I guess I can no longer say we are just starting our adventures cruising, visiting new places and making new friends we have never met before. But in actuality, we are still doing just that! My blog has mainly been about incredible friends and family, new and exciting places and our adventures during our “full time cruising.” So, I thought a post that reflects on some of those experiences and cruising subjects might be of interest. Enjoy!

The “Boats”

Not unlike many Nordhavn ‘owners’ we have cruised the last six years on two different Nordhavn Passage Makers, our first, N47 named Epoch and now cruising our N55 named Orenda. Saving all the technical mumbo jumbo for the Nordhavn Owners Group (NOG) and all the great blogs about hull speed, displacement, lugger capability, navigation, maintenance etc., these are some of my thoughts, as the chief cook and bottle washer AND Deck Boss or Bosun (boatswain) on both yachts.

I loved, loved our Epoch; she was our mighty wanderer who traveled 10,000 nm from Southeast Alaska to Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. She circumnavigated Vancouver Island twice, participated in the first and only ‘Taco Run’ with N47 Igloo, N55 Red Rover, N55 Gitana, N46 Partina, N57 Audrey Mae and N60 Last Arrow and taught me a whole heck of a lot about “cruising.”  Epoch took me on my first overnight cruise, my first consecutive day passages, my first week at anchor and how to live on a boat (not just camp for a week).  She was our first boat with a thruster (a game changer for docking), had two heads, two staterooms, a galley with full-size appliances and a separate washer and dryer.

Three months after we retired, we moved Epoch from her slip in Anacortes to Elliott Bay Marina in Seattle, WA. Scott worked everyday with Larry Schildwachter and Emerald Harbor Marine (EHM) technicians to complete a total navigational suite re-fit. Epoch needed lots of tender-loving care when we bought her. After installation of diesel heat, fiberglass work, re-finished headliners, bottom paint, a detail and 3-months of work, she was ready to begin her adventures!

We chose the name Epoch (pronounced epic, not e-pock as our friends would kid) defined as a “distinctive period in time marked by notable events.”  We had both just retired from enjoyable but sometimes stressful careers and this was to be our ‘epoch’ time in life that we had worked and planned for!  During these first two years, Epoch exceeded our expectations from our very first night aboard.

I love our N55 Orenda, but not the same way as I loved Epoch.  Epoch was like my little sister, or daughter.  She needed things from me to protect her vulnerabilities, as she protected me from mine.  I was learning so much, trying to understand her and my role(s) in this new lifestyle. I was a new retiree and I was a very new, anxious, and inexperienced blue water cruiser.  Orenda is different and so am I after six years of cruising. Orenda takes care of me; she is capable and efficient and I believe I am more confident and capable as well. She has both a bow and stern thruster and with the Captain’s guidance at the controls, she puts me next to the dock so I can tie her up without much drama (most of the time). She has a Glendinning, a motorized retraction and extension system for the shore power cord.  Orenda has two staterooms, and also a captain’s quarter and head in the pilothouse. This is actually my sister Julie’s quarters when she visits but Scott sleeps there with one ear open during overnight cruises when I am at the helm.  She has two generators, an 8-kw and a 20-kw and two water makers for the months away from marinas at anchor. Our owner’s stateroom is on the same level as the galley and salon, which makes the boat feel more like a home to me. And her bathtub/shower is grandiose!  Although I’ve never taken a bath in it, LOL. 

In the fall of 2023, all the electronics and navigation instruments were replaced. Yep, another re-fit! Orenda’s electronics were damaged when the yacht next to us in Port Washington, NY was struck by lightning. This time, Scott worked with Rob Cote, owner of Ocean Currents Marine and his team. Another superior job! We decided to install solar panels, Starlink and after a tremendous amount of research and study, Scott installed an auto-start on the 8-kw generator.

Her name, Orenda, means “a collective power of nature’s energies through the living energy of all natural objects; animate and inanimate.”  Like Orenda, I believe I am a more capable and confident cruiser, perhaps because of Orenda’s energies!

West Coast cruising and East Coast Cruising

West coast cruising started many years ago for Scott. So long ago that he and his friends used a hand-held GPS and a diner place mat of the Puget Sound as a sort of ‘chart’ for navigation. They were youngish, maniac divers who traveled the Strait of Juan de Fuca, zig-zagging from dive sites to marinas with breweries and Scuba tank air fills. So Scott has had lots and lots of experience or maybe, because of these early experiences, a well-developed instinct for cruising.  What he says he learned from those adventures was ‘you can go places’ on a boat! Funny man.

Our first boat we bought together was a 44’ Hi-Star, Europa Cruiser we named Chimera. We were still working and had a 5-hour drive to the boat which was moored in Anacortes, WA. We visited her at least monthly and took a few week-long trips exploring the Pacific Northwest including Canada. 

In 2017 we bought our Nordhavn N47 Epoch, retired, and began full time cruising for real, initially traveling the Inside Passage and then returning to Anacortes after trips. The Inside Passage is a coastal route which weaves through the islands on the Pacific Northwest coast. The route extends from northwest Washington state, through western British Columbia in Canada to southeastern Alaska.

The Inside Passage encompasses about 1000 nautical miles and is mostly protected from open ocean. It features miles of endless coves, inlets, fjords and glaciers. Although we have spent considerable time cruising the Pacific Northwest coast, we have only seen a small percentage of what is there to explore. But what I can tell you is there is deep water in the PNW!  Depths are 2000, 3000 feet and to anchor in many of the coves, we would look for water 50 feet or less. The PNW has an abundance of wild life; seals and sea lions, whales, dolphins, bears, sea otters.

The cruisers we met enjoyed cruising the Inside Passage, traveling north to SW Alaska in the summer, and south to southern British Columbia and Washington in the winter. They seemed to know the route well, anxious to avoid bad weather at Cape Caution and Dixon Entrance, the two open water segments. We met many of these WA-BC cruisers and would talk about our future plans to cruise to Mexico. “Stay in the PNW” they would caution, there is too much crime in Mexico! And, don’t wear good shoes!

In the fall of 2019, we made the “Big Left Turn” as Scott and Kevin (N55 Red Rover) would say, to head south to Mexico as a self-proclaimed two boat flotilla, the “Taco Runners.”  We were joined by the rest of the Taco Runners in Southern California and, from there, we all headed to Mexico.  The cruise from Seattle was about 2200 nautical miles, lots of open ocean cruising with limited places to get off the water until we got to California.  And then again, limited places to get off the open water heading south on the Baja of Mexico. 

For the most part, the Taco Runners went separate ways when we all got to San Jose Del Cabo. Epoch and Red Rover continued across the Sea of Cortez to Puerto Vallarta.  This entire trip, cruising the Washington, Oregon, California coasts, and the Mexico Baja peninsula was more than brilliant, fabulous, wonderful. It was exciting, a brand-new experience for me; open ocean, over-nights, and the amazing comradery of the other cruisers.  I feel fortunate to have been able to cruise the west coast of the US, Alaska to Mexico! And, by the way, we did not experience the safety cautions from the Inside Passage cruisers in the Pacific Northwest. We found the Mexican residents to be most welcoming, industrious, and very happy souls.

East coast cruising began in August of 2020 in Norfolk, VA. The first thing that comes to mind is: Where is the water on the East Coast? And the second thing: Hurricanes! Since we have been on the East coast, we have cruised as far south as the Crooked Islands of the Bahamas and as far north as Long Island, New York. We have planned to explore Maine for two years but weather has derailed those plans thus far.  Similar to the West Coast, but not similar, the East coast has an Inside Passage. It is called the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).  The ICW is a 3000-mile inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. Sections of the waterway consist of natural inlets, saltwater rivers, bays and sounds as well as artificial canals. We have cruised the ICW from Norfolk to Beaufort, and then only twice.

Cruising the ICW, we learned quickly about bridges, locks, more bridges, boat traffic and the skinniest water ever!  Orenda has a draft of 6.8 feet. We have seen 0.9 feet under the keel when cruising the ICW.  Scott remarks every time we are in the ICW about what he doesn’t like about cruising the dirty muddy “ditch.” Boats on the ICW have a bow ‘mustache.’ a stain at the water line from the tannin and iron in the water. Heck, a section of the ICW is called the ‘Dismal Swamp Canal, named in 1728 by William Byrd II who made observations of the swamp, none of them favorable! Once we get to Beaufort, NC, weather permitting, we always beeline it back out to open ocean so he can breathe again.

East Coast cruising is ‘busier.’ There are many, many places to stop and anchor or moor.  We have spent time in Baltimore, MD on the Chesapeake Bay, Washington DC on the Potamic River, cruised through New York City on the East River past the Statue of Liberty, as well as anchored in the Long Island Sound. Ports in the Carolinas and Georgia are quaint with old southern architecture homes along tree lined streets draped in Spanish moss.  In Florida, you can experience the big city of Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach where you can get anything and everything your boat may desire, or settle for a few nights in St. Augustine, the “oldest city in the US” full of history and buildings of colonial architecture. One of my favorites is Hilton Head Island, NC.  Lots to do in Harbor Town and the Savannah Airport is close enough to get a flight in or out.  We have spent a month or so in Key West, Perry Hotel Stock Island Marina. Stock Island has a free shuttle ride into Key West, Duvall Street where you can enjoy the company of others and great music at the Green Parrot Bar or the Smokin Tuna Saloon.  We cruised to the Dry Tortugas National Park, 68 nautical miles west of Key West, which is incredible and only accessible by boat or seaplane. 

And then Da Bahamas. 100,000 square miles of the world’s clearest and most beautiful turquoise blue seas, known as the boater’s paradise. The marinas are far and few between so most cruisers in the Bahamas anchor. We usually spend two and a half months in the Bahamas anchoring everywhere we go. The dinghy or tender is your transportation unless you hail the water taxi! Provisions and supplies arrive by ‘mailboat’ once a week to the islands. It is a grand day at the market the day the mailboat has unloaded provisions!

By June 1, most east coast cruisers are headed north of the Florida border because of hurricane season. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30. We are all like migrating geese or humpbacks, heading south for the winter, but we are heading north away from where hurricanes are most likely to have impacts.  

We have met countless cruisers and landlubbers on the both the west and east coasts and made lifelong friends along the way.  The comradeship and size of our world continues to amaze me.  People we have never met before will turn into hours of conversation about all things life with the commonality of live-aboard cruising.  

So, do we prefer west coast cruising or east coast cruising?  Hmmmm. Well, I think mostly, I just find cruising thrilling and perhaps essential!  Oh, one more thing: how did we get to Norfolk, VA? Well, we sold our Epoch N47 in San Diego, CA and purchased our Orenda N55 in York River, VA during COVID and learned about the immense effort of moving off and on different boats on separate coasts. Once in a lifetime is enough for us, that is for sure.   

Cruising Company

Since we have been cruising both the west and east coasts, I hear cruisers say ‘it was great, there were no other boats around’ or ‘we are heading to blah blah because nobody will be there.’  I just don’t get it.  Don’t get me wrong, I am happy to be almost anyplace with Scott. He is mostly entertaining as long as he isn’t annoying me, ha ha. But really, isn’t it more fun to meet new cruisers, meet-up with old cruising friends, share stories, learn about local activities and as the saying goes, ‘share a cup or two?”  Or more often, share a beer or two!

One of my favorite things in George Town, Exuma is the Cruisers Net. Everyday, at 0800 on VHF channel 72, the net begins.  As many of you may (or may not) know, the primary form of communication for people who live on boats is their VHF radio. A “net” refers to any marine  “program” that has a predetermined time and channel to which anyone in range can tune in. It is kind of like a radio show, however, in addition to listening, cruisers can and are encouraged to participate.  You can ask questions, offer good and services, introduce yourself, hear about local activities for the day and upcoming social outings. The nets we have participated in have been controlled, following a specific protocol. At the end of the net, a ‘thought for the day’ or riddle is shared, setting the tone for the day.

It’s just fun to participate in the net and I just like being around people. I like the feeling of belonging to something larger than ME. After all, humans are social creatures and the instinct to group together is a basic need. Well, that’s how I see it. Even when Scott and I are anchored in a secluded and quiet bay, we will often launch the tender and head into ‘town’ or the tiny settlement on shore or the beach, just to see what we can see and meet locals and fellow cruisers.

Even better than connecting with fellow cruisers, we have had guests, mostly family (or guests who became family) join us on Orenda. Some have a spent a long weekend. Others have joined us for two or three weeks at anchor, in a marina or the more adventurous souls cruised with us to another location or accompanied us back to the US! We tend to do less work and have way more laughs with fun loving peeps on board.  I look so forward to visits!

So this is my thought for the day:  “Which is more important,” asked Big Panda, “the journey or the  destination?” “The company,” Tiny Dragon replies.

From James Norbury Big Panda and Tiny Dragon

These are my reflections for now. I have a few more, floating around in my brain which I will share in Part II. So, stay tuned!