Monday, July 18, 2016

First Half of July 2016 BSC, Oriental, New Bern, Cape Lookout, Spooner's Creek (Morehead,NC)

Thursday, June 30

All this week ETYSA has been having kids sailing camp at our sailing club, Blackbeard Sailing Club.



  We were tied up at the T dock waiting on parts to come in so Brian could fix problems on our engine.

We did not think we would still be in NC, so did not sign the boys up for camp.  We stayed out of the way during camp hours, but before and after camp each day, the boys got to play with friends they don't get to see very often.

In the mornings, we would walk Rugby, our friend's dog, with Katherine.

The boys got in some individual reading time.



One evening they got to sleep over in their friends tent.



I got to visit with a couple of the moms. Katherine and Michelle are sisters, and Michelle brings her two boys down each summer from Michigan to attend camp with their cousin, Lillian.

Katherine found a copy of Cooks Illustrated magazine in the clubhouse and decided we all needed to try the grilled pizza.

She made a double batch of dough and we had fun making and grilling pizzas for the young adult camp coaches and club friends.





 Jim and Brian

 Ian and Joni
 Katherine and Michelle



Friday, June 1

Midmorning, the Edenton Fish Hatchery truck arrived to release 16,000 baby stripped bass into the Neuse River to replenish that particular type of fish.




When they arrived, they needed to pump Neuse water into the truck tank to get the fish acclimated. This took quite a while.




 While we waited, the men were happy to answer questions and show us the size of the fish.  They were about 2 inches long.  It will take about 2 years for them to grow to legal catch size.




They were also up for having a little fun with Joni.








A storm was brewing, so they camp kids came in off the water, and were in time to see the actual release.








That afternoon, Katherine and Michelle took Caleb and Nathan along with their kids to the nearby fossil museum in Aurora to dig for sharks teeth.  Caleb came back with these.





Saturday, July 2

Jim and Joni invited us to go to the Croaker Fest in Oriental.



  We enjoyed watching the parade.



Sharing a picnic lunch





Walking around the vendor booths, and having a cool treat while waiting for the regatta to start.





When we had been in Oriental the previous week, we forgot and left Brian's bike chained up near the free dock.  Another club member moved it to his real estate office for safety until we could come back for it.





On our way out of town, Caleb found a Geo Cashe he wanted to look for.








Then we stopped at a place called Picker's.








Sunday, July 3

Brian replaced a piece of cherry wood under our refrigerator that had been water damaged. 

A big thank you to our good friend Charlie for finding the wood and staining it for us!

Monday, July 4

We left the dock a little after 10 am and headed up the river to New Bern.

We anchored near Union Point Park about 11:30.  We swam off the back of the boat to cool off.  That afternoon a storm came through with heavy rain.

A boat that had been anchored poorly near the bridge drug anchor and came around close to our boat before resetting its self.  There was no one on board.  Since it was finally stopped and was far enough away to be safe, we just kept an eye on it.  We were not sure who we should have called if it had come closer or even hit the Cunningham Bridge or the park steps.

That evening our good friends, Andy and Sally came over to the boat for dinner and to watch the fireworks.





After dinner, another boat came in and anchored nearby. On board were three guys in their 20's. Their engine was not working and thier dinghy engine was out of fuel.

Brian took them some fuel, but it still didn't work correctly.





They managed to get one guy to shore, and coming back for the other guy, the driver jumped overboard and was swim-towing the dinghy back to their boat.
Caleb took our dinghy and towed him back.


They all eventually made it to shore and that was the last we saw of them.




The fireworks started a little late due to drizzly rain, but was still a good show.


Caleb took Andy and Sally back to shore, then we pulled anchor and moved our boat to a safer spot.  We did not want to be on crash watch if the manless boat drug again or the three guys boat drug in the night.



We went back under the bridge and anchored near Green Springs.



Tuesday, July 5


That morning, Sally picked me up and we went grocery shopping at Wal-Mart.

Brian and the boys swam at Green Springs.


When I got back, we unloaded and put away the food, had lunch and swam some more.


About 3pm we pulled anchor and headed back to the club.



Wednesday, July 6


That morning we decided to bring the tv, dvd player, and wall antenna onto the boat. We got everything installed and secured.  To make room for it, I pared waay down on my plastic ware storage containers, which needed to be done anyway.





We left the dock around 8:30am and headed to Cape Lookout. We had good wind on the Neuse and Adam's Creek, but once we got to the ocean, we got into 30-40 mph winds and 6ft waves.






We made it into the bight and anchored closer to the lighthouse side about 6:45pm.

Thursday, July 7

We dinghied to the lighthouse, walked around and swam at the beach.




  We did not go up in the lighthouse, although we could have for a hefty fee. $8 for adults and $4 for kids.

We went back to the boat for lunch and a nap. Later on Facebook, I read that our friends, the Talbert's, had arrived in the bight.  They are coming back from a 20 month trip cruising south to 13 countries on their sailboat.  I contacted them that we were there too.  They arrived all out of water due to a leak in their system.

We said we would pull anchor and and bring them our jerry jugs.  While pulling the anchor in high winds, our windlass handle fell overboard.  On our way over, we ran aground on a sand bar.  Brian was able to get us off and we anchored nearby.  Bill came over for the water, then they were all going to bed early after having a rough time on the ocean.

After dinner we went to the beach for an evening walk and swim.  Walking along the beach, we found a broken parasailing handle with a bunch of tangled cordage strewn on the sand.

Brian and Caleb thought the middle part might make a good replacement for the lost handle, so we took it back to the boat.

Friday, July 8


Brian and Caleb took apart the handle and cord and the handle worked great as the replacement.



Caleb untangled all the cords and added to his collection.



Brian free dove and worked on cleaning the bottom of the boat.


Later we went to the beach. The boys found some wonderful sea creatures.

A conch, large sand dollar, and hermit crab.











That evening the Talbert's came over for dinner.  We were enjoying their stories of their adventures so much, I forgot to take any pictures!

That evening, strong winds over 40 mph and rain came and we ended up dragging anchor.  Brian was monitoring it and was ready to start the engine if need be, but since we were dragging away from the other boats, he let it go and it reset its self.



Saturday, July 9

That morning on our way to the beach, a dinghy from another boat met us and said they had kids too.  We spent the day visiting with the parents while the kids played. 



They are a family of four living on a 46 ft catamaran named Izula.



That evening Phil showed us how to netcast for bait fish.  He then invited us over for some fishing from their boat.

We popped some popcorn to share and headed over.  The boys were excited to show our guys their boat and play some more.




Shortly after we arrived Phil caught a little shark!








They had also invited folks from another boat anchored nearby to stop over.  They brought a dish of fresh ceveche made from a fish they had caught earlier. 

That is when lemon or lime juice is used to "cook" the fish without any heat.  It was very good.




Sunday, July 10

Brian used his new hooka system to dive on the boat and clean the keel.






The generator feeds the air compressor, giving him air to breathe through the hose.


That evening we walked on the ocean side at low tide.






Monday, July 11

The weather was forecast to be a rainy week, so we prepared to be stuck inside awhile by cleaning the cabin of the boat. shaking rugs, sweeping...

We also inflated one of the kayaks to catch rainwater for rinsing the salt out of our suits.

The boys and I set up for a long game of Monopoly.

And we just got a light shower with not much rain.


Tuesday, July 12

We just hung out at the beach. I gathered some shells for a picture.  I wanted to show the colors of The Wordless Book.  A simple way to show the Gospel.

Black = sin
Red = Christ's blood shed on the cross
White = sins washed white as snow
Gold = streets of gold in heaven
Green = grow in Christ by reading the Bible and praying



Wednesday, July 13

Brian, Caleb, and Nathan cleaned and waxed half of the hull.

The boys made peanutbutter cookies.

We took our evening walk and swim at the beach.




Thursday, July 14

Having been at Lookout for a full week, we decided it was time to move on.

We pulled anchor at 9am and reached Spooner's Creek at 12:40 pm.







Many years ago there was a marina back in the creek.  It is now condos and an upper class neighborhood.  But cruisers can still anchor and reprovision at the Wal-Mart and other stores that are just a short 1/2 mile walk away.

If you are familiar with Morehead City, it is just passed highway 24, and the strip mall is the one with Shore Decore in it.

We did a small shop at Wal-Mart and also bought new tarps to help shade the boat and be able to keep the hatches open when it is raining.

Our Weather Underground app on the phone said that it was 90 degrees but felt like 120 degrees! 

Friday, July 15

Brian took the bike to shore and got some replacement parts at West Marine.  When he came back he replaced some clamps on the engine.

Then we all went to look around at some of the shops and enjoy their air conditioning.

Later in the afternoon, the boys and I went to Wal-Mart and got a Redbox movie and icecream.

During the movie we got a short heavy rain which really helped to cool things off.



That's all for the first half of July.