Author: svtrance

Sunday’s (December 25, 2022) edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer will feature TRANCE’s World Tour. See the Sports Section centerfold! Also more details in the online version, which has a $0.99 trial.

Monday September 5, We were interviewed for a podcast by Jeffry Wettig of The Escape Pods, Shooting the Breeze Sailing Podcasts. Part 2 is now available. You can listen here or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

Monday September 5, We were interviewed for a podcast by Jeffry Wettig of The Escape Pods, Shooting the Breeze Sailing Podcasts. You can listen here or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

Victory Lap Week 8/8

Monday May 23, John and Joy departed after breakfast. Shortly afterwards we departed from the Town Point Marina in Deale, MD. Our destination is the Wye East River on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake.

Our friend Yana in Hawaii has many friends. Daphne is one of her dear friends. We anchored in front of her house on the East Wye River. She invited us in, we had champagne, dinner and a tour of the property by golf cart. This day reminds me of that childhood song, ”The More We Get Together”…the chorus, “cause your friends are my friends and my friends are your friends”.

4 days to go.

Tuesday May 24, anchor up by 9:40am, destination Annapolis, MD. We anchored around noon on the south side of the Severn River next to the Naval Academy. In the afternoon there was a practice for the Blue Angles, the air show is scheduled for Wednesday. Too bad the sky was gray.

3 days to go.

Wednesday May 25, Annapolis Blue Angels Air Show.

2 days to go.

Thursday May 26, anchor up by 8:15am, moving to Rock Creek, north of the Bay Bridge on the western shore.

The anchor was dropped at 12 noon in Rock Creek.

1 days to go.

Friday May 27, Today is the Day! Anchor was up by 8:00 am destination Tolchester Marina! We arrived at 11:00am, welcomed back by the sound of horns and people cheering. Our family and friends were spread out around the marina on different docks. There was also a cameraman from the NBC Baltimore TV station filming our return into the marina.

The three day celebration begins!

Saturday May 28, day 2 of a three day celebration!

Sunday May 29, day 3 of 3!

Thanks to All who followed our journey around the globe. We enjoyed sharing our adventures and day to day life on a sailboat. There will be more Trance escapades in the future, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, the Caribbean to name a few. So keep an eye on this Blog Page, as well as “Sailing Trance” on Facebook.

Fair winds for all your adventures!

Marlene and Dan

Victory Lap Week 7/8

Monday May 16, decided to stay another day at Safe Harbor Bluewater Marina, as the weather forecast today is stormy.

There was a diver in the water, working on the boat next to us. Dan inquired if he could check our zincs. Zincs are sacrificial anodes that degrade to prevent degradation of other metal boat parts under water, by oxidizing quicker than the metal it is protecting. Ours are mounted on the propeller, bow thruster and on the strut between the keel and rudder. Two zincs were replaced, they last about a year.

11 days to go.

Tuesday May 17, departed Bluewater Marina by 7:40am, destination Deltaville.

Dan and The Man! Bob Sherer, Editor of The Waterway Guide, aka Bob423. We provided him with directions, to the laundry at the marina! His sailboat s/v Fleetwing is a Beneteau 423, hence the nickname.

For dinner we had pizza with Ty and Brandie along with Rosemary, Mark and joined by their friends Jill and James on m/v Alvin James.

10 days to go.

Wednesday May 18, laundry day then dinner with Ty and Brandie. We purchased steaks and grilled them at the Marina.

9 days to go.

Thursday May 19, departed Deltaville by 7:00am heading north on the Chesapeake. Destination Herrington Harbor to meet up with old acquaintances.

We anchored near the Fairhaven Cliffs at 7:30pm for the night, and tomorrow we’ll go up river a couple miles to Town Point Marina for a few days. The marinas closer to town, restaurants and shops were all full.

8 days to go.

Friday May 20, arrived at Town Point Marina around noon. A few boat projects were completed then just hung out on the boat all day. This marina is about 5 miles from the town here. There are no restaurants or stores within walking distance. They don’t get many transient boats.

7 days to go.

Saturday May 21, we stopped in this area to reconnect with Rick and Mei on s/v Mei Hua. We had followed them on Instagram since we first met in Morro Bay, CA in May of 2020. Their boat will remain here on the hard while they fly home to Colorado. Rick, Mei and Dave, Rick’s high school friend, picked us up by car, first stop was The Boathouse for happy hour. There was fabulous entertainment playing, the Borderline Blues Band. Later the 5 of us stopped by their marina to sample homemade wine from boat neighbors. There we met again Dan and Lori, s/v Bebe, whom we previously met at Shelter Bay Marina in Panama, January 2020. For dinner Rick, Mei, Dave, Dan and I went to Happy Harbor Restaurant. It was a great day!

6 days to go.

Sunday May 22, Mac McDermind stopped by to say hello, s/v Hamba Kahla an IP37, also a follower of this blog! While he was with us our friend John and Joy came by. They are on their way home from Jacksonville, FL after racing in Thistle Nationals. John and Joy sailed with us, bashing up the west coast, in 2020 from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to San Francisco, CA.

John, Joy, Dan and I had dinner at Skipper’s Pier Restaurant & Dock Bar during a severe thunderstorm with torrential rain. They spent the night on Trance.

5 days to go.

Victory Lap Week 6/8

Monday May 9, wind forecast has Gale warnings on the Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds. The swing bridge crossing the Alligator River will not open in winds 35 knots or greater, it’s been closed for several days. On the ocean, strong winds coming from the North against the Gulf Stream flowing North creates big waves. Good time to just stay put.

Dan and I took a golf cart ride to the marine store to check on hoses for the engine and to the Food Lion for a few groceries.

For dinner I made a grilled vegetable pasta salad with orzo.

18 days to go.

Tuesday May 10, Dan removed the hoses from the fresh water engine pump in anticipation of replacing them. The overnight shipment did not arrive as the airplane had issues.

Sundowners with Robin and Joe on their boat. I made roasted red pepper hummus. It had a great texture, next time I’ll adjust the ingredients a bit.

*Sourdough Notes* Levain was started mid morning, with the heat on in Trance, it grew quickly. Did I mention it’s cold here too? Baked a Belle loaf at night, love the smell of baking bread!

17 days to go.

Wednesday May 11, The afternoon was spent replacing the pump hoses and engine thermostat as well as the belt.

16 days to go.

Thursday May 12, departed at 7:30am from River Forest Marina heading North on this rainy, cold, damp day.

We dropped anchor near Elizabeth City at 7:15pm. Chicken Cacciatore over rice was on menu for dinner.

15 days to go.

Friday May 13, we woke in a fog this morning…our plan to make the 8:30am bridge opening will not happen. At least the sun is trying to clear the haze. By 9:30am all was clear and anchor up.

The Great Dismal Swamp is the oldest operating artificial waterway in the United States. It is also a National Wildlife Refuge and is on the National Registry of Historic Places. Construction began in 1793 and was completed in 1805. Flat boats and log rafts manually poled, because the canal was shallow, were used to transport wood products taken from the swamp. The canal was was dug by hand, mostly by slaves. The slaves became very familiar with the swamp which eventually became a haven for runaways. In 1940-1941 concrete and steel locks were built at South Mills and Deep Creek, both are 300’ by 52’. The locks and drawbridge operate 4 times daily, 8:30 am • 11:00 am • 1:30 pm • 3:30 pm if needed. The locks raise and lower about 10feet.

On a side note, we anticipated cruising the Swamp would be a quite peaceful event. Did not foresee the sound of car traffic on Route 17, that parallels the water. Takes away from the ambiance of the Great Dismal Swamp. Bucket list ✅.

14 days to go.

Saturday May 14, by 8:30am we had departed the free dock at the Visitors Center.

Arrived at Safe Harbor Bluewater Marina at 5:30pm. This is the first place we stopped at when our journey began in 2019.

13 days to go.

Sunday May 15, lunch with an old friend! “Hawaii Beth” we called her as to not not confuse her in conversation with our daughter Beth. We first met in Hawaii, 2020, she’s back in Virginia now. Great to catch up with her!

12 days to go.

Victory Lap Week 5/8

Monday May 2, at 7:30am we departed Southport Marina along with s/v Revival with a favorable current.

For dinner, pan fried Mahi-Mahi topped with marinated raw tomatoes with red onion and cheesy mashed potatoes.

25 days to go.

Tuesday May 3, Rise and Shine, s/v Revival took this photo of us as they passed by where we are anchored early morning. They stopped at a marina last night.

On the way today, we noticed the voltage regulator was not working. As a result, the engine was not charging batteries. The solar panels and wind generator were still working though. Upon investigation, MacGyver Dan found a broken wire, thus it was an easy fix.

Anchor was dropped for the night near Sugarloaf Island in Morehead City just off the ICW in North Carolina.

Baked meatballs with linguine and a red sauce for dinner.

24 days to go.

Wednesday May 4, arrived in Oriental NC around noon. We were able to get a slip at the Oriental Harbor Marina, nestled between another sailboat and a large trawler.

The world is really that small. As we were sitting at the Tiki bar with a boat here from Alaska, up to us walks Igor! We first met in Reunion Island, October 2021, then saw him again in South Africa. He sailed single handed around the world, even rounded Cape Horn! Igor is originally from Ukraine and he lived in New Jersey.

23 days to go.

Thursday May 5, we had dinner Igor, it was great to catch up with him!

22 days to go,

Friday May 6, Happy Birthday Alyssa! Departed Oriental at 7:30am, destination Belhaven, NC. We would have stayed in Oriental till next week but the marina was booked as there are big winds coming from North.

Arrived in Belhaven around 2pm, just before the wind increased.

Dan has been noticing for several months a small amount of antifreeze under the engine. Upon further investigation he discovered a leaky hose on the engines fresh water pump, which is actually the pump for antifreeze not water. There is a marina store that carries Yanmar (the engine brand) parts, they said they could new hoses early next week. We will replace all three. Looks like we are here till the engine hoses get replaced.

The marina has golf carts to use for those staying here. We drove one around town then stopped at The Tavern at Jack’s Neck for dinner.

21 days to go.

Saturday May 7, sundowners on our boat with new friends, s/v No Problem, Robin and Joe, s/v Harvest Moon (IP 380) Christine and Neil.

20 days to go.

Sunday May 8, there are big winds coming expect to last through Thursday.

Quick tour of the Manor, part of the River Forest Manor and Marina.

Dinner at the Tavern, joining us was Cindy and Kevin s/v Shenanigans who were docked next to us in Oriental. They walked in just as the six of us were sitting down so we all moved to a bigger table to include them.

19 days to go.

Victory Lap Week 4/8

Monday April 25, by 9:50am, we departed the Charleston Harbor Marina, heading north on the ICW.

We Anchored for the night at 5:30pm in Winyah Bay about 7 nm South of Georgetown, SC, which is our destination tomorrow. Continuing on would be a fight against the current making our arrival after sunset.

49 nautical miles traveled this day, 32 days to go to Tolchester Marina in Maryland. There are a few more stops up the East Coast staying in the warm weather, visiting family and friends and sharing a meal or two.

Tuesday April 26, the morning was spent polishing the stainless rigging as well as cleaning the galley. We are waiting for the current to slow down a bit as Trance will be fighting it all the way to Georgetown. Anchor was up by 11:30am, arrived in Georgetown by 1:40pm.

We spied an Island Packet in the Harborwalk Marina, so we had to go say hello. S/V Just Ducky, Linda and Mahlon Stauffer. As it turns out, they’ve been following our journey! They joined us for dinner at Rollin Local. It was a great evening!

31 days to go.

Wednesday April 27, today was a lazy day spent on the boat.

30 days to go.

Thursday April 28, a walk into the historic section of Georgetown, purchased fish and shrimp from the Independent Seafood Co-Op.

For dinner I made Crispy Fish Filets served with yellow beans.

29 days to go.

Friday April 29, anchor up by 10am.

Anchor was dropped at 6:30pm for the night in Dutchman Creek.

For dinner we made Shrimp Oreganata with cheesy mashed potatoes paired with a delicious South African white wine.

28 days to go.

Saturday April 30, arrived at the Southport Marina in NC by 12pm, later we walked to Dry Street Pub & Pizza for lunch.

27 days to go.

Sunday May 1, laundry and provisioning day. I used Instacart for the groceries. Publix was more than 5 miles away and no Uber drivers in town or they don’t work on Sundays.

Island Packet get together, sundowners on s/v Revival, Lisa and Bruce and joined by s/v Pyxis, Phil and (Susan, she wasn’t there) along with Chris and Stacy, cousin Dave was there too.

26 days to go.

Victory Lap Week 3/8

Monday April 18, anchor up by 9am tried to get the 9:30 am opening of the Wappoo Creek Hwy 171 Bridge. The current was bit too strong to make it so we slowed down and waited for the 10:30am opening.

Arrived in Charleston Monday late morning greeted by Max and Dylan who ran down the dock to greet us! Also there our daughter Beth her husband Kevin. Along with them Kevin’s parents Pam and Ernie who live here. We stayed at their beautiful house with All, while we were here.

39 days to go.

Tuesday April 19, the day was spent hanging by the pool.

38 days to go.

Wednesday April 20, Girls day out shopping downtown Charleston, with Pam and Beth Illg!

37 days to go.

Thursday April 21, more pool time…

36 days to go.

Friday April 22, beach day, Isle of Palms!

35 days to go.

Saturday April 21, we departed the Illg house mid morning, with all escorting us to Trance. It was a happy goodbye knowing we’ll see them in about three weeks! As they were departing new friends were coming. Our sister in-laws sister Sherri and her friends Sandy and Bob.

The Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina, where our boat is, has a free shuttle to downtown Charleston for hotel and marina guests. For dinner we rode in but asked to be dropped off a bit early of the designated stop. We walked to D’Allesandro’s Pizza on St. Philip Street. In December of 2019, we stopped in Charleston on our way south. Ben D’Allesandro is a friend of our son Luke, who used to live here, delivered pizza to our boat back then. We returned for more!

34 days to go.

Sunday April 22, boat project day, Dan fixed our “party lights” which had stopped working. Late afternoon we hung by the pool at the resort, then had a nice dinner at the Fish House restaurant.

33 days to go.

Victory Lap Week 2/8

Monday April 11, we departed Bob and Lynn’s by 10am. Cruising north, next stop New Smyrna Beach. We will anchor early evening.

We anchored for the night along the ICW in an area known as NASA Launch Viewing-1. The Artemis I rocket was on Launch Pad 39B near the Vehicle Assembly Building for a photo opportunity event.

46 days to go.

Tuesday April 12, anchor up by 8:11am. Heading to New Smyrna Beach.

Arrived in New Smyrna Beach around 2pm. We stopped here to meet Island Packet 38 s/v Ocean Dreams owners Mike and Connie. They have future plans to sail around the world. Together we had dinner at Blackbeard’s Inn, later back at the marina shared stories of our adventure.

45 days to go.

Wednesday April 13,caught the 7:30am bridge opening, on our way north to St. Augustine. Oh the bascule bridges, most open on demand.

Northbound on the ICW we noticed temporarily buoys way off the ICW path on the chart plotter. We rounded inside a temporary buoy as we should, yet got stuck in the sand. Although we could have waited for high tide, we decided to raise the main sail to heal the boat over. The wind twisted the boat around allowing us to back up into deeper water, then we were free!

After arriving in St Augustine, we joined DeAnne, our daughter in-law’s mom and James for dinner at A1A Ale Works Restaurant & Taproom. It was a great evening!

44 days to go.

Thursday April 14, departed St Augustine by 7:10am was able to catch the 7:30am opening of the Bridge of Lions.

We decided to go out into the ocean at Jacksonville, will go back in St. Simon Sound, Georgia and anchor for the night. There were two cargo ships in the channel when we were entering, Trance was just outside the channel buoys. Anchored for the night just north of Lanier Island as the sun was setting.

43 days to go.

Friday, April 15, anchor up by 7:30am, windy day! 17-20 knots with gusts to 25 ENE. Another day cruising the ICW. The big benefit staying in is no waves. I imagine it’s pretty rough on the ocean with the wind going against the Gulf Stream. The ICW in Georgia is rivers and creeks that wind and snake, we traveled over 25 miles only progressing one mile north.

We ended-up anchoring at 6:15pm just off the Bear River where it meets the Bulkhead and Cane Patch Creeks. Still in Georgia, about 15 miles south of Savanna.

42 days to go.

Saturday April 16, anchor up by 7:30am.

This afternoon we spoke on the phone with friends from Hawaii, Yana and Joey Cabell. They are in California awaiting the birth of their sixth grandchild. It was great to talk to them!

By 5:15pm we had docked at the Safe Harbor Beaufort Marina. Later had dinner at Panini’s On The Waterfront. While there we met the couple in the booth next to us, also on a boat, he’s from Norway, she’s from Columbia but lives in Florida. Their plan is to do the Great Loop. Afterwards we all walked two miles to a grocery store then took a taxi back to the marina.

41 days to go.

Sunday April 17, Happy Easter 🌷

Departed the marina by 9 am. The Ladys Island Bridge in Beaufort opens on demand on weekends.

5:40pm anchor dropped in the Stono River. The weather forecast for tonight and most of tomorrow is for heavy rain. We may just stay here till afternoon.

40 days to go.