Boat Chores

We cancelled plans to go to Ocracoke over Easter....it just looked too wet and uncomfortable.  There will be lots of better weekends to go to Ocracoke!

So, we flew down to Oriental Saturday when the weather was decent.  Duane got to log an actual ILS approach at New Bern!

Foggy marina.....

Pat and Diane drove down to the marina to do some chores on their boat.

 Pat needed to go to the top of his mast to replace his anchor light bulb.  So, we obliged by winching him up in the bosun's chair!

Up, up, up!

He stayed up there for about an hour - we made several runs to the hardware store/West Marine to get the right bulb....and it drizzled rain off/on the entire time!  But, the winds were mostly calm and pretty warm temps.

A good, productive few days - we did a lot of cleaning on our boat.....since it's now for sale!   :-(

But, we're shopping hard for the bigger, better version!!!

Here's the cleaned up salon - and if you've been on the boat lately and seen all our junk, you'll be impressed!  Had to get it all spiffy for the broker's photos!

 We stuck around and did chores until Tuesday -  we pulled into the hardware store parking lot and saw this Tracker parked there.  I had to look close to make sure it wasn't Miranda!!! 

Uneventful but very bumpy/windy flight home!

Still shopping for that next boat, but will still have fun on Island Girl until we sell her!

Hatch cover repair

Doing a little chore that needed done on Island Girl.

One of the hatch covers had torn....the white sheath that holds the line had ripped.

So, I used a seam ripper and removed the torn material, pinning on a new sheath.

Easy to sew in place with UV resistant thread.

Re-installed and secure on the hatch!

Another South Florida Boat Shopping Trip

We flew down to Ft. Lauderdale to look at another boat....this time a Leopard 38.  But I won't even show you photos of that one because it was not what we were looking for.  A nice enough layout, but this particular boat was worn and had damage due to running into a power line.  We thought it was electrical damage, but it turned out to have actual hull damage too.  Just too much to worry about the compromise of the fiberglass....so we just took a quick tour of it and left.

So, we got a nice hotel room, had a nice meal.  But, we had flown almost 800 miles.....so we looked up another boat close-by - 90 miles away in Ft. Pierce.  It's a Lagoon 37 TPI.  It's an older boat - but we are considering this one.  By far the best one we've seen.

Huge open salon area.

Real teak floors.

The galley is in the port hull.  A bit dated looking but very functional.  Duane is standing in the owner's berth.   It's nice and roomy.

Looking down from the salon into the galley.

Looking towards the starboard side.

This is a huge double door pantry in the starboard side hull.  Lot's of storage areas on this boat!

And here are the outside photos.   It's in pretty good shape for it's age.

The boat's name - Ahyoka - is a Cherokee word meaning "She Brought Happiness".  

So, a nice productive trip - back to Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport - we were treated very nicely at World Jet FBO.  You see how they live up to their name....lot's of jet's lining the ramp.  

Uneventful but breezy flight home.....that's a theme for March I believe - it's living up to it's "In like a Lion" fame.  I'm waiting on the "Lamb" to show up!

Home just in time for a lovely sunset!

A little boat shopping

This is a continuation of the aborted trip we were going to make a couple of weeks ago to the Bahamas (when our airplane broke...)

The boat we wanted to look at has sailed back from the Bahamas and is now in St. Augustine, FL.

So, after repairing the airplane, we flew to St. Augustine to have a look at the boat.

In the photos on Yachtworld, the boat looked to be in pretty good shape.  These are MY photos - and they look pretty good too.....unfortunately, they lie.  The boat is in pretty horrible shape.  

Sortof hard to explain, since the photos look OK.

It's all just in the details that you don't see upclose in the photos.

So, we will NOT be buying that boat.....we'll look at others but for now, we'll just enjoy Island Girl!

Sail to River Dunes

We set out in the dreary morning for a sail....originally thinking we'd head to Beaufort.  But that would mean several hours of motoring down the Intercoastal Waterway.

But the winds were perfect for a sail to the north - so we opted for another visit to River Dunes.

Love getting the spinnaker out!

Duane - must be contemplating something important!

The chef at River Dunes does not disappoint! My ahi tuna salad was just perfect - my favorites - mixed olives, marinated artichokes, heirloom cherry tomatoes and perfectly seared and tender tuna.  All drizzled with a vinaigrette dressing.  Yum!

And the usual, obligatory photo from the clubhouse of Island Girl at the dock!

We had a great sail back - wonderful to get to sail, engines off, both ways!  The return trip involved many tacks and we saw 27 knots on the windspeed....but a wonderful day!

Sailing

Sharon and Buddy came down to Oriental for a visit.

So we promptly threw off the docklines and went for a pleasant evening sail.

Putting Buddy to work!

He's a good mate!  Plus I get to be lazy!

OK, we're all a little lazy!

 Pretty sunset!

Fun in Oriental

It is the Official Oriental Chowder Cookoff weekend!  It's a fundraiser for the Oriental Women's Club and several of the local restaurants and businesses enter their favorite chowder recipe every year.

A big crowd all busy "judging" the 13 entries.

You were given a "ballot" to carry around to the different stations.  Each one gave you a sample to try.   Some were really good!  Some were just so-so....my votes went to The Silo's restaurant and Oriental Food Initiative.

 Since we were on bikes, we pedaled around town - stopped at the park to watch a little bit of the NCSU Sailing Team regatta....hard to see the little sails, but they all have a NCSU logo!

TracVision on the boat tied to Dish Network

It's hard to believe after all these years of not using a TV on the boat, we decided to have one on the catamaran!

We probably wouldn't have done it except for the fact that the previous owner had installed a very expensive mobile satellite receiver on the mast....and we could tie that into a TV.  The added bonus is that Dish Network will let you receive their signal for just $7 a month (added to our home system bill, of course).

The only issues would be some cabling and figuring out a way to mount the TV.  Of course, handy Duane accomplishes this with apparent ease.

He designed and welded this framework .

And fabricated some hinges

This is where the TV will be mounted - in front of the removable panel for the avionics.

Framework partially installed.

Framework and latch installed - cords for power and HDMI cable will snake out from this area.

Here's a closeup of the neat "lock" he built.  It just keeps the TV snug against the wall when not in use.   Closed:

And open - allowing us to swing the TV for better viewing angle.

TV mounted and wired.

TV locked against the wall.

And TV pulled out for viewing from the salon seating.  Duane rocks!

And there you go!  It will be a nice addition on the boat!