S/V Moonshadow - Sailing with Paul & Monica Geppert blogs http://www.moonshadowsv.com/blog en Scott Levy Part 6 http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/474 <p>Sails are up, seas are down and we&nbsp;are sailing along at 7 knots.&nbsp; We should reaching Cape Hatteras in 4 hours.&nbsp; Then off to the opening of the channel of Chesapeake Bay.&nbsp; We planned our rounding of Cape Hatteras&nbsp;was perfect.&nbsp;&nbsp;A&nbsp;smooth ride, but what I didn&#39;t know is that this&nbsp;area in the ocean is one of the points of the Bermuda triangle.&nbsp; So now we are sailing blind, no navigational gear is working properly due to magnetic disturbance.</p><p><a href="http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/474" target="_blank">read more</a></p> http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/474#comments news Mon, 30 Jun 2014 21:09:28 +0000 Paul and Monica Geppert 474 at http://www.moonshadowsv.com Scott Levy Part 5 http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/473 <p>Well got some needed rest last night.&nbsp; The boat was not&nbsp;rocking and we took hot showers.&nbsp; We&nbsp;had a nice breakfast, filled up with diesel, washed off the salt on the boat, and talked with other boaters that Paul and Monica knew from other port of calls.&nbsp; We&nbsp;had a nice lunch and a better dinner.&nbsp; Now it was time to plot our course to go around Cape Hatteras.&nbsp; We did have a little excitement sitting on the dock at Southvillage Harbor.&nbsp; Looking into the intercostal waterway Paul spots a floating tree branch, well much to our surprise it was a 6 ft alligator.&nbsp; The&nbsp;dock master at the marina did say do not go in the water and he also mentioned that last week there was a 7 ft shark in the water.&nbsp; Paul was throwing sausage links at the alligator to try to get it closer for a picture but it had a mind of its own.&nbsp; Then later in the day we spotted dauphins in the same spot, pretty neat eco system in the Carolinas.</p><p><a href="http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/473" target="_blank">read more</a></p> http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/473#comments news Mon, 30 Jun 2014 20:39:03 +0000 Paul and Monica Geppert 473 at http://www.moonshadowsv.com Scott Levy Part 4 http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/472 <p>The seas are nice and calm today, winds are dying down so were motor sailing.&nbsp; We are maintaining about 7 knots.&nbsp; This is a heavy boat so&nbsp;I am&nbsp;told.&nbsp; Moonshadow&nbsp;is&nbsp;more stable not really a racer but a cruiser.&nbsp; A new report comes in, a weather front is&nbsp;moving in and we will have to duck in to Cape Fear for the day to wait out the storm.&nbsp; Otherwise, it would be to unstable to sail around Cape Hatteras. There are only a few spots in the world that act like Cape Hatteras making it once again the real deal to sail around it.</p><p><a href="http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/472" target="_blank">read more</a></p> http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/472#comments news Mon, 30 Jun 2014 20:21:11 +0000 Paul and Monica Geppert 472 at http://www.moonshadowsv.com Scott Levy Part 3 http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/471 <p>I wake up the calm seas and&nbsp;I ask my self are we moving.&nbsp;&nbsp;I&nbsp;put my&nbsp;life vest on go up on deck and clamp in.&nbsp; Oh yah, we are moving 8 to 9 knots thanks to the&nbsp;gulf stream.&nbsp; No kidding its really cool, the stream runs a current from the south to the north&nbsp;and is running 2 to 3 knots faster&nbsp;(just like in finding nemo).&nbsp; Its true,&nbsp;its true, the sails are out and engine off.&nbsp;&nbsp;We are in the high seas moving making good time.&nbsp;&nbsp;The boat is&nbsp;splashing through the seas,&nbsp;mists are spraying, sun is shining, life is good!&nbsp; Wait a minute feeling a little fatague, lay down, close my eyes and all is better.&nbsp; As long as someone is plotting the course and keeping watch.&nbsp; Captain Paul and Monica have a very high tech set up for navagating.&nbsp; Trimming the sails and keeping those eyes out its not a bad feeling till of coarse night hits.</p><p><a href="http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/471" target="_blank">read more</a></p> http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/471#comments news Mon, 30 Jun 2014 19:43:53 +0000 Paul and Monica Geppert 471 at http://www.moonshadowsv.com Scott Levy Blogs Part 2 http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/470 <p>Anchors aweigh.&nbsp;&nbsp; It is 7 am will catch the 7:30 toll bridge out of Ft. Lauderdale.&nbsp; Moonshadow has a 63 ft mast and the bridge is 62 ft, so&nbsp;we have to call ahead to arrange the opening, pretty cool!&nbsp; As we pull out Captain Paul has a friend waiting on us.&nbsp; A&nbsp;marine police officer, Quintin.&nbsp; Way too cool we have a police excourt out of the bay.</p><p><a href="http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/470" target="_blank">read more</a></p> http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/470#comments news Mon, 30 Jun 2014 18:52:03 +0000 Paul and Monica Geppert 470 at http://www.moonshadowsv.com Scott Levy Blog Of Our Journey From Fort Lauderdale To Annapolis Part 1 http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/469 <p>So here i sit waiting to board my flight to Ft. Lauderdale and&nbsp;then to board a 42 ft sailboat that my buddy and wife own.&nbsp;&nbsp;They spend every winter in the BVI and&nbsp;summer in Annapolis, Md.&nbsp;&nbsp;I am catching them on there 2nd part of there trip.&nbsp; The first part was a 7 day voyage from&nbsp;BVI to Ft. Lauderdale.&nbsp; One crew member gets off and&nbsp;I get on for a 950 nautical mile trip to Annapolis,MD.&nbsp; The ship never stops so someone is required to be at the helm all the time.&nbsp;&nbsp;I have&nbsp;done some exciting things before but this one is at the top.&nbsp;&nbsp;I will&nbsp;write a little bit about my adventure each day, hope you enjoy.</p><p><a href="http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/469" target="_blank">read more</a></p> http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/469#comments news Mon, 30 Jun 2014 17:53:49 +0000 Paul and Monica Geppert 469 at http://www.moonshadowsv.com May 21, 2014 http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/468 <p>We finally left Fort Lauderdale yesterday morning &amp; we are currently at 29 43.906, 80 00.089, which is just about Florida &amp; Georgia boarder. The first 24 hours were not so fun. We had NE winds 15 to 20 knots, which means we are heading just off the wind. However, now the wind is about 5 knots and the seas have really calmed down. We should have this for about the next 24 hours. We will see what the weather will bring us after that. We may have to go into Cape Fear for a night. It just depends on the front coming off of Cape Hatteras. We did have a great time in Fort Lauderdale. We met up with our friends Quintin &amp; Kris for a few happy hours. They took us out shopping one day and to Fort Lauderdale. We had lunch on the canal, it was fun to watch all the boats go by. Thanks for the great times! We also got our cabin measured for a new bed to be made, which is why we were not able to depart with the rest of the rally. We should have the new bed in the first week of June.</p> <p><a href="http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/468" target="_blank">read more</a></p> http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/468#comments news Wed, 21 May 2014 18:00:07 +0000 Monica and Paul 468 at http://www.moonshadowsv.com May 9, 2014 http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/467 <p>We have had fantastic downwind sailing for the last few days. We have just exited the Old Bahama Channel and are now pointing to Fort Lauderdale. We have a steady 15 to 20 knots winds from the ESE, which is now beam reaching to a reach and are averaging 7.0. We are about 175 miles to go, which should put us in sometime tomorrow afternoon. Paul tried to surprise me this morning by making coffee for me as well as steak and eggs. Well, we are still in pretty good seas and instead of waking up with honey I made breakfast for you, I woke up to lots of swear words! Here a wave hit us and 6 eggs in the bowl getting ready to cook went all over the floor. What a mess, but what a great laugh.</p> <p>----</p> <p>This e-mail was delivered via satellite phone using OCENS&#39;s OCENS.Mail software.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/467#comments news Fri, 09 May 2014 17:00:07 +0000 Monica and Paul 467 at http://www.moonshadowsv.com May 8, 2014 http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/466 <p>The last 48 hours have been interesting. Tuesday the winds started picking up and the seas were 4 to 7 behind us, which made Moonshadow bounce all over the place. I got up for my shift at 2 am Wednesday morning and on the way to the head a wave threw me into the nav station. The only damage was I broke my toe. Wednesday morning around 11:00 am we were heading through a squall and came upon a water spout. We immediately changed course and headed away from it. After that, the wind built to 15 to 20 knots from the east. Since then we have been downwind sailing, averaging 6.5 knots and the seas are about 8 to 10 feet. So, it is great sailing, but hard to sleep and hard to cook. However, we are having a great time and are about 363 miles from Fort Lauderdale. Life is good.</p> <p>----</p> <p>This e-mail was delivered via satellite phone using OCENS&#39;s OCENS.Mail software.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/466#comments news Thu, 08 May 2014 13:00:07 +0000 Monica and Paul 466 at http://www.moonshadowsv.com May 6, 2014 http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/465 <p>We are still just motoring along at 6.0 knots. Our wind has been light and variable, however the seas are calm. The most excitement we have had is that Free Spirit is .7 miles away from us now. We had no luck catching any fish, but we are trying again today. The nights have been beautiful with a sliver of a moon that goes down around 2:00 am and Jim saw a great sunrise this morning. There are only three of us this trip and we decided for watches to do 3 hours on 6 hours off, so we all will get to see the sunrise &amp; sunset at some point. The watches seem to working for us. Everyone is getting rest.</p> <p>----</p> <p>This e-mail was delivered via satellite phone using OCENS&#39;s OCENS.Mail software.</p> http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/465#comments news Tue, 06 May 2014 16:00:03 +0000 Monica and Paul 465 at http://www.moonshadowsv.com May 5, 2014 http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/464 <p>So far our trip has been great. The first day we sailed 120 miles. Then the wind died on us, so we began to motor. We motored all day yesterday and now we are motor sailing along at 6 knots. The seas have been calm along with the weather. We are currently passing Dominican Republic. The fishing rods are out. Wish us luck on catching a fish!</p> <p>----</p> <p>This e-mail was delivered via satellite phone using OCENS&#39;s OCENS.Mail software.</p> http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/464#comments news Mon, 05 May 2014 14:00:06 +0000 Monica and Paul 464 at http://www.moonshadowsv.com Scott & Tracy Taylor http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/460 <p><img class="left" alt="" width="360" height="270" src="/sites/default/files/image/Caribbean%202014/Hawk%20&amp;%20Tracy.jpg" />Scott &amp; Tracy joined us January 8 for nine days.&nbsp;&nbsp;Paul picked them up at&nbsp;7:00 pm&nbsp;in the dinghy in Cruz Bay, St. John and brought them to Caneel Bay where Moonshadow was.&nbsp; The next morning we headed to Waterlemon Cay.&nbsp; We did some great snorkling and went for a hike on the Jonny Horn Trail.&nbsp; Our friends&nbsp;on Sing Dog Sailing, Stephen &amp;&nbsp;Kelly, were also there.&nbsp; It was Paul's birthday today, however it was also Kelly's birthday as well.&nbsp; So, we went over to there catameran and had cocktails.&nbsp; Later we headed back to Moonshadow for dinner and birthday celebration.</p><p><a href="http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/460" target="_blank">read more</a></p> http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/460#comments news Fri, 31 Jan 2014 19:30:18 +0000 Paul and Monica Geppert 460 at http://www.moonshadowsv.com Gordon & Kelly Learn http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/459 <p><img class="right" alt="" width="360" height="270" src="/sites/default/files/image/Caribbean%202014/Money%20Bay%20GK.jpg" />Our friends Gordon and Kelly came in for the holidays.&nbsp;&nbsp; They arrived on Christmas day around 5:30 pm.&nbsp; We had them meet us at Nanny Cay.&nbsp; That evening we joined three other boats for dinner at Peg Legs for Christmas dinner.&nbsp; The next morning we headed out and sailed to The Bight home of the Willy T, which is a floating pirate ship bar.&nbsp; We snorkled for a while and had fun watching the charter boats try to pick up moorings.&nbsp; Afterwards, we headed&nbsp;up to the&nbsp;Willy T for happy hour.&nbsp; It was great drinks and fun dancing.&nbsp; Then we went back to the boat for dinner.</p><p><a href="http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/459" target="_blank">read more</a></p> http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/459#comments news Fri, 31 Jan 2014 17:48:09 +0000 Paul and Monica Geppert 459 at http://www.moonshadowsv.com Enjoying Life http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/457 <p><img class="left" alt="" width="370" height="278" src="/sites/default/files/image/Caribbean%202014/Sunset%20December.jpg" />For the last couple of weeks Paul and I have been enjoying the BVI and USVI.&nbsp; We spent two weeks in St. John.&nbsp; We did lots of snorkling, paddle boarding, and some hiking.&nbsp; Mainly we have just been relaxing.&nbsp; Now we are in Nanny Cay for one more day.&nbsp; We having been cleaning, provisioning, and doing laundry.&nbsp; Our friends Gordon &amp; Kelly&nbsp;are coming&nbsp;in Christmas day and staying with us until New&nbsp;Years&nbsp;day.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;More fun to come!</p> http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/457#comments news Sun, 22 Dec 2013 18:03:59 +0000 Paul and Monica Geppert 457 at http://www.moonshadowsv.com Movember Party http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/456 <p><img class="left" width="370" height="278" alt="" src="/sites/default/files/image/Caribbean%202014/Movember.jpg" />The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Nanny Cay hosted the Movember Party.&nbsp; The party is to raise money for mens prostate cancer.&nbsp; So, men grow mustaches for the month of November and get judged at the party for the winner.&nbsp; Since Paul won the Mr. Movember for Caribbean 1500, he was asked to be a judge and I was asked to walk the men to the judges.&nbsp; The party theme was pirate &amp; wenches, so we got our customs out and had a great time.</p> http://www.moonshadowsv.com/node/456#comments news Sun, 22 Dec 2013 17:54:31 +0000 Paul and Monica Geppert 456 at http://www.moonshadowsv.com