We are off for a short break. See you all again on January 2nd.

We are down to the last couple of items on the job list and will soon head home for a short break. I'll star posting when we start our adventure again on January 2nd. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and good health, happiness and joy in the New Year.

A Week of Maintenance

With his technical background (Jens is a marine engineer by trade) he knows the importance of doing regular service and maintenance.  This past week he has tracked down all the parts he needs to change oil, filters and fluids on the genset, the Yanmar engine and the gear box.

Our dock neighbor Joe, has been very helpful.  Joe and his wife have been coming to Daytona in their 60 foot motor boat for the past eight years.   Joe knows the area quite well and he and Jens headed out one day on Joe's two scooters to track down some parts Jens needed. A fun way to do some shopping!

Part of SEGWUN's beauty is the teak trim.  Teak needs to be taken care of and since she was sitting in the sun all summer, the varnish had started peeling and needed to be sanded and revarnished.  We got started with the sanding but soon realized that to do it by hand would take a war.  I tracked down an Ace Hardware store about six kilometers away.  I was all set to walk, when Rick who works here at the Marina offered me the use of his bicycle.  Well, he just made my day!  I was back and forth in less than an hour and back to work with our newly purchased Black and Decker mouse sander.

We still have a few days of work ahead of us, but we are also dependent on the weather and today is too cold to varnish.  So, time to just sit back, relax and remind ourselves that we're not in a hurry anymore.  Maybe i'll bake some cookies this afternoon.

Reducing our Carbon Footprint and Living on a Budget

When we decided to live on our boat for the next three years, we also thought it would be a good time to make a real effort to reduce our carbon footprint. We were dismayed when we saw the news about the 'plastic island' in the middle of the Pacific. We talked about what changes we needed to make to ensure that we didn't continue to contribute to the mess we are making of our environment.

The obvious thing is to stop buying products in plastic bottles and products that are over packaged. We stopped buying bottled water and bought a Dupont water filter for our tap. Every morning I fill two half liter reusable bottles with the filtered water. This usually lasts us for the day. We still buy our milk in 2 liter plastic. We had planned to buy UHT milk in Tetra Pak packages, but the price is often triple that of pasteurized milk. Here, the fact that we are living on a budget has overruled. I don't understand why they have to sell long life milk at such a premium.

We also started buying green cleaning products such as biodegradable soaps, shampoo and cleaning products. These products are also often more expensive but the price difference is more around the 20% range which we think is more acceptable.

Our boat didn't come equipped with solar panels or wind generation. We have seen a lot of our fellow sailors using wind and sun as energy sources. Something for us to look in to, but it is also a cost that we had not built into our budget. We have to calculate the ROI before we make the decision.

We are looking for any other ideas on how we can reduce our carbon footprint while living on a budget. The two don't always go hand in hand.

SEGWUN Takes a Mud Bath

During my last post, I may have sounded a wee bit bored.  Cruising slowly down the ICW watching the world go by.  Well, we've had a few interesting days.  The clouds were coming in and the wind was picking up as we were looking for a place to anchor on the 28th.  We went into Kilkenny Creek and found a great anchorage in a branch of the creek that goes to a dead end.  We had time for our sundowner and the rain started.  It was windy and raining the whole night long but by morning it was clearing up nicely.  As we headed out into the Sapelo Sound, we were hailed on the radio by a boat that was heading out to sea.  Many boaters going south use the ICW to avoid having to do overnight sailing out on the Atlantic.  On the ICW you can stop and anchor pretty much anywhere.  But down at this part of the ICW, there are many Sounds that give you access to the Atlantic and you can do a day journey on the Atlantic. If the weather is fine and the winds are right, it's a good option since you avoid all the winding creeks and rivers of the ICW.  So, our dear friend on the radio suggested we should go out to sea and take advantage of the "flat seas" and good wind.  It was a split second decision for us and off we headed.  The sea was not quite as flat as we were expecting, swells in the range of 4-6 feet, and the wind direction coming from southwest meant we had to tack about 9 miles out and 9 miles back.  The sea was green and I have to admit, I felt a little green as well.

The next Sound to get back into the ICW was very narrow showing depths of 4-5 feet on the plotter.  We didn't want to risk it, so we continued south and came into St. Simons Sound, just as the sun was setting.  Getting back on to the ICW route took us to Jekyll Creek, approaching low tide, and pitch black.  Well, it was a difficult navigation and we grounded the boat a couple of times before we gave up and decided to sit tight near the side of the creek for the night and do it during daylight.  We anchored but not being happy with it, we decided sometime around 11PM to move the boat a little further back, where we thought it would be more out of the way.  In some ways this was a good thing as a few large barges came through during the night and we would have risked being in their way.  However, somewhere around 3AM, we woke up to a strange feeling.  The boat was leaning heavily to the right.  The tide was now going out again and we were stuck in the mud.  As the tide continued to go out, we were sitting with a 20 degree list.  The keel was planted completely in the mud.  We could have jumped out and walked around the boat.

What to do!  Wait for the tide to come in as there really is nothing else you can do with a beached boat.  It's a bit awkward to get around with such an angle; and a bit worrying.   In comes the tide as we hold our breath; and up comes SEGWUN.  We thought we might have to have it towed out because we felt we were firmly stuck in the mud.  Lucky for us, we got out and continued along without any problems.  Phew!

Our next stop was for water.  We should have topped up our water tank when we took on fuel in Charleston, but we thought we were doing so well on managing our water supply.  I think the top half of the tank is bigger than the bottom half because all of a sudden we had no water left.  Yikes!  We're stuck in the mud and we have no water.  Well, the really funny part is that while we were trying to sleep sitting stuck in the mud we kept hearing what we thought were helicopters over head.  They would come and then go and then come back again.  It finally dawned on Jens that it was not coming from outside of the boat but from the water pump trying to pump water that wasn't there.  Ok, now we know what that sound is.

Fernandina Beach Anchorage

Well, here we are now, safe and sound in Daytona at the Aquamarine Marina.  We've got a list of maintenance and odd jobs to do before we head home on December 12th.

Lessons Learned

Lessons learned and things to remember:

1.   Keep the water tank full, ie if you have a chance to fill it up, do so. Don't wait until you're low.  We ran a little low yesterday and wondered if we would have enough water before we found the next marina.  Mind you, we had plenty of beer but it's hard to make a good cup of coffee with beer. 


2. If you think you hear helicopters flying overhead at night, and there seem to be more than one and they sound like they are hanging around, check that it isn't actually the water pump trying to pump water that is no longer available because you didn't stop to fill your water tank last time you were in port.  


3. When a local fisherman suggests that you should sail out today because even though we had a huge rainstorm the night before, he believes the wind will be good and the seas will be flat, think twice.  He's obviously a local and his boat has a shallow draw which means he can stay close to shore where the sea probably is quite flat.  We discovered the Atlantic can be quite shallow near shore with depths of 3 to 4 feet in many areas and with SEGWUN's draw of 5.6 feet it means we can't hug the shoreline like some boats.  We had a rough day at sea but covered a good distance.  We hoped to at least see a few Right Whales, but no luck.

4. Turn the dorado air intake vents to aft position when sailing in rough seas.  Otherwise, be prepared to wash all the salty water that has sprayed into the cabin.  Nothing like salty duvet, salty sofa, salty floor...you get the idea.


5.  After a long day of sailing and you're looking for a quiet place to anchor avoid narrow and shallow creeks with a tide change of more than 7 feet.  Particularly those called Jekyll Creek.  Unless of course you enjoy sleeping with a list of 20 degrees and think your boat would benefit from a mud bath. 

6.  Don't believe everything you hear about these nonslip pads for under the carpet.  When the boat is listing at 20 degrees, nonslip doesn't work so well.  I have the bruises to prove it.

7.  Dolphins prefer men to women.  I swear, it has to be true.  I can be on deck for the whole afternoon but as soon as I go below they appear around the boat frolicking away for Jens.  As soon as I come back up to the cockpit, no more dolphins.   Or is it just Jens that they like.  



Not enough battery power on the computer to do an update tonight.  But we expect to be in Daytona tomorrow evening and I'll have time to give you more details about SEGWUN's mud bath and our adventure in the Atlantic Ocean.  We're now in St. Augustine, Florida.  Just 50 miles from our destination.

Frequently Asked Questions

Year 1 - to November 2012

Frequently asked questions:

“What are your plans?”  We are sailing the boat from the Rock Hall, Maryland where we purchased it down to Daytona Beach, Florida to get it down to warmer waters in time for our January 1^st start.  We’ll fly home for Christmas and then head back to Florida Jan. 1 with the hopes of heading out on January 2^nd (Jens’ birthday BTW).  We’ll have Eric and Liz with us and will head down to British Virgin Islands.  On February 4^th, we pick up Antje in Tortolla, BVI and also meet up with some Danish friends (Peter and Bettina) who are down for a holiday aboard a catamaran.  We will also meet up with Stefan and Anna who will be aboard their newly purchased SY AYAMA coming up from Venezuela.

Antje leaves us on February 15^th to head back to the wintery and cold Huntsville.  We’ll then continue westward heading to Panama to cross to the Pacific. In Panama we will meet up with some dear friends and colleagues (Fredrik - we can't wait to see you!)   Somewhere around the middle of March, we’ll lose our other two traveling companions who plan to make it up to Costa Rica and then home again at the end of March.

After crossing the Panama Canal, we’ll head down to Galapagos (we have room for 2 on board if anyone is interested).  Our next destination is across the Pacific to the French Polynesians with a stop in Tahiti in July.  There we pick up Anna and Christian who will stay with us for 6 months as we make our way down to New Zealand.  This just be somewhere around November 2012.  Anna and Christian then head off for Thailand and we head back to Canada.  We’ll plan 2013 when we get a little further along on our journey.

“Have you ever sailed before?”  Jens has been sailing since he was a small boy and in fact it has been a dream of his to sail around the world.  I am a new sailor, but I have a good and patient teacher.  So far, so good.     

“Do you get seasick?”  Well, I know that Jens does not.  He has been on sail boats (racing and pleasure sailing) and large ships enough to know for sure.  I haven’t really been in rough enough seas to test it out.  Again, so far, so good.

“Why does the boat fly a Danish flag?”  SEGWUN is registered in Denmark even though she was built in Florida and spent her past 17 years in Rock Hall, Maryland.  After we purchased her, we had her registered as a Danish yacht.

We've spent a couple of lazy days cruising the ICW.  The wind has been almost non-existent which is fine since the channel is quite narrow and we motor all the way.  We anchored at Charleston and woke up in the morning to see that two sail boats had sunk in the bay during the night.  We asked at the Marina and they weren't surprised.  It seems there are several abandoned boats moored there and the ones that are still floating are occupied by homeless people.  Seems rather sad when you see multi million dollar boats at the marina.  We headed out and spent the night anchored at the mouth of Alligator Creek.  No alligators to be seen here either.

We're now on Lady's Island, Beaufort, South Carolina - hanging out at the MacDonald's taking advantage of a little free wifi.  We stopped in here to replenish our food supplies.  The last stop at the grocery store was in Elizabeth City about 10 days ago. 

We see a lot of pelicans around.  They are strange looking birds, particularly in flight - all bill and wings with a small body.

A lot of our friends were curious to know how we would make out living together in such small quarters. Jens and I have lived somewhat separate lives since we've been married and have gone from living in two different countries to living on a 44 foot sailboat.  I am happy to report we have had no real arguments but also caution that we have only been on the boat for 20 days.  Soon to be hitting the 3 week mark (this is the length of time that Francis estimated I would last).

US Thanksgiving - beer and football.  We've arrived to Georgetown, South Carolina.  It's Thanksgiving and we're happy to have found a local pub open with power and internet.  For some reason the computer will not charge on the boat.  Jens has a couple of ideas to find a solution for that.  We've spent the last few nights at anchor and are making good time.  This morning we were on our way at 6:30 AM.  The wind came up quite strong the night before together with rain.  So, we took out the enclosure for the binimi and started putting together the puzzle.  We already had the tops up but there are 5 additional pieces to zip together.

Early morning with the full enclosure

It fully encloses the cockpit keeping us warm and dry.  The rain was followed by a cold front so we were happy to have taken the trouble to put it up.  After a windy night at an anchorage that Jens was not too sure of (would we drift or would the anchor hold?) we were up early and decided to head out.  There was a swing bridge about five miles up that would only operate when the winds were below 15 knots.  Luckily the winds had died down and off we went.

Swing Bridge at Little River, SC

US Thanksgiving November 24 - Georgetown, SC

We covered 66 miles during this leg of the journey and are now anchored at Carolina Beach, NC.  We left early to try to get some distance covered since they are calling for some days with rain and wind.  We saw a lot of dolphins today.  Photographer Ev was not quite quick enough with the camera; I'll try to get some better shots next time.  We'll head out early again tomorrow.    Thanks to our friends for following along - welcome John.  Nice to see you.  It's been a while!

Free anchorage and free internet at Swansboro, N.C.  

Captain Jens making a small repair on the mast before we head out of Oriental Marina today.

SEGWUN's Journey

November 20th:  We've arrived to Oriental, NC.  We decided to stay at a Marina tonight after four days without shore services.  During my last post, we were at the library in Elizabeth City.  We headed over to the visitor centre hoping to find a pay phone.  We had been told about a grocery store in town that offered a pick up and drop off service for boaters.  There were two nice ladies at the visitor centre and no pay phone.  They offered us to use their phone so we called the grocery store and as luck would have the driver had left for the day.  Elizabeth City is the "harbour of hospitality" and they sure do live up to their name.  The kind lady at the visitor centre offered to drive us to the grocery store which is about a mile and half away.  We said we could walk, but she said "no one walks in this town".  Mabel is a 71 year old volunteer for the visitor centre and talked a mile a minute the whole way there.  She offered to drive us back when we were finished shopping - just give her a call.  Being our independent selves, we decided we would walk back.   We hadn't shopped for about 10 days, and were a bit loaded down (a case of beer neatly stacked in Jens backpack, a box of wine plus milk, juice, and other groceries).  Walking for about 10 minutes and wondering if this was such a great idea, when thankfully a young fellow stopped and offered us a lift back to the docks.  We jumped in, happy for the lift.
Friday night in Elizabeth City turned out to be great fun.  Mabel told us about a show at the local restaurant / wine bar.  Paradox was playing .. it turned out to be two doctors (pair of docs ... get it?) playing some great music.  They played from 7 till 10PM and promptly at 10, the restaurant closed and we all cleared out.  Maxwell and Jen from SY Anastasia joined us as well.

Leaving the Elizabeth City Docks

Ok - now back to the Great Dismal Swamp Canal.  Yes, it was a bit dismal, but only because the first day we had cold rain, frost overnight and the second day, sunny but still bitterly cold at about 0 degrees C.  It is said to have the best drinking water in the world even though it is the colour of strong tea. I think I'll just take their word for it.  There were some really pretty parts, but the last bit I was sure the trees were in a competition for the ugliest tree in the world award.

After the great night at Elizabeth City, we headed for Little Alligator River.  Didn't see any alligators - they must have gone south for the winter.  We found a nice quiet spot to anchor - no city lights, no noise; but lots of mosquitos.  We left our door open a little too long and Jens and I shared the evening with about 1,000 of the locals.  By morning they were all bloated from their fine dining experience and we were both a little spotty.

A beautiful sunset that evening.  Here you see Anastasia and another boat that anchored at Tuckahoe Point together with us.  

A nice shot of Anastasia.  We hope to meet up with them further along our journey, but for now they are heading out to the Atlantic.

We travelled about 67 miles today.  Got into the marina just at sunset and docked at the Oriental Marina.  We'll probably be out of email / internet connection for the next few days.  Stay tuned.

Port Winch

Last night (Nov 15) we spent our first night at anchorage.  Which basically means we weren’t moored up in a marina and didn’t have to pay anyone to stay the night.  It also means that we don’t have access to internet, water or electricity.  The water and electricity is fine since we have enough water on board and plenty of power.  But it is a bit of an adjustment not having internet access 24/7. 

It was a beautiful day of sailing.  They were calling for rain and rough seas, but we had a beautiful sunny day with good winds for sailing.  We didn’t get down to Norfolk as quickly as we expected so we headed in to Chrisman’s Creek.  Most of the area is protected for wildlife.  There are a lot of shoals and very shallow areas.  We managed to ground the ship twice, but luckily Captains Jens was quick and got us out.  We were just about to give up when a nice couple in a fishing trawler stopped their trip to guide us in to a spot where we could anchor.  The water became very still as the wind died down at sunset and it was a quiet night aboard SEGWUN.

Wednesday, November 16^th.

We have arrived to Norfolk where we see the full force of the US Navy.  I couldn’t count how many helicopters, TomCats, planes, Hovercraft and Navy ships we saw.   At one point we felt a helicopter was inspecting us.  It seemed to be coming very close to us.  I think maybe the Danish flag caught their eye and made them curious.  

We are now entering the Intra (not Inter as I previously called it) Coastal Waterway or ICW as it is more commonly known.  We have a very helpful booklet given to us by Ed at Gratitude and written by Captain Vincent Trovato.  It says the ICW is a series of canals, creeks, rivers and sounds that are sometimes too wide to see the other side.  Some refer to it as a ditch but it is said to be a beautiful waterway constructed many years ago so vessels could safely travel down the coast. 

We’ll have some maneuvering to do as it is said to be a bit shallow in areas and there are many bridges that we have to pass under – a lot of them draw bridges. 

See you all next time.  First Mate Eve has to go to the galley and rustle up some dinner for the Captain. 

November 17^th

We have entered the IWC and are following the Great Dismal Swamp Canal.   The weather turned extremely cold last night.  A cold wind from the North together with rain had us wearing our cold weather gear all day.  We went under four bridges (two drawbridges) and we had to wait for a lock, so it was pretty slow going.   There were 5 sailboats and 4 catamarans anchored in Norfolk, NC heading to the ICW.  Three of us took the Great Dismal Swamp Canal – the others took the Albemarle & Chesapeake Canal.  We’re now moored at the North Carolina Visitor Center for the night and are warming up in their centre catching up on email.  They have a very old computer here and I was not able to upload the postings to our blog.  

We met a young couple on the ship Anastasia who are also heading south.  They're spending the winter in the Bahamas and have been living aboard for the past three years.  Maxwell and Jen gave us some helpful hints such as "stock up on beer before leaving US shores because it is very expensive in the Caribbean and the Bahamas".  I think we still have some storage space on the boat to accommodate that.  We were also advised to fill the fridge and freezer to the max as food can be expensive and it can sometimes be difficult to get want you want.

November 18th

Today we woke up to a heavy layer of frost on the boat.  It was 0 Celcius in the cabin.  But, the good news is that there was not a cloud in the sky.  We are through the Great Dismal Swamp and are now moored in Elizabeth City.  We headed into town and stopped at the local library to use their free wifi before heading out to restock our food supply. 

Picture(s) of the Day - Sunday, November 13, 2011

The Bay Bridge, Maryland

Sunset coming into Solomons, Maryland

We left Osprey Point around 7:30AM on Sunday morning.  We knew it wasn’t the perfect day for sailing.  Fairly good winds at around 20 knots but coming from the south.  And of course, we’re traveling south so we were into the wind the entire day.  We didn’t raise the sails but chose to motor for the day.  If we had sailed, we would have been tacking all day long and probably only gone half as far.  Since our objective is to get to Florida, and warmer weather, as soon as possible, we started the engine and put her on auto pilot.  We made it to Solomons just at dusk.  Found a place to stay for the night in a nice sheltered port.  The wind is expected to stay the same for tomorrow with some expected showers.  We plan to get to Norfolk by Tuesday evening. 

Our first night without internet and without shore power.  We’re running off the battery and using candles to keep the cabin warm.  I think it will be an early night and probably and early start tomorrow.  We’ll try to get as far as we can before the forecasted rain begins.  

November 11, Remembrance Day.  We spent the day in the historic town of Annapolis, now probably best known for it's Naval Academy.   Hey sailor!
We stopped in to get the emergency beacon registered with the ship's information so we can send the number to the Danish Coast Guard.  The SEGWUN is registered as a Danish ship, hailing from Aarhus, Denmark.
Hard Bean Coffee was where we had lunch, grilled cheese sandwich and a coffee.  We made one last stop at West Marine where I think we should own shares of by now!!! and a last stop at WalMart to pick up a few essentials such as a dust buster ... gotta keep our new home clean.  

Driving back to Rock Hall, there are some very picturesque towns.  It is a really pretty part of the country.  So many beautiful country roads banked by trees turning with the fall colours.  

These pictures are taken in a town near Rock Hall called Chestertown.  A very impressive church with the large white columns and the top one is a Government office.  

Still checking with the weather - should be another gusty day tomorrow, but we are pretty confident that we will set sail on Sunday with our first stop being the Solomons.  

Today we were able to take SEGWUN out for a short sail.  Jens got to see the new sails, feel how the boat handles and get a little more comfortable with all the rigging.  

Jens at the helm.  The weather has turned a little grey and a little misty with a breeze at about 5 knots.  

 Some shots of the sails as you can see them from the deck.  We have new main and head sails.  As you can see, we are flying the visit flag of USA since we are registered as a Danish boat and fly the Danish flag aft.

This is me at the helm.  We have automatic pilot,  so I can spend my time daydreaming.

John and Jens.  John has been a great help to us in anticipating all of our needs and helping us to get everything we need.  He has really been a great help with his vast knowledge and experience.

This afternoon, the wind has come up quite a bit, gusting at around 40 knots.  We've come across a small problem with the refrigeration unit - we're not sure if it's a small problem or not, but we'll have it checked out on Saturday to be sure.  Our departure is now set for Sunday, which works out well since they are calling for high winds for the next few days.

Rock Hall, Maryland - the SEGWUN at Osprey Point Marina