We had to move out of the Schoolhouse Condos for a week so a quick trip to Pensacola was decided on. Pictures to follow. The dinghy needs to rejoin the boat but first it has to fit on a Toyota Corolla for the drive back to Oriental.
You can read more about this on the man’s blog.
People are running from the heat and that is providing empty houses with a thing they call air conditioning. The nights of last week were not so bad because of a breeze that lasted almost all night and the lows were maybe 75. One day we had one of those…
Trying to plan a little trip up to Watauga Lake for a few days of chillin. We did a install today of a NuTeak flybridge up in Little Washington. The process is hard but the results are very rewarding. It really dressed up the boat. All of a sudden we…
This weekend is Croakerfest in Oriental and the crews are busy making the town look pretty. Temps are dropping to the mid-60’s at night and low 80’s during the day. I am still at anchor and haven’t been plugged into a dock in months.
I am back in Oriental and had coffee at the Bean this morning after a night anchored in about three feet of water. The boat has been great with just the one real breakdown and a minor hiccup here and there. It’s hard to go boating without something breaking so…
I am anchored here in Swansboro with an internet connection that is helping me monitor a storm cell headed this way and packing wind. I went for a swim yesterday in Wrightsville Beach and saw that the hull was covered in heavy barnacles. This morning early I pulled “Spark” onto…
What a difference. Today was in the high 80’s and I hardly broke a sweat. The boat did 70 miles of travel and that was including opening 4 bridges. I just put the anchor down in the little harbor here in Southport and thought I was next to a rock…
There is a reason that people do this certain times of the year. I was late to leave when I turned south in early December and this is not a good time again with heat index about 114 degrees. Georgetown has been great to layover for a day. I was…
I couldn’t time the tide right yesterday and did a lot of upstream rowing. It took me four hours to wash a boat for Elfin at Complete Marine Services. When I finished we all sat around and talked until almost 10pm. It’s a good group of people. My part was…
The new autopilot is old. It hasn’t been of much use yet because it goes into a crazy panic trying to be perfect. This morning I discovered a sequence of button pushing that allows you to enter how many turns from stop to stop and even some dampening control. I…
My day started with a shower on shore and then a five mile hike to Walmart in an attempt to undo the shower. It’s about 90 degrees here. Mission accomplished. I decided to track down the transmission cooler now that I was so refreshed. Ron asked Alan and Alan said…
The last 3 days have been good with only Jekyll Island Sound causing any trouble. I still had southeast winds and the ocean waves kept trying to slap the dinghy off the davits. Today I woke up to northwest winds that stayed light while I crossed St. Catherine Sound and…
The first day underway I only made 39 miles because I tried to sail for 2 or 3 hours but the winds were light. By 4 o’clock I was anchored in Julington Creek and rowed in to the Whole Foods store for a few things. I met a man in…
These last couple of days have allowed me to address some boat issues. Not the big boat but the dinghy. It’s a Zodiac and would a great outboard powered ride but it doesn’t have very good oarlocks and one was lost when I bought it. The one I found as…
We were at the Milltop in St. Augustine and heard Will Pearsall play on a Monday night in front of us and a couple other tables. What a treat! Now it looks like he will play here in Palatka at this weekend’s Blue Crab Festival so I might have to…
This is the last day of a deck installation in the Jarrett Bay complex. The shed is leased to a company called Lightning Yachts that builds boats and also do refits. All the employees have been easy to work with and that helps a lot when you have 6 or…
Some friends had a big crayfish boil tonight with plenty of other food added. Live music and a cool breeze made for a nice evening and we still had some light at 8:30. I was back in the little camper by 9 and spent the last hour researching ways to…
I have a dilemma. There is a good chance that I have some quality work here in Oriental starting in mid-May. To live here and be able to cook I would need to bring the boat back up. To bring the boat back I would need to get the truck…
My dinner at the Paling’s house last night has kick-started my appetite after a really fun bout with stomach flu. On top of that I have work to do tomorrow and possible the rest of the month. The pine pollen has turned the whole town green but heavy wind followed…