When are we leaving Deltaville?

I really don't know. We are supposed to leave tomorrow morning and stop at Hampton Roads, however small craft advisories went out this afternoon, and is supposed to last until tomorrow late afternoon, so....
We will not leave Deltaville until Saturday morning now.......No need to fight 4-5 footers on the Cheasapeake, especially when we don't have to. It is getting windier by the minute and they are calling for 15-25 Knot winds tonight and tomorrow AM. A cold front is responsible for the temperature dropping from mid-70" this afternoon to 55 right now, and a low of 48 degrees is expected tonight.....BRRRRR it is cold outside, baby!!

Boat Taxes...WOW

I was discussing sales tax with a fellow boater today, and as the saying goes, I have "learned something new" every day".
Now, I already know and am certain of these two things, One is;- Boats are a very expensive "hunk of fiberglass"
Secondly, Sales tax adds to the expense, especially the 8.0% charged in NYS.

Here is what I have learned new today....Maryland has capped it sales tax to $1,500.00. Now, if you buy a new boat in NY and pay one million $ dollars, you also have to pay the dealer $80,000.00 in sales tax. Really, not too bad, but then again, NY is not a boater friendly state by any means, especially when you consider that the average price of new yacht, using the definition that a yacht is a boat over 100' long, are selling every day for 2-5 M. Take the average yacht in NY which is selling for 5M. Times that by the 8.0% tax, and you have actually paid an additional $400,000.in sales tax. A bit higher than most states, but NY, being boater un-friendly gives you nothing but a hard time in return.
Second thing I have learned, VA rate is 5% of the selling price. An average yacht, selling for 5 M generates a sales ta of $250,000 per sale per year in VA Sales Taxes. VA is a boater friendly state that allows town municipalities to set tax rates. Currently I am in Middlesex County, and their tax structure is a bit higher than most other counties in the state. This a boating area by far. because if you are not in one of the marine trades, there is just nothing else to do. So, this guy told me, " I pay 1500.00 per year to be in the Chesapeake.....he went on to explain "he has a 40' sailboat which I beleive he said was 1994 Hunter, Salon Deck......his tax bill every year, every January 01 is $1,500.00. What he gets in return are green marinas, clean waters to fish in, boater saftey education courses plus other things....
So far this guy has paid over $15,000.00 (County tax) in taxes for the past 10 years.That is a hell of an expense added to marina costs, and insurance. 40' sounds like a lot of boat, but in reality is is a small sailboat by todays standards. 60 foot is more the average, especially south of Maryland. I can't imangine what their taxes are in this county, but I bet the average boater is paying over $2,000.00 per year, per boat.

Of course, like every tax there are loopholes, and the VA tax code is no exception. The loophole is as follows: Don't be in this county on January 1st, because that way you do not get taxed by the county.
He is now retired and has been so for the past two years, and his plan is to go to FL every year with his boat.

I cannot blame him!!

I will report more as we travel down the coast.

Synopsis of past two weeks October 17th to October 30th, 2013

Lets see.....we arrived in Deltaville, VA. on Thursday the 17th, after a smooth ride from Smith Point, VA. After arriving at Jack Dozier's Regatta Point Marnina, we tied up in a temporary slip until Sunday. Currently, I am in slip # Slip#G-35, however on Monday my new slip assignment will be G-3. We will stay there until we leave Deltaville...
Friday, Oct 19th....took the day off and did nothing,I did figure out that Dozier's monthly rate is a lot cheaper than weekly rate, so I paid marina for a month although I am leaving after two weeks.

On Saturday October 20, 2013, we started sanding the teak on the Lucky Find III,

Sunday October 21st, we continued sanding after a buffett breakfast at marina. I moved boat from G-35 to G-3....a lot closer to bathrooms, offices and courtsey cars.

On Monday the 21st of October, we returned to Glouscester to see about rental car for Dottie.....no luck, so I called Hertz and sure enough they had a car available on Tuesday.

Tuesday,October 222nd, I borrowed courtsey car and drove to Kilmarnock, VA to the Hertz place, and kissed Dottie good-bye as she drove north back to Clyde, NY.

Wednesday, October 23rd, thru Sunday, October 27th were work days as I tried to get our dinghy and davits back in shape after being torn off in Annapolis by a water taxi, and finally finished it on Sunday the 28th. Went to a Sunday buffet at a place called the Sunset Grill down the street. Basic breakfat and lunch fare, but a nice place with great friendly service.

Monday, October 28th, was spent doing sanding and getting all final amenities on dinghy. All teak is now done and waiting for Dottie to put on the Bristol Finish and get her looking new, AGAIN.
Tuesday, October 29th morning, I spent in the laundry room with the interior upholstery fabrics. After a quick phone call to Sunbrella, I found out that I could wash all cushion covers in a washing machine but do not put into dryer as they will shrink. After washing covers I put them on rail of boat to dry.....currently it is 72 degrees and sunny here, so a great day for that. All the guys on the dock are breaking my chops about doing "women's work", but when you are alone you do it all, and I am finding out that a woman's work is NEVER done..
Wednesday the 30th of October - Club Jeppesen Marine of which I am a member, is delivering my new navigation chip to cover me down the Chesapeake to St. Augustine, FL. Once in St. Augustine they will deliver a chip that covers St. Augustine to Key West FL.


I have cooked dinner and lucnh every day on boat and I need my restaurant fix soon.

Making Adjustments to Blog Site

Please let me know whether you can join our blog and or comment on posts.

Thanks,

AL

Days 25 thru 36 - Deltaville, VA

We received a call from our daughter Natalie on October 17th, where she said she was not feeling too good. Turns out she is in the middle of an MS Episode. Also our insurance regulations say that we cannot travel south of Virginia until November 01, the official end of the hurricane season, so thereforth I planned on staying in Deltaville until Nov, 1st anyway..

Dottie said she would be right there, but after going all the way from Deltaville to Glouster, VA (nearest Enterprise Rent A Car), And nothing available, Dottie called Natalie to say that she would be there Tuesday, October 22nd,(Thanks to Hertz, whose rates are less, and they advertise they will pick you up too!!). So, Dottie will leave here on Tuesday, October 22nd and return next Wednesday the 30th of October.

In the meantime I will enjoy our Virginia weather, and it is sunshine everyday, all day with temps hoovering to mid-seventies at lunchtime to near 49 at nighttime. The past few mornings the heat was on in the boat when I awoke, only to have a/c on by 11AM and heat again at 7:00PM.

There are plenty of things to do on this boat, such as sanding all teak, and then bleaching it and prepare to have Dottie re-finish it.
I had two divers, from a company called Under Boats, Inc. ,go down this past Thurday (10/24/13), and examine bottom of boat, only to see one surface with a tatered old American Flag and proceeds to tell me except for this flag, which was wrapped around your shaft, the bottom looks like new, no need to haul out and have her cleaned. GREAT NEWS to me, and for 20 bucks, it was well worth the peace of mind.
A canvas specialist from The Ship's Tailor will be here to fix a few broken snaps before Thursday the 31st., he did come on Friday the 25th to check it all out., but did not have the needed tools with him.

More to come as trip progresses.
Our next stop, before crossing into the Carolinas, will be Newport, VA for a night or two then North Carolina for a few days and nights, South Carolina for a few days and then Florida.....LOL....LOL...and then a week or two down the 700 mile coast of Florida to Key Largo and Tavinier(FINAL DESTINATION).

Day 24 - Smith Point to Deltaville, VA

Well, we made it to the "Yachting Capital of the East". I have been looking forward to a few days here in Deltaville.

You see, Deltaville became a world class operation for Yachting a few years ago,(1999) after Hurricane Floyd dumped more than 10 inches of rain on the Eastern Shore, and along the Chesapeake Bay on September 16-17. Chestertown collected 14.00
inches. Annapolis had 11.60 inches. Floyd's eye passed over Ocean City, with a barometric pressure of 28.88 inches. Gusts in Ocean City, MD peaked at about 60 mph.
Hugo ripped up the area badly, and when just about all insurance companies refused to cover anyone from the north from going south of here until after November 1st...the official end of hurricaine season. And the last year, in 2012, Hurricane Sandy lashed Maryland on October 29-30 with isolated hurricane force gusts and widespread gales, heavy rain in the eastern two-thirds of the state and
significant snow in the west. The Ocean City fishing pier was partially destroyed and
bay sections flooded.
It seems that everyone ends up here for a week or two before they venture south to NC, SC GA or FL.
Deltaville, with it's proximity to Newport News-Williamsburgh Intl Airport is an beautiful area. Houses run from 250,000.00 for a fixer-upper, to a norm of 500,000., to a high of 7M. Not too bad considering Annapolis and Solomons are about double that.

We had a great day of traveling.....not too long, yet not too short. However, 2 miles outside of Deltaville, we ran aground again for the third time so far this trip, and if that is not enough, after Tow Boat US came and wiggled us out of the sand, I ran aground the fourth time. Having his number in my cell, I called him, waited two minutes, and we are "wiggled" free again.

I apologize to those I made fun of running aground in a channel, but I guess it can happen to the best of us....LOL. The channel markers or bouys just don't outline the channel well enough after Hurricaine Sandy hit last October. The Army Corps of Engineers needs to re-survey certain areas and just don't have the time, money or manpower to do it down here as of yet.
I was in the center of the channel in three out of the four groundings. But again, no problem except for the loss of time (20 minutes, total)!

Anyways, the area is exceptional and so are the marinas here. We pulled into the marina at 1PM, tied up, and started meeting some others that are going south after bthe first of November. We have tied up at Dozier's Regatta Point Yachting Center.

Day 23 - Solomon's to Smith Point VA. -

We left Zahinsers at 10:30 AM and drove the 35 miles to Smith Point Marina In Smith Point, VA. This is the smallest marina we have seen so far, only having 98 slips. But all are occupied and we tied up at the fuel dock. We did see some intersting sights on our trip here, and I will post some pics tomorrow.

Frome here it is on to Deltaville VA for a week.

Day 22 - 10/16/13 - Solomons Island Maryland - An Expensive lesson learned the hard way

The best day yet...We spent the whole day catching up with the chores on a boat. This morning we went from Zahniser's Yachting Center to Spring Cove Marina to buy well over 200 gallons of diesel at 3.699 per gallon.($750.00). I saw Paul standing on our dock when we came back, he bled the engine and it started right up. hours of Labor t $100.00 per. The billat the yard came to 318 with tax and some materials.
Then this afternoon both Dottie and I changed the oil in both engines, and the generator, and later that afternoon, we washed the dinghy, and had a great dinner aboard the boat. All I can say is I learned an expensive lesson.

Day 21 - Solomon's Island,Maryland

Today is our 36th Wedding Avviversary....we celebrated it by going to dinner at the Dry Dock Cafe at the marina.
The day was spent just doing nothing but hanging out at the marina, and we took the courtsey shuttle to the local Food Lion Grocery store.
After grocery shopping I decided to go below to see if I could at least change fuel filters one primary and two secondaries......what a mistake that was, as I forgot how to bleed the fuel and alsoI forgot that the new "O" rings go into the housing of the secondaries and not to put them with the filters. The engine still would not start, so I called Paul in and he spent all of two hours changing fuel filters on port engine, fixing those I put in starboard engine and also changed both oil filters for me.

Guess what, the starboard engine would still not start,then Paul asked how much fuel I had in my starboard tank, when I answered not much he had me and Dottie stand in the cockpit while he measured the length of the pick-up tube.....sure enough having three inches of fuel left was not enough, you need four he said.

Day 20 - Columbus Day - Annapolis, MD to Solomons Island, MD

Today we traveled from Port Annapolis Marina to Solomons Island, MD., an all day run of about 60 miles down the Chesapeake. What a beautiful bay she is too. About two miles short of our destinaion, the starboard engine quit because of what I thought was dirty fuel. After registering at the office of Zahniser's (say Budweiser a few times)Yachting Center I asked Paul, one of the 12 mechanics employed there, if my suspicions were correct. He answered in the affirmitive. He also offered to stop by tomorrow if we needed help. We would let them know....

Days 11 to 19 - Annapolis, Maryland

On Sunday the 6th we attended the last day of the US Powerboat show and then we took the watertaxi over the Charthouse Restaurant, where we both had an excellent dinner. We hung at the Port of Annapolis Marina for a few days and then on Thursday we rented a car from Enterprise and drove the 6 hours back to Clyde to handle a funeral.Both Friday and Satuday were uneventful, so we returned to Annapolis later on Saturday. Well, unknown to us, Annapolis had a huge rain and wind storm on Friday and somehow or another we lost our dinghy and the davits. We had the car until Monday, so we decided the go to the Paxtucket River Appreciation Dasys and they really know how to a festival down here. A great time of everything nautical and food.

Day 10 - Saturday, October 5th, 2013 - Worton's Creek to Annapolis

We left Worton's Creek Marina at 9:00AM and arrived in beautiful Annapolis at 12:30 PM.
You have to understand Annapolis to realize why it is known as the "Sailing Capital of the World." We are docked at the Port of Annapolis Marina, another huge marina with over 500+ boats.
Out of the 500 boats here I bet more than 400 are sail boats and out of those 400, more than half are full time "live aboards". We had never seen so many sticks in one place before.

The Port of Annapolis Marina is a privately owned business and the owner lives and works this business like he cares about boaters. He is around 24/7/365. and it is the second place winner in our quest for the perfect marina. It has every marine related facility and business located here, plus every amenity known to boaters, including clean and cared for showers and bathrooms, club house, fitness center,  bikes, pump outs and wireless internet all, of course at no charge, plus they have free shuttle van service, free pool, free laundry, free putting green ,a water taxi stop, picnic area, playground, and a great restaurant known as the Dockside Grille. Their "goodie packet" alone reduces cost to about $2.00 per foot.

There rates are $2.75 a foot ($83.85 per diem) for transients, a week or longer will cost you $11.00 a foot ($418.00), a month or longer is $25.00 a foot ($960.00) and 12 months or more is a flat rate of $6,325.00.....double of what I pay now, but down here you are in the water 12 months of the year, as very few boaters pull their boats out of the water for the months of January and February.
Right now, I pay over $3,000 a year for this boat, and I am seriously considering making a permanent move. I love the weather and atmosphere of southern boating.

If it has to do with boating they do it here. They have a fully stocked ship's store and they also do fiberglass repairs, bottom refinishing, engine sales and repairs, rigging, electrical repairs, fabrication custom carpentry and woodworking.

The reason it is still not number one is the size, it is just too big (18 acres) and location....it is too close to downtown Annapolis and it is located on the Back Creek of the Serven River, which is just a busy boating harbor. All you see is boat after boat after boat. This marina is noting like an average marina up north.

The weather for the past 10 days has been great too......sunny and warm, with the temps in the high 70's and mid 80's every day. But as we all know, good things will soon come to an end. Everyone here is concerned about the Tropical Storm Karen that is coming up the coast.
 If the weather is good, we are going to be traveling to Solomon's Island, MD,  if not, we stay here, and fly out of Baltimore home so I can do a funeral before resuming our trip.

Day 9 - Friday, October 4th, 2013 - Cheaspeake City to Worton's Creek, Maryland

We left Summit North Marina at 8:15 AM and arrived here at 12 Noon, for just a nice, peaceful ride toward Worton's  Creek, and this is about just enough time for me behind the helm, because after 4 hours steering it gets very, very boring.
We pulled out into the C and D canal hung a sharp turn to starboard and continued on down the center of the canal into the Elk River. We stayed within the shipping channels all the way down to Wortons Creek Marina, then a hard turn to port put us right into our slip here.
It is a nice marina, but nothing like the Utche's Marina of Cape May, NJ (it spoiled us early in our trip).

Lunch aboard and then an afternoon of rest, followed by a local restaurant for dinner called Harbor House. It was nice place with great food and even better, friendlier service.

Tomorrow we shall be on our way to Annapolis and the US Powerboat show....Yeah!!

Worton's Creek Marina is a nice, family owned and run business.
Dockage is $2.50 per foot.

Day 8 - Thursday October 3rd, 2013 - Cape May, NJ to Chesepeake City, MD

We left Utche's Marina a t 8AM today and planned our day in the following manner.....we would take the Cape May Canal out to Delaware Bay, have lunch in Delaware and the go on to Maryland via the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, winding down our day at a marina called Summit North in Chesapeake City MD.
After taking on an additional 130 gallons of fuel at 3.39 per gallon at Utche's Marina we got underway. We were in Delaware by 10 AM, had lunch at about 11:30 and kept on going to Chesapeake City in Maryland, arriving at Summit North at about 4PM. All marinas down this way are large, especially this one, however this is too large for me, acreage-wise. It is about a half-hour walk from the boat to the office.......or Restaurant, which is called Aqua- Sol. We had dinner here and it's food is excellent and Miami style.


The St. George's Bridges welcome you to Maryland



We are small here compared to other boats. A 50' Marine Trader Europa Style



The Lucky Find III is a dink in comparison.



On the left is a 50's and on the right our 38 footer. You can see and  feel the difference right away.

Summit North Marina




The marina's fine restaurant, serving everything Miami Style.

Summit North is a brand new mahttp://www.summitnorthmarina.comrina, charges $2.00 a foot for a transient

Day 7 - Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013Cape May, NJ

We decided to spend an extra day in Cape May, so this AM we took our bicycles and went for a ride around Cape May. We had breakfast in a place called Zoe's. It was quite good, except the portions were small.
We rode back to the boat around 10:30 AM and passed a place right next door to Utsch's Marina called the Lobster House. I went in to see if I could get a reservation for dinner tonight, but was told they do not accept reservations, however the girl said she would make sure I had a table at 6:30 PM. The Lobster House also has a fish market, so I bought some lobster salad and shrimp salad for lunch along with a fresh loaf of their house bread (onion bread) . It was excellent, so I knew that dinner would even be better. After lunch we just hung around the boat yard all day until dinner time, then we went to the Lobster House for dinner.....but of course, first came cocktails aboard the sailing schooner Americana. Utsch's Marina had the best facilities so far, making our local marina look like a POS, and the rest of the marinas also. Talk about clean, their bathrooms were spotless and not only that you had a choice between a private bathroom and a locker-room style. They give you keys for both, but I really have to say the building with the boaters lounge and pvt. baths was superb.
All furniture is wicker or bamboo, and it all fit in nicely with the surrounding atmosphere.
The marina itself is huge with 615 slips accommodating boats up to 200 feet in length.....it just made any other marina that we had ever been to look and feel crappy. and for $2.25 per foot, we got, the most bang for your buck!!. Their " goodie packet", given to each transient boater is fantastic. A bottle of local wine, tee-shirts and a whole bunch of local advertising materials.

Cape May, NJ is noted for their architecture

From modern skyscrapers downtown to...

the Victorian homes which put Cape May on the National Register of Historic place, the only city in America with that distinction.

The NUMBER ONE MARINA SO FAR....Utschs Marina.based on cleanliness, bathroom facilities, and friendliness.



Day 6 - Tuesday, October 1st, 2013 - Atlantic City to Cape May

We celebrated Dottie's birthday by leaving AC at 8:15 AM and traveling the 60 some miles to Cape May. It was a very long and twisty ride., You see, we took the inside route (ICW)  all the way. Had we gone outside and taken the ocean, it would have been only a 32 mile ride.

The Jersey ICW  added, probably double the mileage, but it was slow and leisurely, and of course well worth it.. We went through Ventnor, Margate and Longport......all towns that I knew really well from my teens of growing up in Margate.
What changes have happened over the past 30 some odd years, properties that were selling for 20 and 30 G;s are now selling for 300-500K. Since Superstorm Sandy hurt, Jersey has changed it building code to one of safety and pre-cautionary.....all waterfront homes, now, must be built on stilts at least 16 feet high. We also went through some very narrow channels and "skinny water" and by skinny I mean shallow, 2 feet or less under our keel and by narrow I mean channels that are maybe 20' feet wide.

After passing the inlet at Longport, we were in Ocean City, then Sea Isle City, Avalon, Wildwood and Wildwood Crest and the finally Cape May.

We are staying at a marina call Utsch's Marine Center and will be here until at least Thursday, the 3rd of October. Then it will be off to Chesapeake City, DE and Annapolis, MD.  Once we get to Annapolis, we will be there till at least Monday the 7th because I want to attend the US Powerboat show.