Oriental, NC

We spent most of the day working with our "sailbag".   So the way the sailbag is designed, the "jacklines" pass thru two grommets and the lines are just tied at the bottom of the mast.  When the sail is raised, the sailbag just sortof collapses.  We don't like this - because when you drop the sail, it's just a big pile on top of the sailbag that you have to sort out.  Seems like a silly design.

So, we had to remove the sailbag to redesign it.  Plus we needed to do some other repairs anyway.  And did I say it's sunny and 90 degrees?  Not complaining.   Well, maybe a bit.

I didn't detail the process, but we basically made a loop out of heavy strapping material and sewed it on the inside of the sailbag.

So now the jackline passes thru the first grommet and is tied directly to the loop.  (The outline of the strap is the black rectangle you see.   This keeps the sailbag taut and the sail will drop into the now-more-open pocket.

Plus we repaired some other areas including replacing some strapping and re-stitching a lot of repairs we made last year.....the thread I used was not as UV resistant as I'd hoped - borrowed some really good  thread from Cathy - hopefully these repairs will last several years in the constant sun.  And I'm really loving the new Monster Wheel on my sewing machine.  Easily sewed thru many layers of sunbrella and webbing.

And after a yummy dinner on What If, it was time to drive to Oriental for fireworks!!! 

We parked at Pecan Grove and had front row seats all to ourselves for the firework show. 

I'll just include a few shots for your enjoyment.  Hope you have a happy July 4th!

Oriental, NC

Beautiful days down on the creek - a bit warm though!  Luckily there has been a breeze parts of most days.

Dinner was on Sojourn - just salad and mushroom tortellini in vodka sauce, so I needed breadsticks of course.  So easy and wonderful!

Our standard 2 games of "isolation Hearts" with Ed and Cathy and an early night!

Oriental, NC

The boat looks odd without the jib.....I've got all the sunshields out to try to minimize the heat in the boat.  (Just want to help the a/c units not work so hard!)

Our sunshields are small in comparison to What If's - they have lots of shade!   I've got fabric ordered to fashion a similar tarp for Sojourn.  Hopefully will be a quick project.  Fabric to arrive on Monday.

Oriental, NC

The teak looks nice now.

And since it's oil, not varnish, all I should have to do is wipe on more oil occasionally to keep it looking nice.

Oriental, NC

Beautiful sunrise!

Our headsail is in need of some repairs - more than we want to handle.   Remember the hand-sewing we did in the Bahamas?  It's time to get proper patches done, along with some other maintenance on the hardware.

Loaded it up in the truck to take to the sailloft.

The shop is open but doesn't allow anyone to enter.  The owner came out to the truck (masked of course) and took the sail inside.

Oriental, NC

I've been meaning to take the dinghy chaps off and do some adjustments.  After the winter in the Bahamas, things had stretched here and there.  This is at the bow - originally this seemed to fit tightly but water while we're motoring must have stretched it.  In any case, the fit is just not right so I made some marks with a magic pen that disappears by applying water.  I'll use these marks to place a new naugahyde panel.

Same goes for this panel - the vinyl placard is just not in the exact correct spot so the handles are not as exposed as they should be.  Really not a big deal but I wanted them fixed.

So I got the chaps untied - no small feat!

Got to work with the seam ripper to remove the old patch.

Cut out a new, larger patch.

And then got to work sewing it on.  The new "Monster Wheel" on my sewing machine was a dream to work with.    I also re-sewed several of the main seams on the chaps while I had them off just to add some security for the next season.  The chaps are by definition out in the full sun and it takes a toll on the thread.

 The "after" photo.  Much better, not perfect.  But glad that chore is done!

In order to get the chaps fitted correctly, we had to drop the dinghy, deflate it a bit, then Duane tightened the attachment string with a huge amount of force to keep it tight.  Then we decided we'd go for a dinghy ride.

Stopped by our neighbors dock and chatted (at a safe distance) with  Rick and Susan for a few minutes.  

And Ed joined us for a nice ride out in the little canals.  He's breaking in the new motor on their dinghy.

Back to the boats - calm and very warm day!

 My turn to make dinner - I made the standard 1 Hour Breadsticks.  Unfortunately, I didn't get the mix of sugar/cinnamon quite right and they turned out less than spectacular.  But the regular breadsticks were a hit.

Oriental, NC

We went flying again in the morning - pretty but overcast day.  I think some of that Saharan sand might be affecting visibility. 

Duane did some practice instrument approaches - he wears these "Foggles" vision-limiting glasses.  Notice that most of the lens is opaque black.  This simulates flying in the clouds as you only look thru the small clear opening in the glasses at the instrument panel, not outside the airplane.  (He's got his regular sunglasses propped on his forehead so looks a little other-worldly...)

Here's our flight path -  good to back practicing again.

And then it was a trip back to the boat finally!!

When we arrived, Ed was mowing the lawn and Cathy was cooking supper for us - picking up where we left off! 

They had gathered all the mail and it was waiting on us.   The long awaited birthday present from my sweet sister.  (It had gotten lost in the mail but was amazingly returned to her for another try).

Was happy that our card that we repeatedly send to each other had not been "lost in the mail"!

 Love my pressies!!!  Sweet slippers - these will be particularly nice on those long overnight passages when my feet are dangling in the air from the captain's chair.

And I love, love, love my new dish towel!

Isn't that beautiful!!!  She even has the Bahamas's flag detailed.  Love these muslin dish towels - if they get a stain, a little bleach and they're good to go.  (And the embroidery floss does not fade).

It's warm in Oriental!  We both have our sunshades out.  We'll get started on some boat chores...

Pittsboro, NC

Our new neighbors are making good progress on their pond construction.  We took a walk over just to take a peek.  This is looking back towards our hangar.

And they just finished mowing the runway and it looks so manicured!   (All this rain we've had over the past month helps, of course!)

Pittsboro, NC

Went for another flight - getting ready for takeoff at Eagles Landing.  The runway is looking so pretty and green!

Just putzing around in the sky - over Jordan lake - flew over our old house in New Hill - amazingly there is a subdivision right across the road from the house!  When we were there it was the boonedocks!!

For those of you that remember, our old house/12 acres is the diamond in red.  Not much has changed on our actual property, but the drive in is certainly different.

Went over to Pat and Diane's for a great outside visit.  A.D. the airport dog is happy as always.  She's 16 years old!

Chatted long into the night - beautiful sunset - I assume some of that Saharan sand is helping make it spectacular.  We were out way past our bedtime!

Pittsboro, NC

Had a bit of a busy day.

We had a nice social lunch with Richard at the airport.  Duane and he did some troubleshooting on a broken drink machine.....and then they removed the old maintenance company's sign from the hangar.  There will be a new maintenance company coming in a couple of weeks so we're pretty stoked about that.

And then we had a wonderful, distanced book club meeting!!!