Oriental, NC

Our gas grill is in need of some TLC….it was on the boat when we purchased it 8 years ago and it’s been great to have. But it’s looking a bit tired on the outside. (Most of the interior parts have been replaced over the years).  

So I just started scrubbing with the magic sauce - a paste of Barkeeper’s Friend and water.

Lots of elbow grease.

Not perfect but much nicer.

These little grills cost over $300 to replace so it’s worth a little trouble.

And I did finish up a couple of coats of white paint on the helm seat pedestal.  Looks OK from a distance, better than bare metal but not as nice as the powder coating….

Oriental, NC

 Jerry invited us to go sailing with him to check out the performance of some sail rigging changes he had made on Bluejacket. 

His changes worked out well and we enjoyed a perfect sailing day with mild temperatures for a few hours. A lovely breeze allowed him to sail almost all the way back to his dock.

  

Later, neighbors Joe and Colleen invited us to go to the Silos for Tuesday 2-Fer pizza night.  Can it be Tuesday already again???  Time sure flies!

On the way to the restaurant we checked out yesterday’s progress on Joe & Colleen’s house addition.   All the pilings in place. 

Will be fun to follow their progress. 

Oriental, NC

I always enjoy waving to the crab fishermen - they usually place a pot in our little bay right beside our dock.  Looks like the crab fishing is pretty good since they dumped quite a few crab out of the pot.

 We're just doing some random chores, taking it pretty easy.  Disassembled the gas grill, cleaned it and found Duane needs to fabricate a little metal tab that has corroded away.  He'll take that home for some precision work.....

 Another small chore was for Duane to route the new SSB antenna wire - requiring that he drill a hole in the boat! (He absolutely hates to have to drill holes in the boat).  We had the new antenna installed with the new rigging but we never had gotten around to routing the wire.....neatly done outside with a special flange to make it really waterproof..

 

And the other end of the wire inside the boat. 

 Another chore - the aluminum pedestal that supports the helm seat has gotten some corrosion over the years at the base that needed attention.

 

 I removed all the corrosion I could with the Dremel.
 

 

 Wiped it down good with acetone.

 

And gave it a good coating of primer.  Will do a couple of coats of white tomorrow after this dries.   It won't be a perfect match to the white original powder coating but it will be much better!

  

Oriental, NC

Donna and Jerry invited us over for an afternoon of cards....good fun as we haven't played cards in a while.   We joined them for a bite to eat at M&M's - always a treat.

On the way home - a little deer family on Fork Point Road!  So nice to have the cooler weather but the mosquitos are back with a vengeance!

Oriental, NC

 The wind is finally cool....but it's blowing a lot of water into our creek.  The water is lapping at the dock - and the climb onto the boat is high!!

 

 

Duane has been doing some maintenance on the dinghy - replacing an engine part, replacing a rusty mounted fire extinguisher. In addition, we emptied the dry bag that has all of our supplies, spare parts, emergency beacon, flashlights, etc.  Replaced all the batteries and a new flashlight.    Out on the creek for a test drive.

Just a fun little joy ride into the marshy areas.  Easy since we have 2' extra water in the creek right now!

Back to the boat, all is well.

Oriental, NC

 It’s been a bit rainy today….cooler but still muggy. 

Perfect weather for me to be stuck inside most of the day doing some airport paperwork!

Oriental, NC

We’re just doing some non-photogenic maintenance and cleaning. 

For those of you that know our neighbors Joe and Colleen, they are starting their expansion of their tiny house. The addition will be a couple of steps up from their existing house to insure that it is above the flood zone in a hurricane. (The worse hurricane so far flooded just to the bottom of the existing house. 

It’s still hot and muggy…..we have all the shades out which helps a little.

Oriental, NC

 Just another lovely morning.  We went out to Silo’s for the “two-fer” pizza night with Jerry and Donna. Great evening catching up with them but forgot to snap a photo. 

 View from the boat.

Still hot but we are looking forward to a little cool down into the 80’s this weekend. 

Oriental, NC

 The boat bottom paint is in need of serious attention! I looked and it appears the last time we scrubbed the bottom was September of last year. Long overdue.  

Because we needed to stay underwater for a long time, Duane got out the SCUBA gear....but then it dawned on us that Ed & Cathy have a neat piece of equipment called "SNUBA" - it's just an electric air compressor with a long hose/regulator just like SCUBA.  The nice thing there is that you can stay underwater for hours without changing tanks.  (Plus it's not bulky and heavy like SCUBA gear).  They were kind enough to let us borrow it of course!

 

Duane used the SNUBA and I just used snorkel gear to clean up the waterline all around.  I stayed in the water over 2 hours.....Duane stayed in over 3 hours!  The water is like a bathtub here.  But luckily, no jellyfish for some reason.

 

Oriental, NC

 We’re back at the boat after a long time away!  All is well but it is HOT for sure.  What If looks great there beside Sojourn.

We spent the day just getting things back in shape.  Mowing and boat washing.  Oh, and chasing wasps.  (Or rather wasps chasing me!!)  We had several well-established nests in crooks/crannies on the boat.  I went to town and got a can of Wasp spray. It works but the ones that fly away return over and over in an angry tizzy to find their lost homes.  It may be a while before they give up and go elsewhere!

Pleasant evening but still stifling hot! 

Pittsboro, Apex, Oriental, NC

We attended a special celebration for our friend Tom Malechuk to receive the FAA Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award. The award showcases 50 years of certified service with no incidents. 

Nice speeches and fond reminiscences.

It was really fun to see lots of folks from 20+ years at the airport. 

It reminded me to look back thru my photos.  Found a couple from a boat trip we took with Tom and Janet years ago.  Good fun and lots of great memories.  Congratulations to both Tom and Janet!

Off to Oriental now!!

Pittsboro, NC

 

Normal summertime in Eastern, NC - Hot and muggy!

Duane has been clearing out a lot of underbrush in the woods surrounding the house.  Makes it look very nice. 

We've had a lot of sporadic rain so everything is nice and lovely green.

Duane is doing a bunch of maintenance on the "crew car" from one of the airports....

And neighbors let me come pick the last of their sweet corn....yum.
  

Pittsboro, NC

 

The last of the blueberries for the season, I think....

And now I have enough jam for a couple of years!!

And enough berries left for a fresh cobbler.  Very summer-y!!

Pittsboro, NC

Garage update....almost finished!  The epoxy floor coat went on yesterday.  It's very humid here so I've got the dehumidifier running in the adjacent room.  We'll do another coating of the epoxy and then let it sit for a week or so before parking cars here again.  That's it for now...just little chores around the house otherwise.

Mills River - Leicester - Pittsboro, NC

 It's that time of year again!  My two remaining uncles hanging the banner at the community center in Leicester (NC not UK!)

My mom does most of the organizing for this reunion but turnout has gotten pretty sparse over the years - I guess this happens as extended families move out of the area and lose touch.

 

Always fun to look thru the well organized photo albums from years gone.  This was my parents in 1986.  My dad passed away not too many years later in 1993.   Oh they look so young!!!

Mom and aunt looking thru old newspaper articles.

 

Beautiful day, good food.

My younger brother and my sis-in-law.  Fun to visit.  (Didn't get a photo of my other brother and sis-in-law for some reason...)

 

Uneventful but rainy/stormy drive back from Asheville to Pittsboro.

Mills River, NC

 Really happy to see my mom gain back some of her strength after all the chemo and radiation! Not 100% yet but much better!!