Voyage 2005-2006: Chapter 1

12 Aug 2005, The Summer of '05 , 34 05.932 N/ 077 55.092 W

If this were the summer that we bought Jule-III, we probably would have sold her. The summer has been horrible! The end of our "Cruise to Nowhere" had miserable temperature and no winds. We tried again in late June and were run off by continuous thunderstorms. OK, we tried yet again in July and the heat index was over 105 F. We refused to surrender. We tried again in August but were attacked by the heat index (again 105 F). We decided to brave the heat, released the lines, and shifted the transmission into reverse. Hey, we are not moving! After a close inspection of the prop (yep, still got one), we discovered that a large tribe of barnacles had set up a homestead on the prop. Time to call the diver! So we focused our attention to prepare Jule III for TS Irene. Guess what, Irene decided not to visit. This is not fun.

Our plan for this cruising season is starting to materialize. Don't hold us to this, but we have a plan. Co-captain Ann has cast her vote against Bermuda. It probably had something to do with Jim (of sometime in the future S/V Wanderer) comments on 'why would you want to do that' and '6 days is a long time'. OK, we got a slip in Wilmington NC (our homeport away from homeport) at Mona Black Marina, in Carolina Beach NC. We plan to begin our fall migration by leaving the Chesapeake in mid October (with Butch and Vicki as able bodied crew [maybe]) and heading for Carolina Beach. We will chill in Wilmington for the extended holidays. We will take the puppies up to our children and ready ourselves to head South in mid January. Hopefully, we will arrive in Vero by early February and pick up the crew of S/V Barbobasea for our trip to the Bahamas. Ok, that is enough of a plan. With our track record, we will need 3 other plans to augment this one. But, hey...it is a plan. And wait, ... maybe Bermuda?!

13 Sep 2005, Waiting out Ophelia, 34 05.932 N/ 077 55.092 W

Jule III is safely moored in Baltimore while we are in Wilmington NC bracing for hurricane Ophelia. She has selected the Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach area to begin her nasty work. Fortunately, she did not build past a category 1 system and Wilmington was spared any real damage. Wow! Our first real hurricane. This was a piece of cake compared to Isabel in the Chesapeake.