It is exactly 2 years ago that my second attempt, the first was interrupted in June 2017 with my stranding on the Barrier Islands, to sail to the Nantucket Sound, ended on the rocks of the jetty at Ocean City, Maryland. While I repaired the damage, the White Marlin Derby was taking place. This weekend one of the boats sank, according to the radio, another contestant picked the 6 men crew and their life raft and their beer from the Atlantic, everything else went down with the ship. If you go to my blog https://cometosea.us/?p=6835  for the August 2019 derby, you will see a sea of Trump for 2020 flags on the sport fishing boats.  I wonder if there were as many for 2024 this weekend.

This evening I anchored in a delightful spot in Ocean City, New Jersey. I can spit to shore and I intend to land my dinghy on the beach. I have not been ashore since I left Annapolis last Saturday.

The south end of Long Port

The sun is just setting and there are several photographers to make their famous albums for newlyweds.

Getting wet

Newly weds

The last blog I posted was from New Jersey shore under the nuclear power plant, Sunday evening. It was a wonderful spot to anchor until at around 10.30 pm when I could hear this wind storm approaching from a mill pond it turned into mayhem. I believe this was about the strongest wind I was in other than the storm near Mallorca just before my (first) shipwreck. It was close to 50 knots. Black sky but no lightning. I got into the Mayday mode with my Heavenly best friend. But thank God for the friends who urged me to replace my anchor with a spade anchor, last May in Deltaville. God listened, as usual, it blew away in 90 minutes., but then the chop came down the river and made for a bumpy berth.

The conditions for the ride from the Sunday anchorage to Cape May were ideal. I had the current with me for most of the ride. A good 20 knots dead down wind, mostly wing on wing. Anchorage spots are few on the shallow waters of Cape May. I joined a number of transiting sailboats in front of the Coast Guard station. I needed to get ashore for supplies but it was windy and the Coast Guard station takes up nearly 3 miles of the shore and a long row to land the dinghy. My plan was to leave early this morning and to make the 100 plus miles to Sandy Hook an overnighter. The forecast was for a weak N.E. wind and to lift in the late afternoon to an Easterly. As you will see from the Garmin Tracker it became a very slow tacking duel dead against the wind. I covered 42 miles that covered 26 miles, as the crow flies. My boat is to light to motor in the swells and the waves just stop me dead. The bigger heavier boats with larger engines can plow through it. And the racket of my two cylinder drives me insane, for an extended period. The tiller pilot jaws a zigzag course in those swells. I had hoped to get that promised Easterly, you will see from the last part of the Garmin track that a lift happened but not enough to keep going for the night. Other than that, “Fleetwood” likes to sail close to the wind and I can never get enough of it.

I had hoped to be in the N.Y. harbor by Wednesday morning. The forecast for later in the day is for a strong northerly. I will double check the forecast in the morning and may need to plan to duck in tomorrow night. I need to inflate/deflate the dinghy in the morning and find groceries. So might be a late start.

There was a beautiful sunset here.

Sunset from anchorage

I untied the mooring ball in Annapolis yesterday in the early morning. I had hoped to make it into Chesapeake City in the C&D Canal, but the current was going the wrong way by 4 p.m. and I anchored off the traffic lane for the night. Then I had to wait until 11.30 a.m. this morning to catch the favorable tide and exited into the Delaware Bay by 2 p.m. with the incoming tide. There are few places to anchor for the night on the Delaware Bay on either the New Jersey or Maryland side.  But I found just one spot on the Jersey side at Alloway Creek, right under the steam cloud of the Nuclear-power plant. But it is a nice quiet spot.

Last night, after the weekend-warriors had stabled their hot rod rocket ships, it was a blissful night at anchor. There ought to be a boating license requirement for these ignorant, selfish power boaters, to pass a test on a sailboat while I overtake in their power boat at full bore within spitting distance of any sailboat. In a canal I get to hobby horse not once on their wake but it bounces back from the banks for another session.

I was ready to get on the VHF to compliment a power boater who slowed down when he was ready to pass me, just before Chesapeake City, in the canal, but then he did not pass me at all, but when I looked back there was a police boat behind me and a whole flock of obedient power boaters. But when the water cop turned into the little harbor of Chesapeake City, they broke loose again. The “No Wake” signs are, apparently, just for sail boats.

I expect to male it into the Cape May Canal, a short cut to the Atlantic through the south eastern tip of New Jersey, by tomorrow evening, it is 41 knot-ical miles. The ebb starts at 8 a.m. from where I am now but does not last long and most will be against the flood. The wind is forecasted to be very favorable, downwind. This trip accounts already for nearly half the hours on this engine, since I installed it in 2018.

I am listening to the public radio Sunday program “Pipe Dreams”. Siebold de Jong is playing a Bach Cantate on the organ of the Martini Church in Groningen (the second tallest basilica in the Netherlands).  The church is mentioned by our mother in my book “The Mastmakers’ Daughters”. Her father was also a Siebold (de Vries) and her brother plus a string of cousins and nephews. My twin spells his as Siebolt.

Now that I learned from the bartender in the Solomons to use my hot spot I get to do my internet on the boat instead of blowing up the dinghy and finding an internet connection. So, on Wednesday morning I did not get going until 11 am after searching for an open diesel station. I sailed most of the way. It got rough in the late afternoon. I stayed on the Eastern Shore but it does not have a lot of options to spend the night. I picked Poplar Island. Not sure of the status. Must have been a bird sanctuary. They are building long jetties and it is either a secret dark government project or a retreat for the billionaires. I found a sheltered spot from the strong southerly and had a good night sleep. But in the early morning the wind was whistling through the rigging form the west, totally exposed to the bay, and it did not take long for the waves to build. I was only a 100-feet from the lee shore. It was a real challenge to hand haul the anchor chain while the boat is bucking the waves. But when you have no alternatives, you find some underused muscles. I had intended to make it into the C&D Canal. I could see the Bay Bridge. But dead against the wind and the steep waves, I was not making enough headway under motor. I knew I had very few options on the Eastern Shore to hide. The forecast is for strong northerlies tonight. So, I bore off to the mainland shore and ended up in Annapolis. The 11 miles took me over 4 hours. I am moored right in the heart of town on a $35 a day mooring ball. A $4 water taxi picks me up from the boat and drops me on the main waterfront. The Harbormaster office is right there and they have free showers. I needed one badly to remove the layers of insect repellent, that for the most part seem to be useless on the flesh-eating green flies. I had been to the Boat show here in 2008 and picked up a used genoa sail here in 2009, before taking off for Europe; but I had never explored the town. I hiked up to the state capitol building. The oldest continuous functioning state capitol. Back “home” the North Hampton County seat, where Cape Charles pays their dues, claims this for U.S. County seats.

State Capitol

I had a Stella Artois and steamed mussels at the Middleton Tavern which was established in 1750.

Middleton Tavern

This picture shows the crowd at the “Pusser”. Looks like a good pick-up bar for your daughters to catch a potential Admiral from these awkward looking Navy cadets.

The Pusser P.U.bar

The harbor is a display of all sorts of water activities. Little tourist tour boats, large luxury yachts. The “Endless Summer” is here, I showed a picture of her on Face Book at full moon last June at the Cape Charles Yacht Center. There was an evening sail regatta and all the participants are filing back in. It reminds me of the harbor of Victoria B.C. on the Memorial Day.

My plan is to leave here early and try make it into Chesapeake City on the C&D Canal before the current turns at noon and then again have a favorable current on Sunday morning.

I got a late start on Monday from Mill Creek near Fort Monroe. I had to row to shore to get the latest weather forecasts from a wi-fi connection. It turned out that Tuesday and Wednesday showed little wind. I do not like to motor in the Atlantic swells. I decided to take the chicken run up the Chesapeake and the C&D Canal. It ended up a strong wind fast down wind sail to Deltaville. I discovered in Mill Creek that my bow lights were burnt out. It took me a couple trips to West Marine and the hardware store to get the right replacements. I decided to stay the Tuesday night and left early in the morning. The wind blew over 20 knots just off the nose. This made it possible to motor-sail with the main sail giving some power. But the waves were nasty and a very uncomfortable ride. A catamaran “Follow Me” heading the same direction decided to bear off towards Tangier Island, I was tempted, but I declined the invitation. Once I crossed the mouth of the Potomac, the wind decreased and the current turned around in my favor. So, I made it in before sundown 121/4 hours and 56.1 nautical miles. I anchored in the same anchorage where the below picture was taken in 2008, when the original “Fleetwood” was still clear finished. I rowed in to the same restaurant but they did not have the upstairs deck open, the excuse: unable to find help to serve that section.

in the Solomons. August 2008.

But here is wat then happened and will be included in my next book: “My Small World”. While I am talking to the receptionist, two customers are on their way out. The tallest of the two ladies turns around and says: “We met on July 4th at the Firehouse Coffee shop at Fort Madison; I recognized your accent.” Her name is Loren and she lives here in St. Marys. She was at the Coffee house with her husband. I have been trying so hard to lose my Dutch accent. But it can be an asset, as this story proves. But can you imagine the mathematical odds for this to happen? Frankly, I hope that the next occasion the lady will admit that she recognized me for my good looks….

Tomorrow looks like a good day to make some more miles north. I had kind of hoped that it would not be a good day. I’d like to go to mass at the local St. Mary Queen of the Seas. That would qualify me for sainthood, two consecutive Sundays. at churches of the same name. And I have friends I met last summer in Cape Charles who go to this church regularly where they keep their sailboat.

A picture of the Point no Point light, with a no-flush privy, in the Chesapeake, just north of the Potomac.

Point no Point- L

And entering the Solomons on the Patuxent River.

The Patuxent River near the Solomons Islands

The propane tank ran empty this morning while brewing my espresso. But Russ Grimm came to the rescue. We met here at Saint Mary Queen of the Seas on July 4^th, as reported in my previous blog. He drove me, after 9.30 mass, to fill my 1.4 gallon-tank, $4.90, this will be good for another three months.

Russ also has made me the best informed Dutch-American on the early American history of the area, Chesapeake and Hampton Roads. The cradle of the United States of America. Did you know that the first Thanksgiving took place here with the Indians before what you have been told by the Plymouth Rock imposters?

Wednesday evening Susan Kovacs, with our mutual Cape Charles friends gave me a (another…) send off. I discovered, here in Hampton, that I had left my Nikon camera in Kay’s car. She and Laila brought the camera to Norfolk and Russ and his wife Doreen offered to drive me to Norfolk and we ended up joining them at a superb Middle Eastern restaurant for lunch. The best I have had since my first introduction in Damascus in 1975.

Wednesday’s Send-Off

Saturday lunch with Russ, Doreen and Laila

I brought up that I had heard that Hampton had a good Maritime Museum. But when I was here the last time, my Google search did not turn up any mention of it. I was told that it is in Newport News and my friends took me there. This is probably one of the best maritime museums I have ever visited. And Holland is known for them. A must see, worth a transatlantic sail or flight, for the $1.00 entrance fee. The discoverers, fabulous model displays, ancient navigation instruments, the maritime part of the wars of independence, revolution, the 1812 war, Hispano-American, the world wars and Vietnam. A big section on competitive sport sailing, including the Oracle American Cup display. I could have spent a week there. Relics and full-scale models of famous battle ships, like Iron Side.

The Amsterdam flag flying from the forward mast in the Maritime Museum

Before the museum visit, my friends gave me a tour of the backwaters of the James River. Ever heard of the settlement called Rescue? I had a glimpse of it on the banks of the Pagan River the tributary to the James River, I sailed up to Smithfield in July of last year. A community of watermen in isolation and only accessible by water until recent times.

Nearby is the, smaller than the one room school building, St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church in Carrollton.

The mini St.Augustine Church in Carrollton

My main mission for coming to the Mill Creek at Fort Monroe, was to have my first visit, on Friday, to the VA (Veteran Administration) Medical Facility. Turned out to be a very worthwhile asset that I had not been aware off. I met my assigned primary doctor and received a pneumonia and tetanus shot. I was very impressed with the facility and the service. Next, I plan to get set up with private practitioners, medical, dental, vision, etc. nearer to where I happen to be floating. I found the best bicycle repair shop in Buckroe Beach. The young man replaced my brake and derailleur cables, while I had lunch across the street. A recent storm dumped the folding bike in the salt water next to the boat. The bike shop charged me a whopping $20.00.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the museum of Fort Monroe. The Fort’s construction was started  in 1819 and completed in 1834, in the aftermath of the War of 1812 during which the British Navy sailed up the Chesapeake and burnt down the city of Hampton on June 25, 1813, and proceeded up the Chesapeake for more targets, the White House one of the most humiliating and the raid on Baltimore. The fort was also a Union stronghold close to the battle lines with the Confederates in the Civil War.  It also became the very first asylum for slaves that escaped from their Southern slave owners.

I plan to set off tomorrow morning into the Atlantic. The forecast is for very weak wind on late Tuesday and Wednesday and I might have to duck into an anchorage to sit this out.

I will try to be post these blogs more regularly, now that I am on the move again. You know how you can follow my progress, on the right upper corner Garmin In Reach link

I am anchored near Fort Monroe in the Hampton Roads. A very strategic and historic location.

By the number of boats that are coming in, this late afternoon, I expect that I might be treated to a fireworks spectacle.

It was an outstanding sail here, yesterday, from Cape Charles. A fast hard reach near and over 6 knots. On entering the James River one of the nuclear aircraft carriers was coming in to home base at Norfolk and the Navy was clearing a path with their patrol boats.

My last blog was the disappointing announcement that I abandoned the plan to cross the Atlantic in June. It remains the disappointment, but there are new plans to look forward to. I have had some good sailing here, around the middle of the month of June, to Deltaville and Onancock for a long weekend. This trip also serves to scout out the anchorages here. I have an appointment on July 23^rd with the VA (Veteran Administration), here in Hampton, to check out the medical care benefits that I have as a veteran U.S. army soldier. This all came about when the VA appeared to be my last option to get my Covid shots, last February.

I rowed into the nearby marina and unfolded my bicycle. It was early, a few joggers. Not a soul inside the moat and the heavy fortified walls of Fort Monroe. A platoon of Army recruits ran along the beach with a loud response to the sergeant’s phrases “You can’t ride in my little red wagon”. The fishing piers were already well attended. The large red brick officers’ quarters were all decked out in the national colors for today’s Independence Day.

Since June, the vaccinated are allowed to worship without masks and social distancing and, for me very meaningful, we are allowed to sing again. As you see in the picture, I did my Dominical duties with the Dominican sisters, staff of the parochial school of St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church, right close to Fort Monroe. Appropriate for a wandering sailor. Since I started my long voyage, I have attended services in a number of St. Mary Star of the Sea or Stella Maris churches. The ones I remember, on the Salomon Islands in the Northern Chesapeake Bay in 2008, on Bermuda in 2009, Port Townsend, Wa. 2016, Ocean City, Md. 2019. This church has some dated, sixties/seventies, wood paneling behind the altar and wainscoting along the church walls. It is Clear California Redwood. A bit gaudy in a gothic church, with the bright sapwood. For a few more bucks the architect could have specified “Clear All Heart”.

Rev. Monsignor Walter C. Barrett, Jr., pastor with Deacon Mike Swisher.

My next stop was in the one street old town adjoining the Fort and Hampton, Phoebus. “Mango Mangeaux” looked like a good place for lunch. The locals were there for their Sunday brunch, all dolled up and decked out for the occasion. I whispered to the host: “Are whites allowed?” He sat me at the bar and I had the very best deep fried chicken ever. They have an incredible exotic drink selection and it was fascinating to watch the bar tender mix them. The picture shows a family gathering for three of them having their birthdays in July. I like to be with happy people and felt envious for their black privilege.

I plan to set sail on the 24^th to the Nantucket Sound, depending on the wind direction, starting into the Atlantic or going up the Chesapeake and into the Delaware Bay. I have a presentation on my circumnavigation and sign books on August 20^th at 10.30 am at the Wooden Boat show in Mystic Seaport, R.I. I hope that some of you can come and attend. I will be moored in Mystic Seaport from the 19^th through the 22^nd. You can follow my progress on the Garmin-In-Reach, from the link in the right upper corner.

Corrine and Euan will fly from Scotland in September to the North West and I hope to shake hands with their brand new Wheatly, my fourth great grandchild. My oldest son John, who moved recently with his wife and her two daughters to Las Vegas from San Diego, will celebrate his first ½ century on September 30^th, and I hope that I and his brother and sisters can attend that milestone celebration. Then when the colder fall winds start blowing, I plan on spending most of the winter in warmer climes.

Yesterday was the sendoff gathering in the Cape Charles Marina. But I am still tethered to the dock, this morning. The heavy rain directed me to a last-minute reality check. As much as I had looked forward to this new adventure, I realized that I have a few loose ends that are not going away while underway.
The first one is the inability to find liability insurance outside of the USA. After over ten turndowns, I realized that the fundamentals have changed. The main problem seems to be the inability to find underwriting for US flagged yachts. In addition, which is usually not spelled out but hidden in the “does not meet our requirements” solo sailing and the nasty claim I had on the removal of “Fleetwood” from the stranding on the Virginia Barrier Islands in 2017. That was a 19,000 pay out for a job that should not have cost more than about $5,000. This did not affect my 2019 ability to obtain insurance. Next year this requirement to report claims over the 5-year prior period, will not be an issue any longer. The next problem is that I had ordered new batteries for my laptop and tablet to the address of my first planned stop from here, in Greenport on Long Island. Right now, I need to keep them permanently hooked up to the inverter which is charged by the solar panel but that might become a problem at night when I need to keep the charts live to get AIS alarms for nearby traffic. I had figured that I would run the engine to charge, but probably not a good idea after all. I also need to do better permanent repair to an exhaust; it needs a welder.
I am booked here now in Cape Charles for the month of June and I plan to cruise North to the Nantucket Sound in July. By that time, it is too far into the hurricane season to cross the Atlantic. So, a disappointment for a trip I was really excited to do and had abandoned in 2019, after Rose Marie’s sudden death. Now there was the added excitement of being able to be welcoming my fourth great grandchild, next month in Scotland.
But, just like some of my previous initial disappointments on this journey, that started in 2005, God will have another good surprise in mind for me.
Stay tuned…

While sailing from Cape Charles to Deltaville, the first days of May, for my Spring haul-out, the taste for a new adventure infected me once more. My plan was to continue north through the C&D Canal to spend the summer in the Nantucket Sound. You may remember that I had planned to take off on June 15^th 2019 for a crossing to the Netherlands. This was sadly changed when my second oldest daughter, Rose Marie, passed away on June 2^nd.

Now there is a happier reason: new life in the family. My oldest granddaughter, Corrine Spencer-Wheatly is expecting her first, a son, around July 15^th.  I will return to Cape Charles Town Dock on Tuesday, slip C-10, to say farewell to all the wonderful friends I’ll be missing for a while and sign my books for the few who still did not have a chance to read them. I plan to attend the Wednesday service at Saint Charles of Borromeo church. I have asked father Michael Breslin to remember Rose Marie on the 2^nd anniversary of her joining her new Eternal Home.

Weather permitting, I will depart on Thursday or Friday morning and sail directly to the Nantucket Sound. Most likely a stop at Green Port on Long Island, possibly Mystic Seaport, Ct. and Newport, R.I. Then Halifax and St. Johns.

You can track my progress at: https://share.garmin.com/JackvanOmmen

Now, if you see, my direction change, do not be surprised. God may have another (always better) plan, I have become accustomed to. Please, keep me in your prayers, we know it works. “Fleetwood” was blessed at the annual Blessing of the Fleet on April 30 by the Methodist and Baptist clerics in Cape Charles.

I plan to sail over the top of Northern Ireland into the Clyde River and have a tentative reservation at James Watt Dock in Greenock. Then up through the Caledonia Canal into the North Sea. If conditions permit, I’d like to make good on a long time promise to sail into the Deben River, North of Ipswitch, into Woodbridge where “Fleetwood” was created at the Whisstock Boat Yard (see my recent You Tube video) in 1979, 42 years ago, half my lifetime….

Once I am in Europe, within internet reach, I plan to get back to update this blog on a more regular basis.

With the world re-opening, I’d like to remind any interested parties that I’d be very much interested to give presentations of my adventures and to sell my books.

Wishing you all a belated Happy New Year.

The year started on positive notes. “Fleetwood” ‘s engine got going again on the 12^th. In my previous blog of October 10, I reported that the starter motor burnt up in late July. The replacement from China still failed to fix the problem and after successively replacing the fuel solenoid, the glow plugs, the glow plugs solenoid and correcting the wiring from the ignition switch, she ran like new. With the help of local mechanics and advice I had solicited amongst my cruising friends, the cause of all the failures were traced to me replacing the key switch in Deltaville in late July. The original switch had rusted where I could no longer turn the ignition key. The replacement worked just fine in starting. But it turns out that it did not turn off the glow plugs once the engine ran, which caused the chain of failures.

This all spoiled my summer cruising plans. Once the engine ran, I moved the boat from the exposed summer moorage to a much better protected spot in the Cape Charles municipal marina and flew on the 14^th to home port on the West Coast and am writing this from my daughter Lisa’s home in Federal Way, Washington state. Few of my local friends are able to see me because of the lock-down. Lisa works from home most of the week and I enjoy her company, a warm home and a real bed. I have been scanning/thinning the large slide collection I have kept at Lisa’s.

I am trying to get my 1^st Covid-19 vaccination here and then plan to return to Virginia and sail south. Most likely I will end up in Cuba and then do my annual haul-out in Green Cove Springs, Florida before returning to the Chesapeake Bay. And then, after several false starts, sail the summer north to New England.

JESTER AWARD: Today, I received notification from the OCC (Ocean Cruising Club) that I have been awarded the annual “Jester” award.

When I read the qualifications for the award, solo circumnavigating in a boat 30’ or less, it seemed like a reasonably good fit. There are not too many folks these days that mess with miniatures. But if you see the list of the awardees there have been some modifications. And I am thrilled to be in the company of the likes of Robin Knox-Johnston, Matt Rutherford and Web Chiles. My gratitude is for the opportunity to get the word out that it can be accomplished at an advanced age and on a low budget.

I wrote an article titled: “There’s no Mandatory Age Limit for Ocean Sailors” for the bi-annual issue of the “Flying Fish” of the OCC, which was published in December. It is a condensed version of my adventure. Suggested reading.

MY BOOKS: In addition to the new options for my books that I reported in my previous blog, you can now also order a COLOR version of “The Mastmakers’ Daughters” print version from Lulu at a reasonable cost in comparison to the Amazon option.

Three weeks from today starts the Lunar New Year of the metal Ox. I was born under the Fire Ox. The last Metal Ox was 60 years ago, the year I was drafted as a 23 year old and ended up in Vietnam. It has got to be better than the 2021 year of the Rat. Rats spread diseases.

The Good News-Bad News is to bring you up to date on the pricing and options on my books “The Mastmakers’ Daughters” and “SoloMan”.

Amazon keeps increasing their costs and squeezing the royalties. In particular on the Kindle version, which has forced me to increase my sale prices. The GOOD news is that I have been able to secure alternatives to maintain the old Amazon prices on most versions, including the Electronic versions. And I can now offer the color version of the “SoloMan” print book for $ 40.00 which brings it much closer to the Black and White version. This less expensive version is printed by LuLu.com in 7 x 10” compared to the $ 59.00 Amazon 8 x10”. I include a comparison picture of a page from the St. Helena island chapter. I think that you will find that the story comes more alive in color. There are over 400 illustrations in “SoloMan”. (remember to click on the image to enlarge it.)

The new electronic option at $ 8.50 at LuLu is in Epub format, which is more adaptable to tablets, laptops, etc. than the Amazon Kindle which I had to raise to $15.00.

The web sites for both books have been updated at www.TheMakersDaughters.us and www.SoloMan.us

Similar changes and new options have been made to the Dutch books and their web sites.

The “Fleetwood” store is open from 06.00 to 21.00 for signed discounted paperback copies.

Between the two titles, two languages, paperback and e-book, different dimensions amongst the printers, I have been busy updating the manuscripts, covers, and the four web sites. I started the long overdue project in early August, while waiting for a replacement starter motor from China.

Since my last blog of June 10^th, right after my return from the winter cruise to the Caribbean, I made a couple short trips to Portsmouth/Norfolk and one to Smithfield on the Pagan River, a branch of the much bigger James River.

Sunrise in Smithfield

My first stop, on a couple weeks cruise I had planned up the Chesapeake Bay, turned in to the last stop, in Deltaville. I burnt up the starter motor. It turned out that there was no equivalent to be found here in America. I sailed back to Cape Charles, sans engine power.

But it took less than ten days for the replacement to arrive from China. In the meantime, I was committed to my books project. What I had expected to take days, took weeks.

The starter motor is installed but a new problem developed in the ignition, all the expert remote helpers are scratching their heads and I am waiting for a miracle working mechanic to get me going again. They are a very scarce commodity here in the lower peninsula.

I am still hoping to do an Indian Summer cruise up the Chesapeake. And I am starting to form a plan for the winter. It looks like I might finally end up in Cartagena, Colombia. My children will be scattered for Thanksgiving and I now plan to head south to Florida via the ICW and weather permitting the Atlantic and then fly to the Northwest for Christmas from Florida or Cancun before continuing on to Cartagena..

So, while you are waiting for my next blog and anxiously looking forward to the details of my third shipwreck, wrap up your Black and White of SoloMan and pass it down as a Saint Nicholas or Christmas gift and treat yourself to an affordable color version. I’ll be needing the money…….

While I am writing this blog, a couple from Lexington, Va. stops by the boat here in the marina. She, Pauline Mason, has a British accent. Her brother works with boat architects in Holland, she lived two years in the Eerste Helmerstraat in Amsterdam and on “de Eilanden” in the Amsterdam harbor. He is a sculptor, not sure what came first his last name, Mason, or the hobby. She is writing a book of some of the exotic places they have lived and taught in Eastern Europe, including Armenia. Encounters like these will be the subject of my next writing project. I have accumulated a long list of one in a thousand type coincidental encounters. Last Sunday I made new friends with a friend of a friend who read “The Mastmakers’ Daughters” and who has now introduced me to her friend in Richmond, Va., where both live. Her friend is Ellen de Kroon-Stamps. Ellen is born in 1940 and grew up i Rotterdam. She married her American husband here and spent 10 years working and travelling with Corrie ten Boom. In 1978 she published a book about her experience: “My years with Corrie”. Corrie and our mother met in the Dutch concentration camp Vught. Corrie became a well known evangelist in the United States and her book “The Hiding Place” was made into a very popular movie. My mother’s bible was used by Corrie in their secret religious exercises. Ellen and her daughter Johanna are scheduled to come and meet me here in the coming week.

Monica Grant of the sailing magazine Latitude-38 wrote an article, “Jack is Back”, prompted by my previous blog.