Oops... forgot the Tale of Peggy's Pain

Ah, Dear Readers, I forgot to share the saga of Peggy's Peril. Seems our intrepid crew member got some sort of splinter. It went deep. Carol had to operate ( because the medical officer doesn't do surgery).

As you can see, it was a long, difficult, and painful surgery. We almost called Sam and Howard for a consultation. But, Peggy bit the bullet. Carol persevered. The medical officer took pictures. And the splinter came out. A successful day in the medical bay. Of course, it is a sad medical bay when the patient has to hold the light for the surgeon. But, we all try to be helpful. It, it seems to work.

Rainy Days and Mondays....

It's LUX! Even rainy days and Mondays can't bring us down. It rained all night, and we are snug and dry inside! It really rained last night. And, it is really raining right now. The best news of the day is that Mike's repair of the hatches was a success. Yay, Mike. And, right this minute, Mike is sitting in our cockpit area. He's nice and dry in the new enclosure. The makralon has that water just rolling on down and away from the cockpit. Yay, Mike and Carol. Their efforts to create an enclosure for LUX have truly paid off on this trip. 

So, we're all trying to get ready for another exciting day on the water. 

We're in Georgetown

It's just after 1 PM, and we have arrived in Georgetown. The plan for today is to check out the town.

We're at the dock. And rain is threatening. Hopefully, it will hold off long enough for us to do some shopping.

Excitement on the Water!

Yes, Dear Readers, we saw an alligator!

Okay, it's not the best picture. But, hey, you had to be there! We saw an alligator. The day just keeps getting better!

It's Turning Out To Be a Beautiful Day

It's so pretty outside today!

It's COD Time Again

Well, it's bright and early on the ICW once again. But, there are lots of clouds out there today. Hopefully, it just means cloudy weather.

Today's bit of trivial information. Beware of marinas whose names include any synonym for big. For example, the Grand Dunes. Don't get me wrong. It's a beautiful marina. It was quiet. It was a very protected harbor. The manager could not have been nicer or more helpful. But, it was BIG! Like the Megadocks in Charleston, just getting to the showers is quite a hike! So, big in marina world means just that!

So, we are headed for Georgetown today. The big news for today was that Carol was the last one out of bed today. Hopefully, that will remain the big news for today.

If The Blue Flashing Lights Head Right At You, Turn to the Port

There I was, sharing the blog with Carol and Peggy. Suddenly, Peggy interrupted my dramatic reading with these words, "Wait! Is that boat heading right at us?"

BTW, when we were in Norfolk, I commented that the patrol boats at the navy yards were like watch dogs in a fenced yard. They would come racing out at any boat that strayed too close to the off limits areas. They would zip back and forth, nipping at the boats until they were far away from the zone once again. 

Which brings us back to our current story. Yes, Dear Readers, it appears that we strayed too close to the danger zone. The boat came out at full speed telling us to turn to port. NOW!

And so we did. And the boat went roaring off to find the next vessel it could chase. 

Despite the fact that we were in the designated channel...but the guys with blue lights make the rules. So we went to port. It's another fun day on the water. Guys in fast boats get good rides. We keep moving along.

In the Thick of It

So we were busy rolling down the river when we turned a corner. And, ahead of us was this:

Hmmmm. It looks a little foggy up ahead.

Wait. That would be an understatement. In fact it turned into pea soup. Fog watchers were posted on the bow.

And, in good USPS fashion, we rendered assistance.

These fisher folk wanted to know if we had radar. We answered that we did not, but we did have electronic navigation devices on board. They asked if we were going towards Southport. When we replied that we were, they asked if they could tag along. So, we led them out of the dark into the light. Yes, dear readers, the fog is lifting.

You can actually see the shoreline again. And, our fisher folk are off and running about once again. And we are heading off at full speed once again.

Susan leaves. The birds show up!

Susan spent a lot of time on her part of this journey trying to get a shot of a bird - ANY BIRD - on a pole. This morning, the first day she is not on board, every bird on the ICW showed up to pose. We had pelicans on poles.

We had herons in trees.

And lots of seagulls posed for us.

Poor Susan. She missed the bird show.

A Catamaran Pulls Up to A Bar

We made it to Wrightsville Beach in plenty of time, so we decided that the easiest way to let Susan off the boat would be to pull up to a restaurant with a dock. We ended up at the Dockside Marina. It was actually more of your basic waterfront bar. Lots of college kids came to the beach for the weekend and stopped at Dockside Marina for a few drinks. When we called in, the young lady who answered said it would be no problem because they weren't busy.

By the time we got there, it was 6:20. But this is NOT Annapolis. The dock master had already gone home. They sent out the bartender to try to tie us up. It wasn't as easy as you would think because the boats who came after the dockmaster left just tied up wherever they wanted. That included the dingy that was tied up in a space large enough for a good sized boat! And, that young thing who told us it wasn't busy? We're wondering if she actually noticed what was going on there. Most restaurants would be in heaven to be not as busy as this place was! We were hoping we would actually get a table.

But, of course, getting a table was reliant upon LUX actually getting a spot on the dock! We finally did, after crew members gave the bartender tips on rearranging boats at the dock. The bartender apologized profusely. He said that had he only known, he would have tried to make better arrangements at the dock. Hmmmm, we said. We spoke to the young lady on the phone... Oh, said the bartender. I've spoken to her several times, and she never mentioned that you were coming. Hmmm...

So, we went up to the restaurant to find that getting a table was actually easy. Seems the party crowd was busy jockeying for the waterside tables. We said we were happy to take one under the cabana. We were seated immediately. Susan called Bob, and the good news was that he was almost there. By the time we ate, he would be in town.

Then the bad news. Since we would be anchoring out, there would be no alcohol with dinner. Oh well... The sacrifices we make for safe boating.

Bob made it by the time we were indulging in dessert. He then took two of the crew members to the local Harris Teeter. We needed ice. Yes, we were at a marina bar that DID NOT have any ice available. At least not any bagged ice. Yes, our ice water did have ice.

At this point, Terry learned that you were allowed to stay at the dock overnight if you ate dinner there. So, a cat pulled up to a bar and spent the night. But, no, we did not get any alcohol. Bad timing on that one.

It appears that partying in Wrightsville Beach is not like Ocean City. The party noise died off by 11 PM. We had a pleasant night. And, this morning, we were off the dock by 6:30 AM.

Yes, Linda. I did not adjust my picture so the horizon was straight. But, I got this blog done in a timely fashion. Can't ask much more from a cat that pulls up to a bar!

Wrightsville Beach is In Sight!

We made much better time than we ever thought we would today. In fact, we're going to be there an hour before we even thought we might be! LUX had a great day, and so did we. The weather was just perfect. The skies were so blue. The sun stayed out all day. And we made time.

One highlight of the day was that we did have some adventures with aircraft.

Yes, Dear Readers, that is a Harrier jet flying right over us. Seems that we were in just the right place to see the jets practice take offs and landings. Be assured that they could not be missed. The noise was deafening- especially when they were right overhead.

Some of the crew spent time yet again trouncing Susan in Yahtzee. She has been so kind to play, especially since she admitted going in that she is singularly unlucky with games of chance! We're sorry to see her go this evening. She's been a great crew member. She's cooked and done dishes. And, she's tried her hand at manning the lines.

So, as the day goes on, we are at the Figure Eight bridge. LUX has been so happy that's she's practically running on her own.

As you can see, she's tooling along on her own just to let Terry work with the lines. It's another great day on the water.

We're off... And We Don't Know What's Next

It's barely 7 AM, and we are up and on our way. We hope to make some time today. And, if we do, we might make it as far as Wrightsville Beach. 

Last night was not your basic calm night in Beaufort. Peggy was rudely awakened by the two gunshots. We don't know what they were shooting at, but we hope it wasn't anywhere near us.

Peggy also reports being awakened by Mike. It appears that Mike heard the bilge pump going crazy, so he got up to do repairs. That involved a lot of hatches opening and shutting, tools dropping, and general repair banging.

There is also a report of someone's phone (not to mention any names, but that phone gets off today) suffering a bad case of roll over. You know, when the sleeper rolls over on the phone and sets it off. The phone then wants to know what you want, so it makes noise at you.

But, Dear Readers, your intrepid scribe slept through it all. Good night for me!

Afternoon in Beaufort

We're enjoying our usual day in port. Susan did laundry for the crew (Mike had a little 'radiation leak' trying to empty the holding tanks) with assistance from Carol. Terry, Peggy, Mike, and Gee went hunting for provisions. When provisioning was done, Gee went off to keep Susan company with the laundry. And, Mike and Terry are now engaged in their regular activity--

boat engine repair and maintenance! Never fails. A boat always wants the guys to pay attention to her and her alone.

So, in one of the marinas, we stayed near a boat called Dominatrix. They said they called the boat that because she took all their money and then gave them pleasure and pain. Hmmmm....

In Beaufort!

We're here!

All Crew Members Aboard!

We jus successfully picked up Terry 10 miles outside of Beaufort.

He found a nice spot that we could easily access. So, he's back on board, and we're on our way.