The Canadian Sailcraft 27 is a Camper & Nicholsons designed sloop, built between 1975 and 1983

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CS 27 "Counterpoint"

1997 - 1998 Trip

Canada to Florida

 

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(To read about our trip to the Caribbean follow this link to

the Destiny Calls Caribbean Logs)

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This is the email that Richard Pelletier (email rpelletier@zap.wwdc.com) sent friends and relitives as he an his wife Pam took their boat, the CS 27 (same type as our Destiny Calls) "Counterpoint" throught the Intracoastal to Florida.

The letters are presented in the order that they were received, to the end of November 1997 at the end of this page.

For enteries from Decemeber 1997 on, click here!!!

Enjoy.

Date: Wed, Sep 24, 1997 2:55 AM EDT

Hello all!

We have been intending to send out some regular updates to keep everyone somewhat current on our travels. We are currently in Oswego NY and somewhat behind schedule. The beginning of our cruise has presented us with many challenges, some anticipated, and some not. Tonight I will tell you about one very significant and unanticipated challenge: after experiencing discomfort and occasional pain over the past several days Pam finally saw a doctor yesterday. Several tests led to a catscan and a barium xray today and ultimately to surgery for a ruptured appendix. She was out of the recovery room by 5:30 this afternoon and surprisingly enough, was back on her feet by 8:30 tonight.

She may be in hospital here in Oswego for up to a week but we will not know until at least tomorrow. After that there will be a period of convalescence. What this means to our cruise is still pretty fuzzy but we will be exploring our options during the coming day or two. Among the options are shipping the boat south and finding a place for Pam to recover before we resume our cruise. Alternatively, I might take the boat south if I can find suitable crew and Pam can fly down to wherever for her recovery.

In any case, we are fortunate that this happened in a location where we have easy access to excellent medical care. The staff at the hospital are great. The surgeon who operated is from Winnipeg and an emergency room MD is from Toronto. Everyone is friendly and helpful... in fact, the ER MD offered to put me up in his home if I want a place to stay away form the boat. The insurance company has been very helpful as well. I will keep people posted on how thing develop from here.

In a similar vein, a Northern 29 (Bon Vivant III - Gerry and Joan) left Bronte a few days before Pam and me. We caught up to Bon Vivant in Cobourg early last week. Joan had had an accident while docking in the rain. She slipped on the dock and broke her leg in two places. They are now planning on shipping their boat to Florida and joining the boat in December. Boy, cruising can certainly be dangerous...

Oh, one other thing: some of you know that Pam and I were going to take out cat Rocky with us. As things turned out, Rocky suffered serious sea-sickness while we were on the lake. After a couple of attempts with the same result we decided it was not fair to subject either us or the cat to this and our son Steve found a temporary home for her.

Well, it is now LATE and I must get some sleep.

Best wishes from Oswego.

Richard

Date: Tue, Oct 7, 1997 10:37 AM EDT

Greetings from Cape May, New Jersey

It has been a rather long time since I sent you part 1 of Counterpoint's cruise south. Pam is recovering nicely from her surgery and we are once again "on the move". Or more accurately, sitting out on a balcony overlooking the ocean at Cape May, New Jersey enjoying our coffee. And watching the cruising sailboats head south into the Delaware Bay. It is an absolutely beautiful day expected to be in the mid 80's.

But to catch you up... Pam was released from hospital on Sept. 27 and we rented an efficiency unit in Oswego for a week and the first phase of her recovery. During our stay in Oswego we formed a number of impressions. Health care in the US (or in Oswego at least) was excellent. The hospital staff were great and, aside from the food, we were favourably impressed with the services and quality of care. Interestingly, the surgeon who operated is from Winnipeg and one emergency room physician from Toronto. In fact, the ER MD offered me a room in his home while Pam was in hospital.

As for Oswego, we found the people friendly and very accommodating. The members of Oswego Yacht Club were most helpful and we had a reciprocal dock for over a week of our stay. The Oswego Marina was also very helpful and provided us with some free dockage as well. The atmosphere in Oswego was captured for me when I was getting off a bus. Having spoken to the driver for only a few minutes I found myself shaking hands with him as I exited the bus.

After a week in Oswego we were ready to move on. By that point we had, thanks to our friend Vicky Wood, located a dock for Counterpoint on Whitehall Creek near Annapolis. Vicky had sent an e-mail message to Alberg 30 owners on the Chesapeake describing our situation and looking for docking suggestions. One member of the Alberg Association responded with the offer of space on their dock beside their home. And this dock is only about 100 yards from the marina where Counterpoint is to be re-launched this Thursday.

From Oswego we took a couple of days to reach the Hudson River and make it to Atlantic City. It was an absolutely TACKY sight. We actually went to the Taj Mahal, one of Donald Trump's three Atlantic City Casinos. This place cost Trump $1,000,000,000 US. Yep! One billion dollars. I was packed with gamblers and Pam and I joined them for a few minutes to make our minor contribution to Trump's financial well-being. Atlantic City is not a place either Pam or I have any interest in visiting in the future. . Now, Cape May is an entirely different place. It is a very old city with some very beautiful Victorian mansions. Some of the downtown street near our hotel are illuminated by gaslights at night. Yesterday we visited a bird sanctuary near the Cape May lighthouse and spent some time exploring. We are in danger of falling in love with this place. If you have not been here before it would be an excellent place for a week around this time of year. We plan on staying a second night and then heading on to the Annapolis area and await the arrival of our boat on Thursday. We do miss her and look forward to resumption of our cruise.

More later...

Richard

Date: Sun, Oct 19, 1997 12:52 PM EDT

Good Morning from Whitehall Creek, Annapolis MD.

Just a quick update.

Counterpoint arrived late Thursday PM but early enough to be launched. On Friday we rigged her and were assigned a dock for the week we will be here. After the week we will be moving about 100 yards across the "creek" to a private dock.

The area we are in is simply beautiful. It is a very protected marina which is a condominium and the majority of the docks are individually owned. AN interesting concept. The bulletin board lists 2 docks for sale at $20,000 to $29,000. Over time I expect that owning a dock and being able to sell it makes financial sense, especially in an area where docks are at a premium.

Pam is recovering nicely and is off wandering the docks and salivating at boats we sure cannot afford. We will likely spend tomorrow at the Annapolis boat show looking at other boats we cannot afford.

A couple of days ago someone hailed us and asked us where we are from. When we said we sail out of Bronte Harbour he said he has heard of the place as it is only about 5 minutes from his home. He has a Nonsuch 36 which he bought in Michigan and had trucked here. He will be heading south for the winter but is back in Oakville for Thanksgiving.

And speaking of Thanksgiving, may everyone of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. And may the coming year give you much cause to be thankful.

Regards from Annapolis!

Richard and Pam

Date: Fri, Oct 31, 1997 9:52 PM EDT

Hi Everyone! I am writing this from an anchorage in Solomons Island, Maryland on Oct. 30. After what has seemed like a very long time we are under way once again. Yesterday we left a private dock on Whitehall Creek just north of Annapolis. It was with a degree of anxiety that we set off as this was to be our first time on the Chesapeake on Counterpoint. We wonder if our new friend, Pat Drenning, may have thought that we would never gotten around to heading south.

In any case, we had an interesting time in the Annapolis area. Our first week there included a dinner at the US Naval Academy as well as several crab cake meals. With all of the crab fishing and all of the crab-eaters on the Chesapeake, one is led to wonder about the future. In fact, as we headed south we were met with innumerable floats attached to crab traps. (It is very important to avoid these as wrapping a line around your prop is is neither 'good form' nor a good idea.)

While in the area I made a few discoveries:

A. I am a clutz or

B. Stainless steel does not float and

C. Depth sounders are not designed to work when you really need them or

D. Use of a lead line is the preferred means of learning water depth. and

E. Boats can be purchased whole

or

F. Boats can be purchased one part at a time....

While at Whitehall Marina I dropped more than one piece of stainless steel. I dropped into the creek a stainless steel tang used to secure the head-stay. Ah, but this was Annapolis you say, and it is possible to replace anything nautical in Annapolis. I suspect that you would be correct and I was able to have a new tang cut. In fact, while at it, I had a matched pair cut. The fly in the ointment was in the installation: unfortunately, fumble-fingers Pelletier was able to deposit another piece of stainless on the bottom of the bay. At $40.00 US this gets to be expensive....

Also in Whitehall Creek we discovered that we had a turnbuckle which "galled". Galling, as we now know it, is what happens when two pieces of the same metal bond to each other. What this meant was that we needed a new turnbuckle. And yes, there are several riggers in Annapolis BUT, none of them have metric! The rigger that produced the stainless tangs was able to locate a turnbuckle that met our needs in terms of length and thread. For $16.50 plus cost of goods we had the sucker shipped from Conn. Interestingly, the original was made in England but as a metric fitting.

Also in Annapolis our fresh water pump quit on us. So, with the replacement VHF radio and rebuilt starter we had installed back in Rochester, and the new stuff we added before departure it does seem like we are rebuilding the boat piece by piece.

To get back to the cruise, yesterday we went to the Rhode River. We found a beautiful anchorage which we shared with four other boats. It was a wonderful evening with a sky full of stars and the total lack of any disturbing noise

This morning we set off by 9:00. The Bay was totally flat and without wind. By the time we reached Solomons we had spent a windless day motoring 35 miles. Oh yes, our NEW depth sounder installed in Bronte this past September does not work. We really need reliable information on water depth as we proceed. Guess tomorrow will be a day to deal with the defective depth meter.

Well, time for a nightcap. A pleasant night to all. More to follow.

Aboard Counterpoint
Solomons Island

Pam and Richard

PS. I knew all along that I am a klutz.

Also, the transducer was the source of the problem with the depth sounder.

Date: Sun, Nov 9, 1997 3:32 PM EDT

Time Flies when You're Having Fun

Wow, it has been weeks since our last general mailing. This will be a quick attempt to catch you up on our travels and travails. We are now in Hampton Virginia staying on the City Docks. There is a fee for staying here but the cost is competitive and the people go out of their way to make transients feel welcome.

We stayed at Whitehall Marina for a week before moving across the creek to stay on a private dock where we stayed for another week. During the entire time we had the benefit of a car which our friend Vicky had loaned to us. I guess having a car, while very handy, meant that we were not yet truly cruisers. In any case, it allowed us the opportunity to visit the Baltimore Aquarium, Arlington Cemetery, and the Viet Nam Veteran's Memorial. It was very moving to visit the grave of our dear friend at Arlington and also to visit the Viet Nam Memorial. There were over 58,000 American service men and untold numbers of Vietnamese who died during that terrible war.

We left our new friend's dock on Wednesday October 29. Our first day out was relatively short as we only went about 11 miles to what was a beautiful anchorage on the Rhode River. We bar-b-q'd dinner and had a very pleasant night. The stars were amazing we shared the anchorage with four other boats. Apparently, on summer weekends that anchorage accommodates up to 200 boats.

From the Rhode River we headed off to Solomons Island, Maryland. On the way there we were disconcerted to see that our depth sounder was not working. A new piece of equipment should work but this one did not. When we arrived we checked in with Zahniser's Yachting Centre and scheduled a technician to check things out the following day. It was then out to a mooring to spend the night. Friday morning was HEAVY fog so we did not get in to the dock until mid-morning.. By noon a technician was aboard and found that the problem was a defective transducer. But, as luck would have it, they had a replacement available. And, they were very reasonable with their charges.

That night we went to a small restaurant at the marina. It was absolutely excellent. I had monk fish with a garlic dipping sauce. Had never had monk fish before and found it to be absolutely excellent. Pam had scallops and pasta and was equally satisfied. We ended up staying three nights. While there we were able to plug i nto the marina's fax line for Internet access. As well, we finally began to meet other 'cruisers': Mark and Kandi were on a Cabo Rico 45, Aquarelle, only #2 of that size, Fred and Dottie on a Cape Dory 33 (power boat) Island Lassie, and Leo on a Chris Craft 29 Proteus. In any case, on Nov. 3 we set out from Solomons only to find that the Chesapeake was very rough with wind dead on the nose. It was not at all comfortable so after 5 miles we returned to Solomons and anchored off Zahniser's.

The morning of the 4th started off pleasant enough after I was finally able to get our Bruce anchor aboard. (So far, we are very impressed with the Bruce and it's holding power. The 30' of chain certainly helps...) We motor sailed 36 miles to Dividing Creek off of the Great Wicomico River. Our anchorage was in a small sheltered cove. But was it very cold... It is time to be farther south for bloody sure!!!

On the way out of the anchorage the morning of the 5th we had our first grounding. Thankfully it was into soft mud and we were free in about 10 minutes. On the Bay we faced strong winds and spent a lot of time bouncing around. We had hoped to make it to Hampton but by early PM it was clear that was out of the question. We then decided to try the Poquoson River where we found a marina and pumped out. What a mess!!! Our holding tank does not relate very well to pounding out on the Bay. It was pump-out and cleanup time! While we are not pleased with the head leaking, we were pleased to tied up for the night.

The next morning we had to get to Hampton Roads, knowing that the weather was deteriorating, and we might be stuck in this really isolated spot ( 7 miles to a grocery store!) . So out we went at 0800 hours, into the roughest weather we have experienced so far. Shades of Lake Ontario! We pounded into the roughest seas we've encounter ed so far and at times when we were heading into the wind, could only make 1-3 knots. Once we were back into the Bay and could head south we made better time and were into Hampton by 1:00 P.M., very happy to be tied up and not bouncing around like we had been for the past several days. Of course, since we have been in Hampton it has rained pretty consistently. Very damp with condensation in the boat. Nevertheless, we are having fun.

We are continuing to meet up with other cruisers. There are 3 other Canadian boats here as well as one from England and one Australian. One of the boats is from Ottawa and at 24 feet, even smaller than Counterpoint. Warren, the owner, is accompanying his son Graham who is using a kayak to get to Florida. A second boat ( 42' Vagabond) is from Ottawa and setting off on a 5 year cruise with Victoria BC being the ultimate destination. The third Canadian boat is a Niagara 35 out of Windsor with the owner single-handing. He has been cruising for a year and a half.

There is so much else to tell you about but it will have to wait. This morning we went to church at an Anglican (Episcopal) Church built in 1728; the parish dates from 1610. Almost like going to an RC mass - the words and rituals are almost identical. If anyone is interested, the parish has a web page at http://www.pinn.net/~stjohns which may have some pictures of a beautiful old church.

We plan on heading off tomorrow and getting into the real Intracostal Waterway.

That's it for now from the wet and soggy port of Hampton Virginia.

Richard and Pam

Date: Fri, Nov 14, 1997 3:32 PM EDT

Hi Folks!

Will begin this missive with some stuff Pam wrote earlier:

We are in the vast metropolis of Coinjock, North Carolina (pop. 500). We left Hampton Monday, and got into the Intra Coastal Waterway Mile 0, about 16 miles later. We got thru' Norfolk Va. without incident, which is no small matter. It is one of the busiest harbours in the world, huge naval base, miles of US warships, very tense trying to get past it all without getting creamed. We took a wrong turn at one point, and ended up VERY close to a bridge that showed only 37 foot clearance. This did NOT gibe with our guidebook, so I trained the binocs on the sign on the top of the bridge. It said "This is not the ICW route. We turned around very quickly and made our way back to the main channel.

A while later, the engine lost power and died. Our underwear suddenly took on a different hue!!!! Richard got it started again, and we continued on, hearts in mouths, To make a long story short, It died 4 times that day, but we made it to a really good marina, and it turned out to be water in the fuel. This was diesel we took on on Hampton, and there's no way to avoid it. R. changed the filters, and it seems to be OK. We got to Coinjock yesterday, and the weather went bad again.

It's been pouring here for 24 hours, and is expected to continue for another 36-48 hrs. We may be stuck again. At this rate we will be lucky to get to Florida by mid-January!! The next challenge is Albemarle Sound, of which we've heard many nasty stories. We have to pick our weather so as not to get the crap pounded out of us.

A staff person here told me today that in early Oct. a group of sailors waited 10 days for the right conditions to cross. Just hope we're not stuck that long, as it is getting mighty cold down here. Mind you, it's not snowing, so that makes up for a lot.

North Carolina is a huge state to get through, especially at our speed. It will take us 10 -12 days. Then SC. a little bit of Georgia (where the tides run 8-9 feet!), and into Florida. We will just keep plugging.

....................................

It is just pouring at the moment and I must light the bar-b-q and put on what we hope will be some fine steaks. Potatoes have been baking in the pressure cooker for the last 1.5 hours so they must be done. We are cozy with a newly purchased electric heater and a couple of oil lamps. Installed an antenna splitter so our AM-FM radio shares our VHF masthead antenna... allows us to listen to an NPR station which we would not have been able to otherwise receive.

In any case, we are well and looking forward to the end of the rain.

Best wishes from Coinjock N.C.

Date: Thu, Nov 20, 1997 4:27 AM EDT

Counterpoint is in Oriental NC

We don't want to overdo our messages to people but we do want y'all to be kept informed.

Pam and I are at Whittaker Creek Yacht Harbor, Oriental, North Carolina. Finally the unseasonably cold weather is about to break and we expect mid- 60 degree weather tomorrow when we head to Beaufort, NC.

We crossed Albemarle Sound a couple of days ago after experiencing some apprehension. The cruising books and people we have met had advised us that the Sound can be treacherous. In some (most) wind conditions it is very rough and we could expect a 'pounding' when we tried to cross. The reality was somewhat different: the Sound was no problem lem at all. We were able to get across easily and entered the Alligator River where we decided on another marina stay. It appears that we are becoming dependent upon electric hookups in order to deal with the frigid weather.

We departed the following day and faced a rough Alligator River in a north-westerly with gusts to 30 knots as we continued south. It was rough enough that when we radioed the bridge to check on opening times, the bridge tender offered to open as soon as we were ready to pass through. We did hit 8 kts as we motor-sailed - surfed - southwards. We only opened our headsail slightly but it did help us significantly as we regularly hit 7 knots surfing down waves.

Once we were through the river we learned or relearned an important lesson. MARKS AND BUOYS ARE THERE TO GIVE YOU AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE. We were in shoal water following another boat. Watching the depth sounder we saw that water depth was decreasing very quickly. We had failed to note the we had missed some marks. Following a at that had already passed the missing marks was leading us directly into 'thin' water and we would soon be hard aground if we did not alter course for deeper water. Fortunately, we found deeper water and avoided any problems. The message is, however, be tent on knowing where you are when on the ICW and never base your course solely on that of another boat. Even if it does not lead you into shallow water, there is no assurance that he knows where he is going.

We ended up that night at a wonderful marina at Dowry Creek near Bellhaven NC. We were the only transients at a beautiful marina. The facilities included a clubhouse with satellite TV, a fitness centre (Pam and I did NOT indulge in our fitness program), and a courtesy car. In fact we have found that most marinas have courtesy cars valuable these days. We enjoyed the place so much (and were ready for a break after the roughness of the Alliagtor River) that we stayed a second day.

On Monday we were ready to set off early but found that there was heavy fog. It was very cold but actually very beautiful. Pam was brushing frost from our sailcover as the sun rose through the fog. We finally got away around 8:00 am and made a 52 statute mile trip to Oriental under a sunny sky and calm water.

Tomorrow it will be on to Beaufort NC and the sense that we are finally getting into warmer weather. About 560 miles until we reach Florida waters.

Oh yes, last night we went to a featured restaurant in the area. The appetizer we had was Creole shrimp. As we had been dodging shrimp boats in the last few days we figured that we were eating the local catch. Not so! The reality is that the shrimp were from Ecuador and had been previously frozen. apparently the local shrimp are 'gritty'. So much for the romantic image of the local catch.

One other thing: we have faced much condensation but found that Zip-loc bags are great for storing clothing. Wonder how the live-aboards do it in Toronto....

From Oriental NC

Richard and Pam

Hi Folks!

Sitting at another marina dock and feeling pretty up about cruising on Counterpoint. Today we left Beaufort NC after a 3 day stopover. Shortly after leaving the dock we headed into Beaufort Inlet and were greeted with our first dolphins in-the-wild. Pam was securing our fenders and dock lines when I noticed a small splash ahead of the boat and I thought I saw a bird dive or a small fish jump before it became apparent that I was seeing something else. It was a number of dolphins. They were breaking the surface and soon they were swimming near to the boat. At their closest they were about 10 ft t away and dove underneath the boat. In all there were probably, about a dozen but may have been as many as 20. We had been looking forward to this first meeting but there was still an element of unreality about it all, just as there has been about the tire trip. It was pretty exciting for us and left us with s sense of awe as well as looking forward to seeing more in the coming days.

As for Beaufort, we very much enjoyed our visit. In fact, we would have been pleased to stay for several more days but felt a need to move along.(And at $1.30 US/foot there was a bit of a financial impetus as well.) The North Carolina Maritime Museum is located across the road from the dock where we tied up. We discovered that on the 21st there would be a presentation on the discovery of what is likely the wreck of Captain Blackbeard's pirate ship. I took in the presentation which was very interesting. The wreck in question was about two miles from where we were docked. Interestingly, that evening we listened to "As It Happens" on Radio Canada Inernational and the discovery of the wreck was one of the main stories. In any case, the Museum is well worth a visit as is Beaufort itself.

While in Beaufort we used a courtesy car provided by the city. In both cases, the vehicles were in rough shape but functional. The fact that you can see daylight through the floor is really no big deal. Actually, we have discovered that most marinas we are visiting provide courtesy cars which are very handy for shopping.

Aside from a couple of other Canadian boats, there were two British boats and one from Germany at anchor in the harbour. More and more we are expecting to see long-distance cruisers as we head south. We are now actually in southern North Carolina. Yesterday the temp hit the mid-seventies and last nite we were finally able to do without our comforter. Forecast calls for some colder weather this week and it may get down to the 20's tomorrow night. By Thursday it should be back into the high 60's or low 70's. Sure beats the weather in southern Ontario.

Tonight we had an excellent pennine with a chicken and mushroom sauce that Pam created. The creation was somewhat delayed, however, as I had torn the boat apart in an attempt to repair the water system which was not working today. Of course, my maintenance efforts are seldom flawless and this was no exception. I was able to (unintentionally) empty the water tank into the bilge. We now know the water-holding capacity of the bilge but prefer to keep our drinking water in a clean holding tank.

I have a great mystery novel that is demanding some of my time so I must finish this message. But before the novel, I must check our dock lines. The tide has been dropping and we must make sure that we are not too tight. Additional info on the cruise will follow. If things emerge as I hope, there are some general observations which I would like to make in future postings. Until next time,

Richard and Pam