WolfTrap South

This is a preview of video that will be posted of Our adventure of going south from Virginia to the Bahamas and Florida keys.

Take a Ride On a Steam Side wheeler

We are taking a ride on a steam Side wheel ferry boat. The narration is a bit hoky but it was done for elementary school children, so just overlook it. The experience is great. A ride on the Hudson river in company with steamships, tugs and a few small boats as well as kayaks and a sailing canoe that are about the on boats they are not steam powered.

This reminds me of cruising on the Tolchester. A ferry from Baltimore to Tolchester on the Maryland eastern shore. We went over there to the beach and amusement park.

On another occasion I remember fishing with my father at seven foot knoll, a shallow oyster bed out in the Chesapeake Bay. It was late at night and the Tolchester came close by. She was lit up all over and people danced in her saloon and foredeck while refrains of a sweetly sung song to an instrumental tune wafted across the silent water. In a short time two sailboats sailing side by side on a beat to windward heeling slightly moved slowly toward the east. Their running lights lit them in an eerie glow. I had sailed on sailing sharpies but these were fine small sailing sloops and it was at that moment I fell into a life long love.

At about age nineteen I took a young lady aboard the Tolchester on a midnight cruise. We cruised down the Bay and returned to Baltimore just after sunup. We drank, ate and danced the whole night.
In the hustle and bustle of the Baltimore water front we walked wobbly kneed down the gang plank.

Fort Lauderdale Speed Boat Race

This video is a race we watched while anchored at Las Olas Bridge in Fort
Lauderdale Florida.  We had stopped here before going to the Abacos.  I put this in here because I am still working on a video from Great Bridge South.
I started taping this from on top the bridge. Across the waterway they had set up a barge and places along the docks for paid spectators. What I am saying here is said in the video but with a lot less detail. I began taping the race and a surly looking fellow walked up and said you can't tape this race because it's syndicated. I wasn't sure what that meant but remembered the Bowery Boys in the Saturday movies as a kid calling the mob the syndicate.  I was sure this guy was one of them as he had on a pinstriped suit in the daytime in South Florida.  I stopped taping until he turned and walked away. I began taping again.  A policeman walked up and told me the same thing.  I left and went down on the grass that I thought was private property  and began taping. Two Cops come up on Motorcycles and told me to leave. I suggested that I was on private property.  I was informed I was not.  I walked over to a break water in front of a house and continued on. In a moment the lady came out of the house and asked what the heck I thought I was doing?  I told her, Videotaping that speed boat race.   Git, was her reply. I did!  I went down onto the bow of my boat and began recording looking through the underside of the bridge.  A police man standing on the bridge scowled at me.  In a few minutes a police boat pulled up and anchored in front of me blocking my view.  I threw one of my anchors out off the bow and pulled my boat over from behind the police boat while still being attached to the mooring buoy.  The policeman got on his radio and talked for a long time.   I tried to listen to what was being said but he turned his radio down. I thought they might send a boat to board me.  I called the Coast Guard on the radio and the told me that as long as I was tied to a city buoy they could do nothing but that they would call the police on my behalf.   I was not bothered further. I taped the rest of the race. About a week later we were in a good position to watch the Christmas Boat parade.  Now let me tell you something. They really do it up big.

Wolftrap to the center of the World and beyond

The above map shows Wolftrap's course on the First day of the trip to the center of the world. It started at Sarra' Creek across the York River from the battle fields of Yorktown. The first Night out was at anchor In the Elizabeth river At Hospital Point.

This is the first of a series of videos on Wolfraps trip from Virginia through the inland waterway and over to the Bahamas and Florida Keys. We spent a total about ten years down that way and 15 years living aboard in all.  We didn't live aboard Wolftrap all that time but also aboard Kate, a Fantaisia sloop.   Wolftrap was far and away the finer sailboat.  Kate was without a doubt the nicer live aboard boat though she had many vices as a sailboat, some unforgivable.  Still there was some affection there. After all you can even learn to love a mean dog.

Sailboats Fair and fine# 55 :read oldest posts first

We sailed into Baileys Marina and spun Wolftrap around a piling on a line scaring the guy on the boat in front of us half to death. He ran back and forth across his boat not sure what to do. I snubbed the line on a midships cleat and we swung in on it hitting the dock kind of hard but with no damage except a couple scuffs on the rub rail. Georgene had the tiller while I handled the spring line. I think it scared her worse than the guy in front of us. We had the wind with us and had dropped the sail so that we were making about one to two knots when we got to the dock. Still that's pretty fast when you don't have an engine to stop you. To the fellow on the boat in front of our long bow sprite must have looked more like a ramming device than a spar.

We tied up and I walked up the Dock to talk to Mr. Bailey about hauling my boat. When I walked in I found myself in Church. The crew of five or six young men were all setting around in a circle and Mr. Bailey was preaching. They invited me in so I came in and sat down on a crate that I was offered. After a bit there was a prayer that no one would get hurt working today and that God would give each of them the wisdom and strength to be a good Christian for just this one day. I for one felt better as I though I might stand a chance of getting away from there in a week or so with out having my pockets filched of all coin.

Mr Bailey and I walked down the dock to look at my boat and he wanted to know what it weighed. “O,” about 9000 lbs. with all our junk aboard I told him.

Then it occurred to me that I didn't see a travel lift. “Got a railway,” I asked.

That's her right over there behind you he said. I stood wordless in astonishment looking at the rustiest worst beat up rusty cabled looking piece of equipment I have ever seen outside a junk yard. In a rather squeaky voice I said, “How much will she lift.”

“Oh about four times what your boat weighs. That's how all these boats got up here. I looked around and there were a couple of sailboats over 40 ft. I then realized why we had been praying a while ago. He went over and started her up her old gasoline engine was as quiet as a new Buick. He moved her toward my boat and the gears rattled and clunked as though the bearings were all worn out and the gears trying to climb on top of each other. He run the boom over Wolftrap and one of the kids climbed the boom and took my triadic stay loose between the masts they slung her and lifted her out of the water and swung her around to the other side of the causeway like dock and had her setting on blocks in less than thirty minutes. I started pulling the engine apart I needed a new exhaust riser, the second one in a thousand miles. I finally allowed myself to decide the engine was just to small for the boat and was working too hard. Since I had her apart and the parts were pretty cheap we decided to replace rings bearings and seals and lap in the valves.

We were waiting for parts and having a good time at Jensen beach it was a reasonable walk to a movie theater shopping center with fast food joints we partook of all their pleasures. We walked the beaches and the bridge across the river. The other side smelled better. We went to church with the crew a few mornings and enjoyed it. I don't think I ever heard preaching and praying that came from quit the same direction. They prayed for my engine they prayed that the keelson in the sailboat one of them was working on would not be rotten when he got the garbor plank off. They prayed for each other, some guy at a lunch stand and a host of others that lived close by. They preyed that the wind would blow the other way and push the rotting sea weed to sea that was along the shore and was stinking to high heaven.

They really were a nice bunch of people.

We met a young lady tall thin and some kind of pretty who was chiseling a plank out of her and her husbands boat. She showed me a couple she had replaced on the other side. She had done a beautiful job and had caulked it herself. She said with a big toothy and georgous grin, that all that praying must of helped. She and I, got to be pretty good friends, a fact not lost on my wife.

Sailboats fair and fine# 54: read oldest posts first

Today is blastoff day for the shuttle. We got up to a buitiful morning the breeze had swung to the east and was light and cool. There was not a cloud in the sky. We unwrapped our sails. The lines we had wrapped arond them had not been needed but when a strong front comes through such as had been expected you never know when a microburst or even a toranado might be in store. I saw a sail come unfurled on a boat in 70 mile per hour winds one time. The boat was knocked down flat. The boat had been left at anchor and took off for the shore. Luckily the sail burst into a couple hundred pieces and several others and myself were able to get to her and reanchor. The weird thing was the owner give me hell for boarding his boat. You have to wonder sometimes what people are thinking.
The launch took place abot 1: 00 in the afternoon. It was a very moving thing for me. I got to thinking about where mankind has come from over thousands of years and here we are sending space ships into the emptyness or maybe crowded reahes of space. Depends on how you look at it I guess. whatching the shuttle sit there with vapor rising from her and listening to the count down on the radio was unforgettable. Finally she was off and we watched her disapear out over the Atlantic. The whole thing brought tears to my eyes. I got some rather strange looks from Georgene. after the launching we upped anchor and saild in a light breeze on down the Indian river.
Later that day I tried to start the engine and it would not turn over. Checking the oil I found water in it. We began looking for a for a plact to tie up for a few days on work on the motor. We could not charge batteries now. We headed on down the Indian River toward Jensen Beach a town that had a couple of marinas.

Sailboats Fair and fine# 53 : Read oldest posts first

Dec 3 , Tuesday

We rolled out of our bunks this morning to a strongish southerly breeze maybe 15 knots. It had been choppy all night and Wolftrap was banging around a little. We had breakfast got our foul weather gear on and prepared for a wet and rough dingy ride to shore. I lined up on some markers I had picked out before we turned in last night. We appeared to be in the same place. The anchors were holding well. Of course we listened to the weather on the marine band which called for a cold front late in the afternoon. We planned to be back before then. But it was going to be a rough ride back. I dropped an extra bailer in the dink for the ride back. The wind would be picking up more as the day wore on. By the time the front got here the wind would be blowing 25 knots along the leading edge from the south.

I got in the dingy and Georgene handed me a couple of coffees and a thermos full. I fired up the little motor George got aboard with life preservers and a couple back packs. With dry cloths just in case and some lunch. Food would be expensive ashore. We started off heading almost into the waves. I throttled back to keep the bow from throwing water and we very slowly made our way to shore.

When we got to shore we pulled the dingy way up amongst some trees , out of sight from the road or the water. I chained the boat to a good size tree took the motor off and carried it about 50 yards into the woods and hit it under an old wind fallen tree. I put it in a plastic bag and covered it up with leaves. I took a pine bough and covered my tracks so there would be nothing to follow. We walked back to the beach and I lined the boat up with the swing section of a bridge if the boat moved with the wind coming from the south I would be able to see it's change in position by the bridge. We were off to the museum and I was some excited. I had a good time and It was fun for my wife too as we saw things I had worked on and she remembered me talking about them. Of course we didn't make the actual articles that went into space but we built prototype models for testing. The equipment that went in space was built by the big companies that had ridged inspection procedure that we couldn't afford. Later in the day we rode out on the bus toward the launch site but not close at all. That was a disappointment as we could actually see the shuttle better from Wolftrap. I guess you can't expect them to take a buss load of tourists out to look with explosive fuels being handled.

I was feeling a little uneasy about our boat and was glad to get back to the dingy.

We got in the dink and put the engine down in the bottom with the engine head setting on top a couple fenders in case we took on water. I preferred to row as I could keep the boat turned stern to the waves . With a little backward rowing I was able to keep us from going too fast. And keep the boat lined up with the waves. All went well, but boarding was a bit wild with Wolftrap pitching and the dink ducking and diveing and trying it's best to go under Wolftrap's stern.. We got a board and had a slightly wildish ride until the front came through. The wind doubled in speed to nearly 50 knots but it was blowing across the river maybe a mile. Lightning cracked in the woods now to our stern thunder rattled the cups in the galley. The wind after the first gusts droped down to about 30 knots and swung farther to the north during the night. All in all it was a wild night and you can imagine how pleased we were with our anchoring job. There were no other boats within a mile of us so there was no worry there. By two A.M. The wind had slacked to about fifteen knots and all was right with the world. I was happy the winds would be light enough for a launch in the morning.