Bringing "Vita Bella" Home

NEW ADDRESS FOR THE BLOG

2007-11-27T14:29:00.000-08:00

Please use the following address for the continuation of the blog.

http://pdqvitabella2blogspotcom.blogspot.com/

Ross

Key Largo

2007-11-27T12:41:00.000-08:00

I have tried to upload photos for 3 days and there remains a problem, sorry.

We left Miami, picked up some fuel and made our way south. We arrived in Key Largo and have decided that we will be staying here tonight and tomorrow night. I am in need of a rest and we have landed at a nice place.

I will attempt to get the photo issue resolved, as we have some really good shots of the Matt/Wayne duo ;-).

We will head North on Thursday and have Matt & Wayne in Ft. Lauderdale for their flight home on Saturday.

More later

Ross

with Joe, Matt & Wayne

Miami Vice

2007-11-26T14:27:00.001-08:00

I am having troubles uploading photos. Hopefull this will be resolved soon, Sorry.

We are in Miami. We left Ft. Lauderdale and slippd by Port Everglades, where the boat will be put on the ship in early December. We pulled into the MiaMarina right next to the American Airlines Arena. This is a happening place. We had lunch and then jumped into a cab and went to the grocery store.

We are planning to head to Key Largo tomorrow. This will be fun, and there should Blue Water and good snorkeling.

We plan to eat ashore this evening and get a fairly early start. We will need to add fuel before we make the tranist to the Keys.

More later

Ross

with Joe, Matt & Wayne

South = Slow

2007-11-25T15:26:00.000-08:00

We slipped the lines in West Palm Beach , at about 10:15 and we arrived in Ft Lauderdale at 4:45. We only made 40 statute miles!. It seems that on the weekends the speed limit on the ICW in Florida is NO WAKE, or Idle Speed. We had a great time last night in W Palm Beach. We found a great Fish restaurant. We enjoyed oyster shooters, shrimp in a garlic saute, as appetisers. Joe & I had Salads and Wayne & Matt had Jambalaya Pasta.

We tied up after the office to the marina closed for the day, so we are taking showers on the boat and will take a walk to hopefully find a restaurant for dinner. If we fail,m I have enough food for dinner on the boat.

We will check out the local marinas tomorrow as well as add provisions. We will then look at the charts to see where we will spend the balance of Matt & Wayne's time aboard. Joe will be with me until the boat goes aboard the ship on the 6th or 7th.

Aboard Vita Bella,

Ross

with Joe, Wayne & Matt

Nettles Island to West Palm Beach

2007-11-24T14:22:00.001-08:00

I was up at 0445 and into the shower, I had a date with Joe, Wayne & Matt at the Ft. Lauderdale International Airport at 0710. We were northbound by 0745 and stopped at an IHOP for a little breakfast and continued North. We got to Nettles Island and were on the water headed South in less than 30 minutes. We stopped for fuel about 3 miles south of Nettles and we pumped out the holding tank. I wanted all the room I could get as I am sure there will be a bunch of stuff dealt this week that should be in the holding tank, but we won't go there. I am doing a little laundry, Joe, Wayne & Matt are stowing their belongings and when we are through, we will be heading out for dinner.

This is the 3rd crew change has happened and the Trip South continues.

More later

Ross

with Joe, Wayne & Matt

"Black Friday" stay out of the stores, OK!

2007-11-23T13:38:00.000-08:00

Friday 11/23/07 4:41 pm EST Temp 80 degrees.

The winds last night were from the East, and this 11 ton boat bounced like a cork in a dishpan. I was grateful that the winds let up about 1am. I poured a diet Pepsi into a short glass and the Pepsi had whitecaps!

Since the boat survived the "storm" ;-) & as I was listening to the radio, there was great discussion of all of the sales going on at the local malls and speciality stores. I have been wanting to get a printer to leave on the boat, and I got my giddy-up on and drove to Best Buy. Well, it would have taken 45 minutes to see if there was a really cheap one available, so I drove to Wal-Mart. I was able to buy a Lexmark printer, with a scanner for $25.00. It works well and I am now able to copy, scan and print. I will store it in it's original box, as I am sure it would not be working in 30 miles if it were not really well secured. I even got a haircut. I now know why I pay Ralph $20. a $9.00 haircut is really scary!

I am looking forward to picking Joe, Wayne & Matt up at 0710 tomorrow morning ( ;-( . I am not sure why I volunteered to drive 2 hours ( that means I get up at 4:45 am ) to pick them up! I have planned a short day for t0morrow, 44 miles, but we will be in West Palm Beach with many great restaurants and some fun stuff close to the marina.

Once we are all awake, they are flying the red eye & I am getting up a zero dark thirty to shag them, we will have a planning session tomorrow night.

I am sure that the posts of the following week will be filled with pictures that we will all regret, stories that may or may not be true and lots of good fellowship.

BTW, I am sitting at almost 5pm watching the Texas/ Texas A&M football game on ESPN in Hi Def. Pretty cool!

There are 3 other PDQ 34's here at this funky marina. It's really been a good learning experience for me to be able to lean on the owners for information. I really want to thank Henry & Nancy Clews for all of their help.

The picture I am posting tonight was taken by Henry on Tuesday, just before Mike left.

Happy Thanksgiving to all

2007-11-22T14:20:00.001-08:00

Well so much for sleeping in, I decided that rather than sitting here at the dock all day, I would get up early and drive the 2.5 hours north to Disney World. I was off the boat and in the car by 0700 and arrived at the Parks at about 9:30. They have over 15,000 parking spaces and 26,000 acres within the 4 parks. The Magic Kingdom is much smaller than Disneyland, but Epcot is Very Large. I think that everyone in Northern Florida had the same thought, as the place was absolutely wall to wall people. The wait time for most of the rides was over 2 hours and at 10 am, the fast pass return time was after 6pm. It began to sprinkle at about 2pm so I started the return trip.

Mike Murphy called to tell me that when he got home he found that he did get a picture of one of the dolphins that played off our wake. I am sending it as well as several shots I took today at Disney World. If you look over Minnie's shoulder, you will see the turkey that the President pardoned. It will live at one of the Disney Parks. Lucky Bird!

More tomorrow

Ross

Bob leaves and the Bimini is on

2007-11-21T15:07:00.001-08:00

It felt great not to be up before 6am, I actually stayed in my bed until 6:45! You see Bob had to get into his rental car and head to Orlando to fly home. The long days and extra fuel was all worth it when both Bob & Mike could make it home for Thanksgiving.

The project today was to get the bimini, outside window coverings, flybridge seats and the stern bench seat installed. We now have shade on the flybridge and the seating will be much more comfortable. I also made a trip to West Marine for the shurflo water pump and to the Win-Dixie store for some provisions. It was also time to do some laundry. We were very fortunate that the guys at the marina office have an in with Avis rental cars, Mike, Bob and I were all able to get a rental when the major car rental companies had no cars available. Mike flew out of Ft. Lauderdale and Bob out of Orlando, so they both needed a car.

Weather permitting, I will drive to Orlando tomorrow (Thanksgiving) and spend some time at Disney World. I have been to Disneyland many times, however I have never been to the Florida Cousin.

Have a great Thanksgiving, and remember you can always reach me at 650-465-1501.

Ross

We made it to Stuart, Florida

2007-11-20T18:57:00.000-08:00

We left Daytona Beach at 0700 and this is the last morning that we will need to be up at 0545 and hit the road. Bob & Mike were champs for the early mornings and long days.

I want to thank all 4 of the guys that have been with me for a month getting Vita Bella home. Larry & John were real troopers, braving really cold mornings, delays and my getting familiar with the boat.

Bob & Mike were the guys that have kept me on track, and getting the boat to Florida.

We had a major problem with the pressure water pump today. I made calls and there is a replacement pump waiting for me at West Marine in Stuart, however there are 4 PDQ's here in the marina & Henry Clews on "Snow Dog" had a spare pump, and Bob is the hero by getting it installed and working. Yeah Bob! I will pick up the replacement tomorrow and get it to Henry.

Today we passed the Kennedy Space Center, and again it is Great to be an American!! We had lots of photo ops of the shy dolphins playing off the bow of the boat as we made our way South, but we were unable go get anything on film. we passed many Manatee Zones as well without seeing one.

Mike has left the boat and as we are rocking at the berth tonigth, I again want to thank Larry, John , Mike & Bob for their help in Bringing Vita Bella Home.

I look forward to having the odyssey continue with the arrival of Matt Martell, Joe & Wayne Weathers on Saturday. We are going to play between here and Key West.

More later

Ross

with Bob and the departed Mike

Daytona Florida, and it is heating up

2007-11-19T15:06:00.000-08:00

For the first time we have the Air Conditioning on. What a change from the first couple of weeks of the trip. We left Jekyll Island at 0700 and had a reasonably easy day. Long stretches of straight going, no little twists and turns where one can get twisted around. We passed into Florida early in the day and the temperatures just kept going up. We actually moved to the fly bridge and stayed there until we pulled into Halifax Harbor Marina. We fueled the boat and while Mike & I ran to West Marine to pick up yet another Chart, Bob stayed with the boat. While he was chatting with the Harbormaster, he discovered that the fellow is the nephew of one of the agents that worked for Fox & Carskadon for years, Mike Alteri. This just proves that it's a small world, No Disney World pun intended!

Early in the day we passed a sailboat that was aground, and later we thought we had spotted another. To our amazement, the skippers mast was to tall to make it through the bridges. He rigged two very large bags that he filled with 1000 lbs of water in each bag. He then suspended the bags off the mast and healed the boat over allowing him to slide through the bridges. Pretty Cool.

We passed through St. Augustine and slid down the ICW with ease. The lighthouse is in St Augustine harbor, and while we did not see any manatees, we did have a dolphin playing between the hulls while we were doing about 16 knots.

Mike and Bob are on the flybridge enjoying the warm weather. We will be eating aboard and up early for the last time for a while.

Ross

with Mike & Bob

Bouncing Bob & the Internet

2007-11-18T18:06:00.000-08:00

While Mike & I were checking our e-mails, Bob wanted to check his, like he gets lots of e-mails. He told me that he has someone in the office that does most of his internet stuff and when he wanted to in fact check his messages, he wanted to know where the www thing is.

God help us!

Elaine you are a princess!

Jekyll Island, Georgia

2007-11-18T17:22:00.000-08:00

We booked it 9 hours today to reach Jekyll Island, Georgia! This was the playground of Rockefeller, Mogran, Vanderbildt, & Pulitzer. Quite a Place. We had to wait almost an hour to get fuel as we are on a major stop off to reach Florida.We have reservations in Daytona Beach tomorrow evening and then we should reach Stuart on Tuesday.

We spotted Dolphins today dancing off the bow of the boat, but we could not get a good photo. We passed Hilton Head, South Carolina and the Spanish Moss is beautiful hanging from the tree limbs. We are most certainly in the South! I also took another fun sunset pic. Hope you enjoy, and yes Ingrid, I did buy the boat ;-).

We had dinner ashore. We all had the Georgia Shrimp Boil dinner. It was really good, Shrimp, Sausage, and corn on the cob. Life in the South is fun.

More form Florida tomorrow.

Ross

with Mike & Bob

Beaufort, South Carolina

2007-11-17T15:18:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day! We made 133 miles from Georgetown, SC to Beaufort. The best thing was that we were able to view Fort Sumter, the home of the Star Spangled Banner, in Charleston Bay. What a wonderful experience. Since I left Toronto, we have traveled by two of the three Military Schools, West Point and Annapolis, the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, and several other US Military Installations, and Ground Zero! It is great to be an American.

We had dolphins playing across the bow and unfortunately we were unable to get any photos. We were also plagued with a depth sounder problem, the darn thing didn't work for 20 minutes. We restarted the Chart Plotter several times and it kicked on. I called James Powers and he told me that in dirty water the transducer may not pick up the bottom. All is well as we progressed.

Bob & Mike have been great. I took over the helm for a while and ended up in a small channel, I will let Mike and Bob drive and I will sit and read the Waterway Guide, not really;-). I did back the boat into the marina this afternoon, down a 250' dock. Mike was great standing on the port stern steps telling me the distance between the dock and the boat. It would be really tough to do this alone or with one other person.

Bob's Sister, Linda and her husband Jim have joined us this evening on the boat. They recently bought a house in Ladson,SC. They drove an hour and a half to see us.

Tomorrow we will reach Jekyll Island Georgia, then on to Florida.

More later

Ross

with Bob,Mike and tonight Linda & Jim

Gerogetown, South Carolina

2007-11-16T18:19:00.001-08:00

We are tied up in Beautiful Downtown Gerogetown, South Carolina. Yes we have made it to another State, without having to show our passports! Today's trip was lots of fun and full of sunshine. We were again out of the slip by 0715, and pointed the bow South. We had to negotiate two low bridges, one a pontoon bridge, one of the last in the Country. We had to go flat out at 21 knots to make the opening. These bridges only open either every hour or on the half hour. It is a real drag to sit and wait for a bridge to open for 59 minutes, when you missed the opening by just 60 seconds.

The Inter Coastal Waterway (ICW) is a highway of boats going South this time of the year. In the Spring, the migration reverses and all of the folks going South now head North. I thought that a trip to the Delta was a long way to spend a weekend!

We arrived and gave the boat a real scrubbing, we are still looking for the bottle of boat soap that we have not seen since we left Whitby, Ontario. We walked into Georgetown and had dinner at the River Room. I had Grouper, a flaky white fish that was absolutely great. We are now back at the boat and deciding what we are going to do after I get the post up. Friday Night in Georgetown is not like hanging out at home, but should be fun regardless. We went to the Big Tuna for a cocktail and then Bob found the SPCA board, offering dogs and cats to any takers. No we did not pick up a boat animal, Bob is enough for us, just kidding!

We are off to Beaufort, SC tomorrow morning and we will shoot up another post from there.

Ross
with Mike & Bob

Dinner Aboard

2007-11-15T17:37:00.001-08:00

The weather is much better and we are looking forward to another long day. Georgetown, NC is our goal. The winds should be off our stern and the tides favorable. We are just getting the hang of getting to the bridges as they open. We missed one yesterday and had to hover for 30 minutes to wait for the next opening. We were able to get through several bridges today by slipping under with 2-3' of clearance. As long as we can get through it is good!

We were treated to a beautiful sunset and Mike got a great picture of the sunset as well as one of the three of us as we were finishing dinner, thanks to Mike.

More later,

Ross

with Mike & Bob

Surf City to Carolina State Beach Park

2007-11-15T12:37:00.000-08:00

The top photo was taken last Monday as we transited the Great Lock South of Norfok. It shows the mileage to Cities on the route. All of the ICW markings are in Statute miles, not nautical. So we need to do the conversions as we plan our days.

ICW mile marker 297.1
We debated last night and again this morning about leaving Surf City. Weather was telling us that there was a Cold Front carrying gale force winds. We decided that we should not move unless we had a place to land. I haven't tried to call marinas for a reservation until we were underway. Big mistake. We got a call back from a marina in Wilmington with room, so we got the boat underway in less than 15 minutes and headed South. The weather went south as we did and I found a marina run by the State of Carolina. We arrived at 11 am, just ahead of the Cold Front smacking us. We did a 50 mile run, which will give us a better shot at Georgetown for tomorrow night. We will then push on to Beaufort South Carolina and then to Jekyll Island SC before making it into Florida.

I made a big pot of soup for dinner, did some laundry and we Mike & I watched a movie. Bob started to watch, but we lost him to a nap. This may be a double feature day.

If we have time, I will send up another post this afternoon with photos of the marina. Not much here, but the boat is warm, we will have a good dinner and be able to scoot tomorrow with a West wind and a sunny day.

Ross
with Mike & Bob

We are in Surf City, North Carolina

2007-11-14T14:18:00.000-08:00

We put the peddle to the metal today and ran 126 miles, a long day. We are on the normal schedule, up at 0600, off at 0700 and we were at the fuel dock at 3:45pm. As we pulled into the marina, I was surprised to see another PDQ tied up. Tumbleweed 1 was here. She is owned by Erika Bosch and Roger Boe. We had time to visit each others boats and learn from them. They suggest that we store less fuel in the forward tank and store as little as possible there to improve the running configuration. They are from Canada and are heading for warmer weather.

We are hearing that the weather is going to deteriorate over nigth, and we need a few more long days to get Bob & Mike back before Thanksgiving.

I will again attempt to upload more pictures, however the Internet connection is running very slow and the pics are iffy.

The two I am attempting are of the sunrise this morning in Belhaven and one of Tumbleweed next to us in Surf City

Ross
with
Bob & Mike.

Coinjock to Belhaven, NC

2007-11-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

We were away from the dock at 0700 and headed toward Albemarle Sound. We had hoped to NW winds but were not so lucky. We entered the Sound and we had the winds from the SW, exactly what we did not want. We backed off and ran at about 10 knots and made the Alligator River / Pongo River Canal right behind a tug pushing a barge. We had to sit behind him for about 5 miles before he was able to move to the port and let us pass. He really paid for his kindness as it took him about 1/2 of a mile to get back on course. The rest of the day was easy and we arrived at Belhaven at about 1:18PM. Once we got into the slip and fuel added, we took one of the marina golf carts into town and went to the grocery store.

Tonight we will be eating on the boat, life is good as we have cable TV, all 10 stations, but we will be able to catch up on the news as we plan tomorrows leg of the journey.

I will be trying to upload some pictures, but the Internet connection is running very slow.

We are hoping to make Wrightsville,NC tomorrow. I am hoping to get Mike and Bob to Florida in time for them to make it home for Thanksgiving. If not, I am sure that I will be buying the Turkey Dinner.

We had heard on the VHF radio about a dog that had been pulled from the water on the ICW. The boat that rescued the dog pulled into Belhaven just before we arrived. After speaking with the folks on the boat and eventually the owner of the dog, here is what we know. The dog and her owner were hunting bears yesterday. The dog chased a black bear through the NC woods and followed the bear into the water along the ICW. The dog went into the water early in the morning and was swimming most of the day. The folks on the sailboat spotted the dog in the water and were able to pull her out after hooking her collar with a boat hook and pulling her aboard by the scruff of her neck. The reunion was most pleasant and Bob Borg is in his glory that the bear & the dog both won.

Ross
with Bob & Mike

Norfolk to Coinjock, North Carolina

2007-11-12T13:01:00.000-08:00

We were at the fuel dock in Norfolk at 0730, and were through our first bridge by 0800. We missed the opening of the next bridge and were forced to wait 1 hour for the next opening. Instead of circling in the basin for the hour, I backed the boat into a slip at a marina that is under construction, We set the table and had breakfast, made our coffee and tea and enjoyed the show of 14 boats all jockeying for position. We then went through the Great Lock and Bridge. The lock was only a 4 foot drop, not like the 41 foot drop I experienced in the Erie Canal. We went through several more bridges and across the Currituck Sound. We decided early in the day that we would overnight at Coinjock Marina in North Carolina. This will give us a good start to get across Albemarle Sound, early before the winds come up. We will have dinner this evening at the Marina's restaurant which is famous for their big Prime Rib and Flounder servings. I am still watching what I am eating and have needed to punch another hole in my belt, making it smaller.

We are planning a 80 to 100 mile day tomorrow. We will be pushing as hard as we can to get both Mike and Bob back to the West Coast before Thanksgiving.

More later,

Ross

with Mike & Bob

Annapolis to Norfolk

2007-11-11T13:42:00.000-08:00

We were up and out of the marina at the Annapolis Yacht Club annex by 0700. Turning South we followed waypoints that Mike had plotted all day. It was quite a site to motor by the ships that were berthed at the Norfolk Naval Station. We settled into the Waterside Marina and were surprised to see that there was a Hooters Restaurant off the bow of the boat. We might need to get a few chicken wings ;-). Once we had the boat washed off, we sent to the shower rooms and took a shower, need to look good at Hooters!

Once back on the boat, we checked for TV coverage and we were pleased to find that we had lots of stations available. I am watching the Giants vs. Dallas game as I send up this post.

We heard from the marina attendants that last week a local tour boat ran aground as the ICW was closed for 4 days. Timing is everything. We will head South in the morning, after we put on some fuel. We will pass several bridges that open only at appointed times and through a lock as well. We will see how Bob & Mike handle the locks, I am sure that Larry & John could teach them a thing or two.

Ross

With Mike & Bob

Lay day in Annapolis

2007-11-10T14:07:00.001-08:00

We spent the day tied up at the Annapolis Yacht Club. This is truly a classy Club. Many thanks to Mike Murphy for setting up the berthing here. We were joined this afternoon by my nephew Mark, his beautiful wife Christie and their new baby daughter Sophia. We had lunch at the Club and then took Sophia on her first boat ride. We moved the boat from the end tie at the Annapolis Yacht Club, to the fuel dock across the channel and then tied up at the AYC annex. We picked up the dink and safely stowed it on the davits. We will be set to leave tomorrow morning for parts South. We plan to make Norfolk.

The weather today was a bit overcast and is schedule to improve for tomorrow's transit.

More later,

Ross

with Bob & Mike.

Cape May to Annapolis, Very Civilized @ AYC

2007-11-09T18:19:00.000-08:00

This was another one of the up at 0600 and underway at 0645 days. By now Larry and John must be tired of this. We were onto Delaware Bay, through the Cape May canal by 0700. The trip up the Bay was actually rougher than our Atlantic Ocean trip of yesterday. We made the C&D canal by about 1045 and were down the Bay to Annapolis by 1:30pm. We were met at the guest dock of the Annapolis Yacht Club by Mike Murphy and Bob Borg. When we got the boat settled down, and checking into the Club, we had a great lunch and said goodbye to Larry & John. We had hoped that they would return to the Club for dinner, but I think that the many days of up early and going late took their toll and they decided to stay at their hotel and make an early evening of it.

Mike was off to have dinner with his daughter and son in law, so Bob & I walked to town and had two oyster shooters before returning to the Club for dinner.

Tomorrow I will pick up the dink, and I am looking forward to seeing my Nephew, his wife and their new baby. They will be joining us for lunch, as they have a 90 minute drive from their home in Virginia. I will re-provision the boat and be ready to shove off for parts South on Sunday Morning.

As the change of watch occurred. I want to thank John & Larry for all their hard work over the last 2 weeks, and welcome Mike & Bob aboard.

More later,

Ross
now with Mike & Bob.

NYC to Cape May, a Great Trip!

2007-11-08T17:08:00.000-08:00

The dreaded offshore crossing from NYC to Cape May was done today. I learned to water ski , although not well, on Lake Tahoe in bigger swells and winds than we experiences today. We were up and out of Liberty landing Marina at 0645 and were into our berth in Cape May by about 2PM. We fueled up and did some maintenance, before going up the the shower house and getting a much needed shower.

Tomorrow we head to Annapolis where Larry & John leave the adventure and Bob Borg & Michael Murphy get aboard. I am expecting a visit from my nephew and his wife and new Baby on Saturday as well.

We will be heading South on Saturday Afternoon, or early Sunday Morning, heading to FLA.

It was overwhelming to not only visit ground zero and motor by the Statue of Liberty. It is great to be an American!

More later, Ross

with Larry & John, for one more night. I thank them as we are over a week late getting here.,

Ferry to the Big Apple

2007-11-07T16:02:00.001-08:00

We got the boat settled down and jumped onto the water taxi to the Big Apple. We walked by Ground Zero and saw the construction to bring the new building up. We then walked to Wall Street, and by the New York Stock Exchange. The police presence was VERY evident. Before coming back to the boat, we stopped at a nice restaurant and had dinner. Our plan is to get up early and head to Cape May. The weather looks like it is a go, but we will be reviewing everything before we stick our nose out.

More later

Ross

with Larry and John

Catskill to Liberty Landing Marina

2007-11-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

We left Catskill at 0645 and had fuel aboard and settled into our berth by 1:15pm. We had a small problem with one of the windshield wipers, but we think that has been resolved. Our plan is to get cleaned up and take the water taxi, which docks right by our slip to Manhattan for a late lunch and dinner.

It is our plan to poke our nose out and get to Cape May tomorrow afternoon and to Annapolis on Friday. More later from here

Ross

with Larry & John.

We are good to go!

2007-11-06T15:15:00.001-08:00

We have a new shaft seal, and it doesn't leak. What a concept. James & Jackie Powers were able to swap out the part and fix 3 or 4 other issues and we have a reservation in NYC for tomorrow night. The weather looks really good for our offshore rounding of New Jersey on Thursday. If all goes well we will be in Annapolis on Friday.

Larry & John have been really good sports and as we are over a week behind schedule, I will be buying a big dinner tomorrow night in New York. We will be staying at Liberty Landing Marina on the New Jersey side of the Hudson and will take the water taxi to NYC.

We will have a several days of early up and long days, however with the time change that will work.

Larry just commented that Bob Borg & Mike Murphy should bring Hawaiian Shirts and shorts for their portion of the trip, as the weather will be much better.

We just had a call from Joe Weathers and Dave Scardigli. They are in Ensenada and their trip to Turtle Bay was great.

More Later,

Ross
with Larry & John

When it absolutely,positively has to be there overnight!

2007-11-06T08:35:00.000-08:00

Fed Ex arrived at 10:43 with our part. James of PDQ is still traveling to Catskill and should be here about noon. It is our hope that he can get the seal installed and we can make our way to Kingston. Worst case scenario is that we get it installed, and get up with the chickens in the morning and push all the way to NYC. We are hoping to make the trip down the New Jersey Coast on Thursday, as the weather window looks very favorable.

Lunch in Hudson,NY

2007-11-05T11:37:00.000-08:00

I am having trouble uploading pictures today. I hope to get this solved soon, Sorry

We jumped into the rental car and drove across the Rip Van Winkle Bridge to the small Village of Hudson,NY. We had lunch at a good Mexican Restaurant called "Mexican Radio" the fish tacos were excellent. Once back on the boat I made a soup for dinner, went through he refrigerator and put all of our left overs into the pot and it really smells good!. The sun is pouring into the boat and it is 78 degrees in the cabin and a mild 64 outside. We all did a little laundry and anxiously await the arrival of the shaft seal.

Depending on the time the repair is accomplished, we will head either t0NYC or go part way to Kingston,NY and overnight before pushing on to NYC. Mike Murphy is keeping in touch with the offshore weather and we are looking at 2-4 foot swells and 10-15 knot winds. Should be No Problem as we had much worse crossing Lake Ontario.

The part is on it's way,Yeah!

2007-11-05T05:37:00.000-08:00

I just got off the phone with Skip at Tidesmarine in Florida. The part is on the way! It should arrive by tomorrow morning, James should be back and we should be able to get it installed as soon as it arrives, and we can be on our way down the river.

More later,

Ross

Trip to Woodstock

2007-11-04T12:26:00.001-08:00

We left this am at about 10am and headed through the small country roads to Woodstock. This little town reminded me very much of Carmel, cute trendy shops and lots of folks plying the sidewalks. The leaves on the trees were very colorful, but they are definitely at the end of their season. We awoke to over 20 bass fishing boats in the river where we are tied up. Seems that there was a fishing club tournament going on.

We plan to eat aboard again this evening and be on the phone to the shaft seal folks first thing in the morning.

To reach me by e-mail, Please use smartloans@sbcglobal.net. My other address is down for some reason.

Larry wants everyone know that John is growing a mustache. He is thinking about a beard, too.

Ross
with Larry & John at rest in Catskill, NY.

We have a cracked shaft seal

2007-11-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

11/3/07 4:06 pm 50.4 degrees outside air temp. We sit at the dock waiting for Monday to order a new shaft seal. We determined that the seal is cracked and that is what was the cause of our water in the bilge. Once the part is here, James form PDQ will install it and we should be back on the road. We have rented a small car to use while we are "stuck". We plan to tour the surrounding areas tomorrow. We might even go to Woodstock.

We also heard this morning that the manufacturer,PDQ has declared bankruptcy. Not what I was hoping to hear. Oh well, we will make the best of the situation.

More later,

Ross
with John & Larry.

Catskill is a cute little NY town

2007-11-02T13:26:00.000-07:00

4:40pm EDT 59.9 degrees Outside Temp.
We sit today waiting for the PDQ team to arrive from Waterford. We walked to the marina that PDQ is using to get the boats prepared for their trip South. We were told that the 44' Sailboat has blown both engines and is tied aside the Powercat. We wanted to be back at the boat for their arrival, but we had lunch downtown and then took a cab back to Wal-Mart for a few more items.

Catskill is the home of several small ski hills and the folks here are anticipating the snow. We just want to be headed down river. There are many antique shops, and small stuff stores. This area is known for the summer resorts where many a comedian got their start. Very quaint area.
We ran into a bit of history this morning while walking to town. Martin Van Buren, the 8th President of the US was married in a house here and the Real Uncle Sam later lived in the same house.

I just called the PDQ folks, and they are to be here in 30 minutes.

More later,

Ross
with Larry & John

Castelton to Catskill

2007-11-01T15:17:00.000-07:00

11/01/07 6:30pm Outside temp 50 degrees.

Rather than wait for the PDQ crew to mosey down the Hudson, and be stuck in Castelton, we decided to move to the town that will be their destination, Catskill. We have tied up at River View Marina, a 5 star resort in comparison to the last 2 nights. I spoke with the PDQ head fix it guy, James Powers and we both figured that this is the best of options. The 20 mile trip was very leisurely. The sky was very overcast and while we could see the beautiful colors of the leaves, we were not able to get any good pictures as it was just too gloomy. I will try and get some shots (with my new little Nikon digital) tomorrow. We walked to town from the marina, about 1/2 mile and found a very nice restaurant for lunch. I jumped into a cab and went to a Wal-mart Super Store and re-provisioned the boat. It is our intention to cab into town and have dinner. We tried to get television stations, to no avail. I bought two $5.00 movies at Wal-Mart just in case.

We are most anxious to get into NYC and beyond, but need to get the problems fixed before we can go any further.

More later

Ross
with John & Larry

The locking experience

2007-11-01T07:25:00.000-07:00

While we are along side in Castelton waiting for the PDQ Crew, I thought I would add a few pictures and describe the trip through the locks. We would stay on the boat tied up in either a small town or simply along the wall at the lock we were goinig to go through at 0700 in the morning. We would get up at 0600, have some coffee and a light breakfast and have the engines running at 0646 waiting for the lockmaster to open the lock. We would then move the boat into the lock, with the other boats that we were traveling with. John & Larry were on the deck and would grab a rope, pole or ladder with a boat hook. Their job was to keep the boat near the wall, but not rubbing against it. They really had a tough job.

Once we were either lifted or dropped to the next level on the river, the lock master would open the door in fron of us and we then motored slowly out of the lock. We traveled throuogh 30 locks, and we were really glad to go through the last lock in Troy NY.

The pictures show us entering a lock, then at the bottom of the lock and then the door opening.

More later

Ross
with John & Larry

Still alongside At Castelton on the Hudson

2007-10-31T19:29:00.000-07:00

This morning was the first that we slept past 0600 in over a week. We continue to wait for 2 PDQ's that are still in the locks. James of the "fix it" group is aboard one of the boats with the parts that are needed to repair some of our issues. We have another problem, we have found water under the floor boards in the galley. We are thinking that there is a fresh water leak, we have communicated the issue to James and we are hopeful that he will be able to get to us tomorrow and deal with the issues.

We took a Cab to the closest Target store late this afternoon. My small camera has given up the ghost, so I wanted to get a replacement, as well as pick up a few supplies. damn near cost more for the cab ride than the stuff we bought.

We have an appointment in Kingston NY to change the oil, oil filters as well as the fuel filters as well as a generator service.

We are hoping that the water is not a big deal and we can get the propane fixed to allow us to get on our way.

We are beside an Amtrack rail line with HIGH speed trains, which are great for the early morning wakewup call,

We are hoping that we get James onto the boat tomorrow and we can proceed to NYC.

More later.

rb

Out of the Locks and settled on the Hudson River

2007-10-30T16:21:00.000-07:00

We were up again at 0600 and into Lock 8 at 0715. It was a brisk 37.5 degrees this morning as we headed out. Larry & John were great crew handling the lock lines and I am getting better at getting the boat to go where I want it to, sometimes they look at me and shake their heads. Oh well we are through the locks and we all celebrated! We got the Customs jump and shout squared away today with the help of the Customs folks in Albany, NY. They could not have been kinder.

We are tied up at the SMALL Village of Castelton on the Hudson, NY. We added fuel and I was shocked that through the last locks, not pushing the boat we are burning 1.83 gallons an hour. As we begin to push the boat down the River and off shore we will not have that average, but it is great while it lasts!

We are waiting for a PDQ 41 to come through the locks , as they have parts and the folks to hopefully fix our propane problem as well as a few other problems.

Did a load of clothes at the Laundry and will be heading for a shower soon. Haven't had one since Friday. We have a shower on the boat, but getting up a 0600, locking until 5PM or after and then getting some food in us has been a challenge. Hopefully the "fun" can now begin as we are on a much slower schedule.

Little Falls to Above Lock 8 of the Canal System

2007-10-29T15:13:00.001-07:00

We were out of Little Falls at 0700 and after we went through the first lock, we were informed that we had a delay at the next lock. We stopped at St. Johnsonville, a very small Village. We had the holding tank pumped out at a little marina and walked into the Village. We were told that the lock was going to open at noon, so we blasted down the river to make the opening. We got there just as the lock was opened and kept going until we were stopped at Lock 8.

During the morning, I had a call from Lynne at the PDQ factory telling me that the Customs Clearing that we thought had all been handled in OSwego, did not really work. So, we will need to deal with the Customs folks again when we get to Troy, NY at the bottom of the Waterford Locks.

We will have the oil changed in the engines and the generator and head south to NYC. We will be picking up Myron Rappaport, a fellow who is thinking about purchasing a PDQ 34 in Kingston, and he will accompany us down the Hudson.

The only pictures that I can upload today are of the boat and a nice Church in St. Johnsonville

More later

Ross
with John & Larry

Phoenix to Little Falls

2007-10-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

We were again up with the chickens, more like frozen chickens as it was really chilly last night. We left Phoenix at 0700 and again stuck with Mike & Monica on Lady Godiva. We stopped for fuel in Brewerton which is just before Lake Oneida. We took 61.5 gallons which worked out to a skinny 3.5 gallons per hour. We locked through One lock before we stopped for fuel and 6 after we crossed the Lake before we reached Little Falls. When we arrived the PDQ 44 that was ahead of us was tied to the marina wall. Lady Godiva and we tied to the marina wall, only to find that they had closed last week. We did find that the electricity was still on so we are able to plug in and run the heater, fridge and freezer and all the other conveniences of home. We joined the crew of the other boats and found a good dinner at the East End Steak House. Lots of choices and the cost was a mere $10.95 a person.

After dinner I stopped at the Big M supermarket and re provisioned the galley.

The lock downstream was closed all day due to high water. We are hoping that it will be open in the morning, If we can get through, we should be in Waterford on the Hudson River tomorrow night. We had NO rain today which was a real blessing, however it is really cold.

More tomorrow, from either here in Little Falls or farther down the system, We have 17 more locks before we get onto the Hudson.

Ross, with Larry & John

We made it to Phoenix,NY today!

2007-10-27T15:18:00.000-07:00

We were up before the chickens this morning, and left Cobourg at 7am. We were blessed with fairly calm seas as we crossed Lake Ontario. John thinks that we were in no more than 2-3 foot swells with some white caps. We arrived at just after Noon, a 76 mile crossing. We were cruising just about 15 knots. Once we settled the boat down we set our lines up to dock and use the Video Phone to clear immigration. We had been told by Lynne at PDQ that this time of the year we would most likely be stuck in Oswego or possibly Phoenix until Monday. To our surprise, we were cleared at the Video Phone for both Customs and Immigration, allowing us to head through the Canal system. We hooked up with a 54' sport fisher from Florida and shot through the first 5 locks and should have been able to get through the 6th, but the lock tender quit before 5 PM and we are tied up just on the North side of Lock #1 of the Oswego Canal. We will push on tomorrow, but we will be waiting for the arrival in Kingston NY of a PDQ 41 that is due to depart Whitby on Sunday. We have a few problems that we hope will be resolved there, the most important is that there is a leak in the propane lines, and that really needs to be fixed.

The BBQ is set up on the flying bridge and the I think that the microwave works, so we will have dinner! Pork tenderloin, veggies in the microwave and a Salad.

The pictures I am uploading today are of the chartplotter showing the boat we approached Oswego, Me at the helm, and one of us following the 54' lady Godiva up the Oswego River.

More later,

Ross

Stuck in Cobourg,again!

2007-10-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

We made it into Cobourg yesterday afternoon, with all intentions of leaving this morning for the crossing to Oswego, NY. We had intended to leave at about 6am, but it was blowing a gale and as the morning wore on it was clear that we should sit out the day. This means that we will be crossing tomorrow in what ever the weather dishes out, and we will not be able to clear Immigration and Customs until Monday Morning. We MUST be through the Erie Canal System by the !st of November, or sit here until May of next year- We are going ;-)

I am having trouble with my e-mail and we are only to send updates when we can get to an Internet cafe or as we are now at a small coffee shop called the Human Bean. Great name, OK coffee.

More form the 3 of us as we progress through the next few days in the canal.

Ross
with Larry & John

We are in Cobourg, Ontario

2007-10-25T15:44:00.000-07:00

Flexability, the key to success, I think. The boats that were going to caravan across Lake Ontario were not leaving until Sunday, so after the last of the commissioning was completed, we left expecting a clam crossing to Oswego, NY. Well, we had our heads handed to us. We encountered 5-6 ft waves and we bounced like a cork. We decided to head to Cobourg for shelter. The usual 3 hour trip took 4, arriving at 2:30PM. The boat handled well, Larry, John and I sat, held on and kept looking at the charts. We did well, the boat did well and I could not be happier.

We plan to leave between 6 and 6:30 am to make the crossing to Oswego. We need to clear Customs and Immigration by 2pm or we will be stuck in Oswego until Monday. great motivation to get up and get going!

We are in Whitby!

2007-10-22T18:58:00.001-07:00

Larry Doyle & I arrived in Toronto this afternoon. We were joined by Larry's Brother, John, who lives in Michigan. John jumped in when the boat was delayed and Joe Weathers had to stay back for his October 31 departure for the Baja Ha-Ha. From the airport we drove to the West Marine Store in Toronto and picked up all of the items that I had ordered. We are glad that I rented a mini-van as we were stuffed to the gunwales with fenders, line the BBQ, and all sorts of cool boat stuff!

We drove to Whitby and went directly to the PDQ commissioning dock. There with her navigation lights proudly blazing was Vita Bella. The commissioning team was still hard at work so we did not disturb there progress. We will visit the factory tomorrow morning and continue to outfit the boat at a big box store, Real Canadian, and then a trip to Wal-Mart. It is our plan to move onto the boat Tomorrow afternoon.

Instead of departing on Wednesday Morning as we had planned, we will be waiting until Thursday when 3 other PDQ's will also be heading off the Lake. Two of the 44' Sailboats, a 41' Powercat and Vita Bella will cross Lake Ontario and proceed through the Erie canal system together. The sailboats will be under the command of folks from the Factory, so any issues we might encounter can be checked immediately. We will stay together until we are half way down the Hudson River a bit below Kingston, NY.

We are also hoping to get some time with the RayMarine folks to go over the electronics, ans we will spend some time on Wednesday with factory folks out on the water, getting more familiar with the boat.

More later, and remember, "The Moose is Loose"

Ross

A bit Delayed

2007-10-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

We have been delayed at the dock. We should be aboard and away on Tuesday the 23rd. We will be posting starting on Monday the 21st from Whitby. Check back then.

Ross

Getting Closer

2007-09-26T09:21:00.000-07:00

The SeaGlaze windows are being installed, the vinyl and the head are being installed. I know that the windows are important as is the vinyl trim, but what is a boat without a good working head?

More to Come.

Remember, "The Moose is Loose!"

Move the the "Final Area"

2007-09-20T14:19:00.001-07:00

She has been moved to the "Final Area" at the factory. The internal Helm station is installed, fuel lines are added and you can see that she is really looking like a PDQ. I will be meeting wit Joe Weathers and Larry Doyle tomorrow in Grass Valley, to do the equipment check list and do the trip plan from Whitby to Annapolis. More later.

Flybridge

2007-09-13T16:08:00.001-07:00

The Flybridge is set to be added

Deck has been married to the Hull

2007-09-13T16:06:00.000-07:00

The deck was married to the Hull today. The flybridge is set to be added as well. Progress is a wonderful thing.

Launching a new PDQ 34

2007-09-13T10:33:00.000-07:00

While I was at the factory in August, PDQ 34 Hull 113 was launched and we spent some time out on Lake Ontario in 6' rollers. With full fuel and water, we were able to do over 21 knots, not bad! The factory is about a mile from the launch ramp and the boats are pulled on a trailer to the marina by a tractor. Once at the Marina, they are eased down the ramp, pulled to the fuel dock and filled with fuel and water. Pretty slick deal.

It then takes the commissioning team several days to get the boat ready to head for home.

The Journey

2007-09-12T22:45:00.000-07:00

When we leave the factory in Whitby (45 min east of Toronto) we will cross Lake Ontario to Oswego, New York. There we enter the Oswego canal, across lake Oneida and then into the Erie Canal. We will transit the Erie canal before heading South on the Hudson River to NYC. We then scoot around the New Jersey Coast, up the Delaware Bay, through the C&D canal before entering Chesapeake Bay. Once down the Bay, we will join the Inter Coastal Waterway and end up in Port Everglades where Vita Bella will be loaded onto a Yacht Carrying Ship, the first week of December. She will transit the panama Canal and arrive in Ensenada in Mid December.

Join us here often as we will be adding content as we make the trip.

Recent pictures of VB at the factory

2007-09-12T22:35:00.000-07:00

Vita Bella is under construction

2007-09-12T22:08:00.000-07:00

I recently was in Whitby, Ontario to pick the options and colors for the 114th PDQ 34 to come out of the factory. This Blog will contain the daily, or mostly daily record of our Journey from the factory in Whitby to Florida and eventually San Diego. Please check back for updates.

Ross