White Pepper Redux

John Updike wrote in Rabbit Redux "Rabbit hated the word redux. It was everywhere these days. You could not avoid it, but he did not know how to pronounce the word and was not sure what it meant." Anyway, White Pepper is redux.

White Pepper emerged from two winters and a rainy summer last month. She had spent the time on the hard in the Deltaville Boat Yard in Virginia. She suffered considerable water damage from leaks. Jan drove out in late March to clean up the boat, and I flew in for the week after Easter 2010. The boat yard had launched the boat and everything except the autopilot worked. During the 18 months of hibernation the boat yard had replaced the exhaust system, replaced the leaky fuel tank, installed beautiful new stainless steel opening port lights, replaced 3 hatches, rebedded some of the leakiest deck fitting, and installed a new stove. The compass had leaked all of its oil, the handheld Garmin 48 was lost to water damage and Jan had to discard much of the contents of the hanging locker. Still the interior wood was in good shape, the motor purred, and the fridge worked perfectly. So all in all we were happy with the outcome.

By the time I arrived Jan had cleaned up the inside and had the boat provisioned. Monday we did chores and bent on the sails. This alone takes hours with all of the slides. We rounded up the dingy and motor. We caught a real break with the weather which was unseasonable warm and gentle for most of the week. On Tuesday morning we cast off for Mobjac Bay which is the next stop south on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay.

We were so early in the season we had the entire bay to ourselves. Rounding the New Point Comfort light about 5 pm, we headed NW into Mobjac Bay. There were crab pots everywhere but there are always crab pots when the depth is around 15 feet. This is the depth crabs favor. It is so reliable in the Chesapeake that you can use it as a navigational aid to follow the 15-foot contour.

Mobjac is an open and isolated bay. We could see ocean going ships plying the York River 5 miles to the south. But there was no one where we were except an occasional crabber. There are four short rivers that empty into the Mobjac. We chose the Severn River to anchor in. Like most of the rivers in the Chesapeake the Severn is easy to navigate. We dropped anchor at a wide spot in the river in about 9 feet of water. As always, the holding was excellent. It tickled me to say that White Pepper has now anchored in both of the Severn Rivers--the famous one that runs by the Naval Academy and now this stubby one further south. There were large vacation homes all along the banks which were heavily wooded. The place was deserted and for two days we never saw a soul save one runabout.

All day Wednesday was spent at anchor cleaning, polishing, and finding new places where the water has leaked in to cause havoc. We finally figured out the one of the worst leaks was the port genoa track. Fifteen years of hard racing had not caused it to leak, but two freezing winters ruined it. We are having to replace it back in Deltaville.

Ugly weather was coming so we retraced our track on Thursday. It was a lovely run in a gentle southerly breeze and our best day on the water in years. We anchored in the south branch of Jackson's Creek which is quite near the boat yard. The front blew in at midnight. By morning the weather was cool and rainy which was much more typical of early Spring in the Middle Neck area of Virginia. The dingy had filled up with rainwater. Jan asked who was going to bail out the dingy. I told her that the one who had the best sea boots should do it. I knew that my sea boots had been lost to water damage and were in the trash. Jan was a good sport and bailed out the dingy so that we could hoist it and stow it on the foredeck. I raised the anchor and we motored over the the dock. It took all Friday to put the sails away and stow everything again. I reviewed some work orders with Sean.

Up before dawn on Saturday, we began the 1550 mile journey to Beeville, Texas arriving at 9:30 Sunday night.

All in all it was a great week. The amount of money spent on the boat in the past 18 months has been hard to accept. But after the week I was encouraged and believe it will be possible to return to the Bahamas soon. The compass will have to be repaired or replaced. Solar panels and possibly a wind generator needs to be added. Maybe the batteries replaced. Then she should be good to go for years.

White Pepper's Strangest Anchorage Yet

For six months Jan and I have been living outside of Kenedy, Texas on a ranch. We rented it from our good friends and cruisers Bob and Kay Jack. It is actually their mother Maxine's. The home is a lovely modern style brick home built in 1976 and plunked down in the middle of a land where the clock stopped about 1911 or so. Located a half mile off of state road 72 ten miles SW of Kenedy and 3 miles from Pauwnee it is in remote rolling prairie that the locals call the brush country. The reason for the appropriate name is that without constant attention the land will quickly revert to mesquite and live oak brush. At the turn of the 20th century the land was booming with many small farms and hamlets, but as the land dried out and transportation improved gradually everyone has left. Our nearest neighbors, whom became dear friends, live 1.5 miles away. The cell phones don't work, there is no garbage pick up, mail is delivered by a nice family under contract to the USPS, electricity and water services are frequently interrupted by rain and harsh weather. We strictly drink bottled water because there is arsenic in the water pumped up from deep wells. The nearest supplies are 10 miles away. There was phone service by AT&T and dial up internet by AOL. In other words it is like living in a remote anchorage.



I have gradually learned to be comfortable staring across miles of open empty ocean with endless rolling waves, but for a while I was quite uncomfortable staring out across miles of rolling empty prairie seeing only brush, scrub vegetation, scrawny cows and overgrazed pasture, a few abandoned buildings, and power lines marching away towards San Antonio 60 miles to the north.
The good part of living there was the remarkable weather which was invariably mild, pleasant and quite dry. The dryness was surprise as Corpus Christi is only 90 miles away and that has some of Texas' most uncomfortable weather.

The best part about the stay was meeting the Tompkins who live 1.5 miles away. Floyd and Debbie plan to sail away someday. They have a Hershoff designed Meadowlark anchored in Rockport and are just learning how to sail. Son Shane, wife Monica with young ones Addie and Floyd are just a refreshing delight to be around. Shane has a brush clearing business.

During the winter months the sky was so clear and dark that it reminded us of the winter trip across the Gulf of Mexico. We could look out at the old familiar winter sky and reminisce. As the temperature warmed up sky gazing was no longer feasible as now the rattlesnakes were on the move. It was just not wise to go out in the dark on the lawn. In late April I had to kill a 3 and 1/2 foot rattle snake in the garage with Maxine's old single shot shotgun and later Jan had to throw rocks at a large rattler to get him to move off the road we were hiking. It just changes things to have to always watch were you step so we began to look for somewhere else to stay.

It was a wonderful refuge and we are grateful to Bob and Kay for letting us live there from New Year's Eve until the second week in June when we moved into town. We definitely needed a transitional place and the ranch was wonderful. But as a sea hardened sailor I am embarrassed to reveal how pleased I am to be back where the cell phones work, the internet zips along, the water is potable and Jan and I do not have to always look out for snakes.

White Pepper Goes to Two Too Many Funerals

While in winter quarters at Philip's apartment on Coleman Ave. in Corpus Christi, Jan and I were shaken by deaths of two great sailors on Corpus Christi Bay--Doug Tinker and Barry Brown.

Doug was a very long time friend of ours for many years. Like so much of our past our friendship with Doug overlapped before we met. Jan crewed for Doug on "E'Spirit Libre" when I sailed against him on "Puff". Doug was preceded in death by his son Anderson who was a friend of both our daughters. Doug died a lingering death from brain cancer. His funeral was at the Galvan ballroom and was mobbed.
Doug packed more living into 74 years than anyone else I have ever met, so his death did not seem so tragic.

Barry, however, was only 67 and seemed so vigorous that his sudden death last Wed. was a shock. He was a fierce competitor on the race course and a very positive influence in Corpus Christi sailing. At the funeral at Seaside Barry's brother's account of how he won the Silver Star was amazing. His sudden death leaves a huge hole in his family life as well as his expansive community life.

The two deaths have left White Pepper thinking about mortality and funerals. I plan to organize my life's pictures into a format suitable for a memorial CD. The problem with today's funerals is that they feature baby pictures and then the last pics from Christmas. The real meat of life is in the middle. These pics are usually hard to find in the scramble of a last minute funeral arrangements, so I will have everything prearranged. Enjoy the show when the time comes!

White Pepper visits King Tut

Jan and I are in Dallas at a medical seminar where I hope to catch up on 11 months of medical progress in 4.5 days.

Thursday night we went to the King Tut exhibition at the Dallas Museum of Art. It was remarkable. For 2 hours we were transported back to a high civilization that lived 3500 years ago. The art work was so detailed and natural that "modern" Western art would not even match it until the 16th century. Already contemporary art has receded well below the standards demanded by the boy king.

King Tut died suddenly and maybe unexpectedly at age 19. He was hurriedly buried ina small tomb meant for someone else and maybe that is why his grave was not pillaged by robbers. His untimely death and unscrupulous burial assured him the immortality that he desired so much.

On the hard in Deltaville

White Pepper has been taken out of the water for the winter and placed on stands at the Deltaville Boatyard. For land lubbers this is called 'on the hard.' We have never winterized a boat before. It was a sad and laborious process. Jan and I took six days. We would work a bit and then be morose. The picture is of Jan repairing the mainsail. At least the weather has been glorious-crisp, dry, sunny, and mostly calm.

Daughter and son-in-law, Kristi and Pat Robinson came for the weekend of Columbus Day. We all went to the Deltaville Seafood and Art Festival. It was quite elaborate with numerous artists, vendors, and a tasty buffet lunch. In addition the Deltaville museum has a nice sculpture garden. It is a little unusual in that all of the sculptures are large waterfowl and all done by the same artist. There were also colonial period re-en-actors and two llamas for the kids. It was a good effort for such a small town.

The big day will be Thursday, 10-16-08, when we fly out of Norfolk for Texas. That will be the end of a wonderful voyage of 10 months. When one journey stops another begins. We will try to get jobs in the Coastal Bend area. If we can save up enough money to refit the boat, we will cruise again--maybe in May of '09.

I want to thank all of the faithful readers of this blog. The comments and positive feedback have been wonderful. It has been a joy to pass along our adventures. I do plan to post to the blog occasionally between now and May. I may want to reminisces or pass along some longer posts about the characters we met along the way. So stay tuned.

Onancock, VA

Onancock is on the short list of "must sees" in the Chesapeake Bay and justifiably so. It is old having been chartered in 1680. However, the commerce, shipping, oystering, and fishing are long gone. Left is beautiful country side, a lovely creek, some truck farming, and lots of old mansions (most of which are for sale.) The October weather has been amazing--clear, crisp, and dry.

We anchored a short distance from the Onancock wharf. We walked and explored. There was little to buy since we did not need antiques, paintings, or nick-nacks. Onancock is home of the well known Willie Crockett who paints water colors of the Chesapeake wildlife. We went to Market St. Methodist Church and met many lovely locals. There are first class restaurants here and an excellent wine and gourmet shop. There is no grocery store or marine store. There is no fuel close by.

Despite its obvious charm Onancock did seem to show a bit of decay. There are numerous derelicts walking about. They are quite polite. About 1/3rd of the restaurants are closed and numerous store fronts are empty. I suppose that in a declining economy travel and tourism are a luxury that can be foregone. I hope that Onancock hangs on till better times.

Mill Creek, MD to Mill Creek, VA

White Pepper said good bye to Joe Frost Thursday 10-2-09 wishing him well on his single handing adventure this winter. We were also sorry to leave Woodburn's, the best gourmet grocery store I have ever visited. We lifted anchor from Mill Creek, the Solomons, MD and headed south.

We had a pleasant close reach down the VA shore and across the mouth of the Potomac river in a gentle SW breeze. Entering the Great Wicomico River once again White Pepper turned south into Mill Creek, VA. This is a beautiful, short winding creek with only a few houses along the shore. There are no boat services and no access, but the creek did provide great protection against a stiff northerly breeze that unexpectedly blew in after midnight.

The next morning the weather service ALMOST apologized for surprise. We raised anchor early and headed east across the Chesapeake to Onancock, VA. An bumpy ride early yielded to a gently dying and clocking breeze. The afternoon was an exquisitely beautiful fall after noon. We sun bathed. Jan was very sad to see the Eastern shore of VA slowly come up on the bow.