Applying Boat Name and Hailing Port

For some reason, the previous owner never installed  the correct hailing port or the boat name.

The "Jamesport" left over from several years ago was still the only marking on the boat.  This, of course, is not correct per US Coast Guard regulations since it doesn't have the state.  Jamesport, where?

Anyhooo,  we wanted it done correctly - since we like to follow the rules and we have been inspected by the US Coast Guard before!

I used a heat gun to carefully remove the vinyl "Jamesport".....sorry for the un-clear photos -- it was getting late in the day and the sun was going down.

Pre-made lettering with peel-off backing was applied.  Unfortunately, it had to wait until the backing dried for the "reveal"....

The next morning - now the boat is properly designated!

More boat chores

The little window from the cockpit into the salon was very weathered.....it's plexiglass and the trim area is worn (the chalky areas around the edges).

So I used masking tape and plastic to protect the boat and the main part of the window.

Just a little spray painting with flat black.....

And now the window looks brand new!

Enough chores for the day!  Beautiful late December day!  We motored down to River Dunes -  I used their nice protected harbour to do some practice with the wonderful "tractor steering" that twin diesels allow.  Still not happy driving the big boat around the dock.......great day!

Splicing Dock Line using a Fid

We needed some more dock lines for Island Girl since you need extras when you travel away from your home slip. If we have extras, we can just leave the dock lines permanently situated on our home slip. We had ALOT of line left from Glory Days. We had replaced about 200' of anchor rode a few years ago. That line is perfect for dock lines. The only problem is, you don't want to just tie knots in it - that's not very seaman-ly! Duane already knew how to splice line and he thought it would be a good skill for me to have also!

First you take the line and mark where you want the "loop" to end.

Then you untwist a foot or so of the end on the line.

Then you just start feeding the single lines thru the main line in a particular order.  I will say, this is not that easy!!!  very confusing figuring out which line to feed in which direction! 

The metal "needle" you see is called a fid.  It just helps route the single lines thru the tight twisted line.  Duane made this one out of an old tent pole.

First braid done.

And just continue!!

To end the splice, you just snip the ends close and melt with a lighter to seal against fraying.

Up close.

And on the deck ready for use!

Foggy day

The peaceful view from the back of the boat this morning!  Chore day today....

First cooked meal on Island Girl!

Just thought I'd share with you our first meal....just a simple breakfast.

Fun getting used to the new equipment!

Settling in at Point Marina

After our nighttime arrival into our "temporary home" we had a pleasant rest.....woke to wonderful temperature and not much wind.

Sharon and Buddy came down from Greenville for the afternoon so we went out to find a wisp of wind!

 Pretty December day!  Sharon enjoying the breeze!

Buddy hard at work on a winch....nice to have someone along to do the work for us!

And this is our "temporary home" - Point Marina in Whortonsville near Oriental.  We'll be back in our own slip after May (when the current renters move Glory Days to another slip!)

Island Girl back in the water!

This is a repeat from my World of Karen blog.....I put this post on the wrong blog!! Haha!


The weather finally has cooperated and we headed to Oriental to retrieve Island Girl!

The fiberglass work on the bows turned out very nicely!

The bottom paint is very pretty also.....important so that all the sea "critters" don't grow on the hull over the next year or two!

The Wayfarers Cove folks rigged the travel lift and lifted the boat off the supports uneventfully....time to put us back in the water!  

Slowly lowered us back to the surface of the water.

Everything was fine....started up the diesels and we were off down the narrow channel.

We got a pretty late start.....and the wind didn't help at all......

Pretty sunset.....but we were still over an hour from our new "home".....no worries, we handled it fine with a good Cap'n Duane and First Mate Karen on the spotlight to find our marina on Brown's Creek!

First day on the boat!

The closing documents finally signed by the seller, so we headed to the boat for the weekend.   Since we're not in the water right now, we can't use our normal air conditioning/heating system since it relies on ocean water as it's "radiator".  And the nighttime temps were in the low 30's.  Chilly for sure!!  With 3 quilts we were toasty warm....our home for the next week or so....

We had a list of things that needed to be addressed.  Really just things the previous owner should have taken care of earlier...Lots of cleaning plus we had to "winterize" all the water systems since the forecast for Tuesday is 23 degrees!  With the boat out of the water, the systems would be very likely to freeze. 

Dawson Creek Boatworks is doing some fiberglass work on the bows....someone had previously repaired "nicks" on the bows.  The repair was note very well done and we want the boat to look nice.  Since fiberglass/gelcoat work is an "art", we decided to have the boat yard do it for us.

They're just a day into the repair - they'll smooth it all and make it look good as new!

We had our first visitors!!  Bill and Kay were at their coast home this weekend.  Bill texted me and said they were looking for somewhere to go....so they dropped in for a look-see with his brother Glenn and his wife!

I had high hopes for the weekend....thinking I'd be able to get everything just "so" and comfy.....but like all projects, it's harder than it looks!  Stuff piled everywhere....

But, we ended up getting alot done.  But lots more to do!  Packed up as the day was about over....still not perfect, but we had to pack it in since weather was moving in tonight at home.

Sure enough, by 4pm when we got back to New Bern airport, the ceilings had dropped.  We were in the clouds on the flight home almost immediately and didn't see the Siler City airport until we were about 4 miles away.....

Little Dinghy

The boat also came with a dinghy.  We hadn't seen it - the owner had it at his house with the spinnaker.....he had told us that it was something he'd never used and that we were welcome to it......

We unrolled it and blew it up with the air compressor (the hand pump was missing, of course...)

A little yucky......

Really just mold and grime.

Nothing some bleach, degreaser and elbow grease can't fix though!  Now just need to get it registered and find some oars! 

A Spinnaker!

I've always loved seeing the boats flying the colorful spinnakers....those billowy sails that are used with relatively light/steady winds coming from behind your boat.  They're usually big and colorful.

This is one I posted about a few years ago on the Pamlico Sound:

Here are a few I nabbed from the web:

We picked up our spinnaker today....

We'd not seen it yet...so, Duane hooked it to a pulley that raised it to the top of the hangar (about 24' high) the sail itself is about 45-50' tall....and this is what it looks like.  The letters say "TOBAGO":

Not quite as colorful as I was hoping....but will be thrilling to fly it the first time!