http://capn-bill.com On and off the water Sun, 30 Mar 2008 16:17:51 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It was just for a visit for a few days, but we visited Norfolk in August, and stayed aboard Dory, visiting Seth. We cruised a bit in the Chesapeake and down the Elizabeth River along the Norfolk Navy facilities. http://capn-bill.com/2005/08/23/back-aboard-dory/ The End... After some great years on the water aboard Dory, we have decided not to take her south again, but to head to Texas and live near our son and his bride. In our last trip aboard Dory as her owners, we took her from Norfolk to nearby Chesapeake for ... http://capn-bill.com/2003/06/22/the-end-for-now/ After leaving Vero Beach... we've been steaming steadily north, up through Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, with all their "no-see-ums", the tiny but extremely voracious bugs of this region. The first visible sign you've hit North Carolina on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is the Sunset Beach Pontoon Bridge -- literally, a ... http://capn-bill.com/2003/06/05/after-leaving-veru-beach/ Shortly before we left Vero Beach, Capn Bill awoke a bit before dawn (as usual) and was making coffee. Looking out the window, he had a good view of the motorsailor Ms Fitz (left) just a couple of hundred yards away. Suddenly, the boat exploded into flames! The entire boat ... http://capn-bill.com/2003/05/12/excitement-at-vero-beach/ The "flytrap" of coastal Florida is Vero Beach. Cruising boaters come for a couple of days, and very frequently stay for weeks. We stopped here after getting back to the east coast of Florida, and used it as a base for a couple of weeks while we take care of ... http://capn-bill.com/2003/05/10/back-to-vero-beach/ After crossing Lake Okeechobee (the 2nd largest natural fresh water lake in North America), we stayed a couple of days in the marina provided by the Corps of Engineers.These spots are tiny, with room for only a half dozen boats or so, and adjoin campgrounds full of RVs. Here's Dory on ... http://capn-bill.com/2003/05/05/okeechobee-waterway/ We reached St. Petersburg April 7th, and stopped to wait out high winds and thunderstorms before continuing. The forecast was for several days of this. Because of the long stretches of open water ahead, with no place to duck in out of bad weather, we had to wait for a ... http://capn-bill.com/2003/04/07/st-petersburg-fl/ In early March, we left Islamorada and headed up to the west coast of Florida. Shallow water near land meant that we were far off the coast much of the time. We anchored in the Little Shark River on the edge of the Everglades the first night headed north, and ... http://capn-bill.com/2003/03/01/the-gulf-coast-of-florida/ We left Miami Beach after wandering down to the South Beach area and taking a photo or two of a sand castle there. (Photos of the sunbathers do not belong in a family journal such as this.) This sand castle is, the artist claims, made solely of beach sand and water, ... http://capn-bill.com/2003/02/26/miami-to-the-florida-keys/ Early February: We finally left old and new friends at Vero Beach and started south. We're traveling with our friends George and Jackie who are aboard Sea Otter II, and plan to cruise with them for the next several months. We stopped for a weekend in Palm Beach Gardens before continuing ... http://capn-bill.com/2003/02/10/conspicuous-consumption/