Summer Update / Hurricane Irene July-September 2011

After Big Rock, the summer seemed to fly by and get hotter and hotter. The 4th of July rolled by very quickly. We basically spent the summer working our jobs and working on the SeaVeyor. No major adventures to speak of. We did get a visit from our friends, The Mullis Crew, who stayed very near to us. Dwayne took them out for the day on the SeaVeyor and toured Beaufort. We had lunch on the boat and a fun time was had by all. Not long after that, the DockMaster here, Mike, suffered a traumatic accident to his hand. It was caught between a boat and a dock piling... He ended up at Duke University Hospital for surgery.. He is on the mend and can't wait to see him back. During his absence, Dwayne helped fill the gap along with some of the other Yacht Basin crew. We could not ask for a better home base than here. It's beautiful, clean, convenient to everything, and full of some of the country's finest Sportfish Boats.. I love seeing these guys roll out in the wee hours of the morning and then make it back safe and sound in the evening..They are all near and dear to my heart. And even better, they leave me fresh wahoo,dolphin, etc from time to time... Now that is fresh fish!! We have a little crab trap that we keep in the water , tied to the dock, just in front of the bow . We did not know that Stone Crabs came through this area...We have caught lots of Blue Crabs, Stone Crabs, and believe it or not, Flounder!! One nite we pulled it up and had a 24inch flounder in it.. Can you say supper??? Not sure how he got in it, but glad he did.
We've also met new friends over the summer and had visits from others that we have met along the way. Ken and Margaret on their sailing Cat, Rocking B. We met a lovely couple on Snow White, Richard and Connie on their s/v Sea Salt, and Mark and Carol on Wiggle Room. George and Anne live on their Hatteras here at the docks also. So, lots of fun all summer. Lots of stories to tell and hear from each other. Suzanne and Danny came up on their new boat for the Beaufort Pirate Invasion. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner with them on board Idle Time.
Now for the fun: IRENE
Hurricane Irene was predicted to come ashore around Aug. 27th. We were on the haulout list for Jarrett Bay Boatyard for this storm and were hauled on Thursday the 25th.. Seeing your floating home being lifted out of the water is a somewhat Nervous Experience. I've included pics for ya... We settled on blocks over in our friend Cory's boatyard, Triton Marine. It is one of the cleanest yards over in Jarrett Bay. Once the boat was securely sitting on the blocks, the boys hooked up water/and power for us... and managed to hook up some a/c for the nite. The next day, they dismantled the a/c due to the storm coming...Irene's rain and wind were starting.. The storm lasted over 24 hours..Geez.. We did have some form of communication with the outside world. We were able to tether our laptops to our smartphones and have some internet communication.. My heart sank when I saw a few pics of the Stacy,NC area. Our cottage is not even a mile from there... They had major flooding ... So, we had no idea how our little cottage did during the storm, could only pray that it did not get water inside During the eye of the storm, Dwayne did a walk about in the boat yard and discovered one of the sailboats there was sitting in very loose jack stands. The wind had made them all come loose..He tightened them all before the wind picked up again.. and checked the rest of the boats in the yard.Thankfully he did this or it would have been a dominoe effect on the 4 sailboats there.....FINALLY, Irene left our area. We had no power Sunday and Monday, but it returned on Tuesday.. Yea... my little a/c unit could come back... On Sunday , we drove DownEast (about 25 miles) to our cottage.. We passed so many homes that already had pulled out their furniture/carpets/ etc and had them piled on the road.(Hwy 70). Not a great feeling. The couple that are leasing our cottage,Ross and Stephanie, and little Stella( their dog) had driven 5+ hours and were in front of us... They made it to the cottage first and were in the process of cutting trees that had blown down in the drive way in when we arrived. They had not seen the cottage yet either... We were all holding our breaths, once we made the turn, we saw saw a huge live oak tree uprooted and another near the pond, the willow tree was split, and of course the pond had overflowed it's banks with marsh debris everywhere...HOWEVER, the cottage was OK.. Water did flow under it, but did not affect the a/c duct systems.Thank you LORD.... We did loose several sections of the walkway over the marsh.. We lost the end of the pier with the pilings sitting at a very odd angle.... All the stuff in the shed looked like it was put in a blender, including a huge floor freezer... All in all, much to be thankful for...We could not ask for a nicer couple to be staying in our cottage.
We finally made it back to the MHCYB on Friday September 9th.. We spent 15 days on the SeaVeyor on the hard... We had not planned on being there so long, but it was not in our control... However, it did allow us to (well, mostly Dwayne) clean the hull, paint the hull, take off the props, paint them, paint the anchors, clean the seachests,drains, filters.. I mean, the list goes on and on... We are finally back, both exhausted, but the SeaVeyor looks great!!

Winter to Spring to Hot Summer at MHCYB

Shame on me...hard to believe that I have not updated the blog since we had snow on the boat!We did survive the winter, but would have preferred to have been in warmer waters.Sprng was shortlived and summer is here with HOT weather..I know, I know.. We pray for warm then fuss when it gets here.OK, let's catch up.. we are both still working our jobs here in Morehead City.Dwayne does an excellent job here on the docks. He's really in his element and has proven to be a great dockmaster and also a very good Yacht broker. He never meets a stranger and people immediately feel comfortable around him and trust him. We've gotten to know most of the Sportfish guys who dock here and the younger ones are like our kids. They are quick to share their catch with us and I try to compensate with cookies and such. We found out too that Stonecrabs come through here for a short period of time. We caught a few and traded some bluecrabs for a few more and had an awesome meal with our friends on Incentive, a Hatteras MY, docked here at the marina.
Life here on the docks is never boring.. crusiers come and go and from all walks of life.. Big yachts, little yachts, sailboats, sportfish, trawlers, you name it and they come here, if only for a nite, enjoying their travels and adventures. We definitely continue to meet interesting people.And, it's still fun to see the cruisers come thru that we met on our first trip. It's so easy to catch up with what's going on and how they have been, it's like we just left them yesterday.Cruisers are like that, you bond quickly. A couple that we met and traveled with some last year, Max and Jenn, stopped by on their way back home to Virginia. We had an excellent dinner together, dining at Floyd's Restaurant, our favorite , and catching up on their travels to the Caribbean on their S/V Anastasia.
We also had a visit from Pam and Bob (S/V Paragon) while staying at Emerald Isle.So much fun! We have also met some new friends on S/V catamaran Rocking B, which is also docked here at the marina. Ken and Margaret and their two boat puppies! I've attached a pic of Ken working on his mast, about 65foot up in the air!
When Memorial Day weekend rolled around, our friends from Wilmington, Barry and Soula traveled to join us on the SeaVeyor for a weekend at the Cape. We made anchor around 6pm on Friday, enjoyed a great evening and dinner. The next morning we did have showers ( much needed) but they soon departed and the boys went bait hunting and Soula and I walked the Cape beach. Barry brought his Bladerunner boat that we used as our tender for the weekend...We spent the next day flounder fishing and caught a few..and headed out after dark to flounder gig....not much luck, but a fun time was had by all! On the next morning at sunrise,, or just before, we got up, took the Bladerunner over to the creeks and watched the sunrise and I was able to take lots of pics of the Shackleford horses in the early morning light.. (thank you, Barry) All good things come to a close, so we headed back to the docks, we all pitched in and gave SeaVeyor a good wash..Barry and Soula headed back to Wilmington and Dwayne had to go to work on the docks at 1pm.......
The docks have been crazy busy here..The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament is held in Morehead City every June. Boats from all over come to fish in this tournament.MHCYB has several past winners that dock here and maintain this as their home port. These guys leave out before dawn and return usually around 5-6pm each nite of the tournament..then spend hours cleaning, refueling and preparing for the next day's round of fishing. The purse is usually well over one million dollars. The tournament ended this past Saturday, June 18th, with the boys of Double B winning the big prize. They also have lots of other categories and even some for the younger kids that fish and have prize money and medals for them.......It's Monday morning now, and the docks are quiet again (relatively speaking) now we will just have the transcisents coming and going. We have our little cottage DownEast leased out once again. A wonderful young couple from Raleigh are making it their summer/fall getaway..they love nature and fishing and all things DownEast, including my little band of kittys.. thank you Ross and Stephanie for embracing our little cottage and all it's critters!
Summer has definitley made her statement.. HOT.....had a big storm blow thru last nite.... up to 70mph winds... lots of much needed rain... thank you LORD... The 4th of July is around the corner... hope to get back out at the Cape soon... Will do a better job with updating the blog site.... More news at 11..................

Waiting on Spring..................

I'm sure we have had it better than most here in coastal North Carolina, but it doesn't mean ya have to like it............. Who stole the sun and warmth????????? I can't remember a yukky-er winter.. not for this area , anyway.. I think Morehead City has set a new record for snow in one season... and rain.. and high winds........... OK, OK, enough of that.... Dwayne and I have been working since we made our way back last fall...He is a Yacht Broker for the Morehead City Yacht Basin and I have been working for an Internal Med office and the Surgery Center here... Dwayne just steps off the boat and he is at work and I am only a few minutes away from mine.. It is convenient............. We have a nice gentleman( a CLOD...Cruiser Living On Dirt... leasing our DownEast cottage and he is taking care of my little band of foster kittys.. (and foxes too) I do get to see them from time to time when Ralph has to leave town...

The SeaVeyor is longing to leave the docks again (so am I) Most of the damage has been repaired/replaced from our lightning hit last August... The generator, the alternators, and the ac/heat units... and the trace invertor... Geez what a list!!! Still lots to do to keep her in peak condition ( my captain would have it no other way!) Just waiting on Spring weather to come and start new projects....

I've attached some pics of the wonderful snowy weather we've had... One evening, we actually had to shovel, and I do mean shovel a path for friends to come on board and have dinner... We had drifts all the way up the starboard side..One of the pics shows the Navy guys in their "go fast" boats.They use the Yacht Basin as a base and come in often to refuel when they are on training missions......... I felt so sorry for the gulls and pelicans.. they have not had a good winter to feed.. can't see the fish in the water for the "waves"... the wind has been crazy....

It's been fun hearing from our cruising buddies that are in the islands now... can't wait to catch u with them.... It's been a long winter... but, Spring always comes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Morehead City Yacht Basin

Can't Believe it's December!!!

It seems like only yesterday that Dwayne and I were leaving the Yacht Basin here for our first season of cruising.....If one were to sum up the whole trip... I'm not sure I could find the right words..I always say it was "every adjective you could think up" and then some...

People ask what was my favorite part, my favorite place... actually, it was all of it ... in different ways.... The trip down the ICW was beautiful.... especially when we found some warmer weather.... (always remember to take socks..we had to stop along the way to get some...) The crossing was not bad... I learned how to "secure" things properly after a few minutes of choppy waves.... I learned a lot last year... and still so much to learn...... Your first adventure out is such a learning process, or at least it was for me... Dwayne knows so much more.. I was never worried about our safety.. He was always in control.... We both learned how to "listen" to the SeaVeyor, all her normal sounds, and then the ones that made us look at each other and say"uh, what was that?? Dwayne knows her through and through.... she's his other soulmate.... I'm glad he loves her so.....

We got a handle on what things to provision and what we need/vs/ didn't need.. didn't use, etc..

We had her packed full before we crossed and still had a little room for more.. much to my disbelief!

Going back to favorites... after all said and done.. I guess I would say GeorgeTown, Exumas.... It had a little of everything to offer... Beautiful water, beaches, good provisioning, friendly/helpful people crusiers and locals , a good location for friends to fly down and join you... it was a good jump off spot for several of the out islands....

All the other islands/cays were great too.. on the way back, we couldn't believe we had gone so many miles and were back already in the States... it was really kind of sad.. it just sneaked up on us to quickly....

So, here we are, back at our starting point..We couldn't ask for a better Home Port... The Yacht Basin is wonderful.It's convenient and provides all the basics we need.... Have met lots of new folks crusing South. SeaVeyor needs a few repairs ( after our lightning hit). Will we go again??? Absolutely... When.. not sure. The first outing was a learning experience for me... I can't wait to prove to my Captain what I've learned and be the best first mate he'll ever have... Until then, we will continue to make repairs and get ready for the next adventure.. Several of the cruisers that we met have passed thru on their way South... We both yearn to go with them. Some are getting ready to jump off soon and head South. It's fun to keep in touch with all of them via emails and boat updates and their blog sites.....

More news at 11...... and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our friends.. new and old.

Dwayne, Linda, Patches and MonkeyButt( Black Cat jumped ship..with a friend!)

Carolina Beach to Ocracoke to Morehead City

We've come full circle... we are back at Morehead City Yacht Basin..HOME! After leaving Carolina Beach, which was really hard.. we left very good friends (Barry and Soula) and a very awesome marina ( Joyner Marina) and headed towards Ocracoke for a few weeks. Along the way, we stopped to anchor one nite in Swansboro.. caught a pic of a sailboat towing a SeaTow boat... how funny!! Next stop was Oriental and enjoyed a quiet evening there and next morning headed across the Pamlico to Ocracoke. The Pamlico can be very shallow in spots and the Captain was careful to keep us right on track. Ocracoke is one of my favorite places.. We anchored out in Silver Lake ( the harbor) . We were able to dinghy back and forth to shore and ride bikes to grocery stores,etc.We even took the dinghy out to clam a couple of days. Yummy!! The people in the village are very friendly and helpful, and we spent a lot of time at the local coffee shop to use their internet and got to know them on a first name basis..We also had a family of mallard ducks that took interest in our boat ( had nothing to do with me feeding them crackers) and they would stop by each day to say hi...They became so friendly they tried to come into the cockpit.. and Dwayne and MonkeyButt would have none of that!!!!!! We had wonderful weather with the exception of one nite.. Early in the evening I took a pic of a funnel cloud forming.. it went on out into the harbor and formed a small waterspout.. We went to bed thinking that we would just have a chance of a passing thunderstorm. Let me tell ya, it was one more BIG LIGHTNING STORM and had gusts up to 60 !! Dwayne and I both woke at the same time and realized that we moved a little bit. The SeaVeyor has a 73lb Rocna anchor that has never moved before.. this was a first.. The harbor has a very soft, muddy bottom. Dwayne actually started the engines and was prepared to move forward if needed. The storm rolled in around 2am and finally rolled out about 5 something...Once daylight arrived we moved SeaVeyor and anchored again. Several other sailboats had also moved during the storm, but no damage done and no one hit anything. Whew, what a nite that was. We also realized that morning that the SeaVeyor took a hit (lightning surge) and we had lost our generator, port alternator and the trace invertor. THANK YOU MOTHER NATURE!!!!!!!!!!!!! We said our goodbyes and headed back towards Morehead City/Beaufort.

We arrived Sunday afternoon and made our way to Taylors Creek only to find that it was packed with boats.. It was the Pirate Invasion weekend! So, we made our way back to Morehead City Yacht Basin and were greeted by the same smiling faces that we left back in November of last year. The Yacht Basin is an awesome marina with wonderful, friendly, and professional staff. It is kept maticulously clean and is a well protected, secure marina. At the docks you will see some of the area's finest Custom Carolina Sportfish boats. It is very convenient to town for shopping and dining.

As you know, "Earl" paid the Carolina Coast a visit. It is standard procedure for most marinas to have all boats leave the docks during named storms. We had to leave out Wednesday and headed up Adams Creek to Back Creek for the evening. We were on a waiting list to be hauled out by Jarrett Bay . When you are hauled out you are put on blocks or stands in their boatyard. However, we were not called. Thanks to some awesome friends, Cory of Triton Marine, his friends Doug and Rick, we were able to use a mooring ball (500lb) during the "expected" storm.Although it was shallow in Back Creek, it was no problem for the SeaVeyor. We draw 3 and a half feet. We did a temporary hook up to the mooring ball for Wednesday evening, just in case Jarrett Bay called Thursday am.. The call never came, so with the help of Rick and his skiff, Dwayne attached us with a stronger chain for the upcoming nite. The winds did pick up some, but nothing to shout about. We went thru safety drills , etc, during the day and tried to nap some in case we had to stay up during the event. We also had wonderful friends to keep us updated by phone of the storm's location and direction. As you know, we missed that bullet and Earl missed us. The next am (Friday) we released the SeaVeyor from the mooring ball. The wind had changed directions and was blowing the water out of the creek. Even though we have a shallow draft, we did not want to get stuck in the mud! We made it back to the MHC Yacht Basin by lunchtime and were pretty pooped! It took as much time to clean and put things back as much as the prepartions.. But all Good!! No complaints here.

Not sure what the fall/winter will hold..we may or may not put SeaVeyor on the hard for repairs,etc.. and stay at our cottage. Not sure what our next adventure will be or where.. The nice thing about this area is you have so much to offer.. Cape Lookout, Oriental, Ocracoke. We love it all.. and it's right in our backyard!

Dwayne has accepted a position at the Yacht Basin here as one of their brokers. He's a natural for it. I've taken part time jobs too, but still have time for my photography. IT'S ALL GOOD!

More news at 11....................

Carolina Beach June thru July

Wow, can't believe it's been over a month since we've posted on our blog... Where does time go??? We have been here since June 1st...Carolina Beach is the way beaches should be... You have Freeman park where people can still bring their cars/trucks/pets/tents, etc and have a blast.......... It's the All American Beach!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dwayne and I have been working on SeaVeyor..getting her ready for her next journey! Destination???? Yet to be determined...

For now, we are enjoying the company of the LeRay family.. Our very good friends!! Soula is determined to make me fat with her Feta cheese... Hmm... could be worse right?? We are having fun boating with them... seeing the parts of the islands that most people can't.. by a smaller "cat"... Barry builds these.. They are called Blade Runners.. they are custom boats made from welded plate aluminum with a twin hull (little cat!) and are awesome on the water... Barry has taken us to places that hardly any people can get to due to the shallow water.. Beautiful isolated beaches.. We also got to get very close to "Bird Island"and I was able to get lots of pics of the bird life.. Lots of little chics everywhere...The little pelican chics were so ugly they were cute!!!!!!!!!

We also took the BladeRunner down to the Wilmington waterfront to watch the 4th of July festivities...it had to be the best fireworks display that I had ever seen.. Awesome!!

Dwayne's sis and family spent a week on Bald Head for their vacation.. So, we decided to take the SeaVeyor down to the marina at Bald Head and spend a nite there to see them. Bald Head is about 14 miles down the Cape Fear River from Joyner Marina (where we are) Well, they don't call it the Cape "FEAR" for nothing...Our little trip down river started out OK, a little choppy, but it didn't take long for the current and the wind to produce some 5 foot short chop, with 3 second period. It didn't last too awful long, but was no FUN for a few minutes... Made it into the marina , docked, and the kids picked us up by golf cart..We had dinner and then toured the island by golf cart.. what a beautiful, pristine island..It's around 12,000 acres with only 2,000 that can be developed!! A photograhers dream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope you all have a safe and wonderful summer... Dwayne and Linda, and Monkey Butt!!