Adventures on Apropos

  On our way, finally, down the ICW!  Probably should have grabbed more pictures but the thing about the ICW is that you have to really pay attention!  There are few wide open spaces, you have to watch the GPS carefully while also watching the water for 'deadheads', stumps and whatever debris may be floating in your path. I typically run with 2-3 GPS's the ICW - My Garmin 12" running Garmin (Navionics) chart software and shows the route for the day; my tablet, running Aquamaps chart software that gives more specific depth data and often my phone, also running Navionics chart software where I also have my route and I use it for looking ahead or planning for next day (and checking future issues, like the Onslow Beach Bridge which is closed M-Th for next 3 weeks). This trip, we're taking the Virginia Cut, rather than the Great Dismal Swamp route that we took in 2019.  Our destination for the day was Coinjock, NC.  The route is interesting...for a while, anyway....

    Leaving the Chesapeake behind us now, we arrived at Hospital Point in Norfolk, VA.  This is where the ICW begins and it seems that a lot of the southbound boat traffic stops here to begin their journeys.  The anchorage was quite crowded, more so than we'd seen thus far on the trip.  We found some nice, shallow water and claimed our spot for the night. For a change, we had some wind and a light chop in the bottom of the Chesapeake...certainly nothing bad, just a bit more than previous days.   Another gourmet dinner on the boat:  chicken in a mango curry simmer sauce with spinach, served over rice - yum!

  Just heading out from Solomons Island and at the risk of sounding redundant, it's another beautiful day!  You just can't beat sunrise/sunset pictures on the water..they're mesmerizing. Another 7 or so hour ride, we arrived in Jackson Creek at about 3:30.  Another quiet, pretty anchorage - the Chesapeake is loaded with places like this.  We had intended to move on to Hampton for a night in marina there but they were full so we skipped Hampton and made plans to move on to Hospital Point, Mile Marker 0 on the Intracoaster Waterway. As we were preparing to leave the next morning we were treated to an awesome view.  

  Another fine day with little breeze and flat water...no, it doesn't get boring!  We headed out from St. Michael's at 8:30 or so and found the water dead still. A while later with a few ripples on the water and sun in just the right direction it made me start singing Stars on the Water It was a relatively long ride to Solomons Island, arriving at Mill Creek anchorage at about 3:30.  We got in line with a few other boats in this lovely spot. There seemed to be a 'nest' of tugs across the creek from the anchorage.         Chart view of our location   We fixed up a gourmet dinner this day...Roast pork, marinated in chili fig jam with sauteed onions and mushrooms, homemade applesauce and roasted potatoes - delicious!          

For those of you who followed my blog in 2019 where I chronicled my personal version of the "Perils of Pauline", where there was fire, famine and fiasco galore, I humbly apologize!  We've had absolutely awesome weather, dead flat water and as far as I can tell, everything on the boat is, so far, working!  So there is just nothing I can spin into anything even close to humor here...it's just become one of those boring blogs - and I hope it stays that way!   We left the Sassafras River on Friday, Oct 25, intending to make a quick jump over to Worton Creek - a highly recommended anchorage.  Well, best made plans...it was too short a voyage and with wind predicted for next couple of days we decided to beat feet and go instead to St. Michael's.  We went first to the anchorage (save a few bucks) for a night.  Not much room at the anchorage near the Inn at Perry Cabin and there was already a couple of sailboats there but we squeezed in anyway.   We then witne...

    Delaware Bay We headed out early (6:30) from Cape May...as soon as the sun started peeking up.  The last time I did this trip we had the same itinerary:  Through the Cape May Canal, up Delaware Bay, into the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (D&C Canal) and overnight at Chesapeake City, not far from the chesapeake end of the canal.       C & D Canal The trip through the Delaware Bay was quite a slog last time but this trip was calm...another delightful day.  As we approached Chesapeake City we decided to continue on since it was so early.  Rob and Diane Beaulieu had recommended an anchorage in the Sassafras River, so, destination changed on the fly and it turned out to be a great decision.     Sassafras River anchorage By the time we arrived at the anchorage it was 5:30 pm so we decided that it seemed like an excellent time and place for a 'lay-day'.  So nice not to immediately start making plans for the next day, ...

Couldn't pass up the beautiful sunrise pictures in Atlantic City before departing for Cape May. We got a relatively early start from Atlantic City, about 7:00 am.  It's not a long journey but we wanted to be sure we got going before any wind kicked up.  No worries there, another picture perfect day!  Since we weren't hanging on for dear life we got a quick selfie. A return to Utsch's Marina in Cape May - really nice folks there.  They still hand out a 'goody bag' when you check in but it no longer has a bottle of wine in it!  We arrived just before noon, giving us some time to put the boat in order, check in and then wash down the boat before meeting up with former friend from Aetna/CVS, Hyegene. Hyegene kindly treated us to lunch at The Lobster House, a short walk from Utsch's.  We all had the stuffed flounder, which was delicious!  Hyegene also brought with her some homemade butternut squash soup and pumpkin bread.  What a thoughtful thing to do...

  Off before dawn on the long slog to Atlantic City.  The Red Sky at Morning warning is just a myth...we had a beautiful day. Kathy captured a great pic of dolphins bringing us good luck!  We saw them several times throughout the day. We anchored behind Harrah's Casino at Atlantic City.  Quiet achorage, good holding but a strong current resulted in lots of slapping water against the hull!  We arrived relatively late (5 pm) so no trip in to the casino with the dinghy (really would not have been likely at any time!)

  It just never gets old, sailing through NYC.    It was my 3rd time through, Kathy's 1st but we both loved it.  Another picture perfect day on the water with amazing views of the city.     Kathy got a shot of how NYC looks on a VERY windy day... We spent the night at Twin Lights Marina in Atlantic Highlands, a place at which I stayed on the last trek down.  I figured I need to top of fuel prior to the 80 nm run to Atlantic City.  It was more run down than I remembered and a challenge to fuel up...the fixed dock was about even with my bridge deck!

  The last time I made this trip to Florida it was on an Albin 28 TE.  Day one was an 'exciting' blast from Groton, CT to Port Jefferson in awful weather - cold, way too much wind (on the nose) and seas 3-4 feet.  Rich, who accompanied me as far as Annapolis, called it a Long Island Sleigh Ride. In comparison, this trip on the Camano Troll was lovely!  It was pretty chilly, but seas were dead flat with 5 kts or so of wind.  We couldn't have asked for better weather.   This is Kathy Snyder, my First Mate (until she mutinees)     These are views from the anchorage in Port Jefferson.  We had a little trouble finding the 10' areas displayed on the chart but finally settled, a bit close to the grassy edge for my druthers!

Per Request of Cathy Marsh I did a video walkthru of the boat to share...however, even though just a few minutes long it surpassed the maximum file size for uploading to this site (by a lot!), so instead I'll just share some pics.  Most are from prior to my purchase, so a bit has changed but not much.        

  M/V Apropos 2004 Camano Troll   In December of 2023 I found my replacement boat for the Alban 28, with which I'd never really bonded.  When I bought the Albin, I had to have quite a bit of work done to make it travel ready, so as it turned out, the first time I got behind the wheel was the day we left on it to bring it to Florida!  Not the recommended approach! This time around I bought the boat in December, went to Buffalo in April for sea trial and had it delivered to CT in early May.  I moved onto the boat immediately and tried to stay out of the way for installation of new electronics (Garmin GPS/Chartplotter, Auto Pilot and Radar). I moved over to Spicer's Marina in Noank, CT (from Shennecossett Yacht Club) and was able to go up-river to Mystic Shipyard for Baldwin Yacht Club Commissioning Weekend over Memorial Day Weekend and that was a great way to start the season. Over the summer I was able to really test and get to know this little Camano and althoug...