Count your blessings

October 26, 2016

Air conditioner fixed.

We spent one night at the Portside Marina in Morehead City NC, the owner there is very accommodating and will take you to get supplies.  After the air conditioner was fixed we headed to Swansboro NC for an anchorage. I love it when we can pick up wifi and watch Netflix in a very small town.  Swansboro is the first place we have been on the hook this year and it was so nice, except for the loud music from the bar close by.

We met people in Morehead City that are going our way so we have been catching up with them at marinas. It was nice to socialize with people and compare notes about anchorages, plans and hazards to name only a few things we shared.

The weather has been gorgeous, in the 80’s and sometimes 90’s without humidity.  I understand that it has also been nice in Maine.  Global warming?

From Swansboro we motored on to Wrightsville Beach for one night. When I lowered the anchor (windlass) the housing broke again, always something.  We found a fabricator to make a windlass cover, but from raw materials and not using any of the old parts.  The part is made of stainless steel and it seems to be holding.  When I first raised the anchor, the part moved and I sucked in air and held my breath hoping this meant a temporary adjustment and it did.  We were very fortunate that the company picked up the old part and delivered the new part all in a day. As soon as the piece was installed we headed out to St. James Plantation, Southport NC.

Windlass Fix

St. James Plantation in Southport

Condo in St. James Plantation

St. James Plantation is a very pretty and interesting place that came highly recommend from one of our friends back home. We entered the marina at a narrow short canal that opened up to a small and nice marina.  Think about a 45 record laying on a table and at the center of that record is a marina.  On the outer edge of the 45 are condos all facing the marina and on the inner circle there are places to walk, a bar, a restaurant and a few offices.  Also along there is a large artists store that sells only items made by the people of St. James Plantation. 

From there we headed to Osprey Marina, Myrtle Beach SC.  I love Osprey.  Our dear friends first told us about the place and we will stop there whenever we can to spend at least the night. Miles, the dock master, is great in fact all the staff is great.  We probably will leave our boat there in the spring, it will be much less expensive and more appealing than the last storage marina. Tried to get the Patriots without any luck.

No luck means being flooded out of your home.  I have mixed feelings about sharing pictures of the homes after the flood.  It is very sobering to look at their homes and property that one day was worth a lot of money, comfort and memories.  

Waters came down from higher ground after Hurricane Matthews had past by and the people in South Carolina thought the worst was over.  The inland waters flowed down to the coast and into Myrtle Beach where there wasn’t any channel for the water to flow out to ocean.  Boats on the waterway couldn’t continue south because one of the draw bridges we needed to open for us was flooded.  We thought we were going to have to make a run on the outside from Little River Inlet about 50 miles to Georgetown.  When I was talking to Rob about going “outside” I told him if we have to make a run for it, I guess we have to.  Rob corrected me telling me that it is called “make a run on the outside” not “make a run for it on the outside”. My eyes went back and forth, back and forth and I thought, hmmm, there is a difference.

Lets see where I was I before I interrupted myself with the rant about traveling on the outside.

We anchored in Georgetown, the weather was beautiful for a walk to Piggly Wiggly for groceries.

After Georgetown we traveled to Whiteside Creek SC for the night.  We stopped at Awendaw Creek but I didn’t like the exposure to the NE winds. On the way to the anchorage we were passed by a large boat, very considerate with a slow pass then another boat came up from behind traveling very fast without any intentions of slowing. The area of the ICW we were in was a narrow swath through grasses. Linda Jean and the first boat were staggered one passing the other when the second boat passed us and zigzagged between us way too close to our bow, to get in front of the line.  It was the same as lane changing on the highway.  All of that isn’t funny and dangerous, but I was so flustered that I got on the radio to “Mr. Hinckley, Mr. Hinckley this is Linda Jean”, but there wasn’t any reply.  Well I couldn’t read the name of the boat, but I knew it was a Hinckley power boat so I thought it might be worth a try.

I am sure that when I have more experience all this traffic nonsense will be old news but…today was another story.  We were in a no wake zone and taking it easy when Serendipity radioed us to ask if we could pick it up so both of us could make the next bridge. We told him we would be glad to pull over some, but it was a narrow shallow area so we couldn’t do much.  He wasn’t happy with that, so we pulled aside, stopped and let him pass.  I thought it was over the top to tell us to go faster. When we caught up to him at the bridge we heard the bridge tender say that she would open the bridge after the next sail boat arrived at the bridge, which was over a mile back.  We didn’t need the bridge open because we could travel under it. I waved as we went by. Rob and I thought that was very serendipitous.

Today we are on an anchorage in the Ashley River in Charleston headed for Beaufort, SC.  Beaufort, SC is pronounced Beau (like Beauty) fort and Beaufort, NC is pronounced Beau (like you put on a present) fort.  If you pronounce either one wrong they will correct you.

I found on this adventure that I like small quaint towns rather than big cities such as Charleston or Miami. We don’t want to rent cars to get groceries, do laundry and we want to be able to experience the town on 

foot.

It seems the South really likes Halloween and the Fall, another pretty setting

Check out this parallel parking

Canoe Stern? and check out the number of spreaders

Lenny, is this a canoe stern?

What I was reminded of this week:

The inverter can’t run at the same time as the generator or shore power

Remember to shut off the windlass, the anchor wash, the inverter

Remember to cover the bridge and zip up the windows on the bridge

The snubber needs to be straight and the chain needs to have the loop.

… and that he loves me.  AWE!

Tricia

Splish, Splash and all that cash

I say all that cash, but the bill from the boat yard was surprisingly low.

October 15, 2016

I do want to show you some fun pictures to add to your already wonderful day.  But first. 

Saturday Rob and I wanted to see the Outer Banks but the roads were closed, as we were headed down the road they put a “road closed” sign due to the water rising and this happened a couple of times.  I feel so bad for the people in Greenville, NC because it looks like their whole city is flooded and the waters had not reached their peak yet. Wish we could help.

Other sad news is the loss of the dockage and mooring field at Fernandina FL.  Fernandina is one of our favorite stops, hope they are able to get on their feet quickly.  Boaters bring a lot of revenue into the town so the whole town will be effected.

October 17, 2016

We splashed!

This is one of my favorite pictures of the launching of Linda Jean.  I guess it is because Linda Jean is cradled and protected.

 Linda Jean hits the water 

...and spends the night in Morehead City

Here are some pictures from the boatyard and New Bern.

Gabriel a.k.a. DoDa

Gabriel a.k.a. DoDa

DoDa's legs don't bend at the elbow, but he doesn't know they should.

The day in New Bern

Here is a fun fact about New Bern:

       "The Swiss and German settlement of New Bern was named in honor of the founders home, Bern, Switzerland. When Bern, Switzerland was founded, it was named by a group of hunters. They named the city for the first animal they came upon on their hunting expedition. It was a bear. Bern is the old Germanic word for Bear, and the bear became the symbol of the city. It has been adopted by New Bern, as well".

Check this out:

Home is where the boat is for 6 months

Their version of the Care Bear

Then there is Dead Cow Lane

I asked people at the office how the street found its name and they didn't know

Rob finished off the head liner that Ken and Rob installed this summer in 90 degree

weather.  

        We counted the days to our destination and it is going to be very close.  We hope for nice weather and calm seas so we can arrive at The Marina at Ortega Landing by November 8th, at the latest.

The day of this post is October 19,2016 and we are scheduled to have the air conditioner fixed.

All the best to you,

Tricia

Life on the hard

October 14, 2016

Beaufort Marine Center

Lets see, I last wrote to you on October 6th, that was 8 days ago.  I can’t tell you how much has been done since then, but I can tell you there has been a lot of work and a lot of play.  We are very thankful to have a port in the storm close by with family.  We had a great time. We watched home movies, played Canfield, had family dinners, and kept watch over the weather.  I had a pedicure with my sister and found a new consignment store.

Real life is going great but we can’t figure out what we should do.  Word is the ICW is a “mess” but we don’t know what that means.  We are still on the hard and would like to do a splash and move to a marina so we can hook up all of the facilities we have on the boat. We have found a couple of great marinas to stay at close to here, of course the cost of staying at a marina would be significantly more than staying on the hard. So here we sit for now. Tomorrow we are going to call the Coast Guard to see what they have to say about traveling south on the waterway.  

We have a lot of work to do on the boat and a lot that has been done.  For those of you that have boats you will recognize the list and agree that when this list is worked on it will only get longer.  I know a chant that boaters do is “there is always something”.  Well here is our something.  I am telling you simply because I want sympathy and for you to be impressed.  

The List

1.paint the bottom of the boat

2.scrape and poly the rub rail

3. wash down the entire boat after it being left out to the elements for 5 months and from      Hurricane Matthew

4.wash windows

5.clean the inside of the boat

6.spray bimini with sun protection

7.put the bimini and side curtains up

8.spray paint increments on the anchor chain

9.wash the dinghy and spray it to protect it better in the sun
10.put up the rest of the head liner

11.Rob finishes installing the Ubiquiti (Wi-Fi antenna)

12.loading the boat with all the STUFF we brought from home (I can't imagine how many steps I made up the ladder to get everything in the boat)

13.wash the fridge to spotless

14.shop for provisions that don’t need to be cooked while we are on the hard

15.empty the three water tanks that hold 75 gallons each

16.fill all three water tanks with added bleach to clean them out

17.drain the 225 gallons of bleach water

18.fill the three tanks again with clean water

Life isn't that bad

Maggie and I walked the Greenway and found this turtle crossing the path, Maggie was afraid the turtle would be hurt if we left her in the path so she moved her to the side and the turtle headed right back.

Updating

A new splash date is set for Monday October 17, 2016. We considered going to Ocracoke to putts around until we could go south on the ICW. I called Seatow (AAA for boats) and they said that there had been lots of travel on the ICW in the last few days and no one has run into problems.  He did caution us about marker 61A, a green marker near Brown’s Cove.  He said the marker is in the right place but people are not trusting it and they go aground.  The green 61A marker is about 80 ft. off shore and the boat has to pass between it and the shore.

Never a dull moment:

There is a 40' Cat across the dirt road from us.  This is the family that I mentioned in a previous blog.  They had a splash time of 3:00 yesterday and the Travelift came exactly on time, however it doesn’t always go as planned.

The pictures will tell the story the best but the narrative might help.

When the Travelift was moving out with the boat the starboard side front tires sank up to the hub in the mud.  As you can see from the pictures they brought in a large army truck and that didn’t work, then they brought in a front end pay loader. Until the pay loader came 4 men tried to shovel enough dirt out to be able to move the Travelift ahead.  

Friday morning October 14, 2016, the CAT leaves.  Goodbyes were said in hopes of running into each other along the way.

Remember how earlier in this posting I told you the list would get longer?  While trying to lower the anchor chain to paint increments of 10' on it the housing on the boat broke off and we need one to be fabricated locally or try to find a used one from Anchors Away, a used marine items store. We found that the windshield wiper motor will cost around $250.00 but that includes labor.

I think the highlight of Rob's day yesterday was getting to drive the yard golf cart around.

All is not work I had time to show you how to fold and store plastic bags.  For those of you that think we are wasteful getting plastic bags instead of using reusable bags at the grocery store, hold on.  We use the plastic bags to line the waste basket in the heads, that way we don't have to waste money on the boxed plastic bags, brilliant!  We didn't think of it Susan told us about it when we were starting out this adventure.

A lesson in folding bags 

Store on end in a small container so you can just pick one out when needed.  Ruth would be so proud of me!

Another day begins.  If we can't get the housing for the anchor our splash date will be postponed, one can't leave the yard with an anchor that doesn't work.

Have a good day,
If there are typos please overlook them if I don't get this out today I will be another day behind telling you of our adventures.
Tricia

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Did I ever tell you how much I hate the wind?

October 6, 2016

Raleigh

A few of you have called or written, wanting to know how Hurricane Matthew is effecting us and if we are okay.  We are absolutely fine, safe in Raleigh with my nephew and family.

We headed to the boat, 3 hours away, to do the much needed work and to prepare it for Hurricane Matthew.  We received an email from the marina that boaters needed to secure their boats, so if we had not already been here we would have flown down to take care of our boat.  

We are watching the weather very carefully and staying here until it is fun to travel, not just safe but fun.  I wonder what the East Coast will look like as we travel south on the waterway. My heart goes out to the people in Haiti and the East Coast.  I just read that the storm is suppose to effect Lake Okeechobee.  

We worked for a couple of days getting ready to launch the boat so we could get back to Raleigh and wait out the storm. We met other boaters that were also getting their boats ready for the hurricane and at the same time preparing to launch their boat for winter cruising.  One family of five from Canada lives on their boat full time and each year spend the winter in the Bahamas.  I told the woman that depending on the winner of the election in November we might also move to Canada.

Staying on the boat while it is on the hard is not really fun, it is like tenting in the air, no bathroom, no way to do dishes and if you haven’t found the flatware yet there isn’t anything to eat with. We had one of those great chickens from the food store that they cook on the rotisserie, I love that chicken although they are probably highly processed.

Remember when you were camping and had to get out of your sleeping bag, crawl out of the tent, out into the woods and reverse that to go back to bed?  Now think about climbing down a ladder to do the same thing only walk to the bathroom as well. Oh the convenience of living in a house.

Word to the packer. Write two lists about bringing clothes on a trip and don’t be influenced by the weather of the day. Write one list in the winter and one in the summer so that you have clothes for any weather. I would pack my clothes on a hot day and the next cold day I would make significant changes to the clothes I had already packed.

I have learned so much in just over a year. I can’t imagine how much the long term boaters know!

The bedraggled

The Boat

New header, new lights and new TV

Notice the ladder in the back for getting on and off the boat 

A catamaran with a guest house

Tricia