Gibban

https://www.nps.gov/viis/planyourvisit/maps.htm (UPDATE:  See link below to download free charts & GPS coordinates).  Last year, we barely stepped foot on St. John (except to pay our mooring fee at Lameshur:  (planesboatsandbicycles/2016/05/virgin-islands), forget about taking advantage of the extensive hiking trails.  Time to make up for it. Difficulty :  Moderate (No flip flops.  Teva sandals, but we did have a blowout, possibly unrelated) to difficult (tennis shoes). This is a marked National Park hike.  The trail was mostly shaded in the morning and has a few steep sections but also levels out and a few downhills. Recommend :  Leave early, at least 16 oz of water/each, sunblock, hat, long sleeves, (bug spray, but we didn't need it). Intro : The island of St. John, USVI is over 50% national park which includes a series of hiking trails.  We heard a rumor you could hike from our anchorage in Leinster/Waterlemon to Coral Bay for lunch at...

Leg 7:  Fort Monroe, VA (Norfolk) to Deep Creek Lock on the ICW:     Sunrise Ft Monroe anchored next to Kintala We're a power boat for the next several days.  Anchor is up by 7:30 am and we waved goodbye to Kintala.  We crossed the second busiest shipping channel in the U.S. and passed the Norfolk Navy piers.  We saw every kind of boat you could imagine.  We officially pass the ICW mile marker "0" at Hospital point and then the bridges & locks started.  The Captain is at the helm with the First Mate calling out bridge mileage and opening times.  (I have started using Garmin Blue Chart on my ipad with Active Captain, which gives us a lot more info on the fly.)   Not sure what was going on here but the Navy patrol had us move to the other side of the channel... Traffic!  Container ship with a tug Bridge #1 Belt Line Railroad Lift Bridge #2 Jordan Highway Fixed Bridge Bridge #3 Norfolk & Western Railroad Lift Bri...

An Ebay seller has posted what looks to be an early (1920s-30s) Chestnut Bobs Special wood canvas canoe. These wide beam canoes were first marketed as "50-Pound Specials" since they weighed roughly 50 pounds and were nearly 10 pounds lighter than any other canoe of comparable size using novel construction methods of the time. Their relatively flat bottoms allowed for more stability when standing in flat water so were preferred by fisherman and other sportsmen.  A more detailed history of the Bobs Special (including the curious originating source of the name) can be read in this article by Kaydi Pyette of Canoe Roots magazine. One of the more "famous" users of this canoe was Grey Owl (Archie Belaney). Here is a photo of him standing in an early model 50 Pound Special. The photo was taken during his stay in Prince Albert Nation Park sometime after 1931. Grey Owl in Chestnut 50-Pound (Bobs) Special Back in 2010, I wrote a post researching Grey Owl's paddles and dis...