Noëpe ~ A place amongst the waters

  Christmas in St. Augustine December 25th, 2025 We made port in Fernandina, FL on December 13th trying to put as much distance between us and the cold front that was predicted to arrive on the 14th. We anchored out the first night in a marshlands creek just west of the the city. I take great joy in finding a secluded anchorage that feels much farther from civilization than it actually is. Dolphins and waterfowl have replaced watching Netfix. We made our way over to the marina at Fernandina on the morning of the 14th along with a lot of other boaters looking to tie up and plug in during approaching wind and cold. We got a spot at the end of the face dock behind Aurora,  a Russian billionaires one-hundred-forty-six foot mega yacht. I continue to be stunned by the size of some of the vessels we see. I used to feel sheepish about telling folks that we had a forty-foot sailboat, but I am realizing that we are small fry in the cruising world. The water approach to Fernandina is dec...

 Cold Fronts & Southern Hospitality December 12th, 2025 The gravy and stuffing are all gone and our waistlines are beginning to recede after our return to New England to share Thanksgiving with family and close on the sale of our home. We left Noëpe tied up at Lady's Island Marina just across the bridge from Beaufort, SC. Lady's Island Marina suited our aesthetic with lovely views of the wetlands, friendly staff, and no pretense.  Wanting to avoid any mishaps with travel we rented a car for the short trip to the Savannah airport, which is in close competition with the T.F. Green International Airport in Warwick RI for comfort and ease of access. We spent a couple of days in West Hartford with our daughter Emma and her boyfriend Bright, enjoying the best of West Hartford's dinning options, catching up on current films, reuniting with Hurdy Gurdy, and confirming the health benefits of sleeping with canines. Sleep is not one of them. From West Hartford we headed to the Vin...

                                                                                       Wrightsville NC.  Intracoastal Waterway The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) runs 3,000 miles from New Jersey to Texas through a series of rivers, lakes, and man made canals provides an alternative to the North Atlantic for vessels traveling along Eastern and Southern coasts of the United States. Bad weather, contrary winds, and an opportunity to explore the natural beauty and cultural offerings of these areas are all good reasons to choose the ICW. Marine traffic,  a glacial pace and frequent shoaling are good reasons to reasons to avoid it. We had heard the it was often "white knuckle driving" on the ICW but those instances were limited to...

 Casting Off    November 5th - November 10th 2025  We cast off from Herrington Harbor North in Chesapeake Bay at 2100 on the 5th of November after weeks of upgrades to our electrical system including lithium batteries and a new solar array.  We took respites in Baltimore while the interior cabin was in disarray.The hospitality provided by our Baltimore shore crew was almost enough to tether us to the familial and cultural riches of Charm City, but the sea was calling. We have a long list of wants and to do's for Noëpe but left additional upgrades for another day to take advantage of a weather window for our passage South. Solo circumnavigator and sailing coach Jerome Rand arrived the afternoon of the 5th and we began safety checks and stowage while we waited on the last minute installation of dinghy davit. Quentin the metal fabricator was true to his word and delivered the unit around 1830 and then worked in the dark to get the davits installed. The davits ...

  A Period of Transition October 27th, 2025 We have been in a state of constant motion since our retirement in mid-July, which sounds silly coming from someone living on a sailboat, but all the activity has left me with little time to update our blog. However, life has begun to take on a gentler pace after moving aboard Noëpe in September, and I am overdue for an update on our whereabouts.   Jessica and I  spent the better part of six weeks sifting through a lifetime of belongings and making difficult choices about what to keep and what to jettison. We then redistributed the bulk of our belongings to friends, family, and strangers, learning that the recipient is more important than the market value, and that all those “things” demand energy, often exceeding their worth.  The process is painful and slow at first, but by the end of six weeks, you are ready to chuck everything!  Leaving family, friends, our dog (under the excellent care of our daughter Em...

Noëpe ~ A place amongst the waters   July 2025  ~Noëpe, a 1995 Hallberg Rassy 39 sailboat is our place amongst the waters, a medium for exploring the places, people, and creatures along the water's edge and our home for the foreseeable future. We are sad to be leaving the comfort of our home in the White Mountains, and bidding farewell to family and friends, but exhilirated to be moving aboard and broadening our horizons. life is short and if not now, then when. The photograph above holds clues to the origins of this adventure. Jessica and I first met at the Black Dog Tavern on Martha's Vineyard in February of 1988 and sparks flew. Add some red wine and shrimp Alfredo and you have lovers for life. But, things happen, y oung men go wandering and young women get tired of waiting and join the Peace Corps. Love prevails and they are reunited on the island of Tongatapu in the Kingdom of Tonga 15,000 miles to the West. It was from these shores that I began dreaming of a boat. Someth...