We are having problem posting photos, so we decided to go ahead and post our text, with, hopefully, photos to follow:
On Sunday, (10/8/06) we picked up our latest visitor, Ewen Thompson. Ewen is the designer and owner of the lightning protection company who developed the system for John Henry. We will always be cautious of lightning, but will no longer cower around lightning as long as we’re on our boat. To view information on lightning protection, please check out Ewen’s website that features our boat. www.marinelightning.com/jh
On Monday (10/9/06), we decided to get underway and give Wilma a little bit of practice handling the boat. We left our cozy dock and went south into the Chesapeake Bay with Ewen on board. After a little while, we found an ideal place for Wilma to pivot, back up, and line up the boat with objects on shore and in the water. Wilma did very well and we’ll keep practicing. Ewen also did a little bit of practicing on a larger boat than normal for him.The day was extremely beautiful and very calm which meant for glassy waters. We decided not to go back to dock, but to anchor out near St. Michaels, MD. We had been crabbing at Joan and Bruce’s home so Wink prepared an Iron Chef dinner with three dishes – the main ingredient was Crab. We had supreme crab bisque, crab cakes ala Wink, and steamed Crabs. What a feast? We anchored in front of the Maritime Museum and Lighthouse.
Tuesday (10/10/06) - Wink stayed on the boat with Buster and Sarasota while Wilma and Ewen took the dinghy to shore and walked around St. Michaels which is a very small quaint town. Ewen drove on the way into town and Wilma practiced her dinghy driving on the way back and had lots of fun. In the afternoon we headed back to dock at the South River (Annapolis). Bruce and Joan met us at their dock, as they had brought their boat home a few hours earlier. The Mirage-Mfg crew arrived late that night.
Wednesday to Sunday (10/11/06 to 10/15/06)-The next morning both boats got underway towards the Annapolis Boat Show. This was a two hour drive, and we waited around the harbour (avoiding land and other boats) until they called us in to the dock. Docking was a bit a bit of a challenge for everyone as you had to weave through anchored boats, turn into the waterway right, then a hard left, then pivot the boat and slide into the dock. The boat show was good with literally thousands of people. We had at times more then 30 people on our boat looking around. Everyone who came aboard loved it, and we got comments like, “this is huge”, “this is a ship not a boat”, “beautiful”, and “this boat is made for living aboard” Buster and Sara went to day care during these four days, and we picked up a lot of neat things at the show, including a “Soda Machine”, which makes great soft drinks.
Sunday (10/15/06)– At 6:00 pm the boat show ended and hundreds of boat left the docks. We got underway at about 6:45, dodging pilings, docks, anchored boats, and worst of all boats underway. It looked like Dunkirk in 1940. We didn’t hit anything or anyone, which is always good. We then headed down the Chesapeake Bay towards Norfolk VA.
Monday: (10/16/06) We ran all night and got to Norfolk at about 11:00 am and dropped off all the crew. Wilma and I (and the dogs) then took John Henry and entered the Intercoastal waterway and headed south. This time of year everyone wants to go South, so there were as many as 13 boats all waiting for the draw bridges to open. We went through 5 bridges and one lock that day. We docked up at Pungo Ferry Marina at the 31 mile marker on the Intercoastal.
Tuesday (10/17/06): We got underway this morning at about 7:40 (our alarm didn’t go off). We continue to head south along the I.C.W. (Inter Coastal Waterway). Right now we are in the Albemarle Sound in Northern North Carolina. The weather is starting to turn bad with rain and winds to 20 Knots, so we have decided to stop around 3:00 pm today, to get some rest and do something fun, like watch TV, cook, sew, or play with the dogs.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Annapolis Boat Show and St. Michaels, MD
On Sunday, October 8th we picked up our latest visitor, Ewen Thompson. Ewen is the designer and owner of the lightning protection company who developed the system for John Henry. We will always be cautious of lightning, but will no longer cower around lightning as long as we’re on our boat. To view information on lightning protection, please check out Ewen’s website that features our boat. www.marinelightning.com/jh
On Monday, we decided to get underway and give Wilma a little bit of practice handling the boat. We left our cozy dock and went south into the Chesapeake Bay with Ewen in tow. After a little while, we found an ideal place for Wilma to pivot, back up, and line up the boat with objects on shore and in the water. Wilma did very good and we’ll keep practicing. Ewen also did a little bit of practicing on a larger boat than normal for him.
The day was extremely beautiful and very calm which meant for glassy waters. We decided not to go back to dock, but to anchor out near St. Michaels, MD.
We had been crabbing at Joan and Bruce’s home so Wink prepared an Iron Chef dinner with three dishes – the main ingredient was Crab. We had supreme crab bisque, crab cakes ala Wink, and steamed Crabs. What a feast?
We anchored in front of the Maritime Museum and Lighthouse. A picture should be attached. Joan and Bruce live near Thomas Point Lighthouse, which should also be attached.
Tuesday - Wink stayed on the boat with Buster and Sarasota while Wilma and Ewen took the dinghy to shore and walked around St. Michaels which is a very small quaint town. Ewen drove on the way into town and Wilma practiced her dinghy driving on the way back and had lots of fun. We’re now in route back to the dock at Bruce and Joan’s home as the boat builder crew should be back today. We also had 2 adult swans with 8 cygnets (baby swans). We have pictures, hopefully they’ll be in soon. In the meantime, here’s a wonderful sailboat to view.
Today, Wednesday – is Wink and Wilma’s 9th anniversary and we stage into the Annapolis boat show. We’ll have boat show responsibilities until Sunday and then we head back to Florida.
On Monday, we decided to get underway and give Wilma a little bit of practice handling the boat. We left our cozy dock and went south into the Chesapeake Bay with Ewen in tow. After a little while, we found an ideal place for Wilma to pivot, back up, and line up the boat with objects on shore and in the water. Wilma did very good and we’ll keep practicing. Ewen also did a little bit of practicing on a larger boat than normal for him.
The day was extremely beautiful and very calm which meant for glassy waters. We decided not to go back to dock, but to anchor out near St. Michaels, MD.
We had been crabbing at Joan and Bruce’s home so Wink prepared an Iron Chef dinner with three dishes – the main ingredient was Crab. We had supreme crab bisque, crab cakes ala Wink, and steamed Crabs. What a feast?
We anchored in front of the Maritime Museum and Lighthouse. A picture should be attached. Joan and Bruce live near Thomas Point Lighthouse, which should also be attached.
Tuesday - Wink stayed on the boat with Buster and Sarasota while Wilma and Ewen took the dinghy to shore and walked around St. Michaels which is a very small quaint town. Ewen drove on the way into town and Wilma practiced her dinghy driving on the way back and had lots of fun. We’re now in route back to the dock at Bruce and Joan’s home as the boat builder crew should be back today. We also had 2 adult swans with 8 cygnets (baby swans). We have pictures, hopefully they’ll be in soon. In the meantime, here’s a wonderful sailboat to view.
Today, Wednesday – is Wink and Wilma’s 9th anniversary and we stage into the Annapolis boat show. We’ll have boat show responsibilities until Sunday and then we head back to Florida.
Friday, October 06, 2006
Some More Photos
During our trip to Newport, we took hundreds of photos. It was difficult to choose which ones to post to give you the flavor of our trip.Here Wilma (and Wink taking the photo) are touring Newport R.I.
This is one of the many barges we passed and passed us. You want to make sure you give these guys lots of sea room.
Buster is enjoying his tour of New York City.
These Dolphins were with us for about and hour off the coast of South
Carolina. The water was extremely clear and calm which allowed us to get some fantastic photos. These guys are riding the bow wave of John Henry. At night, we had several dolphins at the boat. They would ride the bow wave and then we would see them dart out to grab a flying fish. Sometimes they would come right out of the water and grab the fish. The water had a tremendous amount of Phosphorescence, so we could actually see the fish and the dolphins even though it was pit black outside.We passed a lot of navel vessels all he way from Jacksonville. Aircraft carriers, subs, frigats, and more. Cool.
This is a shot of us entering Port Jefferson Long Island.
The Brookline Bridge from below.
This is a photo from our boat where we were docked towards Jamestown R.I.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Trip From Green Cove Springs, Florida to Newport, Rhode Island
On August 27th, 
we left Green Cove Springs Florida and headed up the St. Johns River to the Atlantic Ocean. We were traveling with another boat by the name of Semper Fi, which is a 37 foot boat owned by the Great Harbor Boat Builders. We had two additional people on board John Henry to help with the trip. Semper Fi had two people on board. We spent two days in the Atlantic Ocean (50 miles offshore) heading towards Beaufort North Carolina. During this ocean transit we ran 24 hours a day, and we took some incredible photos of dolphins and had some fantastic fishing. We caught mahi mahi, barracuda, a 6 foot sailfish, and tuna. The nights were brilliant with incredible views of the stars, the milky way, and phosphorescent marine life. We made landfall at Beaufort, North Carolina at about 11:15 am on the 29th passing shrimp boats and various commercial vessels. We headed North into the Inter Coastal Waterway up the Neuce River, Pamlico Sound, and the Pungo River. We passed bridges, saw beautiful homes, all manner of wildlife. We anchored for the night at the mouth of the Alligator River, near Belhaven N.C. 
The night was calm and dark, very dark. We were waiting for the Alligators to show up, but all we got were a few mosquitoes. On August 30st we pulled up anchor about 7:00 am. and headed into the Alligator Canal, which was very long and boring, then into the Alligator River which was much larger and wider (but didn’t see an alligator), then across the Albemarle Sound where we met and entered the North River and headed for Great Bridge, VA. , where we stopped for the night.. We spent the night at a marina named “Virginia Yacht Basin” which is on the Elizabeth River at Great Bridge Virginia. We headed up the river toward the Chesapeake Bay the next morning, but at about 9:30 am the weather forecast looked poor for the next two days so we decided to head into a marina at Portsmouth, Va. We got to the marina about 11:00 am. We stayed for two days and were hit by Tropical Storm Ernesto, which passed us about 40 Miles due West. The wind blew about 25 to 40 Mph (gusting to 50MPH) and John Henry road the storm well. We tied up using 10 lines including our 5/8” and our ¾” lines. After the storm passed us we got underway and entered the Chesapeake Bay 8:30 am. It was a bit windy, but a very nice day. We traveled without problems until about 10:00 am, when the RPM’s on the starboard engine started to drop. The engine stopped all together, which turned out to be clogged fuel filters and we spend a couple of hours running on one engine, while we made repairs. 
Anyone who would buy a boat with one engine is crazy. Since the Port engine was about to stop, from the same problem, we made sure the starboard engine was working fine, then turned off the Port engine, and changed all the filters. We continued up the bay and entered the C&D (Chesapeake & Delaware) canal the next morning at about 9:00 am. The canal was very interesting as it is man made and straight as an arrow in most places. The canal connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake. We passed through the canal and down the Delaware river, rounded Cape May and headed for New York. Once again we were out in the Atlantic. The Ocean is the best, not a lot of traffic, so you put the boat on auto pilot and let it run. Traveling at night on the ocean is also fun, but it can be a challenge identifying which direction large container ships are going, and wondering if they are going to run you over. Wilma and I took the 7:00 pm to 1:00 am watch and during that time, we passed Atlantic City, which was brightly lit and beautiful. We arrived at New York Harbor and the statue of liberty about 7:30 am and after dodging some large ships, small traffic, and huge ferries, we did a photo shoot of both of the boats against the statue. This was a great sight and something to remember. 
I took the helm at the statue and we headed up the East River. Wilma and our two crew Klaas and Eric were on the fly bridge as it was a beautiful clear and warm day, and Wilma took about 100 pictures of New York. We went under the Brooklyn Bridge and a lot of other bridges. We started up the East cannel around the island and we had to turn back since that side of the river was closed. There was about a 3.0 to 3.5 Knot current going against us and the river had whirlpools, large ships, local small crafts, and some debris. All we hit was floating debris, not boats, rocks, or seawalls. I drove the entire time using the tiller (as opposed to the auto pilot), adjusting the crabbing and current effects one degree of the time. Very challenging and stressful. We passed through the East River into the Long Island Sound. Not many large ships but a huge amount of small sail boats and power boats. It felt like we were in a pin ball machine bouncing from point to point to avoid other boats. . We stopped at Port Jefferson (on Long Island) and each boat took a mooring ball for the night. The anchorage was very crowded and the wind was blowing about 30 MPH. It was hell getting to the ball where we needed to tie up, thank God we 
had extra hands on board to help. It took a couple of tries. It didn’t help that there were about 100 people on shore and on other boats, that are all hoping you’ll crash into another boat so they’ll have something exciting to talk about. Sometime after 9:00 pm, the power was off and the batteries were essentially discharge. This was my first indication that there was a serious problem with the batteries, and I would spend the next week trying to solve the problem. We started the generator and pumped up the batteries. We headed out about 8:30 in the morning, and getting off the mooring was a lot easier then tying to it. We headed up the Long Island Sound towards Newport, RI. We headed up East Passage and into the mooring field at Jamestown Marina in Rhode Island. Overall a great experience, fun, memorable, and exciting.
we left Green Cove Springs Florida and headed up the St. Johns River to the Atlantic Ocean. We were traveling with another boat by the name of Semper Fi, which is a 37 foot boat owned by the Great Harbor Boat Builders. We had two additional people on board John Henry to help with the trip. Semper Fi had two people on board. We spent two days in the Atlantic Ocean (50 miles offshore) heading towards Beaufort North Carolina. During this ocean transit we ran 24 hours a day, and we took some incredible photos of dolphins and had some fantastic fishing. We caught mahi mahi, barracuda, a 6 foot sailfish, and tuna. The nights were brilliant with incredible views of the stars, the milky way, and phosphorescent marine life. We made landfall at Beaufort, North Carolina at about 11:15 am on the 29th passing shrimp boats and various commercial vessels. We headed North into the Inter Coastal Waterway up the Neuce River, Pamlico Sound, and the Pungo River. We passed bridges, saw beautiful homes, all manner of wildlife. We anchored for the night at the mouth of the Alligator River, near Belhaven N.C. 
The night was calm and dark, very dark. We were waiting for the Alligators to show up, but all we got were a few mosquitoes. On August 30st we pulled up anchor about 7:00 am. and headed into the Alligator Canal, which was very long and boring, then into the Alligator River which was much larger and wider (but didn’t see an alligator), then across the Albemarle Sound where we met and entered the North River and headed for Great Bridge, VA. , where we stopped for the night.. We spent the night at a marina named “Virginia Yacht Basin” which is on the Elizabeth River at Great Bridge Virginia. We headed up the river toward the Chesapeake Bay the next morning, but at about 9:30 am the weather forecast looked poor for the next two days so we decided to head into a marina at Portsmouth, Va. We got to the marina about 11:00 am. We stayed for two days and were hit by Tropical Storm Ernesto, which passed us about 40 Miles due West. The wind blew about 25 to 40 Mph (gusting to 50MPH) and John Henry road the storm well. We tied up using 10 lines including our 5/8” and our ¾” lines. After the storm passed us we got underway and entered the Chesapeake Bay 8:30 am. It was a bit windy, but a very nice day. We traveled without problems until about 10:00 am, when the RPM’s on the starboard engine started to drop. The engine stopped all together, which turned out to be clogged fuel filters and we spend a couple of hours running on one engine, while we made repairs. 
Anyone who would buy a boat with one engine is crazy. Since the Port engine was about to stop, from the same problem, we made sure the starboard engine was working fine, then turned off the Port engine, and changed all the filters. We continued up the bay and entered the C&D (Chesapeake & Delaware) canal the next morning at about 9:00 am. The canal was very interesting as it is man made and straight as an arrow in most places. The canal connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake. We passed through the canal and down the Delaware river, rounded Cape May and headed for New York. Once again we were out in the Atlantic. The Ocean is the best, not a lot of traffic, so you put the boat on auto pilot and let it run. Traveling at night on the ocean is also fun, but it can be a challenge identifying which direction large container ships are going, and wondering if they are going to run you over. Wilma and I took the 7:00 pm to 1:00 am watch and during that time, we passed Atlantic City, which was brightly lit and beautiful. We arrived at New York Harbor and the statue of liberty about 7:30 am and after dodging some large ships, small traffic, and huge ferries, we did a photo shoot of both of the boats against the statue. This was a great sight and something to remember. 
I took the helm at the statue and we headed up the East River. Wilma and our two crew Klaas and Eric were on the fly bridge as it was a beautiful clear and warm day, and Wilma took about 100 pictures of New York. We went under the Brooklyn Bridge and a lot of other bridges. We started up the East cannel around the island and we had to turn back since that side of the river was closed. There was about a 3.0 to 3.5 Knot current going against us and the river had whirlpools, large ships, local small crafts, and some debris. All we hit was floating debris, not boats, rocks, or seawalls. I drove the entire time using the tiller (as opposed to the auto pilot), adjusting the crabbing and current effects one degree of the time. Very challenging and stressful. We passed through the East River into the Long Island Sound. Not many large ships but a huge amount of small sail boats and power boats. It felt like we were in a pin ball machine bouncing from point to point to avoid other boats. . We stopped at Port Jefferson (on Long Island) and each boat took a mooring ball for the night. The anchorage was very crowded and the wind was blowing about 30 MPH. It was hell getting to the ball where we needed to tie up, thank God we 
had extra hands on board to help. It took a couple of tries. It didn’t help that there were about 100 people on shore and on other boats, that are all hoping you’ll crash into another boat so they’ll have something exciting to talk about. Sometime after 9:00 pm, the power was off and the batteries were essentially discharge. This was my first indication that there was a serious problem with the batteries, and I would spend the next week trying to solve the problem. We started the generator and pumped up the batteries. We headed out about 8:30 in the morning, and getting off the mooring was a lot easier then tying to it. We headed up the Long Island Sound towards Newport, RI. We headed up East Passage and into the mooring field at Jamestown Marina in Rhode Island. Overall a great experience, fun, memorable, and exciting.Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Some Photos
Another Lighthouse, we've passed about 20 of themBuster enjoying a day at the dock
Atlantic City as seen from the Ocean at Night
Buster Chilling Out
It's going to take more then 20 Gallons
We are in Annapolis Maryland
We have some downtime between the Solomons Mayland boat show and the Annapolis Maryland boatshow. Our friends Bruce and Joan have a GH37 (37foot Great Harbour boat like ours) and are now cruising around the Chesapeake Bay. They offered up the use of their dock, which we gladly accepted. Their dock and home is located on the South River in Annapolis. The location is great, with a private dock, a car to use, and Buster and Sara really like being able to jump off the boat and run around the yard and small beach. The weather has been beautiful for several days with temperatures in the 70’s and sunny. We 
have a total of 10 days to wile away the time until we have to be at the Annapolis boat show, next Wednesday. We have been spending our days, sleeping late, working on small projects on the boat, watching movies, and crabbing (after all this is Maryland). We have caught a couple of bucket full of crab today and we'll cook them tonight. Since we also have the use of a car, we have been out exploring the local area. We also have the opportunity to take John Henry out and cruise the Chesapeake, but to be honest, where we are located is so peaceful and beautiful, we most like will stay here until the boat show. The picture was taken from Joan and Bruces's home on the hill overlooking the river. This is a wonderful place to have to spend a few days. As you can see there is a 37ft boat located next to us, which is an “N37” named Semper Fi. This is the boat we have been traveling with since we left Florida. No one is aboard the boat right now as everyone has flown back to Florida to work at the Mirage Manufacturing (Boat Builder) Company. They will fly back just before the next boat show and both boats will then travel to the show together. Keep checking back and sometime today or tomorrow, we will be posting a lot of photos and some log entries about our trip from Florida to Newport R.I. Also, send us an e-mail or make a comment (find the comment button on this site) to let us know you have visited the site. Thanks to those who have sent your comments.
Cheers, Wink/Wilma/Buster/Sara
have a total of 10 days to wile away the time until we have to be at the Annapolis boat show, next Wednesday. We have been spending our days, sleeping late, working on small projects on the boat, watching movies, and crabbing (after all this is Maryland). We have caught a couple of bucket full of crab today and we'll cook them tonight. Since we also have the use of a car, we have been out exploring the local area. We also have the opportunity to take John Henry out and cruise the Chesapeake, but to be honest, where we are located is so peaceful and beautiful, we most like will stay here until the boat show. The picture was taken from Joan and Bruces's home on the hill overlooking the river. This is a wonderful place to have to spend a few days. As you can see there is a 37ft boat located next to us, which is an “N37” named Semper Fi. This is the boat we have been traveling with since we left Florida. No one is aboard the boat right now as everyone has flown back to Florida to work at the Mirage Manufacturing (Boat Builder) Company. They will fly back just before the next boat show and both boats will then travel to the show together. Keep checking back and sometime today or tomorrow, we will be posting a lot of photos and some log entries about our trip from Florida to Newport R.I. Also, send us an e-mail or make a comment (find the comment button on this site) to let us know you have visited the site. Thanks to those who have sent your comments.Cheers, Wink/Wilma/Buster/Sara
Sunday, October 01, 2006
About John Henry - The Boat
John Henry is the name of our GH47 (Great Harbour 47’ boat). The boat was named after John Henry Thornton, Wink’s father, who passed away in 2003. We thought the name was perfect for the boat, as it conjures up images of a strong working boat, which is what the Great Harbour Hull design was based upon. If you are interested to learn more about Great Harbour Boats, visit www.mirage-mfg.com Here are some facts about John Henry
Length at Water Line – 47 feet
Length overall – 56 feet
Displacement -70,000 Lbs.
Fuel on Board – 1250 Gallon Diesel
Engines – Two 75HP, Yanmar Diesel Engines
Generator – 13KW
Water on Board – 250 gallon tank plus 400GPD fresh water maker
Three Staterooms
Two and a half bathrooms
Full Kitchen with Microwave Convection Oven Combination, 4 burner electric cooktop. 23 cu.ft. refrigerator, and dishwasher
Utility room has a washer, dryer, trash compactor, and workshop bench
Range: 2500 Miles
Top Speed – 9.2 Knots (10.6MPH)
Average Cruising Speed – 7.5 to 8.2 Knots
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
