On Wednesday 3/28/12 we pulled anchor early to head back to the States. Sailed downwind wing and wing all day, anchoring on the bank at sunset. The next day we had no wind and motored NW, off the bank and into the gulf stream. On Friday, we had a beautiful broad reach sail all day. Leiby caught a huge tuna using our "Jerry Garcia" lure. It took an hour to reel it in and was quite a project to clean and fillet on the deck of the boat, without the use of a table or hose. Our freezer was stocked with fish, which sustained us throughout the rest of our trip back. We reached Brunswick, GA on Saturday morning. Fueled up and took a taxi into town for provisions. The next day we changed the oil and prepped the boat for another 3 day passage offshore. We left Sunday evening, motor-sailing NE. On Monday 4/2/12 we were able to sail most of the day. In the evening, we dropped the sails to prepare for the predicted winds heading us, showers and thunderstorms. A "backdoor coldfront"- it didn't seem so bad, and it wasn't, except that it was right on the nose through the night. We had to take turns hand steering, travelling only 2-3 knots. It was a hard way to make only 30 miles in 10 hours. We worked our way up the coastline of the Carolinas, arriving in Beaufort, NC on Wednesday. Fueled up and took a walk through town, then began our trip up the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW)- we were not able to go offshore again due to weather around Cape Hatteras. On Thursday, 4/5/12 we anchored at Belhaven, NC where we spent 2 nights riding out strong north winds and rain. We were close enough to town to row the dinghy instead of using the engine. We would row ashore and then the wind would blow us back to Trilogy. We left Belhaven on Saturday morning and travelled 35 miles, through the Alligator-Pungo River canal, anchoring just after leaving the canal. The next day was Easter- a 75 statute mile day for us. We anchored just inside the Virginia state line by the Pungo Ferry bridge. Decided to set a stern anchor- first time all year- because we were close to the channel and didn't want to blow into it. We were happy to have cell phone reception so we could talk to family on Easter evening. We continued up the ICW, through an assortment of bridges and a lock, finally arriving in Norfolk on Monday 4/9/12. Made a fuel stop then continued up the Chesapeake Bay, having some technical difficulties- blew out slides on the mainsail during a jibe and the engine was losing power and stalling, requiring a filter change. We anchored after dark in the Poquoson River. The next day we sailed 47 miles to the Wicomico River, anchoring in the south branch. We tried to make headway again on Wednesday but the weather was against us and we were unable to get north of the Potomac River. We turned around and headed back to the Wicomico River, anchoring in the north branch. A very friendly and generous gentleman, "Spud" asked if we were cold (yes!) and offered us the use of his private dock, electricity and a space heater. We gratefully accepted and spent 2 nights there, warm and comfortable. Spud also drove us for provisions and let me use his house shower- all the comforts of home! Leiby asked him if he had any projects going on, and spent some time chopping fire wood. We took walks into Reedville, VA and ate dinner out in a local restaurant, "Tommy's"- a place we have been before for our wedding anniversary when we were working our way up the Bay 3 years ago. On Friday the 13th we motored 75 miles and anchored south of Annapolis in the West River. The next day we pulled anchor at 7:00 AM and motor-sailed to Worton Creek, arriving at Greenpoint Marina at 1:00 PM. It was nice arriving at our boat home and seeing our friends there. The last month has been a mission to get back 2 weeks before our daughter's wedding, moving whenever we could for as far as weather would allow. We will spend 2 weeks at my brother and sister-in-law's house before the wedding to help with arrangements and then 2 weeks at Jerica and Brian's house to look after their pets while they are on their honeymoon. Trilogy will be hauled out of the water and we will spend the last 2 weeks in May working on her and living aboard again at the marina. We will get our house back on June 1 when the lease is up. What a great experience this past year has been! Pictured: Leiby and the tuna; blowing back to Trilogy in Belhaven; in the cold again- at anchor on Easter; a swing bridge on the ICW; a bascule bridge on the ICW; Spud and Leiby
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