UPDATE: St. Johns Yacht Harbor, Charleston and on to Beaufort/Port Royal, SC

Currently Docked at : Port Royal Landing Marina   

Latitude 32 23 45.2 N   Longitude 080 40 39.4 W

http://www.portroyallandingmarina.com/index.htm

Thursday, Dec 17^th, 2008 we moved from McClellanville south past the Isle of Palms, crossed Charleston Harbor, down Wappoo Creek through the dreaded Elliot Cut and down the Stono River to St. Johns Yacht Harbor. The passage was fairly uneventful and the many miles of salt marsh we saw were breathtaking. Crossing Charleston Harbor and seeing the Battery and Fort Sumter from the water is always an awesome site, especially when you think of the history. 

We did have to deal with two bridge tenders (Ben Sawyer and Wappoo Creek Bridges) that need another profession. If I had to guess, neither of the women have ever had to deal with the strong currents that occur near these bridges. No matter how nice you are to these folks, they always seem to get a kick out of seeing sailing vessels caught up in the current and having to maneuver dangerously close to each other and the bridge while they decide to stop watching their game show or soap opera and press the button to open the bridge. Never mind that the hours we were passing these bridges they were supposed to open on request. These folks all seem to go to the same school of rudeness. Shame on the state officials who allow these folks to keep their jobs. They make a great impression for their state with their rudeness and attitude for the boating public.  They seem to have lost sight that they wouldn’t have a job if there were no commercial or pleasure boaters to open the bridge for. I’m planning to get off my soap box and write some letters to state officials to see if we can help change the attitudes of these people.

Friday, Dec 18^th we sat out the storm that hammered the east coast with rain and snow. I can’t remember the last time it rained all day and into the night with the intensity we witnessed. Serious flooding occurred in and around the Charleston area.

Saturday, Dec 19^th we were blessed with sunny skies and a visit from our family. Matt, Tara, Holden and Annalee came to visit us and we had a great day with them. They took us to downtown Charleston which is awesome at Christmas time with all the decorations. They also took us out to dinner at the Charleston Crab House. It was very special to see them and spend time with them on our way south.

Sunday we spent the morning with the kids and we were sad to see them go. The rest of the day we spent planning our next couple of runs down to Port Royal.

Monday we were greeted with frosty docks. What a way to wake up. We shoved off for Beaufort with a planned bail out point at Dataw Island Marina on the Morgan River if we couldn’t make the Bridge at Beaufort by 4:00 pm. Monday was cold but sunny and we enjoyed the scenery along the low country of SC. We decided to bail out and spend the night at Dataw Island and were glad we did. This is a beautiful marina off the ICW with lots of southern charm. The marina is part of a private golf course development and is 1^st class.

Today (Tuesday) we left Dataw Island and ran the 19 nautical miles (nm) to Port Royal Landing Marina which is about 3nm south of Beaufort. We left around 10:15 am and were tied up at the dock by 1:15. Another southern charm facility. These folks are very, very nice and helpful in every way. More to come from Port Royal and Beaufort as we plan on spending Christmas here.

UPDATE: Moving Down to Charleston and Points Beyond

Today (Wed. Dec.16) we made it to the awesome little fishing village of McClellanville, SC. What a picturesque town. It’s like going back in time. If you find yourself between Charleston and Georgetown on US 17 it’s worth stopping, having lunch or dinner and seeing the town. The old moss laden oaks covering the streets and the restored homes nestled in the beautiful maritime forest makes this a special off the beaten path stop.

Tuesday we transited the Waccamaw River from Osprey Marina (South of Myrtle Beach) to Georgetown. When we started out the river was covered in fog and it was eeriely quiet moving slowly through the fog with Cypress trees towering on both sides of the narrow headwaters of the river. We used radar, GPS and the fog horn until the fog lifted to reveal the awesome character of the river. The pictures to the right were taken after we got out of the dense stuff. As we moved south, the river widened until we made it to Georgetown, SC which is another awesome river town everyone should visit.

Monday (Dec 14^th) we left Coquina Harbor in Little River, SC (N. Myrtle Beach) and transited what some call the most dreaded part of the ICW, “The Rock Pile” to Osprey Marina on the Waccamaw River. This area of the ICW is extremely narrow and was blasted through rock by the Corps Of Engineers. The edges of the channel are lined with jagged rocks and have sunk or badly damaged many vessels wandering out of the narrow channel. This stretch of the ICW runs for about 10 to 15 miles and passing or meeting others vessels is a real problem. Glad to be through there. There was a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow waiting for us though. Osprey Marina is the best kept secret on the ICW so far. The marina is tucked away off the Waccamaw River and sports good old down home southern hospitality from the staff that makes you feel right at home.

Saturday we ran from Southport Marina in Southport, NC to Coquina Harbor in Little River, SC. This stretch was laden with many headaches. To begin with the bridge construction at the new Oak Island bridge held us up for about 2 and a half hours. This happened after we were told there would be no work performed on Saturday and the ICW would be open. We had to stay an extra day in Southport after we were told on Wednesday there would be no construction on Thursday. Good for us (and them) they answered the phone Thursday before we shoved off. To boot, the construction company didn’t answer the phone number when I tried to call them before getting underway on Saturday. On our approach to the bridge, the tugboat captain told us we could get through and then moved his tug and barge in the way to block the waterway for approximately 10 vessels trying to get through the area. We were told he would open the waterway in 30 minutes. An hour and half later, he told another vessel (VHF Radio Channel 16) that it would be another 2 hours before he could open. We decided to go back to a marina a half mile north of the site and stay there for the evening. The extra two hour delay would prevent us from crossing the shallow inlets at high tide. No sooner did we get docked (30 minutes after his 2 hour announcement ) and the Tug captain announced he was opening the waterway. We ran to the boat and shoved off and got through the construction area and on to our original destination.

As a North Carolina tax payer and professional who worked on many, many construction sites, I’m ashamed of how this project is being handled. The ICW is well know as a vital route for vessels (both commercial and pleasure) using the ICW as the only north/south inshore route. The commerce that occurs along this vital waterway brings many tax dollars to the state and revenue to local businesses providing services for commercial and pleasure vessels. Someone needs to be held accountable for the poor planning and havoc this project is creating. It can be different and must be different. 

On the bright side the new bridge being built at Sunset Beach (another new NC ICW bridge) will put one more bridge tender on a new career path. 

UPDATE: Waiting for the Blow to Pass (40 to 45 Knot Winds)

We are waiting for weather to calm down today at Harbour Village Marina so we can move down to Southport Marina tomorrow and on to SC for the weekend.  For the past couple weeks this weather pattern of a front every 3^rd day seems to be holding true to form. The section of the ICW we are transiting now (Morehead to Myrtle Beach) has many headaches to deal with on top of the weather. There are many shallow spots that have to be passed only at high tide. There are old bridges that do not open in high winds and new bridge construction that close the ICW for a day or two at a time.

We ran aground yesterday near high tide crossing the New River Inlet on the ICW and we were in the channel according to buoys and where the Army Corp of Engineers November waypoint survey said the channel was. Oh well, it’s been 15 years or more since I ran a boat aground. I guess I needed a reminder of why this should be avoided. It’s not good for the boat, crew or the captain’s attitude toward our government employees responsible for keeping our waterway channels marked.

  

We had a wonderful visit from our son Joe, daughter-in-law, Deidra and grandsons, Chris and Brian over the weekend while in Morehead City. We had fun going to the Maritime Museum in Beaufort and seeing the Christmas Boat Parade in Morehead City and the boys spent the night with us on the boat. We hated to see them leave Sunday.

Monday we moved “Wind Dust” from Morehead City to Swansboro where we stayed at Casper’s Marina. Tuesday we left Swansboro and headed for Topsail Island. Tuesday was not a fun day due to running aground and having to wait for bridge openings but we made it safely to Harbour Village Marina.

Capt. JP say’s we (USA) should start a new job creation program that employs construction workers to replace all ICW Bridges that have to be opened for passage of commercial and private vessels. It’s true this would put a few folks out of work (the Bridge Tenders) but most of them need an attitude adjustment anyway. 

UPDATE: Back to Oriental

Ginny and I made it to our old sailing grounds of Oriental, NC yesterday, Tuesday, December 1^st. Sure seemed good to be back here and see old friends. We are staying at the Oriental Marina and it has been great. The Christmas lights here have put us in the Christmas spirit and it feels good.

We left Portsmouth, VA. On Saturday, November 28^th and ran down the ICW to Coinjock, NC. We met a young family in Portsmouth over Thanksgiving who is traveling on a Vagabond 47 which is almost identical to our previous boat. We gave been running together for the past few days and have really enjoyed getting to know them.

Sunday, November 29^th we ran from Coinjock down the North River, crossed the Albemarle Sound and up the mighty Alligator River to the southern end where we anchored for the evening. Every time we do this leg I am always in awe of the natural beauty of the NC coast and coastal rivers.

Monday, November 30^th we transited the Alligator River/Pungo River canal then down the Pungo River to Belhaven.  While in the canal, boneheads on power boats from Cape May, New Jersey almost ran us into the canal stumps with their big wakes from their power boats. They don’t have enough sense to know they are financially responsible for damage that occurs when they are irresponsible.  The Pungo River was stirred up with heavy wind and we were glad to pull in behind the sea wall in Belhaven just as the wind velocity ramped up to 40 knots. We waited a while and got the anchor set. The wind died in the afternoon just to come back with a vengeance around 9:30 pm with the approaching front. The wind clocked around as the front approached and we again saw 40 knots of wind for a while. I was up until after midnight making sure our anchor didn’t drag. Not one of those nights you wish or hope for but one that you have to tolerate every now and then.

Tuesday, December 1^st, we left Belhaven and ran the ICW down the Pungo River then crossed the Pamlico River to the Bay River then up the Neuse River to Oriental. The weather was awesome and we had a great run.

Wednesday, December 2^nd we stayed in Oriental and had visits from friends who live here. It was great to see them and relax for a day. It rained almost all day and the wind picked up around 11:30 pm as the front came in. We had heavy winds blowing straight into the dock and I had to get up and run more lines to the pilings. Listened to a USCG rescue that was unfolding off the NC coast on VHF channel 16 until around 2:30 am. Still not sure what happened but the last transmission I heard they CG was sending a 2^nd rescue helicopter.

Thursday, December 3^rd – the glue in Oriental was very sticky so we stayed another day and waited for better weather to move on.

Friday, December 4^th we backed out of the slip and headed out for Morehead City Yacht Basin looking forward to seeing our oldest son and his family.

UPDATE: Thanksgiving Day 2009

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family! 

Ginny and I are in Portsmouth, Virginia for turkey day and glad to be this far along on our trek to warm weather. Today is one of those weather gifts we receive and mostly take for granted - 70, sunny and a awesome day for November.

We finally got underway from Rock Hall, Maryland on Thursday, November 19^th under cloudy skies and after many delays.  Our first leg took us to Galesville, Maryland on the West River just south of Annapolis. Just a short run (25 nm) to check systems and make a little southern progress. We arrived in Galesville around 2:30 pm and just in time for a fog laden afternoon and evening.

Friday, November 20^th we were up at the crack of dawn and weighed anchor by 7:00am off to Solomons, Maryland. The fishing boats were out in force. We have never seen so many commercial and sport fishing boats in the same place. The day was sunny and cold on the water (thank god for the pilothouse) and we arrived in Solomon’s around 2:00 pm with 25 to 30 kts of wind in the mouth of the Patuxent River. We ran Mill creek back to a great little anchorage in 10 ft of water and surrounded by beautiful homes. Ginny whipped up chili over rice which was awesome.

Saturday, November 21^st up again early and were off by 8:00 am to Reedville ,Virginia on the Great Wicomico River. We anchored off the Reedville Marina on Cockrell Creek in 12 ft of water and had a great evening. Mind you it was pretty cold around 3:00 am in the morning, however, not too cold for a couple of hearty intoxicated water enthusiast to be riding their wave runner up and down the creek. I did hear one of them say “please slow down” when they buzzed past. 

Sunday, November 22^nd greeted us with a nasty run down to Fishing Bay, Deltaville, Virginia. It was a short run, 30 nautical miles however the Chesapeake was stirred up by a 20 to 25 kt wind out of the NE which made for a very uncomfortable run with 3 to 5 ft seas off the stern quarter. We tucked into Fishing Bay by 12:30 and dropped the hook glad to be in the protected harbor. Ginny cooked Italian sausage and spaghetti with garlic bread which I must say was awesomely, awesome. Damn she can cook. Well we didn’t have to worry about vampires’ and had a great evening onboard. What a beautiful anchorage. This is one to remember for future trips north. Due to approaching weather we elected to swing on the hook in Fishing Bay until Wednesday, morning.      

Wednesday, November 25^th we left Fishing Bay and headed for Norfolk. The wind was light however we had lots of fog and rain along the way. 

As we made our turn into Thimble Shoals ship channel we were greeted by the USS Montpelier coming home after a six month deployment. What a treat to see one of our Los Angeles class attack submarines underway. She was escorted by several Coast Guard vessels and we managed to get out of their way and follow them into the Elizabeth River to their port. 

We continued south on the Elizabeth River to Tidewater Yacht Marina in Portsmouth where we are spending Thanksgiving Day. 

UPDATE:

We should be shoving off by the 14th if the yard can come through and finish our maintenance projects. Very frustrating ordeal. On the bright side we are going to freeze our butts off until we get down to Florida sometime in December. Could be worse though. We could be going to work next week. Oh well, life is good ! Just have to play the cards you are dealt and enjoy the ride. Before we shove off, we will post another update and will also do so along the way. We plan on activating SPOT this week and this will update our daily route. Anyone who would like to receive email updates of our progress please send us your email address to jprice42@nc.rr.com.

We would like to share with you an awesome experience from Halloween. Rehoboth Beach, Delaware has the "Sea Witch Festival" each year the weekend of or before Halloween. They have a huge parade, fiddle and banjo championship, dog parade and many, many other side events. It's very unique and lots of fun. Here are some photo's from the parade.


Capt JP and Admiral Ginny  

Getting Close

UPDATE:  – Ginny and I made a car trip to Annapolis Thursday to purchase a new secondary anchor and rode for Wind Dust.  We were advised to check out Bacon Sails in Annapolis and boy we hit the jackpot. Bacon has just about everything cruising sailors need both new and used. We purchased a new Lewmar 66 lb claw anchor with 150 ft of chain along with several other needed items. We highly recommend checking these guys out before you spend the big bucks elsewhere. Anyway, we are now carrying four anchors, 400 ft of chain and 300 ft of rope rode. 

While in Annapolis we went downtown to the water front, did a little shopping and had a nice lunch. What a beautiful town. Max Prop came in Friday so we should be in the water next week. Yeeehaaa! We are planning to move aboard next week and start the process of getting to know Wind Dust from the live aboard point of view. Once we get underway we plan on activating our SPOT to keep track of our progress and it will be added as a link to this page. 

Update: October 10, 2009

Regards from the North:

We closed on “Wind Dust” (Nauticat 44) September 22 and we have been busy getting her ready to go south. As with all boats, there’s always unexpected issues and maintenance items to deal with. From the looks of things, we hope to be underway from Rock Hall, Maryland (across the bay from Baltimore) by the end of first week of November (Burrrrrrr). This will give us a few weeks living aboard and getting used to “Wind Dust” before moving south at a quick leisurely pace. There’s just something wrong with that terminology, isn’t there? Well, considering what happened to us in August, we will take it all day long and be damned happy we are making progress.  We are posting a few new pictures of “Wind Dust” sporting her new bottom job.  Some of the work we are having done before we leave:  new heavy duty paint job on the bottom; new AGM batteries throughout; additional refrigeration added; Max Prop reconditioned; cutlass bearing replaced; stuffing box replaced; generator serviced with the raw water pump, heat exchanger and belts; same drill for the main engine; propane system tested and solenoid replaced; canvas work re-stitched; ground tackle inspected and additional anchors added to the arsenal. Bottom line, a big sucking sound coming from our bank account. Oh well, our friends tell us it’s just money, but to us, it may be back to work sooner than we planned or getting by with little less creature comforts and that’s ok. “The main thing, is to keep the main thing, the main thing”. My dad told me that saying many years ago and as silly as it sounds, there’s a lot of truth to the saying, especially when your to-do list is longer and bigger than the old brain can handle.

Sea Trial Today

UPDATE: September 19, 2009 ----  Closing on "Wind Dust" Tuesday, Sept. 22. Hope to be Southbound by the 1st week in October.

UPDATE: September 15, 2009 ----  Sea Trial of "Wind Dust" .

The sea trial went well today. More to come later. Photo's for now. 

This May Be Our New Home ! Again.

UPDATE Sunday, Sept 13, 2009 - OK - concessions have been made on repairs and the deal is back on.

UPDATE Friday, Sept 11, 2009 - Ginny and I have decided to pass on this boat after purchasing the Marine Surveys. The search continues.

Well we've been looking for a new home since losing "Moriah" (our Vagabond 47) to a lightning strike and subsequent fire (See Our Blog Archive for the full story) . "Wind Dust" may fit the bill. She is a much different yacht than "Moriah" but she was built for the North Sea and therefore a very well built boat. She's a well cared for 1984 Nauticat 44. We will know if we can work out details this week and get back on track for cruising the Bahamas this fall. Well here's "Wind Dust" on the hard.

The Night We Lost "Moriah"

The Demise of our Friend and Home

Sailing Vessel

“Moriah”

A 1983  Vagabond 47

August 10 th, 2009, a beautiful day on the Chesapeake and day 16 of living aboard “Moriah” as full time cruisers. My wife and I had sold our home in Wake Forest, North Carolina and moved aboard “Moriah” to pursue our dream of cruising. The weeks preceding moving aboard were hectic. Selling our home, most of our belongings and moving “Moriah” from Florida to North Carolina and making arrangements to retire from work. We arrived at Bay Point Marina (Norfolk, Virginia) on Monday, August 3^rd, a little over a week after moving aboard “Moriah” in Morehead City, NC.   Unbeknown to us, August 10^th would be our last full day living aboard “Moriah”. Mother nature held “Moriah’s” fate in the skies above Hampton Roads.

 

Our journey to find “Moriah” began in August of 2008 after selling our Catalina 380 “Priceless”. Ginny and I spent untold hours looking at boats on the internet and trying to determine the perfect cruising sailboat for us. This would be our 4^th and last sailboat so we needed to get it right. We traveled north as far as Rock Hall, Maryland, south to Florida and west as far as New Orleans looking at vessels. None of the boats we saw were quite right for us until we found “Moriah” in December of 2008. She was located in St. Marks, Florida which is on the gulf coast south of Tallahassee. The owners accepted our offer and we agreed to have “Moriah” hauled and surveyed in the Tampa Bay area in the spring of 2009.

April 24 th, 2009 we purchased “Moriah”. The previous owners purchased her in 1996 and had updated many of her systems and maintained her beautifully. They had cruised on “Moriah” for 5 years in the Caribbean and therefore she was equipped with all the items a cruising couple would need.  Ginny and I put nearly 1500 nautical miles under “Moriah’s” keel since leaving the west coast of Florida and moving her offshore to North Carolina and up the intracoastal waterway to Virginia. We had become very comfortable with her systems and her nautical nature. She was a fine sailing vessel and home.

Monday, August 10^th was a nice day, sunny and warm and we spent the day mostly cleaning and organizing. I spent part of the day washing and cleaning “Moriah’s” stainless steel rails and prepping the decks for future brightwork projects. I was itching to re-varnish the teak on “Moriah’s” topsides and watch her transform back into her most beautiful classic pose.  We met a local naval architect the previous week after arriving in Norfolk and he had us on his scheduled for Tuesday morning August 11^th to review our vessel and help us establish a comprehensive maintenance plan before shoving off to the Bahamas. Our overall plan was to wait out hurricane season in Norfolk and carry out various maintenance and upgrade projects. After hurricane season we planned to go south to the Bahamas for December through May and then move back up the east coast to the Chesapeake for the 2010 Hurricane Season.

Monday evening we had a nice dinner onboard and watched TV in ‘Moriah’s” main salon. As usual, I fell asleep watching the tube and Ginny retired to the aft cabin after watching a movie. Approximately 12:30am I woke up, turned the TV off and crawled into bed with my wife in the aft cabin. After a few minutes, I could feel “Moriah” begin to heel in the slip so I looked out the aft port to see what was going on. The wind was picking up, I could see white caps across Little Creek and I also noticed distant cloud to cloud lightning. Nothing unusual for summer in Hampton Roads so I rolled over and tried to go to sleep. “Moriah” continued to heel in the slip and within a few minutes I heard one loud clap of thunder and thought to myself, "that was close". Within a couple minutes I began to smell an odd odor. It was an odor I didn’t recognize and I recall thinking to myself "you need to get up and check it out". I recall taking a couple more whiffs and bam the fire alarms went off. I jumped up and ran into the main salon to find it completely engulfed in heavy smoke. I yelled for Ginny to get up and headed back to the aft cabin. I told her we had no time to look for anything or even put on our clothes. We needed to get her off the boat. I open the companionway hatch and helped Ginny get onto the dock. She was in her panties, no shoes and a tee-shirt. She recalled looking at her watch and it was 1:00am.  I backed down the companionway and grabbed the fire extinguisher. Before I could arm the unit flames began to come up at me. Having on only a tee-shirt and shorts, I couldn’t withstand the flames and heavy smoke. I knew I had to get out and had to do so quickly. I climbed up the companionway and jumped onto the dock.

Ginny told me later I was saying “oh my god, we are going to lose our boat” as I hit the dock. I recall trying to get the water hose off “Moriah’s” deck however it got stuck. Someone handed me a water hose and it didn’t work. We began beating on adjacent boats to warn everyone of the fire. Someone on the dock called 911 as several nearby boats left the dock to avoid the fire which was raging out of control. We were in slip B56 which was at the very end of B-dock and about 500 ft from land. A tug boat seemed to have come out of nowhere and came up close to “Moriah’s” port stern quarter. It appeared to be spraying some water on the fire but not a sufficient amount to do much good. The fire moved aft and caught the aft stern deck lockers on fire and shortly thereafter the propane tank vented and shot a fireball off the stern. The tug backed off as the dinghy and dinghy fuel tank caught fire. Everyone on the dock was afraid other boats were going to catch fire before the fire department arrived. Within a few minutes we heard the sirens and saw the firemen running the water hose down the dock. The Norfolk Fire Department did a fantastic job of getting to the scene quickly and putting the fire out on “Moriah” before it spread to other boats. We were waiting at the end of the dock for the fireman to get the fire under control and I recall a gentleman coming up to us and saying he saw the lightning strike at the end of our dock from the bathhouse. 

The fire chief and Coast Guard both interviewed Ginny and I that evening. We told them of the events leading up to and preceding the fire and they were very professional and courteous. The fire chief had his men go back onboard to see if they could retrieve our car keys and wallets. Ginny and I were absolutely amazed that they found them and that everything worked (credit cards and keyless remote). In shock, tired and thankful for being able to get off the boat without being burned or killed, we went in search of a place to spend the rest of the night. At approximately 3:30 our heads hit the pillows at the Days Inn about a mile from the Marina.

After rolling around the rest of the night in disbelief of what had happened I got up and went back to the marina around 7:00 am to make sure “Moriah” was still secured to the dock and had not sunk in the slip. There she was, sitting upright in her slip, still floating with her decks a charred mess. The mizzen mast was dangling from the single sideband antenna attached to the main mast. It was a sickening sight. Our beautiful home and friend the victim of a fire started by lightning. As I stood there sick to my stomach looking at “Moriah”, Josh Johnson the naval architect we were going to meet with at 9:15 am came around the corner. He stopped, paused and said “I heard the 5:30am news about a fire on a 47’ sailboat at Bay Point Marina and I was praying it wasn’t your boat. Oh my God. This is awful.” Without hesitation, Josh befriended me and began to tell me all of the things I needed to take care of until the insurance company took possession of the vessel. I can’t thank Josh enough for his support and kindness. Josh is a very special person and his advice at a time when I was in a state of mental haze will always be remembered by Ginny and I.

The next week was filled with many chores dealing with the insurance company, arson investigators, the marina, marine surveyors and the like all while living at the local Days Inn. It was surreal to realize we were homeless and most of our personal belongings were destroyed. The most important question Ginny and I had to answer was “did we want to continue our quest and buy another boat?” Without hesitation we both answered “yes”. It was clear, if we had lived in a house and it burned due to a lightning strike, we wouldn’t hesitate to purchase another house. We saw no difference in our story. We chose to sell our home and move aboard “Moriah”. We just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and mother nature caused a fire that destroyed our home. Fire burns many homes each year and we just happen to be included in this year’s list. As far as Ginny and I can remember no one in our collective families going back as far as our grandparents on both sides have lost a home or anything substantial to fire. We hope our event satisfies the fire gods and we hope he leaves our family alone for many generations to come.

The insurance company declared "Moriah" a total loss and she will be cut and sold for scrap.

We were blessed to go through this ordeal without being injured or worse and would like to share some procedures that saved our lives and other procedures you may want to consider when at the dock or offshore.

 1.    Check your smoke detectors and fire alarms. Make sure you strategically place these units in enough places throughout your vessel to give you early warning in case of a fire. Check the units on a regular schedule and make sure they are loud. These devices saved our lives. While you are at it, make sure you have several carbon monoxide detectors onboard as well.

2.    Plan for a fire emergency. Plan your escape route. Make sure you have two exit routes if possible. Practice exiting your cabin through deck hatches if you have them and they are large enough. You may only have 2 minutes to get off your vessel before it’s engulfed in flames. That’s all we had.

3.    Regardless if you are at the dock or offshore make sure you have a ditch bag ready to go. You may want to have one for offshore and one for when you are at the dock. You don’t have time to look for it and it should be kept in the cockpit or with you in your cabin. We had an offshore ditch bag but since we were at the dock it was stowed away under a settee in the main salon. The main salon was full of smoke and flames and we had to leave the boat in our underwear. You may want to consider having the following items in your dock ditch bag. Your prescription drugs, wallets, car keys, glasses, flash light, shorts and shoes, cell phone, hand held VHF radio and cash.

4.    Opt for large fire extinguishers and make sure there’s one or more in every cabin and several on the deck and in the cockpit. If you are trapped it may knock down enough flames to keep you from getting burned while exiting the vessel. Better yet it may have enough retardant to put the fire out or at least buy a few extra minutes.

5.    When at the dock do not leave your hose on the deck of your yacht. Murphy will make sure it’s either tangled or inaccessible when you need it. Make sure it is reeled or coiled on the dock and is ready to go.

6.    Read, re-read and read your insurance policy over and over until you are sure you know what is covered. There’s typically an amount for hull insurance. This covers and includes everything you put on your boat having to do with it’s operation, safety and navigation. Then there’s coverage for personal effects (be careful with this one), medical coverage, third party liability, environmental spills, towing and other coverage. Keep a list of improvements you make to your vessel. If you upgrade electronics, bring personal safety devices onboard, upgrade your dinghy and outboard make sure you up negotiate with your insurance company and increase your hull overall coverage otherwise you may find out after it’s too late that you are under insured.

Wishing you safe awesome sailing, blue skies, electric blue water and white sandy bottoms.

 Capt. Jesse Price