As of 5/28, I am anchored at St Michaels, ten miles or so east of Annapolis.
Monty and I left the anchorage behind Cape Lookout and headed up the coast, starting out by beating south into the wind. The constant jolting of the striking waves made Monty completely empty his stomach, but by noon we had rounded Cape Lookout and were gliding along pleasantly, well on our way to Cape Hatteras (a most dangerous shoal in the days before GPS, lighthouses, and marker buoys). Before dark a pod of around fifteen dolphins joined us, frolicking around the bow. I brought Monty out and hold him while he noticed the dolphins with increasing interest and attention. One dolphin often tail-slapped the water, causing Monty to flinch, and the puffing of their breath also drew his glance.
On that first night, Monty felt practically soggy, his soft salty fur absorbing moisture from the steamy air above the Gulf Stream. I finally had to give him a rinse bath in the sink and he felt FAR more comfortable and pranced around the cockpit happily.... but still no interest in eating or drinking.
I decided to ride the Gulf Steam for another ten or fifteen miles past Cape Hatteras to get a nicer angle for sailing down wind, and at around 3am we jibed-over, turning our course north. Then, safely clear of shipping and shoals, wind and waves comfortable, we snuggled up in the cockpit and fell asleep.
The next day Monty recovered his appetite and the day and night went by uneventfully, other than a lot of traffic as I neared the Chesapeake around sunrise, so I ended up with a sleepless night, other than catnaps. I finally found a slightly sheltered spot a half mile from marshy-sandy shores and islets, dropped anchor, rowed Monty to a tiny island for exercise, then rowed back and loaded the dinghy aboard. I'll let a slightly younger me tell the rest:
"Here I am, sitting on the deck of the boat at 2:00 a.m, my dog and coffee by my side, sailing across the Chesapeake Bay (well, a "little" side bay called Mobjack Bay) in anticipation of changing wind. The six-knot, warm & humid, wind blows us north at around three kts over nearly flat water while the crescent moon shines low in the east among glowing wisps of cloud: absolutely delightful. Perhaps not as many stars as we would get in the open ocean, but very very pleasant.
After a long winter ashore, I'm finally back at sea, although mostly anchored.
Last Wednesday, Monty and I said goodbye to Gypsy, his best friend in the marina,
Winds were strong enough that, for the first time ever, I sailed all the way from New Bern to the bay inside Cape Lookout without needing to run the engine. We ran it only to get out of the marina and again at the end for a few minutes to place the two anchors I prefer, especially in these strong winds. We then relaxed and waited for winds to die down enough to launch dinghy for shore, Monty showing considerable patience and using his shipboard toilet facilities for the first time: what a good dog!
In the days since, we have walked the shores of Shackleford Island and visited the wild horses and found a burrowing crab,
then moved to the south end of the bay (before the wind switched to south) and walked two to three hours every day on Cape Lookout. Monty showed concern the first time he saw me don wetsuit etc to swim under the boat to handle maintenance, but the next day simply relaxed in the dinghy with complete unconcern while I completed the tasks. He does like to keep an eye on me...
And on the boats, birds, and porpoises around us.
Monty's joy is walking the shore, wading in the tidepools and shoals, and exploring. I find delight in his happy exploration of his new life and in his adaptation to boat life.
I have a new dog, a new friend! While Cynthia was laid-up with naughty knees and a bad back, she kept an eye out for rescue dogs and found one in Detroit, a feral dog captured in TX. Within a day we had met the foster person, been approved, and drove the little fellow home.
WELL, one thing you can count on with feral dogs is that they will have some.... issues. Since Cynthia could not sit for long, I had set her up with a bed in the back of the car and Monty actually menaced her rather severely on the way home. Once home he did his best to menace me, too... but I don't submit to that "manure" and we had a... discussion... mostly physical, but also some growling and barking. We really feared that he might be untrainable, but in the ten days we have had him his behavior has moderated hugely. We believe this behavior (along with a few other things we've seen) may indicate that he survived by ambushing people near vending machines and frightening them into dropping their food. He looked pretty scary back then..
He also has a tendency to run for the horizon, for new places and people and smells. We hope this will moderate as he finds security in us and his testosterone levels drop (he was neutered a week or so before we received him).
Other than that, he is about 11 lbs, 3 years old (maybe), poodle-King Charles Cavalier mix (maybe), very cuddly, energetic, an amazing jumper, very food driven, recently neutered, and very good at warning us of strangers. He is also a cute sweet fellow.
Lucy and he are getting along pretty well, although she still mostly prefers to be an only dog.
I think he is a good dog and getting better. Crossing fingers that he will work out well on the boat...although he may have too much energy. I bet he will be great. Cynthia finally found a wonderful life jacket that works well for him and it arrived today.
Anyway, we plan on driving out to MA around Xmas, then down to the boat in NC, then Cynthia and Lucy will drive back to MI while I sail for FL and the Bahamas. Although, with Omicron.... who the heck knows.
Here I am in Sonoma, visiting my dad. I arrived Saturday after spending a week with Cynthia in MI and the boat sits safely in NC, awaiting my return in about four weeks. The grafts on the oranges are doing well and are bent down with green oranges and the near-record rain storm has put an end to the fire season, thank goodness!
In this last week, I sat down to look at the things that make my ears perk up and my tail wag. There are loads of things that are essential to me: friends, hugs, sunrises and sunsets, minimalism, problem solving, foraging, sailing.... and I've known for some time (nearly six decades) that I'm attracted to water, especially salt water.... but these are not enough.
I recalled that I fell in love with the US Virgins only after I began hunting lionfish, thus giving me a reason to swim and explore as well as helping the reefs and making the world a bit better. This summer I encountered invasive green crabs swarming the Stage Harbor beaches at night and decimating the littoral life there and wondered if , as with lionfish, one could make a difference by going out and hunting them several nights each summer. Finally, I recently read about purple sea urchins entirely covering huge regions of the northern CA nearshore area, eliminating all kelp and wiping out other species. And I thought, with a bit of excitement, perhaps one could pick a small area and eliminate the urchins, creating and maintaining a refuge for the kelp etc.
I wrote all these down, then sat back with a gasp at the realization that (no kidding!) these all have clear commonalities. Forget sailing as a life plan: while that IS a delight and moves me deeply, it does not bring meaning to my life. What DOES is making the world a bit better by doing what I can for a little piece of ocean: protecting a quarter mile of Cape Cod beach from green crabs, a mile or two of reef from lionfish, or maybe even a thousand square feet of Mendocino kelp bed from urchins...although they have professional divers working on that idea. And, who knows, there may be others interested in joining in: I know Cynthia enjoys these things.
And, of course, there is the delight of getting into the water and seeing wonderful things!
Now, I realize that everyone else probably could have told me this about myself and that I'm a bit slow to have taken nearly six decades to get there, but I'm just delighted to have finally noticed!
Heading south from Cape Cod toward NC today, Lucy by my side. Yes, it has been a long time since sailing much. Yes, I'm nervous about the currents and thunderstorms I'll be facing until around midnight. AND the temperature is supposed to plummet tonight, reaching around 50degF, so THAT will be darned chilly...
But then the temperatures should rise and winds should cooperate to bring me into Beaufort, NC or Cape Lookout around Monday. I may even have a day to spend walking with Lucy on the beaches before we need to head upstream to New Bern to store the boat and head to MI for a week, then CA for a month, before returning to chilly weather in mid-November and heading south to FL and/or the Bahamas.
What to write about... hmmm... How about a bit on batteries!
For years I've lusted after lithium (well, lithium iron phosphate) batteries, but always found the cost too high. But spring of 2020 found me sitting down to actually analyze the numbers and deciding when to swap over.... and I found the numbers added up then and there.... but only if I built my own system. So I ordered the cells and management electronics and had them delivered to a friend in Chatham, 
then picked them up and installed them.
What is good about them compared to the good old lead acid batteries?
1) non toxic: one could grind them up and use them to fertilize a garden.
2) one can use over 80% of the battery capacity without damage compared to only about 50% with lead-acid.
3) They prefer to be left partially charged rather than requiring excess charge frequently, so I can keep more of the power my solar panels produce.
4) The new battery pack fits far more power and energy into the same footprint as my old batteries.
5) I can take part of my battery bank, put it in the dinghy, and putter around with a trolling motor.
6) Power tools now run far better as the batteries can put out far more power than lead acid.
Problems?
1) Existing charging electronics on my boat are not quite right and may occasionally create a problem. I have a work-around, but it takes attention if I am running my engine much.
2) The LiFePO4 batteries don't like freezing weather and charging them when they are below freezing will destroy them rapidly.
3) I can now find some cells for under half of what I paid. All electric cruising, anyone? No more propane, diesel, or oil on board! I'd love it.... maybe in a year or five.
