Merry Christmas

From Beaufort, NC, we wish you
a happy and healthy Holiday Season.

And Active



"Christmas, my child, is love in action."
Dale Evans

Oriental to Beaufort, NC

We finally left lovely Oriental, NC on Saturday, December 20. After such great hospitality, including a Christmas town parade and party, a party with the WINOS and a Wine Tasting event, we thought we should leave now or just stay permanently.

Oriental officially has more boats than people (3 to 1). Slightly less than 900 residents, Oriental boasts a lengthy number of social events and activities. Great restaurants, excellent shopping, art galleries, outdoor excursions -a great destination. Many of the retirees share their experience of visiting by boat (some by car) and liking the area so much that they decided to retire here.

The name of this nautical town is unusual, and the unusual story behind it is fitting. While fishing one day in 1870, Lou Midyette found shelter from a storm at the center of five creeks. He liked the area so much that he and his family settled there and the town of Smith's Creek began. A few years later, Rebecca Midyette, Lou's wife, was visiting a friend in Manteo when she spotted the name board for the USS Oriental, which sunk in a storm off the Outer Banks in 1862. She considered it a great name for her home town, and residents agreed. The town of Oriental was formed in 1899.

Befitting its name, Oriental also has the Oriental Dragon. Each New Year's Eve, the dragon becomes active, leading a parade and appearing at activities throughout the day and evening. Permanently, this beautiful dragon lives in the Duck Pond by the Town Docks.

We enjoyed our time in Oriental, but we needed to resolve several boat issues and prepare the boat to go off shore. Pete, owner of Seacoast Marine Electronics, has our chart plotter functioning properly (well, mostly) and installed Sirius Weather and Radio. Deaton's Boat Yard arrived promptly both times we called them. We really appreciate Joe Valinoti, an experienced sailor and delivery captain, for spending time with us and with Lapidus, sharing his knowledge and skills. He and his wife Paula graciously involved us in Oriental's activities.

Now that we are in Beaufort (Bo-furt), we are taking care of some smaller projects ourselves as well as rearranging items and supplies to make room for two crew members. Seasoned sailors Patrick Gould and Jim Scheer will be joining us as we sail to the Bahamas. Patrick, a retired scientist from the west coast, sailed the Pacific for mnay years and has ocean crossing experience. Jim, retired from R&D in radar and now teaching radar for Georgia Tech, also has extensive sailing experience. We found them through networking in Oriental. They live close by in the New Bern area and we're glad for them to join us. Our plan is to sail off shore as the weather permits. Four of us to share watches and chores will add safety and enjoyment to this adventure. We're looking for a weather window on or soon after December 30.

Beaufort, an historic seaport established in 1722, has its own charm. We'll share more after we have a chance to check it out.

December 11 - Oriental, NC

On December 5, we stopped for the day at the Atlantic Yacht Basin, MM 12. A diesel mechanic successfully took care of our oil leak before the end of the day.

On Saturday, December 6, we had a light day of 38 miles to Coinjock, NC. At our request for an opening at the Centerville Turnpike Swing Bridge, the bridge keeper said to proceed to the bridge, which we did very slowly, probably much too slow for the bridge keeper. She said she would open it when we were closer. As the bridge swung open in our direction, we certainly felt we were way too close.

The other opening we needed was also a swing bridge; this one opens on the hour and half hour. We were happily able to get through behind a power boat, even though the time was six minutes after the hour. This bridge was not intimidating.

The afternoon was chilly but sunny when we arrived at Midway Marina in Coinjock. We decided to finally christen our boat.Many thanks to Ronnie, the Dock Master, for taking the pics.

We ended this lovely day with dinner at Crabbies, a favorite stop for cruisers. My grilled grouper with crab and Larry's seafood pasta were both fresh and yummy.

Sunday, December 7
Leaving Coinjock (MM 50) early, we were in the Albemarle Sound, a large body of water that covers 50 miles, by noon and soon we had 27 - 31 knots of wind and rough, confused seas for most of the 14-mile long crossing. The Sound is shallow and a stiff wind makes the conditions worse. We grounded at MM 83, just as we were coming out of the sound and very close to the Alligator River Swing Bridge. The Bridge tender might not have opened the bridge due to the wind, but we didn't find out. Tow Boat US came as quickly as they could; by the time they were able to pull us off, sunset had passed and darkness was close. We docked at Alligator River Marina, just a mile away. We had been concerned about our boat icon on our chart plotter. If the bow is in the channel, the stern seems not to be. After we grounded and the wind blow our bow off the channel, we could tell our stern was definitely out of the channel. Not good. We'll have an electronics person check it out as soon as possible. We also have a problem in our gear linkage; moving from neutral to forward or reverse is becoming more difficult and makes docking difficult.

Monday, December 8
The Alligator River Swing Bridge opened for us and we traveled the narrow but scenic Alligator River-Pungo River Canal and arrived at Dowry Creek Marian a little after two - a much better day.

Tuesday, December 9
We started early for the fifty mile trip to Oriental, NC, but we came in well after dark because we grounded again, partly because of the chart plotter heading not properly functioning, but the wind conditions were 20+ knots, which lowers the water depth in the Bay and Neuse Rivers that we were traveling. We're glad we have unlimited towing with Boat US. We had no costs, but the invoices were over $750 each. Coming in after dark was challenging; the dockmaster at Oriental Marina stayed late to talk us in and help us dock.

Wednesday, the 10th, Eric, a great mechanic repaired our shifting problem. Peter, an electronics expert was here Wednesday afternoon and is here again today. Issue with chart plotter is not solved at this time.

So, hear we are in the quaint little town of Oriental, called the sailing capital of North Carolina. Our friend, Jenny, has told us what a great area this is and we agree. We're staying at least through the weekend, maybe longer, depending on repairs and weather. Oriental's Spirit of Christmas is Friday and Saturday; a few pics will catch some of the friendly faces we've seen.

Bridges & Naval Shipyard

The tugs and the Naval Shipyard are intimidating enough, but add eight bridges and one lock, and uneasiness and awe describe the emotions. We were off to a great start, with bridges opened as we came through, until the seventhbridge, the "Steel Bridge" which opens on the hour. We arrived at 9:07 as the bridge was closing; thus, we circled and fought the pushing current until the 10:00 opening. Then we rushed to the Great Bridge Lock, which also opens on the hour, luckily, it was still open when we arrived around 10:30, so we cleated to the side wall for the short rising to the water and headed toward the Great Bridge Bascule at Mile Marker 12 (we started the day at Mile Marker 0.4). We did have to wait until 11:00 for the opening. The Atlantic Yacht Basin is just past this bridge; we pulled in and docked to have a diesel mechanic check our oil leak. The knowledgeable mechanic at Atlantic Yacht Basin found the problem and several hours later had the issue solved. The Deltavillains Schroeder Boat Yard was supposed to have checked and replaced as needed the filters and hoses on the engine, but that was the leaky area. Oh, well. We're good to go Saturday morning. Twelve nautical miles, bridge and lock experience, and a repair that ended well -a pretty good day.

2nd day Heading South -Bahamas Bound

We left lovely Yorktown early and worked our way back out to the Bay. We arrived in Norfolk, Mile Marker 0 on the ICW at 2:30 and we stopped for the day because we could not make it through the bridges by their published closing time, most at 3:3o, one at 4. The weather report was correct today: windy and stormy seas. The choppy seas were a bit uncomfortable, but more so were the many commercial vessels, mostly tugs pushing, pulling or leading container ships. They took the channel,

sometimes hailing you to move out of the channel, sometimes not hailing you and you just knew to move out of the channel


So, tomorrow are the bridges. We were not too unhappy to put them off for one more day. We are a bit over whelmed with so much new info and action, but loving it all at the same time.
Weird? You can see from the cockpit pic that we have charts everywhere, as well as 'Otto,' our favorite guy, binoculars, and anything else we can grab to 'help' us.

Goodby Deltaville (Deltavillains describes a few folks)

Tuesday, early am, December 3rd:
Simple Plan. Spend months preparing, then start the engine, untie from the dock, and head out. But, wait, we didn't move. An exceptionally low tide had us grounded! We had moved our boat closer to the front of the marina to a dock with cleats only and no pilings to not only escape the strong wind but to also have a faster get-away. The dock was supposed to be deep enough for our 6' draft and we had no trouble docking there.

So we did a few more chores, wiped the remaining frost from our enclosure, questioned Mother Nature, and had a good laugh. Around 11:00, still not tied to the docks, Lapidus started floating. We quickly started our engine and crept out into the shallow narrow channel. Our depth finder indicated several times that we should be grounded, but we kept moving, so we were probably traveling in mud. Grounding in this channel is all too common.

With the wind and the current on our nose, we motored; our speed was much less than we wanted. But, the sun was shining, our enclosure kept us warm, and we were on our way. What a beautiful day.

The Hampton Roads harbor is home to vessels of all kinds, including commercial and military. We did not want to face this nautical freeway after dark. So, around five, we turned into the York River channel and went up the river to Yorktown. This area too has some commercial and military traffic, but it's not heavy and the river is wide and deep. We moved to the edge of the channel as a tug pulling a large barge passed us, and we followed him in. We were docked by 8 and enjoying a cocktail in one of our favorite spots that we often visited when we were staying in Glocester. We had not planned to visit here on our boat. But we didn't plan to leave late and dock at night at an unfamiliar dockage. So go plans. All in all, we loved our first day headed south.

So, today, we'll plan to enter the Hampton Roads harbor and Elizabeth River. The first 8 miles from Mile Marker 0, Norfolk, are congested with six bridges that we have to go through. More about that later.
My connection is iffy here. More pics tomorrow (if I can hook up).

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in Deltaville, VA. –not what we planned, but in addition to being thankful for our friends and family, we’re thankful for our home on the water and the many great people in this small community that make their living from boaters. These past few weeks have been full of projects, mostly completed, but not quite yet. I’ve been thinking of a quote by Hillary Clinton while she was still First Lady. “It takes a village” is a reminder that educating our children involves all of us. As a former educator, I know how important these words are, but right now, this quote reflects what has been going on on our boat.

Crews who have been working on our boat include canvass, sail makers, air/refrigeration, rod rigging, line rigging, electronics, and plumbing. Having professionals available has enabled us to check all equipment, making repairs and replacements as necessary. We’ve replaced the Hot Water heater and replaced our new inverter for a larger one. We’ve added lighting, stereo and speakers, and CruiseNet (a wifi extender). Our new chart plotter was installed while the boat was on the hard, and we later decided to upgrade to the newest radar as well. Our electronics guru is having a heck of a time getting the Furono NavNet 3D chart plotter to work correctly and to synchronize with the other equipment on the boat. One nice feature of the chart plotter is we can view and make points/routes on our flat screen TV in the cabin. We’ve also used this time to get to know our boat. She’s quite a change from a 30’ Catalina and this area is quite a change from Lake Texoma.

Deltaville is located at the end of Route 33 on the Rappahannock River and the Chesapeake Bay. Over thirty marinas and boat yards surround the narrow finger. At the end of the finger is historical Stingray Point. On July 17, 1608 John Smith and his crew were fishing in the shallows of the Chesapeake Bay, spearing fish with their swords. Smith unknowingly speared a cow-nose ray; as he attempted to pull it off of his sword, its barbed tail sank into his wrist, causing immediate pain and considerable swelling of his torso and arms. Smith, fearing death, instructed his crewmembers to dig him a grave. But in a few hours he recovered enough to eat the stingray for dinner! Smith named the location "Stingray Point" after his painful experience.

In addition to the marine experts in Deltaville, many fishing boats go out daily. A local fish shop does lots of business plus the local restaurants offer fresh catch everyday including grouper, rockfish, oysters, scallops, crab. In fact, today at the Galley Restaurant, we enjoyed fried oysters along with Virginia ham and turkey. But the fish variety and numbers are far less than when John Smith was exploring and charting these waters. Efforts are being made to sustain the fish, mainly by taking better care of the Bay.

I missed posting for a great but different holiday. This marina takes Halloween seriously. The slice of pizza and the Miller beer are Jack and Craig, the owners of Regatta Point Marina.




Happy Thanksgiving and keep your fingers crossed for our heading south next week.

Quick Update

Moving out or moving in - just exhausting. But after two months of living in a hotel room, our bodies needed some conditioning. Our moving aboard is not completed, but we've made great progress. The boat already has a large inventory of items, so going through everything and deciding what stays and what goes takes a while.

We kept our plans to attend the Annapolis Boat Show since our boat needed fluids and everything checked before it could be moved to our new slip at Dozier's Regatta Point. We have been to the Boat Show four of the five years we've been sailing. Usually, we look, dream, buy a few items, and just enjoy the outing. This year, of course, we made purchases of specific items and equipment we wanted plus we wanted to talk to the reps about some of the equipment already installed. Wednesday night before the show, we met up with a great group for dinner, including former and present Cedar Mills Marina folks.
Left to right, Kate (who hosted a lovely happy hour in her Annapolis home), Steven, Larry, Paula, Di, Jay, Bob, Bev, Kathy, Mike, Nancy, Jim, and Steve.The food was excellent, but the artwork stole the show. Check out the swan carved from a turnip.

Annapolis is such a beautiful city. And the views of the boat show are impressive, especially from Pusser's patio.

Virginia and Maryland have many rivers, but the Potomoc River that separates the two states is certainly one of the most famous.


We are really pleased with our new marina -nice facilities and a great staff. The best feature is viewing all the boats that stop by for the night, or maybe several days, depending on the weather.


We'll have more pictures of Lapidus soon, but these two show our current favorite additions. The custom-made seven inch thick latex mattress is the most comfortable mattress ever!
This week, our balmy weather ended abruptly with a cold snap. The enclosure offered needed protection from the rain and wind.

We'll be traveling until October 28. We'll be attending our son Trent's wedding. He and lovely Cristen live in Austin, but the wedding will be in Boerne, Texas, an historic resort town in the Hill country. We will also be leaving our pickup in OKC and flying back. Yes, the pickup is currently loaded with items that didn't make the cut. We have great storage, but ........

This schooner is in Yorktown, one of our favorite places. It takes paying passengers on a short excursion of the river. Mainly, it just adds another beautiful dimension to a lovely area.

SPLISH SPLASH

Nice to not see a ladder leaning up against Lapidus. Of course, you might also notice there are no sails on the boat. The sails were removed for UV treatment and will be put on while the boat is in the water. The attractive white hull and the royal blue boot stripes make a nice background for the name and hailing port. Plus the blue goes great with the new toast canvas. New thru-hulls. Check out the trip to the water below.




















And that's how it's accomplished. More to be done
now that she's in the water, but what great sight!

Boat yard Time

Lapidus is still on the hard, BUT (drum roll) the long awaited air handler is to be delivered today. So, we're planning on getting wet by the end of the week.

Parts not being shipped as scheduled as well as projects not being completed as scheduled by the boatyard have become the standard. Plus, sometimes, projects just don't go as smoothly as planned. Whatayougonnado? Deltaville is home to several boat yards, and Schroeder Yacht Systems was recommended' to us as one of the best and most efficient yards. Hmmm!

Reverse Cycle Heat and Air, Generator, AIS, Furuno NavNet 3D Chartplotter ---lots of new items to add to our enjoyment and safety and to become familiar with. The EPIRB and Winslow Liferaft are back on board after being updated. And much more has been done. I'll be posting pictures soon.

We've also experienced our first hurricane (rain and wind for this area) and our first Nor'easter (more rain and much more wind plus really high tides and rough seas). Mostly, though, the weather has been about as gorgeous as Virginia. We spent a beautiful day at the In-the-Water Virginia Boat Show, on the Norfolk waterfront on the Elizabeth River. In fact, we took the ferry from Portsmouth to Norfolk, crossing the river where we will be sailing as we head south. Pretty cool!

We took a little side trip to Hertford, NC for our first taste of North Carolina Bar-B-Que. The food was delicious and we thank Ginny, one of our good friends from Cedar Mills Marina (Shawn and Ginny on S/V Ta-Keel-AH) for the tip.

Last weekend we attended the SSCA GAM in Annapolis. We met up with Jim and Nancy Aadland, S/V Solitaire. They kept their boat at Cedar Mills Marina when we first bought our Catalina 30; now they cruise full time. They introduced us to other cruisers at the GAM and we met many others as well. We look forward to seeing these friends as we head south and while we're in the Bahamas.

Right now, we're just excited that we really are going to have our boat soon.

Beaverdam State Park

Today, along with everyone else, we're awaiting the arrival of Hanna. The locals say we need rain, but are wishing for moderate amounts plus less wind than predicted. They still remember the damage Isabelle caused several years ago. Lapidus is still on the hard, and hopefully, safe from the coming tropical storm. Progress continues to be slow; that's about all I can offer without whining.

Every day before we (or sometimes just Larry) go to the boatyard to work on Lapidus and/or oversee current projects, we like to get a little exercise. Recently, we discovered Beaverdam State Park, a beautiful lake and recreational area. The 635 acre lake and surrounding nature and hiking trails present a spectacular way to begin the day. Usually we walk the trails, but a canoe trip was perfect for capturing a few pics of another lovely piece of Virgina.a.