Morning on Broad Creek

Well, we are up and raising the anchor. It's 6:47 AM. It does look like we will in Beaufort by noon today.

If you look closely, you can just barely see the crescent moon. It was a great anchorage. It did not turn out to be as rocky as I feared. It was a little warm, but the fans took care of that.

The only excitement for the night was the anchor alarm. Yes, Dear Readers, the anchor alarm went off at 2 AM. Before you begin to worry, we were not drifting ashore. It seems that someone set the anchor  alarm a little too tight last night. When LUX swung around, the alarm went off. We had ourselves a nice drill. The only problem is that I think some of the crew would have preferred a planned drill at a planned time that was NOT 2 AM!

So, we are on the way to Beaufort. Terry is there and waiting. We'll be there for lunch. And, the good news is that it's Restaurant Week on the Crystal Coast. And, yes, Beaufort is on the Crystal Coast!

Wednesday Night on Broad Creek

It is 6:45 PM, and the anchor is down. We left the Alligator River Marina bright and early this morning. And we traveled on down the ICW. During the day, our navigator and pilot kept us on the magenta line. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew entertained themselves. We did crafts. We played Yahtzee. We napped. We created delicious meals.

For lunch today, we used up the rest of our boiled eggs to make egg salad. For dinner, since we were under way, we had a wild rice- chicken salad made with golden raisins, craisins, dried cherries, and pecans. Mike also had dilly green beans. The rest of us did not eat the green beans once we realized they were made with a LOT of garlic and hot pepper! Oh well. So much for the provisioner's efforts to add variety to the meal.

Tonight, we're anchored in Broad Creek off the Neuse River in North Carolina. Tomorrow's goal is to make Beaufort, NC where Terry will rejoin the crew. But, tonight we're here.

The anchorage is a little rocky, but we can live with that for one night. The anchor is down. We're a little weary. And, it's going to be a beautiful night for sleeping.

Time to Move On

It's morning at the Alligator River Marina. We've all paid our last visit to the gas station. We're casting off and heading to Belhaven. It looks to be another beautiful day.

One last look, and we're off.

Afternoon at the Alligator River Marina

We arrived just around lunchtime today at the Alligator River Marina.

As you can see, we gave Susan the opportunity to learn the ropes-- literally. 

Once we tied up, the cleaning frenzy began. Some of us did laundry. Some of us cleaned the boat. The outside got a good clean up- so much so that Terry may not recognize LUX when he gets back!

Even the inside looks bright and shiny.

We're all tired. We can't wait for the gas station restaurant to open. And, I am willing to bet that it will be an early night on the boat tonight!

The Tale of the Missing Race Course

So, we haven't shared the tale of the sailboat race yet. And, it's certainly a day to remember.

Once again, we registered to enter the USPS District 5 Sail Regatta. We like to try to give Howard some competition if we can. This year, though, only 3  boats entered- 1 monohull, Howard's Gemini, and LUX. The respective captains all met to decide if they would even go out with such a small number. 

During the discussion, they decided it was going to be a beautiful day on the water, so why not go sailing! 

The next part of the discussion was centered around the course. It seems that our intrepid race master set a course that started AFTER a 1 1/2 trip out to the bay! Even with heavy winds, the racers would not make it back until after the banquet. So, the racers reset the course.

The course was set to start at buoy K, but the race committee boat had difficulties finding the buoy. Perhaps the buoy was hidden by the 3 sailboats circling around it! Of course, they could have checked the SMSA race course chart. The GPS coordinates are listed for that buoy. But, maybe their GPS was not working properly.

Since the race committee boat could not find the buoy K, they decided to pick another race buoy and call it K! Hmmmm... perhaps they should have alerted the sailboats to that little change in the program. Or, perhaps they just thought it would make the race more exciting if the racers first had to find the buoy.

Now that the race committee had a buoy they liked, it was time to start the race. Ooops.... the 3 sailboats were not even near this new start line. Oh so what. Let's just start the race anyway. And so they did. Now, the race committee boat did signal the start of this race. But, they did not announce the start on th VHS radio. Of course, it would have made no difference if they did. During the initial meeting, the decision was made to use channel 16 as the race committee channel. Once on the water, it seems the race committee did not like that decision. So, they made a new decision to use channel 68. But, just to make sure the race was more challenging, they did not tell the racers.

The sailboats did eventually find the race committee boat. They sailed to it, and they started around the buoys. And, it was a great day on the water- perfect weather for a fun sail.

But, back to the race.... As you might have guessed, the race committee appeared to have decided that this was a hide and seek race just to make it more of a challenge. So, you would not be surprised to learn that it was hard to figure out that the race had ended. In fact, Sinbad actually radioed in to ask for confirmation that they had actually finished!

Dear reader, you might not know that District 5 has a very special award for sailboat races. It is the broken mast award. It is given to the boat that ends up unable to finish the race. For the past two years, our own Howard has had some kerfluffle that kept him from finishing. In each of those years, he has had to take home the incredibly ugly Broken Mast award. But, this year, all the boats made it -- even with the race committee's efforts to keep them from the race! So, who would deserve the Broken Mast? It was unanimous-- the race committee boat took home that prize!

As you may already know from reading the blog, LUX took first place. Sinbad came in second. Howard did make it from start to finish this year. But, he was busy following the other two boats! We did tell him that he need not tell everyone that there were only three boats when he talks about his third place finish!

On a final note.... You might have noticed that I never mention the name of Howard's catamaran. Could that be that I can't spell it?

On the Albemarle Sound

Last night, we ended with a round of exercise- kill the midges.

Even with the new enclosure the midges got in. So, Mike went about trying to get rid of the masses. In short order, the cabin was filled with carnage. Mike tried to keep killing ones right over my wine glass! I ended up holding my wine and covering it with my hand. Such free entertainment!

This morning, we actually did not rush to get up (yes, Terry is not on the boat). Once we were all up, we had a serious discussion about breakfast. The final decision was pumpkin spice pancakes. Peggy did a fantastic job fixing the yummiest pancakes. She used the Krusteaz mix. To those readers who might want to try it, Peggy says don't use the amount of water given in the directions. It's way too much liquid. She left out 3/4 cup of the water called for. And, it was really runny. She let it sit for a bit, and it did solidify a bit. In the long run, the pancakes were great! 

Now, we are headed across the Pamlico Sound. Tonight's stop is one of our favorites-- the Alligator River Marina. Yes, Dear Readers, we will have shrimp at the gas station tonight!

Evening on the North River

We have come to rest on the North River. We stopped this evening at 6 PM. It's a beautiful night. And it was a beautiful sunset.

For dinner tonight, we had beef stroganoff. It was a great and quick recipe. You just use a ready made pot roast from the meat section of your local grocery, mushrooms, and French onion dip! Being us, we couldn't let it be that simple. We fried up onions and peppers before we added the beef, mushrooms, and dip. It was very tasty.

For dessert, we broke down and opened the cookies Denise brought as a Bon voyage gift!

And, yes, they were very tasty! Thanks,Denise!

Now, the evening is winding down. Peggy is in the shower. Mike and Carol are enjoying the all season room created by the new enclosure, Susan is reviewing the cool videos she has taken so far on the trip, and I'm busy finishing the blog for today.

Tomorrow, we hope to stop at the Alligator River Marina. Oh boy! Showers, laundry, and really great shrimp! And, we might even start the day with pancakes! Life is good on the water.

Locking Through Great Bridge

Susan had the opportunity to man the ropes while we went through the first lock on this journey.

You will notice that it's the all girl crew on duty today! Next on the list is a quick stop at Great Bridge for Terry to get off.

Visitors at Breakfast Time

More excitement in Norfolk! Dolphins came to check out the harbor.

Morning in Norfolk

It looks to be another gorgeous day on the water. We're here in Norfolk, but not for long. We'll be on our way south later this morning. In the meantime, Peggy has completed her Tai Chi forms, Susan has tried Yoga on the back deck, and Terry is up on the front deck doing push ups. Hopefully, he'll add finishing the head to that set of exercise before the morning's done.

It's chilly outside, but we're staying comfy cozy in our new enclosure.

For breakfast, the crew must forage on their own today. Terry and Peggy will be having yogurt. The rest of us will be having oatmeal.

One of the most interesting aspects of this anchorage is that you continually hear trains. It's so weird to hear trains while you are on the water. And, it is just plain noisy. Norfolk is one very busy port!

One of the 'shows' yesterday was the tug show. One tug actually went past us flying. Why was that entertaining? Well, the tug was really moving backwards! It's amazing how they can maneuver so powerfully in either direction.

We also had lots of company yesterday. The enclosure keeps us warm, but it does not seem to keep the flies out. So, we had lots of exercise yesterday hunting down and killing all the flies. But, then again, chasing flies beats being way too cold any day!

Good food!

Oops. I forgot to mention that we had Jambalaya for dinner. Our trip to Federalsburg to the Gourmet Pantry really paid off. We purchased bags of Emeril's Jambalaya for only $ .50! Supposedly, each bag was only 2 servings. But it was a lot of food. 

Susan made a lovely spinach salad to accompany it. For dessert, we had ginger snaps and pretzels with Philadelphia's chocolate cream cheese as a dip. Today's drink was hot apple cider with rum. Yummy!

Nighttime in Norfolk

Well, we've been on the water for 12 hours, and we did make it to Norfolk. It was a long day for sure. We are anchored out, and it is beautiful out tonight. The new boat enclosure really increases our living space. So, the boat people are busy planning out the next couple of days. Terry will be leaving us tomorrow for some business. Yes, once again, the sailor will not be on the boat. How does that happen?

Tomorrow, we will start south from Mile Marker 0. Hopefully, the day will not be as long.

Sunday Morning- Up at C O D

Yes, dear reader, we are once again off as dawn begins to lightly tint the sky. We're off to Virginia.

    

Our last day in Solomon's was filled with great friends, delicious food, and good times with USPS District 5. Terry, Carol, Mike, and Susan had a great day on the water racing. The USPS meeting only had three boats entered this year - 2 catamarans and a monohull. Since it was a small group, they all agreed to race each other. As they left the dock, we said, "Win big or go south." We'll be doing both.

Yes, LUX raced past the monohull and the Gemini catamaran to take first place. Not only that, the sailing crew had a fantastic day on the water. It was not too hot. it was not too cold. The sun kept breaking through the clouds. And they mostly had enough wind to play at sailing.

Meanwhile, Peggy and Gee went shopping- courtesy of Gretchen and Denise- the ones with a car. We went off on the search for stove knobs. Yes, dear reader, it appears that the last charterers were really mean to our stove. They broke both knobs for the burners. And we now know that stores no longer sell generic stove knobs. They all tell you to order them. We told each store that it would be a little hard  since we were on a boat headed south. We will probably try to order them- using pliers to turn on the stove does wear thin. Currently, we have redeployed the oven knob, so it's workable. But, we'll need to fix that soon.

Now for the daily head update. We have one head that works like a charm. The other head hopes to capture Terry's attention soon. It already got him to buy lots of jewelry - also known as parts with nice price tags. Hopefully, the offerings of bright, shiny and new parts will entice the head to join the crew. The day's young, and the adventures are just beginning.

It's Fall!

We're here in Solomon's with the Power Squadron enjoying a fantastic breakfast. Patuxent River Power Squadron did an amazing job.

Later this morning, sailboats will race and fisher folk will fish. It's gray and breezy, but no rain. Hopefully, everyone will have fun.

We're Off Again

Today started like any of our adventures- filled with excitement.

As you can see, once again the heads are the focus. Terry is busy trying to install both holding tanks as well as rebuilding the head itself.