Spill The Wine Sailing

Sure had fun times with sons Jordan and Al along with Katelyn.  Below are some pics of us sailing the Chesapeake and going for crabs afterwards..... this has become known to me as: "T he Perfect Day" Jordan and Katelyn ready for our crab feast Jordan & Katelyn on Spill The Wine On the bow of Spill The Wine Can it get any better???  Doubtful!

Returning to Key Largo, our home waters, was a real treat - even if it was on a plane and only for a few days of scuba diving.  Since buying the Island Packet 485 we have not had the motorboat out since.  Literally, it has sat on the hard for over a year... we were lucky it started. Al swimming with a sea turtle Here's the Obvious: Motorboats GO notably Faster than Sailboats! Barb and Michael on the bottom of the ocean Al diving a coral cave at Molasses Reef So here's one problem in our life... I named my motorboat "Spill the Wine" and I liked the name so much I decided to name the sailboat "Spill the Wine" also.... My plan was to rename the motorboat something else.... but that hasn't happened yet.  It's like I have writers block but for boat naming. So far the only thing that's even in the running is "Good Vibrations". Comments and advice are WELCOME!         The Original "Spill the Wine"    Wh

Check out the Baltimore Landmark "Domino Sugar" sign Other than "Spill The Wine", we actually have a few other names of affection for the boat.  When we are sailing, we like to call her "The Big Fat Pig" because she sits down in the water and gives a comfortable ride... nothing seems to rattle her.  But when we are at dock we call her "The Floating Condo", and that is what she is now.... in her slip, our new downtown Baltimore floating abode.   The Arrival pic: happy to be in Baltimore Maryland We chose Harbor East Marina because it's a sweet section of Baltimore between Inner Harbor and Fells Point.  It's ultra modern with zillions of restaurants and shopping opportunities. The other good news is:  it's about a thirty minute walk to Camden Yards. Go O's! So now the big trip has a cleat hitch on it.  One down, many to go.  It's funny how when one reaches a milestone it takes a w

Relaxing on the bow of Spill The Wine From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Gunkholing is a boating term referring to a type of cruising in shallow or shoal water, meandering from place to place, spending the nights in coves. The term refers to the gunk, or mud, typical of the creeks, coves, marshes, sloughs, and rivers that are referred to as gunkholes. While not necessary, gunkholers typically seek out the serenity of isolated anchorages over the crowds of marinas and popular bays, and a minimal draft is preferred, since gunkholers tend to go as far up and into the gunkholes as possible, seeking ever more inaccessible destinations. Two Gunkholes we tried.... Two out of Thousands! While we may be Chesapeake Bay amateur gunkholers, we have learned this - the bay is awesome, and here's why:  There are seemingly endless inlets and creeks which are all beautiful anchorage opportunities (i.e. Gunkholing) and after two days on hook,  we're hooked !

YES! Spill the Wine and her crew at the Waterside Marina, Norfolk VA Not sure if you can tell, but we're pretty happy about being here!  In fact, we've almost bruised ourselves from patting each other on the back.  But we're here, in the Chesapeake Bay - YES! Al (a.k.a. "Mr. Fitch") is off to Germany on a school trip so now we are on easy street exploring the bay with some time on our hands until we reach our final goal of Baltimore. We left Wrightsville Beach with forecast winds of 30 knots.  Normally, that would be too high for a pleasure cruise but it was to be following seas so we decided... heck yea!  The wind didn't disappoint and NOAA was just a little off on their wave predictions of 3-5 feet.... it was more like 5-8, but with the following seas it was an easy ride and the 30 knot breeze pushed the boat beautifully, we actually felt it could be a lot more before any kind of concern.  The green water breaking waves were fun to

And that’s just what we did, continuing our trip north, but this time with my son Al and his friend Nathan, whom by the end of the trip we were affectionately referring to as " Mr. Abercrombie " and " Mr. Fitch ". We’ve had the boat in Charleston City Marina (the Mega Dock) for the month of May and after arriving with the boys and playing in Charleston for a few days it was finally time to shove off. With two new high school seniors onboard dedicated only to their summer tans, it was a little like being in an Abercrombie Fitch commercial, or maybe Ralph Lauren, or maybe J-Crew...... You get the idea.    But it made for good use of the camera. The first leg was an easy 65 nautical mile trip from Charleston to Georgetown light.  Light winds, easy seas.  We anchored in Mosquito Creek which had us worried about the mosquitos of course…. but we should have been worried about the huge horse flies.  Because of them, we did very lit

From sailing the “KOOL floating bathtub” on Lake Thunderbird with Dad as a teenager until my next boat, I had many years pass and many things to keep me occupied.    Cars, girls, college, career, and kids – all the normal stuff.   But in my thirties I realized I missed heading out to the lake for a few hours of fun on the water and decided it would be a good idea to buy a boat of my own.   It was nearly twenty years from my first sailing days, but I bought my first boat.   The infallible Flying Scot. The Flying Scot sailing Lake Thunderbird - with my Dad, Mom, son Jordan, and myself onboard Those were busy days.   A family and a company with lots of travel left little time for sailing.   But occasionally, I could make my escape to the lake.   It never failed to happen, whatever worries, or concerns, or stress I might have been feeling at the time, sailing allowed me to focus on the water, the wind, and of course relaxing and having fun – everything to do with work and the stre

My Dad was an avid smoker, and Kool cigarettes tended to be his favorite brand. So, as it turned out back in 1975, Kool cigarettes ran a promotion and if you filled in your name and address on the back of one of their cartons and returned it to the company, you could win something.  My Dad did just that, and much to everyone’s unsuspecting surprise,  he won fourth place.  One can probably guess his prize, a small bathtub sized sailboat. He was ecstatic.  It instantaneously became his pride and joy. Dad didn’t know how to sail and it likely didn't occur to him to care.  To him, more importantly, mechanically, he figured out how to hoist and strap that sailing bathtub to the top of his car.  Thereafter, when he needed to unwind from his job and family of five children, he loaded up snacks and beer and headed to the local lake to find peace on the water, some fourteen miles away on Lake Thunderbird in Norman, Oklahoma. “The Kool Cigarette Floating Bathtub” – a sis

1.  Sailboats 2.  Folding Bikes 3.  Charleston, SC   Our first day exploring Charleston by bike.  Super fun!!!

This was the mantra on my recent vacation/adventure to help my brother transport his Island Packet 485 , a 51' 7" full foil keel sailing yacht named Spill The Wine from Kay Largo, FL to Charleston, SC, a mere 640 nautical miles (nm) in 8 days.   Sailing can be a relaxing time, but that was not the case with this trip! There were only three of us on the boat: Michael Miller, Barbara Collins, and I; so we basically planned on taking 3 hour shifts, rotating between captain, crew, and resting.   We typically started each shift by recording the captain-on-shift, date and time, trip odometer, diesel engine’s readings (RPM, temp, fuel filter pressure, and oil pressure), fuel level, battery voltage, water level in the bilge, and weather forecast.   While there was plenty of room on the boat for everyone, but “The bread is in the microwave and the knife block is in the kitchen sink” are just some of the things you do for efficient space utilization. Day 1, 4/23, Thursday, Key Lar