Ugh

Bad news... only the blog will be updated for now (meaning no new photos or changes in the web pages). My computer has officially died. Won't even start. I am debating going to the local Best Buy and getting a new one, butttttt I really need to think about that $$$ expenditure first. We'll see. In the mean time, we will make do with Dad's laptop and see what happens.

We're still in Daytona, but will be leaving soon. We will miss the many friends we have made here.


Good weather and Happy sailing!

A little late!

Due to some severe difficulties with our internet/my computer, this is a little late!


MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE!

We certainly are missing not being with our family and friends for the holidays, but we are having a good time nonetheless. We spent Christmas Day on our bikes riding down the sand on the beach. Of course, those of you who know the Hilscher Weather Curse.... it poured! We hid under some roof for a time, before it cleared enough for us to ride back. It was a beautiful day though and we had a lot of fun. Hope everyone had a wonderful day! We love and miss you all!

Good weather and Happy sailing!

Part-time Residents

We are slowly becoming aware how easy it is to find a place and never leave. One of our friends here has been here for close to 10 years now. We have bumped to the monthly rate already for our dock (though may not really stay that long, but it worked out that way in the payment dept), and have gotten to know several of the people who live aboard here. It has been such a pleasure.

We have been continuing working on several projects. We have our new radar reflector, worked on new rot on the cross tree, and various odds and ends. For the first time, we headed out today to see more of the Daytona area. We got a very interesting ride into the shopping area by taxi (nooooot the brightest crayon in the box). We walked most of the way home. Those who live here will know how crazy far that is. Our feet hurt now. We did get into a little trouble at Boaters World and then Barnes and Noble. We are now stocked up. We bought our Christmas presents today and put up our lights on the boat.

We plan to be here for Christmas, moving on sometime afterwards. The weather has been remarkable, except for the wonderful cold front that came from the North. Thank yall, but you can have it back! It's cold! (Granted cold is like 50, but still! That's cold!)

Ocean Voyaging

If it isn't too late to tell about the ocean voyage we took... I will try to tell all now. We left mid-morning from Charleston and headed out the inlet to the Atlantic. We left about 2 hours after our friends Snowaway. We heard them say on the radio that the weather was a little stinkier than was predicted. We immediately put on foulies and life jackets. We already had the tether system setup, so we hooked into that as well. Before crossing the jetty, we decided to raise the sails, something I would not recommend to anyone else in that weather pattern. The wind was right on our bow and the waves 5-6 feet causing Thaleia to crash and boom. Mom and I had eyes the size of saucers and were clinging on for dear life. Mom actually grabbed the back of my jacket at one point. After struggling to raise the sails, we hurried back to the cockpit. It was until we were very clear of the jetty and surrounding shoals that we were able to turn south and put the wind at our backs. Once we were able to do that, the ride got much smoother and nicer. The sun tried to come out, but was mostly cloudy all day. We took turns sailing. Our system was 2 hours steering, 2 hours navigating and observing for the helmsman, and 2 hours rest and relaxation. We followed this pattern all day and thru the night. The ride was wonderful and exhilarating, an experience that I will never trade. If you looked behind you, you could see the waves coming and prayed that the boat would flow with them. They certainly looked like they could swallow the boat. I had to keep looking forward. It was so beautiful. We went well out of sight of land, but no more than 20 miles from shore and that was only for a little bit. That night, we were very lucky because there had been a full moon the previous night, and being still very large, the water was lit up. We could see for a fair ways all around the boat. It made for a pleasant evening and night. The weather was supposed to change from North winds to East winds and wax and wane throughout the night. At some points, we would crash more and others would be much smoother. It always seemed that when it was my turn for some rest, things would go flying. We obviously hadn't secured everything. Things were flying that we had never expected would. Nothing broke though and we are thankful for that. The only damage done was to our dorade vent which got ripped off by the foresail line in a moment of light winds and a gust, a repair that was quickly and easily managed. We did find out just how bad our deck leaked into our engine compartment as wave after wave crashed into the cockpit through our scuppers. When morning came, we were just off the Georgia/Florida border. We came into St. Mary's (Amelia Island) inlet at about 0830. We were met by a shrimper going out near the jetty fishing. Most boats anchored right inside the inlet (back on the ICW) but it was right next to a large factory. We decided that we didn't want to stay there and moved onto the next anchorage a couple of miles away. It turned out to be the most beautiful and peaceful spot. When we awoke the next morning, our friends aboard Snowaway were anchored near us. We are so happy they made it too!

The next day we moved to just above St. Augustine. It was a quiet and quick day. We enjoyed our first real day of Florida sunshine and warm weather. We lazed about on deck well after we anchored, a luxury not afforded to us earlier. I made us our first Painkillers with the real Pussers rum (thank you Saddlers). We had a wonderful evening.

We moved onto Daytona the next day. It was a long day but it was full of things to see. We saw several more odd and other beautiful homes. We saw palm trees, new birds (we have yet to identify some), and St. Augustine (one of the oldest cities in the States). It had amazing architecture. I was astounded. It also has some of the worst current conditions, but we were too in awe at the buildings to let that ruin it. We had several bridge hailings to make and luckily made the last one just in time before it closed down for rush hour traffic. It was our day!!!!

We are now sitting in Daytona. We have been here for a few days and will probably be here a few more. We recaulked the deck, have installed a new radar reflector, fixed the dorade vent, done massive laundry, cleaned the boat through and through, and are working on provisioning before the Bahamas. We still have plenty of work to do, but are making sure we are playing some too. Mom and I got our hair cut (really really short too), a much needed event. We have also met so many wonderful people here. We truly understand how someone could get stuck some place. This is our favorite marina so far. We might just spend Christmas here. We still plan to be in the Bahamas for New Years (Junkanoo, a celebration much like our Mardi Gras).

Good weather and Happy Sailing!

Meet Gwen!

Meet Gwen the Penguin (pronounced Pen-gwen)! Haha. By now I am sure you will have seen her in some of the most recent photos.

I have been meaning to introduce our new addition to the trip but my internet has been iffy at best and I forgot when it was holding for us. Gwen is an emperor penguin (stuffed animal) we bought to be our mascot for the trip. She has been with us since Charleston. She symbolizes the freezing cold climate that we were in for quite some time. We felt that a penguin was more suited than a flamingo. My cousin Declan has this really neat thing he does where he takes a sock monkey wherever he goes and takes pictures of it next to really cool sites. We thought we would borrow that idea and have Gwen. I hope that is ok Dec! We just thought it was a way cool idea.

I guess Gwen is more of a joke between the three of us. I slid her into some the pictures online seeing if anyone would notice. Since I have been getting some emails about her I felt it time to introduce her. She too was sick of being cold and now sports a cocktail umbrella.

Just a quickie for now

I am sorry I haven't written sooner. This is the first we have had internet.

We made it! We are actually in Daytona now, having traveled down the ICW. The sail across the ocean was amazing! We had a good time, although I get a little grumpy without sleep. We made it into Amelia Island around 0830 the next morning, found a place to anchor by 1030 and were napping until 1600. :) We then traveled down the ICW and are in a marina tonight in Daytona. We have several repairs and things we need to do, so we will be here for a few days. I will be brief right now, more to let you all know that we are safe, and will fill you in on the details later.

Good weather and Happy sailing!

A Stray from the Usual

Ok, I am going to be bad... and not follow my normal format. I am just way to behind and so much is going on.

We made it to Charleston a couple of days ago. We had a fairly good motor in, with the threat of rain the entire way (it held off just for us, :D ). Our great laugh and enjoyment that morning was the bridge operator at the Ben Sawyer Bridge. She in no way, like our friends on Bristol Rose say, displays the stereotypical southern hospitality. We were at the front of a line of boats (thank goodness!), waiting for a bridge opening. Three boats back, someone calls in for the bridge to wait for them. The operator promptly tells them (in a loud, punctuated, and more than unhappy voice), "I was waiting for you, but you are just going entirely too slow!" We enjoyed a great laugh, mainly because we weren't the ones getting in trouble. She did wait for them, but gave them hell the entire way. She was closing the bridge right as they were coming through.

Coming into Charleston, we tied up at the City Marina and began our normal routine of... diesel up, get plugged in, charge everything, empty trash, etc. We spent the past couple of days visiting with my Mom's high school friend, Mark Blalock and his wonderful family. We cruised around downtown Charleston enjoying the restaurants, shopping, and the beautiful homes. For those architectural fanatics, Charleston is the primo place to see some amazing buildings. We walked all over the place!!! Mark (thank you so very much) lent us his truck and we were able to shop at Costco, Lowes, West Marine, and Wal-Mart, gathering various supplies, most importantly more warm socks for Mama. We bought ourselves a grill and I am personally very excited to see what Dad will make, Mr. BBQ Guru. The weather has been wonderful here, although slightly rainy at times, but HEY! I wore a t-shirt! A t-shirt! It felt amazing! We had the craziest winds last night, that kept Dad awake the entire time while all the boats slapped against the dock. It didn't bother me a wink. :) I slept soundly, a wonderful trait I have developed (I figure, when things go bad, I'll be woken up, but in the mean time, why not sleep?). Haha. We enjoyed a wonderful time, meeting lots of new people and seeing old friends. Thank you so much for all the wonderful hospitality! I will enjoy the leftover mac and cheese and banana pudding!

Alas, we must hit the "road" again. Tomorrow we head not down the ICW, but out... yes! We are venturing out to the deeper water. We have close to a 28 hour trip from Charleston to Amelia Island, Florida. If we were to stay in the ICW, it would take us 5 days. So we opted for a little more excitment, possibly some more sailing (vs motoring), and a shorter time period. From Amelia, we will hop around until a weather window opens to cross the Gulf Stream into the Bahamas. We are still hoping for Christmas in the islands! We are very excited and can't wait to see what it is like. We will let you all know when we have arrived in Amelia, but probably after a little sleep. We will be doing shifts, so it won't be a constant awake. I will blog asap!

Hope everyone is enjoying the full moon! It is gorgeous here!

Good weather and Happy sailing!

Day 23: December 8, 2008

Port: Whiteside Creek (32.5N/79.4W)

Weather: The weather today was much the same. The sun was out and we were ecstatic! The winds were out of the NE about 10-15 mph. I do not have a recording of what the temperatures were, but they were warmer than we’ve had before!

There isn’t much to write about today. I was sick today and didn’t feel much like doing anything. In fact, I went below and slept most of the day. We planned on stopping for the day in Awendaw Creek near the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. We had good wind pushing us and a current of about 2.5 mph as well. We were flying. It seemed that we would reach our destination early! We wanted to get to Charleston, since they were calling for rain tomorrow, and maybe could have but for a bridge that closes from 1600-1800 for traffic. We made it to Whiteside Creek, about 2 hours North of Charleston. I missed most of today, but do know in the short time I was up there was a lot of flatland grassy swamp and shallow waters. We hit a sandbar but thankfully were moving enough to keep sliding over. It scared us though and we wondered what a barge would do if it came through there. We anchored in one spot, but didn’t like the sudden shallowness around us, pulled up anchor and reanchored a little ways down the creek. Dad came down from one of his occasional checks and told me that birds were walking on water next to the boat. Within a couple of hours, an entire island formed next to us, promptly named Mount Elizabeth (in great honor of course). That island kept us company all night and we prayed the wind didn’t change putting us on the island.

Hope to feel better tomorrow.

Good weather and happy sailing.

Day 22: December 7, 2008

Port: Thoroughfare Creek (33.51N 79.15W)

Weather: The winds were N-NW at about 5-10 mph. The seas (well more like river) was calm and flat. The temperatures were in the 40’s. The skies were clear and sunny!!!!!!!!

We traveled 43 miles today from Myrtle Beach to a little place called Thoroughfare Creek. Today’s motoring was a little trickier than we have had before. We entered the South Carolina swamp land. The trees were thick and there was seemingly no sign of civilization or life. The little creeks we went through were often narrow and always shallow. Because of several other little creeks and rivers coming together, there was a lot of shoaling, causing one to always be on their toes. For being so monotonous, the motoring requires constant attention, or one will be grounded. It was beautiful though, a different scenery altogether. We were amazed at how little life we found in this area. We hardly saw any birds, though the trees were lined with astounding nests. A trawler that we had met before, Humdinger (their dingy was called Humdingee; GRREAT!) stopped in front of us and allowed us to catch up. They pointed out to us, in the middle of this deserted swamp forest, 2 white goats. They weren’t tethered or attached to anyone or anything; just out for a stroll. I promptly named them Frank and Lola. A very large and colorful ferry boat popped out of nowhere as well. It fooled me! I thought it was a building. We motored all day and threw an anchor down at Thoroughfare Creek. It was a beautiful, isolated place, but frequented by the duck hunters. Duck hunting season had just opened the week before and boy, was it busy.

Good weather and happy sailing!

Day 21: December 6, 2008 YAY for South Carolina!

Port: Myrtle Beach (33.51N/78.38W)

Weather: The winds were out of the NE at about 5-10. Seas were 1-2 feet. The temperatures were mid-50’s with partially cloudy skies turning to sunshine! We hope this keeps up.

My finger is doing a lot better. Still swollen and a little ugly. It will be fine in no time.

Up early this morning, we pulled up the anchor covered in…. well that was the debate last night. Did we think it was sand or mud? Mom and I bet. She said sand; I said mud. Well… it was the blackest, gooiest mud! I win! We left Carolina Beach and ventured through Snow Cut (a literal cut in the land to connect us to Cape Fear River). We moseyed on down the line all day. We saw plenty more houses, several other boats (one sailor going the wrong way; said something about skiing; he’s nuts). All in all, I’d say it was uneventful and that was just grand with me. At about 1330 we crossed the NC and SC state line!!!!!! That makes 3 states down and only 3 more to get through. Whew! We hailed one bridge today; a pontoon. It literally was a floating pontoon that floated/swung away from the road so that we could pass through. It was pretty neat. Of course, there was construction of a huge ugly bridge going in, so I doubt we will see that neat one again. We pulled into Myrtle Beach Yacht Club for the night and are hurriedly taking showers and doing laundry before we head out again in the morning. Pray we keep getting this sunshine! Looks like rain for our entire visit to Charleston and we don’t like that idea.

Love you all!
Good weather and happy sailing!

Day 20: December 5, 2008

Port: Carolina Beach (34.02N 77.92W)

Weather: Winds were 0-5 out of the North with seas less than 1 foot. The temperatures hit the 50’s again today, but with partially cloudy skies.

Leaving our anchorage early this morning, we headed down the ICW from mile marker 245. Coming into the anchorage in the dark, we weren’t able to see just where we were exactly. The morning light showed that we had a lot more room than we thought at first, and confirmed the military presence with ramps, boats, and several trucks. Taking turns steering, we passed through a lot of housing developments, seeing more of the North Carolina mansions today. We could not believe the sizes of some of these homes. Who can afford these places?

We saw a guy standing in the water with a stick today. We could not believe who would want to stand in that water. Turns out he was claming, and as the day wore on, we saw several more people doing the same thing. Again we were drooling with the thought of fresh seafood. Surprisingly, we have not had any yet. We also saw some kids standing on their surf boards with paddles. They paddle like this to keep up their balance during off-season. One kid looked like he had taken a dive already. He was wearing a wetsuit. His friend, on the other hand, was wearing shorts and t-shirt. I looked at him and then looked at myself (decked in full winter gear) and thought something was wrong here. Either I was dumb or he was.

For all you nature lovers, we have seen various kinds of pelicans and have come into seeing egrets. They are hard to miss, being so snowy white. We saw one stalking something in the tall grass. He would crane out his long neck then step and slide his neck in and repeat. It was a neat thing to actually observe. We cut the engine at one point today, allowing the staysail to maintain speed. A family of 3 dolphins, 2 larger adults and 1 baby, came up and swam all around the boat. They swam around us for the better part of an hour. It was pretty amazing. A testament to how smart dolphins are… every time I brought the camera out, they disappeared. When I would put it away, they would come out again.

So three bridges hailed, variably sunny skies, and several weird and strange houses later, we approached Carolina Beach. We have done 51 miles today and are calling it quits here. We have anchored and are taking the night off, hoping to hit South Carolina tomorrow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURIE!

Day 19: December 4, 2008

Port: Mile Hammock Bay (34.68N 77.33W)

Weather: Winds were 10-15 from the West today. Seas 1-2 feet. It was 56 degrees F with clear and sunny skies! Yippee!

Good news, and bad news. Last night, as Dad and I were having a conversation (over our new bikes) about the safety and use of knives; I commented that I was careful and had never cut myself with my knife before. Getting a little big-headed, I guess, I worked on removing a zip-tie holding packaging on the bike and sliced through my pinkie finger on my left hand. I am now wrapped up with a throbbing hand. My hand is out of duty for now, but I am ok. It was sheer stupidity, as most accidents often are, but hey! I got off dishwashing duty. It’s too ugly to post pictures, so here’s a tame one.

Today, we left Oriental, and I took the helm for the first time leaving a slip. Dad talked me through how to steer a boat out of a slip. We took off for Adam’s Creek. We had great weather today and were happy for the sunny skies! Our new heater took it’s first run and was amazing! If we got cold, we would hop below (not for an hour) but for only a minute or two and be completely warmed up again. We passed some shrimpers, tongues out and drooling wishing we had some fresh shrimp ourselves. Being with an interior designer and a contractor, we checked out each and every house we passed. Most of the houses received an “ewwww” or “geez, that’s ugly!” Haha, we took several pictures of houses and I plan to compile them as “The Ugliest Houses on the ICW.” Some houses seemed in competition with decorations or paint color choices. One had an enormous plaque of a sea horse on the front. The sea horse was red and the house was painted coral (you tell me that’s pretty). Another one had a dolphin and another had an anchor. We passed several typical beach homes and other larger homes. Just outside of Morehead City and Beaufort (Bo-fort in North Carolina), we ran into our first dolphins. We got some videos of them playing around. They didn’t seem interested in our boat or following us, so once we passed them, they were out of sight. It was pretty amazing though. You could tell, not only from the presence of dolphins, that we were closer to the beach, because the water changed from a brown, tea color to a light green. The dolphins were easier to spot. I wouldn’t say that Morehead City is a beautiful town, but it was quite large, and had a lot, a lot of fishing boats out. Later in the day, we came up to Camp LeJeune, a Marines training base. Often they close part of the ICW because of live firing exercises. We attempted to find out if it would be closed today and learned that no, it wouldn’t close. We could go through. That was, until we came up to the edge and a Naval Patrol boat radioed we would have to anchor and wait for an hour. We anchored in sand, so it didn’t catch at first, then sat and waited. Though we couldn’t see anything, we were able to hear various guns. The typical dit-dit-dit echoed. An hour later, they let us go. As we passed through the area they were exercising in, we noticed a smoky haze, the classic smell of burnt ammunition, and even saw some specific areas smoking. It was all really neat. Various planes and helicopters flew over the area. As the sun was setting, we followed three other boats through towards our anchorage. At the Camp LeJeune bridge, the bridge master laughed when he asked if we were anchoring at Mile Hammock Bay. When all 3 boats said yes, he told us we were in for a night; the marines would be playing games until 2200. Oh geez. By sundown, we were turning into the bay to find several other boats already anchored. After turning down an offer to raft up, we laid anchor and settled in. Sure enough, we heard various boats whiz by, planes, and helicopters. They must have closed the ICW again, because in the distance you could hear live fire again. Dad, in the middle of it all, heard the dolphins near us again. They would break the surface and blow air up, making a humpfing sound.

Day 18, December 3, 2008

Port: Oriental (35.02N 76.66W)

Weather: Sunny! Warm! Light winds!

And we decided we needed to stay at dock. We are crazy! I know! We know! We couldn't believe it! We were almost mad that we weren't out there chalking off more miles. Instead though, we were preparing ourselves so that we will no longer be cold. I mean a person can only handle so much coldness. We have been freezing our butts off for days and days, often a damp, chilling cold too. We are tired of it. We are trying to get south to get to warmer weather, but so far the journey has been taxing. It is just too darn cold. It would be different if we had one of those biminis or one of those dodgers that cover your cockpit and help keep you warm, but we got nothing! We stand in the freezing cold all day, open to all the elements. I feel I can identify with an Eskimo. All I need is a pet penguin on board.

So enough complaining. We did something today to solve this problem. We bought and installed a heater that runs off the engine. Yes, it only works when the engine it on, but its when we are moving that we lose most of our heat. This heater will work to keep the cabin warm while we are moving, then at night the little kerosene heater can maintain that heat (given that it will continue working, shhhhh don't jinx it). We spent most of the day doing this project. I worked mainly on all the electrical; I am becoming quite the electrician. Dad installed the plumbing parts that connect to the engine. Mom enjoyed a day of catching up on news, emails, and relaxing.

For the most exciting part of the day (one should never let Dad and I out with money alone), we bought 3 of those really awesome fold up bikes. We can fold them up for easy and small storage, then pop them together for a ride into town. The past few places we have stayed, we have found transportation around town to be interesting and having a bike would really be cool. They even come with a rack on the back so you can strap a basket down or a bag.

Tomorrow we hope the weather stays as nice as it was today! We are headed out towards Swansboro, past Morehead City, then hope to make it to Wilmington the next day.

Good weather and Happy sailing!

The story of the Pelican…

We find birds to be a very special animal and believe that they have some connections to things. On Dad’s birthday, he called Mom and me up, just to look at the water and sky. As soon as we pop up, a large pelican lands right next to us on our mainsail. Mom and I are standing in the cockpit and Dad is on the dock next to it. The pelican sat there for the longest time, cocking its head looking at us, and keeping us company. It let me walk around in the cockpit snapping a million and one pictures of it, looking at me for some of them. It was just amazing. It took off in flight, which I luckily got a snap of, and rounded around the boat and met Dad at the bow, where he had walked up the dock and stood. The pelican landed next to him and continued to watch him. Dad was able to walk up very close to the pelican and stand next to him. He sat there longer than we could stay out and look at him. We ducked below to get warm and by the time we could get back up, he was gone. It was Daddy’s birthday present.

Day 17: December 2, 2008

Port: Oriental (35.02N 76.66W)

Weather: The weather today was overcast with plenty of rain, turning to partly sunny in the evening. Winds were 5-10 with gusts up to 20 mph out of the West. There is 75% humidity. The temperatures have been in the 30’s all day.

As you can gather from previous posts, we spent a bit of time in Belhaven. We had planned to stick in Belhaven until the weather turned better, ie no more rain, lesser winds, warmer temps. Well, they kept telling us that Tuesday would be beautiful. I am growing less and less fond of weathermen. They are always wrong. Needless to say, we left Belhaven today, with 2 other boaters early this morning. We were headed through the Pamlico River (sorry I said Sound yesterday) and knew that if it was windy, it and the Neuse River would be awful. We took turns all day steering, attempting to stay very warm below. At one point, I rigged my umbrella to my back, so it sort of resembled those umbrella hats. Haha, it didn’t last very long, before the wind almost blew me away like Mary Poppins. I had to ditch the umbrella and just get wet. Of course, we had on foulies, so wet was more like just our gear. The kerosene heater could not keep the cabin warm today and the inverter couldn’t handle the electric one. Dad decided he had had enough. Instead of anchoring, we pulled into Oriental to a Whittaker Creek Yacht Harbor and have ordered a new heater. Email for details, as Dad will have to fill in those. It will be here tomorrow, where we will rig it up and be headed out again the next day, hopefully a lot warmer. What is it with this weather! Once again, wherever the Hilschers go, there is unusual weather. Kind of like going to the Grand Canyon = desert and having it flood!! Yea that’s us. Or BVI and there is no wind, yea that was us again. We hope it will get warm and sunny soon. At this marina, there are bikes you can ride into town (only about 1 mile). Dad and I (as there were only 2) went in for some parts to get the heater setup. We are now attempting to stay warm and have some dinner. Tomorrow the heater goes in and we are off again, like a bunch of sea turtles.

We wish Sune a very happy special wonderful birthday!

We also wish Lorraine a wonderful time in Ft. Lauderdale for her birthday!

Good weather and happy sailing!

Day 16: December 1, 2008

Port: Belhaven (35.56N 76.63W)

Weather: Crazy windy out there. Glad we are not out there today!

We have stayed put, due to very crazy windy weather. We had some friends leave this morning in hopes of making it through Pamlico Sound before the winds came. We dearly hope they made it through. If the winds are this crazy here, I hate to think what they would be like out there. We have never felt Thaleïa move this much while tied up before. We are rocking around like we were anchored or even sailing. We took this opportunity today to go to the grocery store and do some housekeeping. Yesterday, Mom and I did the laundry while Dad did our first oil change on the new engine. All went very well. I have decided after the experience we had at the laundry room, I am going to do a photo documentary of all laundry rooms. Boy, oh boy, was it a real treat yesterday. The machines sounded literally like rocket ships and I was scared they were going to explode. I was also worried if I was going to be getting my clothes back in one piece. Haha, it provided some great entertainment. Today, we borrowed a golf cart from the marina (they let you use them to get around town) and went to the grocery store. We learned the, hmmm, hard way that they brakes weren’t very good. Haha, let’s just say this place has provided us many many many laughs. The rest of the afternoon, we will laze about and prepare for tomorrow’s take off, which will have us crossing the Pamlico Sound. Pray for nice weather for us.

Good weather and happy sailing!