00 am because any earlier would have necessitated waiting at the bridges further on.  We meandered through the maze that is Norfolk and were undecided whether the weather would permit us to keep going.  When we reached the bridge/tunnel that connects Norfolk with Hampton, the rain, wind, wind direction and temperature made the decision easy to pull in behind Fort Monroe and anchor just off Old Comfort Marina in Mill Creek.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better! ~~~_/)~~~D&M
Google Earth track file

Brunelle at the free dock just before the Great Bridge bridge, a RR and 65' footer back down the canal.

The view from the other side of the Great Bridge bridge - - - we moved all of 300 yards in 24 hours!

Our neighbors while we waited for the RR bridge to be repaired were a familiar sight...wonder how many are gracing Lake PaHaGaCo right about now.

Gray, windy, rainy, not the best way to start up the bay. We anchored before getting a chance to get a picture of a 55' sport fisherman that sank less than half a mile from here! The crew got off safely.

Alligator River to Great Bridge, VA

     As Kermit would say, "moving right along".  We are making tracks, averaging 80-90 miles a day.  On Friday we left at 6:30 am and breezed down the Neuse River, motorsailing with the jib out, crossed Pamlico Sound, Goose Creek and Pamlico River easily, up the Pongo River and through the Pongo R./Alligator R. canal.  The SW breeze made it possible to have the sail up almost all day long.  We anchored at the southern end of the Alligator River at 7:30 pm.
     Up and off again at 6:30 am.  Still with a SW breeze, but much stronger, up to 24 kts at times, so we motorsailed out the Alligator and were glad we weren't any later crossing  Albemarle Sound as it was nasty enough at 9:30 am and we heard reports that it got nastier as the day wore on.  We carried the sail up the North River until it's snaky turns made it too difficult to control, especially as the wind did not die down when we got in the lee of the trees along the riverbank.  We had decided we would take the Coinjock, or VA cut route instead of the Dismal Swamp, just because we hadn't done it on the way down.  The distance is virtually the same, but you aren't constrained by the locks (or the 6' controlling depth) of the Dismal Swamp.  The Dismal way is prettier, but the VA cut was interesting and we were able to make good time, arriving at Great Bridge around 7:30 pm.  We tied up at the free docks right before the bridge that controls the locking of the one lock we will encounter tomorrow.  Our progress may slow for a while as the weather reports don't look good for the next two days.  HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL!  ~~~_/)~~~D&M
Google Earth track file for 5/8
Google Earth track file for 5/9

Not a lot to see wending our way through NC on Friday, just a fawn wandering the banks.

Mom seems to have found a good place to stay cool and hidden.

After a long day Saturday, we tied up at Great Bridge, VA, just 12 miles from Norfolk, at sunset, but enjoyed the moon rise after a light dinner.

Anchors Away Boatyard to Adams Creek, S of the Nuese River

       What a crazy week.  We left Anchors Away in a rental car on Tuesday afternoon with our rudder post in tow.  We drove til we dropped (around Savannah) and then continued on early Wednesday to deliver the rudder post to the Catalina plant in Largo, FL.   We had learned from Warren Pandy at the FL plant that they had no rudder cores and wouldn't for at least another 10 days, but could build a new one around our original core with a little work on the bent stringers. 
      We delivered the post early afternoon, got a tour of the plant (we always wanted to see the plant anyway!) and then headed to St. Augustine to join the gathering festivities surrounding Pegg's dad's wedding.  We enjoyed all the partying and getting to know even more of our far flung and very extended family.  Dan was on the phone daily with Warren, checking on the status of the rudder.  It was ready for pick-up on Tuesday at noon, so Dan left early Tuesday morning to drive to NC to dig a hole for the rudder install and Amy and Martha took the van and drove across FL to pick up the rudder and head to NC.  The girls arrived at 11:30pm after a long day with books on tape.  
     The rudder was in place by 8:00am, painted by 10:00am and we were finally launched Wednesday afternoon.  We couldn't leave right away, too shallow, but we had a lot to do anyway, back stays back on, dinghy in the water, motor on the dinghy, etc.  We also got involved watching for a sick turtle that the local turtle rescue people were trying to capture to nurse it back to health.  Two women hung out in the water off the pier for almost half an hour waiting for it to surface.  When they captured it, they swam it to the beach, boxed it and took it away.
     We set off at 6:30 am on Thursday to continue the journey north.  The rudder (8" shorter) seems to work well, and we were able to back off quickly when we grounded (at least 5 times in the NC shallows!)   Around 10 am, with thunderstorms threatening close by, we anchored in a curve off the channel and waited out the storm while having a leisurely breakfast.  We put in a long day, motorsailing most of the way  and made it almost all the way to Oriental (just 5 miles short.)  We dropped the hook in VERY shallow water at 7:45 pm with more storms threatening.  There were a few more during the night, but today (Friday) dawned clear with a light SW breeze and we were on our way again by 6:45 am.   Signal is notoriously lousy for the next 130 miles or so, so we'll write when we can.  ~~~_/)~~~D&M

Rudder issues aside, our trip back to FL included Al (Pegg's dad) and Amparo's wedding in Daytona! It was great to see happiness blossom for them both.

After close to 2000 miles on a rental car and several more on our van (Amy brought it from PA to help transport the completed rudder --- and to go to the wedding) the rudder is back in place. Dan did all the work, with a little lifting help from Amy and positioning help from Martha.

Hurry up and wait. We were finally launched Wednesday around 3:30 pm, but sat on the bottom in the travel lift slip until 6:30pm, so we waited for morning to set sail.

Our wait in the slip wasn't boring though as we watched the people from the Sea Turtle Hospital rescue a sick turtle.

Poor Emily, as she/he was named by one of the rescuers, was covered with barnacles, leeches, grass and whatever.

It must be spring, all the porpoises we saw were in pairs.