So I quit my job...

[Sonnie]

Gave my landlord notice, and am now working at the pace of a ferret on speed getting the boat ready to live on, and cruise down the ICW. The boat is a 25 foot Bayfield, I'm putting her at a marina for the summer, then taking off from Toronto in fall. This site has been a real help with motivation and insight - I'm so excited that I'm fanailly doing it! After working at the bank under those flourecent lights for three years I can't even describe how nice the sun feels and the ache after a hard (and honest) days work out on the boat.

It's funny how things work out. For so long I worried about leaving a steady pay cheque for life on a little boat. Then I quit and things are falling into place - met a great gal, got involved with a sailing magazine, feel physically great. Guess that's human nature, we set up barriers that in the end, are not real... Anyways,  thanks everyone for making me feel a little less crazy for chosing to live on a 25 ft. boat! See you on the way down.

[Frank]

Hats off to ya Sonnie !! Good for you.The Bayfield is a great lil cruiser..standing headroom,private head,traditional looks and shallow draft...a fine Florida Keys and Bahamas boat !! Enjoy  Keep her moving

[AdriftAtSea]

Congrats... :D

[skylark]

Way to go Sonnie;

If you have a comfortable place to sit, a comfortable bed, head and kitchen, even a small boat can be a home.

[Bubba the Pirate]

Woo Hoo!!! ;D

I just did the same thing last month; moved from South Bend, IN.   I am in Bay City, MI on Saginaw Bay and hope to be headed south by late summer/fall.   Maybe I'll see you out there.   

You sound a little further along.   I am looking for work here to finish all my projects.   I am loving the sun, but may have to dip back inside for just a couple more months. 

Fair Winds,

TrT

[CapnK]

Right on, Sonnie!  Grog! :) Sounds like you have it going on, best of luck to you! Which sailing mag is it, if you can share? We'd all be able to help both you and the mag, if they covered cruising aboard a small vessel (which so few mags do...).

When you head south this coming winter, keep "Georgetown, SC" in mind - there is a free anchorage over by downtown with easy access to land, and when you are here I can taxi you to the discount stores etc for re-provisioning.

(Also, wrote a note to you in the Financing thread below.)

[Frank]

Sonny...just a quick warning about Capt K's offer to stop in...........

"When you head south this coming winter, keep "Georgetown, SC" in mind - there is a free anchorage over by downtown with easy access to land, and when you are here I can taxi you to the discount stores etc for re-provisioning."........

  I would assume you too are Canadian if you're leaving from Toronto ( I'm in Pembroke eh)  I stopped in on the way through back in march. After a night of trying to drink every local bar out of rum at the Capt's request  ;D and promises of an early morning meeting...I was greeted by 2 very lonely looking crew dogs wondering where their master was the next day ??? The Capt....looking like he was run over by a steam roller, finally appeared wondering what day it was and who I was :-[  22 cups of coffee later he became coherant enough to realize that in fact he was still at his own marina ;)...here's the warning...he THEN posted here that I (a fellow Canadian) was uncapable of keeping up with him in the rum department. :-\. To try and smooth things over he later posted on a different sight that 'us Canadians can sure consume rum' (guilty) A search of his posts after meeting people will show that his version of reality is somewhat different from fact.....ask Connie or Capt. S  :o....so my advice to you is to have both a video camera and a tape recorder to  fully capture the sluuurrrrring and staggers of your meeting :o.  All joking aside..if you go by and don't stop it will be your loss.His marina has great views and is walking distance to several bars and eateries. You WILL have an enjoyable visit,be helped in any way he can,trade boat stories ALL night and be very happy you stopped in....but I'd still take the video 'just in case'  ;D

[AdriftAtSea]

And posting such video on YouTube would be great amusement for the rest of us... ;)  Or a possible way to bulk up your cruising kitty at the Capn's expense..... :D

[CapnK]

Geesh! Do I have "Abuse Me" stamped on my forehead, or what?  ???

Frank, who I'd unsuccessfully tried to call both via hotel room number (with no rings, it went straight to the "Leave a message" thing...), and via his cell phone (same results) at approx 9AM that morning, showed up at my boat ("staggered up to my boat" is more to the truth - honestly, I was surprised he'd been able to make it down the docks, seeing as they are straight and his walk was a connected series of sharp zigs and zags) around 11AM. I was sitting in the cockpit observing his "arrival", cooling down after my usual 5-mile morning run, eating my breakfast of organic fresh fruit and grains. The CrewDogs, as usual, were sitting attentively and quietly at dockside, being the model of doggy decorum.

Franks first words when he reached the side of my boat were "BURRRRPPPP..." (it is hard for me to relate here the bass rolling notes and echoes from around the marina at his deep eruction), after which he slurred out, "Heysh, ya hoser, ya wantsa shot...? (hiccup)", right before he turned up the half-gallon bottle of rotgut rum, and drained the dregs in a few large swallows.

Whereupon, he fell over onto the dock into a deep sleep, almost comatose.

I pulled him into the shade cast by a nearby boat, and let him be for a while, until he slept it off.

So don't let his account fool you, I assure you that it is by and large puffery and the sheer product of his overactive (and quite lubricated) imagination.

[K3v1n]

Fairwinds Sonnie!
You are making me jealous but my time will come.

Grog's on me!

-Kevin

[Sonnie]

Don't worry Frank I know us Canadians can drink with the best of them! I remeber being down in the states a few years ago and getting a beer called I think "Genny" or something like that... My cousins and I had a dozen each and were still sober... How much real beer am I allowed to bring in from Canada I wonder...  ;D

Anyways, I'm getting ready and I'll be down that way in a couple of months. Cap'n K, I'll be sure to come on by! You bring the rum, I'll bring some of the good coldies from up north, how 'boot it?!

Also, I'm planning on going via the NJ intracostal, if anyone has experience it woulb be good to hear! I have a 3.5' draft so I *think*  :-\ I'll be OK...

Cheers!

[Ol' Coot]

Also, I'm planning on going via the NJ intracostal, if anyone has experience it woulb be good to hear! I have a 3.5' draft so I *think*  :-\ I'll be OK...

Hi Sonnie,

Enjoy your trip down the Jersey Shore!  There are lot's of quiet, beautiful sections to see along the way.  It's nothing like the scenery from the Sopranos lead in on television.

With a draft of 3.5 ft, you should be OK in the NJ section of the ICW.  The bigger issue will be mast height and auxiliary power.  There are many low bridges along the "ditch" in the southern section of the state that have limited opening schedules.  This is especially true on weekends, and between May and September.  You will also want to be able to reliably power through some of the sections if the wind is not from a helpful direction.  The waterway  channel runs across some fairly shallow bays south of Barnegat Inlet.

Once past Cape May, you'll probably want to cross Delaware Bay to enter the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.  Wait for a good day.  The Delaware Bay can become nasty in a hurry, and not a lot a traffic other than big Commercial stuff.

Once you get to the canal, you'll need reliable power.  Sailing through the C&D is prohibited, due to the limited ability of commercial traffic to move around small, slow moving boats.  You will also want to time your run through the canal with a slack or favorable current.  I think there's a good overnight anchorage about half way down  if you want/need more than a day to power through.  IIRC, its about 30 miles, but I'll check my chart if I have an opportunity.

Once into the Chesapeake, you should have great cruising grounds to explore (unfortunately beyond  my experience.)

A good reference for the NJ leg, if you can find it, is "A Cruising Guide to New Jersey Waters" by Captain Donald Launer".

Let me know when you're headed through and I'll try to provide shore-side support if I can.

Kevin

[mudnut]

I think the scariest bit might be that Frank & capnK,could both be telling the truth,as they remember it of course.Mudnut.

[CapnK]

Sonnie - I'll look forward to it, it'll be great to meet you and your boat!  8)

Mudnut - of course, my side was the complete and utter truth, Frank probably *can't* remember what happened!  ;D

Kevin - Grog to you for giving Sonnie those tips. :)

[Sonnie]

Hey guys... I've made it to Rochester NY. Toronto, ON, CAN - Wilson, NY - Point Breeze, NY - Rochester, NY. Next stop is Sodus Bay, then Oswego.

Oh, and about the beer, even though it may not be the best, happy hour in Wilson is $1 pints!!! I couldn't believe! (It's about $5-8/ pint in Toronto)

I'll post some pics later in the week.

Cheers!!!

[Oldrig]

Hey Sonnie,

Somehow I missed this thread before, but let me add my best wishes (and my envy) to others'. I own a Cape Dory 25D, but one of the other boats on my "to-buy" list was the Bayfield 25. Unfortunately, the one I found in New Hampshire had bee sitting badly on jackstands (without blocking under the keel) for too long.

Same draft, same private head; I've got some heavier fiberglass, but you've got that lovely Bayfield clipper bow . . . anyway, best of luck to you.

One word of warning: Don't let yourself get used to American beer! When I was working in Europe (Budapest and Warsaw), the usual joke we'd play on new arrivals from the States was to take 'em out for "a few beers." The next morning, they'd always say, "I don't understand it. At home I could drink a six-pack with no problem." They didn't realize they weren't used to real beer.

Good luck on your travels.

--Joe

[Sonnie]

Yes I am trying not to get too used to the American beer but my little Bayfield sits a little bow high so I have decided to trim her out by filling the under vberth w beers!

I'm in Oriental, NC now. Had a good 25 on the Neuse river today. Anways, I posted some pics on the board, I hope the've worked out... Well, I'm in a marina now and I think I'll watch some cable TV for the first time in two months!

Cheers.

[Frank]

Thanks for the pics and 'catch up'.Hope you keep enjoying the journey.Post a longer note on your trip...enquireing minds want to know ;) Fair winds

[CapnK]

Andre came through Georgetown this past weekend, and I went over and met him and 'Sonnie' for a few too-short hours on Sunday. He had tied up at the Boatshed Marina, which was only the 2nd or 3rd time he's really stayed at a marina in his entire journey so far (...using a fuel dock for a few hours sleep after a late arrival, and being gone ASAP after refueling doesn't count... ;) ).

We went to Buzz's Roost for lunch, a couple of brews, and some sailing and sailFar chat. Afterwards we took a quick walk down the city dock to check out a couple of boats, and then he was off to spend the night at anchor down on the Santee Rivers. He's moving south roughly in/with a group of other Canadian cruisers, and plans to stop in St Augustine for a bit, leaving Sonnie under the watchful eye of a friend of mine while he flies home for some holiday-time with friends and family. Maybe he'll get a chance then to fill us in with more detail of his trip.

He's been having a lot of fun, learning and seeing a lot, and is loving the cruising lifestyle. Of course. :D

[Sonnie]

Yep... That pretty much sums it all up... Have to say, if you get the chance, stop by in Georgetown and call up Kurt! Had a great time - Thanks again man! I'm poaching some internet right now from the Isle of Hope marina in Georgia. Almost to Florida, which will be a big psychological boost in this cool weather as of late. Well, it's about beer oclock, so cheers to everyone and happy cruising!