Hot, hot, hot... and here I am, on the hard in North Carolina

Here I am, in the boat in the boat yard, up on stands, in incredible heat. The prior couple weeks was much nicer.

Cynthia flew in to Wilmington, NC on the 16th and I picked her up at the airport in the marina courtesy car. Very nice of them and we gratefully took advantage of it to go shopping for fishing gear and groceries. Our trip up the coast to Cape Lookout took about twelve hours and, since we didn't get started until noon-ish (better to catch the outgoing tide rather than fight it), we stayed out for the night.

In the morning, we wended our way through a thicket of boats fishing for cobia and anchored in Lookout Bight, surrounded by national seashore. Beautiful area: we all loved walking the beaches (Lucy most of all) and the shells lay in great windrows.

The weather stayed cool enough to cuddle at night and windy enough to sail well. Cynthia, although disappointed to have missed out on fishing the Gulf Stream, really enjoyed the little bluefish and Spanish mackerel that schooled in abundance in the bight. And, of course, there were sunrises and sunsets...

On the 22nd we made our way up the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) from Morehead City

to the Neuse River and, in the morning of the 23rd, squeezed into the creek at Sailcraft Services where I, adjusting to the situation, unexpectedly told Cynthia to take the helm as we attempted to back the boat into the lift bay.

Now, although this sounds mad (and left her rather "uneasy" to say the least), I needed to run about and fend us off from other boats and, with no wind to push us about and nearly no boat movement, the fellows on shore could push us with boat hooks and tell her what to do with no great rush or repercussions. And all was well.

Cynthia departed the next day, sad to leave but glad to avoid the oncoming heat wave. The boat sits on stands as we (my friend Paul, various neighbors, and I) work to set her back in the water Monday 6/3. In addition to the bottom paint I'm applying,

we discovered several issues that are being addressed: the cutless bearing (a bearing that helps prevent vibration of the propeller) needed replacing, the rudder turns 15 degrees one way and 45 the other (should be equal!), scars show that the propeller has been "cleaned" with a grinder and it also shows corrosion, and salt water leaks from the rudder. I'll deal with the rudder tomorrow, the cutless bearing is now installed in the housing and bolted into place,

I'll probably order a new prop in a couple weeks, and the rudder is a bigger project I'll tackle in a year or two when I pull the boat next. And, of course, there is a multitude of other little jobs to work on...

So... I plan to splash the boat Monday 9am, motor down to Morehead City and into the open, sail around Point Lookout, and head north to Cape Cod. I cross my fingers that water will be high enough to motor out of here into the Neuse River, that all our repairs and improvements will delight us, and that we will have fair winds and kind seas for the 500+ miles of sailing.